by Tasha Black
She was young and in love, and had just committed herself forever and ever…
Every stupid thing she had sworn she would never do for love, she had just done.
And she was happy. So happy.
She ran her fingers lightly up and down his back and wondered what else she had been mistaken about in life.
“Georgia,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she said.
He lifted himself up onto his elbows.
Georgia was a bit miffed at the broken contact with his warm body, but looking into his beautiful eyes was consolation enough.
He smiled and she smiled back.
“It worked,” she said.
He nodded and laid his head back on her chest.
She knew he was listening to her heart beat, and that it was beating for him.
She drifted on a sea of contentment.
She must have fallen asleep at some point. She awoke, blissfully aware of the warm, hard body covering hers.
“Georgia?” he whispered.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
He raised his head and stared at her.
“What?” she asked.
“We just made love for the first time,” he said. “I became human. We committed to being together forever, and all you can think to say is are you hungry?”
She giggled.
He cocked his head.
“Actually,” he said, “I am kind of hungry. We could find a snack, but I don’t want to leave this bed.”
“In fifteen minutes, we’ll report back to this spot,” she told him. “Is that a deal?”
“Yes,” he laughed. “That’s a deal.”
By the time they reached the top of the stairs, Georgia could hear the others.
It seemed a little odd to go upstairs and hang out after what they had just done, but Rocky squeezed her hand and Georgia suddenly realized that sharing her newfound happiness was exactly what she wanted to do.
She took a deep breath and waited for the teasing when they saw her flushed cheeks, but the others merely smiled and scooted their chairs in to make room for them at the table.
“Hey guys, glad you could jet in and join us,” Posey said, sliding a plate of chocolate chip cookies toward them.
“Yeah, we just flew in from town, and boy are Rocky’s arms tired.” Georgia grinned and grabbed a cookie.
“No, I don’t use my arms,” he began to explain.
“Sorry, baby, it’s an expression,” she said.
“Hm,” he said, grabbing a cookie. “You’ll explain it later.”
She nodded and smiled when he pulled her chair close to his.
Across the table, Magnum poured out two glasses of cold milk and handed them over. For once, his drink of choice was just right for the occasion.
“So, why didn’t you tell us you could fly?” Posey asked Rocky.
But his mouth was full of cookie and he raised a finger.
The weight of reality crashed down on Georgia.
“You flew,” she said, scrambling out of her chair. “In front of everyone. We have to leave.”
“No, Georgia, we’re fine,” Rima told her.
“We’re not fine,” Georgia said, “they’ll… they’ll…”
“Capture me and do experiments on me?” Rocky offered.
“Why would you think that?” Georgia asked, hoping he couldn’t hear the false bravado in her voice.
“Because even on Aerie, the arrival of a single life form from another planet would be the cause of much excitement in the scientific and government fields,” he replied. “And less in the ethical fields.”
Oh.
“Besides,” he explained. “We saw E.T.”
“It’s not a problem,” Rima repeated.
“How can this not be a problem?” Georgia demanded.
“I took care of it,” Rima said casually.
“What do you mean you took care of it?” Georgia asked. “What could you have possibly done?”
“It was genius actually,” Posey said. “Took balls, but she did it.”
“What did you do?” Rocky asked Rima.
“Oh, nothing special, it was Georgia who saved the day,” Rima said, turning to Georgia. “I can’t believe you were trapped in a burning building and managed to find and save the binder.”
“I didn’t - Briggs took it out of his safe and then dropped it when he…” Georgia suddenly realized he might not have made it. It was terrifying to think she might have seen someone on his way to die, even if he was a horrible man.
“He survived, Georgia,” Dr. Bhimani said quietly from the doorway. “But he’ll be in the hospital for a long time.”
Georgia nodded, relieved.
“I knew by the way he tried so hard to save it, that it must be important,” Georgia said.
“Well, I showed it to the people,” Rima told her. “And they couldn’t have agreed more. Told them that we had found it, that Rocky had saved it in order to protect them, and that we would return every single promissory note in it.”
“Wow,” Georgia said, reaching for another cookie.
“Right?” Rima continued. “They were shocked. It was a weird night. But the appearance of the promissory notes slowed them down, made them happy, really. I had no idea how many families were being victimized by that man. There were happy tears.
“By the time we explained the situation with the boys as best we could, they were all arguing with each other about how to ensure that they would be kept safe and out of the public eye until some sort of amnesty could be arranged.
“I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with this town,” Rima admitted. “But I think tonight I finally found my place in it.”
“Wait, the town is going to hide the boys?” Georgia asked.
Rima nodded.
“The whole town?” Georgia asked.
“Yes,” Rima replied.
“You don’t think one person will rat us out?” Georgia asked.
“If they do, they have the rest of town to contend with,” Rima said. “And I don’t think that’s going to happen. Stargazer is a small place, Georgia.”
