ROMANCE: MENAGE ROMANCE: Tapped and Taken by Two (Pregnancy Sports MMA UFC Fighter Romance) (Alpha Male Romance) (46 page)

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At eight-thirty. Sandy came by the house and knocked on the door. She had come to take Ruby to the gravel pit. As soon as Travis left that morning she started to miss him. She worried that it could be the last time she would be able to see him. What would she do if Mac won? She turned to her friend in the driver’s seat of the car.

“If Mac wins will you help me run away?

Sandy just stared forward. “I could, but it wouldn’t do any good. One of the things that getting marked by an alpha does is link you to him. He can sense you, and that won’t change unless you die. It’s the same deal with Travis. He can sense your feelings, can smell you in a crowd. They can find you no matter how far you run or where you hide.”

“So if Mac wins I’m stuck with him?”

“At least until he or you dies. I can promise I’ll do what I can to protect you if it comes to it though.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t think Mac intends to keep you with him mated for life.”

“He’ll kill me?”

“I don’t know, but I know he’d do anything to end the competition between him and Travis and become the only alpha in the clan. Who knows how far he’d go to get something else he wants. Or get rid of something he didn’t…”

The rest of the car ride was silent. When they got to gravel pit Ruby was surprised and didn’t think she had seen this many cars in one place since she arrived in Pinewood Junction.

“Looks like the even the clan members who live in the hills came down for this,” said Sandy.

Ruby got out of the car wearing white, it only seemed appropriate, a clinging dress, and low heels. Immediately, a group of women approached her and started slathering her exposed skin in a strange mud that felt creamy like a lotion and disappeared on her skin like they were rubbing in with moisturizer, leaving strange glittery sparkles all over her. She sparkled under the light of the moon. Sandy was helping them, and she quickly whispered to Ruby and she rubbed some on her forehead and cheeks. “This will help mask your scent for just a little while. It’s part of the alpha mating ceremony. Like a veil in a human wedding.”

“How long will it last?”

“No longer than two hours, or until it gets washed off. It’s traditional for the alpha to lick it off though.”

Ruby tingled at the thought of Travis, bear shape or not, licking her all over back at his home. Thinking about Mac doing it to her made her start to feel ill though. The crowd all parted for her when they finished.  Elder Wallace smiled kindly to her and called her to his side. They didn’t have long to wait before Travis arrived in his Chevelle, and Mac pulled up in his GT-R. The four of them stood together in front of the entire bear clan. Most of them were in human form but a bunch of them turned into great giant grizzlies and roared for the elder as he started to address Mac and Travis.

“You boys have anything to say?” Wallace asked.

Mac stepped forward and turned to the rest of the bear clan. “I don’t want to fight.” Ruby’s heart gave a twist. She didn’t want to see Travis hurt. “I know I can’t win in a brawl against Travis. You all know that. I propose a different challenge.”

The townsfolk—all the bear shifters—went silent.

“Go on,” encouraged Wallace. It was clear that he didn’t want to see either of them hurt either. He knew though that this day was going to come. A clan could only have one alpha protector, just like it could only have one lead elder.

“I want to race to settle this. Our people are few enough. We don’t need to lose a life to settle this.”

Travis gaped at him.

“Elder Wallace, do you permit my request?”

The two cars sat nearby in the moonlight, the chrome and glass twinkling in the stars like Ruby’s glittering body.

“I permit your request, but the clan must make the final decision. They are the ones that will need to cast the loser out and submit to the winner.” Wallace said.

The crowd gasped, and began talking among themselves, but soon the murmurs and grunts started to turn into roars of approval.

“We’ve lost enough!” Ruby heard a few people shout out from the crowd.

Wallace raised his hand to silence them. “You’ll take the route I’ll lay out. Here to the post office, down Stafford Ferry Road to the school bus turn around, back along the Dry River Trail, up along Rose creek, and back here. First car into the gravel pit wins. If there is a tie, you’ll settle it the old fashioned way.”

Mac grinned at Ruby. “There won’t be a tie.”

