Chris shook her head. “If you hadn’t, our factions wouldn’t be talking peace right now. Because of you, we’ll spend the next hundred years working together to make Angondra a better place for everyone. I know Turk is grateful, too.”
Emily tried to laugh, but she had to swallow the lump in her throat just to talk. “He says he doesn’t want to be Alpha, but now he’s on his way home to take over the negotiations. He’ll be more Alpha than Caleb.”
Chris smiled. “That’s why he’s grateful. He always thought he was happy by himself in the mountains—with me, I mean. But now he has a new sense of purpose. He has more hope for our future, and he’s inspired to lead our people into a new era of peace. I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s a different person.”
“What about you?” Emily asked. “Are you going to be happy in the village, being the Alpha’s wife?”
“I’ll have Marissa to commiserate with,” Chris replied. “And I’ll have the rest of my family, too. It’s you I’m worried about.”
“Me? Why?” Emily asked.
“You’re going back to Harbeiz,” Chris replied. “Faruk will be just as mixed up in politics as Donen. Donen is making him his right-hand man renegotiating the borders between the three factions. You might not see much of him, and he was always unhappy in the city. He loved the mountains as much as Turk loved the forest.”
“He may not have liked the city much,” Emily agreed, “but his heart was always on the border. Now the border means something different. It doesn’t mean war and conflict and destruction. It means cooperation and friendship. Faruk is as excited about the future as the rest of us.” She laughed. “I’m as excited about the future as the rest of us, too.”
“Do you think you’ll see Frieda again?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know,” Emily replied. “But in a way, I found her the way I wanted to. I know where she is, and I know she’s happy and settled there. If I really need to see her and talk to her, I know where to find her.”
“Traveling to Aqinas territory would be a much bigger trip than this one,” Chris told her. “It’s a lot farther away.”
“Going into the water and finding out how the Aqinas live would be a much bigger challenge than traveling there,” Emily replied. “I still don’t understand half of what Fritz and Sasha told us.”
Chris nodded. “It sounds like the water dissolves all the barriers between people we take for granted. They know everything everyone else is thinking and feeling, and there’s nothing to separate anybody from everyone else.” She shivered. “It's sounds scary.”
Emily shrugged. “Sasha said it was wonderful, and they were most insistent that Frieda was happy there. Maybe once you get used to it, it’s better than being separate the way we are. It wouldn't be as lonely, anyway.”
Chris gazed at the horizon. “I like it the way it is. If we weren’t separate, coming together with other people wouldn't be so precious and wonderful.”
Emily touched her arm. “You mean like you and Turk? I understand what you mean.”
“And you, too,” Chris replied. “I wouldn’t give up the connection between you and me for anything.”
Emily gave her a hug. “Me, too.”
Chris took a step back. “Promise me we’ll see each other again. In a few years, when your children get older, you'll come and find me, won't you?”
Emily laid her hand on her cheek. “I promise.”
“Faruk will come to Lycaon territory to negotiate the border with Caleb and Turk,” Chris went on. “You’ll come with him, and we'll spend some time together.”
Emily nodded, but she couldn’t speak with the lump in her throat. Her eyes stung, but she couldn’t stop smiling.
“I know Faruk will take good care of you.” Chris tore herself out of Emily’s arms and took another step away.
Emily raised her hand. “I love you. I’ll see you soon.”
Turk took Chris’s hand, and they headed down the hill. They waved at the corner where the path angled into the trees, and then they were gone. Emily turned back to join the Ursidrean column and found Faruk standing behind her. She took his hand and started walking.
He fell in at her side. “We could go with them. We could spend some time in the village with her and Caleb.”
Emily shook her head. “Let’s go home. We've been gone too long already.”
THE END
Dragon Riders of Markham
A Fantasy Romance
Complete Series (Books 1 – 6)
HOT BOOKS PUBLISHING
Contents
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
Book 6
Book 1
Chapter one
I opened my eyes and I could feel this pounding headache that just wouldn’t go away. I wanted to get up, but my limbs felt like they were weighing me down heavily. I didn’t know what happened. The last thing I remember is having a party after hours at the club that I bounced at. I can see the banner with happy birthday Shana written across in bold red letters. I remember taking shots of tequila like I was drinking tap water. I’ve always been known to break free of convention. You may not know it from looking at me, but I can handle my liquor, unless of course I go overboard.
I stared up at the sky and it was such a brilliant blue that it almost blinded me. There is something different, something that I’m not quite sure what it is, but I know that there is something. I feel a cool wind tousle my raven black hair. It feels nice and it’s a momentary reprieve from the pounding drum that is incessantly getting on my last nerve.
I recall seeing all my friends and everybody having a great time. There was this man and he tried to put his hands on me, only to find out that I was not that kind of girl. He left there with a permanent limp and most likely a sprained wrist from when I turned it in just the right way to make him bow down at my feet. I think that most guys believe that I am a lesbian, but they only believe that because they want to.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like guys, but I was particular in who I spent my time with. I certainly didn’t want a drunken slob pawing at me and telling me how beautiful I am. I also didn’t want that guy with the gold chains and the first three buttons on his shirt undone leering at me and telling me that my dress would look good on the floor of his bedroom.
