Nebula Nights: Love Among The Stars

by Melisse Aires

  Each pass took him deeper within her body. His hands spread over her back, holding her close, only breaking away from the kiss to let out a long groan as he slid all the way in. He stilled his advances, extending the moment of their joining. Lost in the love swirling within her twin emeralds, he let his heart fall with the hope that she would catch it.

  “Ummadra,” he whispered, nuzzling against her cheek. He pumped into her slowly, relishing every contraction and tiny little gasp that rippled through her body. She curled around him, kissing his jaw, his shoulder and finally his lips, her moans passing into him before being passed back to her. They were inseparable, no clear line where one began and the other ended.

  “Stevverax,” she whimpered into his neck as each sensation compounded. It was like nothing she had ever experienced. They were so close, so still and yet everything moved and everything felt like it was teetering on the edge of a place just out of reach.

  “Ummadra ul, Noelle,” he moaned, his pace quickening. Their breathing stopped for a single shared moment as they both cried out in ecstasy and fell over the edge into love.

  9: Beyond Them Far

  Noelle awoke again to a wall of muscle and deep warmth. She didn’t remember falling back asleep. Actually, she didn’t remember much that followed the most incredible shared orgasm she’d ever had. They didn’t just have sex. They had been joined together, linked and inseparable.

  Inseparable. She liked that idea, and it made her stomach fill with butterflies. It was totally ridiculous to have thoughts like that on the third day of knowing a man. Wasn’t it?

  “Are you awake,” Steve whispered against her forehead.

  Noelle yawned and stretched against his chest. “For the second time, yes. I don’t even remember falling back asleep.”

  “It’s a side effect of our joining,” he lessened his grip on her body, moving a hand over her thigh that was draped over his hip. His erection remained swelled within her, but he reluctantly began forcing it to recede.

  Noelle gasped as she realized they had remained joined the whole time. “We were still, uhm, oh…” her words trailed off in a soft, pleasured moan that ended with a sad whimper at his departure from her body.

  Her reaction brought a deep, appreciative smile to his lips. “Yes. The long joining and the sleep helps ensure conception, if it were my time of umva.”

  “Um-va,” she tested out the alien word. “Fertility?”

  “Yes,” his grin widened at her intelligent guess. “My next umva won’t be until around April. Kraxxian years are longer, so I don’t know exactly without doing some math.” He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to tell her when he’d next be able to produce viable seed. The thoughts that followed were… impossible dreams. Weren’t they?

  “Umva,” she whispered again. “U… um-madra ul,” she said next, remembering the words he had spoken to her during their lovemaking.

  Steve almost choked on his tongue. Oh shit. Please don’t ask what that means… He wasn’t even remotely ready to explain how his heart now belonged to her.

  “Your language,” she said instead, “is very different than English, but you don’t even speak with an accent.”

  He sighed in relief. “Translation nanites. Language is just a neural pattern stored in the brain. The nanites create new patterns, let us learn and speak any language that has a digital reference library. It’s not perfect and some words translate incorrectly. Like kuru. It should translate as ‘children’, but it keeps translating as ‘younglings’. No idea why.”

  “Kuru,” she tried the new word then gasped and sat up straight. “Children! Goodness, what time is it? I was supposed to be at the Center by ten for Game Day.”

  He sat up with her. “Game Day?”

  She glanced at the clock, relieved to see it was only nine-thirty. “All the kids are out of school now for two weeks, so Father Nathan schedules events to keep them busy. Today it’s board games, cards and that kind of thing.”

  “Oh,” he watched as she started hunting around for her clothes. He’d hoped to spend the day with her. Wait, why couldn’t he? “That sounds like fun. I’m horrible at cards, but I play a mean game of Scrabble.”

  Noelle stopped digging in her underwear drawer. “It’s an all-day affair usually, and the kids will be hyper and I’m sure you have things you’d rather do.” Why was she trying to talk him out of coming? Probably because the last time one of her dates tagged along to an event, he’d disappeared after an hour and then didn’t call her for a week.

