Sex, Love, and Aliens, Volume 1 (12 page)

When he reached the main floor, something smelled wonderful. He followed the aroma to the kitchen. His wife stood stirring something on the stove. Her layers of translucent veils danced in the slight breeze from the window.

“Isn’t it dangerous to be around an open flame with all that fabric?” he asked.

Kateri squeaked with surprise. She turned toward him. “Welcome home, Ric.”

“Thank you. You’ve been busy. The house looks wonderful. Were you the one who picked up my dirty clothes?” He wished he could see her expression.

“Yes. I hope I have not offended you.”

“I was just surprised. You aren’t here to serve me. You’re a free woman. But I appreciate what you’ve done. Brae isn’t young, and I haven’t seen her this happy in a very long time. I want to talk to you a moment about the divorce—”

“Divorce?” she interrupted him in uncharacteristic rudeness. Her normally serene voice rose an octave and he could hear the panic.

“Well, yes. I thought…”

“We have not spoken about such things. Why would you think this is what I want?”

Ric frowned. He crossed his arms over his chest and took a stubborn stance. “You deserve your freedom. I’m not going to hold you to a promise we made in a time of distress. I married you to save your life, not because I was looking for a bride. I won’t force you to stay. This isn’t Daroo. You have choices now.”

“I understand.”

The cold way she said the words made him desperate to see her reaction. Tormented with curiosity, he’d had enough of this woman hiding behind her culture. He wanted to see her. A need to know what Kateri really wanted drove him past the point of self-control.

Ric was across the room in three steps. He yanked her away from the stove. She didn’t fight him and lay limply in his arms. His bride didn’t weigh much and smelled of clean freshness. Purity. Kateri was something so foreign to him he didn’t understand her. She didn’t move, and he ripped the headdress away from her face.

Ric gasped at the same moment she did. Her skin was blemish free, without so much as a freckle, and lightly tanned. Her wide eyes were startling green and almond shaped. The veils were pinned in a mass of wavy, black hair. He couldn’t help himself and caressed the silken strands lightly. Her nose was small and slightly pointed. Adorable. Slack with shock, her naturally dark mauve lips parted, and he could see she wore no makeup or other artifice. Kateri lay in his arms looking up at him, made beautiful by the gods, not cosmetics, and all his. She was the most stunning woman he’d ever seen, and he was her husband. His blood ran hot, then cold. Lust made his mouth dry. No woman should be this perfect.

“Gods, you’re beautiful,” he breathed softly, unable to stop the words.

Her cheeks darkened with a flush, and then she frowned. “Please release me,” she requested in a gentle, but firm tone.

Ric carefully set her on her feet. He couldn’t stop looking at her face. Of its own accord, his hand rose and caressed her warm cheek with the pad of his thumb. She didn’t move as he held her face.

“Forgive me, I… My actions were inexcusable,” Ric weakly apologized. “I just needed to see you.”

She swallowed reflexively, and he watched her throat move. Her neck was long.

“Now you have seen. That was not the unveiling I had imagined.”

Guilt shot through Ric. He didn’t know much about her culture, but the little he’d learned taught him of the significance of the first time a husband sees his bride. He understood the magic now as he was still reeling from his surprise. He’d thought she’d be just a woman, he never expected a goddess.

“Sit and eat. The food is ready. Brae has taken her meal in her room, because she is tired.”

Ric doubted very much the old woman was tired, but he didn’t say what he really thought her intention was.

Two places were set at the small table. He was glad his wife hadn’t set the table in the formal dining room. He hated that dark space. When he’d been a boy, he’d convinced himself it was haunted. He still felt uncomfortable sitting in the room.

He waited until she brought over the platter and set it on the table, then he pulled out her chair. She took her seat. When he sat down, he realized she’d made his favorite Metrician meal. The hearty vegetable and meat stew was eaten on top of crusty bread. He was sure Brae had suggested the choice, but he could see the old woman wasn’t the cook. This was far more elaborate and elegant than Brae would serve. He could see herbs growing in the windows around the kitchen. His first bite told him she’d put many of them in the stew. His taste buds exploded with delight.

