Chloe: Alien Surrogate Agency #5

  CHLOE

  ALIEN SURROGATE AGENCY #5

  TASHA BLACK

  13TH STORY PRESS

  Copyright © 2023 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

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  Cover designed by Sylvia Frost of The Book Brander

  CONTENTS

  Tasha Black Starter Library

  About Chloe

  Chloe

  1. Chloe

  2. Jubal

  3. Chloe

  4. Jubal

  5. Chloe

  6. Chloe

  7. Jubal

  8. Oberon

  9. Chloe

  10. Jubal

  11. Chloe

  12. Jubal

  13. Chloe

  14. Chloe

  15. Oberon

  16. Jubal

  17. Chloe

  18. Jubal

  19. Chloe

  20. Chloe

  21. Jubal

  22. Chloe

  23. Jubal

  24. Jubal

  25. Chloe

  26. Chloe

  27. Chloe

  Tasha Black Starter Library

  About the Author

  One Percent Club

  TASHA BLACK STARTER LIBRARY

  Packed with steamy shifters, mischievous magic, alien adventures, 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 CHLOE

  This wild rockstar and introverted kindergarten teacher have only one goal in common.

  To get her pregnant as soon as possible.

  When legendary performer Jubal Ash loses the only person in the world who ever cared about his true self, he knows it’s time to start a family of his own. He expects to be matched with a starstruck surrogate who will loan him her womb and a week of good fun. But instead, he’s blindsided by a shy young schoolteacher, who somehow has him desperate with lust, in spite of her prim ways.

  Chloe McGuinty may be the only being in the system who doesn’t know who superstar Jubal Ash is. Until now, her life has been dedicated to her kindergarten students, and to saving for treatments at the local fertility clinic. But when the man she thought was her future marries someone else, she knows it’s time for a change. Agreeing to be a surrogate for an alien in order to have her fertility restored is one thing. But being matched with a reckless, outrageously handsome, horned Maltaffian has her off balance from the moment his hungry eyes land on her.

  They say that opposites attract, but even Oberon, the matchmaking AI for the Midsummer Fertility Center, is having a hard time getting the teacher and the rockstar on the same page. His only hope is that Jubal can encourage Chloe to let her hair down, and that Chloe can help him see he is much more than just a celebrity. And there is no better place than the most romantic location in the galaxy to make it happen.

  CHLOE

  1

  CHLOE

  Chloe McGuinty looked up from her knitting with the feeling that something different was in the air.

  Of course, that was impossible.

  She had spent the last ten days living in a simulated environment where the air was literally pumped in from a mountain village or something.

  The room around her was the same as before, a clever AI’s imagining of the gorgeous loft apartment she had fantasized about as a kid. Of course, that fantasy was from before she learned what a teacher’s salary could swing as far as living arrangements.

  Even if it was a simulation, it was still lovely. She was curled up on a fluffy sofa, looking out floor to ceiling windows at snow falling on a peaceful city.

  “This is sophisticated as your life is going to get,” she murmured to herself with a smile. “Enjoy it.”

  Chloe had arrived at the Midsummer Fertility Center with hope in her heart and a lot of pent-up energy she didn’t know what to do with. After getting up at four in the morning every day for years to be ready for a class of unruly kindergarteners, she had no idea what to do with herself here.

  Oberon, the AI creator of the center, had encouraged her to indulge in daily pampering at the spa. But there were only so many heated stone massages and mani-pedis you could have in ten days.

  Her nails had been so many different colors this week, she hardly recognized her own hands.

  This morning, she had finally thought to ask Oberon for knitting needles and yarn. She had knitted to keep her mind occupied while sitting in the fertility clinic waiting rooms at home, so why not here?

  Even if the luxurious center was made to feel like anything but a waiting room, she knew what it was.

  Back home, she was extraordinarily lucky to live on Terra-58 - one of the few Terras that was well-respected by other planets. There was fresh air, plenty to eat, and enough access to technology to make life easier.

  The matriarchal society adopted by all who chose to live in this paradise was protected by a special custom. Before becoming eligible for marriage, each woman of Terra-58 had to bear a child of her own. As the eldest, the primary heir would inherit the lion’s share of the mother’s assets, ensuring that all wealth passed through the maternal line.

  So of course, families of means paid for the best genetic materials for their daughters’ primary pregnancy. A baby with luxury modifications could help a woman land the most desirable and attentive of males.

  It was a system that worked well. Terra-58 had a low divorce rate, and a high marriage satisfaction rate. They had trade agreements with nearly every local system. And their children were adored and well-educated - all of them, not just the primary heirs.

