Arik: Alien Adoption Agency #7 Page 3

  “I guess it’s better for visibility,” Lucy agreed.

  “And except for the ice plains, the footing is easier on the cattle without snow cover,” he said, nodding. “But it definitely doesn’t look like a Hearth Day painting.”

  “I wasn’t expecting a Hearth Day painting,” Lucy laughed. “They told us enough in training that we knew it would be harsh here. It lives up to its name.”

  “What else did they tell you in training?” he asked.

  “They told us about the babies, of course,” she said. “But they didn’t tell us about you.”

  “We’re the whole reason the babies exist,” he said, eyebrows slightly raised. “They didn’t tell you about that?”

  “No, I mean the fact that you’re sticking around to guard them,” she said.

  “Twenty standard years,” he said, giving her an odd look.

  “What?” she asked.

  “It’s lonely out here,” he told her. “Aren’t you glad to have company?”

  Gods, but he managed to make that sound like something way more intimate than he meant.

  Images of him “keeping her company” filled her mind. She shook her head to clear it.

  “You’re not glad to have company?” he asked, sounding incredulous.

  “Oh, yes,” she said quickly, feeling her cheeks go hot with embarrassment. “Company is great. I just… feel bad for you that you’re stuck out here with us for so long.”

  “There’s no place I’d rather be,” he said softly, looking down at where Flora rested in the crook of Lucy’s arm.

  The baby was so peaceful. Even bundled up so completely, she was tiny and perfect.

  Lucy felt her heart threaten to overflow. Tears prickled her eyelids as she thought about caring for Flora and helping her grow up to be happy and kind.

  Her work in the Home Guard had been important, and incredibly rewarding. But this… this was a whole other level.

  “She’s incredible, isn’t she?” Arik asked softly. “I thought babies were boring, but Flora has a great sense of humor, and she’s always down for adventure.”

  “How can you possibly know that?” Lucy demanded. “She’s only a baby.”

  “Because no matter where we’ve gone, even in low-g, she stays cheerful,” Arik said, his voice full of pride. “The other babies cry when the pressure recalibrates, or there’s a loud noise, or when they go a few extra minutes without food or a nap. But Flora is tough.”

  “And that smile,” Lucy said, remembering.

  “She’s going to be an amazing woman one day,” Arik said.

  “You’re her father, you would know,” Lucy said with a nod.

  “What?” he asked, sounding shocked.

  “You’ve taken care of her since she came out of her pod, right?” Lucy asked. “And you’re staying with her until she grows up, to look out for her?”

  “Well, it’s my duty,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, but looking pleased, nonetheless.

  “I don’t think she cares if it’s your duty,” Lucy said. “Besides, isn’t it every parent’s duty?”

  “I… never thought of it that way,” he said.

  “Well, she’ll be isolated enough out here,” Lucy told him, “unless there are a lot more settlers coming out here soon. She needs all the family she can get. Give it some thought.”

  “I wouldn’t mind raising a child with you,” he said.

  She glanced up at him, stunned. That wasn’t what she was trying to say.

  His eyes were so intense, the blue almost seemed like it was on fire.

  She felt her body warming, and a shiver went down her spine.

  “Bridge ahead,” Charley called out from the front of the herd.

  Arik glanced up, and the spell was broken.

  Lucy followed the herd with her eyes and saw the bridge Charley was pointing to.

  It was a massive thing, wide enough for two gadabouts to pass each other on it. Stone columns, each carved from a single chunk of granite, stretched from the bottom of the river up to loom over the bridge itself, which appeared to be made of some kind of alloy.

  The river was warm enough that steam rose up from its surface. It might have been spooky if it weren’t for the handful of scrappy looking children standing in the shallows of the far side of it in thigh-high rubber boots. Each child held a stick attached to a bit of netting.

  “What are they doing?” she wondered out loud.

  “The rivers have crustaceans,” Arik told her. “They’ve adapted to the heat. The kids are probably just catching their dinner.”

  Lucy nodded, and watched as one of the children plunged her net into the water and brought it up, then shook her head and put it back in.

  “You doing okay back here?” Miles asked, riding up beside the carriage.

  “Yes, thanks so much,” Lucy said. “It’s been very pleasant so far.”

  “Well, this is still about as citified as Atropos gets,” Miles said with a smile. “See those houses over there?”

  She looked where he was pointing. Sure enough, a collection of modest wooden homes were built close together on the opposite bank of the bridge.

  “That’s the last of the settled land for a while,” Miles said. “After this, the water crossings will be more difficult, and we won’t have a nice road like this one.”

  “Hey-o,” Charley called from up front.

  “That’s my cue,” Miles said, touching his hand to his headgear and nudging the bison.

  Lucy noticed that he gave the shadow dogs a wide berth.

  “So, the dogs don’t like the bison,” she said. “Or is it the other way around?”

  “Oh, the shadow dogs like other animals just fine,” Arik told her. “But more because they’re hungry than because they’re friendly.”

  “Oh,” Lucy said, horrified.

  “It’s the circle of life,” he told her. “It’s not always pretty.”

  She had a flash of something from her time in the Home Guard and fought it back, fiercely.

  Ahead of them, the bison had reached the bridge. Charley was crossing first, with the herd following behind calmly.

  “They don’t mind the water,” Lucy said.

  “They’re very docile creatures,” Arik said. “They can spook like any other animal, but for the most part, they stick together and follow instructions.”

  “A good example for Flora,” Lucy teased, smiling down at the baby.

  Arik chuckled.

  “Don’t fall in line too much, baby,” Lucy couldn’t help murmuring to her sleeping daughter. “You’re allowed to be adventurous.”

  When she looked up again, she caught Arik staring at her out of the corner of her eye.

  “What?” she asked, turning to him.

  “Nothing,” he said, his eyes on the cattle again.

  She nodded and watched as the last of the tundra bison crossed the bridge.

  “You’re going to be a great mom for her,” he said, his voice low and husky.

  She turned to him, feeling tears threaten all over again.

  There was a whistle from up ahead, and then the wagon began to slowly turn onto the bridge.

  Lucy could feel the heat rising off the water already. It was a moist, pleasant heat, but it only made her imagine the temperature of the actual water below.

  The lead dog’s paws hit the surface of the bridge, claws clicking on the hard surface.

  And Lucy crossed one more barrier between her old life and the one that awaited her in this strange new place.

  6

  Arik

  Arik glanced over at the woman who was going to be his mate.

  As far as the dragon was concerned, she already was, even if she didn’t know it yet.

  Beside him, Lucy was cool as a cucumber, as usual. He wondered what it would take to throw her off her stride.

  He could imagine a few fun things that might get a rise out of her, but that way led to madness. He wasn’t getting his hands on h
er for a long time, hours at least…

  The dragon snorted angrily in his chest, flames licking, but he seemed to have accepted Arik’s plea to slow down. For now.

  As the dogs pulled the wagon onto the bridge with a bump, Lucy finally gasped and clutched Flora tightly to her chest.

  He followed her sight line and saw something large moving slowly beneath the surface of the water.

  “Probably a royal crustacean,” he remarked calmly. “Nothing to worry about.”

  “But those children,” she protested.

  “The crustacean has no interest in them,” he told her. “It’s focused on finding smaller crustaceans to eat.”

  “I see,” she nodded, her lips pressed together, like she was embarrassed.

  “Look at the houses,” he said, changing the subject. “Can you imagine what the kids’ lives must be like?”

  “It seems like a nice life,” she said, surprising him. “They have a peaceful view of the mountains, and they have the river. They’re not alone in the world, but it’s also not crowded. And they get to watch the settlers crossing the bridge and heading into more dangerous territory.”

  “Hm,” he said, nodding.

  “If we didn’t have the droid and the hands to guide us, I would ask if anyone in those homes would take boarders for the night,” she said.

  “You would just stay here?” he asked, surprised.

  “No,” she told him. “But they see who survives out there and who fails and comes crawling back. They could probably tell us a lot about whether we have the right equipment, and if the dogs and cattle will make it.”

  “That’s damned good thinking,” he told her, impressed.

  “You’re an Invicta warrior,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Surely you would have thought of it yourself.”

  “We’re not exactly known for working with civilians,” he said, gazing down at Flora and remembering the great crime that had been committed before he was born.

  The Invicta talked about the annihilation of Imber so often and with such urgency that it felt almost immediate, like the tragedy was happening in the past and the present all at once. Generations of soldiers would pay the price for that bygone error.

  And it was Arik’s honor to shoulder that burden. The Invicta had taken him in when he was a teenager. He was proud to carry out their responsibilities to the memory of Imber past, and the hopes of Imber to come, once these babies were grown.

  “Well, working with civilians is just about all I did in the Home Guard,” Lucy said fondly. “Ordinary people are a lot more observant and helpful than you give them credit for. I learned that again and again.”

  He wanted to ask her why she had left the service, when it was clear how much it meant to her. But there was a hint of tragedy that clung to her, his dragon could taste it on her scent. And he didn’t dare ask until they were mated, and he could properly comfort her if the memory brought up sadness.

  There was another bump as the wagon arrived on the other side of the bridge, and the two of them rode on in companionable silence as the little houses disappeared from view.

  An hour or more passed, as he tried to ignore the ache in his soul. Arik had always been proud of his discipline. But being pressed against her small body without telling her what they were to each other was shockingly difficult.

  No matter how far they traveled from the bridge, the Chocolate Mountains never appeared to get any closer. The clear, cold air carried sound and sight from such a distance that they were able to see what felt like a lifetime away.

  Suddenly, the dragon was pressing close to the surface, tasting the air. It had warmed outside without Arik realizing it, warmed just enough…

  “Here we go,” he said under his breath.

  “What?” Lucy asked. “What’s happening?”

  But JO-3 was already heading over, his treads moving individually, contouring to the uneven ground.

  “We’re making camp,” he cried out, rolling past them toward the other wagon, presumably to alert the droid that drove it.

  “What is he talking about?” Lucy asked, looking around. “It’s still daylight, we have hours more to travel today.”

