“Don’t blame Darcy. I thought this would be a good surprise.”
Nikol’s daughters hovered anxiously on the other side of the room where they’d pretended to read and lounge on pillows. He should have known. Now that they were older, they never desired to spend time in his and Darcy’s presence when they could be running free throughout the palace.
His oldest, Miriam, twitched in excitement on her seat atop a plump red cushion. Obviously, she knew what this was about. His Miriam couldn’t hold a secret to save her life but it was that brief look which brought recognition.
Aside from Miriam’s bright red hair and curved horns, this woman could have been her twin albeit a bit older. “Shiloh?”
She launched herself into his arms and hugged him. The embrace was as tight as the one he’d received from Shaya Alonson twenty years ago.
Shiloh eased back from him and held up a silver chain about her neck. On it was the ring he’d given Shaya, which would have guaranteed her safe passage anywhere on Marenia. “Papan was unsure if I should visit but since Marenia joined the Alliance three years ago, Maman convinced him it would be fine. Please say I can stay these next few days. I’ve wanted to meet you forever.”
Marenia had become a part of the Alliance once Nikol divested himself of the last few criminal enterprises under their family name. He’d thought nothing of it.
Until now. He turned to Darcy and kissed her with feverish passion. Her arms came around his neck and she tasted as sweet as he remembered the first time their paths crossed.
He pulled back slightly and stared into her blue eyes. “You always know how to surprise me.”
“Because I love you,” she chirped.
He rubbed his horn against her cheek. “Not as much as I love you.”
Author’s Note
And they live happily ever after. The end. LOL. Also bonus epilogue because I can. ROFL. I can’t believe we’ve come to the end of the series. I can’t believe I gave Nikol a HEA. I can’t believe readers wanted him to have one.
So many impossible thoughts. It was never in the plans for Nikol to have a story when I first came up with his character though I always knew he was the one who left Torkel on Enotia as a baby and why. It’s weird how author brain works.
This was bittersweet but so much fun to write and I gave a sigh of pleasure when I finished because I knew I’d given Nikol the best story I could make for him.
But don’t worry, I will have more stories of action, adventure and love for you all. The project I’m currently working on is a hard to describe stand alone romance. Think of it as an apocalyptic action story set on future Earth with some alien influence thrown in. It’s exciting and different from what I usually write. Do the scroll, swipe, page turning thing to see an unedited excerpt.
Also, please leave a review for Nikol wherever you purchase your books and as always, happy reading.
Michelle H.
(Unedited excerpt upcoming romance)
2279
The flashing lights and alarms sounded discordantly and filled the pilot cabin. Dima hit the switch and checked his navigational dashboard. He was far from his home planet and according to his readings, the power cells didn’t have enough energy to perform a jump that would get him close enough to another space station for a rescue.
Fear prodded at his belly but Dima shoved it back and hit the intergalactic comm to contact the one being who had always been there for him and given words of wisdom when he was in trouble.
The call connected immediately. The voice that came over the line was harsh and cold. “Venik Azuk.”
A sense of calm fell over Dima. “Brother, it is me.”
The tone shifted to one of concern, losing all vestige of formality. “Why are you masking you comm code, Dima?”
Dima cleared his throat and admitted, “I’m not on Czeji-9.”
There was a hum on the line as silence prevailed. When next his brother spoke there was a thread of anger in his tone. “Why not?”
Dima offered a weak chuckle. “There was a woman...”
Venik snorted. “There is always a woman, Dima, spare me the story. Where are you?”
More alarms blared and the ship jolted. Dima held tight to the navi-bar and realized he not only wasn’t going to make it to a viable pick up point, he was going to crash on this strange planet.
“Dima! Dima, what’s going on?”
Dima silenced the alarms but his ship continued to rattle and rumble as he broke through the atmosphere. His entry speed was faster than it was supposed to be and nothing he did slowed the vessel.
“Dima, answer me,” the demand was uttered calmly.
