Alien's Reluctant Bride: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Mail Order Human Book 3) (2 page)

“Ally, I assure you it is very real. Your application was accepted by Mail Order Human a long time ago. I’ve made arrangements for the
Starship Matchmaker
to pick you up this evening. I’ll guide you to the coordinates myself, just outside the village.”

The world spun around her for a moment, and it wasn’t until the Elder tugged on her arm that she snapped back to reality. She packed a bag, filling it with her most important belongings. Old photos and mementos that had belonged to her mother. Her father’s pipe and the family Bible. Her prettiest dresses, after Aiden mentioned her mate’s planet was warm.

Her mate! An alien. On another freaking planet.

She swallowed hard and kept packing, cramming her bag full until it was almost too heavy to carry. She donned her cloak, then slipped the bag on her back and turned to the Elder.

He gave her a weary smile. “Your father arranged this a long time ago, dear, when you were still a child. He wanted to make sure you never fell victim to the Hanz gang. He knew a former government official who helped create Mail Order Human. While most girls leaving Earth don’t know anything about their prospective mates and certainly don’t have any contact with them prior to leaving Earth, your father was able to correspond with the alien you have been promised to.”

“Promised to? You mean I was going no matter what, even if my father didn’t die?” She was stunned. She had thought her father hadn’t made a match for her in the village yet because he wished to keep her at home longer.

“You have been betrothed to an alien named Naad from the planet New Protemeda since your eleventh birthday. Had your father not died, you would have been sent to New Protemeda on your twenty-first birthday. Had your father died when you were yet a child, you would have been sent to New Protemeda and fostered by one of your mate’s relatives until you came of age.” The Elder smiled. “Your father loved you very much, dear, and he only wanted what’s best for you.”

Ally didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay in the village and in this house. Of course, the latter was an impossibility, but perhaps there was an option she hadn’t seen yet. She considered all the available men around and peered into Aiden’s gaze.

“What about Greg? Or Scott? Or Brett? If you helped me, if you talked to their parents, we could be married by tomorrow night and I wouldn’t have to leave the village. Or I could go live with Heath’s parents. They said I was welcome.” Tears burned in her eyes. “I don’t want to leave Earth and become the mate of an alien I’ve never met. I won’t do it. I won’t.” She had started packing at Aiden’s urging because she feared the Hanz men might burst through the door at any moment, but now that she had a chance to catch her breath, she doubted they would harass her just yet. The period of mourning lasted thirty days and despite how terrible the gang was, they respected the traditions surrounding death, which explained why they hadn’t taken ownership of her house yet.

“Ally, don’t be difficult. Your father made a good match for you with Naad.”

“I don’t think so.” She ran a hand through her hair, pushing the hood of her cloak back at the same time. “He’s an alien! I can’t marry an alien. He could have two heads and six arms, for all I know.
Some match
.”

“I assure you the Protemeians are a race similar to humans. Now, come. We must hurry.”

Ally shook her head and planted her feet wide. “No. This is a mistake. I won’t go.” Her lower lip trembled as she looked around her bedroom. Her gaze landed on the blue afghan folded over a chair in the far corner. She’d learned to crochet while helping her mother make that very afghan one year before the bombing.

“Ally…”

“I can’t leave Earth. There must be another way.” She tossed her packed bag on the bed and glared at him.

The Elder gave her an impatient look before spraying a cool, floral scented mist in her face. “I’m sorry, my dear,” he said as she slipped into darkness.

Chapter Two

His human had arrived. Finally. After years of anticipation.

Naad watched as the
Starship Matchmaker
landed on the platform, stirring the leaves of the trees in the surrounding forest. The wind whipped in his face before the spaceship powered down and a large hatch opened. A tall alien clad in black emerged alongside a human girl with long, wavy dark hair.

His heart raced faster as they proceeded in his direction.

All his life, his father had talked about what a fine bride a human girl would make, insisting Naad would be lucky to possess a female he could mate
and
conceive a child with, since many of their kind grew old without ever experiencing such good fortune.

Naad had come of age long before the girl, and waiting for her had driven him mad at times. He’d spent many a night wide awake, sweltering with need for a feminine presence, and cursing his father for matching him with a girl too young to yet leave Earth.

He studied his human, appreciating her dark, flowing hair and blue eyes that sparkled with intelligence. Though two heads shorter than him, she appeared tall for a human and deliciously curvy with full, enticing breasts. She wore a tattered dress and carried no belongings. He found this curious, but not as curious as her look of absolute fright. He’d assumed she would be happy to escape her violent home planet, even if it did mean marrying a stranger.

She met his eyes, then spun around and took two quick steps toward the forest. The tall alien grabbed her arm and jerked her back to his side.

