Page 11 of Taken By the Alien Merrow King

“It was decided the first time you placed your hand in mine.” He lifted a hand like he was going to stroke her face before lowering it again.

She found herself oddly disappointed he didn’t touch her and yet elated that he cared enough to adhere to the boundary she’d set earlier. But now that they were here, in the midst of the crowd with barely anyone except Des’s personal guards paying attention to them, she thought she might not mind it so much if he showed some of that affection he was so eager to bestow. Music and dancers swirled around them, but it felt as if they stood in a private cocoon, just the two of them.

“I knew then you were mine, that I was yours. We belong together, my lovely Astra. Blessed by the Universe, remember?”

Her breath caught in her throat. “So that’s one human you want living on the Merrow Isles,” she said slowly. “Would you be open to welcoming more?”

“Possibly. Back to negotiations, are we, love?” he asked, the corner of his lip quirking up. A dimple popped in his cheek. He gestured towards a Merrow weaving through the crowd, trays filled with pints of beer held high over her head. Des paid and handed one of the recyclable cups to Astra.

“Possibly.” Mirroring the quirk of his lip, she tapped his cup with hers. She took a healthy drink and wiped the foam mustache away with the back of her hand. “So, what do you want in exchange for opening your Isles to human refugees? Sex?”

He coughed out his drink, rearing back as if she’d slapped him. “No. No, I wouldn’t ever ask that, not of anyone. Especially not of my mate.” He scrubbed a hand through his salt-kissed hair. “How is it you leap to the worst-case scenario first? First, you thought I was part of the group who attacked the summit, and now this.”

“Sorry. Trauma response. Please don’t take it personally.” She waved her words away and took another drink to calm hernerves. “Besides, our higher-ups basically told us to offer you all anything you wanted up to and including us. Why do you think they sent a capsule full of pretty human women when they learned all the leaders coming to the meeting were male?” She was still a bit put out about all that, but it was what it was. Desperate times, et cetera.

He snickered. “You know, you’re not a very good negotiator.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How do you mean?”

“You just told me that anything we ask for in exchange for refuge, your people will give to us up to and including their women.” He frowned, his expression darkening. “They don’t deserve you. Any of you. Another reason for me to keep you.”

“Keep me.” Huffing out a laugh, she patted his cheek. “You’re cute.”

His breath caught as her hand lingered on his face, the rasp of his scruff tickling her palm. His entire body froze when she popped up on her tip-toes and brushed her lips over his. “Astra,” he said, his eyes wide.

“On behalf of human women everywhere, I had to make an exception to the no-touching rule.” She took a step back and gave him a soft smile. “We appreciate your fierce defense. But don’t be mad at our leaders. They’re only trying to do what’s best for humanity as a whole. Besides, we agreed to it.”

“Oh? And what did you get in return?” he asked, gesturing at the runner for another round.

She pointed towards the stars above and gave her finger a twirl. “My younger brother and sister are on the generation ship up there, orbiting Sanos. The last of my family. I agreed to join the capsule crew so they’d have a chance at a better life, a home with fresh water and clean air.”

“Family.” The word carried all the weight of the world. “A worthy exchange.”

“I thought so.”

He puffed out a breath. “Astra,” he started, but she cut him off.

“You know, you’re right about me being a terrible negotiator,” she said, tipped her cup towards him. When he made a noise of disagreement, she shook her head. “Nope. I am. I’m not good at subterfuge, and I truly suck at seducing men and convincing them to do what I want. I mean, here I am, attempting to talk to you about super-serious things in the middle of a party, ruining the fun time you had planned.”

“But it is important,” he protested. “And we haven’t had much of a chance to sit down and hash things out.”

“Okay, true, but tonight’s not the night to do it.” She grabbed two fresh drinks from a passing server and thrust the cup into his hands, foam sloshing over the edge. “Let’s eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow, we negotiate. Sound good?” she said, snickering under her breath at her bastardization of an old phrase.

“Whatever makes you happy, love,” he said, tapping his cup against hers with a laugh.

10

ASTRA

She hated everything and everything hurt. Why had she let that devious male talk her into drinking so many pints of delicious Merrow beer and eating so many fried, grilled, and baked Merrow treats?

Rolling to her side and curling up into a sad little ball, she moaned into her pillow. She was old enough to know better than to drink so much. Sure, it was fun at the time, but she always paid the price the next day. And today, she was supposed to be at the negotiation table with Des, convincing him that having humans living in his territory was a positive thing when all she really wanted to do was throw up and go back to sleep.

“Good morning, my precious mate,” Des sang as he sauntered into the bedroom and dropped onto the bed next to her. “Time to get moving. Daylight’s a-wastin’.”

She let out a pained groan as the bed rocked, her stomach roiling. “Stop this ride immediately. I want to get off.”

“Are you not feeling so fine this morning, love?” he asked, brushing the hair out of her face. “Could it perhaps have something to do with the ocean of ale you put away last night?”

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