Atlas: Arkadian Alien Mail Order Brides #2 Read online

  Atlas

  Arkadian Alien Mail Order Brides #2

  Tasha Black

  13th Story Press

  Copyright © 2021 by 13th Story Press

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  13th Story Press

  PO Box 506

  Swarthmore, PA 19081

  [email protected]

  Contents

  Tasha Black Starter Library

  About Atlas

  Atlas

  1. Valerie

  2. Atlas

  3. Valerie

  4. Atlas

  5. Valerie

  6. Valerie

  7. Atlas

  8. Valerie

  9. Valerie

  10. Valerie

  11. Atlas

  12. Valerie

  13. Atlas

  14. Valerie

  15. Atlas

  16. Valerie

  17. Valerie

  18. Atlas

  19. Valerie

  20. Ryk

  21. Valerie

  22. Atlas

  23. Atlas

  24. Valerie

  25. Atlas

  26. Valerie

  Titan - SAMPLE

  1. Summer

  2. Titan

  3. Summer

  Intergalactic Dating Agency

  Tasha Black Starter Library

  About the Author

  One Percent Club

  Tasha Black Starter Library

  Packed with steamy shifters, mischievous magic, billionaire superheroes, and plenty of HEAT, the Tasha Black Starter Library is the perfect way to dive into Tasha's unique brand of Romance with Bite!

  Get your FREE books now at tashablack.com!

  About Atlas

  It was supposed to be a simple arrangement…

  * * *

  When Valerie’s designated match from the Arkadia Brides Agency offers her a deal that involves a quick marriage and divorce, she can’t believe her good luck. She can realize her dream of opening a tea shop, and without a pesky husband around she can send for her beloved sisters to join her. But as soon as she meets the blue-eyed giant who wants her to pretend to be in love with him, she is instantly, annoyingly attracted to him.

  Atlas lives a quiet life of leisure. His only problem is a caveat in his grandfather’s will that means he will lose the family estate if he isn’t married by the age of thirty. So, he offers his match an arrangement - he gets his inheritance, and she gets a cut of the money to open her tea shop. Nobody falls in love, and nobody gets hurt. He just doesn’t expect his pretend bride to trigger an inescapable hurricane of lust and longing in him.

  When a rival family member shows up and starts questioning their relationship, Valerie and Atlas suddenly find themselves a whole lot closer than they planned.

  They’re convinced they’re putting on a show to fool everyone else, but it seems more and more like the only people they are fooling are themselves.

  * * *

  If you like strong women, hunky aliens, wild adventures, steamy sensual scenes, and happily-ever-afters, then you’ll love the world of Arkadia:

  * * *

  Arkadian Alien Mail Order Brides:

  * * *

  -Orion

  -Atlas

  -Titan

  Atlas

  1

  Valerie

  Valerie stood outside on the platform in an elegant dress, breathing in the fragrant air, and hoping her white-knuckled grip on her suitcase was her only outward sign of fear.

  She willed herself to loosen her fingers on the wooden handle, but couldn’t do it.

  The scent of the flowering ground cover floated up to her, so beautiful it almost seemed fake. But the vibrant greens and purples practically pulsed in her vision. Had any place ever been so lush as the parking strip of this transport lift?

  After riding the transport, which shot straight upward from the shade of Lower Arkadia, through Upper Arkadia, she had emerged on shaking legs to a sky so wide and blue it felt like she was drowning in it.

  On Lower Arkadia, anyone looking up was met with the unchanging view of the dark soil and gnarled tree roots that clung to the underside of Upper Arkadia, forever hovering above.

  Valerie had lived her life in that shadow, longing for the freedom and opportunity that floated above her, just out of reach of the hard-scrabble existence of the underworld she called home.

  But now that she was finally on the upper level, she felt unmoored and exposed, as if the slightest breeze might sweep her off the planet entirely.

  I don’t belong here…

  A hovercraft in shimmering silver pulled up smoothly in front of her and the door slid open.

  She held her breath.

  A man in a dark suit emerged. He was of medium height for a genetic Arkadian, which meant he was still much taller than Valerie. His form was neat and trim, and his blonde hair was so bright that she could only see the silver in it because of the direct light.

  “Miss Valerie?” he asked, smiling at her with kind eyes.

  The puzzle pieces in her head slid together. This must be Atlas, the man she had come here to marry. He was probably old enough to be her father, but he was attractive, in a clean, unthreatening way.

  Though they had an advance arrangement that he would not touch her, she was relieved to see that if he changed his mind and decided he wanted to avail himself of his conjugal rights after all, at least it wouldn’t be frightening or gross.

  “Atlas,” she said, with what she hoped was a warm smile, crossing her arms over her chest and preparing to bow.

