Choosing Rose (Other World Series Book Six)

by Ramona Gray

Vida’s body relaxed just as Brody rounded the large clump of bushes. “Rose!”

  “Brody!”

  The redhead threw his arms around her and hugged her tight, lifting her off the ground before setting her back on her feet. “Oh my God, we thought you were dead.”

  He kissed her cheek and stepped back as Wallace and Duncan appeared behind them. Wallace winked at her. “Good to see you, Rosie-girl.”

  He reached to give her a hug and she squeaked in surprise when a big, blue arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her away from him. Vida pressed her against his body, his big hand holding her hip in a tight grip as he stared at Wallace. “Do not touch her, human.”

  “It’s fine. Wallace is my friend.” She pulled at Vida’s arm, but he refused to release her.

  Wallace studied Vida for a moment before grinning at him. “You must be Vida.”

  Vida didn’t reply. Rose gave up on trying to free herself and leaned against him. “Vida, you know Brody sort of, and this is Wallace and Duncan.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Wallace held out his hand.

  “Do not touch her. Do you understand?” Vida said in a low voice.

  After a moment, Wallace nodded and dropped his hand. Vida turned his gaze to Duncan who met it steadily before nodding as well. Vida’s body relaxed, and he loosened his grip on her. She patted his arm.

  “They’re my friends, Vida.” She reached out and took Brody’s hand, squeezing it hard. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Looking for you,” Brody said. “We were out this morning but then that asshole Patrick made us stop looking for you. Said it was a waste of time and that you were dead.”

  “Watch your mouth, Red,” Wallace said.

  Brody shrugged. “He’s a fucking psychopath and you know it, Wallace.”

  Wallace didn’t reply, and Brody turned back to Rose. “As soon as Patrick went into his hut this afternoon with Talla, I told the others I was going to look for you. Wallace and Duncan said they would come with me.”

  “Thanks, guys,” Rose said. “That was really nice of you.”

  “Don’t mention it, Rosie-girl,” Wallace said.

  “Why did you run away last night?” Brody asked. He glanced at Wallace and Duncan. “Was it because of what you, uh, saw in my hut last night?”

  Wallace grinned at him. “What exactly did she see? Because I happened to be up early this morning and noticed Doc leaving your hut.”

  Brody blushed, and Wallace laughed before elbowing him. “Doc always did have a thing for the redheads.”

  “Shut up, Wallace,” Brody said without much heat.

  “It had nothing to do with you,” Rose said. “Didn’t Solomon tell you?”

  “No. He didn’t say anything,” Brody replied.

  “He wasn’t even that pissed at Daryl for letting you run off in the fucking jungle without telling anyone,” Wallace said.

  “Wallace!” Brody glared at him and Wallace shrugged.

  “She deserves to know her fiancé is a dickhead.”

  “I already know,” Rose said. “After I left Brody’s hut, I went to Solomon’s and caught him and Marissa having sex.”

  “Are you kidding me? She was banging that cowardly asshole? What the fuck does he have that I don’t?” Wallace said to Duncan.

  “Jesus, Rose. I’m sorry,” Brody said.

  “He was having an affair with her before we even landed on this world,” Rose said. “Anyway, I kind of freaked out and ran into the jungle. I meant to just go to the waterfall, but I got lost and then was nearly killed by some vines. Vida saved me.”

  She smiled at the big, blue man, but he was studying the jungle around them.

  “You were very lucky, Rose,” Duncan said. “Going into the jungle alone at night was incredibly dangerous.”

  “I know. I won’t do it again.”

  “What the fuck? Is that a U-haul?” Brody had finally noticed the truck behind them. He stepped around Rose and studied it as Wallace clapped him on the back.

  “Isn’t it something? You got U-haul on your world too, huh?”

  Brody nodded, and Wallace glanced at Duncan. “Maybe it isn’t from my world then.”

  Brody walked toward the back. “Is there stuff inside?”

  “Nope. We opened up the back doors when we first discovered it about a month after we landed on this rock. It was empty.”

  “Who took the stuff?” Brody wondered.

