The Falcon Prince

Chapter 12

When Kristor took her hand, Ria didn’t pull away. The slight roughness of his palm sent a spiral of heat to pool low in her belly, even though it was something as innocent as just holding hands. Oh, man, she was in really bad shape.

“This is pretty much Miller Bend,” she told him. “The abstract office, the lawyer’s office, water department, post office, flower shop, antique store, and the pharmacy. The library is around the corner.” She chuckled when she saw the confusion on his face. “I guess you don’t have all this on New Symtaria.”

His expression showed his confusion. “What is a library?”

“A building that stores books. People go there to borrow them. You know, to read.”

“I don’t read much. I’m a warrior.”

She hadn’t really pictured him kicked back in a recliner and reading a book. “Do you have stores on New Symtaria?”

“We have tradespeople, yes, or we can get items we need with our database.”

“Your database sounds a lot like Internet shopping. I think I’d rather go into a store.”

“But if you could have everything with a click of a button, wouldn’t that be better?”

“No, I think it’s the thrill of finding a bargain that I enjoy. Clicking a button wouldn’t really do it for me.”

“That is the way it is during a battle. The victory makes the blood race through my veins.” He stood taller, looking around as if he would love to battle now.

“That’s exactly the way I feel when I go to a going-out-of-business sale,” she said, drawing his attention back to her. Heaven forbid he start a ruckus with one of the townspeople. She didn’t need any more gossip started about her. But she didn’t need to worry as she watched his shoulders relax.

“When you connect with your hawk guide, you will feel that same rush,” he said.

They were back to that again. Drat! And the morning had been going so well. “I think shifting once was more than enough for me. I’d just as soon not be terrorized again. Those scouts almost threw me in a soup pot. And getting ice and Coke dumped on me, then dirt kicked in my face was an experience I would rather not go through again.”

“Your guide needs you.”

Guilt swarmed around her like angry insects. “I’m not ready. Maybe in time I…I will be able to shift, but not right now. This is all too new to me.”

“You can only gain strength through connecting. You might have need of this strength if the rogue Symtarians discover where you live.”

“But you said you were here to protect me.”

He stopped, forcing her to stop as well. “I can’t stay forever.”

This was Kristor’s first indication that he would return to his own home. A cold feeling of dread landed with a thud in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t thought that one day he would leave, but it made sense. Of course, he couldn’t hang around for the rest of her life. He had his own to get back to. The man was a prince.

But could she shift into a hawk when she was terrified of flying? And look at what had happened to her the last time. Not only had she felt an incredible burning sensation, but she had thought she would die.

“I can’t,” she finally said. “Not right now.”

He hesitated, watching her closely. “I’ll give you more time.”

Carly looked up when Donald came inside the travel agency. She pasted a smile on her face, even though there was something about the guy she just didn’t like. He was a tattle-tale for one thing. He’d told on Ria when she had put the whoopee cushion under Ms. Henderson’s chair. It had really been pretty funny, until he’d told.

And Donald was just too darn pretty. Men shouldn’t be pretty. Even now, every blond hair was in place. It made her wonder how much he spent on hairspray.

But the motto of this agency was to make the customer happy and she would like to keep her job.

“Hello, Donald. Were you thinking about going somewhere?” Far, far away, she hoped.

He wandered over to a rack of brochures. She came to her feet and joined him.

“Wanderlust, I guess. I feel the need to take a vacation somewhere exotic.” He flashed a smile.

Carly relaxed. Donald wasn’t her favorite person in town, but he wasn’t so bad. And the whoopee cushion incident had happened when she and Ria were still in high school.

“The Caribbean? Barbados?” she asked.

“Yes, Barbados, maybe. Ocean breezes and piña coladas.”

“It sounds great,” she told him.

“I’ve always wondered why you work here but you’ve never gone anywhere exciting.”

“I guess I enjoy living vicariously through my customers. I’m a nervous traveler.” And she wished he hadn’t mentioned that she never went anywhere. She certainly didn’t need anyone reminding her. “Ria and I are planning to take a trip. She hired Katie as her new assistant. I’m sure she’ll have her trained by the time fall gets here.” Then Carly would have someone to go with and she’d finally get to travel. They could take a cruise somewhere. She closed her eyes and for a moment, pictured them landing in an exotic port filled with sexy, half-naked, male bodies.

Donald cast a look of pity in her direction.

“What?” She suddenly had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that she wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell her.

He pointed out the window as Ria and Kristor passed. Ria looked up, and Carly waved. Ria waved back and smiled, but they didn’t stop. Kristor frowned at Donald, who took a step back.

