My Alien Roommate

by Tracy Lauren

  We all look up at the hovering marvel.

  “Anything could happen up there. I’m not letting her go alone,” Sarah asserts.

  “Well, I’m not letting you go alone!” Brad tells her.

  “We all go,” Dorran says. Something on the bottom of the ship opens up and Sarah, Brad, and I all gasp.

  “Are we about to get beamed up?” Sarah asks, her voice filled with trepidation.

  “What is beamed up?” Dorran asks.

  “You know, when you disappear in one spot and appear in another,” Brad offers, still looking up.

  A rope ladder drops down from the ship and Dorran catches the end of it with a severe frown on his face as he looks at us humans.

  “This is your first lesson in interstellar technology,” he tells us. “Never, under any circumstances, allow your molecules to be reorganized. Do you understand?”

  We all nod. And then we’re climbing up a rope ladder into a spaceship.

  Chapter 28

  Dorran

  The second I board Niro’s ship I interface with the computer and get us the fuck out of atmosphere. Damned fool, Niro. He could go to prison for such an offense.

  I grab Carly’s hand, who holds Sarah’s hand, who in turn holds Brad’s hand and in one long chain we make our way to the bridge.

  Brad and Sarah look at the surroundings with awe and perhaps a bit of terror. But Carly, she watches me—scrutinizing my expression to ensure that all is well. “Everything is fine,” I assure. She gives me a tight smile and a nod.

  “So you’re getting married to an alien?” Sarah whispers.

  “That’s a big chunk of why I didn’t call you,” Carly admits. “You’d have thought I’d lost my mind.”

  “You really should have told me,” Sarah insists in a hissed whisper.

  “Seriously? So you and my parents could have me committed?”

  “I take offense to that. I trust you; you can tell me anything.”

  “You all know now,” I cut in. “And I am happy for it, perhaps you’ll be amendable to joining us for our wedding ceremony on my home world now that you’re aware of my origins?”

  “When are you getting married?” Sarah asks.

  Carly looks to me for the answer and it is hard to fight my grin. I have found my mate and before long she and I will be—

  “The only wedding that will be happening will be between you and my daughter!” Niro bellows.

  Niro is the same age as my father and as tall as any Kuytu Tetrani, but he is far leaner than most. And now, in this erratic state, he appears even more gaunt and the dark circles beneath his eyes speak to how crazed he’s allowed himself to become over this whole affair. At this point, any demands he thinks he might make upon me hold no weight at all. Not only have I found my own mate on my sacred Kasal Panaw, but he has broken more laws than I can count.

  “What is he talking about?” Sarah demands angrily, defensive of her best friend.

  Carly winces. “I’ve got some more explaining to do,” she admits.

  “What are you even doing here, Niro?”

  “Regor returned to home world with news that you found your mate!”

  “What’s your point?”

  “It has been only a few short days since you embarked on your journey, Dorran! I am no fool. Whatever the agreement is that you have with these humans is a farce you’ve concocted so you will not have to marry Tereza. You bring disgrace to my family!”

  “You bring disgrace to your family. Why do you try to force your daughter into the arms of someone she will never love? Or try to undermine the bond I have with my mate? Continue with this, Niro, and you will be ruined.”

  “You cannot ruin me! I have the most successful mines in our solar system! I will end my contract with your company, Dorran, how about that? How about I ruin you?”

  Carly gasps.

  “Who will protect these uncivilized planets, if not you? All your satellite relays will go to waste without my product!” Niro continues erratically.

  “What you are suggesting is criminal, Niro. You could be jailed for speaking in such a way. I beg you to think of your family before you go on. Think of Tereza.”

  “I am thinking of Tereza! And I will not allow you to continue with this farce!” He gestures wildly at Carly.

  “It’s not a farce!” Carly shouts.

  “You do not even know one another!” Niro insists.

  Carly looks at me. “I know all I need to. I love Dorran and we’re getting married.”

  “If this bond is so real, let’s conduct the ceremony now!” Niro shouts, sounding practically unhinged.

  I shake my head, unimpressed.

  “We can go now if that’s what it takes to prove it,” Carly offers, her chin held high.

  I stop her with a raised hand. “It takes weeks to travel from this world to mine, and then weeks to return. You will miss your call for the interview.”

  “Oh…” Carly’s brow furrows and she falls silent.

  I’m ready to tell Niro to fuck off and alert the authorities to his presence here, but I’m stopped short by Carly. “I’ll do it,” she says—partially dumbfounded and partially astounded by her own words.

  “It is not necessary,” I tell her.

  “I love you, Dorran…and I think I just realized exactly how much.”

  “Can’t help but notice you look surprised,” I point out, chuckling.

  “I…I am surprised. My whole life, Dorran, I’ve had these priorities. I’ve always gauged everything against them. If something got in the way, I’d cut it loose. When it came down to Shawn or my career, the answer was easy. But if I had to choose between you and…and well, literally anything else? I pick you, Dorran. I’ve never been more drawn to anyone in my entire life. In the past few days, no one has ever treated me with such unconditional and enthusiastic love and I just can’t think of anything else in the world—or the galaxy, for that matter—that’s more important than that, than the way you make me feel. So yeah, if being with you means I have to miss my interview, then I will. Because you aren’t marrying anyone but me.”

  I pull Carly close. “You are beautiful, you know that, right?” I whisper to her, so that only she can hear.

  “Are you going to kiss me now?” My mate’s words are breathless and her expression flushed from her heartfelt speech. I couldn’t keep from kissing her if I tried. Our lips crash together and our connection is powerful—magnetic even. Thousands of light years could not keep Carly and me from finding each other, and Niro certainly won’t be able to stop us from marrying.