“Do you need to fuel up? Any preparations needed?”

“No sir!” Mac said.

Travis thought on it a few more moments. Ruby could see he played the route over in his mind. The two cars were so different, like the two men. Could a forty something year old pony car beat the gleaming new Nissan? She hoped if it were a wholly unfair fight, Elder Wallace would not have allowed it. She crossed her fingers, sending all her prayers to Travis. The mud was masking her smell, but her sensory memory gave her the scent of Travis. It was just like they were back in bed and he on top of her thrusting into her.

“I’m good, sir,” Travis said.

The two men went to their cars, and started the engines. The throaty rumbles reverberated off the walls of the gravel pit and filled the Montana night. Ruby caught Sandy’s eye in the crowd, and she gave an encouraging smile. Ruby smiled back.

Eric Horton, an old racing mechanic in town who worked at the 7-11, guided the cars to an even starting position, lining them up precisely. Elder Wallace led Ruby to in front of them but in the space the separated the two rumbling machines and beast men.

“They will start on your signal.” He said.

Ruby raised her arms. Engines revved. She looked from Mac to Travis. Mac was darting his head to the side and snarling at Travis then over to her. Barely able to keep himself still behind the wheel, he looked frantic and the way he looked at Ruby made her feel frightened. Travis just stared straight ahead. It was like he was still running over the route, taking the turns in his mind before he even got to them.

She looked down to the ground and dropped her arms.

The two cars tore off, charging past her so fast she had to take a step back to keep from falling down. A number of the clan switched to bear form and ran in different directions.

Elder Wallace leaned over to her. “They’ll watch from different spots along the route. If anything happens we should hear about it.” 

The three vehicles vanished outside the gravel pit, and gradually the night went silent again as the roaring engines took off into the night.

Inside the pit, the atmosphere slowly turned festive. It was, after all, a wedding. Now people could talk to Ruby, and they did in great numbers, congratulating her on her pairing. It boggled her mind—they didn’t even know who she would be going home with.

“I hope it’s Travis,” Sandy whispered to Ruby in-between her shaking the hands of people who had now practically lined up in a queue like they would at a regular wedding.

People handed her drinks, even though she wasn’t in the mood for them. She stuck to cheap, light beer, but still it made her head start to swim. What would her uncle say if he knew where she was?

Elder Wallace estimated it should take a little more than a half hour to complete the whole track. Ruby kept looking at the clock on her cell phone, watching the minutes crawl onwards. She heard a loud and long growl in the distance.

“Sounds like nobody is really pulling ahead too much,” Elder Wallace translated for her. “You’ll start to understand the sounds for yourself in time.” She heard a few more growls as time moved on, but after each one Elder Wallace just shook his head. “Nothing’s changed it seems.”

Finally, the low grumble of an engine. Ruby tried to discern which car it was by the sound, but couldn’t.

There was no mistaking the first set of headlights, though, as they peeked through the gap in the gravel pit wall. Wide headlights, incandescent yellow. Travis.

As the Chevelle came closer, she saw long black scrapes down the side, the same inky color as Mac’s GT-R. She wondered what happened out there.

The people cheered for Travis, though she assumed they would have cheered just as loudly for Mac.

One of the bears who had run off to watch the race came charging out of the woods and ran up to Elder Wallace.

“Where was Mac?” Elder Wallace asked the bear.

Ruby couldn’t understand what it was saying, but the rest of the crowd, the women and the men who were still in human form, seemed shocked by what they were hearing.

Ruby ran for Travis’ car. He threw the door open and ran for her as well, sweeping her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, uncaring who caught a flash of panties (white like Travis liked, lace this time and much smaller). They kissed like no one was watching, which they weren’t because they were still hearing about what happened out there. Ruby got her own version from Travis after they begrudgingly broke off the kiss.

“About two miles back, Mac decided to drive dirty. I didn’t think he would try it since the Chevelle was bigger and more solidly built. It was probably his plan all along though. He knew he wouldn’t beat me in a real fight so thought he could take me out on the road. Last thing I saw was Mac’s car catching the edge of the road and spinning out.”

