“Will you promise to do it as soon as you feel the symptoms coming on? The cold sweats? The upset stomach? The tightness or pain in your chest? Especially the tightness or pain in your chest.”
“I never make promises, but I will do my best.”
“All right—on one condition. I’m staying here tonight.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” He paused then added, “You are a very caring person. That is a wonderful quality. I believe I could spend eternity with you.”
“Oh, yeah?” she said, automatically adding a bit of seduction into her tone. “Does that mean we’ll be dating for longer than a few weeks?”
“Possibly. Are you hungry? I know I am.”
“Then let’s feed you. I’ll order from Die Suppenküchen around the corner. Do you want chicken soup or something else?”
“I like their split pea, but anything is fine.”
Chapter 4
After their meal of soup, homemade bread, and chocolate chip cookies, Ryan suggested that they watch television in the bedroom. If he’d been so ill earlier, he explained, he should probably lie down and take it easy.
Lynne had no problem with this. For weeks, she’d wanted to sleep in his arms in a more comfortable spot than on a couch, and this was her chance to do so. As she cleaned up after dinner, Ryan went into the bedroom. When she joined him, he was already sitting against the headboard with his shirt off and the covers around his waist.
He patted the bed and said, “Come join me, Lynne.”
Without hesitation, she sat on the edge of the bed and removed her shoes. Then she stretched out beside him, also leaning against the headboard. She didn’t recognize the characters on the show, but she didn’t care. She was there with Ryan, and that was all that really mattered to her.
After several minutes of unsuccessfully trying to figure out what was on TV, she asked, “What are we watching, anyway?”
“Do you really care?” he asked in response.
He scooted down on the bed so only his shoulders leaned against the headboard and slid his hand across her stomach. Lynne inhaled sharply at the sensation that burst through her body, surprised that such a small act created such intense feelings in her. But he had nearly died that afternoon. She had to keep her wits about her and not let her emotions dictate her actions. No sex for him. Then his voice broke through her thoughts.
“Would you not be more comfortable taking off some of your clothes?”
She chuckled at his formality. “I would, but somebody here has to use common sense.”
His warm hand inched under her Polo shirt then slithered up her stomach to her satin brassiere. When he thumbed her nipple enticingly, she couldn’t resist releasing a soft moan of pleasure as it hardened to a point. That prompted him to massage her pliant mound.
“We shouldn’t do this,” she whispered. “You nearly died today.”
“We should do this,” he replied in a similar tone, “because I nearly died today. I must have you now in case there is no tomorrow.”
“Don’t talk like that!” she exclaimed, frightened by his words. “There will be a tomorrow. There has to be. We just found each other.”
Sliding his other hand under her shirt, he pushed it up until he freed her bra-covered breasts. His tongue snaked up her stomach to her nipples, and he kissed each one. She shivered with delight and excitement.
“I want you, Lynne.” He kissed her nipple again. “I want you like I have never wanted another.” He kissed the other nipple a second time.
“Oh, Ryan!” she breathed. “I want you, too, but …”
His hands slid up her sides, up her arms, to her hands, before her shirt fell off her body. Then it happened! His mouth captured hers in a desperate kiss. His tongue gently forced its way between her lips until it connected with hers.
Her body exploded in sensations she had never before experienced. Almost immediately, she surrendered to his kiss, letting him move her into a better position. To assist him, she scooted toward the foot of the bed. Finally, she lay prone on the bed with Ryan lying beside her, still under the covers while she remained on top of them.
He pulled away and kissed her neck just below her ear. An uncontrollable shiver escaped from her. Oh, how she loved what he was doing to her! As he kissed his way lower, he lifted her only far enough to unhook her bra in the back. When it was released, he removed it before nuzzling his way lower to the waistband of her slacks.
Without hesitation, he stripped her pants and panties off in the same moment. His lips moved to the folds of her womanhood, where he licked her several times before gliding his tongue upward to her moderate breasts again.
Oh, how she wanted him! But she couldn’t let this continue. He needed his rest.
“Ryan, stop.”
He covered her body with his, holding himself back just far enough that the hair on his chest tickled her nipples. “I cannot. I must be with you.”
“But, Ryan …”
His lips cut off her protest, not that it was one she really wanted to make. Ryan was usually a sweet, gentle man; but tonight he was forceful, and she discovered she liked that side of him.
Finally, his organ connected with her womanhood. Unable to control her actions, she grabbed his buttocks and lifted her hips to complete the joining.
He felt so good deep inside her, as though that was where he had always belonged. He thrust into her over and over, bringing her so close to an orgasm that she could scarcely hold back. Then he dove into her completely and ground his pelvis against hers. Her body erupted in spasm of fulfillment, and she inadvertently dug her nails into his buttocks.
Ryan released a lusty growl as he collapsed beside her.
Neither spoke for several minutes before Lynne said, “That was incredible, Ryan.”
He didn’t respond, so she rolled onto her side and laid her head against his chest. She would just sleep like this. Even though he was asleep, she was sure he wouldn’t mind.
