The Love Goddess Brands Her Cowboys (18 page)

“It’s very unusual for that to happen twice,” he said, with a pleased grin. “Those on Venus must be extremely happy with this match. They’re letting us know.”

“Really,” Chad said, stroking her hair. “I agree with all who sent us that message twice.”

“Me too,” Star said. Suddenly she looked around.  They were in the bedroom, not on a cloud or in their special room “How did we get back to the ranch? We were floating on a cloud.”

Chad was caressing her cheek. “After the orgasms, we floated back to earth, sugar.”

“I hadn’t even noticed.”

“You were too into our second bonding,” Diego responded in wonder. “That’s really what happened. It was more than just happiness from the Gods of Venus.”

“Wow,” Star whispered. She had never heard of that, not in all her years of Love Goddess School.

Suddenly, she felt a presence that she knew so well.

“We aren’t alone,” she said, her eyes rounding as she pulled up the covers for modesty. Quickly, she blinked on clothes.

Chad pulled to an elbow and looked around, his eyes also round. “No, I sense that my mother is here. Is that possible?”

“I feel it too…and my own as well,” Diego said. In an exasperated voice, he said, “All right, Mother. Let me see you. Let us see all of you.”

Chad blinked on a western shirt and jeans, unsure of how to dress the first time one met his mother. He ignored Star and Diego as they went to their mothers and he stared at the beautiful vision before his eyes, the stylish looking mature woman who had beautiful long blond hair, cheery green eyes, and dimples as she smiled at him. For their meeting, she had chosen a green dress that matched her eyes and matching low-heeled shoes. Vaguely, he wondered how old she was. Two hundred?  He knew Venusians lived a long time in this world and apparently they aged very well. In the worst way, he felt like bawling, but that would never happen. He kept his voice from shaking.

“Catina?” he asked, emotions overtaking him even as he managed to keep his head.

“No, that won’t do, sweetheart,” she said in a warm, sweet voice. “Call me mother. I’ve waited all my life to hear you say that to me.”

Chad could hold back no longer. He ran to her, hugging her, and she squeezed him, crying, running her hands through his hair. “My baby,” she said over and over again. “My beautiful baby.”

“Mother,” he said, choking back a lump in his throat. “I’m so happy to meet you.” He took her hand, pulled back, then gallantly kissed her palm. “You’re as beautiful as I imagined.”

Her eyes shone through her tears and he hugged her hard, shutting his eyes tight, feeling like a little boy again. A piece of his life that had always been missing had just completed him. He truly had everything in the world he could ask for now.

Later, when they were all relaxing in the living room, Chad sitting next to his beloved mother, ignoring the other’s chats, said to her, “I just found out the story.”

“I didn’t go voluntarily, son.” She cupped his cheek. “And I think it was right to leave you with your father. I was so happy when he finally let his love out and gave you the ranch. I know it means a lot to you.”

“It always will.” He couldn’t help feeling a pang, in spite of his happiness. After all, before this she had never made contact with him. “This is where I lived all my life and I won’t let Pa down.”

“As you shouldn’t. Once you learn how to travel from one universe to another, you will see how easy and quick it will be to commute to earth from Venus. You’ll be able to spend as much time at the ranch as you like.”

He nodded and smiled, relieved about that. When his mother grew serious, he caught her gaze. “Is anything wrong, Mother?”

“You must never tell Asa the truth. He’s happy now. Let’s not confuse him. He won’t believe you if you start talking about Venus anyway. Let him continue to think I left him. He’ll only think you are crazy if you start talking about other worlds.”

Chad nodded, feeling the truth of her words. “I won’t tell him. But…I have to let him know I’m married. That’s what a bonding is, isn’t it?”

She smiled again, her eyes twinkling. “To a human, yes. Asa will probably want to throw you a wedding.” Then she frowned. “You can’t tell him about Diego.”

Chad laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll leave that part out.”

Diego must have been listening to him because he laughed too. “I won’t let Asa in on our secret,” he said. “I doubt he’d understand.”

Chad chuckled and shook his head.

“But you do need to have a proper bonding ceremony on Venus,” his mother said to Chad. “We have our own forms of weddings and I’m sure Star, as a young love goddess, will want to be a bride on her own planet. Right, Star?”

