Charlotte and the Alien Ambassador (Intergalactic Brides 4)
Jessica Coulter Smith
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Copyright ©2015 Jessica Coulter Smith
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Editor: Crystal Esau
Cover Artist: Karen Fox
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Table of Contents
Charlotte and the Alien Ambassador (Intergalactic Brides 4)
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Jessica Coulter Smith
Charlotte and the Alien Ambassador (Intergalactic Brides 4)
Jessica Coulter Smith
Born into a world of silence, Charlotte has always been made to feel inferior to her sister in every way. When her father demands that she take Charity’s place in a bride exchange on another world, Charlotte decides to embrace her future and hope for the best. She knows it’s her last chance to find happiness, and she’ll do anything to grab it with both hands.
Borgoz agreed to see the young girl married, but the ethereal woman who steps off the shuttle holds him spellbound. She’s everything he’s ever wanted, and the one thing he can never have. His job as Chief Councilor of his world is too demanding to give him time for a family of his own… but that doesn’t stop him from wanting her.
A moment of passion flares bright between them, and unbeknownst to Borgoz, it has lasting consequences. When Charlotte returns to her world, he’s devastated and realizes he’s lost the one thing he wants most. Will he buck the rules of his planet and go after her? Or will he live with the heartache he feels as the memory of her touch haunts him?
Dedication: for the love of my life, my champion, and the man who has helped make my dreams come true.
Chapter One
Chief Councilor Borgoz glowered at his nephew, Kelvyk. “What do you mean you won’t mate with her? I chose her specifically for you!”
Kelvyk shrugged a shoulder. “You didn’t ask me what I wanted. I want to choose my own mate, one I can share with Ryoku. If this match is so important to you, then you should mate with her.”
Borgoz felt his face flush with anger. “Don’t you think I’m a little old to mate with a twenty-two year old human woman?”
“What? You can’t produce children anymore?” Kelvyk raised an eyebrow. “I find that hard to believe. Our kind has been known to sire children into our eighties. You’re what? Forty-five?”
“I’m old enough to be her father. If I was to choose a mate, and that’s a big if, it would be someone older, still young enough to have children, but old enough that our age difference wouldn’t matter so much.”
Kelvyk’s brow furrowed and he watched Borgoz intently. “You want a mate, don’t you? It isn’t just about our survival for you. And yet you’ve never checked out any of the potential brides. Why is that?”
“This matter is not up for discussion.”
“I think instead of focusing on finding me a bride, which I’m more than capable of doing by myself, maybe you should work on finding one for yourself. It isn’t like you’re ancient, Uncle Borgoz. You’re only fifteen years older than I am which means you’re still in your prime. Maybe a woman’s soft touch would take some of the starch out of you and make you more…”
Borgoz arched a brow, waiting to see what his nephew would come up with.
“Approachable.”
Borgoz snorted, knowing full well his nephew had wanted to say something else but had probably held back in fear he would offend Borgoz. He’d admit it, he was a rather formidable figure as the Chief Councilor for all of Terran. His word was law, for the most part. The rest of the council had to agree on anything to make it a law, but they usually looked to him for direction. Well, except for of late. When their males were allowed to choose human brides, he’d found several of the council to be a bit lax when it came to the requirements they’d set as laws. The sappy bunch of males was handing out mate rights to anyone who asked, despite his warning otherwise.
“Approachable?” he asked. “Is that your way of saying I’m a… what’s the Earth saying? Ah yes… a hard ass.”
Kelvyk coughed to cover a laugh. “I would never be so presumptuous as to call you a hard ass, Uncle Borgoz.”
“At least there’s still a moderate amount of sense left in that head of yours. After letting Brielle slip through your fingers, I had to wonder. She would have made a formidable mate for a warrior. You need someone tenacious like her, so you can raise strong sons and daughters together.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree. Ryoku and I will know when the right woman comes along. He’s my brother in every way that counts, and I won’t exclude him from that part of my life. We’ve shared women before and it works for us.”
Borgoz flapped a hand. “Sex bots. They’re completely different from a flesh and blood female.”
“Maybe, but I know I want a marriage that includes my brother. We share everything, Uncle, and I won’t push him aside in order to claim a mate. If she can’t accept both of us, then I don’t want her.”
“Very well.” Borgoz sighed. “I’ll leave the matter of finding a mate to you, but I will only be patient for so long. If you aren’t mated by your thirty-fifth birthday, I’m going to make an arrangement for you. Is that clear?”
“I can live with that.”
