Jessie Read online

  Despite all her injuries, Leigh could scent this woman was theirs. The Goddess had blessed them. Through the blood stains, Leigh could see her hair was the color of sunlight, and she was thin and tone. Her breasts were constricted in some type of under covering, but he could tell they were ample. Although she was shorter than Arenian females, her legs were long and lean.

  The Arenian healing technology on the Solace was far more advanced from this planet’s, but it was designed for Arenian warriors who were far larger than the females of Earth. Arenian women and children were not allowed on the ships so there was no need for healing technology for females. Realizing the issue, Leigh would make sure healing units on all ships were calibrated to accommodate females.

  When Looch had figured out how dire the situation was on Earth, he hadn’t hesitated to act. He started dispatching transports down to Earth to help rescue the females. Leigh never had a chance to tell Looch there was a possibility their healing units may not work on the females. When the first wave of females came aboard, Leigh treated some females who had minor injuries with the handheld healing unit, and it had worked fine on them, but again it was on minor injuries.

  Just as Leigh was assessing his female’s injuries, Looch came into the healing bay with one Earth female who started crying. Looch was locked in place at the door when the crying female walked briskly past him to the side of the healing unit and said “Oh my God. Jessie?” The woman stood there with tears streaming down her face, looked at Leigh with a hard stubborn look and said, “Fix her! Heal her! Do whatever you have to do to make her well again. She helped us hide while she led those psychopaths away from the ranch.” Looch and Leigh must’ve had the most shocked look on their face because there was no way their ayah could have fended off those men. Again, the female demanded, “Help her!”

  Leigh didn’t need a translator mask and was yelling in his native language at Looch for bringing this female to the healing ward in such a state. The woman, being frightened of Leigh’s yelling started to back up but then realized her friend was lying on the bed unprotected and flung herself next to Jessie’s side, uncaring of her safety. Looch was frustrated, and his roar of dismay sounded much worse than he meant it to be, which scared the female even more. Leigh gently touched the female’s arm and nudged a portable translator towards her. Leigh motioned for her to place it to her ears and she reluctantly did.

  Leigh explained, “My name is Leigh, and this is my brother and commander of this ship, Looch. He’s a warrior, and I’m a healer. What do they call you?”

  The little female was shocked she could understand him but did not hesitate in answering. “My name is Sloane. I told the commander this earlier. Why aren’t you helping Jessie? Please, she has to live.”

  Leigh said, “Sloane of Earth, what I was going to explain to my brother is thus far we have only treated minor injuries on Earth women with our handheld healing units. The healing units on the Solace are calibrated to heal our warriors who are far bigger in mass and height like the commander and myself. If I place the healing unit on our ayah, it may do further damage to her or worse.”

  Looch’s eyes flew to his brother’s in shock. Why didn’t he consult Leigh before dispatching units? Looch let out a roar, which startled Sloane and made her cling to Jessie’s unconscious body even more. Leigh placed a hand on his brother and told him, “Don’t fret brother, I’ll calibrate the unit for these females. It will just take me a little time. While I calibrate the unit, I’ll need you to undress our ayah, and clean her with care.”

  Sloane wasn’t having it and looked directly at Looch and said in a very firm tone, “Over my dead body…you will not undress her, you alien pervs!” Looch was shocked Sloane would dare question any orders given to her. Although Sloane didn’t know the female population was essential to his planet and the most precious thing an Arenian male could ever have, any one of the males on the ship could snap her in half in a blink of an eye. Sloane stood there blinded by her concern for her friend. Looch thought whichever warriors bonded with Sloane should have a serious discussion if not spank her ass thinking so little of her safety.

  Leigh placed a gentle hand on Looch’s shoulder calming him down. Leigh turned to Sloane and said, “I’ve seen many Earth women wear under coverings. We will only cut away her outer coverings, protecting her modesty.” Sloane first looked to Looch glaring, then looked at Leigh and gave him a slight nod, understanding filling her eyes.

  As Leigh started working on the healing unit off to the side, Looch went to work carefully cutting away Jessie’s clothes with his tractin. Sloane watched Looch with a wary eye which would make any warrior think twice before crossing her. Looch was enraged with how many bruises already covered Jessie’s body. He was shocked some of the bruising looked to be old while others looked recent. How many times had their Jessie placed herself in harm’s way? As he peeled the outer coverings from Jessie, he was met with black under coverings. Looch gently asked Sloane what the under coverings were as the females from his planet never wore such things. With an evil eye in his direction, Sloane responded with, “Boy shorts and a sports bra. What do you call them on your planet?”

  “No females on our planet wear any such things except for children.” Looch told her. Sloane looked at him questioningly but then dismissed him with her eyes.

  Leigh had finished the calibration and rushed the unit to Jessie’s side to start the process. Leigh looked at Looch and Sloane and told them both to help Jessie’s friends as they might be in shock and may need minor healing. Looch did not want to go, but he knew it was for the best as everyone on the Solace was his responsibility. Sloane crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her chin out saying, “I’m not leaving.” Leigh looked at Sloane and told her Looch would take her back to her friends and make sure everyone was in satisfactory condition. By the time Sloane was processed and returned, the healing unit should be finished and give Jessie time to wake up. Sloane looked from Leigh to Looch and back again. Then she said, “No funny alien business and you promise this will help her?”

  Leigh made a fist and touched it to his chest and said, “You have my pledge.”

  Looch waved his hand to the door. Sloane reluctantly took the hint and started towards the door as Looch followed. Looch turned back to Leigh with a pleading eye. Leigh understood his reluctance to leave and gave Looch a reassuring nod that this would work. Looch nodded back and out the door he went with Sloane.

  Leigh gave special care to Jessie. He couldn’t believe they had found her. They had found their ayah. Leigh then set the healing unit to heal Jessie. Due to the extent of the injuries she had, it would take roughly an earth hour to heal the worst of her injuries; her broken forearm, ribs and stab wound. The healing unit would speed up the natural healing process so when Jessie awakened she’d be healed but still extremely sore. Leigh summoned two healers to the healing ward and busied himself, instructing them on calibrating the healing units for the Earth females. Leigh apparently lost track of time because out of the corner of his eye he saw movement.

  Jessie woke in a panic and thoughts raced through her mind, “Where the hell am I? What happened? Where are my friends?” There were several huge guys growling and snarling at each other in some kind of guttural language like it was just another day at the office. Jessie couldn’t understand anything they were saying. Slowly she tried to slink off the bed, but her movement caught the attention of the handsome man who seemed to be in charge. He had markings differing from the other two men on his black uniform, which hugged his broad chest. Despite being scared out of her mind, she couldn’t help thinking the man was incredibly good looking and had a regal presence about him. He looked at her with sad emerald eyes, but she’d been fooled by those kinds of eyes before. With that, Jessie quickly jumped off the bed looking for something she could use as a weapon.

  Leigh saw the fear and confusion in Jessie’s eyes. He smelled the terror and pain she was in. Leigh was in awe of her beauty, inside and out. Lyon
was closest to her and placed his hands up in a gesture showing Jessie she wasn’t in any danger. Lyon, Lian, and Leigh watched while she deliberately closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then let it out in what looked to be some type of relaxation technique. When she opened her eyes, she was anything but relaxed. Leigh could see the fury and determination in her eyes. Lyon, unfortunately, did not see the fury and slowly advanced on Jessie.

  Jessie hurt everywhere. The pain was excruciating, but she needed to get out of here and find her friends. Jessie closed her eyes and took a deep breath preparing herself for a fight. Her father always taught her to get a hold of her emotions before engaging the enemy. A counted breathing exercise always seemed to do the trick. Clearing her mind, she inhaled. Count one, two, three. Hold, count one, two, three, four. Exhaled, count one, two, three, four, five. When Jessie opened her eyes, she scanned the room again. She was in some utilitarian hospital, but why were men treating her and why do they all growl at each other?

