Suddenly a Bride Read online

  “I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for those then.”

  Chapter Two

  Rilo felt strange. He put the brochure down and looked out the window. A spaceship flew off into the distance where it disappeared into the stars surrounding it. The suns weren’t directly in his vision from this angle, but they lit up enough of Star Systems Unlimited so he saw the smooth silver hub where ships were docking.

  He glanced at the clock above the gate where he’d depart. He’d been sitting there for two hours, thumbing through all of the brochures he could find on Earth. It wasn’t much different from Pandoran, except there was more water on the surface and varying terrain. Pandoran had only one major ocean and a grouping of seas and rivers, but if one looked at it from space, they’d see mostly land. Another difference was that the land—all of it—on his home world was flat.

  Everything else was pretty much the same. Oxygen to breathe. Sunlight for life to thrive. Blue sky. Blue water. Green grass that turned yellow or brown in different seasons. Well, he supposed he should have expected many similarities if he was able to find a compatible female to establish a life bond with.

  He adjusted the collar of his jumpsuit and checked the temperature reading beneath the clock. Why did it feel warmer in here? The temperature hadn’t budged from 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Sighing, he shifted in the seat and returned his attention to the brochure he was currently reading.

  This part explained the various countries and political divisions. Again, that wasn’t so uncommon. However, he did wonder just where the agency would send him. He wasn’t even sure where he’d pick if given the choice. It was just as well the agency would do that for him.

  He shifted again in his seat and realized his breathing was shallower than it should be. His heart rate had also increased. He adjusted his collar for a second time and noticed that his neck was warmer than it should be. Touching his face, he realized he was starting to perspire. What was going on?

  He set the brochure into his lap and tried to figure out what was wrong. Nothing seemed unusual. He just felt...odd. Could it be nerves? Maybe he wasn’t as calm as he thought he was?

  Glancing around, he saw a few creatures passing by, laughing and talking. To his right were two beings that resembled him except they spoke a language he didn’t recognize. They must be on their way to Earth. He wondered if the agency’s promise to adapt him fully into the Earth’s culture was accurate. If so, he’d be able to understand and speak the language of the place they put him in. Again, he wondered how they could take care of all those details with such efficiency.

  A bead of sweat trickled down his spine. That was it! He closed the brochure and stood up. Maybe he needed to walk around. Maybe he’d been sitting still too long or maybe this section had heat blowing directly on it. He inspected the ceiling. He didn’t see any vents. There was no warm air blowing on him.

  He took a deep breath and stepped forward, and as he did, his underwear rubbed against the male part of him which tingled in response. That’s when he realized what was happening. The hormone inhibitor was wearing off. He quickly thought back to when he took his last pill. It’d been when he woke up. That was only ten hours ago. The effects weren’t supposed to wear off from anywhere between fourteen to twenty-four hours. He realized that he ran the risk of it being premature, but he’d been taking the pill for a good eighteen years so he expected it to take longer for his body to adjust to its pre-pill days.

  When he was sixteen, he decided he’d had enough distractions and so he went to the pharmacy to start a prescription. And now it’d been such a long time since he’d had to deal with an erection that he didn’t know what to do about it. Well, he knew what to technically do to get rid of it, but he wanted to be sure his body was ready for the bonding ceremony with his life mate. He wasn’t sure what to expect from her, and he figured the sooner they went through with it, the sooner he’d be guaranteed a place in her life and the life of the children he’d give her. After all, that was why he came here.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the medical pamphlet. He already knew what it’d say, but he needed reminding. Sure enough. There it was in black and white. Fourteen to twenty-four hours. He skimmed through the pamphlet until he came across how he could expect his body to adjust from this point on. It looked like once his body established a natural rhythm, he could expect to ejaculate anywhere from four to eight hours until his life mate conceived a child. But until that rhythm was established, things were bound to be irregular. And that’s the part that suddenly worried him.

  What if he ejaculated now and he wasn’t able to do it again for another ten or more hours? He was due on Earth in five hours.

  Maybe he could get rid of it. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. It was all a matter of self-control. He could do this. His body could wait until he was with his life mate.

  Deciding to turn his attention to the window, he started counting the spaceships that sought port at the station. From his vantage point, he saw three that arrived. Two were long and rectangular and the other small and round. One long one was close enough that he could see the creatures inside it. He decided to count each one as it departed the craft.

  He got to twelve when it became clear to him that this tactic wasn’t working. He gritted his teeth and placed the brochure over the bulge in his suit so no one else would notice. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t even thinking sexual thoughts. His body temperature rose a little more and the suit was becoming unbearable. The thick material was designed for space travel, not getting aroused in. What could he think of that would douse any sexual desire?

  Numbers. Math was as sexually stimulating as a cold shower. Leaning against the window, he closed his eyes and worked out some calculations in his head, figuring the more complicated, the better. But it didn’t work. He gritted his teeth. He was going to ejaculate and there was nothing he could do to stop it!

  Keeping the brochure over his strengthening erection, he strode down the corridor as fast as he could and searched for a resting room. He found one and groaned when he saw it was occupied.

