Destiny Found (Epsilon Chronicles Book 1) Read online

Andris scoffed, while the other men just laughed. He walked back over to Tali and Natalie, once more the blank faced pain in the butt.

  “Alright, congratulations aside, we really need to get back to work. Natalie, watch what Tali does when I’m behind her, then follow exactly what she does. This will have to do for a demonstration, and you better not complain again.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I got it. Just show me and we’ll go from there.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  After the training session was over, Tali and Natalie took quick showers in the women’s locker room.

  Natalie didn’t know why she was surprised by the fact there was a women’s locker room, but she had to admit she was. When she asked Tali about it, she got her answer.

  “My dear, of course there are women warriors. Did you think we lived in the dark ages?” She laughed. “Most men, not all mind you, but most have realized that having women fight comes with great advantages. They finally realized that women are intuitive and meticulous when it comes to dangerous situations that need to be thought out. Not to mention we are vicious fighters when it comes down to it. And I’m not coming up with that stuff myself, some famous researcher actually wrote a series of papers about it. He did a bunch of studies and experiments and observations, which proved his theory that women were deadly warriors.”

  “Seriously? Wow, nothing like that happened on Earth. We had to fight for every inch.”

  “That used to be the way it was, but then Himean – that’s the guy’s name – well his daughter wanted to be an Elite Warrior; no one would train her to go for it, and when someone gave her a chance, the others shot her down. Anyways, her father was very supportive and then he did these tests and proved it and they allowed her to be the first female elite. It was pretty cool, but that was, like, over fifty years ago. Now we have an almost full team of elite warriors who are female. Taavi commands the first elite warrior team, but Trystan runs the second most elite warrior team, and he’s the only man on it. The rest are women. They are pretty cool, but they keep to themselves more than anything. I should introduce you to them, they could actually probably teach us some stuff the guys can’t.”

  “That’s a good idea. We should definitely do that.”

  They walked along the hallway into the hangar, walking straight to Natalie’s ship.

  It had been quite a while since she had been able to spend a good chunk of time working on it, and today was the day to get back to it.

  “Okay, since we stopped while welding the weapons on, let’s get back to that.”

  “Fine, but only if you call my parents tonight and tell them about the bond. Oh, and you have to let me help plan the ceremony.”

  Natalie rolled her eyes. “I would have expected nothing less.”

  Tali jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

  “Shhh! Quit it. Now, grab the tools and come on.”

  After a few hours of work, Jarrod stopped by.

  “Ahem. Am I interrupting?” he said as he leaned against the ship.

  Natalie had just finished welding the last canon on the ship when she heard his voice. She whipped around, trying to hide the canon, but she knew it was too late.

  Crap.

  “That looks interesting… what exactly is that?” he asked.

  Natalie knew by the sly look in his eyes that he just wanted to make them squirm; he knew exactly what they were doing.

  Tali was avoiding eye contact with both of them, her shoulders up to her ears, grinding her heel into the floor. To Natalie, she looked like a child about to get scolded by a parent.

  “Those are weapons, Jarrod,” Tali mumbled.

  Natalie rolled her eyes and straightened. “That is a laser canon, which we all know you knew. Why are you really here?”

  Jarrod straightened, stepped away from the ship and looked around. He stepped closer to them and lowered his voice.

  “I know what you’re doing with those. I’ve known for weeks. Just wanted to let you know I know, and it’s okay. Though if you break anything or tell anyone I knew, I’ll deny it and beat you both.”

  That seemed to snap Tali out of her little slump. “You will not! We started training with team one. If anything, I could hurt you pretty badly, old man. And… we are going to ask team two to help train us. Those ladies could beat you blindfolded with their hands behind their backs.”

  Jarrod just shook his head. “Keep telling yourselves that. Anyways, get back to it. Word around here is that the Nezleans are gathering not far from the planet, and then this deck will be off limits to you both. Just wanted to come and give you a heads up.”

