Emma's Heart (Brides of Theron 3) (28 page)

“My, you’re an odd looking fellow
.” Soon after she spoke, the animal lost interest in her and climbed back up into the trees.  She watched as he disappeared into the canopy of leaves somewhere above her.

Emma wanted to go explore the other side
of the stream before it got to be too late. She stood up on the rock and was looking for a way that she could cross the stream without having to get wet. Her staying dry next to the stream didn’t last too long. Behind her, she heard the sound of her little creatures running in her direction. She turned just in time to see her rewas heading straight for her at full speed and it looked as if they had no intentions of stopping before they reached her.

“Oh
, hell no,” she shouted to them as them got closer. They ran side by side as if in attack mode and had these huge toothless grins plastered across their faces. “You guys better not…” she didn’t even have time to finish her sentence. The rewas had launched themselves up onto her legs. Her arms pin wheeled backwards as she tried stay on her feet, but it was no use. The momentum of the rewas crashing into her had knocked her off balance. She fell backwards into the ice cold water of the stream. She screamed as she fell into the water that was much deeper than it appeared to be when she was sitting on the rock. When her head went under the surface of the water, she breathed the water up her nose and mouth. The cold water was a bit of a shock to her body, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

She swam to the surface and coughed up the water.  She was
blinded by the water running down her face. She heard the sound of laughter coming from across the stream, as she wiped away the water from her eyes. At first she thought it was her bad pets that were laughing at her, but soon focused her eyes on the figure standing by the edge of the stream.

“I’
ve got to say that was the funniest thing I have seen in a very long time.” Avery was just about doubled over laughing at the scene before her. “I wish I would have had a camera with me. That was priceless.”

“Oh shut up, Avery.” Emma eyed
the three innocent looking faces staring at her from where she had been standing on the rock. She looked back to her friend then busted out laughing. “I cannot believe they just did that to me.”

“You should have seen it from my view.
I would swear that they knew exactly what they were doing. How’s the water?” Avery moved to stand next to the little rewas.

The water was about waist deep on Emma, “It actually feels wond
erful. Why don’t you join me?” She splashed some water at other woman.

“Umm…no thanks,” she shook her head and held out a hand
to help Emma out of the stream. “Actually, I came over to see if you wanted to join me and Gracie.  We’re going to the market in a little bit.”

“How are we going to get there?” Emma replied as she tried to squeeze out as much
water as she could from her clothes.

Avery stepped back onto the grass, “Gracie knows how to drive Zane’s hover vehicle, lucky
dog. Zeb won’t show me yet, because I am pregnant.” She rolled her eyes as she said Zeb’s name. “Sometimes he can be such an overprotective pain in the ass when he wants to be. Would you like to come with us?”

Emma thought
it over carefully before she answered Avery. Brylon had told her he didn’t want her going to the market alone, but would this trip qualify as alone? She smiled and answered, “I’d love to come with you guys. Just let me change out of these wet clothes, and I will meet you in front of your tree!” She laughed, realizing that she called Avery’s house a tree.

“Great! You are
going to love Gracie. She’s so much fun.” The two women walked back towards the houses while Emma’s rewas followed along behind them, still rough housing.

****

An hour later the three women were on their way down the road to the market. The weather was perfect. Zane’s hover vehicle had a removable top that folded back and into the sides of the craft. It was like being a teenager in a great looking convertible car heading to the mall.

The three women hit it off immediately. Emma insta
ntly took to Gracie who had found out recently that she was pregnant with twins. The ride to the market was filled with girl talk about each of their mates, and how each one acted towards them. By the time they reached the market, they had come to the conclusion that all three men were very protective, but Brylon’s protectiveness was a bit more extreme than Zeb or Zane.

Emma vented to them about what happened when her and Brylon argued the
other night. She explained how his sudden change in behavior had taken her off guard and royally pissed her off. She could understand his wanting to protect her, but forbidding her to leave their house, that wasn’t going to happen. Even Avery and Gracie had agreed with her on that point. Even Zeb and Zane had not gone to such extremes to keep them locked up like prisoners. Emma was just trying to understand what caused Brylon’s sudden change in behavior when she mentioned a trip to the market with Avery.

When
Brylon had attempted to speak with her the morning after their argument, she wouldn’t hear it. Every time he tried to get close to her, she would turn and walk away, sometimes leaving the room altogether. After several minutes of playing cat and mouse with her, Brylon gave up and left the house and didn’t return until much later that night. When he got home, she was already in bed pretending to be asleep.  She lingered in bed until long after he had left again this morning, so that she wouldn’t have to talk to him. She decided that she wasn’t going to think about him anymore for the time being, and just enjoy the time she would have with her new friends.

“Here we are ladies!” Gracie said as she parked the vehicle.
“I am so excited about coming here. Zane hasn’t had the time to bring me with his work at the hospital keeping him away so much, and this is my first time here. The council meetings and working on the policy changes for future missions to obtain mates, has been so time consuming.” Gracie chatted excitedly as she got out of the vehicle. “Come on ladies, let’s go spend some money!” They all giggled as they walked in the direction of the colorful tents under the canopy of the enormous trees.

