by J. M. Page
Jen sighed and Zak panicked for a moment, wondering if he’d somehow managed to change her mind in such a short span of time.
“I think it’s time I introduced you to some Earth concepts,” she said, her fingers gripping him possessively. He liked it. He liked her touching him. He liked the mischievous look in her eyes that said she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Gone was the girl so unsure of herself. This Jen was a woman on a mission and she wasn’t going to let anyone stand in her way.
“Oh? Like what?” he asked, genuinely curious about what his beautiful One wanted to say to him. They still hadn’t Kissed, but she hadn’t rejected him. She stayed for him, even before she heard his explanation. She’d stayed.
“Well,” she said, her voice turning playful and sing-song. “We have this thing called ‘inner beauty,’ for one thing. It’s like… when someone’s good and wonderful on the inside so it makes their outsides beautiful. You don’t need some Kiss or Change to be amazing, Zak. I like you for way more than your looks. I like you for the way you make me feel,” she said, her eyes sucking him into their depths.
“You do?” he asked, breathless, still in disbelief.
She nodded. “Without a doubt. Maybe more than like,” she said, emphasizing the word as her hand teased at the skin under the hem of his shirt.
Chapter Thirteen
Jen
Her heart felt full and lighter than air as Zak stared into her eyes, holding her, smiling at her. This was what she’d wanted. This is what she’d longed for, but never dared to hope for. This was everything.
His hand trailed along her jaw and smoothed errant hairs behind her ear. His touch was enough to make her want to purr, but she held it in, happy to revel in the moment.
She held her breath, waiting for him to kiss her, waiting for him to close the distance between them and finally make her feel complete in the way she knew he would. Jen knew everything would change — even Zak — when they kissed, but she was ready for it. She wanted it. She wanted it all.
“I’ve been wanting to ask this for what feels like forever, but not until you knew what it meant to answer. May I Kiss you?”
The need and hunger in his voice made her breath hitch in her throat and all Jen could do was nod. Finally, she managed to say, “Please,” and that was all the invitation Zak needed.
He bent to meet her, his hand circling around the back of her head, his fingers threading in her hair. Jen’s eyes closed as she felt his lips brush hers and she melted into him instantly. His kiss felt like electricity on her lips and as he pressed forward, she was enveloped by a warm tingling sensation, like jumping head-first into sun-kissed water on a summer day.
His arm went around her waist and pulled her against his body, his hand snaking up her spine, under her shirt.
Jen shivered at the contact, the heady excitement of the kiss building inside her. The skin-to-skin contact was almost too much for her. She sucked in a great gulping breath and the intense thrill only grew.
She never knew that such immense pleasure could come from just a simple touch, from just a kiss. But it wasn’t just a kiss. It was so much more.
It was all the unspoken emotions and feelings they’d been warring with and hiding all day. It was the realization of the soul-deep bond they’d had from the moment they met. It was the joining of two halves, coming together and forging a connection that could never be broken.
It built and built, winding into a tight coil deep in Jen’s belly, but she couldn’t pull away. She couldn’t break the kiss or let this magical surreal moment die.
All those emotions she felt, all those confusing conflicting feelings that plagued her since meeting the Prince welled up at once, demanding to be felt, demanding to be acknowledged. They built up into a tidal wave, higher and higher until it crested and crashed into her with Earth-shattering force. Her whole body tensed before it ebbed, still sending little aftershocks of pleasure through every nerve-ending.
For a long moment, Jen was left in a dreamy happy haze, floating somewhere far away, though she could feel herself smiling. She could feel Zak’s hands still on her body, his chest heaving with hers.
His forehead pressed against hers, both of them breathing heavily as Jen pried her eyes open, blinking back the stars that had burst behind her eyelids.
When she opened her eyes, she found not the Zak she was used to seeing, but someone altogether different. And yet… those neon green eyes were the same. That smile that made her knees buckle was still the same.
She reached up to touch his face, letting her fingers trace over the ridge of his cheekbones, the line of his strong jaw, the arch of his thick brow. She ran her fingers through luscious chestnut hair and admired the occasional freckle hidden in his caramel complexion.
“You…”
He nodded, his whole face glowing with sheer happiness. “And you,” he said.
Jen found herself mirroring his grin, her face splitting until it hurt. “That was…”
“Incredible?” he whispered, dipping down for another kiss, this one far more chaste.
She nodded, her mouth dry, her body still tingling from the aftermath of the Kiss. A bubble of laughter pushed past her lips and once she started she couldn’t stop it. It was so crazy, so unbelievable, and so totally utterly right all at the same time.
