by Fiona Roarke
That laugh was her undoing. If an interrogator ever wanted any information from her, she’d cough up everything she knew just for the promise Riker would laugh with pleasure at something she said or did.
“All right, fine. I know about the tattoo because I saw it. And I also know that it is located more on your butt cheek than your leg.”
His eyes widened. He put his coffee cup down, and leaned closer. “When did you see me naked?”
The memory of seeing his tattoo materialized in her head. She pushed out a long sigh, and started talking in a low tone, not much above a whisper.
“About a month before school ended, I stayed late doing some extra work, practicing for the physical strength test. I wanted to ensure I passed with high marks, even though I’d already decided the RMG wasn’t what I wanted to do.
“I was exhausted by the time I finished, trudging back to the locker room with my eyes half closed. It was too late by the time I noticed I had walked into the wrong locker room.
“I opened my eyes when I heard you speaking and realized I’d walked into RMG men’s locker room instead of the women’s. You were speaking on your communication device.
“I started to back out, but was afraid I’d make a noise and you’d see me.”
“What was I talking about that I didn’t notice you’d walked in?”
“You laughed and said, you’d always dreamed of exploring other galaxies, but it would have to wait until your elder years. You talked about maybe making a special run to the Earth colony.
“You never turned around, so I assumed you didn’t know I was accidentally eavesdropping.” Elise felt her cheeks burn at the memory of seeing Riker Phoenix after-hours in the men’s locker room, naked as the day he was born.
It was a good thing he was facing away from her the entire time he spoke. She couldn’t move or breathe during the whole experience. She enjoyed quite a long look at his beautiful backside. It was a miracle she hadn’t passed out cold from equal parts embarrassment and longing. He was a fine-looking, nicely-muscled, well-proportioned, perfect man.
And she couldn’t have him. He was spoken for. Stupid arranged marriages.
Even if he didn’t already have the perfect woman waiting to whisk him away for a lifetime, it wasn’t like she was next in line to garner his favor.
And as if she didn’t already know it, after Callie had tattled about Elise’s perfect man, her parents had laughed and told her she was reaching for a social level well above her station. They told her to lower her expectations.
What would her parents think now? She could imagine telling them all about it. “We’ve kissed—sometimes when he’s conscious—and we’ve even broken a Georgia Woods Druid spell of enchantment, keeping him from mating with another.” So there!
“You likely won’t believe this, but at the time I could have sworn I was being watched. I checked the entire locker room, certain someone was hiding there.”
“Really?”
“Really. And it’s not fair.”
“What’s not fair?”
“Do you have a tattoo on your backside?”
“No!”
He grinned. “The thing is, how do I know that’s the truth since I’ve never had the opportunity or pleasure to see you naked?”
“Perhaps that could be arranged.”
Riker’s voice sounded gravelly as he said, “I might already have the knowledge, if only we hadn’t been chased out of our seedy motel room.”
Elise took a good long gulp of her drink. “Be that as it may, now we are on the run and don’t have time to play show-and-tell.”
The sultry, awesome sound of his laugh reverberated to the very marrow of her bones. “I know. You’re right.” He saluted her with his paper coffee cup. “I vote that we discuss it later when we aren’t on the run from Druids. So, where are we headed next?”
“Eventually, back into the forest to meet up with the vessel retrieval team. They should be here right after dusk. But I don’t want to go if Anya and her followers are still after us. They likely know the woods better than we do. They’d certainly catch us. We need a quiet place to wait it out until dark.”
“How do you think they found us in the first place?”
She shrugged. “It’s possible they searched at the clinic first and then saw the motel and took a chance. But that isn’t my first guess.”
“What’s your first guess?”
She hesitated, hating to admit she was winging it. “It’s just speculation, but it’s possible that your splint had a tracking device. Or I’m paranoid.”
“No. I agree with you on that score. How else could they have found us so quickly unless they followed us out of the woods? And even then, we would have spotted them. How long do you suppose they were frozen?”
“I don’t know. They weren’t supposed to freeze. They were supposed to fall down in a heap and wake up later without memories. They obviously still had their memories, or they wouldn’t have come after us. So, your guess is as good as mine.”
“I don’t believe they are your everyday humans.”
“I agree.”
“Do you think they are another species of alien? If they are, and living here, that would be in contravention of Alpha-Prime’s jurisdiction over Earth.”
“It’s possible. I’ll have to put this in my field report regarding use of the Defender.”
A mischievous grin formed on his luscious mouth. “What else will go into your field report?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to put anything about us in there?”
Chapter Ten
<^> <^> <^>
Riker wanted to sweep Elise up in his arms, embrace her wildly and never stop kissing her. Every move she made, every word she spoke made him fall more and more in love with her. He’d been harboring a secret crush since her graduation, afraid to voice it even to himself for fear he’d give away his true feelings regarding someone he never expected would be available to him to pursue. One crash-landing on Earth and his whole life had changed in more than one way.
