Whoa! Now that’s another first. I’ve never done that to a boy before.
As soon as she tasted his lips, she felt an immediate rush of sensation, as if every cell in her body had been ignited. From the bottoms of her feet to the top of her head, she was, simply put, on fire. He tasted of something she couldn’t place, like the sweetest of honey, but a thousand times better.
The fire that began in the pit of her stomach expanded until it all but consumed her. She wanted more of something—something she had never had. Her fingers tangled themselves in his hair, reveling in its softness.
Rayn was equally as lost. His control was quickly slipping, but he couldn’t seem to wrench himself away from her. Warning bells were sounding in his head, and he knew he should stop. Instead he slipped his tongue into her mouth and tasted her essence.
Dear heavens, she is the nectar of the Deity.
With a force of sheer will, he tore himself away from her and exploded out of the tent, leaving her fighting for breath, on the brink of her own detonation.
Maddie was flustered. Rayn had ignited something in her she could not explain. She had been kissed before, but never had she experienced a reaction like she had with Rayn. Electric, heated, consuming, barely touched what she had felt. She followed him outside.
“Rayn? What is it? Have I done something wrong?”
“No. I...I barely speak right now.” His fists were clenched, and he was trembling and fighting for control.
“Do you not want to...I mean I thought that we could, you know...unless you don’t want me in that way.”
“Bloody hell, Maddie. Of course I want you in that way, more than I can say. I want the same things as you. I want us to be together in every way as a male and female, but this we cannot do.”
“You say...wait, am I not good enough because I’m human? Or is it the way I look? You know, my face, this scar?” she asked warily, placing her hand on her cheek where she had been wounded. She hadn’t given it much thought before tonight. She hadn’t even paid it much attention, but the scar must be hideous looking. Maybe her appearance was repulsive to him.
He moved so quickly. One moment, he was by the fire, and the next, he was in front of her. He placed his right fingers over her lips, laced his left ones with hers and said, “No, that’s not it at all! Please let me finish,” he emphatically interjected. “You are good enough, beautiful enough, and I can only imagine your perfection. Your scar has all but disappeared and furthermore, it means nothing to me except it reminds me of the atrocities you endured. Nothing in this world, or on Vesturon, could make you less beautiful in my eyes. However, things are much different on Vesturon; we are not permitted to do these things until we have been formally joined, as in unification. It is like your marriage here on Earth, but stronger, more resolute. We unite for life Maddie. There is no divorce or separation on Vesturon. We are sworn to this oath of abstinence and commitment as youngsters. It is impossible for me to have any kind of intimate relations with you until then. I know this is an archaic way of things for Earthlings, but it is our way, and I must live by it.”
“Yeah, it definitely is archaic all right. So does that mean you’ve never, um, you know, been with another girl?” She was too embarrassed to look him directly in the eyes, afraid of what his answer would be.
Not settling for that, he tilted her head, so he could look in her eyes. “No, never have I been with a female, not in this manner. I’ve had, well I guess you would call them girlfriends; isn’t that how you refer to them?” At her nod, he continued, “But never with a female in this sense. Maddie, you will think me strange when I say this, but I have never wanted to. We are taught differently on Vesturon. It is a sacred act between a male and female, and we treat it as such.”
Those impossibly beautiful eyes were simply penetrating her soul. He picked up her hand and placed a kiss over each of her fingers.
Whew! That’s a relief, she thought.
Maddie was good with that…great in fact. It wasn’t a bad thing, but a huge part of her had hoped the mystery of it all would finally be unlocked. She had never felt this way before, never wanted to do it with anyone else. This was a record first for her. She thought how strange it all was. In the past, she practically fought to keep her clothes on, and now, all she wanted to do was take them off. The tables had turned on her.
Maddie thought the topic had ended when Rayn surprised her yet again. “May I ask you something since we’re on the subject?” At her nod, he continued, “Have you ever been with a human male?”
“Good lord, no! Like you, I’ve never wanted to. I, always wanted it to be with someone special, someone I cared for…someone like you,” she breathed. She stole a glance at him.
This was a very uncomfortable discussion to have, and she wanted to be able to see his reaction. She wasn’t bold enough to look him straight in the eye though. Pity, her heart would have soared if could have seen his face just then.
Rayn, a huge grin spreading across his face, lifted his head up and said, “I was hoping it was the same for you. It would have been okay if you had, but I am so happy you haven’t.”
“One of my friends once told me about when she did it. It was with her high school boyfriend. She really thought he was ‘the one,’ so she figured it would be okay and all. She said it was horrible, yeah, awful. Ew…God I can’t believe I’m telling you this. This is so weird,” she grimaced.
“Go on, and please don’t be shy, Maddie,” he urged. “I want you to be able to speak of anything to me.”
“Well, she said it was just dreadful and that she cried afterward. It was awkward and embarrassing and not very pleasant. So yeah, after I heard that, I knew for sure I wouldn’t do it with just anyone.”
Rayn had picked up a lock of her hair and was looking at it intently when he thoughtfully said, “I am most happy that you feel that way. Most humans succumb to the pressure, and that is most unfortunate. To mate with someone is a very special event. I think humans tend make it so commonplace. Maddie, I am happy that we share this!”
