Maggie's Story (Intergalactic Matchmaking Services) (14 page)

As they kissed and stroked each other, memorizing the other’s planes and curves and angles, time seemed to stand still. There were no questions of differences, no deadlines for decisions, and no commitments to jobs. There was just the two of them giving and taking in a dance that knew no boundaries of races or species; it worked; they worked.

CHAPTER 19

Maggie woke wrapped in Daxon’s arms, his face buried in her hair. She could feel him breathing deeply. As last night came back to her, she put her hand to her face as she felt it heat up. She had never before been so bold when it came to lovemaking. Always before she felt like a distant participant, there but not really there, fulfilling a part of the relationship she was currently in, but not really getting what she thought was the most out of it. She had definitely gotten a lot out of last night, she thought. They seemed to know instinctually what the other wanted or needed at a given moment. She had never woken so content before. If she could purr, she would probably wake the whole ship with her contented rumbles.

Mamzell chose that moment to make her presence known. She was in her usual position, at the end of Maggie’s pillow, on the edge of the bed. She reached out her paw, tapping Maggie on the nose. “
Mrawr
.”

“Hey, Mamzell. Thank you for not getting in the way last night,” Maggie whispered softly, as she petted the cat. The sound of her soft purring got a little louder with each stroke. Mamzell had made herself scarce last night, which for her meant she approved of Maggie’s bedroom companion. If she hadn’t, she would have made a nuisance of herself, which she had done regularly with Maggie’s last boyfriend.

Maggie felt Daxon’s arm tighten around her waist, pulling her to him. She felt his lips close over the lobe of her ear briefly. “Good morning,” he mumbled in his deep voice, his breath warm and moist against her neck. It was deeper than usual this morning, fresh from sleep. “You are talking to your pet again. Does she always sleep with you?”

Maggie chuckled. “Yep, always. Luckily you aren’t sleeping on her side of the bed, or she would be tapping
your
nose this morning.” She rolled to her back so she could look up into his face.

“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.

“I feel wonderful, you? Any regrets?”

“Never!” he rumbled as he took her in a fierce kiss. Maggie lost herself in the kiss for a few moments. Slowly she pulled back.

“Good. But I’m hungry. Can we go eat? I find I’m famished this morning,” she declared.

“Certainly. Mind if I go bathe and change clothes first? I will be back in fifteen minutes at the most.”

“Sure thing. See you in fifteen.”

Maggie watched as Daxon climbed out of bed, gathering his clothes and putting them on. She couldn’t help but admire each part of his body before he covered it with yesterday’s clothing. He sat on the edge of the bed to slip his boots on. After kissing her one more time, he quickly departed. Maggie stretched, tossed the covers aside and climbed out of bed. Taking care of Mamzell’s litter box and then refilling her food and water bowl took only a few minutes. As she showered, she wondered what the next step would be.

She realized she and Daxon had not discussed going forward from last night. Did this make them a couple? Maggie didn’t think of herself as someone who had casual sex and she didn’t think of Daxon as casual, either. What would be his expectations? Would she have to quit her job at the school in the middle of the year? What would happen with her need to testify against Juan Santiago in the shooting?

Her mind swirled with questions as she showered and washed her hair. As she was about to turn on her hair dryer, she heard a couple of beeps from the other room. Running a comb through her hair as she went, she entered the living area and opened the door. Just seeing Daxon standing there, her stomach seemed to fill with nervous butterflies, her skin feeling that now familiar zing. She smiled at him and motioned him inside.

“Let me finish my hair and I will be ready,” she said, walking back in the direction of the bathroom.

Mamzell came in the room and climbed into Daxon’s lap as he got comfortable on the couch. “Looks like Mamzell will keep you company; I’ll be right back,” she chuckled.

Maggie quickly dried her hair and went back to the living area. “Okay. Ready and starving.”

They walked in silence to the eating hall, but Daxon held her hand the entire way. They received several greetings from fellow crew members along their way. As they got comfortable at a table with their breakfast, Denot entered the eating hall and went to one of the panels to gather his own food.

“Mind if I join you?” asked Denot. He sat before waiting for a reply, drawing a laugh from Maggie and Daxon. He looked at each of them briefly, then paused for a longer look at each. “Is there anything you want to tell me?” he asked cautiously.

Surely it wasn’t obvious they had been together
, wondered Maggie. She turned to Daxon, more than willing to let him answer his friend’s question. She could feel her cheeks blushing.

“No, there is nothing to tell you,” said Daxon. He continued eating his meal as though he had no clue why Denot would ask such a thing.

Maggie hoped that was more a sign of him not wanting to kiss-and-tell than a sign he had any regrets about their being together. She thought for now she would just follow his lead. While Daxon and Denot talked about their work they needed to get done today, she ate her breakfast in silence. The silence allowed her mind to start whirling with questions again. Did she want to stay up here in space with Daxon? Is that what he wanted? As the questions swirled, she realized, this was the same as starting a relationship with a human. All sorts of logistical worries before even knowing what each other wanted from it.

Denot finished his breakfast quickly and bade them farewell. She looked to Daxon to find him looking at her.

“I think we …,” she started.

“We need to …,” he started at the same time. They both laughed.

“You first,” said Maggie. Her stomach was back to the rousing rendition of dancing butterflies.

“I was just going to ask you … if last night meant the same to you as it did for me?” he asked cautiously.

“Well, I don’t know what it meant to you, you haven’t said,” she smiled at him. “But I hope it meant more than a one-time thing.” She couldn’t help the note of hope that crept into her voice. They were both talking softly, not wanting to draw attention from any of the crew members dining nearby.

