I stroke her hair and kiss the top of her head. It is a serious concern to me. We could be heading into terrible danger. If we arrive on my planet after Uncle Mirodag has contacted my father, we will be taking a great risk.
Something must have startled her awake, because she looks up with half-lidded eyes and says "Would my father really believe you? I mean, if you contradicted Mirodag?"
"I'm not sure." I think about my father, imagining his face and his voice. "He always favored Reago, my brother. I was very much the afterthought."
"Reago's older?"
"Yes. And in all ways he is what my father wanted in a son. So if we ever fought, my father always took my brother's side over mine." I inhale deeply and exhale, as memories unfold in my head. "Uncle Mirodag, on the other hand, is his favorite brother."
"Shit."
"Right."
"So we're playing Russian roulette here. We have to decide whether or not to go home to your place, without knowing if it'll be our worst mistake yet."
"Basically, yes."
"But if we run away, we might never know if we could have stopped the corruption.”
"That too."
"And there's always an outside chance that Tollajif got the evidence to that secret account of yours."
"It's not impossible. Unlikely, but not impossible."
We're sitting in cozy silence, thinking about this problem, when there's a bleep.
"Incoming transmission from Imperial Order Juvenile Justice Department," announces the ship's computer. We sit up, bleary-eyed and baffled.
The navigation screen suddenly switches to a videocall camera. On it, a man with an eye patch and a cloud of steely-colored hair leans forward.
"Mr. Zonab!" Corby shrieks.
I look at her, then him. She flaps her hands at me. "Oh, sorry. This is Mr. Zonab. He's my probation officer. You know, from my juvenile conviction."
I greet this Mr. Zonab.
"How did you know where we were?" Corby asks. "We're supposed to be--" I squeeze her hand tightly, to remind her not to talk about anything confidential. She nods, and her kissable lips close.
"I'm afraid I had to invoke a security clause in our agreement, Corby." He adjusts his eye patch.
Corby doesn't seem to understand, any more than I do. "Huh?"
"Usually I stay well back. I only intervene if there's evidence of a crime. And, as you know, your retina camera is only on during working hours. But..." He clears his throat. "When you were meeting with the Resistance member, it happened to be during my working day. So I was able to observe it."
I look at Corby in astonishment. She has a retina camera?
"Oh shit, Mr. Z. You saw that?"
"Yes." He leans in closer to the camera. "In strictest confidence, I have much sympathy with your position." He gives a pointed look, and Corby claps her hand to her mouth.
"Oh my God, Mr. Zonab? You're a supporter of the Resistance?" She shrieks with laughter. "You work for the Imperial Order!”
“We are many.” He nods at the camera. "I shall say no more, for I know you have a senior royal in there with you. But from what I saw, he is fairly trustworthy."
"I think he is," she says, squeezing my knee.
"Your Highness, I took the liberty of contacting Tollajif immediately after your meeting, before his tragic demise. He sent a copy of the documents to me as well as to you. The Probation Department has a secure mail system too, you see. It seemed as though it would be a good backup option. You know, in case anything happened to you on the way back."
Corby and I have no words. None at all.
Finally, I manage to speak. "You have a copy of the evidence we need? It is safe?”
"I do. And so do you. When you open your secure account, you will find it there. Tollajif sent them both together. My copy bears your address as well as mine. I assume the reverse is also true."
I grab Corby's hand and kiss it. "You know what this means? My father will have to believe us. We can go home."
Corby smiles brightly. I want to grab her, but now I'm aware the retina camera is on, I'm suddenly thrown.
She reads my mind. "That's awesome. And Mr. Zonab?"
"Yes?”
"Do we really need the retina camera now? I mean, now that I have constant supervision by a senior member of the Imperial Order?" She waggles her eyebrows at Mr. Zonab, who seems to blush.
"Your Highness," he says, in a serious voice. "What are your intentions toward this human female?"
"I intend to make her my princess," I say, immediately.
Corby gasps.
"Do you intend to accept this offer?" he asks Corby.
She says nothing but nods frantically.
"In that case, I release you to Prince Jalton. Your retina camera feed will be deactivated immediately. You may have the lens removed at any time."
