Description
by Candace Smith
Miranda is petite and beautiful, with a beauty that has something almost ethereal about it. Her long golden hair shimmers down her back, and her eyes are like reflective pools of crystal blue water. Her skin is pale, yet never burns or tans. But deep within her is a sexual fire too powerful for normal men.
She knew she was different, but she could never have imagined that she would be abducted and taken far across the Galaxy. Her mate awaits, a huge warrior who, surely, cannot be right for her. There are other forces at work, and Miranda unknowingly holds secrets of the Celestial Ancients, lost for millennia but now ready to surface once more. Few would have believed that the key could be in her mating, in her deep sexuality and, although she would never have believed it, in the intense coupling with that huge, muscle-bound warrior who must possess her totally – just as she must possess him.
Published: 3 / 2010 No. words: 73200
Ethram led them to the chamber, and Zalana gazed in stunned silence as she approached the vision on the pallet. She wore a pale blue caftan with moons and stars embroidered in silver. Tears filled Zalana’s eyes as she saw the matching sash she had embroidered for her son’s mate so many centuries before tied to her wrist and tucked up by her chin. Her golden hair surrounded her with the rays of the suns, and pale, delicate skin stretched across high cheekbones.
As Zulien approached her, one small hand reached out, searching. Zulien clasped it gently and brought it back to her side as he knelt, and Ethram whispered, “Your bond is strong, Zulien. Several times I have had to issue a wave of peace towards your little mate, yet she continues to search for you. Are you ready, warrior?”
“Yes, Ethram. I have been waiting centuries for this moment. I never dreamed it would arrive.”
Ethram pulled Zalana back from the pallet where she stood almost in a trance as she gazed at Miranda. “Zalana,” he said gently, “this is your son’s time. You will have a lifetime with her.”
Zalana leaned down and brushed her fingers through her warrior son’s long dark hair. “I love you, Zulien, and I do not need a vision to know all will be well.”
“Thank you, mother. I can feel the peace she emits also.”
Ethram brushed his fingers across Miranda’s forehead and she sighed and reached her other hand over to Zulien’s comforting grasp. Zulien smiled and began stroking her head as she slowly awoke.
Ethram escorted the parents out of the chambers. “I will, of course, be remaining here. I will have one of the guards inform the Magistrate of Battle when the joining has ended.”
Zalana and Terena were hugging each other and crying. Zibula glanced over at them, then looked back at Ethram and rolled his eyes.
Ethram laughed quietly. “Mothers.” The women turned to him. “I suggest you get busy. Planning ceremonies for a Celestial Ancient and her bonded friend will be quite a task.”
Zibula’s mind flashed on the uproar the house would be in while his mate panicked over the preparations and said, “Thanks a lot. I will be lucky to have another joining of my own until this is over.”
Zalana and Terena were already discussing the location for the joint ceremonies, and whether it was a breach of the Ancient’s protocol to even hold the ceremonies together.
Ethram chuckled, “I thought you wanted them to stop their tears.”
The parents returned to their shuttle and headed back home to begin the preparations for the ceremonies. In the inner worlds, the son’s mother always arranged the ceremonies. It was an honor given to welcome the new mate to her family, and Zalana and Terena were petrified of failing.
Zulien continued to stroke Miranda’s forehead until she gasped a little and her eyes began to open. They were a crystal blue and watery, and as she focused, she looked up at him with alarm. “Wake slowly, Miranda. You have been in deep sleep for a long time,” he said softly.
Zulien was encouraged. At least she had not screamed. He thought of how he must look to her. He was large, even for a warrior, with dark hair that fell well below his shoulders in a thick, wild mane. His ebony eyes were completely the opposite of the light blue pair gazing suspiciously at him, and he wondered if the people of her planet even had his coloring. The golden bronze skin was unique to the people of Shallistar, so he was sure she would find that as unusual as he found her luminescence. He hoped she would be as pleased.
She had not released his hands as she continued to calmly stare at him, and then she spoke in a soft voice, and said the last thing he expected to hear. “I know you.”
