"My Best Birthday Gift" on sale until 12/31/12

"My Best Birthday Gift" (the tile was "My Big Brother" before the PayPal/Smashword "crisis") is on sale for 30% off until New Years Eve at http://www.jms-books.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=325

In fact, ALL the books at http://www.jms-books.com/ are on sale until the New Year, with a daily free book!

Blurb:


May 1968. High school bodybuilding champ Ed Green is excited and eager to celebrate his 18th birthday. As a "legal adult" now, he can drink with his older buddies. With graduation just around the corner, he will soon be able to move away from his alcoholic father and Dad’s sluttish young girlfriend, who has been trying to seduce Ed.

But the main reason for Ed’s excitement is that after five years apart, he’ll be seeing Johnny, a Marine hero from Vietnam whom he hasn't seen since before puberty hit the younger man. Ed's Dad had dated John's mother years earlier, and the boys, both only children, had bonded, with the strong older boy defending the young kid from bullies, earning his undying love and adoration. The two aren’t related by blood, but Ed considered Johnny to be the big brother he never had. The last time they'd seen each other, Ed was a shy, short kid with thick glasses. Then Johnny had been Ed’s personal hero and protector, and his move to California in high school had devastated his younger friend. Now Ed plans to surprise Johnny with some spectacular muscular changes to his formerly scrawny, weak body.

Only one thing has Ed worried. Although he dates girls, he’s known for a while now that he’s sexually attracted to older men. John will have to share Ed’s bed in the small house for the next few weeks, which makes Ed worry about hiding his lust for the man he's always had a crush on.

How will the hunky Marine react when he learns that not only is the young man who he views as his kid brother is gay, but that Ed has the hots for him, too? Will sharing a bed with his macho big "brother" lead to Ed's best birthday gift ever?


Excerpt:

I went into the kitchen, returning with a six-pack of beer, beginning a night of drinking as we renewed our bond. In some ways, it was as if we had never been apart, since we had kept in touch so closely by mail, but in other ways, we were strangers. The last time we had seen each other, John shaved twice a month, while I had no hair on my body. Now, I looked bigger than him because I was more muscular. We established that after three boilermakers, when he stripped to his skivvies so we could stand in the mirror and compare.

John had a great body. There was no question about it—the Marines do know how to build men. But I’d spent the last two years working on my shoulders, legs, arms and chest, so although I was over four years his junior, my hairy chest and body compared to his almost hairless body made me look more mature and larger. We were the same height, but I massed more. We stood there looking at each other in the big mirror in the hall. I admired a small Marine tattoo on his left pec, drunk enough to run my hand over it. My hand touched his nipple, and he moaned.

It was then that I finally noticed two things. Both of his nipples were erect and the size of erasers, while both of us were sporting hard-ons. Confused, I walked over to the sofa to think. It had to be a coincidence. John was a fucking Marine. A leatherneck couldn’t be queer like me?

John interrupted my bewildered thoughts, “Hey, Squirt, do you get high?” I guess I looked confused. “You know, pot?” He mimed smoking a joint.

“Yeah, sure I do. Why?”

“‘Cause I got some excellent shit I smuggled back from ‘Nam upstairs in my trunk. Let’s go up to our room and get wasted, Squirt.”

“Sure, Shrimp-dick.” He stared at me, startled. “I wanted to see how you liked being called a demeaning nickname. I don’t think I qualify as Squirt anymore, do you?”

He grinned. “Hell, Squirt, you can call me anything you want. I can still kick your fucking ass after my leg heals.”

“Do you need me to carry you up the stairs, Baby-balls?” We broke into drunken laughter as he struggled up the stairs in front of me. I stared at his muscular ass moving in the thin cotton skivvies. I realized that this was not only going to be a long night, it was going to be a long visit, with a hell of a lot of cold showers. Suddenly the idea of dating and fucking girls as second best seemed almost acceptable. Maybe I’d get John some double dates so I could get to watch him fucking them. I even started to think of which girls I’d fucked who might agree to being shared, figuring that was as close as I’d ever get to having sex with my hero.

We sat on the bed as we smoked the joint, and a second one. By then, I was so fucking horny that I had to tell him the truth.

“Uh, John, if you’re going to be sleeping in this bed with me for about the next month there’s a tiny detail you gotta know about me.”

“What? You snore? I’ve been sleeping in a barracks with a hundred grunts, so I’m used to that. If you’re gonna tell me you jerk off, the same applies. Besides, I do, too.” He giggled drunkenly as he gave me a punch on the arm that hurt.

“No. Now, nothing I ever wrote to you is a lie. Every one of the stories about girls is the truth. But…shit, you’re gonna beat the crap out of me, but I gotta tell you the truth. I’ve never done anything about it, but I’ve known for the last couple of years that I’m…I’m…”

“You’re what?”

I shouted, “I’m a fucking queer homo faggot!”

John sat and looked at me for a full minute. Then, his lips slowly spread in a huge grin. “So am I, little brother, so am I. And I’ve done a hell of a lot about it.”

I sat, staring at him dumbly as he grabbed my wrist to pull me towards him. 

“I thought I’d dropped dead and went to queer heaven when you came down those stairs almost naked this afternoon. Fuck, you’re so damned hot, Squir…Ed. I’ve seen a lot of hot men in the last five years, but you’re the hottest I’ve ever seen. Um…you …you wouldn’t happen to be…?”  His entire beautiful body blushed.

“Hot for you? Johnny, I’ve been fucking horny for you since…Hell, I suppose since I was six years old. For about three years I beat off sniffing a sweatshirt of yours that I stole before you moved away. When I saw you smoking that cigar on the steps this afternoon, I just about shot a load in my pants, you looked so fucking hot.” I put a hand on his cheek, relishing the feel of a man’s beard stubble for the first time. “Johnny, teach me. Show me what to do. I’m told I’m good in bed with chicks. Shouldn’t that be a good start?”

“I wouldn’t know about that. I’ve never fucked a woman. I sort of told you the truth, Ed, I just changed names and gender. Otherwise the stories I wrote to you were basically true—big dicks and balls instead of big tits, although one of the guys I wrote to you about was a weightlifter like you and had the most amazing man-tits, and the tightest man-cunt.” 

John pulled me into his arms, kissing me as I moaned, running my hands over his smooth skin to touch his large nipples. He ran his fingers through my thick chest hair, sighing, “Oh, fuck, yeah! Love that fucking hair!” 

When he found my nipples, he began to work on them, teaching me what a man’s nips were for. A few minutes later, I was laying on the bed, writhing in pleasure as he licked and chewed my man-tits. When I knew that another bite of his teeth would make me shoot, I tossed him off me to return the favor. I loved the taste of his skin, the feel of his hard nipples between my teeth and his groans of pleasure. 

Somewhere around then, our shorts had disappeared. My hand was wrapped around his seven uncut inches, the first time I’d ever touched another guy’s cock. He guided my hand to his low hanging balls and I explored. At his urging, I pulled on them, twisting them in the sack as he screamed in pleasure. I was on my stomach, so his hand explored my back and hairy, muscular ass cheeks. I was in heaven.

If you want to know what happened next....

BUY THE BOOK!

It's Raining Men: “My Dark Mystery Stud” Chapter Nine

       This paranormal erotic romance began with the words: “The great love affair of my life started when New York City decided to totally rebuild the Parade Grounds, a large park which consisted only of athletic fields located across the street from my apartment.” 
       To read the introduction to the series, and Chapter One, go to: http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-dark-mystery-stud-chapter-one.html
       The rest of the series is at: 
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-dark-mystery-stud-chapter-two.html 
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-dark-mystery-stud-chapter-three.html
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-dark-mystery-stud-chapter-four.html 
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-dark-mystery-stud-chapter-five.html 
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/05/my-dark-mystery-stud-chapter-six.html 
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/06/my-dark-mystery-stud-chapter-seven.html
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/08/my-dark-mystery-stud-chapter-eight.html
       The series is being presented in episodes, rather than every chapter, so that when I eventually publish the book, there will be surprises and scenes never seen.  Some major changes will be made to the story as it has been presented here.

*~*~*

       It was late when we both woke up with the need to piss. We fed Milo, then dressed for her morning walk. It was eleven AM, so we were surprised to meet Marcus in the street, dressed in the same outfit he’d worn the night before, with a big, goofy grin on his face. We both sniffed near him. He swatted at us, laughing like a drunk, so we lead him to a park bench. “OK. Yes, I got laid. And it was.. great. Al’s almost 18, but I though he had to be like 25 when I saw him - a real hairy guy. Yeah, he’s white. I never thought I’d be attracted to a hairy white guy, but I looked into Al’s green eyes across the snack table and I was fucking lost. And he was grinning at me like a fool, too. I have a date with Al for next weekend.” 

       “Where did you go last night? And what about your mom…?”       

       “His parents weren’t home tonight, so we had a place to go have sex. I called mama before we left the Center, and I told her I was spending the night with a friend. She ain’t no fool, so I’m guessing she could figure out what that meant, but I’d already hinted that I might be staying with a friend.” He shrugged. “She trusts me to be careful, and when I turned eighteen, she told me that she was treating me like an adult. Al and I know that most of the time, we’ll be lucky if we can find a safe place to make out other than teen dances at the Center. But we fit together perfectly. We like the same things; he’s the first white guy I’ve met who likes exactly the same music I do, and not just to seem hip, but because he understands the music. Funny how things work out. Al has never found black guys particularly attractive before, and also was looking for an older guy. We’ve applied to the same colleges and may make our final decision based on if things keep going well between us and we are accepted to the same places. Hell, if we’re boyfriends, we might as well go to the same college and be roommates. Then we’d never have to worry about finding a place to fuck. We both have had only one not-so-great sex partner. We both wanted to try everything tonight but decided to stick to oral sex until we know each other better. And have a better idea of what we’re doing when it comes to anal sex. Do you have anything I can read about that, Izzy, that ain’t porn? Well, to be honest: we did lick each other’s asses and that was fucking great. It lead to round two of cocksucking. And after 69ing in round one, we decided to take turns in round two, and we both prefer that. Too much going on in 69ing.” 

       We laughed. When Marcus looked hurt, I explained “We both agree with you about 69ing. That’s why we’re laughing.” We got up and walked across the street to the building, and entered the lobby.

       As we entered the elevator, Abe said. “If he looks like he’s 25, are you sure...?” 

       “I’m not a total fool. I may be attracted to older guys, but I decided that I’m going to stick pretty close to my own age, which was why I went to the teen dance, instead of a bar. I remembered what you guys said before I left, so before I went home with AL, I ‘innocently’ got him talking about terrible ID photos, so I could get a look at his driver’s license.” We all laughed at his cleverness. “He’ll be 18 in 7 weeks and three days. I memorized the date so I know when to give him a great gift - me. By the way, I saw a picture of his dad at the house, taken at the beach. The two of you would be drooling over him. Muscular and hairy, with a mustache. I could see what Al will look like in a few years, since he’s started working out this year. Al’s dad is not at all what I ever imagined myself getting hot over, but now I’m dating the junior version. His parents belong to the same chapter of PFLAG as mom and granny.. well, and I guess dad now, too. Which should make introducing each other to the parents a lot easier.” He gave a slightly bitter laugh. “And my dad should be pleased I’m dating a fucking football player.”

        He grinned as the elevator got to his floor. I whispered “Bed hair!” as he got off, and he quickly started to slick back his hair as we giggled, since his short cut hair was fine.

*~*~*

        Quickly getting naked, we climbed into bed, and I lay on my belly, with pillows under. Abe began to lick my ass, and was soon getting deep inside of me. I had not been fully hard when we started, but now I was rock hard and dripping. I kept moaning, “Oh, fuck, yeah, Abe, that’s it. Eat me, baby, eat me. ABE!” His mustache had me wild, and there was enough stubble to get me really hot. I was hot for his cock a long time before I thought I would be. Usually, a man has to eat my ass for a long time to get me ready. I found myself pleading with him “Baby, lay on you back and I’ll light your cigar, honey-man. I need that big fat prong of yours in my tight ass, Abe-babe. I don’t think I’ve ever needed anything more in my fucking life, Abie-baby. PLEASE!” He teased me with his tongue for about a minute more, making me plead more. Later he told me it was because he liked me calling him all those new pet names that I wasn’t even aware I was creating.

        He rolled over, and while I lit his cigar, he began to lube his cock. I put the lit cigar in his mouth. He looked so fucking hot like that. He reached down and teased my ass lips with that fat cockhead, and then I slowly opened up to it. Before I knew it, he had slid half way into me with nothing but a feeling of pleasure and of being possessed. He flexed both arms behind his neck, and puffed on the stogie, grinning up at me. I ran my hands over his chest hair. I groaned in pleasure as I slowly lowered my body down that long pole.

