“They really did move away once they heard you were taken?”
“Look, I am a one man kind of woman. I said I wanted to date you, and I do. That is what we are doing tonight. Golen did warn me about you.” I sighed. “I won’t date anyone else while we are dating. I understand that alien males can’t handle jealousy well, so stop flashing black and look at me instead of those guys who are cowering under your glare.” I grabbed his chin and pulled it towards me. “I don’t like jealousy. It is a stupid emotion, so check it at the door when we are together. Got it?”
He was so infuriating. That smile of his was so bright it could light the room all on its own. Add to it the fact that he pulsed purple again, and I knew he was excited about what I just said. Alien men are so strange.
“You are right, Natalie. I am sorry. Sometimes it is very difficult for V’Zenian’s to not get jealous. It is a failing that we all deal with. What would you like for dinner?” He looked at the replicator menu as I scrolled through it.
"I think a nice baked chicken breast with rice sounds really good. What about you? Do you have any favorites?" It was time to get to know each other. I read once in Cosmo that you should know what your man loves to eat. The way to his heart was through his stomach or some such nonsense. I wondered if it was the same with aliens.
“My favorite meal is the Gardorzch. I think the closest Earth meal would be beef stew. I love mine with the green vegetables. We have a hearty one that looks similar to your Kale. Do you like Kale?” My meal had just come out, and he was selecting his.
“Not really. Vegetables are not all that tasty to me. I prefer meat and potatoes or rice. Although, I do love salads and corn. Back home I took vitamins to make up for my lack of vegetables.” I took my plate and looked around for a table. None were open. “Should we take this back to your place? All of the tables are full.”
He turned around and gave a menacing stare to the guys I spoke to earlier, and they all got up immediately and left the room. “That wasn’t very nice. It’s not like there is another place they can go to have fun inside of this ship.”
"Yes, there is. This ship is equipped with a full-size gym. That is why the holding cells are so small. Normally, our ships have a nice gym and even a running track. So they have plenty to do besides taking up space in the mess hall, especially since they have already eaten." He picked his plate up from the replicator, and I followed him to the newly vacated table.
As soon as we sat down, the tables directly next to us also emptied out rather quickly. A couple of the men hadn’t even finished their meals. Instead, they ate standing up next to the far wall.
“Why did they do that? They could have stayed here.” I shook my head.
“Because they realized that we needed privacy. They probably assumed we would be discussing our mating. You might get some questions once we relocate to New Hope as to why you are living in the barracks and not with me. I support whatever you wish to say.”
“Really? People are going to ask why I haven’t jumped into bed with you yet? We only just met. That’s crazy. Surely not everyone moves as fast as the Commander, Rotna, and Cazon?” Or was that the norm?
“Those relationships moved at the normal pace for a human and a VZ Hybrid. Since I am full-blooded, we should have already mated. Normally the process is faster as our emotions are stronger. I am curious why you have not yet succumbed to my emotions. While I have kept them in check to the best of my abilities, you should be feeling a very strong pull to me.” He furrowed his brow and looked at me. It was rather disconcerting.
“I… well, um, I do have strong feelings for you. Nonetheless, I have stronger feelings about maintaining my identity while I figure this all out. You did say you would give me time. Did you think that by saying something like that I would be appeased, and it would only take a few days for me to fall into your arms?" I pointed my fork at him and then narrowed one eye.
"No, I…well I did think it wouldn't take you long to realize the attraction and become ready for me." He squirmed in his seat. It was about time he felt some nerves over this entire situation. Since I met him he has been in charge and control to some degree. I finally have the upper hand.
A slow smile spread across my face. “Zelan, I meant what I said. We have five months to figure this out. I plan on taking that time. All of it. So don’t think that I will be in your arms within the week. Maybe it will happen before the new ship arrives. Honestly, I was hoping to stay here. What were your plans? To join the Commander and head back to Earth so you could abduct more humans?” I dropped my fork to my plate, sat back, and crossed my arms over my chest while wearing a scowl on my face.
“Actually, yes. I thought you would come around like Paris has and be happy on our ship. You have friends here. However, the plans have recently changed. We are to head to the border with the Zateelians. Even if we don’t go to war, we still have to show them our strength. They can’t get away with what they have done here.” His veins started to pulse orange, which meant he was getting upset.
“Our President is livid over the attack. This planet is too far inside our space. They should never have come this far, and the fact that they have sent several ships here to attack us just means they want war.” He put his fork down and looked off into the distance.
“I am sure we are talking to our allies right now and getting the assistance we will need to rid the universe of those disgusting, mutant cockroaches. They don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as us.” He pounded his hand on the table and his veins began to pulse black. This conversation has gone way off target.
“I agree, they need to be exterminated like the slimy bugs they are. Can we turn this conversation back to something nicer? Like New Hope? I like that name it really does represent what I am feeling right now, hope. Hope for a brighter future. Maybe even one that includes us… here… together.” I took hold of his hand, squeezed it, and smiled tentatively for him. He needed to calm down and showing him affection usually helped to turn his veins back to purple.
