Lost Pride

 

Chapter 1 – The Gathering

Elssbett was bored. She strode into Freya's darkened cave looking for a fight. A good argument always made her feel alive again, and after all the death they had seen lately it was difficult to maintain that feeling for very long.

The smoke of recently doused bees-wax candles mildly scented the dank air inside the cave. Elssbett stopped before the seated Freya, adjusted her leather arm bands, and glared down at the pale blonde head.

"Freya." Elssbett's tone was contemptuous. "Are you still pining for your dead husband?"

Freya looked up slowly, as though she were being pulled reluctantly out of a dream. Tear streaks lined her face and reflected the light of a single, half-melted candle sitting on a smooth stone in front of her crossed legs. Her crystal blue eyes changed to ice.

"What would you know of love, Elssbett." Freya's voice was soft and deadly as a snake's hiss. "Charlemagne never loved you. You're probably glad to be rid of him."

Elssbett smirked. "I'd prefer to have traded your worthless life for his. You're weak, groveling in your self pity like a kludge."

Freya smashed her fist into Elssbett's knee. Elssbett had been ready for it, however, and leaped aside, avoiding the worst of the blow.

Freya sprang to her feet, unintentionally knocking over the candle which rolled to the edge of a knotted yakat-hair rug. It smoldered then caught fire as the two women grabbed and tore at each other's arms, clothes, and hair, and wrestled across the hard-packed earthen floor.

"Enough!" Olma, The Matriarch, commanded from the cave entrance where Telemachus Rhade stood at her side.

He quickly ran in and stomped out the flames with the soles of his leather sandals and rushed, with extreme annoyance, to pull Freya off Elssbett then helped her to her feet. "Why do you always take her bait, Freya? This is exactly what Elssbett wants from you!"

The ebony-skinned Elssbett stood up and wiped a trickle of blood from her lip. She sneered at Freya even while enjoying the flow of adrenaline in her veins. "Bad genes will out."

"Elssbett!" Olma exclaimed. "You are a continual maker of trouble. I shall consider what form of punishment to provide you if you do not learn to be civil." The older woman stood toe-to-toe with the younger and held her eyes until Elssbett looked away. "In former times, you would be chained for the span of a day but in our present difficulty we are forced endure you."

"She still needs to be taught a lesson," Rhade put in as dragged outdoors what was left of the smoldering rug.

Elssbett drew herself up. "Freya struck first, Matriarch."

Olma interrupted, "Your words carry blows of their own, child." She dismissed Elssbett's comment with a wave of her hand and turned to include Freya and Rhade as he returned.

"Foremost," Olma announced, "we must make a commitment to our plans regarding the survival of our pride or we will all revert to the wildness and incivility of this planet of our exile. I hereby call a meeting at dusk in Rhade's dwelling. Freya, find Errin and tell her to join us."

Freya nodded, "Yes, Matriarch. She's gathering herbs on the East Hill. I'll find her."

"Elssbett," Olma continued, "You are to bring fresh meat for the communal meal. That will keep you out of trouble for the time being and perhaps cure your bloodlust."

Hours later…

Errin turned the spit on which the wild bird roasted. It was large, well browned, and aromatic. The silver and bronze bracelets she had forged for herself jingled pleasantly in the quiet, brightly lit cave.

Rhade stirred the hot coals which hissed on occasional drips from the meat. "We're all sad, Errin," he said softly, "but we must go on for the sake of the ancestors."

Her face, framed with waves of amber hair and flushed from the heat of the fire, remained impassive. Of the three young women who survived the massacre of the entire Siddhartha Pride by the Drago-Kasov, she alone stirred his heart with her resolute inner strength. She took it all in stride as though she were born to this life of hardship and self-sufficiency.

Errin looked past him, beyond the cave walls, out into the night stars. "Yes, we'll endure this trial, Rhade" she shut her eyes tightly, "for our ancestors… and for all the dead children." They were then silent, each lost in bitter memories.

A willowy figure appeared at the entrance to Rhade's home. The dark lady entered, illuminated by the dozens of candles which Rhade had earlier placed around the opening to the large front room they now occupied.

"I'm early." Elssbett announced, walking casually across the room to join Errin and Rhade. "Or perhaps they're late?" She sat down onto the floor next to Rhade, pulled a whetting stone from the leather bag on the belt of her tunic, and unsheathed a very large knife. She began to sharpen it noisily.

"Be careful with that," he said. "You're making me nervous."

She raised an eyebrow. "Am I? Would you like to see if you can take it from me?"

Rhade raked the hot coals with a stick. He rolled his eyes for only Errin to see. "No, Elssbett. It's was your kill; your privilege to carve."

"You're no fun, Telemachus Rhade."

He grinned, "Oh, but I can be."

Chapter 2 –Rule of Law

Olma clapped her hands to get their attention as she entered the large dwelling. She wore a freshly-dyed deep red robe and a circle of white blossoms on her matronly head. "The moon is rising. Let us prepare the ceremonial table."

Freya, who had followed closely behind The Matriarch, spread an indigo-colored rug in the center of the cave floor. She placed in the middle a large basket filled with small loaves of freshly baked bread. Rhade fetched baskets of fruit and herbs that Errin had picked earlier and sat them alongside.

Pine knot torches on the back wall cast a warm, flickering light over the small group and gave off a pleasant aroma. Olma intoned quotations of The Patriarch as they solemnly broke bread and passed around the food as they sat on the floor, filling their wooden trenchers with fresh goods and their goblets with homemade wine.

There was little conversation as the words of The Matriarch stirred their memories of feast ceremonies past. Times of plenty, times of celebration, of enemies defeated, births, marriages, and funerals.

Their small group of five were all that was left of the Siddhartha Pride, one of the oldest of the Nietzschean race, all but annihilated in the latest conquest by the Drago-Kazov.

At the end of the meal, Olma instructed Elssbett to pass around once more the wineskin filled with the gingaberry spirits she had made days ago especially for this occasion. Freya removed the trenchers from the eating area as Errin sat morosely staring at the star pattern she had embroidered in the center of the carpet.

Rhade watched apprehensively as Olma took the ceremonial posture of the matriarchs. She sat straight as a rod, eyed closed, head bowed, and stretched her arms out, palms upward. As he listened to Olma's breathing change, Rhade felt an energy coursing through as though drawn into The Matriarch's body from the gray shadows around them.

He had seen her do this only once before when the Pride was preparing to battle the Drago-Kazov nearly two years ago. Suddenly, he had the feeling that her power was the only thing that had insured the survival of this handful of exiles. He didn't understand it, but he felt the truth of it somehow.

Elssbett and Freya returned reverently to their places in the circle on the floor. They sipped from their goblets waiting patiently for Olma to speak. Even Elssbett was uncharacteristically serene.

