Alien Romance Box Set: Alien Cube: The Sci-FI Alien Invasion Romance (Books 1-5)

by Ashley L. Hunt

Locking the entrance door and stepping out into the warm night air, I looked down the street to where the carnival was now coming to life in the night. I heard the music, laughter, and screams, and saw the twinkle and pulsing of lights. Children walked down the street with balloons in their hands, and temper tantrums were in full swing from sugar highs and lows. The aroma of hot dogs and corn on the cob made my mouth water.

  This was when I realized that I was standing at a crossroad. To my right, I could walk home and enjoy a quiet evening with my book after a long, grueling day at the diner. To my left, there was the Carnival of the Cursed Souls, which felt like the Treasure Island that Pinocchio was drawn to. To my right was the sensible choice, and to my left was the temptation.

  And then I thought about that guy, Luke. Those icy blue eyes and the broad shoulders.

  Shit.

  I looked up at the stars and realized that it was a beautiful night. Not too hot and not too cold. I couldn’t help myself, I chose temptation.

  Stepping into the carnival, I felt instantly transported into another world - one that was much more exciting and interesting than the normal world. I saw all the carnies that were in the diner the night before. One of them was swallowing fire, another was selling ice cream. Someone I had served an omelet to, was hanging heavy objects from piercings in his body. People walked from booth to booth, from amusement to amusement, lost and in wonder.

  The atmosphere was bizarre and exhilarating at the same time. I enjoyed seeing the carnies transformed by the night and hoped that I might see some of them in the diner the next morning so that I could meet their daytime selves.

  But there was one person in particular that I was keeping my eye out for.

  I had been thinking about that guy all day.

  Luke

  She was holding an ice-cream cone in her hand, that girl from the diner. I was glad she was here, but at the same time, I didn’t necessarily want her to see what I was about to do to this guy in the ring.

  It was just a makeshift wrestling ring, and it was where I took on whatever competitor was stupid enough to step in with me. There was a huge crowd of people surrounding me tonight, and screaming every time I threw some guy to the ground. The wrestling was all for the show, but sometimes I had trouble holding back and someone got hurt. Unfortunately, these guys didn’t know who they were really dealing with.

  “Pin him to the ground, Jack!” Someone yelled on the sidelines. It looked like the people in the crowd were making bets on who would win. If they had any kind of intelligence, they would know who to bet on, just by looking at me.

  “No!” The crowd yelled. In the end, I tackled the guy I was fighting with, to the mat with incredible force and had him pinned there for some time.

  Just another day at the office.

  “It looks like another victory for Arias the Angry!” Hal, the announcer, said over the microphone. “Come back tomorrow night and see if he can finally be conquered.” He added.

  The crowd started to split up and move on to other things, but I could see that Candice stood still and watched as I got out of the ring and wiped the sweat from my chest. I liked that she was looking at me.

  When our eyes met, I saw her quickly look away and take a bite of her ice cream.

  I must make her nervous after all.

  I could see her cheeks turning a little pink, and I found that it was turning me on. When she looked up, I was still staring down at her, and I saw she was trying to conceal a smile.

  “Are you just going to stand there?” I called out to her.

  I saw that she took a deep breath at that point and then started to walk towards me. She was still in her work uniform, and I looked her up and down, enjoying the way that it clung to her soft curves.

  “So, you’re a wrestler?” She asked, nervously.

  “Not really. There was nothing else I knew how to do.” I said, standing still and watching her. I was hoping to make her laugh again.

  I was still in my wrestling shorts, chest bare, and I casually leaned against the ropes. I felt confident when I was in my wrestling gear - or my armor. It was as though some part of me came alive when I was Arias the Angry. Or it just reminded me of my real identity.

  “Well, do you like it? You seem to be very good at it.” She said. I didn’t even have to think about my reply.

  “It’s better than making cotton candy,” I said. “I was in the military. I’ve always been good with physical things.” I could instantly see that what I had said, made Candice blush again. I didn’t mean for that to sound overtly sexual, but I only realized it after the words had come out of my mouth .

  Whoops.

  Again I enjoyed the flush on her cheeks. It made me have dirty thoughts.

  “Well, it's definitely keeping you in shape.” She said.

  So, she liked my appearance. I got it all the time. But rarely did I share the sentiment as I did right now.

  “I have to stay in shape,” I replied, trying to be modest. “The battle wages on, after all.” I crossed my hands in front of my chest. I really wasn’t trying to be mysterious, I was just stating the truth.

  I must stay fit for military combat at all times.

  “The battle?” She looked confused by what I had said.

  “Yes, it never ends,” I said.

  I could see that I was already telling her too much and decided to move on to a new topic.