The market wasn’t as bu
sy as it had been the other day when Emma had come with Brylon. So, this gave the trio more access to the items that were for sale. Emma laughed as she watched Gracie bounce from one booth to another on a quest to find what she wanted. Her friends reminded Emma of children in a candy shop. It took both Avery and Emma over an hour to get Gracie out of a booth that sold dresses in every color imaginable. Avery and Emma had each left with two dresses, while Gracie couldn’t make up her mind and bought all the ones that she liked. The best part of shopping in the market was that they did not need money.  All they had to do was tell the vendor who to charge the purchase to, and off they went on to the next booth.

In between booths, the woman chatted
as if they had been friends forever. Even though Gracie and Avery had been friends for much longer, they readily accepted Emma into the fold and asked her many questions about her former life back on Earth. They each realized that all of them all had little or no family when they were abducted. Gracie had told Emma all about the trust that her and Zane had set up back on Earth, giving her many more details about it than she had in the meeting a few weeks back.

“I am
starving!” Gracie said as she looked around. “I am definitely going to pass out if I don’t get something to eat very soon! These little buggers keep me hungry all the time.” She patted her stomach as she referred to her babies that were growing inside of her.

“The food center is over t
his way,” Emma said as she led the way.

The food pavilion was a bit more crowded than the market stalls, but it still was nothing like the last time she was here
. “There are all kinds of food here. I know what I am going to get.” Emma headed straight for the booth her and Brylon went to the other day. The other two followed her to see what she was going to order.

Avery said,
“Oh my God, that looks so good. What is it?”

Emma looked to
the side with her lips pressed tight together as she tried to remember the name of the food, “Crap, I don’t remember what it is called, but it tastes like vegetarian pizza. I ate two pieces last time I was here, and that’s what I am going to order this time.” Emma laughed at the looks on her friends faces. “What? I’m telling you, it’s so good. Why don’t you try it?”

“Ok you co
nvinced me. Two pieces here, please.” Gracie motioned to the female vendor. “What about you Avery?”

“I guess I will get the same,
” Avery said as she shrugged her shoulders.

Once they had their food
served to them on a tray, they went to sit at a table that was underneath one of large the branches that hung down low over the center of the food pavilion. The area around them was virtually empty, which actually made the trio feel a bit more secure.  Some of the individuals that they had encountered in the market they weren’t exactly sure about. It wasn’t that they suspected that anyone would harm them, it was just weird seeing different alien species that were so different. Some of them were unusual colors, and some had numerous extra limbs, or other odd body features. The many different life forms that resided on Theron would definitely take some getting used to.

“So, when are your babies
due?” Emma asked right before she took a bit of her food.

“Avery swallowed the food in her mouth
before replying, “Well, this is going to sound strange, but Zane really isn’t sure.”

“What?”

Avery smiled, “Zane isn’t sure because this is the first time that they have mated with a different race. Zane said that Theron women carry their babies for about 7 ½ months, which is about six weeks shorter we do. So, basically I am Zane’s guinea pig. The baby can come anywhere in between 7 ½ to 9 months.”

“
I am kind of glad that you are going to be delivering first Avery. At least I will know when to expect my babies,” Gracie mumbled around her mouthful of food. “Emma, you were so right about this stuff. It’s really good!”

The rest of the day passed too quickly for Emma.
After they finished their meal, they returned to the shops.  Before she knew it, the light in the sky was starting to fade, and several booths were starting to close up for the day.  It was then when they realized it was getting really late. Not that it mattered to Avery and Gracie. Their mates knew that they had gone out to the market for the day, but Brylon, on the other hand, did not. Emma had no doubt that he would be mad if he made it home before she did and found that she was nowhere to be seen.

With their p
ackages in hand, the group of women left the market in good spirits. Emma had had the time of her life and didn’t want the day to end. It was amazing that she could feel so comfortable talking to these women.  They had talked about so much and for so long that her jaw was starting to ache from talking and laughing all day. They accepted her as a friend and Emma felt great about that.  The time she spent with them today would be worth the scolding she was sure to receive from Brylon as soon she got home. The drive back was no different than the ride there. The night sky of Theron was beautiful with its two moons that shined so brightly in the sky. The cooler night air held a bit of a chill, so they had driven back home with the top up.

Gracie pulled the vehicle to a stop in front of Emma’s house. Avery a
nd Emma both got out and sorted through the packages that were thrown in the back seat to what they bought. They were in the process of telling each other goodbye, when the door to Emma’s house flew open and Brylon came storming out.  He was clearly angry with her. The women became immediately silent as the huge warriors walked furiously up to where Emma stood.

“Where the hell have yo
u been?” Brylon shouted.

Emma couldn’t hide the fact that she was scared.  No matter what the punishment would be, she knew that today’s trip to the market was worth it.  This was the first time in her life that she ever experienced the camaraderie of girl friends like Avery and Grac
ie.

Carel called for Zirlo. “Zirlo, get your ass over here!” Carel had to keep up the pretense of being in charge of the prisoners, not working with them.

Zirlo had been working on another
line of gold that had been found in the rock that morning. He looked up when he heard his name being called, startled that he had been caught trying to put some of the small flakes of the precious metal into his sleeve. He stopped what he was doing and left Lars to gather up the few flakes that had fallen to the dirt floor.

When Zirlo approached Carel
, he could tell that the man was up to something. “What is it, Carel? Can’t you see we are working?”

“We are going to dump the car
t, now. Get your men.” Carel turned to walk off, but was halted when Zirlo questioned him.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit early for that?”