by T. J. Quinn
If that were the only thing he knew about her, he would love her. She already owned his heart and soul, and all he would ask in return was that she love him as he loved her. He believed she did. The pheromones drawing them together were that powerful. They didn’t just keep his cock hard and aching to be sheathed in her silken center, or make her ache to have him fill her. They also served to pull them together emotionally, so they began to form a real mutual attachment to each other as they mated.
Chaytok kissed her long and slow and deeply while caressing her smooth skin with his hands. He stroked her back and down over her buttocks, lifting her, so his erection pressed against her core, eliciting an ardent moan from Alexa. Holding her there with one arm he used his finger so stroke her breast and tweak her erect nipples alternating his hold on her.
Her pussy was moistly lubricated so that it took little effort for him to slide into her channel by lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around his hips. He just held her there and went on kissing her as he rolled them onto the bed.
He was home where he belonged in her and on her as she wrapped herself around him. War and violence receded from his thoughts as she became his universe---all he needed to make him feel alive and whole. For Chaytok she was love, the love of his life, love that he never truly believed would be his while fighting for his life on that backwater colony far from his home world. Enveloped in her arms, sheathed inside her, was easy to forget everything but the feel of her pleasuring him with her body and putting her heart and soul into it. In those moments, she was everything he ever dreamed and desired, but never believed he could have.
When he finally slowly thrust in and out of her, it augmented his pleasure that he could elicit breathless cries and moans of her sensual enjoyment of his internal caressing where they joined together. Each time he drove his shaft home she hugged him end arched to meet him. He took his time drawing them to the brink of ecstasy then pulling back before they could move over the edge. He wanted to drive away all the earlier horror from both their minds so they would only remember the incredible bliss over what was happening to them.
Alexa writhed in protest after several times of being drawn so close to climax and abruptly pulled back from the edge. Yet she knew as well as Chaytok that anticipation was half the pleasure. When he finally pushed just a little harder and longer, she shouted inarticulately as her whole body was wracked with orgasmic contractions.
“Chay, oh Chay,” she murmured when she could form words again.
They lay joined together, kissing and caressing for a long time after their mutual orgasm waned. Even when he pulled out of her they were reluctant to return to their lonely separateness. Chaytok rolled them to their sides and drew her against him, soothed by the warmth of her skin against his.
“You are so beautiful, meomee!” he murmured and drew the backs of his fingers down across her cheek. “I have never felt so alive---such elation as when our bodies join together. That I found you as I did is beyond my wildest most precious dreams.”
Alexa smiled at him and turned her face to kiss his hand. “You are my wildest dream.” She laughed softly “And here we are.”
This time it was Chaytok’s stomach that growled. It was hours since they shared a light lunch at his ship. It was almost midnight.
“I don’t have a food processor like yours, but I could probably find some eggs and cheese and make some scrambled eggs and toast for midnight breakfast,” she said.
“Anything palatable would be fine,” he said. “I am told that bonding takes a lot of energy.”
“Come keep me company while I cook.” She reluctantly withdrew from his arms and sat on the edge of the bed. She pulled a thin robe off the chair beside her nightstand and slipped it on, tying the belt at the waist.
Chaytok pulled on his shirt and pants again as they were the only clothes he’d brought. They went downstairs to the kitchen together, where Chaytok insisted on helping her. She showed him how to make the toast while she beat together half a dozen eggs.
Within minutes they were sitting together at the table eating. Chaytok complimented her on the palatability of the egg and cheese combination. “I have heard others talk about Earth food with fondness. This is the first I have had,” he added. “There are actually eating places---you would call them restaurants on Narova that specialized in preparing food as it is done here on Earth. You would be very surprised at how many Narovians have been to your world, not just Alliance agents.
“Felines come here often seeking their meomees.”
“How do they even know where to look? There are billions of people on this planet,” she asked.
“They go to places near Alliance bases. It used to be simpler before people on your world became so mobile. Even so, there is a fairly high concentration of sapiens with various levels of feline genes in and around this area.”
“But when the Alliance first began coming here there weren’t humans with feline genes, were there?”
“Honestly, I don’t really know. Felines can fall in love just like humans, and they mate with sapiens or other felines. But to find meomee is the ultimate relationship. It goes far beyond the sexual bonding in the beginning,” he explained. “With your media promoting DNA testing for ancestral origins, the odds improve that the matchmaking service will find meomees more frequently.”
“I’m surprised that the Alliance allowed agents to take mates from the native population,” Alexa said, “Don’t they have something like the “prime directive” policy of non-interference?”
“I’m not sure I understand. The Alliance doesn’t directly interfere in the governing of non-space faring worlds, but it doesn’t prevent its citizens from seeking and finding their fated mates on any lower tech world. Those who are stationed here have always been allowed to recreate off base,” he said. “These days, there are some people who prefer to live on your world rather than in pampered luxury on Narova.”
“Is that why you want to settle on a colonial world?”