He had never been a demonstrative person in previous relationships, or understood others who couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other. Draeken, for example, never seemed to care who was around to witness it whenever he kissed his lover, Stella, when they’d been together on Alpha-Prime. Riker had caught them more than once locked in a kiss or embrace, melded together on various pieces of furniture where anyone could stumble across them.
Draeken hadn’t said so, but Riker suspected he never stopped loving Stella. Now that they were reunited, he wondered how the two were faring.
As he looked at Elise seated across the table, he wished they were cuddled together, staring at each other and kissing as the mood suited them.
He rephrased the question he’d asked a few seconds ago. “Will you put our entire time together in your field report, every single detail?” He leaned forward, putting an elbow on the table and his chin in his palm.
Her green eyes drew him in. He wanted her. He wanted to be with her. He wanted his arranged marriage to be with her. Would she be willing to return to Alpha-Prime? Would he be willing to give up his hard-fought career as The Calderian to volunteer for residence on the Earth colony, just to be with her?
Yes.
Elise leaned forward and mirrored his pose, elbow on table, chin in palm. “Yes. I’m going to tell all, every single detail. I’m going to vividly describe every kiss, lick and touch we shared right at the top of my report, first paragraph. Maybe I’ll even wax poetic about your awesome tattooed backside.”
He vividly remembered every kiss, lick and touch they’d shared and he wanted to repeat them and add quite a few additional things into the mix. He only wished he’d known she was staring at him naked that day long ago.
Her mischievous smile gave her away, but he continued to play along. “Are you? Excellent. You’re absolutely right to put that in the first paragraph. Anything that awesome—and
I’m talking about the kissing, not my butt—should be immortalized in a report somewhere.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Of course not. Personal stuff doesn’t belong in a field report. What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing. I’ve finally figured something out, though.” He looked deeply into her luscious green eyes.
“What do you think you’ve figured out?”
“I just realized that I’d be willing to give up my career on Alpha-Prime to volunteer for colony duty here.”
“You would?” She sounded shocked.
“Yes. But only if you tell me you love me as much as I love you and agree to be my mate until the end of time.”
Her hand dropped from her chin and her mouth fell slightly open. Riker leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers with all the sincere passion he felt, not caring if everyone in the world saw them. Not caring that he’d just spontaneously proposed and that was not at all like him. He had no regrets. She was the one. She was his only one. And he’d known it for quite a while.
Elise tasted like the strong coffee she sipped. He wanted to spend the rest of his life kissing her. Best of all, she kissed him right back, softly and with determination, her fingertips gently stroking his jaw.
He’d just asked her to marry him, and even though they were sort of on the run from a gang of crazy Georgia Woods Druids, he was heartened by her exuberant reaction. The custom on their planet was once he’d asked and she’d accepted, even non-verbally, they were marked to be together. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to hear her accept his proposal.
Riker broke the kiss to give her a chance to answer, but caught sight of a figure staring through the coffee shop window right at them. He sucked in a breath of surprise.
“What?” she asked, but instantly twisted to look in the same direction. “Crappity-crapola-crap… I mean, space potatoes!” she said under her breath as the robed figure darted from the window toward the crowded main thoroughfare.
“We need to leave this shop,” she said, and looked around as if searching for a back door. He didn’t see one, and apparently she didn’t either.
“Good idea. Where should we go? There’s no pool access back door here.” Riker didn’t have the first clue as to where a safe place might be in this town.
“Wherever they wouldn’t want to follow us.”
“Excellent plan. Where is that?”
“Not sure yet, but I know that robed chanter is already on her way to find Anya and tattle our current location. We need to leave the Hallowed Bean, pronto.”
Riker picked up his coffee and finished it in one gulp, delighting in the flavor and not wanting to waste a drop. The coffee shipped from Earth and served on Alpha-Prime wasn’t nearly as tasty. He’d tried it once. It was okay, but not something he craved until now.
Hunger set in as they got ready to leave. He wished they’d gotten something more substantial to eat with their coffee, but the place only had coffee and sweets. The tasty cookie would have to do for now. “Let’s go then.”
Moments later they were on the street and headed in the opposite direction from where the robed figure had gone.
They walked at a fast clip, dodging folks here and there on the cross-street sidewalks. At each corner, they carefully looked toward the main road, checking for robed figures. That wasn’t as easy as one might think, since several people wore costumes. Elise explained it was in celebration of Nocturne Falls’s publicized all day, every day Halloween theme, which was some kind of human holiday.
Several blocks from the Hallowed Bean, Elise looked down the street and straightened. A wistful smile played around her lips. Riker wanted to steal another kiss, but they were pretty much on the run for their lives. He peered at all the storefronts in an effort to discover which one had made her so happy.
“Come on. I just found us a place to hide out for a bit.” She grabbed his hand as if to drag him along to a place she figured he would be resistant to.
She stopped abruptly at a fancy storefront, squeezing his hand as she opened the front door. A jingle above their heads sounded as he read the sign in the window. Ever After Bridal Boutique. Was this what he thought it was?
