by Starla Night
“Also no.” His scales shivered over his skin. This day had loomed over him ever since Kyan had married. He’d been waiting for the official threat with dread. “Has her marriage demand passed to me?”
“No, and it won’t.”
“No?” He sucked in and released a huge sigh. His shoulders tingled with relief. “Thank everything.”
“Don’t relax,” Flint warned. “For you, the danger is worse.”
“Worse than marrying the violent, easily angered, possibly senile Empress? And all the time wondering why, when the Empress could marry any aristocrat in the Empire, she settled on an Outer Rim low-caste male in our family?”
“I have a few theories.”
Jasper straightened. “You do!”
“I and everyone else who’s followed this marriage theater. Her offer defied prediction, and I don’t believe in surprises.”
“No one can predict everything.”
“Hmm.” Flint rested his chin on his fist. “Tell me, Jasper. Why did our brothers take two weeks each to capture their mates and you’ve taken five years?”
“My brothers’ situations were different.”
“Different how? Explain it to me. Quick. The fate of the Empire depends on it.”
“The fate of the Empire?”
Flint urged him forward with a wave and again glanced over his shoulder.
Even though Flint had been a respected scholar at the Citadel of Knowledge, Jasper doubted the fate of the Empire depended on his plodding pace with Rose. But Flint did hate a mystery, and five years was an eternity for a dragon to court his mate.
Jasper gathered his thoughts.
Five long years had passed since he and his siblings had landed on Earth, a little speck of a planet at the far end of the Dragon Empire not worth any attention. Jasper had held a similar arrogant attitude when he’d stepped off the spaceship and onto their strange brown dirt, breathed in their odd Earth air, and, of course, met with their cautious, curious Earth humans.
But then he’d noticed the colors. Colors of everything—plant, person, landscape, sky. And the human culture! Beautiful cloths, piquant flavors, inspiring architecture.
The Dragon Empire had efficiency, but Earth had creativity, and Mal had capitalized on it. Jasper and his siblings had helped found a company. Their clothing export business had been profitable in a quarter, lucrative in a year. Now? Well, lucrative wasn’t enough to describe the coin rolling into their company coffers.
Jasper had known he wanted Rose from almost their first meeting. She’d looked him in the eye without fear. When he and the other dragons had asked about her work experience on spaceships, she’d calmly stood to leave, and then they’d spent the rest of the interview assuring her she was qualified for the role.
All her tasks had astonished her for the first weeks, but she’d learned everything, asked questions, worked hard. Before he knew it, his admiration had turned into deeper feelings. Rose’s good qualities had wrapped around his heart like strong vines until his chest squeezed when she walked past.
And then, so did his lower regions.
But the change had taken longer than two weeks.
“I didn’t pursue her right away,” Jasper told Flint, in case that mattered. “Not like I do now.”
“Mal worked with Cheryl for months. He only noticed her after Mother’s threat.”
“Cheryl met with Mal outside work. Rose won’t meet me.”
“Why not?”
“She compartmentalizes. I am her work boss, and therefore, not a potential home mate.”
“You could fire her.”
“I offered.”
“And?”
“She would never mate someone she hated.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Jasper considered his palms. He could do so much with them but he could not move Rose’s mind once she’d made it up. “I would not risk losing her friendship.”
“What is friendship compared to mating? Continuing your bloodline, filling your lair? When the physical flame burns you, who cares about being friends?”
Jasper smiled. “Rose and I have had many disagreements over the years. The first time I tried to court her, she rolled her eyes and told me to get a hobby; the next time, to stop working so hard and get a life. I thought she found me unqualified to be her mate, and so, I took her advice. But while pursuing these hobbies, I discovered something.”
Flint’s fingers twitched with eagerness. “And what was it?”
“She was right. I needed hobbies; I needed to learn that I could enjoy things for my edification, and not only for work or for others. I have more to discover, I know. There are interests yet to uncover, talents yet to tap. The universe is a vast place, Flint, and so is the human spirit. If not for Rose, I would never have explored this playful human trait.”
“You are a dragon.”
“I am both.” He smiled at his youngest brother. “And so I cannot sacrifice Rose’s friendship. Someday, she will see that I can fulfill her needs, but I will not force this upon her. There is time.”
His brother didn’t return his smile. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”
Jasper’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean?
“The Empress hasn’t announced her desire to marry you, Jasper, and the delay can only mean one thing.”
“Amber is still single,” Jasper said weakly. “And the Empress could have come to her senses.”
“No, the truth is far more sinister. And it revolves around you.”
“Me!”
“Only one choice will save the Earth, and our company, from total annihilation. If I’m right, your time to court your female is at an end. You have days. Perhaps hours. Before—” Flint cut off and covered his screen then raised his voice. “Yes, of course, I am paying attention—”
The video screen cut off.
Jasper’s hands shook.
He stood and stretched. Sweat stuck to his body even though the humming HVAC—converted from the original spaceship’s engine—accurately controlled the temperature.
Running out of time? He was running out of time?