Dima took a deep breath to ease his own climbing terror. “Something happened to my ship when I exited hyper drive. There must have been a miscalculation and I’m too far from any stations in Tribek.”
“Where exactly are you?” Venik asked.
Dima felt a spurt of hope. Older by fifty senims, his brother always managed to pull him from one scrape after another. It was the reason their parents had tasked Venik with keeping an eye on Dima. They knew he worshipped the former war hero.
“I’m sending coordinates, Ven.” Dima keyed in his location and sent the message to his brother’s secure line.
“I have it.”
The ship jerked again and the scent of burned material filled the cockpit. Dut! His vessel was on fire. “I’m going to crash, Venni.”
Dima used the childhood nickname as his fear returned.
“Yes, it seems like you are,” Ven agreed.
The ship’s lurching motion settled and smoothed out. He was still heading in too fast but it was a much more controlled descent. What had changed? Dima glanced down and noticed the faint blue glow coming off the instrument panel. He laughed weakly. His brother had claimed remote access of his ship. Dima dropped his hands to his lap and sighed.
He was never going to be as great as his brother. Joining the space force hadn’t given him his brother’s military bearing and none of Venik’s wisdom had rubbed off from following him around as a youngling. Wishing he was half the man Venik was meant wasteful dreaming. “I’m sorry, Ven.”
“Do not apologize. I will attempt to mitigate the damage but you are not out of danger yet. The planet you will land on is primitive at best and has had no contact with other life forms according to galactic records. There is no way of telling what your reception will be.”
Dima read the information Venik sent across the display. Earth, terrestrial planet with intelligent humanoid beings, breathable atmosphere and an extensive water mass across a large portion of it.
“I’ll be careful.”
“You will hide until I am able to reach you,” Venik stated bluntly. “Use the survival training I taught you and wait for me, Dima. Don’t try to initiate contact with these primitives.”
The scolding tone made Dima sit up straighter. “I won’t mess up, Ven.”
About the Author
USA Best Selling Author, Michelle Howard lives in a happy fantasy world where she writes sci-fi and paranormal based romances. Love stories have been a staple in her life since she discovered some of her favorite romance novels by classic authors like Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood and Johanna Lindsey.
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Books by Michelle
Warlords
* Honor Bound (Warlord Series 1)
* The Overlord’s Heir (Warlord Series 2)
* A King’s Revenge (Warlord Series 3)
* Rise of the Shadow Warriors (Warlord Series 4)
* A Warlord’s Heart (Warlord Series 5)
* Unexpected Bride (Warlord Series 6)
* Unleashing a Warrior (Books 1-3 Warlord Series)
Alpha Squad
* Project Genesis (Alpha Squad)
Harmony
* No Reason to Run (A Harmony Novel)
Sci-Fi Romance
* Mating Urge (Love in the Stars 1)
* Love Like No Other (Love in the Stars 2)
* Wired For Love (Wired #1)
* The Unexpected Bonding Vow (Assassins Guild 1)
A World Beyond
* Torkel’s Chosen (A World Beyond 1)
* Arak’s Love (A World Beyond 2)
* Lindsey’s Rescue (A World Beyond 3)
* Kyele’s Passion (A World Beyond 4)
* Rydak’s Fall (A World Beyond 5)
* Jaron’s Promise (A World Beyond 6)
* V’hor’s Nestmate (A World Beyond 7)
* Stolen Moments (A World Beyond 8)
* Bane’s Heart (A World Beyond 9)
* Nikol’s Surrender (A World Beyond 10)
Paranormal
* Djinn Lover (Magical Lovers book 1)
* Wicked Lover (Magical Lovers book 2)
A Novel of the Dracol
* Rylin’s Fire (A Novel of the Dracol 1)
* Relentless Fire (A Novel of the Dracol 2)
* Frost Fire (A Novel of the Dracol 3)
* Secret Fire-TBD (A Novel of the Dracol 4)
Nikol's Surrender (A World Beyond, #10) Page 28
