by T. J. Quinn
“You will probably want to learn our language, but you will not be seen as an alien on the new world. Our customs vary with what part of the world one lives. The colonies develop new customs as they grow and blend their old favored customs with the new.”
“I think you could pass here even with blue hair and cat's eyes. If anyone asks, just say you're in a rock band,” she paused and grinned. “You look very exotic.”
“I do have inserts to make my eyes look like your species, but I find them irritating,” he said. “I've used them when I've been undercover on other worlds.”
“Undercover like spying?” she wondered.
“Observing---to evaluate the culture, politics, and level of technology. I was to come here many years back, but I was reassigned before they could send me here. I was hoping to land on Mars to repair my ship, but I came into your system on the wrong side of its orbital path,” he explained.
“I'm surprised I didn't feel your presence when you were here before.”
“Are you a sensitive?” he asked.
“Yeah, sort of. Mostly I see things in dreams. I don't really have control over it. I dreamed about being in your ship---I never saw your face, but I felt your presence in the dream.”
“That's why you were never frightened of me.” he concluded.
“Sometimes, the dream was so real I would wake up and expect to find you there beside me.”
Chaytok stopped and turned to her, putting his arms around her. “I may not be a sensitive, but I suspect it was you drawing me toward your dwelling.” He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “It certainly seems that the Universe conspired to bring us together.”
He held her for a few moments just savoring the feel of her against him. Then he draped an arm around her shoulders, and they started walking again.
As they came in sight of the house and barn, Alexa stopped suddenly. There was a familiar car in the driveway that she never expected to see again. Lawrence had found her. He had come to make her pay for sending him to jail; she was sure of it. Only ten days after his release, it hadn't taken him long to find her.
Alexa had a restraining order against him in Illinois. It was hardly worth the paper it was written on. She also doubted his parole officer knew he'd crossed state lines either. Eventually, she would have told Chaytok about that part of her past, but not like this.
Five
“We have to go back,” she whispered urgently.
“What's wrong?'
“My ex-lover is here, fresh out of prison. He assaulted me four years ago, and I had him charged.” she signed.
“What do you mean assaulted?” Chaytok growled.
“He hit me until I stopped fighting him and basically raped me.”
Chaytok snarled. “I will kill him!” He reached for a pistol type weapon holstered in his belt.
Alexa was trembling. “Let me ride in on Jetson and see if I can convince him to leave. Can you head off to the side there to a better spot if you have to shoot him?”
“Just let me kill him. It's no more than he deserves.”
“I can't say I disagree, but according to the law he has paid for his crime,” she shuddered.
“Not enough!” Chaytok growled. “They would never find a body with this weapon.”
“Please, just stay hidden and don't do anything unless he is threatening. I won't get close enough for him to get to me before Jetson can get me away.” she asserted.
He sighed ending with a low growling sound. “As you wish.” he agreed, but he clearly didn't like it. He circled behind the tree line at the edge of the yard and positioned himself at the corner of the house near the porch with his weapon poised and ready.
Alexa took up the reins and mounted the horse, reining him with a light touch toward the front of her large old farm house. She brought Jetson to a stop about ten meters from the front porch where Lawrence sat waiting seated on one of the painted antique rockers there. “What do you want Lawrence? Why are you here? You've got one minute to get off my porch, get in your car, and go back the way you came.”
“Lexie, I didn't come to make trouble. While I was in prison, I got into a program to get my life straightened out.” He stood up and started down the steps.
Alexa urged Jetson backward as he did. “Don't come any closer. Forgive me if I don't trust you anymore.”
He stopped on the middle step. “And I sure don't blame you. What I did to you was horrible and inexcusable. Part of my recovery is to make amends to the people I've hurt. I don't expect you to forgive me or to be part of your life. I wronged you, and I deserve your contempt. I just came to tell you how deeply sorry I am. I'm going to live my life differently from here on out.”
