Forbidden letters, p.26
Forbidden Letters, page 26
part #0.50 of Men of the North Series
My eyes were blazing with love and devotion as I pulled back and smiled at her.
“Is it over?” She wrapped her arms around my waist and looked up at me with the softest smile.
I beamed back at her. “No, sugar, it has only just begun.”
Someone pushed a beer into my hand and shouted, “Cheers.” I offered Devina a sip and she drank a little before she wrinkled her nose up and shook her head.
“You don’t like it?”
“No. It tastes awful.”
I grinned and squeezed her body. “You’re so damn pure and I love it.”
Behind me, I heard Wilma praise Emmerson. “You did good; you looked so majestic.”
“Thanks, babe. I’m happy I had it written down or I would have forgotten half of it.”
My mother came to congratulate us. “Oh, Devina, you don’t know how happy it makes me to see Tyton married. Two weddings within five months… who would have thought?” Her eyes dropped to Devina’s bulge. “And to think that we’ll have another grandchild soon. Yesterday I felt like the world was coming to an end but today I feel full of hope.”
Wilma moved closer and snaked her arms around our mother. “All your children are married now.”
“I know.” My mom’s eyes grew moist.
Wilma turned her face to Devina and grinned widely. “And to think you burned the motherfucking place down before you left. That’s some exit.”
“Wilma!” I frowned. “You’re talking about her ancestral home. I’m sure it wasn’t fun for Devina.”
Devina moved closer to me, holding on to my upper arm while looking at Wilma. “I couldn’t have done it alone. My friend Tina helped me.”
“Why didn’t you bring her? We have plenty of men for her to choose from.” Wilma nodded to the room full of Nmen.
“Nahh, Tina liked the fantasy of an Nman but not everyone wants their fantasies to come true.”
Wilma shrugged. “That’s her loss, but you know everyone is curious about how you ended up here with Tyton. Will you two do an interview with the press?”
We agreed and stood close like Siamese twins when we were being interviewed by the North News.
For the most part I let Devina answer when the reporter asked her questions like how long she had known me, how we had met, and if she had ever considered marrying before she met me. I got nervous when the reporter asked her, “What was your first impression of Tyton when you met him?”
Devina bit her lower lip and my heart beat faster. If she told him that I’d been aggressive I would have a whole fucking country of upset men after me.
“At first I was scared of Tyton.”
Thump, thump, thump, my heart hammered away and I shifted my weight while rubbing my forehead.
“He was much bigger and stronger than the men I’m used to in the Motherlands and he swore a lot.”
My shoulders eased a bit, as she hadn’t mentioned the part about my confusing her for a boy and pushing her around.
“Also, you have to understand that I’ve grown up hearing horror stories about you Nmen. When I met Tyton, I was sure he would hurt me.”
The reporter swung to me. “And what was your first impression of Devina?”
“Well, I thought that she was reckless coming here without protection and she was stubborn as hell and wouldn’t listen to my warnings. Devina is very independent and opinionated.” I gave her a smile. “But I like that about her.”
“Devina, the obvious question that every Nman wants to know is when will more women follow you?”
She sighed. “I don’t think anyone will. The Council has increased the border control and made it illegal to talk about the Northlands.”
The reporter looked disturbed but managed to finish his interview before Devina and I moved on to celebrate with family and friends. The entire night, I kept close to my wife and introduced her to a number of people.
The fear that someone would be upset with Emmerson for killing Jeremiah melted away when the twentieth person declared what a relief it was to be rid of the tyrant.
Our wedding turned out to be a wonderful way to start off Emmerson’s new rule and with the way Wilma batted her eyes at her strong husband, he came across as the ultimate hero.
Frederick, who sat next to me, saw me observing Emmerson and Wilma. “Cheers.”
I raised my glass. “Cheers.”
Throwing a nod in Emmerson’s direction, Frederick muttered, “It could have been you or me up there.”
“Nahh, I’m good. Better him than me. Look at that line of people eager to lick his ass. It would drive me crazy, but Emmerson is a showman who likes attention. He seems more at ease in his new position than I ever would have been.”
Frederick nodded. “I hear you. Plus, he’s going to be swamped in work while we can focus on our families.”
We stood for a second watching him laugh and talk with his friends while Wilma stood glued to his side when Frederick added, “We’ll have to do everything in our power to make sure Wilma doesn’t end up as a widow before she’s twenty.”
I looked around. “Look at them. They already love him. He’s everything a ruler should be: strong and a superior fighter, not to mention that he’s charming too. I have a feeling Emmerson will do fine.”
Devina was on my lap talking to Claire, who was explaining about our customs and traditions. When Claire was distracted by Lucas and looked away, I kissed Devina’s neck and whispered in her ear that it was time to go.
“So soon?”
“What do you mean so soon? We’ve stayed far longer than normal and I’m eager to consummate our marriage.” I pulled her to the center of my lap and let her feel how eager I was.
