Just a Kiss

by Fiona Roarke

  And yet, he wanted Gabrielle to come to him willingly, not by force.

  * * * *

  “I don’t want to life partner with you.” She didn’t, did she? “But they insulted me, Keller, and you didn’t say anything. I refuse to be treated like white trash.”

  “White trash?” Those gorgeous eyebrows lifted in puzzlement. They really needed, at the very least, a phrase book between them.

  “Unworthy. A repugnant, puny, Earth creature, to be exact.” She crossed her arms in defiance.

  “They insulted you, so that is how you retaliated?”

  “Yes, and I’d do it again. Besides, this changes nothing.”

  “It changes everything. You admitted our interaction, publicly.”

  Keller sounded irate, but she was the insulted one. Why didn’t he get it?

  “But you didn’t,” Gabrielle said tearfully. Was he ashamed of her, too? Did he feel she was an unworthy, alien, Earth creature? “So just deny it. Tell them I’m crazy along with being puny and unworthy.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to life partner with me. I was trying to let you go,” he said quietly.

  “I do want you to let me go,” she whined. No, I don’t. What’s the matter with me? I don’t even know what I want.

  “Why is water leaking out of your eyes again? Why are you full of sorrow now?”

  “I don’t want to talk to you anymore,” she pouted.

  “Be that as it may, I need to prepare you.”

  “For what?”

  “For what happens next. Once we arrive at my planet, you will have to be examined by our healer,” he said in a placating, rational tone, which really annoyed her. She was not a child.

  “Why?”

  “To see if you are gestating the next heir in my line.”

  “It hasn’t even been an hour yet!”

  “It can be determined.”

  “Whatever. I don’t need to see your voodoo doctor.”

  Gabrielle’s mind was working a mile a minute. If she did turn up with a bun in her oven, what would she do? Work was no problem. She freelanced doing photography to keep busy. She worked out of her apartment most of the time. In addition, she had a generous trust fund she could tap into if needed, thanks to her grandparents being rich. They left her well provided for after their death. She and the baby wouldn’t starve.

  She mentally rolled her eyes. His pregnancy fantasies were rubbing off on her.

  “If you carry my child…then preparations will have to be made.”

  “No, you take me back to my planet and leave me alone.”

  “Not if you carry what’s mine. Do you remember the shot-gun wedding? Well, we have our own version here.”

  “Okay, Conan the Barbarian, let’s lay off the caveman talk. You can’t make me do anything. The likelihood of me being in the family way is remote, at best. When it turns out I’m not gestating, then I want to be taken right back to Earth. Got it?”

  “As you wish,” he said distantly. Gabrielle wished she knew what he was thinking. Surely he wouldn’t give up so easily, would he? She shook her head at her own inability to make a decision.

  The chimes sounded again, and Keller signaled entrance. The wonder twins were back, Streak and Red, as Gabrielle now thought of them.

  “We are about to dock, Keller,” said the warrior sporting a huge streak of attitude to match the one in his hair. She gave him look of distaste, which he merely deflected with one of his own.

  “Thank you, Crag.” Keller stepped between them and broke their willful, staring contest.

  “Maura and your mother are waiting at the reception area,” the redhead added.

  Oh, great! Gabrielle thought. The future mother-in-law and another wife to meet. This should be an interesting first contact.

  “Did you tell them I do not need a kiss from Maura?” Keller asked Red.

  “No, that is your communication to express.” She looked uncomfortable.

  “Why didn’t you put to rest their fears?” Keller sounded exasperated, a tone she was getting used to.

  “Because you mouth touched an alien!” she yelled at him at first, then her eyes widened when she remembered who she was yelling at. She bowed her head slightly. “I beg your leave, Keller, but how was I supposed to convey that startling news? I did not deem it my place.”

  “I did not expect you to tell them everything, just that I was unhurt,” Keller retorted.