Borgoz gave him a brief hug before he watched his nephew walk out the door. Collapsing into his chair, he pondered Kelvyk’s words. A mate? For him? At his age? While it was true he could still have offspring for years to come, it had come to light that it could be dangerous for a human woman Borgoz’s age to have children. He wasn’t sure the potential pregnancy complications were worth the risk. But the thought of taking a bride who could easily be his daughter didn’t sit well with him.
Of course, he had bigger issues right now. He’d promised a Senator on Earth his daughter would bond with Kelvyk and have a high ranking place in Terran society. Now that his nephew w
asn’t being agreeable, he had to figure out a way to back out of the agreement. Or possibly, he could offer to host the young woman and see if he could find her another mate. Several on the council were still young-ish. Perhaps she would settle for one of them, which would place her even higher in society than if she’d mated with Kelvyk.
There was only one thing left to do -- create a message and then have it delivered to the Senator. As someone who didn’t currently have ties to Terrans, the Senator didn’t own a Vid-Comm unit.
Terrans. The title sickened Borgoz. Zelthranites were strong alien leaders and he was proud of his heritage. While it had mostly been his idea to change their name, after having studied Earth for a while, it still left a bad taste in his mouth. He preferred to call his home Zelthrane-3, the way it should be, and not Terran. But they had worried that Earth might not be receptive to them and had chosen an Earth name to make them seem more approachable.
He snorted. There was that word again. Approachable. As if he weren’t already. He had to be personable to be on the council, and even more so to be Chief Councilor, but with his title came responsibilities that sometimes put him in a not so favorable light. Some people understood that and some didn’t. Borgoz could only hope that someday a woman would understand the burdens that had been placed on him and would learn to love the male underneath his sometimes gruff exterior.
He turned on the Vid-Comm and set it to record.
“Senator Mayweather, this is Chief Councilor Borgoz. I regret to inform you our previous arrangement will have to be broken. However, I promised your daughter would marry someone influential in our society, and I intend to see that promise through. If you will still agree to send your daughter to Terran Prime, I will meet her at the shuttle and house her until she can find a suitable match. There are several males on the council I believe would be a good mate for her, and many warriors to choose from should she decide against a council member. I will make sure that she meets as many eligible males as possible. She will have my full backing, which will go a long way in securing a mate. Please let me know your decision, as well as your daughter’s flight arrangements should you decide to take me up on my offer.”
He stopped the recording then requested that it be delivered to the Senator. There were times he hated being in a position of power. If he were an average citizen, no one would ask him for favors having to do with his influence. If he were an average citizen, everyone wouldn’t look to him for the answers. And more importantly, he would be able to lead a normal, average life, with an average mate and average offspring. But there was no point in wishing for such things. He’d been part of the council since he was twenty-three and had quickly moved up the ranks to Chief Councilor. It was an honor to hold his position, and he was grateful for the trust his people had entrusted to him, but the weight on his shoulders was sometimes too heavy to carry alone.
“Maybe Kelvyk is right and I need a mate. Once I get Charity Mayweather settled, I can look for a mate of my own. It’s past time.”
Borgoz cracked his neck and wished for a masseuse, but the warriors held priority and it was next to impossible to get an appointment, even for someone of his position. Maybe he’d find a mate with that particular skill. The thought of a woman’s soft hands kneading his tense muscles was enough to make him groan and wish that it was a reality. Besides, a massage could lead to other pleasant things.
He stared at his crotch. He wasn’t entirely certain the damn thing still worked. His dick hadn’t seen action in a really long time. When he was younger, he’d used the sex bots on the nearby floating brothel. And later, after they added some breathing females to the brothel register, he’d still gone and partaken of the forbidden. A man of his standing should have been able to control his urges and not gone to such an establishment.
“It’s been damn near ten years since you’ve seen any action, hasn’t it?” he asked, staring at the front of his pants.
One thing was for certain. If he did get an erection around any of the unmated females on the planet, it would be hard to hide. Unlike most of the planet inhabitants who chose to wear the popular leather pants and vests, Borgoz’s position required him to wear loose flowing pants and a sleeveless tunic-like shirt. They were comfortable and allowed for free movement, but they weren’t much use when wanting to hide his desire for a female. Thankfully, that hadn’t been an issue to date. He usually avoided the shuttles when they brought new females to the planet, although more and more of his fellow Terrans were heading to Earth to find their brides.
Ever since he’d allowed Kelvyk to talk him into opening the bride exchange program to other alien races, competition had become fierce. The most sought after females didn’t always choose a Terran mate, but Borgoz couldn’t hold a grudge. The only races allowed to participate were those who were in dire straits and needed compatible females for breeding before their entire race died out, much like the situation the Terrans faced since females had stopped being born.