“Besides,” Dr. Bhimani said happily, “we’ll soon have a contingent here from Aerie, and everything will be sorted out with the government. We’ll have our grant money back, and everything will be perfect.”
“But the promissory notes, if that’s the only thing keeping them happy, I don’t know - does it matter that we stole them back?” Georgia asked.
“Funny thing about those notes,” Posey said with a bright smile. “We reviewed some of them. It looks like not many were a hundred percent legal in the first place, and almost none of the documents were properly witnessed. Briggs knows they’d never hold up in court. Apparently, you can’t just trick people into signing outrageous documents and ruin their lives for fun.”
“That’s amazing,” Georgia said.
“No,” Posey said, pointing at Rocky’s hand enveloping Georgia’s. “That’s amazing.”
“No, this is long past due,” Rocky said. “And your fifteen minutes is up.”
He pulled Georgia into his lap and kissed her on the lips before she could protest.
Not that she wanted to protest.
No, Georgia was by Rocky’s side, right where she wanted to be. And even the giggling of her friends was music to her ears as the man she loved wrapped her in his arms and marched down the stairs with her again.
29
Rima
Rima looked fondly after her best friend. She had expected Georgia to be the last to fall for her alien mate, and yet, there they were, in love, happy.
She was glad for her friend, even as she longed for her own happy ending.
Once Georgia and Rocky left the room the others began to scatter.
“I’m heading to bed,” her mom announced, grabbing the empty cookie tray and milk jug with her.
Magnum busied himself gathering plates and glasses.
“I guess I’ll
turn in too,” Bond said. “Want to tuck me in, Posey?”
Posey grinned and slapped Bond on the behind. He swept her up in his arms and carried her, squealing, down the stairs.
Posey and Bond would go down to his room. With Georgia and Rocky getting together in her room, who knew what she might interrupt or overhear on the girls’ floor?
Rima was feeling squeezed on all sides.
At least she had her old reading nook.
She walked through the dining room to the small door in the corner and opened it.
When the observatory had been built, the little room would have been used as a closet. It had a big window for airing out cloaks and the like.
Rima had outfitted it with pillows and blankets when she was a kid, and her mom had added a reading lamp. The whole thing was about the size of a king bed - perfect for curling up with a book and feeling snug.
She slipped inside and settled in, looking up at the shelf. There were a few old favorites, A Wrinkle in Time, Stranger in a Strange Land, Harry Potter. Somehow, she didn’t feel like reading.
It had been an intense night, that was the trouble, filled with so much fear and happiness. She was probably just having an adrenaline crash from having spoken in front of the whole town.
There came a soft knock at the door.
Oh boy, her mother was probably worried about her.
“Come in,” she said.
A large form filled the doorway.
Magnum.
He came in and shut the door behind him without a word.
In the dim light, with moonlight pouring in from the window behind him, Rima couldn’t see his face.
But she didn’t have to. They had been here before. His usual impassive expression would be gone, replaced with a look of restrained desire.
Rima held still, she tried not to even breathe, praying that this would be the time that he gave in to his feelings.
He sank to his knees and crawled to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face fiercely in her belly.
Rima allowed her hands to drift lightly down to his back. She wanted nothing more than to embrace him too, but she was afraid that the slightest thing might rouse him from this place of emotion, and drive him away again as it had before.
At last she touched the wide planes of his muscular shoulders. His breath was hot through her dress and he smelled so clean and masculine.
Every time he did something like this, hope bubbled anew in her chest. Rima knew Magnum was the one for her. But he was fighting their union, fighting it with all he had.
She only wished she knew why.
And she wished she knew why he broke sometimes and embraced her suddenly this way. This was the third time. And it only told her that whatever his reasons for keeping them apart, even he wasn’t entirely convinced of them.
“You’re so brave,” he whispered, still clutching her tightly.
“What do you mean?” Rima asked, stunned. He had never spoken to her during one of these moments.
“Tonight, when you spoke to those people,” he said into her middle. “They don’t like you, but you spoke to them anyway.”
There was a knock on the door and before she could reply it was swinging open.
“Rima- oh,” her mother said, immediately backing out of the doorway. “We’ll chat in the morning.”
But it was too late. Magnum had leapt up as if she were on fire.
“Good night, Rima,” he said politely as he joined her mother in the doorway.
“Oh, no, Magnum, stay,” her mom interjected.
“It’s late,” Magnum said gruffly and disappeared.
Rima let her head fall into her hands.
She heard the door closing and her mother’s light footsteps. Then the familiar hand was rubbing her back.
“I’m sorry I interrupted,” her mother said.
“It’s okay, nothing was happening,” Rima said lightly, not wanting to upset her mother.
“He likes you a lot,” her mom said.