        I never thought that I would hit bottom. I felt full, and taken by My Man, but his cock felt gigantic, and my ass felt like it was stretched to it’s limit when I realized that I was sitting on his hips. I grinned own on him, and he reached up and tweaked a nipple, causing my ass to spasm. We both shouted - fortunately he grabbed the cigar first. He pulled my face down and we kissed, making a circuit - his cock in my ass, my tongue deep in his mouth. I began to ride up and down slightly until he let go of my head. I felt like a telephone pole was lodged in my ass, and that it fucking always belonged there. I was happy and complete. Grinning at the impossibly handsome man who chose to share my bed, I sped up my ride. I looked at the clock - 25 minutes had gone by, and Abe wasn’t even sweating. On the other hand, I could feel every millimeter of that giant dong rubbing against my ass nut, and I loved it. “You’re giant cock is jerking me off from the inside against my assnut, sweetie. I love it, and I think I’m gonna... I think...” before I thought it possible, spasms started in my ass. I spewed a load all over My Man’s beautiful dark fur. “Oh, fuck, sweet Abie, I fucking love you!”

        I kept riding up and down. “A lot of time after I cum, my ass gets sensitive, and I have to ask my partner to pull out - but not with my sweet, sweet Abie Baby. You can stay in my ass forever, baby. Fuck me forever, baby!” My legs were getting tired. “We have to change position, honey-man.” Wordlessly, Abe rolled me on my side, still deep in me. Then he rolled me on my back. My legs went automatically onto his broad, muscular shoulders, and the pain eased. “Fuck me, baby. Screw me to the bed. Make me shoot again.” He still had the cigar in his teeth, and he looked so fucking hot, thrusting into me with a look of determination. An ash fell on my chest, slightly hot, causing a little pain. He must have seen the look on my face, because he took the cigar from his mouth.

        “No, baby. It was more pleasure than pain. I fucking liked it. And you look so masculine and hot with the stogie in your teeth while you strain to fuck me harder and harder....” That telephone pole was rubbing my assnut again perfectly as I shifted my hips slightly. I know that for a long time, I babbled. Nothing I said made any sense to me, so I’m sure it made none to Abe. Except for “Harder” and “Oh, fuck, Abie, yeah, fuck that assnut with that telephone pole.” (He did ask what telephone pole later, and that became our pet name for his hard on. Mine was “the fucking beer can“, since he said that mine felt like I was shoving a beer can into him.)

        The perfect angle for me proved to be him on his knees almost at a right angle, thrusting into me, my cock flopping free with nothing touching it. I was enjoying the feel of my man’s massive dick in my ass, rubbing constantly against my magic spot, and needed no assistance anymore. I kept telling him over and over how great it felt - and I’m not usually a very verbal sex partner. Abe was sweating now, and I could hear his breath getting ragged. I felt my balls rumble. “Abie, baby, sweet-man, you’re gonna fucking do it again to me! I’m so close... I’m...” The spasms in my ass started and this time he pulled out and wrapped his lips around my cock, drinking in my load. As I was still catching my breath, he eased back in, gave five mighty thrusts, and grunted as I felt the heat of his load in my guts. Still in me, he leaned forward, and we shared my load. 

        He kept thrusting. “Do you think you can take some more, baby?”

        “Let me roll over on my belly with some pillows under my hips while we curse a certain dead drunk in the flames of Hell.” After I rolled over, he slowly went back in. I greeted ever tiny bit of his cock with joy. My hips thrust back to get as much into me as I could get. I glanced at the clock. His cock had been pounding my ass for over an hour. 

        We both shifted angle slightly, and hit magic. “Oh, yeah, my joy button!” 

        He cried out. “Izzy honey-bun, your asshole just got all super tight. I fucking love it. I have no idea what’s happening, but I have never felt such a tight ass, not even a cherry who didn’t warn me he was a virgin. I should be in for a really long fuck after two loads, but I don’t know if I can last very long like this, my honey-stud bear!”

        I begged for faster and harder. I had never wanted to be fucked so much before. I could hear the sloshing of his loads in my ass as he fucked me, which acted as an added turn on to us both. “Izzy, do you hear my fucking loads in your beautiful ass? Do you, baby? It’s like music. Oh, sweet-buns, I love that sound. It’s the sound of my long passion for you finally fulfilled, and building more. I can’t stand it. It’s like a fucking drug.” I grunted my agreement. The more I heard that noise, the tighter my ass got, automatically. And the tighter it got, the more friction I felt against my prostate, so the louder the sound got. I stopped being able to talk. I could just grunt agreement to Abe’s monologue. He kept talking about his building passion. Soon, he also stopped talking, and was also moaning and grunting. I had stopped feeling any pain in my body a long time before; sex with Abe was better than any pain drug. I had started to push up to get more of Abe’s monster cock into my tightening ass, and to my surprise, we were now fucking doggy style. I had to grab the spokes of the headboard to keep from being thrust into them by his powerful pounding strokes into my ass. Now I could just pant. Abe was laying in my back, also panting, his hips moving like a machine. Suddenly, he let out an inarticulate cry, and I felt a boiling heat at the lips of my ass. He was cumming with the head of his cock just inside my ass-lips, and the cum was entering me, and then dripping back out in a scalding flow. I had never felt anything like this before. Then Abe howled like a beast, and bit me on the neck.

        I was howling, too. He flipped me on my back, and sat on my cum slick cock. He rode on it for just a few minutes and he leaned forward to kiss me as I thrust up deep into him. I grabbed his head, biting his neck, then kissed him deeply as I pulled out, and let him feel the sensation of cum flowing over his ass lips and back out. We kissed for what seemed like hours in a world made up of just our kiss. When we returned to earth, we realized that the sheets were drenched in cooling cum, and we were drenched in sweat, cum, and a little blood from where we had made our animal marks on each other’s necks.

*~*~*

Art by Mikes Bliss - http://www.mikesbliss.com/ - Thanks again, Mike!
And greetings to the series’ number one fan. Donna! <wink>.

More from "Hot Summer Fun" - NSFW excerpt

It's Raining Men: More from "Hot Summer Fun" - NSFW excerpt:
         Since it's a hot summer's night here in New York (or at least a muggy one), I thought I'd treat you to another except from my story in Hot Summer Fun, the first of a series of themed anthologies from a group of writers who are members. My story in the book, A Midsummer’s  Night Pick-up, introduces the romance of two very different men, which will be continued in my story December's Dilemma in our upcoming Winter anthology, Winter Heat: Erotic Stories to Warm Your Life. In fact, I have to leave now to finish that story!

You can read the first excerpt that I put up here on It's Raining Men at
http://rainingmenamen.blogspot.com/2012/07/happy-birthday-ike-and-usa.html:

BLURB:
A Midsummer's Night Pick-up (The Beginning Of The Master Of My Passion Series) - Hans Rotmusen is a young blond whose family kicked him out when they discovered he was gay. Living in a small apartment with his lover, Jonathan, was great, until Jon decides to marry a woman. After two years alone, Hans is horny as hell, so he goes cruising in Central Park on Midsummer's Night of 1978. Under the magical moonlight, Goldilocks encounters Pappa Bear deep in the woods. Following the most passionate kiss of his life, Hans is helplessly attracted to the gruff, rugged stud, but when they get to Pappa Bear's Den, he discovers a big surprise. Will Pappa Bear be Goldilocks' true love, or just a Midsummer’s Night Pickup?

       *~*~*

Although Teddy and I are capable of spending literally hours kissing, eventually we both always want more. I stroked his hard dick to let him know I was ready. Soon he lay between my legs, worming his tongue into my ass. He massaged my nipples with his thumbs, driving me wild as I pushed his face deeper into my core. No man had ever given me such a great rim job. I found myself babbling mindlessly when he'd gotten me really turned on.

Ted told me later that he got really worried when I gibbered: “Teach me to love a dick in my ass, Pappa. Make me love it!” He was so afraid that our affair would end if I hated it, and was unable to get me to make any sense while I gabbled passionate nonsense in response to his questions.

I thrust back to welcome his thick fingers pushing into my tight hole, eager to please this wonderful man. I was vaguely aware of wailing, “Fuck me, Teddy Bear! Fill me!” My brain snapped back into focus as he entered me. Six men before that night had tried this with no real pleasure for me. Since Ted had the second fattest dick among them, I expected pain at this point, but he slid in without any discomfort. His cockhead rubbing across my prostate sent fireworks up and down my spine, causing my body to arch to get him in deeper, loving every moment of it.

I thrashed about to feel more of this exquisite pleasure as I whispered, “Feels so fucking good, Pappa!”

Teddy began gently, slowly fucking me as I begged for more. I rubbed my dick against his fur as he covered me with his body as he painlessly screwed me. I eventually slapped his ass, demanding more vigorous lovemaking from my new boyfriend, astonished that I was already thinking of a man I barely knew in those terms, while happy that he agreed.

Laughing, he thrust deeper and harder into me, making me gasp at the intense erotic delight this sent though my body, eventually shifting to a new position. Teddy had his hands and toes on the bed as I folded back to give him better access to my eager ass. I watched my cock throb as it dangled a few inches from my face, untouched by our bodies while Teddy bent over me, thrusting energetically in response to my pleas. Waves of surprising pleasure engulfed me every time the knob of his dick squashed my magic ass button, feeling like I was being masturbated from inside my body. I was weeping with joy as I finally understood what had made Jonathan beg to be fucked. It wasn't that I wasn't built for being fucked; I was built for only Teddy to fuck me. Just this one, special stud!

I lost the ability to speak. I made noises, howling with lust, while my sweet Pappa Bear whispered encouragement and endearments to me as my ass gripped his welcome invading pole convulsively. I could feel my juices begin to fill my dick, preparing to shoot.

“Coming!' I gasped in wonder as my head writhed on the pillow.

“Yes, you are, sweetheart.” He chuckled, not understanding that a miracle was occurring. He licked the tears running down my face as I grunted my delight.

Wailing, I splashed our bodies with my load as I tried to tell him how special this was, but I remained unable to speak.

Ted was gibbering in equal passion as he thrust powerfully into me a half dozen times more then rammed balls deep into me. I stroked his soft beard as he filled me with his load.

I panted disconnected words as he pulled out, settling next to me. “I… shot…”

“Yes, sweetheart, your shot a lovely load.”

“No. Don't… understand… Never!… tried, but… never…”

“Never?”

I nodded.

“You've never come before tonight from getting fucked?”

“Yes, never.”

His lips devoured mine as he realized why I was so thrilled. Eons later, but perhaps just minutes, I rolled over to admire the fire. Teddy was still hard, so I eased him back in my ass as he wrapped his arms around me, and we drifted back to sated sleep, joined.

   *~*~*

      Hot Summer Fun is available at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/173649 
Amazon has it in paperback - http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Summer-Fun-Sara-York/dp/1477678697/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341287798&sr=1-1&keywords=Hot+Summer+Fun 

      I ordered a paperback copy to make my Amazon order qualify for the "Free Shipping with a purchase of $25" - and the shipping on the other item would have been more than the book!

Book Review: Deep Blues Goodbye and a Free Read link

Deep Blues Goodbye - Altered States: Book One by L. E. Harner & T.A. Webb

      I have had the distinct pleasure of reading "Deep Blues Goodbye", the first collaboration of Laura Harner and Tom Webb, my friends from the It's Raining Men group on Facebook.  Laura has been writing gay erotica and romances for awhile, but Tom is a "fan" and blogger who we've recently convinced to start writing gay fiction, and man, am I glad we did! 
      (Tom's Blog, "A Bear On Books", is at: http://tom-webb.blogspot.com/ Tom has a solo novel, "Second Chances", coming out in November 2012 by Dreamspinner Press.)

Overview: (from Barnes & Noble page)

      The world might not have been ready for vampires when NOPD Detective Travis Boudreaux had the bad taste to sit up at his own funeral, but two years later, the new cause célèbre is civil rights for preternatural beings and most humans are on the bandwagon. Except whoever is killing vampires and wannabes. 

      Detective Sam Garrett hates all things preternatural. Having your undead partner try to make you his first meal will do that to a guy. One final screw-up gets Sam banished to the Paranormal Criminal Investigations Unit—the Odd Squad—under the oversight of Detective Danny Burkette. 

      Now it’s up to Burkette to work with Garrett by day and Boudreaux by night as they follow a trail of clues that leads from the historic cemeteries of New Orleans to the bayous of southern Louisiana. Under the all-too-interested gaze of a Master vampire and the local werewolf pack Alpha, they discover some lessons in life—and death—take longer to learn…and not all second chances are created equal.