  But for an infertile woman like Chloe, the system could be cruel and unjust.

  Luckily for her, Chloe’s family decided to splurge and indulge her in a round of treatment at a fancy high-end clinic back on Terra-58.

  She had tried to hide her excitement when she found out, because a woman wasn’t supposed to date until she had birthed her primary heir. But she had been half in love with the vice-principal at the school where she taught since the day she was hired.

  Vax Dolors was handsome and kind, with a gentle voice and a way of convincing small children that maybe they would like to behave themselves for Miss McGuinty after all.

  It was easy to fall for him. And she could tell by the way he looked at her that he felt the same.

  He had even been so bold as to whisper to her in the hallway after school once or twice, wondering how her treatment was going.

  She would never forget the shiver of awareness that went down her spine as he whispered his questions in her ear.

  But the cycle at the fancy clinic hadn’t worked.

  Her parents moved her down to a middle-of-the-line clinic for another try.

  And another.

  Then her mother had pulled her aside.

  “Chloe, you have two younger sisters,” her mother told her sadly. “I have to save for their treatments, too.”

  Chloe had reassured her mother that she understood there would be no more help.

  After a few months of waiting, the lease ended on her tiny apartment, and she was able to move in with two other teachers. That allowed her to save enough monthly to try again at a public clinic six months later.

  But by then, Vax Dolors was engaged to the other kindergarten teacher.

  Barra Aynsworth was petite, blonde, and radiant with joy as she showed off baby holos of her beautiful son around the teachers’ lounge.

  And these days, Chloe couldn’t look at the holograms of the baby without seeing the diamond sparkling on Barra’s finger as she held the glass.

  She tried to be happy for Barra, who had never been anything but sweet to her. For heaven’s sake, the woman brought her baked goods, and the two shared lesson plans.

  But some days, as she watched all her old friends become mothers and wives, it was hard not to wonder why she had been left behind.

  After that, two more grueling cycles at the public clinic left her with empty arms.

  And then she received a message from a friend, telling her to go to another clinic in the city with her records, and cross her fingers that they might offer her something… different.

  Mother Stars had finally smiled on her, and the something different was offered - a chance to come here, to the Midsummer Center, and act as a surrogate for a male from another world.

  She was told that the male’s seed would “bring her womb to life,” and she would bear him a child. She didn’t know if it was magic, or alien science she didn’t quite understand, and she didn’t care.

  Chloe just knew that when she returned home again, it would be with a generous benevolence - enough credits to try many, many more times at the nicest clinic on Terra-58 to conceive a baby of her own.

  And she was told that her odds of accomplishing a pregnancy would be 50% higher after her time here.

  The idea of finally bearing a child, and leaving it behind was more than painful.

  But after sleeping on it, and spending another day in the classroom, seeing her beautiful students and the
ir funny, wonderful views of the world, she knew she would do anything to have a child of her own. Even if that meant having one for someone else first.

  If it works, at least I’ll always know I have one child, even if I never get to see them again…

  But now that she was at the center, she found herself restless. She had expected to be nervous about whether the attempt here would work.

  She hadn’t expected to be beside herself about how her students were faring without her.

  If only there had been enough time for her to choose and meet with her substitute.

  But the center had insisted she leave immediately.

  And all comms were prohibited once she was here.

  She had spent three days pulling her hair out worrying about the weekly spelling test before Oberon took pity on her.

  You may access the student portal twice each day, he told her, after speaking with the center’s biological staff. And if you find anything seriously amiss, you may send one comm to the school administration, but our staff will have to read and approve the message before sending.

  The portal showed grades, attendance, participation, and conduct - when the substitute bothered to update it. And it was more than she had any right to ask for.

  She was just glancing at her bracelet and trying to decide if she had it in her to wait until the evening to look at the portal for her second time today, when the light in the room shifted slightly.

  “Hello, Chloe,” Oberon said politely. “Your prospective match’s shuttle has just arrived. You have approximately eleven minutes before you must leave to meet with him.”

  Chloe dropped her knitting and shot off the sofa.

  Classic that she had spent a week and a half having her hair and nails done every day, and when she finally gave up and rolled out of bed onto the sofa, her match decided to show up.

  “I’ll just clean up quickly,” she replied, darting toward the corner that housed her closet and refresher, where Oberon had already started the water running.

  2

  JUBAL

  Jubal Ash could sense his shuttle getting ready to land, but it was the fancy kind with opaque walls, so he couldn’t get any sense of what kind of place he would be spending the next week exploring.