“That’s part of it. After being a warrior for so many years, I need to build something for myself and for the family I wanted to make one day,” he said. “I want that even more now that I have found you.
Eight
In the weeks that followed, Chaytok and Alexa divided their time between her home and his ship. The intense sexual part of their bonding lasted the full ten days, though they continued mating almost daily.
Alexa finished up harvest season and listed her property with a realtor. Even before meeting Chaytok, she had transferred all her family photos and music to digital storage so it would be easy to take with her. She was both uncertain and excited about going into space and settling on a colony world in another star system. She was going to do something she never expected to see in her lifetime.
It wasn’t science fiction anymore. She was living it---starting a new life with an alien mate. Occasionally she wondered if the bonding pheromones were keeping her from having second and third thoughts about leaving Earth perhaps for the rest of her life. No, she reminded herself that she had seen his coming. She had only had those dreams a few times in her life, and the difference was always clear to her that none of them were simply wishful thinking.
Chaytok has lots of information and video of Vesta Three an Earthlike world that was at an earlier stage of development than Earth. It had a Starport and several large towns but no true metropolitan areas. There were native flora and fauna but no sentient beings before it was opened for colonization. The soil and climate in many parts of the world were optimal for growing crops. Alexa thought it too bad that other people from Earth would not get an opportunity to settle on a new world with so much potential. At least she did---new world, new people, new friends and the love of her life.
In less than a month her whole life changed. With her business, it was not unusual to have people stopping by to buy plants and things. She was surprised when a large rental truck arrived. Chaytok was thrilled because the driver was hi
s cousin and dear friend Jeck Fantis. He frowned at first when he saw the tall well-built man striding toward Alexa’s porch. Although he looked sapien, there was something familiar about the way he moved. As he came closer, Chaytok knew.
“Jeck Fantis, is that you?” Chaytok asked as he approached.
“Chaytok, it sure is. I couldn’t let you leave Earth without getting here to see you,” Jeck met him half way between the truck and the porch. The two warriors hugged then stepped back to survey each other. “When I heard you were stranded here, I volunteered to bring you the part for your star drive--- and the stasis field generator?”
“For my mate’s horse,” he explained. “He is important to her, so we will take him with us to Vesta Three. Stasis is the only way in a ship the size of mine.”
“You have a mate? Is that why you came to Earth?” Jeck asked.
“That was unintended. I went off course, and then the stardrive started to fail. I couldn’t make it to the moon or Mars, so I landed as close as I could to base, here. When did you get stationed here?”
“After we pulled out of Wissol, I decided to come to Earth to find meomee. Is your mate meomee?” Jeck asked.
“She is, and I wasn’t even looking---but she foresaw my coming,” Chaytok replied.
“What?”
“She dreamed of me,” Chaytok grinned. “She is magnificent!”
“And you love her,” Jeck grinned back.
“Of course, she is meomee,” he said. “Come meet her, she is in the barn tending the horse.”
Chaytok led the way to the barn where Alexa had just cleaned out Jetson’s auto waterer and was turning the water back on. The horse nickered as the two men came into the barn and Alexa turned to face them. She flashed a warm smile at her mate and glanced at the other man with him.
“Alexa James, this is my cousin Jeck Fantis. We served in the Defense Force together, he saved my life,” Chaytok gestured.
She looked at Chaytok, a question in her eyes. In his disguise, he didn’t look feline at all. Still, she offered her hand to him, and he took it firmly without squeezing too tightly.
“I am pleased to meet my cousin’s meomee,” Jeck smiled and dipped his head in a slight bow. “I hope I’m as fortunate as Chaytok to find a beautiful meomee.”
“I’m the lucky one,” Alexa returned his smile as he released her hand.
“Jeck is here with the part for my stardrive and the stasis field generator for the horse,” Chaytok told her.
“They were loaded on hover trams in the truck because you indicated your ship was in the forest where there is no paved road,” Jeck said. “I will stay and help you with the installation if you like.
“I will be grateful for your help,” Chaytok said. “Together we should be able to have the ship ready for launch by nightfall.”
Alexa’s bright expression slid away as the realization that the plan to leave Earth was coming to fruition sooner than she expected. It was a step into the unknown that she thought she was ready to take. She had made all the preparations and packed her things. Tears pricked her eyes at the enormity of what she was about to do.
Chaytok heart ached at what he saw in her eyes. Part of him wanted to relent and say they could stay but he didn’t know if he could bear to give up his dream. Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she shook her head and slid her arms around his waist.
“Chay, it’s okay,” she sniffed. “I’m not backing out---it’s just a big step. I just need some time to sort it out and say goodbye to my world.” She hugged him and kissed his cheek and whispered, “I love you, meomee.”
He put his arms around her and hugged her. “And I love you. We will be back when we are ready to load the horse.”
