Nothing Remotely Familiar (My Crazy Alien Romance Book 5)

by Donna McDonald

  Resig grunted. “It was another of Artic’s warriors who shot me, wasn’t it?”

  Nia stiffened and gave a shrug. Why couldn’t he just let it go? “There will be time to speak of what happened after you are well once more. Today I’d rather just be grateful that you woke up.”

  “Nia… stop avoiding me and come sit… please…” Resig said. When she returned to his side, he let her raise him up. “Much better,” he said as he tugged her arm and urged her to sit beside him. “Where are the wicked warriors now? Has Stark gone to find them?”

  “There was no need. Both of Artic’s warriors are dead. It was unfortunate, but necessary.” Nia looked away. “Jessica told me that Topper spoke with the Goddess and her consort. They assured Topper that the two warriors were the last of those still loyal to Artic. I am not the expert though. I’m sure Stark will explain everything to you as soon he learns you are conscious.”

  “I think I’d rather hear the story from you,” Resig said. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. “What happened to the warrior who shot me? Did he come after you and the babe?”

  Nia frowned and pulled Resig’s hand from her face. “Must we discuss this?”

  “No, of course not,” Resig offered. He put both hands on her face to hold her attention. “Would you prefer to discuss how things will change once we are mated? Or discuss how many children we should create before some idiot succeeds in killing me? I’m sure you have many opinions on such matters after spending all this time on Earth with Stark’s chaotic family.”

  “Resig, I haven’t been here that long. It’s just been a few weeks in Earth time and less in Glacieran time,” Nia protested.

  “You’ve been here too long… but I suppose that’s just my opinion,” Resig said.

  When Nia didn’t respond to his comment, Resig leaned forward and eased his arms around Nia. Whatever she’d done to save herself, the baby, and him, he knew Nia would do it again if she had to do so. But that was just his wonderful fortune. It was the woman herself that he wanted with every fiber of his being. Icela’s warrior had been right about many, many things.

  “Be my mate, Nia. I am completely devoted to you. There is no other female on Glacier that I want to bed, and certainly no other I would ever want to bear my children. Please say you are mine. I must know it to live.”

  Nia fought tears as she gently put her head on Resig’s shoulder. “Your words are inspired by closeness of death. How can I take them seriously? When you are well, you will realize that I have always been yours, Resig. All you ever had to do was ask.”

  Relieved, Resig blew out a breath. “May the Goddess bless our union. Now I can die a happy male.”

  “No, you can’t. Your mate forbids you to die,” Nia said, lifting an eyebrow as she rose to go tell the others Resig was awake.

  Resig smiled and nodded. “Fine then. I will live to serve my mate. Whatever you need to make you happy, that is what I want for you.”

  Nia stopped in the doorway, tilted her head, and stared. “Are you sure you are all right?”

  Resig threw up a hand in resignation. “I’m trying to woo the woman I want to share my life. Can’t a male woo his future mate? Isn’t wooing what all females want?”

  Nia snickered as she continued to stare. “A little wooing goes a long way. Stop wooing me so hard. When you say such things to me, it makes me think you have brain damage. Rest now while I tell everyone you have returned to us.”

  Resig’s laughter as Nia left the room had him rubbing his chest again. Evidently, it was true what they said about love hurting. Worst of all, he couldn’t tell if Nia believed he loved her or not. She was always so serious… and so intense. His female needed to laugh more. He would see she did. There would be no stopping him now that he’d made up his mind.

  “Brain damage,” he muttered aloud, shaking his head at her words.

  He might as well accept it now and prepare himself. He would definitely be the recipient of every mating joke told among his troops once they found out his mate reacted that way to his compliments.

  “At least Nia agreed to be my mate. I am not delusional. I know what I heard.”

  With an unpredictable female, Resig counted that as a win.”

  Epilogue

  Now that he was bigger, Berg had decided drinking from a cup and eating real food was the way to go. Topper was sad to stop nursing, but had learned to roll with the needs of her unusual children.