“I know,” Rima said. “He’s just having a hard time with everything. He’ll come around. I just have to give him time.”
Her mother paused, her hand frozen on Rima’s back as if she wanted to say something.
Then she seemed to think the better of it and instead she got up.
“Well don’t stay up too late, Rima. I’m going to make pancakes in the morning,” she said brightly.
“Goodnight, mom,” Rima replied.
When the door closed again, she gazed out the window for a long time.
The stars gazed back at her, unfazed. They were so brilliant and beautiful and endlessly patient.
Rima could be patient too, for a little longer at least.
***
Thanks for reading Rocky!
Keep reading for a sample of the next Stargazer Alien Mail Order Brides book: Magnum.
Or grab your next book right now:
http://www.tashablack.com/magnum.html
30
Magnum (Sample)
1.
Rima
Rima Bhimani ran through the trees. Her heart pounded and her body sang with adrenaline.
Normally, she wasn’t the most sure-footed runner under the best of circumstances, but tonight the ground seemed to sail beneath her feet almost effortlessly.
The velvety stillness of the clear November night was interrupted only by the plumes of Rima’s heated breath and the sound of whatever was crashing after her through the woods.
It was something big - big enough to kick up the scent of the pine needles and make the earth tremble beneath its strides.
A glow appeared ahead, turning the trees in front of her into skeletal silhouettes.
She broke through into a clearing and was relieved to find herself in the campground, although she wasn’t exactly sure why.
Rima flung herself forward with a burst of speed she hadn’t known she had left. The area was empty, but for the cold fire pit and the small wooden cabins that surrounded it.
She hadn’t wanted to find help though, only shelter.
What was she running from? And why wasn’t she tired from her exertions.
She couldn’t remember…
It was all very strange.
What was she even doing out in the middle of the night?
Rima slipped into the closest cabin, hoping she could hide and figure it out.
But before she could collect her thoughts, the door burst open again.
A man filled the threshold. His shoulders almost too wide to allow him entry.
Magnum.
Relief flooded her veins at the appearance of the man she longed to make her own.
Rima held herself perfectly still, refusing to cower before his strength, refusing to beg for the love she needed.
Oh, how patient she had been, waiting for his touch. She had watched both her friends join with their intended mates. All the while the enormous, silent presence of Magnum was by her side, watching, waiting.
She could feel the heat of his desire for her pressing at the space between them. But the big man never acknowledged it. Only at the oddest times he would come to find her and suddenly embrace her, burying his face in her hair, clutching her to himself as if they were the last two creatures in the world. And then just as quickly, he would let her go, disappearing back into himself, and leaving her confused and wanting.
But it was better than nothing.
Rima tried to control her ragged breathing.
Magnum took two steps forward and swept her into his strong embrace.
His body was so big, so warm.
Rima rested her cheek against his chest, praying he would hold onto her for more than a moment this time. She dared not wish for more than to be allowed to listen to his heartbeat.
He took her cheek in his hand and lifted her chin until she was looking into his eyes.
He gazed back at her, his expression heated.
His eyes were hazel. She had al
ways thought they were brown. But he hardly ever made eye contact.
After months of scrutinizing his downturned lashes, Rima searched his eyes hungrily. If they were truly the windows to his soul, she wanted to climb inside. She was tired of waiting for him to open a door.
“Rima,” he whispered.
And then his other hand was sliding down her back, roving over her posterior, pulling her against him.
Rima heard herself moan lightly.
Magnum closed his beautiful eyes, leaned in, kissed her until she saw stars.
He lifted her effortlessly, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her over to the cot in the corner.
He laid her down gently.
She had only an instant to wonder why the wool blanket was clean and soft instead of dusty and scratchy.
Then Magnum was on top of her, caging her body with his, ravaging her mouth with savage kisses as he pressed himself, hard and hot, against her. She forgot everything, even her own name in the heady rush of desire.
Suddenly, she had too many nerve endings, and they were all crying out with sensation - the cold air, the heated kiss, the ache in her breasts, the melt between her legs, the scent of Magnum, like leather and musk as he moved lower and the shadow on his jaw abraded her cheeks, her neck, the hollow of her throat.
He nuzzled between her breasts, nipping at her through the thin cotton fabric of her dress.
Rima whimpered and sank her fingers into his biceps.
He dragged hot kisses down her bodice, slowly moving lower.
Rima squeezed her eyes shut, feeling shy, but praying he wouldn’t stop.
Suddenly his warm mouth was gone.
Rima opened her eyes.
Magnum had pulled back. He was gazing down at her belly, his handsome face marred by a horrified expression.
What’s wrong? she wanted to ask, but for some reason she couldn’t speak.
Then she saw the blood on his chest and tried to scream.
No sound came out.
The idea of being unable to make a sound terrified her, and she thrashed under him, moaning, trying to scream.
“Rima,” he said.
