Hale: Love Me Harder - Alien Paranormal Romance

by Serena Simpson

  “Then one of the locations outside the city may be what you are looking for. The one in your hand has a lake that meanders through the property. Do you know when you want to get married?”

  “We are hoping to make the arrangements this week. We want to be married five weeks from today,” Lorali said, giving Tori a smile.

  “Weeks? Venue’s like this book up a year sometimes two in advance. There is no way you will be able to use one of these locations. Have you considered seeing if you can get a spot at one of the local parks, like Highland?”

  “We are a very private family. Highland Park would be much too visible and they will not have a shelter area big enough for what we need.”

  The sound of Hale’s voice drew her eyes to him. Once again she almost faltered, feeling her brain go on temporary hiatus. There was something about him that called to her. She never felt this way about another person before. Shaking her head to clear it she hoped her delicious seafood hadn’t been bad.

  “I am positive we will find the right space. The most pressing question at this moment is, will you coordinate the wedding?” Lorali said, her voice was confident that nothing would hinder them.

  Would she coordinate the wedding? Tori was making plans to leave the city and shake the sense of danger she felt hovering near her. To stay for this wedding would put her behind schedule. If she stayed her tiny nest egg would grow fatter and she would have a better chance at escaping.

  There would also be plenty of chances to run into Hale if she stayed. This way she could prove that this insane attraction she felt for him was temporary. Then she could leave without any regrets about missing the man meant for her.

  “I would love to do your wedding.” The sum she quoted was high, but justified. Now she waited to see if they would flinch.

  Lorali frowned and then shook her head. Here it comes a sob story that she would fall for, and end up working almost for free. She really needed more of a backbone.

  “Tori, I think we should talk about the price you just quoted for your services,” Lorali said.

  “If you can’t afford…” Tori stopped as Lorali shook her head and the men with her tried to suppress their laughter.

  “Nothing like that, Tori. I believe your quote is too low.”

  Tori sat in shock. Too low? A bride once told her that even if her services were free that would be too high. Of course, the bride said that after her wedding was featured in one of the mainstream wedding magazines. How quickly she forgot when Tori asked for the rest of her fee. Sigh. Never had anyone said, not even her ex best friend, that she should charge more.

  “We are going to require a lot of your time and energy to make this the best wedding.” Lorali quoted her a sum that almost made her fall off her chair. She would be able to go anywhere after doing this wedding. For a moment her heart lost its natural beat causing her pain. She put it down to heartburn and not the look of desire in Hales diamond eyes.

  “Tori, do you accept?” Lorali asked.

  “I don’t want to sound rude,” or look a gift horse in the mouth, “but why are you offering more? Most people would have accepted my fee and considered it a bargain.”

  “You’re right they would have, but before I met Sergey I spent a lot of time moving from place to place and offering my services for a pittance when they were worth so much more. I refuse to cheat others when I can afford to be generous.” She turned to look at Sergey smiling with stars reflected in her eyes. “He changed my life.”

  “Money can do that,” Tori said, trying not to sound bitter.

  “No, Tori, not money. Love, acceptance, respect and a desire to be with no one other than me. Do you accept the terms of the contract?”

  “I accept,” she glanced at Hale under her eyelashes. Nothing in her life was how she wanted it to be and still that small kernel of desire was simmering and his name seemed to be all over it. If only the kind of love Lorali spoke of would come her way. She shook her head to dispel thoughts of love.

  “Good, will you be able to come out to our house tomorrow so we can get the ball rolling.”

  Nodding her head, Tori wrote down the address.

  “Thank you for lunch, it was delicious.” Looking around for the waiter to bring the bill she made plans to escape. “Will the waiter bring the check?”

  “Lunch is on us. We’re the ones who dragged you out of your office.” Hale gave her a smile followed by a wink.

  Her mouth opened to utter a protest then closed, if a handsome male with hair like silk and eyes like diamonds, and a body that was stroke worthy wanted to buy you lunch, then let him.

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling at him she turned to leave. Tomorrow, she assured herself she would see him again and whatever was bringing her body to a slow boil would be gone.

  Tori stepped outside and looked around. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She hurried to her car — the feeling of being stalked was back. Once again she pretended she was being overly paranoid, soon she would leave the city and everything would be alright once again.

  ***

  He watched as the woman walked out of the Dante’s establishment. He’d followed them from her office. The realization that another created found his mate made him gloat. Soon they would all die at his hand.

  The woman turned around looking as though she felt his presence. Impossible! He could hide himself from the one’s he hunted, there was no way she could sense him. She must feel the presence of the human male who followed her also.

  The male was making plans to hurt the female, but he was too late. The minute she chose to associate with the created she became his. He watched until she drove away, soon he would destroy them all.

  Chapter Three

  Tori kept a watch through her rearview mirror all the way home, but hadn’t spotted anyone following her. Still she couldn’t shake the feeling. It was coming more often now, like someone was watching her, waiting. She never could figure out what they were waiting for, all she knew was that she would feel better when she fled this city.

