One Thousand Brides (3 page)

Jan bit her lip to hold back the tears.

There would be no place for her or the rest of the Brides. Gary would have married someone else. No one would want her or need her.

“We need you,” Delos concluded, “and we will cherish you as our wives, our dear partners. Brides, we’ll leave you now to talk among yourselves. The oldest among you will act as the Brides’ liaison to the Terilians.” Turning his head, he gave Jan a significant look. “I’ll meet with the Brides’ liaison later.”

Silently, Delos and the council filed out of the room. The women were left staring at each other. Many looked expectantly at Jan.

She needed to say the right thing. If she broke down, most of them would be sobbing in minutes.

Businesslike, that was it. “Okay, who’s the oldest here?” Jan asked and called out her birthday. “Anyone older than that?”

No one was older than Jan’s thirty-nine. As soon as that was determined, a thousand questions broke out. Waving her arms and raising her voice, Jan suggested that the women form a line and ask their questions. Later, she would share their questions with Delos.

A tall black woman spoke first. “Are we going to do what they want? Or are we going to resist?”

“How can we resist?” someone else called out.

The black woman glared fiercely. “Kill ourselves!”

“We need a lot more information before we make that decision,” Jan said.
And I for one am not ready to die.

“They messed with our bodies!” a young woman with curly brown hair exclaimed. “My sense of smell’s on overdrive! Have they told us everything about this ‘cellular overhaul’?”

The third woman in line spoke. “Ladies, where’s your sense of adventure? A new planet? What a trip!”

A murmur of approval rolled through the Hall, indicating that a large number of the Brides agreed with her comment.

Wishing she had a notepad, Jan tried to memorize everyone’s questions. Hours passed as almost everyone in the room spoke. What were the Terilians’ bodies like?

“I’m not fucking some guy with a tail,” one of the Brides called out.

“Yeah and I want to get a look at their cocks,” someone else commented.

“If they even
have
cocks!” a third chimed in. Many of the women had been awakened the same way as Jan.

“It was wonderful!” one woman declared, blushing. “That’s the first time I’ve ever had an orgasm.”

The women asked about the Transition, the new planet and what “marriage” meant to the Terilians. And what was the Spring Running?

A young woman with short hair said, “I don’t have a question. I just want to say that I had breast cancer back on Earth. Doctor Delos says it’s gone now.”

Another woman spoke eagerly. “He cured my diabetes too! No more insulin shots!”

So the aliens had done some good for them.

One of the women behind Jan began to sob.

Jan hesitated.
I don’t know how to deal with people. I’m just a computer programmer, damn it.
Moving to the redhead, Jan awkwardly tried to comfort her by patting her shoulder. “I know it’s hard,” Jan said. “It’s hard for everyone.”

“But I was just about to get married!” The woman wiped tears with the back of her hand. “My wedding was all planned. I had the most beautiful white dress and…and the cake was ordered…and we’d put the deposit down for the band!”

“I know, honey, I’m in the same boat.”

Another woman took over the comforting. “At least you were engaged,” she told the redhead. “I never found a guy to marry. I worked as a wedding planner—but I never got to plan my own wedding!”

That gave Jan an idea. Perhaps she would mention it to Delos. A tiny shock of arousal went through her at the thought of him.

What’s wrong with me? He’s an alien!

The double doors slid open. Delos walked through with Taddus. The big primus touched the redhead’s cheek. “Don’t cry, pretty female. You’ll soon have a husband who will love you dearly.”

The redhead stared up at him, sniffing back her tears. Jan gazed at the young woman, startled. Was there desire in her eyes?

Jan’s pulse quickened as Delos joined her. Why did his presence spark an instant awareness in her?

Perhaps because he’d been nearby when she experienced that superb orgasm. Her mind had somehow associated him with sexual pleasure. Maybe that was why she wanted to nestle closer to him. Close enough to feel his smooth skin rub against hers.

“Are you now the official liaison of the Brides?” he asked.

“Yes. Rigged that election, didn’t you?”

“I knew you were the oldest,” he said.

