Chapter Seven

ANNALEE

After Jesse opened the door, he had a question for me. "Do you remember what to do now?"

I nodded. I had been given the crash course in newlywed Yordbrook customs by a kind female servant, Mrs. Boyko, who worked for Jesse's father.

He stepped through the door, and I stood outside, waiting. He reached his hand to me. I took it, making sure my eyes never left his.

"Will you come in, wife?" he asked, his voice deepening and sounding rough. The question seemed innocent but was supposed to symbolize him inviting me into his life and his family.

My acquiescence implied agreeing to love, honor, and obey him (as long as I agreed with what he was asking me to do). It was an admission that I would sleep with him and bear his children.

We weren't having a Vegas wedding with a divorce lawyer waiting for me at the end of the year, ready to invalidate everything. At the moment, it felt serious. He meant what he was saying.

Here on Yordbrook, the act of me stepping over the threshold made my marriage legally binding. Well, that and him fucking me. Jesse would have a lot of control over my life.

I stared at him, suddenly unsure if I could do it. Could I give myself into this man's hands? I didn't know him. I wasn't sure if I liked him. And I certainly didn't trust him.

But what else was I going to do? If I hadn't wanted to marry a stranger, then I shouldn't have signed up for TerraMates. There was no turning back now. All these thoughts flew through my head in the blink of an eye, and I confidently lifted my head.

"I will," I answered, stepping into the cabin. Before I could place my foot on the floor of the house, he pulled me into his arms and started kissing me senseless.

That was part of the ritual, too, indicating the man accepted his wife's surrender.

As he kissed me, I thought that if the sex were as good as it promised to be, this marriage thing wouldn't be terrible. I was of two minds about sleeping with him. One part of me wanted to lie down and spread my legs. The other cautioned me to be prudent, wait, and keep my knees together like I had been taught.

He set me down, and I looked around the room. "I will visit the privy," he whispered in my ear, making me shiver at the sensation. "Then you may, and we will consummate the marriage. There must be no doubt, or I will not be allowed to inherit. You understand?"

I nodded. Mrs. Boyko had explained everything to me. I wasn't going to mess anything up despite my earlier misgivings. I had to hold onto my dream through all the madness of a strange backward culture. My discomfort would be temporary.

He took off his coat and laid it on a chair, then went back out the door to the composting toilet. At least I wasn't stuck somewhere with outhouses. The stink would have driven me back to Earth in the first week. I almost looked forward to using the fragrant composting toilets that smelled of fresh wood shavings. We covered our business with leaves from the forest floor.

I walked around the room, nervously trailing my hand along the table, on the back of the chair, then over Jesse's coat which promptly fell to the floor with a thump. I bent over to pick it up and dusted it off. Something fell out of the pocket.

The bottle was unmarked. Porter had probably given him a strong drink to enhance his courage. Did Jesse need courage? Maybe it was to prevent Jesse from noticing my plain looks.

I winced. Damn. Maybe I needed alcohol to give me some courage. If I were a little drunk, it wouldn't be difficult to sleep with someone I barely knew.

Before I could think too much about it, I had the cap off and tipped the bottle into my mouth. The taste was pleasant, and I felt it going straight to my head. I took three or four more pulls and felt pleasantly buzzed. This was a good idea, right?

I heard Jesse's feet crunching on the gravel as he came back up the path and I fumbled with the lid. For some reason, I wasn't as coordinated as I had been a few minutes ago. I managed to get the lid on and the bottle back in his pocket just as he walked in the door.

He looked at me putting his coat back on the chair without any expression on his face. I felt nervous and patted the jacket.

"It fell over," I explained unnecessarily.

"Why do you look as if I've caught you with your hand in the sugar?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He didn't look convinced but didn't pursue it. "Perhaps you'd like to visit the privy before we get started?"

I felt my heart begin to pound at the thought of getting started. I nodded eagerly and walked as quickly as I could to the bathroom. I couldn't help but wonder what Jesse would look like naked. I felt my nipples harden under my clothes, and my breath came faster.

I was getting horny. I could feel how wet I was between my legs. If they wore panties on this planet, mine would be soaked by now. Since they didn't, I knew I was getting slick.

By the time I returned to the house, I felt flushed and needy. Jesse looked at me with a funny look in his eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his eyebrows pulling together.

Something pulled me towards him. I went to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"What is this?" he asked. When my lips covered his, he didn't say anything more, and only kissed me back.

After a lot of kissing, which involved a fair amount of tongue and hands roaming over our skin, Jesse pulled back. "What's come over you, Annalee?" he breathed.

"Nothing," I said. "I want you, Jesse. Badly."

He walked over to the table and sat down slowly in one of the chairs, putting his face in his hands.

"Are you okay?" I said, confused.

His voice came out from under his palms.

"Annalee?"

"Yes," I said, walking over to him, not sure what I had done wrong, but knowing I needed him to kiss me again. And touch me. And do very naughty things to me. I began rubbing his shoulders, making sure my breasts brushed against his back.

"Did you drink something since we got here?"

"I might have," I said.

"Was it from a bottle in my pocket?" he said, his eyes squinting a little in dismay. He pulled it out and shook it, inspecting the remaining liquid. Jesse raised his eyebrows.

