Worlds Explode

by J. L. Hendricks

“I am really sorry about that. How about I make it up to you by taking you out bowling tonight? Some of the resident humans built us a bowling alley. I am not sure what bowling is,” Maddie noticed that Marcon looked really cute when he crinkled up his forehead, “but Captain Zelan assured me that you would like it.” Marcon put the dirty napkins in the trash bin on the side of the counter.

  Maddie wet a napkin and continued to try and clean her blouse. “You haven’t been before? How long ago did they build it?”

  “No, last time we were here, I heard about it, but didn’t have the time to go. If you wouldn’t mind teaching me, I would love to spend that time with you tonight.”

  Maddie considered his offer, and noticed out of the corner of her eye two of her co-workers vigorously nodding their heads. She sighed and realized she would never hear the end of their gossip no matter what she said. “Alright, that might be fun.” She took a deep breath and gave him a closed mouth smile.

  She looked down at her blouse and realized it was hopeless. Maddie let out a deep sigh and rubbed her forehead, “Why in the worlds did I ever wear a white blouse?”

  “I will pick you up after work? We can also have dinner at the bowling alley if you want.” He put one hand in his front pants pocket and fisted it while he waited for her answer.

  She gave him a real smile as she noticed his nervousness, “Yes. Dinner and bowling sounds like a truly fun night. Just no more sneaking up on me, Ok?”

  “It is a date and a deal! See you later today!” He waved at her and walked out. Several of the women in the office almost swooned when he smiled at them.

  “Maddie, you are so lucky to have one of the hottest warriors here after you! If you don’t mate with him soon, you just might start having competition.” Sally, who was practically drooling, watched as Marcon walked out. “What a nice a…”

  “Hey now! None of that. Let’s get back to work and stop dreaming about his backside, alright?” Maddie turned and walked to her work station, ignoring the dark brown coffee stain on her white blouse. She was lost in thought again. Wondering what it would be like to marry one of the aliens. Would it be so wrong? She silently wondered.

  ***

  For the next week, Maddie and Marcon were inseparable outside of work. They met for dinner every night and spent all weekend trying out the various activities available within the town walls. One day, Maddie decided it was time to head outside of the walls.

  “Marcon, don’t you feel like we are prisoners of some sort here?”

  “Huh? Why would you say that?” Marcon tilted his head to the side and squished his forehead the way Maddie liked. If she had been part alien, her veins would have started to pulse purple at that moment.

  “Because, we aren’t allowed to go anywhere outside of the walls. This is a large compound, but it is much smaller than the cities back home. I guess…well, couldn’t we find a lake to go swimming in somewhere on the planet? It could be close by.” She raised her hands and then dropped them, deflated when she saw the look on Marcon’s face.

  “Maddie, you know it is too dangerous to go outside the walls as long as there are Zateelians still on this planet.”

  “But it’s been over a month since we last saw any. Don’t you think they’re gone?” She walked over to him and put her arms around his neck and gave him her best pouty face, “Please? Pretty please with sugar on top? If we find a place to go swimming in I promise to not complain again. Well…at least for a few weeks.” She looked up into his face and batted her eyelashes.

  He put his forehead to hers and groaned, “You know I can’t say no to anything you ask of me. But this is too dangerous. The only way we can…” Marcon was cut off as Maddie started to kiss his neck. She slowly made her way up to his earlobe and nibbled on it. That was the most sensitive spot on this particular alien.

  His breathing got heavy and he moaned deeply before taking her head in his hands and guiding it so that he could kiss her properly. Pressed up against the wall, he proceeded to kiss her until she was moaning and deeply breathing herself. Her attempt to get what she wanted out of him backfired on her. Now all she could think of staying in his arms.

  Both of them were panting and kissing each other with abandon. Maddie reached under his shirt and ran her hands along his sexy, firm stomach. She had seen him shirtless once. At that moment all she wanted was to see his strong abdomen, with nothing covering it. Slowly, she moved his shirt upward and tried to take it off of him.

