Page 14 of Eclipse Bound (Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides #7)

Eclipse touched his face, feeling the thinning membrane. "The Earth atmosphere accelerates the breakdown of the polymers. The material was not designed for prolonged use."

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"No. But it becomes increasingly restrictive as it degrades." He hesitated, then added, "In my natural state, my energy would flow more freely."

Rowan set down her tea and turned toward him more fully. "You can take it off, you know. I'm not afraid to see what you really look like."

Her breathing deepened, and he saw her heat signature calling to him.

The offer resonated with more meaning than the simple words could convey. Eclipse studied her expression, finding no fear or hesitation in her eyes, only genuine curiosity and something deeper, a desire for truth that reflected her fundamental nature.

"We were told our transitions can be intense for humans," he warned.

"I think we've established I'm not easily intimidated," Rowan replied with a small smile.

Eclipse set aside his mug and rose from the sofa, moving to stand away from the window where the neighbors could see him.

“I’ll shut the blinds.” She went to pull a string to hide the room from the outside.

With deliberate movements, he removed the outer Earth clothing. The skin-suit had a human phallus between the legs was a useless decoration that did not mimic his actual shape. Her attention focused on it as he reached for the release mechanism at the back of his neck.

The skin-suit peeled from his body with a soft hissing sound, and the constraining membrane fell away to reveal his true form. Unlike Solar's blazing golden light or Lunar's absorbing darkness, Eclipse's natural state was a balance of both.

Rowan's breath caught, and her eyes widened as she took in his true appearance.

Eclipse remained perfectly still, allowing her to look at him.

His body maintained a humanoid shape but was composed of twilight energy, a luminous purple-blue that shifted and flowed like the sky at dusk.

Within this energy, patterns of light and shadow moved in complex interactions, never fully separating.

"You're beautiful," she said finally, approaching him slowly. "Like the evening sky given form."

"That is an accurate assessment," Eclipse acknowledged, his voice resonating more fully now that he wasn't constrained. He felt his body absorbing energy more easily from the atmosphere.

Rowan stopped just before him, her hand half-raised in an unspoken question. Eclipse inclined his head slightly, granting permission. Her fingers tentatively touched his chest, then with more confidence as she discovered that while his form appeared fluid, it maintained substance.

"It's like touching a warm current," she murmured, fascination evident in her voice. "I can feel the energy flowing, but it doesn't hurt. It tingles."

"Our compatibility allows for safe interaction," Eclipse explained. "Had our biorhythms been discordant, the contact might have been uncomfortable for you."

Rowan's hand moved from his chest to his face, tracing the contours that were now defined by energy rather than solid matter. Where she touched, the patterns within his form responded, swirling toward her fingers like liquid metal drawn to a magnet.

"When you touched me in my office and while I was driving," she said softly, "it felt like every nerve ending in my body was alive. Was that because of this? Your true form affecting me even through the skin-suit?"

"Yes," Eclipse confirmed. "As the membrane thinned, more of my actual energy was able to interact with yours. Our connection amplified the effect."

Her fingers continued their exploration, moving along his shoulder and down his arm. Each touch created new patterns in his energy field, ripples that Eclipse found increasingly difficult to moderate.

"And if we were to touch fully without any barriers between us," Rowan asked, her voice dropping lower, "what would that feel like?"

Eclipse studied her face, noting the dilation of her pupils, the flush spreading across her skin, and the quickening of her pulse visible at her throat.

He saw heat rising from her. All were indicators of human arousal, but more significantly, her energy field pulsed in a way that harmonized perfectly with his own.

He wished humans had the words to describe his feelings so he could adequately describe them to her.

"It would be intense," he answered. "More so than before. Our energy fields would interact directly, creating resonance patterns that both physical forms would experience as pleasure."

"I love the literal way you talk," she said.

"I know no other way."

"Show me these— how did you say it? —resonance pleasure patterns," Rowan requested, her gaze steady despite the vulnerability of the request.