Naad’s nostrils flared and his blood heated. He stalked the rest of the way to his bride and glared at her alien handler, keeping his stance wide as if preparing to fight. With an exacerbated grunt, the alien released her and headed back to the
Starship Matchmaker.

The hatch closed behind the alien with a sharp vibration, and moments later the ship powered up and ascended to the sky. Ally’s mouth fell open as she watched the
Starship Matchmaker’s
departure, her hair blowing about her face until it disappeared high above the clouds.

Naad waited for her to look at him again. Once their eyes met, he smiled down at her and started to introduce himself when she once again took off for the forest.

Dark stars, what was wrong with her?

He dashed after her and easily caught her, lifting her in his arms before tossing her protesting form over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” She kicked her legs and pounded her fists on his back, and he resisted the urge to swat her bottom.

The landing site rested in a secluded area a long walk from his settlement on the mountain. It was early morning and they wouldn’t reach his home until nightfall. He had declined the use of a hovercraft to travel home more quickly, wanting instead to savor the journey while he became better acquainted with his new bride.

Of course, they would never make it home if she didn’t cease her antics. For a human female, Ally possessed a fierce strength.

“Enough!” he snapped.

She stilled.

“I am Naad, your mate. I have waited many moons to meet you, Ally.”

“Put me down.
Please
.”

“Are you going to try running away again?”

She blew out a sharp breath and didn’t respond.

Naad chuckled and patted her backside, which was pointed nicely in the air. His cock went hard and he thrilled at the scent of her womanliness. She smelled like flowers and rain and something else he wanted to bury his face in. When he finally got her home…

He quickened his stride, cursing his idea to forgo the hovercraft.

“I didn’t want this,” she said from over his shoulder. “Please, you must understand. One of the Elders from my village drugged me, and then I woke up aboard a spaceship bound for this planet. Can you blame me for running?”

Naad paused and gently placed Ally down on her feet. He gazed into her eyes and then looked her up and down for injuries. When he saw none, he let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. If someone had harmed her, he would tear them to shreds with his claws. As it was, if he ever got his hands on the Elder who’d drugged her, the man wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.

“Ally, has your father gone to the world beyond?”

She gulped and nodded, a mist of tears forming in her eyes. She blinked rapidly and the sheen of moisture disappeared.

“I am sorry for your loss, little human. Did your father not tell you of our betrothal? You were promised to me when you were a child.”

“My father told me nothing. Until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even think aliens existed. I thought aliens and Mail Order Human was a ridiculous story.” She sighed. “I can’t…I can’t believe my father never told me.”

“Ally, I communicated with your father several times. He seemed like a good man and I could tell he cared about you very much. Before he committed to the betrothal, he vetted me thoroughly. I assure you that your father has approved of our match.”

“Do you have these correspondences?”

“Of course, they are saved on the computers in my cave.”

“You live
in a cave
?”

“It’s a
formidable
cave.” He resisted the urge to glower at her. It
was
a formidable cave, well-furnished with running water and larger than most of the caves his people inhabited.

She glanced at the mountain. “Are we going up there?”

“Yes.”

“Is it cold? On the mountain?”

“It’s almost as warm up there as it is down here. Do you not like the cold, Ally?”

“No, I don’t like the cold at all. I’m glad it’s warm, and er, I’m sure your cave is very…formidable.” Her countenance turned repentant. “Look, I’m not trying to be rude and I realize my father did arrange this, but I arrived here completely against my will.”

He peered down at her and stroked a lock of hair behind her ear. Her breath caught, and to his delight she didn’t cringe at his touch, even as she noticed the sharp tips of his claws. In fact, the air around them seemed to electrify. He leaned forward to get a clearer view of her pretty blue eyes. She remained still, allowing him to study her for a long, drawn out moment.

“Ally, your father told me you would’ve had an arranged marriage in your village, had he not signed you up for Mail Order Human.”

“Yes, but that was in
my
village,” she said softly. “
On Earth
. And I knew all the men who lived there. I wouldn’t have been given to a total stranger.”

“On my world, we always marry a stranger. Our ancestral planet was destroyed long before my birth, and only the male Protemeians aboard the
Starship Fhaabha
survived. We have since settled this planet and we procure our females from elsewhere. Usually we kidnap them, but Mail Order Human has provided us with a more legal and less risky method of obtaining females. You are the tenth human to arrive and you will be welcomed.” He grinned. “Be thankful you’re not the first human. That poor girl arrived before our translators did. She went many moons without being able to talk to her mate before he got an implant that allowed him to communicate with her in her language.”

“Look, I’m sorry about your ancestral planet being destroyed. I get that you need more females on this planet, but I’m determined to return home, so you might as well save yourself the trouble I plan to cause you and arrange for my passage back to Earth.”

