by Tasha Black
“You were willing to put my well-being before your own.”
“Even if it broke my heart.”
His own heart swelled at the thought of her unselfish feelings for him.
“But you want to be a doctor,” he said. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever heard you say you wanted. It’s what you’ve worked for. It’s what your family has always wanted for you.”
“Yes,” she said. “And it’s still what I want. But I’ve realized something.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re not going to get in my way,” she said simply. “You’re going to help me.”
Remington paused, unable to speak.
She was right. Of course he would help her. It was all he had wanted to do in the first place.
“You’ve helped me since the day we met,” she continued. “And you’ve made me more patient and thoughtful along the way.”
He felt the same, the very same about her.
“I know I can’t be the wife Posey wanted for you,” she said. “I’m sarcastic, and pretty much obsessed with school. I’m not a lot of fun from September to June and if I get into med school it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I can’t take you on a tour of the world. I can’t teach you five languages or even give you a good crash course in pop culture. But if you still want to choose me, then I’m all yours - spreadsheets, textbooks, study sessions and all. I think we’ve belonged to each other since the beginning. It just took me a little while to realize it.”
Remington felt a prickling in his eyes.
“Are you okay?” Addy asked.
He wrapped his arms around her, hugged her so close.
“I’m so happy,” he told her. “Of course I will help you in whatever you choose to do.”
It was true. He would do anything he could think of if it might cause her to feel just a tiny fraction of the happiness he felt right now.
She pulled back slightly and brushed his lips with hers.
His body sang with the need to claim her. But there was something he needed to do first.
Reluctantly, he released her.
Then he knelt on the carpet at her feet.
“Adelaide Barnes,” he said. “I choose you to be my mate. Will you accept me?”
Addy smiled down at him, tears gleaming in her eyes.
“Yes,” she said. “I accept you.”
Then she was pulling him to his feet and they were flinging each other’s towels to the floor.
Addy reached for him greedily.
“Lie down, my love,” he said. “This cannot be rushed. It needs to be special.”
She narrowed her eyes at him as if in frustration, but lay herself down on the bed.
He smiled at her petulance, and enjoyed the view.
Her wet hair was spread out on the pillow case, her tan skin a delicious contrast against the pale cotton.
“Remington,” she whispered, reaching her arms out to him. “We literally have the rest of our lives to stare longingly at each other.”
It was true. They did.
And he had waited so long already.
Addy
Addy lay on her back, gazing up imploringly at her otherworldly lover.
At last he got down on his side next to her and cupped her cheek in his hand.
“You’re so anxious,” he teased.
“Yes,” she smiled. “You think maybe we should wait a week or two? See where this takes us?”
He growled and flipped her on top of him.
She laughed, glad to see he was eager too.
And she could feel his eagerness. He might just be eager enough to split her in half.
She tried not to think about it. Instead, she leaned down to kiss him.
He kissed her passionately until she had to pull away for a breath.
“Addy,” he said softly, pulling her in again.
“Some of us need to breathe,” she pointed out.
He laughed and she laughed with him as he had flipped them over again.
“You can breathe for both of us,” he told her.
He kissed his way down her jaw, to the tender hollow where her neck and shoulder met.
Waves of need began to roll over her again.
He showered kisses on her breasts, slowing to lick and suck one nipple and then the other until she could feel it in her pussy.
“Please,” she whimpered, not even sure if she wanted him to stop, or to go on forever.
But he knew what she wanted.
He pressed her thighs apart gently, eased himself between them until she could feel the rigid heat of him throbbing against her sex.
“Are you sure, Addy?” His voice was strained.
“I love you,” she told him simply.
“I love you too,” he whispered against her lips. “So much it hurts.”
She tilted her hips up to him.
He pressed against her opening, then pushed himself slowly inside.
Addy gasped. There was a moment of pain as she felt herself stretch to accommodate him.
“Oh, Addy,” he murmured into her hair, his hips quivering with the effort not to move.
A wave of sympathetic desire washed over her and suddenly instead of pain she was awash in pleasure.
“Please,” she whispered, letting her nails sink into his shoulders, tilting her hips up to meet his.
He growled and thrust into her, filling her, ratcheting up the tension.
She clung to him, trying to take in each sensation, the physical pleasure, the knowledge that this was her man, that he was hers forever.
But the pleasure was catching up with her, and she wouldn’t be able to hold out for long. She was riding the waves of it, desperately trying to hold back so that they could climax together.
She kissed him, crashing her tongue into his, begging him to come with her.
He froze for an instant.
Then she felt him swell impossibly inside her.
Addy let go and felt herself flying apart with him.
The bliss was almost blinding. Addy felt as if she had been ripped out of her body and thrust into a sea of light.
They kissed until the waves of ecstasy had dissipated into tremors, and kissed some more.