Eclipse raised his hand to her face, mirroring her earlier touch but now with no barrier between his energy and her skin. The contact created an immediate surge, his twilight energy flowing like water over her flesh, seeking pathways of connection.

Rowan gasped, her eyes widening at the sensation.

"Oh," she breathed, leaning into his touch. "That's..."

"Too much?" Eclipse asked, prepared to withdraw.

"No," she said quickly, her hand covering his to keep it in place. "It's incredible. Like every cell in my body just woke up. My heart is beating so fast."

Encouraged by her response, Eclipse let his other hand rise to her waist, drawing her closer.

Where they connected, his energy adapted to her form, creating a seamless interface between twilight essence and human biology.

He could feel her heartbeat, the rush of blood through her veins, the electrical impulses of her nervous system, all harmonizing with his own energy patterns.

When their lips met, the resonance intensified exponentially. Eclipse felt Rowan's consciousness merge with his own, their perceptions overlapping in ways that transcended normal physical contact. He experienced her wonder, her desire, her curiosity. It all flowed through the connection.

"I can feel what you feel," she whispered against his mouth. "It's like being inside twilight."

"The resonance creates a feedback loop," Eclipse explained, his voice vibrating with the effort of maintaining control. "Our energies recognize compatible patterns and seek to harmonize."

Rowan's hands moved across his shoulders and chest, each touch creating new waves of resonance that rippled through his form. The sensations were unlike anything Eclipse had experienced on Zorveya, where energy interactions were carefully regulated and moderated.

"Your clothing," he said, his voice deepening as the resonance grew stronger. "It creates interference in the energy flow."

Understanding immediately, Rowan stepped back just enough to remove her dress, then her undergarments, until she stood before him as unadorned as he was. The ambient light gilded her skin with a soft glow, highlighting the curves and planes of her human form.

"Better?" she asked, a hint of vulnerability in her voice despite her boldness.

"Perfect," Eclipse answered truthfully. The human form was comparable to his kind, but there were subtle differences. She had two soft pleasure portals that sat high on the chest. And her skin remained the same shade, more or less.

When they came together again, the reverberation was unimpeded by artificial barriers. Eclipse's energy field expanded to encompass her, creating a twilight cocoon around them both. Within this shared space, sensation amplified, every touch creating ripples that affected them equally.

They moved to the soft surface of the rug before the fireplace, sinking down together in a tangle of limbs and energy.

Eclipse found himself fascinated by the duality of the experience.

The solidity of Rowan's physical form contrasted with the fluid interaction of their energy fields.

He explored her body with meticulous attention, learning which touches created the strongest resonance, which patterns of energy flow produced the most pleasure.

Rowan proved an equally dedicated student, quickly discovering that certain configurations of her fingers through his energy field created intense feedback loops that made his twilight essence pulse and flare.

She giggled when she found a particularly sensitive nexus point at the base of his spine, where a specific touch caused his entire form to momentarily flare brighter.

"You're learning quickly," Eclipse observed, his voice vibrating with pleasure.

"I'm motivated," Rowan replied with a smile that was both playful and predatory.

As their exploration continued, the connection between them built toward a critical threshold.

Eclipse felt the harmonics shifting into higher frequencies, creating overtones that vibrated through both his energy field and Rowan's physical form.

She sensed it too, her movements becoming more urgent, her breathing quickening as the pleasure intensified.

Eclipse let his energy flow into every opening in her body, noting the damp place between her thighs was particularly reactive.

When they finally joined completely, merging into a single harmonious whole, the resonance peaked.

Eclipse's twilight essence flowed through Rowan's body like a tide, illuminating her from within as her own energy patterns rose to meet his.

The boundaries between them blurred, creating a singular experience of shared sensation.

Rowan cried out as the first wave of completion washed over her, her body arching against his as pleasure surged through their connected fields.