"Thanks," Corby says, still looking stunned.
"I wish you both the very best," he says. "Good luck with everything. If you need anything, please shout." He raises a fist and says "Long live the Resistance." Then the screen goes dead.
"Audacious closing comment, considering the audience," Corby says. "Man, I wish I'd known that guy was such a badass. It would've made our annual check-in meetings a whole lot more fun."
"You never did tell me what your juvenile conviction was for," I say, sliding my hand up her leg. "It must've been something severe."
"That's a story for another time," she says, slipping her hand into my jacket. "But first, let's celebrate our freedom."
I kiss her. "To freedom. And to us."
"Us."
As we fly back to my home planet, I'm filled with joy and pride. I cannot wait to introduce her to my family. And I cannot wait to see the look on Reago's face when he realizes he has a shot with Lady Simla after all.
The last few days have turned my world upside down. I can’t believe I was reluctant to take on my punishment.
I lost a bet, and won my fated mate.
Guess I'm a pretty lucky prince after all.
19 Corby - Epilogue
"Your husband-to-be awaits you, madam." The personal attendant curtsies deeply, pulling out her skirt on both sides. She's adorable. Apparently, I get to keep her when I'm a princess. I'm going to need to stop her curtsying though, because she's going to put her back into spasm one of these days. Still, it's cute.
I turn around, with great difficulty. There are four wardrobe attendants holding up various parts of my dress. I'm wearing a huge silk number, embroidered with gold thread and embellished with pearls. It's so heavy, I swear I'll just fall backwards onto it if the attendants walk away. Here's hoping they don't leave me.
We somehow wrangle ourselves through the door, and head for the ceremonial hall. Jalton's family palace is unbe-frickin'-lievable. Like really incredible. There's nothing like it on Earth. There was nothing like it even before the Mars war. It makes all the most luxurious buildings on Earth look like mud huts. I'm continually awestruck by the beauty and size of the place.
And Jalton? Man, he's the best. If you'd told me I'd meet my soulmate in a prison cell, and he'd be a royal shapeshifter? Yeah, I'd have thought you were nuts. But here we are.
He's the most amazing man I've ever met. The guy even arranged for my ship’s computer Neela to be implanted in one of my brand new serving droids. We can be BFFs forever. It’s so sweet.
And even if Jalton weren't a prince, I'd snap him up. Even if he were an enforcer. Seriously, I'm so in love with this dude, he could be a butt-ugly enforcer, and I'd stick around. That's how much I want to be with him.
A swell of heavenly orchestral music rises as I enter the ceremonial hall. Everyone turns to watch me enter, with my attendants.
Jalton turns, and our eyes meet. My heart bangs against my ribs. I smile and well up with tears all at once, like a crazy person.
He looks at me with such love, and I know. I just know.
This was meant to be. We belong together. Fated mates. And I can'
t wait to spend the rest of my life with this lion of a guy.
20 Jalton - Epilogue
My bride enters, and a hush falls across the room. She is here.
She is so beautiful, I can hardly believe my eyes. Not because she looks better in her wedding dress. She looks as beautiful as she always does, in or out of any clothing. Her beauty is devastatingly powerful to me. The more I get the know her, the more I fall under her spell.
She edges down the aisle, slowly because of the great structure of fabric she wears. She carries the traditional Imperial Order gown well. It is more elaborate and heavy than Earth wedding dresses, she tells me. But she was happy to wear it. She says she wishes to be a traditional princess for her wedding day.
I laughed when she said it, because she is hardly the obedient princess type. She is a rebel and does what she wants. That is just one of the things I love about her.
As she walks, one of her attendants trips slightly and her dress hitches up. I stifle a chuckle.
Beneath her sumptuous pearlised gown, she wears her heavy black flight commander boots. Her way of saying "I'm still me under all this, you know".
That's my girl.
My heart feels like it could burst with pride and love.
As she reaches me, I take her hands and kiss her. I don't care if it is not time for that, according to the rules of the ceremony. We are not a couple which observes tradition just for the sake of it. We take the good aspects of the past, and we improve the things which are not so good. Like the way we changed the Imperial Order.