  “Please do not act like this is our fault,” Streak said and immediately narrowed his eyes on Gabrielle, still half hidden behind Keller. Gabrielle thought the name Crag suited him, like a rough rock that jutted out and annoyed everyone in his path.

  “But it is your fault,” Gabrielle spoke up in Keller’s defense, poking her head around him to glare at Crag, “You were the ones who left me alone with him in the first place. Perhaps you should have separated us or given me instructions.”

  “No, the initial time was our fault. Later, it was entirely your fault, human.” Crag stepped towards her. Keller pushed Gabrielle behind his body once more and took an aggressive step towards Crag.

  “Keller, please, wait.” Sybille stepped in front of Crag as if to protect him from Keller. “This will not be resolved here.”

  “You are correct,” Keller said curtly. “Please inform Maura I’ve already been healed. Tell my mother I will communicate with her shortly. I need to prepare Gabrielle.”

  Now, that sounded ominous. If she needed to be prepared, she was probably going to fail the task. What did she need to be prepared for?

  The others left them alone. Gabrielle refused to be sorry for picking a fight with Crag. Keller was staring at the floor, but then he looked at her uncertainly

  “What have you decided, Gabrielle?”

  “You mean I get to decide something?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Despite everything, I still want to life partner with you. Will you cooperate in this matter, or should I try to figure out a way to keep my position with my family since all has been revealed?”

  “Despite everything? You know what? It doesn’t matter. Decide whatever you want or need to make your life rosy and wonderful. In the end, it won’t include me. I want you to take me back to Earth as soon as possible.”

  “Will you stay if you carry my heir?”

  “Not likely.”

  “Very well.”

  “Very well? What does that mean?” How dare he give up so easily?

  “It means I hope you are not gestating.” He walked away from her without answering her question satisfactorily.

  Chapter 7

  “I knew this trip to Earth was a bad idea,” Elsbeth, reigning Queen of Tiburon, stated after Keller had delicately explained his first two mouth-touching experiences in more detail than he ever wanted to with his parent.

  He had very carefully explained the events that took place on his return trip from what was to have been his last adventure. He never thought he would be explaining to his mother any details about his love life.

  “Mother, I’m old enough to decide what my fate should be. This trip was important to me and the others for scientific research,” Keller insisted, knowing she wouldn’t feel this way, especially not after she heard the whole story.

  “You do not take seriously your important royal duties, Keller,” she said accusingly. “How could you throw away everything like this?”

  “I don’t perceive it as being thrown away.” Keller stalled telling her the rest of his problem.

  “But it is! So, am I to allow you vita parcere with an alien creature of dubious character, one you admit you’ve only known since you’ve regained consciousness on your return trip from Earth? Or worse, am I to allow you to sully the royal name and force some other worthy, unsuspecting princess from our planet to life partner with you even though your mouth is now tainted? Well, I don’t like either choice.”

  “There is something else.”

  “What else could there possibly be?”


  “There is also the possibility she may be gestating the next generation of our line.”

  Elsbeth, Queen of Tiburon, the feistiest leader in the remembered history who ruled with an iron fist, flushed at his words and sat down abruptly in the chair closest to her in what looked like utter astonishment. He finally said something which made his indomitable mother lose her balance.

  “Are you without any morals whatsoever? I have obviously been lacking in my skills as a parent,” she said more to herself than to him.

  Keller had the good judgment to look contrite. He had perhaps made a series of poor judgments, but he did not think of them as mistakes. He wanted Gabrielle. He needed her. He sincerely hoped she carried his child. He’d fibbed to Gabrielle back on the ship. The glow of pride at seeing her swell with his offspring was a joy he couldn’t wait to experience.

  In his soul, he knew she was the singular being to hold his spirit and heart captive. No other woman in his past came even close to making him feel this way.

  Keller knew he must do everything in his power to convince his mother he and Gabrielle were meant to be together.

