Ha'ven's Song (10 page)

Ha’ven growled in frustration as she tipped
another chair in front of him before turning and quickly jumping
the ones that were lying on the floor. His foot caught in one and
he almost went face first into the floor.

“That’s it,” he snapped as he pushed up.

With a wave of his hand, chairs began flying
out of his way. Emma’s eyes widened as they began moving on their
own. She let out a loud scream and turned. She ran as fast as she
could to her bedroom.

Slamming the door and twisting the locks,
she backed up as she heard his booted feet against the polished
tile. She glanced frantically around looking for a weapon she could
use against him. A decorative sword was set against the far wall.
She rushed to it. Rising up, she groaned in frustration when she
realized she was too short to reach it. Turning, she raced for the
chair near the vanity. Pulling the heavy chair across the floor,
she pushed it up against the wall and quickly climbed up onto it.
She was shaking from head to toe as she yanked on the heavy piece
of metal. It came free at the same time as the doors leading into
her room burst open, hitting the wall with a resounding bang.

Emma grunted as the sword came free, almost
toppling her off the chair. She turned on the narrow seat and tried
to hold the large weapon in front of her but it was too heavy for
her to lift. She glared at the huge male standing in the doorway
with his hands on his hips and a dark scowl on his face.

“You are the most aggravating, stubborn and
hard-headed female I have ever met,” Ha’ven bit out. “Why are you
fighting me? I told you I was claiming you when I returned.”

Emma let the heavy sword rest on the edge of
the chair. She looked at the male who actually looked like he was
confused that she was not jumping into his arms. He honestly didn’t
understand why she was running from him. If she wasn’t so angry and
confused herself she might have found the situation funny.

“I want you… to leave me… alone,” she forced
out quietly. “I don’t know why… you won’t. You could ha… have any
woman you want. Why are you… picking on me?”

Ha’ven looked at the petite figure standing
on the chair holding a large war sword between her slender hands
and biting her lower lip. Her eyes were huge and she looked as
confused as he felt. He slowly took a step toward her, biting back
a chuckle when she tried to raise the sword that had to weigh more
than she did. With a wave of his hand, the sword disappeared as he
stepped in front of her.

“What…? How…?” Her shocked words echoed in
the room.

“There is much you will need to learn, my
Emma” Ha’ven answered quietly. “The first is there is only one
woman for me and you are her. I thought I had shown you that during
our nights together.”

A loud banging from the outer rooms drew his
attention. Shouts sounded as evidence of their struggle drew the
attention of more guards. In the background he heard Creon and
Kelan’s voices. It was time to take his mate and leave before they
thought to stop him.

Ha’ven wrapped his hands around her tiny
waist and pulled her off the chair ignoring her squeal of protest.
He turned just as Creon and Kelan stepped into the room, their
swords drawn and their symbiots in the shape of huge Werecats.

“Ha’ven!” Creon said in disbelief before his
eyes narrowed. “Release her.”

“I think not,” Ha’ven replied darkly.

“Let me… go,” Emma breathed out as the thick
arms pulled her closer. “Help… me,” she pleaded, looking at Creon.
“You promised… you’d protect me.”

Creon’s eyes darkened at the plea. “Ha’ven,”
he said, taking a step closer. “She has asked for my help. I have
promised. I cannot deny her request.”

Ha’ven’s eyes narrowed as his friend raised
his sword. “Six months,” he said suddenly. “Give me six months. If
she wishes to return still, I will return her to you.”

“No,” Kelan began to say before Creon put
his left hand out to stop him from moving any further.

“You will not force her to accept you,”
Creon argued. “She has to accept you of her own free will.”

“Creon,” Kelan began again.

Creon looked at his brother. “She is his
mate,” he said quietly. “She has spoken. She responds to him.”

“No!” Emma wailed pushing against the arms
imprisoning her. “You... promised you would protect… me. You can’t
do this. I don’t want to… go.”