  He caught her reluctance and wondered how many people in her life had been scared off by her dedication to the Center. Standing from the bed, he swaggered over to her and pulled her into a hug. “I’ll be missing the X-Files marathon, so I believe you’ll owe me dinner, Miss Smith.”

  She smiled against his chest. “I suppose that can be arranged, Mr. Mason. You may want to bring some earplugs.”

  “Some energetic kids aren’t going to scare me away, Noelle. There’s nothing else I’d rather do than spend the day with you. Besides, playing games with kids really does sound like fun. I bet Alex is a better Scrabble partner than Garry.”

  She sighed happily against him. Once again, he had understood the underlying meaning behind her words. Now, if she could just get rid of the nagging feeling that it was all just way too good to last. Gathering herself again, she resumed her hunt for underwear. “I need to call Father Nathan and tell him we’ll be late, then I need a shower.”

  “So do I,” he hinted, grinning as she blushed.

  Half an hour and a longer than normal shower later, Noelle and Steve were on the bus headed to the Center. While on the bus, Steve sent an update to Garry, which was followed by a flurry of messages from Amber. Ten minutes later, he received a message from Anna.

  ‘We need to talk.’

  Steve cringed, not looking forward at all to the lecture he knew was coming. Anna had encouraged him to give dating a try, not telling a girl, whom he had only known a few days, everything. Side-glancing Noelle as the bus jostled her into his shoulder, he prepared himself to defend her to Anna and justify his breaking protocol. Ummadra ul, Noelle.

  Noelle smiled as Steve took her hand within his, their fingers intertwining. A thought hit her and she snickered. “If any of the kids ask, just say green is your favorite color.”

  “It is,” he cocked an eyebrow then followed her gaze to his shirt – the same shirt he had been wearing yesterday. “Oh! I get it. Maybe I should message Garry back and ask him to bring me another shirt, but he’s probably already on his way.”

  “On his way?” Noelle furrowed her brow in confusion. “Wait, he’s coming to the Center?”

  “I hope that’s okay,” Steve stood into the aisle as the bus came to their stop. “When I told him it was Game Day, he swore revenge for our last Scrabble tournament then stopped replying to my messages.”

  Noelle accepted Steve’s outstretched hand with a smile then followed him off the bus. “No, that’s wonderful.”

  Too wonderful, her common sense nagged. Steve, his friends and everything else was all just too wonderful to be real, or at least too good to last. Good things in her life always came in a flurry then departed just as quickly. Numerous foster families with short-lived promises of forever. Friends who felt jaded by her lack of social involvement. Boyfriends who enjoyed dating her but were weary of anything bordering commitment to a girl with her past and her own commitments.

  True, Steve and his friends didn’t exactly fit the mold, alien origins aside, but it was hard to forget thirty years of experiences. Wow, she inhaled. She’d be thirty tomorrow. Maybe she was too old to keep hoping for foolish promises of forever and wishes to Christmas angels. That thought made her hold on to Steve’s hand a little tighter. If it was too good to last, then she was going to hold on to it for as long as she could.

  The kids were more than happy to see Steve again. When Garry, Mike and Amber showed up followed twenty minutes later by Anna with a delive
ry of coffee, milk and doughnuts, Noelle thought the kids would never stop smiling. The happiness in her heart was replaced by a nervous tension in her gut after receiving a few examining looks from Anna. After the kids settled slightly, Anna pulled Steve and Noelle into the kitchen.

  Anna had her arms clasped behind her back as she eyed the two. Noelle was smiling, but her eyes spoke of uncertainty. Steve’s expression was a jumbled mess of fear, determination and affection. He was going to defend his decision, no doubt about it.

  Anna released a slow exhale, forcing her posture to relax. She wasn’t his Captain anymore. She was his friend, and she needed to trust him to do the right thing. Before she could open her mouth to talk, Noelle spoke first.

  “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I swear your secrets are safe.”

  “You’re wrong,” Anna replied, causing Noelle to frown. “I have a very good reason to trust you, Miss Smith. Steve hasn’t given a girl so much as a second glance in six years. If he’s made the decision to trust you and make you part of his life, of our lives, then I have to trust you, because I trust him.”