The clan member who was telling the story to the rest of the clan had actually went to go see if Mac was okay. He found the car but not Mac.

“I doubt if we’ll see him anytime soon.” Said Travis. “He’d have to submit to me it he was to stay in the clan. My guess is that he would rather live alone somewhere on the mountain than do that right now.”

Ruby didn’t really care though. She was just glad to have Travis be okay and not be given away to Mac.

“Well, Mrs. Johnson. How does it feel?” Travis asked, speaking into her neck, causing her to get goosebumps in the warm night.

“Amazing.” She pulled her head back to look at him, and noticed her glitter all over him, sparkling in the moonlight. Yesterday she hadn’t considered marriage, but today, now that she was here, she couldn’t imagine another path for herself.

“I heard you have a little tradition of licking off all this sparkly stuff. What do you say we take off to at least do that part of this mating ceremony by the book?”

Travis picked her up again and slung her over his shoulder. She never expected someone could even manhandle her in such a way, or that it would feel so good. Driving back home as fast as he could Ruby could feel the rumble of the engine all over her body and could sense the lusty rumble in Travis’ chest.

The End

The Alien Bride

“Of course I’m aware of the situation,” Kallos said.

“Yet you continue to avoid dealing with it.”

Kallos turned sharply to his sister.

“You’re asking me to just ‘deal’ with it? With our father lying on his deathbed?”

Nillana frowned. “None of us asked for this. But we all have to deal with it.”

Kallos paced across the antechamber, his boots echoing against the marbled stone floor. One by one, he bent a finger into his palm, cracking the joints.

“My lord,” a pale figure with a thinned face spoke up. The advisor stood still, only his eyes following the movement of the prince. “We do not ask for you not to mourn. But we must be prepared.”

“You must succeed our father,” Nillana said. “We must avoid an empty throne. If our people’s history has taught us anything, it is that.”

Kallos slowed his pacing and leaned against a window. He looked out over the teal and gold city that bathed beneath the pale lights of twin moons. He had seen images of the wars that had ravaged the land centuries and millennia past, and had no desire to superimpose pillars of fire and clouds of toxic smoke on this planet now. He pressed his fingers into his palm again, but they had no pops or cracks left in them.

“My lord?” Kallos’ advisor said. “By my duty, and the king’s wishes, we must not delay in making arrangements. A decision must be made.”

“There must be someone among the nobility who you would find fit to be your bride,” Nillana said, joining her brother at the window. Her violet pools for eyes narrowed, as if she was squinting to find such a fit from someone traversing the streets below.

Kallos did not look at her.

“You have your pick of anyone,” she continued. “Yet you choose not to? Are you so afraid of the responsibilities of being king?”

He turned his head to her.

“You’d do well to watch your tongue, Nillana,” he said. “Your advice is unsolicited.”

She scoffed at him. “I’m trying to help.”

“I don’t want your help.”

“But you need it.”

He turned back to look out the window.

Nillana sighed. “Is there really no one who catches your eye?”

“No,” Kallos said without hesitation.

“How so?”

“They have no substance to them. I don’t want to marry someone who’s lived the same life as I. The mundane bores me.”

“You want to marry a commoner?” Nillana looked at him. “I mean—it’s been done, but rarely are they fit to help rule.”

Behind them, the advisor cleared his throat.

“My lord and lady? Might I suggest another alternative?”

“Suggest away,” Kallos said, still gazing out the window.

“Perhaps an ideal mate might be located elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere?” Nillana said. “You mean off-planet?”

Kallos’ pointed ears twitched.

“I do. Securing off-planet brides is becoming a trend across the galaxy.”

“She would certainly have lived a different life than you, Kallos,” Nillana said, then she turned to the advisor. “Do you have a specific system in mind? A specific planet?”

“Unless my lord has a particular taste, I have heard of a planet, with lovely specimens, that would provide little resistance to our technology.”

“Where is it?”

“In a system the natives call the Milky Way.”

“An odd name.”

