Dark Matter: SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE

by Jessica Loft

  I shook away the woozy feeling. “Let me have that cock. The friction alone with the oil burning up inside me is only making it that much more difficult not to cum again.” I went off and I couldn’t hold it back, squeezing and pulling at him to give me what I wanted for a change. My body took control of his member. He probably thought that he was the one holding all the cards, but this time I was showing that I was up to the task.

  “I’m almost there,” he moaned. “Yes…this is it… this is fucking it…YESSSSS.” All I could do was lie there and let him finish his business. My lips were quivering and they were blood red and swollen from the kind of pounding they had gone through. My mouth was dry. Suddenly I heard somebody at the door. It flew open and the police came streaming into the room, flashlights blazing.

  They surrounded us, holding guns, but I could see that they were unprepared for what they found themselves facing. Most of them were able to look us in the eyes, but there were those who were probably green, who had to turn around.

  A female officer stood there defiantly. “Get your clothes on and come out here and join the rest of them.” My lover and I looked at each other, and there was no point in denying that we had been caught with our pants down. They gave us a bit of privacy to collect our clothes. We went back with an armed escort. They lined us up and made sure to read us our rights in case it was needed in court.

  “I’m Officer Sanchez. I’m afraid that I’m going to have to ask you to unmask. This place has been under investigation for quite some time. We have the owner in custody for dealing drugs and prostitution. I want to let you know that none of you are going to be charged. What you do behind closed doors is your business.”

  I looked around at the others. Those who did take their masks off were standing there quite embarrassed. The ones who were hesitant finally relented after getting assurances that no charges were going to be filed against us. I turned to face my lover, only to have my jaw drop when I saw Channing looking back at me.

  “Lillian… I can’t believe that you would be part of something like this. I definitely had the wrong impression of you from the moment that you came to work with us. I’m speechless. I really don’t know what else to say.”

  “Channing, I really didn’t expect this, but I suppose it does make sense. I heard you talking about the woman who was different, but I had no idea that it was me. Now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, I have to tell you that you’re going to be a father.” There was no easy way to pull off that Band-Aid slowly. He looked at me, trying to see whether I was serious. He began to realize that his swimmers were a lot stronger than he thought they were.

  “My doctors told me that my mobility was not enough to get anybody pregnant. I’m pleasantly surprised to hear that there is some life in my boys after all.” I couldn’t believe that we were practically the same. Neither one of us thought that we were destined to have a family, but here we are proving them wrong.

  “Imagine my surprise when I found out that I was pregnant. My doctor told me that there was no way that I could be pregnant, but I guess we can consider ourselves in a different category. This is a miracle baby, but I suppose the feelings that we share for one another are a bit of a miracle themselves.”

  ~

  Channing took me back to his place after we gave our statements. He made me a meal fit for a queen. That night, I had him handcuffed to his bedpost. I was the one who rode him all the way to the finish line. It wasn’t the same as him overpowering me, but it was a fantasy that had gone unfulfilled for too long. Having this instant family and the kind of lover who would always surprise me was more than I could ever ask for.

  I was happy to find out that Steve had used my advice to capture the heart of Helen in accounting. We had a double wedding with me already showing at six months. Most could think that this was a shotgun wedding, but both Channing and I knew the truth.

  Now Enjoy The Next Story Below Or Choose One From The Table of Contents

  The Forgotten Wife

  CHAPTER 1

  “Maryann. Maryann? Sister, come inside you’re getting soaked!” Carol called from behind her.

  Maryann heard her perfectly well, but she still stood frozen in the middle of the large back yard of their home. It was as if the roots from the trees surrounding their property had tunneled through the earth to wrap her feet and hold her in place. Maybe that’s what she wanted, she thought. To become a tree.

  The rain was falling from the dark Colorado sky in large, fat drops now, sinking into the dry summer earth that was happy for the unplanned nourishment. It had been a dry year for them so far. Then suddenly it wasn’t. Large black, rumbling clouds rolled over the sky like giant puffs of smoke, and with a loud thundering crack, the rain let loose, soaking everything.

  Maryann loved when it rained. It was her way of knowing that her precious plants weren’t going to thirst to death and shrivel up. Unlike the rest of her sisters, she had no children to Husband. Just her plants, and her gifted green thumb that seemed to make everything grow. From behind her Maryann felt a heavy Indian blanket being wrapped around her thin shoulders, and she turned her head to see Carol, her closest sister, looking sideways at her with great concern.

  “Come on sweetheart,” Carol coaxed, pulling Maryann towards the back porch. Maryann felt her begin to move and she allowed Carol to guide her onto the tin roof porch. Calmly, Carol began rubbing the blanket over Maryann, quickly drying up the access droplets of water that hung on her plain cream-colored ankle length dress. She stood still as Carol moved to take her long, thick brown hair into the blanket and began patting it dry.

  “You’re disappearing more frequently, dearest,” Carol noted, continuing her drying process.