“It would seem Ria might be planning a trip with someone else.”

Carly stiffened. “I doubt it. She just met the guy.” But he had spent last night with her, and that never happened. Not that she could blame Ria. Kristor was damned good looking. But anything permanent? No, Carly didn’t think so.

“Wasn’t it just a day or so ago that Ria claimed the guy was crazy?” Donald laughed. “An alien?”

Ria had done a quick about-face. Carly’s stomach rumbled. She watched until they turned the corner. They seemed awfully chummy. Holding hands and all.

“More friendships have broken up over a man,” Donald said.

She straightened. Why was she even listening to him? “Well, it won’t happen between us. We’ve been friends since almost forever. Even if Ria does fall in love with someone, we’ll still be friends.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Ria seems to be getting pretty close with the guy. But don’t worry, even if they went back to his country, or wherever he came from, there are always e-mails. If his country has the Internet, that is.” He glanced at the brochures he held. “I think I’ll just take these with me. I’m not exactly sure where I want to go.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Please leave quickly. Her stomach had gone from rumbling to churning.

As Donald walked out the door, Carly went back to her desk. She’d never really thought about Ria getting married and leaving town. Carly had always thought they would fall in love with the perfect men, marry, and settle down in Miller Bend to raise two children each.

Had she really been that naive? Apparently.

Was Kristor the one who would steal Ria away? Whisk her off to another country? Ria was her only friend. They always shared everything.

But she hadn’t told her anything about Kristor except that she was trying to blackball him. She’d been afraid of the man. Apparently, that was no longer the case.

And then there was this morning. She’d sensed Ria wasn’t telling her everything. Just as quickly Carly dismissed the idea that Ria wouldn’t confide something to her very best friend.

But what if Ria was already pulling away? A cold chill of dread wrapped around her. What would she do without her very best friend in her life?

She slumped down in her chair, and stared out the plate-glass window until the bell over the door jangled, alerting her to a customer.

Carly painted a false smile on her face and pretended nothing at all was wrong. But it took every ounce of her sagging energy to pull it off.

Ria flattened the Dairy Queen sack the burgers had come in, and dumped all the fries on top of it. “Community fries,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

She grinned. “That means we share.”

“I was going to take you somewhere nice,” he told her. “I have money.” His brother had told him people from Earth held the paper in high regard, although Kristor still hadn’t figured out why.

“Isn’t this nice?” She waved her arm, encompassing everything around her. “We have the whole park to ourselves. Besides, Donald owns the only nice restaurant in town. I don’t think you two get along.”

“It’s very nice here.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I kind of thought you would feel that way.” She took a bite of her burger and chewed, then followed it with a drink of her soda. “Donald isn’t so bad.”

“Yes, he is. I think he could be very cruel if he doesn’t like someone. You should be careful around him.”

“Trust me, I’ve known Donald all my life. He’s a little prissy….” She caught his expression. “Okay, he’s a lot prissy, but he’s mostly talk. If cornered, he’ll run the other way.”

“I think he would lash out as he ran.”

How often had she thought the same thing? Ria had never spoken the words out loud though.

“We have parks on New Symtaria,” he said, changing the subject.

“Like this one?”

“There are more people outside enjoying the day on New Symtaria. When Old Symtaria released poisonous gasses into the air, it was said everyone stayed indoors or only went out with air-supplied masks. When New Symtaria was discovered, it was ordained by the old ruler that part of each day would be spent outdoors enjoying the fresh air.”

“We don’t spend enough time outside,” she sighed. “It’s the age of technology and I’m afraid when people do go outside, they’re still busy talking on the phone or texting someone.”

“Is that why you run? To enjoy the day?”

She picked up a fry, but it had already grown cold so she put it back down. “Partly,” she told him. “I like to feel the wind on my face. I feel free when I’m running. As though I have no troubles in the world.”

“It is the same when I shift and Labrinon soars through the sky.”

“You can feel it, then?”

“Yes.”

“Then does he feel what you feel?”

“Yes.”

“Even when we…” She felt the heat rise up her face.

“He sleeps, giving me the privacy I need.”

She let out her breath. She was so not into threesomes, especially when one of the partners was a bird.

They finished eating in silence. She bagged up their trash and they walked it over to the barrel, dropping it inside.

“Look.” Kristor pointed to a hawk flying high in the sky.

“Someone you know?”

“Only a hawk, but watch it.”

She did, wondering what it was he wanted her to see. After a moment, her neck began to ache. “What am I supposed to get out of this?”

“Just watch.”

The bird seemed to lazily float in the air, slowly circling in the sky. No cares, no worries. “Okay, it’s beautiful.” She’d give him that, at least.