The impulse to touch him, to press her body against his, almost overwhelmed her.

His extraordinary blue eyes studied her face. “But I could have said,
Choose the wisest. Or the loveliest.
The result would have been the same.”

Jan couldn’t help herself. She took a step nearer. What would he do if she touched his hair?

Taddus gestured and the whistle for silence sounded. “Brides, I invite you to return to your cabins. You’ll be called for another meeting in the Great Hall tomorrow. And let me just say how pleased and proud I am to have you all with us.”

Jan thought,
Pompous ass.

As the women left the Hall, Taddus came to Jan’s side. “So you’re the new liaison,” he commented, taking her hand. He had a deep, dark odor that was faintly attractive but didn’t stir her the same way Delos’ scent did.

He raised her hand to his mouth and turned it palm upward. Was he going to kiss it?

His pink tongue darted out and he licked her palm. Jan gasped at the sensation, which reminded her of wet sandpaper. Despite herself, she trembled at the unusual feelings the gesture evoked within her.

The big male said, “Let me show you to your new cabin, my dear.”

Delos took a step forward. “I believe that’s
my
duty, Primus.”

A low noise rumbled through the air. Jan blinked. Was the council member
growling
at the doctor?

The two males locked glances. Delos stood his ground.

“Go ahead, young Secondus,” Taddus said at last. Turning back to Jan, his voice lowered. “Lovely One—be assured I’ll find you at the Spring Running.”

Chapter Three

Jan’s new quarters were small, eight by eight feet and seemed empty. Delos demonstrated the voice command that brought a computer console-table out of the wall. Drawers pulled out as well, containing several bright tunics. Another command and a large round bed opened above their heads. Jan frowned, wondering how she was supposed to get into it.

“Will I share this cabin with my husband, once I have one?”

Delos’ eyes widened. “Live in the same room together, you mean? Of course not. People require privacy.”

She tilted her head, looking at him. She kept picturing him naked on the bed, his eyes half-closed while she touched every inch of him. She’d never felt this way before—certainly not with Gary. “Why do I feel an irresistible urge to touch you?”

His startled eyes met hers for a moment, then he glanced away. “I thought you understood. The Transition has made you susceptible to Terilian male pheromones. All of us are exuding them to a great degree, this close to the Spring Running.”

He was trying so hard to be scientific. Couldn’t there be a simpler explanation—that she was attracted to him?

“But I didn’t feel the urge when Taddus licked me.” The memory gave her a nerve-jangling sensation unrelated to pleasure.

“What did you think of him?” She heard jealousy in his voice.

“Taddus made a speech.
You
spoke from your heart.”

Delos seemed pleased. Gazing at him, she was distracted by the way the ends of his hair fell softly to his shoulders. “May I touch your hair?”
Your face, your body…

“Go ahead.”

As she drew near, the cocoa smell intensified. She wanted to rub her nipples against his chest. Lie beside him and entangle their legs.

She reached upward, running her palm down his hair. It was soft, like the fur of her tabby cat, back home. She wanted to stroke it again and again. She moved her hand slowly from the crown of his head all the way down, ending at his bare shoulder. Her palm caressed his shoulder and moved down his arm.

His eyes widened with apprehension and he took a step back. “When you touch me, I want to mate. Immediately.”

“Why is that a problem? I thought we were brought here to become wives to males like you.”

He turned away, breathing hard. The spicy odor in the room increased. She knew, with her newly enhanced senses, that he was struggling with intense desire.

“Yes.” He spoke with difficulty. “But we swore—all of us—that no one would have intercourse until the Spring Running.”

Disappointment shot through her, even as the impulse to touch him increased. She desperately needed to think about something else.

She looked around, searching for a more neutral subject. “How am I supposed to reach the bed?”

“Most of us like our beds near the ceiling. But you probably can’t jump that high yet.”

Before she realized what he intended, he scooped her into his arms. She shivered at the sudden intimacy, even as she wondered how a slender male like him could lift her so effortlessly. He crouched, then sprang into the air. In another moment, she was lying on the bed, Delos beside her.

