Just a Kiss Read online

  THE KISS OF AN ALIEN BOOK 1:

  JUST A KISS

  by

  Fiona Roarke

  TORRID BOOKS

  www.torridbooks.com

  Published by

  TORRID BOOKS

  www.torridbooks.com

  An Imprint of Whiskey Creek Press LLC

  Copyright © 2018 by Fiona Roarke

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 (five) years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-1-68299-297-5

  Credits

  Cover Artist: Kelly Martin

  Editor: Dave Field

  Printed in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To Emma Wildes, an awesome friend, a co-conspirator in many book related adventures, and someone I depend on with great affection for brainstorming. Thank you so much for the friendship, as well as the knowledge that I have a place to go write whenever I want to get away.

  Chapter 1

  “Hello. Hello! Can you hear me, now?” Gabrielle Miller shouted into her worthless cell phone as she pushed it against her ear. She pressed her finger hard against the opposite ear, trying in vain to hear the voice from Bob’s Tow Service.

  She bent over the center console because there the passenger seat sported a single bar of signal strength versus none in the driver’s seat.

  “I need a tow truck sent to…” She was talking to herself. The ensuing silence she registered meant the call just dropped. Again.

  “Damn it all to hell.” She lowered the phone to dial again and saw the problem. The low battery warning no longer blinked or beeped. The screen was completely blank. Crap! She pitched her useless cell phone into the passenger side floor board.

  “What am I doing here?” Gabrielle sighed.

  She’d gotten lost on her way to a party where an acquaintance wanted to introduce her to someone perfect. She blew out her tire racing around like a mouse in a maze in this desolate industrial area, trying to follow directions given by someone obviously more geographically challenged than she was. All for what amounted to a blind date selected for her by someone she barely knew. What was I thinking?

  You thought you were lonely, said a sad voice from deep within her.

  Straightening from her crouched position bent over the stick shift, Gabrielle caught a disturbing image out of the corner of her eye and strangled a shriek. A man stood outside her window. A glance to her rearview mirror showed a car now parked behind hers.

  “Need some help changing your tire?” he asked politely. His face was lowered to her window level. He rested one hand casually on the roof of her car; the other was hidden behind him. He looked like an average guy, but something in his tone felt off.

  “No,” she lied, raising her voice. “I’ve already called a tow service. Thanks, anyway.”

  She waved him off with her best fake smile plastered securely in place. Her sixth sense, which she largely ignored, sent a punch to her stomach.

  “Why don’t I wait with you,” he asked too exuberantly.

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that. They’ll be here any minute,” she lied through teeth clenched very tightly, trying to hold the grin now fading as quickly as the light of day surrounding them.

  “I don’t mind.” The disturbing edge in his tone of voice sent a tendril of pure dread snaking down her spine.

  Gabrielle dropped her fake smile. “Get away from my car!”

  “You want me, don’t you?” the man asked and smiled suggestively. “I can tell when a woman craves domination. You’ll be on your knees tonight, you whore.” His eyes shone with a mania now unmistakable.

  “I have a gun,” she lied, hoping it would at least make him step back.

  He didn’t step away. Instead, he bashed in her driver’s side window with a tire iron he had been hiding behind him. She shrieked when he grabbed hold of her hair through all the broken glass. She fought to disengage her seatbelt.

  She yanked her head from his grasp, losing several strands the hard way. Eyes watering from the bruising sting, but free from her restraint, Gabrielle dove for the passenger door handle. He reached through the broken window and caught the sleeve of her blouse in his fist. The sound of fabric ripping motivated her to kick him in the face and escape through the now—thank heavens—open passenger door.

  Gabrielle scraped her hands and tore a hole in the knee of her slacks as she scrambled out of her car. She wobbled unsteadily to her feet at first, but once she gained her footing, her palpable fear motivated her to run as she never had before.

  Thankfully clad in fairly comfortable low heels, she fed on the adrenalin powering her system. She sprinted down the deserted street searching for any available help.

  “I’m gonna catch you, bitch, then I’m gonna punish you for your sins!” the pervert shouted in her wake as he ran after her. Unfortunately, he was faster and already gaining on her. Damn it!

  The sidewalk she traveled on ended at a ten-story brick structure a few blocks ahead. There were several doors along the ground floor, but she knew her pursuer would overcome her before she could even reach the nearest one.

  Instead, she caught sight of an opening on her right and headed for it. Gabrielle rounded the corner into an alley, never slowing her pace. She prayed for a miracle with every urgent step she took.

  After only a few strides into the alley, the muscles in her thighs cramped at the exertion she demanded. If there was a miracle to be found tonight, this alleyway wasn’t it. All she could see was endless bricks and absolutely no evidence of humanity whatsoever.

  Not even a stray dog or cat to add drama.

  So, she simply kept running, wondering if this was how too-stupid-to-live heroines in horror movies felt as they ran from monsters.