Rhade looked from one gloomy face to another. Three months had passed since a lone, enlightened Nietzschean pilot had ignored his Drago-Kazov employers order to murder every last Siddharthan, and had saved their lives by transferring them to this isolated, uninhabited planet. For three months they had endured, but their spirits were as low as the silt on the bottom of a cold stream. Their hope of rescue dwindled to despair.

Olma slowly raised her head. Her voice rang clear and strong in the chilled air. "The time of mourning is ended. The time of rebirth has come. Our trials will strengthen us and we will thrive again. Our children will avenge us and tell stories to their children of our struggle, our heartbreak, and our perseverance. All your names will be revered by the descendants of the Siddhartha Pride."

She turned to Rhade sitting next to her and took his hand. She reached out to Freya on her other side.

"Take the hand of the person next to you. Feel the warmth of life, blood and flesh. These are your kindred, your family, your pride. You will each vow to protect and serve one another for your very life and the continuance of our genes depends on the person whose hand you hold. You will refrain from enmity against your kinsmen. You will build one another up. Only united will we survive."

In the stillness that followed, Olma's last sentence echoed in each set of ears.

"Swear your allegiance!" She barked.

"I swear," they said in unison.

Olma gathered her robe around herself and stood up, moving behind Rhade. She placed both hands on his head and he was startled by the heat emanating from her small hands.

"Telemachus Rhade, you are The Alpha of the Siddhartha pride. You will be the father of our descendants. On this night you will lie with Freya, on another night Elssbett, and finally Errin. They will take you as their husband and bring forth our future children."

Freya gasped. She dropped her goblet, spilling the remaining contents across the ceremonial carpet. The hand-dyed cloth soaked up the red wine like freshly spilled blood. "He watched my husband die and did nothing to avenge him! Don't ask me to do this, Matriarch. Let the others bear his offspring."

Olma replied calmly, "He was defending me, Freya, against our enemies. Tyr Anasazi fought them valiantly and your own survival is proof of that."

Olma placed her hand gently on the younger one's shoulder. "Rhade is my sworn protector, Freya. If not for him our Pride would have no matriarch and no alpha." Her voice was firm but kind. "You will do as you're bidden, for you know in your heart that I'm right. We must think of The Pride first and overcome our individual pains."

As Rhade watched, Freya slowly relaxed her clenched fists and lowered her gaze. She would obey. She was a good woman who loved her dead husband too deeply, Rhade thought. He saw the glint of a single tear as it fell into her lap, even as he felt someone else's eyes boring into him like lasers. He turned to find Elssbett's dark brown eyes aflame.

"Matriarch, why did you pick this one as your protector?" Elssbett snarled.

Adrenaline shot through his veins. Did the woman have a death wish? He suppressed his rage and held his demeanor cool and unexpressive.

"There were many others more worthy than he!" Elssbett continued.

"Silence!" Olma commanded. She pointed a bony finger at Rhade. The sleeve of her robe hung long at the end of her wrist and vibrated with an angry tremor. With subdued tone and teeth clenched, a sign known by all that her fury was barely held in check as she countered, "He is The Alpha and you will respect him."

A matriarch was chosen by the elders for her wisdom and ability to influence. Only an Alpha could challenge her decisions, even then with great caution. Elssbett knew her place in the order of things and kept still.

Olma let out her breath slowly, letting the tension in the room subside for a moment. She then turned to Errin, who appeared to be somewhere in another time as she stared at the bottom of her empty goblet.

"Have you no complaints, young one?"

Errin, realizing she was being addressed, looked up suddenly and blinked.

Olma continued softly. "Did your time as an officer of the Commonwealth render you more accepting of authority than my other daughters?"

Unshed tears glistened at the edges of Errin's eyelashes, rendered golden in the firelight of the torches. "Rhade need not waste his time on me." She dropped her gaze to the stained carpet. "I'm sterile."

An uneasy silence fell upon the group.

Chapter 3 – The Challenge

After a moment, Errin cleared her throat and continued her confession. "That's why I became a Commonwealth officer. And perhaps that's why I fell in love with a human captain."

Sounds of disgust were uttered by Elssbett and Freya. Olma, however, went to Errin and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Errin's tears fell freely down her cheeks as her gaze fell tenderly on Rhade. "You were his friend once."

Rhade reached over and brushed a tear from Errin's cheek. "Yes," he said simply. His own eyes burned at the memory of his best friend and fallen comrade, Dylan Hunt. And now his old friend's lover was to become his wife.

Errin was different from the others, Rhade mused, not only because of her open-mindedness in taking a human lover. She didn't share Elssbett's and Freya's haughty attitudes, though she was every bit as strong and capable as they. Perhaps even more so. It was a shame she couldn't pass on her genes.

Olma interrupted his thoughts. "Then Rhade shall stay with Freya and Elssbett until they are each with child. You, Errin, shall work with him to build our laboratories and weapons, while the other two keep us fed and clothed."

Olma ignored the protests of Freya and Elssbett. "It is a good plan," Olma declared, her hand raised to quiet them. "Rhade? What say you?" She motioned for him to rise.

"Yes, a good plan." He was a tall man and loomed large over the older woman. "Your decisions are sound, Matriarch. And, I, as The Alpha of Siddhartha Pride, affirm that your proclamations shall be upheld." Then he bowed to her as a sign of respect.

Olma took his large hand into her small, pale one and patted it. "You are a good son, Rhade. You will have many wise children."

Olma went to Freya and carefully took the blossom wreath from her own head. She placed it on the reticent blonde seated before her.

Olma leaned down and with her thumb drew a circle in the woman's high forehead. "You are now The First Wife of Telemachus Rhade by Lexon out of Genevieve. We have no ceremonial helixes, but this symbol served our ancient ancestors as it will you. Arise now, and give your husband the sign."

Freya uncrossed her long legs reluctantly. She stepped across the rug and stood before Rhade.

He felt as though Freya were seeing him for the very first time. Her deep blue eyes scanned his tousled hair and seemed to judge him unfavorably. He held her firmly in his gaze as she studied his eyes, his nose, his lips. Her lips parted slightly as she stared at his mouth, then she examined his beard, reaching out to touch it tentatively.

Rhade felt a flicker of hope that she might warm up to him. It would make the pairing more pleasant than if she continued to remain cold and aloof in mourning for Tyr.

Freya hesitated before making the circle on his forehead, gazing instead out into the night beyond the stone walls. She spoke loudly as though addressing the darkness. "Let it be remembered my great love for my First Husband, Tyr Anasazi out of Victoria by Barbarossa, and that he shall always have my heart, even in death."

She turned then to Rhade. "And let it be remembered that you are not my choice but my duty." Freya made the circle on his brow and then walked away.