  “Two options – either the locals emptied it out or it could have been empty when it got sucked into the orb.”

  “Or maybe the people driving it, emptied it out,” Brody said.

  “Maybe.” Wallace shrugged. “We’ll never know for sure.”

  Rose glanced at Vida. His face was impassive and she strived for the same. She liked Wallace, but she knew he was loyal to Patrick and she didn’t want Patrick knowing about Vida’s home. He would take it for his own use without thinking twice.

  “Is there anything different about the logo on the truck?” Wallace asked Brody. “Anything that would make you think it wasn’t from your world?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Why?”

  Wallace shrugged. “Just curious if it really is from my world. Wait… let’s check the license plate.”

  Brody followed him to the back of the truck. Wallace scraped away the dirt from the plate. “North Carolina. It is our world. Unless you have a North Carolina?”

  “Never heard of it,” Brody said.

  “Bingo.” Wallace held up his fist and Brody bumped it. “Looks like I win the ‘whose world is this from’ game.”

  Brody grinned at him before turning to Rose. “We were talking about differences in our worlds while we looked for you. In their world, Michael Jackson is dead.”

  “What?” Her mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”

  “Yep.” Wallace turned and did an exceedingly poor version of the moon walk. “So’s Elvis although my mother swears she saw him in the jungle room at Graceland when she visited it in 1983. But between you and me, pretty sure she was hitting the weed hard back in the day.”

  “Elvis died in our world too,” Rose said.

  “Cher is still alive in their world though,” Brody said.

  “No!”

  “Yes! And get this…Oprah Winfrey is an entertainment star. She had a talk show and starred in movies and now she has her own television network.”

  “President Winfrey is a TV star?” Rose blinked at Brody.

  Wallace laughed. “Hey, how do you think we felt finding out she’s the goddamn president in your world?”

  “That’s so weird,” Rose said.

  “You’re telling me,” Brody replied. “Doc and I have been comparing stuff and it’s freaky weird how many things are almost the same but not quite. Like, the governments are run the same way, but -”

  “We should get back,” Duncan said. “It’s going to be dark soon.”

  “Good point.” Wallace pulled off the wreath of yellow flowers he wore around his neck. “Here, Rosie-girl, put this on.” Before he could drape the wreath over her head, Vida was baring his fangs at him and pulling Rose back into his embrace.

  “I said to stay away from her.”

  “No, you said not to touch her,” Wallace said with a grin.

  Vida growled at him and Wallace turned to Duncan. “Did the big blue guy just growl at me? Like an actual growl?”

  “Wallace, stop,” Rose said. “Vida, it’s okay. Just, uh, calm down, all right?” She had no idea what was going on with Vida, but the last thing she wanted was him fighting with Wallace. Vida was big and strong, but Wallace was a damn SEAL.

  Vida squeezed her hip. “He is not to go near you.”

  “I’m trying to help,” Wallace said. “Maybe you haven’t met the pinkies yet, but these flowers help keep us safe from them.”

  “I will keep her safe.”

  Wallace sighed. “Listen, you’re big and obviously you’ve got some skills at staying alive, but the pinkies
are -”

  “I have seen them. She does not require the flowers, I will keep her safe,” Vida replied.

  “It’s fine,” Rose said before Wallace could argue again. “I don’t need the flowers.”

  She smiled up at Vida and he squeezed her hip again before releasing her and taking her hand.

  “All right,” Wallace said. “Let’s make like birds and get the flock out of here.”

  * * *

  “Holy shit.” Daryl stared in disbelief at Vida. “He’s alive.” His gaze dropped to Vida and Rose’s clasped hands. “Of course you’re holding hands with him. You fucking him, Rose? Why not, right? You’ve had a goddamn hard-on for the blue asshole since the minute you saw him.”

  “Shut up,” Teagan said. He was adding more wood to the fire and he brushed his hands off on his pants.

  “You’re not the fucking boss of me.” Daryl’s voice was sullen.

  Teagan fixed him with a steady glare. “You’re lucky we didn’t kick you out of camp for keeping quiet when Rose left last night. Keep your mouth shut or that luck will change.”