Daxon seemed to relax at her statement. He smiled and said, “I most definitely do not want it to be a one-time thing. I did not think it would work for me to be with a human woman. But I feel a connection to you already. I … care … about you quite a bit, already. I would like to find out if it deepens.”

Maggie thought it was good to know the nerves seemed to apply to them both. She smiled at him as she felt some of the butterfly flutters leave her stomach. “I feel the same. But what do we do now? What is the next step? This is out of my norm, being on a starship, so I could use some guidance here.”

“It is out of my
norm
, as you say, too. I have never had a long-term relationship with a female. I think it would be safe to say we should spend more time together; get to know each other even more. What do you think?”

“Works for me,” she said smiling at his dark blue eyes. She loved that his pupils were vertical slits. It reminded her so much of a feline. And considering she had a huge soft spot for felines, this was definitely to his advantage.

“What would you do on Earth?”

“Well, a couple would go out on dates, various activities, like going to eat, going to the movies, having picnics, stuff like that. We have the movies covered up here, but there are no restaurants to go to for a romantic meal-for-two. And I haven’t seen a park or a beach to have a picnic at,” she laughed as she said this last part.

“Ah, I have read about those things, and seen them in movies from Earth. Several of the women that have come up here liked to watch movies they called romantic. We would watch them as a group in the recreation area. Going off of those, I think I could help with the picnic idea.”

“Really?! How?” she excitedly asked.

“I will surprise you. How does tonight sound for a picnic?”

“Ummm, okay. I’ll leave that in your hands. I’m not big on surprises, but this sounds intriguing.” She wondered how he was going to handle a picnic aboard a starship.

CHAPTER 20

Daxon had sat through enough of the Earth romance movies that he felt he had a pretty good idea what Maggie would like to see on a picnic and he remembered having picnics as a family from his childhood.  He decided to show her the hologram room, which he had skipped on his tour of the starship since he didn’t think she would ever need it. Remembering a picnic that his mother had planned when he was a small child, he decided to try to recreate it.

Daxon was finding that he rather enjoyed having someone else to think about in his life. While he wasn’t ready to say for sure that Maggie was his soul mate, being the cautious type, he was willing to admit that he cared deeply for her. He worried over what the end of the second week would bring. Would she leave him, to return to her Earth life? Or would she decide to stay with him on the
Starrays
, until the starship was scheduled to return to his home planet? He didn’t want to be one of the crew members that mourned a chance at a mate, moping around the ship. He had seen this in some of the crew after a human female decided to return to their regular lives back on Earth.

Setting aside the worries that he couldn’t answer, he focused on programming the hologram for the picnic. After testing that the room looked exactly like he wanted it to, Daxon went to the eating hall to program in foods from his home world. This he took back to the hologram room and laid it out exactly as he wanted it. He decided to shower and change into casual clothes. As he was changing, he realized he had never worn anything but his uniform around Maggie. Now, he just needed to collect his “date.”

Maggie was waiting for Daxon’s arrival, anxiously. She was dressed in linen pants and a t-shirt, both in a light green. The color accented her auburn curls, while making her eyes sparkle more than usual.

“You are beautiful,” said Daxon.

“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself,” said Maggie, blushing. She looked him over closely, admiring the loose-fitting pants and the shirt, which crossed over his broad chest and tied at the side. The clothes were similar to something found in many retail stores on Earth. Even his sandals looked Earth-made. The dark blue of his clothing emphasized the dark blue of his eyes. “So where are we going for this picnic?”

“Come, I will show you,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “I have not shown you the hologram room yet, mostly since you would not be able to program it.” He led her out of the room. The hologram room was on the same level as the eating hall, but down a corridor she had not noticed before.

Stopping before a large door, Daxon placed his palm on a panel, then entered a code. The door opened to reveal a room filled with lush tropical-looking plants. Maggie could hear water flowing somewhere in the distance. She stepped inside, following Daxon. Still holding her hand, he pulled her farther into the room.

“This is amazing!” exclaimed Maggie, enthralled by the beauty of the room. She could not see any walls, and she walked on what she would have sworn was a rainforest floor. “What is this place? Is it real somewhere?”

“This is the forest behind my childhood home. My mother used to bring us to this place on picnics when my father would return from his space travels.” Just then he pulled her past the last screen of plants. As they fell away to the sides, she stepped into an open area. It was beautiful. Before her was a waterfall, over 30 feet above them. It fell into a pool, the water breaking up over large rocks jutting up from the surface of the pool. “This is the pool where I learned to swim. It was a special place for my parents.”

“Oh, Daxon, it’s wonderful! Thank you for sharing this with me,” she looked up at him so he could see how touched she was. That he would share a special place like this with her meant a lot to her. She wished she could return the favor, but that wasn’t possible. Her childhood had been rather nomadic, thanks to the Army.

She touched the side of his face lightly. Stretching to her toes, she reached to kiss his lips softly. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she leaned into him as he returned her kiss. That familiar zap of electricity came alive in her skin. She had never been so touched by someone’s action as she was by this.

They spent the next couple of hours wrapped in each other’s arms, talking about their childhood memories. Maggie learned that Daxon, too, wanted a relationship based on his memories of his parents. They had been made for each other, just as she always thought her parents had been made for each other.

“Can you keep this program? So we can come back again? And would it be okay to bring Mamzell? I think she would love this,” she asked Daxon.

He was happy that she was thinking of future excursions. He felt a hope blossom in his chest, a hope he didn’t realize until then he had been secretly harboring. Sharing this special location was just one of many things he wanted to share with her.