  On his comms, his promoter droned on.

  “You did a great job acting a fool at the HotShotz Awards,” Eed was saying. “Everyone will think you’re on a bender, or maybe back at rehab.”

  “Good,” Jubal said.

  Once his quirky brand of hard rock made him famous, he quickly learned that his life wasn’t going to be all about the music anymore.

  Every moment now seemed to be filled with tour dates, agent calls, important parties, and hangers-on blowing up his comms at all hours.

  After his first year of living the life, he had barely been able to hang onto his sanity.

  Jubal had looked at his options and decided to fake a nano-dust habit he didn’t have in order to buy himself some privacy by doing stints in “rehab” that were just media diversions.

  He was actually going back to his ridiculously small town and hiding out in his grandmother’s basement, so he could write music and play video games, just like when he was a kid, trying to do everything his big sister did.

  This time would be different, though. The Midsummer Fertility Center was back on his homeworld of Maltaffia, but it was a long way from home.

  “Are you going to tell me what you’re actually doing?” Eed asked suddenly.

  That was new.

  “Don’t ask when you don’t want to know the answer,” Jubal replied lightly.

  “I know you’ve never done nandy,” Eed said softly. “I’ve had enough clients who did to know you’re clean as a whistle.”

  Jubal blinked back his surprise.

  “If you want to keep working for me, you’ll have to keep that opinion to yourself, Eed,” he replied at last.

  “Understood,” Eed said stiffly. “You know, you can trust me Jubal. If there’s something I can help you with, I’m here. That’s kind of my whole job.”

  Eed probably thought he had a gambling problem, or a secret family, or something worse.

  “Thanks, man,” Jubal said sincerely. “I’m glad you’ve got my back. Comm you in a week.”

  They disconnected just as the flight assistant came through the curtain again

  Jubal knew for a fact that this shuttle had an army of helper bots. But the flight assistant was too starstruck to let them do their job. She kept coming in to check on him personally.

  “Mr. Ash, we’re about to land,” she drawled in what she clearly considered a sexy voice. “Do you need any help with your seatbelt?”

  “I’m good,” he told her.

  “If you’d like, I can share my comms,” she offered, her cheeks turning pink. “Then if you need anything during your trip you can just hit me up.”

  “No thanks,” he told her. “You signed an NDA before taking this gig, right?”

  Her face fell.

  He felt kind of like a dick for bringing up the non-disclosure agreement, but he couldn’t have posts on the feed letting anyone know where he was headed.

  “Of course, sir,” she said. “I would never tell anyone about your trip.”

  “Good girl,” he said, giving her the wink and smile combo he had been told melted hearts. “It’ll be our little secret.”

  She perked up immediately, and scurried back behind the curtain.

  Jubal didn’t mind fans. He was grateful for them. It was only because they felt a connection to his music that he wasn’t still bagging groceries back at the Quick-Stop and noodling around by himself on the crappy guitar in Nana’s basement.

  He just missed real connections with people who treated him the same as always.

  After his videos put him in the spotlight, that group had basically been whittled down to just Nana and his sister, Charlene. His brief but meaningful visits home were filled with watching old movies, cooking gallons of gumbo, and teasing each other endlessly.

  In other words, heaven.

  But then Charlie had tested positive for a cosmic lax mutation last year.

  Jubal had cut short an intergalactic tour to be by her side every moment. He had money and resources now, but none of it mattered. The mutation was extreme, and her time was short.

  She razzed him mercilessly to the bitter end, teasing him for the goth-style chains on his horns, his long, rocker hair, what the feeds called his sad eyes, and his embarrassingly goofy taste in holiday movies.

  When she had no voice left to tease him with, she thrashed him repeatedly in holo-chess, her beautiful eyes twinkling with glee.

  The day they laid her to rest was the closest he ever came to actually trying nano-dust.

  Sometimes, he felt like he had buried his happiness with her.

  Then, deep into a night of pointlessly scrolling the feeds, he read an article about another Maltaffian who had used a surrogacy agency to conceive a child.

  “I’m tired of waiting for my true mate,” the man had said. “And I’m ready to have a family of my own.”

  The words had cut through the withered stone that was Jubal’s heart and planted a tiny seed of hope at its core.

  And though he knew he was at the height of his career, and in many ways, it was madness, he couldn’t stop thinking about having a child.

  He had the means to offer the little one every advantage, including multiple nannies to attend to him or her anytime he was performing or recording.

  “Welcome to Maltaffia,” an automated voice said over the speakers as the shuttle came to a gentle landing.