Alien Prince Seeking BBW Bride: First Love: A Second Chance Science Fiction Romance (Alpha Mail Order Brides) Read online

  Alien Prince Seeking BBW Bride: First Love

  A Second Chance Romance

  By

  By Alana Hart & Calista Skye

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  Copyright © 2015 Alana Hart & Calista Skye

  All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.

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  Published by Hartfelt Books

  Cover Design by Calista Skye

  Image by Deposit Photos

  Editing by Mrs. Story

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  Sneak Peek!

  “Sally,” he whispers, falling to his knees before me. “Are you hurt?”

  I can’t respond.

  I can’t breathe.

  Ten years.

  People can change so much during that time, and aliens age differently than us. I wondered if I’d even recognize him if I saw him again. Sometimes, I wonder if I’d already seen him and just not known it.

  But I did recognize him.

  The small scar was still on his temple. His lips were still thin, and his eyelashes still so long that they almost seemed feminine. Back then, we’d been the same size. I remember resting my chin on his neck while we both stood. Our noses bonking when we kissed. Looking directly into his eyes.

  Now, he was so much larger. Even on his knees he towered above me. And all of those things I’d once found comfort in—the vivid blue of his skin, the depth of his eyes, the angles of his beautifully sculpted face—unnerved me.

  My heart beats faster.

  “You’re my soul mate,” I whisper. I’m not as surprised as I should be. I remember the feeling that consumed me when we met. It was like each individual cell in my body was buzzing. I feel it again now, eclipsing my fear, anger and surprise with the sensation of coming home.

  He looks down. “I’m so sorry, Sally. I never wanted you to find out like this.”

  “Find out what?” I choke out.

  “That it was me.” He cringes. “I’m so sorry you had to find me.”

  He makes no move to help me as I stand. As I stumble back into the wall. As I gasp for air even though my lungs are collapsing.

  Night after night, I dreamed of this man. I yearned for him. I’d sacrificed so much to find him, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Even knowing this I’d do it, because the bond between us was as sick as it was beautiful. It didn't matter if it was DNA, fate, or both. Our bodies wanted to be together and that desire overrode all others.

  Or at least I thought it did. Because even though this man was my soul mate, he was going to leave me again.

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  Chapter 1

  Madame Venus looks like she’d be more at home in a fairground tent that oozed mysterious smoke than the corporate headquarters of Alpha Universe Mail Order Brides.

  That doesn’t mean she looks sketchy. With large gold hoop earrings, a designer purple frock, and her salt and pepper hair swept into the most ornate bun I’ve ever seen, she’s the epitome of otherworldly glamor and…well…something else. And whatever that something was couldn’t have been more different than the beaming cookie-cutter blond from the stock photo in the brochure.

  “Hello, I’m Sally,” I tell her, holding out my hand.

  She raises one of her perfect black brows. “I know.”

  I stand there with my hand out, feeling like an idiot. Did aliens consider shaking hands gauche? Being from a small town in Vermont where some residents still pumped their own water and rode around in a horse and buggy, I had no idea.

  Breathe, I remind myself. Aliens think earth girls are rare, exotic flowers. Or at least that’s what the brochure had said. What a laugh. With brown hair, brown eyes, and skin that looked more sunburned than tanned, I was about as rare and exotic as a dandelion.

  Finally, Madame Venus takes pity on me and shakes my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Damn, her grip is strong, I think, impressed. Then, I try to pull my hand away…and she doesn’t let go.

  Her grip tightens. “Don’t worry, this will just take a minute.”

  Her tone is meant to reassure, but unfortunately it has the opposite effect. “Um…what will only take a minute?”

  “The interview.” Without further ado, she turns my hand over and gazes into my palm as if it contained the secrets of the universe.

  I wait for her to ask me a question.

  She doesn’t.

  “Is this part of the interview?” I ask.

  “No. This is the interview,” she says without looking up.

  This? Reading my palm? “You mean, you’re not going to ask me any questions?”

  Now she does look up, and her horrified expression is perfectly in sync with the horror churning in my stomach. “Why on earth would I do that?”

  Because…because…

  I gulp, speechless. This morning, I’d applied even more makeup to my poor face than I’d worn for senior prom. I’d drenched my freshly blow-dried hair with product in a futile effort to tame my frizz. Then, I’d looked at myself in the mirror and once again regretted spending the last twenty dollars in my bank account on a pizza instead of hitting the thrift store one more time to see if I could find a more presentable dress. I looked like I was interviewing to be a nice old lady’s future granddaughter instead of an alien’s wife.