  Jessie looked at one guy who had to be six foot four coming towards her holding up his hands in surrender, but still growling at her. He looked like a Special Forces operative. He had on black cargo pants, with a tight-fitting black shirt. Jessie wasn’t taking any chances. By the shock on his face, Jessie could imagine he wasn’t prepared for her to take a run at him. She took advantage of his surprise and tackled him with her shoulder to his gut. The guy was solid, she’ll give him that, but Jessie was nothing if determined. The man fell back onto the steel floor, more out of shock than necessity, taking Jessie with him. Ignoring the pain radiating throughout her body, Jessie quickly rolled over the top of him.

  When she came out of her roll, she popped up, took a couple of quick running strides gaining momentum, jumped as high as she could and brought her elbow down across the other guy’s cheek who was growling at her too. He too stumbled back enough to trip over a rolling stool and landed on the floor. “Two down, one to go.” Thought Jessie. The two men on the floor didn’t move but looked up at the handsome man in charge with a pleading look of what to do. Jessie could imagine, not many people got the drop on these guys. The man in charge snarled at the two on the floor, and they stayed on the floor just where they were. Tall, dark and handsome held out what looked to be headphones to Jessie.

  As Leigh slowly walked towards her, he realized she was becoming tense again. He stopped, knelt down to the floor on both knees, bowing his head and slid the translator along the floor towards her.

  After several long moments, Leigh motioned for Jessie to place the translator to her ears. She looked at him with suspicious eyes but then brought them up to her ears. She could see him snarling at her, but she could hear English. “Jessie, my name is Leigh, and I’m the master healer of this ship. My brother’s name is Looch, and he’s the one who rescued you and your friends from certain death. You are on the spaceship Solace, and our people have come to rescue the remaining females of this world. Please let me help you.”

  Jessie couldn’t believe what was going on. “Aliens? What the frick?” Wouldn’t there have been something on TV? Obviously not. It’s not like any news reports were going on, nor did she have time to look up at the sky. She was too busy looking over her shoulder making sure she was always one step ahead of the enemy. “Enemy!” Jessie thought. Men were the enemy! This had to be a hoax. They were going to torture her, she just knew it. She wasn’t going down without a fight. She scrambled over to a nearby table and grabbed an odd shaped knife and started making a desperate X slashing motions and screamed, “I don’t think so fucktard! How do you know my name and where are my friends?”

  Leigh wasn’t sure what a fucktard was. He made a mental note to ask Sloane about the Earth vernacular. Leigh said, “I know your name because Sloane told me. I sent Sloane with my brother Looch to attend to any injuries your friends may have suffered at the hands of the males of your planet. You sustained the worst injuries, and it took the healing unit to heal your wounds. This is why you’re here in the healing ward. Please, my ayah, I can smell your fear and pain. Let me carry you back to the healing unit.” As Leigh moved towards Jessie, she made a continuous half-hearted slashing motion with the tractin. Leigh could tell her adrenaline was fading fast and her skin color was again becoming gray. Her black under coverings was in sharp contrast to her fading color.

  Just then, the door to the healing ward slid open, and Looch came into the room with Sloane. They had finished with the other Earth female’s treatments, and both wanted to know if Jessie was awake yet. Looch stopped and took in the scene. There were Lyon and Lian on the floor, Leigh was trying hard to get close to Jessie, and Jessie was haphazardly hacking at the air with a small tractin. The one thing that superseded everything was the stench of pain and panic coming from Jessie. Looch let out a mighty roar. It froze everyone in place, except for Sloane.

  Sloane looked around Looch and quickly found Jessie in the corner, scared out of her mind. Sloane pushed her way past Looch and went to Jessie. “Jessie. It’s me, Sloane. Look at me, Jessie. No one is going to hurt you now. You’re safe. We’re all safe. You saved us, Jessie. Do you understand? You saved us.” A spark of recognition lighted Jessie’s eyes.

  “Sloane? Is it you?” Jessie said with tears now streaming down her checks.

  Tears welled up in Sloane’s eyes, “Y-yes sweetie. It’s Sloane. You’re safe. Put down the knife honey. Let me help you.”

  Jessie looked at the knife and dropped it like it burnt her, then fell to her knees in exhaustion. She looked up at Sloane and said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me Sloane. I’m so tired. I hurt everywhere, and I’m s-s-so cold.”

  Sloane looked back at Leigh, and he nodded. “Jessie, you’ve had a long day, let’s get you into bed. Will you let one of the doctors help you to bed? I can’t carry you, sweetie.”

  When Jessie looked up at Leigh, he could see her eyes glaze over. Leigh could smell the pain she was in as he knew his brother could too. Jessie was in severe shock. The shock of what had gone on today, shock from her pain, or shock she was on an alien ship, Leigh didn’t know. Jessie pointed to Leigh with a trembling hand and said, “Him. He can help me.”

  Leigh felt a sense of pride Jessie had picked him, but could also scent his brother’s heartache. Leigh looked at Looch and quietly said, “Our ayah will accept us both, brother. Do not be disheartened.”

  At that, Leigh turned and picked Jessie up in his arms cradling her like a child. Jessie let out a small whimper of pain. In the confusion, Jessie had ripped off the translator and was unable to understand Leigh. He was silent, not wanting to scare her. Sloane, in tune with Leigh’s dilemma quickly and while stroking Jessie’s hair said, “Remember when you came to the hospital to get me? I was so scared, but you said you’d help me and I trusted you. I need you to trust me now hon. It will be okay Jessie. He’s going to fix it and make it better.” It seemed to calm Jessie because she snuggled closer to Leigh.

  Leigh was ecstatic his ayah would seek comfort from him. Leigh strode to the unit and gently laid her down. Sloane picked up the portable translator, and ever so gently she placed it on Jessie’s ears then turned to Leigh with an expectant look. Leigh told Jessie, “I know you’ve been through a lot today little one, so I’m going to give you something for the pain. It will allow you to sleep. I’ve heated the bed so you’ll be warm. Do you feel the heat, Jessie?”

  Jessie sighed and slowly gave a slight nod, feeling the warmth starting to seep into her body from the bed. “I’m so tired. S-so t-tired of fighting.” Jessie mumbled. Jessie felt a slight pinch in her arm and darkness overtook her.

  Chapter Four

  The stench of Jessie’s physical pain soon faded as Leigh sedated her. Looch made no movements towards Jessie or his brother. All he could do was stand there. For the first time in his life, he was scared. He was scared for his ayah, scared Jessie would never recover from whatever she’d suffered at the hands of those males, scared she wouldn’t accept him, scared she wouldn’t accept his
brother, just…scared. He was a man of action, not a coward. He was a warrior. Warriors were never scared. Warriors instilled fear into those who deserved their wrath. Warriors accepted things they couldn’t change.

  With a heavy heart, Looch looked to Leigh for guidance. He knew his brother would have answers. Leigh was always the level headed one in the family. Although Leigh and Looch would rule together as the new kings when their fathers walked with the Goddess, Looch was the oldest and a warrior, making him the protector of the planet. Leigh took care of the day to day operations and made decisions affecting the livelihood and safety of the planet. Needless to say, Looch valued his brother’s council. Leigh was sensible and pragmatic, whereas Looch was headstrong and impulsive. Being sensible did not make Leigh any less of a warrior. In fact, in some cases, it made him a better warrior. Leigh would weigh all options before acting, which made him a deadly strategist.

  Leigh turned to see his brother’s eyes, but before he could address his brother, he had to take care of Sloane. Turning back to Sloane’s tear-filled eyes he said, “Jessie will be fine now. I’ve implanted the translator so we won’t have any more misunderstandings. She just needs her rest. I’ll have Lyon and Lian take you to their quarters where several others of your party are already staying. Either Looch or I’ll come and get you when we’re ready, until then, you’ll stay with the others. We will be transporting Jessie to our quarters on the ship where she’ll be more comfortable. Looch and I’ll take care of her there.”