by T. J. Quinn
His parents weren’t meomee so he didn’t consider it necessary to make a family. He was more concerned about building a home to shelter the family before making one.
But first, he had to get off Narova. Finally, his turn to lift off came. His ship was an older model, retrofitted with newer technology. It saved him funds he would need for land and a dwelling on Vesta Three. All systems were in working order according to the ship’s AI and his manual checks. He wasted no time giving the AI the lift off order. Within minutes he was in space and heading toward Vesta Three to make his new home.
This was new territory for Chaytok. He was a good pilot and navigator in familiar sectors, but he was in unfamiliar territory. About two weeks into the trip he discovered he was off course and there was a part failing in his star drive. The glitches weren’t directly related. There had been a power surge to the AI that caused the incorrect course and the part in his star drive had been deemed in good condition during the rebuild. That’s what he for cutting corners. But his reasoning was sound. Now he wished he’s waited for a passenger freighter. That would have saved even more money than buying his own meager little ship.
Chaytok weighed that factor in, too. Getting a direct transport to Vesta Three was a longshot. He could have been stranded somewhere even hard to find transport to an outlying colony. Nor could he have brought the amount of cargo he now carried on his own ship.
When he found his trajectory would take him close to the Earth-Sol system, he was partly relieved because the Alliance had a large base on Mars. He gave up hope of landing there when he found how far Mars orbit was in relationship to Earth’s. He would need to go to Earth, close to his last choice. At least there was an Alliance presence there, and his cloaking tech was working.
One
What a gorgeous day, Alexa James thought as she led her big red gelding from the barn. The sky was bright blue without a cloud to be seen on that warm September morning. It was perfect weather for a leisurely ride through the woods on her property and into the public forest. Jetson stood patiently in the barnyard while Alexa mounted and seated herself atop the western style saddle. She urged him forward into a canter to the trail that began as two tracks etched in the dirt with a strip of grass down the middle. As she rode deeper into the forest, the trail became solid hard packed dirt.
Alexa needed the diversion to clear her head after she got the notice that Lawrence was released from prison. She had a restraining order against him, but a piece of paper wouldn't stop him from coming after her. He blamed her because she pressed charges after he kidnapped her, beat and terrorized her until she agreed to have sex with him. She finally escaped when he fell asleep. The case pleaded out so he would only serve up to seven years. With time off for good behavior, he got out in four. After what he did, she couldn't believe she ever thought she loved him.
At first, he seemed like a caring lover, but after they had become exclusive, the facade started to crumble. Lawrence became jealous and controlling. He had to know where she was and with whom at all times. The first time he thought a man had been too friendly to her at a restaurant he had raged at her. Another time he slapped her in the parking lot after they'd been to a club dancing. Things escalated from there until Alexa finally admitted to herself that she was in an abusive relationship.
Three months after she'd moved in with him, she packed up and left while he was at work. She sent him a text from three towns away then ditched her cell phone and bought a burner. She used her savings to pay for a studio apartment in the city and got a job as a bank teller. She thought she was safe, but it only took Lawrence two months to find her. He cornered her in the hallway of her apartment building while she was unlocking the door.
As soon as the case was settled, Alexa left the state and went to live with her Grandmother in the mountains of West Virginia hundreds of miles from where she'd lived briefly with Lawrence. Grandma had passed two years ago and left her the ten-acre farmstead. It was hard losing Grandma, but she was glad for the two years they'd had. She'd made a good life here, mostly keeping to herself. But it got lonely sometimes.
Maybe that was why she had the dream about him again... before the letter about Lawrence. She didn't know his name or anything about him. He came to her as a lover in her dreams to a place out of a sci-fi movie. She never saw his face, but she felt her body yearning for his touch. Somehow, she knew he would be the one man she could always trust. He was out there somewhere. Alexa didn't know when or how he would come to her, though.
Those were the things that went through her mind as Jetson cantered down the path. Horse and rider flowed together in harmony enjoying the jaunt through the woods until the sudden flutter of wings startled the horse. A frightened grouse launched itself into the air in front of him. Jetson stopped suddenly, tilting back on his haunches and Alexa's feet slid out of the stirrups, then he reared up. Alexa flew into the air and landed in the dirt rolling to a stop unconscious.
Once Jetson got over his fright, he turned and walked over to where his mistress lay and dropped his head. He nudged her with his nose and nickered, but she didn't move. So. he stood there waiting, not knowing what else to do.
Two
Of all the god's forsaken backward worlds he could have landed, Chaytok couldn't quite think of one worse. But then, there wasn't much choice with his star drive failing. He wasn't supposed to land at all---or even come close to the Sol star system. Now he was stuck until the Alliance could get the part from out of this star system needed to fix his star drive. That could be days or even weeks. His ship was an older, uncommon model.
It had been only a few days since he'd landed in the forest in the dead of night. Knowing he could be waiting weeks, he decided to go outside and have a look around. Earth humanoids looked much like his race. They actually had common ancestors somewhere in ancient history. Early in Alliance history with Earth, his kind had come here as observers and mated with humans on a regular basis. The offspring looked human though they carried feline genes.
