B.I.L.L.:Elevated adrenaline.Pulse twenty-percent above optimum.The female exhibits symptoms of sexual arousal and may?—
“That’s enough, BILL.”I do not want to hear complete system analysis.Is BILL going to tell Rygar how wet and ready my va-jay-jay is right now?That my ‘elevated pulse’ is due to the man in front of me, and not the idiots who were shooting at us?“BILL, are you an alien?”
B.I.L.L.:By limited human understanding, yes, we are from another world.However, once you return to Erra with your mate, you will be the alien.
Rygar is watching me like he’s waiting for me to go into hysterics.I married an alien.Rygar isn’t from this planet.It’s the only explanation that fits.It makes everything he told me, everything that has happened, even more profound.He blew up Dark Fleet assets in that SUV with weapons that looked like robot spiders.He shot a rocket out of his armor.I have a telepathic alien talking to me inside my head.Bad guys right out ofMen in Blackshot real bullets at us and tried to kill us.The identical, matching space suits are, according to Rygar’s friend, ‘standard issue’ for the Galactic Federation of Worlds.
Rygar scanned my body with a magical laser light thing that magically assessed my health with no blood tests, no doctor, nothing but a beam of light.
I gaze into my new husband’s eyes and grin.“Are you sure you want to be married to an alien?”
“You are mine.The astral bond is strong.Without it, you would not be able to hear BILL so clearly.”He traces my cheek with his fingertips.“Are you sure you are well?”
“I’m processing, but I’m fine.”Aside from the head-trip of falling in love—at first sight—with an alien, the rest of me is not only well, but acutely aware of every single point of contact between his body and mine.I want those big hands of his are all over me.My body throbs.
How can I be soooo turned on right now?I’m mental.Or a sex deprived maniac.Maybe both.
“BILL, where are our friends?”
B.I.L.L.:They continue their pursuit of the vehicle.You should be safe.I advise you to acquire alternate transportation and return immediately.
A shudder passes through Rygar and his arms slide around my waist in a gentle, comforting manner.He rests his chin on my shoulder and holds me as the sound of traffic and police sirens fill the night air.I sink into his heat and sigh.I have absolutely zero idea what I’m supposed to do now.Scream?Faint?Cry?Ask a hundred questions?
I mean, let’s face it.It’s not every day a woman marries a man from outer space.
He holds me while the adrenaline and stress leave my system.Beneath us, the horse senses the change in mood and wanders a few steps to the side to nibble on a patch of grass that has managed to survive between the cracked spaces in the pavement.“What are we going to do now?”I ask.
Rygar nuzzles the side of my neck, his lips send tingles from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.“Now I make sure you’re mine so I can protect you properly.”
“That’s the second time you’ve said that.We just got married, by Sasquatch no less.Remember?”
“That is the human tradition, which I honored for you.Now I ask you to consent to mine.”Right.He’s not human.Of course, he would have different traditions.
“What is it?”Are we going to hop off this horse and howl at the moon?Strip naked, make a fire, chant and sing?Drink a love potion?Nothing would surprise me now.
“We will accept the blessing of our astral bond and seal our bond in the flesh.”
He keeps mentioning an astral bond.I don’t know what that is.But it sounds romantic, in a sigh-worthy, my hubby’s a gorgeous space hunk kind of way.But seal in the flesh?Is that spaceman speak for sex?Well, I’m game if that involves me, him and no clothes.Is it weird that him being an alien who crash landed his ship here is turning me on?Talk about a wild fantasy I didn’t know I needed.Wow.My horny mind is conjuring up endless possibilities we could play out with that little factoid.I’m questioning my sanity, just a little, because believing my husband is from the Pleiadean star system is about as whack-a-doo as a body can get.
So of course, I agree.Why get off the crazy train now?“Okay, let’s do it.”
Rygar’s pleasure seems to find its way inside me as he leads the horse a few blocks back the way we came and stops.He helps me dismount and slaps the horse on the rump to send him on his way home.
I look up at the bright, neon sign over our heads, easily recognizable from our drive into town.
Big Daddy Tats.A tattoo parlor?
Oh, no.No.No way.I hate needles.Like, really, really, throw up, pass out, have a panic attack, hate needles.“You want to get matching tattoos?”
Seven
B.I.L.L.: See.I told you.Those astral bonds mess things up faster than my neural network.
Big Daddy Tats, Reno, Nevada, Saturday 9:30 pm
“I hate needles.”I gasp for air like a guppy tossed onto dry land and wish we were still on the horse.“Let’s just get a taxi and go back to Stargazer.”
“We’re safe, mate.No one walking by will be able to see us.I activated the invisibility shield on my suit and expanded the frequency field to include us both.”
