by Susan Grant
“Yes, of course.” Hawk’s pulse was barreling along now. He’d be embarrassed to admit his hands were shaking, but they were. “I’ll wait for her. For Kelly. For as long as it takes. I know this will work.”
The elder clapped her hands twice. “It is decided then. The order to rematch Commodore Hakkim is rescinded.”
“A cog in a Sky Mate factory! Oh my God, I love your mom!”
Hawk spun around. He was feeling so light at heart that when Kelly flew into his arms, it nearly knocked him off his feet. In that moment, he could have floated to the sky with her wrapped in his arms. “How much did you hear?”
“Not all of it, but enough. I love you.” Coming up on her toes, she captured his head between her hands and kissed him soundly.
Someone behind a computer monitor in the SCIF whistled.
Dee frowned and pointed. “There’ll be no more of that,” she said in her Classroom Instructor Voice.
“I guess we’re in uniform, so we’ll behave.” Kelly stood in front of Hawk, her eyes shining. “I’m so proud of you.” She tugged on his uniform, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles and brushing away invisible dust. Preening. His heart swelled to an impossible size.
They walked out of the building, then gathered in the parking lot to celebrate the good news. It was warm in the sunshine, and his skin tingled pleasantly in the rays, but in the air he sensed a touch of the season Kelly called autumn. Nothing he’d ever experienced himself, just an instinctive sense of the turning of the seasons. Perhaps it was buried deep in his DNA from wherever his ancient ancestors had originated. Worlds with seasons. Even after a life spent in luxurious aeries in sky towers, sealed off from the elements, he yearned to be out in them.
Now he could begin.
He and Kelly had been given the gift of time. He could ask for no more than that.
At O’Malley’s, Hawk happily ate his fill of barbecue. A bottle of root beer sat close to his heaping plate. Music played, the noise level was high, and he smiled as he watched Kelly stomp her boots in a line dance with her friends.
He was quite content to watch. He was quite content period. Not only had his parents helped facilitate the audience with the Council of Elders, they’d been instrumental in seeing one of his goals become a reality—the creation of a new military position: permanent liaison to Project Sky Mates.
Permanent for now. As military members, both he and Kelly understood they were always one order away from reassignment. But for now, until she healed, they would remain in Webber.
It didn’t mean they couldn’t travel. His parents really liked Kelly. He was certain a visit to Sky’s End would eventually happen.
Once, he’d believed he needed to be more like his parents, but in the end he’d found his own way. Training young Solos and overseeing Project Sky Mates was meaningful work. Here he could be happy while making a difference. And be with Kelly.
They were hopeful her brain injury would heal over time and allow them to be true Sky Mates someday, but for now they were as connected as any two beings could be. My true mate.
When she returned to the table, she sat with her head close to his—if only to pick pieces of brisket off his plate.
“I remember when you told me why you lived here in Webber. It’s part of you, you said. Part of who you are.”
“Yes…”
He tenderly tucked one of her curls behind her ear. “You’re part of me now, Kelly. With you, I’ll always be home, no matter where we are.”
Her eyes glowed. She wasn’t engineered to be a sky warrior, so the phenomenon wasn’t due to resonating bio-hardware, but her eyes blazed all the same. She took his hand in both of hers. “No matter where we may travel, no matter how far, as long as I’m with you I’ll always be home too. I love you so much, Hawk.”
“As I love you,” he said, his voice gruff. “Later, I’ll show you just how much.”
“Look at you two lovebirds,” Dee said as she sauntered over to their table. “‘If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. And the feel of the ocean…’”
“‘And the taste of champagne,’” Kelly chimed in.
“‘If you like making love at midnight,’” they belted out together.
Dee’s voice trailed off as Falcon headed their way, a big grin on his face, a huge plate of barbecue in his hands. “Oh dear.” She turned to leave.
Hawk caught her arm. “Rainbow. Is there a problem with Falcon?”
“He always sits in the front row in the classroom.”