  A flicker of fear crossed Daryl’s face and he sat down on the log as Teagan approached them. “Hello, Rose. It’s good to see you still alive.”

  “Thanks, Teagan. This is Vida. Vida, this is Teagan.”

  “Nice pants.” Teagan studied the military pants Vida was wearing.

  “At least you know where your pants went,” Brian said with a grin.

  “Rose?” Solomon hurried out of his hut. “You’re alive! Oh thank God.”

  He tried to hug her, grunting in surprise when Vida shoved him back.

  “Do not touch her.” Vida put his arm around Rose’s waist.

  “She’s my fiancée.” Solomon gave him an indignant look and then stared at Rose. “What are you doing with him? Get away from him.”

  “He saved my life last night,” Rose said.

  Solomon cleared his throat. “Well, I’m grateful to him, but that doesn’t mean he can just touch you like that. Come with me, we need to talk.”

  He held out his hand and Rose could feel herself bristling. Oh, now he wanted to talk? She took a deep breath, now was not the time to be childish. She started forward and Vida’s hand tightened on her hip.

  “It’s fine.” She patted his hand. “I need to talk to him alone.”

  Vida frowned, and she patted his hand again. “It’s fine, Vida.”

  She shivered when Vida leaned down and pressed his mouth against her ear. “Do not allow him to touch you, little flower.”

  He studied her intently and, weirdly, she couldn’t resist giving in to his demand. “I won’t.”

  He relaxed and released her. When Solomon tried to take her hand, she ignored it and walked toward her hut. Solomon followed her into the hut and pulled the fur across the doorway. They stared silently at each other in the dim light.

  “What you saw, it didn’t mean anything,” Solomon finally said.

  “How long have you been sleeping with her?”

  Solomon looked away. “Not that long.”

  “How long?” Rose asked.

  “I don’t know. A while.”

  “Define a while, Solomon.”

  “What does it matter?” He gave her a petulant look. “She doesn’t mean anything to me.”

  “I want to know, and I deserve an answer.”

  He sighed. “About a week after she started working at the lab.”

  “So, you’ve been fucking Marissa for over three months now, but she doesn’t mean anything to you?” Rose stepped back when Solomon moved closer.

  He gave her a look of hurt. “It’s you I love. I just – I have needs that you can’t take care of and Marissa could. Besides, she came on to me and she was… persistent. I tried to resist.”

  “You resisted for a whole seven days. Nice work.”

  Solomon flushed. “Can we try and talk about this like adults?”

  “I don’t even know what there is to talk about. You cheated on me, it’s over.”

  “Seriously? You’re just going to end our engagement?”

  Rose glared at him. “Do you really think I’m going to be with you, marry you, when you’ve been fucking Marissa?”

  “I told you, I have needs that you can’t take care of and -”

  “What needs?” Rose snapped. “I practically begged you for sex, Solomon. I repeatedly offered myself to you. I wore sexy lingerie, I offered massages, I bought toys. I did everything I could to think of to try to turn you on, and you still rejected me. You were always too tired or too -”

  “You’re bad at sex,” Solomon blurted.

  Rose turned a dull red. “I’m not.”

  “You are. You think I couldn’t tell you were faking your orgasms? Christ, do you know how insulting that is? It got to the point where I didn’t even want to touch you. What was the point? I love you, Rose, I do, but I need more than you can give me when it comes to sex.”

  He took another step toward her, frowning when she backed away. “Rose, listen – I meant to talk to you about having an open relationship before you fucked up and got us all sent to this goddamn world.”

  “An open relationship?” She crossed her arms over her torso, hugging herself tightly as Solomon nodded.

  “Yeah. We’d be together as a couple, and it’s you that I love, but I’m allowed to have sex with other women.” She didn’t reply, and he hurried on. “It’s unconventional I know, but it’s not as uncommon as you think. I want to be with you, baby, but I need to have my sexual needs met as well. An open relationship is how we achieve that.”

  Feeling like she’d been run over by a very large truck, Rose said, “So, in this open relationship, you get to fuck Marissa whenever you want, and I can sleep with any of the guys on this island I want?”

