Page 29 of Eclipse Bound (Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides #7)

Rowan woke to the sensation of gentle vibrations against her skin.

Eclipse was watching her again, his twilight essence stretched out beside her on the bed, stars swimming in his eyes.

In the months since they'd escaped Milano, she'd grown accustomed to waking this way, wrapped in the subtle hum of his energy, the morning light filtering through the curtains of their small rented cabin creating the perfect twilight conditions he thrived in.

"You're staring," she murmured, smiling without opening her eyes fully.

"Observing," he corrected, the familiar response now part of their morning ritual. "Your biorhythms align perfectly with the Earth's sunrise cycles."

Rowan laughed softly. Even in love, Eclipse couldn't help analyzing everything. It was endearing how he tried to understand human experiences through his scientific perspective.

"Normal people just say good morning," she told him, finally opening her eyes to take in his twilight form.

In private, he never bothered with the human disguise.

Here, he could simply be himself, a swirling galaxy of purple-blue energy that somehow managed to look at her with more adoration than any human ever had.

"Good morning," he conceded, his essence rippling with amusement. "Poppy has already departed for her supply run."

Rowan nodded, stretching as she sat up. Their little cabin, tucked away in a remote corner of the Coconino National Forest, had become their sanctuary.

Technically, it was an old ranger outpost, but Pete knew a guy who knew a gal and hooked them up with it.

Far from Duskrock and Milano's search parties, they'd created something resembling a normal life, if normal included hiding an alien diplomat and helping another alien's heartbroken girlfriend monitor deep space frequencies for messages.

"Did she sleep at all?" Rowan asked, concerned about their housemate. Poppy spent most nights at the makeshift communications array she'd built, listening for any signal that might be from Lunar.

"Two hours, forty-three minutes," Eclipse reported. "An improvement over previous nights."

Rowan sighed, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "She's going to make herself sick."

"Her dedication is admirable," Eclipse noted, "if physiologically inadvisable."

"Says the alien who doesn't need sleep," Rowan teased, pulling on a robe and heading toward the bathroom.

When she emerged, Eclipse had assumed his more humanoid form, though still composed entirely of twilight energy. They'd discovered he could maintain this shape with minimal effort, allowing him to interact with objects in the human world more easily without the restrictions of the skin-suit.

Rowan made coffee while Eclipse prepared a simple breakfast. It had taken some trial and error to teach him human cooking.

His first attempt at toast had ended with a minor kitchen fire when he'd tried to calculate the optimal molecular vibration frequency— or some such nonsense —instead of using the toaster… but he'd proven to be a quick study.

"The Milano search patterns have shifted again," Eclipse informed her as they ate. "Their primary focus appears to have returned to Duskrock."

Rowan nodded, processing this information. They monitored Milano's movements through careful checks of online news sources and the encrypted communications channel Pete occasionally used to update them.

"Do you think they've given up looking for us?" she asked.

"Not entirely," Eclipse replied thoughtfully. "But their resources are finite. They cannot maintain high-intensity pursuit indefinitely. They should eventually conclude that we all went home."

Rowan sipped her coffee, watching Eclipse's twilight form shimmer in the morning sunlight streaming through the kitchen window. Sometimes it still struck her as surreal, sitting in a cabin kitchen having breakfast with an alien from another world who had chosen her over his home planet.

"Any regrets?" she asked suddenly, the question escaping before she could reconsider.

Eclipse's form stilled, his starlit eyes focusing on her with that intensity that always made her heart skip. "About choosing Earth? About choosing you?"

Rowan nodded, trying to keep her expression neutral despite the flutter of uncertainty in her chest.

"None," he stated simply. His twilight essence expanded slightly, reaching across the table to envelop her free hand in warmth.

"The council would not have listened to me any more closely than Solar or Lunar.

They would have assigned me to another diplomatic post where I would once again serve as mediator between forces with no desire for reconciliation. "

He paused, his essence shifting into patterns she'd come to recognize as deep contemplation.

"Here, I have purpose beyond function. I have connection beyond duty." His form brightened as he added, "I have you."

The simple declaration melted away her momentary insecurity. Rowan smiled, turning her hand to intertwine her fingers with his twilight essence. The familiar harmonic resonance hummed between them, creating that perfect sense of belonging she'd never experienced before meeting him.

"Besides," Eclipse continued, a hint of amusement in his energy patterns, "I am not entirely without function here. Helping Poppy construct her communication array has allowed me to apply considerable theoretical knowledge."

Rowan laughed. "You're such a nerd. An alien diplomat nerd."

"I am unfamiliar with this nerd designation," Eclipse replied, though his essence rippled in what she recognized as his version of laughter.

The sound of tires on gravel announced Poppy's return.

Moments later, the cabin door opened, and Poppy entered carrying several bags of supplies.

