Chapter Four
As he followed Logan into the restaurant, Jordan chafed from the restrictive Earth clothing his friend had packed in his suitcase. Logan, of course, strode ahead of him in his comfortable flowing Terron robes, while Jordan’s pants pinched him in places he dared not mention in polite company, As for the shirt, it stretched so taut across his chest, he feared a wrong move would tear the buttons from their moorings and send them flying in all directions like deadly bullets.
It wasn’t until he tried to sit down at the table they had been shown by their Aged waiter that Jordan realized just how tight and uncomfortable the pants were going to be. They gripped his thighs like a vice and bit into his most vulnerable anatomy.
He almost wished he’d worn the wedding pants. At least they were made from Terron fibre, and stretched as far as one wanted them to stretch. But it was forbidden to don that outfit until it was needed - or as Jordan suspected, would never be needed.
They had only been in the city for two days, and Jordan had actually begun to relax and enjoy himself. They had met up with some old acquaintances, several of whom would be joining them for dinner. One would bring his Earth mate, making Jordan realize that they hadn’t dropped off the face of the planet after all. It would be interesting to see how they interacted, because the few Earth women he’d glimpsed since his arrival hadn’t looked the slightest bit impressed about being here. And not one had stirred his senses or roused his body, indicating that she wasn’t meant for him.
Our tour of duty only lasted three days, the bare minimum required from our Earth authorities. In that time I got to see some incredible sights and experience the most amazing technology, making me wish I had more time to examine everything. It all felt so rushed, like the 'See Europe in Ten Days' type holidays they had back in my time.
We took a sight-seeing tour on a hover bus. I soon learned that roads were no longer required. The bus was air-conditioned because the outdoor temperature was forty degrees Celsius in the shade. The huge orange sun made everything look like I was still squinting through the Prof’s sunnies. Even though I had a funky pair of my own to wear, everything still looked brighter than it did on Earth. Every person I saw had a flushed appearance, making them look excited rather than drained from the heat.
The countryside was incredibly beautiful; lush and green, with undulating hills interspaced with Hytana farms checker-boarding the red soil with yellow.
Then we took off to the coast, the hover bus speeding us there at more than five hundred kilometers per hour. It was like being on a plane that hugged the contours of the land.
The coast could only be described as a tropical paradise, with gorgeous palm trees heavily hung with mango-like fruits. It was obvious that this was where holiday makers of both races came for their well-earned breaks.
As we alternated between swimming in the cool surf and relaxing in the shade of the palm trees, we were encouraged to stay apart from the native population. The few Terron women I saw didn’t look like they were particularly enjoying themselves. Recalling what I’d read on my tablet, I could understand why. These poor females had become virtually extinct.
The few children I spotted resembled Earth youngsters, except they were actually older than they looked. I commented on a cute little blonde girl who seemed to have difficulty walking and was informed that she was just a toddler, only recently discovering what legs were for, not the four-year-old I’d initially guessed. It seemed they all inherited the Terron height.
During the trips on the bus I studied my tablet to gather more information. I wanted to learn as much as I could about this beautiful alien planet.
I soon realized why the Terrons were taller than Humans. The gravity here was actually less than Earth’s, but only by a fraction, so tiny I hadn’t even noticed. I couldn’t even test it, as I was inhabiting a completely different body of a new and unknown fitness level.
Even though my companions refused to look at the Terrons, I couldn’t help but sneak covert glances at the males. Having had so little to do with men during my sheltered life, their masculine beauty mesmerized me.
At the beach, they strode about in very little, their tanned skin accustomed to the glare of that huge bright sun. Their bodies were all lean, rippling with muscle, and their chiseled faces the epitome of an idealized Hollywood dream. And they were so tall, towering over their female companions, should they actually have one. But it seemed very few did. Those lucky enough to have an entire family looked more content than I’d ever seen anyone capable of being. It seemed they at least valued the forced matings my traveling companions were so vehemently against.
At one stage Miss Jackson distributed perfume bottles amongst us, saying it confused Terron men if we all smelt the same. From what I remember about scents, I would have thought everyone’s skin type would react differently to it, but they had obviously invented one so uniform, we did exude the same aroma, something akin to hibiscus flowers.
