Arik: Alien Adoption Agency #7 Read online

  The dragon practically purred with pride that his mate had cared for the whelp so effectively.

  “This is a big change for you,” Arik guessed, turning back to Lucy. “A lot to get used to?”

  She shook her head.

  “Storms make me anxious,” she admitted. “Normally, I try to do housework, or turn on some loud music, but I can’t do any of that here.”

  They both looked around the small, empty tent.

  “I guess I just need something to distract me,” she said weakly.

  He could think of about a dozen ways he would love to distract her.

  But none of them would do. She was frightened. A cold wind was buffeting the tent, and his role was to comfort her.

  Mate, the dragon groaned.

  Yes, but she needs comfort now, not claiming, he told it firmly.

  “Want me to tell you a story?” he offered.

  She smiled at him, her eyes lighting up. “I would love that.”

  “Me too,” he told her, realizing to his surprise that it was true.

  He settled in, pulling a flask from his side breeches pocket and taking a swig.

  The spicy rumdach was soothingly smooth, with a nice little kick at the end, perfect for a cold moon like Atropos. He held it out to her.

  “Is it strong?” she asked.

  “No,” he told her. “It’ll warm you up.”

  She took the flask and held it to her lips, closing her eyes to take a sip.

  He watched her, hypnotized.

  Almost immediately she began coughing, tears running down her cheeks as she handed the flask back to him.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “Is this your first time tasting alcohol?”

  “Of course not,” she spluttered. “What is that? I feel like I just took a drink of cinnamon-flavored engine cleaner.”

  He laughed, unable to help himself.

  “What are you laughing at?” she demanded. But then she laughed, too. “I should have known better than to taste something that warms up a dragon.”

  He watched as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. At least she was distracted now.

  “Want to try again?” he offered, mostly teasing.

  She shoved him in the arm.

  Her touch sent an avalanche of lust through him. He bit back a groan.

  A fresh blast of wind hit the tent, flapping the canvas. Flora made a small sound in her hover basket.

  He crawled over to check on her.

  She was still sleeping, but her little brow was furrowed.

  “You’re alright, love,” he crooned, stroking a pillowy soft cheek with one calloused finger.

  She smacked her lips, the little piglet, and settled down, looking happier.

  “She’s dreaming about food,” he murmured, turning back to Lucy.

  But she had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, that frightened expression back on her face.

  “Oh, Lucy,” he said softly. “You’re okay. Come on, come here.”

  He put his arms out for her, knowing it would be torture to hold her without claiming her, or at least telling her. But he could do it.

  She didn’t move, so he crawled back to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

  She was stiff for a moment, then her body went soft against him.

  When she rested her head on his shoulder, he was surprised to feel a deep satisfaction he had never experienced before. She trusted him.

  “You’re shivering,” he noticed.

  “I’m f-fine,” she said.

  “Damn it, I keep forgetting you’re not a dragon,” he said. “Get in my arms and lean your back against me.”

  She did as she was told immediately, and the dragon rumbled with delight in his chest at the show of submission.

  Mate.

  When he wrapped his arms around, her she shivered again, but this time he wasn’t sure it was from the cold.

  His own body was raging for her, and the dragon prickled against his skin. But they could both wait. No matter how desperately they begged for her.

  Ignoring it all, he tried to think of a good enough story to distract her from the storm.

  The trouble was, though he had a ton of exciting stories, most of them weren’t exactly calming. Active duty protecting allies from aggressive forces tended to be on the violent side.

  “Oh, I have a good one,” he remembered. “It was shortly after I joined the ranks. We all got a danger bonus, and they dropped us on Helzag-Prine for a couple of days to relax. Have you ever been to Helzag-Prine?”

  She shook her head and he smiled, glad she was listening.

  “Well, it’s a good place to go with a bonus,” he told her. “The whole planet is practically a giant shopping mall. And Helzagians are pretty much like us, except for the head tentacles, so a lot of guys went to buy clothes so they could go strut their stuff at the local clubs. Helzag-Prine has an unbelievable club scene.”

  “What did you do?” Lucy asked quietly. Her teeth weren’t chattering anymore.

  “Oh, well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret,” Arik told her. “While I like the clubs as much as the next guy, what I really love is a good book. And as fate would have it, Raynoor Wolfsysteen’s latest cyborg mystery was out that day, and I snagged a copy at the welcome station after I got through Customs.

  “Send in the Bots?” she asked.

  “AI-n’t Misbehavin’, actually,” he said. “Though Send in the Bots was good too. I didn’t know you liked cyborg mysteries.”

  “What can I say?” she said. “I also don’t like clubbing.”

  He chuckled.

  “So, what happened?” she asked. “It sounds like you’re about to tell me you had a quiet night in. That’s not much of a story.”

  “That was the plan,” he said. “But fate had other ideas. I had my book, and I decided to use my bonus to splurge on a nice hotel. I checked in, dropped off my stuff, and went down to take a look at the menu for something good to eat back in the room.”

  “Nice,” she said.

  “Anyway, when I came back up, I tried to open my door with my bracelet, but it wouldn’t budge,” he said. “I tried jiggling the handle, and nothing.”