Her appearance had improved since those first difficult weeks after Lunar's departure.

The dark circles under her eyes had faded somewhat, and her movements had regained some of their former vitality.

Rowan wasn't fooled, though. Poppy was struggling without Lunar.

"Morning," Poppy called, setting the bags on the counter. "The general store had actual fresh vegetables today. I nearly wept."

Rowan rose to help unpack. "Any news from town?"

Poppy's expression brightened slightly. "Actually, yes. I ran into Pete. "

"Oh?" Rowan asked, surprised.

"Apparently, after the police questioned him for the unlawful alien parade he hosted, he's been playing up the whole I-was-abducted-by-the-government angle. It's been great for business." Poppy pulled out a newspaper and laid it on the table. "But here's the interesting part."

The front page featured a blurry photograph of what appeared to be a Milano facility, with the headline, "Tech Company Denies Government Contracts for Weapons Research."

Rowan scanned the article quickly. "Someone's investigating them."

"The reporter's name seemed familiar," Poppy said. "I thought maybe you'd know them?"

Rowan looked at the byline and felt a jolt of recognition. "Michaels. He was my mentor at the Phoenix paper." She looked up at Eclipse, excitement building. "This is perfect. He always believed my stories about Milano. If we could get our evidence to him?—"

"It would be extremely dangerous," Eclipse cautioned, his twilight form condensing slightly with concern.

"But worth considering," Poppy added. "Milano's been operating in the shadows for too long. If enough light gets shined on them..."

Rowan nodded, her journalistic instincts awakening after months of lying low. Excitement filled her. "We'd need to be careful. Anonymous drops, encrypted communications."

"We should discuss this thoroughly before taking action," Eclipse said, his diplomat's caution evident.

"Of course," Rowan agreed, reaching out to touch his twilight essence reassuringly. "We make decisions together, remember?"

His form brightened at her words, and Rowan felt that now-familiar surge of connection between them.

Poppy excused herself to check on her communication array, leaving them alone in the kitchen.

"You miss it," Eclipse observed once she'd gone. "Your function as a truth-seeker."

Rowan considered his words.

"I do," she admitted. "Being a journalist was more than just a job. It was about exposing what needed to be exposed, helping people understand what was happening in the world."

"Perhaps there is a way for you to resume this function while maintaining our security," Eclipse suggested. "A balanced approach."

His words reminded her of why she'd fallen for him in the first place. He had an ability to see multiple perspectives, to find harmony in seemingly conflicting goals.

"Maybe there is," she agreed. "We'll figure it out."

Eclipse's twilight form shifted closer to her, enveloping her in gentle warmth. "Together.”

Rowan leaned into his embrace, marveling at how natural it felt to be held by a being made of twilight energy. If someone had told her six months ago that she'd fall in love with an alien diplomat who existed in a state between light and shadow, she would have laughed them out of the room.

Yet here she was, completely at home in his otherworldly embrace.

Outside, the morning sun climbed higher in the sky, casting long shadows across the forest floor. Inside their small cabin, the light filtering through the curtains created the perfect balance of illumination, not too bright, not too dark. Twilight.

Rowan smiled at the symbolism. They existed in their own twilight zone, neither fully part of Eclipse's world nor entirely of Earth's. Creating something new in the space between.

"What are you thinking?" Eclipse asked, sensing her contemplative mood.

"That I never expected to find home in the in-between," she answered truthfully.

Eclipse's essence brightened with understanding. "The balance point has always been my place, but never before has it felt like where I truly belong."

Before Rowan could respond, a sudden commotion came from Poppy's room as equipment crashed onto the floor, and she gave a startled exclamation.

They rushed to investigate, finding Poppy staring wide-eyed at her communication array, which was emitting a series of distinct pulses.

"It's a signal," she whispered, hands trembling as she adjusted dials. "A pattern. Three short, three long, three short."

"S.O.S.," Rowan translated.

Eclipse moved closer to the equipment, his twilight essence extending to sense the energy patterns.

"The frequency matches Zorveyan communication protocols," he confirmed. "But there is something else embedded within it."

The signal shifted, resolving into a voice transmission so distorted by distance and interference that it was barely recognizable. But one word came through clearly, "Coming."

Poppy's eyes filled with tears as she clutched the receiver. "Lunar?" She touched the device. “What does that mean? I don’t understand. Lunar?”

Eclipse's twilight form pulsed with surprise and what Rowan recognized as hope.

Rowan put an arm around Poppy's shoulders as they all stared at the communication array. The message repeated once more before fading back into static.

In that moment, standing in their hideaway cabin with an alien she loved and a friend who had just received hope from across the stars, Rowan felt a certainty settle over her.

Whatever came next, whether it was exposing Milano, helping Lunar return to Earth, or simply building their unusual life together, they would face it as they had everything else.

Together, in the perfect balance of twilight.

The End