Tor (Women of Earth Book 2) (34 page)
Read Tor (Women of Earth Book 2) Online
Authors: Jacqueline Rhoades
"I can lift a chair. You can't. Sit," she ordered.
"I'm fine," he said.
"No, you're not. Sit for a minute and then Posy can help me get you up to my room."
"Bossy and stubborn. I keep telling you, but you don't listen."
Once she had Tor firmly seated, Wynne turned to Mohawk. "You keep telling everything to everyone but me," she accused. "You knew."
"Yeah, I knew. That's what I was trying to tell you."
"No. You knew before and you let me think he was dead."
"We didn't know until yesterday that he wasn't. The healers said he was too far gone. We figured why put you through it twice."
"Who's we?"
Mohawk poked his thumb over his shoulder. They were all there; Posy, Ish, Truca, and Chubo and Nix.
"I'm going to kill you, every last one of you," Wynne told them.
"No threat there," Ish snickered. "Have you seen her aim?"
"Hey! I shot a guy in the leg," Wynne protested.
"Holy crapoli." Mira looked at her sister with new eyes. "There's a lot to this story that you left out."
"I'll bet she was aiming at the guy behind him," Truca laughed and then she opened her arms and captured Wynne in a hug. "They wouldn't let us send a message while we were being held for interrogation. Mohawk got the harpy to do it. Roark got us out and his father's going after all those involved. They were processing Yatos when we were being released. Please don't be angry with Mohawk, Wynne. It was all of us together. Even the calls to Roark weren't his fault. Tor told him what to say."
"Good thinking." Posy patted Truca on the back. "Blame the guy who just got back from the dead. She won't be mad at him."
"You knew about the calls?" Wynne asked Tor.
She should be angry. She wanted to be angry, but Posy was right. Tor was alive. There was no room for anger when her heart was overflowing with relief and love.
"Yeah, I knew," he said. His eyes closed and his body listed to the side. Fortunately, Posy was there to catch him. "You need to let me explain."
"It can wait," Wynne said. "You're in no condition to explain anything." She turned to Mira who'd been watching it all with a happy smile. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay. I need to get him into bed."
"Priorities, remember? I get it. Now go take care of those priorities."
Later, warm and happy in the bed that had seemed so cold and miserable for so many lonely nights, Wynne listened as Tor explained.
"I was supposed to make the deal to trade you for the Sky Hawk, but only after Roark's troops got there and they could listen in. The deal was that I would get them the proof they needed as soon as you and the crew were out of the line of fire. Then you got taken and plans changed. They saw us at the rail and thought I was trying to push you over. It wasn't their fault, Princess. It wasn't Mohawk's, either. According to the nurse, the man never left my side. He kept threatening to kill me if I died."
Wynne giggled at the absurdity, so typical of Mohawk's logic.
"He kept saying I swore I'd never hurt you and I was breaking that oath. He said you'd been hurt enough, but he would forgive me if I would only wake up." Tor shrugged and even that small movement caused him pain.
"It's all right now," Wynne reassured him. Nothing mattered now that he was in her arms again.
"No," he argued. "You need to know. To me, it was all part of the nightmare of seeing you fall. I couldn't forgive myself for letting you go. I couldn't open my eyes. I didn't want to open my eyes to a world without you. Something he said must have finally sunk in, because the next thing I knew, I was sitting up in bed telling him I had to find you. He told me what happened. He wanted to bring you to me, but that would have taken too much time. I had to find you. I had to know that it was real. I never meant for you to suffer. They didn't either." He bent to kiss the top of her head. "Forgive us?"
There were worse things in life than suffering under the 'protection' of people who cared. It was part of the process of loving and being loved and these same people had showed her the way to forgiving herself.
"They brought you back to me. They've given us a second chance. I could forgive them anything," Wynne told him before she kissed him.
Their departure from Mishra was delayed. The healers insisted Tor wasn't ready to make the journey and Wynne was required to give her testimony all over again. More arrests were made, including a few of the peacekeeper interrogators.
For their role in the rescue of the Brides Brigade and the capture of the remaining culprits, Tor and Wynne were rewarded with enough money to legitimately purchase the Sea Goose. There was enough left over to pay for Truca's schooling, and pilot's licensing, the legal kind, for both Posy and Ish.
They brought both ships back to Earth, Sector Three, but Posy and Ish were bored after a week and took Truca with them on the Sky Hawk's first run without Tor. Chubo and Nix stayed behind. They decided to settle in their own little place.