“Delicious,” he muttered as he took the second bite.

She didn’t say anything, but nodded and raised a morsel to her mouth.

Ric watched her slow, formal eating. In Daroo fashion, she was using a sharp meal blade and food spear, with its two sharp tongs, instead of her fingers. Her graceful movements and sad face kept him transfixed.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” Ric muttered.

She set her utensils down slowly.

“I am your wife. My father would not have given me to a bad man for a husband. I trust his judgment. I have no one and nowhere to go. I would not divorce you if I have the choice,” she said. “I have grown…fond of you. The many conversations we have shared have made you a friend, not a stranger.”

“You have money, a lot of it, and I would help you find a place. It wouldn’t take long for you to find people. Believe me, you aren’t hard to like.”

“If you like me, why do you want me to go away? You seem desperate for me to leave.”

As he listened to her musical accent, regret bubbled inside of him, and he could understand how she’d believe he wanted her to leave.

“I want you to be happy, there’s a difference,” he argued.

The comm buzzed. She got up without a word and went over to the wall unit. Kateri paused before touching the screen option for voice only. Ric didn’t recognize the name that displayed. Eroz Motin.

“Hello, Mr. Motin,” Kateri answered.

“Kateri, how are you this evening?”

“I am just fine, sir. Earth is not for sale.”

“My employer has raised the amount he’s willing to pay. Fifty thousand. Your people would understand. You need to take care of yourself. My employer is also willing to buy your eggs. He’ll pay one hundred thousand to harvest from you for a year.”

Ric’s eyes widened. Her lack of surprise told him this wasn’t the first time Eroz Motin had made the offer.

“I will never let you harvest anything from me. Earth is never going to be sold. That piece of our ancient mother is mine to care for.”

“You have a responsibility to your people. We must see that priceless relic protected. You are the last female of your kind, according to intergalactic censes. You have a moral obligation to allow us to harvest you. My petition with the Metrician government might have been rejected, but you can save your race.”

“What you ask would disgrace my people. I would never allow you to create children from me that would never know me. A mother’s love is the core of our people’s belief. Do not ask me for this again.” She disconnected the communication without another word.

Ric was shaking from the force of his anger. “Why didn’t you tell me about this? Brae!” He turned to bellow toward the stairs and Brae’s second floor room.

“Do not blame her. I begged her not to tell you. You were focused on the gems, and I did not want to burden you. Brae helped me find legal representation. She helped me dress like a modern woman of your people so the court would not see me as something unique. We traveled to Sky Harbor a few times for the proceedings.” She shook her head as if she couldn’t believe her own words. “Your people were just and declined Mr. Motin’s request for forcible extraction of my genetic material. He has been trying to buy Earth from me, but that piece of our first home has been in my family’s care since the exodus. I will not sell or give it to a stranger.” She paused and sighed. “I might not be religious, but deep down I hope to see my father and mother in the afterworld. I would not want to go to them in shame.”

She went back to her seat and took a bite, eating as if nothing had happened. Ric was gapping at her wordlessly. He’d never considered her rarity could put her in danger. She could have been violated against her will, and he’d never have known she was fighting for her rights. He wasn’t eating because he was busy watching her serene face. She set her fork down, and for a silent collection of seconds that stretched into a minute, they studied each other.

Kateri reached across the table and took his hand. “I have learned much of your ways. Your people are very…isolated from each other’s spirits. There is no reverence for natural reproduction. I understand this commitment was not one you wanted. Forgive me for insisting. I will release you. Thank you for allowing me to shelter in your home. Brae has been a gift from the goddess, and I will miss her, but you have been very kind and I will impose no more on you.”

Ric stood so quickly his chair scraped against the finely hewn stones of the kitchen floor. He knelt next to her chair and took both her hands in his. “I’m not a man who should be a husband.”

“But you are mine. I will not hold you to the deal you struck. It is enough you proved your honor by carefully selling the gems. Giving away your soul is too much to ask.”

He gazed up into her earnest and heart-stopping beautiful face.

“I… Damn it,” he cursed as he stood, bringing her into his arms.

