Page 6

She glared at him, not that he could see her in the dark.

He was standing in her mother’s yard, spying.

He should be the one to go or at least explain his presence.

Dammit, perverts abound. She ran her gaze up him, doubting she could break any bone in his body or even get her knee high enough to hit his groin.

“I live here. You leave.” That wasn’t her wisest response, but she was floored by his audacity.

She ‘turned’ as if to walk away, gripped the edge trim, whipped off the helmet, and swung it into his stomach.

He ooffed and fell onto one knee. When he began to rise, she dropped the helmet at his feet to fumble for the taser and spray canister.

Adrenaline rushed through her, shaking her fingers.

Unfortunately, spray happened before tase.

He roared like a lion, his eyes on fire. She winced when the sound penetrated the sleepy neighborhood. Throwing down both items next to his prone body, she bolted, sprinting across the yard at full speed. Thankfully, she’d mowed it last week which meant navigating the grass was easier.

“Mom, call E.A.F. I just decked a man in our backyard...and tasered him.” She burst into the house, slamming the back door behind her.

As she entered the lounge through the dining room, she ground to a halt, her sneakers screeching on the hardwood floor. Her mother was somewhere within burly arms. A rather large man, dressed like the idiot she’d assaulted, knelt beside Mom, engulfing her in a hug.

Yikes. Perhaps she’d been too hasty with the helmet? Fuck it. After the day she’d had... “Mom?”

Her mom mumbled something to the man pinning her. Scarier than her calm in this weird scenario was the way he held her, as if she was the most precious thing to him.

Another roar from the backyard made Britt jump. “Shit. He’s awake.”

“Be calm, human female. Nerx will not harm you,” Mom’s hugger said.

Nerx? What kind of name is that? Swedish?

“Like hell I will not. Alodon’s balls, she sprayed some burning shit into my eyes, Aldur. I can barely see,” Nerx growled as he stumbled through the kitchen.

Shit. In the light, he was as tall as she’d guessed, maybe six-foot-six, and so huge, his muscles had muscles. Judging by the balance of his arms to his chest to his bulky thighs, these weren’t gym-generated muscles, but the kind honed from hours of physical labor.

Did Scotsmen look like this? Swinging a claymore would do this to their bodies.

His skin was bronze, like the metal, and it shimmered in the light.

She smirked, thinking he was glittered to the max.

No man could be called a girl when he looked like that.

If he’d stop rubbing his face, she’d be able to see his features.

Peeking through his thick digits was his square jaw and pursed lips, too wide to be classically handsome. Still, he was sexy anyway. Nerx . Her eyes widened in recognition. He was Etterian? Why hadn’t the bastard said something? She might not have attacked him.

The man holding her mother stood up, lifting her with him.

He was so gentle while he ensured she had her balance, it made Britt’s heart leap.

Maybe this Aldur had an agenda? He sure promised more, something Britt had been praying for her mom.

He crossed the room to halt before Nerx, eye to eye.

His physique was as masculine. Perhaps it was genetics?

“It looks irritated.” Aldur tapped on a device he’d pulled from one of his hidden pockets.

“It stings,” Nerx grumbled, rubbing his eyes with his thick fingers.

“My med-gun is malfunctioning.” Aldur shook the device. “Did you bring yours?”

When no response was forthcoming, Aldur scanned Nerx’s face with holographic lights on his forearm. Britt gaped at that bit of alien tech. “It is not serious, Nerx. Return to the ship. I will heal you there.”

“I will not leave you,” he said, clenching his jaw.

Aldur tutted. “You cannot see anyway.”

“Good point.” Nerx tapped his wrist. “Matir, Sena, to me.” He leveled his distant gaze at Britt. “Let us hope I never meet you again.”

At his threat, the emotions roiling through her made her breathless, uncertain, and nervous.

Now that he’d lowered his hands, she had a full view of his face.

It was broader at the jaw than his forehead.

His nose was tall and hero-like, angular.

His pursed lips had relaxed. They were still wide but were enticingly uneven.

Dark blue downturned eyes under arched eyebrows, black as sin, completed a striking man. Wow.