Devina turned her head and gave me a mischievous smile. “Are you going to be like this every day?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are we going to have sex every single day?”
“As I see it the only thing that could keep me from making love to my wife would be if both my legs and arms were broken.”
She raised her brow. “Or if I wasn’t interested.”
My smile widened. “I would take that as a personal challenge.” Letting my hand slide up her thigh, I tightened my hold on her. “I bet I could find a way to wake your interest.”
Devina answered me with a kiss. “I’m ready when you are.”
My chair scraped the floor as I pushed it back and stood up with Devina in front of me to shield the bulge below my midsection. “We’re off.”
No one protested when we left, but many whistled and raised their glasses, with comments of envy.
“You lucky bastard.”
“I’ll bet if she had met me before Tyton, it would have been my kid in that gorgeous woman.”
I pointed to the man who said it and warned him, “I heard that.”
He shrugged. “You can’t blame us all for being jealous. You would be green with envy if our roles were reversed.”
He was right, so I walked on with my back straight from pride.
“May you have beautiful daughters and plenty of them,” someone shouted from the back.
Just as we exited the hall through the double doors, I once again raised my hand in victory and led Devina out to my drone waiting outside.
I helped her in by lifting her up to her seat.
“I’m happy that I don’t have to disguise myself as a boy any longer.”
With her sitting and me standing, we were the same height and I kissed her nose. “Never again. From now on you never have to hide yourself or your talent.”
I closed the door to the drone and walked around to the other side to get in myself. It gave Devina time to think and when I buckled up, she asked. “Do you think Nmen would read my books? Is that what you meant by talent?”
“Are you kidding me? We’re all curious about the Motherlands. Your books are going to be bestsellers because you’re a credible source and you’re a great writer.” I programmed the drone and as it lifted up, I turned to her. “I still have the last manuscript of Forbidden Letters from the North. The fact that it’s banned in the Motherlands is going to make everyone on this side want to read it. We’ll have a publishing deal before you know it.”
Devina sat awestruck.
“What’s wrong? Did you think you’d have to give up your writing or something?”
“No, yes… I don’t know. I haven’t had time to think about it.”
“That’s okay. I predict that you’ll be the biggest author in the Northlands before the year is over.”
“You mean we. I didn’t write that book alone.”
I just smiled at her.
“If we publish it here, we should do it in both our names.”
“You mean that?”
Devina nodded. “Yes. I mean it.”
“Wow, that would make me a published author like you.”
“Yes, it would.”
I scratched my stubble. “Maybe we could write more books together. I mean, Mark and Deidra still had a lot of those one hundred and eighty positions left from the Kama Sutra book.”
Devina laughed. “That’s not a bad idea, but all great writers take research seriously, so we would need to go over each position to better understand what we’re putting our characters through.”
I reached my hand out to her and when she took it, I lifted it to my lips and placed a kiss on the back of her hand. “Consider it a deal!”
Epilogue
Seven Years Later
Devina
With the garden full of people, it would look like a large party to anyone stopping by. To us it was a standard Sunday get-together.
My three oldest children were playing with their cousins and were far too busy to listen when I repeated, “Food is ready, come and eat.”
“Hey, Spartan…” Marni gave a loud whistle and got the attention of her youngest son, who was still older than all of Tyton’s and my kids. “Dinner is ready, tell the others.”
“But we’re just in the middle of a game,” he protested and took up the chase to get the soccer ball from some of his older brothers.
Marni shook her head. “I swear that boy is turning out like his brothers; they never listen either.”
Tyton came over with our youngest daughter on his hip. “Someone wants her mother.”
Hannah was two and a half, and too heavy for me to carry around in my third trimester.
“Let me just sit down and I’ll take her.”
Our toddler climbed on top of me as soon as I sank down on the garden bench.
“She’s so pretty.” Claire sat down next to me and stroked Hannah’s soft curls. Once again, I felt bad that she and Lucas still hadn’t been able to conceive children of their own.
“Hey, sweetie, do you want to cuddle with Aunty Claire?” she coaxed Hannah, who reached out her arms to her favorite aunt.
“You’re so lucky that you keep having girls,” Marni said with a sigh.
“I had Justin,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, but he’s more like a bonus twin to Caro, isn’t he?”
Placing my hand on my belly, I smiled. “I just hope the universe gives me one more girl so I can name her Maria.”
Tyton and I had named our first daughter after my nana, whose name had been Andrea. She was six and a half now and the proud sister of our four-year-old twins, Caroline and Justin, named after my oldest siblings, and sweet Hannah, who was two years old. In three months’ time, I would be giving birth to our fifth child.
“How many are you going to have?” Marni asked while gesturing with her arms for the children to come and eat.
“We both wanted a large family but I’ve told Tyton that after this one, I’m done.”
Claire smiled. “I don’t believe you. If I could, I’d have at least ten children.”
Marni snorted. “Just wait until you have to push them out of your body. I swear, when I was having my fourth, I was cursing at myself for being stupid enough to let Henry get me pregnant again.”