"Thank you, Natalie. This is why I need you in my life, even if you aren't my mate, yet. You have the power to calm me down. No one else can do that for a V'Zenian. Especially for a pure-blood. We tend to fly off the handle a bit faster than the hybrids.” He interlocked our fingers together and moved so that we were sitting next to each other instead of across from one another.
That overwhelming desire to kiss him took hold of me, and I couldn’t stop it. Right there in the mess hall, in front of all who were left in the room, I kissed Zelan. It was our first real kiss. I swear I saw fireworks. He pulled me tight against his chest and wrapped his strong arms around me. I grabbed ahold of his biceps and held on for my life. Ben never kissed me like that.
Our lips fit together perfectly and his tongue, oh my! His tongue knew exactly what to do. Mine even responded in a way I had never experienced before. My heart was pounding so loud I thought for sure it was going to jump out of my chest. If I died right there, I would have been a very happy woman.
Without breaking the kiss, he picked me up and pushed me up against the wall, just as I imagined yesterday. I don’t know how he knew it was what I wanted, but he did. His hands were all over my sides, and one even grabbed my butt. I think I moaned when he did that. I should have been embarrassed, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. Obviously.
My hands roamed along his arms and then over his chest. Oh, that chest, I knew that once I accepted his offer, he would never be allowed to wear a shirt when we were alone. I wanted to take his shirt off right then and there until I realized where we were and what I was doing. I gently pushed back against his chest and pulled my head back from him just a bit. He got the message and ended the kissed. He did not pull away from me. Instead, he was breathing very heavily and put his forehead against mine.
“Natalie, please don’t be mad at me. That was the best kiss I have ever experienced.” He kissed me on the temple, and I almost kissed him back.
"I'm not mad
. It was getting a bit too intense for me. And from what I can see of your veins, for you as well." I was breathing heavily just like he was. However, his veins were pulsing a very deep red, almost burgundy.
He kissed my cheek and the corner of my lips. “I agree. That was very intense. Too bad our first official kiss was in front of a crowd.” He lightly chuckled as he kissed my neck under my ear.
I moved my head and finally noticed that the room was completely cleared out. “When did everyone leave?”
He turned his head and scanned the room. “Pretty much as soon as I picked you up and pushed you up against the wall. Not that I was paying them any attention. Nevertheless, I did hear the chairs scrape against the floor as everyone made a hasty retreat.” He went back to kissing my neck, which was giving me goosebumps all over my body and sent shivers down my spine.
My breathing started to get heavy again, and my mouth looked for his. For the second time, I initiated the kissing.
After a couple of minutes, he asked, "Do you want to go back to my room?" Then he trailed kisses down the side of my neck to my collarbone.
"Yes. I mean no. I am not ready for that yet." I pushed back against his chest again, and this time, I put my forehead on his chest to keep him from kissing me again.
He kissed the top of my head. “I understand.” He hugged me tight and pulled back. “Are you still hungry or do you want to do something else?”
“I’m not really hungry, but I should probably eat some of my dinner. I only took a couple of bites.”
We went back to our meals and ate quietly. I couldn’t get that kiss out of my head. His hands, oh goodness! They felt so good on my body. It never felt like this with Ben.
Before today, he was the only man I had ever kissed, except for the couple of times I played “7 minutes in heaven” during junior high. Oh, and one game of “spin the bottle” in tenth. Other than those guys, no one besides Ben had ever touched me. Even Ben rarely touched me. Thinking back now, I wondered how I never realized that he wasn’t interested in me physically.
Once I was finished with my dinner, I asked him to take me home.
“Which home? Mine, or Paris’?”
I chuckled. “Paris’ quarters please. I won’t be sharing your bed until we are mated.”
“So that means you have decided to accept my proposal?”
“Um, not yet. I don’t doubt that it will happen, but I still need some time. We need to figure out where we are going to live. Honestly, I want to stay here on the planet.”
His smile started to fade a little. “I don’t know if that is possible for me. But like you said, we still have five months. Maybe Commander Croso will request that I stay on once the battalion of warriors arrives."
We got up and cleaned our dishes, and he walked me back to my quarters. “Goodnight, Zelan. I hope you didn’t get the wrong idea when I kissed you tonight. Truly, I don’t know what came over me. It was an overwhelming need to kiss you and be closer to you that I couldn’t fight.” I could feel my cheeks burning as I admitted to him how I felt.
He kissed my cheek and pulled back. “I think those might have been my feelings you picked up on. I have been fighting my desire for you over this past week but most especially since our time at New Hope. Please forgive me if my emotions took control of you.” He sheepishly looked down at our feet.
I pulled his chin up. “It’s fine. I really did enjoy that kiss. In fact, I hope that our next date is soon so I can kiss you like that again. Just, maybe not quite so intense the next time.”
He gave me a chaste kiss on the lips that lingered just enough to make me want more. “Goodnight, sweet dreams. I will comm you tomorrow as soon as I get some time.” He kissed me again on the top of my head and stood back and waited until I went inside Paris’ quarters.
Chapter 14
The next morning when I woke up, I was already missing Zelan. My dreams were full of him, and this morning I ached to have him hold me. What was wrong with me?