"So what if I did?" I asked, feeling defensive. I liked the buzz, and I was feeling pretty good. "Give it to me. I want some more."

"No way," he said forcefully. I continued to reach for the bottle. "I wish you hadn't drunk any of it."

The way he said it made me instantly apprehensive, but did nothing to keep me from wanting to drink some more and needing Jesse more than anything.

"Why?"

"It's morelia," he sighed, dropping his eyes. "Porter wanted me to give some of it to you, but I refused. Morelia has a peculiar effect on women."

I waited.

Jesse looked uncomfortable. "It makes them want to lie with a man."

"That was not what I was expecting you to say," I said.

"Men sometimes use it in awful ways. It's illegal, but Porter thought it would make it easier for us this evening."

That reminded me that I was a woman, and I had needs.

"I can't undrink it, and I want some more, so could you hand it over?" I made a quick grab and snatched it out of his hand, running to the other side of the room as I uncapped it. I had it on my lips and swallowed the last of it before he knew what was happening.

"What are you doing?" he groaned, coming over to me. By then it was too late. He took the empty bottle out of my fingers as I began to feel the effects of the entire dose.

"Whoa," I said, swaying towards him. "You are fucking handsome, you alien man."

He rolled his eyes. I smiled broadly and pulled my hood back from my head. My long brown hair came tumbling down after I removed the pins. I began to unbutton my clothes but my fingers fumbled immediately.

Jesse shook his head and started to undress me quickly and efficiently. Soon I was only wearing my shift. The nipples on my large, round breasts stood out against the sheer, nearly transparent fabric. I thought I might start to drip if I got any wetter. Jesse needed to get inside me.

"You need to know everything about the morelia," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. The gesture was sweet and made me suck in my breath, causing me to inhale his scent. Jesse was still standing close beside me. His aroma increased the amount of pheromones I had in my system and made me even more horny.

We hadn't even touched yet.

"I don't care," I said. I managed to get one of his buttons undone. It was bigger than mine, and I was determined. I certainly hadn't been capable of undoing the tiny buttons on my dress. I worked away on the second one. There were only four total and then I would be able to touch his chest. I longed to get my hands on him — everywhere.

"I'm going to tell you," he said, letting me have my way with the buttons. He began a lecture as if we were in a school room. "Morelia is an addictive substance that creates an effect similar to becoming drunk. For instance, poor motor control." He looked at me pointedly. I ignored him, intent on unclasping the button and getting him naked. He droned on.

"It also makes the woman who ingests it want to mate with any man that she encounters."

"Any man?" I said, slightly appalled.

"Any man. That's why we banned it. She experiences an increased libido the more she drinks."

"Amen to that," I said, rubbing my sticky thighs together and exclaiming in satisfaction as I got another button undone.

"Also..." he hesitated again. The tone of his voice made me look up.

"You're not embarrassed, are you? I'm sure you've had women who were on morelia before," I said.

"Of course I have." I must have seemed surprised because he hastily added. "I never gave it to them."

"What do you mean?" I asked, cursing under my breath at the difficulty of getting the third button undone.

"Women will often take it themselves."

"What?" I said, giving a push. The third button popped out of its buttonhole. "Why would any woman in her right mind do that?"

"It assures the woman's orgasm. And..."

"There's more? In my book, anything that will guarantee the female orgasm in my book is the nectar of the fucking gods."

Although he had been offended before, now he seemed amused by my swearing.

"Not only does it assure her orgasm, but in my experience, it is an ecstatic one."

He hesitated. "And what? There's more? It can't be that bad."

"It's not bad. The women I've been with seem to like it well enough. The orgasm is strongest during penetration. The women are usually pretty loud, too."

I stopped work on the fourth button to look up at him. "It makes the woman horny and likely to have a mind-blowing orgasm while fucking? Morelia is an excellent drink. Is there more?"

I looked around as if expecting something to materialize suddenly on the table.

"What's so amazing about it?" he wondered, staring at me like he wanted to know how my crazy mind worked.

"Do you know how many women on Earth want something that could make them more interested in sex and guaranteed an orgasm? It solves all the female sex problems."

"I didn't know women had any problems," Jesse said off-handedly.

"You poor, innocent man," I said, putting my hand on his cheek. "Have you only had women who were on morelia? Orgasm isn't a sure thing for a woman, especially if it's supposed to happen through a few seconds of thrusting, which, in fact, can make us uninterested in sex."

"A few seconds of thrusting?" He looked insulted.

"Okay, okay. A few minutes. Although two is generous for some guys."

He pulled me in and kissed me intensely, then drew back and bit his lip. "I'm not sure we should do this. Do I have your consent if you're on morelia?"

I tilted my head back to look at the ceiling. "I thought we had to consummate this thing no matter what," I said. "We want no doubt that the marriage was binding." I paused. "I have a confession to make. If it makes you feel better, I've been fantasizing about you all night. I would have slept with you even if I hadn't drunk a magic potion."

He looked at me intently. "Really?"

"Really. I also thought we wanted the guy outside to hear moans of bliss," I said, waggling my eyebrows at him.

If we didn't stop talking and start having sex, I was going to explode from desire.

"It should be screams of bliss," he muttered, undoing the fourth button and taking off his shirt.

"Let's do it," I said, my lips curving into a smile as I let my hands move over the muscles of his perfect chest.

He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom.