Survival -Guardians of Vesturon [1] (20 page)

“Are you okay?” Smiling, he placed his hand over her heart. “Your heart is beating wickedly fast.”

He’s going to kill me. I am nearly incoherent from his touch that I can barely speak. I’m going to be the first girl
ever
to die of a heart attack. I can see it now…girl dies from heart attack, caused by sitting in drop-dead gorgeous dude’s lap!

“‘Drop-dead gorgeous dude,’ huh?” he read her thoughts aloud. Then, he noticed the look on her face and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but your thoughts were all but screaming at me. Are you okay Maddie?”

Silence.

“Maddie, please talk to me. Say something!” he begged, concern laced in his voice.

Without thinking, Maddie blurted out, “Okay, how about this: I’m speechless, completely lost in your amazing green eyes, your...whew. Holy crap! You are, er, you take my breath away, and my heart is pounding because of you, only because of you. You are making it do that.”

Sweet baby bunnies! Did I just say that out loud? What the hell is wrong with me?

She took the heel of her hand and slapped it against her forehead.

Use your head, Maddie! Gah, I’m so freakin’ embarrassed! Oh, for the love of God, what am I thinking?

Rayn took her hands in his. “Maddie, please don’t be embarrassed,” he pleaded. “Believe me, you have the same effect on me.” Talk about an ego trip. Rayn was in heaven.

“Oh, this is craptastic. I totally blanked on that; you can read my flippin’ thoughts. You know exactly what I’ve been thinking.”

She exploded off his lap and dove head first into their tent, her cheeks burning from embarrassment. She was mortified and knew any moment she would die.

Rayn scratched his head and rubbed his jaw back and forth. What should he do now? How should he handle this one? He wanted to shout with laughter; the whole thing was so hilarious. But he didn’t want to embarrass her further. Truth of it all, he was flattered and exceedingly ecstatic that she was thinking those thoughts. If she could read his mind, she would know that he wanted more than anything to bury his face in her hair, kiss her sweet lips until she was senseless, drown in those topaz eyes, and feel her body underneath him. Of course the latter was strictly forbidden, but thoughts of that would not cease.

He started to chuckle, softly at first, and then he just couldn’t hold it back any longer. Deep rumbles of laughter exploded from within, and he couldn’t control it. The harder he tried to stop, the funnier it became.

Maddie lay in the tent with the sleeping bag pulled over her head. Suddenly, she heard his booming laughter and decided she would never ever come out of that tent again. She just couldn’t face him.

How awkward! Has anyone ever died of embarrassment?

Unexpectedly, the sleeping bag was yanked out of her hands, and Rayn was lying in its place. He placed his hands on either side of her head, leaned in closely and said in a husky voice, “I am so very sorry I laughed at you, but the whole thing was quite amusing. Forgive me, Maddie. I do not want you to be embarrassed. I feel exactly as you do, only I guarantee my thoughts are a little more explicit and they should not be. It is simply not proper. But you do things to me that, let me just say that I am completely, positively crazy over you. Every time I am near you, I find myself wanting to reach out and take you in my arms, run my fingers through your lovely hair, put my face in it, and breathe as if my life depended on it.”

He bent his head down to where her hair had fallen across the pillows and buried his face in it, inhaling deeply. When he lifted his head, he looked into those beautiful amber eyes of hers and said, “You are sheer heaven to me, and you are not the only one who feels these things, Maddie. Your scent intoxicates me, and I am positively lost in you.”

Maddie, left breathless by his words, found herself suddenly reaching for his face and pulling it toward hers. She placed her lips on his and softly kissed him like she’d never kissed anyone.

Whoa! Now that’s another first. I’ve
never
done that to a boy before
.

As soon as she tasted his lips, she felt an immediate rush of sensation, as if every cell in her body had been ignited. From the bottoms of her feet to the top of her head, she was, simply put, on fire. He tasted of something she couldn’t place, like the sweetest of honey, but a thousand times better.

The fire that began in the pit of her stomach expanded until it all but consumed her. She wanted more of something—something she had never had. Her fingers tangled themselves in his hair, reveling in its softness.