“You do that, Lawrence. I'm glad you are getting help, but I still don't want anything to do with you. Please get in your car, leave, and don't come back.” Alexa urged Jetson backward as Lawrence descended the rest of the steps and went to his car. “If you ever come here again, I will greet you with my grandfather's shotgun---and won't miss.”
He nodded, opened the car door, got in, and started it. Then he was gone without another word. Alexa sat on the horse until the car was out of sight then dismounted. Chaytok holstered his weapon and came to her. She was trembling so he wrapped her in his arms and held her close.
“I don't believe him,” she murmured against his neck. “I think he came to scope things out and see if I am here alone. He will be back.”
“Then, I will kill him,” Chaytok asserted. “Before I set out for Vesta Three, I was a warrior. I have learned there are some beings who are simply beyond redemption. He seems to be one of them.”
Alexa nodded against his shoulder. When she had calmed, she slid from his embrace and led Jetson to the barn. She unsaddled him, put him in his stall, and gave him food and water. By then, the sun was getting low in the sky.
“It's getting late. I have plenty of food. I can probably find something you would find edible to make for supper.” She told Chaytok when she finished settling Jetson for the night. “Or do you need to go back to your ship.”
“I won't leave you here alone,” he said without hesitation. “I have my tablet. The ship will relay any communication from Operations. I would like to see your home.” He fell into step beside her and draped an arm over her shoulders as they left the barn. “What I really hunger for is you,” he murmured close to her ear.
Alexa blushed and felt her center clench at the thought of him driving her to ecstasy again. She had never wanted a man the way she wanted him. “And I want you too,” she said softly. “Which would you like first?”
The look he gave her made no words necessary. Alexa took his hand and led him inside. Considering her earlier visitor, she closed and locked the door and went to the back of the house to check the lock on the back door. Chaytok nodded his approval as she did.
She took his hand again, leading him back through the house and up the stairs to the master bedroom. It was dimly lit by a small light plugged into a wall socket. Chaytok unfastened his weapons belt and set I on the nightstand beside the bed. Alexa closed the door and turned back into his arms.
He claimed her mouth urgently, thrusting his tongue into it the way he wanted to thrust his hard cock into her center. Alexa slid her hands up to the back of his neck and his head and met his kiss eagerly, caressing his tongue with hers. Chaytok slid one hand behind her back, squeezing her breasts against his chest, while the other hand pressed against her buttocks, so his cock pressed into her abdomen.
Finally, they broke apart and stripped off their clothes. And dropped them into two heaps on the floor. When they were naked, Chaytok framed her face in his hands and kissed her deeply with barely leashed passion, then lifted her into his arms and laid her in the middle of the quilt on the double bed. He lay beside her, cupping her breast as he kissed her mouth, while she reached up and caressed the back of his head. He kissed his way down her throat to her breast, kissing and nipping one nipple and then the
other, sliding his hand down over her belly between her thighs.
He found she was wet and ready for him as he slid two fingers into her slick opening.
“Now,” she whispered. “Fuck me now, Chaytok, please.”
She opened her thighs, and he moved over her. He elicited a sharp intake of breath and a soft moan as he dragged the head of his shaft between her inner lips and over her clit. Poised over her, staring into her eyes, he sank his cock hard and deep into in one smooth motion. This time they cried out together at the exquisite sensation---her filled with his throbbing shaft, and he groaned as he felt her inner muscles hugging it tightly. His weight pressed her into the bed, and she stroked his back with hands and wrapped her legs around his hips while he plundered her mouth and slowly thrust in and out of her.
Alexa met him enthusiastically thrust for thrust, murmuring how good he felt and that she wanted to give him all her passion. “I am yours, and you are mine.”
He fucked her harder and faster as she urged him on, pounding into her until she felt her climax. It sent him over the edge, and he slowed as his cock pulsed, spewing his semen into her. Then he pushed into her and stopped as her inner walls contracted around his cock. When the pulsing stopped, he withdrew and pushed into her again to start a new wave and draw her climax out until the throbbing stopped.
