'ONE HOUR!' THE SHOUT AND thumping on the door made him jerk up, heart pounding while he muttered an expletive under his breath. Cat jerked awake with his movement, peering around slit eyed.'What?' The question was lost in a yawn.'An hour to go.''ONE HOUR!' She sat bolt upright, shunting herself to the edge of the bed before crouching for shoes.Thoroughly confused Alek climbed off the bed too. 'Kitten? Why the rush?''Make-up in Kassie's room,' Cat said hurriedly while stripping her dress off.'You need to be naked?!' The confusion only grew.Cat gave a laugh while bent over the trunk of clothes, withdrawing with a robe in hand. 'No, love. I need a robe. You get dressed, I'll be back in time to get dressed and then we'll go.' She zipped back to his side, tiptoeing to kiss his mouth then dashed out of the room.Now he felt her excitement, but again different to the excitement of their wedding. Perhaps because it's not ours? Maybe it's easier to enjoy then? Alek pondered that
DISCUSSING THE DAY ON THEIR way to the room, Alek asked. 'Is it what you would have wanted?'Cat glanced at him sharply, eyebrows drawing close as she squeezed his arm. 'I loved our day, it was,' she gave a laugh. 'Out of this world. So different to what I might have imagined.''But you would have liked something like this?' Alek pursued, opening the door and stepping aside for her to enter. The room was lovely and cool, a refreshing change to the thick humid night air.Cat paused in the middle of the room, head tilted as she considered it. 'Honestly, I'd have liked something even simpler.''Simpler!?'She laughed at his astonished question. 'Al, my Earth parents, while they love each other dearly, had a relationship I would never want. Always fighting like cats and dogs. Doing the stupid silent treatment or snide comments. It convinced me fairly early on that soul-mates didn't exist. So, I never really thought about getting married. But from seeing what other friends did, I knew
WE WALKED THROUGH THE HOUSE and out past the tents, still in place and being enjoyed by some of the wedding guests. They clearly hadn't been invited to whatever we were up to, watching us with surprised expressions.Keeping a brisk pace that made me hold the skirt of my dress up to keep the slight train off the green spread of ground cover, we made our way around then past where the ceremony had taken place yesterday. Twisting to glance at the girls, both wearing beautiful dresses that I knew I'd seen somewhere before, Sian in a draped halter neck of soft blue and Loi in deep red, a fun full skirted but knee-length gown that reminded me again of a flamenco dancers dress. It made me wonder if my gown had been a last-minute panic, realizing someone hadn't packed another for me.Sabyn continued leading us around, moving into a grove of trees towards a massive draping willow tree.I pulled at his arm, making him stop in surprise as I paused to admire the sight. The graceful boughs of ti
EpilogueTHE SMELL OF FRESH BAKED something crept into my dreams. Blinking then rolling over to snuggle up to Al's pillow, I peered across the lovely spread of thick soft covers to where I could glimpse a male figure standing at the wood stove, flipping something before darting to grab something from the bench then dropping it into the pan. A hiss made him jerk back, implement at the ready. I noted then the lack of pants, admiring the neat tight-fitting underwear across that taut ass. Feeling remarkably more awake, I rolled across the bed, shuffling around for a better view. The sound caught Audi's attention, and she padded across the small floor space of the cabin, climbing up to the bed platform.'Good morning, noisy girl,' I cooed to her, reaching an arm out from my cocoon of covers to pat her, before my eyes were drawn back to the semi-naked male, who by this stage registered my state of consciousness.'Well hello there, wife,' Alek grinned at me then gestured with the spatula
Book Five: Escape Vo'ArumGreat Uncle Ilder lay on a high narrow table surrounded by flowers and shimmering white crystals. Mila watched as her grandparents made their way to the table, bending over his head, appearing to whisper to him before adding a crystal of their own to the table.Seated between her mama and papa, Mila straightened in anticipation when her grandparents nodded to Mama.'Let Mila go play,' Papa spoke the words without moving his lips.Her mama arched an eyebrow.'No!' Mila protested before a firm squeeze on the shoulder made her falter, voice dropping to a whisper.'Please, I want to put a crystal up too.''Come, Mila,' Mama released her shoulder, seizing her hand. 'This way.'All those in the room, her Mestarn relatives and DeNaga relatives, moved forward in a line to say their final farewells. Mila squirmed to watch as Mama, her hold on Mila's arm firm, guided her to the door.With an extended hand Mama pushed the door open, her gift a familiar soft bell
They started out flinging the ball to each other, increasing the distance and when the lumpy ball tired their arms they kicked it, the wool filling with leather cover soft enough to not bruise their shins. Addy, standing near the end of the corridor, took a deep breath before dashing forward to kick it at Mila. With a shout Mila lunged, hitting the floor with her knees but catching the ball in her arms. She grinned at Addy, scrambled to her feet and kicked as hard as possible.The ball flew down the corridor, too left of Addy, lurching off a wall. It hit a corner and tumbled from view.Both girls dashed after it, their feet making soft padding noises as they ran. They reached the corner at the same time, Addy squealed when Mila banged into her, both of them falling into the short dark section of corridor.'Where's it gone?'Mila blinked and blinked again. She saw four walls of the corridor, a single door to the right, but nowhere was the brown leather ball.'Mila! Where's it gone?
The floor of the manhole was grimy with dust and greasy. The moment Mila straightened up to move, she slipped, legs flicking out from under her.Her stocking clad foot connected with leather.'MILA!' Addy shrieked, hanging onto the edges of the manhole opening to peer in. 'You knocked the ball!'Mila sat up in time to see the brown leather ball rolling rapidly off, down into the darkness of the narrow space.'No, no, no!' Hands and feet slipping over the greased surface, she scrambled after it, hearing Addy call her name as she got further into the dark.The initial rush of excitement faded as the tunnel grew even darker until Mila couldn't see anything at all.She stopped, still on hands and knees, a pounding in her ears so loud she couldn't hear anything at first. The horrible sickening sensation passed and her hearing seemed to be normal again. The solid darkness terrified her. Frozen still, not sure what to do next, Mila whimpered, trying to resist tears, or at least resist p
In the spacious room below, Addy's papa, one of Mila's DeNaga uncles, paced the wood inlaid section of flooring, right alongside the thick carpet spread throughout the centre of the room.Mila understood why, the clip of his smart red dress shoes on the wood sounded impressive. She'd have to try it herself when she got back out the tunnel, marching back and forth, clipping her heels to create that compelling beat, like Mama did. Important people must do it, Mila thought while admiring the red shoes, wondering if she'd be allowed shoes that red when she grew up.He paused when he reached the full height bookcases on the far wall, parallel to where Mila secretly watched, and turned his head toward the door.Watching, waiting to see what caught his attention, Mila hunched over the ball, trying to get a better view of the doorway.Two voices rang out.'In here.''This better be important! I didn't rush back for the funeral to be dragged into a meeting before I even get to say goodbye