  “Oh dear,” the man said with a horrified expression. “I’m afraid I haven’t introduced myself properly. I am Mr. Atlas’s butler, Jonx. Mr. Atlas himself will be waiting for you at the manor. He asked me to tell you that he is tied up with something important this morning, or he would have accompanied you himself.”

  “Oh, of course,” Valerie stammered, feeling very stupid.

  “Please, allow me,” Jonx said kindly, holding his hand out for her case.

  She managed to release her iron grip, and allowed him to take the luggage from her.

  He opened the rear door of the craft with a flourish.

  “Thank you,” she remembered to say as she climbed in.

  “With pleasure,” he told her, placing her belongings in the stowaway before heading back to the driver’s seat.

  She felt much more like herself as soon as she was in the craft with a roof over her head. Taking a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, and letting it out again slowly, she managed to convince her heart to slow to a less frantic pace.

  She had the rest of her life to accustom herself to her new home.

  And once she was settled in, married for the agreed upon time period, and then divorced as planned, she could use her share of Atlas’s trust fund to open the tea shop she had dreamed of running since she was a little girl.

  And then she could send for her little sisters.

  She smiled at the thought, even as the craft lurched to life and began to slide, too fast, down the strip toward the roadway.

  “I trust you had a pleasant journey,” Jonx said politely.

  Valerie had no idea how to answer that. Her journey had been terrifying from start to finish, but it would be very bad manners to say so.

  “My apologies, miss,” Jonx said quickly, before she could think up something positive to say. “I seem to remember being told the transport from Lowe
r Arkadia can be… jarring.”

  Valerie laughed in spite of herself. “What you were told is a perfect description,” she said. “But I’m happy to be here and so grateful that you are bringing me to Mr. Atlas personally.”

  “It is my pleasure, Miss Valerie,” Jonx said solemnly. “I know he will be delighted to see you.”

  She longed to ask him if Atlas was a good man, if he was the kind of man who kept his promises.

  But the Arkadia Brides Agency was adamant that manners were everything in the overworld. Questions like those would be unspeakably improper. Marion, the stern and elegant head of bride recruitment and training, would be livid if she knew Valerie was even thinking of asking them.

  And after six months of immersive studies in Upper Arkadian comportment, fashion, culture and cuisine, Valerie liked to think she had enough discipline to wait a few more minutes to meet Atlas herself and form her own impressions.

  The towering structures and delicate copper spires of the city had been flying past so fast that she could hardly see them. But now the view was turning green, and the buildings were mostly stone, and only a few levels tall.

  She wondered what kind of buildings they could be. It seemed that it would be more convenient to do business in the heart of the city. But there must be some sort of commerce that was best conducted out here among the leafy trees.

  “We are near Mr. Atlas’s home now, Miss Valerie,” Jonx told her. “If you look past the houses on the right, you can just see the roofline of the Club behind them, where Mr. Atlas spends much of his time.”

  She looked to the right and saw a domed roof behind two large stone buildings.

  Houses, not buildings. Houses.

  Those massive stone structures are actually people’s homes.

  She managed not to gasp, but only barely. The wealth of this place was unfathomable. She had seen pictures of the opulent city as part of her education at the agency, so the towering glass and alloy structures with copper spires had been something her mind could accept.

  But these houses, and the idea that individual people could live in such splendor…

  “Here we are,” Jonx said with satisfaction.

  The craft slid past a massive gate, which opened automatically when it sensed their approach.

  A gargantuan, dove-gray marble house with impressive columns stood between two massive trees, the glossy finish of the stone shimmering in the late morning light.

  Jonx guided the craft around to the back of the home.

  “I’ll drop you here so that you can greet Mr. Atlas,” he told her. “After I deposit the craft, I’ll bring your case and show you to your rooms whenever you are ready.”

  “Thank you, Jonx,” she said as he moved to open her door, and offered his hand to help her out.

  If Jonx’s exquisite manners were any indication, it was very good that she had spent so much time studying back at the agency.

  She stepped back under that wide open sky, focusing on the scene in front of her. The rear of the house was even more impressive than the front. A floating veranda cascaded down from the double doors in tiers, ending at a sparkling, sapphire swimming pool that seemed big enough to hold a year’s worth of irrigation water.

  She was about to ask Jonx where she should look for Mr. Atlas, when she spotted movement in the pool.

  “Ah, there he is,” Jonx said fondly. “I’ll be back in a flash.”

  Valerie stood rooted to the spot as she watched the movement of the man in the pool.

  She had been down to the swimming hole in Prefecture 4 a few times, and she knew how to swim. She thought she was actually pretty good at it, until now.

  She’d never seen anyone move like this. Atlas was fast and sleek, and… alien.