Creon turned back to look at Emma who was
glaring at him through tear-filled eyes. He didn’t see fear in her
eyes. He saw anger. He knew if she remained here that she would
never heal or learn to accept her new life. In a way, it was much
as it had been with him and Carmen. They had been forced to live
again.

“Six months starting today. Take her,” Creon
bit out harshly and turned away.

“Creon,” Kelan began one last time. “Our
mates are going to skin us alive, not to mention Paul when he and
Dola
return.”

Creon glanced toward Ha’ven and Emma. He
stopped in shock to see they were already gone. He looked around
puzzled. He had not seen a transport beam initialize in the
room.

Ha’ven must have another new toy,
he
thought in disgust.

“Would you have walked away from Trisha?”
Creon asked turning back to look at Kelan.

Kelan shook his head in resignation. “No,”
he acknowledged heavily. “No more than you could walk away from
Carmen. I just hope he knows what he is getting into.”

Creon looked up at the wall where the
ancient war sword hung. If he had to guess, he would think the
female who had been half dead had been doing her best to get it
down in order to use it on his friend. He couldn’t hold back the
chuckle that escaped as he imaged Ha’ven’s face if she had been
successful.

“Personally, I don’t think he has a clue. I
just wish I could be there to see how he handles it,” Creon
replied.

A moment later, Kelan’s chuckles joined
Creon’s as they both remembered their own trials and tribulations
while trying to court their mates. If the human female had decided
she was ready to join the living again, Creon figured his friend
was going to need all the help and time he could get. With a sigh,
he motioned for one of the guards to notify the servants in charge
of Emma’s living area that it needed to be righted and that their
mistress was temporarily away.

Yes,
Creon thought as he saw his mate
and Trisha heading toward them with grim expressions on their
faces.
Ha’ven has no idea the fury he may have just
unleashed.

“I hate… you!” Emma growled out hitting
Ha’ven in the back with her fist as hard as she could as he carried
her on-board a small spaceship. “I hate you. I hate you. I hate
you!”

Ha’ven grimaced as he walked down the narrow
passageway to the bridge where he set her down forcefully in the
co-pilot seat of the small transport. He caught her hands as she
swung at him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite fast enough to miss
her foot which connected with his stomach. If he hadn’t bent over
to grab her arms, he would have been in a lot more pain.

“Will you stay still?” He growled out as he
slipped a strap over her shoulder. “I don’t want to break you. You
are too small and thin.”

Emma glared up at him as he pulled the strap
tighter. “Well, if you don’t like what you see you can always zap
me back to where you got me. I didn’t ask to come with you, you…
you… overgrown ox.”

Ha’ven pulled back and glared down at Emma’s
furious face. If he wasn’t so damn horny he would have been furious
himself. Instead, the sight of her flushed face, flashing eyes and
pouting lips were begging him to do things he didn’t have time to
do… yet. The moment he could program the return trip into the sleek
transport, he was taking her back to his cabin.

“You are so beautiful,” he muttered,
shocking them both. That had
NOT
been what he had planned to
say. “We will be underway soon,” he added gruffly sitting back in
his seat.

“I don’t want to be underway,” Emma
whispered looking at him as he sat across from her. “I just
want…”

Ha’ven glanced at Emma as her voice faded
and she looked down at her clenched fists. He saw them tremble and
a moment later, a small drop of moisture glistened on one hand. He
cursed silently and turned back toward her. Cupping her trembling
chin in his large palm, he was amazed at the difference between
them. His darker skin was a dramatic contrast to her fair
complexion. He gently tilted her chin up, forcing her to look into
his eyes.

“I will not hurt you, little one,” he
promised in a husky voice. “I could never hurt you.”

“What do want with me?” Emma asked,
mesmerized by the glowing swirls of color in his dark violet eyes.
“Why did you take me away?”

Ha’ven studied the confused eyes staring
back at him. He ran his hand tenderly up her jaw to carefully push
the loose pale strands of hair that had fallen forward back behind
her ear. He was fascinated by every detail of her. He could see her
aura. It shimmered with colors that he had only seen in the clear
skies after a fierce thunderstorm. She was… breathtaking. An air of
innocence clung to her as she looked at him, waiting for his
answer.

