Probably pheromones or hormones or both---whatever, she knew that was a lot of what she was feeling, but she didn’t even wonder if it could last. She knew even before she consented to mate with him that it was way more than mere sexual attraction. Her dreams about him weren’t her first precognitive dreams. She had them before her parents were killed in a freak plane crash before Lawrence found her and hurt her---and she had dreamed of Chaytok. Her only surprise was that he was alien. That was probably why she never really saw his face in the dreams. But she sure knew when he touched her that he was the one man she could always trust, who would always love her.
Great sex certainly wouldn’t hurt their relationship. Alexa already knew there was so much more than that between them. Here was a man, a stranger, who found her lying face down in the dirt. He picked her up and treated her injuries. He'd pulled back from his desire even though he wanted her. He’d said this was meomee---one little word to describe the many facets of a relationship between a man and a woman---not just love, but unconditional love.
She wanted to reach up and caress his face and stroke his beautiful thick blue hair, but she didn't want to wake him. Then he opened his eyes and smiled at her. She ran the back of her fingers down his cheek and smiled back at him.
“It wasn't a dream. I'm real, and you're real, and we're naked.” she laughed softly and blushed under his feline regard.
“Does that trouble you? Is that why your face changes color?”
“Maybe a little. I don't normally get naked with a man on the first day I meet him, but I felt so sexually aroused by you that I had to fuck you---like a cat in heat---and I still want you.”
He sighed ruefully. “My fault,” he admitted. “It’s because we are meomee. I wanted to mate with you from the first time I held you in my arms after I picked up from the dirt. My body released pheromones that made you desire me. I resisted until you touched my hand. I couldn't hold it back. By then, I had been hard for hours. Had we not mated within two or three days we would have become ill before too long, and we could die.”
“That’s a relief. I was feeling a little slutty,” Alexa replied.
“Slutty?” he frowned. The word didn’t translate from his knowledge of the language.
“Promiscuous? Mating with many different males,” she filled in for him.
“It wouldn’t matter if you had. You are mine now, and I am yours,” he said. “We don’t entirely understand the phenomenon. Once we find our genetically complementary mate, our bodies release the pheromones. It's biological, and we mate for life.”
“What if we grow to hate each other in a few months or a few years? What if I do little annoying things that drive you up the wall?” she wondered.
“You won't. We are bonded, and the pheromones will keep us in harmony.” He caressed her cheek with his fingers. “We will come to love each other beyond all of our differences. It's already begun. Can you feel it?”
“I do.” She nodded. “It's just backward to the way we do things here. We don't just fuck first and ask questions later. At least I never have...before...”
“But you have never met anyone like me before,” he said and kissed her lightly.
“I sure haven't.” She eyed his mouth and kissed him back. “So where do we go from here?”
“It may take weeks for them to get the part I need to fix my star drive and continue my journey. Earth was never a place I ever considered settling. Your world is barely space faring. I was on my way to settle on a fairly young colony on Vesta Three on the far end of this sector,” he explained carefully. “Now that we have mated, I could never leave you here.”
“But you still want to go there. It’s your dream to make a life there. How do I fit into that dream?”
“I searched your internet to learn more about you. I saw that you grow and sell plants and vegetables. I plan to buy as much land as I can afford, build a home and farm,” he said. “I need you to come with me. Or I can’t go there or anywhere without you.”
Alexa looked at him solemnly. It wasn't as if she had strong ties to this place she called home. She had family on the other side of the country that she saw maybe twice a year and more acquaintances than true friends. Maybe it was the pheromones, but in a few short hours, she could no longer imagine a future without this man with blue hair and catlike eyes.
It was a long few moments before she finally nodded. “I will come with you. I just have to figure out what to tell my family. They are used to not seeing me much, but I usually email them a few times a month...”
“You can still do that,” he assured her. “Tapping into your internet and monitoring your broadcasts is how we've learned so much about your world.”
“Good, that will make things easier.” As she said that, her stomach growled and she realized it must have been hours since breakfast.
“You're hungry?” Chaytok asked.
“Yes. Do you have food? And what about Jetson? He must be hungry as well.”
