Stars Apart: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Celestial Mates)

by Trina Novak

  “It worked out better than anyone could’ve imagined,” Zarak replied, giving Cassandra a look that made Keptin’s tiny heart swell.

  “And now you’re pregnant! How exciting!” Keptin exclaimed. The second he said it and saw the look on Cassandra’s face, he realized what he’d done. Oops.

  “What?!” Cassandra said.

  “Are you...” Zarak turned to Cassandra and raised his eyebrows. “You didn’t tell me you were...”

  “My apologies,” Keptin interjected. Maybe, he realized, he’d been pretending to be an idiot for a bit too long. “I assumed you knew, Cassandra. One of the gifts my species has is, well... knowing these sorts of things about people. I didn’t intend this, but I suppose I will be the first to tell you: You’re going to have a child, Cassandra.”

  “Really?” Zarak said, his eyes shining with hope and happiness. Keptin nodded.

  Cassandra’s face virtually beamed with elation, and Keptin stood by and watched as Zarak took her in his arms, planting excited kisses all over her face. Oh, it was so sweet Keptin almost swooned.

  “Congratulations to both of you,” Keptin said. “I wish you a lifetime of utter joy.”

  He knew better than to wear out his welcome. Keptin stood for just a moment more, watching Cassandra and Zarak embrace, listening to their breathless declarations of love, and exhaled a great sigh of contented relief. This case, he knew, was closed. Another perfect match for the Celestial Mates record books.

  Yes, Cassandra and Zarak would have a lovely life together. There was no question about it.

  Keptin exited their dimension, eager to begin his next assignment.

  . . . . .

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  Turn the page for a bonus excerpt from Star Child, an action-packed and swoon-worthy sci-fi adventure about a woman’s first contact – and first love – with a mysterious and drop dead gorgeous alien...

  Who gets pregnant because of a prophecy?

  Curvy private investigator Ava Clarke doesn't believe in fate – but she can't deny that Asterion, the gorgeous alien she finds bleeding in her backyard, is very, very real. Accepting that she's his mate, though, is a whole different level of strange. Ava doesn't even kiss on the first date, let alone run off to another planet to marry an alien who claims their child could save the galaxy.

  But spending enough time around sexy Aster might just change her mind – if the secrets he's keeping don't frighten her away, and the evil alien warlord on their trail doesn't kill them first.

  An Excerpt from Star Child

  I finished cleaning the blood off Aster’s face, then walked into the kitchen and chucked the cotton balls into the trashcan. As I looked down at them, sitting atop of the garbage, something about his blood on the cotton struck me as odd. Yes, it was red – blood red – but there was a strange tint to it, almost an indigo tint, not unlike the color of his eyes.

  I looked at Aster, sitting on my couch sipping whiskey. Who was this man?

  “You’re a pretty mysterious guy, you know that Aster?” I walked back into the living room and took a seat on the opposite side of the couch. Pepper was snuggled up next to Aster, practically sitting in his lap.

  “I know this must be strange for you, finding me in your backyard,” he said. As he spoke, he stroked Pepper’s fur, and I heard her let out a small contented sigh. “You must’ve been terrified.”

  “Well, yeah, it’s not every day that I find an unconscious man bleeding on my leaf pile.” An incredibly hot man, I thought to myself as my eyes drifted to Aster’s sizable bicep, which strained against the thin black fabric of his t-shirt. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  “I’m glad I ended up in your backyard,” he told me, breaking out that panty-dropping grin once again.

  “I’m glad too. If you would’ve landed in one of my neighbors backyards, I doubt they would’ve been so kind.”

  “But you’re kind, Ava. Incredibly so. You took me into your home, you treated my wound, and you gave me this whiskey.” He raised the glass to his lips and took a sip, and smiled. “Which I really like, by the way.”

  “It’s really good stuff,” I told him. “Top shelf.”

  “You know, on my…” He paused, and took another sip of whiskey. “Where I’m from, there’s a saying. Roughly translated, it’s ‘never turn your back on an adventure.’ And I think this drink here counts as an adventure. I’m glad I tried it. And I’m glad you invited me inside, which is its own kind of adventure.”

  I laughed, and leaned my head back on the couch. Why did this feel like a date all of a sudden? “I know I shouldn’t bring bleeding strangers into my house in the middle of the night, but I do love a good adventure. And I know you don’t have nefarious intentions. I trust you.”

  “You trust me?” Aster looked at me, his blue eyes searching my face, as if to say, why? I wasn’t sure how to answer that. I just did.

  “Pepper seems to trust you,” I told him. “And I’m pretty good at reading people. And I have a good feeling about you. You’re…” I let my voice trail off, lost in his eyes.

  Again with that weird heat, that intense sizzle between us. When I looked in his eyes, it felt like something monumental was happening. I’d never felt that kind of pull towards a man before. But it was unmistakable. And it wasn’t because I was lonely, or reading too much into things. This strange man – Asterion – felt it too. I knew it. As his entrancing indigo eyes searched my face, I felt that that thing, that mysterious thing that I’d heard other women talk about. That instant attraction, that strange pull, that certainty that you feel in the pit of your stomach when you know you’ve met someone important.

  “I have a good feeling about you too, Ava. Do you believe in fate?”

  I didn’t – at least, not in the past. But my tune was quickly changing. “Maybe,” I said.

  “I think we were meant to find each other, Ava.” He leaned forward, and took my hand in his. “I know we’ve just met, but I feel like I’ve known you for so long. Like I know you in the deepest part of me. Do you feel it too?”

  It was cheesy and overdramatic, and I should’ve thought it was ridiculous. But I didn’t. What he said made sense. I felt it too. As I traced my finger over the back of his large hand, it felt so natural to touch him. It felt natural to be next to him. Aster was a stranger – an absolute stranger – but here he was, in my house, and it all felt so natural. Maybe what Beth had said to me on the phone earlier about fate and love had done a number on me, or maybe I really did just need to get laid. But I felt it. I felt like I knew him. In the deepest part of me.

  “I do feel it,” I whispered. “It seems absolutely crazy, but I feel… I can’t understand it…”

  “Ava, I think you might be the woman I’ve been looking for,” he said.

  Aster reached out his hand and touched my cheek. I let my face fall against his palm, then I felt his hand pulling my face closer to his, pulling me to him. Our lips were just inches apart.

  Then, suddenly, I heard a loud boom, and all the lights went out.

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