Chapter 11
Khaazai played with a lock of her hair between a couple of his fingers.
His people didn't have hair, but he loved the feel of it. He loved everything about his human wife. He’d fallen for her.
Not that he was terribly surprised by this admission.
There’d always been a part of him that had known he would fall for her.
“I think we’ve missed dinner.” Zahra said with a laugh as she leaned over his chest where they now laid on their bed. She placed several kisses against his chest before planting a kiss to his lips. Though his mouth wasn’t designed for kisses, he growled with pleasure.
“Vera probably has something saved for us if we need.” Khaazai chuckled.
“Think she’ll be upset?”
“No.”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
With a groan, Khaazai rolled over and out of bed.
He bent down to where he'd discarded his communicator when he’d come back to his room.
They’d missed dinner with Holly and Vera, but he didn’t mind in the least. He’d satiated his hunger in another way.
They’d had more fun in their rooms than they would have had at dinner.
"What is it?" He growled into the device, irritated at the interruption to the tranquil moment he’d been enjoying. Zahra was beautiful, but there was something especially lovely about her when she’d been thoroughly pleased by him…
had it been twice or three times in bed?
He’d lost count after they left the tub.
Her hair was a mess though, and he hoped she might allow him the pleasure of brushing it out later.
"You wanted to know if the Sri'thaens made a move. They are making one.” The voice on the other end responded.
"What's going on?" Zahra asked.
Turning, Khaazai marveled at his good fortune. His wife was a dream.
"The Sri’thaens are moving."
Zahra immediately perked up seeming to come wide awake, the last bits of pleasure disappearing from her eyes.
"Sir?" The voice on the end inquired.
"What are the Sri’thaens doing?" Khaazai asked into the comm, turning his attention away from Zahra.
"We've got two Sri’thaen warships headed our way. They are flanked by several other smaller ships." The voice reported. “They haven’t sent any hails, so we aren’t sure about their intentions.”
"Gather the men.” Khaazai ordered. “I'll be there shortly."
"Yes, General." The line went dead.
When Khaazai turned around again, he found his wife donning clothing like a mad woman. "And what are you doing?" He asked as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Getting dressed, so I can join you, of course." Zahra said as she struggled to find the arm hole of her shirt, seeming to get lost in the fabric.
If they didn’t have Sri’thaen warships headed towards their home world, he might laugh at her struggles.
"No."
"No?" His small wife’s head popped out of the clothing before she marched up to him and stabbed him in the chest with a dainty finger, her shirt only half on. "No? And why not?"
Khaazai enjoyed her annoyance and growled with approval. "I will not have you on one of our warships as we face down a potentially dangerous foe."
"So, all that talk about getting women into the military was just a lie? A way to worm your way into my heart?" Zahra folded her arms in front of her chest. “You know all that winning of my heart that you did? Well, you’re about to undo it.”
Khaazai growled in annoyance. "You are my wife. I don't wish to see you harmed."
"Is this how our marriage will be?" Zahra huffed. “Because I won’t have it. I’ve been in the military before I met you, and if I choose to stay with you, I need to know you’ll support me if I decided to continue with my military career.”
Khaazai paused. He may still be learning human body language, but he did understand tone. He'd errored. As much as he didn’t want her in harm’s way, neither did he wish to push her away.
"Zahra." He paused, not wanting to say the words. "If you were to die... I simply want to protect you."
"I didn't have you to protect me before our marriage. I still managed to survive more battles than I can count." Her eyes glared up at him.
Khaazai sucked in a breath. He didn’t want her anywhere near this, but he also didn’t want her leaving him. Their year was almost up, and she could still choose to leave him. "You may come,” he inclined his head, “but if I tell you to do something, you will obey."
"Because you're my husband?" She growled.
"Because I'm a general and I outrank you.'' Khaazai growled back, unused to, but enjoying her defiance.
She opened her mouth, and then snapped it closed. "Guess I can't fight that logic." The anger burning in her eyes slowly faded.”
"Good. Now finish getting dressed. We need to greet the Sri’thaens. Perhaps they wish to congratulate us on our wedding."
“Doubtful.” Zahra rolled her beautiful eyes.
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"Where are you two headed?" Holly panted as she rushed to catch up to them as they walked onto the shuttle pad.
