by Lynn Best
“There’s a word for love in my language,” he said just before he thrust home. “I’d like to teach it to you.”
“I’d like to learn it,” she said, staring at his handsome face.
He said the word in his language, something magical and melodic. Then he kissed her mouth and slid slowly inside her. Feeling him, the pleasure of stretching, opening, of letting him in, made her lose herself. This time, she begged out loud, wanting more and more. He matched her desire with his strokes, faster and faster. It was a feeling like no other. Pleasure wrapped in pleasure.
She came, speaking the language of his people back to him.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“So what happens now?”
They were lying on a blanket on the stone roof as the fake sun sank into the fake horizon on a transport ship bound for space.
Just a normal first date for an alien’s girlfriend.
He was tracing the line of her shoulder, the tingles still there, not diminished by the earthquake of an orgasm she’d just had. She wondered if he had another go-round in him. Judging from the length of hot steel at her backside, he did.
“What happens now is I’ll become king, and you will be my queen. We’ll have a million babies and live happily ever after.”
“Really?” she asked.
He shook his head. “This isn’t a fairy tale, though I wish it were. I can become king if we mate. If not, it goes to Kahn once he does. Either way, it doesn’t matter to me. What matters is you.” He kissed her shoulder.
She leaned into his body. “If we mate, do I live with you on your ship?”
“If you’d like. Or we can go back to my planet. There are many wonderful things there. And as the queen, you would be able to do whatever you liked.”
“Like pump out babies?” That didn’t sound all bad, but she wasn’t there yet. She needed a few more dates before bearing alien babies, for God’s sake.
“One of the reasons we mate is to pass on our lineage. But I always liked to think of myself as a father. When I lost mine, I took it very hard.”
Charis wished she could see his face, but she had to settle for caressing his hand. “I’m sorry.” She let the moment sit for a while before continuing. “If I go with you, can I visit home? I’d miss my mom and my friends.”
He nuzzled into her hair. “Of course. Our ships are very fast.”
It sounded too good to be true, and it probably was. They’d fight. He’d yell and rage. She’d miss her family. But then, what relationship wasn’t like that? It wasn’t the fights that mattered, it was the moments of joy in between, and how much the love grew. And she wanted to give this a shot with Han, no matter how strange. Sometimes, the best treasures were found in the strangest of places.
She rolled over, and then kissed his lips. “Yes, Han, whatever your last name is. I want to go on a crazy adventure with you. Let’s see where this thing goes.”
He smiled, pulling her close and kissing her again. So many tingles. Somehow, it never got old. And she was right, he was ready for another go-round. So was she.
“The word I taught you in my language, the one that means love, I don’t say it lightly. You Americans say you love pizza. You love a TV show. You love your cars. But our word means eternal love, of the deepest kind. I’ve never said it to anyone else before. Until today.”
She felt her heart skip. “Say it again.”
He held her close, whispering the word to her again and again.
THE END
And now a sneak peek of Book Two, HUNTING HARPER, An Alien Abduction Reverse Harem Romance
CHAPTER ONE
Harper Renfroe walked into the hospital with the bag clutched to her chest, hoping no one would notice how much it was wiggling.
It wasn’t exactly illegal what she was doing, but it was against the rules. Could it get her fired? She hoped not.
She’d been a nurse at St. Sebastian’s Mercy Hospital for two years, and a valuable employee all that time. Long nights, twelve-hour days, and losing patients had worn on her, but she loved her current job on the pediatric floor. She’d been there six months and hoped she could make a career of it.
And yet, here she was, risking it all.
The floor was dead, seeing as it was six AM. It would pick up quickly in an hour, and be booming as soon as visitor’s hours started. The pediatric floor was always busy, which was one of the things Harper loved about working there. The walls were painted bright colors, with murals of animals and their babies. Often, upbeat music could be heard playing, and laughter was constant. The playroom was always a good place if she were feeling down—toys and puzzles and Wii games galore. On any given day, there’d be moms, dads, siblings, grandparents. Sometimes, there were clowns who did balloon animals, or a costumed Spiderman or Elsa. Every kid had someone visiting.
