Page 1 of Chosen By the Alien King
Chapter one
Nera
I’dheardMaxx’squestion,but I’d just been through a major spaceship crash and my brain was still rebooting.It was now loading the smell of a red number seven, a core process for sure, and was nowhere near answering important, life-altering questions yet.
Will you marry me?
“Maxx,” I whispered, my voice trembling slightly, “is this really the right time?”
He took a deep breath, his shimmery purple scales catching each halo the sunset cast on him, and looked into my eyes with a fierce determination that left me breathless.“If I waited for the right time, we’d both be dead.”
He was right, of course.Our lives had been in a constant state of upheaval since we’d been kidnapped.Before that even.
Conflicting emotions stirred within me like a raging storm.Could I truly trust him, put my faith in a Faid after all I had lost at the hands of one?Could I let go of my past and trust this alien warrior king with my future?
My heart ached with longing for the kind of love he offered.I wanted so desperately to believe in him, to let go of the past and embrace…us.
Throwing a furtive glance around, I found the entire cast and crew ofAlien Love Island, plus my crew, and likely the billions of viewers watching live via the hovering camera drones, plus very hungry caterpillar number one in his jar, and Nacket with a striped sock around her head wound, who’d slumped to the sand, all waiting for my answer with bated breath.
Except Mike, my ex-husband, who must’ve made himself scarce in the dense jungle foliage.Mike, the cause of most of my problems.
Buthewasn’t Maxx.
As I stared into Maxx’s eyes, I saw a reflection of the pain we both carried, the losses we’d suffered.With him by my side, the soul-crushing weight was bearable.I clutched Maxx’s hand tighter, feeling the smooth texture of his scales against my skin.Despite what he was, I loved him, completely and irrevocably, so this wouldn’t take much of a leap of faith.
“Yes,” I said finally.
A manic cheer erupted, but I hardly noticed anything other than Maxx’s joyous grin.He leaped to his feet and swept me into his arms, and my heart swelled so much for this alien king that it hurt.
“I love you so much,” he murmured in my ear.“And notice how we’ve now lost a certain armed segment of our audience?”
“Very clever and not surprising given that we’re on live TV,” I choked out, clinging to him while eying the nearest camera drone.“But I have one condition before I marry you.”
He pressed a tender kiss to the stray tears wetting my cheek.“Name it.”
“Promise me that we’ll always be honest with each other,” I implored, seeking reassurance in his gaze.“About anything.Always.No more secrets.”
“I promise,” he replied without hesitation, his otherworldly eyes brimming with happiness.“I don’t have any more anyway.You know everything there is to know about me.”
“Then let’s get married,” I declared, and a fresh wave of tears and laughter bubbled up from the warmest part of my soul.
He exhaled deeply and pulled away, his purple lightning eyes shining brightly as he slipped the leaf ring with little caterpillar bites onto my finger.Our lips met in a soft kiss that held a hell of a lot of heat and scandalous promises for later, which made the crowd cheer even louder.
“When is the big day?”Smitha shouted in her lovely Indian accent, her hands clasped over her heart while tears drenched her face.
“Yes, we need to plan,” Oreo, the slightly more high-strung member of my style team, said with a hysterical note in her voice.
“Tomorrow,” someone yelled in an unnaturally high-pitched voice.
I narrowed my eyes in their direction and spotted Umo, the show’s producer, stepping his short orange body behind a group of much taller people.Of course he’d suggest that so he could get the mad scramble and the big day all on film.
“I can wait that long if you can,” Maxx rumbled, his breath over my skin making me shiver.
“Sure, whocan’tplan a whole bride look in less than a day?“ Oreo shrieked and stalked away, Smitha right behind her.
I winced, feeling their pain, especially in their six-inch heels.
“What about Roxxanne?She couldn’t get here in a day, and even if she could…” I shook my head because I did not want Maxx’s daughter anywhere near this death pit of a planet.Or my parents for that matter.
