Page 2 of Taken By the Alien Merrow King

So, all she knew were basic facts. The Merrow were a species of merpeople. Hair and skin in varying shades of green were most common. While they preferred to live on land, they could partially shift, exchanging legs for a fish tail, and had webbing between their fingers to help them swim faster. They were renowned artists and craftspeople, and rumor had it that their singing could manipulate emotions.

Like sirens from ancient Earth myths, she thought. Does this guy sing? With a deep, melty voice like his, it would be a crying shame if he didn’t.

The Merrow stepped closer, encroaching on her space, the gentle yet unbreakable grip he had on her hand making it impossible for her to put more space between them.

“I am Desburchù Ulf,” he said, his tongue rolling the ‘r’ in a way that made her spine tingle. He bent down, the tip of his nose brushing against her neck as he took a deep breath. “You may call me Des.”

Did he just smell me? She opened her mouth to tell him to back off before remembering her critical purpose here on this planet. Snapping at one of the aliens, even if he and his people weren’t officially part of this meeting, wasn’t a diplomatic response. After all, what if that was the Merrow way of greeting people? The brief didn’t say one way or the other and, honestly, she couldn’t afford to take the chance.

Besides, she kind of liked how he was so much taller than her and the way the salty-woodsy scent of him teased her senses.

A series of explosions near the tents shattered the intensity of the moment between them.

Des wrapped an arm around her waist and spun her around, protecting her from harm, and barked out orders at the people standing a discrete distance from them.

She’d been so entranced by him, she hadn’t noticed them or much of anything else, for that matter. She hadn’t realized howfar she’d drifted from the capsule, the other groups of aliens, and the rest of her team. Or how isolated and distant she was from the chaos near the tents.

A terrible thought occurred to her. “Is this you?” she asked of the male currently cradling her in his arms.God, I hope not.

He glanced down at her, his dark brows snapping together like thunderclouds. “What? No. Why would you think that?” He sounded offended, which she took as a good sign that this wasn’t his doing. “The beings attacking the summit are anti-alien terrorists. Been causing trouble since you humans first made contact. They don’t want you here. And they definitely don’t want any of us to allow you to settle in our territories.”

“We need to get over there and help them,” she said, putting a hand against his chest and pushing.

He didn’t budge. “You’re safer here with me. Besides, if the other kings can’t protect their own women, they don’t deserve them.”

What did he say? “What? No.” She shook her head. “That’s not… what?”

The weapons fire and explosions were closer now. People were shouting, gruff voices punctuated by more blasts, but her translator wasn’t picking up what they were saying.

It didn’t matter anyway. She needed to get to her team and help them fight off the aggressors. All of them had gone through extensive survival training alongside negotiation tactics and, while she was far from the top of her class, she could fire a gun and still have half a chance of winging her target. She wasn’t about to stand here and watch as terrorists attacked their first and best chance of finding a home for her people.

With a twist of her wrist, she broke his hold, wiggled out of his embrace, and ran into the chaos.

2

DESBURCHÙ

From his position on the rolling dunes overlooking the beach, Desburchù Ulfmar, King of the Merrow Isles and the Storming Seas, watched the small capsule touch down and spit out seven humans. All female, he noted. Interesting choice on the part of the humans. More tactical than he expected. It gave him hope that this wouldn’t be the complete disaster he originally envisioned.

As the humans disembarked, the other planetary leaders broke off from their huddled conversations and drifted towards them, drawn in like sharks sensing blood in the water.This should be amusing, he thought, folding his arms over his chest as he watched the show from a distance.

“Why are we here again? I thought you didn’t want anything to do with these talks.” Standing seven feet tall and built like a bull seal, Gunnar was a big fan of schedules and organization and strongly disliked it when Des gave into his impulses and dragged them somewhere unplanned. He tacked on a belated “Sire” after one of his team standing behind them discretely cleared her throat.

Des huffed out a quiet laugh. Okay, yes. Technically, Gunnar shouldn’t be questioning Des’s decisions, especially not in front of other people. But Gunnar had been his friend long before he was his bodyguard, and Des’s change in status from spare heir to king was still fresh. Neither of them were adjusting to the shift fast enough to suit decorum.

Besides, Des appreciated Gunnar’s blunt ways and straight talk. He didn’t want to lose that because of his fancy new title.Maybe I should just make him an advisor and be done with it,he thought.Something to consider.

“We’re here because some of the strongest rulers on the planet are here, and I’m curious why they decided to treat with these humans.”

“Ah,” Gunnar said with a nod. “So, gathering intel then.”

“Indeed. Dipping my toe into unknown waters, seeing if it’s somewhere we might want to swim,” he said, shading his eyes and squinting towards the pack of females still huddled together next to their spacecraft.

They were too far away for him to get a good look at the offerings, though, and he wanted to see what the humans had sent. Plus, he needed to make his presence known, greet his allies, and do a bit of politicking, even though that was one of the last things he wanted to do.

He’d been content to leave the politics, dealmaking, and glad-handing to his brother. But then the bonehead went and got himself killed while hunting down a rogue sharktopus last year, and now Des was stuck in the role instead. “Dammit, Isak. Had go to play the big hero and now look where we are,” he muttered, braiding three fingers together and tapping them over his heart in Isak’s memory.

Suddenly feeling confined, he unfastened the top two buttons of his shirt, rolled up his sleeves, and drew in a deep breath of salty sea air. What he wouldn’t give to have his brother back.

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