  Solomon cocked his head at her. “Well, yeah, I guess, but why bother?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He gave her a self-indulgent smile that set her teeth on edge. “Baby, if I can’t make you come, no man can. There’s no point in sleeping with other men if you’re just going to be faking your orgasms with them too, right?”

  She stared at him in silent disbelief. Solomon smiled again at her. “I really think we can make this work. If you keep an open mind and -”

  “Vida made me come.”

  “I – what?” Solomon’s gaze narrowed. “What did you say?”

  “I said that Vida made me come. Last night, he made me climax. Easily.”

  “You fucked him?” Solomon’s voice was rising, and she made a shushing gesture as she glanced at the doorway of the hut.

  “What’s the problem? If it’s an open relationship, then -”

  “He’s not even human!” Solomon shouted. “You fucked an alien, Rose. A goddamn alien! What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “What’s wrong with me?” Rose said. “You’re cheating on me and have been for months, but there’s something wrong with me? Vida is a good person and -”

  “He’s not a person! He’s a – a thing and he – shit!”

  Solomon screamed and staggered back as the fur was ripped away from the doorway and Vida stomped into the hut. He bared his teeth at Solomon and stepped in front of Rose, blocking her from Solomon’s view.

  “Get out of here,” Solomon said as Teagan and Brody joined them in the hut. “Get out of here, you – you freak.”

  “Raise your voice to the little flower again and I will rip out your tongue,” Vida said. His voice was calm enough, but his entire body was vibrating, and his hands were hard fists at his sides.

  “Rose, you okay?” Brody asked.

  “I’m fine.” Rose slipped around Vida. He immediately put his arm around her waist and drew her back against him.

  “Stay with me, flower.”

  “Maybe you guys should take a break from talking.” Teagan was eyeing Vida. “Give everyone a chance to cool down.”

  “I have nothing else to say to her,” Solomon said. “We’re
finished, Rose. Do you hear me? I’m – I’m breaking up with you.”

  Rose laughed. It made Solomon turn a bright red and he gave her a furious look, but she couldn’t help it. “You’re breaking up with me? The minute I saw you dick-deep in Marissa, we were finished. Don’t come near me again, Solomon.”

  “Fine with me, you frigid bitch.” Solomon pushed past Brody and walked out of the hut.

  Rose released her breath in a shaky sigh as Brody said, “You sure you’re okay, Rose?”

  “Yeah, thanks, Brody.”

  “Is there going to be a problem with you and Solomon both being in the camp?” Teagan asked.

  Rose shook her head. “No. He’ll just ignore me.”

  “Good. We need to keep things civil in camp, Rose. I get that he -”

  “Teag?” Wallace stuck his head in the hut. “Patrick’s awake. He wants to talk to him.” His gaze flickered to Vida.

  “Yeah, okay.” Teagan studied Vida. “Patrick is our leader. Don’t challenge him or piss him off.”

  “I am not afraid of your leader,” Vida said.

  “You should be.”

  Chapter Nine

  “You were seriously a goddamn sex slave for twenty-five years?” Wallace stared at Vida who nodded.

  “Motherfucking shitballs,” Wallace said before turning to Brian. “How pathetic is it that I’m kind of jealous of him right now?”

  “A little pathetic.”

  “Fuck, boy,” Wallace clapped Brian on the back, “a man can only use his hand so many times before he -”

  “Wallace.” Teagan’s voice was low, but Wallace immediately stopped talking.

  Rose chewed at her bottom lip. For the last half-hour, at Patrick’s request, Vida had given them a brief rundown of his life. She glanced at Patrick. He was rubbing Talla’s thigh absently as he studied Vida.

  “Not to be indelicate,” Doc said to Vida, “but can your kind get STDs?”

  Vida glanced at Rose. “What does STD mean?”

  “I have no idea,” Rose replied.

  Brody grinned at her. “Doc asked me about it the other night. I didn’t have a damn clue what he was talking about. They’re these weird sex diseases that those guys get.” He pointed at Wallace and the others and Wallace held his hands up.