For the most part, I would say that they leave me alone and I must project an air of confidence that either scares them or makes them rethink their approach. Most often than not, I am the one that initiates, but only if I feel that the man is worthy.
My job is very important to me and my two coworkers, Simone and Gary are two of my closest friends. It was them that put on this shindig for me and I could honestly believe that we would be the best of friends for the rest of our lives. All three of us had opened the place together and even though my contribution was more physical at the door, didn’t mean that I wasn’t raking in the profits from my 25%. Nobody knew about our arrangement and that was part of the deal when I decided to jump feet first into this venture.
I heard what sounded like a wild animal, but it sounded like nothing I’ve ever heard in my life. I once again tried to rise up to assess my situation, but all I could do was stare at the sky and wonder where the hell I was.
Back at the club, I saw Simone dancing on top of the bar and slinging drinks like a master mixer. I had to give her credit for going to Bartending School and learning the craft from the bottom up. She became quite the natural at twirling those bottles and not spilling a drop. This was all to the chorus of applause from the crowd. She was the spectacle that brought those men in from the cold. She put on a show that was worthy of her own extravaganza in Las Vegas.
“Shana, you should get up here with me and show them how to shake their money maker.” She was the quintessential blond bombshell with the type of breasts that defied gravity. I could be so bold and join her, but that
would only be pandering to the crowd. Besides, they were all drunk and I had no interest in looking down from on top of the bar to see them gazing at me with animalistic desires that were never going to be fulfilled.
“You’re doing just fine on your own, Simone.” She was shorter than me at 5’4, 130 pounds with most of that up front and center. I was a Raven haired vixen and I liked to tease the masses with brief peeks at the good stuff. My claim to fame was tight jeans, because my best asset was my tight and firm ass. My abdominals were flat and were the result of many hours sculpting them in a gym. I was freakishly strong and growing up with three brothers had made it a necessity to learn how to survive.
My father was single and our mother was absent, until we got older and we decided to give her a second chance. For the most part, our father was the one that raised us. He was very hesitant in allowing me to join him and my brothers out in the wilderness. I guess I was a tomboy from early on.
The party was still in full swing at 3:00 AM in the morning and from there, things began to get a little fuzzy around the edges. I got dizzy, but it was nothing that I hadn’t experienced before.
I think I walked out to get a breath of fresh air and then everything went blank. It was like a whole section of my memory had been excised. I couldn’t recall how I got out here in some field in the middle of nowhere.
I was finally able to lift myself up and I saw these weird mutant flowers that I’d never seen before. They seemed to sway back and forth with the breeze, but the petals were moving like they had a life of their own. They seemed to be dancing to their own tune and then this insect flew by and got the shock of its life.
Those odd purple and black flowers snapped forward and grabbed this insect out of the air like it was nothing. I was truly transfixed and I didn’t even realize that there was the sound of hooves on the ground, until suddenly they were right on top of me. It was then that I realized that the blades of grass around me had a different texture with these fine coarse hairs that you could barely see with the naked eye.
I poked my head above them and I noticed a figure kneeling and wearing what I could only assume is red armor. With the sun beating on it, it was like 1000 light bulbs going off in my eyes at the same time. I had to shield my eyes. I was trying my best to understand any of this. I lived in a metropolitan and yet this was some kind of country setting that reminded me of Iowa, but on a different scale.
“Don’t worry, Rankin. We’re just making a pit stop. Those Talons will not come anywhere close to you. Just between you and me, I’ve always thought that those flowers should’ve been banned. Unfortunately, my pleas fell on deaf ears. The council believes that the flowers are a necessity to the natural evolvement of our society. I think they only say that because they know that cultivating the flowers will bring prosperity. It’s just a matter of getting the right equipment to do the job. We’ll be home soon and then you can enjoy the stew that I made. I always make too much.” He was talking to himself and then he took off his helmet letting go a mane of blond hair that fell to the small of his back.
He looked around like he was nervous. He started to pull the armor from his body, until he was standing there with nothing, but a smile. I couldn’t see his face. I did put my hand up to my mouth in complete shock to see him completely naked from behind. He was a Greek god and that was the kind of body that I would like to start exploring in the morning and end up in his arms spooning at night.
“I do have to say that you make a fine sight for a woman that has just woken up.” He was startled and he inadvertently turned and gave me a brief glimpse at his most prominent region. He clamped his hands over it and moved behind the horse. It wasn’t actually a horse and there were two horns sticking out of its head.
“I don’t know where ye came from, but it’s not nice to sneak up on someone.” I don’t know where he got his vocabulary, but it sounded like something you would hear in the olden days. Perhaps I had fallen into some kind of renaissance fair. “Why are you out here in the middle of the day? Curfew has already started. If you’re seen trespassing on private land, you’ll be punished severely.” I was willing to play along, but I also needed to know where I was.