  “What was wrong?” she asked.

  “Well, suddenly the door opens and a room full of women starts screaming and grabbing for me,” he said, still amazed at the memory.

  “What?” she asked. “Why?”

  “At first I thought maybe my buddies set it up,” he said. “We used to pull some pretty good pranks back in the day. But what really happened is that I was trying to open the door to the wrong room.”

  “Oh,” Lucy said. He could hear the smile in her voice.

  “It was a bachelorette party, and the women thought I was the entertainment,” he said. “I guess an Invicta costume is standard stripper fare, and I was still in my uniform.”

  “Whoa,” Lucy breathed. “What did you do?”

  “Well, I tried to tell them I was a real Invicta warrior,” he said, smiling at the memory. “And they were all like I’ll bet you are, now take it all off!”

  Lucy laughed.

  “Yeah, it was pretty funny,” he agreed. “Until one of them reached for my blaster.”

  “No,” she breathed.

  “I was able to wrestle it away from her, but by then, they were kind of pulling my clothes off,” he told her. “All those hands and tentacles groping for me, it was wild.”

  “So did you escape, or lean in?” Lucy asked.

  “I was wondering if it might be better to just go ahead and dance, when there was another knock at the door,” he laughed. “It was the real stripper.”

  Lucy laughed. “What did they do then?”

  “Oh, they were super freaked out,” he said. “I think they were afraid I might arrest them or something. I got out of there pretty quickly, and it would have all been over with, except…”

  “Except?”

 
“Except that once they knew they were out of the woods, the maid of honor decided to post the pictures she had taken on her social feeds,” he said, shaking his head. “By the end of the weekend, all my brothers-in-arms knew what had happened. I was called Boy Toy for about two standard years before I finally got another nickname.”

  The story behind that one was decidedly less funny.

  Lucy laughed, and the sound made him feel warmer than anything in his flask.

  “That was a great story,” she told him, resting her head back against his chest.

  He felt a wave of gratitude. He was glad she felt more relaxed.

  “Do you have any others?” she asked.

  “Do I?” he echoed. “Oh boy, you’ll be asking me to stop before long.”

  “Try me,” she said, snuggling in.

  He told her stories for a long time, funny ones, and touching ones too - everything wholesome or hilarious that he could remember from his years of service.

  He was just running out when he realized she was asleep, her breathing deep and even, in spite of the raging storm outside, and the one in his chest.

  “Good girl,” he murmured, allowing himself to nuzzle her hair just once.

  She smelled like fresh snow and sweet honey and promises yet to be made.

  He closed his eyes and joined her, fantasizing about everything they would do together as a family as he drifted off.

  8

  Lucy

  Lucy awoke from a pleasant dream to the sound of Flora babbling happily to herself.

  She smiled, feeling lucky that the baby had woken up so cheerfully. She was feeling pretty great, too. For the first time since touching down on Atropos, she was warm, so warm…

  The previous night came back to her all at once. She spun around to see that she was still in Arik’s arms.

  The big warrior was sleeping, looking less cocky and more boyish than usual. He looked… happy. She wondered what he was dreaming about.

  Flora laughed - it was a sweet and funny sound.

  Lucy slipped out of Arik’s hold as gently as she could and went to her.

  As soon as she caught sight of Lucy, Flora began to chuckle and stick her arms and legs out straight.

  “Good morning to you, too,” Lucy told her, returning that great big baby smile with a smile of her own. “I’m so glad you had a nice sleep.”

  She lifted the baby out of the cradle and held her to her chest, enjoying the warm weight, even as she noticed the full diaper.

  “Let’s get you sorted out,” she told Flora. “Then we’ll have some breakfast.”

  Flora crowed and grabbed a hank of her hair, her eyes going wide and baby mouth forming a perfect “o”.

  “Yes? Are you excited to start your day?” Lucy asked.

  She laid the baby down and got her changed quickly, unable to believe that there was no crying. She had done her fair share of babysitting in school, and she knew how unusual it was for a baby to be so good-natured.

  “Your daddy doesn’t even know how good he has it,” she whispered to Flora.

  Flora squeaked back, her eyes sparkling like she had a secret.

  After a bottle and a burp, Lucy bundled them up and slipped out of the tent with the baby in her arms.

  It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brilliant light.

  As soon as they did, she gasped in horror.

  They were alone, utterly, totally alone, surrounded by nothing but a blanket of sterile, white powder. The snow went as far as she could see, its crystalline surface twinkling nefariously in the early morning light. It stretched out in drifts, like frothy waves on an endless frozen ocean.

  “Where is everyone?” she murmured to herself.

  Flora let out a high-pitched string of nonsense words and kicked her little feet inside her fur bundling.

  Nearby, something snorted.

  Then one of the snow drifts began to move.

  Lucy watched in wonder as a big fluffy tundra bison rose to its feet, shaking off the mound of snow.

  She looked closer and realized that many of the drifts she had noticed were bison, curled up under the snow. They were nestled together, like a collection of big cats, but one by one they were waking up.

  Relief flooded through her.

