Invasion of the Alien Snatchers

A Nocturne Falls Universe Story

Fiona Roarke

Dear Reader,

Nocturne Falls has become a magical place for so many people, myself included. Over and over I’ve heard from you that it’s a town you’d love to visit and even live in! I can tell you that writing the books is just as much fun for me.

With your enthusiasm for the series in mindand your many requests for more booksthe Nocturne Falls Universe was born. It’s a project near and dear to my heart, and one I am very excited about.

I hope these new, guest-authored books will entertain and delight you. And best of all, I hope they allow you to discover some great new authors! (And if you like this book, be sure to check out the rest of the Nocturne Falls Universe offerings.)

For more information about the Nocturne Falls Universe, visit http://kristenpainter.com/sugar-skull-books/

In the meantime, happy reading!

Kristen Painter

Invasion of the Alien Snatchers

A Nocturne Falls Universe Story

Copyright © 2017 by Fiona Roarke

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

This book is a work of fiction and was made possible by a special agreement with Sugar Skull Books, but hasn’t been reviewed or edited by Kristen Painter. All characters, events, scenes, plots and associated elements appearing in the original Nocturne Falls series remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Kristen Painter, Sugar Skull Books and their affiliates or licensors.

Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author or Sugar Skull Books.

Published in the United States of America.

Table of Contents

INVASION OF THE ALIEN SNATCHERS

Welcome from Kristen Painter

Copyright

About the Book

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

About Fiona Roarke

Invasion of the Alien Snatchers

Pilot. Guard. Prisoner.

All three are crashed in the Georgia woods, lost on a world where extraterrestrials are the stuff of science fiction. Blending into the human world is doable, if dangerous. But what if the locals are far from human themselves, with secrets of their own?

Deliver his wayward brother to the galactic gulag two galaxies away. Stop along the way at the hidden colony on Earth. Find the woman who had been electrifying his thoughts for two years. Crashing in rural Georgia near an odd little town and being taken prisoner was not part of Riker Phoenix’s plan.

Warrior woman Elise Midori ran a galaxy away from Alpha-Prime to escape the man she loved, but could never have. Her new life with the Alpha colony hiding in plain sight from the humans in Alienn, Arkansas, is challenging and satisfying. The mission seems simple enough when her retrieval team is called on to rescue the three occupants of a downed prisoner transport near Nocturne Falls.

She didn’t count on the prophecy-obsessed Druids. And she most definitely didn’t count on seeing a certain sexy lawman again.

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To Kristen for the very fun opportunity to crash a UFO in her world. And to my family for all your endless support. I love you all more than mere words can express.

Prologue

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Alienn, Arkansas – Mission Room, below the Big Bang Truck Stop

Elise Midori was anxious to start this new rescue mission. It had been a while since she and her teammates, Victoria Greene and Stella Grey, had gone out together, but this was a very important assignment. A UFO had crashed before making it to their hidden underground way station.

Of course, it wasn’t truly an unidentified flying object, but that term was used in case any earthlings overheard their discussions. It was much easier to cover up what was really going on with whispered UFO stories than admit aliens were hiding in plain sight in Alienn, Arkansas and had been for many decades.

That was pretty much rule number one for Alphas living on Earth.

No earthlings could know about them. Ever.

Elise had volunteered and been assigned to the Earth colony a couple of years ago. What a bitter battle that had been. After completing an Alpha-Prime prep program for law enforcement—partly to avoid an unwanted arranged marriage her parents wanted to initiate—she’d decided not to apply for the prestigious Royal Magistrate Guard. Her parents were unhappy because instead, Elise wanted to be a bodyguard not an RMG law officer.

Later on after confiding her true feelings about a very delicate subject to her older sister, Callie had quickly tattled the private information to their parents. Yet again, they had not been pleased. They secretly initiated a plan to find her a husband. Once revealed, her sister had then also sided with their parents regarding Elise’s arranged marriage, which had been another surprise.

During their supposedly secret conversation, Callie had been much more supportive of Elise’s viewpoint, mainly, that Elise shouldn’t have to face an arranged marriage just because she wanted a different life than her parents commanded. It was especially infuriating that Callie didn’t side with Elise when she didn’t think her sister was particularly happy with her own husband, who’d also been the result of an arranged marriage.

Arturo was rather self-absorbed and pompous in Elise’s opinion. He didn’t abuse Callie, but the two of them bickered like it was their job whenever they were in the same room. Elise hated it, although her parents bragged regularly that their match was a superb accomplishment.

The senior Midoris had almost given up on setting an arranged marriage for Elise when she declared at age twelve she would never participate in the barbaric tradition and would rather be sent to a gulag to rot.

The last straw in Elise’s mind had been when Hilde, her childhood best friend, was matched in a grandiose celebration. Hilde’s future spouse, while from a wealthy family in good standing, was mean and rude to her friend the moment the long-ago ceremony concluded and they were officially matched. Throughout the following party he continued his callous attitude.

Hilde made the best of a bad situation. Elise wouldn’t have put up with it. She would have popped the guy in the nose to wake him up and change his outlook. It was possibly why her parents hadn’t gone out of their way to arrange anyone for her at a young age.

Hilde and her ill-mannered future groom hadn’t settled on a date for their marriage, but it was an eventuality. A prospect Elise chose to pass on, vehemently.

Enduring a grouchy, overbearing husband for life? No, thank you very much.

Maybe it was a well-regarded custom on Alpha-Prime, but luckily it wasn’t required. Elise wasn’t going to spend the bulk of her life bowing and scraping to someone unpleasant and rude. She wanted to work. She wanted a job in law enforcement.

When she informed her parents of her fondest desire, they’d taken it better than expected, but they also wanted her to apply for admission to the Royal Magistrate Guard, the top military and policing agency on Alpha-Prime.

Elise respected and appreciated the RMG, but she hadn’t been certain that was her dream either. As a compromise, she attended an RMG prep academy meant to introduce potential recruits to what was expected and likely weed out unacceptable applicants. While Elise completed the standard prep academy course and graduated with the highest marks, she learned enough to know serving with the Guards definitely was not her dream. She did, however, learn two other important things.

First, she learned what she loved to do. Protect. Elise adored protecting people and she was good at it. She narrowed her desired career goals to a single one. Bodyguard. After the prep academy concluded, she offered her services to a few wealthy patrons on Alpha-Prime, and made a good enough living at it to make herself happy and satisfied.

The second thing she learned she loved at RMG prep academy was very personal. She met the only man she’d ever consider as a husband. Unfortunately, soon after that fateful meeting—during a mad search to discover every detail about him—Elise found out from several reliable sources that he also had an arranged marriage hanging over his head.

He likely didn’t view it that way, as his prospective bride was very pretty, rich and extremely popular. Elise understood his lack of availability, of course, but it didn’t solve her angst over the problem. She didn’t want anyone but him. Regardless of their personal feelings, his arranged marriage meant they’d never be able to consider a relationship. And truthfully, he didn’t even know she existed. Maybe it was better that way.

Her parents, meanwhile, began a campaign to guilt her into joining the RMG as an officer candidate directly after she finished the prep academy. If she wasn’t going to marry well, they wanted her to do better than just good enough as a happy bodyguard. Making a living as what they called a lowly security and protection person was unacceptable to their way of thinking. They wanted her to have a more prestigious life than what a bodyguard typically garnered and they especially wanted her to make more money. Her happiness never once entered into the equation as a valid reason to keep her career. Unbeknownst to her, they also quietly started a search for a prospective groom, just in case she balked at joining the RMG.

One fateful night at a supposed family-only dinner with her parents, a man named Mahler Grant showed up and was introduced as her father’s friend. Mahler reminded Elise of the self-absorbed and cruel man that her childhood friend Hilde was meant to marry. Her suspicions were confirmed when a private conversation with Mahler told her he was exactly as she thought he was and of no further interest in her mind.

When she overheard her mother and sister discussing Mahler Grant the chosen candidate for her arranged marriage, she changed tactics. The same day as the surprise dinner with Mahler Grant, Elise also heard discouraging public news regarding someone she did care about, but would never be hers.

Elise volunteered for permanent duty on a faraway colony planet called Earth the very next day. She left Alpha-Prime soon after to escape her family’s seemingly endless designs on her future.

Elise knew they meant well and she loved them, but she needed her own space. The distance of a galaxy offered her the chance to live her life on her own terms. And she had. Alienn, Arkansas was absolutely perfect and she loved it. Yes, she missed Alpha-Prime sometimes, but not enough to go back.

Plus, her parents hadn’t been accepting of her move off planet. Annoyed was likely a weak description for what they felt with regard to her current lifestyle choice. They wanted to live her life for her, so she had headed elsewhere to keep them out of her business, and to help forget about someone completely unavailable, someone she loved.

Their Fearless Leader, Diesel Grey, entered the conference room, drawing the three teammates’ immediate attention and taking Elise out of introspection mode. He began to explain what the coming mission out of town would entail.

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“There has been a UFO crash just outside of a place called Nocturne Falls, Georgia. It’s about an eight-hour drive from here. There are three souls aboard the ship. You’ll be responsible for recovering all of them, hopefully alive.” Diesel consulted a sheet of gray paper, the color of the paper meant the message was of the highest priority. “There is a pilot, a guard and a prisoner.”

“Are their names available?” Stella asked.

“No. This was the first run of a new endeavor for our business. Since it was last minute, we only got bare information.”

“What new endeavor?” Elise asked.

Diesel lowered the paper to explain. “We’ve secured a contract to serve as a way station for the gulag transport system shuttling prisoners from Alpha-Prime to Galactic Gulag XkR-9. Normally this would be a monthly run, but there is a lucrative addendum on our contract for small runs between the scheduled ones.

“This flight happened to be an out-of-routine run to the gulag with a single prisoner. It’s due to that, unfortunately, we don’t have any detailed information.”

Elise supposed Axel Grey, one of Diesel’s younger brothers, had secured the contract. He was responsible for communications to and from Alpha-Prime. Diesel was one of seven kids, six brothers and only one sister. All were very involved in the truck stop as well as the secret basement facility below. Sometimes she envied the Greys’ large, close-knit family. Other times she was grateful to have been born into a small one.

Elise had only the one sibling. She and Callie were eight years apart in age. In Elise’s opinion, that seemingly vast gap had contributed much to the way she and Callie were forever at odds. It was almost like having two only children in the same household, technically raised together but a generation apart in general attitude.

She realized she’d drifted from the conversation. Focus on this meeting! “What do we know about the place we’re headed?” she asked.

“Not much. The crash site is a couple of miles from town in a wooded area, which is good for us.”

“Nocturne Falls. Farming community? One-industry town?” Stella asked, pen poised to note the details in her mission log.

“It seems to be a themed town.”

“A themed town? What’s that?” Elise asked.

Diesel read from his reference document. “Nocturne Falls is billed as the town that celebrates Halloween three hundred and sixty-five days a year.”

Elise and her teammates exchanged looks that said, “What?”

“Interesting.” Elise crossed her arms to ponder this new information. Stella glanced in her direction. She told her once that she considered Elise a warrior at heart, a loyal fighter and a great teammate. Stella was much the same. So was Victoria, who had long, dark hair, a quiet, serious intelligence and had fooled many into thinking she was harmless as an opponent. She wasn’t. None of them were. The three of them made an excellent team.

Diesel shrugged. “I figure it’s a little bit like our aboveground operation here. We run a truck stop with a spacey, galactic theme. They run their whole town with a Halloween theme.”

“What else do we know?” Stella asked.

“There has been no communication with the ship since we lost it over Georgia. A final garbled message came after they dropped off our sensor screens, reporting some sort of problem upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, and we briefly had a weak beacon signal once they were on the ground. That has since stopped transmitting, but at least we have the approximate location.”

“Is it a hot scene?” Elise asked, using the term that meant humans were either already involved in the crash site or at least knew about it.

“We don’t think so. It seems the camouflage held until they went down, but since the beacon has stopped, we don’t know exactly what you’re going to find. Best-case scenario, you get to the crash site before any humans do.”

Stella asked, “Has there been any communication with the downed ship since they crashed?”

“No,” Diesel said. “But as the beacon worked for a short time afterward, it’s possible the ship is at least partially intact. With luck, you’re only providing transport back to Alienn for the trio.

“If the ship is in one piece, hide it or camouflage it. The vessel retrieval team will leave tomorrow morning and work independently to recover the wreckage and any equipment. Cam will provide camouflage tarps for you to use if the spacecraft can be seen by any humans before the other retrieval team gets there.”

Cam Grey, another of Diesel’s brothers, was primarily in charge of security at the Big Bang Truck Stop and the large alien facility below ground.

As he answered the team’s questions, Diesel was noticeably calm, collected and even patient. Their Fearless Leader had recently mated with an earthling. While many secretly wondered about the match, Elise had met Juliana and knew why Diesel had done it. The human made their Fearless Leader very happy. There was certainly nothing wrong with that in Elise’s book.

Rumors also abounded that Juliana was descended from a lost Alpha-Prime colony that had slipped into legend, but that was only wild speculation at this point. Gossip was a staple at the Big Bang Truck Stop and the surrounding area of Alienn, Arkansas.

“Any more questions?” he asked, and genuinely seemed to want feedback.

“Should we stay together or split up once we get to Georgia?” Elise asked. She’d been the leader the last time the team went out.

Diesel narrowed his eyes. “That will be up to Stella, your mission’s team leader.”

Elise and Victoria stared at their teammate. “Stella is in charge?” they asked at the same time.

“Yes. I’m sorry that wasn’t clear up front. She is next in the rotation. Will that be a problem?”

“No,” they both hastened to answer, although they also cast questioning looks in Stella’s direction. It would be Stella’s first command of a serious mission. Good for her, Elise thought, knowing Stella wanted to prove herself to her cousin, Diesel.

Stella said with confidence, “We’ll assess the crash site when we get there to determine whether splitting up will be beneficial to the mission. If they are merely without communication ability, we’ll provide transport and help with any small salvage of critical equipment on their vessel before we hide it for the retrieval team.”

“Good plan,” Diesel said. “Check in on a regular basis. Set up the contact schedule with Cam before you go.”

“Yes, sir,” the women answered.

“Be vigilant in all you do during this mission. If the opportunity presents itself, do a full workup of the area. We’ve never explored this far beyond our watch photos of terrain. Also, work together, return safely and, above all else, keep on truckin’.”

The familiar phrase was something their people used when their kind went out into distant areas, much like earthlings said, “Hi and how’s it going? And safe travels.”

“Yes, sir,” they repeated.

“Dismissed.”

Elise couldn’t wait to get on the road for this new adventure. Perhaps she’d get her fondest wish, the chance to serve as bodyguard to one of the three on the way back to Alienn.

Chapter One

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In the woods, a few miles from Nocturne Falls

Elise carefully picked her way through the north Georgia forest, hoping this wasn’t a huge waste of her time. Hitching her backpack a little higher on her shoulder, she followed the footprints leading away from the crash site. The trail looked like it had gone right past the crashed spacecraft, but it was unclear if the footsteps had been there before the UFO came down or were made after. The team had arrived eight hours after the crash. Since the area and crash site hadn’t been swarming with humans, they calculated no one else had discovered it.

Stella told her to follow the tracks anyway, just to make sure. It was a fairly standard protocol, not only to check for survivors and/or prisoners on the loose, but also to ensure no pieces of spacecraft had been carried off by some passing human as souvenirs. Elise stuck to procedure and made her way through the sometimes dense foliage, marveling at the beautiful landscape.

Alpha-Prime was rather desolate in comparison to Earth’s lovely and varied scenery. Still, while she loved living and working in Alienn, Arkansas, she missed her home planet and her family on occasion. And never so much as when she had lots of quiet time to think about her past, such as that offered by picking through a quiet forest all alone.

After thirty minutes of walking, she caught the scent of wood smoke. Elise followed her nose through a patch of heavy brush taller than she was to the edge of an unexpected clearing.

She went from dodging limbs to the face to a wide, open space with a charming log cabin nestled against the far side of the clearing, pushed up against the forest’s edge.

Elise scanned the area with a piece of equipment from her pack to determine if any humans were nearby. The device registered no earthlings or non-Alpha humanoids within half a mile. However, the signal of one Alpha registered in the cabin. Which of the three crash victims was inside? She automatically patted her pockets, ensuring she knew exactly where her restraints and shackle device were located if she needed them. She also had a Defender, but it wouldn’t work on an Alpha, only humans. Her detection equipment didn’t distinguish between living and dead, so she hoped for the best and moved forward.

She skirted the edge of the forest, staying off the clearing floor in case of hidden traps, ever wary. If someone had carried an Alpha here, had it been against his will? Had someone merely been trying to help a wounded space traveler? With no information to guide her either way, she had to be prepared for the worst, whether it be from hostile earthlings or the Alpha prisoner unwilling to be taken back into custody.

Elise made it to the back corner of the log house. She took visual inventory of the single small window and no door along the back wall of the structure. No easy egress there.

She was grateful for the skills she’d learned in her year of RMG prep. Thinking about her studies brought unwanted memories of her parents and their supreme disappointment that she didn’t want to live the life they expected. It also reminded her of the flash of pleasure she’d felt from a certain handshake with the irresistible man she foolishly carried a torch for. She pushed both intruding thoughts aside and focused on her mission.

Moving cautiously around the side of the cabin, she noted only one other small window at eye level. Opaque curtains hid any view of the interior. She made her way slowly to the front of the benign-seeming home. Flower-filled planters perched beneath windows on either side of a wooden front door with a fragrant pine wreath hung at eye level.

She surveyed the clearing once more before knocking lightly on the door. “Hello?” With the quiet woods and clearing at her back, it sounded like a shout.

Elise waited a respectable ten seconds and did it again. Nothing.

She tried the knob. The door opened as if it had been waiting for her to show up and enter. Huh. Elise pushed the door open with one hand, the other on her Defender, just in case. The room inside looked large and dim despite the glow from a fire in the fireplace. She stepped across the threshold. “Hello?” she said once more. “I’m looking for my friend. I’m coming inside, okay?” She took another step into the room.

Once her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she noted two things. One, there was a very long table a few feet away from the hearth. And two, a large, familiar-looking man dressed in a Royal Magistrate Guard uniform rested atop the table, though his face was turned away from her.

Elise looked over her shoulder and out at the quiet clearing, listening hard for any humans trying to sneak up. Nothing. She closed the door and approached the prone man. His uniform was bloodied, tattered and torn, but she could see the soft rise and fall of his chest, so he was breathing. Unconscious, not dead. She exhaled the breath she’d held in relief. She scanned her eyes over him, checking for further injuries.

An especially large rip on his left uniform shoulder revealed a wicked scar on his upper arm shaped like a lightning bolt. Shock ripped through her as she identified it. Someone had put a crude splint on his right leg from ankle to knee. Broken? Sprained? Unclear.

She took two more steps, edging closer to the man she recognized by that singular scar alone.

Riker Phoenix.

The man she’d left Alpha-Prime to get away from. The prospect of a lifetime of seeing him in his perfect life with his beautiful, rich wife on every media outlet on the planet had been too disheartening and distasteful to contemplate.

Even unconscious in a ripped-up uniform, he was the most gorgeous and perfect man who would never be hers. Not on this planet or back home. She swallowed hard, shook off her romantic feelings and forced a more professional attitude.

What were the odds of Riker showing up here on Earth? Well, she had heard once that he always wanted to come to Alpha-Prime’s Earth colony and explore. The memory of where she’d heard that tidbit slid into her mind with scandalous heat, warming her cheeks in an instant. She forcefully shoved that thought out of her head and focused on the here and now.

Of the occupant list, pilot, prisoner and guard, he must be the transport’s guard. Surely he wasn’t the prisoner, although she knew back on Alpha-Prime the same couldn’t be said in general about his younger brother, Draeken Phoenix. By all accounts the brothers were close, but Draeken had experienced more than one incident of wrong place, wrong time with a side order of dodgy friends.

Elise moved closer until she stood over him. She snapped her finger near his ear. “Riker,” she said softly. Nothing. His steady breathing didn’t change.

She lowered her face to his. “Riker,” she tried again, louder. Nothing. He smelled great, which was surprising given all he’d obviously been through. She’d noticed that about him the moment she’d shaken his hand in that long-ago graduation line. He had an amazing scent, an amazing voice and an amazing body—another memory she shoved hard to the back burner.

She put her head on his chest, unable to resist checking to ensure his heart was still beating. Tha-thud. Tha-thud. Tha-thud. Steady as a rock.

Elise lifted her head, the scent of him deeply embedded inside her lungs. She studied his face, most especially his mouth, unable to look away from his beautifully shaped lips.

A popular Earth fairy tale popped into her head, where a charming prince came upon a sleeping beauty and kissed her awake. Elise looked over her shoulder, half expecting someone to return to the cabin at any second. All quiet. She looked back down at Riker’s tranquil face. His sculpted mouth called to her.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she pressed her lips to his. This might be her one and only chance to kiss him and she wanted it. Even motionless and unresponsive, kissing Riker sparked a familiar longing in her soul.

When she finally pulled away, mouth buzzing with pleasure, heart beating so fast it was a wonder it stayed inside her chest, she had zero regrets.

Riker’s eyes opened. Elise didn’t move. He fixed his inscrutable electric blue gaze—the one he was famous, or possibly infamous, for—on her eyes, speeding her already swift heartbeat to double time. Did I just kiss him awake, fairy tale-style?