  He put his hands on hers, “Wait. We need to slow down.”

  His shirt was still halfway up his body and Maddie could only think about the six pack stomach in front of her. She bent down and started kissing his abs moving up to his pecks. Her body was aching for him and stopping was not going through her head at that moment. A bed and taking off all of his clothes is what she had in mind.

  Marcon stepped out of her reach panting and pulled his shirt down. His veins were pulsing a deep red and his eyes were bright with desire. “Maddie, if we don’t stop now, we will end up mated tonight. I know you wanted to wait before we mate.”

  “What?” Her breathing started to slow as she tried to understand what he was saying.

  “The first time we make love, it will initiate the mating bond. Are you ready for that?” He looked at her with wide eyes and his veins slowly started to hum purple.

  “But, other warriors have been having sex with some of the humans and they aren’t mated. Why would we become mated?” She now scrunched her forehead and narrowed her eyes a bit.

  “Because, we are fated mates. Which means that the universe has paired us together. For the lifetime mating bond to initiate, we are to become one in body and soul. When we make love that will happen, even if it is the first time.” He slowly and lovingly moved her hair out of her face and kissed every inch of it. He stopped after kissing her eyelids when he sensed her breath hitching. “Are you alright?”

  Maddie took a couple of deep breaths, “Yes. I’m a bit confused and quite frankly, turned on at the moment, but I’m fine.” She looked up into his eyes and was momentarily mesmerized by the shade of violet looking back at her.

  “Thank you for stopping this.” She caressed the side of his face in her hand and softly kissed his lips. “You’re right, I’m not ready for mating or marriage.”

  Marcon sighed and hugged her close to his chest. “Maddie, I am in love with you. I want you so bad it hurts at times, but I will wait until you are ready. It is not in my nature to press a woman to move faster than she is ready to. However, you will need to be more careful as well. What I feel for you can take over my senses and I may not be able to stop us from going too far next time. You may have to be the one who slows us down.” He kissed her cheek and then peppered her lips with several short kisses. “Can you do that?” He huskily breathed into her ear.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I was married for over five years and never once had to put the brakes on. This is new for me. But, knowing what it means, I will try very hard not to let it go very far.” She kissed him and pulled back to give herself some breathing room.

  “I understand that the emotions of the V’Zenians can sometimes control the human women. Is that what just happened? Did your desire for me move me to come on so strong? I don’t normally act as the aggressor in these situations.” She looked down at her feet and rubbed the back of her neck. Her cheeks started to feel flushed as she realized what she was instigating.

  He gently took her chin in his hand and moved her face to look him in the eyes. “Maddie, I work very hard to control my emotions around you. I can’t control yours, but I can heighten what you already feel. I don’t think what you just felt started out from me. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end I was losing control and some of what I felt moved to you through our bond.” He gave her a half smile.

  “Bond? We already have a bond?” She blinked several times trying to process this new information.

  “Yes, we do. It started the night of the dance
when you took my hand and led me to the dance floor. Something inside of you opened up just a tiny bit and accepted me. Ever since then, our bond has grown. Don’t you feel it? A rope, or something, that is tying us closer and closer together?” He took her hand in his and kissed her open palm.

  Maddie shivered, and not from cold. “Yes.” She breathily answered and leaned in to kiss him again. After only a few moments she pulled back. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t be kissing you like that right now, should I?” She tried very hard not to smile as she noticed his veins turning from purple to red again.

  Marcon was breathing heavily again. “True, now is not the time to kiss me like that. When you see my veins turning red, that is when I am losing control of my emotions and may not be able to stop myself. As much as I want to mate with you, I want to wait until you want it as much as I do. Once we mate, that bond will never be broken, not even in death.”

  “Wait, what does that mean?” Worry started to replace her feelings of intimacy. She no longer felt like tearing his clothes off.