Rhade sighed through his nose. So much for warming up.

Olma bowed goodnight to the newlyweds. "Errin, Elssbett, let us leave them." The women gathered up the soiled dining materials and obediently followed Olma from the cave carrying a bright torch to guide their way back to their own dwellings.

Rhade turned to his new wife and with a wave of his arm motioned Freya into an interior room.

Much smaller than the front room, this one had a low ceiling but still plenty of space, even for two tall people such as Freya and himself. It was lighted by a single torch near the fire pit and smelled of pine and burnt wood.

"Make yourself comfortable." Rhade indicated with a nod the pile of dark furs in the center of the room which served as his bed. "I'll rekindle the fire."

Freya, sullen but dutiful, eased her long body down, fully clothed, onto the thick, soft pile and stared vacantly at the ceiling.

Rhade sighed and bent to his work at the hearth. There were still a few glowing coals to which he added dried twigs. He took his time, gradually adding larger pieces from the stack nearby, watching the smoke curl up to the ceiling and then flow into a narrow channel along the uneven roof, flowing deeper into the cave.

He had never lain with an unwilling woman before and he didn't relish the idea now. Her words this evening echoed heavily in his head.

Rhade stood finally and turned to gaze at Freya. She was a beautiful woman, made more so by the golden light of the fire. Perhaps her affection for him would grow in time. Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered really but the survival of the pride.

The burning wood crackled. Freya's eyes were closed and her chest rose and sank slowly beneath her wine-stained clothing. She seemed at peace and he hesitated to disturb her, but there was only one bed and the night promised to be cold.

Rhade leaned back against the rough stone wall and removed his sandals. He missed his boots, but they had burned on his own feet as they fled through the fires and explosions that had wiped out all those he had known and loved. He forced down the memories of his wives and children. Life must go on.

He noted Freya's bare, dusty toes. She had stubbornly refused to wear the rough handmade leather, instead going barefoot even in the snow, insisting that the ache in her heart rendered all other pain inconsequential.

Rhade removed his belt and dropped it gently to the floor. He shrugged off his leather vest then undid the ties of his pants, letting the soft leather slide down. He stepped over them and moved onto the thick, silky fur of his bed. The movement woke Freya. Startled, she looked up at him, then turned away on her side. He laid down next to her though prevented his body from touching hers.

Rhade touched her arm gently, and pulled her towards himself so that she was lying on her back. He was relieved by her lack of resistance. Only inches separated the two of them as he lay on his side facing her, his bare skin in contrast to her fully clothed body.

He didn't want to rush their union. If Freya merely remained only a passive receptacle for his seed he'd be extremely disappointed. He wanted their first time together to be, if not memorable, then at least promising of better things to come. He wanted her to like him.

"Freya" he called quietly.

She opened her pale blue eyes and waited.

"I won't kiss you if you don't wish it." Rhade searched her face and thought he saw a glimmer of relief. He continued softly, "And if you cry out Tyr's name… I'll understand."

Chapter 4 – The First

Freya looked up into Rhade's face. "I won't cry out," she said resolutely. "And I won't kiss you." Her gaze fell to his lips and lingered there for a moment, but immediately she pushed from her mind the memory of passionate kisses.

"The Matriarch's announcements tonight surprised me," Freya rolled onto her side to face him. His intense gaze warmed her. She couldn't deny he was a handsome man. He smelled pleasantly of coffee and leather. She took a deep breath.

"Olma was so final about our situation," Freya continued. "I was hoping there was a way of escaping this isolated place, but now it seems our fate." She closed her eyes. "It's like a bad dream, but when I wake up it doesn't go away."

Rhade sat up and sighed. Freya watched, wondering if he would take her now. He ran his hand through his dark, disheveled hair. His back was broad and muscular, much like Tyr's. His muscles moved and rippled across his back with the movement of his arm. It suddenly occurred to her that Rhade must miss his wives.

He turned his head and spoke over his shoulder. "I suppose you want to finish this quickly." His tone held unspoken accusations. "Your obligation, I believe you called it?"

Freya tensed. When Tyr's voice took that tone he often left her sore after an overly aggressive session. His passions had run hot as a Sagittan sun and she had grown to crave it. No man could possibly love her with the strength and ardor he had possessed. Anything less would be a disappointment and her own desires had died with him.

"I want more than that from you, Freya. More than your duty." Still with his back to her, he stood up. His haunches were taut and rounded. She remembered the feel of her hands clenched tightly on Tyr as he had burrowed deeply inside her. A pang of longing shot through her body.

Rhade turned, giving her a full and quite pleasant view of his shapely pectorals and tight, muscular abdomen, his undeniable manhood, and thick, muscular thighs. She appreciated the beauty of a well-formed man, which was certainly the case with Rhade. Inside, however, she was cool and bereft of the inner fire that would have heated her had he been Tyr.

Rhade knelt on one knee and gently raised her ankle just enough to slide his hands around her foot which he began massaging. "I don't want our coupling to be just a means to an end." He gazed steadily into her eyes as he pressed his thumbs into her arch and stroked and kneaded the curve of her foot. Freya closed her eyes in enjoyment.

"It seems you like that," he noted.

"It's pleasant enough." Actually, it was surprisingly wonderful, but she didn't want to give up her resolve too quickly.

Rhade slowly worked his way to the end of her foot and tenderly squeezed each of her five toes in succession, gently pulling them from base to tip. She found it to be an even more enjoyable and unexpected sensation. He rubbed her arch again, repeating the same movements for several minutes. Freya felt her muscles liquifying and her mind easing at his skilled manipulations. He moved to the other foot and gave it the same delicious treatment.

Rhade slid his hands up to her calves and applied gentle pressure to them, one calf in each expansive hand, moving slowly up and down the large muscles, gripping and releasing, while moving his body closer and resting the soles of her feet against his warm, solid abdomen.

The change in position brought Freya out of her deeply relaxed state and she realized she'd extended her arms over her head in complete submission and trust.

She glanced down at Rhade who was bent in concentration. Maybe this night wouldn't be so displeasing. He certainly knew how to make her more pliable to his will. She closed her eyes and let herself flow back into sweet nothingness, muscle by muscle, in his skillful hands.

Rhade slowly lifted one of her long, slender legs. He leaned down and placed a kiss on the tender spot behind her knee. He slid his hand slowly down to her thigh and stroked her skin delicately.

Freya felt a familiar stirring deep inside. Rhade's hand moved further down her thigh under the fabric of her skirt. She gasped as his hand slid lower. She swallowed tightly. Soon, but it was all right. She was ready and finally willing.

"Rhade?" She raised her head slightly as he eased her leg back down onto the furs. Had he changed his mind? She saw only the top of his head as he then gently moved her thighs apart. His soft beard grazed her inner thigh.