  “Have you ever wrestled before?” I asked.

  “Me? No. The only sport I’ve ever played is volleyball, and I was terrible at it. I have two left feet.” She says.

  Damn, that was cute. But this girl is too sweet, and she’s going to need to protect herself in this world.

  “Want me to show you a few moves?” The thought of her walking home in the darkness at night made me angry for some reason. That was a first.

  “Um…” She replied.

  “I'm not cheeky, or anything. I think women should know more about wrestling. It helps them to stay safe.” I said. “Come on up here.” I climbed on the side of the wrestling ring, ducked through the ropes and then put out my hand to her. “I won’t bite.”

  “Okay.” She took my hand, and I lift her up effortlessly. She weighed nothing. Most human women weighed very little. I could tell that she felt embarrassed. Maybe because she was wearing her diner uniform, and I was in a pair of wrestling shorts.

  “So, say some guy comes behind you and puts his arm around your neck like this.” I got her into a choke-hold. The feel of her neck was lovely, and she smelled amazing. “You want to grab my arm.”

  “Like this?” She asked, placing both hands on my arm.

  Perfect little hands.

  “Exactly. Now drop down and spin out of my hold.” Candice managed to wrench herself from my grasp and spinned around to face me. “That’s it. Great.”

  She’s nice and agile. Hm...

  Candice smiled, proud of her accomplishment.

  “Now, you bring your foot down as hard as you can on top of mine,” I instructed. Candice did so, but with perhaps more force than I was expecting.

  “Shit,” I said. “You really went for it.” It hurt like hell, but it was interestingly very arousing. I wanted to smile.

  “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” She yelled and I just laughed.

  “You’re tougher than you look,” I said, massaging my foot a little.

  “I think I got carried away,” Candice said bashfully. “Does this mean I won?” She asked with glee.

  Okay, I can’t take it anymore. No, she did not win, I would never let her win, and her smile is driving me crazy.

  I span her around, flipped her over and had her pinned to the ground. It was like she was a rag-doll.

  “I don’t like to lose,” I said into her ear.

  “Apparently not.” She said, still lying below me. I think she was afraid to move.

  After keeping her pinned for a few more moments, I finally released her and rolled off to the side, so we were both lying on t
he mat staring at the sky.

  “Well, you learn a new thing every day.” She said, slightly out of breath, as much from the effort as from the stimulation of having been pinned by me. She was playing coy. Maybe she was not keen on the idea of getting her panties in a knot over a traveling carnie. If only she knew….

  “There’s a lot more that I could show you,” I said, turning on my side and propping myself on my elbow.

  So much more.

  “Have you been a part of the carnival for a long time?” She asked. Is she changing the subject?

  “Longer than I’m willing to admit,” I said.

  “But you’re so young, and you said you were in the military. You couldn’t be doing this for too long.”

  “You’re asking more than you really want to know,” I said, my demeanor suddenly changing. I wanted her to know the truth, but I didn’t want to scare her away. Her questions were starting to make me angry.

  “Is that gang all from the same place? The other carnival folks?” She asked.

  “No. None of us are from the same place. We all come from different places, different times.” That sounded so fucking vague, but there was no other way to answer.

  “Then, what brought you all together?” She asked.

  I smiled at her and looked into her eyes, not quite sure how to respond. I didn’t want to frighten her off, but for once, I actually met someone with whom I might just shared the truth. Why did she have this effect on me?

  “We came together because we share the same fate,” I said, slowly leaning into her. “We’re cursed.”

  •••••••••••••••

  CHAPTER 3

  •••••••••••••••

  Candice

  “That wrestler is at the counter,” Iris said, nodding her head over to where he sat. My heart started pounding.

  Looking over, I saw that he was in his black attire again, sipping a cup of coffee. The evening before, had been magical and mysterious. After the wrestling lesson, Luke walked me home to make sure that I got back okay. At my front door, there was an intense moment where I felt that he was about to kiss me, but something seemed to stop him.

  “Is everything alright?” I had asked.

  “Yes.” He said, and then made a point to step back from my door and walk off into the darkness. ‘I need to keep my distance’, his behavior said.

  I dreamt about him last night. In my dream, we were wrestling, but instead of it being fun and cheerful, we were genuinely battling one another to see who was the strongest. Deep down, I knew that I couldn’t compete, but liked the feeling of his hands on me and his arms around me.

  Now seeing him in the diner this morning, I felt transparent and worried that he would be able to see right through me and know that I had dreamt about him.

  “You’re up early,” I said, refilling his cup of coffee.

  “The crowds are getting bigger for the carnival, so we’re opening earlier today. I have 5 wrestling matches, so I need my strength.” Luke said, putting the menu down. “I’ll take steak and eggs.”

