Choosing Riley

by S. E. Smith

  Riley had ignored her dear grandmother and put it down to jealousy that Tina had shown it to her instead of Pearl who seemed to only like black leather and metal. Riley had drooled over the damn jacket every time she picked Tina up after work for almost a year. Tina must have hidden it so that the owner would finally mark it down from the twelve hundred dollars it had originally been marked at because she knew how badly Riley wanted the damn thing.

  She gave a thrilled grin as she slid the quilted jacket on, rubbing her cheek against the soft rabbit fur. Yes, she was an animal lover but she figured if she convinced herself that the damn thing died of old age or something similar she wouldn’t have to feel guilty about where it came from. Hell, as far as she knew it could have been road kill. The only thing she cared about was that it was soft, flamboyant and hers!

  Riley zipped the jacket up and pulled the collar up until it covered her ears. The fur lining practically covered her face and she was able to bury her nose in it to keep it warm too. She couldn’t wait to see how the guys reacted to it. The men in the bar had just stared at her all night like they thought she was some movie star or something. Of course, her grandmother said they didn’t know whether she needed help from the alien attacking her or if she was the newest hooker on the street. Riley had blown her grandmother the middle finger kiss and told her that her ‘John’ had given her the night off. Tina had groaned, mortified, while Pearl had laughed so hard she had to excuse herself so she wouldn’t piss all over herself.

  “Some grandmother I have,” Riley muttered as she walked down the corridor to the dining quarters. “She pisses her pants because she knows her granddaughters are virgins! Most grandmas would be proud of that.”

  “Hi Riley,” Fred said coming up behind her. “What is attacking you? Did it come off the ship?” He asked frightened, looking at the glittering silver and purple jacket she had wrapped around her snugly.

  Riley rolled her eyes at Fred. “Yes, there are thousands of them on board. You better not lay down for too long or one of them will take over your body as well!” She grumbled not looking at him as she turned to continue on her way. “Is it attacking me? He’s a freaking comedian and I didn’t even know it!”

  She sighed as she entered the dining quarters and found no one was there. Maybe she could just fix herself something quick and take it back to her room where she could bundle up in the nice, clean blankets that she had piled on her bed. Shit, she could see her breath now. What was their frigging problem? Did they forget to pay the damn heating bill or something? Riley shrugged her shoulders just thankful she had something to keep her warm. She plugged her ear buds into her iPhone, adjusting the ear pieces so she could listen to Enigma as she fixed herself something to eat. She was totally oblivious to the fact that Fred had disappeared.

  *.*.*

  “How long before you can meet up with us?” Vox asked his younger brother, Viper, who was commanding his warship the Shifter.

  “It will take us two, possibly three days to get there. We have been raiding every damn Antrox mine we can find. I didn’t realize the greedy insects had so many. We’ve been to four star systems so far looking for you and have raided at least two dozen,” Viper said leaning back and grinning. “So, how did you escape? I would love to have seen the Antrox expressions as you gave them hell.”

  Vox flushed, not wanting to explain to his brother just yet that his new mate had been the one to save them, even if she did blow the damn mining asteroid to smithereens in the process. He shifted uncomfortably wondering how his parents and brothers were going to react to Riley. His parents had recently reminded him that he was destined to mate with a Valdier princess. That had been part of the treaty his father and the old Valdier king had signed to ensure peace between the two species. Now, he was about to blow the treaty to hell because he had no intentions of mating with anyone other than Riley.

  “Remind me to tell you about it when you pick us up,” Vox muttered in frustration. “Just meet up with us as soon as possible. I’m not sure how long this piece of dragon dung will hold up. We have it patched together with our piss and sweat.”

  Viper laughed. “There is a Valdier warship closer. I’ll notify them that you may need assistance before we can arrive. It is Creon’s warship. They could be there within a day.”

  Vox nodded in resignation. “That might be best. I need to speak with Creon Reykill about a personal matter anyway,” he muttered. “I will contact you later.”

