Colonel Seeders' Mail Order Bride, Hank

10 Hank

Hank:

Sebastian knew. He denied it of course, but Hank had found out about his special gift when they got dragged to one of many balls after a successful mission. He sat pointing out people, telling Hank that they should be together, and sure enough, those couples became mated pairs as soon as they got their heads on straight.

He knew she was his mate and nothing he said would make Hank think otherwise.

As soon as he stepped out of the house and down the stairs, his lungs, brain, body, filled with her beautiful scent. Forget-me nots. Such an apt name, for he could not get the slip of a woman out of his head.

Hawk begged him to help her when she limped to the stairs, holding onto his boy's hand like it had been a normal hand. Naturally he wanted to rush over and hoist her into his arms as soon as he saw her stumbling down the steps of Sebastian's monstrosity, but he waited and then carried her in as though it had been Hawk's idea all along.

The synthetics of the form hugging dress she wore could only have been made by Xander, his brother. As he carried her up the stairs, her breasts bounced right in his face. What he would give to suckle on them while... Not that it would ever happen, because she had been brought to his house for Hawk, not to satisfy his aching groin. He would not trust another female with his heart.

Not long after finding out that she had been starving herself, Hawk came to show him what she had taught him. Not two hours in his house and Hawk already learned to hold his own fork. Maybe he had been wrong to judge all females, but it would not calm his fears of the future.

Both Sebastian and Hawk refused to tell him what happened to Michelle, but he would get answers as soon as she could move without hissing with each step she took. For now he would treat her as a guest in his house until he could take her to get married. She would need clothes and lady things to wash and groom herself. He had left all that to Lilly before they wed.

In an attempt to clear his mind of the delightful feel of her soft body against his chest, he took Hawk to inspect his traps and spent the day cleaning and cutting up the meat, until the window above him squeaked closed. He washed up quickly, removing all signs of the dead beasts, and then stopped himself right before he rushed up the stairs to look in on her.

Her door opened and she slowly made her way towards a bathroom. She turned towards the steps and asked in a soft voice, "May I use this bathroom, or is there another one I should use?"

He shook his head. "Hawk uses the one next to his room." He pointed towards the second door after her bathroom. "I use the one to the right of my room. We have not gone shopping for your personal items. We did not know what you might like or need."

In fact, Hawk had suggested a few things, but Hank could not make himself buy the female products. It felt wrong somehow.

"That's okay. I have some stuff that Bridgette gave me to use. I'll buy some more when I get to a store," she said and the walked into the bathroom with a large handbag that had been hidden behind her.

His legs would not obey him, so he stood on the steps waiting for her to come out of the bathroom again. A few seconds passed and then glass crashed to the ground. He flew up the last few steps, taking them two at a time and then stopped at the door. Soft sobs floated through the partially closed door, so he slowly pushed it open.

She sat huddled against the bath, holding her bleeding hand out in front of her and sobbing into her knees. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it."

He had no idea what she meant, but a glass that she probably tried to fill with water lay shattered on the floor. The water turned red with her blood. Slowly, he knelt next to her and turned her hand so that he could inspect the cut.

"There's a piece of glass in the wound. I'll have to take it out," he said and then did just that. He helped her up and turned her so that he could wash her hand over the bath. Hawk came in with a bandage and then started cleaning the broken glass pieces from the floor.

"Don't cut yourself," she said with her eyes still closed.

"I'll be careful. Dad bought me a new device that cleans up spills. It's like that vacuumed thing that they used on Earth, but it breaks the particles down and then rebuilds it to what it was. It doesn't work on everything, but the glass will be good as new again," Hawk said.

With her hand clean and bandaged, Hank led her back to the bedroom and then came back for her bag.

"Is there anything else you need? I can make a run to town for some clean clothes if you tell me what to get."

"I have some money that Sebastian and Bridgette gave me-"

"We will be married tomorrow. It is my job to support you since you will be looking after my son and home. I will pay for what you need. You can make a list and I'll go get it," Hank said, trying his best not to feel insulted that she refused his kindness to pay for everything.

"Sorry, I've never had anyone buy me stuff and I usually used what ever I could get my hands on. A bar of soap and a small bottle of shampoo. I-I'm not really sure what to get or what is available on your planet," she said, fiddling with the bandage in her hand.

"Dad, get the stuff I wrote down," Hawk shouted over the hum of the cleaning device. "That blue body wash smells like Mom and-"

"I told you to stop calling her that," Hank said through clenched teeth.

"Not going to happen. The cream that you said smells nice will keep her skin from drying out. Just get everything on the list. Mom will need some fur clothes. You might want to ask Mom to right down her sizes for the underwear."

"I am not buying that... stuff. She can go get that when we go into town. That's... Those things... It's inappropriate for me to buy... that!" Hank said as his face heated up. "I'll have to ask that... flat chested man-woman to help me choose dresses. By the stars, they are going to think strange things about me."

"Actually, I prefer pants and tops. I don't mind wearing a dress to church or on Christmas, but it would be easier to clean and help Hawk if I wore pants. If you want, you can get the material or furs and I'll make them myself. I've done it before," Michelle said.

"Just tell me the sizes. You will need clothes until you are able to move without hurting yourself."

"I am more than capable of moving without hurting myself! The glass slipped and I tried to catch it." The flame died in her eyes as she looked down at her hands in her lap. "I forgot that my ribs were still bruised."

"Until they do, you should stay in bed so that you can heal. Hawk and I can bring you what ever you need. Unless you are incapable of asking for help."

"Incapable? I am capable of asking, I just choose not to. I went through seven years of hell without asking a single person for help and I was doing fine until that fat-" She slapped her hands over her mouth, eyes tearing up.

"What the hell did he do to you?" Hank growled.

"Dad! You promised to be civil."

"I am being civil. It's not my fault that she is taking every word up the wrong way. This is why I didn't want a woman in the house. They mess with your head and turn every word against you."

"Then you should have asked for a male to come help you with your son. I'm sure that would have been right up your alley. I'm only here to help Hawk. I'm not here for your money, or your pity. If I'm such a burden on you, call Sebastian, tell him to come get me, and I'll return to the deserted island I'm supposed to be from. Anything would be better than being married to a man that has his head so deep up his ass that he's unable to see that his son needs him. Not some random woman!"

She turned her back on him and clicked a button on some remote. A glass dome covered her shaking shoulders and he realised he had made her cry.

The glare coming from Hawk made him stumble back a step, and then another, until he rushed down the stairs to the front door and escaped his own home. Only when he clutched the lever of his craft did he realise he had taken off and was headed to town. Shopping. He needed to buy clothes for her, but he had no idea why that mattered so much.