Destiny Found (Epsilon Chronicles Book 1) Page 14

  Harken nodded his head in agreement.

  “I actually spoke to a professor of linguistics at one of the institutes we endowed, and he did a thesis on the evolving language of the famed Earth. His thoughts were that your language is much more informal one, and therefore is subject to changes. Like changes in time or circumstance. He gave me an example, which I will give you now. In Tarlon, we don’t use contractions, because there is no equivalent in our language, which had already been established for many centuries before that fated team found Earth. Therefore, unlike English, our language will not, and cannot, change. But since Earth was young and had much left to discover, he thinks it’s more pliable. I hope that makes sense, though I myself was confused when he first talked about that.”

  Natalie frowned, able to follow some of the logic while other pieces escaped her.

  “I guess that kind of makes sense.”

  She didn’t dwell too much on that though, she just tried to accept it and move on, though she did share some of Earth’s history with them and they were equally surprised at how both their planets had gone through similar experiences.

  They came home each night and had dinner with Taavi and Tali, spent time playing Crazy Eights – she taught them and they enjoyed it immensely – and went to bed.

  Bedtime was Natalie’s favourite time; Taavi and her cuddled and kissed, a couple of times it got a little too hot and heavy and they had to stop. After the ‘I love you’s’, Natalie had been ready to give Taavi everything, but he insisted they wait until his parents left before they finally ‘made love’.

  Natalie loved when he called it that – he said it was a sign of his love and devotion – and when they finally had sex, it would be more than that; their souls would connect and they would be one.

  Sigh.

  That only left telling him she was a virgin…

  Oh well, that could wait.

  They were having dinner with Ty tonight in the apartment, before Ginny and Harken went home tomorrow. Natalie hadn’t seen Ty since the council meeting, so it would be nice to get to know someone Taavi considered a brother.

  Lity had just gotten there with the trays of food and drinks when Ty showed up.

  “Ginny, Harken!” They walked to the door; hugging the man they considered a son. “I’ve missed you! It’s been too long. Tal, Taav,” he said, kissing Tali’s cheek and patting Taavi on the shoulder. He looked at Natalie and smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you, without the fanfare. I didn’t get a chance to say how happy I am for you. Obviously, it was terrible how you came to be here, but it’s great for Tarlon and Taavi. And don’t worry, the Nezleans should be finished soon, meaning we will be able to get into the wormhole that much quicker.”

  He nodded to Lity as she passed and made her way out of the door.

  They all sat around the table, which was set up with the food in the center; a salad, some potato tasting dish, and meat that tasted like chicken. In the kitchen were some pastries, and Ty’s favourite – a chocolate cake.

  The conversation basically revolved around Tali, Taavi, and Ty’s childhood, intermixed with stories from Harken about Ty’s father.

  All in all, Natalie got to see a relaxed king, because no one stood on ceremony.

  They laughed, teased, and had a great time.

  The only tense time was when talk turned to the Nezleans and a group of Tarlon purists who wanted Ty gone.

  Ginny and Harken were worried, asking if he needed them to stay with him, or hire him some bodyguards. Ty laughed, but declined, said everything was going to be fine, and left it at that.

  But Natalie wondered if it was more out of worry from them, because Taavi told her all about the increasing amount of people supporting whoever was behind this purist movement.

  It got late and Ginny and Harken went to bed, having a busy travel day planned for tomorrow. Ty stayed for a few hours – just talking – when Tali made an offhand comment about kicking purist ass. Ty and Taavi both had extreme reactions to that.

  “Don’t talk like that, Tali. We don’t know who is in it or who is responsible. We can only speculate.”

  Tali scoffed. “It’s not like they would go after me or anything. Plus if they did, they would have to answer to you and Taavi, and I doubt they would want to.”

  Ty sighed. “What I’m about to say stays in this room and is not spread around. You got that, Tali?”

  “Hey, I can keep a secret.”