“You could be flying right now.”

“No thank you. Not on a full stomach.” Or any stomach as far as she was concerned.

“I will stay with you the next time you shift. I would fly with you.”

“I’m not ready.” She glanced in his direction, then quickly looked at the hawk again. It would be too easy for him to sway her into doing something she wasn’t ready to do. “But it’s a beautiful bird.”

The hawk suddenly swooped down like a bomber plane. For a moment it was lost in the trees. What the hell was it doing? Had it crashed? When it reemerged, there was a wiggling tail dangling from its mouth.

“Eww.”

“The hawk has great visual acuity. It can spot prey from a long distance.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I really don’t want to talk about it. And if you continue to talk about it, my lunch will come back up.”

He laughed. A deep baritone sound that wrapped around her, singing to her soul. She met his gaze, and something passed between them. He leaned closer, his lips brushing against hers. His touch was nice and, all too soon, he pulled back. Oh, jeez, she really needed to think about something else.

“Do you swim?” she suddenly asked.

“Swim?”

“You know, in the water.”

He opened his mouth, paused, then shook his head. “I don’t know this.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her. “I know the perfect place: Miller Crossing.”

But when he aimed her toward his bike, rather than her car, she wasn’t so sure.

“I’ve never thought motorcycles were safe,” she told him.

“Are you going to play everything safe?” he asked.

She cocked an eyebrow. “I do not play everything safe. I took a chance borrowing the money to open my animal grooming shop. I could’ve fallen flat on my face.”

He didn’t say anything, only stared.

“Okay, fine, but if I die, you’re going to have to tell my parents.”

He straddled the seat and she climbed on awkwardly behind him. He handed her his helmet.

“You have motorcycles on New Symtaria?” she asked.

“No.”

She frowned. “But you have cars and trucks.”

“No.”

The bike roared to life.

“How long have you been driving?”

“Your time?”

“Yes.”

He pulled out onto the road, but yelled over his shoulder, “Two weeks. Maybe a little less.”

She was going to die. Why did she go against everything she believed in to get on a dangerous machine like this with an inexperienced driver?

“Which way?”

“My house first.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, closed her eyes, and hung on for dear life.

She had to admit on the ride over he seemed to be a skilled driver. Had he been lying? She had a feeling he was. Maybe to get her to hold on a little tighter. She would have done that anyway. She liked holding tightly to him.

She had a feeling her heart was in trouble.

All too soon, he pulled in her driveway and they climbed off.

“I thought you said you didn’t have vehicles where you’re from?”

“Not like this.”

He grinned, and she knew he’d teased her. He always seemed so serious that she hadn’t suspected him of having a sense of humor.

“Well, do you have shorts or something you can wear to swim in?”

“I have a database.”

As they walked inside, he pulled what looked like an IPod of sorts out of his back pocket. As tempting as the thought of his only wearing the Ipod and nothing else, he might cause someone to have a heart attack if they walked up on a naked alien. Especially an alien built as well as Kristor.

“I mean something to wear swimming. You’ll need a swim suit.”

He punched around on the keys, a swirl of lights appeared, and in the center was a pair of swim trunks.

“How did you do that?”

He held up the little computer. “Database. I told you about it.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would do this.” She waved her arm toward the suit. “Can you make anything appear?”

“Most anything.” He punched in some numbers, then smiled. More lights appeared and in the center was the skimpiest string bikini she’d ever seen.

“Funny, but I don’t think so.”

He punched around some more, and the suit disappeared. Before he could bring something else up, she said, “I have my own suit. You can change out here. I’ll use the bedroom.”

But when she went to her bedroom, she didn’t choose the most conservative suit that she owned. Her choice wasn’t a string bikini, but a pretty yellow swimsuit just the same, and one that flattered her figure.

She gave him what she thought was plenty of time, then walked into the living room. She’d slipped on a pair of blue-jean cutoffs over her swimsuit bottom, but the look he gave her told her he remembered what she looked like without clothes, and it took her breath away.

Not that she wasn’t doing the same thing to him. If they didn’t leave soon, they might not leave at all, and there was a lot more she wanted to know about New Symtaria. And Kristor.

“I’ll just grab a couple of water bottles and some towels.” She abruptly turned and went to gather everything they might need. But when she went inside the kitchen, she took a long, slow, deep breath as she tried to get her raging hormones under control.

Hell, it wasn’t every day that she had the equivalent of a male cover model in her house, or in her bed. She had to stop thinking so much about him in that way. She could spend a nice afternoon alone with him without jumping his bones. Surely, it wouldn’t be that hard.

Hard?

