by Zara Zenia
Alien Sleeping Beauty
A Sci-Fi Alien Fairy Tale Romance
Zara Zenia
Illustrated by
Natasha Snow
Edited by
Elizabeth A Lance
Copyright © 2020 by Zara Zenia
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Natasha Snow Designs
Edited by Elizabeth A Lance
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.
Contents
VIP Reader Club
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
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
About Zara Zenia
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Chapter 1
Jinurak
“Pardon me, sir, may I get you another glass of champagne?”
“Huh?” I asked and lifted my chin to stare into the face of a lanky middle-aged man delicately clutching a tray of crystal flutes, each of which were equally filled with the sparkling, bubbly liquid.
I had been daydreaming, locked in the zone of my own private thoughts.
“May I get you a refill on your champagne?” He gazed at me expectantly with an arched eyebrow.
“Uh…yes.” I cleared my throat, finished off the last inch of the bubbly in my current glass and set the empty flute back on his tray. I plucked a new one and gave the catering worker a bored smile. “Thanks.”
He swiftly bowed and set off to find another empty-handed sucker, probably one just like myself.
Or maybe it wasn’t like that at all. Perhaps I stuck out like a sore thumb. Every time I uncomfortably shifted my weight and tried to appear anything but sullen, I seemed to feel even more of a scowl on my face.
It was true, I was a little jealous of my twin brother’s success with love. Of course, that wasn’t something I was willing to admit out loud, but deep down in my psyche, yes, I was probably stewing a little bit that I had to attend his wedding without a date.
I was at the elaborately lavish wedding reception for my twin brother Lortnam. We were on Earth, in a place called Baltimore. It was a coastal city near what I now understood to be the capital of the United States, in Washington D.C. I hadn’t ventured the thirty-minute drive south there yet, but it was not for lack of trying. I was incredibly busy, deeply immersed in my work here.
My six brothers and I had come to Earth for one reason that turned out to be more complicated than any of us could have ever imagined. We had been born and raised on the planet Trilyn. We came from a long line of royalty. My brothers and I were each a prince, ruling different continents on Trilyn. My brother Lortnam and I shared leadership of the continent Norna.
Norna was, by nature and reputation, a bit on the wilder side than any of the other continents. It was true, we had an edge to us, the ones who dwelled there, but we were also the most resource-rich of the cluster, which made us necessary, quite vital to the operation.
Sure, in theory, it seemed like my brothers and I had the world on a silver platter. We were wealthy. We were royalty. We were handsome and had all the luxury essentials at our fingertips.
But there was one problem. The saying, ‘the grass isn’t always greener on the other side’ was a true statement when you looked at us and our Trilyian race.
We seemed to have every resource at our disposal…except for one.
Our race, in a word, was dying. There had been nothing at the time we could do about it, until a team of brilliant research assistants came up with a plan that could change the course of our race forever.
We set out on a quest to Earth with one goal in mind, and that was to find genetically compatible female humans to mate and breed with.
Only, there was a catch, and it was kind of an exponential catch.
We had to seek out a human bride for each of us, but we had to use what was called a Genetic Compatibility Scanner. The device had been programmed by a group of our most elite technologically savvy scientists to key in and point out, on contact with the source, whether or not the woman in question would be compatible.
The requirement for being compatible was a human woman who had the genetic DNA to match with her respective prince in the ability to provide us with healthy children.
The Trilyian race was dying out because it had been ravaged by a sex-specific illness that the scientists were still trying to pick apart and find a cure to fix. In the interim, we set out on a quest to Earth in order to find fertile human women to be matched up with. The genetic scanner would be our aid in accomplishing the goal.
In turn for obtaining a human bride to help us repopulate Trilyn, we offered space-fold technological advances which would allow Earth to create intergalactic spaceships. As it stood at the beginning of our venture, their resources to create such travel was primitive at best. But we had an entire slew of engineers working diligently to improve the means of commuting from one planet to the next.
Several of my brothers had already found their one try match. Thus, bringing me back to my main point in the present, was why I was having a challenging time adapting to the fact that my brother had found his mate before I did.
Sure, the use of the genetic scanner wasn’t the most romantic way to court a woman by a prince’s standards, but as I glanced at my brother’s dreamy, starry-eyed expression from across the room, I knew that he had found legendary true happiness.
I was over the moon for him and his new love. Believe me. I am. I’m not just saying that. One thing about me, I don’t exaggerate, and I never lie, under any circumstances. I always try to speak the truth, however bluntly that might come across to those who weren’t used to me or my demeanor.