On our last evening on Terron we were scheduled to dine at our hotel’s restaurant. I had been sharing a room with Miss Redhead, whom I found out was actually called Emily-Sue. Seriously old-fashioned Americanized names appeared to have made a comeback.
I really seemed to have confounded her with my inability to remember how to style my hair and put on my make-up, but she took great pleasure in helping me get ready for our evening meal.
Once again I was wearing the gorgeous blue gown and the satin slippers, my hair curled about my head, with several soft waves left to drape seductively over my shoulders. When I was sure no one was looking, I’d stopped to study this beauty in the mirror, enjoying the pleasure it gave me, because I simply didn’t know when all this would end.
It seemed strange this adventure had gone on as long as it had. I wondered if I was still slouched in that chair in the glass booth, while Professor Jackson fought to bring me back. Or perhaps I had slipped into some sort of coma, and was right now languishing in a hospital bed, surrounded by machines with tubes stuck into my body.
The thought should have worried me, but since there was nothing else I wanted to do with my life right now, I reveled in the whole experience. This was like a second life for me – the future stretched ahead, mine for the taking. My companions often frowned at me, no doubt wondering why I was the only one smiling and enjoying my exotic food and drink. All they could talk about was what they were going to do when they got back to Earth.
I supposed I would end up back in my drafty old mountain house when all this over, but I tried not to think about it. For the first time in my life I was having fun. Even getting all dolled up was fun, particularly when the results beamed back at me in such a stunning way.
Emily-Sue was about to usher us both out of our suite, when she grabbed the little perfume bottle from a side table. “Better have another spray of this. I don’t think we had a dose of it since breakfast this morning.” She pressed the plunger in my direction. I waved my hand in front of my face as the side of my neck was doused in hibiscus scent.
Still fanning myself, I followed her out the door, where we were met by several of the other girls. Miss Jackson was bearing down on us, knocking on various doors as she went. “Come along. Come along,” she called out like am old fashioned school ma’am.
Once we were all assembled, Miss Jackson led the way to the elevator, which sped us up to our destination; the rooftop restaurant, where it was claimed we’d be able to see for hundreds of kilometers.
Jordan enjoyed his entrée and the conversation with his old friends. He hadn’t realizing just how isolated he and Logan had become during the past few years. He had kept himself up to date with news reports on the vidcom, but as the evening progressed, he realized they simply didn’t compare with living Terron contact. It was good to catch up with the latest gossip. Seeing how happy his dining companions were should have filled him with jealousy, but he only felt relief that they at least had made sure their race wouldn’t die out… well, not within the n
ext hundred years or so.
So far no scientist had been able to ascertain why almost an entire generation of Terron women had suddenly became sterile. As far as they knew, nothing in their environment and genetic make-up had changed, unlike Earth, which had been digging its own grave, and now relied on Terron’s oil producing plants to sustain itself.
Human and Terron DNA was so similar the two races could have evolved alongside. No-one could figure out why, but some of the more radical scientists speculated that billions of years in the past a meteor from Terron, containing ancient Terron bacteria, had passed through the wormhole network and crash-landed on Earth, making all life possible.
The noise in the restaurant increased suddenly as another group entered the large, highly domed room. Everyone at their table turned to see a crowd of tittering Earth women gather around a large round table near the arched windows overlooking the city skyline.
A strange tingling sensation began to burn in the pit of Jordan’s belly as he watched the group through lowered lashes. Even as he tried to snatch his gaze away the tingling grew stronger till it spread to his groin. Suddenly, his pants felt tighter than ever. A heady floral aroma accosted his nostrils, making his nose itch.
As he took another bite of his pastry, he watched the group of women find their places, laughing amongst themselves. The sensation began nagging at him to such an extent Jordan could no longer taste the food. The scent had become too strong, some kind of flower, probably from Earth. “Why must they wear those damn perfumes?” he complained out loud.
“What perfume?” Logan asked, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air. “All I can smell is my sate prawns. And it smells delicious.”