Chapter two
He was a little embarrassed by being seen with no clothes on, but he soon got over that shyness. He dressed behind his horse. He came back out wearing a sort of armor that melded to him like a second skin. I could actually see the material rippling along his muscles to conform to his frame and likeness. It was the strangest thing that I’d ever seen.
“I don’t suppose you can tell me where I’m at?” I was still wearing my customary blue jeans, denim shirt and a black leather vest. I was always big into motorcycles and I had a custom made Harley that would make most people cringe when I drove by with those aftermarket pipes making quite the noise. I wore one of those helmets that looked like it was back in the war torn days of Korea. I did wear a pair of sunglasses and had a kerchief around my mouth to prevent bugs from choking me to death.
“Are you daffy or something? You’re in the land of Markham. This is the countryside on the outskirts of town.” I took a step back, when I noticed that the horse had wings and then it snorted with blue fire coming out of its nose. I was totally stunned, completely taken a back and I had no idea if what I was seeing was real. It could be that I was in a hospital with some kind of concussion or in a coma where I was living out a weird kind of dream. It didn’t feel like a dream and just touching those blades of grass was very real.
I wasn’t sure if I could tell him the truth, so I decided on a story that would make a little bit more sense. “I guess I got turned around.” I couldn’t help but to look at his armor and the muscles that were now bulging. There was one in particular that caught my attention and I found myself staring at it despite how I feel about men doing the same thing to my chest. I was treating him like he was man candy and I was wondering if he would melt in my hand or melt in my mouth. This thought made me giggle and to him I must’ve looked like some kind of crazy person laughing at nothing.
I needed to get a lay of the land, before I decided to reveal the true reason he had found me in that field. “My name is Braden. It’ll be my honor to escort you back to town my fair maiden. If we’re lucky, we won’t be stopped by the sentry.” I took a few steps closer and I came within a hair’s breath of actually reaching out and touching him in a not so subtle way.
“I really don’t have any place to stay and I’ve only come here to visit.”
“Watch out.” I saw something in my peripheral vision and it was moving towards me at a speed that didn’t seem possible. Braden snapped something from a kind of holster and I thought it was a sword, until I noticed that it was almost like energy. He slashed it through the air and the thing that was coming towards me got cut in half and fell at my feet. The snake’s head was spitting what looked like green venom and on the other end was another snake’s head doing the same thing. Its eyes were fluttering and then it died with a breath of air that came from its lungs, as a last ditch effort to grab onto any kind of oxygen that it could find.
“The land of Markham is obviously made up of four territories. I did not think that you came from the west, so I can only assume that you came from the east.” He was staring at me and I realized that his interest was in my clothes. “You easterners are always a bit strange, but this is even weird for you.” He motioned for me to come closer and when I did, he lifted me with such ease that he made it appear like I didn’t weigh 135 pounds.
I landed on this scaly hide and I watched as Braden leaped with the finesse of a gazelle in front of me. “Braden, I would like you to take me back to your place.” I knew how it sounded and I certainly didn’t mean it in a sexual way. It wasn’t that I wasn’t attracted to him, because he was built like a football player and had this animalistic heat that was making me aware of my own libido.
“I’m not accustomed to bringing somebody home that I don’t know. Never let it
be said that I do not act in a chivalrous way. I cannot deny your request, since you stated it eloquently. Let us be off, before the sentry makes its way over this terrain.” I barely cinched my fingers around his waist, when this creature lifted off the ground and took flight. I had to pinch myself several times to make myself wake up, but it was to no avail.
“If it helps, my name is Shana Moore.” I remember him saying that he didn’t like to take strangers back to his home. If we were on a first name basis, maybe he wouldn’t feel that way.”
“You speak strangely and I’ve never heard anybody that referred themselves with two names.” Apparently, his name was Braden and like Cher, he only had one name. It was funny, but I could swear when he brandished that weapon that killed that snakelike creature that the actual energy came from his hands like a whip. I looked at his armor and I saw no place to hide any weapons, but this was unlike any armor that I had ever seen. Back where I came from armor was clunky and had the kind of feel that would make it almost impossible for a knight to walk comfortably.
Braden was wearing something in contrast to that and I could swear that it reminded me of clothing. “I hope that this is not an imposition.” He shrugged his shoulders, while I strayed my fingers a little bit more south of the equator. The temperature had risen and had nothing to do with the heat that was coming from the sun. I glanced up and noticed that the sun was burning this very brilliant red. There were two moons that had this eerie green glow on either side of the sun. If I didn’t know that I was on an alien planet by now, then seeing that sealed the deal.
If I were to question him on other aspects of his world, I knew that I would be suspicious in his eyes. I had to play this casual and make him believe that I was nothing to worry about. I saw no reason not to tell him my real name, considering that I was not from this world. I was going to have to remember to call myself Shana and eliminate the Moore from my vocabulary.
Alien Romance: The Alien's Bliss: A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Invasion Abduction Romance Page 41