  “Will you miss having Nia’s help? Perhaps we should consider hiring someone to mind the children for us when we have to rush off to save Magic.”

  Ignoring Stark and his comments, Topper watched Berg clutching the hair on the kreela’s back as it bounced him around the backyard. Her son made strange sounds around the creature, but before she left, Nia had explained it was Glacieran laughter.

  “Why are we sitting out here in the heat?” Stark asked. “Let’s go sit in my study. It’s nice and cool.”

  Topper snorted. Stark’s study was cooled to below thirty. He and Berg were the only two who could handle being in it for more than five minutes. “I’m waiting for Narelle. If I’m inside, she’ll expect to be invited in.”

  Stark slid an around her shoulders just as Eeela trotted over with a yawning Berg. The creature tipped the boy until he slid into his father’s lap.

  “Dada,” Berg said and hugged Stark’s neck when he got lifted to his father’s shoulder. He turned his blue eyes to his mother. “Mama,” he said in his high-pitched voice. He grinned when both his parents laughed.

  Jessica walked out on the porch with Kevin behind her. “Dad, Bro-bro is all but asleep on you. Let me put him to bed.”

  “That would be wonderful. Thank you, Jessica.”

  “No big,” she said, snuggling her baby brother on her shoulder as she went back into the house.

  Topper chuckled and rubbed her face. “Kevin, you were right. Berg is going to be way more trouble than Jessica ever was.”

  “He’s a loving little thing though,” Kevin said, swinging himself up to the railing and hugging the porch post. “And he sure is a charmer. Not that Little Miss Witch is a shirker in that area either. I find it hard to tell her no.”

  Stark nodded at Kevin’s statement, then turned to Topper. “That reminds me of something Jessica asked me about doing. I’m having a hard time telling her no.”

  “What’s she asking?” Topper asked.

  “She wants to do warrior training,” Stark said, leaving out the long range goals his daughter mentioned. Topper would need time to accept those. “I’m not opposed to her learning to defend herself or others, but special arrangements would need to be made. What do you think about it?”

  Topper looked out at her backyard and sighed. Stark had taken both Thor and Jessica to the He-shed to talk after they ate. Guess now she knew why.

  When word had gotten to their visiting alien warriors about the invasion of Artic’s minions, Stark’s warriors had returned from the snow dome and immediately set up a guard schedule for the house and property.

  Though she hated feeling like such measures were needed, Topper hadn’t put the wards back into place yet. They required a significant amount of magic and would have to wait until her energy was higher. Since sleep was hard enough to get with children, there really wasn’t any other choice but to let the visiting Glacierans guard the house until Resig could report that no more of Artic’s soldiers remained.

  So with all that going on, how could she blame her rapidly growing daughter from wanting to feel safer? The bad part was that she and Rime were going to miss the daily naked show. The thought had her grinning… and sighing over the loss.

  “I have no reason to deny Jessica wanting to learn to defend herself. Are you going to make your trainees wear clothes from now on?”

  Stark chuckled. “How is that related and why on Earth in the New Mexico heat would I do that?”

  Topper rolled her eyes at his answer. “Maybe to keep your wide-eyed daught
er from getting ideas before she’s mentally old enough to have them?”

  Stark laughed loudly then. “That won’t be necessary. Jessica definitely won’t be training with the visiting warriors. And I’ll kill any of them who look at her too long or in the wrong way. Plus, I’m going to have a talk with Theo about carrying some clothes with him when he shifts back from his beast. She thinks I didn’t notice her interest today, but I did.”

  Topper rubbed her eyes and groaned. “Goddess, Stark. I’m not ready for our daughter to be so grown up.”

  “Me either,” Stark admitted. “And I don’t want to worry about explaining males to her yet. That’s why I spoke with Thor who she thinks of as an uncle. Theo has a couple of Greek dragon cousins that keep asking to train as Glacieran warriors.”

  Topper grunted. “Male dragons. I’m not sure that’s any better.”

