Chapter 5

He sat at his desk and looked down at the latest report. It had been five days and nothing new had been found. Not that the Director had expected anything new. In his gut, he was sure that Kaylee Woodrow was the alien ship's pilot. Too bad none of his agents had figured that out. But then, of course, they weren't exactly working from all the known facts.

He leaned back in his chair and thought over his options. He could pull his people out now, reassign them to other cases, and leave the investigation open and unsolved. He could inform his agents to bring Kaylee Woodrow in, but then, it would be out of his hands and that was unacceptable. He could pull his operatives out, reassign his people to other investigations, and declare the case closed and then classify it. But unless he followed up personally, that was almost as bad as hauling Kaylee in.

"Follow up personally. Now, there's an idea."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Kaylee woke to the smell of ham and toast. She quickly pulled back the blankets and changed into her workaday clothes. Then she dashed downstairs, just in time to find Jason setting the table.

"Morning."

"Mornin', Kaylee. How'd ya sleep?"

"Great. You know, working with the animals is really invigorating. I can see where you get all your energy from now."

Jess laughed.

"So, Mom, how 'bout it? Am I fit to start back to school and everything?"

"I don't believe it. You're actually asking to go to school?"

"Well, I figure, if I get through school okay today, then you won't make me stay home over the weekend. So, please? Can I go?"

"All right. Just remember to take it easy. You've still got bruises, and even if they don't hurt that much, they're still there to remind you to be nice to your body. Okay?"

"Okay. Let's eat."

"That's my boy."

They sat down and Jess dished up the ham slices, along with eggs, sunny-side-up, and hash browns. Jason got out the ketchup and liberally coated his hash browns with the red goop. Kaylee made a face.

"How can you eat that stuff?"

Jason laughed at her.

"It's the food of the gods. Gotta love it."

"Maybe you do, but it smells disgusting. I like to be able to see my food."

"To each his own. Or her own, as the case may be."

"Oh, just eat your food, you two."

Jess gave an exasperated sigh and the two smiled conspiratorially at one another. It had become a game over the past few days of Jason's confinement. Exactly how far would Jess let their teasing of one another go? This morning, it seemed to be not very far. There was something definitely bothering Jess, but Jess had learned through a little experimentation how to keep Kaylee from picking up specific thoughts from her, almost no matter how intense they were. So now Kaylee had to rely on Jess telling her what was going on with her and Jess was being very slow to do so.

They finished breakfast, Jason talking about all the things he'd probably missed while being away from school, Jess offering a supportive ear, and Kaylee listening and watching the entire interaction with a look that was half awe and half adoration.

Jason had already dressed for school, hoping he would win his mother over that morning, so all he had to do was grab his jacket and backpack on the way out the door to the bus. He was gone in a flash and Kaylee was already working on clearing the dishes when Jess came back into the kitchen.

"So, you like working the ranch."

"Yeah."

"I'm glad."

They spent the rest of the day in near total silence. Kaylee had noticed a strange contradiction in Jess's actions and feelings over the last couple days. They had been working together all day every day for five days now. Kaylee could feel Jess wanting to be closer to her, and yet, Jess kept a physical distance between them that was almost impenetrable. This moving closer and pulling away confused Kaylee more than her own missing memories did. She simply had no idea what to do about it.

She felt if maybe she had a frame of reference for this behavior, she could figure out a solution. She'd read Jason's dictionary all the way through and had a firm grasp of the English language, though she'd noticed some glaring gaps in the ability of the language to describe certain things. When she'd finished the dictionary, she'd moved on to some of the science fiction books Jason had recommended to her. She liked them, liked the ideas they put forth, but there was nothing yet in her readings, or experience, that could help her with this dilemma.

Jess, on the other hand, knew exactly what she was doing and was a little annoyed with herself about it, but she couldn't see any other way around it. She'd fallen in love with Kaylee and that simply wasn't permissible.

For one thing, she had her son to think of. He already knew about her preference for women and was perfectly okay with it. She'd explained the various options open to him when he'd first asked about sex when he was eight years old. They'd gone through the 'man and woman together make baby' speech when he was four, but by the time he was eight, he'd been exposed to the news and other kids and had much more in depth questions. She explained to him that sex wasn't love, and that neither love nor sex was relegated to just men loving women and women loving men.