Elise stared back, realizing she’d been caught in the act, but still, she had zero regrets.

She waited for him to sit up and if not forcefully admonish her at least scold her for being so bold. He did neither of those things. His lips softened into a half-smile. Some of her tension eased away.

“Are you awake?” As she asked that, his eyes closed and the half-smile faded. It was obvious he’d gone back to sleep.

Elise went around to the other side of the table to check his leg and the splint, assessing his ability to walk out of here whenever he did wake up.

Two narrow flat boards the width of his leg formed the splint, attached at the ankle and knee and wrapped with a simple woven fabric to hold it in place. She smoothed her hand on his thigh above his knee. Pure muscle. Touching Riker wasn’t a chore. His leg didn’t look broken, but even a fine-line fracture would keep him off it for a while. She’d need some sort of conveyance to take him to the rendezvous point. The van the team had driven to the area was far too big to make it through the woods. She’d have to rent, buy or “appropriate” something else.

She moved to the head of the table and leaned down to Riker’s ear.

“I’ve got to find a vehicle to get you out of here, but I’ll be back as fast as I can. I promise.”

Elise pressed her lips to his once more. She got the shock of her life when Riker responded, quickly turning the kiss from a quick peck to a lingering and intimate lip-lock. The tip of his tongue slid electrically across her bottom lip and she shuddered in delight. She licked him in return, barely resisting the sincere desire to climb onto the table and straddle his prone body. After several seconds of wild passion and secret fantasies filling her brain, she ended the kiss and pulled back.

Riker’s eyes slowly opened again. His more focused gaze darted from her hair to her eyes and his brows furrowed. Had he expected to be kissing someone else? Oops. Time to go.

Chapter Two

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Riker Phoenix did his best to wake up from the sluggish, drowning slumber that kept dragging him down. Flashes of the disastrous dream he’d been having drove the urgency to shake off this extreme lethargy and escape to lucid reality. It felt like drowning in a liquid sand pit on Alpha-Prime. He searched endlessly for a way to pull himself out before being sucked to the center of the planet forever, only to be thrust into an entirely different scenario—a salaciously intimate kiss from a familiar near-stranger. He needed to wake up and stop dreaming.

He opened his eyes, taking what seemed like an enormous amount of energy to complete such a simple task, and couldn’t help but look for the woman with the sexy voice he would swear had tried to kiss him awake. Twice. His brain was obviously rattled from the crash. The green-eyed redhead was someone from his past, and this wasn’t the first time he’d dreamed about her.

Instead of past dreams, he saw wooden ceiling beams attached to log walls, not the crash site of a disabled spacecraft. He smelled wood smoke from somewhere close by. He felt a hard surface under his body instead of a bucket seat, and registered several aches and pains with surprise.

Across the room was a wooden door, presumably leading outside. Shafts of light spilled in from the cracks around the doorframe. They’d crashed in the night, but now it was light. How long had he been unconscious? Adding to his growing unease was the fact he had no idea where he was or how he’d gotten here.

His last memory was of being in the co-pilot’s seat of the doomed flight as Holden, the spacecraft’s pilot, barked orders and the alien ground got closer and closer.

A flash memory of long, wavy red hair framing a beautiful and expressive oval face with bright green eyes shot into his brain. Was that who brought me here? Maybe. Had she truly kissed him or was that a figment in his head? The image was likely the result of his bewildered brain playing tricks on him, as was the fact she looked like someone he knew. Must be his overactive imagination. He didn’t know very many people at the Earth colony.

And yet, he could swear he’d opened his eyes to see her obvious surprise. She’d smiled and spoken. He watched her lips move, but couldn’t remember her words, just the sound of her husky, sexy voice as he drifted back to sleep. The vision from earlier certainly wasn’t real. Just wishful thinking from a charming memory, intruding on a difficult situation. He’d drifted off again before waking alone.

More pertinent flashes of memory came rushing inside his mind, sidelining thoughts of the redheaded green-eyed beauty and her sultry voice. First and foremost, where were his two traveling companions? The mental image of his younger brother, Draeken, manacled in the small spacecraft for the journey to Galactic Gulag XkR-9, made him attempt to sit up—which was a big mistake, as he learned quickly. His vision went blurry and he flattened back onto the very solid surface beneath him, only barely keeping conscious.

He shook off the excessive fatigue once more and vowed to make it to a standing position with only willpower and audacity, if that was all he had. He forced himself to sit up slowly. Keeping his eyes closed seemed to help him remain conscious in the short term. He gritted his teeth when the throbbing pain in his leg flared without warning. Typically, his body healed faster. Perhaps Earth’s atmosphere had a negative impact on his self-healing abilities.

He thought he heard voices to his left. He turned toward the noise, but only saw blurry darkness. Space potatoes! He hated being under the weather or unable to move and function. The sound of voices returned, but only whispered, unintelligible words carried to his ears. Riker took a deep breath, held it and then released it leisurely, opening his eyes at the end of an eight count.

He lifted his head and saw five figures in hooded robes enter the room through the now partly open door, streaming even more light into the dim room of this cabin. Four of the figures wore gray, but the tallest figure, the one in the lead, wore vivid blueish purple. Did that color denote the leader?

The violet-robed figure moved closer as the other four remained near the door. Slender hands moved to the hood, pulling it back and away from a woman’s face. He expected to see red hair, green eyes and an oval face with a beautiful smile.

He was wrong on every single account. The woman had icy blonde hair so white the locks practically had no color, highlighted with vivid, thick blue streaks. Her thin lips were painted a bold crimson, like a livid slash across her angular face, making her features seem especially harsh. His mouth dipped open in surprise.

“You’re awake,” she said in a throaty feminine voice, deeper in tone than the one he remembered from his earlier delusion. “Surprising. Then again, you are a rather larger subject than the ancient prophecy foretold. Still, I’m very pleased with your outward appearance.”

Her voice was certainly not the honey smooth sound of the green-eyed redhead from his dreams. Where is she? Or was she merely a figment of his imagination? He dreamed she kissed him. The pressure of her soft lips on his, stirring his mind and body right out of a deep slumber in a most charming way, had surprised him. Hadn’t she kissed him twice? Perhaps. That second time had been a deeper connection, more intimate and passionate. Even now his body threatened to respond to possibly this figment of his imagination.

Better to focus on the company at hand than dream about another woman.

“I am awake.” His voice was raspy with disuse. How long was I out? “Where am I?” He decided not to comment on her finding his outward appearance pleasing.

A feral smile shaped her thin red lips. “You are exactly where you are supposed to be.”

Great. A riddler.

Riker slid from the table, planting both boots on the wooden floor. One leg was fine, the other hurt a lot, the injury dead center in his shin. He hid his pain in a general grimace of attitude, crossing his arms as a show of strength, putting all of his weight on his “good” leg.

“And where exactly am I ‘supposed’ to be?”

The woman took a step closer as the four hooded figures shrank back against the walls, as if expecting his question to unleash her fury. One figure stumbled against the curtains covering a small window, making them jerk against the rod.

The prospect of the strange woman’s wrath was fine with him. Bring it.

“A prophecy has been fulfilled with your arrival,” she stated as if it were completely obvious.

Space potatoes! He did not like the sound of that.

“Oh?” he asked in as nonchalant a tone as he could manufacture. “What prophecy?”

She took another step closer. The pungent scent of wood smoke combined with something like burnt spices wafted ahead of her, assaulting his lungs. It was bitter and acrid, like her tone.

“A prophecy that told me, Anya, the Druid high priestess of these woods, that a man would fall from the sky and survive a great and fiery crash.”

Huh. Accurate, unfortunately.

“That man would be the only one worthy of becoming my mate.”

Riker grinned. “Is this a joke?” He looked around, desperately searching for a second escape beyond the door surrounded by the other robed figures. Nothing. The only escape was the door they’d all just come through. He wished the redhead wasn’t a dream. He could use her help right about now.

“No. This is not a joke.” Anya moved closer. The edge of her robe swirled only inches from his boot. “You will be my mate! You and I will combine as it has been foreseen!” Her voice lifted, as did her face toward the ceiling.

Creepily, the other four echoed from their places by the door, “As it has been foreseen.”

“You will then go through the purification ritual as it was foreseen!” Anya moved another step closer, her pungent, smoke-scented robe covering his boot tip, her body inches from touching him. The others chanted, “As it was foreseen.”

“If you survive,” she said, and then paused as if for dramatic effect, “well, then you will be unmanned so that no other female may have you or claim you furthermore.”

“No claim furthermore…furthermore,” the four chanted in an eerie tone.

“And finally you will become my lifelong thrall.” Anya lowered her head, opened her eyes and stared at him as if he was the bringer of all her dreams come true. Her expression seemed eager, like she expected him to be grateful for this honor.

Riker did his best not to sputter with fury. “Combined? Unmanned? Thrall? I don’t think so. I’d rather not be a part of any purification ritual, especially if my reward is to be unmanned and turned into a slave. Thanks, but no thanks!”

Her gray gaze widened. “You don’t have a choice. It has been foreseen.”

“Don’t I?” He rose to his full height, which surpassed hers by a few inches, keeping his weight on his good leg. He balanced his butt against the table to compensate for his hurt leg and hoped he wasn’t about to fall into a heap at the hem of her smoke-scented violet robe, which would absolutely happen if he took a single step.

“But the prophecy has been foretold. You will be my mate.”

“Already foretold,” the others chanted. He wanted them to shut it.

How to get out of this bind? The green-eyed redhead danced across his brain. They’d met briefly at the RMG prep school graduation ceremony. He was a guest of honor, she a new graduate. The elusive memory made him think of a possible way out of Anya’s plans.

“What if I already have a mate?” he asked, lifting one eyebrow.

Her mouth fell open. “You already have a mate? No. You can’t. I won’t allow it!”

“Lady, trust me. I am not the guy for you. I will not participate in your ritual nor will I combine with you, whatever that means, and hear me when I tell you I will never be any woman’s thrall!”

Her hand lifted suddenly and opened near his face. Shimmering pink powder covered her palm. She blew air across it from pursed lips. The pink dust gathered into a plume and then plastered across his face.

In the next second he saw black and felt the ominous sensation of falling, but was out cold before he hit the hard wooden floor.

Chapter Three

<^> <^> <^>

Elise left Riker reluctantly, knowing he couldn’t hike through the woods on a possibly broken leg, or even a sprained one, presuming she could even keep him awake to attempt it.

Relief and disappointment registered equally when he responded to her second kiss but shortly fell unconscious again. His gaze pegged her with a look of…what? Interest? Desire? Concern? What the heck are you doing kissing me, you earthling stranger?

“Riker? Are you awake?” He didn’t speak, just stared until his eyes slid shut.

Elise pretended she hadn’t just kissed him awake. She leaned closer, taking a deep breath of his scent, letting out an appreciative moan, which also didn’t wake him. Just as well.

She risked another kiss—such a hardship—just to make sure he wasn’t awake. He kissed her back gently, moving his lips against hers in a soft dance as old as time itself, licking her bottom lip—superbly divine—and deepening the already exhilarating lip-lock.

Elise certainly enjoyed it, but apparently he was kissing her in his sleep. When she withdrew, his eyes opened briefly as if concerned and then slid closed once more. She thought he might be smiling again in his sleep, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking on her part. Maybe instead he was thinking about how he’d arrest her and put her in jail for being a kissing bandit. Fanciful.

She studied the splint once more, unable to tell from just looking if his leg was broken, sprained or merely bruised from the crash. If it was broken it likely wasn’t a compound fracture. Good news, but still a complication for getting him out of the woods.

Elise brushed her fingertips down the side of his face and whispered, “I’ll be back for you. I promise.” With a final glance over one shoulder and a check to ensure no one was lurking in the area, she headed away from the cabin and crash site at a fast clip to find some sort of conveyance to move him. If needed, she’d construct a litter out of what she carried and pull him through the forest to the rendezvous point, although given his muscled weight and stature, it might take her a week to drag him that far.

Luckily, that wasn’t necessary. A couple of miles away, she discovered a nice house nestled in the woods at the edge of what looked like a very nice secluded neighborhood. Parked in the driveway was the perfect vehicle for her needs and the keys were in the ignition. She debated knocking on the door, even moving in that direction to do so, but decided to ask forgiveness later instead of permission now.

When she turned back toward the vehicle, it was to see a young boy coming around the side of the house.

“Hi,” he said, tilting his head as if wondering what she was doing.

“Hi,” Elise said, giving him a bright smile. “What’s your name?”

“Charlie. What’s yours?”

“I’m Elise.”

He pointed to her utility belt and the Defender. “What’s that for?”

“Oh, it’s just a megaphone to make my voice louder sometimes.” Elise hated to lie, but didn’t feel comfortable explaining that the Defender erased the memories of humans so they wouldn’t learn that aliens roamed their planet in plain sight. Nor did she want to use it on a child.

She quickly turned the conversation to the vehicle. “Whose bike is this? Is it your dad’s?”

The boy grinned. “No. It’s my mom’s.”

Elise’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Awesome. Do you think she’d mind if I borrowed it for a little while, if I promise to bring it right back? I have a hurt friend in the woods. I was hoping to rent this and carry him back to our car.” She pulled cash out of her pants pocket and offered it to the child.

Charlie stared at the money, but shook his head. “Do you really promise to bring it back when you’re done?”

Elise raised three fingers on her right hand, lifted it in the air and said, “I promise I will bring it back.”

“Okay. You can take it for your hurt friend. I don’t think she’d mind helping someone that is hurt.” He smiled.

“Thank you so much, Charlie. I truly appreciate it.”

After having borrowed—well, procured with the permission of a small child…okay, stolen from Charlie’s mom—a vehicle to help move the wounded Riker, Elise rode the motorcycle as far as she could through the woods toward the cabin. She got off and walked it into a small glade of tiny trees surrounded by larger trees, backed it into the perfect space to cover it up, pushed the kickstand down and headed the fifty feet to where she’d left him.

Once she got Riker out of the cabin and to this awesome motorcycle, she’d take him to the rendezvous spot, secure him and promptly return the borrowed bike.

Maybe Charlie’s mom wouldn’t even notice it had been gone. She would leave some cash with the boy for what little gas she used and hope she wouldn’t simply be arrested for grand theft motorcycle.

The cabin’s front door was open. Elise went on alert. On the edge of the clearing, she took out her search device.

Riker was where she’d left him, but there were five humanoids in the cabin with him. Interesting. Humanoid, but not human and not Alpha. She cleared the device to try again and got the same reading, a handful of humanoids. Who were these strangers? Were they the ones who’d brought Riker to the cabin? How were they not human? If not human, were they another race of aliens? If so, they weren’t supposed to be here without permission from Alpha-Prime.

<^> <^> <^>

Elise crept to the side window and peeked through. The curtains had shifted in her absence and she saw Riker standing by the table. Abruptly, a tall woman with white-blonde hair vividly streaked with royal blue lifted her palm and blew dust or something into his face. He collapsed to the floor in a heap of tattered uniform and muscular limbs. Hand on her Defender, Elise rounded the corner to the front door, ready to blast her way in and throw Riker on her shoulders if need be to get him out of here.

She listened at the open front door, peeking in quickly and retreating to get a mental snapshot of the room and where the others were located.

“Get him on the table again,” a low, commanding voice said. Elise heard the distinct shuffle of feet on the wooden floor. Another quick peek showed four hooded figures in gray robes had already put him back on the flat surface and scurried away.

Elise eased forward to take a longer look into the room through the slit of narrow space between doorframe and door. The woman in the violet robe approached the table and stared down at Riker. An unjustified streak of jealousy raced down Elise’s spine as the other woman looked at him with desire.

If Miss Blonde Streaky Blue Hair bent to kiss him like Elise had, she would step into the cabin and blast the woman with the Defender. It should knock her out, as long as she wasn’t Alpha. The search device said she wasn’t, just humanoid and not human. Elise was unsure of how the Defender would work on another non-Earth species. Perhaps she shouldn’t count on it.

The woman didn’t kiss Riker. Instead, she gripped his shoulders with her hands, shaking him roughly as if trying to wake him up. He seemed to rouse, but didn’t move.

“You may sit up,” she said. Riker immediately rose to a sitting position on the table, his gaze straight ahead, staring at nothing or possibly the empty side wall. “Now that you’re in a more cooperative mood, we’ll try again, shall we?”

Riker nodded jerkily, as if he had no choice in the matter. Had this violet-robed woman blown some kind of drug in his face and enthralled him? Was she some sort of backwoods witch?

Elise had never believed in supernatural things, thinking there was usually a good explanation for strange goings on if you looked hard enough. But this was unexpected and she moved forward with caution. The pink powder was obviously something that could be used against Alphas. She’d have to try to procure a sample for further study.

The woman directed Riker to swing his legs over the side of the table. Once he had, he faced her, but retained the blank stare. Elise looked inside again, watching for what came next, searching for a good time to go in Defender blazing to rescue him.

“As I told you before, I am high priestess, Anya of the Georgia Woods Druid gathering.”

Riker said nothing. He seemed to be staring at her mouth or possibly her chin.

“Let me tell you about our discovery and the long-ago prophecy as it was foretold.”

The other four robed figures droned, “As it was foretold.”

Anya crossed her arms, holding them up as if she were a genie from an old television show about to blink her eyes exaggeratedly and make something magic happen.

Instead of magic making, she just started talking. “We saw a flash like lightning above the tree line, but there were no storms in the area. The cloudless night revealed to us clearly that this was the beginning of the event for which we’ve waited for so long.

“The light above the woods arced toward our prophecy temple, as it was foretold.”

The others—all women by the sound of their voices—chanted, “As it was foretold,” every time Anya said the words.

“We followed the streak, hearing the metallic plunk of the spaceship crash into a nearby clearing, as it was foretold.” And the chorus of four repeated their ominous line.

“Once we got to the crash site, we found you hurt, bleeding and unconscious, just exactly as it was foretold. We knew you were important. We knew you needed our help. We knew you would become part of our gathering, as it was foretold.”

The repeated chorus of voices was unnerving.

“We carried you to safety with the express purpose of completing the long-ago prophecy, as it was foretold.” The others chanted their four-word echo.

Riker simply stared, expression unchanging, as if ensnared by a spellbound trance of her making. Anya lowered her arms to her sides and said, “You may speak only, thrall, no moving. Tell me, what do you think of our prophecy?”

Riker’s expression changed quickly. His hard, frowning gaze rose to her eyes. “Not much. I will not participate willingly. I will not be your thrall.”

Anya laughed. “We’ll see about that, won’t we? And willing or not isn’t part of the foretelling.”

“I told you, I’m already mated to someone else.” Elise froze as the image of him with his beautiful, popular, rich Alpha wife-to-be punched wickedly into her body with almost physical effect. She inhaled and exhaled to gather her military bearing. She was on a mission to rescue fallen Alphas, not on a manhunt to repair her lonely love life.

“Silence!” Anya screamed. “I forbid it! You are not allowed to be mated!” On that point, Elise might agree with her. However, she suspected they had much different ideas on who Riker’s future mate should be.

“I must say, I’m surprised you were mobile when we returned earlier,” Anya remarked. She gripped his chin one-handed and forced him to stare at her again. “Explain to me how you were not still immobile when we returned?”

Riker shrugged. “How should I know? Why is it important?”

Anya was only an arm’s length from Riker. Elise tightened her grip on the handle of her Defender, pulling it free from her utility belt. “Because I put a spell on you, of course, so you’d still be here when we returned from the prophecy temple.”

“There was a spell on me? And there’s a prophecy temple?” Riker asked. Smiling as if she might be teasing him, he added, “Is this another joke?”

Her attitude darkened. “Our prophecies are sacred. This is a serious matter. I would never joke about it.”

“I can talk if I want to right now.”

Her white-blonde eyebrows curved in puzzlement. “No. You only speak because I allow it. I have powers. Instead of questioning me, you should thank me for rescuing you.”

Riker shook his head, frowned and closed his eyes briefly. Is he in pain? “Listen. I appreciate that you tried to help me and everything, but I need to get out of here. Along with a mate, I also have obligations and responsibilities to others that I need to attend to.”

Elise decided it was time to make her presence known. She pushed the door open on luckily soundless hinges, ready to fire the Defender into the room and rescue Riker. He slid his legs off the table and put all his weight on the leg without the splint.

Anya laughed. “I didn’t say you could move.”

“And yet I did anyway,” Riker said.

She lifted her hand and blew more pink dust in his face. He coughed and pushed out a long sigh, making an effort to move his body and seemingly unable to. Riker’s angry look remained in place, but his beautiful lips closed. He was again enthralled in some way by that dust the priestess seemed to have an endless supply of. “And no talking either,” she said imperiously. His lips pressed together.

Space potatoes! How was Elise supposed to get him out of the cabin if he only responded to Anya’s commands?

This had gone on long enough. Elise stepped into the cabin, took a two-armed stance and pointed her Defender into the room, ready to fire.

“Release him,” Elise said in her angriest, most commanding tone.

Both Riker’s and Anya’s heads turned in her direction and the four robed figures pivoted to face her.

Anya frowned. “Why should I release him?”

“Because he’s my mate, and I’ve come for him.”

Chapter Four

<^> <^> <^>

Riker relaxed when he saw the green-eyed redhead step into the cabin with a Defender and proclaim he was her mate. I wish. Obviously, she was with the recovery team sent here from Alienn, Arkansas. The more amazing part of her declaration had to do with the fact that he hadn’t been dreaming before. Elise had been here. Had she also kissed him or was that only part of his fanciful dream?