The sensations now boiling through Jordan were so strong that he had to put his cutlery down. Then he felt a throbbing in his groin he hadn’t experienced in many years. He actually groaned out loud from the sheer power of it. He barely dared look down, but forced himself to do it, confirming his suspicions. “Well, I’ll be damned!” he gasped. “She’s here!”
“Who’s here, my friend?” Logan arched his white brows.
Jordan shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and glanced at the Earth women again, now sitting comfortably at their table. Jordan realized that one was destined to become his mate. He returned his attention to his friends. “I hate to spoil dinner like this, but I have a bit of a problem.”
Logan actually glanced down at Jordan’s lap. “By Envah! It’s happening!” He slapped Jordan on a shoulder so hard the younger man almost face-planted in his entrée. He grinned at those assembled at the table around them. “Better late than never, my friend. Looks like our Jordan has a date with destiny.”
“Why did I let you talk me into these pants? They’re killing me,” Jordan complained, as desire continued to pulse its heat into his groin. His penis increase in size, becoming larger than he had ever felt it. He shifted again to try and ease the discomfort. It didn’t help. The thing seemed to be draining blood from his vital organs.
The other men at the table laughed loudly, and then began congratulating him. “We’re happy for you, and no, you’re not spoiling our dinner. Go and meet your mate, your life-partner. We’ll catch up some other time.”
Logan scrambled to his arthritic feet, and extended a gnarled hand to Jordan.
“I can’t walk through a crowded restaurant like this,” Jordan motioned down to his huge throbbing groin.
“Here, borrow my jacket.” Logan swept it off the back of his chair with a flourish. “That ought to cover the evidence,” he chuckled.
“Yes, but I’m still going to be walking like I’ve just spent all day riding a Maltouk!” Jordan growled. Maltouks were four-legged Terron beasts bred for their acrobatic show-jumping abilities. He gritted his teeth. He was no longer in a smiling mood. He suddenly felt at the mercy of his body, a mere passenger along for the ride. And his body wanted its mate, pulsing and aching for her, tormenting his nostrils with her heady feminine scent. Jordan shrugged on the black jacket and did up the buttons, but as he stood, he felt the throbbing heaviness of his erection pressing insistently against his too tight clothes.
His legs didn’t seem to want to obey the command of his mind as he left the grinning group around the table. He had to face an even more daunting group on the other side of the room. If he hadn’t been so swamped with physical sensations, he would have been nervous, because it had been years since he’d had anything to do with the female gender, other than fleeting pleasantries in shops or through business transactions.
But his body drove him now, propelling him towards the young women whose dinner he was going to spoil, because one of them would not be going home as planned.
There was so much delicious food to choose from, I simply couldn’t make up my mind what I wanted to order. Neither, it seemed, could my traveling companions, but this was because they wouldn't stop going on about how glad they were that this was their final night on Terron. All they talked about was their respective boyfriends, and various outings they were looking forward to when they returned to Earth.
Couldn’t any of them appreciate the rugged beauty of the planet they had come to visit? The subtle differences in culture, even the fact that the food tasted different, despite the Terron’s best efforts to make everything as Earthean as possible?
Which begged the question, why would they want to? Why pander so extensively to Earth’s culture, when that world relied so heavily on their oil for its survival? I supposed it had something to do with that Interplanitary Treaty. It now seemed none of us would end up subjected to it, but I still didn’t fully understand it.
There had been an entire chapter about what to expect on my tablet, but when I went to read it, Emily–Sue had waved her hand over it, erasing the materiel from view. She’d told me that no one ever read it for fear of encouraging the dreaded union.
When we had entered the restaurant, I had seen a few Earth women dining with their Terron partners, and none of them looked unhappy to be there. What was it about these tall, handsome, well built men that instilled such prejudice and reluctance? Was it the fear of childbirth? Or the fact that it was like an arranged marriage, with free choice taken out of the equation? Every time I tried to ask one of the girls about it, they quickly changed the subject, or looked at me oddly, as though I was the alien.
