Protected: Alien Mate Index Book 2: (Alien Warrior BBW Paranormal Science fiction Romance) (The Alien Mate Index) (49 page)

BOOK: Protected: Alien Mate Index Book 2: (Alien Warrior BBW Paranormal Science fiction Romance) (The Alien Mate Index)
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“Leah?” my mom called. “I’m home—I had to go back for milk but I…oh my goodness! Gerald is that you? Why are you naked?”

Grav and I had forgotten all about my ex and now I saw that he had been busy while we were exploring our new bond.

Having finished signing the divorce papers, he had apparently crept away from the table and towards the front door. He’d been just about to ease it open and make a run for it when my mother walked in and confronted her former son-in-law in all his naked splendor.

The sight of Gerald in the altogether was distracting, which was probably why my mom noticed him first, instead of the seven-foot-tall blue alien warrior whose lap I was currently occupying.

“He abducted her,” Gerald babbled, trying to get around my mom, who had her arms full of groceries. “He took her away to outer space because he’s an alien—an
alien.
And then he made me divorce her but it’s not my fault…
Do you hear me? It’s not my fault!”
he screamed in my mom’s face.

“Gracious, Gerald!” She took a step back, dropping her groceries.

That was all the opening Gerald needed. He hopped out the door and ran down the street butt naked, babbling about aliens.

“We have to get him back!” Grav exclaimed, jumping up. “I’m not done with that fucker yet!”

“Don’t worry—someone else will deal with him,” I said, peering out the front door. Already I could see Mrs. Kowalski, my mom’s elderly next door neighbor, out on her front porch with her phone in one hand. She would be calling the police no doubt, to report the crazy nudist running through my mom’s quiet retirement neighborhood.

And speaking of my mom, she was bent down picking up her spilled groceries.

“Go to the living room and sit down on the couch,”
I sent to Grav through our new mental link.
“I want you to meet my mom but you’ll scare her to death if we’re not careful.”

He nodded.
“Got it.”

“Oh, and Grav? No cursing!”

He nodded again.
“Yes Ma’am. I’ll keep my dirty language strictly to my fuckin’ self.”

That made me laugh and I knelt down to help my mom get the spilled groceries.

“Leah,” she said as she finished stacking cans in one of her favorite reusable bags. “What in the
world
was that all about? I thought you broke up with Gerald.”

“I did,” I told her. “But, well…I found somebody else. Somebody I think you’re going to like a lot more—once you get to know him. And he’s here now.”

“Well, anyone you care for, I want to get to know,” she said, smiling at me. “Where is he?”

“In the living room,” I told her. “Here, Mom—let me get the groceries so you don’t drop them again.”

“I only dropped them because I was so
surprised
,” she objected.

“Like I said—let me carry them.”

“No, I’ll get them! I’m not an old lady yet!” she exclaimed with asperity.

I shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Then led her into the living room where Grav was sitting in all his blue, horned glory on the couch. “Mom, meet Grav. He’s going to be your new son-in-law.”

“Hi there.” Grav smiled at her.

“Good gracious!” said my mom and dropped the groceries again.

 
The End…or is it?
(Ha—just kidding. Of course it’s not. Keep reading…)
Epilogue

 

“So your mom got used to Grav?” Zoe asked, grinning at me over a plate full of Girls’ Night snacks.

“She more than got used to him—she
loves
him.” I took another bite of
hudu
cake, which I had specifically requested this time. Zoe and I were back on Eloim catching up and I couldn’t have been happier about the way that things had worked out.

“Even though he’s an alien?” Zoe asked, taking a bite of cake herself.

“Even though,” I agreed. “You know my mom has always been very open minded. And she’s also a good judge of character—she never liked Gerald either. So once she got over the shock of finding out that there
is
alien life out there and that I had fallen in love with an alien, she was fine with Grav as long as he promised to treat me right. Which he swore up and down he would do—honestly, he charmed her socks off.”

I grinned, remembering how well my mom and Grav had hit it off. She didn’t even mind it when he slipped and threw in a swear word from time to time. It was amazing how charming he could be when he put his mind to it.

Zoe frowned. “What about Gerald, though? I would have thought that Grav would break his arms at least.”