      Warning: In this series the vampires don’t sparkle, werewolves kill, and the men sometimes have sex. With each other.

      The series which begins with this book is actually a continuation of "Altered States", a novella Laura published a few months ago, and is currently available FREE at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/166507.  However, the new book stands alone from "Altered States", and they do a good job of bringing new readers up to speed on the background material from the "prequel" without boring those of us who read the first story. (Always a hard job)
      In the universe of the series, Vampires and Werewolves have recently been discovered to be real, and the United States is struggling to guarantee their "human rights" as it also struggles to protect the rest of the population from them. There are three main characters, two of who we met in the first story. Former New Orleans Police Detective Travis Boudreaux was turned into a vampire just as the world discovered the existence of paranormal creatures. A closeted  gay man, he was investigating a vicious series of gay-bashings of black gay men with openly gay (and black) Detective Sam Garrett. The plan was to set up Sam as a decoy to drag the bashers out of hiding, and in the process, the men discover a mutual attraction and make love. Unfortunately, they have no back-up, since there is a more politically sensitive series of murders going on, so when Travis is killed, Sam ends up getting severely beaten, but gets his vicious beaters. Sam mourns the death of a partner who he may have had a life with, until Travis sits up at his own funeral, confused.
      Then all hell breaks loose.
      "Deep Blues Goodbye" begins two years later. Travis has been forced to retire, and has spent the time researching paranormal creatures, since the vampire who killed him has never revealed himself, and so he has no "Master" to teach him the ropes. Sam is avoiding any contact with vampires and werewolves. Their former commander brings a new detective to meet Travis.
      Detective Danny Burkette is assigned to the Paranormal Criminal Investigations Unit, what other police officers call the "Odd Squad". He has an immediate and almost overwhelming attraction to the vampire, who reluctantly agrees to help Danny with a case involving the murder of two vampires, as well as a human teenage couple who were "vamp wannabes". 
        Sam had been investigating the deaths of the human couple, so he gets dragged into the case to assist Danny, who he has had an affair with in the past. So a classic romantic triangle is set up - but that isn't what happens.
        One of the problems of reviewing a mystery is to avoid spoilers. No one wants to read a who-done-it if they already know the answer. But it won't be a spoiler to tell you that there are twist an turns, and that we meet vampires and werewolves on  our way to a dramatic conclusion, which includes a cliff-hanger set-up for book two.
        I found myself creating scenarios for the answer to the question asked at the end of the book, and look forward to finding out where these men, and some others they'd met along the way, end up. I also look forward to discovering more about the paranormal creatures mentioned in passing: witches, faes, and "others.

        I give this book a five erections for well-written and exciting sex, and five stars for great writing and plot.

I also loved the cover, with it's photo by Dan Skinner. 

PURCHASE LINKS:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/215801
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deep-blues-goodbye-le-harner/1112539648?ean=2940014910460
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008YYKQ1M/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_Qzemqb0EP1QK0

By the way, Tom will be part of the second IRM anthology "Winter Heat: Erotic Stories to Warm Your Life" , which will include a story by me. 
The first IRM anthology, "Hot Summer Fun", is already out, also with one of my stories: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/173649 Check it out!

It's Raining Men: WIP: Star Wrecked

It's Raining Men: WIP: Star Wrecked:

This was my first attempt at a science fiction story involving a human and an alien as a couple. It predates any of my published work, so I find it a bit primative. 
Any suggestions on how I should rewrite this?

Star Wrecked 

      I Knew that my Explorer mission was going to be a disaster from the start, just as I had Known that the mission that resulted in the death my Explorer partner and lover Pat seven Standard years earlier would be one. I’m moderately high on the Precognitive Scale, but not high enough to be reliable, or for the Powers-That-Be to take my hunches seriously. I’m only right 40.341% of the time, but I was 100% right both times. 
      Since Pat’s murder, I had refused to allow the Explorer Corps to assign me to a new partner. Surprisingly, Explorer Command allowed it. I mourned alone in my standard Solo Explorer Starship equipped with an Intelligent Computer for company. Every two to three years the Computer would be reprogrammed to have a new personality to prevent me from getting bored. Before I left Explorer Base 2-69-X on this mission, it was reprogrammed, giving me a “new” Computer partner.
      My Computer had apparently been re-programmed by a native of Nippon II, the Japanese racial/cultural colony. It now spoke Commonwealth Basic with a Nipponese accent, using their flowery Japanese cultural language. The elaborate honorifics it now used took some getting used to. I had never met any Nipponese. I wondered if they really spoke Basic in that exaggerated manner. 
      I couldn’t turn the Computer off. I needed it to plot the course through Hyper-Space, a difficult task that only a computer could do. The sensory feedback to Humans was too dangerous. An Intelligent Computer also guaranteed stimulating discussions. Things improved greatly on the third day out when I discovered that I could alter the voice on this program from the original annoying high-pitched giggling female, to a sexy deep masculine voice. The discussion topics the computer chose to bring up as a male became more interesting, too. No more detailed discussions of flower arranging. I’m not THAT gay!
      Going about my daily Hyper-Space routine, the emergency alarm went off as the ship lurched about crazily, throwing me to the floor with the artificial gravity unable to compensate for whatever was throwing the ship around; both theoretic impossibilities in Hyper-Space Physics.
      The Computer spoke: “My deepest apologies, Cole Sama, but we’ve encountered an anomaly in Hyper-Space never before recorded. To non-human sensors, it’s an exquisite sight. I must remember to compose a haiku about it later. A heavy burst of neutrons mixed with an unknown particle is creating a beautiful series of gravity waves. Which is impossible; there is NO gravity in Hyper-Space, as you know, Cole Sama. How can this be?” I’d never heard an Intelligent Computer sound puzzled and confused. “The waves are driving us into a complicated Nexus of these gravity waves and wells, and these unknown particles are swirling around in a Vortex. The neutron bursts surround us like fireworks at New Year…”
      “Computer San, being in an emergency, eliminate the honorifics and simplify your Basic. What’s your assessment?”
      “Since I don’t know what is happening, or if this phenomenon is dangerous, I must urge you to go to the stasis couch, Cole, to be activated if you’re in real danger.”
      I agreed that was the logical course of action, especially when those “beautiful waves of gravity” kept knocking me around as the ship’s gravity-compensators failed. I ran to take my place, leaving the stasis couch’s top open.
      “I’m detecting three ships of totally different unknown configurations in this Nexus Vortex. Two are sending out unusual SubSpace signals which may be able to transmit from Hyper-Space to regular space. Recording all phenomena.” 
      “Computer, prepare a report. Attempt to send it with ship’s logs by drone ship back to Explorer Base. Perhaps its smaller mass will allow it to escape this Vortex.”
      “Preparing drone. One of the unknown ships has launched a drone. Drone prepared.”

      Launch.” I heard the sound through the hull.
      “The largest ship has just launched two drones. Cole, this Nexus Vortex anomaly is making navigation in Hyper-Space impossible. I no longer know where we are, but I’m asking permission to leave Hyper-Space. There appears to be a yellow sun in nearby space, which increases the chance of a Class M planet.” For the Computer to be giving me child-level lectures suggested it was experiencing damage to it’s Artificial Intelligence Core from the anomaly. So did it’s uncertainty as to the presence of a yellow sun, a simple scanning procedure, although the scanning problem might be caused by the Nexus Vortex anomaly. The idea of leaving Hyper-Space sounded like a good one; I was getting worried about the Computer’s “health” - and my own.
      “The middle sized of the three ships has exited Hyper-Space. The other ships are capable of navigating around the Vortex‘s Nexus.” A strong lurch almost dumped me out of my coffin-like stasis couch.
      “Exit Hyper-Space, then initiate search for an inhabited or inhabitable planet.”
      The viewscreens above me flickered on, signifying our return to regular space. There were few visible stars, meaning that we were on the fringe of a galaxy. I just hoped it was the Milky Way. A severe anomaly in Hyper-Space could mean we’d ended up anywhere in the Universe. The Computer’s confusion about the nature of the star was explained: we were approaching an unusual binary star: two yellow stars dancing closely together, exchanging flames. I had never heard of one like this before, which made me worried. 
      WHERE WERE WE?
      The Computer attempted to speak, but the message was mangled. A text message appeared on the emergency screen next to me. “Computer errors. Speech core damaged. Hull damaged - navigation difficult. Third planet habitable, with edible vegetation, but showing no signs of industrial culture. Other ship headed towards it, also in navigational trouble. Have sent standard First Contact messages to other ship and towards planet. Ship on auto-pilot towards planet for maximum safe entry possible with limited navigational capacity. Will attempt to reboot self. For safety, will put you in stasis on ten minute timer, or until you are in the .0746 G gravity of the planet, which will have meant crash landing without Computer-assist. Yes/No?”
      I was stunned. I had never heard of such damage to an Intelligent Computer, or to a Starship hull. I hit the “YES” on the screen, and lay back as the cover closed. The stasis field began to immobilize me. 

+ + + +

      I felt a jar as the stasis field failed. Here was something else that’s theoretically impossible! Stasis fields are powered from INSIDE the Field and should be unaffected by anything OUTSIDE the Field. 
      The gravity rapidly increased as the ship spiraled into the planet. The viewscreens showed an ocean and a mountain my ship barely missed ramming into. Dropping towards a forest, I saw a strange ship falling at about the same speed next to my ship, perhaps a mile away. It appeared approximately five times larger than my ship. Its atmosphere navigating rocket exploded, throwing it very close to me. I feared midair collision.
      Bluish-green trees grew closer, then I felt impact as my ship hit the ground. My head hit the hard, clear top of the stasis couch and I was knocked out. 