Get your mind out of the gutter. Ria repeated over and over to herself as she hurried outside.

Kristor was already at the bike. He took the things from her and put everything in the black leather bags that hung on each side of the motorcycle. She gave him directions, telling him the turns as they came up to them. Her fear of riding on the motorcycle quickly changed to exhilaration. It was a lot more fun than she’d expected. There was a freedom, much like when she ran, except she didn’t have to work for the rush. She had a feeling this would turn out to be a nice day.

Miller Crossing was where she and Carly had spent most of their summers. It was a great place to swim. You couldn’t cross it, though. It was too big, so you had to go around it. That made it more private and, most of the time, anyone could find a secluded spot.

She directed Kristor around to the far side. It was the best place, and she knew it was more concealed than some of the other areas. She didn’t even attempt to question her motives.

He slowed, then turned off onto a narrow trail only wide enough for a motorcycle, bringing the bike almost to a crawl. Ria kept her knees in tight against the hard muscles of his thighs. When the water was in sight, he stopped the motorcycle, turning off the engine, and dropping the kickstand.

It was as though they were the only ones in the world, surrounded by the silence of the pine trees. For a moment, they sat looking at the clear slate of blue water. Perfect, unblemished. Begging for them to jump in.

She quickly climbed off and removed her helmet. Kristor climbed off as well.

“Now, do you have a view like this on New Symtaria?” she asked.

“Better.”

She tilted her head and looked at him. How rude. “I doubt that. This would be pretty hard to beat.”

“Come back with me and I’ll prove we have the better views.”

“Funny.” She slipped off her shorts and laid them across the seat. “I’ll race you to the water.” Without waiting to see if he followed, she took off.

Kristor watched, knowing he would let her win—this time. A smart warrior knew which battles he needed to win. Not that he minded letting her go first. She was right, the view of her in that tiny yellow bikini could not be beat.

He followed at a slower pace. She screamed when she ran into the water. He laughed.

You’ll miss her when you leave, Labrinon said.

I told you, I won’t leave without her. Have I ever lost a battle?

But there may be many battles before a war is won.

I think I will enjoy winning each one, too.

I don’t doubt it.

“It’s cold.”

Kristor smiled. The water might be cold, but it didn’t stop her from diving in headfirst. He held his breath when she didn’t immediately emerge. Just when he would have jumped in, she shot out of the water.

“Come on. I promise I won’t let you drown.”

Maybe he shouldn’t have lied when he told her he couldn’t swim. That had been wrong. He only hoped it took her a very long time to figure it out.

He waded in. She was right. The water was cool, refreshing after having the sun beat down on them. He walked to where she stood, the water to her shoulders. It was much lower on him.

“You have to get your head wet.” She placed her hands on top of his head and pushed.

He didn’t move. Why would he? Her breasts were in his face.

“You’re supposed to go under,” she complained.

He laughed, then obliged, although he rather enjoyed the proximity of her body next to his.

“There, now I’ll teach you to swim. One arm, then the other.” She demonstrated.

Kristor made sure his movements were awkward. In truth, he was a strong swimmer.

She shook her head. “Not like that.”

She took his arm and made the motion again, then stood behind him, her chest pressed against his back. He closed his eyes, enjoying the moment.

“Are you paying attention?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“I don’t think you are.”

“It’s hard to move my arms correctly with you standing behind me. Try moving to the front.”

She was so intent on teaching him to swim that she complied with his request, snuggling in front of him.

“Try putting your arms on top of mine and you can follow my movements.”

He enjoyed the way she wiggled her bottom. He could follow her movements until the sun slipped beneath the horizon, or until he mated with her again. But then, she abruptly moved away.

“Okay, now watch me.” She swam a short distance, then turned and came back. “Do you think you can do that?”

“I’ll try.” He swam out a ways, then dove beneath the water, coming up in front of her. He took her in his arms, pulling her close to him.

“You know how to swim,” she accused.

“I’m a fast learner.”

“Very funny.”

“Are you mad?”

She tried not to smile, but it broke through anyway. “Furious.” She leaned forward, planting her mouth on his.

When the kiss ended, they were both gasping for air. “I want to mate.”

“In the water?”

“Good idea.” He reached for her top.

“No, I wasn’t agreeing.”

“Then you don’t want to mate?”

“I do, but not here, not now. I want to get to know you better. I think we rushed things a little last night.”

He sighed, but gave in to her wishes. He would never understand women. They were almost the same on New Symtaria. “So what will we do?”

“Talk.”

Yes, Earth women and Symtarian women were alike in many ways. A woman was a woman, no matter where she was from. Which made them even more interesting.