  “You have to be careful with that. If Mabel or Husband catch you, they’ll be cross.”

  Mabel was the first and head wife among the marriages to Husband. She ran the house when he was not home, and though she was fond of her fellow sister wives, she could be quite strict about the others being idle. Maryann, Husband, and the two other sister-wives all lived together in a large compound in the northern west corner of Colorado. Several other families just like theirs lived on the compound with them, creating a self-sufficient community.

  Just like the other wives, Maryann had left the rest of world willingly. She first met Husband at the Loveland Farmer’s Market where he was selling his extra produce and honey. Immediately she had been drawn to his seemingly kind ways and handsome features. Not once had he lied to her about what he was, and when he asked her to come to the compound with him, she had went willingly.

  The idea of living in a big, loving family like the one Husband described excited Maryann, who had grown up in the foster system. All her life she had wanted nothing more than the family he had described, and once they married, she was sure that her dream had come true.

  Just as Raymond, who would since their marriage be called Husband, promised, the wives were, for the most part, kind and loving. Jealousy rarely showed itself among them, for they knew the strict rules that Husband had laid down for them. In the beginning, Maryann was told by the entire family that she had three responsibilities; to help the family, to love the family, and to help the family grow.

  It was easy for her to go through with the first two responsibilities, but after four years of marriage and copulation, she had yet to follow through with the third. No matter how often Husband had visited her bed, Maryann had been unable to get pregnant. At first, Husband and her sisters were optimistic and encouraging, but after two years and no baby, their demeanor had started to change towards Maryann. All of them had begun to turn away from her, except for Carol.

  “I’m sorry sister,” Maryann said softly.

  Carol stopped her drying and came around to face Maryann. Gently she tucked the crook of her finger beneath her chin and lifted Maryann’s brown eyes up to her blue ones. She smiled sweetly down at her, and pressed her forehead to hers.

  “It’s alright. I just do
n’t want you getting scolded again. I can’t-I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through right now. Tyler and Esme are my everything.”

  Tyler and Esme were the five- year old boy and the two- year old girl that she’d had with Husband so far. They took completely after Carol with their thin figures, pale blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes. Among all of the children, they had the sweetest temperaments. Although the other wives were good with their children, Maryann felt that none of them could compete with Carol’s mothering ways.

  From the other side of the house, they heard the front screen door bang, announcing the arrival of Mabel and Husband, back from their day at the Loveland Farmer’s Market. Maryann straightened quickly and she and Carol headed back into the house. As Carol and Shelly greeted the two home, Maryann took the back stairs two at a time up to her room to change into a dry dress. She had barely tied the back strings to it when she heard her bedroom door creak open. Turning around, she saw Husband standing in the doorway.

  He was still as handsome as the day they had met. He had thick, shoulder length light brown hair and matching eyes with a big build he kept in shape from working the fields all day. He smiled at her with surprising kindness, and took a step towards her with open arms. Obediently Maryann went into them. Though she had realized a while ago she no longer loved husband, she was still very fond of the disappearing moments when he was kind.

  “Welcome home,” she greeted, her face resting on the hardness of his chest.

  “Your hair is soaked little one,” he mentioned, rubbing his palms over her arms.

  “And your skin is like ice. What happened?”

  “Oh, um, I was worried about the beanstalks in the backyard, so I went out to cover them. It took a little longer than I expected and I got caught in the rain,” she lied.

  Husband smiled as he pushed her gently towards her bed, making her heart sink.

  “Perhaps I can warm you up,” he replied, already unbuttoning his trousers.

  “Wait, but I must help the others with supper and the children,” Maryann tried to argue.

  “Don’t worry about that,” he told her, undoing the strings she had just laced up.

  “They can get on without you.”

  CHAPTER 2

  “No,” Maryann whispered. Trembling, she pushed her fingertips into her mons and drew them out. The evidence of her normal monthly flow was there, bright and red on her fingertips. It had been two weeks since Husband had caught her alone in her room and they had copulated. After he was done, he had seemed to be very happy with himself.

  “There. That should put a baby in your belly,” he’d told her jovially, patting her bare rump. But it hadn’t, and she was certain that he was going to very displeased about it. Quickly Maryann ran her fingers underneath the water and stuffed a sanitary cloth into her undergarments. She had been working with Mabel in the kitchen when she felt the first trickle slide down her leg, and had excused herself to go to the bathroom. If she was gone too long Mabel would come into the room with her, and that was the last thing she wanted.

  “Are you alright, Maryann?” Mabel asked when she came back into the kitchen. She nodded her head yes, and bent down to the basket of potatoes to begin peeling them again. When she stood back up Mabel was inches from her face. It startled her, and she gasped as she took a step back.

  “You’re awfully pale, dear. Are you sure you’re not sick?” Without waiting for an answer, Mabel pushed her fingers onto Maryann’s clammy forehead, checking for a fever. With a grimace she pulled her hand away and wiped it on her apron.