Rayn was equally as lost. His control was quickly slipping, but he couldn’t seem to wrench himself away from her. Warning bells were sounding in his head, and he knew he should stop. Instead he slipped his tongue into her mouth and tasted her essence.

Dear heavens, she is the nectar of the Deity
.

With a force of sheer will, he tore himself away from her and exploded out of the tent, leaving her fighting for breath, on the brink of her own detonation.

Maddie was flustered. Rayn had ignited something in her she could not explain. She had been kissed before, but never had she experienced a reaction like she had with Rayn. Electric, heated, consuming, barely touched what she had felt. She followed him outside.

“Rayn? What is it? Have I done something wrong?”

“No. I...I barely speak right now.” His fists were clenched, and he was trembling and fighting for control.

“Do you not want to...I mean I thought that we could, you know...unless you don’t want me in that way.”

“Bloody hell, Maddie. Of course I want you in that way, more than I can say. I want the same things as you. I want us to be together in every way as a male and female, but this we cannot do.”

“You say...wait, am I not good enough because I’m human? Or is it the way I look? You know, my face, this scar?” she asked warily, placing her hand on her cheek where she had been wounded. She hadn’t given it much thought before tonight. She hadn’t even paid it much attention, but the scar must be hideous looking. Maybe her appearance was repulsive to him.

He moved so quickly. One moment, he was by the fire, and the next, he was in front of her. He placed his right fingers over her lips, laced his left ones with hers and said, “No, that’s not it at all! Please let me finish,” he emphatically interjected. “You are good enough, beautiful enough, and I can only imagine your perfection. Your scar has all but disappeared and furthermore, it means nothing to me except it reminds me of the atrocities you endured. Nothing in this world, or on Vesturon, could make you less beautiful in my eyes. However, things are much different on Vesturon; we are not permitted to do these things until we have been formally joined, as in unification. It is like your marriage here on Earth, but stronger, more resolute. We unite for life Maddie. There is no divorce or separation on Vesturon. We are sworn to this oath of abstinence and commitment as youngsters. It is impossible for me to have any kind of intimate relations with you until then. I know this is an archaic way of things for Earthlings, but it is our way, and I must live by it.”

“Yeah, it definitely is archaic all right. So does that mean you’ve never, um, you know, been with another girl?” She was too embarrassed to look him directly in the eyes, afraid of what his answer would be.

Not settling for that, he tilted her head, so he could look in her eyes. “No, never have I been with a female, not in this manner. I’ve had, well I guess you would call them girlfriends; isn’t that how you refer to them?” At her nod, he continued, “But never with a female in this sense. Maddie, you will think me strange when I say this, but I have never wanted to. We are taught differently on Vesturon. It is a sacred act between a male and female, and we treat it as such.”

Those impossibly beautiful eyes were simply penetrating her soul. He picked up her hand and placed a kiss over each of her fingers.

Whew! That’s a relief
, she thought.

Maddie was good with that…great in fact. It wasn’t a bad thing, but a huge part of her had hoped the mystery of it all would finally be unlocked. She had never felt this way before, never wanted to do it with anyone else. This was a record first for her. She thought how strange it all was. In the past, she practically fought to keep her clothes on, and now, all she wanted to do was take them off. The tables had turned on her.

Maddie thought the topic had ended when Rayn surprised her yet again. “May I ask you something since we’re on the subject?” At her nod, he continued, “Have you ever been with a human male?”

“Good lord, no! Like you, I’ve never wanted to. I, always wanted it to be with someone special, someone I cared for…someone like you,” she breathed. She stole a glance at him.

This was a very uncomfortable discussion to have, and she wanted to be able to see his reaction. She wasn’t bold enough to look him straight in the eye though. Pity, her heart would have soared if could have seen his face just then.

Rayn, a huge grin spreading across his face, lifted his head up and said, “I was hoping it was the same for you. It would have been okay if you had, but I am so happy you haven’t.”

“One of my friends once told me about when she did it. It was with her high school boyfriend. She really thought he was ‘the one,’ so she figured it would be okay and all. She said it was horrible, yeah, awful. Ew…God I can’t believe I’m telling you this. This is so weird,” she grimaced.

