Featherlight (23 page)

I shoved him as hard as I could
while still laughing, but he caught my wrists in his right hand and kept
tickling me with his left.

“Say mercy,” he growled.

“Never!” I shouted, managing to
free my legs.

I propelled myself off the back
of the couch with a swoop of my wings. Our eyes locked, and I realized my
mistake. Never look John in the eye while he’s in a flirty mood unless you were
asking to be chased. I instinctively spun around and sprinted to the safety down
the hallway. I had just passed through a door when I felt John’s presence
directly behind me.

Way too late, I realized that I
was out of the frying pan and into the fire. The room I had entered was the
cabin’s master bedroom. Dark mahogany furniture and a dark rug gave the room a
masculine feel. Forget a frying pan and fire, because I was now in the lion’s
den. After realizing my mistake I tried to backpedal, but John scooped me under
him with his right arm and used his wings to glide us onto the bed. Go figure.

Of course he would plan tackle
me so that we would land in a location that left both of us thinking about
things that we shouldn’t be thinking about. What great strategic planning,
John. You won this battle.

Struggling did absolutely
nothing but get me out of breath. I soon realized that trying to escape was
futile. Every inch of my body was being held down by his while golden wings
covered both of us like a smothering canopy. I knew that I had about 10 seconds
of sanity left before the chase ended and not-so-sane thoughts and desires
began.

He leaned down to murmur, “You
need to learn how to resist, little foli
.
”

I turned my head away from his
dangerous lips. Those words sent shivers down my body.

I tried to gain control of
myself with rational words, “You enjoy teaching me how to resist because every
time you catch me it’s like getting an orgasm!”

“Do you not enjoy it?”

“That’s… not the point!” I
sputtered. A blush crept up my face and made me even angrier.

The pre-chase was coming to a
close, and it felt like a ticking time bomb.

“Shhh…” He shushed my mouth
with his own just as pleasure exploded through me.

The ‘shhh’ stirred a faint
memory, but I didn’t care. A moaned escaped my lips, and John used the chance
to delve deeper inside me with his tongue. My hands reached around to trace the
tops of his wings and I felt him shudder. My body continued to pulse with bliss
from the chase and soon began pulsing with another need. John grabbed the
zipper on my outfit and yanked it down in one smooth motion. He leaned down and
pressed a light kiss on my neck.

I remembered that memory now.
My father had said the same ‘shhh’ to me 13 years ago before he bound my hands
and feet.

“Stop… stop! Stop! Stop!” I
pushed at his chest as hard as I could, and he immediately moved off me. “I
don’t even know you.”

“Jacque… It doesn’t work like
that here.”

“What, so you just have sex
with any girl you’ve known only a couple weeks?” I was so thankful that the
loathsome memory of my father came up when it did, otherwise I might have done
something extremely stupid.

“This,” he gestured to me, “is
permanent. We love one person and
only
one person. I know you may not
completely understand, but just know that I am not the kind of man that would
do something with you and then move on to a different person. I can’t be that
kind of man because I was not born that way.”

I glanced down to avoid the
intensity of his gaze and remembered that my outfit was unzipped down to my
belly button. Nothing was showing, but I still blushed crimson.

John reached over and zipped it
up as smoothly as he had unzipped it. He stood up and offered his hand. I slowly
took it and he pulled me off the bed.

His voice softened as he said,
“We are a perfect match, Jacqueline. I know you feel it, and I will wait for
you to acknowledge that fact.”

How did I know he wasn’t just
saying that because I was a folium? How did he know we were a match? Sure, John
has had more experience with this sorta thing, but could I trust him?

No. You could never trust a
man. That was one of the few things my had father taught me.

In response, I placed all of my
emotions inside a steel box and said, “Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”

I can honestly say that it was
the best cha I’ve ever had.

Part XXI

Just resist long enough to
break his gaze, Jacque.
I had to do it this time.