Chaytok could pass for one of them though they might find his blue hair and amber cat eyes a bit unusual. His ears were a little pointed though not really elfin, his hair was long enough to cover the points. From what he'd seen of their video broadcasts, blue hair was probably the least of his worries.
It was slow going through the thick of the woods where the trees grew so close together that he could hardly pass between the branches. The sensors had shown an open path a couple hundred meters in the direction he traveled. Surely he would find it soon. Animals skittered away at the sound of his footsteps on the dry leaves and breaking branches. He hoped they were really as small as they sounded. Then he finally found himself on the dirt path that traversed the forest.
Chaytok stopped in the middle of the path and looked to the left and to the right. His tablet told him via the satellite he had tapped into that right would take him deeper into the forest and left would take him toward a small farm. He'd already seen more than enough of the forest, so he started walking toward the farm. He had walked about five minutes when he spotted the bewildered red horse standing over its fallen rider lying in the dirt.
He started running toward them, and the animal shied away at his approach, though it stopped a short distance away. As he came closer, he saw that it was a woman. She had long red hair and was wearing a blue shirt and faded blue jeans with boots. He could see that she was breathing, but she didn't move as he came close and knelt on one knee beside her. Chaytok took out his tablet to use its scan function assess her injuries. It told him that she had a concussion, a broken collarbone and damage to her right knee.
All of these injuries could easily be fixed back at his ship, but he would have to get her there first. He turned her over gently and brushed the dirt from her face. As soon as he touched her face, a frisson almost like static electricity shot up his arm and through his body. He'd never felt anything like that before and didn't stop to ponder it. He just knew he had to help her.
&
nbsp; She didn't look too heavy, so he decided to pick her up and carry her back to his ship. Although he knew the horse carried her to the place where she fell he didn't know how to make, the horse carry her to the ship. Chaytok had never ridden an animal either and doubted the animal would accept him as a rider if he tried.
Now that he had found the path, he triangulated the location of the ship which showed him an easier route back to it by the dirt path. He knew it was probably a mistake to get involved, but there was no way he would leave an injured person lying in the dirt. As he picked her up, he was surprised at how light she was. He attributed that to the fact that Earth gravity was significantly less than his planet of origin. It also helped that he was in excellent physical condition and well-muscled.
There was also something about her that made him feel drawn to her, more than any woman before. Could it be? He wondered, and then his cock twitched. A frisson of understanding surged through his body that set him walking a little faster toward his ship and the tech he needed to heal the beautiful woman in his arms. Now he wondered if he was somehow beckoned to come here. Had whatever gods or fates there might be have conspired to bring him here. The odds of such a coincidence were astronomical. Yet he was here holding his meomee close to his heart.
As he walked the path heading toward his ship, the horse followed at a respectful distance. The new route back to his ship was so much easier and more open than his initial route to the path. He was just starting to tire as he reached the ship. Cloaked on the forest floor, it was virtually invisible to the untrained eye. He gave a voice command, and the portal opened. He carried the woman inside while the horse waited outside.
Chaytok laid her on a lounger in the small sitting area behind the bridge. He went to the medical cupboard and took out the automated medical tool which he applied to her forehead and turned it on. It would automatically adjust to her physiology and send nanites throughout her body to repair the damaged tissues. At that point, all he could do is wait. It could take a few hours.
Then what? She would know he was an alien as soon as she saw him. His catlike eyes would give him away immediately. He had a pair of lens stashed in the medical cabinet that would make his eyes look homo sapien, but he hated the way they felt on his eyes. He could only wear them for a couple hours. If she told others of his presence, unless they were privy to classified government information, they would think she was a little crazy.
She would have other things on her mind once she awoke and sensed the mating pheromones he’d started excreting as soon as he touched her and felt the recognition of his fated mate. Chaytok stood beside the lounger looking down at her, still overwhelmed with amazement at his good fortune. An hour ago, he was bitterly lamenting his fate of landing on Earth far off course from his destination. Finally, he had to move away from her. The mating hormones and pheromones were giving him an uncomfortable erection. Distance might only help a little; he needed to get his mind on something else.
While he waited for her to awake, he used his onboard computer to research the area where he had landed by tapping into the Earth internet. He had studied some of the languages of the world in preparation for a covert mission a few years back when he almost sent on assignment here for the United Alliance of Worlds. Then they sent him elsewhere. Even though the United Alliance of worlds maintained a covert base here, it was against regs to reveal they were extraterrestrials. That regulation no longer applied to him because he was no longer in the Defense Force and because she was meomee.
How convenient that he’s learned her language through bio-implant for a mission that never came to fruition. That was why he chose to land in the United States. He had hoped to get closer to the Alliance base, but it turned out they were almost 200 klicks away. Without the part to fix his ship, all they could do was get him passage off world. Chaytok had too much invested in his ship to leave it behind for salvage. He would wait for the part to be shipped from his home sector.
