When he enjoyed his fill of her breasts, he leaned back against the seat and let her resume the ritual that his kind used to partake in. He helped her take off his shirt so they could move to the next stage. Kissing him, she rubbed her chest against his, an action that marked him as her own. Her scent would be on him until death parted them, and his scent would be on her. No one else could claim either one of them at this point.
Her hands squeezed his arms before they traveled down his chest until they settled at the button of his pants. She wiggled and broke contact with his mouth. “I need you. I think I’m going to die if we don’t do this.” She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was saying.
But it was closer to the truth than she suspected. He wasn’t an Earth male. This process wasn’t the same as what she grew up expecting. This had to be completed. There was no choice for either of them.
She licked her lips and unbuttoned his pants. Her movements were determined and focused. And so were his. He slipped his fingers beneath her underwear. She let out a gasp and he moaned. She felt better than he hoped.
He shifted slightly to relieve the pressure in his body, doing his part to delay it. This was the only time he’d experience the bonding ceremony, and he wanted to savor every single bit of it. There would be many more times when he’d take her and enjoy the physical pleasures only her body could offer, but this was the only time when it’d be new and when their hormones would be working together to establish a permanent link between them. This would be the time he’d never forget.
She got off of him so she could wiggle out of her panties, and when she turned to him, she pulled his pants down to his ankles. Her gaze fell to his erection, and she took him in her hands. Wonderful, he thought. Absolutely wonderful. He never thought a woman might touch him there. Her hands were amazing.
She got ready to straddle him again so he took the moment to inspect the triangular patch of dark curls sheltering her core. He slipped his finger into her entrance and sharply inhaled. Silky. Hot. Wet. He moved his finger and was rewarded with a soft cry from her. As his part of the ritual, he removed his finger so he could lick it and taste her, familiarizing himself with her. This would connect him with her fertility and link him to an awareness of her pregnancies.
To his surprise, he realized that she wasn’t always fertile. There was only a certain window of opportunity when she’d conceive in any given month. That, apparently, hadn’t been noted in the reports he’d read. His body adjusted to her cycle and calculated where she was at. In time, when she released her egg, he’d know and be able to ejaculate into her at that time, ensuring a pregnancy with 100% accuracy.
She moved over his erection so he could enter her. They both gave out a low cry in unison at the joining of their bodies. She wiggled against him and grabbed onto his arms. Arching her back, she closed her eyes and whispered, “Yes.”
And at that, the final level was in place and she rocked her hips. He felt her emotions through the connection and knew she could feel his as well. He thrust deeper into her, seeking the novel sensations that her core was offering. He had no idea it could be this good.
The van moved with them, but he hardly noticed. They were completing the bond, their bodies working in unison, neither one in control of anything. All they could do was give themselves over to the physical act of the bonding. The heat had reached its peak, and he knew the end was near. Even as their bodies gained momentum, hurling them to the pleasure that they needed, he tried to hold back. How he wished he could prolong this indefinitely. He’d never felt anything this wonderful in his entire life.
She was there, right at the peak, and his body tensed, ready to ejaculate at her command. And then she threw back her head and groaned her pleasure. The link officially established, he released his seed into her, his orgasm rushing through his entire body. Her body had accepted him fully now. It would only allow him inside of it, and, likewise, he’d only be aroused with her.
She collapsed over him and gasped. He held her close, almost too weak to do so but desiring the physical contact. They stayed there for a good five minutes, the bonding complete, their futures entwined, their bodies linked together as one. Their bodies gradually cooled as his hormone dissipated and he became aware that the air conditioner was blasting them.
Chapter Five
Caitlyn’s head cleared and she suddenly realized what happened. Gasping, she jerked back and scrambled off of Chris’ lap. She picked her dress off the floor and hastily put it on. Her face flamed in mortification. How did this happen? One minute, she was eating a slice of cake, and the next, she was having sex with a complete stranger?
“I...” She cleared her throat and ran her fingers through her hair. “I don’t understand how this happened.” And that statement sounded stupid. If she recalled right, she insisted he come with her and ordered him into the backseat. She even undressed him, for goodness sakes!
“It’s fine,” he assured her, reaching for her hand.
She wasn’t sure if she welcomed the physical contact, which was ironic since she’d just gotten as close to him as she possibly could.
He gently squeezed her hand. “It was the bonding ceremony. I come from Pandoran, which is another planet. I went to Star Systems Unlimited and wished for a life mate. The term on this planet is wife. The agency sent me to you. Here. I’ll show you.” He let go of her hand and pulled his pants up.
She glanced away, unable to look at his naked body. Placing her face in her hands, she wondered how she could lose control like that. That never happened to her before.
He took a piece of paper out of his wallet and handed it to her. “We’re life mates now. We completed the bonding ceremony.”
“The what?”
“On my world, it links you and me together for the rest of our lives. I believe the Earth equivalent is marriage.”
“Marriage? I didn’t marry you. We didn’t elope or anything!”
“This paper says you’re married to me.” He tapped the piece of paper in her hands.