Chad glanced over at Star, admiring how much she looked like her exotic, beautiful mother. They were seated on another sofa, side by side, holding hands.

“Dear, you do want to sanction this marvelous bonding on Venus, don’t you?” Catina asked her.

Star nodded. “Sure.” Her grin lit her pretty face. “I certainly want to show off my two handsome, wonderful men to everyone I know.”

“So we’re just trophy husbands to you?” Diego put in and they all laughed.

When the mirth died down, Star sobered as Chad watched her closely. “Why so serious suddenly, sugar?”

She looked up at him with huge brown eyes that made him melt inside. “I wouldn’t care if the two of you were ugly. That’s the truth. I’ve come to know who you both are inside and that’s the reason why I love you both.” Her gaze traveled to Diego, who looked unusually serious himself. “Never doubt that I love your souls.”

“That’s why we love you too, Star,” Diego said, without cracking a smile or blinking an eye.

Chad felt another damn lump forming in his throat as he nodded his agreement. “You’re a beautiful woman, Star. If possible, you’re even more beautiful inside than out.”

“Absolutely,” Diego put in.

Star was wiping her eyes. “I’m so lucky to have you two,” she said, quietly. Then she turned to her mother. “We really don’t need a large ceremony. You know I don’t like to show off my position in society. All we need is our families and the Goddess who will bless our union.”

Chad smiled at her. “I agree,” he said.

“Me too,” Diego said.

“Then,” Star’s mother said, “We’ll have the ceremony as soon as possible.”

After Chad landed on Venus, he leaned against a tree and shut his eyes against the dizziness, shocked at the strange weightless feeling and the speed of traveling through space. One moment he had been on the ranch. The next moment, after Catina had waved her arms, he found himself twirling upside down and round and round in outer space, landing with a thud in this unfamiliar place. It had taken maybe two seconds, but he felt disoriented from the ride.

Two women grabbed his arms. “Hey, are you all right, Chad?” Star asked, anxiously.

“Space travel is so hard on some the first time,” Catina said, in a worried voice. “Can somebody get him a drink?”

“I’m fine.” He forced his eyes open, letting the dizziness subside. When he could finally see clearly, he looked around, the breath leaving his body as he took in the utter beauty of the planet. “Wow,” he said, aware that everybody was looking at him to see his reaction.

“Like it?” Star asked, sounding proud.

“Hell, yes.”  He looked up at the sky, which looked like one giant sunset. Clouds and stars of every color and shape filled the sky and the stars twinkled bright. “Is that bright green circle the moon?” he asked, stumbling around, fascinated.

Star still clung to his arm. “One of them. It’s the only moon you can see tonight. We have three. One is red and one is pink.”

Chad shook his head then lowered his gaze to look around. The trees, like the sky, looked like nothing on earth. They had black trunks with golden sparkle on them and the leaves were gold, silver, and green and they seemed to glisten. Below his feet was yellow grass. Although the colors clashed, they all seemed to meld together and present a picture of beauty. “It’s so colorful,” he murmured.

Star grabbed his hand and pulled him out from behind the trees and he marveled at the heart shaped houses. Not all of them were shaped like hearts, but many were. The smell of the village also pleased him. It reminded him of an exotic scent that he couldn’t quite name. “Is this where you live?” he asked, squeezing her hand.

“It’s where everybody lives,” Star said, cheerfully. “We’re a tiny planet, but an important one. We are the planet of love. We monitor relationships all over the universe and, since I’m now married, I will have to do some matchmaking during the day while you guys are on earth tending your ranch.”

Chad felt overwhelmed again…and happy. He caught Diego’s gaze, his friend’s merry eyes. “I’ll like it here.”

“Of course,” Diego said. “This is a happy place, although you’ll learn to be a warrior because we are often attacked by darker planets that want to wipe us out. But the Gods seem to be on our side…the Gods of the universe. We’ve never lost a battle yet.”

“Be happy to help out,” Chad said and he meant it. This place was worth fighting for.

“The women fight too,” Star said. When Chad looked concerned, she laughed. “Don’t look at me that way. We’ve never lost one soldier in battle. Fate is with us…with love.”