“I do have food.” He turned to a shelf beside the bed and picked up his tablet, tapping the screen with his finger. “Your horse is still outside, apparently eating plants from the ground.” He showed her the small screen.
“Yes, he's fine. Thank you.” she paused, “Um, do you have a lavatory in this thing? I need to go and clean up a little...”
“In there,” he pointed to an archway across from her side of the bed. “There is a shower and towels if you like.”
“Thanks, that would be nice.”
“I would be happy to help.” He grinned a touch wickedly.
“Another time, that would be delightful. I will just be a few minutes.” She stepped inside, and the door slid closed behind her. The toilet extended seamlessly from the wall with the seat an extension of the bowl. She sat down to pee and realized there was no paper. She heard a slight whirr and looked to her right to find a small towelette hanging from a slot. The toilet flushed itself when she stood. She peeled off her clothes and leaned into the shower stall.
There were no faucets in the shower, so she guessed it was probably motion activated like the toilet. The stepped inside the booth, and the water started at a comfortably warm temperature. A small door opened to reveal a soft sponge and a bar of soap. Alexa took them out, wet the sponge, and soaped it. She washed herself down quickly and rinsed then emerged from the small bathroom wrapped in a fluffy white towel that covered her breasts to buttocks.
Chaytok had cleaned her clothes and laid them out on the bed for her. He was already dressed and watched with interest as she dressed. Although he'd already explored the most intimate parts of her naked body, she felt a little self-conscious dressing in front of him... especially when he stood watching intently with his arms crossed over his chest.
When she finished, he came over and took her in his arms for another long, slow kiss. As he held her tightly against him, she could feel his arousal. He didn't pursue it as he reluctantly broke their kiss. He led her from the bed chamber to a small circular table with a padded bench that encircled it.
The table was set with normal looking sandwiches on two plates with drinks that looked like lemonade in transparent plastic glasses. “I programmed the food processor to dispense protein sandwiches and sweet drinks from suggestions on the internet,” he told her. “It's technically animal protein, but no animals were killed to produce it.”
“That's good to know.” She sat at the place he indicated, and he sat across from her. He waited and watched as she picked up half of her sandwich and took a bite. It tasted like turkey with lettuce and tomato. “Mmm.” she nodded
“Do you like it?” he asked hopefully.
“It tastes like the food I am used to eating.”
Since she approved, Chaytok took a bite himself and nodded. “It is good. Our physiology is close enough that it should cause you no ill effects.”
“Has the Alliance been observing us for long?” Alexa asked him between bites.
“About 500 years. Your civilization has progressed a great deal in that time, but Alliance is reluctant to make contact until your world becomes united and begins to colonize other planets in your star system,” he said. “Many of my kind are hoping that will change. I am not the first Narovian feline to find my true mate here.”
“How does that happen? Or do they come here?”
“Mainly DNA testing,” he said. “Your people get their DNA tested to determine their ancestral origins. Our Narovian Genetic Matchmaking Agency runs one of those labs and taps into results from other labs.”
“I thought about it, but I never wanted to spend the money to get the test,” she told him. “I have a fairly extensive genealogy in writing, so there is not all that much mystery in my genetic origin.”
“Except that, you have a feline somewhere in your ancestry,” he told her with a slight smirk. “I am not the first feline to mate with a human. Felines have been coming here for 500 years, after all. With special contacts and a change of hair color, we can pass for a homo sapien. Those stationed on our base her often go into public places in disguise.
“I would never have contacted you had you not been injured. Had I not come close to you and touched you, I would not have known you are my true mate.” He added.
“I'm glad you did,” she smiled at him. “Why did you leave your ship?”
“I wanted to explore and get a look at the residence not far from here,” Chaytok said.
“The closest residence is probably mine. I will show you if you like. I need to take Jetson back and get his tack off. Is it safe to leave your ship unattended?”
“It should be. It's cloaked so no one can see it or detect it unless they physically run into it. But only I can open the portal,” said Chaytok.
“Do you ride?”
“Animals? No.”
“Then we can walk Jetson back,” she said. “I have no idea what time it is. We should go before dark.”
“Yes.” he agreed.