For the remainder of the night, Max couldn’t stop looking at that other woman. She was a goddess. Had he been paying attention, he would have noticed that he wasn’t the only one looking at her with longing in his eyes.
As the dance went on, it was evident that there would be more mating announcements coming soon. The alien version of mating was similar to a wedding. However, when an alien took a mate, it was for life. They had a connection that nothing short of death could break when it was true. Even death couldn’t always break the bond. Sure, some couples mated even though they weren’t fated mates, but those unions usually ended poorly. Or were for political reasons.
About halfway through the night, Marcon got up enough nerve to ask Maddie to dance. She hadn’t danced with anyone yet. He hoped she was waiting for him to ask her.
When it came to fighting their enemies, Marcon was fearless. But, a human woman scared him senseless.
Slowly, he made his way to Maddie and her friends. She was smiling and looking so beautiful, the red dress made her chocolate skin shine. Her blue eyes sparkled like an aquamarine gemstone as she laughed at a joke Lucy said. And her dark hair bounced and looked like silk when the light hit it just right. It must have been a human joke as it made no sense to him. Who cares about a horse and a reverend in a bar? Seemed like a strange place for them to go together.
His mouth was dry before he got close enough to interrupt their conversation and he had to lick his lips and swallow before he could say anything. Marcon wiped his sweaty palm on his pants and then tapped her on the shoulder.
She turned around and her smile faded. His heart skipped a beat as he realized she wasn’t happy to see him. But he had already made it this far, he was going to ask her to dance. He wasn’t going to let his fears or insecurities stop him now, he had come too far.
“Hello, I am Marcon. Would you like to dance?” As he said his name, he knew he sounded lame, but went for it anyway. The worst that could happen was she would say no.
“Um, I…Well, I hadn’t planned on dancing tonight. Thank you anyway.” Maddie responded and started to turn away when Lucy spoke up.
“She would love to dance. Maddie, this is Marcon. He’s one of the guys who protected a group of us from the Insectoids right after we crash-landed here. He’s a really nice guy. You should dance with him.” Lucy pushed Maddie into Marcon’s waiting arms.
Marcon was just as shocked as Maddie looked, but he took no time in wrapping one arm around her waist. “I promise I won’t step on your toes. I have been taking lessons ever since I moved here from the ship a month ago.” He smiled down at her. Even with her heels, she wasn’t nearly as tall as he was. She was however, the perfect height to fit in his arms just right.
“Um, thanks?” She shrugged and looked more like a fish out of water than a woman who knew she was the most beautiful person in the room. “I can’t promise the same thing. Dancing isn’t something I’ve done in a long time.”
Marcon took her left arm in his right one and put her right hand on his shoulder, then he put his hand on her waist. This was the closest Marcon had ever been to a human woman, and he was in heaven. He slowly led her around the dancefloor while looking into her mesmerizing blue eyes. They seemed to change color with the lighting. When the light shone on them, they were a light lapis lazuli, and then when the light moved away, they were more like iridescent sapphires. He had never seen a woman with such dark skin who had such light eyes.
She was right, she was not a dancer. He didn’t care if she took the spike in her heal and ground it into his foot. This was the best he had ever felt. Her stepping on his toes only brought her that much closer to him. How he longed to kiss her. He wouldn’t, since he had taken some classes on human/V’Zenian interactions. He knew she would be upset with him if he tried to kiss her now. Instead, he pulled her closer and shut his eyes as he enjoyed the rhythm of the music and the sway of her hips against his.
Marcon had lost all sense of time. Eventually, the woman in his arms tried to pull away. “Um, we’ve danced to three songs. I think I need a drink.” She pulled away again and this time he let her move back away from him. He felt a chill seep into his bones now that he no longer held the woman of his dreams.
“Of course, sorry. I should have thought of that. May I get you something to drink?” He tried to hold her hand as they walked to the refreshment table, but she wouldn’t allow it.
“Thank you for the dance, I think I want to go and sit with my friends now.” She took a glass of water and walked away before Marcon could think of a reason to spend more time with her.
As she walked back to her table, she wondered about the funny feeling in the pit of her stomach and hoped she wasn’t getting sick.
Before Maddie sat down she noticed that Sarah had been dancing with the same alien for several songs. “Lucy, who’s that V’Zenian Sarah is dancing with?”
“That’s Eereen, Venay’s Second in Command. Did you never meet him when we were on their ship?”
“Not that I recall. Are they a couple?” Maddie asked.
“I don’t think so. They just met today, but from the way Eereen’s looking at Sarah, they might be soon.” Lucy smiled and her gaze moved to Max and Zel, again. She sighed as Maddie sat down.
Chapter 3
Before Maddie could finish her water, a human guy walked over to her table and sat down next to her. “Hey, there. I’m John. What do you say we show these freaks how it’s done? I don’t see any human guys dancing with human women. Why is that?”
“Uh, what?” Maddie responded.
“It’s disgusting, isn’t it? All of these aliens taking our women as their mates? Are we guys even allowed to date women? Or to marry? All we have been told is that we’re stuck here for the rest of our lives and now we have to work for our keep. If the prison food was better, I would have chosen to stay in the cells for the rest of my life.” John leaned back in his chair and eyed Maddie up and down.