It wasn’t until some minutes later that Addy realized she hadn’t stopped for a breath.
“Hey,” she said, pulling out of the kiss.
“Hey, yourself,” Remington replied. “That was pretty incredible. Can’t a guy just lie around kissing his beautiful mate for a while afterward?”
“I didn’t have to breathe,” Addy said.
“Oh,” said Remington.
“I didn’t have to breathe,” she said again, her mind reeling.
“Well, we did click,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“When we made love,” he said, “I felt the click that made me human forever.”
“That flash of pure light?” Addy asked.
“Yes, I think that’s what it was,” he said. “And since you saw it too, then maybe, just maybe, I gave you my gift. It has occurred with other visitors from Aerie and their mates.”
She gazed at him in wonder, this incredible man of hers.
She had no idea what their lives would hold. Maybe deep sea diving without equipment, maybe days and nights of med school studies, maybe smelly diapers and little cries in the night, and hopefully summers at Maxwell’s as guests one day…
But one thing was certain.
They would never be bored.
“Want to go for a swim?” she suggested.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Addy
Addy awoke tangled in Remington’s arms, to the sound of someone tapping lightly at the door.
She extricated herself gently, draped a blanket over her shoulders and opened up.
An envelope that must have been stuck to the door fluttered to the floor.
Addy bent to retrieve it and saw Honey heading away.
“Honey,” she whispered.
“Hey, Addy,” Honey said, turning and coming back. “I hope I didn’t wake you. I just thought you might want your phone back. The guys who repaired the pipe found it. Your mom’s been calling again.”
Honey slipped Addy’s phone out of her pocket and handed it over as well as a reusable shopping bag.
“Come in for a minute,” Addy said.
Remington was up, another blanket wrapped around his waist. He looked like a Greek god. Addy’s mouth began to water at the thought of him.
“Hello, Honey,” he said in a pleased way.
“Oh, geez,” Honey said. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“Not at all,” Remington said. “We are very glad to see you. I’ll be right back.”
He headed to the bathroom, ostensibly to get some clothes back on.
Addy was glad. She would not be able to concentrate on her friend with him walking around with nothing but a blanket slung around his hips.
“You okay?” Honey asked. But she was grinning in a knowing way.
“Uh, yeah,” Addy grinned back. “I’m okay.”
“So you guys are doing this for real?”
“Yeah,” Addy said, her eyes on the bathroom door, and her mind on the man behind it. “We are.”
“Good,” Honey said. “You’re going to need him. You guys are perfect for each other.”
“I think so too,” Addy agreed.
“There are clothes for you in that bag,” Honey said.
“Awesome,” Addy said. “I pretty much ruined my Floatillion gown.”
“Dang,” Honey teased. “What are you going to wear if you get invited to another Floatillion?”
Addy laughed as she pulled on some underwear, a pair of shorts and an old Maxwell’s t-shirt.
Then she slipped her phone out of her bag.
There were two missed calls from her mom.
And one text message.
Mom:
Addy, check your email.
She opened her email, fingers almost shaking.
Oh Addy,
I know you’re good at reading between the lines and you surely knew what I meant when I put that message in your birthday card, but I was worried anyway because I’m your mother.
I know you and I don’t talk about your dating life, but your dad and I wanted you to go to Maxwell’s every year, not just to let your hair down, but to meet people. We met each other at Maxwell’s when we were about your age.
I love you so much, Addy. And though it’s not the way I expected to find out you’ve met someone, it made me so happy when Carol Emery sent me a link to the video that’s going around of you with your young man. I hope I’ll get to meet him the next time I visit you.
With a young man like that, I won’t have to worry that your life lacks adventure!
Sorry to put this in an email, but I didn’t want you to see missed calls and get worried. Love you, Doc!
Love,
Mom
Addy stared at the screen, amazed.
She was deeply relieved to know that her mom was happy for her. Suddenly the message in the birthday card meant something far different…
May this year be filled with success of EVERY kind!
But what could she possibly mean about seeing Addy in a video?
“Everything okay?” asked Honey.
There was another knock on the door.
“Wow, we’re popular,” Addy said, going to answer it.
Remington stepped out of the bathroom just as she opened the door to the hall.
Kitt, Indiana and Nikki came inside.
“We have a problem,” Nikki said, closing the door behind her.
They all sat on the big bed.
“Someone didn’t evacuate last night,” Nikki said.
“Okay,” Addy said.
“Instead, they stuck around and made a video with their phone,” Nikki continued.
“Oh no,” Addy breathed.
Remington covered her hand with his. “What does this mean?”
“They took a video of you going into the water to stop the gas line,” Nikki said. “And they kept it running until you finally came out of the water again- more than twenty minutes later.”