The Vid-Comm chimed and Borgoz went to check the screen. There was an incoming message. As it opened, he was greeted by the Senator’s frowning countenance. Might as well get it over with and hear what the man had to say. What was the worst he could do?
“Chief Councilor, I was rather disheartened to hear your news. I had thought the marriage was a done deal. However, I’ve taken your offer into consideration and I will accept your help in securing my daughter a suitable match. I’ve already made arrangements for her to be on the shuttle later today. She should arrive on your world by late this evening or tomorrow morning. I’m not quite sure about the time difference between here and there. She’ll have a blue ribbon in her hair so you can identify her easily.”
The message ended and Borgoz felt a hint of relief as well as a bit of dread. His plan had worked and the Senator didn’t seem overly upset, but at the same time he was now going to have an unwanted houseguest.
He supposed there were worse things than having a young woman underfoot. But then, she would be a young woman he couldn’t touch intimately. His plan suddenly didn’t seem so great. Borgoz loved the way females smelled, especially the Earth ones. And they looked so soft and curvy. With any luck, he’d have her mated within the week, or maybe even within the first day of her arrival. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
He could always hope for a favorable outcome, but something told him luck wasn’t on his side.
Chapter Two
Charlotte knew it was wrong to have her hearing aids turned off, but she couldn’t imagine what her father had to say that was so important. He’d already tried to marry her off to one of his friends, and by friends she meant someone ancient. Just the thought of the seventy year old’s hands on her body was enough to make her cringe. She may be deaf, but she wasn’t stupid. Everyone thought she would be grateful for any attention given to her, but they discounted the fact she had dreams, just like everyone else. She wanted someone sexy, and smart, and… well, she wanted Prince Charming to come charging in on his white steed to rescue her from her evil father’s clutches.
All right, so calling her father evil wasn’t very fair, but honestly, the man had never learned how to deal with her disability. He slammed his fists down on his desk, the vibration carrying through the floor, and she jerked her gaze up to his face.
Are you even listening to me? She read the words on his lips and reached up to turn on her hearing aids. The words would still be muffled, but at least she could make them out and have a halfway decent conversation, if the person talking to her didn’t mind her sing-song voice that never sounded quite right and was never the right pitch. She’d been accused of screaming at people, but really, she had no way of knowing just how loud she was.
“Sorry, Father. I’m listening now.”
“I said you are to pack your things and be ready to travel to the Terran station this evening. Your shuttle leaves in four hours. As you know, it’s a three hour trip to the station so I suggest you pack quickly. They won’t allow you to take more
than one suitcase so take only the essentials. I’m sure you can buy more things once you arrive there.”
Charlotte frowned. “Arrive where?”
She watched his face flush and knew, if he were a cartoon character, steam would be coming out of his ears. His knuckles turned white where they pressed against the wood and she wondered if maybe she’d pushed him too far, but Charlotte really was confused. He wasn’t making any sense.
“The marriage deal for your sister fell through. I’m sending you in her place to find a match on Terran. Chief Councilor Borgoz has offered to house you and assist you in finding a mate. This is your last chance, Charlotte. There will be no return trip home. You either find a mate there, or… honestly, there isn’t an or. You’ll find a mate because it’s your last chance at survival. No one wants you, Charlotte, and you don’t have any skills to make it on your own. I don’t imagine the Chief Councilor will wish to house you for long, especially when he realizes I’ve sent him the wrong daughter.”
“Wrong daughter? Why aren’t you sending Charity?”
“She was to marry the Chief Councilor’s nephew, but it seems the alien brat has backed out of the deal and left his uncle high and dry. I won’t have her marry just anyone, not when she has such potential here. But you…“ His gaze skimmed over her, and she was self-conscious of her worn denim shorts and tank. “There’s nothing left for you here. I refuse to take care of you for the rest of your life, and you seem to be in no hurry to find a suitable husband and settle down. I’m only glad your mother isn’t still alive to see you like this.”
She cringed at his words and flushed with embarrassment. It was no secret that her father blamed her for what happened to her mother. If Charlotte had been able to hear, she never would have been standing in the road when that car came careening around the corner, and her mother wouldn’t have rushed out to save her, managing to push Charlotte to safety while her own body took the hit. Her mother hadn’t died right away. She’d suffered in the hospital for two days before succumbing to her wounds, leaving Charlotte in a cold, angry, quiet world.
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