"Oh!" The back of her head thumped down on the bed. The world suddenly crashed down into one small crevasse between her parted legs. When had he removed her underclothes? The thought barely squeezed into her mind as his pleasuring overtook her.

She grabbed for his shoulders, not knowing if she would push him away or open herself wider and pull him in. He moaned against her, reverberating deeply into her center. Swirling like a tiny whirlwind, now intruding, and then fluttering, the sequence repeating, driving her mad.

A cry of pleasure tore from her throat. Deft fingers slid inside exploring and retreating, over and again. Control now was out of the question. He was in charge and she enthusiastically submitted. Quite enthusiastically.

He cupped her hips in both hands and lifted her slightly up off the bed. She felt him invade her, parting her inner sanctum, making it his own. His slow, deliberate movement and attention to detail was her complete undoing.

Her world began to spin and rock on its orbit until gravity had no meaning. Time and distance, history and future were suddenly irrelevant. Nothing existed but motion and sensation.

Freya gripped the fur even as she gripped and squeezed him and met him again and again. Their moans filled the small room. The heady feeling crescendoed to a peak that seemed to go on and on until she finally exploded with a cry, spilling rivulets of fire throughout her pulsating melted core.

Rhade followed her lead, shouting a plea for mercy, as he pressed fully into her, releasing himself in a blast of liberation. He eased her hips down onto the soft bed and rolled over onto his back, both of them breathless and exhausted.

A log on the fire fell apart with a hiss as Freya listened to Rhade's rapid, heavy breathing. She stretched and sighed, feeling deliciously content. Rhade was indeed a worthy husband. She reached over and caressed his bearded jaw.

He opened his soft brown eyes, reached up, and tenderly captured her wrist. "You didn't seem to mind that too much." He planted a sweet kiss in her palm. "And I didn't even kiss you."

"Until now," she purred.

"But you did cry out."

"Did I?" She mocked.

"My ears are still ringing."

"Hmph". Freya, a bit embarrassed, smiled and turned over, putting her back to him. Immediately, his hands were on her hips, sliding beneath her skirt. He moved close behind her and she could feel his interest increasing once again. He breathed on her neck and began to nibble his way up to her ear.

He whispered, "Now that the warmup is over…," his hand slipped around to cup her breast, "it's time I undress you."

Chapter 5 – An Officer and a Lady

Errin cautiously poured purple liquid from a fire-glazed clay beaker into a bowl made from mussel shell. Careful to not let even the smallest toxic drop splash onto her skin, she worked slowly and deliberately. She replaced the seal tightly on the beaker, then took a sharpened wooden dart from the pile next to the shell and dipped it into the liquid, coating the tip with a poison that was so strong it could fell a large animal in minutes. She laid the dart on a smooth rock to dry in the morning sunlight just outside the cave of the "laboratory".

Errin looked up as Rhade's shadow fell across her rough-hewn work table. "Good morning," he croaked, as though this was the first time he'd spoken today.

"Yes, well… morning's nearly over, isn't it." As he came closer to inspect her work, Errin noted the deep circles under his heavily-lidded eyes. "Rough night?"

Rhade lifted an eyebrow. "I never kiss and tell."

"Ahh. So there was kissing involved," she teased, as he moved away to another work table, shaking his head. "We missed you at breakfast." Errin commented lightly as she picked up another dart and examined it.

Rhade grunted. "I had leftovers." He took a sharp-edged stone and began sharpening the end of a small stick to make more of the small, low tech weapons.

"Elssbett and Freya said they were going fishing this morning."

"Mm hmm," he responded apathetically.

"And Freya seemed…," Errin smiled to herself as she searched for the right word to tease him.

"Delighted?" Rhade interrupted. "Elated? Overjoyed?" He turned to her with a rascally smile.

"You have such a low opinion of yourself, Mr. Rhade."

"Yes, I must work on that, Ms. Shohashi. Speaking of work, I've devised a possible way to make a pair of binoculars. Maybe even a telescope."

"Using the wreckage from the pod?" Their crashed pod was the only source of metal available to them until they were able to forge their own somehow.

"First I have to design a better system for cutting glass than these Neolithic stone tools," he complained. "If we'd only managed to get a gauss pistol or a laser knife…."

"We'll never see that kind of technology again, Rhade. At least not in this lifetime. Maybe the next generation will be able to devise them."

"Yes, children. Lots and lots of ankle-biters to grow up into fisherman, woodsmen, shepherds, and slip fighter pilots." Rhade chuckled.

Children. Errin blinked away the blurriness that unexpectedly filled her eyes. Why did even the mention of them hurt so badly?

She wanted to get past it -- the fact that she was barren. But every time she thought of children, of descendants of The Pride, here where the need for offspring was so imperative, a feeling of uselessness overwhelmed her. Her skills as First Officer of a High Guard war ship were worthless compared to the ability to reproduce.

"Errin?"

She suddenly felt Rhade standing behind her. Was it her imagination or did he always seem to sense when she needed him? Most likely it was just their shared history in the Commonwealth military and their similar Academy training leading them to think alike.

She heard him sigh deeply behind her. She felt his hand softly stroke the back of her hair. His other hand pulled on her shoulder, encouraging her to turn around and, without hesitation, engulfed her in his comforting arms. So solid, warm, and tender.

Rhade held her and murmured consolations as she let her tears fall silently onto his shoulder. Even High Guard officers sometimes cried.

Chapter 6 - A Friend In Need

Rhade held Errin tightly, wishing he had the right words to say to soothe her. She was just as valuable to the pride and as anyone else. How could he convince her of that fact?

It was all he could do to keep from asking her when did she plan to take him to the marriage bed. He wanted to express his feelings for her through his hands and his body, and show her how precious and beautiful she was to him.

He clutched her to his chest and inhaled the scent of her hair – sweet herbs with a hint of honeysuckle, like a walk in a summer meadow. He stroked the thick softness and buried his face in her amber tresses. Errin. How he wished she had been his First Wife.

He knew well enough Olma's reasoning, but his heart had little use for logic. Surely Errin knew how he felt about her. It had to be obvious from the way he sought her out for her advice and opinions in the months they'd been shipwrecked here. She must be aware of how he watched her when she wasn't looking, admiring the way she moved and the sparkle in her grey-blue eyes when they reminisced about piloting star ships.

A lifetime with her on this desolate, isolated world, far from everything he'd ever known, would make it nearly a paradise. He hoped she wouldn't wait long before she asked him to be hers.

Firstly, he had a responsibility to The Pride to create new life with Freya and Elssbett. It shouldn't take long. All of his wives had conceived quickly and produced strong, healthy offspring. Once the other two had conceived he would be free to spend all his nights with Errin. If only she'd invite him.

She gently pulled away, sniffling, and avoiding his eyes. "I'm sorry, Rhade." She tried to smile. "Thanks."

He touched her shoulder, letting his hand glide down her arm. "That's not necessary." He pulled her close again and gave her a big bear hug, saying, "Anytime you need me, I'm here for you. Understand?" He let go, then and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Get back to your work station, Admiral." Errin offered him a feeble smile then turned back to her poisoned darts and dipped the next one. After a few minutes sniffing away the last of her tears she asked, "Did you miss the Commonwealth much after you left?"

"Let me see, that's the fifth… no, sixth time you've asked me that question since we've been here."

"Oh? I guess I forgot your answer."

"Of course, I missed it, Errin. But when The Pride came under attack none of us had a choice, did we? I think all 2,000 Nietzscheans in the High Guard were on standby once the Drago-Kazov became a threat to the smaller scattered prides."

"If only the Commonwealth had understood the desperateness of our situation, we might have prevailed. Dylan did everything he could to try to get them to help us."

Rhade flinched at the mention of his old friend's name. He was an extraordinary human; it was no wonder Errin had loved him. Could he even compete with Dylan's memory? "He was one man with one ship, Errin. And an outlaw at that after the Triumvirate turned against him."

They worked in silence for a moment.

"Rhade…?"

"We may never leave this planet. Not for generations to come. We're on the edge of nowhere. This system's never even been mapped."

"How did you know what I going to…?"

He snorted. "Because that's what I was thinking."

"But the Sabra pilot who brought us here…"

"He took a risk to save our necks. The Commonwealth does that to Nietzscheans… changes us somehow. He won't be back, Errin. He's given us a chance to survive and that's enough."

"He might send others… other Nietzscheans from within the Commonwealth," Errin said hopefully.

"He'll never tell anyone he helped us or that we even survived. Believe me. He knows the Dragos would kill him and everyone in his family if they even suspected what he'd done for us."

Errin remained silent, watching as a flock of colorful birds descended on a nearby tree.

"We'll make it, Errin. This isn't such a bad place to be in exile."

Chapter 7 – Dominatrix

"Finish up, my darling," Elssbett cooed as she placed the last tidbit of roasted white fish into Rhade's rather surprised mouth. "The evening grows late and I have wonderful plans for you." She slid her hands appreciatively up his broad arm and across his shoulders.

Rhade's eyebrows raised in amusement as he took a large gulp of wine from his goblet.

Errin cleared her throat meaningfully and cast a quick glance at Olma, then busied herself picking up discarded items from the dining area.

Olma moved to stand up and Freya quickly rose to help the elder to her feet. "Thank you, dear. Elssbett, my anxious daughter, tradition bids us not to hold nuptial rites on consecutive nights, especially to the same spouse." Olma smiled, not bothering to hide her amusement.

Elssbett moved behind Rhade and sat on her knees as she began kneading his bulky shoulders. Rhade moaned appreciatively. "I'm aware of that practice, Matriarch," Elssbett countered with the slightest hint of sarcasm. "However, these are unusual circumstances."

Errin rolled her eyes as she raked out scraps of food into a waste container. There was hardly anything left on the trenchers, but she scraped them harder imagining her wooden spoon was instead a mallet and the trencher was Elssbett's head. In the morning these bits would bait the traps set for small game, but she wasn't thinking about hunting at the moment. There was a much more interesting prey and predator here in the room.

"Matriarch," Elssbett continued, "is it not true that we wish to produce offspring as soon as possible."

Rhade cleared his throat. He smiled at Olma as if enjoying the game.

Olma took her cue from Rhade, "Elssbett, my dear, your enthusiasm this evening is quite a change from your previous resistance last night. Has Freya influenced your opinion?"

Freya blushed, however Elssbett remained characteristically unflustered.

"Well, Wife?" Rhade teased Freya. "Do you require my company this evening or shall I make other plans?"

Errin chuckled in spite of herself. She was glad not to be a part of this bantering, though an unpleasant tightness in the pit of her stomach concerned her.

Elssbett moved around to face Rhade. "Freya has nothing to say about this! I choose you, Telemachus Rhade by Lexon out of Genevieve," she said sternly as if this proclamation closed the matter.

Olma picked up the wine cask and replaced the cork. "Elssbett, there's plenty of time to…."

"Obviously, I'm much more likely to conceive before her." Elssbett indicated Freya with a nod. "Therefore, I must take Rhade as soon as possible."

Freya stared at Elssbett, as Errin watched. Those two competed with each other in everything to the point of neuroses.

Rhade stretched out on the freshly swept floor, propped on one elbow. He continued to sip his wine with a bemused expression.

"Perhaps, then," Olma replied, "we should entertain the betrothal ceremony." Olma motioned for Freya and Errin to rejoin the circle as Rhade sat up and tipped his goblet back with a toss of his unruly hair. His expression became solemn. He looked as though the game was over and he'd lost.

Olma stood before Elssbett who had produced a wreath of fragrant flowers from, it seemed, out of nowhere. The dark-skinned beauty stood half a foot taller than her elder and placed the flowers atop her own black, braided hair.

"You are now The Second Wife of Telemachus Rhade by Lexon out of Genevieve," Olma declared as she drew a circle with her thumb on Elssbett's forehead. "You may give your husband the sign."

Elssbett smiled triumphantly and reached down to hold Rhade's head with one hand as she made the circle on his forehead with the other. Rhade's eyes were closed, his emotions unreadable.

"Come, husband! I've prepared a special place for us tonight."

As Elssbett pulled him from Olma's dwelling, Rhade hastily bade farewell to the others, though he quickly looked away from Errin. Errin suddenly had a bad taste in her mouth. She hurried outside where she promptly lost her dinner.

Meanwhile…

Elssbett asked Rhade to wait in her outer room of her cave, while she ducked inside. She hurried to light the dozen hand-made candles – a luxury in their present situation – and fluffed up the bed furs.

Elssbett was well aware of her body's cycle and that she was at her most fertile time for the next few days. The pallid, melancholy Freya shouldn't be the one bear the first member of the Siddhartha Pride's next generation. That privilege must be hers! And as such, Elssbett's position as the future matriarch would be assured.

"Rhade?" She called sweetly from her bedroom. "You may enter."

He appeared in her doorway, golden in the candlelight. "Elssbett!"

She stretched erotically, naked and softly oiled, on the silky fur, delighting in Rhade's changing expression from surprise to smoldering desire. She had stripped off her clothing and tossed them in a darkened corner, then hastily applied fragrant oil from neck to feet. She was more than ready to consummate their hasty marriage.

"Please, my darling, don't keep me waiting."

"Drago's bones, woman!" Rhade began to undress.

