Free Sons of Amber by Bianca D'Arc

something like hope filling her wide eyes. "Do you love me?"In that moment, all of Zeke's questions were answered. If ever a man loved a woman, he loved Angela. He moved slowly forward to take her unresisting body into his arms."I do." He placed tender kisses all over her face. "I love you with all my heart, my angel."
    "Oh, Zeke!" she gasped as he nipped his way down her neck. "I love you so much!"
    Warmth flooded his heart. A pure, beaming, light of joy and radiant hope filled him.
    He wanted it all in that moment. He wanted her forever, bound to him and him to her. If it were at all possible, he would make it happen, he vowed.
    "Do your people still have marriage ceremonies?" he paused in his kisses to ask.
    Slowly, she nodded. "Then," he took a moment to kneel down on one knee, holding her hand and looking up into her radiant face, "will you marry me, Angela? Will you be my wife?"
    Hope, joy and love lit her sparkling eyes. "I will."
    She laughed and cried at the same time, shrieking when he stood and lifted her up in his arms, twirling her around the cabin. It was a long time before they left the ship, going back to the settlement to tell the others their happy news.
     
     
    * * *
     
     
    A few days later, they were married and given a traditional wedding feast according to the customs of Angela's people. But only after a long talk with Mother Rachel and Dr. Waithe. Zeke was eventually granted permission to marry his love, but both women had to give their blessing first. Rachel was easy to convince. It was Amber who put up more of an argument.
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    "But Zeke, are you certain?" Dr. Waithe had asked gently, her voice a little tinny through the speaker on her environmental suit. She couldn't risk contaminating the settlement, so she had to wear the slim suit that provided her own air supply. "You know why you were created, and the goals we have for saving our species."
    Surprisingly, it was Rachel who stepped in. "He can still fulfill his role in your plan, Doctor. But why should he and Angela be denied happiness while he does so?"
    "Doctor Amber," Zeke pled his own case, "I love Angela and she loves me. I never expected anything like this to happen, but it has and now I know I'll never be complete without her in my life. I'll still do my part to save the human race. I know my duty and the contribution I can make. I don't take that lightly, but I also know I need Angela."
    Doctor Waithe sighed audibly, but Zeke took her soft smile behind the clear bubble of her suit's headpiece as a good sign. "Oh, Zeke. You're not the first man to fall in love, and I doubt you'll be the last." She reached up and cupped his cheek with her gloved hand, the maternal gesture surprising him. "I just never expected my boys to want to marry. I guess I should have thought about it, but I didn't."
    "It's hard to let them leave the nest, isn't it?" Rachel moved up behind Amber.
    The doctor chuckled. "I never really thought of myself as a clingy, overprotective mother." Amber turned to share a laugh with Rachel, who nodded understandingly.
    "Every woman has it in her to protect her young. Ezekiel is your son as much as if you had carried him in your womb. The connection between you is strong and will not diminish."
    Oddly it was Rachel who reassured the brilliant geneticist. Zeke watched in awe as the two women grew teary eyed discussing his wedding plans.
    "You'll have to stay here for the time being, of course," Amber said, businesslike once again. "But we have to leave a contingent here anyway for the colony's protection, so that works out fine. I'll still want sperm donations every cycle, just like your brothers who'll be stationed here."
    Rachel chuckled and winked at him. "I'm sure Sister Angela will have no objection to helping him with that."
    All three laughed and the atmosphere relaxed. Amber stepped right up to him and took his hand.
    "I want you to be happy, Zeke. You're a special young man and I want only the best for