I think they had already come to the conclusion that the bump to my head at the spaceport had seriously affected me somehow. None of them seemed to want to include me in their more private conversations, not that this bothered me. Always having been an outsider, I dismissed their rudeness and continued with my own observations.
I kept thinking about the Terron men. I had no idea why they should intrigue me so, since I’d never been particularly interested in males before, other than that long gone youthful flush back in my teens and early twenties.
I guessed this new interest was because I now wore this lovely young body. After years of lumbering under my extra kilos, it felt strange to be able to virtually glide across the floor in soft satin slippers. How long did I have to enjoy this beautiful form? Long enough to return to Earth and find out I had a handsome boyfriend waiting for me? The thought sent a pleasant shiver down my spine, another feeling I was totally unfamiliar with.
The tittering ceased around me, and the faces of the girls on the other side of the table suddenly turned serious. I glanced up from my menu to find out what had changed the atmosphere.
A shadow fell over me, and I glanced up to see several men standing behind us. One was from Earth. The only reason I knew this was because he was considerably shorter than the other two. As I had never seen an elder Terron male before, I was surprised to see an older man with long silver hair standing beside the most spectacular Terron specimen I had seen to date.
Even though the young Terron was wearing a black jacket that hid his muscular form from view, he exuded strength and power. He stood with his hands fisted deep in his pockets. Since my eyes were level with
his legs I couldn’t help but notice how his jeans hugged his strong thighs like a second skin.
I really had to crane my neck to be able to peer up into his face. The first thing that struck me were his eyes; deep set and intense, a cold silvery blue in color. I suppressed a shiver as I confronted his hard sculpted face. A long blade-like nose, high cheek bones and a square jaw completed the image of someone not to be messed with. The grim cast of his features made him look even meaner. He really looked irritated about something, probably the noise we were making.
Long blonde hair fell in shimmering waves over his broad shoulders, the only soft thing about him. Even his fair eyebrows came to points above those glittering eyes.
His nostrils flared as he leaned forward between Emily-Sue and I. He sniffed the air as though he found our perfume offensive.
“I’m afraid we are going to have to cut your dinner short, ladies,” the Earthean man announced as one of the waiters arrived to take our orders. The Human male waved him away.
A loud rumble of discontent ensued amongst my traveling companions. My own stomach growled noisily in response, and I was certain at least those on either side of me had heard it. Even wearing this slender body I still enjoyed my food.
The blonde giant certainly heard it, because his grim mouth quirked ever so slightly, as though he was trying not to smile. He moved to sniff the air on my other side, almost like a dog. And then I remembered Emily-Sue’s comment about the perfume. 'It confuses them.'
“Mr Demantena believes one of you to be his mate, so I have to ask you all to adjourn to the terrace lounge while we sort this out,” the official said. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but I’ll have some food brought to you. It’s very comfortable there and you’ll still be able to see the city lights.”
“I don’t give a fig about the lights. I just want to go home,” moaned Laura-Beth, the blonde girl sitting directly across from me. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m going to lose one of my friends tonight, aren’t I?”
I couldn’t believe how quickly the girls’ pleasant mood had been replaced by this uncomfortable mix of sadness and fear. I squirmed in my seat as Mr Deman… whatever it was… leant in so close that I felt the heat from his body.
He sniffed the air again, and then stood with an angry growl. “They all smell the same… They have disguised their true scent with something else… Make them remove it,” he ordered in a deep, gruff voice.
The young official looked pained, and turned to Mrs Jackson. “Is this true? Are the girls wearing perfume? You know it’s an offence to hinder the treaty in any way.”
Mrs Jackson paled. “I… I…” she stammered.
“Make them wash it off, and meet us in the terrace lounge. If Mr Demantena has no problem choosing his mate then, I won’t report it.”
“And if I do then I will have the whole lot of you charged,” Mr Demantena added in his deep growl of a voice, before turning abruptly to stalk away.
Mrs Jackson wasn’t the only one who looked pale. Just about every one of the young women bore a worried expression, no doubt fearing that they would be the next Mrs Demantena. His cold demeanor had certainly sent a chill down my spine.