"Don't worry, dear Rhade," Elssbett sat up provocatively and crawled towards him across her expansive fur bed. "You don't have to expend your own precious energy." She reach out to him as his pants hit the floor.

Kneeling at the edge of her bed, she stroked his body from shoulder to hips, as he kicked aside his sandals. He quickly became fully aroused.

"Oh, yes. We will have many, many tall and well-formed children, my husband. Lie down. I have something wonderful to give you."

"Elssbett, I usually prefer leading the…."

"Shh. Lie down, Rhade. Save all your energy for the final moment. Let me do everything."

Rhade raised his eyebrows and then did she directed. He made himself comfortable, folding his arms behind his head. "I am your love slave, Wife. Abuse me as you desire," he teased.

Elssbett slid her leg across his body and took him in her two oiled hands. "Did I ask you to speak?" She handled him roughly, making him moan with pleasure. "What an obedient love slave you are."

Rhade responded with a feral growl.

"Ah, I like that," she responded, moving to mount him.

He closed his eyes and drew a quick breath as she impaled herself. He reached for her waist and she took away his hands. "No. Here," Elssbett instructed as she moved his hands up to her bouncing breasts.

She moved instinctively against his body, feeling him seal every inch of her, and gyrating her hips to experience the fullest effect.

Elssbett gently pinched his nipples between her thumbs and forefingers. She squeezed him inside her and moved faster.

She struggled against the heady sensation, tempted to let go of her sense of control, but realizing she must stay on task to reach her objective. The more they coupled tonight, the greater her chances to conceive.

He clenched her buttocks and, with a shout, gave her what she desired. Suddenly forgetting herself, lost in the immediate powerful sensation, Elssbett felt her own body respond with an inner detonation.

She expelled a long, moaning sigh, collapsing against his sweating body, her own sweat and oil melding with his and rendering a slippery layer between them. Her lungs expanded, desperate for air, and released just as fully.

His heart hammered deafeningly in her ear that rested on his heaving chest. "Elssbett," he breathed after a few moments. "You're incredible."

"Rest, husband. You'll need your strength for the next round."

Chapter 8 – Don't Be Late

A few weeks later…

Errin finished polishing the glass on the roughly crafted binoculars. She tested them on the far horizon where the first rays of sunlight peeked above the mountains. It had been another sleepless night, so she had come to work on the instrument, fitting the polished circle perfectly into the telescoping metal housing Rhade had crafted the day before.

Errin reveled in projects that took her mind off the bulging bellies of Freya and Elssbett and the whispered confidences about their mutual husband's virility. Elssbett especially seemed to take pleasure in bragging that she carried twins already kicking and frolicking inside her womb.

Rhade worked with her at the laboratory every day, creating new ways to design more efficient tools from stone, wood, teeth, and bone, as well as engineering new tools out of the materials from their crash site. She entertained herself with the idea that he enjoyed her company as well she did his.

Olma's soft footfalls pattered on the trail just beyond the immediate foliage. Errin looked up from her work as the matriarch entered the clearing carrying a large basket. She smiled at the old one, attempting to hide her disappointment that she wasn't Rhade.

"It's nearly noon, child, and you weren't at breakfast," Olma chimed as she sat the large basket on the work table. "Where's Rhade?"

"I haven't seen him this morning." Errin put her work aside and helped the matriarch spread a cloth and take out bread, a bit of dried meat, a flask, and two wooden cups. Where could he be?

Olma filled a cup with steaming mint tea, "Don't frown so, my quiet one." She handed the fragrant drink to Errin. "Perhaps he's gone to the wreck for more materials."

"He would have told me, Matriarch." Errin broke the small loaf in half and took a bite, chewing absent-mindedly as her mind ran over the places he might be and frightening possibilities.

"Eat. I'll find him. You have much to do here." The matriarch continued to reassure Errin until she finally began to relax. Or perhaps it was the effect of a full stomach that helped eased Errin's mind.

Olma repacked her basket expressing her confidence in Rhade's return in time for the evening meal and for Errin to concern herself only with her work which the pride depended on for their future welfare.

The sun rose high and the air grew hot and humid as the day wore on. Errin's next project of building a large telescope proved to be much more challenging than she had anticipated. She needed Rhade's help.

Discouraged and drowsy, she decided to take a break. She considered checking Rhade's dwelling, but decided against it. Better to stroll down to the brook to dip her feet in the cool, refreshing water and see if the corget berries were ripe yet. She grabbed a basket and an empty flask for collecting water and started down the well-worn trail, enjoying the plumeria-scented air.

It was on days like this, alone with nature, that she appreciated the beauty of this lonely planet. They were lucky no real predators or deadly insects disturbed them here.

Grasses were growing tall near the banks of the wide, gentle stream. Errin slipped off her sandals and slid her toes into the cool water in the shade of a leafy tree. Delightful. She cupped her hands and splashed the back of her neck and face.

The day was too perfect not to take a swim. Errin drew her one-piece dress up over her head and folded it neatly on a stone shelf. She stepped down naturally-formed stone steps into hip-deep water as a tiny frog leaped in out of alarm.

She kneeled on the sandy bottom and dipped her head back to drench her hair. A pair of ducks flew up startling her and she sat up quickly. Reassured, she dipped underwater for a look around.

Errin opened her eyes in the clear, fresh mountain water and watched a school of small fish swim by. A few crustaceans crawled slowly across the bottom.

She came up to take a quick breath, then submerged to follow the first crab. She grabbed it, carefully avoiding its strong pinchers, and cracked its head against a stone. A few more of these would be a nice addition to dinner. She tossed it into her berry basket resting on the stone shelf near her clothes.

She harvested a second, a third, and a fourth. But this time when she reached the bank, there was no basket. Neither were there clothes. She stood, dripping water, and wondering what could have happened.

She heard laughter from behind the tree and Rhade emerged.

"Now this is a lovely picture." He grinned. "Missing something?"

Chapter 9 – The Proposal

Errin place her hands on her hips, not sure whether to smile or throw a rock at Rhade's cocky grin. "Are you so easily amused? Haven't you outgrown such Academy pranks?"

He crossed his arms and leaned on the tree, looking devilishly handsome, and never once taking his eyes off her. He was taking his time in answering.

She grew impatient. "What!? Rhade, I have nothing you haven't seen."

His coffee eyes twinkled. "But I've never seen yours." He moved away from the tree and sauntered towards her. "I suppose all those years I spent with the non-engineered humans and their unnatural shyness about nudity has affected my perception. They're not nearly so nonchalant about it as we are."

He stopped just at the bank. His eyes raked over her as though memorizing every curve. "You are absolutely ravishing."

Errin had no qualms about her appearance, but his intensity made her uneasy. She suddenly felt overly exposed and knelt in the water until it was up to her neck.