The advisor raised a cupped hand in the air in a shrug.

“Well, Kallos?”

The prince turned on his heel and regarded the two of them.

“Very well,” he said. “But whoever you send to collect this woman, make sure they know how to choose. I will not marry an idiot or—”

Nillana held up a hand. “Rest easy. I will rally a team and go myself. I haven’t been off Halpa for a while.”

“You?”

“Oh, please,” she smiled. “I think I know my brother enough to make an informed decision.”

“Then I will place my future in your hands. Please, take care not to ruin it.”  

Nillana patted him firmly on the shoulder.

“Our lives are intertwined, so I shall treat yours as mine. I’ll leave immediately.”

Nillana strode out of the room.

“You may leave me now, Ferrin,” Kallos said, returning his gaze to the stars.

“As you wish, my lord,” the advisor said, and left with a bow of deference.

Kallos slipped off the metal band around his wrist and ran his finger along a particular edge. His fingers danced on a blue grid projected in the air. In an instant, the image of a blue, green and white planet floated before him. It spun slowly on its axis. And for the first time in days, Kallos allowed himself a small, hopeful smile. It was not the responsibility of the throne that he feared, it was the responsibility of marriage. He dreaded the thought of having to marry one of those scrawny and boring daughters of the nobles, but the king must have a bride or he was no king. At least the possibility that his bride would be someone different and interesting made him happy.

Nillana better not fail me
.

Kallos thought those words as he swiped away the image of the green and blue planet in the galaxy called the Milky Way.  

~

Larisa wiped the sweat from her temple, sending beads of liquid glistening through the air. Her breathing was heavy, but she didn’t stop running. She was too close to slow down now.

Her sneakers pounded into the grass, the porch light casting her shadow against lopsided trees. Lactic acid gathered in her muscles, but she forced herself onward, into the field that was her house’s backyard. One thing she loved about living in the suburbs was the privacy. No one was here to judge her performance during her late night or early morning workouts, or stare at the slight jiggle of her belly and thighs when she ran. She could wear whatever she wanted and not have to endure the parade of airheaded sticks that filed through the locker room on their way to their light sweatless workouts or raw food lunches in their expensive workout clothes. Larisa always thought that if the clothes you work out in weren’t a sweat drenched mess then you can’t really call it a workout. There were plenty of those types at the gym she went to in the city. Now that she lived out in the suburbs though, the whole countryside was her gym.

The phone strapped to her arm beeped, and with a gasp of relief, she turned her run into a trot, and then the trot into a steady jog. She panted, the cold night air suddenly uncomfortable in her lungs. She gradually slowed to a walk, and pulled her phone to her face.

She smiled. Sweat dripped into her eyes. She had bested her previous time.

Take that, world, she thought. Her chest swelled with pride.

Larisa plopped down on the grass and leaned back. The light breeze was bliss against her skin.

As her heartbeat gradually calmed, she opened an app on her phone and tapped to mark the time and distance of her run. She then swiped through her friends’ latests posts and liked a picture one of her friends had posted. It showed a tall, slender woman with piercing hazel eyes and red hair. Her crop top and low rise yoga pants showcased impressive abs and chiseled arms. She definitely wasn’t a size 0 fitness model. The caption read: “Some women compare dress sizes. I would rather talk about how many chin-ups you can do.”  Larisa liked that. She never wasted time wishing she was smaller or skinnier, and she definitely wasn’t as ripped as that woman in the picture, but Larisa liked how she looked. Even if the rest of the world didn’t see it that way.  

She set her phone on the ground and looked up into the sky.

The city lights were still close enough that the haze of light pollution diminished the intensity of the stars, but she couldn’t argue that the view wasn’t better than if she lived downtown. She’d rest for a while here, with the grass frisking her legs, and then head back inside to rehydrate and wind down for the night.

