by Cara Bristol
Would Apogee really sue? Was one insignificant cast member like me worth it? I resented how I’d allowed them to coerce me into doing things I didn’t want to do. I’d rolled over so many times, I was dizzy. The time had come to draw the line. Show no fear. I lifted my chin. “I won’t do it.”
“You’ll be blacklisted from every reality show and program for life. You’ll never work in this town again. Think about it before you decide. Call me in the morning.”
I got to my feet. “The answer is no. The answer will always be no.”
* * * *
“Auntie Sunny!” A pint-sized powerhouse slammed into me.
I staggered backward dramatically. “Whoa, handsome! You almost knocked me over.” That he’d launched himself at me meant he must be feeling better today.
“I’m not handsome, I’m a cyborg!” He was smaller than other six-year-olds, and dark smudges ringed his brown eyes, giving him the look of a wise old man in a child’s body. Perhaps he was—if wisdom came with experience. He’d been through a lot.
“Cyborgs can’t be handsome?”
“No! We’re rough and tough and strong!” He huffed, and my heart sank as I realized he was out of breath from the race across the tiny room.
“Too tough to give your auntie a hug?” I picked him up. Had he lost weight? Skinny arms wrapped around my neck. He felt like a little bird. My heart seized. The drug treatments had to be doing some good, didn’t they?
Stormy entered the tiny living room from the back bedroom she shared with Devon. “How did the meeting with Chantelle go?”
I gave Devon a big smooch and set him on his feet. “You won’t believe what they want me to do this time.” All of a sudden, the back of my neck itched with a bad feeling. Apogee wouldn’t…would they? I surveyed our living room. There it was. A tiny winged orb. The cambot had followed me home! Fury ignited, and I grabbed a pillow from the sofa and batted at the camera. “Get out! Get out now!”
The camera zipped out of reach.
“Ugh! Is that an insect?” Stormy asked.
“I wish! Open the door—quick!” Swinging the pillow, I batted the camera into the hallway then slammed the door.
I scanned the ceiling. It looked clear. Hopefully, there was just the one. “That was a camera.”
“That tiny thing? It looked like a fat little dragonfly.” She canted her head. “Are you filming?”
I leaned against the door, battening down the hatch. “Not if I can help it.”
“What do they want you to do? Snorkel in shark-infested waters? Camp in a Quonset hut in the Arctic? Rocket into space?” She was getting warmer.
“They want me to marry an alien. I told them no.”
“You mean someone from another country?”
I snorted. “Uh, no. Someone from another planet.”
Devon looked serious. “Don’t do it, Auntie. Aliens have lizard tails, green faces, and red, scary eyes.” Even a six-year-old recognized a bad idea when he heard one.
“No worries, handsome. I told them no.” I directed my voice to the ceiling in case a cambot had sneaked in then said to Stormy, “You’ve heard of the Terra-Dakon Exchange Program?”
“They want you to sign up?”
“They already signed me up. Apparently, there’s an alien waiting to meet me.”
“A lot of women want to do it.”
“Would you?”
“I might if not for Devon’s medical needs, but—”
My jaw dropped. “You’d really consider it?”
“The chances of meeting a marriage-minded man here are slim. I heard Dakonians are family-oriented. She glanced at Devon. “And totally R-I-P-P-E-D,” she spelled. “Like bodybuilders without the steroids.”
“Where’d you hear that?”
“A commercial for the exchange program.”
“Ah! It must be true if it was in an advertisement.”
“I don’t believe everything I hear, but it’s worth looking into. It’s something positive, hopeful.” The light in her eyes dimmed, and her shoulders slumped.
Our parents had named their firstborn child Stormy and the second daughter Sunny, but they’d reversed the names with the personalities. By nature, my sister was optimistic, cheerful, and levelheaded. I was the tempestuous, volatile one. To see her appear so defeated meant she had bad news.
“Hey, handsome, why don’t you draw me a picture of an alien?” I suggested to Devon.
“Sure, Auntie!” He raced toward the bedroom where he had a small desk. The door slammed.
“What’s wrong?”
Stormy’s eyes welled with tears. “Devon’s doctor called. The transplant fell through. It wasn’t a match. She said she doubts he’ll ever find a match.”
How in this day and age was this possible? We could rocket across the damn galaxy to an alien planet, but we couldn’t cure a little boy with a congenital heart condition. The unfairness, my own helplessness, swelled, and I wanted to hit something. I’d been premature in ejecting the cambot. If it had been here, I could have stomped it flat.
I couldn’t let Stormy see how upset I was. “We can’t give up hope.”
“It took two years to find this one,” she said.
