Alien Romance: Alien Heart (Scifi Paranormal Alien Abduction Invasion Cyborg Romance) (New Adult Mystery Adventure Shifter Warrior Short Stories) (69 page)

Chapter 9

After we had breakfast, or brunch really, Roderick led me back into the throne room. There was a gathering of about twenty people or so, all finely dressed. In front of Roderick’s throne was a man standing next to a table, with a crown placed on a pillow.

“This is your crowning ceremony. All you have to do is repeat what the officiant says and let him put the crown on your head,” Roderick spoke to me quietly as we passed by the people standing below the raised thrones, and where the officiator stood. I took a deep breath and nodded.

Roderick walked me up to the man so that I was facing him and then he surprised me by leaning in and kissing my cheek, before he went to sit on the throne.

As soon as the official started speaking I zoned out again and ran on autopilot. I put my hand on a golden ball when instructed and repeated the words when prompted. All I could think about was the people standing in the court watching me. I didn’t know the first thing about being a queen; the queen of an entire planet no less. I was still coming to terms with the fact that I had been sort of abducted and ended up married to Roderick, but to be a queen of an alien planet? I hardly knew the first thing about Avant. Until I woke up, I hadn’t known the planet even existed!

Once the crown was placed on my head, the court clapped and celebrated. Roderick stepped off his throne, and with a smile he slid his hand into mine and squeezed it most gently. His gentleness with me sent my heart rocketing in my chest. I smiled up at him and he watched my face intently.

“What now?” I asked him.

“We have a feast with the court so they can be introduced to you,” he said, and then he called the room to order. “Let us all travel to the banquet hall,” he said warmly.

He slid my hand up to rest around his bicep and walked out of the hall, and everyone followed behind.

“Where are your parent’s Roderick?” I asked him out of curiosity. There had to be a king and queen who ruled before he was crowned, but I haven’t seen them, nor has he spoken of them.

“They took a small departure to the Southlands…a vacation of sorts. They will return tomorrow,” Roderick said. He looked as if he had more to say, but didn’t.

When we all reached the formal dining hall, Roderick led me to the head table and pulled out my chair. Next to me sat a very beautiful woman and across from me was a man, who Roderick was trying to ignore, though he smiled every so often.

“My Queen. We have not been formally introduced. I am Kaden, your husband’s good friend.” I smiled politely at him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kaden,” I said and he inclined his head.

“You are rumored to be mystical, my lady. No one believed King Roderick would find a wife,” the woman next to me spoke up and introduced herself as Annalisa.

“Why is that?” I asked curiously, as I glanced at Roderick who rolled his eyes.

“Don’t listen to them,” he said. Annalisa lowered her head to drop the subject, but I was curious.

“I want to know. Don’t listen to
him
,” I told Annalise. She looked up at me with a shocked and shy smile.

“Well. If it wouldn’t insult the king too much. It was common knowledge that he is…” She paused. Looked up at Roderick, who was scowling. She bent her head as a blush rose on her cheeks. Kaden snorted.

He continued speaking. “Even that, my Queen, is an understatement. It’s a wonder how he is so agreeable with you.” I watched Roderick’s scowling face drop, almost in shock at his friend’s blunt statement. I couldn’t help but laugh. All the people within earshot of our small conversation looked at me in surprise. I was laughing at the king of the entire planet after all. I felt I had some liberties as his wife.

“That is strange. He has been nothing but kind to me,” I said. Kaden stared at Roderick with such shock, I had to take them seriously.
Was Roderick a mean guy?
“You seemed so shocked to think that your king can be kind.” He shrugged, almost shyly.

“Of course the Court and the people respect Roderick. He has proven himself to be more than a worthy leader, many times over. His attitude is just less than agreeable, more than half of the time,” Kaden said. Roderick sighed.

“This line of conversation is exceptionally boring,” he said. I let it go. I reached for my glass of wine.