“Say, you look hot in that dress. Instead of sitting here while the aliens decide who gets to eat you up, let’s go dance. Show them that you aren’t into aliens, you want a real man.” He puffed his chest up and sat up straighter before taking her hand in his. He tried to kiss the back of her hand but she pulled it away before his lips touched her.
“Look, I don’t know what your situation is, but I’m quite fine working for a living instead of being locked up like an animal.” Maddie looked at him with disgust dripping from her features. Her mouth was practically in a snarl and her eyes were narrowed. “I have no desire to dance with an alien or a human male the rest of the night. So, please leave me alone.”
John’s eyes tightened as he looked at her. “We are going to dance. I think it is high time that humans banded together. You women need to stop accepting those, those, things!” He flicked his arm towards a group of aliens standing near them. He stood up and went to grab her arm but she pulled away from him before he could get a grip on her.
Marcon had been watching their interaction and his blood started to boil when he noticed that his mate (even if she didn’t realize it yet, he did), was in distress. He was in the group of aliens that John had pointed towards a moment before. They all turned their heads toward Maddie and John and were watching to see how this played itself out.
“Maddie, you are going to dance with me, come on. Don’t let them control you.” John seethed.
Right when John went to grab Maddie’s hand, again, an alien grabbed John’s shoulder and turned him around.
“The lady isn’t interested. Leave her alone.” Marcon barked.
“I will do what I want. You’re not my master! We’re not slaves. We are human beings who should still be back on Earth! I’m sick and tired of you guys taking all of the women against their wills.” He pointed to the Commander and Paris, “Does he have some sort of mind control powers? Look at Paris. She’s under his control. You can tell by her eyes, she is drooling on him and falling at his feet. Whenever Venay says ‘Jump�
�, she says, ‘How high, Master?’” John snorted before looking back to Marcon.
Marcon and his friends just laughed. “You are stupid, human. We do not have mind control powers. And we never treat our mates with anything but love and respect. That is why so many of your women are choosing us. We treat them so much better than you human males ever do.” He shook his head at the sorry excuse for a man.
Lucy walked up to the group and tried to calm them all down. “Hey guys, it’s a party. No need to argue here.” She directed her attention to John. “If you want a dance partner, I’m sure there are plenty of human and alien women here who would love to dance, as long as you ask nicely.” She smiled at John, but he just sneered at her.
“I have no desire to mingle with these aliens. Maddie feels the same way. I’ve seen it. She turns away every one of them who approach her.” John said, feeling triumphant.
“Actually, she has turned away ALL men, including humans. If you paid any attention to her, you would know that,” Lucy returned.
Through this all, Maddie sat there speechless and in her own world. She had been married at one time. Her husband had died too young and she missed him. Right before John had rudely inserted himself into her circle, she was reminiscing and thinking about the Marine Ball he had taken her to once, a few years back. She wore a red dress to that dance as well.
As the guys argued, all of Maddie’s wonderful memories with her husband started to flood her system and overwhelm her. A single tear escaped from the side of one eye. She didn’t hear anything that was going on around her.
Half of the party goers were watching to see what would happen next. Including, Commander Venay and Captain Zelan. Paris put her hand on Venay’s shoulder as she sensed him getting ready to move. “Venay, let them handle this. You knew this was a possibility when you sent the human men here. We need to see how everyone is going to handle this. Until punches are thrown, I think we need to stay out of these scuffles.”
Venay, looked into his mate’s eyes longingly, “Of course. I just hate to see women treated with disrespect.” He kissed his wife on her forehead and continued to watch the events as they unfolded.
Max and Zel had kept one eye on Lucy and one eye on John during the exchange. Rachelle, as usual, was going off on something neither of the twins cared about. The second Lucy started moving towards Maddie and John, both males quickly crossed the room to join her.
All of the bodies close to her caused Maddie to come out of her stupor and realize that a fight was about to happen right in front of her. One she wanted nothing to do with.
John looked up at Max and Zel and rolled his eyes. Then turned back to Maddie who had been sitting but now stood up glaring at him.
“Listen here, mister.” Maddie poked John in his shoulder. “I do NOT need to do anything of the sort! I will dance, or mate, with whomever I want.” She blew stray hairs out of her eyes and was feeling her heat level rise. She couldn’t understand how a human man could act so horrible.
She had turned halfway around to leave when she heard him say under his breath, “What a witch.”
Maddie swiveled around and used the momentum to deliver an ear popping blow to John’s cheek that left a red imprint of her had. “Ow, that hurt,” she mumbled, as she shook her hand to try and get the stinging pain out of her hand.
John instinctively raised his hand to his face and opened his eyes wide, “What, why in the world did you hit me?” He scoffed and rubbed his cheek.
He started to move toward Maddie, but all of the aliens near him quickly moved in and surrounded John.
“You.Will.Not.Lay.A.Hand.On.Any.Woman.Here!” Marcon seethed through his teeth. He took a menacing step toward John and towered over the coward.