It was a quiet night. A rare quiet, and she wanted to savor it a moment longer. There were only faint car engines rumbling in the distance, no wandering cats shrieking for sex, and, for once, no pestering phone calls from work. Larisa had been getting a lot of those lately, and was starting to get fed up. It’s not like she got along with anyone there anyway, but everyone seemed to like coming to her when they didn’t know how to do something. The fact that she didn’t have many close friends though didn’t really bother her. She was used to be a bit of a loner, and to making things happen for herself. She was used to just being comfortable being alone.

Her mother had actually abandoned Larisa as a young teenager, and Larisa grew up in foster care. It wasn’t the tragedy everyone envisions when she mentions it. Sometimes the system works out, and it definitely made her stronger and more independent, which is why it was nice to not have to talk to anyone right now. A few years ago she had actually reconnected with her biological mom, and she was glad they did, but Larisa didn’t feel overly emotional about it. It’s not like she felt like she had found her home or her family now. 

Larisa closed her eyes and laid all the way back. She had to shower anyway, so it made no difference to her if she got bits of grass and dirt in her hair.

Her mind began to drift away from her, the distant sound of cars on the freeway taking up residence inside her ears and wrapping around her like a blanket. The stars were coming down from the sky to sing a lullaby to her…she closed her eyes

She jerked to her elbows, eyes flashing open. There was something not right in that one spot in the sky she was looking at as her eyes closed. As she scanned the area in the night sky nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary though.

I must have pushed myself a little too hard this time
. She thought when she checked the time on her phone.

She rolled onto her stomach and stretched, then pushed herself up into a plank, held it for a few seconds, then transitioned into a downward dog. After a minute of shifting between that and a cobra, Larisa got to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. Her gaze wandered up to fall on that section of sky again and a particularly bright star seemed to be there. She tried to remember the name of the visible stars she knew of—the brightest star in the sky—but it escaped her. All she could remember was that it shared a name with some pop culture character…

The star seemed to be growing brighter now though and Larisa squinted at it. It also seemed to be noticeably moving in the sky. Her arms fell to her side.

Was it actually a satellite
? She mused. If it was the star she was thinking of, it should be in Orion’s Belt—but that was behind her.

She shook her head then looked again. She couldn’t tell now if it was moving, but she could swear it was still getting brighter. She wondered what else it could be that explained it. Maybe there was some weird meteor shower tonight or some other type of natural phenomenon. She liked looking at the night sky, but she was no astronomer.

Larisa kept her eyes on the light as she started moving back to her house. Taking a few steps backwards and then turning around to take a few steps before looking back over her shoulder. The edges of the white light transmuted into turquoise, then continued to get even brighter, and bigger and she stopped moving. This light now seemed to hover in the sky barely twice the height of the treetops before she even knew what was going on.

Larisa eyes teared up from the brightness. Something in her gut tried urged her to run to the house, but her feet had rooted in the earth now. A tingling sensation began at the back of her head and prickled its way along her cranium and to her brow. Her vision became spotted with orbs and auras. Her head felt like it had been swept up in the waves of a fierce storm.

As the dizziness increased, she tried to reach out to steady herself on something, but there was nothing to grab onto. She stumbled, but somehow didn’t fall. She clenched her eyes against the glowing lights that were suddenly surrounding her. It was warm—hot. She felt like she had ran a mile in thirty seconds. She was covered in sweat again.

Larisa heard a buzzing in her ears. She opened her eyes, but was blinded by white floodlights. Her head spun and the bits of darkness at the edges of her vision swarmed to takeover the rest.

Then everything was black and silent again. She didn’t even feel herself hit the ground. 

~

Larisa awoke to a blazing headache. She didn’t even open her eyes, just mumbled in pain and tossed her head to the side. She threw an arm up under her head to squish the pillow into a more comfortable form. After bunching it to form a partial cavity around her head, she started to readjust one corner, then stopped, and slowly drew her hand back.

This wasn’t her pillow. It was beaded. She hated beaded pillows.

Her heart began to thunder in her chest, its rumbling matching the screaming in her head.

She opened her eyes, but everything was hazy and out of focus. The shapes didn’t tell her she was back in any room in her house.

She replayed what she could remember of what happened before she fell asleep. She was running, did some stretches…