Dazzled by the Alien Daredevil: An Alien Abduction Romance (The Kurians Book 5)
Page 13
“Yes.” I push my tray to the side. “Strol—”
A throat clears, and I glance over to see the tour guide.
“I hate to interrupt,” he says apologetically. “It’s the general. She’s asking to see you.”
“Me?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Just Isabella?”
“Yes.”
“You can come with if you want,” I tell Strol.
He shakes his head. "I'll be sitting right here when the meeting's done. I didn't have the lasagna. That looked delicious."
“It’s so good,” I tell him with a grin. “Hopefully, I’ll be back soon.”
“We can talk then,” he promises.
Once we enter a hallway, I clear my throat. “You know my name, but you never told me yours.”
“Sorry about that, Isabella. I’m Jasper.”
“Nice to meet you, Jasper.”
He leads me through a maze to a room, knocks on the door, opens it, and nods for me to go inside. Jasper shuts it, not coming in with me.
Two women sit at a large, oval table. General Janius Jackson and one I’ve seen on TV before but never in person, Madelaine Downing.
The leader of the entire planet of Earth.
My mouth grows dry as Madelaine motions for me to sit. She's a beautiful woman, young but competent, the successor of Norbert Salisbury. Norbert had everyone call himself the Prime Minister of the Earth, but Madelaine did away with that, not wanting a formal title aside from her distinction as the leader. She asks everyone to call her by name, not even Ms. Downing.
“Ah, you asked for me?” I ask the general, too unnerved to talk to the leader directly.
Madelaine stands. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Isabella. General Janius was telling me all about you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.” My head is swimming.
The general eyes me. I can’t tell what she’s thinking.
"Your efforts with Strol the Kurian to both save Nina and then to apprehend the guilty parties…" Madelaine smiles. "You're willing to think outside the box. We don't have the same stringent guidelines when it comes to joining the military as had been in place before the Grots came to Earth. We need to maintain a strong military to have strength since we know that we aren't alone in the galaxy anymore. We also need to ensure that we continue to have peace on Earth as well. For the most part, we have that, but there have been some instances of riots against the Kurians and Novans, unfortunately."
“There have been?”
“Not many,” Madelaine says. “We try to deal with that as quietly as possible.”
“Of course.” I swallow hard, uncertain why I’m here and what’s expected of me.
“The general had a lot of interesting things to tell me about you,” Madelaine continues.
I risk a glance at the general. Her hawkish eyes are fixed on me, but her lips are ever so slightly turned upward.
“In light of recent events, your fortitude, and your ability to have compassion and drive to save those in your charge,” the general says, “despite your not listening to orders and being released from duty, we think that you would make a fine soldier.”
My eyes widen. “You do?”
Madelaine nods. “I know that following orders is crucial, yes, but a true soldier knows that there is more than the mission. Lives always come first.”
“Your job will be with any rescue missions, since they seem to be your forte.” The general now grins broadly and nods to me.
“You’ll also be charged with keeping the peace and putting a peaceful end to any riots that may arise wherever they arise. There will be a great deal of travel involved,” Madelaine warns.
“That’s all fine with me!”
“Does that mean you accept?” Madelaine asks, smiling herself.
“Yes!”
“We can work out the details and specifics now, and you will need a few rounds of training, but you have a week to get your life in order,” the general says, more no-nonsense now.
“Thank you. Thank you both!”
In a daze, I stand and shake both women’s hands. I leave the room. Jasper is there, waiting for me, and he asks where I want to go next.
“Back to Strol,” I murmur.
“Of course.”
But when we return to the cafeteria, Strol isn’t sitting there. A soldier explains that Strol had returned to his room, but that I might find a chocolate dessert waiting for me.
"If he doesn't eat both, that is," the soldier adds. She licks her lips. "They're amazing, and I don't know if there's a guy alive who I would save one for."
I laugh, but Jasper just shakes his head. I’m sure he’s thinking about Karen.
“Don’t worry, Isabella,” he says. “I know where Strol’s room is.”
I really can’t make heads or tails around this place, but Jasper never hesitates, and he brings me to a door, nods, and walks away.
My knuckles barely touch the door before it opens.
“You didn’t wait for me,” I accuse as I enter.
“I thought maybe we could talk in private some.”
I close the door behind me and notice the two desserts. He hasn’t touched his. It’s some kind of death by chocolate mound, and I can’t tell if it’s a cake or a pastry, but it does look divine. They’re sitting on top of a small table, but Strol is sitting on his bed, and I sit beside him.
“You can go first,” I murmur.
“No.” He tucks some hair behind my head. “You can.”
“I’m joining the military,” I say excitedly. “I’m going to have to travel, but I’ll be able to ensure there’s peace. No riots against Novans or Kurians.”
“That’s wonderful.” His lips curl into a teasing grin.
“What?”
“Are you wondering how your job will affect us?”
“Well, your father sent you here, right? Wouldn’t he be happy to have you working alongside me to ensure there’s peace and no animosity toward Novans and Kurians?”
“You’re asking me to go with you,” he says slowly.
My heart skips a beat, and my mouth goes dry. “Yes,” I whisper.
“Because you’re dazzled by me,” he says with a crooked grin.
I roll my eyes. “Something like that.”
“Then why?” he asks.
I swallow hard. “What, ah, what do you think about that?”
“About traveling the Earth with you? Seeing the sights? I think that sounds wonderful. Just know that I’ll be doing so as the official representative from Kuria.”