+ + + + +

      I opened my eyes slowly. Everything hurt. I was still in my stasis couch, but I could see a green-tinged blue sky with greenish clouds above me. Part of the supposedly impervious shell of my Starship had peeled back in the crash. I was glad to be alive. The med-scan unit in the couch scanned me, pronouncing me not only alive but uninjured. According to the unit’s readout, my pain was simply muscle strain due to the G-forces I had endured unprotected. I felt better after a spray-injector touched me. 
      The Core Computer appeared dead, along with all equipment which ran on the Power Crystal. Well, I was alive, in a wrecked Explorer Ship, with an Explorer Survival Kit onboard. 
      Climbing from the stasis couch, I found that my Portable Detection Scanner was powered and operational in its wall niche. My first concern was my ship. Obviously, she would never fly again, but could I get any of her systems operation, such as the Basic Computer Core or the SubSpace radio? The Artificial Intelligence Core had appeared to have been fried by those strange particles in that Nexus, but the scanner revealed that its fail safes had just closed it down. If I got the Basic Computer Core powered up and running, I could get the Artificial Intelligence back on line, too. He might have suggestions about the situation I wouldn’t think of. I’d be happy to hear any voice speaking Commonwealth Basic right now, even that artificial Nipponese version. Most systems appeared to have also been shut down by fail safes, or had minor damage. Only the Primary Power System was a loss. The Crystal was cracked and so was my spare Crystal. That stasis storage had failed, also. Well, I had solar panels to recharge backup batteries. 
      I had plenty of emergency bars, a full tank of water, and a freezer full of my favorite meals, but without power, I had no cooker. If I kept the freezer closed, the meals would stay frozen for about a week, and I could heat them next to a fire on a flat rock. Well, the computer had told me there was edible vegetation and I had Survival Training.
      Time to face the inevitable and explore my new home. I went down to the upper hold. I found a scrambled mess. Next to the exit was my full Standard Explorer Survival Pack with its flatbed land vehicle, which I was happy to discover was fully powered. I wouldn’t be able to live in the torn hull for long if the planet had seasons, but the Explorer Pack had equipment and instructions for building a variety of shelters. Being in a forest, a log cabin was the best option. I had always wanted a log cabin retirement home… on Spartacus, the all-male pleasure-planet.
      The manual control opened the exit ramp from the hold.  I stood in the open hatch and sniffed the air. I have no idea why I did that; with the rips to the ship‘s hull, I had been breathing planet air since I woke up. I grinned at my own foolishness. I looked around. I was on a field of various low laying ground cover plants. Across my left was a ground scar from the landing of the other ship, not far in front of me. It appeared to be in even worse shape than my vessel. We had narrowly avoided a collision. No one moved near it.
      Loading the Med-Kit and Portable Detection Scanner on the ground vehicle, I drove to wreck. Pieces of the ship were scattered in the ground scar. The metal scraps were very colorful. Approaching it, I could see scorch marking from the entry heat on the ship similar to the ones I had found on mine, but here they seemed like vandalism on a work of art. This ship had been beautiful: our ships are merely functional.  
      A hatch had popped open just above the pile of dirt created by the long crash gash. My Scanner detected one life form, and some similar organic matter from dead bodies. I flashed my light into the opening, and saw a beautifully decorated wall, an abstract pattern suggestive of a forest. I called out to warn the life form of my presence. 
      A weak voice trilled in a beautiful, bird like sound. I entered, carrying my equipment. I decided that a belligerent race was unlikely to have produced this beautiful craft. I called again. The reply was to my right. There was dim emergency lighting along the ceiling, spaced about every two yards. Fortunately the floor was almost perfectly level. Dark spaces on the ceiling were most likely the real lighting. 
      Following the curved hallway, I found the corpse of a large bird-like female mammal with four breasts. Her features appeared almost human, and she was lovely. If I counted the wings as a set of limbs, she had six limbs; wings, arms with hands around two feet lower, and feet wearing shoes. Her skin and feathers were a bright red. Her neck had been broken. There was a belt with pouches around her waist.
      The trilling voice called out from a nearby doorway. I called out to reassure the creature, following the voice. The red feathered figure was in what appeared to be a stasis couch, which must have been why he survived. I assumed he was male from the masculinity of his feature, but I knew the mistake of making assumptions based on human models. However, if he was the same sort of creature as the bird-women in the hallway, he had no breasts under the shimmering silky cloth that covered him to his neck. He was in great pain. He was also so stunningly handsome that he literally took my breath away.
      I pointed to myself. “Cole Secants. I’m Human, from the Commonwealth of Planets.” That was probably too much information, so I pointed again. “Cole”.
      His hand, with three fingers and a long opposable thumb, with four joints each and short claws at the tip, reached from under the cover and he twilled “Treeell’pa dam Llepewel’t” He pointed to his chest: “Treeell’pa.” Pointed to me: “Cole”. His unusual eyes were attractive. The iris was divided into six parts, like pie slices, around a very dark blue pupil. The iris took up the entire visible part of his large eyes. They seemed expressive, although I knew the dangers of reading human emotions on alien faces. Even some of the races evolved from Humans on other planets had different facial expressions. Three of the “pie pieces” in his irises were turning a bright orange, and three were a pale, washed out blue.
      I repeated “Treeell’pa” pointing at him. My crude attempted pronunciation of his name made him smile in obvious humor. I was shocked, but smiled back. In turn, he looked shocked by MY smile. Of all the alien races we had encountered, only those who had evolved from Earth Humans smiled in humor or happiness. The displaying of teeth to other races was a sign of aggression.
      I pointed and said “Smile”, which he repeated, pointing to his. He appeared to be able to make sounds in my range, while I had difficulty reproducing his high, trilling language, so I decided to teach him Commonwealth Basic.
      I approached him with my Med-Pack and he pushed back the sheet. His other arm was swollen, and I could see orange bruises forming on his ribs through the finer blue feathers on his chest with four flat nipples. The Med-Pack gave me results: his arm had multiple fractures and he had seven broken ribs. There were major differences in our biology. His blood was based on copper instead of iron, with hollow bones like Earth avians, and a set of six small extra organs built into his circulatory system which served the function of bone marrow in Earth mammals. 
      The small robot from the Med-Pack set Treeell’pa’s broken arm while I entertained him with my attempts to correctly say his name. Binding his ribs required both of us to cooperate with the med-robot; I had to lift him as he clutched my neck with his one functioning arm. I admit that it was very pleasant. Treeell’pa has a very spicy natural odor which I found exciting. The Med-Pack had not surprising to him. His race must have similar technology. 
      As we did this, I taught him quite a few words of Basic. He also picked up that the raising of the voice was a question. Treeell’pa was a quick learner, and not stupid. I had been with him for a good hour, and we had not seen any of his shipmates.
       He looked me in the eye. “Cole. Llepewel’t no?”
      I looked at him. “Treeell’pa.” I was having a lot of trouble with the rolling, tweeting sound. ”There are no living Llepewel’t on board other than you.” He picked up my meaning. A look of great pain filled his face, and he began to sob. I was astonished. Here was a race with reactions so similar to us, but such different biology. The washed out blue in his eyes now turned a pale lavender. A sentient race with whom Pat and I had made First Contact also had eyes that changed colors their moods, so I was only mildly surprised. Tears ran down my face. Treeell’pa looked up and touched his warm hand to my wet cheek. He made the interrogative sound of his race I had already learned I could not possibly reproduce. “Tears.” I explained. “Cole is crying for Treeell’pa’s sorrow.” He made his questioning sound. “Sorrow is a pain.”
      “Cole is good. Cole is crying for Llepewel’t?”
      “For Llepewel’t, and for you.” pointing at him. I worked on “You” and “Me” while he calmed down. The Med-Pack beeped to inform me that he was in great pain, but could not medicate him, advising I “seek local medical assistance.”
      I pointed to the machine “Med-Pack.” He repeated it. “Llepewel’t Med-Pack for your pain?” 
      “Yes.” I helped him sit up and out of the stasis couch. Helping him stand, his arm went around my shoulder. He had extra ribs between his arms and his wings and head, so although he was at least 8 feet tall, his arm was around my neck. I smiled. Pat had been a redhead of human stock evolved on a low gravity colony. He’d been about the same height, although he had not had wings, of course. Pat was never able to put an arm around my shoulder while standing.
      As we passed the body I had already seen, Treeell’pa’ became upset. I noticed that his eyes were now fully lavender and orange. At the sickbay, Treeell’pa activated a series of invisible buttons, powering everything up. He climbed on a flat surface under scanning lights. As a cover closed down, a field of some sort turned on. I just hoped that this unit hadn’t put the only other sentient being on the planet in stasis.
      Beautiful music unlike any I’ve ever heard began to play, and a sort of recliner appeared from the wall, so I sat. The machine began to scan me. A small door opened next to me, and a pill appeared with an elegant glass of liquid. I used the Med-Pack to scan them. Vitamins, nutrients and minerals with a mild pain reliever and a stimulant, all of them approved by the Med-Pack. The liquid was a sparkling water with some more acceptable stimulants in it. Taking the pill, I sipped the delicious and cold bubbly water. I relaxed and at the same time felt more alert.
      The cover opened with a musical tone. Treeell’pa sat up, and a similar pill and glass of liquid appeared. He smiled at me as he removed the bandages. The machine had repaired him. His eyes were that same lavender, but now with a bright blue.
       Sounds like his speech emanate from the air. Walking over to me, he held my jaw in his hand. I realized he wanted to examine my teeth. Finishing his examination, he put my hand in his jaw. I looked at his teeth; remarkably like ours. Then it dawned on me. He wanted to see if I was an omnivore, like he was. He fed some information into something remarkably like a keyboard, and a clear card popped out.
      My medical record? Our menu? Whatever it was, he placed it in a pouch on his belt.
      Picking up a sheet, I asked if there were “more“, miming another and another. Treeell’pa opened a drawer, pulling out a pile of those thin, silky sheets. I tried to say his name, and it came out “Tree-pa”. Laughing, he pointed to himself, saying with a purring-tone, “Tree-pa for Cole.” He understood my difficulty with saying his name, and was giving me permission to call him “Tree-pa”. The lavender flowed into a rose.
      We each picked up a pile of the very light sheets. Back to the hallway, I walked back to cover the corpse we had passed. He made that interrogative sound. “Cole crying for dead?”
      I said: “Respect for the dead.” knowing he couldn’t understand. I stood up tall and saluted the corpses, then bowed, hoping that gave him the idea. When I turned back, Treeell’pa had tears in his now lavender and deep purple eyes as he placed his arms over his chest and bowed, making a high trill which sent a chill through my spine. A demonstration of his own respect for his dead.
      “Cole is good” He stated, crying.
      “Cole is your friend, Tree-pa.” I relied, my hand on his shoulder,
      In return, he put his hand on my shoulder. “Friend is good. Cole is good friend.” To my shock, he hugged me. His spicy aroma engulfed me like a drug as I hugged him back.
      “Tree-pa is a good new friend”, I murmured as we continued our tour of the wreck. Treeell’pa continued to mourn each shipmate as we found them. His eyes had returned to the bright blue/lavender combination. We saluted them together after I covered each of their bodies. 
      When we arrived in the ruins of the bridge, Treeell’pa shrieked “Raaanna‘tro!” and collapsed on the body there, sobbing. I helped him arrange the mangled body of a blue male of exceeding handsomeness with more dignity. I had seen enough Llepewel’t bodies so that I could tell that this Raaanna‘tro was about the same age as Llepewel’t. He cradled the corpse on his lap, sobbing. I gave him the time he needed, my hand on his shoulder as he mumbled, petting the corpse‘s head. Treeell’pa took an ornate filigree bracelet off the body, putting it on his own wrist, next to an identical one. I understood. This Raaanna‘tro had been his mate. I knelt next to him. I put an arm over my new friend’s shoulder, crying with him. When we had the language to do so, I would tell him the story of Pat‘s death, and we would cry together. I still cried when I thought or dreamt of my lost love.
      Treeell’pa turned, burying his face in my chest, his eyes totally dark lavender. Until then he had been unaware that I was wearing clothing. He continued sobbing, but his hand plucked at my jacket as he made the questioning noise. To show him the truth, I flicked the opening of the front and took it off, leaving on my tight ship-shirt, which showed enough of my bare arms and of my neck and chest to show that it, too, was artificial.  
      Treeell’pa fingered the artificial items and the natural skin, and looked puzzled, but we knew that we didn’t have the language skills for me to explain “clothing”. His eyes slowly changed to lavender and bright green. His sobbing subsided.
      Helping Treeell’pa to his feet, I wondered how to offer to help bury his dead. I had no conception how Llepewel’t disposed of their dead. With an inspiration, I held his hand to lead him gently from the ship. He looked it over, making a noise which sounded like shock and dismay. He put a hand on the ship, speaking, as if saying goodbye to another beloved, old and dead friend.
      I picked up one of the pieces of the ship scattered around on the ground. “Tree-pa?” He turned to me, his eyes bright green and bright blue. I held it up “Dead Human.” Kneeling, I wrapped it in a piece of the used bandaging which I had picked up in the sickbay and stuck in a pocket for possible future use, then buried it slowly in the ground. I stood, looking solemn and took my respectful pose. 
      He walked over to put a hand on my shoulder. “Dead Llepewel’t. Yes.” His bright green eyes flowed to a darker green.
      I opening a storage panel on my land vehicle to remove a vibrato-shovel, then walked over to the shade of a beautiful tree that looked like the painting inside the hatch, and began to dig a trench for a first grave. Treeell’pa went into the ship, returning with a similar implement. We worked together on one deep grave. Although both implements used technology to speed up the digging and pile the dirt neatly, it was still back breaking work. Neither of us were used to physical work, and these were not machines. The appliances just assisted our muscle power and made our work faster. Treeell’pa spicy smell grew stronger; more disturbingly erotic. His eyes had turned to that bright blue and a deep rose color.
      Finishing the first grave, we got the body of the first red female, wrapped her in a second sheet, placing her on an antigrav cart Treeell’pa took from a storage hold. His eyes had returned to lavender/bright blue. I was sure that lavender was grief. Before leaving the ship, we entered a cabin, and he picked up a sort of tri-vid screen, showing the red female with two small yellow bird-people I assumed were her children. A red male who I recognized as one of the other corpses came and played with them. I pointed to the two adults. “Mates?” 
      He gave a flutter of his wings which was his version of nodding “Yes. Mates.” He pointed to their bracelets.
      I decided to try to out my assumption. “Tree-pa and Raaanna‘tro were mates?” 
      “Yes. Treeell’pa mate Raaanna‘tro.” He touched the bracelets with tears running down his handsome cheeks. He turned off the tri-vid. Wrapping it in her shroud, we took her out, gently placed her in the grave. Going back in, we wrapped her mate’s body, placing him in the grave to spend eternity with his love. Treeell’pa began to sing an ornate song which sent chills down my spine. Exceedingly beautiful and at the same time filled with great pain and sorrow, it was their religion’s traditional Dirge. I’m a well trained baritone singer, and I listened carefully to the complex melody. I couldn’t possibly sing that high with him, but I could devise a harmony.