  “Gods be with you, brother,” Viper said signing off.

  “I hope they will be,” Vox said as he thought of how he was going to approach the youngest Valdier royal and ask for his help in breaking the treaty between their people without it causing a war.

  Vox looked at Titus and Adur and rubbed the back of his neck wearily. Gods, he was tired. He hadn’t slept well since he was captured and with trying to keep the damn freighter from falling apart he hadn’t had a chance to even think about it in over two days. He sat back in the chair near the communications console and listened as Titus and Adur talked about what still needed to be done when he heard the sound of Fred’s little feet scurrying towards them.

  “Vox! Vox! You have to help! Riley! Help her! She has been attacked!” Fred said breathlessly as he skidded onto the bridge where Vox, Adur, and Titus were. “A strange creature! It has Riley in the dining quarters!”

  Vox’s loud roar shook the room as he shifted into his cat. He sent Fred flying into Adur as he rushed through the door. His claws clattered against the metal flooring of the old freighter as he rushed down the long corridor. He vaguely heard Titus yelling for Lodar and Tor to meet them in the dining quarters, that Riley was being attacked. Bob heard the loud roars as it echoed through the old freighter to where he was working on sealing off another section of the ship so they would not have to maintain its environmental system. His huge body shook with rage when he heard that something was attacking Riley in the dining quarters. He turned quickly and moved as fast as his big body would let him through the narrow corridors.

  Vox’s blood boiled at the thought of some unknown creature attacking his beautiful, vulnerable mate. He would tear it to shreds. He would teach whatever creature it was that no one messed with his delicate, fragile mate. He rounded the corner leading to the dining quarters, skidding around it so fast his shoulder left a deep dent in the wall where he hit it. He slowed as he saw Riley coming out of the room. She had a tray in her hands but that was not what caught his attention. It was the mass of purple threatening to strangle her. The thing had glittering scales all over it. Vox’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the purple tentacles embedded in her ears. The thing was trying to take over her mind!

  Vox leaped to rip the thing off of Riley at the same time as she looked up. Horror and fear flashed through her eyes as she screamed. The tray in her hands flew through the air over her head at the same time as Vox hit her chest, knocking her backwards and down to the hard metal floor. He used his teeth and claws to slice the creature off of his mate, tearing and slashing in desperate fear that it might be too late to save her.

  He shifted when he had most of the creature torn apart enough so he could use his hands to finish pulling it from her body. Riley’s screams of panic continued to tear a hole through his soul. Grief and rage made his fingers clumsy as he pulled the last bit of purple fur away from her face and neck. With trembling fingers, he gently pulled the remains of the tentacles from her right ear, the other had already fallen out.

  “Riley, speak to me,” Vox whispered hoarsely. “My lumi, please speak to me. Tell me if it is still hurting you.”

  *.*.*

  Riley breathed in the scent of the hot soup she had programmed into the replicator that Lodar had shown her earlier how to use. She had decided she better stick with something simple like he suggested and decided on a broth and hot tea. Anything hot to warm her up since she was beginning to shiver even with the jacket on. She tugged on the fur lining, pulling it up around her ears and ad
justed her ear buds so they wouldn’t fall out before she picked up the tray she had found.

  Yes sir, she thought as she lifted the tray to her nose to smell the fragrant soup. Something hot for the belly and a bunch of nice, clean blankets piled high waiting for me in my own room. Now all I need is a good movie or book to go with it.

  She was humming along with the song she was listening to, her eyes focused on the tray so she wouldn’t spill any when a low rumbling sound made her eyes jerk up. Her mouth opened in surprise and horror as she saw the biggest damn cat in the universe glaring at her in rage. A high scream worthy of any King Kong heroine burst from her lips as it launched itself at her. She jerked her hands up, throwing the tray over her head as she tried to protect her face from the massive teeth in its mouth. She closed her eyes and screamed even louder and longer the second time as the huge cat hit her square in her chest, knocking her backwards until she was lying on the floor. She could feel its teeth and claws as it ripped into her jacket. She continued to scream, unable to stop as the huge cat tugged and pulled until the material of her jacket fell away from her body. A final quick tug pulled the remaining ear bud out of her ear. Riley felt the change in the body above her at the same time as she felt the freezing air of the freighter.