  “What do you want me to say to you, Mother? It’s done. It cannot be undone. I don’t know that I would undo it, even if I could. I care for Gabrielle.”

  “You care for her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does she feel the same way about you?”

  “I think she might if our people stopped insulting her at every turn.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “She is distressed. She is out of her element. I don’t think she believes she is experiencing this as reality. She wants to go back home…to her planet.”

  “Perfect. I agree it would be best. We can arrange a flight as soon as she is checked out. Let her believe it was all a dream. Speak with Crag immediately.”

  “I don’t think it would be best. What are my options? Are there still only two?”

  His mother took a deep breath and sighed. “This is a royal mess, Keller. I need some time to think. Call for a healer and have her checked out. If she carries your progeny, then we will discuss life partnering you with her. But I warn you, it will have to go before the Council of Elders. I can make my wishes known and suggest a course of action, but they will have the final decision.”

  “What if she won’t life partner with me?” Keller thought of Gabrielle’s last wish to go back regardless of her womb’s status.

  “Why wouldn’t she? Isn’t it why she lured you into this debacle in the first place, so she could raise her status by life partnering with a royal? She’s lucky I’m even considering it.”

  “No, Mother, she accidentally came on board as our craft was departing. Coming from a different planet, she didn’t understand what she did to me had consequences.”

  “But she did know when she put her mouth on yours the second time. Once you were awake, she knew what it meant to you.”

  “What it still means to me,” he said quietly.

  “I don’t want to see you taken advantage of like this, my son. She has wormed her way into your good graces, and your prejudice will not serve you this time.”

  “I wasn’t taken advantage of—”

  “Weren’t you?”

  “—and I’m not biased.”

  “Yes, you are. She fascinates you, like a shiny new toy intrigues a child, but as soon as enough time passes, you’ll grow tired of her.”

  “You’re wrong. I’ll mourn her if we are separated.” Keller couldn’t help feeling like a young lad facing his mother for misbehaving. He knew how he felt about Gabrielle. He had never felt this way about any other woman.

  “Call the healer. We need to know exactly what our options are right away.”

  Keller merely nodded and left the room. He registered a pain in his middle, which was growing ever larger. His future did not bode well, and he wondered what to hope for.

  He did know that, baby or not, he wasn’t going to give up Gabrielle so easily.

  * * * *

  “I will not!” Gabrielle said adamantly. After what seemed like hours, Keller now stood before her with some ancient relic of a guy. She spent the past stretch of endless time alone pacing in some visitor’s quarters they dumped her in upon her unexpected, and certainly unwanted, arrival.

  “You must,” Keller told her calmly. His shoulders lowered slightly as if bearing up to prepare for battle.

  “I won’t take my clothes off so I can be poked and prodded by aliens, no less. Ever heard of an anal probe? Well, I’m not interested, thank you very much.”

  Keller sighed. “He merely wants to determine if you carry a child. My child. Our child.”

  “Don’t make me do this, Keller,” Gabrielle whined. She hated doctors. Her parents both died in hospitals, her mother from a car accident and her father from cancer. It was the kind of cancer that lasted way too long while the patient suffered. Meanwhile, the doctors assured her each and every pain-filled day that her parents might have a chance.

  “I’ll stay right here with you. We must determine your status before we can decide the best course of action.”

  “You won’t leave me?”

  “I’ll stay right here.”

  “Will you hold my hand?” She wondered why she was being such a baby about this.

  “If you wish me to.” He smiled warmly at her request. She should be wary. No sense in leading him on, but his comfort was nice.

  The ancient, old man was nearly as tall as Keller but at half his weight. He requested that she disrobe, giving her a lingerie wrap to wear for the exam. At least this alien garment didn’t open in the back as in hospitals on Earth where, invariably, her butt cheeks ended up coming into contact with every available cold surface for the duration of the doctor’s visit.