Jason had been quite fascinated with the whole idea of homosexuality. He'd made a study of it and had impressed Jess with his understanding. He'd been really intrigued when he learned that homosexuality wasn't just a human thing, but that it occurred in nature, too.

Then he'd learned about prejudice. He'd told her that he would never ever hate someone without getting to know them first. Jess had chuckled at the straightforward and innocently put declaration, but Jason had held to it. When Jess had explained to him that her personal preference was for women, he'd been confused as to how he had been conceived, if she only liked women. Then she'd had to explain her slightly misspent youth and experimentation phase. She'd toned it down for his young ears, but he'd gotten the gist of it. By the time they'd gotten that far into the conversation, his only concern had been whether Jess wanted him. And he didn't mean when he was born, he meant right then.

Jess had held him to her and told him, with all the love she could summon up, that he was her son and absolutely no one on the earth wanted him more than she did. He'd been satisfied with that, and then they'd continued talking. Mostly, Jason seemed to want to know if he was ever going to get a second mother. Jess had told him she didn't know, though, at the time, she'd already made the decision that she didn't ever want to subject him to someone leaving, after promising to stay, if things between the adults didn't work out.

And that's where her current problem kept leading her. Kaylee could leave, or even be taken away, at any time. What if the FBI traced her to them? What if Kaylee found a way home? What if Kaylee had to go on the run to keep from being captured by the FBI? Almost all the scenarios Jess could envision involved Kaylee leaving for one reason or another.

When Jess was being most honest with herself, she knew she wasn't just protecting Jason, or even trying to protect him at all. She was protecting herself. Jason's father had disappeared the day after they'd been together, and though she hadn't loved him, it was still a shock. She had only been sixteen, and no matter who you happened to be, that was a very impressionable age. She'd been left and that was really all that mattered. When she'd found out two months later that she was pregnant, she'd cried. Not because she didn't want the baby, though she'd been scared shitless, but because she knew she would be alone in raising her child.

She'd never forgotten that. And she never would. So, getting close to Kaylee just wasn't an option. At least, she kept trying to tell herself that. But even with reinforcement every few minutes, her heart just wasn't getting the message.

Jess and Kaylee finished up their chores and walked back to the house together. Jess started on lunch and Kaylee went to go get cleaned up. When Kaylee came back downstairs, she found Jason at the table, working on his homework. He had his CD Walkman blaring in his ears and Kaylee shook her head and laughed. Jess looked up.

"What?"

"How can he concentrate like that?"

"He's a kid. Technically, he can't and it makes the work take even longer to get through, but he's enjoying the music, so he believes it makes the work go faster. As long as he's learning and happy, I figure, let him do it his way."

"Good point. So, what's for dinner?"

"Chicken quesadilla's."

"What's that?"

"It's a Mexican dish. It's good. You'll see."

"Okay. So far, I've liked everything you've made."

"That's because you don't have a spoiled palette."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you didn't grow up here, so you're not used to any particular flavors or textures. All of them are new to you, so you can only compare them to each other, but since you weren't raised to do that, or at least you don't remember being raised to do that, you take each meal separately and on its own merit."

"Oh."

"Didn't realize you were doing all that, did you?"

"No. I thought I was just eating."

"Well, you're not."

"Whatever you say."

"That's what I like to hear. I think that's my favorite sentence."

"I'll remember that."

Jess went back to her cooking. There was a slight redness to her cheeks that Kaylee was trying to figure out. Then she recalled the word from the dictionary: blush - a rosy color, especially in the cheeks, usually a sign of embarrassment. Embarrassment - the shame you feel when your inadequacy or guilt is made apparent. Kaylee thought back over their conversation. Was there something Jess felt inadequate or guilty about? Kaylee couldn't find anything that made sense.

She watched Jess continue making dinner. Jason interrupted her musings once to ask for help on a math problem and Kaylee helped him through it. Afterwards, Kaylee returned to her confused thoughts. Then Jess announced that dinner was ready and Kaylee and Jason set the table.