Donor hearts for children like Devon didn’t become available often. Before he could get a replacement, someone else’s child had to die, and Devon had a rare blood type, making him a difficult match for any hearts that did become available.
“But the drug treatments…”
“They’re not working, and they’re destroying his kidneys. By the time he gets a heart, if he gets one, he might need a kidney transplant.”
“There has to be something that can be done.” I couldn’t bear to consider any other alternative.
She sniffed. “His doctor thinks he’d be a good candidate for a mechanical heart. He could be a cyborg after all.” Her snort of laughter ended in tears.
“Well, that’s good news! Isn’t it?”
“Insurance won’t cover it. Surgery and recovery would cost over a million and a half dollars—more with rehab.”
No deliberation was necessary. I did a 180. “Devon will get a mechanical heart!” I flung open the door.
The cambot zipped inside and flew a donut around my head. I stared into a red light glowing like a tiny eye, indicating filming was active. “You’ve got yourself a bride. But I want the entire bonus up front.” I’d contact Chantelle and let her earn her commission by working out the details.
Stormy stared. “What-what are you doing?”
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you. To sweeten the deal, to get me to agree to hook up with an alien, Apogee offered a two-million-dollar bonus. That should pay for Devon’s heart.”
My sister shook her head. “Oh no. You can’t—I can’t let you sacrifice—” But her face lightened with hope.
“For Devon, it’s no sacrifice.”
“I’m all done, Auntie!” Devon scooted out of the bedroom, waving a paper. He ran to me, a little boy with a bright smile who deserved a bright future. He was my sister’s child, but we’d raised him together, and if anything happened to him, I wouldn’t be able to stand it.
I blinked away tears. “Bring it here. Let’s see!”
He’d drawn a green man with a lizard’s tail and short T. rex arms. He had a single eye like a cyclops, and curving out of his head were ram-like horns. “Very nice.” I smiled at him.
I crossed my fingers, hoping my alien didn’t resemble the one in Devon’s drawing.
Chapter Two
Darq
“Okay, men, listen up.” Enoki, our council leader, raised his arms, and waited until the rumble of voices quieted. “One hundred women will arrive, twice as many as the first time.”
“Obah! Obah!” We cheered and slapped each other’s backs. Though many ships had landed with supplies, this was the first in two years to bring what we really desired: females.
After the commotion died down, Enoki glanced at Andrea, a Terran female ma
ted to a healer named Groman.
“One week from today,” Andrea announced. She assisted our leader in his dealings with Earth. My brother’s mate, Starr, had said Andrea was a hacker, supposedly a bad thing on their planet, but her abilities had helped us tremendously in using the equipment the Terrans had installed.
“Obah!” I cheered with the others. My mate was arriving! Deep in my bones, I sensed her presence already. The winds of fate had decreed I would get a mate in this shipment.
“As with the first time, each tribe was allotted a specific number of females based on clan population.” Standing on a riser, Enoki motioned to baskets lined up behind him. “Your names were whittled on a chit and placed in these baskets. From each one, Andrea will draw an appropriate number of chits. Those men will exchange the name chit for a numbered one, which will determine the order in which you pick your mate. Any questions?”
“If we’re not chosen, how long before the next shipment?” someone asked.
Enoki looked at Andrea.
“I don’t think the next time will take as long,” she said. “They’ve worked out the details now.” Once it had become public Earth’s government was using the treaty to get rid of its female criminals, the exchange program had been put on hold.
“But how long?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll try to find out,” she replied.
“Let’s focus on the positive today,” Enoki said. “We have names to draw. Andrea?”
Her braided hair swung like ropes as she stepped onto the riser. Her skin was a rich brown tone, slightly darker than our own. Though shorter than a Dakonian, she was among the tallest of the Terran women. Many considered her comely, myself included. I hoped my mate looked like her.
Her teeth gleamed white in a crescent grin. Chits rattled as she shook the basket. “Is everybody ready?”
I was bursting with ready.
Until the Terrans, in search of the illuvian ore they needed to light their cities and power their spaceships, “discovered” Dakon, I had become resigned to never knowing a mate’s love. Then we’d learned our two species were biologically compatible, and when Terra had offered to send us priceless females in exchange for worthless rock, well, everything changed.
My brother, Torg, had acquired a female in the first group. Watching him and Starr Conner so much in love, and now expecting a child, made me ache all the more for what they had.
I often caught them meshing lips. Kissing, Starr called it. Both seemed to enjoy it very much, and although I’d found the idea of pressing mouths revolting at first, I’d gotten accustomed to seeing it and had begun to wonder what it felt like. After my mate arrived, I would find out.
Enoki peered into a ledger. “The first tribe is Viltor’s. They have five chits allotted.” He signaled to Andrea.
