Kat closed her eyes and sighed. That part she hadn’t planned on telling.
“Understandable,” Kealen murmured, earning him a huff and a slap on the ass from his wife.
“And then she forced me into rescuing her friend from brutal Zzjitzzeëns by holding one of my crew members hostage.”
Sarah blinked. “Well, it’s certainly not…conventional, but I assume there are worse ways to meet.”
“Oh,” Dykan continued, “and she stunned me three times, two of them with a stun gun on maximum setting.”
Kat sighed and looked at Dykan. “I told you again and again, the first time wasn’t me, and it happened to both of us.”
“What exactly happened the first time?” Sarah asked curiously, her brow furrowing.
Kat shrugged. “I don’t know. Dykan touched me and it felt like I was being electrocuted.”
“Same with me,” Dykan confirmed.
Sarah’s jaw dropped and she shared a look of understanding with Kealen.
Kealen nodded. “The Goddess’s touch.”
Sarah took a hold of Kat’s hands. “Yeah, I believe the same thing happened to Kealen and me. I guess that makes us Goddess sisters.” She looked at her husband. “You Makaen should wear a warning label. Dangerous: do not touch!”
“We are Makaen,” Kealen replied. “We are a warning label.”
“You got a point there, babe,” Sarah said.
Kat gave her a confused stare. “What’s the Goddess’s—”
“Brothers!” a voice hollered. Kat looked over her shoulder and saw another huge but younger Dykan look-alike standing in the doorway.
“Ah, Noan has arrived,” Sarah said. “Do you know what, Kat, why don’t we give the boys some time to get reacquainted? And the two of us can have some girl talk.”
Without awaiting a reaction, Sarah wrapped an arm around Kat’s waist and pulled her toward a table in the corner that contained an abundance of bottles with different liquids. As she walked away, Kat turned her head to Dykan, giving him an encouraging look. It was good for him to bond with his brothers. He never said so, but Kat knew how much he had missed them.
“Would you like some juice?” Sarah asked, holding up a glass pitcher containing an green liquid. “It’s freshly squeezed from the fruits of our own garden. This juice is my favorite. It’s from a fruit called a grum, and it tastes like an orange and a mango had a baby.”
Kat nodded. Sarah poured some juice into two glasses and handed one over to Kat.
“Wow, that taste great,” Kat said enthusiastically after taking a sip.
“Yes, doesn’t it? I can drink gallons of this stuff. Maybe I should ship the fruits to Earth and sell them. I would make a fortune. But I need to come up with a better name, something like moranges. Or rangos.”
They both laughed. “How is it being the first human living on Makaen?” Kat asked. “It can’t be easy. You’re the alien here and a former enemy.”
“Well, I must admit that in the beginning I felt as welcome as a Category 5 hurricane at a building-the-tallest-house-of-cards competition. Especially among the senators. But in the end most Makaen warmed up to me. As long as I don’t bother them with nonsensical subjects as feelings and emotions, we’re good.”
Kat smiled. “Yes, Makaen and emotions. Not a good combination.” She took another sip. “I heard about the assassination attempt on Earth. That must have been scary.”
“Yes, that was bad,” Sarah murmured, staring into the distance, her eyes filled with intense love. Kat followed her gaze to Kealen, who was standing with his brothers at the far side of the room. “But it also made me aware of what I almost lost. Furthermore, we were able to flush out an anti-human spy who had been working at the Makaen embassy on Earth and had aided in the attempt. The mole had just been waiting for the rebels to take over the Makaen government and attack Earth. That really blew up in his face. Loser! But we’re not there yet. There’re still Makaen who long for an old days revival, which means invading, slaughtering and pillaging. Who believe that the way they live now, trading and being a member of the CAP, has made Makaen weak. And should they ever gain the upper hand, it’s Earth they’ll visit first. So, there’s still a lot of work to be done. But as long as Kealen is by my side I can handle anything. We make each other stronger. We belong together and no backward thinking a-hole can change that.”
Kat smiled in understanding. Yes, Dykan had bonded her to him the old way, but there he drew the line, she knew. He didn’t want to invade other planets. Not anymore at least. And he certainly wasn’t weak, he was stronger than ever, her gorgeous Makaen.
“Yeah, that reminds me, what’s the story about that Great Goddess’s touch thingy?” Kat wanted to know.
Sarah took a sip of her juice and put her glass on the table. She licked her lips.
“Well, this is an old legend,” she started. “Makaen love their legends, especially the ones about the Great Goddess. Apparently, thousands of years ago there was this great warrior who had fought in an epic battle against an evil enemy. The warrior won the battle but lost everything that mattered to him: his family, his friends, his home. His soul was dying. Because he was suffering so much, he requested that the Great Goddess end his life. Instead of fulfilling this request, she sent one of her daughters from the divine realm to the mortal plane to help him. When they touched, electricity surged through their bodies, connecting them together forever, and her presence healed his wounded soul.”
Sarah lifted a finger and moved a little closer to Kat, lowering her voice. “But it didn’t end there. The Great Goddess understood that there were thousands of her warrior children in need of solace and healing. And because she didn’t have that many daughters, she scattered her essence through time and space for it to be absorbed by thousands of female mortals. The essence lies dormant within the female until the day it is awakened by the touch of a deserving but wounded warrior. The goddess is born and her presence heals the warrior. One zap and there is an instant and unbreakable connection. And instant horniness, at least in my case. It’s just a pity that it hurts like hell. I mean, what’s wrong with a divine awakening tickle?”
Kat gave Sarah an incredulous look. “Do you really believe that story? It sounds a bit far-fetched to me.”
Sarah shrugged. “Kealen does. But his belief in the Great Goddess is unshakable. To tell you the truth, I don’t know what to think. I find it hard to believe that Kealen and I were destined to meet and fall in love because some divine being was pulling the strings. On the other side, I have to admit, there was a powerful connection between us, long before we were bonded. Some sort of invisible force that pulled me toward him, like a black hole. So maybe there really is more between heaven and earth. Who knows?”
Kat glanced at the brothers deep in conversation on the other side of the room. It was remarkable how the three men, who looked so much alike, could also be so different. Kealen stood with his body ramrod straight, holding his hands behind his back, like a soldier. Noan sat casually on the table, one leg pulled up on a chair, a drink in his hand while he told a story. And Dykan—her Dykan—was leaning with his back against the wall, listening to Noan with a grin on his face. He looked content, but his eyes were sharp and alert.