  “Riley, speak to me,” Vox’s husky voice resonated through her at the same time as frantic fingers kept pulling at the tattered remains of her beloved jacket. “My lumi, please speak to me. Tell me if it is still hurting you.”

  It took a minute for his words to process in her stunned brain. What the hell was he talking about? If what was still hurting her? She slowly opened her eyes to stare into the frantically worried tawny color eyes above her. A shiver coursed through her as the icy metal under her seeped into her already chilled body. Huge warm hands pulled her up into equally huge and warm arms. One big palm pressed her head against his chest as the other pushed the remains of her jacket away from her. Riley’s heart began to slow even as the heart under her ear beat with a thundering roar, as if he had just run a marathon.

  “Please, my love, please be alright,” Vox whispered cradling her against him fiercely. “It will not harm you again. I promise.”

  “Vox, let me look at her,” Lodar said urgently coming up behind him. “I need to see what damage the creature may have done. It was wrapped all around her.”

  “Adur, Cross, and Banu can help me search the freighter for any more of the creatures,” Tor said harshly. “We should have done that in the first place,” he added with disgust.

  “Perhaps that is why no one else wanted this ship,” Fred whispered looking up at Bob who was standing behind him.

  “I have sealed off the two lower levels,” Bob said. “If there are any there, they will not be able to get to us and with the environmental systems shut down they shouldn’t be able to survive for long.”

  “I have not seen any other purple and silver creatures but if I modify the scanners I might be able to pick them up on it,” Titus added.

  “I can help you,” Cross said looking down at the remnants of the beast that had attacked Riley. “I have never seen anything like this before,” he murmured as he pushed a piece of the purple fur with the tip of his toe.

  Riley listened as the men talked back and forth between each other. Each piece slowly fitting together in her brain to make the puzzle clearer until the image of her jacket, totally shredded, loomed like a beacon in the mass confusion. At first, just a little giggle escaped as she thought about Fred’s reaction when he first saw it. His comment and her offhanded, sarcastic response floated through her memory. The more she thought about it the more she realized that they actually thought her jacket had been alive. That it was some type of alien creature that ate aliens! A little hiccup escaped her as she fought the surge of adrenaline-laced hysteria at having the shit scared out of her all because of her beautiful but dead birthday present.

  Vox stroked Riley’s back tenderly as he felt her beginning to shake. He looked at Lodar with wide, worried eyes. Lodar nodded as he moved in closer so he could examine her without having to pull her too far from his friend.

  “Riley, it will be alright,” Lodar said calmly. “We won’t let anything happen to you. I just need to take a closer look at you. Can you tell me about what happened?”

  Riley turned her face into Vox’s chest and burst out into uncontrollable laughter. It was just too much! They were totally freaking out over a gaudy piece of cloth. She shook her head, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to speak rationally yet. She was too busy having a hysterical moment.

  “Just…. just… a…. moment,” she breathed out in a muffled voice against Vox’s warm skin. Hell, he was ten times warmer than her jacket! She snuggled closer and was rewarded when Vox’s arms wrapped even tighter around her, pulling her so close she was practically molded into him. “You…. You…. You…. killed my…. my …. jacket,” Riley giggled.

  “I killed your what?” Vox asked confused, looking at Lodar to see if he understood what she was trying to say.

  Lodar shrugged and touched Riley’s wild wave of curly hair. “What did you say, Riley? We couldn’t understand,” he asked gently.

  Riley tilted her head back until she was looking up at both men. Her eyes danced with merriment as she fought back the uncontrollable laughter threatening to escape her. Her face warmed as she saw the other men looking on with concern.

