She slapped the manual control sensor on the entry door and waited impatiently as it lifted. As soon as she could duck under it, she did, running back into the station, calling all the while, “Cat! Cat, where are you?!”
She rounded a curve in the corridor and there he was, slinking in the shadows, unsure if he should approach her or not, but unable to stay away. She sensed his fear, his hesitation, his pain.
“You’re the man from my dreams, aren’t you?” she asked.
He kept his distance about eight feet away, staring at her, but not running. He just watched her as she spoke.
“You’re him. I know it. Show me,” she said.
He looked at the blaster in her hand. He knew she couldn’t really hurt him; he was too strong, but he didn’t want her to try either. Though it wouldn’t kill him, it would still be unpleasant.
Chloe saw him looking at the blaster. She didn’t know how, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, so she dropped the blaster. As it clattered to the metallic floor, she said, “Please show me. I know it’s you.”
Slowly he approached her. When he was no more than four feet from her, he stopped. Then, he showed her. Slowly he all but disappeared from view. Because she was looking at him when he took on his natural form, she could see the invisible energy that he was, shimmering just a bit, then he gradually increased in size and began to take on colors. Only moments later, her dream lover stood before her, looking at her longingly through Cat’s eyes. He was still tense, poised for flight, ready to run if she shouted about never forgiving him again. But she didn’t. She looked at him, not knowing what she felt, but knowing that she wanted to understand more, she wanted to understand everything. This… male, loved her. She felt it. She had no doubt of it, just like in her dream.
“I’m sorry for the things I said earlier. I was scared,” Chloe told him.
His brow wrinkled, but he nodded.
“Can you speak my language?” she asked.
She thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he said, “Some,” through those perfectly pouty lips.
And where the hell had that thought come from, she thought to herself.
One corner of Cat’s mouth pulled up into a smile at her thinking his lips perfect.
Chloe caught his slight smile and thought how sexy it was, which had him smiling bigger.
“Look, we can’t just keep standing here looking at each other. Can we go somewhere to talk? I want to understand. I need to understand. Please?” she asked.
Cat nodded, “Yes, let us talk,” and indicated with a wave of his arm that she should precede him toward the dining hall.
When they arrived in the dining hall, the first thing she noticed was that her dishes from earlier were gone.
“I cleaned your table and your dish,” he told her in his strange sounding English.
“Thank you,” she answered, taking her seat at their usual table.
Cat sat across from her, waiting.
“Please explain this to me. How can you be Cat and you? How can you be in my dreams? What are you?” she asked.
So he did, he told her everything. All about him, his people, his nature. He explained to her about his abilities, about other species’ fear of his kind, and of those that used to inhabit this station abandoning him here when they discovered what he was. She listened, asking questions here and there, but mostly just listening to everything he said. He told her of being afraid to reveal himself right away, afraid of her rejection of what he was, then, of it happening anyway. When he was done, she sat quietly, trying to take it all in.
“So a host to you is the same thing as a mate to other species, or a soul mate to humans, yes?” she asked.
He paused a moment, very relieved that she understood, “Even more,” he answered.
Chloe looked down at her hands folded in her lap. She could feel the hope in his soul, she could feel the love in his heart. “Where does that leave us?” she asked quietly.
He didn’t answer, and she grew increasingly nervous. Afraid that she’d offended him so greatly this morning that he couldn’t trust her again. But sure if she could feel him, he could feel her, too. Know that she was not unaffected by him. Knowing that she wanted him, even if she was still reeling from all she’d learned. Holy Cacophony! She wanted to be with this male!
Slowly she raised her eyes to meet his. She found him watching her, waiting, his hand stretched out across the table waiting for her to take it. Her heart beat sped up, her hand trembled, and she reached across the table to place her hand in his. The feeling of peace, of relief at her touch, that she received from him brought tears to her eyes. This male was hers. He turned her hand over, lifted it to his lips and kissed her palm. Then he laid it on his cheek, “It leaves us here. If you will have me, it leaves us right here.”
She nodded, “Yes.”
She expected him to jump up, rush around the table, and grab her in his arms. Instead, he rested his face against her palm and sat across from her, love shining from his eyes. “We have all the time in the universe. There is no hurry. We will get there,” he told her.
They talked for hours, far into the night, and even into the next morning. They talked about everything, from any question either could think of about the other, to the hydroponics and how it worked. Finally with throats too sore to speak anymore, they stood and walked hand-in-hand to their sleeping chamber. They took turns showering and then slipped into bed together. He wasn’t going to touch her. He didn’t want to push her away again if she wasn’t ready, but she asked, “Was it just a dream, or did we really make love?”