  “Are we going to Dorran’s planet?” Sarah asks, her voice shaky.

  “Absolutely not,” I answer. “Carly has an important call that she’s waiting for and regardless of what Niro wants, he can’t have it.” I turn to my family’s old business partner. “Go back to our worlds, Niro, before my kindness runs dry and I notify the authorities of your actions. And hells, maybe I should make that call—then your mines would be seized and we wouldn’t need to do business with a conniving old thing like you ever again.”

  And with that, Niro spins on his heel, huffing and his cheeks deep purple with rage. But he knows how gravely he’s overstepped his bounds here. And how much trouble he could be in for his actions today. I look around the bridge at his crew, who appear equally wary of their captain.

  “I’ll set coordinates,” I tell them. “Then you have my official orders to deliver Niro back to our sun system.”

  “So, we’re going home?” Sarah asks.

  I turn back to my mate and her friends. “We could.”

  They look nervous, but stare at me expectantly.

  “Or…we could go to a tropical island so I could propose to Carly.”

  “Like in the Caribbean?”

  I bring up a star map on the view screen. “I was thinking of something in this region. A quick retreat? No one would even notice we were gone? If you’re all game?”

  Carly’s grinning and so I
have my answer.

  “Let’s go get my ship.”

  Epilogue

  Carly

  “Let’s have our bachelorette parties here,” Sarah says, reclining in the blue sand. She’s got a neon pink cocktail in her hand. Mine’s orange.

  “Let’s do everything here. Forever.”

  The sky above us has two suns and a frozen asteroid belt that decorates the sky. There’s hot springs along the mountains and shallow crystalline pools all over the beach. In the distance I can see Brad and Dorran trying their hand at something like water skiing—or the alien version of it at least.

  “Should we be out there?” I wonder.

  “They’re bonding. It’s good for them,” Sarah says, waving away my concern.

  I grin. “True.” I like the idea of Brad and Dorran becoming close. Makes us all that much more like family.

  “Besides,” Sarah tells me, “we need girl time. To recover from all your lies…” she teases.

  I gasp, but my best friend is laughing. “You’re still mad, aren’t you?”

  She scoffs and gestures at the alien resort we’ve been staying at. “Like I could be mad after this? I get it. I don’t know what I would have thought if you’d have told me all this over the phone.”

  “You’d have thought I was nuts.”

  “It is still a little nuts. I mean, you just met this guy.”

  I shrug. “Yet I know exactly how I feel.”

  “It’s cool. It’s crazy, but it’s cool.” She slips her sunglasses back down over her eyes and digs her toes a little deeper into the warmth of the otherworldly sand. Sarah lets out a sigh that I mirror. “Definitely doing bachelorette parties here. Ooo…and I just realized. You’re having a destination wedding!”

  “Yeah, I guess I am.” I look down at my ring. Dorran did propose on a tropical island. On a tropical planet. In a solar system seven light years from Earth, with my best friend and her fiancé looking on. I said yes (obviously). Then he put this beautiful gem on my finger. It isn’t a diamond. It’s something from Dorran’s world and it’s just as purple as his eyes, which makes it all the more precious to me.

  A few days later we returned to Earth, and I was utterly terrified. I expected men in black to be waiting at the apartment. But as it turned out only Mrs. Doherty and four teenage stoners saw Niro’s ship. No one believed the stoners, and Mrs. Doherty didn’t dare say a word about it. But she did seem overly enthusiastic when Dorran and I moved out a few months later.

  We bought a historical Spanish-style home near the middle school after my job became official and we live there throughout the school year. But teachers have plenty of breaks and all of ours are spent in space.

  I never imagined a life so sweet. I live in the place I love most in the world and have the career of my dreams. But the most important thing is that I’ve got Dorran by my side. A partner who cherishes and values me deeply. Who’s stood by me without question. And whether we’re on Earth or in space, each day I find myself falling more in love with the alien at my side. It’s funny how everything can change in an instant…and how everything can fall so perfectly into place. Almost like it was fate.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you all for reading My Alien Roommate! This was a different type of story for me, a little science fiction with a little contemporary mixed in. I’d been hungry for something alien, but light—without the dire, trauma-inducing abduction or an invasion, but still plenty of cultural misunderstandings and sexy alien anatomy. I don’t know if anyone else is ever searching for such a thing, but if you were, I hope I delivered.

  Next up, I’m delving into demons with a full-length novel—Demon Realm. I’m really excited about this one, guys. It’s been floating in my head for a while and now that I’m done with My Alien Roommate I’m in the mood for dire again. I’m working on publishing more quickly too, so I can get around to finishing The Hunting Series and adding more Android books to the mix. There’s so much I want to do, let’s hope 2020 is the year for it all.

  To my readers, thank you for continuing to follow me on my writing journey, I hope you enjoyed this book. Deepest gratitude to Aquila Editing, cover artist Maria Spada, my lovely friend Kate Botting, and all the other wonderful people in the science fiction romance community. I love you guys, for real. And a very special shout out to Stevie Lynn Bullock who crafted some beautiful fan art for me! So honored by her stunning depiction of Ash and Ellyn. And don’t forget, reviews make the world go ‘round!

  Also by Tracy Lauren

  The Perished Woods

  Tamed by the Troll

  Enthralling the Orc

  The Alien Series

  Alien Instinct

  Alien Bride

  Alien Ascension

  Alien Gift: A Christmas Novella

  Alien Bond

  Alien Surrender

  The Hunting Series

  Hunting Faith

  Hunting Purity

  Stand Alone (for now…)

  In the Arms of an Android

  The Frog Prince: Cosmic Fairy Tales