  “Vox, you dolt, you killed my favorite jacket!” Riley burst out laughing. “This is priceless! You thought my jacket was attacking me and you killed it! My Grandma Pearl was right. She said that it looked like an alien attacking me and threatened to shoot it the one time I wore it to the bar. But hell! I never really thought that would ha…. ha…. happen!” Riley crowed before she buried her face into Vox’s warm chest again as her body shook with glee.

  *.*.*

  “Not one damn word,” Vox growled out looking down at Fred. “Do not say one damn word!”

  Fred tucked both of his chins down into his chest and nodded before scurrying away. Vox watched the little Tiliquan move rapidly down the corridor. He was probably going to go apologize again to Riley for getting her jacket killed.

  “You should go easy on the little guy,” Adur said trying to keep a straight face. “After all, we all thought the damn thing was alive.”

  Banu and Titus turned around quickly trying to hide their grins. Cross didn’t even bother turning around. He just grinned. He couldn’t wait to see what happened next. He had to admit, ever since they had been introduced to the young female life had been very, very interesting.

  Vox growled darkly at all of them before he got up and strode off the bridge. Why, oh why, did he continue to screw up whenever he was around Riley? He had always been so in control, so commanding, so not an idiot before he met her. Hell, others trembled in fear of him! Riley trembled, but it was because she was either madder than hell at him or laughing her ass off at the idiotic things he did.

  Vox paused and took a deep breath. Well, that was about to end. He was going to show her that he was not some idiot! He was the Sarafin King! He ruled over some of the fiercest warriors in the known star systems. He was a male that females from numerous different species begged for him to make love to them. It was about time that Riley realized that. She was his damn mate, his queen. It was time he claimed Ms. Riley St. Claire from Denver, Colorado and showed her he wasn’t going to take no for an answer any longer.

  Chapter 10

  Riley snuggled down into the thick pile of blankets trying to get warm. She could swear ice was beginning to form on the inside of the walls. She understood they needed to have shields and things like that but none of that would do a damn bit of good to them if they were all dead from hyperthermia. She hated cold weather! That was why she had left Colorado and stayed to the south as much as she could. She should have just gone to live back in San Diego where her Grandma Pearl and Tina lived but she had wanted to see if she could make it on her own.

  Tea
rs pooled in her eyes and overflowed as she thought about what a mess she had made of her already crazy life. Was it too much to ask for just one thing to go right in her life? She pulled the covers over her head and turned her cellphone on. She was going to have to talk to Tor about recharging it and her iPad again. She didn’t know how he did it but she was grateful that he had figured out a way to keep them charged for her. It was the only link she had to her life back on Earth.

  She pulled up a video of her sister and Pearl at the bar. She had recorded it on Tina’s birthday several months ago. Her Grandma was relating some silly story that happened the weekend before when a bunch of biker wannabes encountered the real thing. They had sat around laughing, drinking beer, and having a good time. Tina and she had been getting along better lately. Riley had a feeling it was because they had confided to each other that they were terrified of ending up being like their mom and Pearl. All either one of them really wanted was to fall in love, have a happy home, a couple of kids, and the mangy mutt that would come along and adopt them.

  “Pearl, have you heard from momma lately?” Tina was asking Pearl.

  “Now don’t you be asking about that wasted piece of fluff,” Pearl said gruffly. “She made her decision when she left you girls and decided not to come back.”

  “But,” Tina started to say.

  “She’s gone, Tina,” Riley heard her videotaped voice say. “Let her go.”

  Riley bit her lip now as she looked at the sadness in her baby sister’s eyes. Tina was only two years younger than her but had never given up hope that their mom would one day come home. Riley and Pearl knew that would never happen. Riley had used her contacts at the bail bond company she had been working for to look up information on their mother. She found out their mom had died when she was ten and Tina was eight of a drug overdose in Los Angeles. Riley had traveled up to the City of Angels to visit the grave. Pearl had their mom cremated and her ashes placed between her great-grandparents.