Alien Prince's Pregnant Fake Fiancée (Celestial Mates) Read online

  “Will you be okay?” I ask, looking up at him. The question earns me a full belly laugh from Brokk.

  “My lady, this is but a scratch. I am already okay.”

  His easy joviality is back, and I see the same light-hearted, sweet man whom I met on the dance floor. Lifting on tip-toes, I stretch up to kiss his cheek, earning me a large and surprisingly bashful smile.

  “You’ll always be my friend,” I say, smiling big enough for it to reach my eyes.

  “And you mine,” he says, bending deep over my hand before giving it a kiss.

  When I return to Volex’s side, I think I see a spark of jealousy in his eyes, but I’m not certain. He doesn’t wear it on his face or in any stiffness of his body. It was only in his eyes and then only for a second. But, now it’s gone.

  I slide my hands around his offered forearm near his elbow, and we begin the long trek through the sweeping palace. We walk slow and silently, simply being in each other’s company. For now, it’s enough.

  My dress is still torn all the way up the length of my leg. I was still almost stabbed in the stomach by someone who really wanted me dead. And, I am still adrift in a situation that I have no control over. Yet, walking together with Volex soon has my insides as calm as my outsides look. A tickle of happiness is even creeping its way in so that by the time we reach the medical center, I’m smiling with a contentedness I’ve never known before despite the fact that we are there to find out if Ivar is even still alive.

  I release my hold on Volex’s bent arm and slide my hand into his as we pass through the medical center’s entryway. It feels good and natural, and I can no longer imagine being in Volex’s presence without being in physical contact with him.

  Okay, girl. Time to back it up. You getting co-dependent now?

  My mood instantly sours at the thought. Loving Volex—or trying not to love him—is like balancing on a tightrope. Every time I lean the tiniest bit in one direction, I feel as if I’m going to topple over and lose myself.

  A woman dressed in an iridescent, silver outfit with two blue stripes down the length of her arms steps through a door on the far side of the entryway and walks toward us with purpose. She gives a nod to the receptionist, and I surmise that the receptionist gave a head’s up that we’d arrived.

  “Doctor,” Volex says with a head nod in greeting. “How is my brother? Can we see him?”

  She nods in greeting as well and then says, “His condition has improved, but he’s still at risk. You can see him, but he’s not conscious.”

  We follow her through the door through which she’d arrived, and I marvel at all that I see as we pass various and unique treatment rooms filled with crystals, water, or sand.

  When we reach Ivar’s room, I gasp and cover my mouth as my eyes instantly tear up. In a room that appears to be lined with the equivalent of enormous slabs of pink Himalayan salt, Ivar is buried in a tub of thick, viscous clay mud all the way up to his ears. Only his face remains un-submerged, and it is the color of coals that have burned to white ash. Tubes snake out of his mouth and nose.

  “He does looks better,” Volex says, and the realization of how bad things were for Ivar causes my tears to fall.

  “Will he live?” I ask the doctor as I hold tighter to Volex’s hand.

  “He’s strong, the culprits admitted to the type of poison used, he has the royal vitality of his blood, and we were able to start an effective treatment as soon as he arrived at the center. His chances are good though not certain.”

  “Thank you,” I say with a sniff and a swipe at the tears on my cheek.

  “He’ll be okay,” Volex reassures me with a hand squeeze before taking over the duty of wiping away my tears. The way he looks at me—so in love—makes me feel guilty. Ivar is fighting for his life only a few feet away, yet I feel good inside. I feel vibrant, as if my life is just beginning.

  Loud whispers and hurried feet reach my ears in time for me to turn and see the Queen enter the room. There’s no entourage with her, but I guess that when you can command and defeat armies with a word, no extra protection is needed. Yet, the tiny woman’s stony features soften the moment her gaze falls to Ivar.

  “Tell me,” she says, not shifting her gaze away from Ivar.