  “You better. So, according to one of my intelligence agents, there were murmurings a few weeks ago about how we should either kill Natalie, shut the wormhole, or share her to see if she would bond with others. Now,” he shot Taavi a glance when he growled, “the murmurings about sharing her have stopped, but new ones have risen for me to be dethroned. I’ve had more death threats than ever before, and yes, that would include hurting you, Tali. They call themselves the Pure Ones, but we all know that’s crap from a power hungry man. We don’t know who all has human blood in their lineage, so even them thinking they are pure is stupid. Your brother and the Admiral have already doubled my guard, so don’t worry about me.”

  Natalie whistled. “Wow. This is like a drama/mystery/suspense novel. I wonder why they’re like that. It can’t just be because you are thinking about an alliance with Earth and you’re letting me stay. Could this just be an opportunity to try and wrestle control from you by playing on fears and unrealistic expectations?”

  “That’s exactly what it is, Natalie. And until we can figure out who is behind it – and who supports it – we’re in the dark with no direction. So, in the meantime, just be safe. Make sure you’re always aware of what and who is around you.”

  They talked a bit more about the threats, trying to reason out who it could be, when the subject of training came up.

  “Ty, you really should start training again. I know you’re busy, but it would help alleviate the stress those loyal to you would feel if we knew you could protect yourself.” Taavi looked at Ty in concern, staring into Ty’s angry face. “I know you’ve already said you would, but that was weeks ago.”

  Tali butted in, “Oh, that sounds like fun! You could help Ty with his rusty skills,” she winked at Ty, “and you could teach Natalie and I. I’ve been meaning to get back to it. That way I can kick Jarrod’s butt again.”

  “Tal, that’s actually a really good idea. Why didn’t I think of that? That would definitely work. What do you say, Ty, Nat?

  “Of course, I’m in. All those sweaty men, punching and kicking each other, possibly shirtless? I’m there.” Natalie laughed when Taavi growled. “You know I only have eyes for you.”

  “You better,” he grumped, giving a slight smile.

  “You two. Quit being so cute. You’re making the rest of us jealous,” Ty said playfully, but the dull look in his eyes made the joke fall flat. Ty rubbed his face, sighing. “Okay, I’ll do it. We start tomorrow.”

  He got off the couch, made his goodbye rounds, and left.

  “I am so excited. And I have the perfect outfit, too. Good night you two.”

  Tali loped off to her room.

  “Well, I guess we should get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to be hard enough saying goodbye to your parents. Now we’re adding exercise. I’ll be dead, I tell you.”

  “Don’t worry, alaila, I won’t let the boys go too hard on you. You’ll be fine. A little sore afterward, but fine.”

  That was, unfortunately, a perfect prediction.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Duck!”

  The call came a little too late and Natalie felt Tali’s fist slam into the side of her padded head and her body falling to the floor.

  Holy crap that hurt, Natalie thought, seeing stars.

  Tali had gotten the jump on her again. Natalie never realized how competitive she was, but Tali was kicking her ass and she didn’t like it. Not one little bit.

  “Natalie, get off your ass and move it!” Andris barked. “Do you know what could happen if your opponent
got you on the ground? They would have pinned you by now. That means they could have their way with you or kill you, whatever they wanted.”

  As he shook his head and moved away, Tali grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

  “You do suck, but then again, so do I. The only reason I can kick your butt is because for about a cycle when I was fifteen I trained with the boys. I was a badass back then.” She chuckled, “Now we just have to get better and show these men what we women can do.”

  Natalie rolled her eyes. “We can already birth babies. How much more impressive can we get?”

  They made eye contact and started to giggle. They were still giggling when the men, minus Taavi, came back to them.

  “What are you giggling about? The fact that both of you could easily be killed?”

  Clearly Andris was just a bowl full of sunshine today.

  “No, Mr. Grumpy, we were laughing about… women stuff.”

  Tali and Natalie looked at each other again and laughed once more.