"To go say hi to the Sri'thaens." Zahra replied with a bit more excitement than she should feel, but with the Khuuz’eth on their side, she held out hope of drawing this war to an end sooner rather than later. It wouldn’t be instant, but it still gave her hope to an end.
A light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.
"Wait," Holly gasped, "are they attacking?"
"They haven't attacked yet, but they are coming with a couple of their warships.
" Zahra said as they reached the side of the triangular black shuttle. "You should be perfectly fine here. A couple of Sri’thaen war ships will have trouble getting past all the Khuuz’eth warships in orbit," she hitched a thumb over at Khaazai, "and their orbital defense system. "
"Okay. Be safe." Holly reached out and embraced Zahra in a hug. "Try not to get yourself blown up. I’ve grown to think of you as a friend."
"Same, and we'll do our best." Zahra chuckled as she leaned into the hug and embraced Holly.
"We need to leave.” Khaazai said as he entered the shuttle, his gentle lover side gone, the practical general back to the forefront.
Not wanting to get left behind, Zahra extricated herself from the hug and hightailed it into the shuttle.
She took her seat across from Khaazai, the shuttle door closed and hissed lightly as it pressurized the shuttle.
Then the pilot got the engines started with a rumble and off they shot though they didn’t feel a thing inside the shuttle.
Feeling the pressure of his eyes on her, Zahra faced Khaazai. “What is it?”
“I worry about you.”
Zahra sighed with a smile. “I’m a soldier, Khaazai. Besides, you can’t protect me from everything.”
“Doesn’t reduce the urge to protect you.” His electric blue eyes never left her, and she sensed the sincerity in his voice.
Zahra smiled softly. It was kind of him to think of her and about protecting her. Other than her parents and maybe her sister, she doubted there’d been many people who wanted to protect her from the universe.
“It’s not like I would be happy sitting at our home waiting to see what happened. I feel an urge to protect you as well.” Zahra admitted. She saw his glowing blue eyes widen slightly at her admission. “Heck, I have protected you before.”
Khaazai chuckled. “That you have. Perhaps you should be concerned more about my safety.”
Zahra laughed. “Good thing you brought me to watch your back.”
“Only a few minutes before we dock with the Valiance.” The pilot informed them from his seat.
“And how long until we meet up with the Sri’thaen warships?” Zahra asked Khaazai.
“A couple of days.” Khaazai told her. “We want to meet them outside of our system since we still aren’t sure what their intentions are by coming this all this way.”
“Probably not good.” Zahra surmised.
As the pilot had promised, they flew into the shuttle bay of a massive black triangular warship. Several other warships surrounded them. It looked like the Khuuz’eth were ready for a fight and ready to win said fight. They weren’t playing around.
“Think they are coming to start a fight with just a couple of warships?” Zahra asked. Surely the Sri’thaens knew the fire power of the Khuuz’eth warships. These ships looked ready to take a beating and give a beating.
“Probably not.” Khaazai said as he held out his hand and helped her down the ramp and into the shuttle bay. “But in case they want a fight, we want to be sure we are ready.”
“But you’re thinking they want something else?”
“To warn us we chose the wrong side.”
Maybe. Or maybe they wanted to offer the Khuuz’eth something to get them off Earth’s side. “Your people will stay by our side as you’ve promised?”
Khaazai stopped and grabbed her chin, tilting her head back until their eyes met. “You think my cousin, or I, would lie?”
Zahra shook her head. “I definitely don’t think you’re the kind of man who would lie.”
“We are still married for a while longer. And even if you decide to leave once this year is done, we will honor our promise. You will have upheld your part of the deal.”
Zahra nodded her head. “You can understand how I worry.”
“I do.”
The Sri’thaens hadn’t been easy on Earth, but with the alliances they were slowly forming, the war would hopefully get easier and allow them to turn the tide in their favor. Maybe even allow them to push the Sri’thaens back into their part of space.
“Now,” Khaazai leaned in and nipped at her neck.
“Khaazai!” She slapped playfully at him. “We’re still in public.”
“We really need to cure you of this aversion about showing our pleasure in public.” Khaazai chuckled. “Perhaps I should strip you down and take you here in the shuttle bay.”
“Take me to our rooms, and then we can discuss that possibility for the future.” And Zahra would make sure it never happened.
Khaazai swooped her up into his arms, and Zahra didn’t miss the stares as he carried her through the warship.
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