  These were the kinds of thoughts that plagued me as I waited for my train. Well, these and the stupid answers I’d written on my application. I really regretted putting down “reading” as my favorite hobby; somehow, I doubted I’d impress anyone with the fact I’d never been able to get past page two of a Franzen novel, but had devoured five Milly Taiden romances last week.

  Turns out I didn’t need to worry, because all I’d had to do to get ready for the big interview was wash my hands.

  I really wish they’d put that tidbit in the brochure.

  I straighten my back. Madame Venus is looking at me expectantly. I had to say something.

  “So,” I begin with a smile, “How am I doing so far?”

  She grins. “Do you really want to know?”

  My own smile freezes. Not really when you say it like that.

  She laughs, running a manicured nail down my love line—or is it my life line? “I can tell the interview process has unnerved you. That’s alright. It’s normal, actually. But you have nothing to be worried about. You’re going to find true love and be happy.”

  With that, she lets go of my han
d.

  I bring it to my chest, rubbing it. “How do you know?”

  “Your palm told me.”

  “My palm told you all that?”

  “DNA doesn’t lie, Sally. If I can’t help someone find the love of their life, I don’t accept them.” She takes a seat on the black couch and motions to the white leather armchair in front of her, beaming. “Welcome to Alpha.”

  Chapter 2

  After taking my seat, Madame Venus starts her spiel. I squirm in my seat, suddenly finding it very difficult to pay attention. My nerves are jumping like shooting stars as excitement courses through me. Every few seconds, I’m able to focus enough to pick out a word or two.

  Love.

  Happiness.

  Safety.

  Space.

  My heart hammers against my ribcage. I was going to explore space. Finally.

  Mankind has always looked up at the stars. For thousands of years we wondered if we were alone. As it turned out we weren’t alone—in fact, we’d never been alone—and the beings we dreamed of had always been looking right back.

  Well, some of us knew, or at least expected. Farmers and bored housewives claimed to have been abducted by aliens, but only self-appointed ufologists took them seriously. In rural Oregon, men hunted for the mythical bigfoot. Conspiracy theorists warned us of a reptilian race that ran the government from the shadows.

  No one of significance listened to these seemingly wild claims, and that was exactly how the aliens liked it. Aliens are not to interfere with the development of lifeforms—even moderately intelligent ones, such as humans—until they reach a certain level of scientific and technological understanding. Or, more specifically, until they are able to figure out how to move something at the speed of light.

  There are much better means of traveling through space, of course. However, unlocking such knowledge is considered the minimum requirement for moving from a Stage I planet to a Stage II planet, and for admission into the United Galactic Federation. And the aliens welcomed us in with gusto.

  The research the scientists at CERN were involved in was at the center of numerous conspiracy theories. If the Large Hadron Collider was able to move particles at the speed of light, it would create a black hole…or open a portal to hell. Only those who read the tabloids gave such wild theories credence…that is, until the scientists achieved their goal and the unthinkable happened.

  A purple and black vortex erupted in the middle of the lab. Blue lightning shot out of the vortex and started spinning like an awesomely bad 80’s film effect. The scientists and reporters cried out and ducked under tables as any small object not nailed down flew into the air and started spinning around the room as if caught in a tornado. And from the center of this otherworldly madness emerged a reptoid. There was no other way to describe the being. The eight feet tall, muscular, scaly creature raised its lidless yellow-green eyes to the heavens, curled its mighty claws into fists, and roared.

  You see, aliens are not without a sense of humor. They made sure to televise the event, and took immense pleasure in the panic that spread throughout our humble world. Now, every time our poor human ambassador attends a United Galactic Federation meeting, he must endure aliens balling their fists and roaring at the ceiling before condescending to shake his hand.

  From there, things only got worse. The aliens had landed, but that didn’t mean they wanted to share their goodies with us. Unfortunately, we had more rights and protections as a “park” than as a Stage II planet. Back when we were Stage I, the aliens who abducted humans, interfered with human politics, or ran horrific experiments on the wildlife (as was the case with bigfoot), did so at the risk of paying immense fines, being expelled from the United Galactic Federation, or even executed. As a Stage II planet, we were open game.

  Many of our most valuable resources were sold off for peanuts by greedy politicians before we understood the value of them or the game we played. As a result, earthlings gleaned few financial benefits from the massive mining projects that threatened the planet’s ecosystem. Even worse, we were unable to use any of those important resources for ourselves. The vastness of space was now known to us, but we were grounded.

  If you wanted to explore the space, there were only a few ways to do it:

  #1: You could be unfortunate enough to get abducted. (Yes, there were laws against it, but it still happened.)

  #2: You could be brilliant enough to earn a trade or UNIVERSEity scholarship. (I was not this brilliant, as shown by my love of lame puns.)

  #3: You could stow away on an alien spaceship. (Which took serious balls.)