Chapter 10

The dinner with the court lasted forever and I realized why they had dinner so early. I had to meet pretty much every member and have some sort of conversation with them so that they’d know I’m a normal person. Roderick and I were walking back to our wing of the palace and I was freezing.

“How is it that you barely feel the cold?” I asked him and he looked down at me in slight alarm and then took his vest off to wrap around my shoulders. It was as warm as a furnace. My eyes went to his perfect torso and I tried not to make it obvious that I was staring.

“I told you before, thicker skin,” he said, with a grin.

“Ah, right. How come it was so important I talk to everyone tonight?” I asked him. Roderick practically dragged me around the table to talk to each member of the court.

“Because soon they will return to their regions of the planet and talk about meeting their new queen. They will tell anyone who asks about how sweet and refreshing you are to be around,” he said and I fell silent. I was more surprised to hear him being nice to me again after he was pretty stoic at the dinner for the most part.

“How come you do that? You’re nice to me in private, but in public you’re like…I don’t know, a brick wall?” I asked him. He snorted and looked down at me in confusion.

“You would compare me to a wall?” he asked. I laughed at him.

“It’s an expression for unyielding,” I said. He nodded as if that was a good thing.

“As King and ruler, I should be.” I shook my head. Roderick’s expression began to look frustrated.

“You should be strong, but having good relationships with people who are more than scared of you, seems like a good advantage when ruling. I’m not saying you should be friends with everyone, but you could be pleasant,” I said.

“I see what you are saying,” he said slowly, and I nodded and gave him an encouraging smile. “Do you wish to retire now?” he asked me as we reached the family quarters. I nodded. He took my hand and led me upstairs to the bedroom…
our
bedroom.

All day I had been trying to convince myself that everything was real and trying to force myself to get used to it. I wasn’t sure if it was working entirely. When we stepped into the room, my eyes went past the fireplace and little reading area to the bed. I hadn’t noticed the roof was domed over the bed. There was a skylight. It was tinted but you could see through it at night.

“Hey…uh, after we…ah…after we got married, what happened exactly?” I asked Roderick. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge.

“Nothing. You were changed and left to rest. We did not consummate the marriage while you were…unconscious,” he said. I breathed a small sigh of relief. “I would want the moment to be mutual between us,” Roderick stood up and walked over to me. My heart sped up as he got near me. He slid his hand over my shoulder and pushed my hair off, baring my skin to him. He leaned in and gently kissed my shoulder. I shivered at the warmth and contact. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to have sex with Roderick yet. He was gorgeous, unbelievably so, and kind when it came to me, but he was still a stranger.

“Um…” Roderick’s hands slid to my waist and he drew me back against his warm chest. His lips brushed my neck and jaw and goosebumps spread across my skin. “You—you’re right about things being mutual, and…” One of his hands slid from my waist to my stomach and started to slide lower. “I don’t think I’m ready to…uh…consummate it just yet.” I managed to finally get the words out, even if a bit breathlessly, and Roderick stopped immediately.

“You aren’t ready?” he asked me, his voice carrying a tinge of surprise and disappointment.

“No, I feel like…I mean we don’t even know each other,” I said. Roderick sighed softly before he stepped away from me.

“I understand…so what would you like to
know
about me?” he asked and sat down on the chaise in front of the fireplace. I really didn’t know where to begin with the questions I had.

Chapter 11

We stayed up late that night, talking about everything I could think of to talk about. Roderick wasn’t a bad guy at all, he just wasn’t exactly a people person. We were lying on the bed staring up through the skylight as night turned to day. I felt a lot better about being married to Roderick, but I was still unsure about the whole ‘queen’ thing.

“How do you expect a city girl from Earth to be queen of an entire planet Roderick?” I asked him, and turned my head to look at him, again I found him already gazing at me. His golden eyes were bright and his shoulder-length blonde hair was loose from its usual style and strewn against on the bed.