Fortunately, the cha last night
tasted superb. Unfortunately, I was too insecure to even look in John’s general
direction. Memories of my father kept surfacing and swirling around my head in
a sickening cacophony. Until yesterday, I hadn’t even known that a kiss could
be pleasurable. Well, I knew that sex was supposed to feel good, but I didn’t
know that there were also these electric sensations and everything.

After becoming a confused mess
during supper, I had immediately gone to bed. This morning, I woke up with the
burning desire to finally accomplish something. I needed to get out of this
testosterone-filled cabin and face the public. The night alone let me sketch
out a simple plan to help my humans, and I was simply itching to begin.

I had a routine at Jane's home.
Now I felt lost all over again, and this new world was really starting to hit
me. I was no longer caught up in the frenzy of a new life and a new place, and
I was now able to view the consequences with a solid perspective.

So much depended on this
resistance. I would not have another ‘moment’ with John until I gained control
of my emotions. Full of angry determination, I marched out of my bedroom and
met him in the living room.

He was gazing into the woods,
deep in thought. “Good morning, Jacque. I am sorry about yesterday.”

I deflated like a popped
balloon. His apology alone would not have been enough to remove my anger, but
the way he said it made me pause.

“You can’t do this,” I made a
motion with my hand that made me blush and said, “To someone you don’t even know!”

John smiled. Mischief danced in
his eyes when he asked, “What was that motion again? I’m not sure I fully
understand…”

My heart jumped at his smile,
even though it most definitely shouldn’t have. I tried to cover my feelings
with rough words.

“You know the motion perfectly
well, Romeo! What you don’t understand is the point I’m trying to make. Forcing
someone to do that with a stranger is wrong, wrong, wrong!”

His amused smile slowly faded
until he had a slightly serious look, but the change obviously took some
effort. “What if that stranger wants to do it?”

“That’s irrelevant,” I tried,
but we both knew it was completely relevant.

“Don’t strangers engage in that
willingly on Earth too? Is it wrong when they do it?”

His lips turned up at my deep blush
as I sputtered and tried to rip my eyes away from his. That was
so
not
fair. Why did I even try to get my point across to him? Was it because I enjoyed
bantering and I didn’t consciously know it?

I hated myself for liking him.
How had this conversation turned? He was supposed to be groveling at my feet
and apologizing. I was supposed to be angry at him!

Frustration at confusion
spurred my mouth. “Y’all are monsters! Women are not toys to be played with or
prizes to be won.”

John stood, completely serious
now. “We do not beat our wives. We do not kidnap women for profit. We do not
abort our children. We do not shoot our young ones. There is not one raped woman
on this planet while yours contains millions. We take care of our people here,
Jacqueline, and they take care of themselves. Look back at your life one more
time, and then tell me that
we
are the monsters.”

An unwanted image of my father
forced its way into my mind and I shoved it away. A single tear rolled down my
cheek and landed softly on the ground. When had I become such an emotional
wreck?

I whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He stood still for
a moment before wrapping me in a hug.

It was the first real hug I’ve
ever received. It was warm and strange and not at all uncomfortable.

“What about Rene?” I whispered
into his chest. “When I was in front of the gym, a man had slapped her.”

He sighed deeply. “She is common.
Their ways and beliefs are different.”

“I didn’t know that,” I
murmured. So would Peter have hurt me if I had lost the Chase that night? More
importantly, was he allowed to hurt me?

“There is a lot you don’t know,
little bird. Somehow, you still know too much. I wish I could take away your
pain. I wish that we had discovered you many years ago.”

“I want to fix it, John. I want
to help those women because no one was there to help me.”

“I know. Earth hasn’t been kind
to you, Jacque. Let me show you my world. Let me win you over. Give us a chance.
Give me a chance.”

For the second time in this new
life, I let the tears pour down my cheeks.

After a few minutes, John
furrowed his brows and looked down at me. I was sure that my eyes were glassy
and my nose was red, but I didn’t feel embarrassed.

“Tell me what ails you. Confide
in me.”