I tried to be noble to my people. I wanted to honor them and be a gallant representation to what life was like on Norna. The human women knew that we were princes, they knew that we were insanely wealthy. They were lining up in rows to meet us and get scanned to see if they were lucky enough to be matched.
There could only be one winner, and often times I found myself being fawned over as if I was a prime piece of meat. The women wanted a slice of our real estate, and our bodies.
That being said, I still felt on some inner level, I needed to impress the woman that was destined to become my wife because I wanted to sell her on the idea that she could leave Earth and enjoy life on a foreign planet.
I wanted my mate to be comfortable. I wanted her to fall in love with me, not just the superficial surface stuff that came along with being married to royalty.
Long story short? I didn’t want to be paired up with a woman who was just out to obtain my money and my power. I didn’t want to be used, but it wasn’t like I had any say in the matter. The scientists had told us time and again that the genetic scanners did just that. They scan
ned for genetic compatibility, not personality traits.
Part of me was sullen because my brothers seemed to have the icing on the cake. They were being matched up with the perfect soul mate on a profoundly and inspiringly deeper level. Not only were they going to be able to breed perfectly genetic offspring with their new human soul mates, but they were also able to have that chemistry and attraction to one another.
I tried not to be bitter. I tried to remind myself that I couldn’t be angry or scornful until I was matched up with someone myself. Then I could see if I was going to have the same kind of luck as they did.
I couldn’t expect the worst when I had no idea what to expect in the first place. That being said, I had been corresponding with a female human for several years now. We talked occasionally, but we had never met up in person.
My brothers were always nagging me about commencing an in-person meeting, but I had always harbored a cynical attitude about an encounter like that.
Part of me was probably a little skeptical that it would be love at first sight, and the other half of me was afraid that if I put the scanner up to her, that it wouldn’t read her as a match. I wasn’t equipped to set myself up for that kind of disappointment just yet. I wanted to enjoy her company for a little while longer, even if it had to be across the miles to obtain that close fondness with a human woman.
I took a deep breath and gulped down the entire champagne flute in one swig. I immediately felt a wavy, warm sensation flood my body. The alcohol surged through my veins and relaxed me to a certain degree. I was grateful for the change in demeanor. I needed to let go of my reservations every now and then.
“What elaborate scheme to take over the world are you concocting over here?” My brother Lortnam said with a fond brotherly slap to my back.
I rolled my eyes and sized him up. He was wearing a tuxedo and his hair was immaculately slicked back. He was clean shaven and reeked of cologne.
“Congratulations, brother,” I said and pumped his hand. “You deserve all the best. You have a beautiful bride.”
Lortnam looked at his new wife with a shimmer of adoration flickering in his eyes. “Isn’t she wonderful?” He broke his own love-struck spell and glanced at me. “I mean, isn’t she radiant?”
“Yes.” I nodded in agreement. “She is splendid.”
Lortnam gave me an inspecting glance that I had seen so many times before in my twin brother. He was trying to read my thoughts.
He thought that we had some kind of spiritual connection being twins and that nobody else on any planet would be able to share that same incredible bond that we had. Perhaps he was right, but I was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the way he was staring at me.
“What?” I finally asked with gruff impatience.
“How are you holding up tonight?” he asked.
I scoffed, pretending to be unscathed. “What do you mean?”
“You seem a little…” he trailed off reflectively to ponder.
“Excited? Thrilled to see my brother be wed and happy to be enjoying myself at his beautiful reception?” I offered.
Lortnam frowned. “No. Not exactly.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m really fine. I assure you.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
I chortled. “What else is new?”
“Don’t patronize me,” Lortnam said.
“Why don’t you get out there and dance with your blushing bride?” I asked and pointed to her. Kelly was a lovely girl who was tall by human standards and slender. She was enjoying a slow dance with our father.
“I don’t want to cut in on her moment with Dad.” Lortnam shrugged.
I shifted my weight. “How very diplomatic of you.”
Lortnam and I had always endured somewhat of a spirited competition with one another. I was a little anxious that he had found his mate before me. That was just the emulous side of me shining through.
I had always viewed myself as the more ambitious twin, so, naturally it was a bit daunting to be left in the dust of my twin brother’s successes. I supposed it was only an organic reaction to wanting to ‘one-up’ your sibling, especially if it was your twin sibling.