“He wanted to,” I said grimly. “But I talked him out of chasing him down the street in broad daylight. It didn’t matter though—Gerald got what he deserved.”

“He did? How so?” She took a sip of bubble wine—a pale blue one this time that tasted faintly of melons and some kind of berries and cinnamon—and raised an eyebrow at me.

“Well, Grav had taken his clothes because he didn’t have anything else to wear. So when Gerald escaped, he was nude.” I giggled. “My mom’s neighbor, Mrs. Kowalski called the police and reported a naked man running down the street. I heard later that when they caught up to him, he was babbling about a big blue alien from outer space who stole his clothes.”

“Oh my!” Zoe giggled. “So what happened?”

“Last I heard he lost his job and he was, uh,
under observation
at a psychiatric care facility,” I said, taking a sip of wine myself. “It seems like some people can handle the idea of aliens and some…well…” I shrugged. “They just can’t. And I think Gerald was one of those.”

“Serves him right after the way he treated you,” Zoe said, frowning. “So now you guys are going to settle here on Eloim with me? You are, aren’t you? Please say you are!”

“That’s what Grav wants,” I said. “In fact, he’s negotiating right now with the ruler of Thonolax with that goal in mind.”

“What?” Zoe shook her head. “I don’t understand—why would he need the ruler of Thonolax’s permission for you guys to stay here on Eloim?”

“Because he wants Teeny to stay with us.” I took another sip of wine and smiled. “We’ve gotten really close since we found her on Chndra—almost like a little family. And Grav wants to keep her with him to keep her safe—at least until she’s old enough to rule Thonolax herself. So he’s negotiating with her grandfather to bring her back to Eloim and keep her here until she’s of age.”

“Oh, that would be just
perfect!”
Zoe clapped her hands in excitement, nearly spilling her wine. “She can use Selah’s old tutors—they’re still here, you know, on the palace staff even though Selah has gone away to get a higher degree. And she can hang out with us and we can have so much fun!”

I smiled. “That’s what we’re hoping. Grav already talked to Sarden about it and he agreed to make Teeny a ward of the planet. And Teeny wants to come live with us so badly she was almost crying when I hugged her goodbye. All we need is her grandfather’s permission. But since Grav had consistently proved that he’s the only one who can keep her safe, I don’t think it will be a problem.”

“I bet they’ll be back in no time,” Zoe said confidently. She sighed. “The only thing that could make it more perfect would be if Charlotte was here.”

“I know,” I said frowning. “But when I finally got her on the phone again, she would hardly talk to me. I wanted to go see her but she said she’s really busy with her medical rotation and asked me to stay away.”

“But I thought you told me before that she might be in danger,” Zoe objected. “That makes me worried!”

“Grav and I were worried too, but he made contact with Captain Verrai—the head of the Imperial Guards I told you about, remember? The one who thinks Charlotte is supposed to be the next Empress?”

“Yes—so what did he say?” Zoe asked eagerly.

“That he was watching over her and not to worry,” I said.

“Watching
over
her? What does that mean? Has he even talked to her yet?” Zoe demanded.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. But by that time we had taken so long to get Teeny back to her grandfather, we couldn’t stay. Grav was only able to justify coming back to Eloim to drop me off because he needed a part for his hopper. That’s why he got it fixed and took off again with Teeny so quickly.”

“And you really think that Charlotte is safe?” Zoe sounded concerned. “I mean, I’m concerned about her! Especially after what happened with the other Imperial Guards.”

“What other Imperial Guards?” I asked, frowning. “You mean the ones that were with Captain Verrai?”

“Yes—didn’t you hear? Sarden just told me this morning. They were
supposed
to take Count Doloroso’s ship back to Femme 1, which is also known as Ma
jor
ah Prime, and turn it in to the proper authorities. But they never arrived.”

“What?” I felt a cold chill go down my spine. “Are you sure about that?”

“Sure as I can be.” Zoe shrugged uneasily. “There’s no ship and no warriors and nobody can find them. They’re just…gone.”

“That’s awful!” I put my arms around myself, trying to stop the sudden rush of goose bumps that rippled over me.

“Yeah, it’s not good, that’s for sure.” Zoe sighed. “So
that’s
why I’m so worried about Charlotte. I mean, aside from the assassination attempts by people who don’t want her on the throne, we also have to worry about the Creepy Count coming after her. And we don’t even know what he looks like this time.”