  “Well, thanks, I guess.”

  “You’re welcome. Did you happen to grab the manual on how to use the weapons?”

  “Of course we did. We aren’t stupid.”

  He harrumphed. “Did you grab the testing manual?”

  Natalie squinted her eyes. “The what? Testing manual? What’s that?”

  Jarrod just shook his head in disappointment and mumbled, “They didn’t even grab the testing manual.” He looked at them and gave a grim smile. “Just make sure you aren’t close when you fire that one.” He pointed at the one Natalie had been installing when he walked up. “That is my little spit fire. I doubt you’ll ever get a chance to use it, but call me when you’re ready to fly this thing, and we’ll test out those babies.” He patted the ship and just drifted away.

  Tali stared at Natalie with wide eyes. “I thought he was going to kill us for taking those without permission. I almost peed.”

  Natalie snorted, Tali’s face and the image she had just painted making her laugh. “Well, everything is fine, so let’s finish this. I actually think we could be finished in the next few days.”

  “Cool. Then I won’t have to come home with grease and oil all over me. Well, let’s get back to it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness,” Ginny chanted as Harken just sat there, his mouth gaping wide.

  Taavi and Natalie sat on the sofa, smiling into the small monitor screen showing his parents. They had sat down and called his parents to tell them the news. To say they were excited was an understatement.

  “Oh my babies,” Ginny said, tears falling down her cheeks.

  Harken wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. After a few attempts to speak, Harken cleared his throat.

  “We are so pleased for you both. To think, our son found his soile-miena, and she is a dausa of our heart…” he trailed off, obviously taken over by emotion.

  Natalie felt her lip quiver, a tear falling down her cheek, and leaned her head against Taavi’s shoulder.

  I didn’t think they would be so emotional about it, but they are definitely going to make me bawl my eyes out.

  Taavi kissed the top of her head, nuzzling her ear.

  I didn’t think they would either, but I’m grateful they are so happy for us. We have been blessed for a long time, but Tavanni clearly has a special task for us since he gave me you.

  Natalie swatted his chest, and then rubbed him.

  Now you are going to make me cry. She sniffled, feeling a small drop of longing and sadness break through the beauty of the moment.

  Taavi sat up, pulling back to see her face. His eyebrows were drawn together in concern.

  Why the sadness?

  Natalie gave a slight smile.

  I just really wish my family got to meet you, even once, even for a moment, to know that I was in good hands. Do you think they are looking down on us?

  Taavi squeezed her, looking intently into her eyes.

  Alaila, I’ve heard about your God, and I personally believe His name is Tavanni here. So yes, I believe they are watching over us right now, and that is how we found each other. They helped Tavanni guide you to me.

  Natalie’s breath caught on a sob, feeling overwhelmed, but a sense of rightness at what Taavi had said invaded her.

  Thank you for saying that, even if I can se
e you believe it. Thank you.

  “Mhmmm. Are you with us?” came through the screen.

  Apparently Harken and Ginny had been watching them while they had their conversation. They were smiling at them, big silly grins that looked like they were painful.

  Natalie wiped her eyes, feeling a little embarrassed about the whole scene.

  “Okay,” she clapped her hands, trying to shake off the sadness and get back into the moment. “Tali has already volunteered to plan the bonding ceremony, and if you wouldn’t mind, Ginny, I would love it if you helped her. I’m hopeless at this girly stuff, so having you both help would be amazing.”

  “Oh my!” Ginny’s hand fluttered above her chest. “I would be honoured. Thank you, my dausa. And I know just what you’ll wear. Do you remember that little – garment – we got at the market? I think that would be perfect!”

  “Yes, actually, that was exactly what I was thinking of wearing.”

  Taavi looked between his mother and Natalie, obviously confused. “What is this garment you speak of, and why haven’t I seen it before?”

  “I was waiting for the right time to wear it, but apparently that will have to wait awhile now. But trust us, it will be perfect.”