“You are mine,” he responded simply, letting
his hand fall away and turning back to the controls.

Emma opened her mouth to demand he clarify
what he meant by ‘mine’ but snapped her mouth close instead when
colorful bands formed around his hands and merged with the grips he
used to pilot the ship. A moment later, the soft hum of the engines
engaged and the spaceship began rising up off the field of waist
deep purple grass.

“How did you do that?” She asked instead,
staring as the bands changed color. “What is that?”

Ha’ven shot her an amused look as he
notified the control tower that he was leaving Valdier orbit. He
could see the curiosity fighting with her desire to continue
arguing with him. He breathed a sigh of relief when curiosity
won.

“It is the way of the Curizan,” he said
cautiously. “We do not share what we can do openly with other
species. Your species is the same. You do not share your ability to
harness the energy around you either.”

“Humans can’t do that,” Emma said pushing
another loose strand of hair back from her face. “Well, except in
books but the characters aren’t usually human.”

“Of course you can,” Ha’ven responded
checking the transport as they entered orbit. “Your energy melded
with mine the first night before I even saw you. I had barely
entered the dining area when I felt your power reach out and link
with mine.”

Emma stared open-mouthed at him. “I did not!
I mean, something hit me. It felt like what I imagine a Taser would
feel like but I never did anything to you. Ever since I met you
crazy stuff has been happening. I hear you in my head and you make
me see colors and feel things that I don’t understand,” she mumbled
under her breath.

Ha’ven glanced at Emma with a frown forming
a crease between his eyes. “Of course you did something. I could
see it. The colors of your essence reached out and called to
mine.”

Emma didn’t know how to respond to his
statement. None of what he was saying made any sense to her. She
turned as a small transport flew ahead of them and looked through
the front view screen in wonder. They were passing a very busy
Spaceport. All types of spaceships in a wide variety of shapes and
sizes were docked at it. She watched as several paused in the
distance, as if waiting for permission to arrive while others moved
slowly away as they departed.

“Why?” She wondered, not realizing she had
asked the question out loud.

“Why what?” Ha’ven asked as he sped past the
Spaceport heading toward deep space. Once they moved through the
first Jumpgate, he would program the transport.

Emma turned and looked at Ha’ven. “Why did
this happen to me?” She asked huskily. “I just wanted to see a
little tiny piece of the world before returning… home to run the
dance studio and take care of my mom. Why did this happen to
me?”

Ha’ven heard the hurt, confusion and pain in
her voice. Her pain pulled at him. He had never before let the
feelings of another touch him the way hers did. He did not think
even his younger brothers could touch him the way she did with her
simple question.

“Only the Goddess knows why she does the
things she does,” he told her. “Perhaps she believed you needed to
see more of the world than you thought. Or…” he broke off.

“Or…?” Emma asked, waiting for him to finish
his sentence.

“Or perhaps she knew that I needed you,” he
finished.

*.*.*

Emma watched as the huge male who had
basically kidnapped her carefully balanced a tray of food in one
hand while he picked up a cup with his other. They had traveled for
almost four hours before they made it to the first ‘Jumpgate’ as he
called it. She had closed her eyes and prayed she wouldn’t throw up
when they had first gone through it. It had taken her several
minutes of breathing deeply before she realized that warm calloused
hands were caressing her face.

“It gets easier with time,” Ha’ven told her
quietly before he carefully unstrapped her from the chair. “Come, I
will fix us something to eat.”

Emma paused before she slowly took the hand
he offered. An electric shock swept through her every time he
touched her. That was one of the reasons she had been so incessant
that he not touch her again after he kissed her. She wasn’t sure if
it was static electricity or the ‘power’ he said he had inside him.
Nothing in her past had prepared her for what was happening and she
was at a loss as to what to do.

“How did you make the sword disappear?” She
asked as she reached for the tray and set it down on the small
table. “I mean, one minute I was pointing it at you and the next it
was gone.”