  “We got to him in time, my Queen. His chances are good. The mud will pull the poisons out of his system and the salt will aid in the purification. Mud worms are also at work to hasten the pull of the poison from his system.”

  Oh my God, there are bugs in there. I lean forward for a better look and for the first time see the slight movement and shift of the mud’s surface. Immediately I have to close my eyes or risk fainting. There aren’t just a few bugs, the whole damn thing is teaming with them!

  I lean my forehead against Volex’s bicep, and he responds by pulling me into an embrace and holding me snug against him. While his mother, the doctor and Volex talk, I focus on not throwing chunks all over their detox room.

  Finally—thankfully—Volex shifts, and I know it’s time to go. Yet, the Queen stays behind to remain with her eldest son.

  By the time we are standing outside the medical center, I no longer feel as if I’ll be sick all over myself, but I am still unsteady.

  “Your day has been too much for you,” Volex says, cupping my face in his hands.

  “No, I’ll be fine,” yet I wonder if my creamy brown skin is now tinged with green.

  Volex doesn’t seem convinced that I’m well, and he shakes his head. “It’s time that I get you rooms so that you can rest.”

  “I won’t be staying with you?” I ask, my head snapping up and my sickness forgotten.

  His gaze searches mine. “Is that an option? Would you be willing to stay with me?”

  I swallow hard, and when I answer my voice sounds small. “I don’t want it any other way.”

  A slow smile brightens Volex’s face, and without a word he kisses my forehead. “I’ll expect nothing of you, of course,” he says at last. Then, he pulls away far enough to be able to look down on my upturned face. “I almost lost you twice tonight. The fates can tempt us a thousand times, but my place will always be at your side—if that’s where you’ll let me be.”

  I suck in air as if to say something, but a shy smile overtakes me instead, and I look away as a blush heats my cheeks. I’m not ready to say the things he’s saying. I’m barely ready to feel them.

  I need more time. I’m not ready to throw all that I’ve worked for away just because a man—okay, a great, big, gorgeous, blue man—says pretty words to me. He has to show me he means them. He has to earn my trust, and he hasn’t done that yet.

  Not yet.

  Chapter 18

  Aisha

  Exhaustion is threatening to overwhelm me by the time we reach Volex’s suite of rooms, and I surrender to a large, unlady-like yawn just as my stomach growls, earning me a laugh from Volex.

  “So, which is it? Do you want to eat or sleep first?”

  I give him a little look from beneath my lashes. I want something more than sleep, but if I’m going to have energy for it, I need to eat first.

  “How do meals work? Would we need to go out to a dining hall?”

  “No, no. I can send someone to fetch us something from the kitchens.”

  My brow furrows.

  “What?”

  I hesitate before answering. My problems have always been my own to take care of. They’ve been mine to cope with and to fix. The idea of letting someone else shoulder that burden with me feels weird. I don’t like not being in control of every detail of my life, but trusting Volex means letting go of some of that control and having faith that he’ll come through.

  I bite the inside of my lip as I war with myself, but the grownup side of me steps in to steer. “How will we know that the food’s safe? I mean, someone could poison it in the kitchen or even on the way from the kitchen to here.”

  “Mmmm,” Volex said, nodding his head gravely. “That man today, the one who poisoned you, he wasn�
��t in the service of this kingdom. He snuck his way in and put on the uniform as a lover’s favor for the young woman who put him up to it. All who serve the royal family are loyal to us.”

  Sure they are, and I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

  My arched brows must give my thoughts away because Volex smiles and laughs when he looks at me.

  “The servants are genetically codified to be loyal to the family. It is almost impossible for them to do something that will put the family at harm.”

  My mouth falls open and my brows go up even further as a whole chorus of bells go off in my head. “You breed your servants for loyalty?” I ask, my voice flat yet deadly.

  “No, of course not!” Volex answers hastily. “When they sign on to work for the family, they go through a DNA re-sequencing. The positions are highly sought after. We turn away thousands of applicants every year.”