  “I’m fine Mabel, really. I think the heat is just making my stomach hurt is all. Perhaps after supper I could sit for a spell in the basement and read? It’s so much cooler down there.”

  Long moments passed before Mabel shifted her beady eyes away from Maryann’s face and allowed her to finish her work for the evening meal. She was suspicious. If she asked Maryann about her flow she wouldn’t lie, because she knew the head wife had no issue with checking for herself.

  “I’m sure Husband wouldn’t mind, especially if you’re feeling ill. Perhaps while you’re down there you could do something more useful than read. Make ice cream for the children perhaps?” Mabel suggested.

  “Absolutely, I would love to. Thank you Mabel,” Maryann replied enthusiastically. From behind her, she heard the patter of feet. Turning, she saw Raymond Jr. running towards them. At age eleven he was the oldest of Husband’s brood, and looked just like him too.

  “Did I hear you say ice cream Mama?” He asked excitedly.

  Mabel laughed and shooed him out of the kitchen.

  “Auntie Maryann is going to make some for you after supper. Now run along and help Auntie Carol with the rest of the children, we have to finish here.”

  The young boy thanked Maryann and ran off, excited to tell the other children news of the ice cream. Though there many things that Maryann no longer loved about living on the compound, there was still a few things she adored. The children were the biggest one. They all loved Maryann and her sweet temperament. On nights when Husband slept in their mother’s beds, it was Maryann who took them into her room and held sleepovers and played games with them.

  Finding a tune, Maryann began to hum as she finished peeling the potatoes, excited for her time alone in the basement. She could sneak a swig or two of Husband’s whiskey to ease her cramps and relax in silence as she churned the ice cream. An hour later Husband walked through the front door, looking sweaty and dirty as usual from his day in the fields. Only this time, he looked more cross than usual. Instinctively Maryann shrank in to herself, willing her body to become invisible.

  “What has you so cross, Husband?” Mabel asked as he washed up in the kitchen sink.

  “This day has been full of bad luck,” he grumbled.

  “A pack of wolves found a hole in old man Farrel’s fence and they slaughtered fourteen sheep. I broke the handle to my hammer as I tried to help with the repairs, and the entire left corner of the corn field has been chewed down by- ah, fuck!” He bellowed. Quickly he yanked his hands out of the soapy water, bringing with them a paring knife sunk half an inch into the flesh of his right palm’s heel. Mabel was by side in a flash, pulling the knife out of his hand and pressing down hard on the wound with her towel while Maryann stared, shocked at the scene.

  “Don’t just stand there,” Husband barked, raising his hand above his head.

  “Go get a needle and thread!”

  ~

  Maryann sagged into the shut door of the basement as she took in a long, heavy sigh. Dinner was, to say the least, unpleasant. Husband was in a horrible mood, and then on top of that, he kept coughing. It was uncommon for anyone to contract a cold during the summer, but with all of the rain they’d been getting, it wasn’t impossible. She was more than happy to finally disappear into the cool, quiet basement, where she could relax and not have to worry about hiding the discomfort of her cramps.

  Lighting the lantern, Maryann carefully walked down the stone steps, feeling the temperature drop the lower she went. There was an electric light that hung from the ceiling, but she preferred the soft light of the lanterns to work by. The steps led into a large room that was directly beneath the kitchen and dining room. Past it was a small, dark hallway that led to the root center and Husband’s stash room, where he kept his many bottles of whiskey, wine, and beer. He bought a bottle of something every week when he went to the Farmer’s Market, whether he had finished the previous one or not. Because of that, he had nearly two hundred bottles in the small room.

  Maryann lifted her lantern and looked all around until she found a bottle that had a broken seal. It was a single malt whiskey, and had a diagonal label that read Johnny Walker on it. Unscrewing the cap, Maryann tilted her head and took a long swig of the brew. It burned like fire down her throat and it immediately made her dizzy. Warmth spread in her gut and she began to feel the tension of her cramps begin to ease. She took one more swig before
screwing the cap back on and heading back to the main room of the basement.

  There she drug out the old-fashioned hand churner for the ice cream. From the large cooler she pulled out a glass bottle of milk and a bag of ice. From the shelf beside it she pulled down the large tin of sugar, the vanilla, and the box of rock salt. She mixed the milk, vanilla and sugar together into the large metal container the then packed in the ice and salt around it until it was firmly in place. Carefully she sank the churn down into the cream and began to turn the handle, humming a song from long ago.

  As she mixed the cream over and over again, she let her mind go back to the past. It had been 2011 when she had left the outside world, and she wondered how much it had changed. Were there still iPods, or did they invent something new? Did McDonald’s still exist? She used to love getting a bag of French fries and a vanilla cone. Maryann and her sister- her real sister, Sarah, would sit on a bench and dip the fries in the ice cream. Husband was the only one allowed to drive the family truck, but she missed driving too. With money from after school jobs she had bought an old black Saturn, and she used to love taking love drives in it after work.