  “Alright. Coming right up.” I said taking his menu and noticing the veins in his forearms.

  “That was fun last night.” He said.

  “Yes, it was,” I replied.

  “You should come back tonight,” Luke added.

  “Okay. When I’m done with work.” I said, and stepped away to place his order. Something was definitely developing between Luke and I, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I just had this crazy feeling about him. It was not that he seemed dangerous, there was just so much that I didn’t know about him, and I was not sure how much I wanted to discover.

  Once night fell, I tried to close the dinner as quickly as possible. A couple of families that had come into town from miles away lingered over their plates of grilled cheese sandwiches and meatloaf with mashed potatoes. I was beginning to feel impatient because I didn’t want to miss Luke’s last match of the night.

  “We’re closing up soon,” I told them, with my hands on my hips. I never knew myself to be that forceful, but I had somewhere to go.

  “You’re in a hurry,” Iris noticed from the hostess stand.

  “I’m going to the carnival….. to see Luke,” I said, wiping off some menus.

  “Oh.” Iris replied and then looked down the floor. I noted some disapproval in the gesture.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Iris said, not looking into my eyes. “I just have a funny feeling about those people.” She said.

  “Well, they’re just not from around here. They have strange lives.” I replied, defending them.

  “Just be careful, that’s all. People who pass in and out of towns like that, they’re not held accountable for anything.”

  I thanked Iris for her concern but ended the conversation there. I thought Iris was just judgmental. But upon further consideration, I began to doubt myself. Since returning to Sun Valley, I had done a lot of growing up. I had a home, a job, and was treating myself much better than I ever had in Seattle, but was this all a step backward? I didn’t know who Luke was. He could be a thief or ex-prison inmate. Who knew what his past really was?

  “I’ll be careful,” I told myself as I looked in the mirror. I managed to close the diner early after all and rushed home to change my clothes. It felt ridiculous to go through so much trouble, but I had a pretty blue denim dress that I wanted to wear. I brushed my hair and cleaned up my face, too. Such naive considerations were not like me, but I couldn’t help it. Luke made me feel different, in a way.

  As I walked towards the carnival, I saw it sparkling in the distance. The twinkly lights were all that could be seen in the vacant desert at night. It was like it was calling to me, an oasis where you could forget your cares and surrender yourself to pleasure and excitement.

  The fun was just as it had been the night before, but it had grown in intensity. There were more rides, more games, and nearly twice as many people.

  “Hey, you’re that girl from the diner.” A man’s voice said. I turned and recognized the man from the first day that he arrived. He was the pug-faced, roundish man. “I’m Merv.” He said.

  “Merv the perv.” A woman joked. She was in a tight, sequined costume with plenty of makeup.

  “Shut your trap.” He criticized. “Never listen to a contortionist.” He said as he rolled his eyes.

  “Yes, and always listen to the carnival barker!” She said ironically.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Merv,” I said. He was a short, fat man, but with a booming voice that could be heard throughout the carnival grounds.

  “I’m Leona.” The woman introduced herself. “My next show is in ten minutes. I’ll let you in for free.” Leona said with confidence. “You served a great ham sandwich the other night.”

  “Actually, I’m here to see Luke,” I said sheepishly. “Can I come and see your show another time?”

  Leona’s sharp features changed and she began to inspect me.

  “You know what you’re doing, kid?” She asked.

  “Leave the girl alone, Leona,” Merv said, walking off to avoid the situation.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I’ll give you a little hint,” Leona said and pulled a small flask from her chest to take a swig. “No one here is what they seem. Just watch yourself.” She offered me her flask to share, but I declined.

  “Thanks for the tip,” I said to her.

  “Sure,” Leona replied and turned on her heel.

  I cautiously made my way to the wrestling match, which to my shame had already begun. The time that took me to change and talk with Leona had been longer than I thought it was, and I felt a deep regret. But just seeing him again made me instantly excited….and nervous.

  Luke

  Here I am again, bare-chested and going at a rather large opponent. But he doesn’t stand a chance.

  “Give it to him again, Frank!” A voice from the
crowd yelled. Apparently, this Frank guy was actually giving me some decent competition, but he was also using some moves that didn’t belong in wrestling. The idiot started hitting and kicking, biting and clawing, and all that I could do was to fight back with equal force. I was not just going to take it. I saw Candice in the crowd, and I felt my blood trickle down my forehead.

  Shit. Maybe she’ll find it a turn-on.

  “This is one of the most heated battles that Arias the Angry has ever faced!” The announcer called out. He really only said that for the show of it. I had faced much worse. But after he said it, I backed away from my opponent pissed as hell. I made a gesture with my hands to stop the fight, and the audience began to boo.