Alpha Star: Big Sky Alien Mail Order Brides #1 (Intergalactic Dating Agency): Intergalactic Dating Agency (12 page)

Her shoulders bowed under the pack. “But…I was hoping—”

“That right there is where you went wrong,” Sin told her. At her stricken look, a twinge of guilt made him sigh. “You shouldn’t be here. The agency has strict rules against fraternizing without a match, for your own good.”

To his surprise, the female stiffened. “Then what about my sister-in-law? You could get her in trouble.”

He stared at her. “Who?”

“Zoe. You were with her last night.” The female—Delaney Nazario, the IDA rep had said the profile was supposed to be keyed for her—glared at him. “Don’t you remember? How many women have you slept with since you got here?”

From somewhere above him, a choked sound echoed against the
Prayer
’s dark hull. Oh hells, he’d know his first officer’s snicker anywhere. Good to know his crew was waiting in hiding to back him up. Or gossip, whichever.

He glared back at the female Delaney. “Zoe is your sister?”

“In law. Her brother was my husband.”

Sin stiffened. “Her dead brother. That’s why you want to leave Earth.”

She gripped the straps until her knuckles whitened. “I need that profile back. I’ll find another match, and Zoe doesn’t need to be mixed up in this.”

She was already as mixed up in it as the heavy metals in his cells. “How did you find me?”

“You told her you had a ship. There are only so many places around Sunset Falls where someone could hide a spaceship, and I know them all.” Her gaze wandered past him again to the ship’s bulk. “I just never would’ve thought to go looking for one.”

“Forget you did,” he snapped. “And go home.”

She straightened to glare at him. “It’s not home anymore. That’s why I was willing to leave. More than willing.” She dropped her hands to her sides, knuckles still white and punchy. “This is all I have left.”

Oh hells, he knew too well what she meant. But he couldn’t help her.

He gentled his voice. “Delaney Nazario, someone in the universe is a match for you. But it isn’t me.”

She lifted her chin. “I had my match. And he died.”

“I think you have no clue how vast is the universe. You’ll find another.”

“Not without my profile.”

Sin scowled. Were all Earther females so recalcitrant? Why had Gre-Gre suggested this troublesome little world? Obviously she wanted revenge on him for some of his youthful indiscretions.

“Fine,” he growled. “But you need to tell your IDA rep that the data-cube culled Zoe’s bio signature and background information instead of yours, which is how she matched to me. They’ll need to reset the cube to your specs.” He spun on his heel, aware of Delaney cautiously approaching. “I’ll bring you—”

“Del! No! Don’t go!” The frantic call emanated from within the trees.

Sin clamped his hand to his forehead, not even caring this time if he crushed his own skull with his prosthetic. If he’d burned down the whole forest, he would’ve seen these females coming even without the proximity sensors. Hells, his survival instinct should’ve kicked in if nothing else.

Delaney whirled around to face Zoe as she stumbled from the between the trees. “Zoe! How did you—?”

“I might be half blind, but I can still play follow the leader.”

“Not so’s I’d noticed,” Sin muttered. “You never follow.”

Zoe bolted forward to grab Delaney’s arm, glaring at him. “You. You’re not taking her anywhere.”

“I told her that too,” he said reasonably, crossing his arms over his chest. He was
so
thrilled Honey and Ivan had such great seats on top of the
Prayer
for this conversation.

“What kind of guy needs a mail order bride?” Zoe stared at him as if he’d grown another head when really he just wanted another hand. “You said you’d inherited a homestead.”

“I did,” he said impatiently. “It’s just on another planet. In another galaxy.” He tilted his head. “What did you think the ‘intergalactic’ in Intergalactic Dating Agency meant?”

“Not…this!” Zoe waved her free hand wildly toward the
Prayer
while tugging Delaney backward. Her dark eyes were wide in her shock-paled face. “You’re a…a fucking alien!”

Stung, he said, “In all fairness, you only know that because you invited me back to your room.”

She reeled. “Oh fuck, I let you have sex with me!”

More choking from the top of the
Prayer
. Sin flicked a glance at Delaney. “This is why the existence of the IDA is a closely guarded secret.”

Her face reddened and she turned to her friend, giving Zoe a shake. “Quit freaking out. I know you’ve heard Mr. Evens talking about aliens, and you sell his meteorites. This isn’t such a shock.”