  “Alright, alright, both of you quit it. Let’s do it. Tal, go again. Nat, defend yourself. Don’t get hit and check her kicks. It’s more about defending yourself than attacking. Got it? Okay, now begin.”

  Aaren took charge, giving them their instructions, and standing back with folded arms. The other men faded into the background, watching them fight.

  Tali once again swung her fist toward Natalie’s face, and when Natalie squatted to avoid it, Tali followed up with a knee to the face.

  Thankfully, Natalie anticipated the move and blocked it with her forearms.

  She came up and got an upper cut into Tali’s gut, forcing her to bend over gasping and clutching her stomach.

  “Now what do you do, Nat?” Aaren asked.

  “I run. I don’t want her to have a chance to recover enough to grab my leg or get the upper hand.”

  “Right. Now Tal, you okay?” At Tali’s nod he continued. “Okay, now, since you ladies seem to be not terribly matched, Aaden agreed to help you. He’s going to come from behind and wrap his forearm around your neck. You’re going to try and get away. You can either grab his thumb and bend it backward, making him release you so you can get away; you can nail him in the nuts, making him lose his grip; you can hit him in the nose with the back of your head, if he hasn’t gotten you against his shoulder; or you can try and flip him, but unless you’ve had a lot of training, you won’t be able to do that with an assailant. Okay, Natalie, you go first.”

  Natalie got into position, feet apart, and waited for Aaden to step up behind her.

  The man was a ghost because all of a sudden, he had his arm across her throat, pulling her backward. She went onto her tiptoes as he pulled her against him, aware of the differences in their heights.

  “Natalie, what are you going to do now?” he asked into her ear.

  Natalie evaluated her options.

  She was too short to reach his nose with her head, and she was definitely not going to be able to flip him over her head. She couldn’t reach his thumb when she tried, his hands were in fists, and she couldn’t reach his junk because he was standing slightly beside her.

  So, it was time to improvise using a move Ben had taught her.

  She brought her foot up and slammed it into the top of his foot. When he yelped and shifted, but didn’t release her, she elbowed him in the stomach. When he bent forward slightly, gasping for air, she brought her head back and smacked it into his forehead.

  He dropped to the floor, giving a slight moan, rolling onto his back and grinning up at her.

  “Holy hell, Nat. Where the hell did that come from? That was brilliant!”

  The other men were clapping, laughing at Aaden; even Andris gave a begrudging nod.

  Tali wrapped her arm around Natalie in a side hug.

  “You need to teach me that, girl! That was amazing.”

  Natalie shrugged, a little embarrassed, but mostly impressed with herself. It had been months and months since Ben had taught her that.

  “My Ben – sorry, I meant my friend Ben – taught me a few months ago. A woman was attacked on our station and he wanted Kayla and I to be protected.”

  Hannan came and gave Natalie a big hug, swinging her around.

  “You’re lucky Taavi couldn’t take the training or he would be kicking your ass right now,” Aaren cautioned, smiling a little.

  Taavi hadn’t been able to take any of the men, or even Tali, punching, kicking or hitting Natalie. Every time she went down or was hit, one of the men had to restrain him.

  Finally, Natalie had sent him away, a little frustrated that he was being so protective, even though it was a practice session.

  “Tal, you’re up. Get in position,” Aaren called, helping Aaden off the floor.

  Tali got into position as Aaden once again wrapped his arm around her neck. She tried the same moves as Natalie, but Aaden had obviously anticipated the moves and blocked them. Tali tried to flip him, but he just bent over her and took her to the mat, pinning her to the floor.

  Tali gave a great yell of “I’ll kill you!” and tried to roll him onto his back.

  After a few minutes of no success, she acceded. Her face was red and she was panting. She glared at the men, especially Aaden.

  “I hate you all. You’re no help. You’re supposed to be teaching me, not watching me get my butt kicked.”

  Natalie felt her eyebrows rise at the venom in her voice. Something was up there, otherwise she wouldn’t be so angry.

  Mental note: Ask Tali why she’s so angry.