This beautiful, injured woman was a complication he never even dreamed.
The three hours it took for the auto medic to do its work was plenty of time for Chaytok to learn about the region and the female he had rescued---meomee. He'd identified her through tax records and social media---and the horse. There were many pictures of her horse.
Alexa opened her eyes to see a strange looking man with blue hair and amber catlike eyes. “Who are you? And what's with your eyes?” As she looked around the room, it looked like something from a sci-fi movie---like her dream.
"Where are we?" She asked although she thought she already knew.
"I am Chaytok Larren. This is my ship," he told her in mildly accented English. "Your injuries were serious, so I brought you here to heal you."
"Yes. I remember. Jetson got scared and threw me." she murmured. "So now what? Why are you here?"
"My star drive failed. I had to land until the Alliance can send a ship with parts to repair it. It was never my intention to land or make direct contact." Chaytok told her. "But, I couldn't leave you injured lying in the dirt. You have nothing to fear from me."
“I’m not scared. You are the one I dreamed would come. I just didn’t know how or when. I just knew you are him.” She said softly. “I didn’t know you would be an alien.”
“Does that matter?” he wondered.
“Not to me,” she said. “It seems like the Universe conspired to bring us together. It might have been days before anyone found me if you hadn’t.”
Alexa knew it was true. She had always believed a there were other worlds in the universe that supported intelligent life. More than that, she recognized the green form fitting shirt and pants of his old uniform. He was the man from her dream. Despite his blue hair and cat-like eyes, he was an exotically gorgeous male with well-defined muscles, accentuated by his snug fitting clothing. His eyes held kindness as he looked down at her.
It wasn't like those fairy tale alien romances she liked to read late at night. He wasn't here looking for a mate in the middle of nowhere. He had a vehicle breakdown and was waiting for a tow so to speak. But that didn't explain her dream.
He leaned over her and removed the medical tool from her forehead. Then scanned her again. “Your injuries are healed,” he said and returned the tool to its cabinet. He came back to her side and asked, “How do you feel?”
“Okay, I think. This is so awesome!" She looked up at him in wonder and started to sit up. She felt a little lightheaded as she put her feet to the floor, so she just sat there for a moment. She reached up and touched his hand just to satisfy herself that he was real. His skin was warm, but he flinched as a jolt of attraction flashed between them.
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" She looked at him uncertainly.
He shook his head. “It wasn’t pain,” he paused unable to verbalize exactly what he felt, except that he knew it wasn't pain. As he felt the tightening in his groin, he shuddered. He knew he couldn't stop it anymore than he could stop the beating of his heart.
“It's been a long time since I was touched by another being,” he said unevenly as he tried to decide how to tell her. She was meomee, and they would be mated for life.
Alexa blushed at the obvious bulge in his pants. Looking up at his face, she saw the hunger in his eyes and felt an answering flutter between her thighs.
“Oh,” she said understanding. Chaytok wanted her. She quickly realized she wanted him as well. Her life had been lonely, too. Her experience with Lawrence had left her reluctant to start a new relationship.
That and the fact that Alexa worked long hours most weeks in the two years since inheriting her grandmother's small farm on a dirt road in the mountains of West Virginia. She made her living growing organic vegetables and plants that she sold locally. She couldn't even remember the last time she had a date let alone been laid.
“Are we even compatible?” she asked.
“Anatomically and genetically, we are very like your race,” he said. “My kind have been coming to Earth for centur
ies. Many have mated with humans over the years, especially in this area of your country. The offspring often look completely human though they bear feline genes.”
“But?”
“We felines can sometimes find our true mates through a phenomenon we call meomee. That is happening between us. Our fate is sealed, we must now mate within days or become ill and eventually die. I can't stay here, and I can't leave without you now that we have touched.” Chaytok replied. He turned away and closed his eyes fighting down his desire. It was already too late. The mating pheromones were too strong for him to resist much longer---his cock was so hard.
He found himself remembering how soft and warm in his arms as he'd carried her back to his ship---and her scent was pleasing. Despite her ‘sapien’ eyes and odd colored red hair, her face was lovely, and her rounded breasts, thinner waist, and curvy hips had him thinking about how they would fit together---how her soft mouth would feel against his. He turned around, and she was standing in front of him. He hadn't even heard her move.
As she looked up at him, he could see her recognition of the unspoken connection between them in her beautiful amber flecked green eyes. He growled a catlike sound and slid his arms around her, pulled her against him, and lowered his head to cover her mouth with his. Alexa made a mewing sound in her throat and wound her arms around his neck, opening her mouth to his insistent tongue. She moaned as he tasted and caressed her tongue and slid his hand down over her buttocks, pressing her tightly against his hard cock with a low growl.
“It's already too late, for either of us to back down, now,” she whispered when he freed her mouth to nuzzle her neck. “I knew you would come someday, but not how or when---or even from where. I just know you're the one.”