Alexa nodded and slid from his embrace. “I will bring my things to the porch, so they are ready to load.” She gave him a wan smile and brushed the wetness from her face with her fingers. She would have a cry while he was gone, and then she would pull herself together to get things done. She knew she made the right choice, but this was an enormous change. She wasn’t just moving to another town, she was moving to another planet light years from Earth. She couldn’t just pop back for a visit if she got homesick. She was looking at the rest of her life very likely never coming back.
Nine
“She’s not changing her mind,” Jeck said. “You remember what it was like when we left Narova for the first time. We were shaking in our boots, never had been more than a few hundred klicks from home.”
“That was an age ago. It seems like we were never that young,” Chaytok mused.
“War does that to people,” Jeck said.
“So, you came to Earth to get away from it?” Chaytok laughed. “Hardly a day goes by on this planet that people aren’t killing each other somewhere. They might not even survive to become spacefaring.”
“I came here to find meomee. I’ve been here about six months now, and it’s peaceful in this area,” Jeck said, “Narovian Matchmaking didn’t find my mate, and I paid for the deluxe service. So I thought I’d try for myself on Earth. I have learned that many people don’t get DNA tested because of the expense.”
“Alexa said she didn’t because she already had detailed information on her ancestry,” Chaytok said. “Let’s get this done. She will have time enough to brood about our leaving. I think she is just anxious about making the break from her home world.”
“Like we were,” Jeck said. “From what I heard, Vesta Three is a beautiful place. I hope you will be happy there.”
“I think I will as long as Alexa is,” Chaytok said.
“She is meomee. She will be happy because you will be there together.”
The two men strode out of the barn to the truck parked in front of the house. Jeck opened the back to reveal two auto trams the size of shipping pallets. One was loaded with a cylindrical metal object that had a shaft protruding from each end, the star drive power accelerator. The other was a little bigger than a lawn mower engine with a small touch screen. Jeck climbed up into the truck and used voice commands in Narovian to program the coordinates of Chaytok’s ship. The trams were powerful enough that each man could ride one of them to the site to save time.
Jeck stayed to help install both items and run systems checks to be sure all systems were functioning within normal parameters. It had taken a couple hours to complete the repair and then the installation of the stasis field generator.
When they opened the cargo bay to go back for Alexa’s belongings, she was there sitting on Jetson’s back. She smiled at Chaytok when he came into view a question in his eyes as he smiled hopefully.
“I decided I wanted one more ride through the forest if we are leaving today,” she said. “I’m ready. All my things are on the porch everything should fit into the space you made for them.”
“Did you enjoy the ride,” Chaytok asked, thinking she never looked more beautiful.
“I did. The fall colors are at peak now. We stopped along the way to take pictures with my phone, but we’re ready now. Do you want me to ride him into the cargo bay? I think that might be the easiest way to get him in.”
“Yes, we can get him settled before we go back for your things. Follow me, I will show you where to go.” Chaytok turned and retreated up the cargo ramp, and Alexa urged Jetson forward.
She was proud of the way Jetson strolled up the ramp and into the makeshift stall that Chaytok had been working on since they had decided to transport him to Vesta Three. There was a small pile of grain on a shelf in front Jetson to distract him while Alexa removed his tack. He didn’t even notice when they pushed a small module beneath him to support his weight while he was in stasis. Jetson only became a little restless when they pushed a module in behind him closing him in from all sides.
Chaytok set the stasis field immediately when everyone was clear, and Jetson became motionless almost instantly. He would stay that way for the entire three weeks of their journey. Alexa turned and hugged Chaytok when the horse was settled.
<
br /> “Thank you for doing this. It would have been so hard to leave Jetson behind, but I would have to be with you,” Alexa murmured and hugged Chaytok tightly. He was a good horse. It would not have been difficult to find someone who would love and care for him.
“I didn’t want to make you choose, meomee. That you would choose to come with me was enough,” he murmured, caressing her head as she pressed her cheek against the hollow of his shoulder.
Jeck cleared his throat to remind them they were not alone. Chaytok kissed the top of her head and released Alexa from his embrace.
“You and Jeck can pick up the things, and I will wait here. Everything is right at the top of the steps. I have already said my goodbyes, I can’t go back,”
“As you wish,” Chaytok said, seeming to understand. “I will be back quickly, and we will launch soon after that.”
Alexa went to the lift and took it to the upper-level living area to wait while Chaytok and Jeck went back for her things, riding the hover trams. With two of them, it didn’t take long to load the trams with Alexa’s belongings and get back to the ship. By dividing the load, they were able to return quickly on the trams. There was just enough room load the plastic totes and luggage.
When everything was secured, Jeck bent his head in salute to his friend and cousin. “Be well, be happy my friend and let me know you’re still alive out there occasionally.”
“And you.” Chaytok returned the gesture. “Thank you for your help. It was good to see you again. I hope you find meomee. You deserve it as much as anyone.
Then he was gone taking both trams back with him.
Chaytok stood in the cargo bay a few moments longer, pondering how Jeck had been there to help him on this backwater planet so far from their home and even farther from where they had fought for the Alliance. Now he was on his way to start a new life with Alexa---meomee.