+ + + +

      We worked together to dig another grave, then buried two older blue males together. Treeell’pa began to sing his dirge. He looked pleased as I sang my improvised harmony with him. I was surprised by how much more moving the experience became by participating. Afterwards, with gleaming red eyes, he hugged me, and I Felt his thanks. Our Empathic bond was growing. Was red gratitude?
       Astonished, I pointed to the first grave. Three small birds were standing on it, and flew off when we moved towards them. “Animals.” I said. “Birds” I mimed flying. “Birds fly. Tree-pa fly?” I knew that not all large winged creatures were capable of flight. Since Treeell’pa did not appear to be overly fatigued from our work, I assumed that this planet’s low gravity was not too much different than the one where he evolved. Having had a lover from a low gravity planet who had also been my Explorer partner, I knew the symptoms to look for of gravity fatigue. 
      He stood up and spread his wings. They went from his top shoulders, over 7 feet above the ground, almost to the ground. When fully spread, he had a wingspan of over 12 feet. There were long “fingers” inside the wings which he could use to control the wings. The inside of the wing was multi-color bare skin. There were long feathers on the back of the wings, mostly shades of red. I ran my fingers over the bare skin. It was soft and smooth. He made a sound like a Terran feline purring as I enjoyed the softness of the skin. His eyes were a bright red.
      Treeell’pa made a different noise, gazing down. I looked. A flap on his groin had opened, his erection growing out of it. I was accidentally doing something erotic to him, but he didn’t move away from my stroking fingers. His continued, louder purring indicated that he didn’t want me to stop, so I continued, fascinated by his hard penis. It was at least fourteen inches long, fairly thin with solid looking rings around it every half inch or so. His testicles must have been inside the flap, invisible to me.
      I’d been having a strong erotic reaction to Treeell’pa since we’d met. His spicy smell was sexually arousing. He was the most handsome male I had ever met, of any species, and I felt a kinship if mind and soul unlike anything I’d ever felt. 
      Then I realized why I was feeling that kinship. A candidate for the Explorer Corps has to test above average at Telepathy or Empathy, since these can facilitate First Contact communications. My Telepathy rating is just above 6, barely remarkable. It means that it is possible for me to meet an occasional being who I can bond with and read telepathically. The easiest way for me to create such a bond is through sex. I have had a few sex partners with whom I have had moderately strong telepathic bonds, greatly enhancing our sexual experience, but we had to be in physical contact to Mind-Speak. My lover, Pat, had a very high T-rating, almost a full Telepath. We had shared a very strong T-bond, even when not touching.
      My real strength is in Empathy. My E-rating is high at 67. Not a full Empath, but strong enough for me to know what most humans are feeling if I try. With Treeell’pa, I wasn’t sure which, if either, Skill had been generating this feeling of a bond. My skill is unpredictable with non-humans. I Knew the feelings of those sentient beings with eyes that changed color, while neither Telepathic Pat nor I could read the aliens who slaughtered him. Treeell’pa was probably also Empathic or Telepathic to some degree. As he became magnificently, fully erect, I looked into his gleaming, ruby red eyes, and Knew that he felt that same Kinship. He smiled at me as he had the same Knowledge. 
      Suddenly feeling guilty, I jerked my fingers from his wing-skin. I flapped my arms; I wanted to see him fly. His knees bent almost double, springing into the air with a beat of his wings which almost sent me flying backwards in the downdraft. As I watched him fly above the trees, swooping and gliding, his red body against the greenish sky, joined by a dozen different birds curious about this new neighbor, I fell in love. Totally heads over heals deeply in love for the first time since the death of my Pat. Yes, I fell in love with an alien in mourning for his newly dead lover. I felt like total scum, consumed with shame, but managed to control my emotions. I was smiling when he landed. After all, I was in love with him and didn’t want to hurt my newfound love with a projection of my emotions to an intelligence who was most likely Telepathic.

+ + + +

      When he landed, he was excited. He trilled a word, then mimed drinking from a glass. “Water?” I asked. 
      He pointed towards the trees. “Yes! Water!…and many waters.” He turned, pointing to my ship, then in the direction he had first pointed.
      “As close as my ship?” I began to walk towards the trees, but grabbing my hand, he lead me a few yards towards my ship. There was a break in the trees; a trail. As we walked a few feet, still holding hands, I saw the gleam of the twin suns on the water. 
      “Tree-pa, this was made by animals. Many animals.” He stopped, looking confused. I realized that the only “animal” I had shown him was a bird. I got on all fours and pretended to growl,  “biting” the foliage. He made his laughter sound. “Animals, many animals,” I explained. 
      He agreed. “Yes, many, many animals, Cole.” He dipped into one of his many pouches, taking out what looked like a small scanner. He aimed it at a twig which burst into flames. I reached behind me, took my small blaster from its holster, and did the same. We were armed if a large animal came along and attacked us.
      We came to a lovely spot which I immediately decided would become our new home. We were on the shore of a shallow lake of crystal clear water, which was fed by a waterfall going over a cliff on the other side. A stream ran off to our left which was shallow enough to step over, and did not look like it ever flooded. Beyond it was a low hill, perfect for a house. I scanned the lake. The water was pure except for some useful trace elements, with fish in it I could eat. None looked big enough to be dangerous. There were a lot of boulders around for the foundations of the house and fireplaces. There was sand and clay. The scanner made a beep to inform me of added information. The fish was edible by both me and Treeell’pa, since their blood was based on iron bonded with copper. I had to read that startling result twice.
      Treeell’pa, scanning the lake with his own scanner, looked excited. His eyes turned bright blue/silver-grey. His scanner must have given him the same information. I knelt to scoop up a handful of the cold and sweet water. Treeell’pa slurped water up with his tongue from the lake. One WOULD need a complex and flexible tongue to make the noises for the Llepewel’t language. Watching his tongue in the water gave me a painful erection and forbidden fantasies.

+ + + + +

      Returning to the clearing, we dug another grave, burying another couple. We saw many different birds, but no larger animals. I sang my harmony with the Dirge with more confidence, and afterwards, Treeell’pa gazed at me with his red eyes. It was a serious look I couldn’t read, and it made me vaguely uncomfortable. 
      Just as I was thinking that I was starving, Treeell’pa mimed eating with his hands. Demonstrating my words, I answered: “Yes, I am hungry, too. Let us eat.” I was surprised that it was only afternoon. I hoped that this planet did not have an exceptionally long day, but I realized that I had not noticed the angle of the suns or shadows when I had gone to the other ship. I was concerned about possible survivors, so it might have been not long after dawn, for all I knew. I had not even looked at my wrist-chrono in my rush. I was adjusted to my ship-day, twenty-eight hours, the day length on Pat’s home planet.
      Treeell’pa took me to what was obviously a group toilet. There were no stalls. He showed me how to use the bathroom facilities, which is when I got to closely watch that thick flap of skin guarding his genitals slowly part like lips. Even flaccid that long, thin penis surrounded by slightly closer rings was an amazing and beautiful slab of maleness. He urinated into a beautiful  vessel that flushed when he backed away. I was amazed at how much of this wreck operated, while my ship was basically dead.  Llepewel’t multiple redundancy gave each unit independent backup power units, so sections like the sickbay and toilets operated. Treeell’pa defecated, wiping himself with large, very pleasant scented leaves from a compartment next to the toilet, which also soothed my anal tissues. He washed his hands, then used the sink to wash his face and chest from our labors. He took towels from another compartment. 
      As he sat defecating, Treeell’pa watched in fascination as I opened my pants to take out my own penis to urinate. He seemed confused when I lowered my pants to defecate. His eyes were bright green/olive green. Greens must have something to do with curiosity and knowledge. After he washed his torso, I removed my shirt to wash up. He made his laughter noise. His eyes were rose/bright yellow as he laughed at me. I smiled, glad that I could distract my friend’s sorrow and amuse him by something as simple as stripping to wash up. 
      Llepewel’t took me to a dining room. Treeell’pa took that clear card from the pouch on his belt, and fed it to a slot. Then he hit a number of colored studs with hieroglyphic-like symbols. Two panels opened and each had a tray. Treeell’pa inviting me to sit at the nearest table. He placed one tray in front of me, then got his tray. They were obviously different cooked meals; I smelled meat on his plate. His med-computers must have calculated that I couldn’t digest their meats, but could get nutrition from their vegetables. There was something that looked like bread and a carafe of liquid which contained more sparkling liquid, but this time it had a sweet, fruity taste. My Med-Pack told me it contained a small amount of stimulant, equal to a cup of caffeine per glass. 
      Treeell’pa sat, closed his eyes and began to sing in his beautiful language. I didn’t have to be told that he was giving Thanks for our meal. I hadn’t been raised in any of the religious traditions still practiced on my native Old Terra, but I’d been taught to respect spirituality in the group crèche where I’d been raised. I was glad that he was Thanking Whoever or Whatever he considered his Deity, since I was very grateful for my survival from the Nexus Vortex and surviving the crash on this planet. I was also grateful that I had a new friend as attractive and interesting as Treeell’pa to share this world with me. The melody was beautiful, and much less complex than that of the Dirge. I was sure that the next time he sang it, I could improvise a decent harmony to please him. Ending it, he smiled at me, and I patted his hand, returning the smile. His eyes were a darker rose with that attractive bright blue. We began to eat, hungry from our labor. I had some trouble with the silverware, designed for more complex hands with only four fingers and a longer thumb.
      I wondered how much food there was stored for us, but asking was beyond the limits of our current language exchange. The Computer had assured me before it “died” that some of the vegetation here was edible; we’d found fish edible for us both, and I’d been trained to use my Explorer Pack to survive. There couldn’t be a permanent power source on a ship this badly wrecked. We’d have to find a new home and new food sources eventually.
      While we ate, I thought of the problem of burying Treeell’pa’s mate. When we were done, I took him out to the graves. I pointed to each, saying. “Mate sleeps with mate in grave.” He made that questioning noise, eyes olive green, until I mimed sleeping. 
      He took me to the first bedchamber in the ship, dragging me down to lay next to him, our heads on pillows, eyes bright green. “Sleep?”
      “Sleep.” I confirmed. Getting up, I lead him to the Bridge. Treeell’pa got agitated. “Tree-pa, Raaanna‘tro has no mate to sleep with in ground.” I stated gently.   
      Treeell’pa agreed. “No mate for Raaanna‘tro to sleep in grave.” His eyes were deep lavender/white.
      I said “Let us bury Tree-pa’s mate Raaanna‘tro in a special way.”
      Treeell’pa’s eyes turned totally white as he grabbed my hand. “Raaanna‘tro and Treeell’pa… Raaanna‘tro no mate when dead.” He looked troubled. My Empathy told me it was the language problem that distressed him the most. His eyes turned to black /white. I tried to figure out what he was telling me as we stood there, looking at the body of the handsome male who had been Treeell’pa’s love, the Captain of this beautiful Ship. Then Treeell’pa pointed to a small mattress in a corner, not standard equipment.  “Raaanna‘tro mate to Ship.” Treeell’pa said sadly. His eyes now dark brown/white.
      I suddenly understood. Like many people in powerful roles, Raaanna’tro had become more “married” to his job than his mate. I Felt sure that it was a fairly recent event; perhaps Treeell’pa had been hoping that a reconsolidation could be achieved when they arrived home, which would have explained his extreme grief; a lost chance to save his damaged relationship. After all, Raaanna’tro HAD still been wearing their mating bracelet, so HE might have not considered their bond totally dead, either. It seemed to be a complicated relationship. We had been holding hands as we stood there, and he whispered “Yes.” He had picked up either my thoughts or emotions. Our Kinship was growing. I let go of his hand before he discovered my lust for him. His dark brown/ruby red eyes gazed at me enigmatically.
      Treeell’pa left the bridge, returning with sheets. I helped him wrap his mate, noticing that he did not add any tri-vid. I pointed around us, “Ship grave mate for Raaanna’tro?” 
      Treeell’pa gave me a hug. “Yes. Ship mate of Raaanna’tro. Ship dead. Good grave mates to sleep together.” He pointed to a row of control seats with stasis lids. We carried the body to the Captain‘s seat. Our singing the Dirge was never as moving. Treeell’pa was singing the dirge for his mate, their relationship, and for their Ship. I was singing in support of his grief. Finished, Treeell’pa activated the stasis field. His dead lover was now sealed in a permanent tomb. His eyes were tan/deep purple as we left.
      Treeell’pa now said, obviously weary, “Treeell’pa sleep. Cole sleep.” I was tired from our heavy digging, so a nap was a good idea. I headed towards the ramp to return to my ship when he stopped me, saying “Cole and Treeell’pa friends?” I was Reading panic, and stopped. His eyes were a pale gold I had not seen before with that glowing red I saw so often.
      I didn’t understand at first, then I Realized he did not want to be alone. I said “Yes. Friends. Let us go to sleep, Tree-pa.” The gold faded, and his eyes turned solid red. He took me to his cabin, a pleasantly decorated chamber with it’s own small toilet and a wide bed. I realized he had shared this chamber with his dead lover, although I saw no evidence of Raaanna’tro. Unlike the other private cabins we had entered, there were not any tri-vid pictures on display. There was an abstract forest mural, and an abstract fabric art hanging similar to the hangings in every cabin we had entered. 
      Treeell’pa watched in interest as I stripped off my clothing. I allowed him to examine my naked body, his eyes now dark red. His examination of my reproductive organs gave me an erection; he was fascinated by my retracting foreskin, which he manipulated gently with great interest.  
      I had a vivid reminiscence of my dead lover. Pat had been almost eight feet tall and spectacularly endowed, like Treeell’pa. I remembered how I had felt a bit daunted by Pat’s massive penis before the first time we had sex, even though he was the person with whom I had a strong telepathic link as soon as we met; a sense of immediate Kinship almost as strong as that which I now felt to Treeell’pa. My gentle, giant lover Pat has been a fairly furry pale-skinned redhead, while I was considered below average in height for a Terran at 5’9”, and my Earth ancestry was mostly AmerInd, with a bit of Irish ancestry, which left me with very little body hair, dark, with straight black hair with black eyes. What a sight the two of us had made together when naked!
      Treeell’pa looked at me oddly with ruby eyes while I had these memories. He continued to manipulate the foreskin to the point where I began to drool a great deal of precum , so I ended the inspection, being overly aroused. I nervously pulled my body away from his erotic touch. What do those ruby eyes mean? 
      I went into the toilet to calm down. When I returned, he had climb under the sheet, then joined me. I was a bit uncomfortable at first when he cuddled against my back with his arm over me, but soon, the stresses of the day and all that work made me fall asleep.   

