Romancing the Stars: 8 Short Stories of Galactic Romance and Adventure

by Sabine Priestley

  Wonder filled his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe he’d heard her right. But you did, Garrison. You did! And to prove it, she leaned toward him. The light brush of his lips against hers sent tingles cascading through her body, even to the tips of her fingers and toes. Oh! Her eyes fluttered closed. His mouth opened against hers, and their tongues met and caressed. As the kiss deepened, an aching need that had been absent for so long filled her. A moan built at the back of her throat as his arms slipped around her and drew her to him.

  The painful tenderness of her full breasts pressed against his hard chest intruded. She’d need to nurse before she and Garrison went any further. And, God, she wanted to go further. Like all-the-way further. She’d been numb for so long and she wanted to feel again, body and soul.

  As she pulled away from him, he gave her a questioning look. She stood up cupping her hands over her towel-covered breasts. “I’m sorry, Garrison. I need to wake up David. It won’t take long, I promise.”

  She turned toward the door, but Garrison’s fingers closed gently around her wrist—the same wrist Dave had held. A sense of destiny filled her, as if this was meant to be, and she let him pull her to stand between his knees.

  “David’s asleep.” His voice was rough and desire burned in his eyes. “Let me care for you this time, April.”

  Her lips parted, and her body seemed to forget how to breathe. Does he really mean….? Garrison slipped the towel from her loose grip and lowered it to rest on the swell of her hips. He lifted one heavy breast in his palm. Oh, God, he’s going to…. His mouth closed over her areole and sucked her deeply.

  The letdown hit hard, drawing a ragged gasp from her. White hot bolts of lightning shot from her nipple straight down between her legs. If a person could die from pleasure, then she was almost gone. A long, low groan born from relief and ecstasy welled up from her soul. She arched into him, gripping his shoulders as his tongue stroked her nipple, taking just enough to bring relief to one breast before moving to the other. This is heavenly. He really was caring for her; seeing to her needs ahead of his own. She’d been the caretaker of others for so long, she’d almost forgotten how it felt to be on the receiving end.

  Garrison’s hand slid behind her neck, drawing her mouth back down to his. She tasted herself on his lips. A moan rolled in her throat, and the towel slithered off her hips as she straddled his lap. His hands glided down her back and over her bottom, pulling her snug against him. Against the hardness inside his camo pants. She rocked forward, thrusting her tongue as deep into his mouth as she could. This is what I want you to do to me.

  The rumble of his growl seeped into her, flowed through her veins and became part of her very essence. God, she wanted him in every way a woman could have a man. He broke the kiss, his breath warm against her skin as he buried his face at the hollow between her neck and shoulder.

  “If we don’t stop now, April, I don’t know if I’ll be able to later,” he rasped.

  She leaned back to meet his heavy-lidded gaze. “I don’t want you to stop, Garrison. I want all of you, completely. Permanently, like you said. If you can honestly give me that, then we’re not stopping.”

  The heat in his blue-gray eyes warmed her. “You’ve had all of me, April, from the moment we met.”

  “Then let me give you all of me.”

  “For the rest of our lives?”

  “Yes. God, yes, please.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he murmured. His hands gripped under her thighs then he lifted her and carried her into the bedroom.

  Epilogue

  David’s little hands clung to Gunner’s fingers. The towhead soon-to-be-toddler stood knee-deep in the ice plant, bouncing up and down on his wobbly legs. His squeals of delight were music to Gunner’s ears. The little guy was barely nine months old, but it wouldn’t be too much longer before he took his first steps.

  “Atta boy, buddy.” Gunner couldn’t hide his own silly grin. David’s love of discovery touched his heart, letting Gunner see the world as if for the first time. Life through a child’s eyes.

  He cast a glance across the bluff overlooking the sparkling blue Pacific. April stood near the cliff, gazing over the rolling waves. This was her moment, her time to make peace with Dave’s memory. When she came back, they would go to the local minister to be married and become the family they were meant to be.