  Steve’s jaw fell open. It’s wasn’t the reprimand he’d been expecting. Not even close. “Captain?” His mind was trying to catch up to everything.

  “I’m not a captain anymore,” Anna patted his arm. “And you’re not my technical officer anymore. I’ve decided to change protocol.” She paused, huffing a small laugh. “More to the point, I’ve decided to get rid of it all together. I’m not going to go on CNN and broadcast our existence, but if we find people we want to trust, then I think it’s about time we stopped living so… isolated.”

  “Miss Noelle?!” Joey appeared in the kitchen pass-through window. “Do you know where we put Battleship?”

  Noelle thought for a moment as her mind shifted gears from alien secrets to board games. “Oh, right. We put it on the top shelf in the storeroom because Haley ate one of the pegs the last time it was out. I’ll get it in a moment.”

  “Okay, thanks! Hi Mr. Steve, Miss Anna!” Joey waved enthusiastically then disappeared.

  Noelle turned to find Anna chuckling behind her hand. Noelle let out a relieved breath. “Thank you for trusting me. I’m glad that you’ve decided to give us a chance.” She glanced to Steve. “Us, and people in general. I know it’s hard to trust and hope they’ll understand, but when it works out, it can be something special.”

  “Agreed,” Steve shared a smile with her, then a noise from the small cafeteria where the games had been set up stole Noelle’s attention.

  “I better go check on everyone,” she blushed as she fled the room.

  Steve watched her go, her words lingering as a caressing warmth in his chest. Anna cleared her throat as she eyed him with one eyebrow raised high. He let out a nervous laugh. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, you’re not,” Anna replied. “Not even a little, but that’s okay. I can see why you like her.”

  “Ummadra,” he corrected with a whisper. “I love her.”

  Anna raised the other eyebrow to join the first. Stevverax was never one to rush into things or jump to conclusions. If the Kraxxian said he was in love, then she didn’t doubt it. “Love at first sight?”

  He raised his hand to rub the center of his chest. “I was bit by a bug, according to Garry. But yeah, I think so.”

  “And she feels the same?”

  “I want to say yes, but…” Steve sighed. “This isn’t some movie. Maybe she thinks love at first sight is as absurd as I did. I just told her I’m an alien. I’m not sure I’m done letting that dust settle yet to also bring up any hope for commitment.”

  “Waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Anna nodded.

  “That made no sense until just now,” Steve managed a stilted laugh. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

  “Well, don’t wait too long,” Anna offered her ex-crewman some advice as her eyes looked out into the cafeteria. “Waiting can quickly turn into regret.”

  Steve followed her gaze out to where Mike sat playing a game of cards with several kids. Anna left Steve to digest those words, and he took several minutes before walking back into the crowded cafeteria. Tomorrow was Noelle’s birthday, and he had decided he would give her the gift she truly deserved. Tomorrow night, he would give her the truth of his heart.

  That little note of nervous energy hung over him, but Game Day turned out to be an excellent distraction. As he played Scrabble with Alex, he planned out Noelle’s birthday. Alex beat him, badly, but Steve still managed to beat Garry.

  After a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Steve left to go home and change. Plans to pick Noelle up from the Center at five for dinner gave him plenty of time to also do a little Christmas shopping. He didn’t know what Noelle wanted for her birthday or Christmas, but he knew what he wanted to give her.

  With hope, he packed an overnight bag along with the gift and picked her up at five. She was all exhausted smiles as she climbed into his truck and he leaned over with a laugh to adjust her glasses and pull a piece of silly-string from her hair. “Garry?”

  “Garry,” Noelle confirmed, guessing that Garry was known to sneak cans of silly string, pass them out to kids and coordinate an attack. “So, I owe you dinner. What would you like?”

  “I thought we could eat in,” he grinned. “I know a great Italian bistro that takes to-go orders.”

  Noelle sighed with relief, looking forward to relaxing at home. “That sounds wonderful.”