He frowned. “Is he bothering you? Is he disrespectful?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“He’s beautiful.” She wriggled out of Hawk’s grip and disappeared into the crowd.
Just then, Hawk’s data-vis vibrated. He pulled the device from his pocket as Kelly retrieved hers. They read the incoming priority message. Then Kelly laughed and pumped her fist. “Go, Falcon!”
Lieutenant “Falcon” Faulke had been matched.
I hope you had a blast watching Kelly and Hawk fall in love.
Things are bound to heat up when Dee learns she’s been matched to Falcon!
Find out what happens next in Falcon. At your favorite bookseller now.
In book #2 of the sweet & steamy sci-fi romance Sky Mates series, intelligence officer Lieutenant Dee Wilson pushes way out of her envelope with her hot alien-cyborg flight instructor. Can she help it if his expert maneuvers have her seeing stars?
Dee is afraid of flying. But she’ll do anything for the chance to enter the Sky Mates program and be matched with a loving mate of her own. To overcome her greatest fear, she enlists the help of a big alien warrior with bravery to spare.
Sky Warrior Falcon is under intense pressure to return to his home planet with a Sky Mate. He can’t believe his luck when the sweet and smart redhead instructor who’s enchanted him since he arrived at Galactic Top Gun School turns out to be his match. Except, the only thing she seems passionate about is going out of her way to avoid him. Is she hiding something? When he discovers she’s signed up for lessons at a fear-of-flying clinic, he switches places with her instructor. If she’s serious about going sky high, he’ll make sure it happens with him.
Determined to see Dee reach new heights, Falcon finds out that when it comes to true love, the sky is definitely not the limit. But will his planet allow their most talented pilot to pair up with a mate who's firmly grounded?
For a sweet and steamy, Texas-two-stepping, afterburner-blasting, galaxy-spanning adventure, join the world of SKY MATES and read FALCON today! (An Intergalactic Dating Agency story.)
Grab your copy of Falcon from your favorite bookseller!
Other books in the Triad Alliance World:
The Otherworldly Men Series:
•Book #1 GUARDIAN ALIEN
•Book #2 ROYALLY MATED
•Book #3 CYBORG AND THE SINGLE MOM
The Borderlands Series:
•Book #1 WARLEADER
•Book #2 HUNTING THE WARLORD'S DAUGHTER (2020)
•Book #3 RAIDER BORN (2021)
And the spin-off series:
Sky Mates
•Book #1 HAWK
•Book #2 FALCON
Also by Susan Grant
New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author
RITA Award Winner
Star Series
Star Raider (prequel)
Star King
Star Prince
Star Princess
Star Champion
Star Heroes—2 book boxed set
Star Series—7 book boxed set
2176 Freedom Series
The Legend of Banzai Maguire
The Scarlet Empress
2176 Freedom Series—2 book boxed set
Stand-alone Books
Contact
Once A Pirate
The Day Her Heart Stood Still (a FREE READ for Susan Grant newsletter subscribers only)
Otherworldly Men Series
Royally Mated
Cyborg and the Single Mom
The Borderlands Series
Warleader
Hunting the Warlord’s Daughter
Raider Born
Sky Mates Series
Hawk
Falcon
The Lost Colony Series
The Last Warrior
Anthologies
Mission: Christmas (featuring “Snowbound with a Prince”)
Mysteria (featuring “Mortal in Mysteria”)
Mysteria Lane (featuring “The Nanny from Hell”)
Mysteria Nights (combines the Mysteria and Mysteria Lane anthologies)
From the Author
Susan's childhood dreams of becoming a space explorer fizzled when she found out calculus was involved. Luckily, she didn’t need math skills to fly jets—or to create space stories in her head, first for herself, then for friends, and now for readers everywhere.
A New York Times/USA Today bestselling author and a military veteran, Susan won the prestigious RITA® Award for her book Contact, a sci-fi aviation-thriller romance.
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