He took a deep breath; this was the very thing she’d yelled at him for not having a right to do. Sighing he finally answered, “We really made love.”
She didn’t answer for a moment, then said quietly, a tone of mischief in her voice, “Show me.”
So he did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the morning Orlgo woke, stretching, smiling. He’d made love to his host all night. He’d never in his entire existence dreamed he could be so happy, so satisfied, so at peace. He turned, reaching for her, but she was gone. He bolted upright in bed, his eyes darting to the cleansing chamber, but she was not there either. He could feel her, wherever she was. She was frightened, but determined.
He leapt from the bed, running out of the room and into the corridor, searching for her. Pleading with the Creator to not let her leave him.
He found her in the control room. When he entered, the whoosh of the doors sounded clearly, but she didn’t turn around. Instead she continued to stare out of the viewing panel, straight ahead.
“Chloe?” he asked softly.
“I had to release it. I couldn’t take a chance they’d come for me,” she said.
He walked over to her, his heart still racing from thinking she’d found a way to leave, “Had to release what?”
“My ship. I had to release it. I had the homing beacon activated, a continuous SOS on relay. I couldn’t take the chance that anyone would come for me.” She turned to face him, “If they came for me, they’d find you. And I couldn’t risk someone hurting you. Nor could I ever leave you. So I left enough of my things on my ship, I put my flight suit back on it, and I released it into space. The systems failure it was having, it should only be a matter of an hour or so, and the pressure will crush it, make it fold in on itself. Pieces of it floating off into nowhere. If they find it, they’ll assume I’ve died. They won’t search for me.”
“What of your people?” he asked, though he thought he already knew.
“I have no people. It’s only ever been me. All I had was my transport and a little business I managed to carve out delivering supplies to the mining planets. Now that’s gone,” Chloe answered.
“You are stranded now,” he said.
She smiled at him, “No, I’m not stranded. I’m finally home.”
He took her in his arms, kissing her, holding her.
“I�
�m so glad I found you, Cat,” she told him.
He vibrated a bit, and a pained noise left him, but she knew he was laughing — she felt his amusement from his emotions, “My name is Orlgo.”
“I know. I love you – Cat.”
From The Author
Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope that my stories make you smile and give you a small escape from the daily same ole/same ole. I write for me, simply for the joy of it, but if someone else also smiles as a result, even better. Your support is greatly appreciated. If you liked this story, please remember to leave a review wherever you bought it, so that more people can find my books. Each review is important, no matter how short or long it may be.
See you in the pages of the next one!
Sandra R Neeley
Other books by this author:
Avaleigh’s Boys series
I’m Not A Dragon’s Mate!, Book 1
Bane’s Heart, Book 2
Kaid’s Queen, Book 3
Maverik’s Ashes, Book 4
Bam’s Ever, Book 5
Whispers From the Bayou series
Carnage, Book 1
Destroy, Book 2
Haven series
Haven 1, Ascend
About the Author
My name is Sandra R Neeley. I write Paranormal, SciFi and Fantasy Romances. Why, you may ask? Romance, because who doesn’t love a good romance, and the lack of reality in the story lines — because, well, normal is highly overrated, so Paranormal it is. I’m 55, I have two kids, one 32 and one 12 (yes, God does have a sense of humor), one grandchild, one husband, and a menagerie of animals. I love to cook, and I am a voracious reader, though since I started writing, I don’t get as much time to read as I once did. I am a homebody and prefer my writing/reading time to a crowd. I have had stories and fictional characters wandering around in my head for as long as I can remember. I’m a Self-Published Author, and I like it that way because I can decide what and when to write. I am by no means a formal, polished, properly structured individual and neither are my stories. But people seem to love the easy emotion and passion that naturally flow from them. A bit of a warning though, there are some “triggers” in them that certain people should avoid. I’m a firm believer that you cannot have light without the dark. You cannot fully embrace the joy and elation that my people eventually find if you do not bear witness to their darkest hours as well. So please read the warnings supplied with each of the synopses about my books before you buy them. I’ve got four series published at this time, Avaleigh’s Boys — PNR, Whispers From the Bayou — Fantasy PNR, Haven — SciFi Romance, and this one, Riley’s Pride — PNR, with several more series in process. I’m always glad to hear from my readers, so feel free to look me up and say hello.
You can find me at any of these places:
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https://www.sneeleywrites.com
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