  The to-go Italian food was marvelous and enjoyed just as much as Steve’s company. She leaned against the door with giddy laughter when he took a trip down to his truck to grab the overnight bag he’d packed. They spent the night talking, cuddled in her bed – which she had mentally started calling their bed. Morning found them as it did the day before and he showed her again how his people made love.

  “Ummadra ul, Noelle…”

  After waking up for the second time that morning, Noelle kept her leg firmly wrapped around his hip and he was in no rush break their joining. Kissing the tip of her nose, he lightly touched her cheek while losing himself in her eyes. “Happy birthday, Noelle.”

  “I agree that it is,” she replied, fighting a yawn. “Very happy.”

  That admission filled him with such contentment. If she was happy, then he was happy. “Do you have anything planned at the Center today?”

  That he would even consider asking made her heart skip. “We do a Christmas Eve slumber party. We tell stories and watch a movie to help the younger kids get to sleep, then the older kids help Father Nathan and I set out the presents.” She stopped with a laugh. “You know, this will be the first time we have a tree to put them under.”

  Steve thought on that. It interfered with his plans to take her to a nice restaurant for her birthday, but it was obvious what she really wanted. “Am I too big for a slumber party?”

  “You really want to come?” She was so full of hope he’d say yes. “I always stay overnight because the kids get up early to open presents.”

  “Can we share a bunk?” he grinned.

  “Father Nathan’s apartment above the offices has a spare room,” she grinned back. “The bed is small, though.”

  Steve hugged her tightly. “It sounds perfect.”

  Rearranging his mental plans, Steve tried to remain calm as they ate a light brunch. Even with the slumber party, they’d still have some time alone tonight. The more he thought about it, the more that big, decorated pine tree served as a perfect backdrop for his daydream.

  It was just after six, as they were pulling into the Center’s parking lot, when Steve got the call that brought his dreams crashing down around his feet.

  “We received a ping-back.”

  It took a long moment for Garry’s words to sink in, and when they did, Steve dropped the grocery bags in his hand. “We… what?”

  “What’s wrong?” Noelle walked around the truck with worry in her eyes.

  “We received a ping-back,” Garry repeated into
Steve’s ear. “Looks like it came through early this morning. I wasn’t even going to check the damn thing, but Anna wanted Mike and I to grab something out of the barn. We were digging around for the Santa suit when the com-stat beeped.”

  Steve swallowed back the panic in his gut and avoided Noelle’s eyes. “You’re sure it’s not just a hit off a local satellite like three years ago?”

  “Yeah,” Garry sounded just as unhappy as Steve was shocked. “After we dug it out, we confirmed. It had a message. A Bruskian collector ship is passing through the edge of the sector and picked up our distress. They’ll be within range of a reply for eight more hours and only you know how to do that.”

  “So Anna wants me to return,” Steve choked out.

  “You got it,” Garry sighed and lowered his voice. “I’m sorry, man. Really, I am. If it were up to me, I’d toss the damn com-stat into a lake. Shit, if it had just been me this morning, I probably would have, but Mike had to be the knight-in-sparkly armor and give Anna a chance to get back to a husband who thinks she’s been dead all this time.”

  “Alright,” he blinked in a haze as his heart fell to pieces. “I’ll be there soon.”

  Noelle’s heart was in her throat. Only catching one side of the conversation, paired with Steve’s expression, had her anxiously rubbing her hands. “Steve?”

  He couldn’t look at her. Not yet. “Our distress beacon received a reply this morning. The system is in shambles and requires a manual response input, which only I know how to do. Anna has requested that I return to the farm.”

  “Oh,” she nearly whimpered, and there it was – the ending she’d been expecting.

  Clenching her fists, she refused to fall completely apart on Christmas Eve. She’d been here countless times before, dealing with disappointment for the foolish ideas and hopes she got in her head. She’d buck-up and get through it again. There were twenty-six kids in the building behind her who needed her not to crumble.

  “Well, that’s great!” She plastered a well-practiced ‘thanks for letting me stay in your home this long’ smile on her face. “What a wonderful Christmas present! You get to go home, Steve!”