Emma's Heart (Brides of Theron 3) (18 page)

Eyes t
raveling further down his body, she noticed that he had six-pack abs. Even in sleep she could see the sinewy muscles of his chest working as he breathed in and out. His body hair started to thicken right below his belly button and soon was concealed beneath the high thread count material of the sheet. One of his muscular legs was uncovered and bent at the knee atop the sheet. He was lean and there was not an inch of fat to be found anywhere on his body.

Her eyes
returned to study his face, and her heart jumped when she realized that he was watching her. He must have awoken during her covert examination of his body and caught her red handed. She became very nervous when he gave her a knowing glance, and without realizing it, she drew in her bottom lip and started to chew on it. She quickly turned her eyes to examine at her fingers which were picking absentmindedly at the sheet.

“Good morning, my sweet. How are you this morning?” He rolled to his side
propping his jaw on his fist as he looked at her.

Emma glanced out
from the side of her eyes, and then turned her head absentmindedly in his direction and said, “I am okay, I guess.”

Brylon sat up in the bed and reached out to tenderly touch her cheek with his fingers. She looked away from him shyly, and his heart began to swell at the sight of the woman sitting in his bed, in his home, on his planet. Two years ago, he never would have thought that he would have a mate to share his life and home with. When the mother ship had first started out on the mission of obtaining mates, their hopes had been high that they would be able to find compatible mates rather quickly. But, as the months ticked by, then a year, and then two years, their hopes were slowly diminishing, along with the fate of their race.

Now, here in his bed sat the most beautif
ul creature that he had ever set eyes on. The best part of it all was that she was completely his. He had found his mate and he would do everything in his power to provide for her and protect her. He would never allow anyone to take her away from him. He just needed to be able to breach the wall that she had so solidly constructed around herself. He was determined to find out what had happened to her that caused her not to trust him, and he wanted to find out the entire story behind her reaction last night.

“
Are you upset because of what happened last night, my love?” He was still caressing her cheek and looking into her eyes. He watched as her eyes started to well up with tears as she looked at the ceiling to abate them.  She didn’t speak. All she could manage was a nod of her head.

“Would
you like to talk about it?”

Shaking her head
with a bit more force, she whispered, “No.”

“
I want you to know that whenever you are ready to talk about it, I am here for you,” he whispered back to her then changed the subject, “What would you like to do today?” He lay back on the bed as he propped himself up on his elbow. “Would you like to go to the market?”

“Y
ou have a market here?” She answered back.

He laughed when she gave him
a look of disbelief, “Of course. We have everything that any normal city would have except that it just happens to be in the forest. The market provides us access to goods that we get from other worlds through trading as well as things we manufacture on the planet.” He sat up then slid out of the bed forgetting that he had slept completely naked.

Emma watched as Brylon stood up out of the bed in his naked as the day he was born. He was facing away from her as he stretched his arms to the ceiling as high as he could.  This caused the muscles in ass to tighten and clench. She swallowed hard as she eyed his anatomy. She couldn’t turn her eyes away him as he stood, a perfect specimen of the male body, before her. He bent his arms at the elbows, and then brought them down to press on the small of his back as he stretched out his chest. When the well-developed muscles in his back rippled and bunched together, she swallowed hard again. She was starting to feel the ache deep within her core, the embers of the fire that were starting to consume her, all because of the man standing directly in front of her.

She was still staring at his body
, when he suddenly jerked around and caught her in the act of studying every aspect of his body. She felt the flush of heat rise to her face then spread over the rest of her body. She looked away when she knew that she was caught, but not before he gave her the biggest smile she had ever seen cross his face.

“Well, come on sleepy head. Let’s go to the market and see what we can find. Maybe we can even find Nana a friend
.” He walked into the bathroom chatting with her as if nothing had happened.

She jumped out the bed and ran after him, “Really! The market sells rewas?
I think that Nana would love to have a friend to play with!”

“Then let’s get a move on. While we are there, we can grab something to eat at the market. Would you like to take your
shower first?” He stepped into the shower and waved his hand in front of a black panel. Instantaneously water began to fall from the shower head above. “Would you care to join me, little one?” He teased her. 

She could feel the flush of heat overtake her body again and said quickly,
“Umm… I think I will wait until you are finished,” as she backed out of the bathroom and sat on the bed to wait for her turn. She was mortified that she had chased after him in his naked state without a second thought. What the hell came over her? No one had ever had this effect on her. This was an entirely new territory for her. Even though her body was screaming out for her to take him, would she ever be able to let this warrior have access to her heart? She kept it locked securely for a reason.  Would he prove worthy enough to let him in?

Minutes later Brylon was o
ut of the shower and Emma made her way in, closing and locking the bathroom door behind her. It didn’t take long for her to shower and dress in a pair of tight jeans and a lavender V-neck t-shirt. She put on her socks and tennis shoes, and then exited the bathroom. Brylon was sitting on the bed, dressed and waiting for her as she came out brushing her long wet hair that was hanging over her shoulder.

“Ready to go?
” He stood and walked up to her.

She tilted her head back to look up at his face, “I sure am
. I hope you have plenty of money to spend.” She smiled with a twinkle in her eyes as she led the way out of the bedroom.

