Micah's Mate (Dark Sky) (6 page)

             
“The thought had crossed my mind.” Katlyn glanced at him as she laid the eggs, bread and milk on the counter. “But on the other side, it would be very naive of me to think we were alone in this universe wouldn’t it?” Cracking the eggs in the bowl Katlyn stilled for a second as another thought came to her. “If you can push your emotions outward and control my reactions to things; what else can you do?”

             
“You wish to know my abilities?” he chuckled softly. Leave it to her for that to be one of the first things to cross her mind.

             
“I am interested to know what other tricks you have up your sleeves.” She mixed the eggs and threw them into the pan to scramble.

             
“We have many differences you and I; it isn’t something I can give you a list of.” Micah hoped she would let this one lie. If he listed just the top ten she would go screaming from the room he was sure.

             
Katlyn glanced up at him and smiled, “So it is a learn as you go thing?”

             
“It is.” He sipped his coffee, “This is good.”

             
Finishing up breakfast she loaded their plates and brought them to the table. “What is it like on your world? Does it resemble this one much?”

             
“Yes and no. Although the properties are the same; air, water, dirt. The colors, animals, trees are different.” He took a bite and Katlyn felt the same surge of pleasure she had received last night. At this rate she was going to stay in a state of semi-arousal around him.

             
“How long are you going to be here?” she asked taking a bite of her food and chewed slowly.

             
“I am here until I find a willing female to come home with me.” He took another bite and smiled. “Yes, that could be indefinitely. But, I knew that before signing up for this.”

             
“Signing up for it? Were you in the military? Or do you have another type of sign up process?” Katlyn took a bite and watched him. How in the world did someone sign up for something like this?

             
“I am in the military but it was an open registration; anyone on my planet could sign up but they had to pass many tests to be accepted. We had to pass screenings for not only physical requirements but also mental and emotional. We also needed to pass strength and stamina limits.” He continued to eat as she thought about what all this entailed.

             
“Everyone on your planet? That had to take years to test all of the individuals that applied. Speaking of which, why did you choose to come and leave your home, your family?” How did you choose to leave your family and travel so far away to find a woman from another world?

             
Setting down his fork he reached out to grasp her hand lightly with his. “To have the chance to meet someone of another world, to have a chance to meet my Niflet, to have a chance to have a child; how could I not?” The passion in his softly spoken voice caught her attention more than what he was saying.

             
“Niflet?” she absently stroked his hand with her thumb. What a strange word.

             
He paused and frowned trying to find another word to describe his thought. “How do you say; the other half of me?”

             
“Your soul mate.” Katlyn pulled back and begin to finish her meal. “There are some that do not believe in that.”

             
Micah stopped eating and looked at her intently; “Do you?” 

             
“To think that there is only one person for each of us? That I will find that type of connection with only one person that has been pre-selected for me by only God knows who? I don’t know. It seems like it is an awfully big stretch. What if this person is on the other side of the state? The other side of the world? How would I possibly find him?” She shook her head absently at the thought. “It seems like that is an awfully big stretch of imagination.”

             
Katlyn looked over at Micah and caught his assessing look. He then smiled and chuckled, “What if he is on another planet?”

             
She let out a surprised laugh, “I guess that that’s a possibility I had not considered. Is that your way of saying that God will find a way?” As she moved past him he reached out and pulled her into his lap.

             
“I guess it is.” Micah carefully pushed her long hair back from her face and smiled at her. A little disconcerted she pulled back from him.

“Come
on; let’s get out of here for a bit.” Katlyn pulled herself up and thought of were they could go.  

             
“Ill just run to my room and change. There is a river not far from here; we can go for a swim.” Looking over at him she paused. Lord, he was a beautiful specimen of a man. No matter where he came from.

             
Moving quickly she ran up to her room, threw on her bathing suit and grabbed a couple of towels.

             
“How about if we make some sandwiches to take with us? We can have a picnic.” Katlyn called through his door as she moved down the stairs toward the kitchen.

             
“If you would like.” she jumped a foot in the air to hear him right behind her. “Jeeze! I didn’t hear you.”

             
“I am sorry. I did not mean to sneak up on you.” Micah smiled and moved to lean against the kitchen counter.

             
Katlyn smiled as she removed items from the fridge, “Its okay, you are just so quiet! It’s going to take some getting used to.” Quickly she made a handful of sandwiches, threw in some chips, cookies, and grabbed some bottled water. “Okay, looks like we’re ready.”

             
“Where are you planning on taking me?” Micah asked as he followed her out the door. “Here, let me get that.” He took the bag from her and tossed it over his shoulder. Stopping he looked up at the sky; it was a beautiful day out. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, bright and warm with the sun shining down.

             
“We are going for a nice long walk in the woods then for a dip in the water.” Katlyn smiled at him and wondered what he would think of the waterfalls behind the house. They held a quiet, peaceful beauty that very few people knew about. “I have a surprise for you to see.”

             
They walked in silence through the slightly overgrown trail simply enjoying the day.

             
“It is very beautiful here.” Katlyn looked up from the ground and saw Micah looking at a pair of squirrels as they jumped from tree to tree chasing each other.