  Once she was done with this wedding she’d have the funds to truly start over and possibly live the life she always dreamed off. Parking her car, she looked around before getting out of it. Her neighborhood wasn’t the nicest to live in. Walking quickly, she made it to the steps outside her building taking them two at a time until she reached the main door. She stopped when she noticed the familiar note lying at the bottom of the door with her name sprawled on it.

  An icy chill went through her as she bent over to pick it up. Knowing what it said, she took it into her apartment and wondered if she should burn it or just tear it up. She gave into the temptation and opened it.

  ‘I am waiting for you, Tori. Soon you will have no choice but to turn to me.’

  Same threatening message, same handwriting. The ink had been drizzled across the page like blood. Shivering, she tore the note into unreadable bits before throwing it away. Taking it to the police would be the smart thing to do, but she already tried that.

  They humored her. ‘Miss, I am sure it’s nothing more than a prank. Some neighborhood kids trying to scare you.’ Then they sent her away after assuring her she would be ok.

  Closing her eyes, she tried not to focus on it or how her life had changed. At one time she used to have dreams of a nice big house in a neighborhood where she could sit out on the porch. Shoot the breeze with her neighbors and feel safe. Life didn’t always go as planned.

  Somehow this was where she landed, in a place that scared her with an ex-friend who was heading for trouble. Not that it mattered. Soon she would hop a Greyhound and head someplace warm to reboot her business and make a life for herself.

  Deciding to bypass the living room and head for her bedroom a yawn threatened to overwhelm her. Probably from her body actually trying to absorb nutrients from the first real meal she’d eaten in months. Curling up on her bed, she allowed her eyes to drift shut. She was met by the man of her dreams. Why did he resemble
Hale?

  The sound of running feet and loud voices in the hallway had her opening her eyes and carefully rolling to the floor. She had learned since moving here that it was better to be safe than sorry. Lying on the floor, she moderated her breathing and hoped like hell no one would get the notion to try and get into her place.

  The sound of sirens and the whiff of smoke told her she may be in more trouble than she thought. Instinctively she got into a crouch and made her way to the front door. She touched it only to jerk her hand back; the door was hot. Dim memories from school surfaced, telling her in no uncertain terms, not to open that door.

  Tori stood up; what did it matter if she died in a fire or from a gunshot wound? Dead was dead. She went to the living room window to look out. Down below she saw the faces of people staring up and pointing. She craned her head up, the window had been warped years before she moved in. There was no opening it and the steel bars on the outside would have prevented her from jumping to what was probably certain death any way.

  The edge of the flames on the upper floor caught her eye as she twisted her head in an odd angle. She might make it out alive if the firemen got to her floor and dragged her out. The chances of that happening weren’t in her favor. She knocked on the window and screamed anyway just in case some deity was looking down on her. Maybe they would take pity on her and spare her life.

  The screaming stopped as the thick smoke began to infiltrate her apartment. Not sure what to do she laid on the floor in hopes that the smoke would rise leaving her with breathable air. No such luck, she was going to die. Her oxygen starved brain conjured up a monster, not one coming to save her. This one was coming to make sure her death was fast. Smoke over-took her.

  ***

  Hale followed her home. He couldn’t make himself leave her alone. He followed her out of the restaurant knowing she wouldn’t be able to see him. Immediately he smelled the scent of the tainted Created.

  Tori’s scent went in one direction and the Created in another. He quickly informed Sergey before following Tori. Following her proved to be rather easy, she was driving slow, spending more time looking at her rear view mirror than watching the road in front of her.

  He followed her up the steps when she finally exited the car and made it to her porch. He decided not to go into her apartment. In such a tight spot she was bound to sense his presence. He didn’t want to spook her. Also it would be hard to keep his hands to himself if he was that close to her. He wanted to pick her up at lunch, throw her over his shoulder, and leave with her.

  Suddenly he had an appreciation for the cavemen he’d read about from Earth’s past. The freedom to pick up the female you wanted and proclaim to all that she belonged to you. It must have been an easier time. His other side agreed. Earth’s past reminded his beast of a time when that was acceptable. They were civilized now, his beast’s planet. That was no longer acceptable there either.

  He melted deeper into the shadows to keep an eye on Tori. Her skin was so soft, he brushed against her hand when they sat next to each other at lunch. One touch of her was not nearly enough.

  He climbed a tree that would allow him to look at her window, it was covered in heavy drapes, but even this far away he could hear her footsteps. The window he was looking at definitely was in her apartment.

  He took the time to gaze around the neighborhood. It was not the best place to live. How did she end up here? Tori the wedding planner was not hard or calculating. If she were the other female who came into her office no one would have ever been able to take advantage of her.

  Hale watched the ebb and flow of traffic and humans walking up and down the street. Finally he had to grudgingly admit that this was one of the few things his planet of origin did better than earth.