Anya put herself in front of him to face his rescuer. His inability to move after she blew more pink dust in his face sent him to the height of fury. At least he didn’t fall unconscious this time.

“He cannot be your mate! I am Anya, high priestess of the Georgia Woods Druids. He’s mine.”

“Well, I am Elise, recovery expert of the Big Bang Truck Stop in Alienn, Arkansas. And he’s not yours. He is my mate. Get over yourself and release him to me. Now!”

“No. You’ll have to prove it.”

“What?” Elise—a beautiful name, in his opinion—looked a bit perplexed.

Anya frowned. “Prove to me that he is your mate.”

“Why should I? He’s my mate and I want him back. It’s so easy. Just let him go.”

“His arrival is part of the prophecy that we’ve long waited to happen, as it was foretold.”

The others echoed, “As it was foretold.”

“Be that as it may, you’ve got the wrong guy. He’s mine and I want him.” I want you, too. The surprise that came with that mental declaration was only that it was completely true. Had Elise kissed him earlier? Had he merely seen her and only dreamed she kissed him because he’d ached to kiss her long ago?

As much as he wanted to, Riker couldn’t look in her direction. He’d obviously been bewitched by Anya’s pink powder, though its hold on him seemed tenuous—like if he tried, perhaps he could break the spell and move of his own volition. He was able to move a bit, seeing Elise a little better.

“I believe we are at an impasse,” Anya said.

“No. We are not. You let him go or I blast you with my Defender.”

Anya sounded unimpressed. “That simply means you are unable to prove he’s your mate. I’ll take my chances.”

The redhead dropped the Defender to her side and came further into the room where he could see her better. Closer to where he stood, frustratingly unable to talk to or look her in the eyes. Still, she looked amazing. “All right. Fine. My mate has a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his shoulder.” She pointed to his arm.

Anya eyed the ripped shoulder of his uniform. From the corner of his eye, Riker could see the scar was exposed. “You can already see that,” Anya said dismissively.

“Okay. How about this? His name is Riker Phoenix and he’s a Royal Magistrate Guard from Alpha-Prime in the Caldera Forte Galaxy.”

Riker was shocked. What had she done? They weren’t supposed to reveal the existence of Alpha-Prime to the humans. Then his gaze went to the Defender at her side. The Earther invention had made a big splash at a recent annual technology convention he’d attended on Alpha-Prime. He relaxed. One blast from it and his robed captors would forget this whole conversation.

Anya looked at Riker. He was able, barely, to nod his confirmation of Elise’s words.

“Not good enough,” the woman proclaimed, crossing her arms like a spoiled child determined to have her own way.

The redhead scowled. “What’s it going to take?”

Anya shrugged. Riker forced his head to turn toward her, which gave him a better view of Elise. “Reveal something on his body that we can’t see and I’ll reconsider your claim.”

Riker mentally rolled his eyes. He did have a hidden mark, but it was doubtful a fallen space alien recovery expert on this planet would know about it. Concentrating hard, Riker was able to move his head more and more.

Elise’s beautiful eyes narrowed. “Okay. He’s got a tattoo that you can’t see unless he undresses.” Her gaze darted to him once, then away.

With effort, Riker tilted his head to one side as he stared fully at the beautiful redhead. How did she know about that? He wanted to grin.

“What?” Anya perked up and looked over her shoulder at him.

Riker didn’t know how Elise knew about his hidden tattoo, very few people did, but he was extremely grateful.

“What is it? What does it look like?” Anya asked.

“It’s private.” Elise moved into Riker’s view and gave him an intimate smile, like the two of them shared a secret. The effects of the pink powder must be wearing off again, because he was able to slowly return her smile. Anya glared at them.

“Tell me what it is!” she demanded.

“Okay, since you commanded so nicely, it’s in the shape of a small blue shield outlined in black, pierced by a silver dagger.”

Anya eyed Riker from chest to knees in a way that made him feel very exposed. “Where is it, this shield and dagger tattoo?” she said, as if relishing the idea of stripping him naked to discover it for herself.

“It’s on the back of his thigh, almost on his butt cheek,” Elise said without hesitation. Color came up in her cheeks.

Riker stared at her. Had someone told this woman about his tattoo? Who? Then he remembered who’d been on the ill-fated flight with him: Draeken, his brother, with Riker’s good friend Holden in the pilot’s chair. Draeken obviously told this redhead about him, right? How else could she know? Riker knew Draeken took vicarious pride in the tattoo, since he’d played a central role in getting his brother drunk enough to procure it one night after too much time spent…partying. That was the Earther term, wasn’t it?

He was afraid crazy Anya was about to force him to strip naked and bend over the table so everyone could see the tattoo his brother had convinced him he must have to foster a more wicked reputation shortly after he’d been nicknamed The Calderian, and appointed to the position of top lawman on their planet.

“Are you about to strip him naked so you can look at his butt? Because that’s not going to happen,” Elise said. “I forbid it.”

“You forbid it?” Anya screeched.

Elise strode over to Riker, lowered Defender at her side, until she was right in his personal space. She looked into his eyes, threw an arm around his neck and kissed him like she’d just changed her job from recovery expert to professional kisser.

The moment her lips touched his, he could move and think without permission from his captor. Riker wrapped his arms around the redhead’s torso and returned her kiss with as much passion as she had initiated. He could practically feel Anya about to blow her top beside them.

“You shouldn’t be able to move,” she whined. “The spell can only be broken by—” she stopped talking.

Elise leaned away from their amazing kiss and said, “Let me guess. The spell can only be broken by his true mate. Right? Well, that’s me and I’ve proven it. We’re leaving.”

“No!”

Anya stopped screaming only long enough to inhale again, raising both arms as if to manhandle them apart. Elise lifted the Defender behind her back and squeezed the trigger.

And nothing happened.

Riker’s heart dropped.

Chapter Five

<^> <^> <^>

Elise turned, ready to enjoy the sight of Anya falling to the floor in an unconscious heap. But the Druid priestess didn’t move. Space potatoes! She pulled the trigger and fired another shot into the room. No one fell down. Not a single one of them.

Anya stood as if frozen in place, mouth wide open about to scream, arms half lifted toward them. Elise glanced at the other robed figures. They’d been swaying back and forth, chanting, “As it was foretold,” every time Anya delivered the line. Now they also stood stock still, each half tilted to one side or the other.

“Aren’t humans supposed to faint or fall down or something when you shoot them with the Defender?” Riker asked in a low tone. The breath from his words brushed along her jaw line, making her very aware of their intimate embrace. She didn’t plan to be the one to move away first.

“Yes. However, they registered only as humanoid on my Alpha range finder, not human.”

“Interesting. Do you think it’s another breed of alien living on this planet?”

There wasn’t supposed to be, but it was certainly possible. Elise shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t have time to care right now. My mission is to get you to safety. Let’s get out of here. I have wheels not far away.”

“Wheels?” he said with a gorgeous grin. Seriously, this man makes me weak all over and stupid when I think.

“Earther expression. It’s a motorcycle, actually.”

He nodded his approval. “Excellent. I’ve read about those. They look very exciting to ride.”

Riker took a step and winced. They were still arm in arm, pressed together like mates with intimate knowledge of each other. I can dream. She held onto his good side.

“Can you walk or do I need to build a litter to drag you out of here?”

“I’m going to have to go slow, but if you move to the other side of me, so I can use you as a crutch, I’ll be fine. Trust me when I tell you that I want to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

I do trust you. Elise switched sides and wrapped one arm around his waist. He put an arm around her shoulders. She held onto his biceps and they carefully exited the log cabin and walked into the clearing.

He looked up at the tall trees. “I’ve read about Earth’s tall trees, but they really are quite magnificent, aren’t they?”

Elise directed him quickly around the side of the cabin toward where she’d hidden the motorcycle. “Yes. Earth has many beautiful places.”

“Thanks for getting me out of there. I did not want to be a part of her prophecy plans.”

“What? The Calderian doesn’t want to be a lifelong thrall to a high priestess after being unmanned? Hard to imagine not wanting all that job security.”

He laughed. “Good thing I already have job security. But again, thank you for coming to my rescue.”

She looked into his face and smiled, feeling heat come up in her cheeks. “No problem. It’s my job.”

Returning her thoughts to the task at hand, she hurried him toward the appropriated motorcycle, fearful the Druid high priestess would wake up and come after them or, worse, that he might ask her how she knew about the tattoo on his butt.

Together they made fast progress, so it didn’t take long to reach the glade.

Elise disengaged from Riker and immediately missed his body warmth. Ignoring the sense of loss, she pulled the metallic-black Harley-Davidson Softail out of hiding and pointed it in the direction of the trail she’d used to get back here.

“I have a question for you.”

Here it came. He wanted to know how she had intimate knowledge of his body. She tried out the Earther word for space potatoes, liking the way it sounded in her mind. Crap. The word “crap” was shorter, harsher sounding and more to the point. Maybe that would be her shiny new expletive.

“What’s that?” she asked, playing along.

“We know each other, don’t we? We’ve met. I’m certain of it.”

Elise flashed back to the moment at her RMG prep school graduation. Grateful to be spared an interrogation about her knowledge of his butt, she said, “I can’t believe you remember, but a few years ago we shook hands at the RMG right after I graduated from academy training.”

He snapped his fingers. “That’s right. The graduation.” His gaze drilled through to her soul. “I knew we’d met before. I do remember you.” And I remember you, too, Riker Phoenix. Vividly. You helped change my life’s direction.

Elise helped him swing his splinted leg over the bike and then carefully climbed onto the seat in front of him. This also helped waylay any further questions about her past, her inappropriate lust for him or the question she feared the most about his tattoo. She didn’t particularly want to reveal how she knew firsthand that he had one.

He snuggled up to her, wrapping both arms around her middle. Before she even started the motor, Elise heard a dog, maybe even two of them, barking nearby. It sounded like they were running through the woods. She fired up the Softail and revved the awesome motor, worried some human was about to discover them here. The power of the motor rumbled through the seat to her legs.

Over one shoulder, she saw Riker smile. He buried his face into the back of her neck. Elise almost lost complete control of her limbs and dropped the bike. How embarrassing.

Then he whispered something. She closed her eyes to listen to the sound of his voice. That combined with the vibration of the bike between her legs added a thrill. Then she realized what he had said. She pretended the bike was too loud to hear, and revved the motor to cover the riotous visions in her head.

Before he could repeat himself, she set her eyes forward, ready to focus on getting them away from here. A wolf pup scampered into the glade. The moment the black and silver pup saw them, he lifted his little furry head and howled as if signaling all the other wolves in the area. Crap.

Moments later, his mama burst through the forest wall into the glade with what Elise might have called a very determined expression, if wolves could even express human sentiments.

Elise had never seen a more beautiful wolf and the black and silver pup was super cute. The wolf pup ran toward them partway and then scampered back to his mother as if asking permission to ride along with them.

The mother seated herself with surprising daintiness and stared as if considering whether she wanted to eat Elise and Riker alive. Another look at the mother and Elise noticed she had a little potbelly. In Arkansas, one of her neighbors had a fairly controversial potbellied pig as a pet. Did they have potbellied wolves in Georgia or had the wolf already eaten someone? Farfetched.

In an overloud incredulous voice Riker asked, “Are those wolves?”

Elise nodded. She decided to drive off and hope the two wolves didn’t follow. She wanted to get the motorcycle back to Charlie and his mother quickly. It would be foolish to believe his mother hadn’t found out by now, but Elise hoped she’d be forgiving of both Charlie and Elise.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the figure of the adult wolf, potbelly and all, became smaller in the side-view mirror. They left the trail and were zooming down asphalt in short order.

She had to get Riker to the rendezvous point, but as they neared the neighborhood where she’d borrowed the bike, she spotted Charlie and a pregnant woman standing in the driveway of Charlie’s house. The woman looked worried. Great.

Elise pushed out a quiet sigh. She eased back on the throttle to pull the bike slowly alongside them, cut the engine and put the kickstand down. She got off, motioning for Riker to stay seated. He didn’t need to be standing around on his injured leg.

“Hi, Elise,” Charlie said brightly. “See, Mom? Elise brought your Harley back just like she promised.”

Elise pulled the key from the ignition and handed it to the other woman, who quickly folded the metal into her palm, making a fist around it.

“Uh-huh.” Charlie’s mother reserved any further comment, but if looks could smoke her where she stood, Elise would be ash blowing in the wind.

Charlie pointed to the splint on Riker’s leg. “And her friend is hurt just like she said he was.”

“I see that.” But she didn’t look at Riker’s leg. She kept staring at Elise. Resisting the urge to tug at her collar, which got warmer with each passing moment, Elise bent to Charlie’s level. “Thank you for letting me borrow your mom’s motorcycle. Why don’t you talk to my friend, Riker, for a minute? Then your mom and I can chat for a bit. I want to thank her properly.”

“Okay.” He turned to Riker. “Is that a lightning scar on your shoulder? How did you get it? Was it from a sword? Or was it magic, like Harry Potter with Voldemort? Did it hurt a lot when you got it?” he asked rapid-fire, not letting Riker answer any questions before the two women moved out of earshot.

“I’m really sorry,” Elise said just as Charlie’s mother said, “You took advantage of my son’s good nature.”

Elise’s eyes dipped to the woman’s rounded belly and she had a moment of envy, wishing she carried Riker’s baby. The heat that rose up fast in her cheeks hopefully would convince this woman not to press charges for grand theft motorcycle. “No. I mean, my intention wasn’t to take advantage of him. I just wanted to get my injured friend out of the woods.”

The woman’s lips were pressed flat, but after a few seconds of treating Elise to a rather intense stare, she softened. “Yes. Okay. I can see you didn’t lie to him at least.”

Not much anyway. “No. I didn’t lie about my hurt friend or about needing transportation for him.”

Elise held out her hand as earthlings often did. Alphas also did especially in ceremonial and professional settings. “My name is Elise.” Charlie’s mother took her hand.

“I’m Ivy Merrow.”

“Again, I’m sorry.” She pulled some cash from her pocket. “Here, let me pay you for the gas I used.” She offered the money to Ivy.

The woman shook her head almost immediately. “I don’t need any money.”

Elise stuffed the cash back in her pocket. “Okay. Is there anything else I can do to repay you for your kindness?”

Ivy crossed her arms, fingers still wrapped tightly around the key. “How did your friend hurt his leg?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” Well, basically he’s an alien and he survived a UFO crash…um no. “We haven’t actually discussed it yet.”

Ivy looked back at Riker, Charlie and the bike. “Where was he, your friend, I mean?”

Elise straightened. “I found him in a cabin in a clearing, maybe a few miles from here.” She pointed in the direction of the cabin, not wanting to lie about it.

“The Druid cabin in the big clearing?” Ivy’s head swung back toward Elise, concern etched in her features.

Elise shrugged. She didn’t exactly know who they were. “I’m not sure. There was no one there besides Riker when I found him.” The mate-crazy Druid high priestess Anya and her four echoes showed up after that.

“The only cabin I know in the direction you just came from is the Druid cabin.”

“Druids?” Elise managed to sound interested, but not shocked. “What if they were Druids? Will they come after us once they find out my friend is gone?”

Ivy’s expression remained cool. “I can’t say. Lots of rumors about them, though. Mostly they keep to themselves and operate without any outside interference from anyone.”

“Operate? Like what? Are they witches?” Elise figured it didn’t hurt to fan the flames of paranormal paranoia when trying to avoid talking about aliens living in plain sight.

“No. Not witches. They are just holed up in the woods, waiting for some crazy prophecy to come true. They’re rather standoffish with anyone not involved in their world. They make a few trinkets to sell in town from stuff they scrounge in the forest.”

“Are they dangerous?”

Ivy shrugged. “I can’t say one way or the other.”

Elise pondered the unpleasant prospect of crazy prophecy-fulfilling Druids chasing them all the way back to Alienn.

“Did you see them?”

“Maybe,” Elise admitted.

Ivy absently stroked the curve of her belly as she looked at Riker. “One of the rumors bandied about is that they are waiting for a man to fall from the sky.”

“Oh?” Elise said, and faked a laugh. “Crazy. Right?”

“I don’t know.” Ivy’s forceful gaze landed on Elise. “Did your friend fall from the sky?”

Elise’s fingers itched to use the Defender, but given that it hadn’t worked on the Druids the way it was supposed to, she didn’t want to take a chance on a pregnant Ivy or young Charlie. She squeezed her fingers into a ball and released them.

“I wouldn’t put it past him to have fallen out of a tree, but as I said, we haven’t discussed it yet. He may never tell me. Men, you know?” Elise shrugged as if Riker’s male pride would preclude him from telling her what really happened. She hoped Ivy wouldn’t consider a UFO falling from the sky a feasible addition to the list of possibilities.

Ivy surprised her by laughing. “I was just thinking about the Druids waiting for decades for some star-traveling alien to fall from the sky, but instead a tourist falls out of a tree and their beliefs are finally vindicated.”

Elise laughed along with her, but “star-traveling alien” was too close for comfort. “I guess we’d better get going. Thank you for the use of your motorcycle. Are you sure I can’t pay you for the gas?”

Ivy shook her head. She seemed to have lost her annoyance with the situation as she watched Charlie study Riker’s scar up close. “What are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?” Elise asked absently. Riker’s bare shoulder was of interest to her, too. He was a well put together man.

“Are you going to make him walk on his bad leg all the way into town?” Ivy asked.

“Oh. Well. I guess—” She smiled. Charlie was showing Riker his own little biceps, posing like a guy trying to impress others. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Ivy gripped the motorcycle keys tighter. “This motorcycle is extremely special to me. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you take it again.”

“I understand. Don’t worry about us. We’ll figure something out.”

They both heard the sound of a car approaching, fast, and Ivy looked toward it. Her expression changed, deflating. “The thing is, I already called my husband.”

“Your husband.”

“Yes.” She smiled apologetically. “He’s the sheriff of Nocturne Falls.”

A patrol car came into view down the street. A brand new curse came up in Elise’s mind. Crappity-crap!

Chapter Six

<^> <^> <^>

Riker wished he could overhear what Elise and Charlie’s mother were saying, but the boy was so full of questions, he was obliged to answer all sorts of things he’d never considered before, all while keeping the idea that he was an alien from another planet completely secret.

He’d never been to Earth, but he’d wanted to visit the Alpha colony here for years. Too bad his first opportunity had to be because he was taking his brother to a gulag in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Riker wanted to consult with Elise regarding Draeken. They needed to find his brother sooner rather than later. He had to ensure they got back to Alienn, Arkansas together. The crash meant officials on Alpha-Prime would send another ship bound for the gulag to pick Draeken up, but Riker wanted to be on the flight. He needed to be one of the guards bringing Draeken to XkR-9, the worst gulag in three galaxies. His brother’s life might depend on it.

He’d done everything within his power—and a couple of things that weren’t even close to being in his purview—to free his brother from a horrendous ten-year prison sentence, all to no avail. No one would see him. No one would help him. No one would listen to a thing he had to say on the matter.

He tried not to believe his brother had been coerced into something as illegal as a payoff or a bribe to benefit someone back on Alpha-Prime. But the whole strange prosecution felt exactly like that. Like a favor to some higher up for some nameless purpose.

His injured leg throbbed like crazy. Once he’d gotten upright, he felt much better than expected. More lucid, in point of fact, as if a veil had been removed and he could see clearly again.

The trip on the motorcycle through the woods, hugged up against Elise, had been wondrously unexpected and thrilling. Straddling the motorbike behind her lithe, lean figure with her long hair in his face and her backside wedged against his thighs put his thoughts into more scandalous places. Not an altogether unpleasant journey as motorcycle rides through the forest went, even though it was his debut trip.

Riker looked at Elise. She hadn’t responded to his whispered memory of kissing her in a dream, nor answered his question as to whether she’d kissed him as he slept before returning to disrupt Anya’s ultimate prophecy goals. She’d revved the engine and pretended not to hear him, making Riker smile inside.

He was saving another unanswered question for when they were completely alone and no one could hear them. How did she know about his tattoo? Would Draeken have used that as an identification mark? It was certainly possible, especially since his brother likely wasn’t above tattling that information. Or had Holden known about the tattoo and snitched? Unclear.

Had Alienn’s retrieval team—he assumed there had to be more searchers than just Elise—even found Draeken and Holden yet? Were they alive? Had Elise not brought the subject of his companions up because neither of the other two had survived the crash? The gut punch that brought to his belly made him force his thoughts in another direction. No. If something had happened to Draeken, Elise would have mentioned it.

Riker had lots of question for the beautiful, sultry Elise. Not to mention he wanted to kiss her again. Did she want to kiss him, or had she only passionately pretended to be his mate so Anya would back off? Had she felt the same sort of spark he had when they kissed? Or had that simply been a reaction to coming off whatever spell Anya had put him under with that pink sparkly powder she’d blown in his face?

Either way, Elise intrigued him to no end. He wanted her to be interested. She probably thought he only said he remembered her to be nice, but he still felt the electricity that arced between them from a mere handshake.

His former betrothed was a nice enough woman, and they remained very close friends, but he didn’t love Lexa in any romantic way. A platonic future wasn’t one he wanted to lead with the woman he’d be married to for a lifetime. As it turned out, Lexa didn’t love him that way either. Fast friends since childhood, they had lots of things in common with the big exception of a passionate romance. He loved her like a sibling. She told him she felt the same way about him.