  “Look at the sky,” Arik said gently. “Look at the mountains.”

  He watched as her hazel eyes lifted, taking in the haze of gray clouds.

  “Oh,” she said, her expression tightening, eyes going wide.

  “It doesn’t snow here often, but when it does, it’s best to find a good place to camp right away,” he said. “Pushing closer to the edges of the ice plains is too dangerous in that kind of weather.”

  She nodded, her lips pressed together.

  Was she frightened? It seemed unlikely that a minor snowstorm would scare her when she was ready to face volcanoes and earthquakes.

  Ahead of them, Miles had released an origami drone. He was watching it glide over the frosty ground, seeking heat. It hovered for a moment in the near distance, a bright light flashing from its tiny body. Miles headed for it on his bison.

  “What’s he doing?” Lucy asked.

  “Typically, you either look for shelter, like a cliffside, or you look for heat,” Arik explained. “I’m guessing the drone found a patch of geothermal heat. That will make camping more comfortable.”

  She nodded thoughtfully.

  Miles whooped for the others to join him, and Charley got the cattle moving once more.

  Sure enough, as they got closer, Arik saw a few patches of green grass on the otherwise frosty tundra.

  “Those drones are spectacular,” Lucy said, a hint of envy in her voice.

  “Maybe he’ll let you buy it from him,” Arik said. “It would come in handy out here, and he can always buy another when they get back to civilization.”

  “I was actually hoping I could convince them to stick around,” Lucy said with a guilty look. “At least until I have a feel for how to operate a bison ranch.”

  Arik frowned. He didn’t like the way Miles smiled at Lucy. He might be a nice guy and all - good for him. But Arik didn’t want any other male’s eyes on his mate.

  The dragon began to rouse itself in his chest at the flavor of jealousy in his thoughts and he tamped them down as best he could.

  But the dragon’s needs were becoming inevitable.

  Maybe the early evening would be a good opportunity to let Lucy know what was going on between them. Surely, she was feeling the pull herself by now.

  Any woman would be proud to call an Invicta warrior her mate. Even if she didn’t want to be claimed in a tiny tent, at least she could accept his hand and they could travel on in the comfort that the bond would be sealed soon.

  And if she did want to be claimed in a tiny tent?

  Well, that was just fine with Arik. He had all kinds of ideas of how to pleasure her in a small space.

  “What?” Lucy asked.

  He looked over at her.

  “Why are you smiling?” she asked.

  Gods, help me.

  “I’m just looking forward to stretching my legs,” he lied.

  “Me too,” she said, smiling back. But there was a nervousness under that smile that told him there was more happening with her than she was letting on.

  A shadow moved across the plains, completely obscuring the view of the mountains.

  This storm was coming on fast.

  7

  Arik

  Arik watched as Lucy headed into her tent with Flora.

  The wind was already flapping the tarps over the wagons. The storm was moving even faster than he expected. They were lucky to have found geothermal heat so quickly.

  He helped Miles and Charley get the cattle settled and then headed over to set up his bivouac while they set up theirs.

  Grimacing, he grabbed his own and pretended to try setting it up. But he had conveniently left one of the poles in the wagon. He made a show of trying to put it up to no avail. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck in a tiny shelter for hours alone.

&
nbsp; “Need some help, partner?” Miles yelled to him through the snow.

  “I’m missing a part,” Arik said. “I’ll just bunk with Lucy and the baby for now. I’m supposed to stand close guard anyway.”

  “Good enough,” Miles yelled back.

  Arik gave a quick wave to the good-natured idiot, making sure to retrieve the “missing” pole and tuck it into his folded bivouac.

  You might have been on active duty for two circulations, but you still have the moves, he told himself smugly.

  The dragon chuffed in his head. It wasn’t impressed with his game, but it was happy to have a reason to join their mate.

  He strode over to her tent, which had been placed near one of the larger green patches.

  “Lucy,” he said softly.

  “Wh-what?” she asked softly from inside.

  “It’s Arik,” he told her. “My tent is missing a pole. Can I come in with you and Flora?”

  “Yes,” she said quickly.

  Ah. So, she was happy to be alone with him, too. This was going to be smooth as butter.

  He traced his finger down the slide, then crouched and crawled in with her.

  The tent was already filled with her delicate scent. She had removed the fur cloak, revealing a thin purple gown, cut low between her breasts.

  The dragon groaned with need.

  Easy, boy. Just a little longer.

  But as soon as he met Lucy’s eyes, he knew something was very wrong.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her, all plans to seduce her forgotten. Even the dragon had gone quiet.

  She nodded, lips pressed together, and looked down at her hands.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “Look at me.”

  She lifted her chin slowly. There was fear in her hazel eyes.

  “What is it?” he asked again. “You can tell me. I’ll fix it, if I can.”

  She opened her mouth and closed it again.

  He resisted the urge to push. She was going to answer in her own time. He was sure of it. It was best to give her a little space.

  “I, um, I was fine,” she said. “I got Flora fed and changed. But once she was asleep…”

  She indicated the little hover basket in the corner, where Flora slept peacefully.