  “What it means is that once one of us dies the remaining one will never find true love again. Not to the level of a bond mate, or fated mate. The surviving mates rarely marry anyone else. When one is left alone at a young age, they do sometimes find another in their same situation and will choose to spend the rest of their life together, but those matches are not as emotionally charged as one like ours will be.”

  “So, they can’t fall in love again? Does that mean that I never loved my first husband since you and I are fated mates? That can’t be right. I know I loved him and he will always hold a special place in my heart. You can’t say I didn’t love him or don’t still love him in some way.” Her words were getting heated the longer she thought about what he said.

  There was no way anyone was going to say she wasn’t in love with Shawn. He was her everything! She still missed him, even now. The only reason she had opened herself up to Marcon in the beginning was because she knew that Shawn wouldn’t want her to be alone forever.

  Marcon felt her shutting down the bond they had developed and he pulled her to his chest. “No, that is not what I am saying at all. For humans it is different. You have the ability to love more than one person. My race does not have that ability.” He kissed the top of her head and felt her start to relax in his arms.

  “I have seen human woman who have lost their V’Zenian mate go on to be with another male. It was different though. Something happens to you when you mate with one of us. That bond is spiritual, but it also overwrites some of your DNA. You don’t become a V’Zenian hybrid, but you do take on some of our characteristics. You don’t look any different from other humans, but your feelings change. They are more amplified then before.” Marcon looked into her eyes and saw she was confused.

  “Is any of this making any sense? Please tell me you understand that I meant no disrespect for what you had with your husband.” He waited with baited breath as she considered what he said.

  “I think I understand. But, you should know that I will always carry around a piece of Shawn in my heart. He may no longer have my entire heart, but he does have a part of it. There is no way that can change.” She put a hand on his chest, over his heart, and felt the steady rhythm pounding under her hand.

  “I would never expect you to lose your first love. As long as you make room in your heart for me, I will forever be content.” Marcon kissed her nose and then moved to her lips where his lingering kiss caused his heart to speed up and his veins to turn a dark purple before Maddie pulled back.

  “I think we need to be out in public the rest of the night. We aren’t going to be able to handle much more than a kiss for a few days I think.” Maddie chuckled as she thought about how fast his heart beat went from zero to sixty, probably faster than any human race car would ever be able to do.

  “Yes,” Marcon joined her in chuckling. “Being in public will force me to hold back. You too! A few of those intense kisses came from you.” He winked at her. “I can’t wait for when we finally mate! I think we will need to plan it for when we can both take a week off. You will not be getting out of bed for at least that long.” He kissed her neck and made his way to her waiting mouth again. They were only stopped this time by an incoming message from Max.

  Breathing heavily, Marcon answered his com, “This is Marcon.”

  “Are you with Maddie? A group have decided to make an outing to the lake. There is one not far from here and the Commander has given permission for us to go as long as we take plenty of weapons and warriors. You two want to join us?”

  Marcon’s eyes lit up with excitement and asked, “When?”

  “Tomorrow morning. And tonight we are all celebrating at the pub. Get your mate and come join us! There must be fifty people coming.” Max was excited, he laughed and yelled, “See you there!” Then the com went silent.

  Maddie raised her eyebrows, that message came in through his implant so she couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but she saw that he was excited. His veins pulsed green. A color she rarely saw on him these days. When they were together he was mostly purple, and sometimes red. “What? Is something happening?”

  Marcon laughed and picked her up and twirled around with her in his arms. Maddie couldn’t help but laugh. His exuberance was coming through loud and clear through their bond and she was overcome with excitement. She threw her head back and continued to laugh until he set her down.

  “Ok, that was weird. What just happened?” She panted as she gathered her breath.

  “That my love, is your wish coming true! Tomorrow we get to go to the lake for the day! About fifty people are gathering tonight at the pub to discuss what we are going to do tomorrow. We should go and join them. Looks like it is your lucky day.” He wiggled his eyebrows, then grabbed her hand and took them both to the pub.