Again, he took each of her hands and laced his fingers through hers, pressing them into the bed on either side of her head as they lay still joined together. Alexa arched her back to increase the pressure against her breasts and stared up into his amber eyes. She smiled, and so did he, then he kissed her tenderly.
“I am yours, and you are mine,” Chaytok told her. “Love will grow from this bond between us.”
“I think it already is,” Alexa murmured. She unclasped her legs from around him and put her feet on the bed with her legs bent and thighs spread wide with him cradled between them.
“So do I,” he kissed her at length. After a time he drew back and sighed, then pulled out of her. He laid on his side, and she turned to face him.
Six
Chaytok reached up and pushed her hair back from her face and stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. The sun had long set, but he noticed and orange light flickering in the bedroom window. “What's that light?” he asked.
Alexa looked up. “Oh, no! Fire!” She rolled out of bed and ran to the window naked. “It's the barn. I have to get Jetson out.”
She raced to the pile of clothes on the floor and pulled on her jeans and blouse sans underwear and boots without socks. Chaytok pulled on his clothes and weapons belt and followed her as she raced down the stairs. She flipped on the light switches by the door, unlocked it and yanked it opened. Before she could unlock the storm door, a shot rang out and shattered the window in the outer door. Chaytok grabbed her arm and pulled her inside, slamming the inner door shut. Alexa ducked low and flipped off the light. Then bobbed up to peek out the front window.
“It's not the barn,” she murmured to him. “Just a big bonfire in front of it.” She stayed low and moved through the darkened house to another window. From there she could see a car parked a little way down the road. “Looks like Lawrence's car. I figured he was lying.”
“Do you have that shotgun you threatened him with?” Chaytok asked.
“Yes, in the closet with a new box of shells,” she said. “I'm not much of a shot, but I'll get it.” Alexa moved through the darkened house with ease and got the gun out of a small closet under the stairs along with the box of shells. She loaded the five shot twenty gauge pump with shells by the flickering firelight from outside.
“He doesn't know I'm here, and I can see far better than a homo sapien in the dark,” Chaytok said. “Can you take the gun and open the inner door and shoot through the broken window?”
She nodded.
“And stay out of the line of fire... I will go out the back.” He trotted to the back door in the dark, unlocked the back door and drew his weapon. He opened the door and slipped out.
Meanwhile, Alexa went to the front entrance and opened the inner door standing to the side. She pushed the muzzle of the shotgun out the broken storm door window and fired it toward the bonfire, then crouched low on the floor. Momentarily, three shots in succession bored through the thin aluminum door and slammed into the living room sofa. Alexa waited a few seconds, pumped another shell into the chamber, and fired out the broken window again. The gun kicked back, and she almost dropped it as she ducked back behind the wall.
After a few seconds, she heard another weapon fire and saw a bright light flashing in the windows. It stopped for a minute or so then she saw some more flashes, then nothing but the flickering from the bonfire. She thought it must have come from Chaytok's weapon, but she didn't know. She pumped another round into the chamber and let the empty casing fall to the floor. She stayed squatting by the front door and waited, silently praying her lover was safe.
Two long minutes passed then she heard the back door open. She stood up and raised the butt of the gun to her shoulder with the muzzle aimed at the floor. Her whole body was trembling as she waited, hoping.
“Alexa,” Chaytok called. “It's me. He's gone---forever.”
“Oh, my God!” She shuddered in relief. She flicked on the safety and laid the shotgun on the floor. She jogged toward the kitchen and met him in the dining room and threw her arms around him. Chaytok hugged her close. She was horrified that it had come to this with Lawrence but also relieved that it was over.
“You did well, sweet one,” he murmured kissing her hair and nuzzling her neck. “He's gone, and so is his car---nothing left but a couple burn marks on the dirt.”
