Tyro: Alien Adoption Agency #3 Read online

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  Do you want to read about a space-pirate-in-training on her first solo mission to plunder an abandoned luxury cruiser, who assumes she’ll be all alone aboard the big, empty ship, but is surprised to find a sinfully sexy alien who eyes her with a hunger that speaks of centuries of longing?

  Then keep reading for a sample of Tolstoy: Stargazer Alien Barbarian Brides #1.

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  Tolstoy (Sample)

  1

  Anna

  In a forgotten corner of the galaxy, far from the established trade routes, and even farther from where it was supposed to be, floated a long-forgotten ship, one among many.

  And at the center of that abandoned ship grew a forest.

  Anna Nilsson froze in place, wishing there were someone to share the unusual sight with her. But she was alone, the only sound the hiss of the air pump in her spacesuit.

  She stepped closer, mesmerized.

  After the endless burnished aluminum of the Stargazer, the lush greenery before her almost hurt to look at.

  Anna stood in a derelict luxury star cruiser the size of a shopping mall. She’d already made her way through winding corridors of threadbare rugs and corroded, flickering chandeliers, using her tagger to mark items of interest along the way. The passageways circled rings of rooms that extended along the sides of the ship as far as she could see. She almost felt as if she were in a Scooby Doo episode, or visiting the sunken Titanic, until she opened the latest door.

  Maybe it was the lack of sleep since she’d found out she would be running her first salvage mission completely solo, or maybe the oxygen mix in her suit was a little high, but Anna couldn’t shake the feeling she’d stepped into a dream. She blinked to clear her head, but nothing changed.

  She stood before a huge wall of glass, or something like glass, anyway. Beyond the wall, trees - real, honest to god trees - stretched upward, their lumpy branches bristling with bright green leaves. They had to be hundreds of years old.

  As a child, Anna had visited the indoor rain forest exhibit at the Baltimore Aquarium on Earth. Clutching her big brother’s hand, she’d dashed up the wooden platforms, trying to catch a glimpse of the sloth or the toucan. The trees there had been spread out, the bustling city always looming just outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

  What stood before her now was not an engineered approximation. It was a real forest, branches growing thick enough to block out the light source above. The surreal scene was made complete by a pair of ancient looking lamp posts glowing faintly at the edge of the tree line, their light barely penetrating a few steps into the wooded area.

  The ship was as good as dead, but the forest was very much alive. Tendrils of ivy burst through the crevices between the corroded metal panels that held the glass in place, refusing to bend to the will of the man-made structure.

  Hot tears sprung to her eyes and Anna had to lean over and rest her hands on her knees to steady herself in the wake of sudden emotion.

  She hadn’t seen a tree in six months.

  Well, technically it had been far, far longer. But she tried not to think about that part.

  Light from above filtered down into the woods, dappling the soil and stones beneath the trees.

  For a moment Anna was back at the cafe in Tarker’s Hollow, gazing out the window at the park as her mother scolded her to bus the lunch tables. She could smell the almond croissants baking, hear the mindless chatter of the patrons as they discussed whatever it was people with real lives discussed. It had been her entire existence, and now it was just… gone.

  A light breeze sent a shiver of motion through the leaves in front of her. It must have been manufactured weather, still operating on reserve energy. The movement highlighted what she hadn’t noticed before.

  The plant life had run riot, but there were no birds, no squirrels, not even insects on the forest floor. Besides Anna, the forest was the only living thing on the ship.

  She stepped closer, placed her gloved hand against the nearest pane in solidarity, and holstered her tagger. She couldn’t imagine needing it in here.

  A tremendous sycamore towered over her head just inside the glass.

  She gazed up into its branches. The light seemed to be brightening above.

  No. That wasn’t right.

  The tree was brightening.

  Before her eyes, the green leaves faded then burst into flaming orange.

  All around the sycamore the other trees erupted into a symphony of yellow, peach, pink and scarlet.

  Anna was watching summer turn to fall, as if someone had pressed a button on the remote that controlled the speed of the world.

  A tone sounded in her helmet.

  She looked down at her wrist.

  Her origami drone unfolded from its dock and then refolded itself into something resembling a bird, before fluttering up to her.

  “The atmosphere is breathable,” BFF19 sang out.

  Anna released her helmet and pulled it off.

  2

  Leo

  Leo watched from the shadows, his pulse racing.

  The whole ship had been sleeping.

  He had awoken hours ago, alone, with no memory of what happened.

  Now the ship was waking too.

  And he knew why.

  They had a guest.

  He crept closer, sticking to the shadows so as to avoid its notice, and watched as the strange creature placed an appendage against the glass wall of the forest.

  It was covered from head to toe in suit and helmet, but it was bipedal and it moved in much the same manner as the former residents of the ship.

  Something detached itself from the visitor’s wrist, folded itself into a bird-like shape and hovered near its head.

  A moment later, the creature unlatched its helmet and lifted it off.

  It was female.

  She shook out a curtain of flame colored hair, brighter than the blush of the changing trees in the forest between them.

  He had just enough time to take in her expression, tender, wondrous, maybe just a little lonely.

  Then something stirred in Leo’s chest and hot lust washed over him. His skin prickled, ready to change for her, to join her.

  It seemed impossible. But he knew it to his bones.

  This was the call of his blood mate.

  Stronger than the strongest will, more ancient than the stars, the grip of his blood mate held him in her thrall. He gasped for breath, his eyes trained on the hall that separated them, searching for the fastest way to get to her.

  Before he could decide, another zap of awareness electrified him.

  Darkness pulled at him this time, incinerating him from within with pulsing red anger. He struggled against it, but the world went scarlet behind his eyes and the Other took over.

  ***

  Thanks for reading this sample of Tolstoy!

  Are you ready to see what happens when Anna and Leo uncover a baby who just might be the priceless clone of a famous cultural icon, then realize they must work together if they want to get out alive?

  Then grab the rest of the story now!

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  About the Author

  Tasha Black lives in a big old Victorian in a tiny college town. She loves reading anything she can get her hands on, writing paranormal romance, and sipping pumpkin spice lattes.

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