The young official started gesturing for us to get up, and reluctantly everyone at the table scrambled to their feet.
“This is all so unfair,” Emily-Sue complained. “The way they can just march right up to someone and coldly announce that their life as they know it will now be over…” She trailed off tearfully.
“I think he already knows which one of us it is,” the Asian girl muttered through the corner of her mouth as we filed from the restaurant. “That comment about the perfume was just a barb at our pathetic attempts to avoid having to mate with him.”
“I’d rather die than be forced to- to… Oh God!” the dark girl cried.
“Come on girls,” Mrs Jackson urged. “Please hold yourselves together. Don’t give in to your fears.”
“It’s not you he’s after,” Emily-Sue snapped back at her as she stomped angrily down the corridor. “So we can damn well wail and gnash out teeth all we like.”
“How long is this all going to take?” Jordan groaned, as he paced the lush shag pile carpet of his suite. “I don’t think I can take too much more of this.”
“Look, why don’t you go into the bathroom and take the edge off. That might help,” Logan suggested as Jordan stomped past him.
“What?” Jordan narrowed his eyes at him. Had he known it would be this overwhelming, this powerful, he would have wished for Logan’s fate. His whole body now throbbed with desire, and his erection was so hard and tight it actually hurt.
Logan spread his hands. “You know. Take care of it yourself.” He touched his thumb and forefinger together, and slid the index finger of his other hand in and out of the loop several times. He gave a lascivious wink.
Realizing what his friend was on about, Jordan frowned. “Do you think it will help?”
“Only one way to find out.” He motioned towards the closed door of the bathroom.
Jordan did as Logan had suggested, ensuring the door was locked behind him. With trembling fingers he undid his belt, and fumbled with the button. He was shaking so much from the power of the sensations rocking though him, that he wondered how he was going to be able to stop himself from simply falling on his mate and taking her against her will.
“Dear Envah I hope this works,” he groaned, now struggling with the zip. His bulge was so big that he couldn’t seem to get the damn thing to slide past it. Why did Human clothes have to be so damn complicated?
Finally it complied, and Jordan heaved a relieved sigh, but when he looked down again, he gaped. It had been years since he’d seen himself like this. He was engorged to breaking point, the skin dark and tight around the throbbing organ. He coated his hands with moisturizing lotion and then took himself in hand. The thick, hard organ felt hot against his palm when he coiled his fingers around it, several degrees higher than the rest of his body temperature.
As soon as he took hold of himself, his whole body jerked, his knees almost buckling beneath him. He collapsed against the door as he found his own rhythm, the pressure continuing to build till he thought he would explode into a zillion tiny fragments.
His breath was coming in short hard pants as his fist pumped harder. The image of his mate flashed before his eyes, and he knew in an instant which of the Earth women was destined to be his.
Release surged through him like seismic shock waves, and he cried out load, his whole body jerking back against the door. He watched in shock as a glittering silver arc fountained into the air from the end of his organ.
“Good God!” he gasped. “It’s never done that before.” It had always come out in a faint trickle. Neither had anyone told him about it. He supposed it meant he was now fertile and capable of creating a child to keep their race from dying out. The thought pleased him, and he stepped away from the door.
But trying to pull the zipper back up again proved futile. Even though he’d taken the edge of his desire for his mate, he could still feel it inside him, and his erection remained to remind him this was far from over.
“Are you all right in there?” Logan thumped on the door. “Do you need a hand?” There was an evil chuckle.
Jordan had never known the older man to have such a nasty sense of humor. “If you must know, I can’t get this damn zipper back up!” Jordan growled back.
“Perhaps it’s time to haul out those wedding pants, since it seems one of them pretty young things is going to steal my best friend from me, at least for the next two weeks or so.” There was another laugh.
Jordan yanked open the door to face his life-time companion, but Logan had already disappeared to some other part of the suite, no doubt searching for those accursed trousers. As soon as he was properly attired he’d track down that little rodent of an official and demand he take him to the women. Trying to remove the urge to mate with his partner had proven futile. The nee
d was coursing through him again, more powerful than before. He burned and ached to the very core of his being.