“Well it is simple. You will learn about Avant and its people and traditions. I will, of course, help you. The queen is basically the head of the court. The court oversees their own individual regions of the planet. And I
rule
over the planet and the regions. Your duty is also to oversee the court families’ relationships with each other and with us, the royal family. Ensure the relationships with each region remain cordial and no discord is had. It is our duty to stay on top of any possible issues and avert any conflict. You do this by throwing parties, having banquets, inviting members of the court to the palace, even arranging visits for us to another region.” he explained. It sort of made sense.

“A woman like you, who counsels people about their relationships and works with families experiencing difficulties should find your new role not all that difficult to transition into.” he added. I snorted and stared at him.

“Uh, this is a much…
much
grander scale, with more at stake,” I said. Roderick waved his hand dismissively.

“I know you can do it, like I said, I will help you.” Roderick sat up and I watched him as he ran his fingers through his hair and searched the bed for his hair tie or as he called it, his ‘leather tie.’

“Why don’t you leave it out, I like it that way,” I said. Roderick stopped and looked at me as he considered it.

“You prefer my hair loose like this?” I nodded and then giggled, whenever he weighed something I said in his mind, he always asked me the most obvious question to verify my meaning. “Well it will certainly make my mother happy. She sent word yesterday that she is eager to have a sit down with you,” he informed me. I lifted my eyebrows and sat up.

“Really? Well…what is she like? Will she like me?” Roderick smiled, a true genuine smile, which was extremely rare and it made his face that much more beautiful.

“My mother is wonderful and I think she will grow to be quite fond of you…” Roderick looked at me sincerely, but I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. The moment passed and he glanced at the corridor that led to the bathroom and closet. “We should get ready for the day,” he said. He rolled out of bed and walked off toward the corridor.

After a moment, I got up and followed him back there. He was in the closet choosing something to wear, the handmaidens were nowhere to be found so I took the opportunity to take a bath in peace. I took off all the jewelry I wore, I had taken off the crown during the night, and slipped out of my shoes and dress. I stepped forward and lowered into the tub. It was really huge and it seemed to always be on. I could see a current, though not a really fast one, in the clear water.

“Do you mind if I join?” My head whipped around at the sound of Roderick’s voice and before I could answer him, he walked across the marble floor to pick out one of the array of soaps on display against the wall. He was wearing nothing but a towel around his hips and looked at me expectantly.

“Uh…I don’t know…” I answered honestly. He smiled at me as he let the towel drop and walked towards the tub. I was speechless. He had a beautiful, athletic build and he was…
hung
. I could only imagine how big he would be when aroused.

“You shouldn’t look at me like that,” he murmured, as he stepped into the tub. He sat down a little bit away from me, but his eyes were devouring my body through the water without shame.

“Same goes for you,” I said and splashed water at him. Roderick smirked at me deviously and then swooshed a handful of water at me. I squealed and he laughed at me as if I were the funniest thing on Earth…or Avant. I launched myself at him, to dunk his head under water but Roderick grabbed me around the waist and pulled me under with him.

We both surfaced closer than before and Roderick had an excited glint in his eyes, like a little kid who wanted to play. Then we both realized that his arm was still around gripped around my waist and my breasts were pressed against his chest.

He leaned his head towards mine and pressed his lips softly against mine. It was like a fire was sent coursing through my veins. I gasped, because I had never felt anything like it. Of course I had kissed men before, but there was never this heated reaction.

Roderick tightened his grip around my waist and pulled me flush against his body. He opened his mouth and slid his tongue into my mouth and I swirled my tongue around his tongue. He groaned against my mouth. Our kiss deepened. I was pushing slightly against his body and realized he was hard, and his erection was pressed into my stomach. I pulled away, looked down and blushed profusely. I lifted myself away from his body.

“We should…hurry up,” I said and Roderick nodded, though I saw disappointment in his eyes again and he even pouted a little.