  Life had taken an unexpected turn that day in her bathroom a month ago. Not that he was complaining. Giving up his post with the Unified Defense Fleet hadn’t been difficult at all. In fact, it had turned out better than he’d imagined when Admiral Gryf Helyg offered him a permanent position at the newly-built Terr Base One.

  And home—home was at the orphanage with April, David, and all the kids. Li-Min too. Talk about an instant family.

  The brisk sea breeze tapered into stillness. Silence descended, and the sunlight seemed to intensify.

  “Dat?” David queried into the sudden calm.

  Swinging the little boy into his arms, Gunner gave his chubby cheek a kiss. “Mama will be back soon, buddy.”

  David turned his head to his right then smiled brilliantly. “Dat?”

  Gunner followed his gaze, all his senses shifting to full alert. What the hell? A bleach-blond stranger stood no more than ten feet from them, his crystal-blue eyes riveted on David. How had this guy approached them unawares? It was as though he’d just suddenly appeared.

  Gunner narrowed his eyes, alert for any threatening moves. “Good morning.”

  The younger man’s gaze shifted to meet his. Whoa. Gunner fought the urge to step back. The stranger’s eyes were...eternal. As if he saw not only the past and the present, but also the future.

  The man’s hair was the exact shade as David’s. And the color of his eyes…. I’ll be damned.

  “Dave?” The whispered name came easily from Gunner’s lips. April had once mentioned how much David resembled his biological father. Could this...apparition standing before him be proof of her words?

  Little hands touched Gunner’s cheeks, drawing his attention back to David. The boy held his gaze, grinning wide enough to display all four of his newly-cut front teeth.

  “Dada,” David squealed. Then, God above, the boy flung his short arms around Gunner’s neck.

  David had called him Dada. He blinked several times in rapid succession. Damn if he wasn’t about to cry. Gunner tightened his arms around David, pressing him close to inhale the scent of toddlerhood.

  The scent of his son.

  “I love you, son.” He flicked his gaze in Dave’s direction. There wasn’t much that scared Gunner, but going up against a ghost would probably not end well for him.

  Dave’s spirit seemed to laugh with joy, raising his hands skyward. His essence spun into a miniature whirlwind. The gentle whirling enveloped Gunner and David, wrapping them in a warm cocoon. How is this even possible?

  Little David pushed up-right, raising his own arms in the air with a gleeful laugh. Gunner couldn’t help but laugh with him, as if tender family moments with ghosts were a normal occurrence.

  Thank you. The words were more felt in Gunner’s soul than heard with his ears. He inhaled a ragged breath, unable to stop the tears of joy streaming down his cheeks.

  The whirlwind moved away, not even disturbing the thick layer of ice plant as it approached April. There was no time to shout a warning before Dave’s essence swirled around her, playfully buffeting her honey-color hair in all directions.

  April’s lovely face registered surprise. Her eyes fluttered closed as she stood with apparent calm in the midst of something rare and special. A moment later, Dave moved on, across the bluff and out over the diamond studded Pacific.

  About Lea Kirk

  Lea Kirk’s fascination with sci-fi began at six years old when her dad introduced her to Star Trek TOS. By nine, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and in her teens she read her first romance. Her first book, PROPHECY, is a multi-contest finalist which debuted in January 2016. She lives in Nor
thern California with her wonderful hubby of twenty-six years and their five kids (aka, the nerd herd).

  To find more books by Lea, click here:

  | Lea Kirk | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Prophecy |

  Aliens in the Barn

  by Kyndra Hatch

  About Aliens in the Barn

  Heat Level: Hot

  Alex has a special job with the government involving aliens from another world. The one living in his barn was unexpected, but is now a part of his family. Misunderstandings a daily occurrence, he is sure his resident alien will be the death of him.

  Bazin and three other Beryllians crashed landed on Earth years ago. Stranded due to a rookie mistake, it is a sore issue among them. Finding solitude in a human’s abandoned construct, he hopes against hope to be reunited with his bond-mate one day.