Wait! Something was wrong. She couldn’t hear his heartbeat, and she didn’t feel his chest moving. Frantic, she scrambled from the bed. She stared down at Ryan in shock. Lying before her was Ryan in the same position she had found him earlier that day. It was almost as though none of the evening had happened, but she knew otherwise.
Lynne reached to pull him from the bed as she had earlier, but a hand wrapping around her arm stopped her. She stared at it in shock. It was a human hand, but it was fuchsia in color. Slowly turning, she gazed up at the being behind her.
Chapter 5
Shocked, Lynne spun out of the person’s grasp. There, right next to her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her face, stood the most perfect specimen of a human man she’d ever seen—except he was purple. His eyes were like emeralds, and his hair was almost pure white.
“Who are you?” she asked in a panic. “How did you get in here? Did you kill Ryan?”
“I am Fenrir. I got in here through Ryan’s body. Ryan was nearly dead when I arrived. One could say that you let me in. Had he been dead, I would not have arrived. Now, it is time for us to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“We need females on Cartonia. Ours are all unhealthy, and we need to replenish our people. Earth females are the closest to ours, therefore, we need you.”
“Well, Fenrir, I’m sorry about your problems, but that doesn’t change anything. I’m not going with you.”
“If you come, you will be queen one day. You will help me rule Cartonia. There are gold and silver and bronze in our world that grow as plentiful as trees here. You will be well cared for and will never have to worry about money again.”
That sounds good, Lynne thought. She could handle not worrying about money, but she had no idea how she could possibly live in a place where people were purple. She would stand out like the proverbial sore thumb.
“How could I even live on another planet?” she asked, unexpectedly curious as to how this man—no, alien—could
believe she could survive anywhere but on Earth.
Fenrir spread his arms and took two steps back. “Look at me. Am I not the same as you? Cartonia is much more advanced than Earth, but we have basically the same atmosphere. You can live there because it is like living on a mountain here. You will get used to it.”
Lynne studied him. Somehow, some time, he’d gotten dressed in a white jumpsuit. He did look a lot like a human, and he was obviously surviving on Earth. But an alien? How could she possibly believe a word he was saying? The man could have had himself painted after he escaped from some mental institution. Going with him was insane, too, though.
“Wait a minute!” she exclaimed. “You said that you got here through Ryan. Did he make love to me? Or did you?”
“I did. We are built the same which is why we can do this. The only difference is that we do it to procreate, while you do it for fun.”
It certainly was fun, Lynne told herself. But to leave with a strange alien was foolhardy. Besides, she had a mother and brother; she had a few friends; she had a job. She had people who would miss her, so she couldn’t just up and leave.
Then words escaped from her mouth that she hadn’t even known were in her mind. “I expect to be brought home if I don’t like it there or if I get homesick. I’ll be the only Earth person there.”
“You will not be the only one,” he told her. “We have brought other females, and most have not left. In fact, Princess Melanie is from Earth.”
Princess Melanie. That certainly sounded like an Earth name. “And if I agree to go, may I let my family and friends know that I’m leaving for a while.”
Lynne couldn’t believe she was even considering this, but it sounded like quite an adventure. She would kind of like to see how people lived on another planet.
“You may,” he replied. “But you may not tell them where you are going. You may say that you need a vacation and that you might find a job wherever you are.”
Somehow this alien had bewitched her. She actually wanted to go with him. Although, she didn’t know how they would get to this Cartonia. She could only think that it involved some kind of spaceship, but she couldn’t conceive how they would get to it.
“All right,” she agreed. “Let me make my phone calls, and we’ll leave.”
Chapter 6
Lynne was in awe of the vibrancy of the colors on Cartonia. There were few trees, but the landscape was amazing. She didn’t think she would ever tire of the rainbow colors of the ground. And thanks to Fenrir furnishing her with bodies from which to choose, she didn’t feel out of place in her skin. She also didn’t have trouble breathing. He had told her that she would remember nothing from Earth, but he’d been wrong. She did remember some things; she wasn’t going to tell him just yet, though.
She’d chosen a lovely pastel green body with strawberry blonde hair and dark blue eyes. The body’s symmetrical shape reminded her of a well-built model’s figure, but then all of the people on this planet had perfect bodies. Fenrir said that he was pleased with her new body, and he proved it by making love to her several times on their trip across the galaxy.
Now that they were on Cartonia, though, Fenrir was often away doing whatever job it was he had. Several of his friends came to visit him, and he always asked that she leave the room, so she decided the job must be pretty important.
“Fenrir,” she had asked that morning, “why is it that I can understand the people speaking here on Cartonia? Do they speak English, too?”
“We have our own language,” he had explained, “but you hear the words differently. You hear your language. That makes it easier for you to adjust to your new world. We also hear what you say in our language.”
Glad that she could converse with anybody she wanted to, Lynne decided to investigate the city. Some distance from her new home, she could see a shining palace, and she wanted to start her acquaintance to the area there. If the princess was from Earth, maybe she could have a chance encounter with the woman.
Lynne was happy to be out and about after having been in the house for several days. To her surprised, she wandered into an open market much like one would see in Pakistan or Egypt.