             
“It is. I always find it extremely peaceful here. There is something about the walk through the woods that helps me focus my thoughts. It is a shame that I don’t get out here more often.” Katlyn stopped and pointed out a deer eating in a clearing up ahead. “Look.”

             
“It has young.” Micah smiled as he saw the spotted smaller version right next to her. He wondered how a child would look between them. His planet had not had a child in it for a little over ten years. What would it be like to raise a child with her? Micah glanced over and smiled at the pleasure that was radiating from her.

             
“She does. Come on, we are almost there.” Katlyn took his hand and pulled him along wanting to see his reaction to the falls up ahead.

             
As they got closer to the water fall Katlyn heard the rushing water and sighed. Up ahead she could see the white foam hit the rocks below; it was just as beautiful as she remembered it.

“Here we are.
What do you think?” Katlyn moved to the flat rock hanging over the pool of clear water and sat to remove her socks and shoes.

             
“This is beautiful. We are going to swim?” Micah sat the bag next to her and began removing his shoes also. He had not been swimming since he was a child; it was not a common practice on his world.

             
“Do you enjoy swimming? Is that something that you even have where you are from?” she paused; there was so much she didn’t know about him.

             
“We do; although it is different there. We learn to swim as children because the adults wanted to make sure that the children would not come to harm. It was never used for pleasure. Is the water deep?” he pulled off his shirt and sat next to her.

             
“That’s sad; I have always thought of water as peaceful and erotic. I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t able to just jump in and relax. The water here is deep enough. I guess it is about ten foot off of this edge and gets really deep toward the falls.” Katlyn pulled off her shirt and shorts leaving the hot pink bikini.

             
“Why the tattoo?” She had wondered what it was supposed to symbolize.

             
Micah looked down at his chest and back up at her with a smile. “It is the symbol of unity for my family. One half of a whole.”

             
Katlyn smiled, “I like it. Ready?”

             
She stood and dove into the water; the temperature was a little cold but almost perfect for the hot day. Hearing a splash behind her Katlyn knew he had followed suit and jumped in. She dove deep enjoying the cool water running over her skin. Opening her eyes she could see the numerous fish scattering away from her intrusion as she swam. Coming up for air she took a deep breath and looked around for Micah. He broke the surface right in front of her covering her with water. Laughing she pushed his shoulders down with all of her weight, ducking him until he went back under. Quickly, Katlyn swam for the rock in front of the falls trying to get away. She almost made it before he cornered her against the rock.

             
“Want to play do you?” He placed a hand on either side of her head effectively trapping her against the rock, he could get used to swimming if this is what it came to. Seemed his little witch liked to play just a bit.

             
Katlyn’s laughter echoed through the forest as he glowered at her. He truly did look menacing or would have if it wasn’t for the slight twitch she saw as he fought a smile. For some reason she didn’t think he allowed himself this kind of freedom much. He held too tightly to his control to just let go.

             
“What if I duck you?” he smiled as he leaned closer to her. The pleasure in her face called to him. He chuckled at her doubtful look.

             
“You wouldn’t.” Katlyn pressed back against the rock, no where left to go.

             
“Oh, I would. I am very happy to play with you.” With a laugh of his own he ducked under the water and pulled at her ankles effectively yanking her under with him.

             
Opening her eyes under the water she found Micah reaching for her. He pulled her against him and let his legs entwine with hers. They didn’t sink. This thought stuck in her head as she looked into his eyes. They were not treading water but they were not sinking; another trick of his maybe? He smiled at her look of wonder and pushed her up so that she was above the surface.

             
Micah stilled instantly as they broke the surface. There was someone here, he couldn’t tell where yet but he could feel them. It may have the years of training he had in the military that threw up the red flags or the many times his brother Stochi had tracked him for fun but he could tell when he was being watched.

             
“You…..” Micah stopped her by pressing his lips softly to hers and then pulled away.

             
“We have company.” He said softly against her lips. He could feel them in the woods watching every move him and Katlyn made. It felt like a red hot poker aimed at the back of his head. They were both out in the middle of the water with nothing blocking them from whoever was in the woods. He didn’t like this one bit, he couldn’t protect her like this.

Katlyn glanced over his shou
lder but could not see anything in the woods or on the rock by their things. “How?” she stopped as he barely shook his head.

He didn’t want them to know he was aware of the intrusion. This person had to have followed them through the woods, they didn’t just happen to be here at the same time. He didn’t believe in coincidences like this.

Micah moved his lips to her neck and whispered softly, “They are there, listen to the forest.”

             
Now that he had called attention to it she realized that there were no animal noises. Everything was silent around them, just the sound of the water from the falls hitting the rocks below. Something had disturbed them.

             
To an onlooker it looked as if they were completely absorbed with one another. However, Katlyn could see the concentration on his face; he was listening for them trying to pin point their location. She felt the rock against her back and looked into his eyes. Suddenly, it dawned on her what he was doing. By pressing her against the rock he was shielding her with his body. It was a completely protective gesture, one she wasn’t sure he even realized he was doing; but it was also a distraction that was keeping him from being able to look for who had intruded on their sanctuary.