Chapter 10

10

“ T his has got to be a dream,” Jenny muttered to herself as she sat in the little meeting room with Karuk, Polly and Re-lee. It probably would have been a lovely conversation, if they weren’t discussing the rest of her life, being chosen to mate with Karuk, like she was some kind of pawn to be moved on a chess board.

Regardless that she liked Karuk, because she did, but this was just too much to be thrown at her right now.

None of it seemed real.

“I assure you, it is not,” Karuk said, his voice low.

She’d finally gotten her emotions under control.

And she didn’t smack Karuk for his chuckling at her.

Which at some point, she was absolutely going to let him have it for that. How damn rude to laugh at her anger.

They both seated themselves in chairs side by side in the meeting room that Re-lee had brought her to, across from the others.

Of all the things to find out. That she’d been matched with an alien. She just couldn’t wrap her head around it. It’s one thing to want to be a part of this dating program from one’s own free will.

To be assigned a mate?

With no desire to be in it?

Her gaze darted over to Karuk.

As attractive as he was, it still frustrated her to be told she had to mate with him. Like she had no choice in the matter.

This was the shit she got away from Phil for. His designs to control her, with his ways of belittling her, made it hard for her to move away from him. Part of the reason he wouldn’t stop stalking her.

Coming here was a chance to be completely away from all of that.

Yet here she was, being flung back at a male.

Part of her wanted to scream and stomp and yell. Correction, a lot of her wanted to rebel against this.

After all, this was going to be her big chance. Her enormous opportunity to be a part of something amazing. World shaping. The things she was going to do here, to learn about, and to bring back to Earth? There were so many discoveries to make, to create.

How many diseases would they be able to cure? Disorders they could erase? Cancer. They could finally make headway against cancer.

She shook her head.

Now she was bringing back an alien?

Not the breakthrough she was looking for.

She crossed her arms and glared at Re-lee and Polly.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Polly said.

“I’m pretty sure you don’t,” Jenny replied.

“Actually, if anyone does, it would be her,” Re-lee said. “She was a surprised-mate as well. And while we rarely allow any humanoid to be entered in the database against their consent, it does occasionally happen.”

“Sounds like a bug you need to work out,” Jenny said.

“We are. Circumstances that brought Polly, as well as other Earthlings to the Intergalactic Dating Agency have been rectified with Polly’s assistance.”

“Still doesn’t explain this,” Jenny said, gesturing to her and Karuk. “The database would only allow those of us here to be entered, for testing.”

“And we did test it. We ran our network over the local data, and that is where we are,” Re-lee replied.

“So how broad is this database? Will everyone here find a mate now that we all have been scanned?” Karuk asked.

“We are not yet connected to the galactic system,” Re-lee said. “These are merely local to this station, and those we scanned in. Honestly, the pool is so small, I didn’t expect anyone to find a mate here. There are not nearly enough humanoids to create an intact collection.”

“Obviously, there is,” Jenny muttered, wincing at her word choice. “And don’t call us a ‘collection.’ We have free will.”

“Of course, I meant no disrespect. I referred only to it from an analytical and data-built point of view.”

“Earthlings are touchy about ownership and being owned. Just for future reference,” Polly said to Re-lee.

“Noted. Again, I apologize.”

“Forgiven,” Jenny said. “Now, since your program did this, what’s the results? What do we have to do?”

Polly snapped her fingers and then pointed at Karuk. “You’re the one, from that first day, who came over to all of us Earthlings in the cafeteria.”

Re-lee smiled one of those knowing smiles.

And Jenny wanted to smack it.

No, this wasn’t what she wanted.

No.

She’d just gotten out of Phil’s grasp. Now she was stuck with Karuk? He was nice enough, but every guy started out nice. Phil did. And look how that turned out.

Jenny waved her hands. “It doesn’t matter. He just, well, he just came over. That means nothing.”

“And he talked to you,” Polly countered. “To me, that says that he may have been drawn to you upon first sight. Other species have different chemistry. Sometimes they just know who their mate is.”

Karuk blinked. “I thought she was a telepath. I could hear her thoughts, even with my earpiece. Her fears. I believed it was hers, initially. It led me to investigate. It turned out to be her pet’s.”

Polly blinked. “You can hear her cat’s thoughts.”

Even frustrated, she couldn’t help a brief grin at that one. “Yeah, my cat’s a talker, on the telepathic level, anyway.” She glanced at him. “I let Mr. F out to roam last night, just so you know.”

“He will be pleased.”

“Hope so.”

Karuk nodded. “I will let you know when I see him next.”