  Though genetic Arkadians shared far more traits with Terrans than not, their differences were on full display here.

  Valerie moved toward the pool, mesmerized.

  A sleek blond head popped out of the water and pale blue eyes met hers.

  Valerie caught her breath.

  The blue eyes suddenly flashed a brilliant green, like twin emeralds catching the sunlight.

  “Genetic Arkadians’ eyes have chemically activated bioluminescence,” Marion had explained back on campus. “They appear to glow when the Arkadian is emotionally aroused.”

  Valerie stepped back, imagining that Atlas’s eyes might be glowing because he was angry that someone had interrupted his solitude.

  She opened her mouth, but before she could form any kind of apology, he was emerging from the pool, and everything seemed to slip into slow motion, like something out of a holo-reel.

  His big body was positively rippling with muscles. Atlas swept his long, pale hair over his shoulder, sending fresh rivulets of water down the planes of his chest, over his ridged abs, to the threateningly large bulge in his swim trunks.

  Valerie just managed to tear her eyes back up to his, but not before he noticed.

  A cocky half-smile pulled up one corner of his sensual mouth. His eyes were their regular, pale blue once again.

  “I-I’m Valerie,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and bending her knees in the traditional Upper Arkadian show of respect.

  “Atlas,” he said, nodding.

  His voice was deep and a little raspy, and he moved toward her with his arms out. She certainly hadn’t expected such a warm greeting, and wasn’t sure how she was supposed to react.

  So she waited, breathless, for him to embrace her, imagining what his hard body might feel like against her soft curves.

  At the last second, she realized he was only reaching to the rack behind her for a towel.

  Valerie stepped aside, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

  “Sorry I didn’t pick you up myself,” he told her as he ran the towel over his massive form. “But I can’t get through the day if I don’t start with some exercise.”

  The butler’s words echoed in her head.

  He asked me to tell you that he is tied up with something important this morning.

  Important, indeed. And it was nearly midday. What kind of person was just starting their day at this hour?

  “I had a pleasant ride with Jonx,” she said politely, trying not to stare at his abs, or judge him for finding a late-morning swim more important than meeting the woman he was planning to marry.

  It’s just an arrangement, she reminded herself hurriedly. It’s not a real marriage.

  “I look forward to doing business with you,” he told her, the crooked half-smile back on his face as he offered her his hand.

  She took it and a shiver of heat moved between them.

  Her eyes went to his and they were glowing again, that same startling green as before.

  And this time, Valerie didn’t think it was anger behind them.

  2

  Atlas

  Atlas stared down at the little Terran, taking in her long, dark hair, her modest dress, and her serious brown eyes.

  She was the opposite of his type. He had always gone for brassy women with a lot of genetic modifications.

  In fairness, he might have gone for those women because they went for him. He was generally wrapped up in his own projects and not interested in chasing down romance. And why bother, when women seemed to be willing to put in the work for him?

  His relationships usually didn’t last long. But then the last one that had pursued him had stayed with him for nearly three standard years. And then he’d caught her…

  But no, he didn’t want to think about that right now. He only wanted to think about the small, dark beauty before him.

  While he did everything in his power to keep a studied coolness to his outside, his insides were cartwheeling with joy and shivering with lust and curiosity.

  Who are you? he longed to demand. Why do I want to pin you down and ravage you, and then feed you ice cream and tell you all my darkest secrets?

  The squeal of rocket-brakes roused him, and he scowled up at the
driveway.

  His idiot cousin Ryk nearly slammed into Jonx, who was carrying Valerie’s luggage.

  Poor Jonx flung himself out of the way just in time, tumbling onto the grassy meadow with Valerie’s suitcase.

  “Oh dear,” Valerie cried, running to help Jonx.

  Ryk pulled the candy-fruit colored craft up in front of Atlas, ignoring the result of his reckless driving.

  “Hey, Rykkie, what’s up?” Atlas said with what he knew was an annoying smirk.

  “You know I’m just going by Ryk now, right?” his cousin said with a scowl.

  “Whatever you say,” Atlas said. “What do you want?”

  He knew exactly what Ryk wanted. If Atlas wasn’t married by his thirtieth birthday next week, the family trust dictated that Ryk, as the oldest married heir, would take the house. It was a stupid clause that he couldn’t believe his grandfather had managed to work into his will, but there wasn’t much to be done about it. Atlas’s lawyers all said it was airtight.

  And Ryk loved nothing more than rubbing Atlas’s face in it.

  “Oh, I’m just here to measure the pool,” Ryk said.

  “You’re trying to figure out how hard you’d have to train to be able to do one lap?” Atlas teased, hating the idea of Ryk swimming in his pool, and likely not taking the trouble to preserve the delicate chemical balance that allowed the garden around it to flourish.