She read the paper. “Anyone could have made this up. It doesn’t prove anything.” Even as she said it, in her gut, she had a feeling he was telling her the truth. Why she felt that, she wasn’t sure.
“I know it must sound crazy.”
She nodded. Crazy. Looney. Nightmarish. There were so many words to describe how this sounded!
“Don’t you feel it?” he softly asked, his tone dragging her attention from the paper and back to him. “The connection. We’re linked. You don’t feel it?”
She felt unusually close to him, as if they belonged together, and that wasn’t normal. A woman didn’t have sex with a stranger and feel as if no one else would ever take his place. Guilt. Regret. Fear. Those were things a woman might feel. But she didn’t feel those things with him. Even if she couldn’t believe it and thought it was a bad dream, there was the gut level of peace about it. She shook her head, not wanting to admit any of this was really happening.
Her cell phone beeped. Sighing, she leaned forward, reached for her purse, and took it out. It was her boss. She answered it. “What’s up, Jack?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you got married?”
She almost dropped her phone. “What?”
“When I logged into the computer just now, I saw that you’re now Caitlyn West. I sign your paycheck, and that paycheck won’t clear if it’s not in the right name. So I need you to come back and get your new check.”
“But...” She glanced at Chris West—who according to the sheet of paper in her hand—was also known as Rilo An. She had sex with him and she was magically married to him?
“Caitlyn,” her boss interrupted her, “no arguments. I need to balance my books tonight, and I won’t have this mess on my records.”
“Okay, I’ll be there.” She hung up the phone and looked at the very contented man sitting next to her. “You’re happy about this.”
“Yes. There are no females on my world. You are my
life mate.”
She rubbed her eyes. “Please tell me you’re not a psychotic killer.”
He laughed. “A what?”
“Never mind. I better get my new paycheck. I can’t pay the rent without it.” She put on her panties and opened the door so she could get out of the minivan. “You might as well get back up front,” she told him when she noticed he just sat there with a goofy grin on his face.
He retrieved his shirt, shrugged into it, and did as she said.
The drive to the diner was one of the most awkward moments she ever experienced. What, exactly, was a woman supposed to say to a man—an alien?—she’d been intimate with? She glanced at him and noted the interest he took in his surroundings. Was he really from another world or did he escape from the mental ward of a hospital?
She parked the vehicle. “Stay here.”
“You’ll be coming back?”
“Well, it is my car.” Even in this overwhelming situation, she couldn’t help but make the joke.
He nodded, seeming just as serious as when he’d been in the diner.
She grabbed her purse and keys—just in case he was a psycho or a thief who went around having sex with women so he could steal their cars—and went into the restaurant. Sandy and Sheila, the third waitress who had just reported for work, ran over to Caitlyn before she made it to the kitchen where Jack flipped burgers.
“Who’s the cutie in the van?” Sandy asked, looking as if she was ready to receive a tasty morsel of gossip.
Caitlyn groaned. “I hoped you didn’t notice.”
“How could I not notice? You left with him and made out in the parking lot before you peeled out of here.”
Caitlyn’s cheeks warmed. “Made out with him?”
“That sex must have been hot,” Sheila noted, a knowing gleam in her eye.
Caitlyn’s eyes widened and she vehemently shook her head. “No. I didn’t have sex with him.”
Sheila chuckled. “Honey,” the older woman began, “I’m not a spring chicken anymore. I know what the messed up hair, the frantically pulled down dress and no bra means.”
“What?” Caitlyn ran her fingers through her hair to get the waves back into place while she covered her breasts with her free arm. This was a nightmare! How was it possible that she just had sex with a stranger and everyone knew?
Sandy patted her back. “Don’t worry. You’re with friends. We’re not going to spread this around.”
Embarrassed, Caitlyn put her face in her hands, sure that her skin was as bright as a tomato. “This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening.”
The door from the kitchen flung open and Jack hollered out, “Mrs. West, get back here.” Then he shut the door.
Sandy’s jaw dropped. “Mrs. West? Was he talking to you?”
Caitlyn put her hands down and tried not to cry. “I think so.”
“But how...? When...?”
“I don’t have time to explain. I have to talk to our boss and then get back to...” She didn’t want to say husband. She didn’t want to say lover either. So she opted to wave in the direction of her vehicle. “Him.”
Sheila pulled on Caitlyn’s dress so that it didn’t look so disheveled. “There. Now it’s not so obvious.”
“We’re talking tomorrow,” Sandy told her.
Yes, Caitlyn knew. Sandy was her best friend, and they didn’t hide anything from each other. Leaving the two waitresses who reluctantly returned to their customers, Caitlyn entered the kitchen and waited for Jack to speak.
Jack turned from the table in the back of the kitchen and handed her a check. “Now I can’t be accused of not paying you.”
She gingerly walked forward and took it. There it was: Caitlyn West. She didn’t understand this at all. She didn’t marry that...guy...in her minivan. She didn’t fill out any paperwork changing her name. She woke up this morning as Caitlyn Davis. Groaning, she fought the desire to pull her hair out. What was going on?