Lexa had found someone she wanted to marry, but didn’t have the courage to tell Riker or her parents until he brought it up. When he broached the subject two years ago of ending their engagement, she’d been more grateful than he was.

Was it foolish to want passion and a flash of electricity at a mere touch? Perhaps, but it was what he desired in a mate, that rush of pleasure every time he looked at Elise. That pretty much described his feelings since his savior had found him in the cabin.

How could he forget the woman who had inspired him to look up her files and records at the RMG academy after a single electric handshake? She was an exemplary student and had earned high marks all around during her training. However, he had even more respect for the fact that being a Royal Magistrate Guard wasn’t for her, and she knew it. She’d turned down the offer to join their ranks.

He’d been elated for a different reason. If she wasn’t in the RMG, then he could seek her out. As a fellow RMG officer, she would have been in the lower ranks and unavailable as a romantic interest for The Calderian.

A difficulty arose the day he and Lexa spoke about their future. Her parents had put out a bulletin, announcing the future wedding, before the two could tell them what would really happen. Before his unexpected arranged marriage announcement had been called off officially and he was free to date whom he pleased, he learned that Elise Midori—the woman with the electric handshake—had volunteered for permanent service on Alpha-Prime’s colony on Earth and left the planet.

Informing Lexa’s parents about their ultimate plan not to mate suddenly became something less pressing.

He remembered Elise, all right. She’d been on his mind even before she’d arrived to rescue him from the Druid high priestess. He’d intended to look her up when the ship made its scheduled stop at the facility in Alienn, Arkansas. Perhaps Elise would be willing to serve as his guide and show him all of her favorite places on Earth.

But then something happened to the ship that led them to crash instead in the woods of a place Holden called Georgia. It was a miracle he’d survived. He hoped the other two had also made it. Alphas were tougher and more able to withstand trauma than earthlings. They also healed much faster, although his current rate of healing seemed to be very slow or non-existent. Maybe his leg had taken more damage internally than he realized.

He scanned Elise quickly from head to toes. She had a great body on any planet.

Charlie asked about his uniform and the splint on his leg and what seemed like a hundred other questions. He answered as best he could, but was distracted by thoughts of his female rescuer. Had Elise been on his mind as the spacecraft crashed to Earth because he was dying alone on a remote planet and wild dreams were all that was left?

Elise made an unfavorable noise from across the driveway. He noticed her eyes were fixed unhappily on an approaching vehicle. He didn’t need to know the purpose of the light bar on the top of the vehicle to understand what he was seeing. He wasn’t The Calderian for nothing.

Earthling authorities. Space potatoes!

<^> <^> <^>

Elise was no shrinking violet, as the old Earther phrase went, but the sight of a law enforcement vehicle rolling up to this residence sent a rush of panic through her from temple to toes. Crappity-do-dah!

Inventing a brand-new Earther cuss word in her head was satisfying and she liked the iteration, but it didn’t help the situation at all.

She took a reflexive step backward, toward Riker and Charlie.

Ivy put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll say it was a false alarm and just have him take you wherever you need to go.”

Elise didn’t want to give up that information just yet. No one needed to know where the retrieval team’s silver SUV was hidden on the opposite side of Nocturne Falls. “If we could just get a ride into town, that would be great.”

As the car neared and the figure behind the wheel became visible, it was clear Ivy’s husband wasn’t behind the wheel.

“Oh, that’s not Hank,” Ivy said. “That’s Jenna.” She gave Elise a relieved look. “No worries. I’ll explain that this was just a misunderstanding, okay?”

Elise nodded. “I appreciate that very much.”

Ivy patted her rounded belly. “I think my pregnancy hormones are making me nicer than I usually am.” Elise shared the other woman’s laughter. The patrol car pulled to a stop at the end of the driveway. Ivy went over and motioned for the woman behind the wheel to roll down the window.

Elise joined Riker and Charlie. Riker seemed to be doing his best to answer the little boy’s seemingly endless questions.

“Guess we have to say good-bye, Charlie,” Elise said when he paused for breath. “Thank you very much for helping us.”

“Sure thing. Riker has great stories. Maybe you could come back and visit someday.” His eager expression didn’t deserve to be crushed with the truth that they’d likely never be back.

“Maybe someday,” Elise said evasively.

Riker stood on his good leg and maneuvered his wounded leg carefully over the motorcycle seat, not hiding a grimace as he did so. Elise frowned. He seemed to be hurting more now than when they’d fled the cabin. He should be feeling less pain, not more. Perhaps he’d been hurt worse than they thought. If his leg had sustained a compound fracture, perhaps it was healing improperly. It didn’t happen to Alphas often, but she’d seen it in extreme cases. Falling from the sky and crashing to Earth in a spacecraft certainly constituted an extreme case, if anything did.

Elise carefully positioned herself beneath Riker’s arm again and they slowly made their way to the patrol car. Maybe when he was able to rest, his leg would heal. Certainly it would be better for him than hobbling through the woods or riding a motorcycle off-road for several miles. By the time they moved slowly to the cruiser, the occupant had stepped out.

Ivy introduced them to the deputy, Jenna Blythe, telling her there had been a misunderstanding and there was no need to mention it to Hank. Jenna tilted her head to one side as if surprised, but glanced at Ivy’s belly, smiled and nodded. “Okay by me.”

Jenna opened the door behind the driver’s seat and allowed Riker to get in. Elise was grateful when the deputy offered to let her ride shotgun.

“Are you sure you don’t want to head to the clinic in Nocturne Falls?” Jenna asked. They waved goodbye to Ivy and Charlie, who was jumping up and down with excitement as the car pulled away from the curb.

Seeing the two of them in the driveway with Charlie scampering about made Elise flash back to the pot-bellied she-wolf and her excited wolf pup. That is who they reminded her of. It couldn’t be though, could it? No. If she didn’t believe in witches, she certainly didn’t believe in wolf shifters. Elise mentally shook the foolish thought from her head and returned to the current conversation.

Riker said, “No, thanks. I’ll be fine. I’d like to head back home.”

“Where’s home for you two?”

Elise answered for them. “Alienn, Arkansas.”

Jenna nodded. “Arkansas. The natural state.” She grinned. “Actually, that’s all I know about it. Where is Alienn, AR located? Is it near Little Rock?”

“No. We’re in the southern part of the state,” Elise answered easily. “But it’s a really small town. Not many folks have heard of it.”

Before Jenna could ask any more questions she didn’t want to answer, Elise asked, “Did you say there was a clinic in town?”

“Yes. It’s a small place, but I’m happy to drop you off there.”

Riker started to refuse again, but Elise spoke over him. “Actually, I think it would be a good idea to get him checked out. Just in case.” Elise didn’t really plan to go to the clinic. She just figured it would be a more plausible destination than asking the deputy to dump them in the center of town and drive away.

As Jenna drove them closer to town, Elise itched to pull the trigger on her Defender. Too many people knew they were here, and knew they were from Alienn. It would, however, be as dangerous as it was foolish if Jenna fainted like she was supposed to. They needed their driver conscious. Elise tightened her fingers once again, resisting the impulse to make their law enforcement chauffeur forget all about them.

Maybe once they got to town, if she had an opportunity.

Her communicator buzzed. Elise took it off her belt and looked at the screen, confident Jenna would assume it was a cellphone. It was Victoria, doing a status check. She had a lead on one of the crash survivors in town. More news to follow, if the tip pays off.

Good. Elise didn’t want to have a conversation with her fellow teammates if Deputy Jenna could listen in. She messaged back:

May have found the guard in the woods. Will also follow up later.

The patrol car slowed at the quiet part of town and Elise put her communicator back on her belt, ignoring the next two buzzes, vowing to check later.

She saw the sign for the clinic about a block away. “This will be fine right here,” Elise said. It was not too far from the edge of town, and the rendezvous point, perhaps a mile or so. She saw a sign for the Pinehurst Inn on the opposite side of the street. A low-rent motel if she’d ever seen one.

“Here? Are you sure you don’t want to go right up next to the clinic door?” The deputy pulled off to the side of the road and threw the car into Park.

“I’m sure,” Riker said from the backseat. “If I could just get out. There aren’t any door handles back here.”

Jenna laughed. “All the better to keep criminals where we put them.” She exited the vehicle and opened Riker’s door.

“Thanks for my freedom and also for the ride. Much appreciated.”

“I hope you get better soon.” She pointed half a block up the road. “There is the clinic. They’re open late.”

“Thanks.”

Jenna seemed reluctant to leave them, but a call came across her radio and she was quickly all business. She hopped back into her patrol car and pulled away with a final wave out the side window. Elise had a hand on her Defender, but didn’t pull the trigger. There were a few passersby in view. Better not to make the deputy faint in front of witnesses.

Riker pulled Elise close and settled his arm heavily across her shoulders. She quickly put her arm around his waist when his balance wobbled. He looked drawn as he said, “My leg is not healing like it should. It hurts worse as each minute passes.”

“Do you think it was a compound fracture that isn’t healing up correctly?”

“Maybe. It feels more like there is pressure building up in my shin. Like there is something still lodged beneath my skin. Perhaps the Druids missed some sort of foreign object when they checked the wound before putting the splint in place.”

“Do you want to go to the clinic?”

“Not really.” His eyes brightened. “You had a field medical class at the RMG training academy. Why don’t you take a look?” He glanced at her backpack. “Do you have an injury kit in there?”

Elise nodded, but looked around. Even in the quiet near edge of town, the hustle and bustle of the area filled with tourists and costumed characters was too busy for any public display. “This isn’t an ideal place for checking out your wound.”

“How far is it to the rendezvous?”

“Too far.”

He followed her gaze to the rundown Pinehurst Inn. “Does this mean we’re headed to a seedy motel to rent a room by the hour?” he asked. The words “seedy motel”—along with the rest of his question—sounded alien coming from him.

“What do you know about motels, seedy or otherwise?”

“I’ve done some research on Earth.” He flashed his killer grin. “I know some things.”

“Good for you. And yes. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

“We are? Excellent! Yet another new experience to add to my journey here.”

Elise steered them toward the motel. “The Pinehurst Inn it is. Let’s go get a room for an hour.”

“Is an hour long enough?” he asked.

She looked into his eyes. “Depends on what you’re planning on doing, I guess.” Heat rose in her cheeks. Was she going to be forever hot-faced when he made what was likely a harmless and unintentional innuendo?

“After you look at my leg, I thought we could…talk.”

“Talk?” Did he mean kissing? Please mean kissing.

“Yes. We can converse about any number of topics, but at the top of the list,” he paused a moment as if for maximum effect. Do you want to roll around on the bed, kissing ourselves silly, impregnate me with your child? My answer is yes to either or both. “I want to find the other two from the crash. Also, you should probably know that my brother was the prisoner on the flight.”

“Draeken was the prisoner?” Isn’t this just a crappity-crap jamboree!

Chapter Seven

<^> <^> <^>

Riker hated revealing that tidbit about Draeken. Not that he was embarrassed. He wasn’t.

He was convinced Draeken had been pressed in some underhanded way to the fate he now faced. The purpose of escorting him personally had to do with ensuring the guards at XkR-9 knew Draeken’s brother was The Calderian and would not tolerate any “accidents” or “incidents” that put his brother’s life in jeopardy. It was the least he could do until he found a way to have the bogus charges reversed.

“I’m sorry about your brother,” Elise said, seeming truly upset. “Wrong place, wrong time again?”

Riker nodded. It was very public knowledge that his brother had more than a few run-ins with law enforcement in his colorful past.

“And with some shady former friends involved to make it worse,” he said. “But I’m certain he didn’t do what they accused him of. He was set up somehow and I will figure it out.”

“I believe you. And I hope he’s okay.”

“Has anyone from your team mentioned finding him?”

“No, not specifically. But a team member has a possible lead on one of the crash victims and is heading to check it out.”

“Can you contact your team and see if Draeken’s been located yet?”

“Yes. But let’s get into the motel room first, okay? We’ll need some privacy.”

Riker nodded, staring intensely into her eyes, intrigued by the idea of being alone in a seedy motel room with her. She looked back with her own powerful stare, only slowly turning away, as if reluctant to break the spell.

Begging the question of what she expected him to say when he asked about spending time alone with her in a seedy motel room. Was she interested in him? He hoped so. If the heat in her kiss was any indication, perhaps they were on the same page regarding a possible pending romance.

They walked carefully to the motel, due to his impaired state. His leg felt worse by the time they stood at the counter in the questionable motel office. The minimum charge for the establishment was a four-hour rental.

Elise handed over some Earth cash and received a key attached to a hefty piece of pink plastic the size of a book. He wondered if stolen or unreturned keys were such a big problem in the seedy motel business that they had to attach large, unwieldy keychains to make sure they came back. Interesting.

They made their way to the room, number eight. He hobbled along with her help and was greatly relieved to get inside and flatten himself on the only bed in the room.

Before she could do more than close the door behind her, the communicator on her belt buzzed. She put a hand on it.

“If that’s your team, I’d appreciate you not telling them I’m injured. Also, I’d rather not explain the whole business about the Druids, being enthralled, unmanned and enslaved, okay?”

She smiled, nodded and answered, “Hello? Yes. Hi, Stella.” As she spoke and listened, she conducted a quick but thorough search of the small room and what he assumed was attached sanitary facilities—though he suspected the word “sanitary” should be applied in only the loosest sense in this motel. “Yes. That’s good news. I also found Riker. He had been carried by persons unknown to a small log cabin in the woods. No. We’re fine. Just leaving a note of thanks and we’ll be headed to the rendezvous point.” She returned to his side and winked, possibly over the lie she’d told about where there were.

“Oh?” she said, obviously surprised. “Yes. Of course, I understand. We’ll rendezvous with the retrieval team after nightfall.”

Riker wondered at the change in plan.

Lowering the device from her mouth, she asked, “Do you want to talk to Draeken? One of my teammates, Stella, found him.”

“Yes. Please, I must speak to him.”

“Riker? Are you okay?” It was so good to hear his brother’s voice alive and well. Riker closed his eyes and released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d held in relief.

“I’m fine.” Riker and Draeken went through their typical brotherly ritual whenever they hadn’t spoken in a while. There were few words, but the overall message was large.

His brother laughed. “Oh and you’ll never guess who found me.”

“Tell me.”

“Stella Grey, remember her?”

Whoa. Interesting. “I do remember her.”

Draeken said finally, “Listen, Riker. I appreciate what you were willing to do for me on the trip to the gulag. But I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me.”

“I’ll always worry about you, Bro. I had intended to accompany you so that anyone involved in your care and feeding knew you had friends in the RMG. Since we won’t be meeting up, I need to talk to Stella and pass along a message.”

Draeken’s voice became muted, and he imaged his brother handing the communicator back to Stella as he said, “Riker would like a few words with you.”

“Hello?” Riker hadn’t heard Stella’s voice in a long time. She and his brother had been quite close before she transferred to Earth. Draeken had been rather despondent after she’d gone, but never wanted to discuss it, at least not with him.

“What is the plan for Draeken?” Riker asked her.

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Riker tamed the ferociousness he wanted to express and said in a quiet voice, “Please tell me. I got myself put on that ship as his guard to ensure the gulag staff knew he was my brother. Now it looks like he’s facing a ten-year sentence without someone to speak for him.”

Stella’s sincerity came through the line loud and clear. “Listen. I understand, I truly do, and I’m not without personal feelings in this matter, as you well know. However, I’ve been specifically tasked with getting Draeken back to Alienn in time for another express spacecraft bound for the gulag. My mission is time sensitive and I can’t wait for you. I’m sorry. I promise to ensure he’s safely delivered.”

“Will you also deliver a message to the guards taking him to the gulag?”

“Yes.”

“Mention my name. In fact, make sure they know who he is to me and that I personally request my brother be treated fairly while incarcerated.”

“Yes. I’ll do my best to ensure that message is delivered.”

“Thank you.”

She closed the connection.

Riker handed the communicator back to Elise, feeling only marginally better. He always tried to have an extra plan socked away in case a mission didn’t go according to script. He hoped his plan B—hurriedly arranged before getting himself assigned to guard detail for Draeken—came through.

He would just have to trust he’d planned well enough to keep his brother safe, and focus on the moment. “So, I guess we aren’t in a big hurry to get to the rendezvous point now, right?”

“Right,” she said, clipping her communicator back on her belt. “And our best bet is likely heading back out into the woods when the retrieval comes for the craft at the crash site.”

“So nightfall, then, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Then we aren’t in a rush anymore?”

“Nope,” she said quietly and eyed the singular bed in the room.

Maybe they’d end up using the entire four hours after all.

<^> <^> <^>

“Maybe I should remove the splint and take a closer look to see if they missed any debris in your wound.” Elise looked away as she pulled her injury kit from her pack, so likely missed the flash of disappointment that he was certain crossed his features as she ignored or missed his broad hint in favor of the practicality of seeing to the good of his health.

He forcefully brightened his attitude. “Good idea. Something is definitely not right with my leg.” Now that they didn’t have to rush to the rendezvous to meet the others, did he want to try to talk Elise into spending the next four hours snuggling and kissing? Maybe he’d ask later, but first she needed to attend to his leg. It was truly killing him, which was a mystery in and of itself.

She grabbed a woebegone chair that appeared to be barely holding together and seated herself next to the bed. She rolled up his torn pant leg and then loosened the knots on either end of the splint by simply cutting them off. “I’ll have to rewrap this anyway. It’d take me a year to get through those tight knots.”

Elise continued to work as he stole glances at her serious expression, wanting to kiss her frown away and then possibly kiss her lips with determination until he got her to laugh or at least cheer up.

When she tried to pull one side of the splint away, it held fast. He grimaced. When she tried using more force to yank it away, the pain increased tenfold. It was all he could do not to scream. He put his hands on hers and tried to remove it himself. That was when he realized what the Druids had done. No wonder his leg wasn’t healing.

“Is that attached to your leg with a nail?” she asked, the horror in her tone mirroring his feelings on the matter.

“Yep. Looks that way.”

“That’s barbaric.”

“I agree. And it needs to come out. You may have to use some leverage.”

“Then I’m giving you a pain shot.”

“No.”

“Don’t be a macho man.”

“A what? I don’t even know what a macho man is.”

“Earther expression,” she said under her breath. She pulled a pain removal device from her injury kit and pressed the business end near all the spots where it looked like construction nails had been embedded in his leg. The relief was immediate. He hadn’t realized how tense his entire body had been until the tension abruptly left him. She straddled his injured leg on her knees and pulled the nail-laden splint from him with one clean yank.

He felt no pain at all. She deposited the bloody bundle of fabric, wood and metal nails in the small trash can by the bed and efficiently disinfected and bandaged the wounds caused by the Druid’s nails with non-spiked bindings.

Even as the fast-acting, but limited, pain medication wore off, his calf felt tremendously better.

When she finished and moved closer to the side of the bed, he said, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” He watched her mouth say the words. The sound of the word “pleasure” coming through her lips was all it took for him to grab her close and kiss her in true appreciation.

Whatever had been in her hands dropped to the floor in a flutter of leftover bandages and first aid tools. She wound her arms around his neck and joined him on the bed, carefully avoiding jarring his injured leg as she straddled him.

He held tight to her lovely body, tightening his already firm embrace. He never wanted to let her go, never wanted to stop kissing her.

They kissed for quite a while, not speaking or stopping, just a seemingly purposeful kissing spree that neither of them could stop in the moment or deny they enjoyed. Now that he knew Draeken would be as okay as possible without his original plan in place—and it was basically up to him and Elise to get to Alienn on their own—it seemed completely reasonable to want to spend the remaining three and a half hours in this seedy motel room, as long as he was wound around Elise kissing her for all he was worth.

Riker looped a free arm around her waist, massaging her lower back with his fingertips before exploring her body with his palm, not wanting to stop this exciting interlude. Between her sighs of pleasure and her thoroughly devastatingly soul-singing kisses, Riker didn’t care if they ever left the motel.

A sudden and urgent ring finally broke them apart.

“My communicator,” she said dazedly. The reach for her waistband seemed automatic, but the device wasn’t there. Becoming more alert by the moment, she extracted herself from his arms and visually searched the immediate area. He spied it on the floor beside the bed and pointed it out. She retrieved it, but frowned, clearly puzzled. “Wait. This isn’t what’s ringing.”

Another jarring sound broke the silence and they both stared at the human device on the nightstand.

Elise seemed to know what to do. She picked up the handset and said, “Hello?”

She stared at him as she spoke into the device. “Yes.” He put his hands behind his head and settled in to wait. He wanted her to end her call so they could go back to kissing. He wondered who besides the manager who’d taken their money knew they were here. And also, how dare whoever it was interrupt their minimum four hours in this room? They should ask for a partial refund. He smiled at the idea of putting that plan into motion. The whimsical thoughts weren’t like him. He was obviously giddy with delight from Elise’s kisses.

“Thanks,” she said and hung up. “Can you walk? We need to leave.”

“I can try.” Riker sat up on the bed, moving to the edge. He stood and tested his weight on his bad leg, walking a step or two unaided. It was some relief to discover his usual quick healing had returned. He barely felt the pain, either from the old wounds or the new ones inflicted by the removal of the Druids’ nails. His leg was healing. He wouldn’t need her help walking anymore. A shame. “Almost as good as new. Why do we need to leave?”