Every kid but Josephina.
Harper had gotten to know Josephina a few weeks ago. The seven-year-old was in her third round of chemo for her Neuroblastoma. They didn’t have very many children with cancer since they weren’t a treatment facility, but Josephina’s mother insisted she not be moved since the other hospital was too far to drive. This round of chemo had been especially rough, the little girl losing her hair again, just as it had begun growing back in thick, curly waves. Harper had sat and helped her pick strands off the pillow, buying her a Hello Kitty hat with felt on the inside to hide her bald head.
Harper had tried not to cry when Josephina asked if she was going to die. Not on my watch, Harper had vowed.
Harper walked past the intake desk with the wiggly bag clutched to her chest. Mary Sue Martin, one of the RNs, was manning the desk. A big, no-nonsense woman, Mary Sue had been at St. Sebastian’s for nearly twenty years. She was kind and well-liked, but she didn’t take shit from anyone. And she was not the person Harper had been expecting this morning.
“Hey, Mary Sue. Early shift?” she asked, stopping at the counter. She kept the bag out of the other woman’s line of sight.
Mary Sue looked up through her multicolored reading glasses. “Swapped with Tina. She had to take her kid to practice or something.” She frowned. “You’re here early. Your shift doesn’t start ‘til eight, does it? You aren’t here to see that girl again, are you? You know it’s important not to get too attached. We’ve talked about this.” She glanced back at the nurse’s list and then at Harper.
“No, I need a shower before my shift. My hot water heater’s busted, and I can’t get a guy out to fix it until Thursday.” She made a what’s-a-girl-to-do face, hoping Mary Sue would buy the lie.
“They never call back, do they? Took me two weeks to get a plumber out to fix my toilet. I swear, they won’t call you unless you’re remodeling half an acre of bathroom. I tell my son, ‘Don’t go into education. Go into plumbing.’ He could make great money.”
Harper nodded, trying to keep her focus. But the wiggling in her arms was intensifying.
A yip sounded from within her bag. Harper stared wide-eyed at Mary Sue. She’d been peering down at some chart, but her gaze snapped up at the sound. “What was what?”
“Oh, that’s just my… cell phone alert. My niece set it to some dog sounds, and I can’t figure out how to change it back. Stupid technology.”
Mary Sue frowned. “Talk to Kate in radiology. That girl has forgot more about technology than I’ll ever know.”
The desk phone rang, and Mary Sue answered it. Harper took that moment to hustle the hell out of there.
Close call. Too close.
She booked it down the hallway to Josephina’s room, checking back to make sure Mary Sue wasn’t looking. Harper’s eyes skimmed over the drawings Josephina did every day. Puppies, cats, bunnies in pinks and blues and purples. She loved animals so much it was all she talked about, but she’d never had one of her very own. And when Harper’s neighbor had a litter of Golden Doodles, Harper had known what she had to do.
She slipped into the room, and clicked the door shut. The monitors beeped a s
teady rhythm as Josephina slept. Harper scanned all the read-outs to make sure nothing had gone wrong overnight. She’d only gone home to sleep for seven hours, but a lot could happen in that amount of time.
Everything was fine. Josephina seemed small and pale in the giant hospital bed. Her Hello Kitty hat was eschew on the pillow.
Sitting on the bed, Harper put the bag down and opened it. The seven-week-old miniature Doodle sprang out, wiggling and snapping like she was mad at Harper for the inhospitable treatment.
“Sorry, girl,” she whispered. “Now if you could please be quiet for just like a half an hour…” Her friend who’d lent her the dog had given her the one she claimed never barked, but the pup hadn’t done very well in front of Mary Sue now, had she?
Josephina stirred. Harper watched as the little girl opened her eyes.
“Harper?” Josephina’s eyes trailed from Harper’s face to the puppy. The world’s biggest smile stretched across the girl’s small face. “A puppy!”
