Page 3 of Alien Triton's Prize

Hmm. Now that I’d had time to really look at her, she was much more attractive than I’d originally thought.

But it wasn’t just these features that caught my attention. Many human females were more voluptuous than our streamlined females. Thalassonians were shaped in a way that reduced drag from the water and helped improve our mobility. Our females usually sported small breasts that swelled only when they were breeding or feeding young.

Human breasts, on the other hand, were always on display. It was a show of fertility that I, like many males of my species, found quite alluring.

There were more than a few human females who lived with our kind now. Some of them had come from the Starlight Brides program, while others had joined us from their colony on oneof the few stationary islands on the planet. I’d always wondered what their soft, rounded bodies would feel like. Were they as soft on the inside as they were on the outside? It seemed I was about to find out soon.

“I know you weren’t expecting to join a male under the waves, but it won’t be safe up here soon. A storm is coming, and there is no human colony on this island. Come with me. I will keep you safe.”

She scanned the waves nervously; the sea was starting to churn from the brewing storm. “I hate to burst your bubble, but I can’t go with you. I can’t breathe underwater. I don’t know what Starlight Lottery or Brides or whatever told you, but I can’t go with you even if I wanted to.”

“I have a pair of artificial gills for you. They will help you breathe.” I detached the gills from my harness.

She eyed them warily. “How exactly do they work? To me, that just looks like an elaborate, frilly, pink shawl necklace. The ones that drape over the shoulder and chest.”

“Our scientists created them so we could take mates and partners from beyond the sands. They take material from our own gills and grow artificial ones out of them. I don’t know how they do it, but I know it works. Trust me: there are many land dwellers who live in Coral’s Deep now, and they have yet to drown.”

The rain was coming down zealously now. The storm was almost here. Vera looked to the sky and sighed.

“I don’t think I have much of a choice. But I really didn’t sign up for this. Promise me you will bring me back to the surface when the storm is over. I know there Is a human colonysomewhere on this planet. The job might not be real, but the colony is.”

“It is. But from my point of view, I paid Starlight Brides a hefty sum for a bride…and technically, we’re already married.”

Instead of answering, she struggled against my arms and tail, trying to get away.

“Be calm. I will not force you to stay with me if you don’t wish. How about we make a deal? Stay with me and pretend to be my bride until my grandsire leaves our world. He is very old and does not have long to live. He’s why I went to Starlight Brides. He wishes to see me happily mated before he goes.”

Vera stopped struggling. “You got a mail-order bride because you wanted to make your grandfather happy?”

“Partly, yes. But also because we do not have many females left. And I do not wish to spend the rest of my days with the ones who remain.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t catch the attention of our remaining eligible females. I most certainly did. But it wasn’t me they saw, but my family’s fortune. At least with Starlight Brides, Vera had signed the contract without knowing what I was worth. Well, technically, she’d signed the contract not knowing she was going to be a bride at all. But it was too late to fix that mistake now.

“Be my wife, just for now. After we put my grandsire to rest, I promise I will bring you to the human colony on the main island if you do not wish to stay with me.”

She didn’t look like she believed me.

“How do I know you’re not pulling my leg?”

I considered her shapely legs. I knew what she meant; our people had a similar saying but with tails. I told her the truth. “Idon’t really want a wife. But my grandsire has been pressuring me to contract with one of our females, so I told him I’d already gone to Starlight Brides. He’s very excited to meet you. If you choose to leave later, I won’t be offended. I’m not worried about losing what I paid, so long as he is happy.”

“And what if he lives a lot longer than you expect?”

“Then I will rejoice at having more time with him.”

“You said Starlight Brides wouldn’t match us up unless we were ‘compatible’. I am assuming that means biologically?”

“Our species is on the brink of extinction,” I admitted. “Any spawn we create will be greatly treasured and live a spoiled life. I am well off.” That was the understatement of the year.

Thunder boomed, shaking the air around us.

“One journey around the sun,” I coaxed, realizing I didn’t have much time. I knew how bad the storms on the surface could get. “Be my wife for just that long. And then, even if my grandsire is still with us, we can cite incompatibility, and I will bring you back to the surface. That is, if you still wish to go. If not, you can also choose to stay in Coral’s Deep.”

Thunder rumbled overhead, and a gust of wind blew by, strong enough to knock her right off her feet. She sighed. “It’s a deal. One planetary year. Then I get to choose to stay or not.”

I eyed her unwieldy body coverings. “Your clothes will hinder your movements underwater. You will need to remove them, unless you are a very strong swimmer.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “This better not be a ploy to get me to strip.”

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