  Chapter 5

  Max was right, the pub was full of excitement and joy when Maddie and Marcon walked in. There weren’t any seats in the place left. Marcon noticed Max and Zel waving them over to their booth. “Come on, I see Max. Let’s go see if he has any room for us at their table.”

  Maddie had never seen Max and Zel so happy. She figured they finally dumped Rachelle since the problematic woman was nowhere in sight. She smiled at everyone sitting and standing around the table.

  The first thing Maddie noticed was Lucy sitting in front of the twins. She wondered what was going on with them. Lucy had confided in her a few weeks back that those were the only aliens she was interested in.

  “Maddie! It’s so good to see you again! What have you and Marcon been up to lately?” Lucy smiled and raised her eyebrows before the twins each lowered to whisper in her ears.

  “Lucy, it’s good to see you too. What have you been up to lately? Looks like you made some new friends?” Maddie returned and felt her eyes open wide as both of the men kissed Lucy’s cheeks at the same time, in front of everyone.

  Lucy stood up and grabbed Maddie’s hand. “Come on, I need to visit the powder room.” Maddie followed Lucy to the ladies room where Lucy proceeded to tell Maddie about her latest adventures with two alien men.

  “Lucy! Two men at once? I thought that these guys have a jealous streak a mile wide?” Maddie opened her mouth to say something more when realization dawned on her and she just made a large o shape with her mouth. “They are not your mates are they?”

  “Actually, one is. We haven’t mated yet. The idea of two men on paper sounds fantastic! I used to dream about this stuff. But in real life? Kinda weird. You should hear some of the snide remarks I’m getting from the human women. Oddly enough, the alien women are all smiling and giving me high fives. I would have thought they would be the ones to shun me.” She chewed the corner or her mouth.

  “Everyone thinks that I’m with both, but I’m not. I did date them both a couple of times, but quickly realized that Max is my true mate. Zel just loves to stir up trouble so he flirts with me in public. What about you? Do you hate
me too?”

  “I don’t hate you. Shocked is probably more like it. Are you sure Max is your fated mate? I mean you did go out with both of them.” Maddie tilted her head as she considered her friend.

  “Well, Zel was very open with me and said that when we first met he thinks he was channeling his brother’s feelings for me. I wondered myself. Our conversation just helped me to confirm what I thought I was feeling.” Lucy shrugged her shoulders and looked in the mirror to smooth her hair out.

  “So…no sex yet?” Maddie asked with a half-smile.

  “Nope. Max said we can’t until I’m ready to be his mate. Which I tend to agree with. I am really glad that’s how it works with them too! Can you imagine if I had slept with Zel as well? Holiday gatherings would be way awkward.” Lucy looked back through the mirror at her friend.

  “Ok, so…how do you feel about Zel?” Maddie’s cheeks started to heat up as she thought about what she was asking Lucy. This was by far the most intimate conversation they had shared.

  Lucy looked under the stalls to make sure that no one else was in the room. “Alright, I really enjoyed dating them both, a lot! However, Max seems to be a better match for me. I feel much closer to him and can sense his emotions much more than Zel’s.” Lucy looked down to her shoes and proceeded to blush.

  Maddie giggled. “Does that mean things with Max are getting serious? Are you ready to accept him as your mate?”

  “Um, yes?” Lucy still couldn’t look her friend in the face. “I know my feelings are really strong, but the rest of my life? I’m only twenty-two for pete’s sake! That’s a long time.”

  “Then it’s good you haven’t initiated the mating yet. Give it time and don’t worry about how fast others are going. Move at your own speed.” Maddie hugged Lucy and they turned to walk out the door.

  Lucy enjoyed the attention of both twins the rest of the evening and winked at Maddie when she left, with both of them late in the evening.