He had fallen for her before he’d ever seen her face, but now that he’d seen her, he didn’t want to let her go. She clung to him, but didn’t protest as he took her up the stairs to their room. He wasn’t going to sleep in the guest room.

“Last chance...do you want out of this thing?”

“If by ‘thing’, you mean our marriage, no,” she replied.

Ric pressed his mouth to hers. She kissed him back, and the kiss felt as natural as breathing. He pulled back. Her eyes were half-closed, and her kiss-swollen lips heated his lust. His wife. As he set her down on the bed, he pulled the ties that held the bodice of her dress closed. His index finger traced her collarbone as it peeked out of the gap where he’d opened her garment.

Kateri’s soft, breathy moan was the most wonderful sound he’d ever heard. He reached up and carefully detangled her hair from the pins holding her abused headdress to the top of her head. He smoothed her hair so it lay around her, framing her gorgeous face. Slack with desire, her expression was more erotic than the most risqué of Metrician pornography.

Ric lost himself in undressing her. He’d never realized taking off clothing could be part of foreplay. Hell, he usually went straight to business and didn’t think too much about it. Sex was an itch to scratch. Gazing down at his wife, he realized he might as well be a virgin too. Nervous excitement made his palms slick and his breathing irregular.

She assisted him in helping her out of the top of the dress. Her body was amazing. Kateri’s breasts were lovely globes that fit perfectly into his palms as he cupped and tweaked them. She jerked and moaned. When she bit her lip, he had to close his eyes and take a deep breath to control himself. He’d never wanted a woman as he wanted her.

* * * *

This was better than Kateri had imagined. Ric might not have unveiled her in a ceremonial way, but the truth of his desire put strain in his expression, and his erection pressed roughly against her hip.

“Are you sure about this? It will be harder for me to stop later. For the sake of the gods, please tell me if you’ve changed your mind.” He growled the words out between clenched teeth. His lips were close to her ear, and his breath stirred the hair against her neck to tickle her lightly. His shallow breathing was a melody that made her heart beat faster. Her husband wanted her, after all this time. The startling clarity of the realization made her whole.

He was still fully dressed, but he’d managed to bring her dress down to her waist. She gazed up at him, heat warming her cheeks, and realized she didn’t want him to stop.

“Take my body on the sacred journey where we become one, husband,” she demanded.

Ric moaned, and he leaned down to kiss her throat. The bed dipped with his weight. The sea breeze blew across her skin and she shivered. When his mouth skimmed lightly across the rise of her breast, she arched her back. Sex was a sacrament to her people, and now she understood why. She’d never felt closer to the goddess than she did in Ric’s arms.

He pulled her dress off her and she lay back, wearing nothing but the underskirt and short thigh-length pants the women of her world wore for modesty. He scowled at the white cotton as if it offended him.

He ripped the fabric, and she jerked with shock.

“I’ll replace that
thing
with the finest silk and lace panties money can buy. Only beauty should touch your skin when I am not caressing you.”

He dropped to his knees and yanked her toward where he knelt at the foot of the bed. She yelped. Excitement and trepidation made her writhe as he caressed her calves and ankles. Ric spread her legs.

Instinct made her squeeze her thighs shut, but Ric gently parted them. Squeezing her eyes shut, she turned her head to the right and held herself stiffly. His breath brushed her most intimate place, and she didn’t know how to react. If only his warm exhale sent tingles through her, what could a physical touch do? She whimpered, unsure of what to expect. His soft moan made her eyes pop open, and she turned her head to gaze down at him.

“Beautiful everywhere,” he muttered.

Heat warmed her cheeks, but didn’t steal the secret joy his words kindled. Her feelings weren’t as much embarrassment as they were expectancy. She wanted to feel the glory evoked in the ancient poems. Then his head dipped down between her thighs.

As his tongue darted out to caress her, she bucked under him. Ric’s hands slid around her to cradle her buttocks as his mouth worked diligently. Kateri closed her eyes and let the sensation wash over her. It was almost violating to have his mouth on such an intimate place...almost. Wonder zinged through her as the building tide of…something, rose. Her body reacted instinctually to his intimate caress.