I got up and found Paris in the kitchen. She had just finished her breakfast. “Paris, I need to ask you some personal stuff.” I fixed myself some tea and sat down at the table. She joined me. “When you first accepted the Commander’s proposal to be his mate, you were not yet attracted to him, right?”
“True, but once we started spending time together my attraction grew rather quickly. It seemed a bit supernatural in its intensity and speed. I quickly accepted it and haven’t looked back once. There are some issues I still have to deal with, but I suppose it’s the same for you?”
“Yes, the slavery issue is the biggest concern I have. That being said, I also really wanted to spend some time getting to know who I am as a person. Not as someone else’s plus one. I have seen women who go from man to man, never understanding who they are as a woman. That is not what I want.”
"You are feeling the pull, aren't you? To mate with Zelan?”
“Yes, he kissed me for the first time last night. Actually, it was me who kissed him. But the desire was so strong it seemed to control me. I pretty much attacked him in the mess hall in front of a bunch of warriors. Thankfully, they cleared the room pretty quickly.” I chuckled remembering last night.
"I wish I could have seen that. Zelan must have been in heaven." She smiled over the rim of her teacup.
“Yes, he was rather pleased. He told me that my emotions probably came from him. It seems that as a pure-blood, his emotions will control me more than a hybrid’s would. That scares me a little. Am I really feeling strongly for him, or is it just his emotions taking over mine? It doesn’t make sense.”
"I had a similar situation with Venay, and he explained it to me that my emotions are real. His emotions can heighten mine, but he can't actually create emotions within me that aren't already there. So, that means that you do have real feelings for Zelan. I didn't realize that a pure-blood could influence you more than a hybrid. That is very interesting.” She chewed on her lower lip as she considered the situation.
“It’s something you will want to keep in mind. Be sure to set your boundaries with him. He seems to be very honorable and I doubt he would push you to go further than you are willing to, but he needs to know exactly what you do and don't want. In a way, it’s refreshing. There is no need to play games with these men. Be honest and upfront and they will respect you for it. Plus, he will know when to stop."
“Thank you, Paris. That really helps. I can’t believe you can’t come with me. I am going to miss you. I know that sounds weird, but I really value your opinion. Plus, you and Lisa were the first ones to take the plunge. Sheila, well, she went in cannon ball style so her experiences are very different.” We both chuckled thinking back to how that woman flirted so hard with so many of the warriors in the beginning. She was the only one I have met so far who was excited to be abducted.
“Glad I could help. Now, I think today might be a good day to head over to the settlement and check out the living situation for everyone. What do you think?”
“Paris, I couldn’t agree more. Let’s do this!”
By lunch time we were at the settlement. Commander Venay and Zelan came with us. We all hitched a ride with the warriors who were being transferred there.
"Haver, Aysiaer, it’s good to see the two of you again. I hope you are enjoying all of the extra flights you have scheduled this week." I shook their hands when I entered and Aysiaer held mine a bit too long. He released my hand when Zelan growled.
That was the first time I heard him do that. He reminded me of an alpha shifter from one of my favorite books back home. Which reminded me, we were going to have to get a list of items together so that next time someone went to Earth we could get some supplies, like a great collection of books!
Aysiaer moved away immediately while Haver chuckled and shook his head. “Yes, it has been a nice change of pace flying back and forth. Yesterday, we even went out on a recon flight to look for that crashed ship. I hope we can find any last hideouts by those insectoids and
destroy them all.
“I have to agree with you there. Don’t you have a satellite system in orbit to help you track them?”
“No, we have a weather satellite, and one to relay messages to our other planets, but nothing that will help us to track down any crashed ships or find living beings outside of our settlement.”
The Commander boarded at that point. “We actually have one on the way, Natalie. I think it might be time you set up your office and get up to speed on what we have going on here. Zelan, I want her on tomorrow’s shipment of warriors to the settlement. Today we need to find her space to live and work. There is much to do.”
“Commander, thank you! Not that I don’t appreciate you letting me sleep on your couch, but it would be nice to have somewhere else to sleep.” Mentally I added, somewhere that doesn’t have two newlyweds waking me up early in the morning with their lovemaking.
“Yes, I am sure. Alright Haver, if we have everything let’s get moving. I have a lot to do today,” the Commander barked out.
Haver moved to his seat in the front of the ship. “Yes, sir!”
It was a nice flight to the settlement. Zelan and I chatted about nothing in particular. It wasn't exactly the place to talk about personal stuff. Even if we had whispered, all of the warriors have excellent hearing, they would have heard it all.
Captain Mypo was waiting for us when we arrived. “Natalie, if you will follow me I will show you to the women’s barracks. There aren’t many living there right now so you will have your pick of the place.”
Paris and I both followed her. She was right, it was mostly open. Only two other women had set up bunks in the place. There was room for another twenty women in this one room alone. “There are six other bunk houses if you don’t like this one. However, it is the closest one to your new office.”
Worlds Collide: Sci-fi Adventure/Romance (Alpha Alien Abduction Tale Book 2) Page 12