“Go on, and please don’t be shy, Maddie,” he urged. “I want you to be able to speak of anything to me.”

“Well, she said it was just dreadful and that she cried afterward. It was awkward and embarrassing and not very pleasant. So yeah, after I heard that, I knew for sure I wouldn’t do it with just anyone.”

Rayn had picked up a lock of her hair and was looking at it intently when he thoughtfully said, “I am most happy that you feel that way. Most humans succumb to the pressure, and that is most unfortunate. To mate with someone is a very special event. I think humans tend make it so commonplace. Maddie, I am happy that we share this!”

Rayn cocked his head and stared at her with a burning intensity. He traced her cheek and then her lips with his fingers and dropped his head down to the hollow at the base of her throat, kissing her there. She was becoming incoherent again.

He took her face in his hands, looked deeply into her eyes. “Madeline,” he began, surprising her with the use of her birth name, “I think I must have you as my life mate.” Then he continued in the ancient language, “
I know I am not worthy of thee, but I, Alexyon Rayn Devvan Rowan Yarrister, forswear to honor and protect, to love and worship thee with my entire being and to be ever faithful to thee for so long as there is breath in this body of mine
.”

Maddie opened her mouth to speak, but Rayn placed his fingers upon her lips and whispered intently, “Shh. I would like to finish what I said by translating it into your language.” When she nodded, he continued, “Madeline, I know I am not worthy of you, but I, Alexyon Rayn Devvan Rowan Yarrister, swear to love, honor, protect and worship you and I promise to be ever faithful to you so long as I live. Maddie, marry me. Will you be my life mate?”

Whoa! What? Marry you? We just met,
she thought.

“But, Rayn,” she said as her eyes widened in shock, “I don’t think I’m worthy of you. There is so much happening here. You would be giving up your life for me, and I don’t know if I can live with that. And then, are we really going to be able to be together? Won’t your father make you return to Vesturon to face whatever council, not to mention we are just getting to know each other? And I don’t know about you, but I’m so young. Girls here don’t get married at age nineteen unless they are pregnant. And we barely know each other.” Maddie was astounded they were even having this conversation.

Rayn interrupted her, “Maddie, I do not know what is going to happen, but I know this. If you do not say yes, my life will not be worth much anyway. I will not care a thing about what they do to me. I would rather not think in those terms. And another thing; I have chosen this path because we have connected. I tried to walk away from you, but I could not. It was pure agony for me. And Maddie, this was not a rash decision. I have thought of every consequence I can, and the positives keep winning. You are the one for me, like it or not. I want to be the one for you. I am not saying it will be easy; it will be everything but that. Without you, I am half of what I need to be. As far as age is concerned, does it truly matter as long as we are both adults and know what we want? Besides, our souls have already found each other. How can we deny them or pull them apart?”

Maddie was humbled and honored by Rayn. She had never thought in her life she would meet someone like him. Her heart was thrilled, but she was still apprehensive about things.

“I’m a little overcome with emotion you could say. I do want us to be together, more than anything. But this is all happening so fast. I feel like I am so young to be considering marrying someone, especially someone I have recently met. I’ve gone from being alone as a paraplegic to being involved with an
alien
for God’s sake! And a king’s son for that matter. This is just so overwhelming for me. Can we not just date for a while?”

“Yes, that is a possibility. But know this, I will be leaving soon. When my father arrives, I will have to go back to Vesturon with him to face charges. I would like us to be committed before I do that.”

Maddie was feeling the pressure now. She knew Rayn was honorable in his intentions; however, her life had just taken a dramatic twist. One minute, she thought she was going to have to live confined to a wheelchair, and the next, she was flying through space as an energy beam, completely healed from her paralysis. At the same time, she was saddened by a loss she couldn’t explain, and now her heart was filled with love for someone she didn’t even remember she had lost. She was on the biggest emotional roller coaster of her life.

Rayn could see her turmoil by the furrowing of her brow. He took a chance and delved into her mind, but was thrown back by the intensity and depth of her emotions. Wrapping his hand around the nape of her neck, he leaned into her and rasped, “Maddie, please do not feel the pressure of all of this. I am sorry, and do not want this to cause you distress. I only want what makes you happy.”