Mari's Mistake: A SciFi Alien Romance (Icehome Book 11)

by Ruby Dixon

  It's freaking adorable. I chuckle, pulling him against me with a sigh. "You're cute for an alien, you know that?"

  "M'rsl," he murmurs, and strokes my hair.

  I close my eyes, staying with him as he rolls onto his side. I'm a little tired, but I'm pretty sure we're going to have sex again. And again. So for now, I'll catch a little shut-eye. I'm drifting off to sleep when I realize I'm still purring. My cootie hasn't stopped yet. That's okay, too. I'm down for a few more rounds.

  With a pleased sigh, I snuggle closer.

  His chest shakes. I crack an eye open, and realize the ground is shaking, too. Everything is shaking.

  Another fucking earthquake.

  Just like that, my good mood disappears. We both tense and he holds me close until the shaking stops, and then the world is silent again. "We have to get off this island," I whisper. "Soon. There's going to be a big one and it's going to be ugly." An idea occurs to me and I tap his chest. “Where is the mainland? It has to be close, right? Maybe a day or two away? Can we go there?”

  He watches me, but it’s clear he doesn’t follow what I’m saying.

  I gesture out in the direction of the water, and mention my name. “I want to go there. There’s got to be land out there, and I know it’s probably ice cold but it’s better than staying here. Can we leave?”

  Vague comprehension crosses his face and T’chai just tugs me closer, stroking my hair and making shushing noises. He probably thinks I’m just panicking.

  Maybe I am.

  There has to be something we can do, though…but what?

  Everyone’s in a bitchy, tense mood the next morning.

  I should have guessed something was up when T’chai practically hauled me into his arms and shepherded me toward the clifftop caves. We’d been poking around with fishing…well, sort of. Mostly we’d been flirting on the beach, unable to keep our hands off of one another. The other guys gave us some disgusted looks and headed to the far end of the shore to give us some privacy—or so they wouldn’t have to be around our kissing.

  Suited me just fine.

  S’bren caught a fish, though, and immediately jogged over to share it. That started a fight with T’chai and S’bren, with both of them gesturing at me and me feeling guilty, like I’d done something wrong. I think S’bren was just being nice, and T’chai seems…surly this morning.

  No, not surly. Possessive, I realize. It has something to do with the fact that we’re still resonating fiercely, and I suspect we’re going to need several more rounds of matings before my cootie calms down.

  Not that this is a problem. Just thinking about it makes me all hot and bothered.

  But then R’jaal comes running, and T’chai snags me, and the next thing I know, we’re spending far too long in one of the stuffy, covered caves, and I have no idea what is going on.

  A voice calls out, loud and strong. I frown in surprise, looking at the others crowded into the cave with me. R’jaal is here. M’tok is here. S’bren is here…so who’s calling?

  Are there…enemies? I tremble, clinging to T’chai’s hand. Are we in danger?

  Then…I hear a familiar, female voice chime in. “MARISOL! WHERE ARE YOU?”

  “LAUREN,” I cry, thrilled to my core. She’s alive! “IS THAT YOU?”

  T’chai steps forward, as if to block me from leaving the cave. With a happy laugh, I push right on past him. He doesn’t realize that Lauren is my friend. I bolt out of the cave and look around. Beyond the huts, there’s a pair standing near the tree line, and I recognize the brunette woman, even if she’s wearing nothing but leaves.

  “Yes! It’s me!” Lauren bellows, and races forward even as I rush to meet her.

  I stumble through the sand, filled with happiness as I fling my arms around Lauren. “Oh my god,” I squeal, my voice high-pitched with excitement. I don’t care. I’m too happy to see her. “It’s you! I didn’t know what happened with you!”

  “You either! I woke up and you were gone!” She bounces a little, squeezing me into another hug, and it’s such a relief to see another human face, especially that of my friend. “I’m so relieved.”