  The men stopped smiling, equally confused by her anger.

  “Sorry Tal, we were just joking. And we need to see where you’re at before we can actually know what we need to be teaching you.”

  Tali stood there, breathing hard.

  Natalie moved up to her, concerned.

  She rubbed her hand along her back, gently asking, “Tal, are you okay, honey? We can stop for the day if you want.”

  Tali shook herself, looking around as her cheeks filled with red.

  “I’m sorry, I just don’t like losing, that’s all.”

  Natalie could tell there was more to the story, the darkness in her eyes hinting at something deeper.

  Aaren walked toward them, pushing them into a corner where there were weights and a bag.

  “I want you to do some bag work. Left, right combos, and some leg kicks. Shadow spar, check and defend. Then I want some free weights in, ten pounds, twelve reps, and three sets. Can you do that?”

  “Yup,” they answered in unison, breaking apart and going to their respective station.

  After that, there weren’t any more sparring sessions, just lifting weights and dodging strikes.

  When they finally ended for the day, the men promised to have something more concrete set out for them tomorrow now that they had a firmer picture of what needed to be worked on.

  When they got back to the apartment, Taavi was nowhere to be seen.

  “I’m going to shower. Actually scratch that. I’m going to take a bath. And then crash. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Natalie limped into Taavi’s room, shutting the door and walked into the bathroom, stripping off her sweaty clothes as she went.

  She filled the tub with scalding water, sighing as the heat poured into her sore muscles. She closed her eyes and luxuriated in the steam.

  She startled, not sure what had awoken her, but thankful it did.

  No one wanted to drown in a bathtub.

  She looked up and caught a pair of heated green eyes staring at her from above a tense mouth. He watched her, slowly undressing, still silent.

  “Wh-what are you doing?”

  She could feel his arousal, his complete primal need to have her, and she in turn grew aroused, her body heating and clenching involuntarily. She watched him strip off his shirt, his biceps and chest bulging and relaxing as his muscles flexed.

  Her mouth went completely dry at the delicious view before her.

&nb
sp; Even though they had slept together many times, they had both been dressed.

  But with this unobstructed view of him, Natalie lamented the wasted time.

  As he reached for his waistband, unzipping his fly, his lips tipped up in a sinfully wicked grin.

  Oh, he could definitely feel her emotions, and if the growing bulge in his jeans were any indication, it was going to be a good night.

  He finished stripping off his clothing, leaving him in nothing but his golden skin. Natalie could almost feel drool coming out of her mouth and down her chin.

  His chest and shoulders were carved from stone, his abdomen something Natalie had only seen on the history channel for old statues of gods that had been chiseled from marble.

  And his thighs? They were so thick with muscle, she doubted fat had ever formed on them, but it was what was between his legs that held her captive.

  She was equal parts turned on and fearful, uncertain that he could even fit inside her, if that was where this was headed. He was completely erect, his shaft reaching out toward her. As he walked toward her, it bobbed, swaying with each step.

  He stopped beside the tub and rumbled, “Move forward,” and waited for her to scoot up in the tub, climbing in behind her when she did.

  He sat down and the wrapped her in his arms, nudged her head to the side and kissed her neck.

  “How was practice? Did you knock anyone down?”

  “Actually, yes, I did. I kicked Aaden’s ass. I dropped him, leaving him moaning and groaning. Everyone was in awe. Though I’m glad you didn’t see it, you probably would have killed Aaden.”

  He rested his chin on her shoulder.

  “I just don’t like seeing you hurt. I know it’s a good thing you’re learning defensive techniques, but that doesn’t mean I like when someone hits you, regardless if it’s just practice. But I am proud of you. I would have actually liked to have seen that.” He chuckled. “I can actually see him moaning on the ground. It’s a good picture. Now we can say he was beat up by a girl.”

  He grunted when her elbow connected.

  “Hey! I take offense to that. I was good, regardless of being a woman. Ben was a good teacher.”