The second they stepped inside and the door closed behind them, a spike of uncertainty drove all the way into his bones. Every single direction he looked had earthling-styled dresses. The color white was on display everywhere he turned, everywhere he looked. More girly, frilly, lacy things were on display than he’d ever seen in one place in his lifetime. He was so far out of his depth it might take industrial space planet drilling equipment to find him and bring him back.
A regal looking woman with short dark hair perfectly styled approached them with a friendly smile. “Hello. Welcome to the Ever After Bridal Boutique. My name is Corette. I’m the owner here. How can I help you two lovebirds?”
It didn’t take a mental leap to guess at the implication of the word, though he had no idea if a lovebird was a real Earth avian or a euphemism. They were holding hands, implying they were indeed birds in love. Also, why else would they be in a place like this unless they were looking for directions or possibly a bathroom? Then again, this is not a place he would select for either of those two occasions.
Riker was struck dumb, not having a clue about what to say in this completely alien situation.
Elise, however, was apparently firing on all cylinders. “Hi. I’m Elise and this is my fiancé, Riker. He just asked me to marry him. We’ve come to shop for my perfect wedding dress here in Nocturne Falls, even though we’ll be getting hitched back home.”
Riker narrowed his eyes and almost said, “We have?” He quickly got into character and muttered an unconvincing, “Yes. That’s right. We have.”
He looked at the ocean of white surrounding him and wondered how he could possibly slink out of here, knowing this was a perfect place to hide, and they were hiding out. No right-thinking male would feel comfortable in this shop, no matter how in love he was. No one would ever look for them here. He needed to suck it up.
He cleared his throat and vowed to make a better effort. He glanced around one more time, trying to find a silver lining. If there ever were anything silver, likely it would have been thrown out to make way for a white lining.
Fabrics and lace and flowers and no shortage of blinding white girly things stretched as far as the eye could see. The place looked much bigger than the size of the storefront implied. Almost like magic. Surely it was just an optical illusion, using strategically placed mirrors. He shook off the thought and put his focus back on Elise. He would need her to guide him through this scenario every step of the way.
Corette looked them over, as if assessing their financial range based on their current mode of dress. He had news for her. His clothing looked a bit rough for the kind of place this was, and was nowhere near the truth of what he could actually afford. But what was he supposed to say? “Yes. I dressed up in my finest space travel garment this morning, but unfortunately crashed to Earth. Don’t mind the bloody uniform. I actually have a healthy funds account.”
Elise, thankfully, spoke so he didn’t have to. “We came here on vacation, dressing up for the day in true Halloween fashion.”
“Oh? What costumes are you wearing?” Corette asked politely. “You look like a female bounty hunter and your fiancé looks like an accident victim.”
“Oh no. He’s a spaceman crashed to Earth and I’m his human hostage, helping him find his way in a strange land.”
The other woman’s brows knit briefly, but she seemed to take it in stride. Perhaps in a town like Nocturne Falls, she’d heard any number of outlandish stories. “How original and fun,” she said and even sounded sincere. “What sort of wedding dress are you looking for, Elise?”
“I’m not quite sure yet.” She glanced around the room. “Perhaps you could recommend some styles that would look good on me.” Anything would look good on you.
“Absolutely.” Corette studied Elise as Riker wondered wha
t his role should be in this venue. If they’d been on Alpha-Prime, she would try things on and so would he. They’d make their selection together and he’d foot the bill.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have any funds with him to pay for any sort of ritual mating dress. Not unless he could simply sign his name as The Calderian and have the bill sent to him, which was what he usually did on Alpha-Prime.
“We’ll start with something that just came in my latest shipment. It’s perfect for your figure. Then we’ll move to more classic looks and the latest trends.” Corette motioned Elise toward an open hallway, clearly intending she try on some garments in another room.
He had a moment of panic when he realized he wouldn’t be allowed to stay with Elise. She was about to leave him in a girly white room with frilly things. The thought of being alone with all this white feminine frippery made his soul shrivel in dread.
Corette pointed to a padded throne-like chair. It looked like it belonged to a king. “You sit there and wait to see her in different dress designs.” Awesome. “We’ll show you a bunch of dresses, but she’ll make the final selection and that way you can still be surprised on your wedding day.”
Riker didn’t understand the significance of her dress choice being a secret. On his world, any prospective couple about to be mated went out together and selected jewelry and clothing for their special day.
He’d heard the mating ritual on Earth—at least near the colony in Arkansas—was similar, but not exactly the same. He nodded and smiled and went along because he didn’t know all the details of earthling customs. The less he said the better.
Corette pointed at a tray on a small table beside the throne. Small paper cups were scattered across the entire surface, each cup filled with small, white—what else, no other color was apparently allowed here—yummy-looking cakes. “Help yourself to a treat,” she said with a warm smile and shepherded Elise out of the room.
Riker was grateful to sit down and eat while he waited. Now that he had something to do, he was looking forward to seeing her in human finery. Not that he hated the clothing Elise wore—the military-style jacket and black pants were perfect for her job and she looked great—but he couldn’t wait to see her in a dress for their mating ceremony.