  “Yeah,” I say, not feeling fully convinced that everything was kosher in Lalaland just yet. “What’s so special about working for ‘the family’?” I say it with the same inflection I might use to talk about the mob.

  Volex shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know. Lifetime benefits, a guaranteed retirement villa with assigned staff to assist in their elder years, medical access for them and their whole family at a facility recognized and honored throughout one-thousand-twenty-eight universes.”

  As he continues to talk, listing the numerous benefits available to those who dedicate their lives to serving the royal family, my anger ebbs away.

  “Sorry,” I finally say, plopping down on a settee and waving a hand as if to brush away my anger. “So, these guys—the royal servants—that won’t hurt us?”

  Volex shakes his head gently as he takes a seat beside me. “No,” he says, brushing my hair from my temple, “they won’t hurt us. You’re safe.”

  “And we can get something to eat?” I ask, smiling sheepishly up at him as my stomach growls.

  “We can do that,” Volex says with a beautiful smile.

  By the time the food arrives, Volex of has changed out of his brown tunic and I’ve removed the brown ribbon that was laced between his giant horns. As for me, Volex has given me one of his shirts to wear. It drapes on me like a moo-moo and only makes it halfway down my thighs, but I love it. It’s the most comfortable I’ve felt since I arrived. I’ve even got my bunny slippers back on my feet.

  “So, tell me what we’ve got,” I demand excitedly as I sit down on the settee with one leg tucked under me and the other one dangling down to the floor. Before me is a giant platter packed from rim to rim with plate after plate of food. Volex had been uncertain what I would like—or how much I would eat—so he’d ordered some of everything.

  Lifting plate cover after plate cover, I revel and delight in the amazing aromas that dance across my senses. The colors and presentations are amazing. Some of the dishes are cold, some are sizzling, and a few have little wafts of vapor lifting off in an array of colors looking nothing like the button of food it originates from.

  Whoever they have working in the kitchen is an artist, and Volex has me laughing and nipping at his hand-held morsels within minutes. As he laughs, talks and smiles, the piece that I’d been missing falls into place. I am wildly attracted to Volex, and I am slowly starting to trust that he will be there to take care of me. What I hadn’t experienced with him yet was friendship. But, as we sit together, enjoying each other’s company, suddenly I can see the years ahead stretch out before us—years full of joy and happiness. Years full of a camaraderie you only find in a person whose very being is complimentary to your own.

  “Somebody got quiet,” Volex prompts, feeding me a taste of a desert that I can best describe as a crunchy flan.

  “What happened back at the voyage chamber, has that ever happened to you before?”

  “Do you mean when you and I became like one?”

  I nod my head and pull my knees up to my chest under the oversized and forgiving shirt.

  “No, I’ve never experienced that before. I’ve never even heard of it before.” His gaze remains locked with mine, and for what feels like the 100th time today, I melt.

  “I think I’d like to go to bed now, Volex.”

  “Oh! Uh, yes of course. You’ve travelled galaxies. Why wouldn’t you be tired,” he teases, and when he stands, he extends his hand to me to help me stand. “I’ll give you the bedroom.”

  I let him lead me to the door of the adjoining room, and when he opens it, he pushes it wide with an extended arm and waits for me to pass through first.

  I have no intentions of staying in the bedroom alone. I want Volex by my side, and I want to sleep in his arms. Well, there are a few things I want him to do before we get to that stage, but that’s how I want us to end up.

  That nasty bed… I inwardly cringe and mentally calculate whether or not we can both sleep on the chaise lounge. But, as soon as I step through the doorway and turn toward the most offensive item in his bedroom, I freeze. His bed is gone—at least the one that had been there earlier. In its place is a triangular bed. I kid you not. How could I make this stuff up? The thing is a huge triangle.

  I step aside to make room for Volex to enter the room and stand beside me.

  “Do you like it?”

  “I…” Words leave me.

  “Oh, you hate it,” Volex says, sounding absolutely deflated.