I wiped my nose with the back
of my hand. How did I even begin to explain my feelings to John when I didn’t
even understand them? He had never been abused or known someone who was abused,
so how could he begin to comprehend my past?

I decided to dodge his question
with the half-truth. What did I miss about my old life? What ailed me?

I missed the stars. I missed
the way my Texas sky twinkled with light and the way my moon was always shining.
I missed the shooting stars and waiting for glorious sunsets. I missed seeing
the sun timidly peek over the horizon like a virgin bride on her wedding night.
I missed it all. Most of all, I missed my freedom.

John wouldn’t understand my
longing for stars, sunrises, and sunsets because he has never experienced them
either. I couldn’t tell him about my longing for the sky that was only a
half-truth, so I told him something else instead.

Glancing down at my nails, I
lied, “I need something to do! At my house, I was always cleaning and reading
and cooking and being productive.”

I caught his small smile out of
the corner of my eye. “So you want to be a housewife?”

“No! I just can’t sit around
all day. Women here might like that, but I definitely do not.”

“Our women don't sit around. They
cook and clean and read.”

“I can't believe you're mocking
me. You're ridiculous.”

“Oh, you’re such a cute
southern belle.”

I couldn’t keep the grin off my
face. “Shut up. You shouldn’t even know what that is.”

"Come on." John’s
arms were suddenly guiding me to the back door.

"Where are we going?"
I asked him cautiously.

“You’ll see.”

We walked into the middle of
the woods without looking back. The trees gladly swallowed us in their twilight
depths.

After about half a mile, John
stopped and whispered, “Stay here.”

I was full of questions but
stayed silent. John ambled into a small clearing and waited. After a few
minutes of stillness, a small black-coated fawn peered out from behind a tree.
Small horns rose behind large blue eyes. A grin stretched across my face
because I’ve always been a sucker for cute animals.

From the opposite end of the
clearing, another creature appeared. It had a long snout and short brown fur. From
where were they coming? Both of the animals cautiously walked to John, and he
gradually sank down on the thick grass.

He reached out his hands and
they both sniffed tentatively.

“Are you going to start singing
now, Snow White?” I walked up to John slowly, not wanting to scare any of the
animals.

“You are lucky I’ve studied so
much American culture, otherwise I’d have no idea what you’re talking about
half the time,” John replied with a soft smile.

A furry blue creature
tentatively peeked out behind a tree and I took a slow step towards it,
following John’s lead. Its head jerked up at my footstep. Wide eyes stared at
me for one moment before it began darting and running about in joy. Bird-like
beings heard the joyful cries and curiously peeked out of their homes.

The wingless creature scurried
up my body to rest on my shoulders and head while more emerged to zip around my
upper body in tight circles. I laughed with delight.

“What the heck?” I muttered
while watching a bushy-tailed squirrel look-alike climb on John’s head.

 “The creatures on our planet
are more connected than those on Earth. They too, thought that folium
were
well and truly gone,” John said while joining in on my laughter.

“So they are actually
intelligent beings.”

The squirrel thingy hopped on
John’s shoulder as he murmured, “Yes, more or less.”

The racket of chirping and
yipping carried far, and soon larger animals began emerging to see the folium
for themselves. A massive hoofed creature lumbered into view, snorted, and
then stomped its front leg. It tossed its head before bringing it down low in
an odd bow. The beast’s thick grey and yellow fur rippled as it rose again to
full height. It was huge, so from where the heck did it emerge?

The animals around me had
stopped celebrating to watch the hoofed creature.

John softly whispered, “He is a
dapplegrey, named after Earth’s horse. They are very, very seldom seen. Even
more so after the folium
were killed. Some people believe they have the
ability to merge with nature at will.”

Well, that would explain his
sudden appearance. I took a gentle step towards the being, and the creatures
jumped off my body to remain behind. The dapplegrey remained still and silent
as I slowly approached. Its legs were much thicker than a horse’s, and he
somehow reminded me of a dog from my favorite childhood movie.