When I presented my father with the evidence against the Imperial Order, his action was swift and decisive. He acted just as I'd hoped he would. He ordered his staff to stop the rot, by any means necessary.
Mirodag was spared execution, as a senior royal. But he was jailed. He has no prospect of ever being released.
My father gave his blessing to our marriage immediately. The Imperial Order would be renewed with our union, he said. Corby won him over from the moment they met. Who would not love her? She is one in a trillion.
She is mine. She will always be mine.
She looks into my eyes, and hers sparkle at me. I lean over to whisper in her ear.
"I can't wait to see what animals our kids can turn into."
The look on her face is priceless.
And then she laughs.
Her laughter is infectious. Soon, the whole hall is laughing, and almost everyone has no idea why.
Life with this woman will bring me everything I was missing. Everything I didn't know I needed.
I'm going to spend every moment making her happy. And when I see that mischievous Wildcat look in her eye, I'll remember just how far we had to travel to find each other. At least we landed side by side in the end.
The wedding vows take too long. I can't wait to get her out of that dress.
"I love you, Princess Corby," I say, as I slip on her royal wedding bangle.
“Come here and say that, Your Highness,” she murmurs.
And then we kiss.
In The Stars
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In The Stars Romance
Read next: The Million Miles High Club
Read The Million Miles High Club now
KALIA: I'm an independent career woman. I shoot the bad guys myself, and I fly my own ship. The last thing I have time for is a man. So when the Celestial Mates cherub tells me I'm next on the list for a mate? I laugh.
But then I see him. Seven feet of alien muscle, a face like a movie star and a mouth that could drive a girl wild.
I can't stop staring at the eye candy, but that's all he can ever be. Humans don't date Yolcadians. And I'll be lucky if I even get off this alien ship alive.
SCORVAN: Yolcadian soldiers swear an oath to stay single. So when the captivating human with the black hair crash-lands on my ship, I know I should keep away.
The problem is, I never was very good at following orders.
I'm going to save this beautiful female. And I'm going to make her mine. Even if I have to fight everyone in the galaxy to get to her.
THE MILLION MILES HIGH CLUB is a standalone book set in the Celestial Mates shared world. It contains a kick-ass heroine, a hot alpha male alien, a wild adventure, thrills and spills, steamy love scenes, and a very happy ever after.
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Read next: Rocket In My Pocket
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CRESTA: My day was going pretty well until I was abducted by aliens.
Who am I kidding? Things weren't really going so great. My science career was failing, the Celestial Mates cherub was on my case, and I hadn’t had a date in years.
But being taken to a hostile planet to be impregnated with scorpion-bug larvae? That was a whole new level of suck-itude.
Luckily, I got rescued by some hot alien dude in a military uniform. And he's very easy on the eyes, if you know what I mean. Now we’re shooting through the stars, trying to find our way back to civilization.
If everyone just stopped trying to kill us, things would be awesome.
HARKUS: This human female is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. She is a goddess.
If I had to slay every alien in the galaxy to free her, I would. I am willing to destroy entire planets to keep my beloved safe.
But not all fights are fair.
If we make it out of this adventure alive, one thing is certain. We belong together.
And nobody in this universe will tear us apart.
ROCKET IN MY POCKET is a complete standalone sci-fi fantasy romance novel, set in the Celestial Mates shared world. It is a sequel to THE MILLION MILES HIGH CLUB starring Kalia’s best friend, Cresta.
Read Rocket In My Pocket now
Also by Suki Selborne
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Romance
A Shift In The Sky (In The Stars Romance) (this book!)
The Million Miles High Club (Celestial Mates)
Rocket In My Pocket (Celestial Mates)
Paranormal Romance
Tiger Billionaire
Snow Leopard Mountain
The Night Shift
Cheetahs Never Run
About the Author
Suki Selborne is a USA Today bestselling author writing urban fantasy, paranormal and sci-fi romance. She loves reading stories full of magic, drama, suspense, action and fun, so those are the kind she writes, too. Suki lives with her husband, kids, and way too many books, in London, England.
Keep in touch!
www.sukiselborne.com/mailing-list
[email protected]
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