How could he woo Rose more urgently? She was a human, not a dragon, and she would not be pushed around.
Jasper finished his work and headed back to his lair, turning the problem over and over in his mind.
He continued thinking about it in the following days of tumult.
First, Amber got into trouble. Next, the company got investigated by the Gentleman’s Society. And then, in the middle of the investigation, Amber announced her engagement to their friendly, charming, long-standing human consultant, Darcy.
A human marriage would be followed by a honeymoon, and so Mal assigned Jasper to cross-train on Amber’s budgeting systems.
He sat in the cross-training consumed by wild thoughts. Unusually for him, he could barely pay attention. Flint’s threat wrapped up all his mind power. His time with Rose was running out.
Rose would not let him become friends with her outside work. And thus she would not let him court her. And so they could never get married.
How could he make a breakthrough?
“Are you listening?” Amber tapped her spreadsheet. “You must make reports during my honeymoon, Jasper.”
He couldn’t clear his thoughts on his own.
Jasper leaned forward. “I have a question about you and Darcy.”
Her cheeks glowed a darker orange color. “What now?”
“How did you get him to invite you to his house?”
“Oh.” Her cheeks returned to normal color. “He just invited me.”
That was the key. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” She looked troubled like even she couldn’t understand the mind of a human. “He wanted to marry me and misrepresented his desires. That’s why he was always teasing me. He didn’t realize that treating me like a human female was so ridiculous.”
Jasper already treated Rose like a human female, but then again,
she was a human female. “How did you figure it out?”
Amber shrugged like the realization was too complicated to explain. “This is about the mysterious female you’re courting, correct? Have you presented your interest?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?” Amber rested her chin on her hand. “It’s easy for dragons and humans to misunderstand each other. We think we’re clear, but we’re not.”
“How can I be any clearer? We talk every day at work.”
“Be bold,” Amber urged. “Go to her lair.”
“She asked me not to.”
“Asked? You can’t be sure until she’s driven you off with fire, teeth, and claws.”
“My female is human.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Amber frowned. “She could drive off a male dragon with hand grenades or machine guns. You’re giving up too soon.”
Was he?
Was he, really?
Until now, Jasper had thought Rose had been more than clear—except in one regard.
Her hungry look.
When she thought he wasn’t looking, her eyes drank in his nude body with desperate thirst. When he invited her out, she licked her tan lips and looked like she wanted to say yes. Like denying him hurt her just as much or even more than it hurt him.
“You’re stuck in this limbo, Jasper, because your female doesn’t believe in your desire. She’s expecting a dragon! Go to her home, woo her in the dragon way, and demand she become your mate.”
He wanted Amber’s vision to be true so badly his heart hurt.
But he’d researched the properties of Mace. “If you’re wrong…”
“If I’m wrong, then she’ll drive you off. You are free to pursue another female.” Amber smiled. “But if I’m right, then by this time tomorrow, you’ll have a new mate.”
After five long years…
Your time is running out.
Amber must be right. She’d gotten Darcy to propose.
Jasper allowed hope to lift his shoulders for the first time since their mother had ordered him to marry Adviser Wrathmoda. “I’ll follow her home as soon as I can. Maybe even tonight.”
“Great.” Amber’s smile clouded. “Oh, Jasper, don’t go defenseless. Take a weapon.”
His unease returned. “A weapon?”
“I’d feel terrible if I gave you this advice and then your female chopped your arms off.”
His relief returned. Amber didn’t know Rose as he did. “That won’t happen.”
Her sisterly concern intensified. “Please, Jasper. Something small, like a rifle or a cleaver.”
“Those are not small.”
“Well, they might look threatening to a human, but they can’t do much damage. You don’t actually want to hurt anyone.”
“Okay. I’ll try.”
“Don’t try. Insist she let you in so you can propose.”
“Yes, I won’t go away until she attacks me or accepts my proposal.”
“Good.” Amber smiled with pure kindness, pleased that their strategy session had been so helpful. “It’s funny you’ve pursued this mystery female for so long and yet you haven’t thought of the straight-forward approach. You’re the clearheaded brother.”
“I know.” Jasper stood and stretched. “My dragon instincts have been failing.”
“Human instincts, too. In those movies you used to show us, human ‘rom coms,’ the hero always follows the angry heroine and demands a kiss.”
He stopped and searched his memory. He’d watched human movies to understand their behavior better, and he liked rom coms because the couples always worked through their problems and united. Had he missed a lesson applicable to his situation with Rose?
“I don’t recall a hero insisting on a kiss while holding a rifle.”
“Well, actors aren’t real life,” Amber said.
He thanked her and headed back to his office, too busy with work to ponder his plans. By the time he surfaced, Rose had already left for the day. He stood in the shadowed staff room, instinct fighting against reason.
Rose was his. He wanted, craved, hungered to claim her.
But she was a human with her own wants, needs, and desires. And she’d told him what those were.
Your time is running out.
He couldn’t hold this limbo for much longer. He had to marry Rose, or others would snatch away his choice.