She reached deep inside the basket and fished around before pulling out a wooden chip and handing it to Enoki.
“Baranko,” he called.
“Obah!” Baranko grinned from ear to ear. His tribemates pounded him on the back in congratulations, but I saw jealousy on the faces of others. I swallowed my own envy. My time will come. This is just the beginning. The winning of a female in Viltor’s tribe in no way lessened the odds for Torg’s clan.
Andrea drew another name.
“Roqa,” our leader announced.
After the last man’s name was drawn from Viltor’s tribe, the five winners congregated at the back of the meeting place while the unchosen stomped away in angry disappointment. A blast of cold air swept into the room as they shoved the flaps aside and exited. There would be more losers than winners, more unhappy people than happy ones today.
Dakon had fifteen tribes, and I had to wait while twelve of them went through the process before they got to Torg’s tribe. By then, the crowd had thinned. Enoki ran his finger down the ledger. “Torg’s tribe gets three chits.”
This was it! I stood up straighter. I felt sorry for my fellow tribemates who would lose, but excitement swelled to a crescendo inside me. The winds had predicted my fortune. Would Andrea give me a nod before she gave the chit to Enoki? Our acquaintance was by sight, but she and Starr were close friends. Basket mouths were wide, and Andrea could see the chit before she handed it to Enoki.
That would be cheating.
She pulled out a name.
“Sural,” Enoki called.
My tribemate bounded forward, and I congratulated him heartily.
Two more. One of those was mine.
Andrea dipped into the basket.
“Korbett.” Enoki nodded at my tribemate standing next to me.
He grabbed me in a kel hug, and I thumped him on the back. “Congratulations,” I said.
“Final one,” Enoki announced.
This was it! I shifted on the balls of my feet, prepared to leap forward and claim my right.
Andrea dipped into the basket.
* * *
Read the rest of Sunny and Darq’s story in Alien Attraction (Alien Mate 2), available at your preferred online bookseller : https://books2read.com/u/bzpxRZ
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Alien Attraction story blurb
How insane is it to marry an alien as a publicity stunt
I’m Sunny Weathers. You probably recognize me from my reality show, Sunny Weathers’ Excellent Adventures. I’ve had to perform a lot of crazy stunts in my career, but this one takes the cake! The producers are sending me to another planet to become an alien’s mail order bride. I’m not allowed to tell anybody it’s a gimmick, and as soon my contract is up, I’ll be leaving planet Dakon. Unfortunately, I hadn’t counted on my attraction to Mr. Tall, “Darq,” and Handsome…
I’m Darq. The moment I laid eyes on the female with pretty mud-colored hair and a sunny smile, I knew she was mine. Competition for females is fierce, and I was determined to claim a mate from the latest shipment from Earth, so I broke the rules. If anyone finds out, my own brother would banish me to the icy wilderness, and I’d lose my mate. I will do anything to keep her…
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Titles by Cara Bristol
Stranded with the Cyborg (Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance 1)
Mated with the Cyborg (Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance 2)
Captured by the Cyborg (Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance 3)
Trapped with the Cyborg (Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance 4)
Claimed by the Cyborg (Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance 5)
Rescued by the Cyborg (Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance 5.5)
Hunted by the Cyborg (Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance 6)
Married to the Cyborg (A Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance 1 extra)
Alien Mate (Alien Mate 1)
Alien Attraction (Alien Mate 2)
Alien Intention (Alien Mate 3)
Darak (Dakonian Alien Mail Order Brides 1)
Aton (Dakonian Alien Mail Order Brides 2)
Caid (Dakonian Alien Mail Order Brides 3)
Breeder (Breeder 1)
Terran (Breeder 2)
Warrior (Breeder 3)
Destiny’s Chance
Goddess’s Curse
Longing
Naughty Words for Nice Writers
Anthologies
Portals
Body Talk
Audiobooks
Stranded with the Cyborg
Matted with the Cyborg
Books in Print
Captured by the Cyborg
Claimed by the Cyborg
Goddess’s Curse
Alien Mate
Naughty Words for Nice Writers
Author Bio
USA Today Bestselling Author Cara Bristol writes character driven science fiction romance with humor, heart, and heat. She loves introducing new readers to science fiction romance, and likes to say she writes sci-fi for readers who don’t like sci-fi. She has three science fiction romance serie
s: the action-packed Cy-Ops Sci-fi Romance cyborg series; the dark, intense Breeder series; and the new light and funny Alien Mate series. When she’s not writing (ha ha ha – she’s almost always writing) she enjoys traveling to exotic destinations and chillaxin’ with her favorite reality TV shows. Cara lives in Missouri with her own alpha hero, her husband.
Check out her website at www.carabristol.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue