Wed to the Alien Prince by C.V. Walter

Chapter 5

The door slid closed behind him and Kaelin let out the breath she'd been holding since he'd first touched her hand. Or, at least, it felt like she'd been holding it that long. Taking a deep breath, she brought the silky pajamas up to her face and screamed into them, letting out all the anxiety that had been building in her since she first decided to board the plane.

She wanted to do something different, something she'd never done before, and boy was she doing that. The small voice in the back of her mind was warning her that she was about to get into bed with an alien but it was faint. A slightly louder one, that sounded suspiciously like Molly, was reminding her that, unless she wanted to do so naked, she should probably put her pajamas on with all due haste.

With a speed that would have done her mother proud, Kaelin pulled her top off, followed by her bra, then pulled the teal silk nightie over her head. She toed her shoes off and pulled her jeans down to land in a pile by the bed. Then she looked at the pile and shook her head.

"There's no need to be a slob," she told herself. "That's a terrible first impression to give him and I packed things for this, too. I might as well use them."

Carefully, she gathered the clothes she'd worn to travel in and reached in her suitcase for the bright yellow bag tucked in the side. With a few deft folds, she had her dirty clothes stacked neatly and ready to be put in the bag when there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" she asked.

"It's me," Roger said through the closed door. "Are you decent, may I come in?"

"You can come in, I'm dressed."

Her heart pounded in her chest as the door opened and she found it difficult to take a deep breath. He was so handsome it hurt to look at him and he was just so nice. Even when he was being crass, he was still nice about it.

"I wondered if you'd like an evening snack before your nap?" he said, lifting the small tray in his hands. "I've been assured everything on here is fit for humans and might even be enjoyable."

Kaelin felt herself flush and nodded. "I'd love a snack," she said. "Just give me a minute to finish putting everything away. I didn't want to leave your room a mess."

"That's very thoughtful," Roger said. He put the tray down on the table and came to kneel next to her. "Can I help you?"

"It's not really a two-person job," she protested weakly. She wanted him to help her. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes that he'd even offer. "But you can hold that for me while I put my things in it? Then it goes in the suitcase and the suitcase can be moved out of the way. I'm not entirely certain what 'out of the way' involves in this case but that's-"

He took the bag from her and opened the mouth, holding it wide with his fingers, and it took Kaelin a moment to focus on her task rather than the hands in front of her. They were very nice hands and she wanted to feel them again.

Kaelin dropped her pile of folded clothes into the bag and took it from him to pull the drawstrings closed and set it in the suitcase. He closed the top to the suitcase and slid it beneath the bed.

"Oh, that's convenient," she said.

"It wouldn't fit if it were much bigger but it's nice that it just fits like that." His hand rested on her knee and she shivered.

"It's nice when things just fit," she agreed. The thought of what other things might just fit flashed through her with the bolts of pleasure from his fingers against her skin. Then he started to move them, very gently, along the side of her knee.

He smiled at her and she thought she'd stop breathing.

"Now, would you like to move to the table for your snack or would you like to partake on the bed? I'll be honest, using the table would be more civilized but I find myself wanting to touch you while you sample fruits from my home planet."

"Um-" Kaelin said, and slowly moved her right hand up to pinch her left forearm. "Touch me how?"

"Like this," he said, brushing his fingers along her knee and calf. Then he raised them to run down the skin of her bare arms. "And like this."

She praised the invention of spaghetti straps and suddenly felt like the previously very roomy pajamas were constricting too much across her chest. "I think that would be okay," she said, unable to feel any embarrassment about her breathy voice.

"Excellent," he beamed. Then he stood and retrieved the tray from the table. He sat next to her on the bed and balanced it while she figured out how she wanted to cuddle.

As natural as it felt to be near him, to talk to him, to hear his voice, they still hadn't managed to make being physically close natural. They'd only known each other a couple hours, though, so the sinking feeling in her gut as she tried to get where they could touch wasn't appropriate. The thought didn't stop it from growing, however, and she was ready to panic by the time he shifted on the bed and put an arm around her waist to pull her closer.

She ended up sitting across one leg that was bent to rest on the bed and leaning against his shoulder. His chin rubbed gently across her temple and she sighed.

"I'm too heavy to sit like this," she told him. "I'm going to cut off circulation to your leg."

"You're no such thing," he told her. The tray landed gently in her lap and she grabbed for it instinctively. His hands circled her waist and pulled her tighter against him. "Now, shall I feed you? Or would you like to feed yourself while I tell you what each thing is?"

"I can feed myself," she said, glad he couldn't see her blushing.

"Excellent," he said, cheerful. "I was hoping I'd get to feel more of this lovely nightgown and your soft skin."

The backs of his fingers ran down her arm and she bit back a moan. "You're going to kill me with the teasing," she told him.

"Then I will have to kiss you back to life," he said, and gently stroked a hand down her jaw to her chin, to turn her head slowly toward him. He hesitated a bare moment, just long enough for her to feel his breath against her lips, then leaned forward and claimed a kiss.

Kaelin whimpered and melted against him, the snack tray forgotten in her lap. When he leaned back, he smiled at her and stroked a gentle hand down the front of her throat. She shivered and started to shift to get a better angle to kiss him from when his hands tightened around her waist.

"What?"

"Try some of the fruit," he told her, his voice strained. "A bite of each before bed, right? So you can try things you've never tried before."

"I don't-"

"I am trying very hard to remain as much a gentleman as I can right now, beloved," he said. "Please humor me."

"Oh," Kaelin said, her breath shallow. "Um, alright."

She studied the tray and picked up a little green ball that looked like a scoop of honeydew, if honeydew was an almost violent shade of neon green. "What's this one called?" she asked, holding it up for him to see before popping it into her mouth. A moan of delight escaped her lips and he shifted slightly behind her.

"That is a kara fruit," he told her. "It's been peeled since the peel is toxic and the center stone removed. The flesh of the fruit is sweet and tender, and is a popular ingredient in desserts."

They went through the rest of the tray like that, Kaelin attempted to keep her expressions of joy to herself to keep from causing Roger more discomfort, and his voice eased until he was teasing her about how much she enjoyed the sweet and tangy pia fruit.

"Those are popular garnishes to lovers dishes," he told her. "Usually put on the side of the dessert after a courtship meal, it's supposed to act like an aphrodisiac."

"And does it?" she asked him.

"There's no proof of it with my people," he said. "But the activities that tend to take place after these desserts are consumed would argue that it does."

"Might it also have to do with the fact that a couple partaking of a lovers dish have spent the last hour, at least, touching and talking and setting off sparks of desire like you've been doing to me?"

"Have I?" he asked, brushing his hand down her thigh.

"Isn't that what touching like that is supposed to do?" she asked. "You said something about recognition being enjoyable."

"And stronger with someone who you're more compatible with, yes," he said. "Are you saying you enjoyed me touching you like this?"

She nodded and gripped the tray in her lap until she thought she might bend it.

"Then, as much as I hate the thought of causing you suffering, I'm glad I'm not the only one suffering tonight."

"Did you enjoy it, then?"

"More than you could possibly know," he told her. "And it is with great reluctance that I must move us out of this position."

"I told you I was too heavy for you-" she started.

Roger took the tray from her and set it on the floor next to the bed, then, with one movement, he lifted her and pulled the covers down on the bed to lay her on the sheets. The jarring realization that aliens used sheets distracted her until he had her covered by the bed spread and was laying down on top of it beside her.

"What were you saying?" he asked, his head propped up on his arm so he could look down at her.

"Something stupid, apparently," she said then yawned.

"Not stupid-" he protested and was cut off by the sound of the internal comm system turning on.

There was an announcement and she listened with open-mouthed delight.

"Is that what your language sounds like?" she asked.

He answered her in the same language and she clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from squealing with joy. It was so beautiful; it made her heart sing.

"What did you just say?" she asked. "Can you teach me how to speak it?"

"I said I would much rather hear you speak than listen to flight announcements," he told her. "And I'd be happy to teach you how to speak it. We can get you a translator so you can understand me when I talk to you in my native language and maybe Mintonar will have refined the translation enough to be able to teach you the same way I learned."

"Oh," Kaelin said, her face falling. "Yes, I suppose that would be more convenient, wouldn't it? What kind of translator is it?"

"They put it right here," he said, stroking gently at the skin beneath her ear. It works with the structure of your ear and helps you 'hear' what's being said in your language."

She sighed. "That's neat," she said. "But I don't think it's going to work for me."

"Why not?" Roger asked.

"Because that's where my seizure implant is."