She considered hers more of an understated beauty in the simple classic style, unlike Ellsbett's exotic features and Freya's arresting good looks. And her body, unlike theirs, was flawed and imperfect as it would never bring forth a child.

"What's this? You're suddenly shy?" He pulled his shirt off over his head and dropped it on the ground. "I'll remove my clothes then so you won't feel uncomfortable," he teased.

This time it was Errin who enjoyed the view. He was just as beautiful beneath his clothing as she'd imagined. Fine, smooth, skin adorned with dark, curling hair in all the right places, his large-framed musculature flexing as he stepped out of his pants and eased into the water.

"Ah, this is refreshing." He slipped beneath the surface and swam around her. He burst above the water and threw his wet hair back. "Crab season! I love crab. Come on." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward the opposite bank where she'd been collecting them earlier.

It became a competition. Forgetting their cares, they dove and splashed and played like children.

Few of the creatures were left when they both grabbed the same crab and pulled it out the water together.

"It's mine! Number 17!" Errin cried, trying to pull it out of his grip.

Rhade held on and tried prying her fingers off it. "My number 20, you mean," he laughed.

"Ow!" It pinched his hand.

Errin laughed as she claimed the prize, "17!" She bashed it's head and tossed it quickly on the pile, turning at the sound of violent splashing coming toward her.

"I will not be beaten by a mere First Officer!"

Errin dived between his legs before Rhade could catch her, but he was waiting when she came up. "Admiral crab fisher!" she taunted.

He laughed as his hand pressed hard on the top of her head, forcing her beneath the water. She dodged his grab for her foot as she swam away to the opposite bank, Rhade in pursuit.

She clutched a handful of grass on the bank, "Safe zone!"

He laughed, gliding a hand over his face and smoothing back his hair while catching his breath. "All right. You're safe." He sat down in the water laid back his head. "But I win. I caught 20."

A mound of freshly-killed crustaceans lay on the opposite bank; enough for a small feast for their group back at the caves. Orange and pink-tinged clouds followed the setting sun, reminding her of the lateness of the day.

"We should be getting back," Errin said, sitting down to enjoy the now warm-feeling stream for a few last moments. She watched him glide away on his back, the movement of his arms making shallow ripples in the sky-colored water.

"We'll be missed and Olma will worry," she called, at the same time sorry they had to leave this enchanting setting where they could forget about their troubles for awhile.

He stood up out of the water and glided slowly towards her, the stream riding just below his navel. Rivulets ran tiny curved lines over his copper-colored chest and shoulders and down his rippled abdomen.

Then she remembered to breathe.

"Olma knows we're here, Errin."

She tried to practice relaxation breathing techniques as he continued towards her.

"She does?" She glanced around the meadow and into the forest, suddenly fearful Olma and the others might be near, witnessing her vulnerability.

He was nearly within arms length. "I spotted you with the binoculars on your work bench. Then I had a long talk with Olma and told her not to hold supper," he said softly, his words carrying a hint of purpose.

Errin's heart fluttered. She didn't trust herself with him here, like this. She'd be mortified if he discovered how she longed for him. She so envied the others yet held back her emotions for fear of being judged as less worthy. She'd die alone, cold, and loveless before she'd play a poor third to Elssbett and Freya.

"Errin," he stood so close she could feel the heat of his body against the coolness of her bare skin. He took her hands in his. Drago's bones! What was he doing? She prayed he couldn't hear the pounding in her ears.

"Why have you not …." He started. His deep brown eyes focused on hers, seeming to gaze into her very soul, then dropped to her lips, and then to her breasts. Errin held her breath to keep her chest from heaving and wished she could stop her heart from pounding as though it would rip from her chest.

He tried again. "I want you to…." Then he stopped, finishing with a deep sigh.

Surely he hadn't feelings for her, too? It was too much to hope for. She could never compete with Freya and Elssbett to be a complete Nietzschean wife. She suddenly wanted to push him away and run back to her cave. Her eyes stung with hot tears as she turned aside, but he captured her wrists and held them tightly to his own pounding chest.

She cried out, "Rhade, please, I …."

He captured her mouth with his. His hands left her wrists and wound around her waist. Her arms, of their own accord, wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him close. She melted against him, their bodies fitting perfectly together.

Delirious with the taste of his lips, the smell of his warmth, and the strength in his embrace, her self-control evaporated. She had feared this would happen if she ever let him get so close. She knew she'd be defenseless; that her heart would be his to take or break.

He hungrily made love to her mouth. His hands slid down her wet, slippery body, as they stood hip deep in the stream, the water flowing slowly around them and lapping against the banks.

Errin knew there was no stopping now what was to be. She let him carry her heart away.

He kissed her neck and down her shoulder as her fingers slid upward through his soft, wet hair. She pressed her body against his, feeling herself respond instinctively to his every move, her blood pumping and filling sensitive places.

He cupped her breasts tenderly and thumbed their fully-charged tips, igniting the fire inside her. He captured one of them in his mouth as he continued his caresses. She bit her lower lip and tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a moan.

One of his hands slipped lower to the underwater curvature of her body where he pressed gently. At his touch, he gasped her name, and she knew he had found her melting there like a lava flow.

Rhade scooped her up in his strong arms as he stepped up onto the bank and carried her into the high grass where he laid her down gingerly.

Errin smiled, knowing that she wanted everything he had to give. She could see his understanding in his smoldering eyes, and realized everything was about to change.

He moved his body carefully over hers, settling his weight on his arms. She welcomed the feel of him pressing her into the soft grass. His expression seemed so full of wonder and desire, she had to close her eyes to keep from declaring her love out loud. It was one thing to feel it, another to put it into words.

He caressed her long hair as his arms rested along either side of her head. She felt his wide, smooth back, her hands gliding over the firm curve of muscle as he bent to kiss her. Luxuriously deep, exquisitely tender, she let his kisses take her away. Then he paused.

He gazed deeply into her face. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for this?" he breathed, searching her face, his long lashes framing dark, sincere eyes.

"I thought you had everything you wanted, Rhade. As much as can be had in this place. Freya and Elssbett at your beck and call. Alpha and father of your own pride."

"Nobody else… can make me happy." He paused and kissed her deeply. "You're the only one that matters."

She searched his eyes, moving a strand of his hair into place, hardly believing, hardly breathing.

"The first time we met…," he explained, "at the Sinti convention. I overheard you telling the Sabra delegate about Nietzschean evolution…."

Errin chuckled, "She thought I was mad as a hatter."

"Yes, she did," he grinned. "And you weren't deterred. I fell for you that moment, Errin. I'd never heard such wonderful ideas from such a beautiful woman."

She stared, amazed by his admission.

"Then I found out about you and Dylan."