Tonight marked his final chance for happiness.
He grabbed a common utensil from the staff break room—a small defensive weapon that couldn’t do much damage, as Amber had asked—and headed out.
Chapter Four
Rose finished her shift and exited the cool, temperature-controlled office building shining with alien technology and shadowed by giant spaceships.
She started sweating before she crossed the parking lot. August heat dripped off her nose and forehead as she traversed empty dirt fields to the nearest bus stop. The bus was late. It wended into downtown Vancouver and she got off a few blocks down the main road. Half the road signs were in English and the rest were in other languages.
Turning down a narrow street, the sidewalk ended along with polite society. She entered her world.
Potholes cratered the old concrete. A rusty car sat dead on a burned lawn, and blackberries overgrew fields chirping with rats.
Sure, Jasper was the alien, but she lived in squalor her coworkers couldn’t imagine.
She trudged across the pocked parking lot of Grandma’s apartment housing.
Massive potholes had eaten the lot. Liam played in the largest with the neighbor kids, splashing and shrieking. His wiry black hair was frizzing and his dark brown body darted between older kids like a shadow. From the open windows of the duplex apartments facing the lot, TVs shouted about taxes. Flies and hornets buzzed around stinking trash piled at the corners.
Grandma sat on the ramshackle porch bench and chatted with her elderly neighbors. She’d seen a lot in her life and endured even more. With her long gray hair pulled back into barrettes, she looked like a tired Helen Hunt.
But what worried Rose the most was the empty parking space in front of the ramshackle duplex. “Grandma, where’s my car?”
Grandma nodded to the neighbor and gave Rose a big sigh. “Come on in. Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
“I’ve got cream of broccoli noodles on the stove.”
That meant she hadn’t picked up her benefits check, and she was living off emergency food bank supplies, but it didn’t explain the missing car. “What happened? Did it break down on the way to your appointment?”
Grandma dropped the loose screen door. It shut behind her.
Rose hurried up the spongy steps, skipping the sagging middle, and into the grungy two-bedroom.
Back in the stuffy kitchen, Grandma ladled green slime into a chipped bowl.
Rose touched the chip. “What happened here?”
“Your nephew. He broke the other dish.”
“Give him plastic.”
“He wanted this one.” And Grandma could never tell anyone no. She gestured at the rippled linoleum beneath the dishwasher. “It’s still leaking.”
Rose forked a mouthful of the casserole. It looked like a Halloween project but tasted like comfort. Salty noodles, savory sauce, rich cream. “The landlord hasn’t fixed it?”
“I haven’t seen him to ask.”
Rose set aside her bowl and pulled the dishwasher away from the wall. Black mold crept up the stained wallpaper. Her heart sank. “Where’s the bleach?”
Grandma shook the empty bottle, put it in the trash, and searched the cabinets for an alternative.
Rose finished her meal and dumped her dishes in the sink. “My complex gets vacancies. I could put you on the waitlist.”
“Don’t burden yourself with me.”
“Come on, Grandma. You need to move out of this place.”
“Why?” Grandma gave up on the bleach, balanced in her wobbly chair, and sighed heavily. “I�
�ve only got a few years left.”
“Is that what the doctor said at your appointment?”
“Hmm? No, he has to check the results.” Grandma lifted her glass of water in cheers and drank. “But if it’s not the breast cancer, it’ll be something else. You have too much to bear already, Rose. Don’t worry yourself for me.”
“I have to worry for you. You’re my free babysitting.” Rose searched through her empty cabinets. She poured the last drops of white vinegar on a threadbare scrubber and scraped at the mold. Sweat dripped into her crevices.
She spent all day cleaning up after others’ messes and sometimes it felt like that never ended. She didn’t need to drag in Jasper. Things were so far gone. This place reeked of hopelessness, and it infested the people who lived here.
The mold stubbornly clung on. She declared defeat and sat back on her heel. Vinegar was a great cleaner but not in mold heaven.
Rose poured the cloudy acid down the drain, collected Liam’s preschool backpack, and leaned out the front door. “Liam! It’s time to go.”
Her wily four-year-old squealed with the other children. One of the babies waddled with a saggy diaper.
The nearest neighbor, Clara, nodded at Rose. She monitored the children out front.
“Liam! Don’t make me come over there.”
He peeled loose and raced to her, throwing his arms around her legs and knocking her sideways. “Rose!”
She grabbed the door for balance. His soaking wet small body pressed her against the wall. “No! We need a dry outfit.”
Grandma, behind her, called, “He already went through his dry outfit.”
“Okay.” Rose patted his gritty, mud-puddle wet back. “It’s fine. We’re not taking the bus.…Grandma? Hey, Grandma, where did you park my car?”
Grandma tapped a bowl. “Liam? More noodles?”
He released Rose and shook his whole body. “No!”
“Are you sure?” Grandma asked. “It’s a long night.”
“No!”
Rose plastered her hands on her hips. She was hot, sticky, dirty, wet, and all she wanted to do was drive her car home and relax. “Grandma…”