  “Me too.” I hug her again and while I’m naked, it seems that Lauren’s been making herself leafy clothing. She’s wearing what looks like a short grass skirt and a leaf mat of some kind over her top. It doesn’t cover much, but I can relate. Clothing is clothing…though I don’t feel the urge to cover up. Now that S’bren and the others have gotten past their initial round of staring, being naked around them doesn’t bother me. It’s just skin and it’s so warm here that you don’t really need clothes. “I wasn’t sure if you were okay,” I gush at her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine! It’s you I’ve been worried about. I didn’t know what happened to you because when I woke up, I was alone with K’thar. But he told me the other tribe had you and I wanted to come and see for myself.” She beams at me as if that explains everything.

  Wait, she can talk to this person named K’thar? He told her that I was here? But how…? I look around for this K’thar person and a large, hulking figure emerges from the trees. He looks very different from my lean, handsome T’chai. His features—and form—are blunt. His horns are small and his scowl wide. And he’s got four frighteningly thick arms attached to his massive barrel chest.

  He’s also looking at me with distrust. “He…he doesn’t look like the others,” I admit, tugging Lauren a little closer to me.

  “He doesn’t?” Lauren seems puzzled at my words.

  “Is that…four arms?” I can’t help but ask the obvious.

  “Um, yeah. Everyone has four arms, don’t they? I thought all the aliens on the island did.”

  I take a step backward, and as I do, T’chai puts a warm hand on my shoulder. I know it’s him because my khui immediately starts up, and some of my anxiety calms. It doesn’t matter how threatening this other guy looks—T’chai won’t let anything happen to me.

  Lauren stares up at T’chai with a frown on her face. “Okay, this is weird. Do your guys all have horns like that?”

  My guys? I guess they are, in a way. “And I guess all of yours have four arms?”

  “Right down to the baby.”

  “There’s a baby?” I’m shocked. How is there a baby in this volcanic hellscape? Then again, why wouldn’t there be? I’m not sure if T’chai realizes they’re living at the base of a volcano, or if he’s even aware that it’s a problem. Their lives are simple. If there are other tribes here—and it sounds like there are—why wouldn’t they have babies? “There are only four guys here,” I tell Lauren. “I think their tribe has been wiped out. I get the impression there used to be a lot more people here.”

  Her expression changes to a wary one. “I know. K’thar’s people live in a big tree home, but it’s nearly empty.”

  Oh god. That means bad things have happened, and judging from the earthquakes, I don’t think it’s a bad guess to assume that they’re going to happen again. I grab her hands. “Lauren, we have to get out of here. Do you know what this island is?”

  “A volcano caldera,” she tells me, nodding. “And we’re right on the edge of what’s left.”

  “It’s not dormant, though. It can’t be. There are parts of it that are still smoking. And the ground shakes every day. It’s like this thing is just waiting to explode again and go all Krakatoa on us.”

  “Kraka-what?”

  “Do you remember your history? Krakatoa was a volcano that was so big that when it exploded back in the nineteenth century it could be heard from thousands of miles away.” I squeeze her hands tightly. “And it took the entire island and all its inhabitants out with it.”

  Lauren pales. “Oh. That’s really, really not good.”

  “We have to get back to the others on the mainland. I’m trying to talk to T’chai about it, but he won’t listen to me.”

  “Is he the one that kidnapped you?” She scowls. “We’re here now, Mari. Let us help protect you. K’thar is a goo
d guy, I promise.”

  Kidnapped? I pull my hands free from hers, surprised. “R’jaal is the one that took me here. When I met the others, though, things changed.” I put a hand to my chest. “I resonated, Lauren. Can you believe that?”

  “Yes, actually. I did the same.”

  I’m shocked. “You did?”

  She nods proudly. “To K’thar. And you did to R’jaal? The one that stole you?”

  Eek. No wonder R’jaal looks so sad lately. He probably thought I was supposed to be his. I grimace. “Actually, no. I didn’t resonate to him. He brought me back to the group and I resonated to his buddy. It’s been…an interesting few days.”

  “Is that why you’re going nude? Did we interrupt something?”

  I giggle, even though I’m blushing. “No. Everyone here goes naked. It just seemed weird to demand clothing and they wouldn’t have understood it anyhow.” Impulsively, I reach out and squeeze her hand again. “You want to come eat lunch? It’s like a constant sushi buffet around here. Lots of raw, fresh fish.”

