by Fiona Roarke
She nodded. “Excellent piloting.”
“The best.”
“I’m glad your brother is okay, too.”
A relieved expression appeared on his face. “You and me both. He’s got a tough road ahead, but I’m going to do what I can for him once I get back to Alpha-Prime.”
“Exactly what family should do.”
“Of course. Wouldn’t your family do that for you?”
She snorted. “Not my family on Alpha-Prime. But likely my Alienn, Arkansas family would help me.”
“That sounds like an interesting story.”
“Well, when we aren’t sprinting for our lives, perhaps I’ll share it with you.”
He slowed the pace as they neared what looked like a main street headed to the heart of Nocturne Falls.
“So tell me the story. Why wouldn’t your Alpha-Prime family help you out?”
“My parents had a different life planned for me. I disappointed them by not wanting it or allowing them to guilt me into it. Instead, I came to Alienn, Arkansas to live the life I chose.”
Riker shifted his arm from around her waist to take her hand as they slowed to a fast walk. “Arranged a marriage to someone you simply couldn’t spend the rest of your life with, right?” he asked with a knowing smile.
She nodded and refused to look him in the eye. Slowing her steps further, Elise folded into herself at the memory of who her parents had wanted her to marry. No, not wanted, expected her to marry because they made the decision and thought it was best. She strongly disagreed.
It wasn’t that Mahler Grant was an ogre or a horrible person. He just had a different idea of what her life would include and, very specifically, what it wouldn’t.
Mahler was not shy about how he expected any woman in his life to comport herself. A woman was meant primarily to be a decoration for his arm and on her own time to volunteer for charities within the sphere of their social level. No wife of his would ever work or do anything as physically strenuous as sitting at a desk for pay, let alone risk her life in the performance of her duty, spending odd hours guarding anyone who could afford her.
Mahler would most assuredly have never allowed Elise a career at all. He wanted a docile mate. He’d flat-out told her just that during the surprise dinner at her parents’ house back before she discovered he was the unexpected candidate for a possible arranged marriage between them.
He’d known what kind of person she was though and what kind of life she led. While he might have enjoyed bringing her to heel, he also didn’t fight to win her over when push came to shove. She said no. He said fine. The end. She changed her tactics and her life.
Elise refused to participate any further in proposed arranged marriages. She didn’t need it anyway. Later, believing the prospect of an arranged marriage was done and over with, Elise confided her thoughts about Riker to her sister. That mistake led directly to her departure from Alpha-Prime to her new life on Earth.
Spending time with Riker made Elise reconsider her feelings. Yes, she loved Alienn, Arkansas and everything she did here on Earth. But if Riker snapped his fingers and asked her to return, she’d jump at the chance. Not to be on Alpha-Prime, per se, but to be with him. There was nothing Mahler could have done to persuade her to conform to his lifestyle. Riker was a different story. True, she knew he’d support her career ambitions. He already had, once upon a time.
She glanced at his luscious mouth. In fact, there were quite a few things she’d do if he snapped his fingers.
She shook her head at that notion. Just because they had kissed several times, it didn’t mean anything. The kisses they’d shared as they rolled around on the bed in the seedy motel room had surprised her the most. Sure, he was grateful she’d taken the barbaric splint off his leg so he could heal, but he acted like he didn’t have a pending arranged marriage to someone stunning, someone rich, someone absolutely perfect. Someone Elise would never be. Never.
Elise frowned. Now that she thought about it, she was a bit surprised by Riker’s behavior. Since he didn’t seem too worried about his arranged marriage back on Alpha-Prime, perhaps all the details hadn’t been finalized. She’d seen the public announcement on the streaming news videos before leaving for Earth. Those announcements helped her make her decision to leave.
She hated to think Riker was like some Alphas who didn’t take the promise of an arranged marriage as a serious commitment, who continued to flirt, kiss and possibly even more with other people until the day their mating ceremony took place.
Given that his kisses made her weak with lust and she couldn’t seem to resist them, the best Elise could hope for at this point was that his marital arrangement had been called off and a public proclamation to that effect would follow at a much later date when no one was paying attention. Then again, much had been made of his connection with his intended mate. Many in their lofty social circles talked about how good they looked together. How their union would be the marriage of the decade, or possibly the century.
Riker shot her a questioning look. She forced her expression into a neutral place, not wanting to explain what she’d been thinking.
However, before further kissing—or anything else she’d envisioned—took place, she intended to ask about his current arranged marital status.
Elise looked over one shoulder to ensure Anya and her followers weren’t on their tail. There was no sign of them, but she sped her steps once more, heading toward what looked like a busier thoroughfare.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere with more people around.” She looked down at his leg, the one she’d bandaged beneath his torn uniform pants. “Are you doing okay?”
“I’m great. It’s practically healed since you pulled away that barbaric splint—likely intended to keep me hobbled and unable to run too far away back at their cabin of torture in the woods.”
His sincere look of gratitude almost made her trip over her own feet. Pay attention. “Good,” she managed.