Artisans there sold their wares just like in one of those countries, haggling back and forth with customers. There were so many voices, though, that Lynne had trouble understanding anything in English.
As she made her way through the market, she perused the goods—gold, silver and copper trinkets; colorful woven rugs; fruit she couldn’t identify; the softest, most brilliant fabrics she’d ever felt. Now she wished she had some Cartonian money so she could buy something.
During her walk, though, she realized something. Despite all the colorful fabrics, no one wore it. Everyone she encountered wore simply colored jumpsuits, all of the same style. If no one wore the fabrics, why were they even in the market? And no women even stopped to look at the material except her.
Lynne made her way through the marketplace and exited into an open courtyard. In the middle of it stood a large, golden statue of a man which was surrounded by a pool of clear water.
“What are you doing here?” Fenrir asked from behind her.
“I just wanted to take a walk,” she replied, turning to face him. “I wanted to explore my new home.”
“You need to be home,” he insisted. “Go there now.”
A new tone crept into his voice, one that Lynne didn’t like. If she had come here willingly and received this kind of treatment, she wanted to go back to Earth immediately.
“Go,” he said before she could complain. “It is not safe for you to be here.”
Not safe? Why would he word it like that? Unsure of what to do, she left without protest. Then she had second thoughts and glanced over her shoulder to see what he was doing. To her relief, he was walking in the opposite direction.
Curious, she followed him through the narrow streets and between stone houses, until he reached his destination. Outside it appeared to be no more than a hovel, but when she peered through a window, the building was decorated elaborately.
Fine, colorful cloth like what she had seen in the marketplace adorned the window across the room, its layers held back with golden tie-backs. Daring a better look, she checked to see if this window had the same material, which it did.
She stood aside for a moment then glanced inside again. A brass table and chairs sat in the middle of the room. A couch of gold with purple material, which appeared to be velvet, sat off to one side.
A movement caught her attention, and she shrank back against the stone wall to avoid being seen. As she did, the curtains fell shut.
Damn! Now she wouldn’t be able to see the person Fenrir went to see. Hopefully, it wasn’t a female. She would hate to have come all this way just to be cuckolded. To her relief, she heard an unfamiliar male voice speak.
“Is everything ready?”
“Almost,” Fenrir replied. “We have to proceed very carefully if this coup is to succeed.”
“What is left to do?”
“For one thing, we need to find somebody to infiltrate the palace, someone we can trust, someone Odin would not suspect of being a spy. Do you know of anyone?”
“What kind of individual do you want? Male or female?”
“I was actually hoping for somebody who could work for them. Someone who could be a guard would be good.”
“I do not know of anybody like that, but I wondered about your mate. She could become friends with Princess Melanie since they are both from Earth, maybe as an assistant or handmaid. She could bring home information for you.”
“I had not considered that,” Fenrir said, “but it is a possibility. Since Odin is my cousin, I would have a good reason to go to the palace and introduce them.”
Lynne had heard as much as she wanted. They were plotting against the king or prince—or whatever he was called on Cartonia—and she wanted nothing to do with that.
Chapter 7
At home that evening, Lynne attempted
cooking a meal for Fenrir, but she was unfamiliar with the thing they called a stove. It bore no resemblance to a stove on Earth. There were no burners or oven, but it changed the appearance and consistency of the food as if by magic. It didn’t even look like a microwave.
One put food on top of this thing that looked a little like a clothes dryer and pushed one of many buttons. Unfortunately, she couldn’t read their language, even though she could hear what they said in English. She simply pushed a button that Fenrir had used in making food and hoped it would cook the chicken-like food she’d put on top.
Inside the glass door of the dryer gadget were mechanisms that ran the machine. If it had been empty, she would have put the food inside and used it as an oven.
The remainder of the dinner would be food she didn’t have to cook, possibly green carrot-like vegetables, or what she assumed were vegetables. She also cut up some leafy gray food that tasted like Romaine lettuce. It wasn’t much to look at, but she liked it.
Then an unexpected thought came to her. All the colors were so vibrant here, yet this lettuce was gray. Why was that?
Fenrir entered the house at that moment and saw her at the stove. “What are you doing?”
“Cooking your dinner,” she replied.
“You’re going to feed me that?” he asked in shock. “Why would you try to kill me?”
“Kill you? I’m not trying to do any such thing. I just wanted to show you that I appreciate you.”
“That gray stuff is poisonous.”
“I ate it and it didn’t bother me. You should be fine.”
To her surprise, he released a breath that sounded much like a laugh but was shorter. Maybe she could call it a burst.
Then he said, “You do not know how to work our stove.”
“I’ve watched you, and it isn’t funny. I’m trying to do something nice for you, and you’re laughing at me.” At least, I think you’re laughing, she added in her mind.
He approached her from behind and slid his arms around her. “I apologize.” He kissed her neck at the place just below her ear that always made her quiver with delight. “I did not mean to offend you.” He kissed the junction of her shoulder and neck. “Let me make it up to you.”
MILITARY ROMANCE: The War Within Himself (Alpha Bad Boy Marine Army Seal) (Contemporary Military Suspense & Thriller Romance) Page 64