Page 40 of Holiday with the Aliens

“How about you just start with what you’re trying to say right now?” she asked.

Good idea. I looked up and met her eyes. There was no holding back anymore. “You’re my mate.”

She blinked several times and looked surprised. “Your… mate? What?”

It wasn’t rejection. It wasn’t a joyful acceptance either, but it was a start.

“Detyens recognize our mates, our denyai, when we see them. I recognized you from the moment I saw you. Clearly I didn’t say anything since we were a little busy.” I didn’t know what I would have done if we hadn’t been in the midst of the crisis. Asked her to get a drink with me? Pressed her against thewall and kissed her until she begged for more? Offered her my communicator information? The possibilities were endless.

“I guess we were busy,” she agreed. “But I’m not anybody’s mate. I’m a human. Not a Detyen or whatever.”

I could bring up news reports. I could bring up the profiles that I had read in magazines. A few mated couples had sort of become celebrities after it became known. But I didn’t think that she was rejecting the concept of matehood. I was pretty sure this was more personal. “You are,” I said. “And from everything I’ve seen so far you’re amazing. Everything I could have wanted.”

“But not someone you chose.” She stood up from the table and turned around, pacing the length of the room and then coming back to rest her hands on the back of the chair. “Free will is important. You have to be able to choose who you want.”

That wasn’t the argument I’d expected. I didn’t want to fight her. Didn’t want to tell her that she was wrong. So I stood up and moved to put my arms around her. She didn’t pull away from the touch. “You don’t have to accept me right now.” It hurt to say those words, but it was true. I had time. And I would never force her. “But I think you like me. And I know I like you. So why don’t we give this a chance? See where things go? We can forget about the mating. But I didn’t want to go any further without telling you.”

Her thumb made circles against my arm, the sensation strangely erotic despite the situation. “I’m not saying no to mating. Or well, sex, I guess.” She paused for several moments and then looked up at me. “Don’t you die if you don’t mate?”

It was my turn to look away. But she was right. We did. “I’m not yet thirty. There’s no rush.”

“So if we did then would you like own me, or immediately get me pregnant, or anything like that?” She didn’t look happy about that.

“Of course not! I would never own you. You would be my equal. Youaremy equal. As for children? That is something we would need to discuss.” Where did humans get ideas like that?

She seemed to be considering something. I didn’t dare to hope. And then she grinned and hope bloomed in my heart.

“I guess it’s nice to know that you’re serious from the beginning. I say we give it a shot.”

Chapter 15

Jody

If I let myself think about it for too long, I was going to start doubting. And by too long I meant for more than ten seconds.

Aldyn had saved my life. He had fought off an evil alien who wanted to abscond with me. And he had bought me breakfast. That made him a better boyfriend than anyone I had dated so far. That probably said more about my dating history or the kind of guys I let pick me up than Aldyn’s quality, but it was the best I could do.

I wanted him. He said I was his mate. What was the point in waiting?

Somehow in the middle of our discussion, his revelation, I had finished eating my sandwich. I shoved the wrapper aside and laced our fingers together. “Come on.”

He was looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite describe. Awe came kind of close. But I didn’t know how to deal with that. Awe was terrifying. And it was sure to wear off. But I wanted to grab onto this thing for as long as I could and hold it close. I felt sure of Aldyn, sure that there was something real between us. I just had to give myself over to it.

But I was also nervous in a way I had never been nervous before. This wasn’t like the impersonal and barely satisfying encounters I had given up on years ago. This was the start of something real. Something that could last forever.

Aldyn tilted my chin up and our eyes met. He gave me a crooked smile that made my heart flip over. “We’re not going to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said.

I wanted to do it all. And a small part of me just wanted to tug him back down onto the bed and cuddle for the rest of the day. But certain parts of my body were screaming at me to do more. To make a move. To demand that he get down on his knees and worship me.

Maybe we’d save that for round two.

The time for hesitation was over. I tugged my shirt off in one smooth motion and shimmied out of my pants. It didn’t take much more to have me standing completely naked in front of Aldyn. His mouth dropped open, and this time I wasn’t imagining it when I saw that his black eyes were red.

How was that possible?

I didn’t really care.

Whatever tricks came from him being a Detyen, whatever quirks there were with him being an alien, we would figure that out later.

---