“Apparently, you had a busy morning before you came to work,” he mused before he returned to the range and cleaned it off.
She decided not to tell him that she hadn’t been exchanging vows that morning. “Is there anything else?”
“Nah. You look beat. Go on home to your husband and give him a reason to look forward to seeing you.” He gave her a wink that could only mean one thing.
She rolled her eyes. She already gave her “husband” a reason to look forward to seeing her. Too tired to do anything else, she left the restaurant with a slight wave to her friends. When she returned to her van, the man was still sitting in the passenger seat. Upon closer inspection, she noticed he was flipping through her CD collection.
She stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what it was that made her so crazy with desire that she ordered him into the backseat of her vehicle. He wasn’t drop dead gorgeous. He was good looking, or at least he would be as soon as he trimmed his shaggy brown hair. His skin was pale. She doubted he got much sun. He had nice, broad shoulders. For the most part, he was built like any other man. She’d been around lots of men and hadn’t felt the burning need to have sex with them. It was ridiculous. For a while there, it really seemed as if she had no control over any of her actions.
With a loud sigh, she approached the driver’s side and got in. He looked up at her and smiled. There was nothing sexy about the smile. In fact, it struck her as a boyish grin from a man who’d discovered the perfect car. What in the world compelled her to have sex with him?
She inserted the key into the ignition and glanced at him. “Why am I not attacking you right now?”
He straightened in his seat, looking alarmed. “Why would you attack me?”
She blinked in surprise. Was he afraid of her? He was much stronger. There was no way she could harm him. Well, that settled it. The man wasn’t normal. At least, he wasn’t normal for a regular human male. She quickly admonished herself. He was not an alien from another planet! There was no way that was possible.
“Are you mad at me?” he asked, shifting back in his seat.
Yep, he was afraid of her alright. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. Testing the waters, she said, “I get mad when someone doesn’t tell me the truth.”
He relaxed. “Oh. Good.”
That was odd. She decided to press further. “Things like men claiming to be from another planet when they’re really not makes me mad.” Then she gave him her best evil eye.
He actually nodded with a pleased smile on his face.
Now she was really confused. Was he afraid of her or not? Or maybe...just maybe...he was telling her the truth? She rested her forehead against the steering wheel and groaned. Just what was she supposed to do with him? What if he really was from outer space? He had nowhere to go.
But he could be lying.
Then how could she explain her boss magically calling her Mrs. West and handing her the paycheck with that name on it? She’d worked for Jack for six years, and never once did he do anything wacked out like this. No. Jack wouldn’t be making this up.
She would check her bank account, her credit cards, her bills, and other financial statements online. If this was legit, if she was somehow married to the man sitting next to her, then she should find this on other sources as well.
Determined, she sat back and buckled her seatbelt. “Alright. We’re going home and I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
“Bottom of what?” he asked.
“I need to figure out if you’re telling me the truth.”
“You don’t believe me?”
She ignored the hurt tone in his voice and started the engine. “I don’t know you or anything about you.”
“I’m Chris West. I came from-”
“No. I know what your story is, but I don’t know anything about who you are. For all I know, you could be a psycho who goes around telling women you’re from another planet.”
“But I’m not,” he softly replied. “I came here for a life mate. There are
no women on my world, and it got lonely. I heard other planets had women who were compatible with my kind so I came here.”
She studied him, noting the sincerity in his voice. Okay. Maybe there was something wrong with her because she was starting to believe him. Even so, she needed to get home and see what her accounts said. Putting her minivan into drive, she asked, “Why me?”
He shrugged. “The agency picked you. They asked me what type of woman I wanted, but I had no idea what to pick.”
“Did they say why they picked me? There are billions of women on the world. Why me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they figured you were the best fit.”
“I don’t see how I’m a better fit than some other woman.”
“I’m glad they picked you. I’ve seen some of the other women already, and you’re one of the prettier and nicer ones that I saw in the restaurant.”
“You haven’t been at too many places on Earth yet, have you?” She turned her lights on, drove out of the parking lot, and turned down the street.
“No, I haven’t. The agency sent me directly to you.”
It still seemed like a dream. A part of her kept thinking that this couldn’t be happening. She’d go home and find out what was going on. The answers would be there. She was sure of it. In the meantime, Chris didn’t seem like a threat, so she figured he was safe enough to take home. Never mind the fact that she actually seemed to be linked to him, as if they did belong together.
Pushing the strange notion aside, she took a deep breath to clear her mind. Home. First, she’d go home. Then she’d worry about the rest of this mess.
Chapter Six
As soon as Caitlyn led Chris up to the front door of her apartment, she noticed the large yellow envelope with her name on it. She picked it up and, once again, wondered if this was some elaborate joke. The return address said Star Systems Unlimited without any other identifier. There wasn’t even postage on it. Anyone, including the man standing next to her, could have done this.
Suddenly a Bride Page 4