John backed up into the chest of Zel, lifted his hands in supplication, and said, “Whoa big guy. I wasn’t planning on touching her. If you want her, I’m done. She’s not that pretty anyway. Especially if she is willing to let you touch her,” he chuffed.
Maddie narrowed her eyes at John, then turned to Marcon and gave him her most winning smile. “Marcon, would you care to dance?” She put her hand to him.
He smiled from ear to ear, almost like the Cheshire Cat when Alice beat the Red Queen, and took her hand, “I would love to.” Marcon directed Maddie to the middle of the dance floor just as a slow song started playing. The DJ must have been paying attention to the happenings and switched up the playlist just for them. Or maybe to prove a point.
The couple smiled at each other and slowly swayed to the romantic rhythm while the entire room looked on happily. Those on the dance floor made room for Maddie and Marcon as they watched the couple as well.
John seethed at everyone and stomped out of the building before anyone could stop him. Mumbling, “Stupid, alien loving whores! How can they choose those, those…creatures over someone like me?” Once he made it outside, he shook his head and sighed. It looked like it was going to be a very lonely existence for him.
Chapter 4
When Maddie went to work on Monday, she was practically attacked by all of the women she worked with, human and alien. Everyone wanted to know what Marcon was like and the alien women asked if she had mated with him yet.
Maddie broke out laughing. “Really? I just met the guy! Why would I mate with him so soon?” She shook her head and walked to the coffee area to get herself a large, strong cup of coffee. The aroma of the beans as they brewed in the large, round pot perked her senses and she thought back to the coffee shop on the corner by her house. Every morning she stopped in for a vanilla bean latte. The light aroma of vanilla with Caribbean Arabica beans always put a smile on her face and a slight bounce to her step.
The coffee here was good. It wasn’t great, and it certainly wasn’t Tony’s Coffee back home, but it did help to wake her up. She was lacking in sleep after so much activity the past few days. Maddie wished she could just get an IV put in so she could have constant coffee being pumped into her system.
Her weekend had been wonderful. Marcon walked her home after the dance and they stayed up very late talking. The next day he took her to breakfast at The Pancake House and they continued to spend quality time getting to know each other.
“Yeah, right. Mating after only a couple of days? I wouldn’t even have sex with a guy back home that fast. I certainly am not getting married anytime soon.” She couldn’t believe how fast the women who had mated with aliens moved. She wondered why they all married, or mated, so fast here.
On Sunday Maddie and Marcon lounged around at his place. Maddie still lived in the dorms and didn’t have a place of her own yet. Leadership felt it wasn’t a good use of the limited space they had to issue apartments to women when most of them would be mated within a few weeks of arriving. The human women moved slower than the V’Zenian’s did when it came to matrimony, but they went supersonic compared to how women back home on Earth handled relationships.
Back home most couples would take a year to date and get to know each other before getting married, some even longer. Here on Zeleron 10? The average was seventeen days. Seventeen days! Who ever heard of such a thing? She expected the dorms to be half empty within the next couple of weeks.
Maddie thought back to her conversation on Sunday afternoon. It turned out that they had more in common than they knew.
Marcon said, “I was supposed to mate with a childhood friend of mine. We weren’t fated mates and we knew it, but since we were both purebloods, our families felt it would be a perfect match. We both hoped to have pureblooded kids.” He rubbed his face.
“Fate intervened, and Sarla was killed in an accident. She was an engineer and was working on a new engine for our fleet. No one really knows what happened, but she got caught inside the room that housed the plasma coils when the reactor went online. She didn’t last the day due to the plasma burns she received.” Marcon sighed and shook his head.
Maddie’s husband was a Special Forces Soldier who had been deployed to Iraq. A roadside bomb killed
him and his entire squad. When she found out she was a mess. It took her a month after the funeral to get out of bed. Depression hit her hard. So much so, she lost 15 pounds in one month.
Her mother and sister took turns staying with her and trying to get her out again. When she finally did leave the house, it was for work. Maddie worked for an up and coming fashion designer who promised her she could design one dress in his upcoming show if she came back to work.
She knew work was all she had left. So she rallied and went to work. The raw emotions of pain and loss she used to design the dress came out and it was a hit! Critics said it was the new post-apocalyptic chic dress. After that show, she helped her designer boss to create more in that line. Her career was just starting to take off when she was abducted.
Maddie was lost in her thoughts from the weekend when someone snuck up on her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Maddie, I missed you,” Marcon whispered in her ear.
She dropped her coffee mug and spilled all over the front of her shirt and counter. “Oh, jeez! You scared me, Marcon! What are you doing here?” Maddie pulled away from him and went to get some towels to clean up her mess.
“Here, let me help you.” Marcon grabbed a few napkins and started to wipe the counter while Maddie tried to clean the developing stain on the front of her white blouse. “I came by to see you because I couldn’t stop thinking about the weekend.” He smiled shyly at her and looked away. His veins were a dead giveaway, they were pulsing purple.
“Did you miss me too?” Marcon asked wistfully.
“Actually, I was lost in thoughts about you and our weekend when you startled me.”
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