Both Polly and Re-lee watched them with those knowing expressions. Again, Jenny wanted to yell at them, something to wipe that look off their faces.

Instead, she tried to get her brain to wrap around this. And not blame Karuk.

Seriously. He was nice. She’d probably date him, if this was a normal thing, and they were on Earth and everything.

He wasn’t Phil, and it wasn’t fair to him that she jumped defensively to be so against the idea.

She ran her hands through her hair, wanting to feel something, something normal and grounding.

And she found herself glancing at Karuk’s hand that casually rested on the chair arm. Pale, with gold specks in it, in kind of a pattern on the top of his hand.

This just isn’t real , she thought. It just can’t be. Marrying an alien? A humanoid from another world?

“Really?” Polly asked. “And that’s not any kind of proof that you two have a connection? I mean, it looks like you two have made a friendship of a sort, all on your own. Over your cat.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to marry him, or mate him, or whatever.”

Karuk looked at her, and was she seeing things, or did he look offended? That look hit hard, and she felt bad for her words. He didn’t deserve that.

Regardless of the circumstances.

She tried to backtrack, and not be so rude. “Not, uh, that you’re not, uh, mating material, or anything. I just didn’t come here for that.”

“Neither did I,” he replied, and turned, looking straight ahead.

Damn. Here we go again. I’ve said something stupid and offensive. Just because he’s from another world doesn’t mean he doesn’t have normal feelings, does it?

The last thing she needed to be worried about was offending him or anyone else at this point.

Focus.

She needed to understand what was happening now. What would they be forced to do? “Look, what does this mean? Seriously. What are we supposed to do now?”

Polly and Re-lee looked at each other. Polly shrugged. “Well, it’s up to you two, how to proceed.”

“In a standard Intergalactic Dating Agency contract, we have a thirty-day clause,” Re-lee said. “If you agree to a thirty-day mating period, at the end of that contracted time, if you two choose to separate, you both are free to walk away. Any legal contractual obligations are fulfilled.”

Jenny blinked. “Would that apply here?”

“It could, if you made this an official IDA match,” Re-lee said.

“The only caveat to that is any agreement made between the two of you that are culturally binding will be held in place,” Polly said.

“Meaning?” Karuk asked.

“If you two decide to get married on Earth,” Polly said, “You’re bound by Earth laws to be married, regardless of the IDA agreement.”

“Or if you commit to a Dalgurian Mating Promise,” Re-lee added. “You will be committed by that bond, and it will take a Dalgurian court to release the bond.”

Jenny looked at Karuk.

He glanced at her.

“This is so weird,” she said. “So we can agree to a thirty-day trial, and if it doesn’t work, we can walk away, free. As long as we don’t get married on Earth or do whatever his mating promise is.”

“Right. My husband, Erzo and I, agreed to be together for the thirty days. I was his pretend mate to help get out of a forced marriage on his world. It was an agreement we made.”

“But you’re still together.”

“We fell in love through the trial.” She shrugged. “He gave me a bat.”

Jenny raised her eyebrow. “A bat? Like the animal or the sports equipment?”

“Sports equipment. I used to play when I was a kid.”

“Huh,” Jenny said.

“There was a lot going on. He wanted me to have something I could swing if someone came at me.”

Jenny blinked. She’d not heard any of that part of Polly’s mating with Erzo. “Someday, you may have to tell the whole story of that one.”

“It was quite a thing. But it also showed me just how much I could trust him. So the thirty days was a formality, when it was all said and done.”

“Is that what you expect here?” Karuk asked.

“It is what we hope for,” Re-lee said.

“But we can’t expect everything to work out perfectly,” Polly added.

He nodded. “When do you need to know?”

“As soon as possible,” Re-lee said. “We can give you an hour.”

Jenny shook her head. “An hour? We have an hour to decide the rest of our lives?” That sounded like one of those impossible tasks.

An hour to decide her future, one that was an about-face from the future she’d seen for herself just a few days ago.

“Hey, she’s giving you an hour,” Polly said. “I didn’t get that. Come to think of it, I don’t think I got any time to decide. I was told, hey, here’s your mate.”

“I wouldn’t put it so crass,” Re-lee said.

“Okay, you made it sound pretty and eloquent, but yeah, that’s what you did,” Polly said. “Come on, I’m hungry. And so is baby Erzo. Let’s go get a bite and let them talk.” She rubbed her belly as she spoke.

Re-lee nodded, and the two of them walked out of the meeting room, leaving Jenny and Karuk alone.

And the room felt smaller, now that it was just the two of them.