  “No, no,” I say, turning to him. “I love it! Did you do this for me? How? When?”

  Volex’s face lights with a smile. “I had the staff take care of it while we were at the ball. It’s brand new from the maker. No one has, you know, anything on this bed…”

  Now it’s my turn for my smile to grow. I have to leap to get my arms wrapped around the back of his neck, but I manage. His arms wrap around my middle to hold me tight against him, and the tips of my fuzzy bunny slippers scrape the floor.

  “We should try it out,” I say as I steal a kiss.

  “Together?” he asks, his brow ridges arching high and his eyes growing bright.

  “Yep, together.”

  Chapter 19

  Volex

  “Get up here!” Aisha exclaims as she waves her hands in encouragement.

  I’m a damn school boy again… I almost check the corner of my mouth for drool from watching Aisha jump up and down on the bed. When I’d asked if she wanted to try it out together, this hadn’t been exactly what I’d meant.

  Maybe Earth customs are different.

  But, I’m not complaining. Watching her jump up and down is a sight to behold. Her hair is getting larger and more gloriously untamed with every jump, and the loose shirt she’s wearing molds itself to every inch of her luscious body in those few brief moments after she has reached her zenith and is falling back down from the heavens.

  “Get up here!” she says again as she does a bouncing twirl, and for once I do as I’m told. “Have you ever done this before?”

  “Nooo,” I laugh, giving her my hands to hold. As we begin jumping up and down, I don’t know what to do with my gaze. Look at her? Don’t look at her?

  She’ll think I’m a perv… or not interested!

  But, the thought leaves me when I focus on her face. She is radiant, by far the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen, and I am undoubtedly in love.

  “How did you fall into my life?” I ask, despite already knowing the answer.

  Aisha stops jumping and looks at me as if I’m the one who’s become a dullard, but there’s a gleam of mischief in her eyes.

  “Oh no, baby. You’re not getting off the hook that easy. You know exactly how I fell into your life. But,” she says, stepping closer, “what you don’t know is what I’m going to do about it.”

  Her gleaming eye has turned wicked, and she’s got a smile to match.

  Nervous and not knowing what to do with myself, I’m still jumping up and down. I’ve been with… well, let’s just say that I’ve been with a lot of women. I won’t say how many, but after my first I w
as never nervous with any of them again.

  None of them mattered. Of course they mattered as people—but in terms of my life, they didn’t matter. They could come or go, love me or hate me, and laugh at me or with me. Whatever they did, my life didn’t change. I didn’t change.

  But… everything’s different with Aisha. If she stays, I’m the happiest man in the universe. If she goes, what’s left for me? She is my one love. My one true happiness. I know that now. I feel it. She’s it. She’s the other half of me, yet I don’t have the faintest idea of how to make a relationship work. I could say or do the wrong thing and she’d be gone.

  For the first time in my life, I love someone, and I have no way to protect myself from that fact. I am helplessly at her mercy.

  “Wha”—my voice cracks and I have to clear my throat—“what are you going to do?

  “This,” she says, stepping even closer as she pulls her shirt off over her head.

  I finally stop jumping as I stare at her unparalleled beauty.

  “Aisha.” I say her name, a whispered prayer on my lips.

  Stepping away from me and wearing nothing but a smile, Aisha starts jumping up and down again.

  I fall off the bed. I don’t even notice hitting the floor. My eyes are too filled with the sight of her arms stretching toward the ceiling and her hands waving back and forth as her mind-bending assets make me forget where I am.

  “Volex!” Aisha squeals as she drops to all fours and peers over the edge of the bed. I look up at her and all of her gravity-abundant glory and groan.

  “Woman, you’re killing me.”

  “No, no, no,” Aisha laughs, reaching for me and helping me back onto the bed. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  “Aisha, I’m only mortal. Please don’t tease. Send me away now if you don’t want me here, with you… inside you.”

  “Baby, what’s a girl gotta do to let you know that she wants you inside of her?” she says with a smile that can outshine the stars.