“That’s your title?” I ask.
Strol nods. "I'm the leader of Kurians here on Earth, basically."
“That’s… Wow.”
“It’s a huge step for me,” he says.
“A step toward making you overlord one day,” I say softly.
“Yes.” He eyes me and holds my hand. “Does that worry you?”
“No. Why? Should it?”
“It shouldn’t, but I know you.”
“Oh, yeah?” I tease.
“I do, and I know that you’re wild and fiercely independent, but I also know that you love me, and that scares you at times.”
“It does,” I murmur, placing my other hand on top of his.
“Sometimes being scared is a good thing. It means you have something to lose.”
“I don’t want to lose you,” I murmur.
“Then will you consider marrying me?” he asks in a rush.
“Strol!”
“We don’t have to get married right away,” he assures me. “And you don’t even have to answer right away.”
“I… I don’t know if I’m… I’m not sure I want to be a mom,” I say in a rush.
“Why not?”
“My lifestyle. It’s too dangerous, and a child deserves to have stability.”
“You’ll have me to watch your back. Any missions you go on, you won’t be alone. As for stability, a healthy relationship with parents
is all the stability they need, right? They don’t have to fear moving around from place to place. Knowing us, our son or daughter would take each move in stride, thinking it’s all one great big adventure.”
I bite my lower lip and shake my head. “I just don’t know.”
“Isabella, I love you and only you. If you don’t want to have children, we won’t have children.”
I reach over and grab the desserts and eat about half of mine—it's absolutely decadent, by the way—before I start talking again.
“I thought that being a mom would mean settling down,” I venture.
“To some extent, yes.”
“I would have to put someone’s needs ahead of my own.”
“Didn’t you do that as you cared for your mom?” he asks gently.
“Yes.” He’s shattering my walls, but I still have some up yet. “But I don’t know. What if I’m not a good mom? What if I yell too much or don’t have enough patience? What if the child is just like me and won’t listen? I’m too selfish.”
“Yes, so selfish that you managed to save Nina. You made certain no one else could be hurt by Frankie and his goons. That’s so damn selfish of you, Isabella.”
“I… I don’t know.”
“I already told you. If you don’t want to have children—”
“But you’re going to be the overlord. You should have some.”
“I thought we’re daredevils. We do what we want. What we want, Isabella, what both of us want.”
“But you need—”
"I need you," he says simply. "You're all I need."
“Maybe one day, I’ll want to be a mom. For now… I’ll settle for being Mrs. Strol.”
“So that’s a yes?” he asks with a whoop.
I giggle as he yanks me onto his lap. I barely have time to move my plate and his untouched dessert to the table.
“Yes, it’s a yes,” I whisper, brushing his hair back from his face.
“Come to your daredevil,” he says huskily. “Let me show you a good time.”
And he proceeds to do just that, my sexy, wild, alien fiancé.
Thank you for reading Dazzled by the Alien Daredevil! Strol is one hell of a hero, and he’s more than met his match in the strong-willed Isabella! I just love them both! If you do too, I’d love for you to write a review for their love story!
Next up is Mesmerized by the Alien Mercenary, featuring Tox, the son of Captain Stox and Lara from Captured by the Alien Captain!
And if you haven’t read the story of how Strol’s parents got together, check out Ordered by the Alien Overlord!
~Ashlyn
Other Books By Ashlyn Hawkes
The Kurians
Ravished by the Alien Raider
Taken by the Alien Traveler
Detained by the Alien Discoverer
Enchanted by the Alien Explorer
Dazzled by the Alien Daredevil
Mesmerized by the Alien Mercenary - available for preorder
Wanted by the Alien Wanderer - available for preorder
Visited by the Alien Voyager - available for preorder
Needed by the Alien Nomad - available for preorder
Hypnotized by the Alien Hero - available for preorder
The Novans
Chosen by the Alien Commander
Selected by the Alien Scientist
Bought by the Alien Breeder
Picked by the Alien Pilot
Ordered by the Alien Overlord
Captured by the Alien Captain
Overseen by the Alien Officer
Dominated by the Alien Driver
Solicited by the Alien Scout
Bartered by the Alien Builder
Grabbed by the Alien Guard
Smitten by the Alien Soldier - available for preorder
Wooed by the Alien Warrior - available for preorder
Honored by the Alien Hunter - available for preorder
Prized by the Alien Pirate - available for preorder
About the Author
Ashlyn Hawkes has always been fascinated by the stars, so it’s no wonder that when she started to write romances, she gravitated to big, strong, muscular heroes… with blue skin. Aliens. They need love to, right? And she plans to play matchmaker with as many aliens as possible. Who wouldn’t want to be chosen and claimed by a handsome brute of an alien?
Email Ashlyn at ashlynhawkes@gmail.com. She loves to hear from her readers! Happy reading!
Special Author Note
Hi, readers! I absolutely hate proofreading errors. I really do, but sometimes, my editor and proofreaders might miss a few.
That’s where you come in.
If you email me at ashlynhawkes@gmail.com with errors from any of my books (honest typos and not style choices), you’ll be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card! As long as there’s one entry, there will be a gift card given. Not only that, there will be one per book each month!
Thank you in advance for your help!
Oh, and when you email me, if you feel that any of the characters deserves their own story, please let me know in the email too! I’m considering extending the series!
Finally, if you would like to join my beta reader team or my ARC team, let me know!
Until next book,
~Ashlyn