  #4: You could sell yourself on the meat market. (This is what I was doing.)

  Because we were the new kids on the block, earth girls (and earth men) were considered exotic. Princes wanted us in their harems. Galactic strip clubs wanted us working their poles. And some aliens wanted us as brides.

  I shiver again in my seat, trying to pay attention to Madame Venus. Humans had learned the hard way that there was always fine print. Nothing was as it seemed when dealing with aliens.

  Still, Alpha had the best reputation. All clients were screened. Women only had to pass the interview.

  And I had.

  I glance down at the calloused hands I’d always taken for granted. I’ll give you a manicure before I leave, I decide. I’d never gotten one before—it had always seemed like an unnecessary indulgence—but after today, they deserve to be pampered.

  Another jolt of excitement rushes through me.

  “Do you have any questions, Sally?”

  My head whips up to find Madame Venus staring at me strangely, giving me the impression she’d asked me that question a few times already. “Um, no.”

  “So you’ve read the contract and understand it?”

  I nod. “I can return home at any time by using the transporter on the bracelet you’ll give me. I can use the distress button if there’s a problem. But once I marry, I will have to follow with the planet’s laws.”

  She looks down at my paperwork. “I see you’ve chosen to interact with potential mates before making a choice. That’s smart.”

  Yeah. I wasn’t ballsy enough to want to play roulette by jumping in the transporter and seeing what I got—which some women actually did.

  “But you do understand that if your DNA matches the genetic profile for an alien’s mate, you must leave and be bonded immediately.”

  For a moment, my excitement fizzles.

  Some alien species mated for life. In a universe as vast as this one, it could be difficult to find that one mate. Alpha, and other agencies like it, were partially funded by such species.

  I take a deep breath. It was rare to be an alien mate, so it wasn’t something I was going to have to deal with. “I understand,” I continue.

  Her frown deepens. “It says here you do not want to be mated to a Ta’arak.”

  My throat tightens. Here it is. “That’s correct.”

  “I won’t pull any Ta’arak profiles for you to look at, but they are a species that mates for life. If your DNA matches one of them in our database—”

  “I know,” I interrupt. “I—I will take that chance.”

  Her expression softens. “Do you have any experience with the Ta’arak? I know they are often feared, but they are kind to their mates—”

  “I know. It isn’t that.” All species—even ones as weak as humans—could be vicious if pushed. “It’s just that I knew one, once.”

  She tilts her head.

  “He wasn’t mean to me or anything.” He was just my first love, and he disappeared without a trace, and my heart still hasn’t stopped breaking.

  I shut my eyes, breathing deeply. These aren’t things she needed to know. They aren’t important. I just have to keep telling myself that until I believe it.

  “I just…I don’t think it would be good fit,” I continue.

  She stands. “Well, you’ve already signed the contract so that’s it then. You can go wait in th
e lobby. I will call you back when your test results return.”

  I stand, a bit uneasy on my feet. It was normal for them to keep the brides here until the test results returned. They couldn’t allow a potential valuable mate to disappear. That was in the brochure.

  Still, this thing that had once seemed so far-fetched was beginning to alarm me.

  Madame Venus gestures to the door beside her. “We have food, refreshment, and modest entertainments. Laura will be happy to show you around. Ask her for anything; she’s there to make sure you’re comfortable.”

  I smile tightly, trying to slow my pounding heart. My life was finally beginning so why was I so uneasy?

  My body goes cold, just as it had when I stood on the windy hill behind my old childhood home for the last time. Surrounded by the glowing colors of autumn leaves and apple scented-air, it was hard to remember why I wanted to leave earth badly. For a moment, I almost wondered if I could still lead a quiet, happy life. And then, a cold far deeper than the wind had penetrated my heart.

  “Goodbye, Darak,” I whispered. It was almost spring, and this was one I would not spend waiting. I wouldn’t spend it searching for him, either. He wasn’t going to come back, and I was finally ready to say goodbye.

  Still memories—even painful ones—can be difficult to let go of. But it was for the best. This was what I wanted, wasn’t it?

  Chapter 3

  Since the test took a few hours, I decided to watch The Notebook. My friends all made fun of me for loving the movie so much, but I can’t help it. The story about love lost and found and then lost again before it was found one last time in the most bittersweet way possible always tore my heart out in the best way possible. I couldn’t watch that movie without crying.

  Yeah. I really hadn’t thought it through. I wasn’t alone in my studio apartment wailing into the matted fur of my stuffed bear. I was in Alpha’s ornate waiting room with Laura.

  Poor Laura. I don’t know how much they paid her, but it wasn’t enough. She’d been supplying me with a steady stream of chocolate and tissues since the movie began (I always started crying five minutes in because I knew what was coming).