  His body was getting tense, and that was not a good sign. It might have been eighteen years ago since he last ejaculated, but he remembered the way his body tensed right before it happened. He searched for another room, but the nearest one marked was several yards away and by the way his body tensed, he knew he wasn’t going to make it.

  He turned his face to the wall and muffled his cry of pleasure as he ejaculated. He stayed as still as he could with his body wanting to jerk in response to his orgasm. He didn’t remember it being this intense, but it was and he was sure it was back then too. His breathing still heavy, he glanced over his shoulder and saw a female creature give him a look of disgust before she continued walking down the hall.

  His face flushed with both embarrassment and anger. Maybe he could have found a private place sooner, but did she need to stand there and gawk at him? At least the rest of the area was vacant. The brochure was still in front of him, so he dared a peek at the result of his accident. The entire pubic area of his suit was wet, as was the front of the brochure.

  He sighed. He couldn’t exactly go to Earth in this suit. What he needed were some new clothes and to find a place to hide from onlookers in case this happened again before he was due to depart for Earth. He didn’t think his body could gear up again that soon, but he needed to be prepared. Obviously, this wasn’t something he could control.

  Knowing it looked suspicious, he kept the brochure over the evidence and searched for a clothing shop. He found a place that sold clothes from a variety of different worlds, and among them were Earth clothes. Excited, he pulled the shirt and pants off the shelf and paid for them.

  The first thing he did was find a resting room, which of course was empty now that he didn’t have an immediate need for it, and threw out his old clothes. He cleaned himself up the best he could and realized too late that he didn’t have underwear. Oh well. H
e’d get some on Earth. His life mate would know where to go for stuff like that.

  Once he put on the t-shirt and jeans, he pulled his black boots back on and exited the resting room. The clothes were not as thick as the jumpsuit, but they were comfortable enough.

  “You’re getting ready for Earth?”

  He glanced over his shoulder and noticed the man from his planet who was also going to Earth. “In a way,” he admitted. He wondered if he should ask his traveling companion about how his body was coping without the pill, but then he figured it couldn’t hurt. Nothing could be more embarrassing than realizing someone watched him ejaculate in the corridor. Clearing his throat, he asked, “How are you adjusting to not taking the pill?”

  The man shrugged. “I’m still taking it. I’m not going to be with a life mate right away, so I see no need to worry about sexual urges until I do.”

  He nodded, not sure why the answer disappointed him. He reasoned it was because he didn’t want to be alone in having a major adjustment take place.

  “You know that you’re not supposed to go off of it until you get to Earth or are about a couple of hours from departure, right?” the man asked.

  Now he did. But he opted to say, “The pamphlet said it could take anywhere from fourteen to twenty-four hours for the effects to wear off.”

  “So you’re planning to go through the ceremony as soon as you see who the agency picked for you?”

  “I don’t want to give her time to back out.”

  “Maybe you should. What if she’s not a good match?”

  Then he was screwed because once the ceremony took place, that was it. He was confined for life.

  “Did you already ejaculate?” the man asked.

  “I didn’t expect to be able to so soon, but yes.” Even as he admitted it, heat came to his face. It wasn’t that the topic of ejaculating wasn’t common on their world, but it was humiliating to have timed it as wrong as he had.

  “Let me guess...that’s why you got the new clothes?” A knowing grin crossed his face.

  Rilo sighed. “I thought I could will it away.”

  He laughed. “Well, at least you know what to expect next time. A friend of mine said he ejaculated about ten hours after he stopped taking the pill, so I’m not surprised you ran into that problem.”

  “Then why does the pamphlet say fourteen to twenty-four hours?”

  “That’s the average. Some men are sooner and some are later. But that’s a good thing that you’re quicker. It means you can have more sex when you get there.”

  True. And that brightened Rilo’s mood considerably.

  “I hope my body is ready sooner rather than later too. Once I find the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, I want to be able to enjoy the bonding ceremony as soon as she agrees to be with me.” He motioned to a theater down the corridor. “I hear the 3-D show puts you right on Earth. It’s supposed to be as good as being there. Want to check it out?”

  “Sure.” It beat reading through boring brochures.

  “I’m Marn, by the way.”

  “Rilo.”

  The two new friends turned to go to the theater.

  Chapter Three

  The time came for Rilo and Marn to depart. The fuzzy blue creature with big black eyes and a long snout handed them a card. “Scan the card through the door. When the door opens, go in and you’ll be transported to your destination. Only one person goes in at a time and no swapping cards.”

  “There’s no spaceship?” Marn asked.

  “Not for a trip this long,” it replied.

  Rilo examined his card marked with his name and SS12 E3 30.754167, -86.572778.” It made no sense to him, but then, he reasoned it didn’t have to. He glanced at Marn. “What does your card say?”

  Marn showed him his card.

  “The numbers aren’t that different. Do you think we’ll be in the same location?”