“Ally, I am sorry you were taken against your will, but you are here now and under my protection. Even if I could arrange for your passage back to Earth, I wouldn’t do it. You are on this planet to stay, Ally, and
you’re mine
.”

* * *

Holy freaking hell, Naad was a stud. She had never seen a man so gorgeous. He was tall with bulging muscles, yet his movements were graceful and mesmerizing. She sensed he was walking slower than he was accustomed to on her account, which she appreciated. She also appreciated him allowing her to walk on her own two feet. She hadn’t enjoyed her time over his shoulder.

Well, except she had.

He’d caught her during her escape attempt and oh so dominantly tossed her over his shoulder, then started heading for home as if she weighed nothing and her kicks and screams didn’t faze him.

She felt a tad embarrassed about how she’d acted now. But still, even after weeks aboard the
Starship Matchmaker
, her anger over the Elder drugging her and sending her to New Protemeda hadn’t diminished, and she’d taken some of that anger out on Naad.

Had her father instructed Aiden to make sure she left Earth no matter what? Had her father sanctioned the use of force? She didn’t want to think about it, so she gazed at the rocky mountains ahead.

A cave. Naad lived in a cave. When she’d pictured her life on New Protemeda, she hadn’t thought she would be living in a cave. She had assumed it would be a technologically advanced planet with weird, fancy alien houses. She had imagined flying crafts zipping through the sky too, but so far it looked like they were the only two people around. She saw no evidence of houses or other aliens. Only a vast, green planet.

She cast a sidelong glance at her husband-to-be. He walked beside her, guiding her through the underbrush in the forest with his hand pressed firmly to the small of her back. His touch sent goosebumps all over her, and she found she couldn’t stop flushing.

Logically, she realized she couldn’t return to Earth, nor could she run off into the woods and hide from Naad. He was too fast, and she’d acted foolishly earlier. Though New Protemeda appeared similar to Earth with its greenery and brilliant blue sky, going it alone in an alien forest, especially at night, would’ve been ten kinds of stupid. In the village, they’d had to watch out for wolves, and she shuddered to think what kind of exotic predators lived on this planet. She instinctively moved closer to Naad, until her hip brushed against his side.

God, he smelled divine. Like he’d rolled around in fresh pine needles before sprinkling cinnamon all over his naked body. Her face heated at the ridiculous image of him doing just that, and she pressed her lips together in an effort to hide her smile.

“Something funny?”

She met his dark, dreamy eyes and fumbled. “Uh, no, not really.” Her cheeks flushed hotter.

“Your father told me much about you, Ally, but I realize you know little about me. Would it ease your mind if I told you more about myself and my people?”

“Yes, please.” She really did want to know more about him and his way of life.

His face softened and he moved his hand to settle on her waist, forcing her to walk even closer to him. Not that she minded.
Mmm
. Pine and cinnamon. Sweat and masculinity. How could he scare her and make her feel safe at the same time? All her nerve endings tingled, alternating hot and cold. She had never felt more flustered and on edge.

“My great-great-grandfather was second in command aboard the
Starship Fhaabha
when our home world, Protemeda, was destroyed by a solar storm so intense it penetrated our planet’s atmosphere and set off chain reactions in our power supply. Everyone on Protemeda perished. Most of our men and all of our women and children, gone in the matter of two days.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“My people, the fifty-nine men who were aboard the
Starship Fhaabha
settled here on New Protemeda to restart our civilization. We are now one thousand strong, and most of us live in the caves on the Lerruna Mountain,” he said, nodding at the rocky expanse in the distance. Now that they’d traveled closer, she could see some green atop the mountain, and at least it didn’t look gloomy or cloud covered. The sun beamed down upon even the highest peaks.

“We live simply and only use technology when we must. We will never repeat the mistakes of our ancestors.”

“What about you? Tell me about you and your family, Naad,” she said, using his name for the first time and liking the feel of it on her lips.

“I am a scout leader, like my father. My job is to seek out new worlds and new methods of procuring women. I help locate planets with compatible women, or
almost
compatible women, and we go on raids to take them. I organize the raids, and when I’m not doing that I’m hunting, working to keep our settlement safe, and teaching hand-to-hand combat.”

Ally tried to pull away from Naad, but he tightened his hold on her.

“This shocks you, doesn’t it? The fact that we have kidnapped most of our women?”

“Yes, you could say that.” It made them no better than the Hanz gang. What would life on the Mountain of Doom be like? Did the women live as second class citizens? Were they treated as slaves? She couldn’t speak for the rest of Earth, but in her particular village women hadn’t been treated well. Her hopes that New Protemeda would be different faded.

“You won’t escape me, Ally. I’ve waited for you for a long time, and now that I have you, I won’t let you go anywhere. Do you have any idea how much gold my family paid for you?”