Riker pointed to a large group of people at an intersection half a block ahead. “That looks crowded enough for our purposes.”
“Yes. That’s exactly where we need to go.”
“Perhaps we can find a nicer room to hide out in.”
Elise would have tripped again had he not grabbed her to his side as a stream of giggling teenagers, staring at their phones as they raced along the sidewalk, nearly ran them down.
Once the flood of teens passed, Riker didn’t let go of her. His arm tightened around her, but his stride slowed. They were surrounded by lots of people at the intersection of what was likely the main street of Nocturne Falls.
They turned left onto the busy thoroughfare, walking very close together. Riker hugged her even nearer as they passed groups of people on the sidewalk, like they were lovers out for a stroll on their way to a sexy, clandestine tryst. If only.
Elise spotted a small coffee shop called the Hallowed Bean down a side street called Black Cat Blvd. She slowed them to a stop at the corner and pressed him against a brick wall next to a newspaper company.
“Do you like coffee?” The folks in Alienn loved it so much—as had all the Alpha space-traveling visitors to Arkansas—that coffee was now exported to Alpha-Prime on a regular basis for the benefit of those so enamored.
“Coffee? I don’t know. I only had a taste of it a long time ago on Alpha-Prime, but it wasn’t enough to make an impression. Why?”
She pointed to the small coffee shop. “Let’s go in there and get off the street.”
“The Hallowed Bean? Interesting.”
“You’ll love it. Trust me. The flavors here on Earth surpass what’s served in Alpha-Prime.”
He looked down into her eyes with an intensely loving look. She swallowed hard, unable to speak as he moved his face closer to hers. “I do trust you, Elise. Completely.”
Before she could stop him—and really, why would she?—he gently and briefly kissed her lips.
The sudden vision of his
perfect mate-to-be rose sharply in her mind along with all Elise’s insecurities regarding her lack in all the same departments. Beauty. Wealth. Status. She’d never measure up to the woman he’d been promised to.
“We should stop doing that,” she said quietly, her heart breaking with a longing so strong she wished she didn’t care that he was to marry another.
“What? Kissing? Why?” He looked genuinely puzzled.
“Because you’re promised to another woman back on Alpha-Prime.”
Chapter Nine
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Riker straightened as her mention of his very publically announced arranged marriage widened the fracture that started to form in her heart when she told him they should stop kissing.
“What if I told you that had been called off?” He watched her closely.
“I suspect that’s what a lot of engaged people say when they don’t want to stop flirting, kissing and engaging in other such activities with other people before their commitment ceremony has been finalized.” His expression seemed hurt, like she had accused him of being a womanizing skirt-chaser without cause. She wished upon everything she held dear that he wasn’t that way.
“Is that what you think of me? That I would flirt, kiss or do other activities while I was promised to another woman?” Riker looked at the crowd around them as if he expected them all to rise up and hurl scandalous names at him as they cast rotten fruit and vegetables in his direction.
“I don’t know what to think of you.” Lie. Lie. Lie. I love you! You’re perfect.
“Sure you do. You know exactly what to think, especially of me.” He started toward the coffee shop. He took a step in that direction, leaving her immediate personal space.
Elise moved closer, putting herself where she belonged, stopping his move away. “I beg your pardon. Why do I especially know what you’re thinking?”
He paused, turned back to her and lowered his head to stare into her eyes. His intense regard bored a hole through to her soul. In a low voice, he said, “You’ve gone through RMG training, scoring high marks on every single subject you touched. Your best class—which I know you aced—was Mindful Intent. You’re very, very good at reading non-verbal clues as to what a subject is thinking or possibly bent on doing. You’re just ignoring what you were taught when it comes to me. What I don’t understand is why.”
Elise averted her gaze to stare at his chest, unable to meet his disappointed eyes. He was right. She had a feeling—based on her training—that he must not be attached any longer because she did know him. He would never even hint at being with her if there was any chance another waited for him.
Her training told her that. She wanted so much for it to be true. She just didn’t trust herself to read Riker correctly. She didn’t think she could trust her volatile lovelorn feelings not to affect her logic and trained intuition.
“Maybe I didn’t trust my analysis, given how I feel.”
“And how do you feel?”
She felt heat blast into her cheeks, but an elusive fact came into her brain before she could answer. Something he said suddenly registered. “Wait a minute. How do you know I had high marks in every subject I touched, especially Mindful Intent Class?” She stared into his eyes.
His lips parted slightly. She wanted to kiss him again. It was his turn to avert his gaze. He didn’t make a sound. Was he hoping she wouldn’t repeat a question he obviously didn’t want to answer?
She waited him out. Riker cleared his throat after almost ten full seconds of silence and said, “Perhaps I looked your file up after meeting you the day of your graduation.”
“I didn’t think you cared about me one way or another that day.”
His gaze found hers. “Not true. I was intrigued from the moment we touched hands in the receiving line at the RMG academy ceremony. Enthralled might even be the best word.”
She wanted to shout, Me, too! “Is that so?”