“That was the motel manager. He said a tall blonde with blue-streaked hair wearing a purple hooded robe was just in the office asking about us. She was trying to find out what room we were in.”

“How did she track us here?”

Elise shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Did the manager give us up?”

“No. He wanted more money. He told me there’d be a surcharge if more than two people were going to be in the room.”

“What a greedy little crust-fish!” A crust-fish was a small and very disagreeable water animal with big claws, sharp little teeth and spines all over its back. There wasn’t as much water on Alpha-Prime as there was on Earth. All the aquatic inhabitants, especially salt-water creatures, seemed evolutionarily angry about the overall lack of liquid.

Elise laughed. “I haven’t thought about that phrase in a long while.”

Did it make her nostalgic? Did it make her want to come back to Alpha-Prime with him?

They heard something unpleasantly familiar outside the door, a chorus of voices singing over and over again, “As it was foretold.” The cheap construction of the building made it sound like the singers were practically in the room with them.

Time to go.

Chapter Eight

<^> <^> <^>

Elise gathered her things quickly and directed Riker out the back door she’d noted during her brief security check of the room. Apparently all the rooms had doors that conveniently led to a pool deck area.

“Is this the community trash dump for the motel?” Riker asked.

“No. I believe it’s the swimming pool.”

They swiftly walked toward a gate at the corner of the open area. At least the hinges didn’t squeak too loudly from disuse. They headed back toward town.

Now that Riker had the use of his leg again, he practically sprinted. She understood. Law enforcement types like them didn’t ever want to be thought of as injured or lesser. Once brought down by damage or illness, they always pushed harder to recover in the shortest amount of time.

Riker scooped his arm around her waist to propel her faster down the sidewalk toward the greater downtown Nocturne Falls area. If anyone else had done it, she would have been annoyed.

“I forgot to ask,” he said all of a sudden. “What about Holden?”

“Who?”

“The pilot.”

“Oh. Right. Victoria—that’s our other team member—had a lead on him. That’s all I know.”

“So he’s alive.”

“Yes. But I don’t know his condition or anything.”

“That’s okay. I’m just glad he survived. He saved us.”

“Did he? How?”

“He did some sort of reverse thruster move right before we crashed so we didn’t smack the surface like a falling star or plow an endlessly long, deep hole in the ground.” Elise had pictured exactly that scene during the entire trip from Alienn to Nocturne Falls. She’d been grateful upon the team’s arrival that there were no mangled bodies to find in the wreckage. Apparently, she had Holden to thank for that.

She nodded. “Excellent piloting.”

“The best.”

“I’m glad your brother is okay, too.”

A relieved expression appeared on his face. “You and me both. He’s got a tough road ahead, but I’m going to do what I can for him once I get back to Alpha-Prime.”

“Exactly what family should do.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t your family do that for you?”

She snorted. “Not my family on Alpha-Prime. But likely my Alienn, Arkansas family would help me.”

“That sounds like an interesting story.”

“Well, when we aren’t sprinting for our lives, perhaps I’ll share it with you.”

He slowed the pace as they neared what looked like a main street headed to the heart of Nocturne Falls.

“So tell me the story. Why wouldn’t your Alpha-Prime family help you out?”

“My parents had a different life planned for me. I disappointed them by not wanting it or allowing them to guilt me into it. Instead, I came to Alienn, Arkansas to live the life I chose.”

Riker shifted his arm from around her waist to take her hand as they slowed to a fast walk. “Arranged a marriage to someone you simply couldn’t spend the rest of your life with, right?” he asked with a knowing smile.

She nodded and refused to look him in the eye. Slowing her steps further, Elise folded into herself at the memory of who her parents had wanted her to marry. No, not wanted, expected her to marry because they made the decision and thought it was best. She strongly disagreed.

It wasn’t that Mahler Grant was an ogre or a horrible person. He just had a different idea of what her life would include and, very specifically, what it wouldn’t.

Mahler was not shy about how he expected any woman in his life to comport herself. A woman was meant primarily to be a decoration for his arm and on her own time to volunteer for charities within the sphere of their social level. No wife of his would ever work or do anything as physically strenuous as sitting at a desk for pay, let alone risk her life in the performance of her duty, spending odd hours guarding anyone who could afford her.

Mahler would most assuredly have never allowed Elise a career at all. He wanted a docile mate. He’d flat-out told her just that during the surprise dinner at her parents’ house back before she discovered he was the unexpected candidate for a possible arranged marriage between them.

He’d known what kind of person she was though and what kind of life she led. While he might have enjoyed bringing her to heel, he also didn’t fight to win her over when push came to shove. She said no. He said fine. The end. She changed her tactics and her life.

Elise refused to participate any further in proposed arranged marriages. She didn’t need it anyway. Later, believing the prospect of an arranged marriage was done and over with, Elise confided her thoughts about Riker to her sister. That mistake led directly to her departure from Alpha-Prime to her new life on Earth.

Spending time with Riker made Elise reconsider her feelings. Yes, she loved Alienn, Arkansas and everything she did here on Earth. But if Riker snapped his fingers and asked her to return, she’d jump at the chance. Not to be on Alpha-Prime, per se, but to be with him. There was nothing Mahler could have done to persuade her to conform to his lifestyle. Riker was a different story. True, she knew he’d support her career ambitions. He already had, once upon a time.

She glanced at his luscious mouth. In fact, there were quite a few things she’d do if he snapped his fingers.

She shook her head at that notion. Just because they had kissed several times, it didn’t mean anything. The kisses they’d shared as they rolled around on the bed in the seedy motel room had surprised her the most. Sure, he was grateful she’d taken the barbaric splint off his leg so he could heal, but he acted like he didn’t have a pending arranged marriage to someone stunning, someone rich, someone absolutely perfect. Someone Elise would never be. Never.

Elise frowned. Now that she thought about it, she was a bit surprised by Riker’s behavior. Since he didn’t seem too worried about his arranged marriage back on Alpha-Prime, perhaps all the details hadn’t been finalized. She’d seen the public announcement on the streaming news videos before leaving for Earth. Those announcements helped her make her decision to leave.

She hated to think Riker was like some Alphas who didn’t take the promise of an arranged marriage as a serious commitment, who continued to flirt, kiss and possibly even more with other people until the day their mating ceremony took place.

Given that his kisses made her weak with lust and she couldn’t seem to resist them, the best Elise could hope for at this point was that his marital arrangement had been called off and a public proclamation to that effect would follow at a much later date when no one was paying attention. Then again, much had been made of his connection with his intended mate. Many in their lofty social circles talked about how good they looked together. How their union would be the marriage of the decade, or possibly the century.

Riker shot her a questioning look. She forced her expression into a neutral place, not wanting to explain what she’d been thinking.

However, before further kissing—or anything else she’d envisioned—took place, she intended to ask about his current arranged marital status.

Elise looked over one shoulder to ensure Anya and her followers weren’t on their tail. There was no sign of them, but she sped her steps once more, heading toward what looked like a busier thoroughfare.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere with more people around.” She looked down at his leg, the one she’d bandaged beneath his torn uniform pants. “Are you doing okay?”

“I’m great. It’s practically healed since you pulled away that barbaric splint—likely intended to keep me hobbled and unable to run too far away back at their cabin of torture in the woods.”

His sincere look of gratitude almost made her trip over her own feet. Pay attention. “Good,” she managed.

Riker pointed to a large group of people at an intersection half a block ahead. “That looks crowded enough for our purposes.”

“Yes. That’s exactly where we need to go.”

“Perhaps we can find a nicer room to hide out in.”

Elise would have tripped again had he not grabbed her to his side as a stream of giggling teenagers, staring at their phones as they raced along the sidewalk, nearly ran them down.

Once the flood of teens passed, Riker didn’t let go of her. His arm tightened around her, but his stride slowed. They were surrounded by lots of people at the intersection of what was likely the main street of Nocturne Falls.

They turned left onto the busy thoroughfare, walking very close together. Riker hugged her even nearer as they passed groups of people on the sidewalk, like they were lovers out for a stroll on their way to a sexy, clandestine tryst. If only.

Elise spotted a small coffee shop called the Hallowed Bean down a side street called Black Cat Blvd. She slowed them to a stop at the corner and pressed him against a brick wall next to a newspaper company.

“Do you like coffee?” The folks in Alienn loved it so much—as had all the Alpha space-traveling visitors to Arkansas—that coffee was now exported to Alpha-Prime on a regular basis for the benefit of those so enamored.

“Coffee? I don’t know. I only had a taste of it a long time ago on Alpha-Prime, but it wasn’t enough to make an impression. Why?”

She pointed to the small coffee shop. “Let’s go in there and get off the street.”

“The Hallowed Bean? Interesting.”

“You’ll love it. Trust me. The flavors here on Earth surpass what’s served in Alpha-Prime.”

He looked down into her eyes with an intensely loving look. She swallowed hard, unable to speak as he moved his face closer to hers. “I do trust you, Elise. Completely.”

Before she could stop him—and really, why would she?—he gently and briefly kissed her lips.

The sudden vision of his perfect mate-to-be rose sharply in her mind along with all Elise’s insecurities regarding her lack in all the same departments. Beauty. Wealth. Status. She’d never measure up to the woman he’d been promised to.

“We should stop doing that,” she said quietly, her heart breaking with a longing so strong she wished she didn’t care that he was to marry another.

“What? Kissing? Why?” He looked genuinely puzzled.

“Because you’re promised to another woman back on Alpha-Prime.”

Chapter Nine

<^> <^> <^>

Riker straightened as her mention of his very publically announced arranged marriage widened the fracture that started to form in her heart when she told him they should stop kissing.

“What if I told you that had been called off?” He watched her closely.

“I suspect that’s what a lot of engaged people say when they don’t want to stop flirting, kissing and engaging in other such activities with other people before their commitment ceremony has been finalized.” His expression seemed hurt, like she had accused him of being a womanizing skirt-chaser without cause. She wished upon everything she held dear that he wasn’t that way.

“Is that what you think of me? That I would flirt, kiss or do other activities while I was promised to another woman?” Riker looked at the crowd around them as if he expected them all to rise up and hurl scandalous names at him as they cast rotten fruit and vegetables in his direction.

“I don’t know what to think of you.” Lie. Lie. Lie. I love you! You’re perfect.

“Sure you do. You know exactly what to think, especially of me.” He started toward the coffee shop. He took a step in that direction, leaving her immediate personal space.

Elise moved closer, putting herself where she belonged, stopping his move away. “I beg your pardon. Why do I especially know what you’re thinking?”

He paused, turned back to her and lowered his head to stare into her eyes. His intense regard bored a hole through to her soul. In a low voice, he said, “You’ve gone through RMG training, scoring high marks on every single subject you touched. Your best class—which I know you aced—was Mindful Intent. You’re very, very good at reading non-verbal clues as to what a subject is thinking or possibly bent on doing. You’re just ignoring what you were taught when it comes to me. What I don’t understand is why.”

Elise averted her gaze to stare at his chest, unable to meet his disappointed eyes. He was right. She had a feeling—based on her training—that he must not be attached any longer because she did know him. He would never even hint at being with her if there was any chance another waited for him.

Her training told her that. She wanted so much for it to be true. She just didn’t trust herself to read Riker correctly. She didn’t think she could trust her volatile lovelorn feelings not to affect her logic and trained intuition.

“Maybe I didn’t trust my analysis, given how I feel.”

“And how do you feel?”

She felt heat blast into her cheeks, but an elusive fact came into her brain before she could answer. Something he said suddenly registered. “Wait a minute. How do you know I had high marks in every subject I touched, especially Mindful Intent Class?” She stared into his eyes.

His lips parted slightly. She wanted to kiss him again. It was his turn to avert his gaze. He didn’t make a sound. Was he hoping she wouldn’t repeat a question he obviously didn’t want to answer?

She waited him out. Riker cleared his throat after almost ten full seconds of silence and said, “Perhaps I looked your file up after meeting you the day of your graduation.”

“I didn’t think you cared about me one way or another that day.”

His gaze found hers. “Not true. I was intrigued from the moment we touched hands in the receiving line at the RMG academy ceremony. Enthralled might even be the best word.”

She wanted to shout, Me, too! “Is that so?”

“It is.” He cleared his throat again.

She was silent for several seconds, weighing the truth of what she knew with what he’d just admitted. She came to a conclusion. “I wish I’d known how you felt before I left for Earth.” His sudden smile gave her confidence a boost. “Is your arranged marriage truly called off?”

He nodded. “It truly is. My parents won’t care so much, they just want me to be happy, but Lexa’s parents will not be as excited to discover where her heart lies.”

“Where is that?”

“With someone she loves deeply, and who is most definitely not me.” He held out his hand, she took it and they headed in the direction of the coffee shop.

“Did her love of another make you upset?”

“Not at all. I approve of the man she’s chosen. She and I were childhood friends and we are still very good friends. We just don’t love each other like mates do.” He shrugged. “Our marriage was arranged when we were young. It was only officially announced a couple of years ago.”

“Why announce it at all if you never expected to go through with it?”

He looked skyward as if to temper his anger. “Lexa’s parents were always much more insistent about the arrangement between our families. They were the ones who announced it formally without consulting either me or Lexa, much to our combined regret. I’ve never seen Lexa so angry. I didn’t even know her true feelings on the matter until the announcement.”

“Why hasn’t she told her parents about the man she loves?”

His infamous sardonic smile made an appearance. “There is another problem, a delay, if you will.”

“Don’t tell me. The man she loves is facing an arranged marriage, too, and hasn’t found a way to tell his well-meaning parents about the woman he loves.”

Riker laughed, nodding at the absurdity of the problem. To Elise’s mind, there was no greater music in the world than the sound of Riker’s genuine amusement. From what she knew of him, he rarely laughed out loud. Sardonic amusement was his typical expression in public, which also described his signature smile.

A flashback of the graduation ceremony where she’d first touched his hand filled her mind. She heard Riker’s bark of sudden and unexpected laughter from across the room and turned in time to see him talking with his brother. Since then, she’d on occasion dreamed of Riker’s rare and sincere laughter. She loved the fact she’d just made him laugh spontaneously with the same sincerity he’d shown Draeken. She squelched a girly sigh.

“Why are there still arranged marriages anyway? No one wants them,” she said.

He shrugged. “Tradition, I suppose.”

“I’d never make my children marry someone they didn’t love.”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“Not a chance.”

“So you want to have children?”

“Of course. I only—”

Elise suddenly realized she’d been strolling down memory lane with Riker on a very public thoroughfare without bothering to check to see if anyone followed them. She searched the immediate area, but found no visible threat. He murmured, “I’ve been watching. No one is looking at us. No one has found us.”

“I should have been paying more attention. You make me lose focus.” Riker was the only man who could divert her attention and make her feel like a schoolgirl with a crush on the popular boy, unable to stop staring at him for the entire length of recess.

Of course he hadn’t been daydreaming or lollygagging about making lovey-dovey eyes at her without ensuring they weren’t being watched or followed. She shook off her lust and turned toward the coffee shop again.

“Do I?” He flashed that bone melting half-smile. “Good.”

She didn’t answer, just kept walking toward the Hallowed Bean. He caught up with her without effort.

Once inside, off the busy streets of Nocturne Falls, they each ordered coffee and a homemade chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. The treat smelled so heavenly, the scent alone coated her lungs in promise.

She ordered her usual, a medium cappuccino. He surprised her by ordering a multi-flavored coffee extravaganza, seemingly wanting to taste all the flavors offered as if he’d never get another opportunity.

They found a quiet table in the back corner. Their knees bumped under the table, but she liked touching him and being in contact at all times.

“So you’re having an extra-large cinnamon, vanilla, hazelnut mocha with an extra shot of expresso?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Not a thing. Drink what makes you happy.”

“Actually, you make me happy.”

“What?” If she’d had even a small sip of coffee in her mouth, she would have spit it out in a fine spray on to the small table.

“You heard me.”

Elise smiled and nodded. “Well, the truth is, I like you, too.”

“Good.”

She took a small sip of her drink, swallowing the rich flavor as she stared at him. He fairly smoked her where she sat with the intensity of his gaze, in a good way.

It was a relief to know he wasn’t in love with another. It was a miracle to learn she made him happy.

The knowledge that he thought enough of her after just one brief meeting to look up what kind of a student she was made her a little bit giddy. Given his circumstances, she believed what he told her. She had read him. She did know he wasn’t lying about his arranged marriage.

“I want to talk about how you make me happy and how I make you happy. Wait.” His brows furrowed. “Do I make you happy?”

Elise laughed. “Yes. You do make me happy. In fact, I’m ecstatic.”

“Ecstatic enough to tell me how you know about the shield tattoo on my back leg?”

She did choke on the next sip of coffee, clearing her throat several times to hopefully keep from having to answer.

He sipped his concoction slowly and grinned again, whether from her distress or the flavor of his outlandish brew, she didn’t know.

“Stall all you want clearing your throat, but I still want an answer when you finish,” he said with another sincerely amused laugh.

That laugh was her undoing. If an interrogator ever wanted any information from her, she’d cough up everything she knew just for the promise Riker would laugh with pleasure at something she said or did.

“All right, fine. I know about the tattoo because I saw it. And I also know that it is located more on your butt cheek than your leg.”

His eyes widened. He put his coffee cup down, and leaned closer. “When did you see me naked?”

The memory of seeing his tattoo materialized in her head. She pushed out a long sigh, and started talking in a low tone, not much above a whisper.

“About a month before school ended, I stayed late doing some extra work, practicing for the physical strength test. I wanted to ensure I passed with high marks, even though I’d already decided the RMG wasn’t what I wanted to do.

“I was exhausted by the time I finished, trudging back to the locker room with my eyes half closed. It was too late by the time I noticed I had walked into the wrong locker room.

“I opened my eyes when I heard you speaking and realized I’d walked into RMG men’s locker room instead of the women’s. You were speaking on your communication device.

“I started to back out, but was afraid I’d make a noise and you’d see me.”

“What was I talking about that I didn’t notice you’d walked in?”

“You laughed and said, you’d always dreamed of exploring other galaxies, but it would have to wait until your elder years. You talked about maybe making a special run to the Earth colony.

“You never turned around, so I assumed you didn’t know I was accidentally eavesdropping.” Elise felt her cheeks burn at the memory of seeing Riker Phoenix after-hours in the men’s locker room, naked as the day he was born.

It was a good thing he was facing away from her the entire time he spoke. She couldn’t move or breathe during the whole experience. She enjoyed quite a long look at his beautiful backside. It was a miracle she hadn’t passed out cold from equal parts embarrassment and longing. He was a fine-looking, nicely-muscled, well-proportioned, perfect man.

And she couldn’t have him. He was spoken for. Stupid arranged marriages.

Even if he didn’t already have the perfect woman waiting to whisk him away for a lifetime, it wasn’t like she was next in line to garner his favor.

And as if she didn’t already know it, after Callie had tattled about Elise’s perfect man, her parents had laughed and told her she was reaching for a social level well above her station. They told her to lower her expectations.

What would her parents think now? She could imagine telling them all about it. “We’ve kissed—sometimes when he’s conscious—and we’ve even broken a Georgia Woods Druid spell of enchantment, keeping him from mating with another.” So there!

“You likely won’t believe this, but at the time I could have sworn I was being watched. I checked the entire locker room, certain someone was hiding there.”

“Really?”

“Really. And it’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

“Do you have a tattoo on your backside?”

“No!”

He grinned. “The thing is, how do I know that’s the truth since I’ve never had the opportunity or pleasure to see you naked?”

“Perhaps that could be arranged.”

Riker’s voice sounded gravelly as he said, “I might already have the knowledge, if only we hadn’t been chased out of our seedy motel room.”

Elise took a good long gulp of her drink. “Be that as it may, now we are on the run and don’t have time to play show-and-tell.”

The sultry, awesome sound of his laugh reverberated to the very marrow of her bones. “I know. You’re right.” He saluted her with his paper coffee cup. “I vote that we discuss it later when we aren’t on the run from Druids. So, where are we headed next?”

“Eventually, back into the forest to meet up with the vessel retrieval team. They should be here right after dusk. But I don’t want to go if Anya and her followers are still after us. They likely know the woods better than we do. They’d certainly catch us. We need a quiet place to wait it out until dark.”

“How do you think they found us in the first place?”

She shrugged. “It’s possible they searched at the clinic first and then saw the motel and took a chance. But that isn’t my first guess.”

“What’s your first guess?”

She hesitated, hating to admit she was winging it. “It’s just speculation, but it’s possible that your splint had a tracking device. Or I’m paranoid.”

“No. I agree with you on that score. How else could they have found us so quickly unless they followed us out of the woods? And even then, we would have spotted them. How long do you suppose they were frozen?”

“I don’t know. They weren’t supposed to freeze. They were supposed to fall down in a heap and wake up later without memories. They obviously still had their memories, or they wouldn’t have come after us. So, your guess is as good as mine.”

“I don’t believe they are your everyday humans.”

“I agree.”

“Do you think they are another species of alien? If they are, and living here, that would be in contravention of Alpha-Prime’s jurisdiction over Earth.”

“It’s possible. I’ll have to put this in my field report regarding use of the Defender.”

A mischievous grin formed on his luscious mouth. “What else will go into your field report?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to put anything about us in there?”