  After changing in the spacious bathroom, she returned and lay on a table similar to the one in the big chamber of the ship. Keller, true to his word, ambled over to stand beside her. He slipped his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together. He never let go of her throughout the exam. Not once.

  The healer waved several hand-held computer devices over her body, especially her stomach. He didn’t utter a single word the entire time. The machines he used made unusual noises much like a ham radio when its operator was trying to zero in on a signal.

  Gabrielle couldn’t tell by the healer’s dour expression whether she was pregnant or not. After several minutes, he told her she could get dressed.

  “I will have the results shortly,” he said in a frail, whispery voice. “I will inform the Queen without delay.”

  “I want you to tell me first,” she heard Keller whisper and saw the healer shake his head in the negative. They continued to whisper for a few minutes more until Keller threw up his hands as if in supreme annoyance as the healer exited her quarters.

  “I guess we’ll be the last to know, right?” Gabrielle joked, trying to lighten the mood.

  “Once he makes the determination, he’ll tell my mother, who will then tell the Council of Elders. Eventually, they will make a recommendation. Finally, yes, we will be told.”

  Gabrielle retrieved her clothes from the bathroom.

  “You act like you want it to be true,” she said, stepping back into the sleeping chamber, her ruined garments clutched in her hands.

  “I do.”

  She slipped the alien robe off her shoulders, sending it pooling around her feet. Keller sucked in a surprised breath at her brazen act, which was intended to rattle him. Why did she want to shock him? Probably because the scandalous gaze he sent her way warmed her heart and soul. His eyes scanned her body slowly and repeatedly from head to toe as she took her own sweet time getting dressed.

  “Why? Because you like the way I look when I’m naked?”

  As if realizing he’d been practically licking his lips watching her put her clothes back on, he now looked at her face.

  “I care for you, Gabrielle,” he said earnestly. “I want to life partner with you.
It’s simple. I don’t care if you carry my child or not. I still want you to stay.” He took several steps closer until he stood inches away from her.

  She tilted her head all the way back. “I care for you, too, Keller, but I don’t want to stay where I’m not wanted. I’d still have to live in this world and be around your people every day. It will be a constant and daily reminder of how short earthlings are in comparison.”

  “But if you stayed and made your life here, eventually you would be accepted. I’ll be king one day. You would be my queen.”

  “Deep down, I’ll always be an inferior, alien creature, in the eyes of your people, never a queen. You know it’s true,” Gabrielle said sadly.

  “Perhaps, but no matter. I still intend to fight for you, for us.”

  “It’s a losing battle. I want to go back to Earth. Child or not, I won’t change my mind. I want to go home.” Gabrielle finally understood Dorothy and her drive to get back to Kansas from the wonderful Land of Oz.

  A small part of her sincerely believed she was either dead or dreaming. That belief was growing. She wasn’t on an alien planet about to see if she could marry their king anyway. Was she? If this was truly happening, and if she turned up pregnant, and if she was forced to stay here with people who hated her…well, then, she’d know for certain she was dead and had earned an eternal place in Hell.

  Tiburon seemed real, just like the spaceship had seemed real. As for Keller, he was the most real of all, but she had obligations on Earth. People depended on her, and photography clients wanted her. Didn’t they?

  She sighed deeply as the harsh truth hit her square in the brain under the subheading of reality check. Damn lonely life anyway. She only had one obligation on Earth, truth be told. Her dog Skippy needed her. She refused to allow him to be discarded. Not again.

  Gabrielle missed the Jack Russell terrier she’d rescued from a garbage can one night on a my-clothes-are-all-too-tight, guilt-inspired jog around the block near her apartment. When she stopped to catch her breath a half a block into her slow run, she heard a whimpering. She looked inside the trash can she leaned on trying to get air in her lungs and saw him resting half inside a jumbo-sized peanut butter jar, thus inspiring his name. It was fate. They needed each other. She wasn’t about to desert him now, if she were even alive and not in some dark alley dying a slow, dream-filled death.