Errin's mind raced backwards in time, trying to make sense of it. She smiled then, "I remember… you kissed my hand. I thought it unusual, but I liked it."

"I've never stopped thinking about you all these years… about another Nietzschean who saw the universe the way I did. You gave me hope."

"You never said anything about this before, Rhade. Why?"

"First, because Dylan loved you. He was my friend and fellow officer. Then there was no opportunity during the war. And when the rescuer brought us all together at the pod… and I saw you had survived…" His voice cracked.

She stroked his hair, feeling her own heart swell with emotion. "But, Rhade… you know I can't give you children."

He sighed and played with an amber lock. "Children are important to the pride… but I need you. I need your companionship, your understanding, your faith that the Nietzschean race is capable of better than what we've been."

He took a deep breath and gazed intently into her eyes. "I believe you're fond of me, Errin, and I think you'll grow to love me in time."

She stroked his bearded jaw line, trying to decide if this was all just a wonderful, unbelievable dream. He felt so real. And she was trying so desperately to believe what she'd convinced herself would never be possible. "I never thought you'd want me," she whispered.

"I never thought you'd make me beg," he teased.

"That makes you truly an evolved Nietzschean," she grinned.

"So… you think less of me now? For groveling for your hand like a smitten school boy?"

"If I did, would I do this?" She pulled him down for another long, delicious kiss. "I choose you, Telemachus Rhade by Lexon out of Genevieve."

Rhade growled and shifted his body slightly. She wasn't sure, but it seemed he trembled for the slightest instant. As he moved, she felt the full measure of his excitement against her thigh. He nuzzled her neck and nibbled her ear and she opened herself to him.

Chapter 10 - Consummation

Her body tingled with anticipation as she raised her hips to capture him. He held back with more control than she herself could muster, just giving her the first taste of what was to come.

She clutched as his back, arching her own, aching for him to enter. He gave her just a little more and then retreated, moaning against her neck. "Rhade!"

Immediately he lunged to fill her with the solid expression of his need. She cried out. He stilled himself for a moment and then began to move inside. She returned his gentle motion. Softly, lovingly, he conveyed to her the intensity of his love radiating in waves of pleasure throughout her body.

He raised his head to look into her eyes as he continued his slow, thorough movement. She gazed back melting in the sincere emotion she saw in those dark depths.

"I love you," he whispered. "I have always loved you."

As he lowered his lips to hers, he rolled her carefully until she was on top of his body, never separating. She planted her knees firmly on either side of him and continued their slow, deep interconnection. Nothing had ever felt so right.

She raised herself up off him, putting her weight on her palms resting on his muscular chest. She watched him watching her and then closed her eyes to lose herself in the pleasuring.

He caressed her hair and slowly ran his hands down her shoulders and on to explore her curves. "You're beautiful," he whispered. His hands clasped her at the waist and he began moving her body faster and raising his hips to the new rhythm.

Primal ecstasy. Riding a wild unicorn in a sensual fairy tale, her mind closed off as her body took over. She rocked him harder, rising and dropping until her thighs were on fire, as though she could never get enough of him, crying out to the first stars in the twilight of dusk.

His movement brought her mind back to the surface as he eased her up by her waist and smoothly moved out from under her, leaving her for the smallest second. There was sudden emptiness inside her body, though his hands reassuringly never left her. "Rhade."

"I'm here," he breathed, moving behind her, and quickly sheathing himself inside her heat.

Filled again, she arched her back and met him blow for blow. Rising once again near the peak of oblivion. Their thrusts and parries were accompanied by cries of pleasure as both of them neared the zenith of existence.

He overwhelmed her. She clutched the grass and earth in her hands even as she clutched him inside, pressing in to feel every measure of him, as he pounded her mind into an eruption of liquid fire. "Rhade!"

He cried out her name with a final convulsive thrust and they both collapsed onto the now flattened grass. Her body throbbed as currents of pleasure rolled over her from head to toe.

He kissed her forehead, her nose, and gently tasted her mouth. "Why did you make me wait so long."

She caressed his back and ran her hands down its arch to the curve of his firm posterior. "They say one should save the best for last."

"Indeed." He smiled. His eyelids half-closed.

"It's going to be dark when we get back." She stroked his shoulders. "What will the others say tomorrow?"

"What others?" He grinned. His expression suddenly changed. "Are you hungry?"

"Ravenous."

"I brought some small loaves.. just in case."

Errin raised up. "You… you planned this!"

"Not exactly." He ran the back of a finger down her arm. "But a High Guard officer is always prepared."

"Oh!" She pushed him away in mock exasperation.

He stood up and pulled her to her feet, drawing her into his arms again for a thorough kiss.

"Now, let me feed my new wife." He stepped over the tall grass to the tree where he had appeared to her earlier and pulled a rough sack from a low branch.

"We'll feast tonight on bread and roasted crab meat," he called to her as she returned to the nearby stream bank to fetch their clothes in the light of the double moons. "And I have a surprise for you."

Errin pulled on her dress and bent to pick up his clothing. "Rhade, how could you possibly surprise me anymore?" she laughed.

He joined her at the bank looking mischievous.

"What's that behind your back?" she asked.

"Kiss me and I'll show you."

She obliged him eagerly, throwing her arms around his bare brawny shoulders as his arm snaked around her waist.

"Are you trying to start something?"

"Maybe" she grinned, pulling out of his embrace.

"I've been saving this for you." He pulled something metallic out of the sack. It was apparently hand-forged, but smooth and lovely, reflecting sparks of moonlight on its highly polished surface. In fact, there were two.

Errin gasped. Two beautiful helix bands.

He slipped the smaller one around her upper arm and extended the other helix to her.

"They're beautiful, Rhade. You made these?" As she clasped the metal around his massive upper arm she tried to remember exactly when they had developed the means to forge metals.

"Remember when I missed the evening meals for a time? Just before the Olma made her pronouncements?"

Errin raised her eyebrows. "Before?"

"Yes. I hoped you'd come to your senses one day."

"You made them… for us?"

"There was never any question, my lady." He gently cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

##########

You

Nobody else could make me happy
No one could hurt me like you do
You were the only one that mattered

Then you were gone...love had moved on
Left me alone thinking of...

You...there was never any other
You...and I were created to be true

Isn’t it love that keeps us breathing
Isn’t it love we’re sent here for
Wasn’t that love that we were feeling
(that was something baby)

Deep in our soul...deeper than we know
Keeping me holding out for

You...there was never any question
You’ll be forever on my mind

You and I, we were meant to be together
True hearts in a world where love is dying

And I might as well have been dying when
We were apart
When you came back I felt the beating of my heart

You...there was never any question
You’ll be forever on my mind
You and I, we were meant to be together
You...and only you

It was you...only you
You...always you.

--Bonnie Raitt

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