+ + + + +

      I had pleasant, vaguely sexual dreams about “my Tree-pa“. I was glad that I did not have the language to explain a wet dream to Treeell’pa, or the dried mess on the sheets. I later learned that his race also had them, but inside their genital pouch, and that he also had one while we napped, so he understood what had happened to me. 
      At that point he assumed that there were still dead humans in my ship to still deal with, including MY mate, even though his race had met a number of other sentient races who did not spend their lives always in some form of an affectional bond. His erratic mental contacts with me, combined with the fact that I had never resolved my grief and guilt at Pat’s death, so that it always seemed immediate in my mind, had him confused. He thought that I was mourning a very recent death. 
      We are all prisoners of our native cultures, so Treeell’pa assumed my erotic response to him was a need to bond in general, and not specific to him, while I assumed his reaction had been an automatic physical reaction to my touching an erogenous zone combined with a wish for comfort after finding his lover‘s mangled body. 
      I did not yet understand the different kinds of bonding among the Llepewel’t, and knew many races who sent out explorer teams of married couples and groups of such couples for stability. The Llepewel’t, on the other hand, had ONLY met races who sent out exploration teams in bonded couples and groups of couples, like they did. The idea that I might be all alone in my ship had not occurred to Treeell’pa.  

+ + + + + +

      I had glanced at my wrist-chrono before going to bed. I woke up four hours later, very rested. Treeell’pa was not in the room. I went looking for him, expecting to find him with Raaanna‘tro’s body on the bridge, but entered the ship as I passed the open hatch. “Good! Cole no sleep!” Excited, he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the ship, like a child eager to play, his eyes glowing rubies. 
      He was full of restless, nervous energy, seeming to want to be away from his ship, and the graves of his shipmates, so I took him to my ship. There was a smell of early rot in my ship, indicating that one of the freezer units had burst open and some of my meals were spoiling. For some reason, that odor made Treeell’pa very upset. He kept looking up the stairs to the upper level, eyes lavender/brown, and seemed confused that I did not go up there immediately.
      I opened up my Explorer Kit, powering up its independent computer unit, explaining to him: “computer.” Nodding distractedly, he repeated the word. I showed him plans and drawing of long cabins we could build. He seemed only mildly interested. His eyes turned bright green/pale lavender. I wondered what was making him so upset. Leaving him looking at the displays, I took some solar panels outside to store power for my soon to be repaired equipment. When I returned to the ship, I showed Treeell’pa around the small craft. 
      When we got to the galley and found the stinking pile of rotting food sitting in the sun under the rip in the hull, he began to laugh. His eyes turned a very bright yellow, which I realized meant humor. I was confused by his laughter, which approached hysteria. Then he pointed to the stinking pile and gasped out “Cole’s mate?” Then I understood, joining his laughter. Treeell’pa had been upset because he had thought that the stench had been my decaying mate.
      “No mate. I have no mate now. He’s dead.” Treeell’pa stopped laughing, and the yellow began to flow into new colors. I waved my hands behind me, trying to signify the long ago past. But my friend still looked sad, reaching his hand out to pet my cheek in sympathy, his eyes white/lavender. A shock of emotions hit me. I was right that Treeell’pa had either a high Empathic or Telepathic rating which was escalating our communications! I put my hand on HIS cheek, and more emotions flowed, but it was hard to sort them. I felt a pressure in my head which I knew from my Pat was an attempt at Telepathic contact. I tried to open up, but it was like a non-synced SubSpace signal. I didn’t know what the problem was, but we were NOT connecting.
      Cleaning up the rotting mess, we took it out to the wildlife trail, setting up a sensor array to monitor it. I explained to Treeell’pa, “I’m trying to catch some animals. Or at least a tri-vid of them.” He gave his version of nodding. I think that he had caught enough of my thoughts to understand, along with our language lessons.
      We returned to my ship for me to begin work on the Computer Core, explaining “Computer’s computer”. He explored the main level of my ship. All the cabin doors had been open when the ship crashed. In under ten minutes, I successfully powered up the main Computer Core on backup energy. Fortunately, the damage had been minimal. I gave a shout of triumph, and Treeell’pa came running from my cabin, something in his hand. I showed him the Computer display, and he smiled at my excitement.
      “Computer speaks?”

      “Not yet. More work.” But some of my ship’s exterior sensors still worked, and the Computer had logged some information as it fell towards the planet. I showed him its display of our planetary system: our planet had rings tilting slightly off the line of the equator, two small moons and a large moon, and a field of unknown particles surrounded most of the solar system. We saw the dual suns. There was one tiny planet that was very close to the suns, followed by a slightly larger planet than ours with a sulfuric atmosphere, and then our planet. A large gas giant was past us, and another planet about the size of ours was further out. 
      Treeell’pa leaned on my shoulder, bending his spine in ways I was not aware he was capable of doing to get his head down next to mine, fascinated by the lifelike facsimile floating above the display platform.
      He had something in his hand. I took from him a tri-vid frame that must have fallen from a drawer which popped open in the crash. Grimly, I touched the stud, and an image of Pat and me formed. Incredibly, I didn’t feel the stab of pain and guilt that had always washed over me before when looking at it, but I was still sad to see us.  
      “My dead mate, Pat.” I had no way of telling him the story. He took the frame, and looked at the images closely. I felt confused emotional feedback from Treeell’pa. Then he looked at me seriously. “Cole see Pat at sleep time. Treeell’pa see Pat inside Cole.” I looked at him in shock. He HAD picked up the memory I had experienced when he had been manipulating my erection. Treeell’pa had to have a higher Telepathic rating than me. I took the frame from him, turning it off, to return it to my cabin. Closing the door, I expected to cry until I got my emotions under control, but a miracle occurred. I no longer felt that overwhelming sense of guilt at Pat’s murder before my eyes that the counselors at the Explorer Clinic had kept telling me was irrational. I finally accepted that I really DID have no way of stopping those xenophobic aliens who had tricked us into landing on their planet from attacking him. A subsequent team to visit the planet with full Empaths and full Telepaths had been unable to read them, either. For long minutes, I remembered Pat, not with guilt, just sadness that we had not been able to grown old together as we had planned. Then I realized that I hadn’t taught the red-feathered bird-man the word “time”, but he used it, along with other new words, correctly. That Telepathic contact had been more successful for him than it had for me.
      When I returned, Treeell’pa was still looking at the display of our solar system. He looked up at me, distressed. His eyes were bight red/lavender. I was totally at a loss as to what the red meant, but I thought that the lavender was his expression of grief at upsetting me. I smiled at him. “Tree-pa. You did nothing wrong.” He looked confused “Wrong is not-good. Tree-pa is my good friend.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go.” I lead him from my ship. Since it was basically dead, burying the rest of Treeell’pa’s crew was more important. I had already set the computer to do auto-diagnostics of all ship systems, and that might take hours.
      I picked up my shovel, and silently, Treeell’pa picked up his. I would feel better burying the last two couples before we had dinner and slept, and he seemed to have the same idea. We worked silently in the rapidly cooling air. I got my shirt and jacket from his Ship. Soon he was digging next to me, and his increasing spicy odor had me uncomfortably hard.   
      We buried the last two couples. The last couple were two females. Treeell’pa showed me the tri-vid from their room, and it was basically the same one from the two blue males we had just buried. The two females were there with two sets of juveniles. The larger two were beginning to show some signs of red on their yellow feathers. Then the two males had joined them. The previous tri-vid had been the two males with same youngsters, and they had been joined by the females. The same house with the same garden with a singular, flowering tree hanging over the house was in the background of them both. I looked at the second tri-vid, realizing what the two tri-vids meant. Although each same-sex couple was bonded as love-mates, they had children with the love-bonded same-sex couple of the opposite sex, together forming a family unit. We sang the Dirge for the last time for the last couple.  I felt like we were singing for a family.
      I wondered if Treeell’pa and Raaanna‘tro had children. I hoped so. Before he died, Pat and I had discussed having children together by fertilizing eggs from the same donor with our sperm. He was of human stock so it was possible, but his planet did not require a sperm donation before a citizen went off-planet like my native Terra did, so he had never frozen any. Therefore I was unable to create his child for him after his tragic, early death. I felt sad for Pat and our failed plan for a family.
      I caught Treeell’pa giving me that odd look again. I just said “I’m very hungry, Tree-pa. Are you?”
      He tilted his head, making his inquisitive noise. He knew that I was changing a subject. Did he have even stronger Telepathic powers than I suspected? Mind-Speech usually required physical contact, and we’d failed to make a solid, direct connection when he tried in my ship while touching. “Yes, Cole. I am hungry. Let’s eat.” He nodded like a human, instead of his wing-rustling. It was my turn to give him an odd look. He wasn’t just learning my language, but adopting my body-language.
      Then the light grew brighter.
      We turned to look. The large moon had begun to raise slowly from the lake. As we held hands, we watched it grow. The beautiful moon appeared to be full as the sky turned a darker green. 
      I set a unit from my ship to record light levels and determine the length of our days, something my Computer had not yet been able to calculate. While I was doing that, Treeell’pa took our shovels into his ship, returning with an armful of closed tripods with a unit on top. He set one up next to the ship’s hull, and then ran a connected wire tight to the next spot, where he set up another. He saw me watching him. “No animals in graves.” he explained. This would create a protective perimeter of some sort. I had him show me what to do, and started from the other side of the ramp, including my vehicle. The “wire” was just a silky string, with no function except to measure the correct distance while showing us where the force field was, so we would not walk into it. It glowed slightly when the field was activated. He showed me how to turn a unit off and on, in case I wanted to go back to my ship.
      A second moon, smaller and moving faster than the first moon, rose into the now dark sky, moving behind the first. At first, few visible stars were visible due to the moonslight, but the two of us stood there, holding hands again, watching the strange moons. The larger moon moved high enough in the sky for us to see a something which horrified me. Treeell’pa reacted with similar dismay. There, distant and small, was the Milky Way Galaxy. We were at the edge of another galaxy! 
      From Treeell’pa’s reaction, his race had not yet conquered intergalactic travel, either, and was from another star in my galaxy. He pointed further to the Galactic Core than the area occupied and explored by our Commonwealth, still basically restricted to the arm where humanity evolved. I pointed to the two ends, miming my confusion. 
      “Cole and Treeell’pa… no…” He didn’t have the language, but I understood.
      “We are alone and lost, my friend. No human or Llepewel’t will ever find us.” I think he could heard the fear in my voice, because he reached out and ran his hand over my cheek a few times. I put my hand on his, and squeezed it in gratitude. At least I was not alone on this world. I had the best companion I could imagine. I lead him back to his ship, my arm around his shoulder.
      Inside, we went to the toilet, and washed. While I urinated, I noticed Treeell’pa staring at my penis with ruby eyes. I suppressed my sexual feeling for my friend, knowing his Telepathic powers and my apparent accidental Empathic projections. I focus on my hunger for food, hoping that he won‘t realize that it is also my sexual hunger as I shoved a reviving erection back in my pants.
      We sat down to eat. Treeell’pa was pleased when I sang an excellent harmony to his Grace. We ate the same meal this time, a big pot of spicy vegetable stew with basket full of sweet-rolls, and two options of drinks. One was a sparking water with a different fruit taste, while the second drink had a mild amount of alcohol in it. Since Treeell’pa was having a glass, I joined him. I found the one glass quite relaxing after the stresses and shocks of that day. For the rest of the meal, I drank the fruity water, which I liked. The set of human silverware I had brought with me made eating easier.
      After the meal, Treeell’pa put the trays in their disposal slot, but kept the large carafe of the alcoholic drink and two glasses out. We went back outside to sit on the freight bed of my vehicle and watch the big moon continue to raise slowly as the smaller moon sped past it as we drank. The third moon, also small, now rose slowly from beyond the lake. We watched, drinking another glass of the unknown alcoholic drink, Treeell’pa’s arm over my shoulder. I leaned my head on his shoulder, repressing my overwhelming sexual desires. I concentrated on my memories of Pat, and began to cry. It wasn‘t Pat which made me cry, but my frustrated sexual need for the male holding me. “Cole?” Treeell’pa said in concern, pulling away.
      “I’m tired, that’s all. Let’s go to sleep, Tree-pa.” His red eyes looked at me in concern. “No problem, Tree-pa. Tired, so I had memories of Pat, so I got sad.“  He nodded “human-style“, but I had a Feeling he knew I was lying to him. I quickly drank another glass of his booze. If I was drunk enough, I’d pass out and he wouldn’t realize my yearning for his body and more important, for his love. 