Rayn cocked his head and stared at her with a burning intensity. He traced her cheek and then her lips with his fingers and dropped his head down to the hollow at the base of her throat, kissing her there. She was becoming incoherent again.
He took her face in his hands, looked deeply into her eyes. “Madeline,” he began, surprising her with the use of her birth name, “I think I must have you as my life mate.” Then he continued in the ancient language, “I know I am not worthy of thee, but I, Alexyon Rayn Devvan Rowan Yarrister, forswear to honor and protect, to love and worship thee with my entire being and to be ever faithful to thee for so long as there is breath in this body of mine.”
Maddie opened her mouth to speak, but Rayn placed his fingers upon her lips and whispered intently, “Shh. I would like to finish what I said by translating it into your language.” When she nodded, he continued, “Madeline, I know I am not worthy of you, but I, Alexyon Rayn Devvan Rowan Yarrister, swear to love, honor, protect and worship you and I promise to be ever faithful to you so long as I live. Maddie, marry me. Will you be my life mate?”
Whoa! What? Marry you? We just met, she thought.
“But, Rayn,” she said as her eyes widened in shock, “I don’t think I’m worthy of you. There is so much happening here. You would be giving up your life for me, and I don’t know if I can live with that. And then, are we really going to be able to be together? Won’t your father make you return to Vesturon to face whatever council, not to mention we are just getting to know each other? And I don’t know about you, but I’m so young. Girls here don’t get married at age nineteen unless they are pregnant. And we barely know each other.” Maddie was astounded they were even having this conversation.
Rayn interrupted her, “Maddie, I do not know what is going to happen, but I know this. If you do not say yes, my life will not be worth much anyway. I will not care a thing about what they do to me. I would rather not think
in those terms. And another thing; I have chosen this path because we have connected. I tried to walk away from you, but I could not. It was pure agony for me. And Maddie, this was not a rash decision. I have thought of every consequence I can, and the positives keep winning. You are the one for me, like it or not. I want to be the one for you. I am not saying it will be easy; it will be everything but that. Without you, I am half of what I need to be. As far as age is concerned, does it truly matter as long as we are both adults and know what we want? Besides, our souls have already found each other. How can we deny them or pull them apart?”
Maddie was humbled and honored by Rayn. She had never thought in her life she would meet someone like him. Her heart was thrilled, but she was still apprehensive about things.
“I’m a little overcome with emotion you could say. I do want us to be together, more than anything. But this is all happening so fast. I feel like I am so young to be considering marrying someone, especially someone I have recently met. I’ve gone from being alone as a paraplegic to being involved with an alien for God’s sake! And a king’s son for that matter. This is just so overwhelming for me. Can we not just date for a while?”
“Yes, that is a possibility. But know this, I will be leaving soon. When my father arrives, I will have to go back to Vesturon with him to face charges. I would like us to be committed before I do that.”
Maddie was feeling the pressure now. She knew Rayn was honorable in his intentions; however, her life had just taken a dramatic twist. One minute, she thought she was going to have to live confined to a wheelchair, and the next, she was flying through space as an energy beam, completely healed from her paralysis. At the same time, she was saddened by a loss she couldn’t explain, and now her heart was filled with love for someone she didn’t even remember she had lost. She was on the biggest emotional roller coaster of her life.
Rayn could see her turmoil by the furrowing of her brow. He took a chance and delved into her mind, but was thrown back by the intensity and depth of her emotions. Wrapping his hand around the nape of her neck, he leaned into her and rasped, “Maddie, please do not feel the pressure of all of this. I am sorry, and do not want this to cause you distress. I only want what makes you happy.”
“Well, I know one thing, and that is you make me happy,” she admitted. “And there is certainly something tangible between us.”
“May I ask you something?”
At her nod, he continued, “Do you want to be with me?”
Again, she nodded.
“Do you feel this connection we have?”
“Yes, I’ve felt it from the beginning. Like you, it blew me away, really.”
“Can you walk away from me and be happy without me in your life?”
“I wouldn’t want to do that. I cannot imagine you not in my life,” she admitted.
“Do you think of me much?”
“Constantly, every waking moment. But as they say, it’s probably just the new hitting me.”
“The new what?” he asked, puzzled by her choice of words.
“Us. You know, our togetherness or relationship or whatever you want to call it.”
“Okay, I think I understand,” he replied, chewing on his lower lip. “But just a couple of minutes ago, when I refused your advances and you thought I was rejecting you, how did it make you feel?”
“Why are you asking me this? You know the answer to that.”
“Please, just answer me, Maddie.”
“It made me feel awful, horrible to be exact. Are you satisfied?” she asked acrimoniously.
“Please do not be angry with me. I am not trying to belittle your feelings. I am just trying to point something out to you. So, with all of this, do you think that you might be in love with me?”
“You know I am. I’m crazy wild about you. How can you ask me that?”
“Because, in my world, Maddie, when two people are in love, they want to be together, as a couple should, united as one. That is what I want with you. You are the world to me, and without you, I am incomplete. So I would ask you again, would you please honor me by becoming my mate?”