Zoe boggled at her. “Space rocks and space jocks are two entirely different things. And now you want to
be
an alien conspiracy theory!” She jerked out of Delaney’s grasp. “Unless this is all a scam. Yeah, it must be all a joke.”

Sin huffed out an impatient breath. She had accused him repeatedly of being high and mighty, but now she was being unfair and willfully blind. “I am not a joke,” he said, ignoring the thought of Honey’s snickers, “or a scam or even an alien, really. The Jaxians are the same genus as Earthers.”

Zoe turned her wild eyes to him. “You have a
spaceship
. You are an
alien
.”

“Well, if
that’s
your definition…” he muttered.

Delaney grabbed Zoe again. “You shouldn’t have followed me. I just came to get my profile from Sinclarion, and then we’re out of here.”

“Out of here?” Zoe stared at her accusingly before swiveling her head to hit Sin with the same glare. “Exactly how far? So I’d never see you again?”

Delaney hung her head. “I would’ve said goodbye,” she said. “The agency has an explanation all lined up—”

“There is
no
explanation for this,” Zoe burst out.

“Enough,” Sin snapped. “You told me you weren’t looking for a match, but your sister is. It’s her choice.”

Zoe stepped in front of Delaney. “Unless you brainwashed her or drugged her or something. How do we know what you’re capable of? Since you’re willing to
order
a bride like a drink at the bar.”

Since the agency would subject Zoe and maybe Delaney too to refocusing if they were discovered—and since he
had
ordered a bride—Sin couldn’t exactly defend himself. Still, he bristled. “You chose not to be my mate, Zoe Nazario,” he reminded her. “And even though we matched, I respected that choice. In my past, I’ve not had an abundance of options and I won’t take that from anyone else.”

She stared at him intently, as if she was trying to dissect him with her glare.

Across the short distance between them, he was achingly aware of her fear and confusion, and her anger at both, but also of her simple presence. The
singilt
in his ear resonated softly at her nearness, a song made up of her name and her unique atomic frequency, and the ring in his tongue tasted suddenly sweet and musky, like the pixberries that thrived on most settled planets in the inhabited universe.

If he wasn’t careful, the third mating ring would bind him. And if she rejected it as she’d done the others he was that much closer to losing everything.

“I will return the data-cube to you, Delaney,” he said, “so that you can find your match. Or not,” he added when Zoe drew a breath to argue. “You’ll have to take it up with your agency rep. I have enough problems without—”

The utility device in his pocket blared a warning, instantly echoed above from his watching crewmates.

Zoe clamped her hands over her ears. “What is that?”

“Intruder alert.” Sin whirled toward the ship. “Ivan,” he hollered. “Engage the mimic shroud, now. Honey—”

A whoosh from above, and the drakling dropped to the ground a pace from Sin. Zoe and Delaney gasped and staggered back from his sudden appearance. Or maybe it was the wings sprouting from his back. In full battle shift, a drakling male was terrifying. In this halfway form, he was alarming enough.

“Don’t have a solid read on the boundary break,” Honey reported. “The repulsor keeps us hidden but it’s blocking our sensors too.”

“Take to the trees,” Sin told him. “Keep watch. Do not engage unless…” He shook his head. This wasn’t one of their merc missions. “No strafing.”

Honey grinned and launched himself away.

Zoe and Delaney were gawping after him, their faces turned upward, which made it easy to snag both their arms and swing them toward the ramp into the ship.

“Hey.” Zoe tugged at his grip.

“Remember what I said about choice?”

She looked up at him. “Yeah.”

“Now you don’t have one.” He ignored her protest, grateful for Delaney’s passivity, and marched them up the ramp.

“You can’t take us away,” Zoe said, struggling.

“We’re not going anywhere.” Especially since they hadn’t figured out what was going on with the shield tile. “We’re just going dark.” As he spoke, the ramp shimmered around them and faded to translucence until it seemed as if they were floating.

Zoe stared down between her feet. “What…”

“Once we close the hatch, the ship will be disguised. The mimic shroud bends light around us to disguise our shape.”

Stumbling, Zoe leaned against him. “I’m on an invisible spaceship…”

“With a fucking alien,” he grumbled.