“Catina is the best psychic,” Diego said, grinning at Chad’s mother. “She knows when we’re going to be attacked and can tell us a few days in advance. We’re always prepared. Nobody else in the universe has a psychic as gifted as your mother, amigo.”

Chad reached over and hugged his mother, proud.

“When are we going to have the ceremony?” Star asked and Chad expected to hear that it would be held maybe a few months in the future.

“Right now,” Star’s mother said.

“Now?” Catina asked before Chad could say it. “I thought we’d have a few hours.”

“Why?” Catina asked. “The Great One is free to do it and at our house. She’s ready now and we aren’t going to have a fancy ceremony. May as well seal the bonding right away.”

Star, excited, hugged Chad first, then ran to Diego and hugged him. “Gods of Venus, yes! Let’s do it right away!”

Chad looked down at his western garb. “Do I have to change into something fancy?”

“No,” Star said, as everyone giggled at him. Chad scowled at Diego who was laughing the loudest.

“What’s the joke?” he asked, feeling like an outsider.

“The ceremony is done in the nude,” Diego said, winking at him.

Chad didn’t know how to respond to that. He shouldn’t have been surprised.

“We have to show our love in front of The Great One,” Star said. “Watching somebody making love is commonplace here.”

Chad shut his eyes. “Of course.”

“So let’s do it,” Diego said. He clapped a hand on Chad’s shoulder. “You’ll be so into the sex, you won’t even notice The Great One. She’ll be discreet and it’s not like she hasn’t sealed a billion bondings before.”

Chad snapped his eyes open and found himself staring at Star, her bright eyes sparkling in the starlight, her head tilted as her braids fell to one side. His cock stirred. He wanted to seal the bonding. He wanted to make it as official as possible. “I’m ready,” he said as he kept his gaze on Star.

Star grinned, ran up to him and hugged him again. “Let’s go,” she said, pulling on his hand. “See that silver heart house just down the way?”

Chad nodded.

“That’s my house. That’s where it will be. Let’s go.”

Chad let himself be lead toward the shining house. It stood out from the others, maybe because it belonged to a love goddess. “Is this where we’re going to live?” he asked as he stalked along, taking in the sights.

“We’re going to change it a lot.” Diego was the one who answered. “Kind of like you changed your sex room, Chad. But we may as well live there. The location is great and it’s huge on the inside.”

Chad lifted his eyebrows. He wondered how big it could be. It looked fairly small and the heart shape would cut down on the ceiling space.

“It doesn’t look like a heart on the inside,” Diego said, reading him well. “The heart is only on the outside, a symbol of what we stand for here. Inside it transforms and looks much like an earth house.”

Chad nodded, taking his word for it. He felt a bubble of happiness inside of him. Truly, all his dreams had come true. There was nothing left except to enjoy the wonderful life he would lead.

Star held both of her men’s hands as they stepped into her house and she got a kick out of Chad’s reaction to the long, long corridor and the red walls and hearts hanging from the ceiling.

“Well, you were right. It doesn’t look like a heart,” Chad mumbled, looking around, intrigued.

“The houses here are all the same,” Diego said, cheerfully. They are very long and don’t have stairs.”

Star noticed Chad touching a shimmering red sofa, frowning. “Why is everything red? Even the walls? It’s making me blind.”

“Red is the color of love,” Star said, looking up at his puzzled face.

“Frankly the house is decorated awfully feminine,” Diego put in. He had never been inside her house before and was also looking around as they walked down the long corridor. “Chad, you and I will fix it to our liking and Star can keep her bedroom the way she wants.”

Star bristled. “So I have nothing to say about the décor?” she snapped. “I like red. It helps my magic and inspires me to make good love matches.”

Diego squeezed her hand. “Oh, the house will inspire you after Chad and I are done. Don’t you think our room at the ranch is inspiring?”

Star was about to argue, but she shut her mouth. She couldn’t. Wow, it would be uber-hot to have a house full of mirrors and sex toys. Maybe her men knew what they were talking about.

The three of them, with their mothers behind them, walked past many shut doors. Some were empty. Some had Star’s files in them. She had to keep track of the missed love connections in the universe and try to straighten them out. That took up a lot of space. Finally she stopped before her bedroom and looked over her shoulder at her mother. “It will happen in here?” she asked, hesitantly, and felt a quiver that was both excitement and a little bit of fear.