  “They’re chronically older than Jessica, but younger than her in maturity. I thought maybe Jessica and the young dragon could work with Thor. They could train on an alternative schedule here… or at the snow dome. Rena said Jessica’s ability to understand astrophysics was going to outdistance her own knowledge in a year or so. Even if Jessica wanted to go to school, where in the Galaxy would we send her? Not even Glacieran schools are advanced as she needs.”

  “Well… at least we won’t have to pay for college… yay us…” Topper said dryly, waving her fists.

  Then they looked at each other and laughed. Topper leaned against Stark and let him put his arm around her. Her alien always made her feel loved and safe. Her daughter deserved to feel safe too.

  “I think your idea is good,” she admitted.

  “Thank you. I sincerely believe Thor will train her well. And you need to insist Jessica continue her witch training too. I don’t know if Earth magic works on all planets, but she was able to do it on Glacier when she called to Icela. I saw you use yours there once when we visited. That’s reason enough to continue her studies.”

  “I agree,” Topper said.

  A bubble of orange glitter appeared in the yard with Narelle surfacing from the middle of it as it rained down around her.

  “That entrance belongs in a Disney movie,” Topper muttered.

  Stark rubbed his mouth to keep from laughing.

  “Greetings,” Narelle called.

  Topper let Stark hug her one last time, and then she pulled away to stand. “Hello, Narelle.”

  “Where’s my Lucy?” Kevin asked from the porch.

  Narelle held out both hands. “Bloody hell, Kevin. Give me a minute before you start hammering me for answers.”

  “Fine,” Kevin said, sliding down to sit on the rail.

  Topper crossed her arms and glared. “My turn. Where’s Lucy? And don’t give me any bullshit. I’m not in the mood.”

  “Oh for…” Narelle looked at the ground and grumbled a bit. When she lifted her face, she glared back at Topper. “She wouldn’t leave the bloody tree to come here. If I bring her, the tree has to come too. Do you really want a giant, hundred and fifty-year-old eucalyptus mucking up your tidy dessert landscape?”

  Topper looked over at Kevin. He’d saved her life and then he’d saved Stark.

  She looked back at Narelle. “Damn skippy, I do. They grow fine in our climate. You can put it over there at the end of the house.”

  Topper pointed to the area to make sure Narelle knew she where she meant.

  Narelle sighed. “Fine. If that’s what you really want.”

  “It’s what I really want, but more importantly, it’s what Kevin really, really wants. Make it happen.”

  “So I take it he’s staying,” Narelle said, fisting hands on her hips. “What am I supposed to tell Gaia representative? She ordered me to make amends.”

  “Tell her the truth. Kevin’s staying here for as long he wants to stay. When he’s ready to move back to Aussie-land, I’ll see he and Lucy get home.”

  Giving up, Narelle waved a hand and walked to the edge of the yard.

  “Go on, Kevin. Go see your Lucy. You deserve to be happy,” Topper ordered.

  When Kevin swung off his perch, Stark caught him and put him on the ground.

  Kevin paused and pointed a talon at Topper. “We won’t be any trouble. I promise.”

  “Even if you are trouble, I still want you to stay… and you don’t have to be Jessica’s familiar. We’ll work that out too.”

  Kevin chuckled. “Are you kidding? I can’t bear the idea of Jessica having a mangy cat roaming around and getting into mischief. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it. I ride this out until she doesn’t need me. Lucy will call it our American vacation.”

  Topper sat back down when Kevin koala-ran across her backyard toward where Narelle was chanting.

  When Stark put his arm around her again, she snorted. “Don’t get too comfortable. When she finishes, I have to invite the she-devil into our kitchen for tea.”

  “The she-devil?”

  “Narelle.”

  “Oh,” Stark said, tilting his head to hide his smile. “Are you making amends now that she’s done her part?”

  “I’m smoothing the way to release Kevin. He can be Jessica’s familiar without the blood bond. I can get it removed myself, but Narelle can do it without harming either of them magically. As far as I’m concerned, Kevin is family now. He’s not a pet or a familiar. I feel the same about Eeela.”