Secretly, Maddie was thrilled. She was so touched by Rayn that she was speechless for a moment. She stood up and paced back and forth, trying to formulate an answer.
Finally, she answered, “Rayn, I seriously cannot say yes to you right now. And, please hear me out.” It was now Maddie’s turn to hush Rayn. “I listened to everything you said; now it’s my turn,” she said, placing her hand on his arm, her eyes imploring him to listen.
He nodded, so she continued, “You are an enigma to me. You come from a different world. You are very powerful and have your world at your fingertips. You are a true Leader, and the son of a great man. You have a close-knit family, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out what you could possibly see in me, a mere human, with nothing to offer you. I am honored by even the thought of you asking me this. But,” she paused, choosing her words carefully, “I feel as if we need to learn more about one another. I, for one, want to learn more about Vesturon and its people. And I also want to understand you as a person.”
She saw that Rayn was on the verge of speaking, so she held out her hand to stop him. “I know you talk of us bonding, but we don’t do that here on Earth. I don’t doubt for a minute that this is what has taken place between us. However, I need to be comfortable that this is the right decision for me as well.”
She stopped speaking to give her words a chance to penetrate his mind.
“I’m not saying we won’t ever be married, Rayn. I’m just saying I am not yet ready to take that step. I will tell you this, though. I will commit my heart to you, and I will be faithful to you.”
“Well, I guess I will have to be satisfied with that for now. I still thank the Divine Being for allowing our paths to cross.”
“What is this Divine Being stuff?” she asked curiously.
“That is our God. Well, you call it God, and we call it the Divine Being, or the Deity.”
“Oh, I was just wondering. I’m not sure if I really believe in God.”
“What?” Rayn was mortified. “How can you not?”
“I think a more appropriate question would be, ‘How can you?’ My life hasn’t exactly been heaven sent, Rayn. And the things I’ve had to deal with are indications to me that maybe there isn’t a God. I was raised in the church, and my parents were believers, but I just don’t think a loving God would put someone through the agony I’ve been through.” Maddie fidgeted with her fingers as she thought about all the horrific times after her father died.
“Maddie, my love, you have absolutely been through much more than most people ever have to deal with, and I can understand why you feel this way. But you should believe in God, or the Divine Being. You really should,” he said, squeezing her hands.
“How do you think all of this happened?” Rayn swept his arm across both of them. “A better question would be ‘why has all of this happened?’ Think about it for a minute. Why did you and I come across each other? You can’t possibly think it was a coincidence. Please, I’m not going to try to convince you of anything, but just think about us for a while. I’m positive you would not be here today without the Deity. There are many answers within Him, Maddie. Think about how your mother came to your aid. That is all divine intervention, my love.” Rayn was so fervent in his statements that Maddie had to stop and think for a moment.
“You do have a point Rayn. But, I am little skeptical about these things. I will agree with you though on us; it is more than a mere coincidence.” She reached out and placed her hand on his arm.
“Yes, it is much more. Maddie, I consulted our Divine Being about you and me. I was so torn about what to do. When we were separated I had to ask the Deity. I communed with Him and let Him guide me. He gave me the answer I was so desperately seeking, which is why we are together today. Maddie, I have been in his presence, and I have felt Him within me. You can draw your own conclusions to all of thi
s, but I would simply ask you to give it some thought. Believing is so important, Maddie.”
“You’re right. I know you’re right, and maybe it’s time for me to start saying my prayers again, Rayn. I haven’t spoken to God in a while. I know I owe Him a big thanks for you and for sparing my life.”
“Agreed. So you will at least start reaching out to Him?” he asked persistently.
“Yes. You are really serious about this, aren’t you?”
“I am a firm believer, you might say,” he answered. “The Deity has come to my aid more times that I can recount, and I will leave it at that.”
Chapter 7
The sounds of rumbling stomachs made them realize they hadn’t eaten in a long time. They left the tent and saw that the sun was sinking low on the horizon, casting its golden glow on their campsite. Rayn added more wood to the fire, and Maddie set out preparing their food for dinner. It wasn’t long before she had successfully accomplished reconstituting dehydrated food into some mac and cheese, which was no small feat for Maddie. She wasn’t exactly known for her fine cooking talents. Rayn hunkered down near her, and when she looked up, she observed the transformation of his eyes.
“What?” He was curious about the look she gave him.
“Your eyes have changed. I’ve got to check them out.”
Maddie dropped what she was doing and scrambled over to Rayn on her hands and knees. She took his face into her hands and started tilting his head this way and that, checking out his eyes. They mesmerized her. They were still their beautiful shade of green, but in the center where the round pupils used to be, was now an elliptically shaped ones.
“This is so bizarre. Do they feel weird to you?”
“No, because they have been like this my whole life. I think they would feel weird if they did not transform. I can see extremely well in the dark. It is like I have on night vision goggles.”
“Seriously? You can see that well?”
Try as she may, she could not take her eyes off of them. She kept tilting his head around to see his pupils change size.
He dropped his eyes down and said, “Yes, and please quit staring at them; you are making me feel self-conscious.” It was apparent he was most uncomfortable.