Protected: Alien Mate Index Book 2: (Alien Warrior BBW Paranormal Science fiction Romance) (The Alien Mate Index) (40 page)

“You did
try
to get in touch with us,” I said, letting her off the hook—a little, anyway. “Those crystal cube thingies were neat.”

“They are, aren’t they?” She grinned at me. They’re pretty amazing. I wonder if Charlotte ever got hers.”

“I doubt it,” I said grimly. “Since it got left in my house along with Gerald—that asshole.”

Zoe looked surprised at first but then a smile spread over her face.

“Good for you,” she said, nodding. “I never liked him—he’s a controlling jerk.”

“A controlling,
abusive
jerk,” I said.

“He
hit
you?” Zoe exclaimed indignantly. “When did
that
start?”

“After you left and I finally let him talk me into getting married,” I admitted. “He was crazy-jealous. He seemed to think I was after every man I saw—which is ridiculous.”

“Of course it is!” Zoe made a
tsking
sound and shook her head. “Sounds like you need to keep away from him. Maybe find somebody else—like Grav?” She looked at me hopefully.

“I’d love to,” I said quietly. “Only he doesn’t want me.”

“What? Why not?” she demanded, her temper flaring.

“I was hoping
you
could tell me,” I said pointedly. “You were just about to tell me all about Braxians when you suggested we should sit down and get comfy.”

“Oh right—the deal with Braxians.” She frowned. “Well, according to Sarden, they’re extremely honorable people although all the rest of the Twelve Peoples are scared of them. Because of their “berserker tendencies”—whatever that means.”

“I think it means they tend to go crazy in a, uh, combat situation,” I said, thinking of Grav’s description of his father’s death. “Grav told me it means they have a ‘point of no return’ in battle—and in love too.”

“Hmm…interesting.” She nodded. “So they’re apt to go crazy and not stop until it’s too late.”

“Exactly. So the other Twelve Peoples are afraid of them,” I said. “Which makes sense.”

“Yes—especially if they’re all built like Grav.” Zoe shifted restlessly in the beanbag and clapped her hands. “Al? Al, are you there?”

A bright golden creature that looked like a metallic dragonfly came whirring into the room and landed on Zoe’s silk-covered shoulder.

“Good day, Lady Zoe,” it said in an oh-so-proper voice that sounded like a character straight out of Downton Abbey. “What may I do for you?”

“I’d like an assortment of local delicacies and some pink bubble wine sent in,” Zoe told it, as though it was no big deal to order hors d’Oeuvres from a dragonfly.

“Of course, my Lady—at once!” the dragonfly exclaimed.

“What are you doing?” I asked blankly as it buzzed away.

“We need snacks. This is the first Girls’ Night we’ve had in ages—I can’t gossip properly without something to nibble on! Besides, you
have
to try the
hudu
cake—it’s amazing.”

In short order a maid came bearing a tray of sweet and savory snacks and a blue glass bottle of wine with two long-stemmed glasses. I wasn’t sure about the food but after days and days of Braxian cuisine—which really didn’t improve with long acquaintance—I was ready to try anything.

There were pink crackers with some kind of gray paste on them that tasted surprisingly like the spray cheese you get from a can with just a hint of shrimp thrown in. I know that sounds weird but it tasted really good. There were also little brittle, sugary balls filled with a sweet, slightly alcoholic tasting syrup that melted on your tongue, flooding your mouth with their delicate flavor. And Zoe’s favorite—the
hudu
cake—was made up of what looked like fifty different wafer-thin layers in every shade of the rainbow, and covered with a blue frosting which tasted inexplicably like kiwi, mango, and strawberries all jumbled together and dipped in dark chocolate.

“Isn’t it yummy?” Zoe asked as I reached for a second piece and sipped some of the bubble wine—which really
did
form a bubble in your mouth and then burst refreshingly before you swallowed it.

“It’s amazing,” I said. “Much better than live hermit crabs you have to crack with a hammer and eat while they’re still wiggling.”

“Ugh!” She made a face. “Where did you eat
that?”

“I didn’t,” I said. “But it’s Braxian cuisine. I think I’ve tried everything in Grav’s stores and none of it is much good. Still…” I sighed. “I didn’t mind so much. It was nice just…
being
with him.”

“Mm-hmm. So, tell me…” Zoe put down her wine glass and leaned forward to look at me intently. “How long have you been in love with Grav?”

