Passionate Desire (14 page)

“You are phenomenal.” He kissed her forehead.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because no one has ever had me forget about everything but us before.” He braced himself on his elbows so she wouldn’t take all of his weight. “Each time, I can only think of what you do to me when we’re joined so intimately. I have never lost my focus before, not like I do with you.”

****

The ships set down in the compound. Storm did his post flight shutdown before he opened the door for them to exit. “Welcome to Vespia, Doctor.”

Storm was the first to exit the ship, then his mate, followed by his sister with Kuarto bringing up the rear. Kuarto couldn’t help but notice that Storm going first was unusual for most leaders. They would be one of the last ones out, but Storm was protecting them. If anything were to go wrong they would still be safe inside the ship.

A small group of people greeted Storm and Heather as they disembarked. Toki walked past them and headed to a different group of people. She bowed before stepping up to one of the women there and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Mother.”

“Good to see you healthy.” She touched her cheek. “We were all worried when we lost touch with you.”

“Storm came to the rescue as usual.”

“That is your brother.” She wrapped an arm around her waist. “And who is this?”

“This is Heather’s brother. He has been going by the name of Kuarto.” She gestured for him to step up. “Kuarto, this is the leader of our ruling council and my mother.”

“Ma’am.” These people didn’t seem to use their birth names at all. If it wasn’t for Heather he wouldn’t know anyone’s name.

“So formal, just like his sister.” She smiled at him. “Most call me Anseri. Heather taught me that most off worlders like to call people by name.”

Heather and Storm approached them. Both bowed before Heather stepped up, took her hands and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Storm did the same thing.

“You look radiant, my dear.”

“Thank you.” Heather smiled at Storm as she gave him a quick hug. “Must be all the tender care he gives me.”

“I was going to say your pregnancy seems to agree with you, but if giving your mate credit for your glow is what you want to do then I won’t stop you.”

“I think it’s a combination.” She looked at Kuarto. “You ready?”

“For what?”

“To meet our parents.” She took his hand and guided him over to another couple who came with Anseri. “They are here and I’m sure they want to see you.”

“Kuarto, this is Streya and his mate.” She bowed to them, showing them the respect of their positions.

“You never learned her name, did you?” He said it so softly no one else would be able to hear him.

Heather shook her head. “It’s pretty bad, isn’t it?”

He greeted his parents, which felt weird since he didn’t even know them. These total strangers were the ones who gave him life, yet as he studied them he didn’t see any family resemblance, which he found odd. Habit had him hitting his scanner which sat in his pocket. If they were his parents he needed to prove it to himself.

Heather bowed to them once again as she led him back to Toki and Storm. “You can spend more time with them later if you wish, but we need to get back to our group so we can let these people get back to work.”

“What do you mean?”

“As long as the ruling council is visible, the people working here show respect by standing and waiting, and whether you believe it or not, you are part of that council as the son of two of the members.” Heather joined Storm and took his hand. She looked to her brother to make sure he followed procedure as he joined Toki. She was the minister of protocol for the planet and had taught Heather everything she knew. Heather knew she would keep him in line.

Storm guided her to the waiting vehicle. Once everyone was aboard, he maneuvered it out of the landing area and headed to the main plaza. It didn’t take long to arrive and touch down near a large white building.

Heather took Toki aside. “I can assign him a suite if you need me to.”

“No secrets, huh?”

“I had none with you people.”

“True.” She looked at Kuarto. “I don’t know what he wants, yet. Perhaps have rooms ready for him, just in case?”

Heather nodded. She spoke softly to one of the workers at the main building where the family lived. They would take care of anything he needed.

Storm stepped to her side. “Ready to go to our rooms?”

“Yes.” She smiled up at him. “I’m feeling kind of tired right now.”

“You okay? You had plenty of rest on the ship.”

“I know.” She felt her legs give way. Suddenly she found herself surrounded. “I’m okay, just a little weak.”

“Let me be the judge of that.” Kuarto used his scanner. Checking her readings, he found most of it was just a mineral deficiency. He set up his hypo and gave her a quick shot. “That should help but we need to get you through a full physical. You’re the first non-Vespian to carry one of their children, I’m sure there are a few extra drains on your system that no one has expected.”

“Non-Vespian?” asked Storm’s mom.

“It’s a long story and I will fill you in on everything we have learned, Mother.” Storm glared at Kuarto for making the comment but Heather noticed he hadn’t said a word about what he had learned about her so he had protected her. They all were bound to slip up from time to time.

“We have a full medical facility in the main building. Why don’t we go there first so my son can explain things while you give Heather that checkup.” Storm’s mom led the group to the building and the medical center.

“It could wait until the morning.” Heather had hoped to make light of her small mishap. It probably wasn’t anything big.

“We’re here.” Anseri pointed to the med area.

Heather nodded. She knew better than to fight with the woman.

Kuarto checked out the medical area. It was state of the art. Heather thought he’d be a happy man. It didn’t seem to impress him though. He took his palm sized scanner and placed it next to one of the terminals. Within seconds she saw readings, her readings, on the screen.

“Neat little toy there.” Storm watched her information fill the screen. It showed everything about her pregnancy. “Can you program it to show whatever you want?”

“Yes.” He studied the information he brought up on the screen. Storm stood nearby with a frown on his face. Heather feared the two of them would be at each other again.

“Heather, how long did you say you’d be pregnant?”

“Um, I was told eighteen months was the normal timeline for Vespians.” She found it an odd question.

“I see.” He continued to go through the information. “Is there a way for me access information on some of your history?” He looked at Storm when he asked that question.

“Yes. Why?” Storm seemed suspicious as well.

“Need to see what I can learn about your race. That’s all.”