“Well, Captain Verrai will be looking out for her,” I said comfortingly. “And the Commercians are watching too, through the AMI. I think she’ll be okay.”

“I just wish we could contact her—but it’s so hard to get a reliable signal this far away!”

“Who knows,” I said. “Maybe the next time we’ll see her will be at her coronation.”

“Wouldn’t that be
amazing?”
Zoe grinned. “From your lips to the Goddess’ ears.”

“So you believe in her now—the Goddess of Mercy, I mean?” I asked curiously. “Because I thought you weren’t religious. Not like me, anyway.”

“Oh, like when your mean grandma used to take you to that Hellfire and Brimstone church and smack your hand if she thought your manners weren’t good enough?” Zoe grinned. “No, it’s nothing like that. But I
do
think this whole big universe is just too vast and varied and amazing to be just some
accident.
You know? And I’ve seen things…when it seems like nothing is going right and then, somehow, things just fall into place. There has to be a divine hand at work in all that.”

“I agree,” I said thoughtfully. “And I know that Grav believes—he’s certain that the Goddess put us together and helped us seal our bond.”

“Well, maybe he’s right,” Zoe said, smiling. “You know, Sarden told me that the Ma
jor
ans believe that their Empress is the physical incarnation of the Goddess of Mercy herself? That’s why she’s called the Goddess Empress.”

“Wow—can you imagine someone trying to convince Charlotte that she’s a
Goddess?”
I giggled.

“I know—right?” Zoe laughed. “Practical, down-to-Earth Charlotte. She would never buy that. I tell you what, I don’t know this Captain Verrai of the Imperial Guards, but he’s certainly got his work cut out for him.”

“You’re right about that.” I pictured Charlotte in my mind with her honey-blonde curls pulled up in a no-nonsense pony tail and her sharp green eyes, always scanning every situation for problems and solutions.

“You know she told me once that she stopped believing in Santa when she was only
four?”
Zoe said. “I mean, can you
imagine?”

“That’s Charlotte, all right,” I remarked. “She always says that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is.” I frowned. “Come to think of it, I hope I didn’t upset her by using the Commercians to contact her back when I first left Earth. That was probably a pretty big pill for her to swallow.”

“Why?” Zoe asked. “She’s got a scientific mind. You know all the experts have said there is probably extraterrestrial life out there.” She winked at me. “They just didn’t say it would be so
sexy.”

“Zoe!” I said, exasperated. “Do you have to brag on your sex life when my man is out of town? Or in this case, off the planet?”

“Sorry.” She grinned unrepentantly. “It’s just
really
good with Sarden. But the point is, Charlotte should be fine.”

I sighed. “Well, I know the Commercians certainly charged us for contacting her—they made Grav pay through the nose! So they must have made her understand. I just hope we’ll get a chance to go back and talk to her in person soon.”

“We will—or
you
will anyway. I’ve still got the Star to think of.” She patted her head gently where the pink and purple jewel winked in her slender crown.

“I have to get Teeny settled in here first,” I said. “I want to do right by her. I felt so bad about how things ended with Taggard—the little boy I was helping in Virginia. I was able to contact his dads before I left and say goodbye to all of them but I got the feeling that they still missed me.”

“Of course they missed you—you’re amazing.” Zoe leaned over to give me a hug. “An amazing friend and you’re going to make an amazing mom for Teeny. And for any babies of your own that you and Grav decide to have.”

“Oh, my—I think it’s a little early to think about that, don’t you?” I said, frowning. “Right now I’m just thinking about Charlotte.”

Zoe smiled. “You trust this Captain Verrai, right?”

I thought of his serious eyes and his vow to protect Charlotte and nodded.

“Yes. Yes, I do. I think he’ll do anything it takes to keep her safe.”

“Well then…Charlotte has a good protector. So she’ll be okay.”

“I hope so,” I said, feeling a twinge of unease. “From your lips, to the Goddess of Mercy’s ears,” I added, repeating Zoe’s words back to her.

“Exactly.” She laughed and hugged me again. “Cheer up, hon—everything is going to be just fine.”

But even as I hugged her back, I wasn’t sure. Wasn’t sure at all…

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