“So now what?” she asked, her hand snaking up under his shirt again, his flesh still hot and intoxicating under her touch. She wanted more of him – so much more – but there would be time for that later. All the time in the world. Now that she had him, Jen never wanted to let Zak go. She couldn’t even stand the thought of going back to Earth now, because there was nothing of him there. She had her job and a couple of acquaintances she couldn’t even really call friends, but now she had something better. She had her One.
“Well,” he said, that mischievous twinkle in his eyes that she’d come to love. “I did cancel the feast—”
Jen gasped playfully. “How could you?”
He laughed, kissing her forehead, enveloping her in his earthy-oceanic scent. That hadn’t changed either. All her favorite parts of Zak were still firmly intact. In just a few minutes, she’d already stopped seeing the differences.
“I could probably convince my parents to put it back on, but they’re going to be very annoyed with me.”
Jen pulled a face, tracing her fingertips down Zak’s chest, just so stinking happy that she could touch him without questioning herself or his reaction. It was the best thing to ever happen to her.
“Is that really the first impression I should make?” she asked, half of a pout tugging at her mouth.
Zak laughed – not just a little chuckle either, a full belly laugh that made the corners of his eyes crinkle until tears formed. “Sweetheart, beloved, my One, they are going to take one look at me and have all the first impression they need.”
Jen’s jaw dropped a little as she processed what he’d just said. “Oh, I guess that makes sense.”
He nodded, wrapping his arms around her to give her a final tight squeeze before leading her back to his vehicle. “Come on,” he said. “How would you like to meet the King and Queen?”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Jen
Jen sat at her desk, rifling through papers, trying to find the brief on the group from Terranys coming in later that day.
“Not again,” she muttered, coming up empty. The last time she’d forgotten a file was the day she’d met Zak. She didn’t want to tarnish her good name now, especially not since she was the head of the Granotan Alien Intelligence Agency.
She’d started the agency to keep herself busy, but the Granotans needed it, too. Having an office like this one meant that they could host diplomatic parties, instead of Zak always having to leave for far-off planets. It was handy, even if she did learn a couple months ago that Granotans could sign treaties anywhere. She still gave him crap for that one.
Call her selfish, but Jen liked h
aving him at home, all to herself.
And it was a win-win. Now, people from other planets visited Granota and saw the beauty and splendor that she’d seen on her first visit. Word spread quickly about the hidden gem and soon, they had a thriving tourism business growing up around them.
The islands surrounding the palace had experienced a surge in their economy thanks to all the visitors. Jen was quite proud of herself, and her work with the Agency. She was happy with the life she and Zak had, even if he was acting a little bit… off lately.
As if summoned by her thoughts of him, Zakrom poked his head through her office door, rapping his knuckles on the wall as he did. “What’re you up to?” he asked, a strange unidentifiable look on his face.
Jen sighed. “Looking for the file on the Terrans. Have you seen it anywhere?”
Zak shrugged, literally waving off her concerns. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine. Why don’t you ditch work and come with me? I wanna show you something special.”
She gave him a skeptical look, raising one eyebrow at him, even as the corner of her mouth twitched upward. “What are my odds of getting out of this?” she asked, teasing him. He was very good at being persuasive and usually always got his way, regardless of whether she tried to argue with him or not.
He shrugged, a grin spreading from his lips up to his eyes. “Not a chance. But trust me, you don’t want to. Come on,” he said, waving her forward.
Jen chuckled to herself, shaking her head and putting papers back where they belonged. She’d tried in the past few months to make a concerted effort to be more organized. And it was a good thing too, the import tax on sticky notes from Earth was insane.
She cleared off her desk and joined him at the door, butterflies fluttering in her stomach from just the look in his brilliant eyes. In all these months, Jen never tired of his excitement and playfulness.
She hoped he’d never change.
He slid his arm around her waist on instinct and steered her through the palace, out the front doors.
The salty fresh sea breeze hit Jen’s nostrils and she inhaled deeply, feeling the sunshine tickle her skin in the most delightful way.
In the past months, their love had only grown stronger and there hadn’t been a single day when Jennifer regretted her decision to stay in Granota and leave Earth behind. She was surprised in the first few weeks when she was never even homesick. It was like this was where she was always meant to be. It was home. Where she belonged.
Zak ushered her into a waiting vehicle and drove off. Instead of going down the mountain toward the city, Zak took a different road, going up, a steep winding path that wasn’t well-maintained. It was bumpy and more than a little harrowing and Jen wondered what in the world her guy had gotten her to agree to.