“What?” I nearly choked on my latest bite of
hudu
cake. I swallowed with some difficulty and looked at her. “What do you mean? You think I love him just because I asked about his culture and said I don’t mind his weird food?”

“Yes and don’t act like you don’t.” Zoe shook her finger at me. “You can’t lie to me—you know I can always tell. Because you’re a
terrible
liar.”

“All right.” I sighed. “You’re right—I’m in pretty deep. But like I said, he doesn’t return my feelings. Or he
does
but he doesn’t think he should—at least, I
think
that’s the problem.”

“What?” Zoe frowned and picked up another pink cracker with gray paste. “Go back. Let’s unpack this a little. Now, what do you mean he returns your feelings but doesn’t think he should?”

I told her everything, up to and including Grav’s confessions at the hands of the Widow—the first where he confessed that he loved me and the second when he said he wasn’t good enough for me because of his past—because he’d killed his father.

“So he really murdered his own father?” Zoe asked in an awed voice. “I mean, I knew he had a dark past but my God—not
that
dark!”

“It’s pretty grim, all right,” I admitted. “But he did it for a good reason—he was trying to save his mother. I don’t blame him for what he did.”

“So tell him you feel that way,” Zoe urged me.

“I
did,”
I said. “It didn’t make any difference. He said he’s still a murderer and a bad person and I shouldn’t get mixed up with him.”

“Hmm…so you already talked to him and he still won’t see reason?” Zoe frowned. “That
is
a problem.”

“Well you’ve known him longer than me,” I pointed out. “Can’t you give me some advice on how to change his mind?”

Zoe made a face. “Unfortunately, Sarden told me Braxians are really stubborn too. So…I don’t really know what to tell you.”

“It’s just…he makes me
feel.”
I took another sip of bubble wine and let it burst in my mouth before going on. “I never told you or Charlotte this, Zoe,” I said, looking down at my hands. “But, well, I never actually
felt
anything, sexually I mean, when we were back on Earth. Not with Gerald or anyone else. It was like that part of me was dead…or asleep. But when I left Earth with Grav, well…he made me
feel.
In fact, I felt so much for a while I thought I was going to go
crazy
.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zoe asked. She frowned. “You know, now that I think about it, I never felt much either. I mean, I always just thought it was because I was with the wrong guys. Especially Scott—what a loser
that
guy was. I don’t know why I stayed with him so long.”

“I never liked him either,” I said. “He wasn’t mean like Gerald—just lazy.”

Zoe made a face. “Lazy is bad enough. I mean, pick your underwear up off the floor once in a while!”

I spread my hands. “And now you live in a palace and have maids and servants to pick up your man’s underwear, right?”

“Wrong.” She grinned. “Sarden doesn’t wear underwear most of the time. Says it just gets in the way of us getting busy.”

“Zoe!” I slapped at her arm and she giggled.

“The point is, I never felt a whole lot until I left Earth either. But when I got with Sarden I couldn’t
stop
feeling for him—even when I didn’t want to. When I was mad at him or telling myself we shouldn’t be together or
couldn’t
be together.”

“Why did you think you couldn’t be together?” I asked curiously.

“Well, to start with because he wanted to trade me to get his sister back from this awful mud-monster-gangster guy. And then later, when he realized that was wrong and apologized, I was pretty convinced we couldn’t be together because Sarden said we wouldn’t be able to form a bond.”

“That’s what Grav keeps saying too,” I exclaimed. “He says that since he’s a half-breed, he won’t be able to bond me to him properly—whatever that means.”

“A bond means you have a permanent link to your man. Like right now, I can close my eyes and tell you how Sarden is feeling. And if I tune in really hard, I can tell you
why
he’s feeling that way and sometimes I even catch his thoughts.”

“Wow…” I looked at her uncertainly. “And he has the same link to you? That seems…kind of invasive.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Zoe smiled serenely. “But it’s not—it’s wonderful. You’re always in tune with each other and it makes the sex just
unbelievable.”

I sighed. “I wouldn’t know about that. Grav and I have, uh, done some things but we haven’t actually…you know.”

“Made the beast with two backs? Well you need to get after that because
that’s
how you bond. At least, that’s how Sarden and I bonded.”

“Really? But Grav says we can’t bond because he’s a hybrid—half Vorn and half Braxian.”

