Catalyst Read online

  Epilogue

  Hawikar, navigator of the Cheevan cruiser Argent’s Triumph, sat huddled in the bar on Creyar. The note had been very specific. If he did not bring the ship’s icon to the bar at the spaceport, they would expose his true nature to the captain.

  Hawikar was a pacifist but he was navigator on a commercial cruiser named after the goddess of battle.

  Two shadowed figures, cloaked and silent, walked into the bar and straight toward him. One spoke in a low tone, “Do you have it?”

  He nodded and lifted the box. “Here. You will keep my secret?”

  The speaker inclined his head and handed him a box that matched the one he was handing over. “We will. Good afternoon.”

  Hawikar looked into the box, and it held a statuette similar to the one he had just handed over. It was confusing, why did they want the statue if they were replacing it with last year’s model?

  * * * *

  Once outside the bar, Mae and Noth walked quickly to the skimmer. He piloted it back home, and once inside, Mae opened the box.

  “Aha! They are watching me. This is so weird.” She lifted out the statuette that was in the same pose but wearing the gown she had worn to the mayor’s dinner. At its side was something new.

  Noth peered at it, “What is that?”

  “It’s you. Well, you as the battle beast. How cute. Look at your little fangs.” She placed the statues side by side on the mantle. His shifted statuette was to scale, his back was even with the shoulder of the goddess. “Aw, you are so sweet.”

  He growled and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. “I am not cute, I am not sweet.”

  She laughed. “You are both. You are also very good with your hands. They are all admirable traits. Don’t you like being the beast at the side of the goddess?”

  His hands travelled upward, cupping her breasts while he nibbled at her neck. “I enjoy being at your side, but I enjoy being inside you more.”

  A full-body shiver ran through her. “That is an excellent idea. When is your family coming over?”

  “Ah, I postponed them until tomorrow.” He stroked down her belly and gently rubbed her sex through her clothing.

  “And here, I thought I was supposed to be the all-knowing one.” She leaned back and gave him free rein on her body.

  “You currently don’t have anything to plot for your own purposes, so enjoy the moment.”

  “Oh, I will.” She laughed and turned in his arms, looping her hands behind his neck and bringing him down for her kiss. “And so will you.”

  He was leaning into her kiss when she pulled back and ran for it. She heard the growl behind her, but she was already on her way out the back door and on her way to the woods. The beast leapt over her and barred her path, sending her running back toward the house again.

  Joy filled her, but there was a tinge of panic as she played tag with her mate. The thrill of adrenaline rushed through her, preceded only slightly by arousal.

  Nothven jumped over her, but this time, he stalked her, growling slightly. As she backed away from him, she removed one piece of the clothing after the next until she was naked.

  Nothven shifted from beast to man in an instant, and she was borne to the ground in a flurry of limbs.

  She laughed when he slid home, arched into him as he began to thrust. Her mind could still see an endless parade of unions but that was for later. Now, she was rolling around in the grass with the man she loved and the present held far more allure than the future.

  Author’s Note

  The library of T’han will be found in another book, another time. Catalyst was just a simple love story about a woman who could see and change her own future.

  Is Maeryn a seed of the Orb of Time? I am not telling. Well, perhaps on another day, another book, another happily ever after.

  Viola Grace

  [email protected]

  http://www.violagrace.com

  About the Author

  Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.

  Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.