  Lauren is slow to follow me, though, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why. T’chai glares at Lauren from nearby, and Lauren’s new mate moves to her other side protectively. “I’m not sure we’re welcome, Mari. They don’t seem thrilled to see us.”

  I glance back at my mate. “That’s just T’chai. Ignore him. He follows me like an angry puppy ever since we resonated.”

  Well, today he’s angry because I’m talking to Lauren. And earlier he was angry because S’bren gave me some food. But otherwise…he’s pretty sweet. I immediately feel guilty for calling him an “angry puppy,” but it’s not like he could hear me, anyhow.

  “So you resonated to him.” She looks over at my mate and then back at me. “Are you…happy?”

  “I’ll be happy once we get off this death trap of an island,” I tell her, leading her toward the others in the tribe. They don’t look happy, like Lauren said, but I don’t give a shit. This is my friend and we need to be gracious hosts while they visit…because I don’t want Lauren to leave. I don’t care if she and her weird four-armed mate have to stay in the same hut as me and T’chai, but I don’t want her leaving. I’m too happy that she’s back.

  M’tok steps forward, his spear in hand, and spits something unpleasant sounding at Lauren and her mate. K’thar responds with an equally surly syllable, and then suddenly everyone is bristling.

  Lauren and I exchange a worried look.

  An argument breaks out. To my surprise, it’s R’jaal who picks the fight, snapping something at K’thar as the other male steps forward. T’chai suddenly is in front of me, his hands blocking me from Lauren and K’thar, and he calls out something, too. It’s like suddenly everyone is jumping into the fight.

  “What’s going on?” I whisper over to Lauren.

  She stares, shaking her head, and I can tell she has no idea. Her mouth opens as if she’s going to answer me—

  A shadow flies overhead, momentarily darkening the sands.

  8

  MARI

  At first, I don’t know what’s happening. It gets dark for just a flash, and then suddenly I’m on the ground, with T’chai’s big body covering mine. I spit out sand, stunned and breathless, and then his big arms push me down when I try to sit up. It takes a moment for me to realize that he’s camouflaged, his color the exact same shade as the sand on the ground, and when he covers my arms, it’s dizzying to watch my skin “disappear.” Why is he camouflaging? Why did he tackle me? Why—

  A monster screams nearby.

  It’s like something out of a horror movie. The roar is impossibly loud and terrifying, and like any good idiotic horror movie heroine, I scream the moment I hear it.

  T’chai presses me down into the sand, and he whispers my name in my ear. His fingers lightly stroke my skin even as he pins me underneath him, his big body so heavy that it steals the breath from my lungs. His head presses down against mine, and I bite back a small whimper of distress, because I don’t entirely understand what’s happening.

  Then, the monster screams again, and an enormous body thumps onto the ground nearby, spraying sand all over us.

  I freeze, staring in horror. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen. As a child, I always thought it would be amazing to see a dinosaur come to life, but now that I’m looking at one, I just want it to go away. The creature that stands not twenty feet from us looks like an oversized pterosaur, with a long, nasty beak full of jagged-looking teeth, and beady eyes that shine khui blue. It folds up mottled brown wings and hunches over, nosing at the sand as it waddles forward. It has to be bigger than an elephant, this creature, and as I watch it move forward a step or two, I notice that S’bren is on the ground nearby, camouflaged, and far too close to the creature.

  Oh god.

  It noses at the sand, spraying it along the beach with a vicious twist of its head, and I choke back another scream of terror.

  The thing looks over at me. It hunches its shoulders, as if it’s about to spring into action—

  Something sand-colored bellows and jumps on its neck. I gasp, seeing four arms—and four knives—flailing and realize that Lauren’s alien is the one attacking it. S’bren springs up from the sand, too, surging forward to attack the monstrous bird.

  “M’rsl,” T’chai says, and then he’s dragging me to my feet. He takes me by the hand and hauls me up, gesturing at the huts, a short distance away from the beach. I hesitate, because Lauren needs to come with us, and T’chai gives me another impatient tug.

