Page 16 of Married to the Alien Mountain Man

“Well, yes. I guess so.”

His grinned widened. His orange eyes crackled with sudden, surprising whiteness.

“There has never been any man happier than me.”

“Tenn!”

A high, human voice distracted me from the surprise I felt at his response. I hadn’t pegged the warden as the dopey, romantic type. And yet, there he was, looking every inch a dope in love as a human woman hurried towards us.

After getting a look at who I assumed had to be his wife, I couldn’t really blame him. Warden Tenn had married, well, a ten. Missus Warden was a total hottie with a body, all generous curves, smooth skin, and long blonde hair shimmering in the sunlight as she approached. Warm brown eyes met mine. Above them, golden brows were furrowed with concern.

“Hi. I’m Tasha. Are you alright?” she asked in a rush. “Was that your ship we saw go down? Tenn took off as fast as he could to find you.”

She seemed genuinely nice, and I felt myself smiling at her.

“Yeah, that was my ship. I’m OK. No injuries. My ship is in rough shape, but it’s nothing I can’t fix.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Tasha said. “What do you need for your ship?”

Lala squeezed herself out of my pocket and scurried up my arm to my shoulder, replying before I could.

“We require a sonic recalibrater. My calculations tell me it will be at least two weeks before the necessary part arrives.”

“And she can’t stay that long,” Warden Tenn growled.

Tasha frowned. “Why can’t she? Of course she can!”

“Well, shecan,” Warden Tenn hedged. “If she accepts Oaken’s offer.”

“And what offer is that?”

“His offer of marriage.”

It was amazing, really, the way Tasha’s pretty face hardened so quickly into a cool mask. But even inside that mask, her eyes were fiery.

“His offer ofmarriage?” she asked through clenched teeth.

“It was Oaken’s idea,” Warden Tenn said quickly. “Don’t blame me.”

“How about I blame the both of you?!” she cried, throwing her hands onto her hips. “This poor woman – sorry, what is your name?”

“Jaya.”

“Poor Jaya just landed here in distress, with no working ship and no friends around, and the best you two boneheads could come up with to help her is a marriage proposal?!”

“OK, thank you!” I whispered, glad somebody else agreed that this morning’s turn of events had been off-the-charts bizarre.

“Tasha appears to be a reasonable and intelligent human,” Lala said from her place on my shoulder. “I am glad we have found her.”

“Me too,” I replied. Not only did it make me feel a little less alone to have a human ally around, but seeing how Tasha didn’t fear her husband at all was another good sign about this place. She clearly had no problem voicing her opinions or standing up to Warden Tenn. It was actually kind of fun to watch her lay into him, especially considering the “Hand over your weapon and get off my planet” sheriff schtick he’d given to me earlier. He might have worn the warden’s hat around here, but clearly, he didn’t wear the pants.

“There is no way around it,” Warden Tenn was now telling his wife, looking distraught that she was pissed at him. “No one is allowed to remain here without permission from the empire. The only non-Zabrians who may do so are the brides, or someone like you, because you came here in your capacity as a liaison.”

“Well, can’t she be a temporary liaison or something?” Tasha asked. “I could be training her for two weeks! And then she could quit.”

“I do not have the power to create a position like that,” Warden Tenn said. “Unlike a marriage, which I do have the authority to facilitate. If she marries Oaken, she could remain here without any issues for the duration of the fourteen-day trial period.”

“But what about Oaken?” Tasha asked, some of her anger abating. “That isn’t really fair to him.”

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