  Abruptly, she realized the walls were closing in on her. She couldn’t see any gap at the end of the alley. Only bricks. Everywhere. Surely it was only her imagination? She squinted into the darkness closing fast around her. The walls of this opening were narrowing to an inevitable dead end.

  There were no doors, no windows, and ultimately, no hope of escape. Gabrielle didn’t slow down, though. She found a reserve of strength and used it to propel her even faster—possibly to her death.

  If she ended up smacking a brick wall at full speed, then she wouldn’t be conscious for whatever the evil man behind her intended. Her rock-or-hard-place choice fast closing in gave her mental pause. This was so unfair, yet so unavoidable.

  The madman was catching up. Gabrielle could almost feel his foul breath on the back of her neck, but she refused to look behind her. She pushed onward.

  Fifty feet. Forty feet. Thirty feet.

  Her eyes welled up. She glanced toward the darkening sky for any sign of help. Not even an alien craft for her vivid imagination to latch onto for help.

  None. Nothing. Nada.

  But when she focused forward again, a miracle appeared. A beam of light suddenly spilled forth ahead of her.

  The blue-tinted glow brightened, as if from a big television, and a shaft of light arrowed toward what was surely her salvation.
Was it a door? A window opened in the endless brick? A contingent of law enforcement tucked away ready to help her?

  Twenty feet. Ten feet.

  It was a narrow opening between the brick buildings. Gabrielle turned and embraced the light, throwing herself through the gap. She didn’t slow her pace as she twisted her upper torso to accommodate the narrow space and charged through at full-steam-ahead mode. If she’d been a D-cup instead of a C-cup, she would have surely left part of one breast behind on the corner.

  Without a doubt, the hulking monster giving chase couldn’t fit, right? Gabrielle sneaked a glance behind her but couldn’t see anything as her hair blew into her face and covered her eyes.

  When she turned back to the courtyard surrounded by the tall brick buildings, she couldn’t quite understand what her eyes registered. A small group of tall, massively built, commando-looking figures stood silently in a circle. The blue light emanated from somewhere in the center of their loose human ring. Gabrielle, elated to find someone else in her barren nightmare to possibly save her, dove for the center of the group and the hope-fulfilling light, intending to do a tuck and roll once she hit the ground.

  However, as her body slid into the circle and the soothing light enveloped her, something remarkable happened. As she flew between two of the figures, she realized they surrounded a massive marble, coffin-like structure. It looked like solid rock. Another impressive warrior figure lay on top of the slab in repose.

  Gabrielle, thinking she was aimed to smack into the rock, braced for impact, but she didn’t crash. Everything stopped moving, including her body. She hung suspended in midair several feet from the slab.

  Then a wall formed around everyone, including her. She heard a loud thump behind her and hoped with all her heart the noise came from the pervert chasing her. He deserved to be a smear on the newly created wall.

  Poetic justice, she thought smugly.

  She remained in midair, wondering if she would be stuck like this forever, but it was only for a moment. Gravity returned without warning, and she crashed. She hit the side of the structure in a very clumsy tuck and roll. The circle of warriors stationed around her looked surprised.

  They were very dark. Or was it merely their clothing that was dark? And they were very tall. Or was it just that she was gazing up from the ground which made them look so tall? And they were big. Okay, there was no mistaking the muscles they all had.

  Was she dreaming? Was she dead? Were they about to do something worse than what the madman she escaped from had in mind for her?

  Gabrielle closed her eyes and counted to three. It was childish to believe they’d be gone if she simply wished hard enough, but she tried it anyway. When she opened her eyes again, the dark warriors were still in a circle around her, but she was no longer in a courtyard surrounded by tall brick buildings and a newly formed steel wall. Gabrielle gasped in surprise. She was now on an aircraft of some sort.

  Gabrielle groaned and rubbed her aching shoulder. She was surprised all right, but apparently so were the warriors, as evident by the wary astonishment on their faces as they closed ranks around her.

  She was so grateful to have escaped the madman, she didn’t register the frightfully aggravated looks her rescuers now directed at her. Dangerous looks. They drew their weapons as she stared up into their weary, unmistakably angry faces.

  And so, Gabrielle did what any self-respecting, too-stupid-to-live heroine in a horror movie would do.

  She fainted.

  * * * *

  “What will we do with the human?” Crag, the male leader of the alien explorers, asked Sybille, his female second-in-command. He had directed the rest of the dwindled crew to their stations to pre-flight the craft for the journey home. They already faced challenges with Zelda gone and Keller incapacitated.

  “Leave her here,” Sybille responded distantly as she watched the female slumped on the floor next to Keller’s resting place for the journey.

  “Is that wise? What if she wakes up? Our mission parameters were clear. No contact whatsoever.”

  “It’s already too late for that. The human made contact by jumping into our circle of departure. Besides, we don’t have time to return her to Earth and still ensure Keller is healed in a timely manner. We’ll bring the human back once Keller’s safely attended to by his wife, Maura.”

  “The human won’t stay asleep for that long. Surely she’ll wake before we dock.”