“This is not why I came here,” Karuk said.

“Me either. The last thing on my mind was to find a new man. I just got rid of the last one. At least I tried. Boys are not my thing right now, and now I’m thrown into this? Not what?—”

“I wasn’t finished.”

She stopped. “Sorry. I didn’t realize.” She looked down and back up. “What were you going to say?”

“I did not come here for a mate, but I am open to the opportunity.”

Jenny froze. “Pardon?”

“If you do not wish it, I understand. All of this is a great deal to take in, especially for you Earthlings, who are only just learning about the galaxy and how large it is.”

“It’s not that,” she said. “I don’t want to be told what to do and where I can go.”

“You assume I would restrict you?”

She sighed. “That’s what all men say. Then it starts again. ‘Don’t wear that,’ ‘do your hair this way,’ ‘don’t go out, stay here with me,’ and then suddenly everything is about what you want. And when I try to get away, it just gets worse. I just don’t want another damn stalker.”

And when she got down to it, that was a lot of it right there. Not wanting another male trying to control her.

After all, she’d just met Karuk. What if it’s part of his culture to control his female? Did their system take into account cultural preferences? And how would they know Earth preferences? There was such a variety, what if they thought she was into that?

After her previous relationship, she didn’t want the system to think the wrong thing.

She glanced at him, embarrassed for her TMI, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to see the disgust on his face.

Though disgust was not what she saw.

His face hardened. Honestly, he barely moved, but just enough of his face shifted and the kindness and amusement she’d seen before disappeared into something darker.

Meaner.

“Who stalked you? Did he harm you?” his voice was gravelly and dark.

“My ex,” she said. “And no, nothing physical yet. Just a lot of spying and emails. Like everywhere I was, he was. I ended it months ago, and he kept coming around. Honestly, it was why I was glad to come here. It got me away from him, in a place he could never come. I’ve slept better here than I have in months.”

No lie there. Since she joined this project, she slept well, knowing that Phil couldn’t get near her.

“I shall keep you protected,” he said, that gravelly voice stronger. Like he was prepared to take down an army for her.

In a way, it was kinda sweet. It did warm her heart to hear such a commitment. From anyone.

Nevertheless, she didn’t need or want him to feel obligated to take care of her. After all, she was grown. She didn’t need someone to protect her. She was a strong, independent woman.

Just like the therapist said.

“I shouldn’t need you to protect me.”

“That is what I would do. As your friend. I would keep you safe. No matter if I was your mate.”

“Safe,” she muttered, shaking her head at the concept. “That’s just it. If I don’t go back down there, then I won’t have to worry. Up here is safe. He can’t get here. No one can.”

She could stay here for a long time, and he’d eventually forget about her. Move on, and she’d be safe here.

“Eventually, you’ll have to return to your world.”

“Probably. When I’m done here. But I’m a bioengineer. I can make a project take years. I could stay here indefinitely, if I tried.”

He nodded, a strange look in his eye, and she wondered if he’d get that luxury. “What will you do when you’re done here?”

“Move to the next job. Wherever that takes me.”

And an idea came to her. One that would keep her safe. Crazy, stupid, and everything she didn’t think she wanted, but the potential that came to her… “If we did get mated, then I could travel with you.”

He raised his perfect eyebrow. “You would leave your world with an alien , just to avoid another being?”

“But think of all the stuff I could discover.”

“Discovery is your reason for leaving, and not avoidance.”

“No. That would just be a bonus.”

He raised his eyebrow.

She bowed her head. “Okay, it’s avoidance. I just, um, I can’t stand the constant barrage that he’s out there, watching me. That he knows where I am, and what I’m doing. If I wasn’t here, he couldn’t find me.”

“Jenny,” he said.

She felt her cheeks getting hot, because she felt stupid. It was a stupid idea, one of those random things that popped into her head with no general thought process. And she felt a fool for saying it aloud.

“Jenny,” he said again, his voice softer.

She raised her head a little.

“Look at me.”

She met his gaze, his expression much softer than the one he’d had a few moments before.

“I would be honored to be your mate, but only because you wanted to be mine. I would not want you with me because of fear. That is a dishonor to us both.”

“I understand.” But she didn’t. Not really. What he said was so kind. Beautiful, almost. Yet why did it feel like he’d just broken up with her?

Did he just say he didn’t want to commit to this? To her?

She rubbed her head. What was wrong with her? One minute she was furious that this happened and couldn’t believe it.

Now she was sad that Karuk wasn’t interested?

Had she lost her mind?