  “But Lauren,” I murmur, gesturing at my friend.

  He nods and indicates I should go with him first. All right, then. “Okay—”

  That’s the only word I can get out before he shoves me aside. I sit up, stunned, and scream again as a second monster-bird appears and shoves T’chai down into the sand.

  There’s two of these hideous creatures, and one’s got my mate.

  Horrified, I watch as T’chai struggles to get up, and the thing lands on his back. Huge, black claws dig into his skin, and then bright crimson blood streaks across his camouflage. He groans, twisting, trying to get out from under the feet that have him pinned. It just makes it worse, though. As another scream rips from my throat, I watch as the thing flips T’chai over onto his belly and tears him open.

  All the while, I stand there, screaming like a helpless idiot.

  “Shoo!” Lauren’s suddenly at my side, and she flings a handful of sand at the creature tearing my mate apart.

  Right. I can do more than just scream. I have to. I can’t just watch it destroy T’chai. I grab a handful of sand, too, and fling it as hard as I can. “Go away!” I choke.

  The thing turns away from my mate that it’s shredding and hisses at us, snapping its awful jaws. I grab another sandy handful, sobbing, and Lauren grabs me and hauls me backward. “Run, Mari! To the trees!”

  I try to ignore her pulling at me, because I need to help T’chai. I can’t leave him there. There’s so much blood, and he’s not moving. He doesn’t even get up when K’thar and R’jaal both jump onto the creature and it staggers a few feet away.

  “We’ll be safe there,” Lauren cries, yanking on my arm as she points at the trees behind us.

  Is she fucking crazy? “I’m not leaving T’chai!” I surge forward even as K’thar stabs the monster-bird in the eye with one of his knives. It looks busy, and that means I can get to my mate.

  Lauren grabs at me again, holding me back, and her fingers dig into my skin. She’s surprisingly strong and I can’t shake her free. “You can help him more if you’re alive!”

  Leave him? Turn and run? She drags me backward another foot, just as T’chai’s hand twitches feebly in the sand.

  He needs me.

  Lauren tugs at me again.

  I turn and slap her as hard as I can. “NO!”

  She reels, but she doesn’t let go, and as I strain against her grip, T’chai lifts his head. His trembling hand moves, and he p
oints at the same trees that Lauren’s dragging me toward.

  Fuck!

  Sobbing, I let Lauren drag me away, though every step feels like betrayal.

  I can’t stop crying as we move to the tree line, because I feel like I’m leaving my mate to die. The horrible bird screams again, and I can’t watch. I bury my face in my hands and weep, because I’ve lost him. I just found T’chai, and this world is going to take him from me. It’s not even from a volcano…it’s from a mutant killer bird.

  Lauren makes a sound in her throat, one of relief. I look up from my hysterical crying as she staggers toward her blood-and-sand-spattered mate and hugs him tight.

  T’chai.

  I ignore that everyone wanted us to stay by the trees. I race back out onto the sand, half-stumbling in my haste, and look for T’chai. The beach is covered in blood, and for a moment, I can’t find him. My panic increases, and then I remember he camouflaged, and I force myself to calm for a moment, to look for dark hair and horns…and I find it next to the largest pool of blood on the beach.

  His name rips from my throat as I move toward him. “T’chai!”

  I pass the dead corpse of one of the creatures, and one of the aliens is limping nearby, but my thoughts are only for my mate, who lies so still in the sands.

  “T’chai!” I cry his name again, falling to my knees next to him. “Talk to me!”

  My mate twitches and tries to prop himself up on his arms. He’s still face down in the sands, and there’s so much blood that it worries me. I brush his hair back from his face and my cootie starts up. Now, of all times. It’s idiotic, but I’m thrilled when I hear his thrum in response.

  It means he’s not dead.

  “M’rsl,” he grits out, opening his eyes to look at me. He’s beautiful in that moment, and I smile at him, fighting back another sob.

  “Hi,” I whisper. “Are you okay?”