“He deserved it. He came back to kill me. He set that fire so I would think the barn was burning and come out to save Jetson.” she asserted. “Are you, all right?”
“I'm well,” he said. “I should have killed him the first time for what he did to you... But he is gone now.”
Several sharp bleeps emitted from a pouch on his belt. Chaytok released Alexa, pulled out his tablet and flipped it opened to read the text message. She looked at him expectantly.
“Good news! A freighter will deliver my part to Mars in about a month. They will send a drone with the part for my ship, then we can be on our way,” he said, happily.
“Wow, that's a lot sooner than you expected,” she said thoughtfully as the enormity of leaving planet Earth to start a new life on a colonial world began to set in. It meant she would have to leave Jetson behind. In the two years since she got him, she had become quite attached to him, Tears pricked her eyes at the thought of leaving him.
His face grew serious at her expression. “Do you still want to go?”
She grinned up at him. “Of course, I do!” she murmured fervently and rested her hand on his upper arm. “I just realized that I can’t bring Jetson with me on your ship.”
Chaytok frowned, “You are emotionally attached to the horse.”
“He’s my friend---like a pet or companion animal,” she said.
“I understand. Many people on my world are fond of horses as well. We have imported them for centuries,” Chaytok told her. “When the Alliance first came to your world, riding horses or in wagons pulled by animals was the primary means of transport. Many of our agents developed a fondness for the animals.”
Chaytok thought for a moment, then spoke to his tablet in his language then folded it up and put it back in his pocket. “We can put him in stasis for the journey. I can make room in the cargo bay for him. I will need to send a small tissue sample from him to make sure he carries no diseases to our base here to clear him for transport to Vesta Three.”
“Stasis---what will that do to him?”
“Slow his metabolism, so he will be inactive for the journey, requiring no food or water, nor have need to excrete waste,” he said.
“And that won’t hurt him?”
“It won’t. I ordered the equipment we need to set up a stasis field for h
im. Horses have been transported this way for centuries, they said,” he told her.
“Is it expensive?”
“Not if it makes you happy, meomee.” He smiled down at her, his eyes sparkling with affection.
She returned his smile and hugged him fervently. “Thank you Chaytok! You make me happy. I’m just sorry that you had to be involved in dealing with Lawrence but glad you were here.”
Seven
He put his arms around her and hugged her back. “Don’t let it trouble you, sweet one. I would defend you with my life---and I am well trained to do so.” As he looked down into her face, he couldn’t resist the invitation of her lips. That was all it took to light the fire of desire between them. “I need you again,” he whispered when their lips parted.
“Yes,” she replied. “I’ve never felt such an intense need for sex before---like I can’t get enough of you.”
“It’s our bonding time,” he explained. “The pheromones are pretty intense for the first 7-10 days. The only way to quell the desire is to mate frequently until the pheromones subside.”
“Sounds like we are in heat,” she said before he kissed her again, running his hands down her back and pressing her buttocks so that she could feel his erection against her belly. “Ooooh,” she cooed. “I think we should go back upstairs for some more bonding---unless you would rather have some food first.” She pressed closer squeezing her breasts against his hard chest.
“You know what I want, and I think it’s what you want as well.”
“Then it’s upstairs, food later.”
Chaytok took her hand and led the way upstairs to her bedroom where they helped each other strip off the hastily pulled on clothing. Both were trembling with desire as he moved in to frame her face with his hands. His tender gaze was as a caress as he studied her face. The only sound between them was the quickening of their breath in anticipation of the melding together of their bodies.
First, his lips softly molded to hers, warm and moist, parted inviting his tongue to enter and dance around hers. Then he pulled her tightly against him savoring the sensation of flesh against flesh at every point of contact. It was the balm he needed against the violence of the hour before. He had hoped he would never have to do it again, but he did and he would again to protect his meomee.