Eclipse felt her climax as if it were his own, the sensation amplified by the feedback loop between them.

His own release followed moments later, twilight energy pulsing in waves that matched the rhythm of her body.

For several heartbeats, they existed in perfect harmony, two beings temporarily unified. Then slowly, gently, the fields began to disentangle, returning to their separate but connected states.

Rowan lay beneath him, breathless and wide-eyed, her skin glowing faintly with residual twilight energy.

"That was..." she began, then laughed softly. "I don't even have words."

"Words are often inadequate for energy experiences," Eclipse agreed, his form still flowing around and through her in gentle aftershocks.

"Is it always like that for your kind?" she asked, her fingers tracing patterns in his twilight essence.

"No," Eclipse admitted. "The resonance between us is unusually harmonic. It creates possibilities beyond typical interactions."

Rowan smiled at that, a slow, satisfied expression. "So I'm special?"

"You are unique in my experience," Eclipse confirmed, his energy patterns shifting to reflect the truth of his statement.

They remained entwined, safe from the galaxy of problems outside.

"We should probably discuss Milano," Rowan said eventually, though she made no move to separate from him.

Well, almost safe.

"Tomorrow," Eclipse decided, surprising himself with the uncharacteristic postponement. "Some matters warrant immediate attention. Others benefit from careful consideration after proper rest."

Rowan laughed softly. "That sounds suspiciously like procrastination coming from a diplomat."

"Strategic delay," Eclipse corrected, his energy patterns reflecting amusement. "A recognized diplomatic technique."

She nestled closer, her body fitting perfectly against his form. Through their continued connection, Eclipse sensed her fatigue, the natural human need for sleep beginning to assert itself despite her desire to remain awake.

"Rest," he encouraged. "I will maintain vigilance."

"Stay with me?" she asked, her voice softening. "You won't disappear?"

"I will remain," Eclipse promised, his energy field adjusting to provide both warmth and comfort.

As Rowan's consciousness faded into dreams, Eclipse maintained their connection, feeling the shift in her energy patterns as her mind entered different states of activity. It was fascinating, this human cycle of wakefulness and sleep, so different from the constant awareness of Twilight existence.

Eclipse watched the progression of shadows along the edges of the closed blinds, marking the passage of Earth's night.

His thoughts turned to the complications that would need to be addressed when morning came.

Milano's interest in their arrival created new variables in an already complex equation.

Solar and Lunar would need to be informed, and greater precautions taken.

Yet as he held Rowan against him, her breathing deep and regular in sleep, Eclipse found himself unwilling to focus solely on threats and contingencies. The connection between them had created something unexpected, a joining that transcended mere diplomatic objectives or biological compatibility.

For the first time since leaving for Earth, Eclipse felt a purpose beyond the mission parameters.

He had a reason to remain that had nothing to do with proving coexistence was possible between opposing factions.

Rowan had awakened something within him that decades of diplomatic service had slowly eroded. Genuine connection.

As the night deepened around them, Eclipse made a decision. Whatever came next, whatever threats Milano posed, whatever complications arose from their unplanned arrival, he would protect this connection. Not because the mission required it, but because it had become essential to his own existence.

Outside, a meteor streaked across the sky, a brief flare of light against the darkness.

Eclipse watched its passage, thinking of journeys begun by chance and destinations discovered by necessity.

Perhaps being exiled to Earth wasn't the chastisement the council had intended.

Perhaps, in their attempt to remove him from the equation, they had inadvertently guided him toward something far more valuable than political influence.

Balance. Connection. Understanding. The core principles of the Twilight Belt given new meaning through one human woman who saw beyond appearances to the essence beneath.

Eclipse settled into watchful stillness, his energy field maintaining its protective cocoon around Rowan's sleeping form. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, but for now, in this moment of perfect harmony, he had found his own twilight zone, a place of balance between worlds.

And for the first time in many cycles, Eclipse felt truly at peace.