What wasn’t he telling everyone?

Storm walked to the terminal and pressed a few buttons. “What are you looking for?”

“Information on your race’s pregnancy.” A look passed between them which made Heather nervous. They were actually working together.

“Anseri, I think we all need to let Kuarto do his job. Perhaps I could rest in our rooms?”

“Of course, my dear.” She guided Heather and her daughter out of the center.

Toki leaned into Heather as they headed down the hallway to their rooms. “What was that all about?”

“I’m afraid to guess.”

****

Storm wasn’t sure what Kuarto was up to, but he had made sure no one knew about Heather’s heavy dose of ancient blood and Storm was grateful. He wasn’t sure what Kuarto was after, but he planned on finding out as soon as he felt it was safe.

“So why the files?”

“Eighteen months doesn’t seem to be the right timeline for Heather’s pregnancy. I’m trying to figure out what is going on.”

“So what do you think the timeline should be?”

“Not sure.” He skipped through most of the information Storm brought up. “It could be her body’s way of protecting itself, but I won’t be sure until I do some more research.”

“I’d rather you not go through this here.”

Kuarto looked up at Storm. “Right.” He loaded everything onto his scanner and turned to face him. “Then take me to a secure system so I can do my job.”

Storm started walking and Kuarto had to grin. This man just expected him to follow. He shook his head as he did follow. They walked through a large outdoor center before they headed to the tallest building in the area. They entered the building and walked toward the right. It didn’t take long before he found himself in the middle of a science area where he could do all the research he wanted without anyone interrupting.

“Now I need you to explain yourself.”

“Really don’t have a lot of information. Heather’s DNA is more of this blood line than Vespian. If I knew what race it is from I would be able to see how quickly she’ll give birth.”

“What do you mean?”

“Right now her readings are showing a shorter gestational period.”

“How short?”

“That’s part of the problem. One time I look at her readings and it looks like it will happen in a few months, then the next time it looks like it will be a normal Vespian pregnancy. I think her body is still protecting itself, but if it is doing that then I need to have all the info I can because I won’t be caught unawares when she suddenly goes into labor.”

Storm stepped up to the terminal and pressed a few keys. “This is all of our standard medical information.” He pointed to the data Kuarto already had. “This is some of the odd things that happened along the way.” He released a different file so he could view it. “And this is all we have on the ancients. This is the race where Heather’s DNA comes from. They are a race that came to this planet thousands of years ago. We don’t know much about them, but I have freed all the data we do have. Kuarto, this info doesn’t leave this terminal.” He brought up a third file then stepped back.

“What is this language?”

“Ancient. Whatever is in the language is something we haven’t been able to translate yet.” Storm just stood there looking at him.

“And how am I supposed to read it then?”

“You have three choices. One, try yourself. Your family has always had the ability to either read, write or speak the language. You should have one of those talents. Two, you could go to your parents, I believe your mother can read it. Three, Heather. She can do all three.”

“Anyone else have that talent?”

“Only my mate.” There was something in the sound of his voice.

“You love her very much, don’t you?”

“She is my heart.” Such a simple statement spoke volumes for the Vespian in front of him.

Kuarto knew his sister felt the same about him. When you watched them together they were always in close physical contact. He guessed he was starting to warm up to the man some.

“What can you tell me about Al?”

“Not a whole lot. Heather and I were forced together from the moment we met. Someone was trying to assassinate her. There were several attempts on her life before she was kidnapped. We never knew who was doing it. When she was kidnapped was when we first learned about Al. I saw him in the dream world he had created for her, trying to be a love interest. But in the end she saw through all of that.” Storm paused for a moment. “I wasn’t sure if Ialog was his real name, or the face I saw was his real face until we saw him at your place.”

“Heather said something about him not wanting her but her child all along.”

“That was what he told her. How he knew she would be pregnant by the time he kidnapped her baffles me.”

“So you don’t believe that either.”

“No.”

****

Heather stretched and sat up. The nap helped but she wondered where Storm was. When they weren’t working he normally was by her side.

Her mind reached out to check on her children. That had become a habit pretty quickly. They couldn’t string thoughts together yet but she let them know she was here and loved them.

Since she did have time to herself, she went to the computer terminal and pulled up some of the files she had marked to read about the ancients. Now that she knew she had so much of their blood in her she felt she needed to know more about them. Most of the files were just about the people, great stories that would inspire anyone but every once in a while she found a file that was a little different. Sometimes it would have technical information or the way one of their rituals were performed.

She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but she felt driven to continue to look. Storm had set up several alerts to let them know if anyone tried to access some of these more obscure files and she saw them flashing on the screen. At least she knew where he was now. Storm was with her brother, probably driving him crazy.

Since she knew her brother would be looking for the same files she would be, Heather set the system to highlight any file he opened for longer than a few moments that she hadn’t already looked at. Next she programmed the computer to look for anything on ancient pregnancies. Since the ancient language was something the computer didn’t know she also asked it to pull up anything that hadn’t been translated yet for her. She’d get to reading them sooner or later anyway.

After she loaded several files onto her handheld she settled on the couch and started to read. The stories were always entertaining. She loved reading about the people and the way they saw their world. In one of the stories, she found the writer speaking of a massive compound where the ancients would gather. According to what she read, they said the compound was somewhere near the elders hall. So how come no one had ever mentioned it before?

She sensed her mate coming. He must have felt it when she woke up.

He came in the door and looked around. “Heather?”

She lifted a hand and waved at him. He came around the edge of the couch and kneeled on the floor.

“You hiding from me?” He braced his arms on either side of her.

“Is that possible?” She smiled at him. “You have this uncanny knack of finding me no matter where I am.”