Chapter Ten

<^> <^> <^>

Riker wanted to sweep Elise up in his arms, embrace her wildly and never stop kissing her. Every move she made, every word she spoke made him fall more and more in love with her. He’d been harboring a secret crush since her graduation, afraid to voice it even to himself for fear he’d give away his true feelings regarding someone he never expected would be available to him to pursue. One crash-landing on Earth and his whole life had changed in more than one way.

He had never been a demonstrative person in previous relationships, or understood others who couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Draeken, for example, never seemed to care who was around to witness it whenever he kissed his lover, Stella, when they’d been together on Alpha-Prime. Riker had caught them more than once locked in a kiss or embrace, melded together on various pieces of furniture where anyone could stumble across them.

Draeken hadn’t said so, but Riker suspected he never stopped loving Stella. Now that they were reunited, he wondered how the two were faring.

As he looked at Elise seated across the table, he wished they were cuddled together, staring at each other and kissing as the mood suited them.

He rephrased the question he’d asked a few seconds ago. “Will you put our entire time together in your field report, every single detail?” He leaned forward, putting an elbow on the table and his chin in his palm.

Her green eyes drew him in. He wanted her. He wanted to be with her. He wanted his arranged marriage to be with her. Would she be willing to return to Alpha-Prime? Would he be willing to give up his hard-fought career as The Calderian to volunteer for residence on the Earth colony, just to be with her?

Yes.

Elise leaned forward and mirrored his pose, elbow on table, chin in palm. “Yes. I’m going to tell all, every single detail. I’m going to vividly describe every kiss, lick and touch we shared right at the top of my report, first paragraph. Maybe I’ll even wax poetic about your awesome tattooed backside.”

He vividly remembered every kiss, lick and touch they’d shared and he wanted to repeat them and add quite a few additional things into the mix. He only wished he’d known she was staring at him naked that day long ago.

Her mischievous smile gave her away, but he continued to play along. “Are you? Excellent. You’re absolutely right to put that in the first paragraph. Anything that awesome—and I’m talking about the kissing, not my butt—should be immortalized in a report somewhere.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Of course not. Personal stuff doesn’t belong in a field report. What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I’ve finally figured something out, though.” He looked deeply into her luscious green eyes.

“What do you think you’ve figured out?”

“I just realized that I’d be willing to give up my career on Alpha-Prime to volunteer for colony duty here.”

“You would?” She sounded shocked.

“Yes. But only if you tell me you love me as much as I love you and agree to be my mate until the end of time.”

Her hand dropped from her chin and her mouth fell slightly open. Riker leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers with all the sincere passion he felt, not caring if everyone in the world saw them. Not caring that he’d just spontaneously proposed and that was not at all like him. He had no regrets. She was the one. She was his only one. And he’d known it for quite a while.

Elise tasted like the strong coffee she sipped. He wanted to spend the rest of his life kissing her. Best of all, she kissed him right back, softly and with determination, her fingertips gently stroking his jaw.

He’d just asked her to marry him, and even though they were sort of on the run from a gang of crazy Georgia Woods Druids, he was heartened by her exuberant reaction. The custom on their planet was once he’d asked and she’d accepted, even non-verbally, they were marked to be together. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to hear her accept his proposal.

Riker broke the kiss to give her a chance to answer, but caught sight of a figure staring through the coffee shop window right at them. He sucked in a breath of surprise.

“What?” she asked, but instantly twisted to look in the same direction. “Crappity-crapola-crap… I mean, space potatoes!” she said under her breath as the robed figure darted from the window toward the crowded main thoroughfare.

“We need to leave this shop,” she said, and looked around as if searching for a back door. He didn’t see one, and apparently she didn’t either.

“Good idea. Where should we go? There’s no pool access back door here.” Riker didn’t have the first clue as to where a safe place might be in this town.

“Wherever they wouldn’t want to follow us.”

“Excellent plan. Where is that?”

“Not sure yet, but I know that robed chanter is already on her way to find Anya and tattle our current location. We need to leave the Hallowed Bean, pronto.”

Riker picked up his coffee and finished it in one gulp, delighting in the flavor and not wanting to waste a drop. The coffee shipped from Earth and served on Alpha-Prime wasn’t nearly as tasty. He’d tried it once. It was okay, but not something he craved until now.

Hunger set in as they got ready to leave. He wished they’d gotten something more substantial to eat with their coffee, but the place only had coffee and sweets. The tasty cookie would have to do for now. “Let’s go then.”

Moments later they were on the street and headed in the opposite direction from where the robed figure had gone.

They walked at a fast clip, dodging folks here and there on the cross-street sidewalks. At each corner, they carefully looked toward the main road, checking for robed figures. That wasn’t as easy as one might think, since several people wore costumes. Elise explained it was in celebration of Nocturne Falls’s publicized all day, every day Halloween theme, which was some kind of human holiday.

Several blocks from the Hallowed Bean, Elise looked down the street and straightened. A wistful smile played around her lips. Riker wanted to steal another kiss, but they were pretty much on the run for their lives. He peered at all the storefronts in an effort to discover which one had made her so happy.

“Come on. I just found us a place to hide out for a bit.” She grabbed his hand as if to drag him along to a place she figured he would be resistant to.

She stopped abruptly at a fancy storefront, squeezing his hand as she opened the front door. A jingle above their heads sounded as he read the sign in the window. Ever After Bridal Boutique. Was this what he thought it was?

The second they stepped inside and the door closed behind them, a spike of uncertainty drove all the way into his bones. Every single direction he looked had earthling-styled dresses. The color white was on display everywhere he turned, everywhere he looked. More girly, frilly, lacy things were on display than he’d ever seen in one place in his lifetime. He was so far out of his depth it might take industrial space planet drilling equipment to find him and bring him back.

A regal looking woman with short dark hair perfectly styled approached them with a friendly smile. “Hello. Welcome to the Ever After Bridal Boutique. My name is Corette. I’m the owner here. How can I help you two lovebirds?”

It didn’t take a mental leap to guess at the implication of the word, though he had no idea if a lovebird was a real Earth avian or a euphemism. They were holding hands, implying they were indeed birds in love. Also, why else would they be in a place like this unless they were looking for directions or possibly a bathroom? Then again, this is not a place he would select for either of those two occasions.

Riker was struck dumb, not having a clue about what to say in this completely alien situation.

Elise, however, was apparently firing on all cylinders. “Hi. I’m Elise and this is my fiancé, Riker. He just asked me to marry him. We’ve come to shop for my perfect wedding dress here in Nocturne Falls, even though we’ll be getting hitched back home.”

Riker narrowed his eyes and almost said, “We have?” He quickly got into character and muttered an unconvincing, “Yes. That’s right. We have.”

He looked at the ocean of white surrounding him and wondered how he could possibly slink out of here, knowing this was a perfect place to hide, and they were hiding out. No right-thinking male would feel comfortable in this shop, no matter how in love he was. No one would ever look for them here. He needed to suck it up.

He cleared his throat and vowed to make a better effort. He glanced around one more time, trying to find a silver lining. If there ever were anything silver, likely it would have been thrown out to make way for a white lining.

Fabrics and lace and flowers and no shortage of blinding white girly things stretched as far as the eye could see. The place looked much bigger than the size of the storefront implied. Almost like magic. Surely it was just an optical illusion, using strategically placed mirrors. He shook off the thought and put his focus back on Elise. He would need her to guide him through this scenario every step of the way.

Corette looked them over, as if assessing their financial range based on their current mode of dress. He had news for her. His clothing looked a bit rough for the kind of place this was, and was nowhere near the truth of what he could actually afford. But what was he supposed to say? “Yes. I dressed up in my finest space travel garment this morning, but unfortunately crashed to Earth. Don’t mind the bloody uniform. I actually have a healthy funds account.”

Elise, thankfully, spoke so he didn’t have to. “We came here on vacation, dressing up for the day in true Halloween fashion.”

“Oh? What costumes are you wearing?” Corette asked politely. “You look like a female bounty hunter and your fiancé looks like an accident victim.”

“Oh no. He’s a spaceman crashed to Earth and I’m his human hostage, helping him find his way in a strange land.”

The other woman’s brows knit briefly, but she seemed to take it in stride. Perhaps in a town like Nocturne Falls, she’d heard any number of outlandish stories. “How original and fun,” she said and even sounded sincere. “What sort of wedding dress are you looking for, Elise?”

“I’m not quite sure yet.” She glanced around the room. “Perhaps you could recommend some styles that would look good on me.” Anything would look good on you.

“Absolutely.” Corette studied Elise as Riker wondered what his role should be in this venue. If they’d been on Alpha-Prime, she would try things on and so would he. They’d make their selection together and he’d foot the bill.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have any funds with him to pay for any sort of ritual mating dress. Not unless he could simply sign his name as The Calderian and have the bill sent to him, which was what he usually did on Alpha-Prime.

“We’ll start with something that just came in my latest shipment. It’s perfect for your figure. Then we’ll move to more classic looks and the latest trends.” Corette motioned Elise toward an open hallway, clearly intending she try on some garments in another room.

He had a moment of panic when he realized he wouldn’t be allowed to stay with Elise. She was about to leave him in a girly white room with frilly things. The thought of being alone with all this white feminine frippery made his soul shrivel in dread.

Corette pointed to a padded throne-like chair. It looked like it belonged to a king. “You sit there and wait to see her in different dress designs.” Awesome. “We’ll show you a bunch of dresses, but she’ll make the final selection and that way you can still be surprised on your wedding day.”

Riker didn’t understand the significance of her dress choice being a secret. On his world, any prospective couple about to be mated went out together and selected jewelry and clothing for their special day.

He’d heard the mating ritual on Earth—at least near the colony in Arkansas—was similar, but not exactly the same. He nodded and smiled and went along because he didn’t know all the details of earthling customs. The less he said the better.

Corette pointed at a tray on a small table beside the throne. Small paper cups were scattered across the entire surface, each cup filled with small, white—what else, no other color was apparently allowed here—yummy-looking cakes. “Help yourself to a treat,” she said with a warm smile and shepherded Elise out of the room.

Riker was grateful to sit down and eat while he waited. Now that he had something to do, he was looking forward to seeing her in human finery. Not that he hated the clothing Elise wore—the military-style jacket and black pants were perfect for her job and she looked great—but he couldn’t wait to see her in a dress for their mating ceremony.

Riker was also glad the royal chair was positioned out of sight and away from the front door. No one would know he and Elise were here. He plucked a diamond-shaped iced cake out of a crinkled paper cup and popped the whole thing into his mouth.

A divine flavor he didn’t recognize soaked his taste buds in joy as he chewed the confection. He eyed the tray again, searching for a treat that looked like the one he’d just eaten. He found another and ate that one, too. Divine.

Riker glanced at the arched doorway where Elise had disappeared with Corette, anxious to see what sort of mate dress she would pick out for their ceremony. Maybe they could also find a jewelry store in Nocturne Falls and select matching pieces. Lots of couples on Alpha-Prime chose wrist bands, others identical necklaces. He had learned that on Earth, finger rings were the typical selection. He simply wanted Elise. He didn’t care what jewelry they wore as a symbol of their love and being mated to one another.

The big question rolling around in his head was where they would live. If she didn’t want to go back to their home planet, he’d have to give up his title as The Calderian, end his law enforcement career and move to Earth for a much lower rank and likely less prestigious position. He’d offered to do just that during his spontaneous proposal at the coffee shop. Further thought confirmed it.

Even if it meant giving up everything he knew to have the woman he loved and wanted, Elise was well worth it.

A troubling thread of memory came to the forefront of his mind without warning. Elise hadn’t verbally responded to his proposal. They’d kissed. She had certainly participated eagerly in that lip-lock and at the time that had been response enough for him. However, perhaps he needed to hear the words to ensure they were thinking the same thing.

Sure, Riker sat in the middle of an Earth-styled, white-filled, bridal haven, but had Elise actually agreed to marry him or were they simply hiding out to escape Anya and her followers?

Chapter Eleven

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Elise slipped a beautiful confection of a dress over her head with Corette’s help. The fabric fell into place, draping perfectly over her body. The style was sleek and modern.

“You look amazing in that dress,” Corette said with a wide smile. “I know you think I say that to every bride who visits, but I don’t, only when I truly mean it.”

“This dress is lovely,” Elise said, chewing her bottom lip. She’d always been a bit of a tomboy, as earthlings called it. She was more comfortable in rough and tumble clothing made for running around and getting dirty, rather than dresses or anything feminine. This dress made her look like a girl. No. it made her look like an attractive girl.

“Do you like it?” Corette asked.

“I love it.” It’s just as I imagined, and it’s absolutely perfect.

“Shall we go show your fiancé?”

She stiffened unconsciously, worried that he wouldn’t care for her selection or that he wouldn’t find her as attractive in frilly, feminine clothes. “Do you think he’ll like it?”

Corette’s eyes narrowed. “I believe his mouth will fall open in awe and that he’ll love every single dress you show him today. How could he not?”

“Thank you.”

“Honestly, I think we could put you in a bleached potato sack and his tongue would still fall out of his head when he saw you.”

“That’s sweet of you to say.”

“I only speak the truth.” Corette tugged and smoothed the dress in several places before gesturing Elise toward the door back to the showroom. The dress initially felt a bit tight through the shoulders, but as Corette adjusted and smoothed, the dress seemed to expand to fit perfectly. Like magic.

Elise took a deep breath, forced herself to relax and turned to walk down the hallway to the arched opening where Riker waited. At least she hoped he still waited. An unruly spike of panicked fear that he’d run screaming from the bridal store the moment she was out of sight socked her in the gut, but she ignored it and kept walking.

The dress had a light pearl-beaded cape—made of some gossamer fabric that looked like fairies had breathed life into it—attached at her shoulders. It wasn’t as long as some of the trains she’d seen in royal weddings on television, but extended a few feet behind her as she strolled along. Corette walked behind her, holding the end of the cape up so she could move more easily.

The front of the gown was plain satin with a sweetheart neck and cap sleeves, showing most of her arms, but closely fitted to her frame at waist and hip. There was a small flare at the hem for what Corette said was a rebellious kick.

Elise walked slowly and carefully out into the showroom. Riker sat in the regal chair. A small giggle escaped Elise before she could stop it. He had the tray of treats balanced on his lap. One side of the tray was filled with a dozen or so empty small white crinkled wrappers; the other side of the tray had three lonely treats in paper cups.

Riker looked up. The moment he saw her—and the dress—his eyes widened, his mouth fell open, and the tray of goodies he’d had balanced on his lap slid forward and wobbled. He absently caught the tray before it fell, still staring at her like he’d never seen her before.

“What do you think?” Elise asked, resisting the nervous impulse to chew her lower lip.

Riker stood up, holding the mostly decimated treat tray. His seemingly star-struck gaze traveled from the top of her head to the rebellious flare on the hem twice before he cleared his throat. A half smile filled with awe surfaced on his lips.

“It’s perfect.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. It’s perfection and so are you.”

Corette artfully arranged the bottom edge of the cape behind her before coming to stand at Elise’s side. She eyed the mostly eaten tray. A gracious, charming expression quickly covered an almost stunned look on her face. “I see you liked the treats.”

Riker looked sheepish. “They were delicious. I saved you three,” he said to Elise. He sounded so proud of his selfless act of willpower in saving her any at all.

Elise grinned. “Thanks, but I don’t want to eat anything while wearing this dress.” She brushed her fingertips down the smooth satin front from chest to bellybutton.

Corette reached for the tray. “I’ll just freshen up this tray for you. While I’m gone, the two of you can discuss this dress selection.”

Riker nodded, grabbed one last triangle-shaped treat out of a paper cup, and handed over the tray. He popped the white iced petit four into his mouth. “Thanks. The diamond shapes are my favorite.”

Another gracious smile appeared on Corette’s face. “Ah, yes. The white chocolate lemon coconut is very good. I’ll see if I have any more.”

“Excellent. Thanks.”

Corette exited the room, leaving them alone at last.

“What do you really think of this dress?” Elise asked, looking at herself in the mirror with a critical eye, seeing too many flaws for perfection. Her arms were mostly bare. Maybe she needed a dress with long lace sleeves to hide her muscly arms.

Riker walked a semi-circle path around her, staring at the dress like he balanced a life or death decision regarding the destruction of the planet with his next answer.

He stopped, crossed his arms and stared at the dress from hem to neckline. When he finally lifted his face to hers, he wore an expression she’d never seen before. He looked hungry, for lack of a better word. He shouldn’t be, considering all the petit fours he’d just mowed through.

“I haven’t changed my mind. It’s perfect. The more important question is, what do you think of the dress?”

“It makes me look like a girl.”

“Well, you are a girl.”

“I know, but most of my life I’ve been more of a tomboy.” Noting the questioning look on his face, she explained, “That’s an earthling term for boyish-girl. And on either planet, I’m still not used to looking like a girl.”

“I like the way you look, Elise. For the record, you never looked like a boyish-girl to me. This dress is perfect for you. It’s simple, it’s elegant and it shows off your lovely toned arms. I love the part that hangs off your shoulders and drapes down to the floor.” He gestured to the back of the dress.

“The cape,” she twisted to look at it. “Yes. That’s my favorite part, too.”

“Do you know what my favorite part is?”

Elise spun back to face him. “What?”

He moved closer, careful not to trample her hem, pointed a finger at the sweetheart neckline, touching her collarbone, and said, “You.”

“Me?”

“You are the best part about this dress. And make no mistake, while I like the clothes you’re wearing, I don’t care what dress you select as long as you’re my mate forever.”

Her lips parted and a sigh escaped. He loved her.

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

“Do you?”

She straightened. “How can you doubt me? I’m standing in a fancy boutique wearing a girly wedding dress after proclaiming you’re my fiancé to a stranger.”

“You never said yes to my proposal.”

“I did.”

“No. We got interrupted before you gave me a formal answer. The robed and hooded figure kept you from declaring your intentions out loud. Then we ran out.”

Elise sucked in a deep breath. “Don’t you think by coming here to an elegant boutique to select a wedding dress that I proved what my answer is?”

He shrugged, looking quite content with himself. “Perhaps it’s implied, but not stated plainly. Maybe we’re just hiding here to keep away from Anya and her followers.” The hint of a smile played on his beautiful lips.

“So you want a definitive answer?”

“I do.”

“I love you, Riker. I’ve loved you since before I shook your hand at my graduation. I left my home planet after discovering you were promised to another woman. And she’s not just any other woman, is she? No. The one set to marry the only man I’ll ever love is not only smart and kind, but also wealthy and beyond stunningly beautiful.

“I volunteered to work at a far-off colony post so that I wouldn’t have to see the two of you together on every public broadcast until the day I died, where I fully expected to be a shriveled up, bitter old maid.”

His eyes narrowed. “A shriveled up, bitter old maid?”

“Another Earther expression.” Elise closed her eyes. She hated to let her emotions get the better of her. She wasn’t a girly emotional type. She was a fierce warrior at heart, everyone said so. She took a deep breath, opened her eyes and said, “Yes. I want to be your mate until the end of time. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Riker leaned closer and pressed his mouth to hers. He tasted like lemon coconut petit four and the vision of him wolfing down dainty treats while waiting for her to put on a girly dress made her smile inside.

He pulled away and whispered, “I may not have known you before you graduated from the RMG program as well as you knew me, but I did my best to catch up and learn everything about you from the moment we met. I looked up your records because it was the only legal way I could read about you. I’m a member of the board and have full access to the training program.

“When we shook hands in line, it was like a ribbon of electricity zoomed straight up my arm the moment our palms touched and made me take special notice of you.”

“You felt it, too?”

He kept talking. “I was stunned when you volunteered for the colony on Earth. Ask any one of my friends, but I was moody and miserable for months. After that, I expected to spend my life alone. I was also headed down the path of being a shriveled up, bitter old maid.”

Elise cracked a smile. “Really?” She didn’t mention that only women were bitter old maids.

“Yes. Really.”

“Good thing you came here, huh?”

“Oh, I volunteered to come here. My brother was in trouble and that was my first priority, but finding you was a close second, if not tied for first place. Now that I have proposed and you have said yes, and you are in a very girly perfect dress, I think we should kiss again to make it truly official.”

Elise smiled. “I agree.” She leaned forward, careful not to wrinkle her dress. Riker pressed his lips to hers, his fingertips caressing both sides of her face with gentle strokes.

Several seconds of unadulterated bliss marched forward to claim her attention.

She distantly heard the ring of bells. Two female voices called out as the boutique’s door closed with a final peal. Elise opened her eyes halfway, glanced in the direction of the newcomers and saw a flash of blue hair. Her already fast heartbeat went into overdrive.

Anya. Crapa-tootie. How in the world had she found them?

Chapter Twelve

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Riker was lost to Elise’s kiss. A hail of gunfire, bombs and explosions from extreme warfare could have rained down upon them and he would still be blithely kissing Elise—his future mate—as if nothing else in the world concerned him.

Elise broke the kiss and immediately sucked in a sharp breath, her focus going to the boutique’s front door.

He frowned at her reaction and turned halfway to see who’d arrived. He saw the blue hair first and every muscle in his body tightened in readiness to fight.

Then he looked into the face of someone who was definitely not Anya, and relaxed.

“Mom? Are you here?” the redhead beside the woman with the blue hair asked in an overloud voice.

Corette came into the room carrying the refilled tray. “Pandora, my sweet daughter, and Miss Jayne Frost. It’s good to see you both. What can I do for the two of you today?”