“It is.” He cleared his throat again.
She was silent for several seconds, weighing the truth of what she knew with what he’d just admitted. She came to a conclusion. “I wish I’d known how you felt before I left for Earth.” His sudden smile gave her confidence a boost. “Is your arranged marriage truly called off?”
He nodded. “It truly is. My parents won’t care so much, they just want me to be happy, but Lexa’s parents will not be as excited to discover where her heart lies.”
“Where is that?”
“With someone she loves deeply, and who is most definitely not me.” He held out his hand, she took it and they headed in the direction of the coffee shop.
“Did her love of another make you upset?”
“Not at all. I approve of the man she’s chosen. She and I were childhood friends and we are still very good friends. We just don’t love each other like mates do.” He shrugged. “Our marriage was arranged when we were young. It was only officially announced a couple of years ago.”
“Why announce it at all if you never expected to go through with it?”
He looked skyward as if to temper his anger. “Lexa’s parents were always much more insistent about the arrangement between our families. They were the ones who announced it formally without consulting either me or Lexa, much to our combined regret. I’ve never seen Lexa so angry. I didn’t even know her true feelings on the matter until the announcement.”
“Why hasn’t she told her parents about the man she loves?”
His infamous sardonic smile made an appearance. “There is another problem, a delay, if you will.”
“Don’t tell me. The man she loves is facing an arranged marriage, too, and hasn’t found a way to tell his well-meaning parents about the woman he loves.”
Riker laughed, nodding at the absurdity of the problem. To Elise’s mind, there was no greater music in the world than the sound of Riker’s genuine amusement. From what she knew of him, he rarely laughed out loud. Sardonic amusement was his typical expression in public, which also described his signature smile.
A flashback of the graduation ceremony where she’d first touched his hand filled her mind. She heard Riker’s bark of sudden and unexpected laughter from across the room and turned in time to see him talking with his brother. Since then, she’d on occasion dreamed of Riker’s rare and sincere laughter. She loved the fact she’d just made him laugh spontaneously with the same sincerity he’d shown Draeken. She squelched a girly sigh.
“Why are there still arranged marriages anyway? No one wants them,” she said.
He shrugged. “Tradition, I suppose.”
“I’d never make my children marry someone they didn’t love.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“Not a chance.”
“So you want to have children?”
“Of course. I only—”
Elise suddenly realized she’d been strolling down memory lane with Riker on a very public thoroughfare without bothering to check to see if anyone followed them. She searched the immediate area, but found no visible threat. He murmured, “I’ve been watching. No one is looking at us. No one has found us.”
“I should have been paying more attention. You make me lose focus.” Riker was the only man who could divert her attention and make her feel like a schoolgirl with a crush on the popular boy, unable to stop staring at him for the entire length of recess.
Of course he hadn’t been daydreaming or lollygagging about making lovey-dovey eyes at her without ensuring they weren’t being watched or followed. She shook off her lust and turned toward the coffee shop again.
“Do I?” He flashed that bone melting half-smile. “Good.”
She didn’t answer, just kept walking toward the Hallowed Bean. He caught up with her without effort.
Once inside, off the busy streets of Nocturne Falls, they each ordered coffee and a homemade chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. The treat smelled so heavenly, the scent alone coated her lungs in promise.
She ordered her usual, a medium cap
puccino. He surprised her by ordering a multi-flavored coffee extravaganza, seemingly wanting to taste all the flavors offered as if he’d never get another opportunity.
They found a quiet table in the back corner. Their knees bumped under the table, but she liked touching him and being in contact at all times.
“So you’re having an extra-large cinnamon, vanilla, hazelnut mocha with an extra shot of expresso?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Not a thing. Drink what makes you happy.”
“Actually, you make me happy.”
“What?” If she’d had even a small sip of coffee in her mouth, she would have spit it out in a fine spray on to the small table.
“You heard me.”
Elise smiled and nodded. “Well, the truth is, I like you, too.”
“Good.”
She took a small sip of her drink, swallowing the rich flavor as she stared at him. He fairly smoked her where she sat with the intensity of his gaze, in a good way.
It was a relief to know he wasn’t in love with another. It was a miracle to learn she made him happy.
The knowledge that he thought enough of her after just one brief meeting to look up what kind of a student she was made her a little bit giddy. Given his circumstances, she believed what he told her. She had read him. She did know he wasn’t lying about his arranged marriage.
“I want to talk about how you make me happy and how I make you happy. Wait.” His brows furrowed. “Do I make you happy?”
Elise laughed. “Yes. You do make me happy. In fact, I’m ecstatic.”
“Ecstatic enough to tell me how you know about the shield tattoo on my back leg?”
She did choke on the next sip of coffee, clearing her throat several times to hopefully keep from having to answer.
He sipped his concoction slowly and grinned again, whether from her distress or the flavor of his outlandish brew, she didn’t know.
“Stall all you want clearing your throat, but I still want an answer when you finish,” he said with another sincerely amused laugh.