Hunter nodded in relief. He looked back at Saber and shrugged. He had no experience in dealing with the interactions between young females and males. The only experience he had was when he, Saber and Dagger were young warriors. His eyes darkened as he glanced down at Taylor’s slender figure thinking of what they would have done if confronted by a beautiful, intelligent female that was so different from their own species.
“Taylor has the right to associate with members of the opposite sex. She is…” Jesse began before Hunter spoke up.
“Not going anywhere near them!” Hunter interrupted. “I will not allow any males near her. I will find a place where she can be educated away from them. I…”
“Will do no such thing,” Jesse said sternly. “Taylor is going to have as normal a life as possible. She will go to school, have boyfriends and attend parties. She has missed out on enough things. She has a good head on her shoulders.”
Hunter growled. “School, yes. Parties, if we are there. Boyfriends? I do not know this phrase but if it has the words ‘boy’ and ‘friend’ together, then no. Absolutely not!”
Jordan giggled as she wrapped her arm around Taylor. “Don’t worry, Taylor. We’ll just outnumber him. I need to finish my education as well. I…”
“What do you mean? Your education?” Dagger said. He had been quiet during this exchange. “What type of education?”
Jordan flashed Dagger an annoyed glare. “I missed out on over three years of high school. There is a lot I need to catch up on. Taylor and I used the time we were restricted to our living quarters to study some of your world’s history and work on the language and a few other things but there is a lot we need to learn. I figured if we worked together, we could help each other out.”
“As long as that does not mean being around males, that is fine,” Dagger agreed.
Jordan glared at him again. “What I do on my own time is no one’s business but mine,” she said. “I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions. I’ll be eighteen in a week. According to Earth culture, that means I’m an adult.”
“You… will… not… be around young males,” Dagger said menacing. “I’ll rip their throats out if they come near you. You need to be protected.”
“Okay,” Jesse said, looking with wide eyes at her sisters. “I think we’ve gone as far as we need to with this conversation. When are we leaving?”
“Now,” Hunter said. “And this conversation is not over. Jesse, as head of the house and you and your sisters new protector, I will have final say.”
“Not in this lifetime or any other,” Jesse said, crossing her arms. “This is a situation that we will work on together but ‘we’ are the head of this house and ‘we’ are the protectors of it. Do you understand that, Hunter?”
Hunter realized this was a battle he would need to be very careful about entering when Jordan and Taylor came up on each side of Jesse and crossed their arms as well. He was definitely outnumbered. Releasing a deep sigh, he nodded.
“We will discuss this later,” he said. “Let me show you my world.”
“We’d love that,” Jesse said, reaching up and brushing a kiss across his lips. “Thank you.”
“I have much to learn about you, my Amate,” Hunter admitted.
“So do I, Hunter,” Jesse replied tenderly. “So do Jordan and Taylor.”
Chapter 19
They landed in the nearby city of Julumont. It was the second largest city on the planet. From there they transferred to a different transport that Hunter flew. It looked like a sleek race car with small wings. There was a clear top on it so they would see up as well as all around. Hunter kept the transport at about five hundred feet off the ground and pointed out different areas of interest as they flew over them.
Jesse’s breath caught in her throat as her first view of the small city area near the ocean that Hunter lived in. He took them a little further up the coast before circling back around to land in the courtyard of a small compound. High walls encircled the dome shaped home that glistened a brilliant white against all the dark greens of the plant life surrounding it.
“It is necessary to build the walls around the homes,” Hunter explained as he carefully lowered the transport to the ground. “The vegetation here grows very fast and thick. If the walls did not hold it out, the homes would be covered in a matter of weeks. We use a special rock that the plants do not like so it will not grow up and over the walls.”
“How do you keep the paths clear?” Jordan asked as her mind worked at all the different characters she could create a world around. “What about wildlife? Is there a lot?”
“Yes,” Hunter said. “You must never venture off the paths. A force field helps keep them clear but every once in a while a stray wild creature will break through. It is best to remain alert and if possible travel with a companion.”