“Shh,” Harper said, moving the wiggly puppy up where Josephina could touch him. The small, caramel-colored dog walked all over Josephina’s chest, tangling up in her wires, and lapping wet puppy kisses on her face.
She quietly squealed and hugged the puppy. “She’s so cute. Oh, Harper. Where did she come from?”
“Heaven,” Harper joked, petting the dog’s back. “My friend had a bunch of puppies a few weeks ago. Most of them are already taken, but this little gal is the runt and has no family. I was thinking maybe I could talk to my friend and see if your family could have him. If we can get your mom to agree, that is.”
The smile fell off Josephina’s face, and she shook her head. “Mama said no dogs.”
Josephina’s mother was a piece of work. She rarely visited and when she did, she looked like she’d spent most of the night on the street. Harper was not one to judge, but it made her so angry to see Josephina wait and wait on visiting hours for a mother who never showed.
Trying to bring the mood back around, Harper threaded her fingers around the puppy’s wagging tail. “What do you think her name should be?”
Josephina screwed her mouth up. “How about… Cupcake?”
“Cupcake is too cutesy. She needs a powerful female name. She’s a fighter, I can tell.”
“Oh, how about Muscles?” Her little eyes lit up.
“Muscles. That’s… interesting.” Harper made a face, and Josephina giggled.
“What about Chase?”
“Chase sounds good. Does that mean we’ll have to spend all our time chasing her around the hospital?”
“Maybe.” Josephina giggled again, playing with her tail. Chase had taken to gnawing at a corner of the blanket. “She could hide under the beds, then jump out and scare the nurses.” Josephina made a pretend motion like she was jumping out to scare someone.
Harper smiled. “She could climb into the lockers and wait.”
“Surprise,” Josephina said, spreading her arms wide. Her IV cord wildly slapped against the pole. “How long can we keep her here?”
Harper glanced back at the closed door. “About a half an hour. Or until Nurse Mary Sue finds out.” Putting a finger to her lips, she made a shushing sound.
Josephina copied the gesture, reverently in on the conspiracy.
Harper watched as the little girl forgot her troubles if only for a little while.
Josephina peered up from the bouncing ball of fur. “Are you going to be here for my surgery?”
Harper nodded. “Of course. I’ll be here the whole time.”
“When is it again?” The little girl’s eyes were already filling with anxious tears.
Harper reached around the squirming ball of fur that turned and gummed her wrist for a moment before spotting a blanket lump she wanted to paw at. “The surgery is on Monday. Three days from now.”
“And you’ll be there?” Her eyes were glistening and her lip trembled, but she didn’t cry. Not this tough girl.
“Yes. I told you I’d be there.”
“The whole time?”
“The whole time.” Harper smiled and stroked a hand down Josephina’s cheek. “I promise.”
“My mom makes promises.”
Oh God, the sadness in the little girl’s voice broke her damn heart. “Well, maybe your mom is busy trying to earn money to get you healthy, but listen, I won’t break my promise, okay? How about this? How about I pinky promise? Pinky promises are the strongest promises in the world.”
“They are?” Josephina gazed down at her little pinky.
“They are.”
They wrapped their pinkies together, Josephina’s tiny one around Harper’s bigger one. The little girl seemed satisfied. She focused again on getting the puppy to sit, a losing battle that made her laugh and laugh.
Harper smiled, but inside she was breaking apart. This poor little girl. Nothing would keep Harper from being at her bedside when the time came.
***
After Harper had run the dog back to her neighbor and headed back up to the hospital, she still had a twelve-hour shift. It was a tough one—a new intake, an adorable four-year-old, that screamed for three hours and then threw up on himself. By the time eight PM rolled around, Harper was dead on her feet.
She stopped by Josephina’s room again, and found the girl sleeping. Harper knew she should go home and sleep, but she couldn’t seem to leave. A chair by the window was uncomfortable, but she was so tired. Her eyes closed.