  Chapter 1

  “Something’s on your mind.” Alex’s companion was acting strange—stranger than usual, anyway. He glanced at his disguised extraterrestrial friend, marveling at the being’s ability to project flawless human form. A nice day with the windows down in the truck, Bazin sat in the passenger seat, the human façade pensive and silent. A telltale pixel of imperfection winked on the façade’s cheek, a sure sign of distraction. “Nothing to say?”

  Bazin’s brown-haired visage, complete with specks of grey to match Alex’s own, turned towards him. “It wasn’t a question.”

  “So it’s difficult Bazin today.” A small car whizzed past, horn blaring. Fifteen mph below the speed limit; my bad. Depressing the gas pedal, Alex glanced at his fidgety passenger. Bazin had stiffened, sitting up straight, eyes wide. “Just a passing car. Don’t get your wires twisted.”

  The alien’s hands thrust under the dash. Electricity arced out over the hood of the truck, dancing across the control panel. Alex let go of the steering wheel with a curse.

  “Shit, not again! If you mess up this truck, they aren’t giving me another one.”

  “That will not be a problem soon,” Bazin said. “I will have plenty of energy once I’m synchronized.”

  What was the alien talking about now?

  Bazin now looked mechanical, but moved with a fluidity that defied human logic. He was a bipedal mass of energy covered with a metallic exo-frame, woven together in an intricate mesh of cables and wires, his face wearing an expression of concentration. At least, Alex thought it was concentration. It was hard to tell facial expressions from the true forms. Bazin now had full control of the truck, hands materializing into dozens of energized cables that connected with everything needed to manipulate the truck from under the dashboard.

  The radio crackled to life. “Tezin, I’m taking this mission. Go back to base and tell Kordan that I’ll be along shortly with the new arrival.”

  It was always interesting to listen to the aliens communicate with each other when Bazin took control of a vehicle. The extraterrestrial couldn’t seem to isolate his inner communication systems from the radio.

  “Arrival?” Alex asked. “Shouldn’t you warn them about the lightning sprites?”

  “She isn’t here to collect energy from sprites,” Bazin said. “She will not make the same mistake we did.”

  “She?” Alex yelped as the truck veered onto a dirt road. “Where are you going? We’re supposed to—” another yelp as Bazin sped up, hitting a bump, Alex bouncing in his seat.

  “Tell them to postpone it,” Bazin pronounced.

  Alex watched the speedometer tick past 80 mph, his heartbeat ticking with it. “Bazin, what is it?”

  No response.

  Seeing that another meeting was going to be involuntarily postponed, he got out his cell phone to make the call. Despite the snugness of his seat belt, a pothole sent him bouncing high in the air, hitting his head on the ceiling. The phone flying from his hands, it bounced right out of the window. That’s just great.

  “Bazin, slow down.” Alex tried to sound commanding, but if anything, the truck sped up.

  WWWWHHHHOOOOOSSSSHHHH!

  A massive object passed overhead, so close that Alex thought it might hit them. His mind barely had time to process the possibilities as Bazin drove faster and faster. The entire truck was shaking. The dark object slowed to a hover and the truck came to a skidding halt, rocks flying out from the tires.

  “Is that a spaceship?” Dumb question, Alex.

  Alex looked around to make sure there were no bystanders. Well, we are in the middle of the desert. Landing stabilizers flared out with a loud snap, flashing so brightly that he had to cover his eyes.

  Bazin leapt from the truck, undisguised in spite of being in broad daylight. Bazin approached the ship, his chest glowing. There were clicks and whirring noises coming from both Bazin and the ship. Was this a functioning Beryllian ship?

  A door became visible on the hull, then disappeared altogether as a short ramp appeared below the now open space. The ramp slowly formed pixel by pixel, making its way to the ground. Alex never got tired of watching the materialization process; he had no idea Beryllian ships could do it too. A bipedal figure began to descend down the newly formed ramp.

  It was a mechanoid a little smaller than Bazin, just as fierce, but with a blue sheen rather than Bazin’s dark grey. Something about its stance made Alex nervous. Great, this one looks hostile--and I don’t have a way to call for help.