  On his planet there were no neighborhoods like this. Everyone lived in a safe and clean community. The Created helped that to happen by fighting and winning against the forces at large that would have decimated their planet for some scientific achievement. War, in his opinion, was not worth it when any achievement would be out of date, sometimes before he turned a year older.

  It was worth keeping his planet safe. Because of him and all his brothers the planet was free of not only war, but strife and hunger. The scientists cured most of the diseases since they no longer had to worry about protecting themselves. If you only looked at the surface it may sound like paradise.

  Maybe it was to the natural born citizen, but to the Created it was a death sentence waiting to happen. They spent much of their time after they reached adulthood status outside. Didn’t matter the weather conditions, they were out. They slept on the ground and caught their own food. They taught themselves to prepare it or eat it raw. Many days they simply ate it raw.

  Earth to him was the paradise. A group of humans hanging around the building that Tori went into caught his attention. Did they also live there? He watched as they went in; there was no lock on the door to the apartment building and anyone could gain entry. He listened specifically for their footsteps and heard them going up several flights of steps, past the door Tori stopped at.

  They went to the very top of the building and then there was a soft sound and laughing voices. The group began running knocking on every door and pausing to do something. By the time they made it outside, the building was ablaze and people were screaming for help.

  He could already hear the sounds of the sirens as they made their way toward the burning building. They were going to be too late. He looked over to see Tori standing in her window, pounding on the glass. They would never reach her in time.

  He jumped from the tree changing in mid jump while continuing to keep himself invisible to the humans around him. Many of them stopped and were pointing now, staring in both awe and fear at the fire that was determined to consume the building.

  Moving past them, he ran up the steps and entered the building hearing muffled voices of fear on the first floor. He stared at the steps, but couldn’t leave the others to perish no one had opened their doors to flee. He broke locks as he opened doors on the first floor, the fire had not consumed their floor yet and they’d be able to leave if they moved quickly.

  He helped the elderly couple in the first apartment to the porch allowing the humans to take over when he brought them out. The woman who couldn’t see him, but who could feel him, said she would pray for him every day for the rest of her life.

  The other occupants of the first floor were streaming out as he took the steps up to the second floor. There was no fire here, but the smoke descended letting everyone know that their time was up and that a fiery death awaited them.

  No time for gentleness, he still needed to get to Tori. He kicked in every door hoping to give them a chance to live. He brought them out, carrying most. No one protested or spent worthless time saying what was happening was impossible.

  On the third floor he went directly to Tori’s door, the heat from the flames was already causing the paint to blister. The firemen were on his tail and would soon hit this floor to help any stranded individuals out. His beast roared loudly in his ear they couldn’t lose their mate.

  He kicked in the door. Her apartment was filled with smoke making it difficult to see. The thick pungent smell was obliterating her enticing scent. He moved to the area he believed to be her living room and went down on his hands and knees.

  He crawled until he saw her outline on the floor. She was obscured by smoke and not moving. He grabbed her and went through the bedroom, busting not only the glass, but the thick bars that covered the window.

  He landed on a thin patch of grass on the side of the building. Placing her on the ground, he began checking for a pulse.

  “Nicholas, she is not breathing. What should I do?”

  Chapter Four

  “Hale, give her CPR then get her here immediately.”

  Pump her chest while counting, breathe and repeat. He repeated the steps talking himself through it to keep his head clear.

  Her
gasp of air allowed his body to sag and his heart to slow from its painful beat. She would live. Now all he had to do was get her to Nicholas. He needed a car.

  “Car service.” Dante pulled up alongside of him.

  Dante was one of the Created, but he wasn’t one of Hale’s brothers. Dante was a different kind of Created and he had the knack of being in the right place at the right time.

  Hale picked Tori up and climbed in the back with her held securely in his arms.

  “Dante, you even freak me out, and I am Created! How did you know to show up here?”

  Dante threw him a wicked smile and took off.

  “Do you think she will survive this?”

  “She will definitely survive the smoke inhalation.”

  Those words allowed his shoulders to relax some, it was the unspoken words that still had him on edge. He wanted to question Dante, but understood that when Dante thought the time was right, he would talk, until then nothing more would be said.

  Hale eased back in the seat and let go of some of the tension. He had many other things to think about. The Created had been spotted and his identity was confirmed by Sergey.

  He looked down at Tori in his arms. His lips formed a small smile as he used his finger to sweep her hair out of her face. Such soft skin. His muscles clenched tight as he tried to lay her down on the seat next to him. Giving up the fight he pulled her closer.

  Mate, his other side whispered to him. The nod of his head was his reply. We have a mate and she is beautiful. How could he have come to deserve someone as exotic as Tori? On any other planet she would have never paid any attention to him, not that she was actually paying attention to him now. Would she be upset that he dared to touch her even though he’d saved her life?

  ‘No!’ His other side protested by shaking his head violently and leaving Hale with a slight headache. You don’t know, he told his other side. Do you remember how the other mates acted? They were not exactly happy at first.