"No slavers here," Chubo told them. "No worries. Chubo and Nix are free." For a Huka, life didn't get any better than that.
Tor's healing took much longer than Wynne would have liked, though she began to wonder if Mason and Ahnyis weren't conspiring to keep him Earthbound for her. Tor didn't seem to mind, and she was grateful for the time he spent getting to know the children. They were cautious at first and this troubled her because they had so readily accepted Mohawk and Roark. Tor wasn't bothered by it.
"They don't trust me," he told her one night after they'd made sweet and gentle love. Her days were so full that this quiet time together to talk and share had become a ritual. "And I don't blame them. They're afraid I'll take you away. Give them time."
And time was what he gave them. He took an interest in what they had to say. He shared what it was like to grow up on Freedom Farm and what it was like for him to lose it. He was one of them, and they felt it. He understood what it was like to lose those you loved. Slowly, they began to thaw.
One day when Tor, Matias, and Royal came home from exploring the nearby countryside, the two boys came charging in, calling Wynne's name in a frenzy. Her heart was in her mouth, thinking something had happened to Tor.
"What do you think about poultry?" Matias shouted.
"They're good to eat. Why are you shouting and what have you done with Tor?"
"Nothing. He can't run yet. He told us whoever got here first could ask."
"About what?"
"About poultry."
"Who's on first," Wynne said, but they didn't get it any more than she got them.
Rashonda had to translate. "Tor calls them fowl. His folks raised them on Freedom Farm. He talks about it all the time. I think he wants to raise them, too. You know, like a family farm only not so big. Did you know that glop comes from a grain? Maybe we could grow that, too."
Wynne shook her head. "No, we definitely won't grow glop." That was one thing she knew Tor would never agree to.
"But fowl?" Tor asked from the doorway. "You wouldn't mind fowl? There's land practically for the taking right on the edge of town. There's a market for meat and eggs and plenty of scrap wood to start off the coops and pen. The boys can help me build."
"And girls," Rashonda added, always ready to fight for her rights. "Girls can build, too. Maybe I'll be a contractor someday."
"I thought you wanted to join the military," Matias said.
"Nah, that was a long time ago. Now she says she wants to be a mechanic like Truca," little Bitsy informed them.
"I thought she wanted to be whatever Ish is." Dorrie called from the kitchen and added, "Heaven forbid."
"She can be a builder," Royal defended his twin.
"She can be anything she wants to be. You all can," Wynne called over the top of the brewing argument. This was her life and she was happy with it. She smiled at Tor. "I don't know anything about poultry."
Tor gathered her in and held her close to his chest. He whispered into her hair. "You didn't know anything about sex, either, but you learned, and learned to do it well."
She smothered her laughter in his chest. "Practice makes perfect." She looked up at him with adoring eyes. "I won't let you give up sailing the skies because you think I'll only be happy if you stay planetside. Your happiness means a lot to me, too."
"Who says we can't do both? I'll have two ships and two pilots. It'll take me some time to find a crew that fits, but once that's done there's no reason I can't...what's that you always tell your brother he can't do? Have my cake and eat it, too? We can make this work, Wynne. Together, we can make anything work."
"Chicken shit," Mohawk grumbled to no one in particular. "Who knew I'd end my days shoveling chicken shit. Come on, kids, if I'm going to be a farmer, I need a straw hat. Let's go see if we can find one and if we can't find one, I know who made a new batch of candy this morning." He winked at Tor and Wynne as he herded the children out the door. "You two ain't invited."
Wynne paused for a moment to give thanks for the happily ever after that she was now certain her future would hold. Then she laughed as Tor impatiently tugged her hand to lead her to the bedroom they now shared. This was the man who had touched her heart and there were plenty of memories yet to be made.
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For my readers,
Thanks for reading
Tor
from my
Women of Earth
series. I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like an advanced announcement of dates for coming books I’ll be happy to add you to our Newsletter list. Just email me at
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Thanks in advance and, as always, Bless You,
Jackie
Jacqueline, known as Jackie to her friends, lives in rural southern Ohio with one lovable husband and two spoiled dogs. She believes coffee is a food group and always has a pot brewing. When not writing, she can usually be found with her nose in someone else's book or working in her garden. She also spends a great deal of time chasing deer and rabbits who apparently also like gardening.
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Other Books by Jacqueline Rhoades
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*Paranormal Romances*
The Guardians Of The Race
The Wolvers
*Sci-fi Romance*
Women of Earth
*Contemporary Romances*
Hidden Mountain Series