  “Okay, how about a week from tomorrow? Will that work? I’m sure Harken and I will be able to fly back out by then.”

  You tell them. I’m not saying anything.

  Taavi rolled his eyes, giving Natalie a small nudge.

  “Mom, Dad, I told Natalie that I think we should wait until we know if we can invite her friends before having the ceremony. That way, if we can, she will be able to have some family there.”

  Harken was nodding, even before Taavi was finished.

  “What a wonderful thought. Yes, we should wait until we know for sure if they will be able to attend. Plus, that gives us extra time to make arrangements for the days we will be away.”

  “And,” Ginny interjected, “that will give Tali and I plenty of time to plan the ceremony. It will be perfect and beautiful. Though it will be intimate. We don’t want to make a bigger deal than it already is. Why, if we did, the press would likely get wind of it, and then where would we be?”

  “Good point. I do not like to be the center of attention as it is. I definitely don’t want to be in the media.”

  “Alright, it’s settled. Okay, you two, we should be going, we have a fundraiser tonight for the homeless, and it should be a good turnout. We love you both.”

  “Have a good night” and “Goodbye” were shouted as they turned off their screen.

  “Well, that was easier than you thought.”

  “With my parents, it’s hit or miss. Either they are too excited, or too emotional, or too worried. They were just the right amount of excited and emotional with a hint of worried. It worked well. Probably because they love you, but I don’t blame them one bit. It’s hard not to love this face,” he said, peppering her face with kisses as she laughed and tried to avoid him.

  “Stop! Taavi enough. No, please, stop,” she started laughing again as he tickled her, falling to the floor and pinning her there, his fingers digging into her sides.

  “I’m serious, Taavi,” she shrieked.

  Please, baby, that hurts.

  He immediately stopped, a stupid grin on his face.

  “Since you asked so nicely, I’ll stop. But, I reserve the right to do that whenever I please.”

  “Do it again, and I won’t have sex with you again.”

  When Taavi gaped and went pale, Natalie howled with hilarity, rolling on the floor. His tentative, “you were kidding, right?” sent her into another fit. She was sure she looked like she was having a seizure, flopping on the ground, but goodness!

  His face was priceless.

  She sat up, wiping the tears off her cheeks. “No, I wasn’t serious, but from the look on your face when I said that, I am now. You do that again, or at least don’t stop when I ask, I will definitely hold out on you.”

  “That’s blackmail.” He had an adorable pout on his mouth and she nipped his bottom lip, unable to resist.

  “Oh, quit it. You be nice to me, and I’ll be very nice to you.” She raised her eyebrow and gave him a wink.

  “Is this where you tell me what you won for the challenge?”

  “That will wait until a later date. I haven’t decided when, but I want it to be a surprise. But you’ll be the first to know.”

  I better be, you little minx.

  “You do know there are, what, three perfectly good bedrooms down the hall, not to mention three bathrooms. Use one of them. This is a common space, not a sexed up love cave. Shoo! Go on with you.”

  Tali had apparently walked in without either of them hearing. When they both laughed, Tali smiled and threw pillows at them.

  She perched on the arm of the sofa and asked, “So, did you tell mom and dad? Did they freak out?”

  Taavi pulled Natalie up as he answered. “Yes, we told mom and dad and yes, they freaked out. They were very happy. Mom will be helping you get the ceremony together. She did make a good point about the media though.”

  “I seriously don’t want my face or the ceremony splashed around the world. Is there anywhere we can go that would be secretive? Do you have, like, a secret getaway that your family owns?”

  Tali and Taavi just stared at Natalie until she shifted uncomfortably.

  “What? What did I say? Why are you both looking at me like that?”

  Tali was the first to shake her head.

  “Sometimes it’s just hard to remember you aren’t from here. Yes, our family has a lot of money, but we don’t really own any secret getaways that no one knows about.” Tali muttered to herself, “A place where no one could see us. A place where the media wouldn’t go.”