Jess asked about her son's day and that started off a one-boy monologue that lasted the entire dinner. Then it was back to homework for Jason and the two women cleaned up the kitchen. By the time they were done, Jason had finished his homework and handed it over for Jess to check. She caught a few spelling and punctuation mistakes on his writing assignment, which he fixed, then checked his math, which was perfect.

"Kaylee helped me. You know, she's as good at math as you are."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she showed me this neat little shortcut for long-division. I'll still do it the long way for my teacher, but at least now I can double-check my work without having to do everything twice."

"Show me the shortcut."

Jason copied one of the problems from his homework and quickly ran through the problem. Jess checked it in her head and was impressed. It took her a minute to realize what the shortcut was actually doing, but when she did, she laughed at the simplicity.

"That's really good, Jase. Neat little trick."

"It's Kaylee's trick."

Jess looked at her son a little strangely, but dismissed the feeling she'd gotten. He couldn't possibly be trying to get her together with Kaylee. Could he? Jess shook her head.

"Well, your homework's done. What do you wanna do?"

"Actually, I think I'm going to go upstairs and read for a while, you know, rest up and everything."

He kissed his mom on the cheek and walked up the stairs. Maybe if he just left them alone together long enough...

Jess watched her son leave, and then went to the family room where she knew she'd find Kaylee in front of the fire. She was there, just as Jess had expected.

"Do you mind if I watch a little TV?"

"No, go ahead."

"Okay."

Jess picked up the remote and flipped though a couple dozen channels before settling on the Sci-Fi Channel. They were playing Aliens and it was right at the point when the main characters found the little girl. Jess watched the movie all the way through, but her attention was divided between the screen and the silent figure staring into the fire several feet away from her. She really wanted to sit behind the smaller woman and just hold her, but...

The movie ended and then Alien3 came on. It was an Alien marathon. Well, she liked the third movie, even if most of the fans of the series didn't. Sure, the ending kind of sucked, but it really made sense in the whole scheme of the series. Jess watched the movie all the way through, only looking over at Kaylee during the commercials, a feat she accomplished by sheer strength of will. When the movie was over, she decided it was time to make sure Jason went to bed.

She turned off the TV and went upstairs. She found Jason reading the last few pages of The Alien Debt. She remembered most of the story and wondered what Jason thought of it. Especially the youngest hero of the story and her journey to adolescence on an alien planet.

"How's it goin'?"

Jason put the book down and shoved his bookmark in between the pages to hold his place.

"Pretty good. I think I'll be okay to visit Carson. What do you think?"

"How about we wait to see how you're feeling in the morning?"

"All right, all right."

"Well, it's time for you to go to bed."

"I know."

"Wow, no arguments?"

Jason stared at his mother for a long moment.

"You love her, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Mom, come on. I'm not a kid and I'm not blind. You love her."

"You are too a kid."

"Hah! You didn't deny it. You do love her. I knew it. That's really cool. So, is she going to be my second mom?"

"Jason..."

"Okay, so maybe a marriage proposal is moving a little fast, but I mean, she's already living here. So, have you kissed her yet?"

"Jason! Nothing has happened between us and I doubt anything will."

"Why not? She's really nice. She's smart, and she's beautiful, just like you."

"Thank you. But I just don't think she's going to be staying here much longer. When she gets her memory back, she'll probably want to go home."

"Oh. You think maybe she already has a family?"

"Maybe."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about that."

"Yeah."

"Well, then maybe she'll still visit or something."

"Maybe. All right, I think it's time you went to sleep."

"All right. Night, Mom."

"Night, kiddo. Sleep tight."

"Don't let the bed bugs bite."

"Right. See ya in the morning."

Jess tucked the covers up around her son's shoulders and turned off the light above his bed. She bent down to kiss his forehead and then left to go downstairs. She found Kaylee in the same spot she'd left her. Jess stopped to watch her and Kaylee raised her face to look at the tall woman standing in the doorway. Jess saw tears running down Kaylee's cheeks, the wet tracks reflected by the fire.

"I don't want to leave." Kaylee's voice was deep with emotion.

"I never said you had to."

"But you're afraid of what might happen if I stay."