A hand woke her with a start. Harper sat up, nearly smashing face-first into Matthew.
“What is it?” Alarmed, she swung frightened eyes to Josephina’s bed. The girl was still sleeping peacefully.
Matthew put a finger to his lips before handing her a fresh hot tea from the coffee shop downstairs. She smelled peppermint, realizing he had not forgotten that time they ordered together. He’d remembered.
“For me?” she whispered.
He nodded. “Shouldn’t you be home?”
Her eyes traced over the little body in the bed. “I fell asleep.”
He smiled knowingly. Matthew was handsome, dedicated, and a great nurse. He had such a way with children the mobile ones often followed him around the halls. Most of the single nurses on the floor had their eye on Matthew. And lately, he’d been keeping his eye on Harper.
Not that she paid much attention. Okay, well, she paid some attention. He was gorgeous, so how could she help it?
But she wasn’t here to have a relationship. She was here to work hard and move up the ranks. Being voted most ambitious in eighth mock elections meant something, dang it.
“Thanks for the tea,” she said, sipping. “I owe you.”
He batted it away. “It’s nothing. My thanks for covering for me last week.”
“How is your sister?” She eyed him over the ring of her paper cup.
“Better.” He sighed. “That boyfriend of hers is still hanging around. God, I swear if I were a different man, I’d meet him at his house and take care of it.”
“But you’re not that kind of guy,” she said. “You know that wouldn’t do any good, anyway. She’d just go back to him, and you’d be the bad guy. She could channel her anger at you and let what’s-his-name off the hook. Better to let the restraining order go through.”
He leaned his head back against the wooden rocking chair he’d settled into. “You’re right. It’s just… when my mom and dad passed, I promised I’d look after her. I mean, she’s older than me by three years, but she makes such bad decisions, you know? It was always like that. Even when we were kids. She’d sneak out and get caught. Break curfew, then turn around and steal my dad’s car. I thought she’d learn.”
Harper patted his hand. “You’re doing the right thing. Support her. Listen to her. Tell her to leave, but you can’t make her. It might drive her back into his arms.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate you listening.”
Matthew smiled at her, a strange expression on his face. She felt his fingers clos
ing around hers. Shocked, she stared at him.
“So, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you—”
Oh no. She could feel it coming. He was about to ask her out. Panicked, she glanced at her watch. “Hey, look at the time. I’ve got to go. Sorry about your sister, Matthew, and thanks for the tea. I’ll repay you later.” She stood up, backing toward the hallway.
He watched her from the chair, bewildered. “Okay. Bye, Harper.”
She didn’t say goodbye. She just left.
Walking down the hallway, she felt like a fool. Matthew was perfect—kind, smart, and funny with a stable job. He was likable and very handsome. The opposite of the guys her mom dated, which made him the exact guy she should date. What was she doing running away?
She was keeping herself focused. She’d seen the path destructive men carved into a woman’s life with the string of awful boyfriends her mother was always dragging home. Gary had beaten her mother. Phil had made passes at Harper when she was fifteen, walking in on her in the shower. The rest just stole their money or stalked her mother at her jobs. Two restraining orders and three towns later, Harper decided she’d never be like her mother. Men were too much trouble.
But maybe Matthew wasn’t.
Then again, maybe he was.
God, she was tired. She needed to focus on work and Josephina. And getting some frickin’ sleep.
She barely made it to the parking garage, getting turned around and not finding her car until the third pass. Once she found it, she slumped into the driver’s seat, starting the ignition and the radio at the same time. She needed the caffeine from the coffee she drank an hour ago and some seventies’ heavy metal to get her through this drive.
The sky was dark, the streetlights lit. She lived just outside of Fairmont, Massachusetts, but was a recent transplant, coming here from grad school in the Midwest. Every once in a while, people still commented on her nasal accent. And she still marveled at their Bostonian ones. Paaak the caaa in Haavard yaaad. She’d mastered a fake accent for parties back home. When she went back, which wasn’t often.