On this day, I was only playfully teasing Lortnam, all in good fun.
“Stop worrying about me,” I said. “Tonight, is your special night.”
Lortnam gave me a troubled glace as if he was going to worry about me whether I told him to or not. The truth was, most of the world wanted to discredit the genetic scanners, hashing them off as preposterous.
Many probed the devices as being futile technology that wasn’t ready to be used in the real world yet. It was all but a sabotaged token at this point, but for whatever reason, I still felt like on some level, it needed to be addressed and respected.
I could feel Lortnam’s watchful eye burning a hole through me. I finally relented and met his gaze. “Please, will you go enjoy your night and your first night as a married man?”
“I just want you to be happy,” Lortnam said.
“Is that why you found your mate before me?” I haphazardly chuckled.
Lortnam frowned. “It’s not like I planned it.”
I let out a deep sigh. “Would just let it go?”
“I want to find a way to cheer you up,” Lortnam said with an innocent shrug.
“Well nagging at me is not the best way to accomplish that,” I told him with a wink.
I grabbed another glass of champagne off a tray as a waiter buzzed passed us.
“Don’t chug that one,” Lortnam said.
I laughed. “Why do you care what I do?”
“What about that woman?” Lortnam asked out of nowhere, ignoring my question. “You know, the proverbial writer?”
“She’s a poet,” I interjected.
Lortnam grinned as if he were onto me and had the ability to gauge the magnitude of my feelings for this woman.
“You care about her enough to know things about her,” he said.
“Why wouldn’t I? Things come up in conversation,” I reminded him with a subtly combative smirk.
Lortnam lightly punched at my bicep. “That’s not what I’m implying.”
“Then what exactly are you implying?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Lortnam shrugged and had a generally casual vibe. “Why don’t you call her?”
I chuckled and stared at him. “What are you, matchmaker now that you’re married?”
“Maybe.” Lortnam grinned.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I said. “I don’t need anyone’s pity, especially not when its developed from my own twin brother.”
“I’m not pitying you, Jinurak.” Lortnam seemed appalled by my assumption of his motives.
“What then, do you want to go on double dates through the countryside? Wine tasting?” I was hashing out activities and pastimes that I knew humans were fond of participating in.
“Maybe one day if you find the perfect woman,” Lortnam suggested.
I let out a snort. “There’s no such thing as the perfect woman.”
“Yes, there is.” Lortnam had that same dreamy expression on his face as he gazed at his new wife, Kelly.
I rolled my eyes. “Sorry, aside from Kelly, of course.” I was trying to be polite, but I did enjoy his wife and felt that she was probably a good match for him when it was all said and done.
“What is your female friend’s name again?” Lortnam asked.
I gave him an annoyed look. “You know what her name is. Ariana.”
“Oh, that’s right.” He gave me another pat on the back. “Ariana. It has a nice ring to it. Wouldn’t you say?”
“You might,” I said flatly and kept my gaze locked on his. He was nothing if not persistent.
“Anyway,” Lortnam said. “I’m not trying to give you a hard time or patronize you,” he began.
“You could have fooled me,” I retorted.
Lortnam exhaled impatiently. “I’m just saying, it might do you
some good to talk to a woman you’ve already befriended.”
“Aren’t you savvy with the advice tonight?” I said in a mocking tone.
“I’m inclined to be,” he said.
“Because you’ve been married five minutes?” I asked.
“More like two hours!” Lortnam exclaimed excitedly.
I chuckled. It was all in good fun berating each other and bantering back and forth, but I was nervous about pursuing things in a more serious manner with Ariana. It was complicated. For starters, she didn’t live anywhere near here.
Long distance relationships weren’t my forte. I wanted to be able to see her in person, to touch her, to hold her. It was difficult for me to be able to wrap my mind around the concept that I couldn’t come home at the end of a long day and find her loving embrace waiting for me.
Ariana was a sweet girl. I knew that she had some issues from her past, but she never wanted to discuss them in detail. I never pressed her.
She was a beautiful woman too with feathering chestnut hair that cascaded just below her shoulders. Her blue eyes were as deep and powerful as the ocean, piercing through my soul every time I gazed into them through our FaceTime chats.
She was a gentle minded poet, soft spoken, feminine and rosy. Sure, it was a lot of fun to get to know her over the phone and video screens, but it still wasn’t enough for me. I never felt satiated afterward. I was always craving more.
“So, what are you going to do?” Lortnam stared at me expectantly.