“I don’t know. I just don’t know,” Jenny said.

“What are you attempting to understand?” Karuk asked.

She glanced at him. “You were here, right? The whole, ‘we’re destined to be mated’ thing? I mean, that’s kinda a big deal. On my world, that’s a lot.”

“We do not have to move forward with anything if you do not wish it.”

“That’s the problem. I don’t know if I want to or not. On one hand,” she glanced at him and waved her hand. “You’re, well, you. And I can’t deny it, you’re very attractive. Suddenly we’re committed to a life together. It’s not even a dating and a see where it goes, thing, it’s like, boom, we’re together. And from the other side, what if you wind up being just like every other male, who wants to control me? I don’t want that either. The idea that I could be right back where I started before I came here terrifies me. And I wouldn’t have Earth to be safe on, and I wouldn’t have space. And that’s a lot, okay?”

“It is. Though we can end any arrangement we create, after thirty days. Even Polly said that she and her mate made a similar bargain when they came together, as a temporary ruse.”

“But they wound up being together in the end.”

“That was how their arrangement ended. That does not mean ours would end that way if we don’t want it to.”

“What would be the point?” Jenny asked. “What’s our goal, then?”

“Mine would be to make sure you are secure and safe.”

“Here? Or on the planet?”

“Anywhere you feel unsafe, I will secure.”

“Why?” Jenny asked. “What do you get out of it?”

“Knowing that you’re secure, that will be enough.”

She raised her eyebrow. Granted, she hadn’t known him long, but something about his expression made her wonder about his motives.

“No one does anything strictly out of kindness. What is your end game?”

“I expect nothing. I choose to do this, because it is the right thing to do. For a friend.”

“So we’re friends?”

“Do you not think so?”

“I do.”

“So this shift in our relationship, it is a test. Thirty days is not a long period for us to,” he paused, his gaze running over her for a moment. “Experiment with the idea.”

“So it would be for science,” she said, seeing a gleam in his eyes.

“We find one another appealing. You are a scientist. The experiment would have merit. I’m sure the engineering studies for alien and Earthling testing would be appreciative.”

“You think?”

“I think.”

He leaned in.

How did he get so close to her all of a sudden?

Before she knew what was going on, his lips met hers.

And everything exploded.

In all the good ways.

The flavor of him, the smell, the feelings. They were intense and amazing and everything she’d ever thought a kiss should be. He stroked her face, his hand sliding down her cheek and along her neck.

A tiny part of her stiffened, because she feared he would grab her throat. Instead, his hand slid around the back and into her hair.

That felt good.

That felt right.

He felt right.

Jenny went through her little dorm room and started packing up all of her belongings. They were leaving soon, and she didn’t want to forget anything at the station. A stipulation that Re-lee didn’t initially mention was that they were to live together in an apartment built just for newly-mated couples.

Back on The Bridge.

Mister Fluffikins stared at her from his perch on the back of the couch, judging her. At least, it felt that way, the intense stare he had.

“Really. I think you’ll like this. After all, we’ll be with Karuk, and he can actually hear what you’re saying, and we’ll all be better for it. Right?”

Mr. F said nothing.

She folded up her clothes and continued to pack. Her stomach was still dancing in knots.

Did she seriously just make a bargain with a being from another planet, to live together for a month, and see where it goes?

He got her with experiments.

Because that’s what it would be—an experiment, to see how it would go. If he was able to make sure she was safe, and protect her from Phil, well, all the better.

And then there was that kiss.

That ridiculous, intense, swimmingly wonderful kiss. The kiss felt like it lasted forever. Obviously not, of course, but still, it took her breath away, and touched her deep inside.

How did someone she’d only just met touch her so fast and so deeply? And so well? Just with a kiss, she was taken with Karuk, and couldn’t wait to kiss him again.

She sighed, cradling the sweater in her hand for a moment.

“Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?” Brooklyn asked from the bathroom doorway.

Jenny jumped and returned to folding the sweater so she could pack it in her bag.

“Packing,” Jenny said.

“You’re leaving?” Brooklyn asked, coming into Jenny’ room.

“It seems so,” she replied. “Kind of, anyway.”

“Moving to another apartment? What’s the matter? Can you hear me snoring or something? Am I a pig in the bathroom?”

Jenny chuckled. “No, nothing like that.”

“Then what, you’re just leaving?”

Jenny shrugged. “Yeah, actually. I’m going back to The Bridge.”

Brooklyn stared at her. “Why are you going back there?” She asked as she picked up one of Jenny’s shirts, folded it and laid it in her suitcase.