  Stark lifted Topper’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “We have a Glacieran kreela and an Australian Drop Bear in our family. We’ve come a long way from chasing the dakkari together.”

  “Oh yeah… the greenie meanies. Kreelas don’t have any nasty habits like them, do they?”

  “No. Kreelas are guard animals—loyal and loving. They’re exceptional creatures. Eeela is completely domesticated.”

  “Good, because I want no more children and no more animals. The current chaos we have is enough. Agreed?”

  Stark put her hand gently back in her lap. He tried ti imagine them with twins or triplets. Goddess, save him from his mate’s wrath. “You know, Mildred…”

  “You’re just begging to be turned into a toad.”

  Stark grinned. “Chaos is one of those terms that changes definition over time. Let’s count our blessings and save our philosophical discussion for another day.”

  Topper narrowed her gaze. “Stark, why are you talking so strangely?”

  “You’re still recovering from childbirth and I’m having inappropriate thoughts.”

  Topper searched his face. “Why don’t I believe you?”

  “I have no idea since I’m being truthful… oh, look. There’s a giant tree next to our house with two snuggling koalas in it. That must be Kevin’s mate. Come on. Let’s go meet Lucy.”

  “Stark…”

  Topper laughed as her alien dragged her across the yard. “You might as well tell me. You know I’ll find out your secrets eventually.”

  “Yes, Mildred. I know. But until then, I prefer to keep them.”

  “Fine. Challenge accepted,” Topper said with a grin.

  Chuckling, Stark stopped and pulled his fierce mate into his arms for kiss.

  — THE END —

  A Note from Donna McDonald

  Hi. I’m Donna McDonald. I’m a multi-genre author who writes Romantic Comedy, Science Fiction, and Paranormal Romance. I’ve published over 70 books and about half of those are Sci-Fi based. Even my Paranormal romances have a tiny SFR twist to them.

  Why? Because I’m a geek at heart. I’m also a huge fan of all things Science Fiction. Everything I write ends up being Romantic Comedy too so be prepared to laugh when you read my stories. Humorous Science Fiction? Yes… and I promise you that’s a real thing.

  For those of you who are new to the Topper stories, Witch Topper is one of the leading witch characters in SE Smith’s Worlds of Magic, New Mexico Series. The premise of her original series mixes Paranormal and SFR elements which is great fun to write. As one of the writers in SE’s Worlds of Magi
c, New Mexico, my task was to give Topper an HEA.

  Topper’s Happily Ever After with her alien hero is now spread across multiple books. If you’re interested in the others, check out My Crazy Alien Romance series page on my website.

  If you liked my story and want to keep hearing from me, you can sign up for my mailing list. I send out a couple emails each month to keep readers updated about new book releases and sales. Once in a while, I also send excerpts of upcoming titles.

  Wishing you all kinds of happy reading,

  xoxo Donna

  Touch of Frost

  S.E. Smith

  Chapter One

  Frost dropped down from the upper level of the Spaceport walkway, landing on silent feet. His eyes followed the small but deadly figure of the fugitive he had been seeking for the last week. The slight lift at the corner of his mouth was the only indication of his satisfaction. His target was very predictable, returning to his old hunting grounds at the first opportunity.

  He straightened up from his half kneeling position, flickering a glance at the two men standing in the shadows of the seedy Port bar doorway. He ignored the men’s nervous glances as they moved deeper into the dark recesses of the bar. He did not have a warrant for anyone else on this Spaceport, so he didn’t bother wasting his time and energy on checking their status.

  He had barely taken a step forward to follow when the communicator at his waist vibrated. He cast an annoyed glance at it before pressing the button to silence it. Almost immediately, it vibrated again. With a silent curse, he shut it off. Whatever headquarters wanted, it would have to wait. He was too close to his mark to stop now. Besides, it was easier to take care of the needed documentation after he had captured his target, since he could take care of both things at the same time.