The ride to the market took only about fifteen minutes, but the time seemed to pass by in an instant. As they drove out to the market she was like a child in a candy shop. Every little thing she saw before her was a new and awesome experience. What she saw here couldn’t be compared to anything that she would have seen on Earth. The trees were the size of skyscrapers, flowers the size of hub caps, and strange animals were jumping through the canopy of leaves and would gaze down upon them as Bryon drove by. Theron was a mesmerizing world that, until now, she would have never dreamed possible.  She wouldn’t have ever believed that a place like this was possible, if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

The vehicle p
assed through a tunnel of vines and under branches that blocked the light from the sun, to emerge in a very busy market area. Several vehicles were parked off to the side of the gravel road, along with a strange looking thing that resembled a bicycle. Emma couldn’t contain her of excitement.  She was about ready to jump out of the vehicle and start exploring on her own.

Brylon watched Emma as she became so excited that he thought that maybe she would actually attempt to jump out from the moving vehicle. Maybe, today would be a really good day for her. Maybe, he would be able to finally gain her to trust. The events of last night haunted him, although he didn’t make that known to her. He knew that he had screwed up royally last night, and he intended to make it up to her today.

Parking
the vehicle in the first available spot he saw, he watched as Emma jumped out of the craft and ran over to the opposite side of the car to hurry him along.

“Hurry up Brylon!” She was tugging on his hands and pulling him in the direction of the vendors that were set up in tents
of varying colors stretched as far as the eye could see. It resembled a bazaar of some sort, but never the less, it was still impressive.

She was still
holding his hand as they walked together to the first of the open tents that sold many different clothing items. Emma reached out her hand to touch the material that was laid out for display on several of the tables in a variety of different colors. She picked up a beautiful blue long item that was made of a material that had swirly designs embroidered on it with gold thread. Her guess was that it was a scarf, but she wasn’t positive.

“Wha
t’s this?” She had let go of Brylon’s hand in order to see the full length of the material.

“These are
a kind of scarf that is used to wrap the head. They are commonly used by people that live in the forest and other areas of Theron.  It can be quite helpful in protecting the head from various weather conditions.” The vendor to the tent had walked up and was eyeing Emma with obvious interest.

“Ah…Brylon, it is so good to see you again
, my friend! It has been way to long since you have been here last. Please introduce me to this lovely creature who is standing in my tent? Is she what I hope she is?” The vendor looked to Brylon with hope filled eyes.

“Nator,
it’s good to see you. I would like you to meet my mate, Emma.” He motioned to her while she continued to gaze at the gauzy metallic material in her hand. “Emma, my love, I would like you to meet Nator.”

Emma began to move
closer to the opposite table, putting more distance between her and Nator.  She looked a bit uncomfortable at the prospect of meeting a different kind of alien.  Her excitement rapidly changed to awkwardness as she said, “Hi…umm… it’s nice to meet you,” with an expressionless face.

“Nator, Emma
is from a planet called Earth. Several of our warriors have found mates on the planet Earth and have brought them here to Theron.”

Nator, who was a
Pernmock, listened carefully Brylon as he spoke. Several thousand Pernmocks lived permanently on Theron where they traded and sold their goods to those who lived on Theron. Nator, who had come to Theron about four years ago, was well under the average nine foot stature of a typical member of the Pernmock race.  Because of his height and weakness, he was ineligible to enlist as a soldier. At only six feet tall he was considered to be puny, even though the muscles that surrounded his arms would say otherwise. But, in all other aspects he looked exactly like a Pernmock: razor sharp canine teeth, pale green skin, four eyes, and four arms.

“I am so pleased to meet you, mate of Brylon. Is this your first trip to the market?” The four eyes, the color of wheat, blinked in unison.

“Yes it is,” she replied as she stared at the creature talking to her, “I don’t want to seem rude, but may I ask you a question, Nator?” She didn’t take her eyes off him.

Nator bowed as he said, “Ask me anything you would like my dear.”
His canine teeth showed perfectly white and straight as he gave her a huge smile.

“What are you?” Her head tilted to the side.

The Pernmock laughed along with Brylon before he answered her question, “I am a Pernmock. Have you not ever seen another race that is different from yours?”

“Umm… no, not exactly, t
he Therons are the first aliens… well, first different race that I had ever seen until I arrived here.  I saw one of your kind at the shuttle depot when I arrived on the planet’s surface, but I did not get the chance to ask Brylon about it.  You see, all the people on my planet are human, though we do come in different shapes, sizes and colors. Where do you come from?”

“I come from Pernmock of course! Just like you come from Earth and Brylon comes from Theron.”
Nator seemed to be pleased to have Emma’s attention

Suddenly Emma gave the Pernmock a friendly smile, “I like you Nator.
I guess I can call you my first friend here on Theron.”

“I am honored to be called your friend, little Earth female. If you ever need anything please do not hesitate to call on me.”

Brylon didn’t know if it was possible with a Pernmock, but Nator actually appeared to be blushing at Emma’s words. His little mate was going to win over a lot of hearts today in the market.

“Would you like one of the head dressings?” Brylon asked.

Emma realized she was still holding the scarf in her hands, “Oh yes, I would love to have one of these. They are so beautiful and the needle work in the gold thread is incredible.” Her fingers played with the golden design as she spoke.

“Oh my dear
, that is not gold thread, but gold filament.” Nator corrected her.

She looked first to Nator then to Brylon then to the material lying in her hands, “You mean this is real gold?” She pointed to what she
must have thought had been thread.