"Yeah, but that's not the same as wanting you to go. And I really wish you'd stop reading my mind. It's a little disconcerting."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... 'eavesdrop.'"

"Ah, learned a new word?"

"Yeah. I read your language's lexicon."

"My what?"

"Dictionary."

"Oh."

"You really have a very robust language. And yet, it's lacking in many things."

"Oh? Like what?"

"It doesn't have very many words that can accurately describe how I feel."

"Well, what are you feeling?"

"I only came across a few that can explain it, but they still don't seem to be enough. Would you let me show you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can let you feel what I'm feeling, the way I healed Jason, the way I can hear your thoughts."

"You mean, you can send as well as receive?"

"Yes."

"I'm not sure about this."

"I promise not to hurt you."

"I'm not worried about getting hurt. Kaylee, humans... We're very private. Sharing thoughts is a very personal act. Are you sure you want to do that? With me?"

"Yes. Very sure."

Jess moved into the room and sat down next to Kaylee in front of the fire.

"What do I need to do?"

"Give me your hand."

Kaylee took Jess's hand and placed it over her chest. She put both her hands over Jess's hand and closed her eyes. Jess felt a warmth flow through her hand, up her arm, across her shoulders, and out through her chest to the rest of her body. She closed her eyes, soaking in the feeling. Then she felt a slight churning in her stomach and realized it was fear. She felt her heart pick up its pace and her breathing became shallow. Then she felt a depth of love she hadn't thought she was capable of and then an intense physical arousal. It slowly receded and Jess felt her hand uncovered and lifted away from Kaylee's chest. She realized she had just experienced Kaylee's emotions. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she opened her eyes to regard Kaylee sitting in front of her.

"Wow. Those were your... That's how you feel?" Kaylee nodded. "Do you understand what it means?" Kaylee nodded again. Jess stared at her, at a loss for words. "Can you feel how I feel?"

Kaylee nodded again and leaned forward. She pressed her lips into Jess's and then her body followed. When Kaylee felt Jess's tongue enter her mouth, she sent out such an intense wave of emotion that Jess nearly passed out. As Jess began to collapse backwards, Kaylee pressed harder into her. In a matter of moments, Jess was flat on her back and Kaylee was lying on top of her, attached to her lips.

Kaylee created what could only be described as a feedback loop between the two of them. As her feelings intensified, she sent them to Jess. As she felt Jess's emotions, her own escalated, and she again passed them on to Jess. Before it could become unbearable, Kaylee pulled back.

"I love you. I love you. I love you. Why isn't there more to describe this? I can't put this into your words. Please be with me."

Jess looked into Kaylee's eyes. She stopped using words and just let herself feel. All the love she felt, all the desire, all the need, all the sentimentality of feeling like she was home every time she was with Kaylee, all the want her body and soul felt for Kaylee's body and soul. She made those emotions her entire focus and watched as Kaylee melted at feeling her spirit, her heart, her soul. Jess hugged the smaller woman over her body and rolled them both slightly away from the fireplace.

Jess buried her face in Kaylee's. Kissing was almost too much to handle. Kaylee found it impossible not to feed off Jess's intense feelings of desire and projected her own feelings of want in return to Jess. Again, the feedback loop sent them reeling.

Jess pulled her face back from Kaylee's. She took a deep breath and tried to slow her rapidly beating heart. Kaylee was panting, too, and her hands were moving everywhere caressing Jess's face. Jess stilled Kaylee's hands and held then near her cheeks.

"What... Is there... Can we... God, this is so... I can't think. I want you, but this is too intense. Is there some way...?"

"I don't know. I just need to be with you."

Kaylee lowered her forehead to Jess's chest and tried to get her breathing under control even as she let herself sink into the emotions swirling within her. Jess groaned at the intense sensations she felt running through her body. She couldn't distinguish them from her own feelings.

"Oh God, Kaylee, please..."

Kaylee whimpered into her chest and dragged her head back up to look into Jess's eyes.

"Please... I need..."

Kaylee couldn't find any words to describe what she needed just then. She wanted to be inside Jess. She wanted Jess to become a part of her. She wanted to climb down her throat or through her chest just to be closer to the woman. She sent that need out to the only person who could fulfill it because there was nothing else she could think of to do.