Her heart raced from the leap. Even more disturbing was his proximity. She had to keep fighting the need to stroke her palms over his body.

“Can you all leap like that?” she asked.

“Yes. And you will too, once the cellular uptake is complete.”

Jan raised her eyebrows. Now that she’d lived through it, she realized she’d enjoyed the sensational leap through the air.

There was a downside, though. Suppose the Brides decided to resist? If they eventually convinced the Terilians to take them back to Earth, they’d be freaks.

Her mind shying away from the disturbing thought, she bounced lightly on the bed. Unlike the hard hospital bed, this mattress felt malleable, almost as though there was jelly under the woven cover.

What would he do if she parted her thighs and stroked herself? Would he be shocked, or would he watch eagerly? She wondered why she felt such a strange need to tease him, to provoke him.

She’d better start working through the Brides’ list of questions. “We’re all curious about what you males look like naked.”

His brow creased. “We’re much like humans.”

“Have you seen any of the Brides without clothing?”
Not that our tunics conceal much.

“That’s different—I’m a doctor.”

“Well then, doctor, you shouldn’t be embarrassed about bodies.” She didn’t want to reveal how interested she was in seeing his most private features, so she threw a challenge into her voice. “Or are you afraid to reveal what Terilian male anatomy looks like?”

Raising his chin, he knelt facing her and lifted his tunic over his head. Although Delos was slender, his body was muscular, from his shoulders and sculpted biceps to his firm abdomen and tapered waist.

“Your muscles are well developed.” She fought the urge to run her hands over his contours. What would he do if she caressed his smooth chest? Licked his dark nipples? “How do you maintain that physique in space?”

“We’re required to log in five hours of exercise out of every forty. Life will be difficult on our new planet for the first few years. It’s essential to maintain our physical strength.”

He turned. A two-inch width of fur, brown like his hair with variegated tawny spots, ran down the middle of his back and disappeared into his tights.

“Is that fur what you call your ‘pelt’?” she asked.

“That’s right.” Remaining with his back to her, he raised up on his knees and pulled down his tights. His slightly rounded buttocks were firm and taut. The fur narrowed, ending at the crack of his ass.

No tail. Aside from his line of fur, his backside looked much like a human man’s. One with a particularly attractive butt. She drew a quick breath as she imagined herself caressing those muscular cheeks.

He discarded his tights and turned. Her eyes were drawn to his cock, which stood long and straight against his stomach, much darker than his pale brown skin.

Instantly, her pussy went wet at the sight.

She stared at the head of his cock. Instead of the familiar mushroom-shape of humans, his cock had a long, cylindrical head that extended several inches back.

She strove for a detached tone. “I assume you’re sexually aroused right now?”

“Yes. Most of us struggle with constant arousal, this close to the Spring Running.” His tone, precise and scientific, was belied by his huge erection. Like her, he was trying to sound detached but Jan wasn’t fooled.

“Isn’t it painful to walk around like that?”

“It’s been two years since our females died. Terilians weren’t meant to go without mating for so long. The drugs help but only temporarily.” He moved closer on the bed and put his hands on her shoulders. She shivered at his sensual touch. “And when I’m with you, your presence overrides the drugs.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off that fascinating cock. She wanted to touch it, feel the skin under her palm. Lick him and taste him as though she were starving and he was her first meal in days.

Delos moved his palms in circles, leaving a trail of tingling wildfire wherever he touched. Gary’s hands had never thrilled her like this. Never before had she felt such intense desire, such a desperate need for coupling that transcended all common sense.

“I could spend days touching you,” he said, his voice suddenly husky.

She forced herself to speak, when all she wanted to do was throw her head back and drink in his caresses. “Tell me about the Spring Running. The Brides are curious.”

He frowned, momentarily pressing his hand to her lips. She was tempted to kiss his hand and suck his fingers into her mouth.

“I’m forbidden to speak of it. You’ll be told what to do on the day itself.”

She persisted, “But what happens that day will pair off Brides and husbands?”

“Yes.”

“If you can—will you choose me?”