  “Maybe,” Marn replied as they walked down the small corridor that led to a door. “I guess we’ll find out when we get there. If you see me, be sure to say hi.”

  Rilo nodded.

  They seemed to be the only ones going to Earth, which surprised Rilo since he thought more men from his planet would be heading there.

  “Earth must not be popular,” Marn commented. “So, who goes first?”

  Rilo shrugged. “I will.” It didn’t matter. They’d both be at their destination soon enough. He swiped the card through the slot by the closed door. A slight click and a green light blinking above the door notified him that it worked. “Good luck, again.”

  “You too.”

  Rilo entered the white circular space that fit no more than one person. He’d been able to hold off on his nervous excitement because he’d been talking to Marn, but now that he was alone again, he felt the feelings return.

  “Face toward the door and insert your feet into the silver slots,” a mechanical female voice said.

  Turning around so he could obey, he cleared his throat, realizing that his body was trembling. Exactly what would this be like? He’d never transported anywhere before.

  A low hum resonated as a blue light scanned him, starting at his feet and going up. He stayed still and waited for the procedure to be done. By the time the blue light went over his head, the hum stopped.

  “Location: Crestview, Florida. Earth,” the voice said. “Transport engaged.”

  Then, before he had time to blink, everything around him faded into black and he was aware that he was floating. For a second, he thought he would end up lost in space...or in a black hole somewhere. But as soon as the thought came to him, images came into view and the floating sensation went away. It took him five seconds to acclimate to his new surroundings.

  The first thing he noticed was the humidity. The second thing he noticed was the building in front of him. The third thing he noticed was that he stood on pavement. A few cars were in the parking lot around him. As he stood there, he experienced a flood of words downloading into his mind. He guessed that was the agency’s doing. It was overwhelming at first, and all he could do was stand there and process it.

  His new home didn’t look too different from what he was used to, which didn’t surprise him after studying Earth, but the sight of two females passing by caught his interest. They were lovely to look at. Soft features, breasts, narrow waists, nice hips. They didn’t wear jumpsuits, like the females had on his planet, which gave him a glimpse of more of their flesh than he’d ever seen. Sure, he’d seen drawings, but this was different. This was much more intriguing.

  But neither one were his life mate. He frowned. Would he know her when he saw her? He stepped forward and noticed something was in his back pocket. Surprised, he stopped and retrieved it. A wallet. Curious, he opened it to see a bank card, a green paper card with his social security number on it, a driver’s license, and a white folded-up paper. He pulled the white paper out and unfolded it.

  It was a receipt from Star Systems Unlimited. It stated that his life mate was Caitlyn Davis who was now Caitlyn West. It came with a black and white picture of her, and he thought she was pleasing to look at. Forcing his eyes off her image, he read the other items on the receipt. His Earth name was Chris West. Her employment was a waitress at a place named Jack’s Diner. He glanced up and saw that Jack’s Diner was, indeed, etched above the rectangular building before him.

  Then he read that his wallet contained a driver’s license, a social security card, and a debit card to a bank where his money from his home world was transferred. Currently, his balance was $25,583.26 in American currency. He wondered how much that was. He knew that the wish had cost a lot more than he bargained for. It nearly wiped him of his savings.

  Well, he’d have to ask his life mate about this when the bonding was complete. He studied her picture again so he’d recognize her when he did see her, folded the paper back up and slipped it into his wallet before tucking it into his pocket. He stood still for a moment, trying to gauge if his body was anywh
ere near ready to engage in the bonding ceremony. It wasn’t. He could only hope that he could stall her long enough so she’d be around when he could emit his hormone.

  Someone drove a car up to him and waited. Realizing he was in the person’s way, he moved and let him park. The parking lot seemed to be filling up. That had to mean it was time to eat on this planet. He glanced at the one sun in the clear sky and saw that it was heading west and casting a subtle orange tint over everything. Again, not so different from his world, and if this was similar, then this would signal the final meal of the day.

  He followed a man and woman who carried something with a baby in it. He came closer to see exactly what babies looked like. On his world, all children were born in labs and educated in schools before released to the general public to work, so his experience with infants was limited to what he’d read and seen in pictures.

  The baby bunched his nose and sneezed. The action struck him as simple as it was cute, so he laughed. The woman jerked and looked over her shoulder at him. Noting that she wasn’t happy with him, he quickly apologized. The man glared at him before he followed her through the door of the restaurant.

  He didn’t know what he’d done to offend the couple but didn’t want to stand out as being “different” so he decided not to ask. He waited until a woman with two plump kids entered the establishment before he entered it.

  The place was filled with people, and from the fact that two more cars pulled into the parking lot, it was going to be crowded in no time at all. He watched the woman and her children sit at a booth and decided to sit in the empty booth next to them.

  He studied the faces to see if he could find Caitlyn. The women behind him who laughed at something one of their friends said, didn’t look familiar. Facing the row of booths in front of him, he shifted on the plastic seat, but it was hard to make out every face when the backs of people’s heads blocked his view. Maybe this was the wrong approach. Maybe he needed to get up and walk around the place.