  She shrugged. “The room will be sealed. She won’t escape. I already checked her for weapons and found none. Besides, she’s puny, even by Earth standards.”

  Crag folded his arms over his massive chest and took a deep, calming breath. Sybille immediately recognized the look on his handsome face. He was about to protest, but they didn’t have time.

  “Do you want to risk the damage of a royal prince to return a foolish human who shouldn’t have been where she was in the first place?”

  “I hardly think it’s her fault, Sybille.”

  “Perhaps not, but I don’t imagine you want to explain to our queen that her son spent extra time in excruciating pain because of an earthling who caught us departing.”

  “Putting her back will be complicated.”

  “Perhaps, but unavoidable. We’ll deal with it when the time draws closer. Come, we need to make final preparations for our departure out of orbit.” Sybille turned and exited the room, urgency driving her steps.

  She closed the door on their way out of the quiet chamber to allow their wounded friend peace. If Keller woke during the journey to their home planet Tiburon, he would need it.

  Chapter 2

  Gabrielle woke up lying on her back. She opened her eyes, looked up at what she presumed was the ceiling of the room she was in, and saw stars flying by. How odd, she thought. She couldn’t remember where she was at first. A planetarium? No. It looked sort of like an alien spaceship. Then she remembered.

  Oh, crap!

  Gabrielle bolted upright and found herself in the exact same place as when she fainted directly after the warriors drew their fierce-looking weapons on her. How long had she been unconscious? Had they done anything to her? Gabrielle ran her hands quickly across her torso and legs, patting herself down looking for…she didn’t even know what.

  Probes? Recent surgery? An alien baby?

  Get a grip, Gabrielle.

  She stood up slowly, brushing imaginary dust off her clothes as she took in her surroundings. There was a door all the way across the room, maybe twenty feet from her, and yet the space seemed difficult to measure. If she actually started walking to the door, Gabrielle fearfully imagined it would be like a circus funhouse where the journey never ended, and she would be hopelessly lost traveling the short distance. Calm down. Getting hysterical won’t help anything. She took a deep breath to still her wild imagination.

  The ceiling was a dome of stars, so she figured she was either in a planetarium or flying through space in an alien craft. Where are Mulder and Scully when you need them? she thought, and then jumped nearly a foot in the air when someone moaned.

  Gabrielle turned to look behind her and almost fainted again. In the center of the spacious room was a large, rectangular, cubical slab of marble. On top of this sarcophagus-shaped rock was a man lying on his back, eyes closed, arms resting to his side. A gorgeous man.

  He was sleeping maybe? Or dead? She stifled an urge to run. He wasn’t moving, but she could see him breathing from where she stood.

  Okay. Not dead. Good. Better to be with a sleeping warrior alien than a dead body, right?

  Better get closer and take a look, and not because he was simply the most magnificent man she’d ever seen. He looked like a Greek God. He was massively built. His thick black hair was short. She wondered briefly what color his eyes might be to complement his angular face. His lips were full and sensuous. His sleek black body armor surely molded to, and barely contained, a very impressive body. No man would look this good and not have the body to go with it.


  He was perfectly formed head to toes, the stuff of her wild, late-night fantasies, and the best Hollywood had to offer. She wondered why his friends hadn’t made him comfortable by removing his protective coverings. Perhaps he was a warrior soldier. They all probably slept in their body armor to make a point about how bad-assed they were at all times.

  Warriors were a whole different breed. Those in the circle were surely warriors. All of them were tall, too, even the women. Gabrielle looked down at her short, small body. Big men like him hardly ever noticed her. They probably never saw her unless they looked down at their feet.

  Gabrielle heard him moan again. Was he in pain? Had he been wounded or something? She looked up to study his face and was startled to see he was staring at her in return. She noted his eye color immediately. He had liquid-silver colored eyes. Exotic eyes. Troubled eyes. He tried to speak, but it was, apparently, too hard for him. He swallowed with obvious difficulty. Gabrielle couldn’t stop herself from moving closer to him.

  “Please, must kiss…” he said in a barely audible tone.

  “I’m sorry,” Gabrielle said with interest as she stepped even closer to his resting form. She bent down. “Say it again.” She put her ear close to his mouth. Did he just tell her he needed a kiss? Yeah, she wanted to kiss him and make him better all right. She chanced a look at his face.

  The gorgeous warrior pierced her with a direct stare, mesmerizing her. “Kiss me,” he whispered.

  “Me?” Gabrielle rose to study his face, checking his expression for clarification. His eyes bore into her straight to her soul and deeper still. Yeah, he was talking to her. Was he reading her mind?

  Gabrielle glanced around furtively and saw no one around to help him. She’d wanted to kiss him since she saw him helpless and gorgeous on the slab. What’s the harm, anyway? It’s a meaningless touching of the lips. She easily convinced herself to kiss this handsome, sleepy warrior before he changed his mind. He had beautiful lips to go with his impressive body.

  “Get ready, Sleeping Beauty,” she murmured under her breath.