+ + + + +

      We returned to the cabin and washed for bed. I climbed into our bed; Treeell’pa after me. “How do human males mate, Cole?” He purred, his eyes the darkest red yet.
      I wanted to show him, but revolted at being used as a replacement for his dead lover to fill his grief. “I am not Raaanna’tro, Tree-pa.” I whispered.
      Treeell’pa laughed, “No, you’re not Raaanna’tro, you’re Cole, human. I know you’re Cole. I want Cole as my mate. Or do you not want Treeell’pa for mate?” He ran his hand over my cheek, purring like he did when I caused him to get an erection. A sexual sound?
      “Oh, yes, I want to be mates with you, Tree-pa, since I met you!” I grabbed his hand on my cheek, experiencing a shock of emotion and lust. 
      “I want to be your mate since we meet.”, purred Treeell’pa. “I think I know problem. Is more than one meaning for mate?”
      “You ARE reading my mind better.” I smiled.
      “Yes. More strong all time. But you not strong to read me, so you feel hurt on your ship.”
      “Confused.” I corrected. “Your power to read minds is stronger than mine, so it is more one way?” He nodded. “’Mate’ IS a confusing word. It means the act of producing children.” He nodded. “It means the act of sex, for producing children or for fun.” Again he nodded, and this time gave that sexy purr. “That sex meaning is also called ‘lust’, which is what I first felt for you, but it grew to the best meaning of ’mate’. To BE mates; to be in love with each other. An emotional and spiritual connection.”
      He purred sexily, “Later I want to learn how human males make lust-sex together, because you make me feel that, since I see you in door to stasis room. Even in pain, I had lust for you. But quickly, I wanted that bigger mating. But I want to know if that is the mating you want with me. I love you, Cole Secants.” 
      I put my hand on his cheek, tears of joy in my eyes. “Are you sure you know what you are saying, Treeell’pa?”
      “No, Cole, call me by your love name for me. Tree-pa. It means “sweet child” in our language.”
      I laughed. “No wonder you were so happy when I called you that. Well, my Sweet Child, you avoided my question. Do you know what it means when you say ‘I love you‘? Because I love you, too, my Tree-pa.”
      I heard his Voice in my head, “It means I want to be with you until I die, that I want to be Bound to you even after death, the way Pat is Forever-Bound in your soul. We Llepewel’t know that it is a truth that a soul can love more than one soul, and also that love goes on forever. ‘Love‘ was a word I understood immediately, without using Mind-Speech.”
      I Thought. “We can Mind-speak now! No more clumsy language!” I Felt a problem. “What’s wrong, my love?”
      “It WILL be a little easier once we Love-Bond-Mate. And even easier once we learn how to have sex together.” As his hand wrapped around my hardness, I felt his long hard prod against me. “Which I obviously want very much, later, when we are ready. Even then, long periods of Mind-Speech takes much energy, which is why I said sex will be later. By the time we finish our Love-Bonding, I will be too tired to enjoy sex. A good part of tomorrow I shall need to just sleep and eat, while you make your Computer speak.”
      I spoke aloud. “Why is my making the Computer speak so important, Tree-pa?”
      “I am ship’s lingua… linguist. Can learn Basic fast, so together we can speak, less strain on me. Mind-speak when sexing easier, but no can sexing all time.” He gave me a mischievous grin.
      “No, we can’t have sex all the time, even if that’s what you make me feel like doing. Tree-pa, does the red in your eyes mean love?”
      “Lust AND love. Is primitive, so not make…” Treeell’pa stretched his hands apart, like pulling apart something.
      “I understand. It’s biological, so cannot make a distinction between the emotion ‘love’ and the physical need, ‘lust‘. Your body reacts to love with lust. So does ours. So any shade of red is different degrees of lust and love?” I Sent him my memory of him in the Sick Bay, eyes bright blue and rose.
      He laughed. “You miss when I first see you, and eyes pain orange and deep lust red! I control self fast. Forgot you not know.” We both laughed. 
      We lay there, gazing into each other‘s eyes. I gently held his head and kissed his lips. My tongue licked his thick lips, and they opened. The Llepewel’t must not have been strangers to passionate kissing, because that wonderful tongue entered my mouth and wrapped itself around mine. It was exquisite! I had never felt anything like it before. I knew that Treeell’pa was enjoying it, because his purring returned, very loud.
      Treeell’pa pushed me away gently. “That VERY nice, Cole. But too much lust. We must concentrate on Love-Bonding.”
      “When did your lust become love, Tree-pa?”
      “Slowly. I think it is that way with most thinking creatures.” I nodded my agreement. “First time was when you cry for my pain that all Llepewel’t were dead. More love came when you called me ‘Tree-pa’ by accident. I knew you didn’t know meaning, but it seemed special and funny. Then you sang the Dirge with me for dead Llepewel’t you didn’t know, only because they were MY friends. Total love when you work so hard to find special way to honor Raaanna’tro, who you think your rival for my love. Yes, Cole, I knew you lusted me and loved me, both, when we held hands to walk to waters. Still, you want to honor Raaanna’tro, who you thought my mate. Then I fell in love with you to be my Always-Mate.”
      I stroked his cheek. “I felt lust when I first saw you. You’re the most handsome male I ever saw, of any species. Then I smelled you. Your body odor makes me feel lust, and when it gets stronger, it can drive me wild. I almost attacked you while we dug the graves.” I sent a quick Mind-Picture of me raping him, mounting him from the rear as he squawked in horrified shock. Laughing, he sent an image of HIM mounting ME from the rear in the toilet, but I was smiling. Interesting: we had both visualized anal sex. I didn’t think I had much to teach him about “sexing“. “But I totally fell in love with you watching you fly, but I felt bad about loving you.”
      “Why? Love is a good thing.”
      “Because of Raaanna’tro. Your mate had just died. You hadn’t told me he was no longer your mate.”
      “Was and was not. We have yet another meaning for that word, which I explain when your computer speaking and I learn Basic.”
      “Tree-pa, I can’t read thoughts well, but I CAN read feelings. You felt panic when I wanted to leave the ship to sleep. You feared sleeping alone. Every tri-vids showed two children of the same age. Are the Llepewel’t born in pairs, so you must sleep in pairs?” 
      “Yes. We Bond-mate so we are never alone. Sex is important in that bond, not love. Raaanna’tro was my Bond-mate, not my Love-Bond-mate. I upset he dead for confusing reasons.”
      “Tree-pa? I handled all the Llepewel’t corpses. Raaanna’tro was almost as handsome as you. But I didn’t react to their odor the way I react to yours…”
      He Mind-Spoke: “You said my smell made you lust, but I got distracted by those funny Mind-Pictures. Cole, all my life, other Llepewel’t complained of my alien body odor. Yet that’s the odor that makes the one human who I meet and love lust for me.” He climbed from bed to get a decorated wooden box that looked ancient, with a top that didn’t match. “This is a twill’s, one of the first utensils Llepewel’t made, a vacuum box with a sealing top for food storage. This one is over 1000 of our years old. All of them were hand made, no two alike.”
      “Why is the top so different than the bottom?” 
      “The sets often got separated, and if you own a bottom, it is hard to find a matching top. But then suddenly you find one. There’s a saying: ’Every twill’s has a top; it just may not look like it will fit right.’ It means…”
      “That there is a True-mate for everyone, even if they don’t look like your Dream-Mate.” He looked at me in surprise. “I had a teacher as a child who had a similar saying ‘Every cooking pot has it’s lid.’ On my planet, his teaching that an alien might be our True Love wasn’t viewed kindly.”
      “Why? You’re race travels to meet other races. It spawned other ones, like Pat’s, true?”  
      “Yes, but Terra was the original home of the Humans. In the last few centuries, many Terran Humans have become overly proud of this; obsessed with preserving the ‘genetic purity of Terran humanity‘. I couldn’t leave the planet until I left a large amount of frozen sperm for the Government to use with frozen eggs from females who had also left to ’preserve’ the so called ‘pure race’. It’s one of the few things I don’t like about my home planet.”
      “Although we will probably never leave this place, how would your planet and family greet me as your mate?”
      “I don’t actually have a family, being created from frozen sperm and eggs. The planet can afford to be tolerant of mixed matings; they have my ‘pure’ sperm to breed as they wish.“ I Felt his sympathy, “Tree-pa, I had a very big family at the crèche where I was raised: many other children, all biologically related. There were five others who had the same two parents as me: my true siblings.”
      He spoke: “Cole, I’m very tired from Mind-Speech. Hold me as I a little sleep.”
      I gave him a gentle kiss. “Sleep, my love.” He waved his hand to dim the lights, then lay down. My handsome, sexy Tree-pa loved me! I lay next to him, watching him sleep. It no longer mattered that we were lost. We had each other and our love. Exhausted, I drifted off to sleep.