“Well, I’m doing another, uh, study,” she said, her cheeks warming.

“Studies don’t make you blush,” Brooklyn said.

Jenny folded more items for her suitcase, so she didn’t have to look at her friend. “It does when you’ve been selected to mate with an alien.”

“What?” Brooklyn cried out. Her eyes opened huge and her jaw slack in shock. “You’ve gotta be kidding! Who is it? Is it that Karuk guy? The one who keeps watching you?”

Jenny nodded.

“Oh my god. You have got to be kidding. Really?” Brooklyn was almost bouncing as she spoke.

Her enthusiasm was contagious, and Jenny couldn’t stop grinning. “Really. We’re going to stay at The Bridge for a while, see what we think of each other. Go on some dates and spend some time together.”

“And slam some headboards into walls, I hope,” Brooklyn said.

Jenny shrugged. “If it comes to that.”

“Wow.” She shook her head. “Talk about a plot twist.”

“I know. This is not how I expected this job to go,” Jenny said. “I mean, we’re supposed to be here and help create science and stuff. Not wind up dating the aliens!”

“Right? How did this happen? Did you like agree to something extra somewhere? Sign up for some additional work?”

Jenny sat on the bed next to Brooklyn. “No, not at all. I guess when they scanned us all in, they scanned in the construction crews as well, for a test database. Even Re-lee was shocked that a match had been made with such a small pool of Earthlings verses other humanoids.”

“Are we just that compatible?” Brooklyn muttered, shaking her head.

“You know, she didn’t really say. But regardless, they gave us the choice if we wanted to take the match, since we weren’t here for that. So after a little talking, Karuk and I decided it would be worth the risk to try and see what happens.”

“And how do you feel about it?” Brooklyn asked.

“Well, he’s super attractive and seems sincere about protecting me from my stalking ex,” Jenny said.

Brooklyn nodded. “I had a good feeling about him that first day in the cafeteria. You need a good protecter.”

Mr. F bellowed his disapproval of Brooklyn’s comment.

She waved her hand at the cat. “I’m sure you do the best you can, but right now, Jenny needs more than a fuzzy hunter.”

With that, Mr. F spun around, flashed his backside at them, and laid back down to go to sleep.

“Such a diva,” Jenny muttered.

“So I’m learning,” she said. “Now, back to Karuk. What’s he like?”

“Very nice. And he’s a good kisser.”

“You kissed him?” Brooklyn squealed. “Oh girl, you have to spill. Tell me everything.”

Quickly, Jenny laid out all the important parts about what had happened. Even her own doubts about the whole thing, which felt good to get off her chest and hear out loud.

It didn’t sound so crazy when she laid it all out there.

Well, it kinda did, because. Alien. Dalgurian. Earth girl. The general premise was bananas.

But Brooklyn seemed to take it all in and process.

The room was silent between them for a few minutes, and Jenny grabbed her bathroom stuff to add to her case.

She carefully packed them into their little bags so they didn’t leak. It was something to do with her fingers while she waited for Brooklyn to say something.

Even though she’d only known Brooklyn a short time, it felt like she was a real friend, and now she really wanted to hear what this friend thought of this crazy scenario.

“I think you’re looking at this wrong,” Brooklyn finally said. “If anything, this is going to give you an enormous boost over anyone else here. You have a reason to stay here, as long as you want, because of Karuk. They will not expect you to be a SAHM or something because you mated with an alien. You’re a bioengineer. You’re going to literally have decades of work that you can do here. And if you’re mated to him, you’ll never have to leave. And that pretty much solves the stalker issue, just on its own.”

“But he’s a construction worker. He said when the job’s done, he’ll move on.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have to. Surely, they’ll have maintenance positions here. Let’s face it. This is a giant machine. They always need someone to work on things and fix things and make sure it’s all running right. They will not kick the two of you out of here.”

“True,” Jenny said. “But what if he wants to leave?”

She shrugged. “So you go with him. Girl, you have skills. Your skills are fire. You’ll be able to find something. I’m sure there’s plenty of use for a bioengineer out there in space. And think of all you’d be able to see and study. The plant life alone would be insane.”

Jenny grinned. “You’re selling this hard for me.”

“As if you had any doubt.”

“Well, we have a get-out-of-jail-free ticket. Part of the contract says that in thirty days, if we don’t want to be mated, we can separate with no legal hassles.”

Brooklyn put her hands on her hips. “Girl. You know you just ruined any excuse you could come up with to deny this.”

“I know.”

She looked out her window and saw Earth below.

“Guess I’m mating with an alien.”