There was silence.
“And naturally they put it online. And with you being a big hunky guy and all,” Nikki said, “it didn’t take long for the general public to start throwing around the Aerie angle.”
“No,” Honey moaned. “I promised Posey I would keep you hidden.”
“He saved lives, Honey,” Addy said sharply. “Surely Posey wouldn’t have wanted everyone on this place to explode just to keep him hidden.”
“You’re right,” Honey said.
“Here’s what we all need to know,” Nikki said. “The press is about to descend on this place. The public is about to descend on this place. Maxwell’s resort has just gone from a family vacation spot to the center of a media circus. And we all need to be prepared.”
There was another knock on the door.
Addy answered it.
She was surprised to see the founder of Maxwell’s, Mr. Abrams, on the other side.
He ran a hand through his white hair and sighed.
“Addy, may I come in?”
“Of course, Mr. Abrams,” she said immediately. “We were just getting ready to clear out of here. I hope you didn’t need the room for a guest.”
He shook his head and pulled out the single chair from the corner.
“May I?”
“Of course,” Addy said.
“I opened this place when I was a young man,” Abrams said with a smile. “And I love it like it was a child.”
Addy nodded, she knew he did. She loved it that way too.
“You and your friends saved my home yesterday, Adelaide,” he said. “Twice.”
“It was our pleasure,” she replied, relieved that they weren’t in trouble.
“Now I understand this young man is in a bit of a pickle,” he said. “You’re someplace you’re not supposed to be. Is that right, son?”
The three men glanced at each other.
“Yes, sir,” Remington said. “That’s correct.”
“Well, you’ve helped me, so I’m going to help you,” Mr. Abrams said. “The guest roster to this resort is officially closed. Anyone who wasn’t already booked isn’t getting in. We will allow no press on the grounds. Guests will be asked not to use their cell phones to make pictures or videos. We will do all we can to help you lay low until you sort this out.”
“Thank you, Mr. Abrams,” Addy breathed.
“Meanwhile, I think my nephew Jonah may be of some help to you,” Mr. Abrams continued. “He’s a big fellow and good looking. He’s coming in tonight and will be reporting for duty on the wait staff tomorrow. He knows he’s here to help you throw ‘em off track. Make good use of him. He’s a good boy - theater major, so he can do whatever you need him to do.”
He was going to make his nephew pretend to be an alien.
“Thank you, Mr. Abrams,” Addy said, overwhelmed. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything, my dear,” Mr. Abrams said, his voice a little choked. “The important thing is that you knew what to do when things went sideways. So I’m not about to let you down when you need help. We’ll distract the press until they lose interest and then you can figure out what to do afterward.
“Now, don’t go anywhere too quick. I’ll have ‘em send a good breakfast up. But once you go back to work this afternoon, you’ll have to pretend things are the same as they were before, or our little ruse won’t work. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Remington said, standing and shaking the older man’s hand. “Thank you.”
Abrams smiled warmly, and then let himself out.
“Okay,” Addy said. “Okay.”
She found herself unable to say anything more.
Remington knelt before her.
“It really is okay, Addy,” he said
. “We’re a good team. We can do this.”
She looked around at her friends, all those smiling faces of the people she loved and trusted, and suddenly she saw their predicament for what it really was.
This unexpected turn of events wasn’t a tragedy.
It was an adventure.
And with Remington and her friends by her side, Addy figured she could get pretty good at adventuring.
***
Thanks for reading Remington!
Keep reading for a sample of the next Stargazer Alien Mail Order Brides book: Indiana.
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Indiana (Sample)
Nikki
Nikki Fortune felt out of place, even among her best friends.
Right now the six of them - three women and three men - were sitting cross-legged on a king-sized bed in one of the nicest rooms at Maxwell’s family resort.
Addy and Remington were pretty much canoodling. Kitt and Honey looked like they wanted to be.
And Nikki and Indiana sat next to each other, a tense, six-inch buffer of air sizzling between them.
Indiana was tall, dark and as handsome as they came, with a mischievous personality and a laid-back energy that made him completely irresistible. The hunky alien leaned back on his elbow, looking sexy as hell.
And Nikki sat beside him - stiff as a paper doll.
She pulled one of her corkscrew curls straight and then let it go in a habitual gesture she really should have shaken when she was in her teens.
It was Sunday morning. Now more than ever, she was forced to remember that she wasn’t part of this group - not really.
Nikki was an imposter.
And sooner or later the shit would hit the fan.
Which meant that although she might find herself liking these people, really liking them - she knew better than to let herself be fooled into thinking they would care about her when they found out what she really was.
“I can’t believe what Mr. Abrams just said to you,” Honey said to Addy.
“I can’t believe we’re getting breakfast in bed,” Addy replied, licking her lips.