Pandora, her sweet daughter, glanced at Elise and Riker. “Are you too busy right now? We can come back later.”

Corette looked at Elise. “Do you need more time with this dress, dear?”

Elise shook her head. “No. I’d like to try on a couple more just to be sure, though, if you don’t mind. But if you’re busy, I’m happy to wait.” Riker pictured them closing the place down sometime later on tonight, Elise not leaving until she’d tried on and showed him every dress in the place. Perhaps it was simply his anxiety talking.

“Nonsense. I’ll help you into the next dress while my daughter and Jayne wait for me in my office for a few minutes. Is that all right, dear?”

“Sure thing,” Pandora responded. She and the blue-haired woman—Miss Jayne Frost—went through the door Corette had just come through after refilling the treat tray.

The flash of blue hair was a potent reminder of where they were and what they were supposed to be doing. They needed to focus on their immediate goals again.

Behind him, Elise whispered, “That scared the space potatoes right out of me.”

“You and me both. What do you want to do?”

“Probably best that we stay off the streets for now. I know they are still looking for us. I’ll try on another dress or two and then we’ll reassess our options.”

“So about this dress you’re wearing…”

“Yes?”

“I like it. You should get it, if that’s the one you want. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough Earther funds with me right now to pay for it. So buy what you like and I’ll repay you later. Okay?”

She grinned. “Okay. No worries, Riker.”

“Maybe we should shop for finger rings next,” he said. It was another place they could get off the streets and shop to hide out while serving their personal purposes.

Her grin widened. “Maybe so.”

Elise disappeared with Corette through the arched doorway, leaving him once again all alone with a tray half filled with diamond-shaped treats.

He sat in the regal chair and popped a treat in his mouth. He wondered how many he was allowed to have before he’d consumed more than was socially acceptable. Maybe he’d already had too many. He was on his second tray after all.

Riker resisted popping another treat into his mouth for about three seconds before he reached for his favorite, eating it in two tiny bites instead of one satisfying mouthful.

Elise and Corette came out with a second dress that, while very pretty and very flattering, wasn’t the first one. He nodded and smiled and tried to say all the right things, but if he had a choice—and in this case he didn’t—he’d select the first dress, call it done and move on.

Corette left them alone a second time to discuss the outfit, heading into her office presumably to talk to her daughter and the blue-haired woman. She wasn’t gone for long. Riker didn’t even have a chance to kiss Elise before she was whisked away to try another dress, which Corette said was certainly wild but trendy in a few upscale places. It was short, coming only to mid-thigh. He liked seeing Elise’s legs, but didn’t care for the half-a-dress, as he thought of it.

Whatever. Riker had been ready to leave after the first dress. The only thing keeping him from running screaming from the house of frippery was the little tray of frosted diamond-shaped cakes he was unabashedly consuming like the air he breathed. That, and the fact they were actually hiding out.

Corette’s daughter and her friend returned to the showroom. He stood as they walked past, as he would on his planet out of respect. They nodded on their way out and Pandora said, “You’re fiancée is lovely and that dress she had on was perfect for her. My mom knows her stuff.”

“I agree, but whatever she chooses is supposed to be a secret from me, so I’ll try and act surprised on our special day.”

“Good for you.” They exited the shop, leaving him alone again.

Riker noticed a gray-robed figure across the street. The shop’s door hadn’t quite closed all the way behind Pandora and Jayne when the figure stopped walking mid-step, pulled her hood back to reveal short, messy, dark hair and an unblinking stare. She gave him a look of wide-eyed shock. Her arm lifted and she pointed at him. He expected unearthly shrieking to come next, but didn’t wait to find out.

It was time to go. Now!

Riker darted into the dressing room entryway, calling out, “Elise! We need to leave!”

He spotted Corette with an armful of the dress Elise had just worn. “She’s not quite dressed yet,” Corette said.

“Hurry and get dressed, Elise!”

By the time he got to the small room she was in, he saw not only her bare, beautiful arms, but all of her well-shaped legs. He didn’t have time to express his sincere pleasure at seeing her so scantily clad. She wore only black exercise shorts, a purple sleeveless undershirt and her shoes. Her military-style jacket and pants were draped on a nearby chair next to her backpack.

He grabbed her hand as the bell pealed from the front door. “I know you’re in here,” Anya called out in an eerie, loud voice. “You are mine, thrall. Not hers! Come out and meet your destined fate.”

“Oh no.” Elise grabbed her backpack and stuffed the rest of her clothing inside. “I’m sorry, Corette, but we need to leave. Is there a back door out of here?”

“What’s going on?” Corette’s concern was obvious.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Elise said, as she traded an ominous look with Riker.

“Is she your ex or something, Riker? It’s so unfortunate when people can’t let go, don’t you think so?”

“Yes,” Elise said. “She hasn’t gotten over Riker. And I understand that—I mean, look at him—but she needs to take no for an answer and move on.”

Corette nodded. “I’ll save the dress you selected, Elise. And I’ll do my best to stall your ex, too, Riker.” She pointed to a door further down the hall. “That door leads out to an alley. Take a left and after a block or so you’ll end up on Main Street near the fountain with the gargoyle.”

“Thanks, Corette. I’ll be back, I promise.”

Corette smiled, then turned toward the main salon and marched, big poufy dress and all, down the hall. Anya was shouting, “Come out and face the prophecy, thrall, as it was foreseen!” The echoing chant of other voices responded, “As it was foreseen!”

Riker and Elise made their escape to the alley just as a small black cat trotted by, making a purring, happy noise. Riker heard loud voices on Main Street to his left, but he could have sworn the little cat was chanting in its little cat voice as it traipsed by. It sounded like, “Spider want food. Spider want food.”

Riker shook his head at the folly of a talking kitten and grabbed Elise’s hand, expecting Anya to burst through the door they’d just come through at any second.

They ran toward Main Street as a mass of tourists strolled by and did their best to blend in with the exuberant crowd. Elise squeezed his hand and pointed at the fountain in a park up ahead. They made their way to the fountain with a huge statue of what he assumed was a gargoyle. The creature looked intimidating, and not what he supposed would be displayed as public art. He shouldn’t be surprised by now, but Nocturne Falls was certainly an interesting place filled with more fascinating creatures every moment they stayed.

Chapter Thirteen

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Elise, heart in her throat, racing through town in basically her underwear, didn’t stop until they’d crossed the wide Main Street of Nocturne Falls filled with masses of people and paused by the fountain.

The gargoyle statue was an awesome feature and it looked so real. Like it could spring to life and carry on its gargoyle business. Like it merely rested at the fountain, taking a breather from whatever gargoyles did on a day-to-day basis.

“Do you see Anya or her chanty followers?” Elise asked, heading for an empty bench in front of the lifelike gargoyle.

“No. Do you?”

“I think we’re okay for a few minutes.” They sat down to regroup. “I’d head for the crash site, but it’s still a couple hours until dusk.”

“Did you bring camouflage tarps? Perhaps we could hide underneath them at the spacecraft until the retrieval team arrives.”

“The team won’t come near the crash site if Anya and her followers are scouting around trying to find us in the woods.” Elise scanned their immediate area, taking in the ferocious expression on the gargoyle’s face. So lifelike. There was no one around them and no other tourists lingering by the fountain.

“Right.”

“Our best bet is to find another store to wait in.”

“Is that a hint?”

“A hint of what?” she asked with a smile. She fixed her gaze on his eyes and got lost as she always did when he put his focus solely on her.

He picked up her hand and toyed with her fingers. “Maybe you’d like to find a jewelry store where they sell finger rings?”

Elise laughed. “You seem very anxious to get married for a man who isn’t quite free from his last engagement.”

“I’m free enough for my purposes, unless you’re talking about Anya. I’ve decided I’m free from her regardless of her feelings on prophecies involving me being a thrall.”

“No. I meant Lexa and your arranged marriage to the perfect woman.”

“Lexa is a good soul. You’d like her. But you’re right about arranged marriages and how they should be banned on our planet. They are far more trouble than they’re worth. And I don’t know any couple who has lived—what’s the Earther term?—happy afterward?”

“Happily ever after, you mean. Like in a fairy tale.”

“Yes. That’s right. No one on Alpha-Prime ever seems to live happily ever after when an arranged marriage is involved. Maybe grouchily until death parts them from their grumpy world together would be the more accurate phrase.”

Elise laughed out loud. “I agree. And so we are completely clear, I want to marry you, Riker. My only hesitation is that I’m not certain my limited social standing will be accepted by your family.”

He shook his head. “They don’t care about that. Seriously, they have repeatedly told both Draeken and me that they just want the two of us to be happy. And with their youngest son on his way to the worst gulag in three systems, I guarantee they will be delighted with any woman I choose. As long as I resolve my agreement with Lexa.”

“You mean publicly?”

He nodded. “And I will, I promise.”

“Are you sure Lexa will let you go?”

“She’s the one who brought up the subject of breaking our arrangement. I met with her to do it. She was afraid I was about to propose, so she started by saying she cared for me, but not the way a husband and wife should for each other.”

“And you were relieved?”

“Oh, yes, very much so.”

Elise pushed out a breath. “I almost had an arranged marriage.”

“You did?”

“Yes. His name is Mahler Grant.”

Riker made what sounded like a disapproving humph.

“You know him?”

“I’ve heard of him. My understanding is he’s very much a proponent of the old ways. He likely would have stifled you, kept you at home and would have disallowed anything more than volunteer work for your future career as his wife.”

“I picked up on that fairly quickly. That’s why I refused to marry him.”

“I never heard any public declaration from him or his family.”

“He didn’t want me, either. But my parents thought he’d keep me in line after I decided to become a bodyguard instead of joining the RMG like they wanted.”

She pushed out a sigh, adding, “I confided in my sister the name of the only man I’d ever agree to marry. She tattled to my parents. They thought I was aiming too far above my social realm.”

“Who was it?” he asked sounding like he planned to tear this imaginary suitor apart with his bare hands.

“I told her I was in love with The Calderian and no one else would do. When your arranged marriage was announced soon after, I finalized my plan to come to Earth.”

His frown was quickly replaced with a ferocious grin. “You told your family you’d only marry me?”

She nodded. “They laughed. Told me you were too far above my apparently greedy social reach.”

“That’s not true. You are perfect for me. I love you, Elise. I’m grateful we found each other. My only concern is taking you away from Earth. But if you want to remain here, I’ll give up being The Calderian.”

“No. Absolutely not. I don’t want you to give up your career. Mind you, I also don’t want to stay at home and only volunteer to give tea parties and coordinate charity work. My skillset is in a completely different arena.”

“You, my sweet future wife, can do whatever you wish. I promise to support you in whatever career you choose.”

He moved to put his arm around her shoulders. “Are you cold in so few clothes?” he asked, wrapping her in his embrace.

“No. I’m fine. Do you disapprove of my attire?”

“Believe me, I like it.”

“I’m certainly not soft like other women.” She put a palm on her thigh, feeling the muscle there.

“You are perfect.”

“Am I?” Elise stared into his intense blue-eyed gaze.

“You are perfect for me. I don’t want anyone else.”

Before he could kiss her again—and she wanted that more than anything in this quiet moment—someone approached at high speed. Elise looked up in time to see a teenager on a skateboard approaching at a very fast clip.

It was a scrawny girl with short, messy dark hair wearing homemade clothes possibly from a large variety of leftover fabric scraps. As she passed by their seated position on the bench, the girl lifted a hand and threw something at them. A cloud of pink, purple and blue dust sprayed up in the air. A teabag-size clump hit Riker on the chin in a flourish of multi-toned sparkle and color.

The shameless little teeny-bopper brat!

“Hey! That was uncalled for,” Elise yelled, standing up to chase the hooligan down. Then she froze. The multi-colored dust reminded her of the pink sparkly dust Anya had blown in Riker’s face to subdue him. She suddenly remembered uselessly that she’d never gotten a sample of that pink dust.

When Elise turned back, it was as she feared. Riker wasn’t moving. He wasn’t talking. He wasn’t even blinking. Oh no. A more colorful swear word—one she’d never used out loud before, ever—sprang from her lips.

“Riker! Are you okay?” She laid a hand on his shoulder. He felt cold to the touch. Oh no.

Behind her, she heard Anya call out, “I challenge this redheaded witch to a winner-take-all fight for this man.”

Elise turned as Anya, blue-streaked white-blonde hair and all, stepped into the area in front of the gargoyle perched on the stone rim of the fountain.

Two of her gray-robed followers bent to apply hot pink chalk to the sidewalk, and a square quickly formed. Elise could swear the gargoyle’s expression had changed. She shook off that crazy thought as Anya chanted. “A prophecy shall be fulfilled. But a challenge for my fallen man’s soul needs to be carried out.”

Elise wanted to growl her frustration, but in a quietly authoritative voice she said, “No. He’s mine. I don’t need to fight to keep him. He doesn’t want you. Leave us alone and think up a new prophecy.”

Anya continued as if Elise hadn’t spoken. “Two will enter the square, but only one shall exit it.”

“Melodramatic, much?” Elise crossed her arms.

“The stone guard shall bear witness to our battle. This fight will be to the bitter end.”

“You can’t make me fight.” She bent at the waist and looked into Riker’s eyes. He blinked once and then once more. “Can you hear me, Riker? Blink twice for yes.”

He blinked twice.

“Are you in pain?” He blinked once.

She put a hand on his shoulder again, but one of the gray-robed figures ripped her fingers away from him. “No touching the merchandise.”

“He’s a person, not merchandise.” Elise tried to put her hand on his shoulder again but before she touched him another hooded figure tried to smack away her hand. This time Elise was prepared. She grabbed the threatening hand before it touched her, twisted it into an odd position meant to inflict pain until the person attached to it squealed and let go.

“Whatever,” Anya said. “Step into the square and prepare to do battle. Or do you already concede him to me?”

Elise straightened to her full height and mentally prepared to fight. “No. I’ll never concede him to you, ever.”

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Riker blinking like mad. He likely didn’t want her to fight. But what else could she do? If he couldn’t move, they couldn’t run…anywhere.

Anya was in full-throttle crazy mode, chanting for all she was worth. “I, Anya, the Druid high priestess of the Georgia Woods, will fight the witch who has cast a spell on my man.”

“He’s my man.” Elise put a hand on her waist where she kept her Defender, ready to back up her statement with force, but it wasn’t there. She’d stowed it deep inside her backpack while wedding dress shopping at Corette’s boutique.

“Looking for this?” the teenager who’d thrown the dust ball into Riker’s face snagged her backpack off the bench and held it behind her back.

“Yes, you little troublemaker. Now give it back.” She reached for it, touching only the barest part of her bag before the girl snatched it well out of her grasp.

“No. First you have to do battle with our high priestess or give him up.” The teen ran several steps back and away from the bench. She didn’t want to get too far from Riker so she didn’t chase her.

The more Anya chanted, the more tourists and folks from town started moving toward them. She heard someone from the crowd shout, “When does the show start?”

Great. They all thought this was some sort of Nocturne Falls fight demonstration. No one would help. Would the leaders of this town come and break this up? She couldn’t count on that at all. If she had Ivy’s phone number, she’d call and ask her to send her sheriff husband over to shut this all down.

In the meantime, it looked like a throw down with Anya was unavoidable.

Elise mentally called up every one of her battle, tactical, and combat classes from RMG prep. She’d done well enough, but her primary focus hadn’t been any of these classes after she left, and certainly not in the two years since coming to Earth.

She hoped Anya wasn’t some ninja stealth fighter about to take her out with one move.

Chapter Fourteen

<^> <^> <^>

Riker felt a distinct flash of dread as the clump of sparkly dust made contact with his chin. Before he had another thought, he was paralyzed. He recognized the girl on the skateboard one second too late to give any warning.

Elise put her hand on his shoulder and warmth spread from her touch through his body. Then Anya issued her ultimatum. A fight in the square until what? Hopefully this wasn’t a battle to the death. Elise put her hand on him once more. The warmth came again. His eyelids tingled and he was suddenly able to blink, to communicate, but not for long.

“Hands off the merchandise,” someone from behind him said. He suspected one of Anya’s robed minions.

The two with chalk had apparently finished drawing the battle ring. Although he only saw part of it, the shape was more like a square. His worry for Elise grew with each second he was incapacitated. Unless she bent down to look him in the eye, he had a very narrow field of view.

He saw part of the pink chalk-line square of battle, part of the fountain, including the large gargoyle statue and an ever-growing number of townspeople crowding in to see what was going on.

He heard an exuberant voice say, “I love visiting this town. There is always something cool going on.”

Riker closed his eyes and focused his attention on his shoulder where Elise had briefly rested her hand. He did his best to thaw himself from memory. Flashes of their time together since she’d rescued him from the log cabin in the woods and the Druid high priestess lined up in his brain like a row of soldiers about to be inspected. The motorbike ride through the woods, watching Elise as he talked to Charlie, their time in the questionable motel where their kisses had nearly set the room on fire and the trip to the wedding dress boutique served to intensify his feelings of love. His recent memories made the warmth on his shoulder seep even deeper into his body, thawing him out ever so slowly. He still couldn’t move, but felt his muscles loosening. He just needed to focus.

But would he be able to free himself in time to help Elise defeat Anya? Or was his fate already decided with this final treachery from the Druids bent on making him part of their world?

<^> <^> <^>

Elise gave Riker one final look. His eyes were closed. Perhaps he was conserving his strength. There was no telling what that clump of Druid-style fairy dust to the face had done to him.

She began to stretch, moving around to the side of the pink chalked arena where the gargoyle crouched, claiming that as her corner for this coming duel. Perhaps the gargoyle would give her strength.

On the other side of the square, Anya removed her violet flowing robe. Beneath it she wore a sleek blue catsuit in the same shade of violet. She looked taller without the robe, fiercer, and her expression was filled with resolve.

Elise had news for her. She was also filled with determination. “I wonder what weakness you possess that I can exploit during this battle?” she quietly asked the air around her.

A rumbling voice behind her said, “Overconfidence is her weakness, but it’s also a big mistake to apply any kind of logic to a crazy person.”

Elise spun toward the voice and stared at the gargoyle. A thousand questions vied for attention in her brain, but the only one she cared about was the one she asked. “How can I beat her and win this match?”

“Don’t let the Druid knock you out. Don’t step out of the pink ring.”

She pushed out a sigh, wishing for some grand secret, not obvious information she already had. “Great. Thanks. But I got that already.”

The gargoyle shrugged and a smile formed on his stony lips. “Also, you fight for love. She fights for pride.” He paused and they both looked at Anya, readying herself for battle, putting her long blue-streaked blonde locks into a ponytail atop her head. “The Druid high priestess wants to prove to her followers that she’s right and that their loyalty to her is about to be somehow rewarded.”

“So you’re saying that I have a stronger reason to fight?”

The gargoyle shrugged again. “We’ll see shortly, I think.”

Someone from the crowd in an awed voice asked, “Is that gargoyle talking?”

Another said, “Yes. They are robots or animatronic or something. They answer questions when asked.”

“Awesome,” someone else responded.

A tourist wearing a tan fishing hat approached the gargoyle, looked around to see if anyone else listened and asked if there were any wagers available on the coming fight.

“I’m a gargoyle, not a bookie,” the gargoyle said, sounding disgruntled. “And this is Nocturne Falls not Las Vegas. Step back.”

The guy with the hat shrugged. “Okay. I was just asking.”

Elise shook her head and turned back to the ring. Even she wouldn’t put a bet on this fight. She was very aware of Riker seated on the bench. His eyes were closed, but she thought she saw his mouth twitch. Good. Perhaps he wasn’t frozen for all time.

Maybe her plan should be to stay conscious and keep fighting long enough for Riker to break the power of whatever Druid dust had been thrown in his face.

After stretching the muscles in her arms, legs and back, Elise decided she needed one more thing before going into battle. She rounded the edge of the pink chalk, launching into a sprint and headed for Riker.

She grabbed his face and planted her mouth over his in an exuberant kiss meant to let him know she would fight to the death for him. But she also whispered, “If you’re able to get away, I want you to run. Get to the crash site. Don’t worry about me.”

Before he could respond, she’d already darted away and was back beside the gargoyle.

Anya stared at Elise like the battle was already over and she’d won even before the fight began. The gargoyle was right. Anya was arrogant and perhaps that would be her undoing.

Anya stepped across the pink chalk line at the opposite corner to where Elise stood pondering her strategy. “Do you dare enter the battle ring, witch?”

“You think I’m a witch?”

The Druid priestess smiled as if she harbored a secret. “You look like a witch with hair the color of flames and emerald eyes, too.”

Around them, the word “witch” carried through the crowd like an ominous sign that Elise was in over her head. She wouldn’t know until the battle started whether her opponent was a skilled fighter.

“What are the rules, Anya?” she called out in an overloud voice as the murmurs in the crowd rose.

Anya stood in her corner, arms away from her body as though she stood ready to chant ohm until her spirit was calm. Elise knew better.

“There are no rules. If you accept my challenge, step over the line and prepare to fight to the end. But if you’d rather save yourself the pain of battle, simply agree the man on the bench is mine to do with as I please. I’ll understand if you don’t want to lose in front of this crowd.”

“What does fight to the end mean?”

Anya’s eyes flashed. “Until one of us is either unconscious or incapacitated to the point we can no longer do battle.”