+ + + + +

      I woke up in a dark room, smelling food. A light, warm blanket was over me. Waving my hand, the light grew. Treeell’pa was pushing an antigrav cart through the door.
      I poured cups of the steaming drink, which smelled delicious. There was a basket of assorted fruit with chunks of cheese. I sipped the spicy, sweet drink. The fruit was marvelous, but the cheese was their first food I had not liked. It was sour and salty. Treeell’pa laughed. “I don’t like much either. From a colony planet; good energy for us.” He made a face after he ate a few of them. “Good for us, but bad taste!” We laughed.
      There was a modern twill’s full of warm buns stuffed with a variety of items; jams, beans, vegetables and a sweet cheese. I enjoyed the surprises. I Felt Treeell’pa’s surprise that I was no longer scanning the food. “Tree-pa, your med-center scanned me. You and your ship would not feed me any dangerous food. I love you, so I trust you.” We ate together hungrily. My use of Mind-Speak had drained me, too. “Tree-pa, why are you not wearing your old mating bracelets? We could exchange those.”
      He Mind-Spoke to me. “They’re the wrong kind of Link. They’re not solid metal Forever-Love-Bond-Links, but open work Short-Bond-Links. I’ve made us the correct kind of Link, since you want the Forever-Love-Bond that I do. Let me show them to you.” He grinned. “I never wore one before, but have waited all my life to meet the male I would finish one for.”
      He opened the top of his twill’s. “I made the basic Links years ago, hoping to find my True-Love. While you slept, I added the gems from our storage room. Gems are only for Forever-Love-Bond Link bands.” 
      He handed me two bracelets; hinged bands of beautiful, ornately engraved solid greenish metal. The clasp was made of four gemstones, identical on both band. One gem was red; the opposite one was bright blue. The other two gems were bright green and lavender. There was a blank spot in the center of each clasp.
      “The red is for lust and love?” He nodded. “The blue?”
      “The color of health and wholeness, since we complete each other.” I agreed. “The green is for knowledge. We are different enough that we will spend the rest of our lives learning about each other.” 
      “True, my love, but lavender is grief. Why lavender, Tree-pa?”
      “My sadness that no other sentient being than us shall ever know about the joy we have found in each other.” I leaned forward to kiss him. As our kiss grew deeper, I Felt worry and drew back.
       “What is wrong, Tree-pa? I can Read your Anxiety.”
      “Cole, there is a Ceremony which will make us One. But I must tell you something. You dreamt about Pat‘s death while we slept. Why have you never told anyone that you were Mind-Linked with him when he died, experiencing his death?”
      “My Telepathy is so weak, they wouldn’t believe me.”
      “Cole, you know that they suspected it. I Saw in your dream that you Knew that they never forced you to have a new partner because you experiencing Pat’s death. Didn’t you realize that your counselors were Telepaths? I found Traces of them in your mind.” I was shaken. 
      “Cole, if we have our Binding Ceremony, the Creator will make us permanently Mind-Linked. We WILL experience one another’s deaths. Among my people, when a couple are Mind-Linked, and one is terminally ill, they have a feast to celebrate their love and life with family and friends, then take Long-Sleep drug together, so they will not feel each other’s end. But my med-center tells me Long-Sleep would not work for your biology. If I die first, you WILL suffer my death the way you did Pat’s. So I must ask you to think hard, Cole: are you ready to do this thing with me and risk suffering this once more?”
      “I don’t have to think about it. I don’t fear that, Tree-pa, as long as I can have my happy days loving you fully. Even just one happy day with you would be worth that pain, my Tree-pa. I’m not saying it isn’t a fearful thing, but I know only one Truth; I love you and need to be Bound to you Forever. I can’t let fear of a pain I know I can survive, having already survived it, prevent me from having a life of happiness with you.”
      I Felt a wash of joy from him, as he let the fear he had been masking go. Picking up the Link bands, he sealed a large gem in the center space of each clasp with a tool. It was a color I had never seen in his eyes, a deep teal. “What does that color mean, Tree-pa? I haven’t seen it in your eyes before.”
      “I’ve never seen it my own eyes, ever. It’s the color of the Forever-Love-Bond. If you’re ready for the Ceremony, let’s go to the Bond Shrine.” Handing me the Link bands, he lead me deeper into the ship, to a small room with some pews facing a platform with an altar-like table. In front of the table were two large cushions. A beautiful large woven wall hanging was on the front wall. Treeell’pa took two elaborate cups on a tray from an alcove in the wall as exquisite music began to play. “There will be no friends to witness our becoming One, other than the all-seeing Creator. But that is the only Witness we need, Cole Secants, my True-Love.” 
      He placed the tray between the cushions, telling me to put the bands on two spaces next to the cups. As we sat on the cushions, I saw my Scanner on the floor. “This is the Holy Bonding Wine. It will make our Telepathic bond form easier, but is not totally necessary. My med-center says it is safe for you, but I would feel better if you checked it, too.” 
      I scanned it. “Wine made from a fruit. Totally safe for me, but it might be reactive with my psychic Talents. Let us have our Binding Ceremony, and become One, Forever.”
      Treeell’pa began a chant. It was pleasant, and I quickly realized that the simple melody was repetitive. The third time he started the melody, I added a harmony, making him smile. He opened the Link Bands. Handing one to me as he ended the chant, he held out his arm. “Do you wish to Bind yourself to me forever, Cole Secants? In Love, Life, Joy and after Death?”
      “I do.” I sealed the Link on him. “Do you wish to Bind yourself to me forever, Treeell’pa dam Llepewel’t? In Love, Life, Joy and after Death?”
      He twittered as he sealed the Link’s clasp on my wrist. He picked up a cup. “In the Presence of the Creator of All, I seal you to me forever, Cole Secants.” He held it out to me to drink.
      “In the Presence of the Creator of All, I seal you to me forever, Treeell’pa dam Llepewel’t.” I held the other cup out for him to drink as I began to feel his mind Merge with mine. Closing my eyes. I had a Vision: our sons came to save us from this place with aliens. “Tree-pa, do you have any children?”
      His eyes were Love-Bonded-Teal. “I fathered sons just before Raaanna‘tro became my bond-mate, when I was with my former bond-mate. Two females bond-mates were ready to breed, and we assisted them. Why?”
      “I have some precognitive powers, and the Binding Wine gave me a Vision.” I Mind-Shared it with him. 
      “Cole, my children are small juveniles. You saw adults. If it’s true, we won’t be rescued for at least twenty years.”
      “It felt like it would be soon, but I’ve been wrong before. I don’t know of having any sons. Well, it means that we survive here that long.” We left the Bond Shrine, leaving his old Bond-Links on the altar. 
      With one thought, we returned to bed. Too tired to fully explore our sexuality, we kissed as we manipulated each other’s manhood. The rings on his prong were the sensitive areas, and he rapidly found out the areas of my dick that drove me wild. Mind-Linked, we shared a tremendous mutual orgasm as our tongues were joined in our mouths, then drifted off to sleep, happy.

 + + + + + 

      I slept, waking totally rested but alone. I was aware of our Mind-Link as a presence which woke me. I felt his excitement. “Cole! Come outside and see.” I dressed quickly and ran toward the hatch. Treeell’pa grabbed my hand as I ran out of the ship. His eyes were emerald green/Forever-Bonding-Teal. 

      Above my shipwreck, I thought I saw dawn. It rose higher in the sky. It was the planet’s rings! They glinted in the invisible sunlight. We must be just a little bit off the equator to be able to see it at all. The angle of the rings caused them to slowly slip below the horizon just as the suns began to rise from the lake at dawn, making the very dark green sky with its few stars to start to fade back to the green-tinged blue sky I was getting used to. A few puffy greenish clouds were in the sky. We were still holding hands. I was happy. What a beautiful planet to be stranded on with my Forever-Love-Bonded mate.  
      “Is good. Yes, Cole?” Treeell’pa smiled at me. “Eat?”
      “Yes, I AM hungry.” He caught my double meaning, and purred. We returned to the dining room with a language lesson about the beautiful rings. We sang Grace, then ate fresh fruit, a nice tangy cheese and sweet-rolls, with a different sort of sweet hot drink which tasted like chocolate with cinnamon. The Llepewel’t seemed to have a racial sweet tooth.
      “No, my own tastes, although Llepewel’t ARE pretty fond of sweet. If you don’t like it, Cole…” I had to remember that it was easier to read my thoughts now thanks to our Bond. 
      “I prefer sweet, too, but sometime other tastes are nice, like the variety in the buns last night. But not that sour, salty Colony cheese!” He laughed at the face I made. 
      “I’m told it’s acquired taste. Not sure I want to acquire it.” He looked fatigued. 
      “Do you need to sleep more?” 
      “Yes. I only woke to feed my FOOD hunger.” he purred sexily to my laughter. He handed me two small items. “Communicators. One for you and one for your Computer to examine to add self to circuit, so it can call us when can speak. We always Mind-Linked, but communication at distance difficult even for Llepewel’t. Call me on it when Computer speaks.” I kissed him and left for my ship. The rotten food was still there.
      First I changed my clothes, dressing all in red. Reactivating the AI Core was simple. Soon I heard: “A thousand apologies, Cole Sama, for failing to reboot.”
      I chuckled. “Welcome back, Computer San. Ship records will show the reasons your fail safes closed you down. I’m not alone on this planet. There was one survivor of the other ship, with whom I have made a Forever-Love-Bond in his native Ceremony. So I ask you to speak simplified Commonwealth Basic to not confuse him. You’ll be instructing Treeell’pa, a linguist for his race, the Llepewel’t, in Basic. He’s a Telepath, but Mind-Speech is fatiguing for us both.”
      “Felicitations upon your Mating Ritual, Cole Sama. I’ll revert to Simple Basic immediately. Cole, I suggest first you repair the Sub-Space array. Damage is minimal.”
      “Computer, we’re not in our Galaxy…”
      “I know. Perhaps a sentient space-traveling race in THIS Galaxy is nearby. I’ve sent servomechs to repair our scanner array and the Sub-Space mast on the hull while you work on the interior circuits.”
      “What is wrong?” Tree-pa Mind-Spoke. 
      “Nothing. The Computer speaks. He is busy at the moment, so I let you rest.” He was headed to the ship.  
      I introduced Treeell’pa to the Computer. He tested his knowledge of Basic, then began to show him a child’s textbook on a display in my cabin. The Computer dissected the communicator, and soon spoke through it. “Our technologies aren’t that different.”
      “They have antigrav carts. None of our races have that capability“.
      “But they use Power Crystals, and I was able to link with the communicators easily. You may be able to use the solar arrays to power essential services on his ship. Treeell’pa says that he’s not a technician, so I’ll have to send a servomech later to explore.”
      I worked on the Sub-Space until the Computer informed me that he was receiving a signal he was unable to translate. I had him transmit First Contact Messages with Emergency Messages. Tree-pa worked to his language lessons until lunch time, while I sorted the hold. The Computer reported remarkable progress. 
      After Grace, we ate a stew which was supplemented by nutrition bars from my ship. Of the six varieties, Tree-pa could digest four. He loved the two which were sweet. I ate the two varieties he couldn’t eat. We agreed to catch fish for dinner. After the meal, we were ready for some sex and a nap. The Llepewel’t had evolved on a planet with a very cold nights and a very hot noon, so their natural cycle is to sleep twice a day, retreating from the extremes into caves, then homes. 

+ + + + +

      We had just entered our cabin to have our first real sexual experience when the Computer signaled urgently. “Alert. Four Starships of the same configuration as the one that sent out the two drones in the Nexus Vortex have materialized in orbit around the planet with a Llepewel’t ship and a Commonwealth Explorer Corps ship. I am receiving signals from the Llepewel’t and Commonwealth ships. I responded that the survivors, one of each race, were having a meal in the other ship, and I am notifying you to return. The Llepewel’t ship hailed me in Commonwealth Basic!”
      Running to my ship, we sat in the two seats in my Bridge, as the Computer activated the Communications Viewscreens. I felt shock from Tree-pa. The human looked vaguely familiar. The Llepewel’t spoke first, using Basic. “Greetings, Treeell’pa. Our new friends, the Xc’Qqall, have brought me and my human partner, Palos Secants, to rescue you.” Secants? He wasn’t one of my siblings.
      Tree-pa stammered in shock, “Tresama’kap? How can that be you? You’re just a child. Cole Secants, my Forever-Life-Mate, meet my son, miraculously an adult.”
      Tresama’kap laughed. “Felicitations, my father’s Forever-Mate, Cole Secants. Father, the Xc’Qqall don’t view time in a totally linear fashion, and the Vortex can send ships through time. You saw one of their Exploration ships in the Vortex. You accidentally traveled into the future, and it took the Xc’Qqall some time to get around to going to the Commonwealth and us to report the accident. It also took them some time to find you. They have teleportation, so we can now move between planets instantly once a Field Gate is established. The Xc’Qqall have united our Commonwealths.”
      I was half listening, staring at the human. He had my features, but redheaded. “Palos, are you my son?”
      “Yes, sir. After you disappeared into the Vortex, the Terran Government memorialized you with twenty children. In honor of your dead partner Pat, half were with the eggs of redheaded women, or redheaded volunteers, with a gene-twist to guarantee redheads. Your Explorer Corps friend, Sarai Pirelli, is my mother. We were all given your Surname. When the Xc’Qqall found you,  Tresama’kap and I asked as members of the Explorer Corps seek your ship out with his father‘s. You two are the only survivors, Father?” He smiled shyly.
      I thrilled to hear that word. “Unfortunately, yes, son. How is Sarai? Is she still with Xetalli?”
      “Yes. Both my mothers send their love.”
      “Tree-pa, Xetalli is a non-human life-partner of a Terran. She’s not even a mammal.” I explained to my son. “Tree-pa was worried about how we would be accepted on Terra as my mate.”   
      Tresama’kap laughed at my nickname for his father. I saw the distinctive unfocused eyes as Telepathic communication took place between them, then my son laughed.  I had a Hunch. At my thought, we held up our Link bands, gems gleaming. Our sons held up THEIR Forever-Love-Bond Link bands in their screens, Tresama’kap’s eyes Forever-Bond-Teal. 
      Tresama’kap spoke: “When I transported to the Explorer Corps Base for training, Palos and I felt an immediate bond. We decided on a Forever-Bond the next day, before we ever had sex. We’re currently in separate ships, but the Xc’Qqall transporters allow us to be together instantaneously. We’ll land to set up a Field Gate. The Xc’Qqall aren’t oxygen based, so they’d need to wear space suits. They found you yesterday when they came to explore the next planet to the sun as a possible colony.”

+ + + + +

      We watched our sons land their ships, for a joyous “reunion“. As they worked to set up the Field Gate, I said, “This entire time travel thing is very confusing. We’ve only been here two days. It seems deciding to Bond quickly, before having sex, runs in our families, sons. You arrival interrupted our first real session of sex.”
      Amazingly, we Read their upset thoughts, so we calmed them down by the shock of hearing their fathers’ Mind-Speech as we both thought together: “We have a long time to make love now, sons. Right now, I would just like a nice long bath.”

+ + + + +

©2010 - Ike Rose