Emma's Heart (Brides of Theron 3) by Rebecca Pond, Rebecca Lorino Page B

them not to touch her if she was found outside his quarters?
    He walked back into the living room, and looked for anything that was different. Everything appeared to be in order at his first glance, but then he noticed that one of the large cushions from the sofa was missing. Then it hit him, when he left earlier she had been behind the curtains looking out the window. Could she possibly still be there? He went to the curtains, and pulled them back to find what he was looking for.  Except this time, she was asleep on the floor. He squatted down next to her body to look at her sleeping. Lying next to her was an empty bottle which he immediately realized was his foa, and an empty cheese wrap with a few crumbs of larma remaining. Of all things she would try for the first time, foa was not a drink to be taken lightly. It was made by the fermentation of nimo beans for months, and then the liquid was strained out and flavor added to make it palatable. Nimo beans were nasty to eat on their own, but when made into an alcoholic beverage, they became a much sought after drink. Emma obviously seemed to like it since the bottle was empty and she was knocked out flat on her back.
    He sat where he was for a bit and just watched her as she slept. He watched as her chest would rise and fall with each breath.  One of her hands was thrown out to the side while the other rested on her chest. She had taken her hair out of the restraining bond so that it was fanned out on the cushion. Her long dark eyelashes rested gently against the skin above her cheeks and her lips were slightly parted.  He noticed that a piece of her hair was caught in the corner of her lips, and without thinking he reached out a finger to her cheek to brush the hair away. She moved her head slightly at the feel of his touch, but otherwise remained sleeping. He couldn’t just leave her on the floor, so he scooped her up into his arms and brought her into the bedroom.
    “Come on my little mate. It’s time to go to bed. We have both had a long day,” he said to her as she slept. He carefully stood up with her in his arms. She was so small compared to him. How could a creature be so small and have such an effect on him? He wanted nothing at this moment then to lie her on the bed, strip her naked then make love to her. He wanted to sink himself into her depths and hear her cry out his name. He wanted to take her again and again until she finally admitted that she was his forever.
    Placing her on the bed, he maneuvered the covers down from underneath her. She let out a soft moan as he lifted her legs to place them under the covers then pulled the blankets up over her. She rolled onto her side, placing a hand under her cheek then let out one last sigh before she settled down into a deep, deep sleep.
    He was taking all of this in as he stood there watching her sleep. He could stand there all night just looking at her. He never dreamed that he would have such a beautiful mate. His hopes and the hopes of all of Therons, had been crushed when the Drylons had attacked their planet and killed or captured most of their females. For ten years now, their race had suffered at the hands of the Drylons. Finding Earth was the miracle that they had been waiting for. These females were Theron’s hope for continuing their race. Zane had made sure that he was absolutely positive that the females had compatible DNA to their own and would be able to carry their offspring, so it didn’t take them long to start scouting for the females once they had gotten the agreement from their fellow people. They had scouted day and night for the sixteen females that they were able to secure and bring on board the ship. Sixteen lucky warriors would have mates by the end of tonight. Sixteen couples would start the rebuilding of a great race. No one would ever take their females away from them again. He would die before he let anything happen to this woman that was lying in their bed.
    He undressed as he went