“I will never agree that Riker is yours, ever. He’s my one and only true love. Prepare to lose this match, Anya.” Elise stepped across the pink chalk line. A wave of dizziness assaulted her the second she’d planted both feet inside the ring. Crappity-crapness. What is wrong with me?

Anya launched across the space the moment Elise had completely crossed the pink line and stood in the ring. She led with a fist and Elise had to dodge her or get punched in the face. The dizzy feeling only got worse as Elise bobbed her body to one side. She stuck her leg out straight and Anya tripped over it, falling to her knees.

Elise ignored how weak she felt and jumped on the Druid’s back, trying to push Anya to the ground and get a chokehold in place. Hitting certain pressure points would knock her unconscious, hopefully. Elise just needed to stay conscious long enough to complete the move. But Anya didn’t stay down. The second Elise climbed on her back, Anya stood up, knocking her off balance. As Elise fell from shoulder height, Anya tried to drop her out of the ring.

Elise did a back flip in the opposite direction and landed on the balls of her feet well within the pink line. The crowd cheered, apparently impressed by the move, but then Anya grabbed a bunch of her hair and yanked her backward. She barely kept on her feet as the priestess dragged her across the ring toward where Riker sat on the bench, still mostly frozen in place.

His eyes were open, but staring down at the sidewalk at one area near the edge of the pink line a couple of steps from his booted feet. His lips seemed to be moving, but no sound came. Or at least she didn’t hear anything.

She broke from Anya, pushing her back several feet and put up her fists as if this was a boxing match. Anya charged at her several times, flinging fist after fist in her direction. Elise was able to block each one and push her back. She kept coming. Arrogance or not, Anya seemed determined to win. Elise fought off wave after wave of wooziness, as she tangled with the Druid, but if she didn’t beat Anya soon, the vertigo was going to win, and then so might her opponent.

Anya came at her feinting one way before moving another, fooling her in the moment and grabbing her hair once more. Was hair-pulling the only move she had? Elise managed a backward kick, hitting Anya in the thigh to get her to let go, and lost a clump of hair in the process. Anya screeched the moment Elise got free. Elise’s eyes watered at the pain of her hair being pulled out by the roots. Luckily it wasn’t much.

Before she could turn around, Anya punched her, delivering a hot, painful shot to her lower back, putting her on her knees as various spectators shouted, “That was a cheap shot!” “The woman with blue-streaked hair is a cheater.” “This is a terrible fight!”

None of the shouted insults made Anya stop. Elise did her best to draw breath as Anya aimed to hit her low once more. Elise twisted at the last minute and got a punch to the hip. Though less painful, it also pushed her off balance.

The screaming pain in her lower back made Elise’s eyes really water, much worse than when her hair was pulled, but she did her best to recover, taking two or three squatting steps backward, trying desperately to regain her balance. Through it all, the growing lightheadedness threatened to win out.

Anya was suddenly on her other side. She shot a palm into Elise’s shoulder, knocking her completely on her butt. With a hand on the sore spot of her back, Elise managed to lift both feet and kick Anya in the belly as she tried to leap onto her prone body.

A satisfying grunt from Anya—when she consequently landed on her butt—didn’t make Elise move any faster. The pain in her back was extreme. She pulled her hand away and realized she was bleeding. Had Anya stabbed her?

She felt around with the tips of her thumb and forefinger until she found something small and hard. She pulled on it and a thin metal bristle came out of her flesh. The level of pain dropped immediately, but she’d taken too long to remove the thin puncturing metal. Anya leapt up and aimed a fist at Elise’s head. She dodged the first blow, wanting to call foul for the metal pin in her back, but didn’t have time.

Anya managed a left-handed blow to the side of her head, square on Elise’s ear, and she went down, hard, pain ringing in her skull, going hand in hand with her vertigo. Together, both conditions kept her down. Elise turned her head to one side and opened her eyes, realizing she was in Riker’s narrow view. She stared into his eyes. His expression seemed focused and intense, but softened ever so slightly when he saw her. Unfortunately, he was about to see her fail.

Echoed pain clanged around in her head with a deafening and resolute sound. Her limbs were weak from the fight. The dizziness she’d acquired since entering the ring was about to end her challenge. Her cheating opponent stood up and walked a few steps over, blocking Riker’s sightline. “One last chance. Surrender, green-eyed witch, or I’ll stomp on you until you stop moving.”

“No. I’ll never surrender.”

“Fine. I warned you. I gave you a chance and I have witnesses.” Anya backed up three long steps, like she planned to get a running start before stomping Elise unconscious. She shook her head, the long, blue-streaked ponytail flailing behind her like a silk scarf blowing in the wind.

Elise caught a slender glimpse of Riker’s face. A beautiful smile played around his lips. His eyes were focused directly on her and he winked. At least he was unfreezing.

Too bad she was about to lose this foolish battle right in Riker’s limited view.

Chapter Fifteen

<^> <^> <^>

Riker watched the battle, well, the part he could see anyway. He mostly heard it. When the crowd started shouting about the blue-haired woman being a cheater, it helped focus his efforts on freeing himself.

Behind him, he thought he heard a familiar voice.

“Is she a witch, do you think?” It sounded exactly like Miss Jayne Frost’s.

In that moment, Anya aimed a punch at Elise’s head. She dodged a direct blow to the face, but Anya’s fist hit her solidly on her ear. She stumbled backward and fell on the sidewalk.

“No,” said Pandora’s voice. “She’s definitely not a witch. Otherwise she could have already won.” Interesting conversation. Did these women believe in witches, goblins and ghosts?

Riker had read Alpha colony reports from Earth over the years. He understood the basics of Halloween with its ghosts, goblins and witches. It was all make believe, but he also knew from his reading that some humans actually believed in all sorts of supernatural things. Up to now he’d only focused on alien conspiracies on Earth and not supernatural. Interesting to get a close-up view of supernatural beliefs.

For the here and now, all he could do was remain where he was and concentrate on that final kiss Elise had given him before stepping into the ring. That single brief connection had gone a long way toward helping to warm his frozen body.

Before when hit with the pink dust, he’d felt hampered, but eventually broke free. This potion was different, much stronger, and too difficult to escape easily. The spell had bound him with a much stronger force. It was like being frozen in a block of ice and very frustrating to someone who was used to being the bringer of law enforcement, the guard of those in need, The Calderian.

Elise was bleeding. He saw that as soon as she was on her back right in his only view of the battle ring. Was that why the crowd had called out that Anya cheated? Or was it because Anya had obviously hit her in the back? Either way, seeing his beautiful Elise hurt, down and bleeding unhinged him way deep down inside.

She’d rescued him from the cabin. She’d found a way to transport him out of the woods. She’d discovered and fixed the purposeful injury to his leg. Elise had saved him over and over as they’d negotiated this odd little town, chased by Druids hell-bent on fulfilling their prophecy. And best of all, he’d learned that she loved him, just as he loved her with every fiber of his being.

It was his turn to save her and end this foolish battle.

Anya backed up several steps, obviously getting ready to launch herself onto her fallen opponent. She flicked her head, sending her ponytail out of the ring.

Riker used all the power he’d accumulated, breaking the spell keeping him frozen. He stood and grabbed Anya’s ponytail with a fist, winding the blue locks around his hand once and yanking her backward, out of the ring. He released her hair and deposited her on the bench where he’d just been immobilized.

The look of shock on her face was priceless.

“But…you can’t move.”

“Oh, yes, I can. Watch me move more.” Riker stepped across the pink chalk line. He was still a bit dizzy, but did his best to ignore it.

“But I gave you the most potent subdue potion I have and I tripled the strength due to your large size.” Anya was seriously awed by the fact he could once again move of his own free will.

“The problem is that you challenged my true love to a battle. Love is a powerful force. In this case, love conquers all, even potent potions meant to subdue. You should have left us alone.”

Anya’s gray-robed followers all pushed their hoods off their heads at the same time and moved to the bench where Anya sat frozen in her defeat. Her expression seemingly tried to figure out where she’d gone wrong as her compatriots started chanting, “Our Druid priestess has been defeated in the sacred battle ring. The prophecy is lost forever. Our Druid priestess has been defeated…”

Their voices sounded downcast and miserable as they repeated their melancholy message several more times. How long had they followed her prophecies only to discover she was not a leader they could believe in by not fulfilling the one prophecy they followed without question?

Riker reached a hand down to Elise. She took it and got to her feet with a relieved smile. “Thanks. I thought I was done for when I hit the ground.”

“Likely you would have rallied at the last second, but I thought it was my turn to rescue you. It is in my skillset, and it was certainly my turn.”

Elise walked out of the ring and pulled him with her. The dizziness abated and Riker felt better.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he said.

“I think the pink chalk was laced with something. I was woozy the moment I stepped inside the lines.”

“Me, too. I thought it was residual effects from the stuff thrown in my face.”

Elise turned as a disturbance rippled through the crowd. Riker looked around in time to see someone coming toward them. He was tall, big, dressed in what Riker assumed was a human law officer’s uniform and his expression was ferociously serious.

Someone in the crowd whispered in an overloud tone, “Oh no. Sheriff Merrow is here to break this up. Let’s go.”

Elise said, “Looks like we get to meet Ivy’s husband after all.”

Riker stiffened. “Let’s hope he’s here to arrest Anya, and not us.”

“Maybe Ivy will stand up for us.”

“Maybe. However, we should perhaps leave.”

“You there.” The sheriff pointed to Riker. “Tell me what’s going on here. Were you staging a public fight in the town square?”

Before Riker could answer, Pandora and Jayne approached. “Hey, Hank.”

The sheriff looked at the women and his expression softened. “Pandora, Jayne. Can you shed some light on this…gathering?”

“Yep.” Pandora pointed to Anya. “It’s her fault. She started the whole thing.”

Both Pandora and Jayne explained in succinct detail exactly what had gone on both before, during and after the battle. “And if you don’t believe us, you can ask the gargoyle. He saw everything.”

Riker’s eyes narrowed on the statue perched on the fountain’s edge. “Does the gargoyle have a camera or something?”

“Or something,” Hank said. And that was all he said. The guy was a man of few words. Riker could respect that.

Hank directed two deputies, one of whom was Jenna, to arrest the five Druids. The four followers were docile, but Jenna had to put Anya in handcuffs as she shouted and cursed everyone around her and generally made a loud exit from the area.

“Are you going to arrest us?” Elise asked the sheriff.

“Should I?”

“No,” Riker said. “We are blameless. The Druid Anya has been chasing us all day, trying to fulfill some foolish prophecy.”

“Aren’t they looking for some spaceman that’s fallen to Earth?”

Pandora nodded. “That’s the word on the street.”

The sheriff cracked a smile, but he looked like it didn’t happen very often. He eyed Riker up and down, perhaps noting his tattered and torn uniform. “And are you a spaceman that has fallen to Earth, fulfilling their long-awaited prophecy?”

Riker put on his best incredulous expression. “What do you think?” he asked in a tone meant to sound skeptical.

Hank looked affronted. “Are you answering my question with a question?”

“Is that against the law here in Nocturne Falls?”

The sheriff crossed his arms, scanned the area as if assessing who might be around to listen. They were, for the most part, alone.

“I had occasion to call Alienn, Arkansas today. Do you two know where that is? Are you perhaps from there?”

The shock factor of that almost worked. Riker opened his mouth to deny whatever the sheriff was about to say next.

Elise was cooler. “What do you think you know?”

He ignored the fact she’d just answered another question with a second query. “I know that earlier I ran into one of your friends. Her name is Stella. She was with a man named Draeken who looks an awful lot like you, as a matter of fact.” He nodded at Riker.

“Do you think we should head to the sheriff’s station and have a chat?”

<^> <^> <^>

Elise stiffened and felt Riker do the same beside her. “No. I do not think we need to go have a chat at the sheriff’s station.”

“Why is that?”

“Your wife’s name is Ivy, right?”

He frowned. “How do you know that?”

“I met her earlier. She’s nice and your son Charlie is really cute.”

A flash of manly pride at the mention of his family crossed Hank Merrow’s face.

“Call her and ask her about us. She’ll tell you we are merely trying to get back home after my friend here got hurt in the woods. The Druids found him first and tried to claim him as their own, but I’m going to marry this man. I selected a dress today in your town.”

“Oh? What’s the name of the place you shopped?”

“Ever After Bridal Boutique.”

“Who waited on you?”

“Corette. You can call her, too. She’ll tell you we were there and also that Anya followed us inside.”

Pandora spoke up. “Jayne and I saw them there earlier. She had a lovely dress on and he was gobbling down the treats my mom puts out in the waiting room.”

The sheriff looked like he was ready to move on and stop giving them the third degree.

“How’d he get hurt?”

Elise spoke quickly. “He fell out of a tree.”

Riker and Hank both burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

Hank looked at Riker. “Is that the story you’ll be going with?”

Riker squeezed Elise’s arm. “I don’t dare argue with my future wife. Would you?”

“No, I would not. You’re a smart man—clumsy, if you’re falling out of trees—but smart.”

“So we’re free to go?”

Hank nodded. “Sure. Need anything?”

“No. We’ll be fine.”

The sheriff walked away, leaving them in front of a semi-smudged pink chalk line and a gargoyle who winked at them from across the sidewalk.

“Now what?” Elise asked.

“I say we use the injury kit on your lower back—which is still bleeding, by the way—we go back for the dress you picked out and then we head for the woods and the retrieval team for a ride back to Alienn. What do you say?”

“Perfect.”

Elise spied her backpack shoved under the bench and retrieved it. She pulled out a tester kit first and got a sample of the dust Anya used to subdue Riker during the battle. “Might come in handy if we can identify this stuff, since it can freeze Alphas unless they have their true love close by. You just got lucky.”

“You’re right, I did. Good idea.”

She also got a sample of the pink chalk line that had served as the battle ring. Riker gave her a questioning look. “Like I mentioned before, as soon as I stepped into the ring and planted both feet, I was as wobbly as a newborn colt. This stuff might also be something that impacts Alphas.”

“What’s a colt?”

“Baby horse. Cowboys ride horses out on the range.”

A look of understanding surfaced on his beautiful face.

“When we get back to Alienn, how much time will I have before we leave for Alpha-Prime?”

He shrugged. “I’m technically not scheduled to go back for the length of a return run to gulag XkR-9 with way station stops on Earth. I’d sort of like to spend a bit of time in Alienn until the expedited ship returns to Earth after delivering my brother. I’ll want to talk to the guard they assigned to take him there.”

“Good. You can stay with me.”

“Are you certain you’re willing to leave Alienn?”

“I am, but I want to come back and visit every so often.”

“No problem.”

“There is a certain satisfaction in returning to Alpha-Prime to marry The Calderian, especially where my family is concerned.”

“Won’t they be surprised?”

Elise laughed. “Shocked without the capacity to speak is what I’m hoping for.”

“I love you, Elise.”

“I love you, Riker.”

They embraced and just before he kissed her, Riker whispered, “Do you think Corette will have more of those diamond-shaped cakes when we go to pick up your secret wedding dress?”

Elise laughed and kissed him until he forgot all about white chocolate lemon coconut treats.

Epilogue

<^> <^> <^>

“Likely this is a foolish question, but are you excited to see your brother?” Elise asked as they walked from her duplex through downtown Alienn to the underground bunker at the Big Bang Truck Stop.

“I’m excited to grab him and punch him one in the arm for not telling me about his secret mission.” She knew he was still trying to digest the message he’d received as to his brother’s status and the fact he’d be returning soon to the way station in Alienn.

“Brothers are certainly more physical than sisters.” Elise said that under her breath, realizing she wasn’t innocent with regard to wounds inflicted on siblings.

“Maybe, but we also don’t hold a grudge for a lifetime. One punch and it’s done.”

Elise crossed her arms and huffed. “Are you saying my grudge isn’t justified?”

“No, of course not. I’m always on your side. However—”

She rolled her eyes in mock dislike. “Oh, now comes the judgy justification for why I shouldn’t hold a grudge against my sister and parents.”

“Judgy isn’t a word.”

“Sure it is. I just used it in a sentence. Here’s another. My awesome fiancé is about to use any number of judgy justifications to explain why I shouldn’t harbor a grudge against my family for treating me like crap before I left Alpha-Prime.”

Riker laughed. “Another observation I’d like to note for the record: You certainly do love to swear Earther-style now. I haven’t heard space potatoes come out of your mouth in quite a long while.”

She shrugged. “Crap is a better word. I like it, a lot. It has seemingly endless iterations. Like crappity-crap and others.”

“Don’t I know it. My favorite is crappity-do-dah because it sounds like we are about to celebrate something, even if it is…well, crap.”

Elise returned his grin. They had been inseparable since coming back from Nocturne Falls with the spacecraft retrieval team. He’d moved into her modest abode in Alienn, a two-bedroom, bath-and-a-half duplex just north of downtown Alienn.

Riker had been a very good study of all things Earther and especially Arkansas during his time here. He wanted to see everything. He wanted to learn all he could about Alienn and the truck stop above the alien way station in the basement.

He loved Maxwell the Martian, and had already purchased—at a special discount—a case of the stuffed toy version of the Big Bang Truck Stop mascot to take back to Alpha-Prime as gifts for friends.

Riker also spent quite a bit of time with Diesel, Cam, Axel and their other brothers learning about being what he referred to as an Arkansas boy, whatever that meant.

Elise suspected it mostly had to do with drinking beer and riding around on four-wheelers in the woods in wild abandon more than anything else, but that was fine. Riker was happy. He was relaxed. He was enjoying his limited time here. He was mostly excited about seeing his own brother, who would have a great story to tell about how he managed to get out of a very long sentence at the worst gulag in three galaxies.

They were meeting up with Stella and Draeken. Elise’s teammate was waiting for Draeken to disembark from the express ship that had not only taken him to the gulag for an extensive stay, but brought him back after a secret deal had been struck and fulfilled.

“I’m certainly glad I set up a backup plan.”

“What’s your friend’s name again? The guy you used in your backup plan?”

Riker smiled again. “Bubba Thorne.”

“That’s not his real name, is it? He sounds like he belongs in Arkansas. There are lots of Bubbas in Arkansas, you know.”

“No. His real name is Bartholomew Angus Thorne, which he hates with a deep, abiding passion, so don’t ever call him that.”

“I won’t. I’m glad you had someone to send in your place to the gulag.”

“Me, too.”

“All we need to do is get Bubba a date and the six of us can go out on the town tonight.”

“Bubba can get his own date. Besides, he’s already bowed out of this family reunion. He said he had something he wanted to do.”

“Okay. What do you think it is?”

“Drink beer and ride four-wheelers in the woods maybe.”

“You’ve gotten really good at that.”

“I know. I’m a natural.”

At the truck stop, they made their way to the secret entrance leading to the facility below. Once inside, they walked to the receiving area where those disembarking from hidden spacecrafts met friends and family.

The first person they saw was Bubba. He waved and approached.

Riker looked behind him, obviously expecting to see Draeken.

“It’ll be a minute or two. Your brother and Stella are currently latched together in a public display of affection, talking about a yellow ribbon around a tree or some such nonsense.” He rolled his eyes as though love, and any display of it, was foolish.

Riker shook his hand. “Thanks, Bubba. I owe you one.”

Bubba left and they were kept waiting a few more minutes for Draeken and Stella to join them. The brothers did that half hug, half pound each other on the back maneuver as their display of affection, but Riker was visibly relieved to see Draeken in the flesh.

Elise and her teammate did a high-five as they watched the brothers. “So what are we doing tonight?” Stella asked.

“We were thinking about eloping Earther style.”

Stella’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s awesome. Are you two staying here? I thought you were headed back to Alpha-Prime.”

“We are. But since you and Draeken are staying here, Riker wanted to have a ceremony in his presence. Who knows how long it will take to get everyone involved out of their arranged marriages back on our planet?” They rolled their eyes.

“So does Riker know about the Earther-style elopement or is this going to be an unexpected surprise?” Stella looked like she hoped it was a bombshell.

“It was Riker’s idea. Even if it isn’t necessarily a legal marriage union on Alpha-Prime, no one’s ever tested it before. Maybe we’ll be a ground-breaking force for love and the alternate choice of marrying someone you love instead of parental arranged marriages.”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one,” Stella said.

“I know. I won’t.”

Riker and Draeken had finished pounding each other on the back and hurling insults at one another for the time being, so the four of them had a nice dinner at the Cosmos Café. And then Riker married Elise. She wore the lovely dress she’d selected in Nocturne Falls and Draeken and Stella stood up with them during the ceremony.

The preacher said, “You may now kiss your bride.”

Elise turned to Riker. He lifted her veil. She looked deeply into his beautiful eyes and said, “I love you, Riker. Whether here on Earth or on Alpha-Prime, even if we have to wait a year to get married back there. I’ll always remember this as our ‘real’ wedding.”

“I love you, Elise. I agree, this is our wedding day. And now we can live happily ever after,” Riker said and kissed his new bride.

The End

<^> <^> <^>

Next up, look for NFU #3

The Alien Who Fell to Earth

(The Pilot) in September 2017

About Fiona Roarke

Fiona Roarke is a multi-published author who lives a quiet life with the exception of the characters and stories roaming around in her head. She writes about sexy alpha heroes, using them to launch her first series, Bad Boys in Big Trouble. Next up, a new sci-fi contemporary romance series. When she’s not curled on the sofa reading a great book or at the movie theater watching the latest action film, Fiona spends her time writing about the next bad boy (or bad boy alien) who needs his story told.

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