  “You’re a bison alarm clock,” she told Flora, smiling down at the baby.

  Flora smiled at her and made a raspberry sound.

  “Good morning,” Arik said, his deep voice still heavy with sleep.

  “Good morning,” she replied, turning to see him looking out over the snow-covered cattle, his breath pluming in the air.

  She was feeling embarrassed about last night. She had tried yoga, meditation, even self-hypnosis. But she couldn’t seem to control her visceral reaction to storms.

  “I’m glad you got some sleep,” he said gruffly, without looking at her, like he knew she wouldn’t have wanted to show weakness in that way.

  “Thanks for… helping me,” she told him.

  “Hey, everyone’s got their thing,” he told her. “Believe me. Want me to get Flora changed and fed?”

  “Oh, she’s all taken care of already,” Lucy said, feeling a shiver of pride.

  Flora squealed at Arik, her little feet marching in the air.

  “I think she does miss you though,” Lucy said.

  “Come on, cowgirl,” he said, giving the baby a pirate’s grin.

  Flora began yelling excitedly, almost crying in her rush to get to her daddy.

  Lucy’s arms felt oddly empty. But she knew it was natural that Flora would want Arik. They were bonded so tightly that the little one’s skin tone even matched his. She’d learned that the Imberian babies could take on the characteristics of a parent they imprinted on, but it was interesting to see it in action. The baby definitely liked the big warrior. Who wouldn’t?

  Lucy was just glad Flora seemed to like her, too.

  “You’re the best little whelp in all the world,” Arik was telling Flora earnestly. “You’re going to be the fiercest warrior the sector has ever seen.”

  “A warrior, huh?” Lucy asked.

  “Both her parents served,” Arik said, giving her a wink and a shrug.

  He really was the most handsome man. It was hard not to gaze up at him a little too long, admiring those blue eyes and strong jaw.

  “By the rings,” he breathed, looking at something over her shoulder. “Grab my rifle.”

  Lucy’s blood ran cold. She hustled into the tent as quietly as possible for his rifle.

  “What is it?” she asked, trading him the baby for the gun. “Predators? Rustlers?”

  “Breakfast.”

  Lucy thought about chiding him for frightening her, but her stomach was grumbling. Fresh meat sounded great, and saving their dry stores sounded even better.

  She scanned the surrounding area to see what he had been looking at, but all she saw was snow.

  In the distance, what had looked like a bit of scrub peeking out of the snow became a rabbit type creature. But it was too far away for a clean shot.

  The sound of the rifle rang out.

  The little creature dropped.

  Instantly, the rest of the cattle began rousing themselves. The other two bivouacs became visible as Miles and Charley scrambled out at the sound of the gunshot.

  “What the hell?” Charley demanded, her own blaster in hand, though she wore only a thin t-shirt and a pair of boots. “What’s happening?”

  “Breakfast,” Lucy called over to her. “Sorry we woke you.”

  “Oh hell, no worries,” Charley said with a wide smile. “Just shootin’ grub, Miles,” she said, turning to the other bivouac, where Miles was emerging with less grace, and more like some kind of complicated breech birth.

  “Did ya get it?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Arik said. “Heading over to grab it now.”

  “Hot damn,” Miles replied, winking at Lucy. “Fresh meat is a great way to start the day.”

  Ari
k scowled at him, which seemed out of character. But she figured maybe he was grumpy from taking care of her all night.

  “On second thought,” Arik said. “Let’s send the drone.”

  9

  Lucy

  After a hot breakfast, which they ate so fast it nearly burned their fingers and tongues, Lucy was happy to see the whole group spring into action.

  She knew they were professionals, but none of them could have been as motivated as she was to get every single bison safely to the ranch. That herd was Flora’s inheritance, and Lucy intended to see to it that they were well cared for.

  With that in mind, she had offered to help feed them this morning. With Flora strapped into a carrier on her back, she moved among the herd, shaking liquid vitamin supplements onto the dry feed Miles and Charley had already set out.

  It might not have been a big job, and it was certainly a smelly one. But she found she liked the big, gentle animals. They had dark, soulful eyes, and their large bodies exuded a humid warmth.

  “You’re so lovely,” she told them, patting a flank or scratching behind an ear as she moved through the group, splashing the stinky vitamins on their food. “You’re doing such a good job on this journey.”

  The smelly concoction didn’t slow them down a bit. They slurped it up along with big bites of feed.

  The creatures puffed out clouds of warm breath at her in greeting, and one even thrust out his snout to be patted, snorting lightly.

  “Yes, you’re the handsomest boy,” she assured him, even though she had told the other bulls they were the handsomest too. She meant it every time.

  At last, her task was done. She sealed up the vitamin mixture and brought it back to the supply wagon.

  “Are you ready to begin, Lucy Solitude?” JO-3 asked, rolling by.

  “Yes,” she replied.

  For a few minutes, there was a flurry of motion as the wagons were checked one last time and the shadow dogs harnessed.

  When everything was ready, she climbed onto the wagon bench beside Arik, with little Flora out of the carrier and back in her arms.

  “We’ll cover some ground today,” Arik predicted.