“But the joy of having children outweighs the pain, doesn’t it?” Claire asked me.
I smiled at her. “Yes, it does.”
“The food is getting cold.” Joan came over and joined us.
“Then how about you use your grandma super powers and reeling in all the children?” Marni gave her mom a large smile. “I’ve whistled and shouted, but they would rather play than eat.”
“So, let them.” Joan shrugged. “We adults can eat and then when they complain that there’s only sad leftovers for them, they’ll learn. Maybe it will teach them to come when we call next Sunday.”
“All right.” I kissed Hannah and got up. “I’ll get you a plate, Claire.”
Tyton and the other men were sitting in the sun, talking. Frederick had his youngest son on his shoulders and they were laughing at something.
“What’s so funny?” I asked as I passed them.
“We were just talking about how lucky we were to be born as free men.” Lucas lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “It’s fucking sad that the Motherland Council are indoctrinating women who believe we’re monsters.”
“I know, but it’s not all bad in the Motherlands.”
Henry snorted. “Name one good thing.”
Touching my stomach, I thought about it. “Ehh… well, the Motherlands is a place of caring and nurturing. They may go overboard sometimes, but it’s colorful, and no one is left behind in poverty or sickness. They care about animals and have high ambitions when it comes to cleaning up the earth.”
“But you can’t swear, fight, or fart.” One of Marni’s and Henry’s sons had joined the conversation.
“Or drink beer,” Tyton added and raised his bottle to his mouth.
“It’s true that it’s illegal to drink beer and swear, but the thing about farting is an exaggeration. It’s not illegal per se… more like bad manners.”
“I couldn’t live in a place with that sort of mind control,” Frederick declared and shook his head. “Where is it going to end? If we live our way and they continue to live their extreme way, we’ll be so different that even if the wall crumbled one day, we would be like two different species.”
I shifted my weight and wrinkled my forehead while Frederick continued, “Think about it. For two hundred years Motlanders have whispered about us like we’re some kind of demons. What if no one crosses over in the next two or three hundred years? Imagine the culture shock it will be? I kinda wish I would be here to see it. I’ll bet in the future Motlander women will find a way to make themselves hermaphrodites, just so they won’t need us men at all.”
Tyton laughed. “I’ll bet they would, except that they don’t like technology too much and nature doesn’t work that fast.”
“Ah, come on, in two hundred years they could have found a way to grow dicks,” Lucas postulated.
Tyton nodded. “Oh, they already have a way to grow dicks. How do you think they make Nmen? All the boys we get are made in laboratories and they control the exact number of boys and girls they make.”
“Tyton, stop. You make it sound worse than it is,” I protested. “Women are inseminated in a clinic, but the babies grow inside their mother’s womb just like here. You make it sound like Nmen are grown in some cold laboratory and that’s not true.”
“For now, but in two hundred years they’ll be growing children in laboratories, trust me.” Tyton took another sip of his beer.
“I doubt it, and before you decide that the Motherlands is hell on earth, let me just remind you that some amazing people live there. People like me who are kindhearted and caring.”
“Hmmm…” He frowned. “I don’t know about that. Last night you fell asleep before we had a second round of sex. That’s kind of cold.” He smiled and winked at me.
I ignored his joke and pointed out to all the men. “The Motherlands is a wonderful place. Trust me on that.”
Tyton got up and came to put his arm around me. “Just admit that you like it better here, my love.”
A quick look around the large family I had now and my children playing, with happy faces, made it easy to nod my head. “I love it here.”
Tyton broke out in a large and very satisfied smile so I added,
“For the most part.”
“For the most part? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that there are days when I miss the Motherlands.”
“Why?” Frederick wrinkled his nose. “We just agreed it’s a shitty place.”
I sighed. “It’s not! They made some unfortunate rules that I don’t agree with and it’s not perfect, but neither is The Northlands.”
Tilting his head, Tyton argued, “Ah, but don’t forget that they banned our book, while the Nmen loved it.”
That comment made Frederick scoff out loud. “I don’t know about that. The sex scenes were a bit tame for my taste.”
Over the last seven years I had published five books and three of them had been co-written with Tyton, who didn’t take criticism too well. Flipping Frederick a finger, he squared his chest. “If you want porn, go find a book from the erotica section. Our books are fine art.”
“Sure they are.” Frederick rolled his eyes, but I didn’t get offended because this was so typical of the two brothers, who loved to rile each other up. Frederick turned his head and winked at me with a small smile just as Wilma came around the corner of the house.
At twenty-two she was more beautiful than she had been when I first met her.
We watched her give out hugs to the nieces who ran to greet her. With the boys she nodded and smiled but avoided touch.
“Where’s Emmerson?” Tyton called out to her.
“Oh, he had to go to the east coast but he’ll be here next Sunday.”
“What about Marshall and Czar?” I kept waiting for her two sons to come around the corner and on cue they came sprinting.