This… He… She got the sense he would take what he wanted. Nothing like Kev.

She shook herself, trying to snap her womanly bits into some semblance of order. Furious with herself for finding this Neanderthal attractive, she fell back on her defense mechanism... Sarcasm.

“Why? Scared of little ol’ me?” she teased, unable to stop herself. “I can floor you again, Tarzan.”

Mm, yummy. He could be Tarzan if he freed that long braid she glimpsed, the tail end of it brushing his heels. Even though she had an overactive imagination, she couldn’t quite picture him in a loin cloth. Still, she’d spend nights trying to.

“Britta.” One word from her mom, and shame settled on Britt’s shoulders.

She hadn’t always been like this, just sometimes things got out of control. To say she was irritated at all hours was an understatement. Her last shrink had said her anger stemmed from the death of her father. She never wanted to think about that or unravel why.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

Nerx harrumphed. “I will accept your apology when my vision is restored.”

Two men stomped in, both in military black with long braids to their heels like she’d seen in the digi-mags.

Four Etterians in her lounge defied logic, and they dominated the space, almost sapping the air out of the room.

Although, that might be all her. As she devoured the sheer beauty standing before her, gone was her steady heartbeat.

Matir and Sena studied her, curiosity in their open perusal and arched brows. Glances at Aldur snagged their focus more. They gasped and grumbled, tossing grins at each other, as if they communicated on another level she wasn’t party to.

“Guard, and watch out for the younger female.” With that, Nerx lifted his wrist to his mouth. “Edon, one to port.”

“His fault for spying,” she muttered, whipping their gazes back to her.

As Nerx phased out, her mom jumped back, squeaking.

Britt grinned. She’d seen illegal sci-fi movies, unlike her mother, so Nerx teleporting just looked believable.

“Mom? What the hell’s going on?” She gestured to Aldur whose gaze rested on her mother’s face with an unexpected warmth.

Mom splayed her fingers onto his firm pec. “Aldur was just about to explain.”

He shifted closer to her, almost reverently. Britt’s eyebrow shot up. She rolled her lips inward to smother a smile.

“I am on a mission for my queen...”

She snorted. Yup, sure, a noble quest for my liege. He didn’t glance Britta’s way and continued as if she hadn’t made a sound. She gathered her irritation, curled her fingers into fists, and bit her tongue. Ignoring someone was the height of rudeness.

“Lady Macera is the Dar Eth to King Xeus. She is a human female and is...pregnant, she calls it, with twins.” He ran his hand over his black hair slicked to his scalp. “She asked me to travel to Earth to find an OB-GYN, who had pediatric experience. My king wants this person to be a female.”

“I am no longer a doctor,” Mom whispered, her cheeks paling.

“This is acceptable, Lady Dahlia. You will not abandon your patients to travel to Etteria. It is just you and your daughter, I am correct?”

Mom frowned despite Aldur pulling her closer. “Yes, but I don’t practice anymore.”

“It is our first Etterian and human birthing. I would value your expertise, even if you do not assist.”

“What do you think, Britt?” Mom glanced at her.

Britt grinned. “I’d love to go.” At last, she’d get to see the stars, fly past planets she might have had a hand at exploring. Had things not gone wrong in her well-planned life.

Mom gaped. “You would?”

“I don’t like working at Stay Alive anyway, and you do need to find a purpose...” She’d tell her mother later that she probably didn’t have a job anymore anyway.

“Can we come back?” Mom peered at Aldur.

Britt gritted her teeth. Come back? Why would she want to? This world was horrible, having taken her father and her mother’s love for life. She couldn’t wait to leave. Anywhere else had to be better than here.

“If you wish, or you can choose to remain on Etteria,” Aldur said, running a hand from Mom’s wrist to her elbow.

Britt started for the stairs.

“Britta?” Mom called, “where are you going?”

“To pack, Mom. Where else?” She shook her head, what to take shooting through her mind.

“I guess we’re coming with you,” Mom said.

Aldur grumbled something. Britta didn’t care to eavesdrop. She was leaving this place, and the only sad part was her solarcycle alone and abandoned on her neighbor’s driveway.