Zoe staggered, keeping herself upright only because of Sin’s hold on her arm. The ramp rose behind them, sealing them into the ship.

Well, she’d wondered how a ship could get into landlocked Sunset Falls. Oh, by
flying
in from
outer space
.

“This is crazy,” she muttered.

“You shouldn’t have followed me,” Del said. “I told you I was going fishing.”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “I knew that was a euphemism for something.”

“Unlike fucking, apparently,” Del muttered.

Embarrassment replaced the chill of shock. “I didn’t know he was going to be your second husband.”

“He’s not. He didn’t match me. He matched you.”

“
He
is right here,” Sin said. “And
he
thinks this is crazy too.”

For a moment, Zoe wanted to laugh. Which was even more crazy. She hadn’t felt this energetic in the last year. She glanced at Delaney whose eyes sparkled back at her—they were both crazy. And they were both so, so alive.

She clasped her friend’s hand as Sin semi-tossed them across the corridor from him.

“You two stay here while I find out what’s going on.” He pointed at them warningly. “Do. Not. Move.” He strode down the hallway out of sight.

Zoe turned a slow circle, staring at the corridor around them. It looked like…like she imagined a spaceship would. Kind of like a World War II submarine. With a makeover.

She finished her circle to stare at Delaney. “I. Can’t. Even.”

Del nodded. “It’s hard to believe but…here it is.”

Zoe reached out hesitantly to touch the slightly concave gray wall as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. Which maybe she couldn’t. But the metal wall was smooth and hard under her palm. Exactly as Sin had been and she couldn’t doubt he was real.

Seeing him again made her body tingle as if the hours apart had never happened and she was still reveling in post-coital glow. Even if she doubted her eyes and her mind, her body knew.

“Del,” she whispered, “what is happening?”

Del took a short step down the corridor in the direction Sin had gone. “Maybe we should go find out.”

Since when was Delaney the adventurous one? Of course she
had
signed up for a dating service. An intergalactic dating agency.

Zoe eyed her reproachfully. “I can’t believe you were just going to fly away in this
spaceship
and leave us.”

Del wrinkled her nose. “What? Like you and Will always did all the time? Well, not in a spaceship, but you know what I mean.”

Zoe stiffened. “Not that far.”

“I guess it’s not going to happen now anyway,” Del said, her tone a strange mix of regret and maybe relief. “But since this may be our only chance to explore…” She grabbed Zoe’s hand. “Come on.”

They followed the path Sin had taken down the hall. There weren’t a lot of options for turns; the corridor was tight, almost claustrophobic. At a T intersection, they paused and looked both ways. A clatter and muffled voices came from the left. They glanced at each other before heading that way.

The corridor narrowed to a shallow ramp leading up to an arched doorway. Brighter light glowed in the opening, and Sin’s voice echoed out.

“That’s not Earther tech,” he was saying.

“Earther,” Zoe muttered. It sounded vaguely dismissive, although she supposed anyone in command of a spaceship was likely to look down on anyone without.

“I cannot get a lock, Captain,” said a deeper voice. “The EM repulsor is interfering with the scanners.”

“Then they shouldn’t be able to see us either,” Sin responded.

Speaking of wanting to see… Zoe crept up the ramp with Del at her side, and they peered through the doorway.

“Oh wow,” Del breathed.

A submarine with a makeover
and
a glam filter. Zoe stared at the glowing holographic displays floating through the room, like translucent jellyfish. With all the layers overlapping, she couldn’t make sense of the symbols or information, and her eyes almost crossed.

Her brain actually ached. If this was the future, she didn’t have a place in it.

Sin stood in the middle of the radiant room, the lights gleaming in his blue eyes. He had something like a thick cell phone in one hand and was manipulating the displays with the other, sending the ghostly patterns whipping around his head in a blur.

But the instant she stepped up into the doorway, his gaze snapped to her, shining electric blue through the holographs. “Didn’t I tell you two to stay?”

She shook her head. “Clueless Earthers no listen.”

He grunted. “At least stay out of the way.”

Since she wasn’t sure what the zinging energy would do to them, she edged around the room with Del behind her. It was a command center, that much was clear, and Sin was very much in command. Her pulse skittered and her blood heated at the memory of how he’d commanded her last night…