"Oh God..."

Jess couldn't even see straight. She went on blind instinct. She devoured Kaylee's mouth and nearly ripped their clothing in her attempts to get it off. Kaylee tried to help, but she couldn't keep her hands still long enough to work any of the annoying fastenings these people seemed to enjoy putting on their clothing.

Finally, they were skin to skin in front of the fire. Kaylee refused to move from her spot along the length of Jess's body. Their mouths were permanently attached to each other and they rolled back and forth in front of the fire, one forcing the other to move as the intensity became too much to stay passive for very long.

The ebb and flow of the waves of emotion they shared with one another rocked them into a nearly perpetual climax. Jess had never felt anything like it. Her whole body was on fire and all they had really done so far was kiss. Kaylee seemed to be completely drunk with the sensations she was feeling, receiving, and sending.

Jess ran her hands down Kaylee's back and then gripped her hips. She pushed as hard as she could and finally managed to separate their bodies somewhat. Kaylee practically growled and fought as best she could, but in her state of mind, she wasn't very effective.

Jess ran her hand up to Kaylee's center and Kaylee's moan told her that they were very physically compatible. She ran her fingers through the wet folds of her sex and couldn't find any differences that would have given Kaylee's alien status away. Not that it would have stopped her.

Kaylee pulled her mouth away to concentrate on the new physical sensations Jess was causing in her. She had completely lost her grasp of English and could only moan loudly at the feelings of pleasure. She pressed her body into the contact and gasped when she felt Jess's fingers push inside her. Yes, this was what she wanted. To have Jess be a part of her.

Jess ducked her head and latched on to a nipple. She got a gasp in response and grinned around the hard little protrusion. She sucked and licked as she pushed and pulled her fingers in and out of Kaylee. This was bliss. There couldn't be anything better than this.

Kaylee was in another universe and it only consisted of emotion and pleasure. She writhed in sensual ecstasy and sent her feelings of utter happiness to their creator. Jess groaned at the wave that washed over her. She knew she had caused that feeling. When she felt Kaylee's fingers seeking her out, she moved to encourage them.

Kaylee needed to complete the circuit. She needed to be a part of Jess the way Jess was a part of her. Her hands moved without her commands. One found a breast, the other found Jess's center. The textures of the skin under her fingertips added to her physical sensations of pleasure and she felt a similar feeling from Jess at her touch. She especially liked the slippery feeling of the flesh between Jess's legs.

Kaylee investigated a little further and found the same place that Jess had found within her. She matched Jess's rhythm and they moved in sync with each other. Moans were exchanged with every breath and they both constantly sought out places to rub their cheeks against soft skin, nibble heated flesh, or kiss aching lips.

There was no way to tell how long they stayed in that sensual haze. Then, Kaylee bit at Jess's shoulder and Jess felt her body jerk as the sudden extra stimulation sent her over the edge. Kaylee felt it immediately and went with her. Kaylee sent her ecstasy directly into Jess, who climaxed again, adding to Kaylee's own peaking orgasms.

The feelings went round and round until they both finally collapsed. After a time, Jess regained her breath and a semblance of consciousness.

"Oh God, if it's like that every time, we're in trouble."

Kaylee barely comprehended what Jess had said. She was in another realm and it didn't include words. Her body felt like it should have been in pain, but it wasn't. Her mind felt like she was in a dream, but she wasn't. Everything and nothing made sense. She caught a stray thought as she regained her faculties.

"'Mind-blowing sex?'"

Jess smirked and turned her head to look at the satiated woman.

"It figures you would pick up on that thought out of all the others. It's a description of what we just had. What we just did."

"That's sexual intercourse?"

"That went so far beyond sex, I think it deserves its own category."

Jess reached out a hand and caressed one of Kaylee's breasts, and then rolled over a little more to rest her head on her shoulder. Kaylee moved her arm so that Jess could cuddle even closer and then wrapped her arm over Jess's broad shoulders. Her other hand rested over the hand that cupped her breast and she closed her eyes in contentment.

They were asleep in seconds.