  Bazin stopped and stared, nothing being said between the two mechanoids. Alex watched in horror as the new arrival produced a cannon from its shoulder and opened fire.

  Weapons? Since when did these aliens have weapons? And how did this new arrival simply make one?

  Alex flattened himself on the ground, his heart pounding in his ears, as Bazin leapt to the left of the first volley, flipping forward over the second. The other mech was closing the distance between the two as it fired, but to his surprise, Bazin was avoiding each shot. How was the alien doing that? He didn’t know Bazin could fight, or defend himself, at any rate. Was his longtime companion able to make weapons too?

  The new arrival looked furious. Bazin stood his ground, ducking and dodging. He blocked a punch, then sidestepped a kick, but never returned the attack. The other mechanoid produced a smaller weapon on its arm and shot Bazin’s left leg.

  Bazin staggered back, his shock evident even to Alex. His mouth opened, about to say something. The stranger shot him again, in the same leg, at the same spot. Bazin went down with a snarl, the new arrival jumping on the mech’s chest, pinning the right arm down.

  Bazin was losing this fight, but Alex didn’t know what to do. All he could do was lay there as the other mechanoid reached with its left arm behind Bazin’s neck. Something snaked out of its hand and made a connection.

  Bazin growled—or at least, it sounded like a growl. The mechanoid’s right hand was pushing at something on Bazin’s chest. Bazin’s free hand slapped it away, grabbing it, and pushing it away several times before it finally touched something. His upper chest-plating completely disappeared.

  A brilliant blue light illuminated the other mech, and an arc of lightning flew between the two, so brightly that Alex had to turn away from it and cover his eyes.

  Bazin’s free hand grabbed the back of the neck of the mechanoid with the advantage, wire connector clicking. It also growled, but was that—pleasure? What?

  The weird connection broke when Bazin barked, “We are not alone.”

  The new arrival turned to look at Alex, and he stood up, taking a few steps back. It jumped off of Bazin, who scooted away. He saw the boiling, burning, ball of ice blue fire that was Bazin’s core. Alex knew the core was a Beryllian’s life essence, but he had never seen one before. It was—breathtaking.

  Bazin glared at the other mechanoid, chest-plating reappearing, slowly standing with a wince. “What are you doing?”

  “Getting information,” the other’s fingers splayed.

  Alex realized they were both speaking English and remembered it was the Beryllian way to integrate a native language upon contact. Someth
ing about the new arrival’s voice, though—it rattled around in his brain until a proverbial light bulb went on.

  Was that a female? Did Beryllians have females? And what did that whole core business mean?

  “Just ask,” Bazin rubbed his neck. “You don’t have to tap me.”

  “Oh, ‘tap’ is such a harsh accusation,” she snapped.

  “And what were you doing with my core-casing?” he grumped. “That’s a little more than interfacing, don’t you think?”

  The other alien smiled. It was definitely a smile, Alex decided. She took a step towards Bazin, and an arc of lightning passed between them. They both gasped and clutched their chests in unison. What the hell?

  A similar gun to the one the new arrival had materialized out of Bazin’s arm. Alex blinked. He’d known Bazin and the other Beryllians for years. How had he missed something so crucial?

  Bazin pointed the weapon at the smaller alien. “Stay back.”

  The two stared at each other for long moments and Bazin’s features began to soften. The features hardened again. “And why were you shooting at me?” Bazin inspected the wound in his leg. “You shot me.”

  The blue-sheened alien raised her gun arm. “Don’t you ever leave me again.”

  Leave me? What was Alex witnessing here?

  Bazin lowered his gun and closed the distance between them, grasping her hand. “I wouldn’t think of it,” Bazin said softly in Beryllian. She was clearly integrating the native language of their human allies, but this was becoming too personal. Bazin did not like an audience for personal matters.

  His chest felt like it was on fire. Little arcs of lightning danced between them as their cores called to each other, demanding to be joined. He couldn’t ignore the sensation, didn’t want to. She grasped his other hand and started to move closer. “Don’t come any closer,” he warned. “I don’t think I can control it.”