“Sarden is half Vorn and half Eloim,” Zoe said promptly. “We didn’t have any trouble bonding. Sarden thinks it’s because I have such pure DNA—from being from a closed planet. Or maybe it has something to do with me being a
La-ti-zal.”

“Grav says I’m one too,” I said. “I, uh, healed him and someone else too—the little girl we have with us, Teeny.”

“Oh, she’s adorable—I wish we could keep her here on Eloim.” Zoe sighed. “But that’s
amazing
, Leah—you must be a Healer. I’m an Opener.” She frowned. “I wonder what Charlotte is?”

“You think she’s a
La-ti-zal
too?”

“I know she is,” Zoe said seriously. “Both of you are and, well, it’s kind of my fault.”

“What? How?” I frowned.

“Well, as far as I can figure out, any Earth girl has the
potential
to become a
La-ti-zal.”
Zoe sounded thoughtful. “Because our DNA from the Ancient Ones is so pure. But then something happens to trigger it—like a tragedy in your past.”

“Your sister!” I said, putting a hand to my mouth. Zoe’s sister had drowned when she was just a little girl and it had affected her deeply.

“Exactly.” She nodded. “And then when one person is a
La-ti-zal
her friends can kind of
catch
it from her. I think you and Charlotte caught it from me.”

“How?” I asked blankly.

“Actually, the same way you catch a sickness. You know—sharing food and drinks and that kind of thing.” Zoe shrugged. “Weird, huh?”

“It sure is.” I frowned. “Who knew you could catch special powers as easily as catching the common cold?”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s
that
easy…but it might be.” Zoe shrugged. “The whole thing is still kind of a mystery to me. All I know is when I left Earth’s atmosphere, I was suddenly able to open and unlock things I shouldn’t have been able to. That seems to be the trigger—leaving Earth. As long as you’re in its atmosphere you’re normal. But the minute you get into space…bam!” She snapped her fingers. “You’re special.”

“Well, that would certainly explain why that awful Count Doloroso was after me and Charlotte,” I remarked.

“And I am
so
sorry about that.” Zoe looked genuinely remorseful. “We thought Grav had killed him but I had a bad feeling he would come back somehow.”

“He did,’ I said grimly. “He came back in another body—an Earth body this time. He paid the Commercians to get one for him. But you’ll never guess which one he picked.”

“Who? Who?” Zoe leaned forward eagerly, her bubble wine forgotten. “Is it somebody I know? Somebody famous?”

“More like
infamous
,” I said. I told her and her eyes got so wide they looked like they would swallow her face.

“No.” She shook her head. “I mean, you’ve
got
to be kidding, right?”

“Nope.” I shook my head solemnly. “It’s absolutely true and it was
awful.”

“Hmm.” She looked thoughtful. “You know, I always
thought
that guy looked like an alien.”

“I know, right?” I exclaimed. “That’s what I said too! Anyway, Doloroso’s dead again—this time for good.”

“Grav took care of him again?” she asked hopefully.

“Actually, this time he sort of took care of himself. Remember that story Charlotte told us about the guy in the ER who overdosed on Viagra and got that hard-on that wouldn’t go down?”

“Oh my God…” Zoe grabbed my arm. “You have to tell me
everything.”

We talked long into the night since it was the only one we had before Grav had to take Teeny back to her home planet. Zoe wanted me to stay with her for a longer visit but I had several reasons for going.

“I need to get things settled at home,” I said when she begged me again to stay. “I need to divorce Gerald for one thing and explain to my employers what happened to me. Well—I need to make up a good excuse anyway—obviously I’m not going to tell them I was abducted by aliens.”

Zoe giggled. “Not unless you want to sound crazy. It’s amazing, isn’t it, that all this…” She waved her hands around, almost spilling her wine, “Is out here and yet people on Earth don’t know about any of it? They’d try to have you committed if you started telling your story when actually
they’re
the delusional ones!”

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” I said. “I don’t know if Earth is ready to know about the big, bad universe just yet.”

“Well, some of them are finding out,” she said darkly. “The girls getting taken by the Alien Mate Index, anyway. Sarden is planning to petition the Goddess Empress to stop the Commercians from abducting Earth girls but he says that even if the Commercians get booted out, someone else will take their place. Now that we have a big hole in our ozone layer, the Earth is fair game.”