He pulled the vehicle to a stop at the end of the road and came around to help her out as she looked around dumbfounded.
“What are we doing, Zakrom?” she asked, using his full name so he knew she meant business.
“We’re not there yet. Just come on,” he said, his voice getting more insistent, his expression even weirder. She’d never really seen him like this and she wondered if she should be worried.
He turned toward a steep footpath up the mountain and Jen put her hands on her hips, looking at him incredulously.
“You really want me to hike up there?” she asked, thinking she should have brought different shoes.
“It’s not far, I promise,” he said, his voice getting tighter.
What in the world was he up to, really?
He’d never steered her wrong before, though, so Jen followed him up the mud-slicked trail, battling through dense tropical foliage, trying to make out a path that seemed to have been forgotten a long time ago.
When he finally stopped, Jen was sore, dirty, and out of breath, but then he pulled her over to the look-out point and she was breathless for a whole different reason.
“Oh… Wow,” she said, the only words able to break through her stunned silence. She’d never been to this spot – obviously – but from up here, they were above the palace and the town below looked like a toy set, too small to be real. Mist clung to the bottom of the mountain, rolling like waves into the glimmering ocean that stretched off into the distance.
And though all of that was beautiful and breath-taking in and of itself, it wasn’t what had captured her attention. From this vantage point, the Crystal Palace shone like a diamond, casting rainbow prisms of light over the whole island, the colors dancing on the clouds of mist like magic.
She stared in awe and wonder for a long time, deciding the hike and Zak’s weirdness were worth it for this kind of spectacular view. She was speechless for a while, just so happy he shared this with her, even if she wasn’t sure why it had been such a pressing matter.
When she finally looked away from the magnificent view and turned toward Zak, he dipped down to one knee and her heart stopped completely. She must have been looking at him like he was crazy, because Zak tilted his head to the side and frowned.
“What? Am I not doing it right? I looked up your Earth customs and this was what was described…”
Jen stifled a giggle, trying not to lose her head. “That depends,” she said. “What is it you’re trying to do?”
Zak looked up at her with those eyes that never ceased to make her heart beat a little fast, that look that never failed to make her mouth dry with longing. He took a deep breath before launching into what seemed to be a rehearsed speech.
“Jennifer, my love, these past six months have been the best of my life. I love what we’ve created together. I love how well we work together. I love that you have so many ideas for improving the quality of life on this planet, and I love even more that you take the initiative with those ideas. In just a few short months, we’ve already accomplished so much for our people and none of that would have been possible without you. I know Granota is not the most progressive or forward-thinking planet out there, but I think together we can change that. We could change Granota – for the better.” He paused, as his voice cracked a little and Jen felt tears clawing at the back of her throat. He couldn’t really be doing what she thought he was doing.
Could he?
“I knew the moment I met you that you were my One. The only person I would ever want to spend my life with, but I also knew what a big sacrifice that choice is for you. So now that you’ve had a chance to see what our life could be like, to see what living here would be like, to see if this is really what you want, I have a question for you.”
Jen choked back more tears, convinced she knew where this was going, intense overwhelming joy threatening to break the dam. She needed to hold it together a little bit longer.
“So, with all that said,” he said, reaching into his pocket for a small box. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my Princess and – one day – my Queen?” He flipped open the lid to the box and revealed a beautiful understated engagement ring that sparkled more than the palace itself.
She nearly fell over herself, rushing to fling her arms around his neck, peppering him with kisses, not even caring that the mud soaked through her knees. “Yes, yes, of course, yes,” she said, unable to keep the tears at bay now.
Zak grinned like a madman, slipping the ring on her finger and swiping at the tears with the pad of his thumb.
“So I did that right?” he asked, a hint of teasing behind the uncertainty.
Jen gave him a watery laugh and nodded, kissing him again. “Exactly right.”
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Chapter One
Torak
Thrusters groaned as the Q
ueen’s Affliction eased onto the landing pad, the whole craft shuddering with the force of the extra gravity. Torak flipped off the artificial gravity and felt the excess weight leave his shoulders as he sucked in a deep breath.
The crew milled about around him, looking purposeless and antsy. It had been months since they set into port — a long journey to the far reaches of the solar cluster and a run-in with the Galactic Trade Commission had left their proposed schedule in tatters.
Torak stood from the Captain’s seat and stretched his stiffened muscles, letting his eyes take in the ever-changing scenery of Haven.