  She paced in front of the sofa that Natalie and Taavi were cuddling on.

  Any idea what she’s thinking about?

  Nope, I’ve got no clue. With her, it could literally be anything.

  “I’ve got it! You know how you both went to Dielarta? That would actually be the perfect place for it. Stunning scenery, you have to hike to get there, and lugging camera equipment wouldn’t be ideal. It’s secluded and perfect. What do you think?”

  Natalie and Taavi just looked at each other, not wanting to speak in front of Tali.

  What do you think? I think it’s a great idea. We went there as our first trip together, it’s beautiful and like she said, it’s secluded.

  I actually think it’s perfect. But I want flowers for some decorations.

  I’m sure she and my mother will come up with some decorations that you’ll love. Okay, we’ll tell her yes.

  “That’s a great idea, Tal. It will be nice to be somewhere semi-secret with just our family and Tavanni watching us. You should tell mom. Oh, and make sure there are some decorations. As beautiful as nature is, this is a special day.”

  “Well, obviously. I’m not stupid, Taav. I’ll go call mom right now,” she said as she skipped down that hallway.

  “You think she’s excited?” Natalie laughed.

  “Undoubtedly. Alright, I’m tired. Let’s go to bed. I may have my own surprise for you.” Taavi winked, picking her up in his arms as she giggled.

  After they had undressed and crawled into bed, there was a tentative knock on the door and a muffled, “are you decent?” before the door opened.

  Taavi grabbed the sheets, covering himself and Natalie as Tali took a step into the room.

  “What the hell, Tal? You are supposed to wait until we say whether we are decent or not. What if we had been making love?”

  Tali scoffed. “I know you won’t be making love tonight, for two reasons. One, Natalie is super sore from last night and training. Two, you know she’s in pain, so even if you both wanted it, you wouldn’t go through with it because you don’t want to hurt her.”

  Natalie looked at Taavi and smiled.

  She’s got us there.

  “Whatever. What do you want?”


  Tali wandered over and flopped down on the end of the bed. Taavi gave her a kick when she just sighed.

  “Okay, okay. No need to get violent. I just came to tell Natalie that Team Two agreed to train us a couple of days this week.”

  “What, my team isn’t good enough for you?”

  Don’t be like that. Those women know more about self-defense against bigger opponents than you ever will, and you know it.

  “Don’t be mad, brother-mine. It’s just, they are kickass, badass women, who know how to handle themselves. Plus, I’m sure they know something about fighting dirty that men wouldn’t really think of.”

  She’s got you there, baby.

  Taavi sighed, rubbing his face as he lay down.

  “Fine, whatever. You’ve told her, now get out. We’re tired and you have training tomorrow.”

  “Oh, yeah. They wanted to start tomorrow, so we will be with them, not you.”

  “Okay. Acknowledged. Now you can leave.”

  He gave her another kick, forcing her to hop off the bed.

  “Temper, temper,” she tsked, humming as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

  “That woman. She makes me –” Natalie cut off Taavi’s tirade.

  “You love her so quit complaining. Plus, she’s right. Those women will know way more than you do about self-defense and fighting dirty. Just wait, I’ll be able to take you down, easy.” She snapped her fingers, grinning.

  Taavi raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you think so, do you? I don’t know if you remember this, but I believe I have a secret weapon against you.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “This,” he said, lunging at her and tickling her sides.

  As Natalie shrieked with laughter, begging him to stop, he knelt overtop of her and kissed her gently.

  It’s time for bed, alaila. She was right. No extracurricular activities for you tonight.

  Natalie moaned as he pulled away, closing her eyes as he pulled her closer. She wrapped her thigh over the top of his hips and settled in.

  You won’t get any complaints here. I am sore. Though, don’t count out tomorrow.

  Natalie’s body reacted, her nipples tightening and she could feel herself dampen, as he hit her with a large amount of lust and longing. She could feel him harden against her inner thigh.