Page 5 of Varro's Human Bride
Angry at the privileges the ruling class enjoyed.
Angry at the sacred Tarrkuan traditions which outlined his entire life before he’d even lived it.
He could have been married—to Bersenna—by now and had many sons and daughters, but his pride and his rebelliousness had not allowed it. He’d returned to Tarrkua after years away to find his younger brothers had both taken wives and had several children. He was the oldest yet they were already ahead of him. Though he’d known this very thing would happen if he left for the Feshinga Asteroid Belt, he had gone anyway.
Varro watched the passing landscape as the servant guided the hover transport over the roads that led into Ashorr. They soon arrived at the large building where the marriage blessing would take place, in the center of the capital city, and the servant pulled the transport to a stop. Varro climbed out and stared at the human females who were placing their suitcases down outside before entering the structure, wondering which bride would become his.
He waited until most of the waiting Tarrkuan males went inside, as well as the human females, before he walked inside in search of his bride. New Leesburg. That was the name of her Earth dome-city. From his studies of the layout of the mass nuptial building, Varro knew the crest painted on the floor that represented New Leesburg was located in the third row. He moved slowly, his eyes scanning the row to see if any of the females were standing alone and still waiting for their mates to arrive.
There.
In the center of the row.
His heart pounded faster.
She was lovely. Petite with light skin and golden hair that fell in waves around her shoulders. Freckles dotted her cheeks and nose. Her face was flushed and he wondered if she was nervous. He moved in front of her and when their eyes met, it was as if Varro’s life had suddenly divided into two phases: before he’d met her and after.
He approached her and reached for her hands, not once blinking as he held her gaze.
“Hello, Caylee,” he said in his native tongue. “Welcome to planet Tarrkua.”
“Hello, Varro. Thank you. It-it is nice to finally meet you.” she replied, though her Tarrkuan was shaky at best.
“Do you speak English?” he asked in English. “Or French? Or Spanish? Or Chinese?” He asked the subsequent questions in their respective languages. During his off hours on the mining ship, he had studied as many Earth tongues as he could, believing fluency in the human languages might help him build a better rapport with Earth officials when he finally took his father’s position in government. He also knew Japanese, German, and Russian. He had found it fascinating that Earth contained so many different languages that were so vastly different from one another. Some even had different alphabets.
“Yes, I speak English,” she said after a long pause, staring at him with her pretty blue eyes widening, as if in surprise. “I-I apologize for not being very fluent in your tongue. Studying Tarrkuan did not come naturally to me, though I promise I will strive to do better.”
The nervousness reflecting in her gaze caused a maelstrom of emotion to sweep through him. Part of him longed to wrap his arms around her and comfort her. Yet another part of him wondered how nervous she would appear as he stripped off her dress later in the day and looked upon her naked for the first time. Would she tremble at his touch? Would she reluctantly surrender to his advances, or would she start to protest in a fit of nerves?
His loins tightened as he further imagined the evening to come.
The murmuring of the crowd began to cease and a glance at the dais above the gathering showed the priests had arrived. In moments, a mass blessing would be bestowed upon all the couples and each human bride would legally become the property of her new Tarrkuan husband. From what Varro knew of Earth, human males did not own their wives. It was one of the greatest differences between their worlds. On Tarrkua, males led and females were expected to be submissive and obedient to their husbands. In fact, many females on his planet called their husbandsXerr, which meantMasterin Tarrkuan.
As Varro stared down at the beautiful human called Caylee, he decided he would insist she call himXerr, just as all the females in his family called their husbandsXerr. Until this moment, he hadn’t been decided on the matter. There was much in his culture that he felt rebellious toward, but this was not one of them. He intended to be her husband and master, her protector and her provider. Warmth unlike any he’d ever experienced rushed through him, and his chest felt oddly tight.
Still holding both Caylee’s hands in his, he moved to stand beside her as the priests waited for the crowd to grow completely silent.
“I am the only one in my family compound who speaks English,” he whispered into her ear, “but I have no doubt you will become fluent in my tongue. I will help you, sweet human.”
Sweet human?
Where had that endearment come from?
Caylee blushed and murmured, “Thank you, Varro,” before her gaze lifted to the red-robed priests.
He released one of her hands and reached for her golden hair, unable to resist stroking his fingers though her wavy, shoulder-length locks. It was even softer than it looked. Much softer than Tarrkuan hair, which was far coarser than Caylee’s. He longed to bury his face into her glorious golden tresses and take a deep inhale. But now wasn’t the time nor the place.
The crowd finally fell silent and the marriage blessing was bestowed upon them.
A sense of responsibility and power flowed through Varro.
It was done. Caylee was now his forever.
He slid his arm around her and escorted her through the throng of new Tarrkuan-human mating pairs. Once they located her suitcase outside, he picked it up and guided her toward the hover transport. He couldn’t wait to get her home, this tiny blushing human who was suddenly trembling in his arms.
Chapter 5
Julie was surprised when Varro led her to a strange looking vehicle that was hovering over the ground, a male driver dressed in all white at the helm. She racked her brain, trying to remember what Nova had told her such Tarrkuan modes of transportation were called. Not a hovercraft…but a…hover transport.Yes. That’s it.
