Caldar

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

SONIA HOW IT STARTED“About time.” Sonia leaned forward to the screen, impatiently awaiting a response. She’d been calling and calling her best friend, Wyn, daily since she voluntarily left Earth to marry an alien.

Fine, so it was a little obsessive. Sonia worried. Aliens were… well, alien.

“Sorry. We were out of comm range,” Wyn said. Her image flickered on the screen, a testament to how very far from Earth Sonia’s bestie currently was.

“Your mom told me she talked to you two days ago.” She tried to keep from sounding hurt, but she couldn’t deny that it stung. She understood why Wyn called her mother first, but she couldn’t even text Sonia back with a thumbs up emoji or something equally lame?

“And we’re at a hospital—”

Sonia leaped to her feet. “What? Are you hurt? Did that alien hurt you? I’ll crush his bones and turn him into paint pigment. I’ll paint his filthy carcass in the worst places. Gas station toilets! That weird donut shop with the clown mascot.”

“I’m fine,” Wyn said, ignoring Sonia’s list of terrible places. “Comms were out for weeks because apparently the Suhlik are getting gun happy again, and no one knew I was coming, so they shoved me on this shuttle and I just went with it because trust the system.” Her fingers moved in air quotes.

“Never trust the system,” Sonia said, because it was obvious. The system was rigged against people like her and Wyn. Well, against people without money, and in particular, women.

“Lorran’s a total sweetheart, though. No regrets. What about you?”

Sonia ran her hand through her short twists. “I gave the call center notice. I’m doing your idea.”

Wyn practically bounced with excitement on the screen. “I knew it! Which idea? I have so many good ones.”

So humble.

“The yearlong star cruise.” As an incentive to volunteer, Wyn received a generous cash settlement, which she gave to Sonia. “I mean, it’s not my money. I might as well spend it on something outrageous, yeah? The call center is eternal. It will be there when I get back.”

“Waiting to devour your soul.”

Truth.

“Listen, maybe we can meet up? I’ve got a list of ports the cruise docks at. We can do day trips,” Sonia said.

Wyn agreed, and she sent over the schedule. Hopefully there was some place in the universe where their paths would cross again, even for a day. The conversation moved onto alien art, because while Sonia had certain feelings about the aliens who came to Earth for babymakers, she was interested in art from other cultures. However, there was something that couldn’t be ignored.

A man—an alien—entered the room. The horns and purple complexion gave the alien part away. Wyn didn’t notice, going on about a soap opera that had sucked her in.

“So, are we going to discuss the man behind you with a gun?” Sonia asked.

Wyn threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. “I cannot believe this. You have no chill.”

“Female, you will come quietly—”

“Who is this guy? What’s going on?” Sonia shouted at the screen, like that could help. She should do something. Call someone. Space 911? Was that a thing?

The man turned to the screen. Despite the gray hair and gray horns, he had a young face. Not youthful. Seasoned. It would have been a handsome face if he wasn’t currently abducting her best friend.

“Sonia, I’ll call you back after I take care of this asshole,” Wyn said.

“Wait, don’t—” Too late. Wyn disconnected the call.

Well, f**k.

Sonia sat in front of the blank screen for a moment. She needed the number for Space 911, and she had no idea how to do that.

Wait… Sonia swiped the screen to pull up her messages. Since Wyn volunteered, she was given the name and contact info for her brand-new alien husband, which she sent to Sonia.

Lorran. That was his name.

Sonia started dialing.

HOW IT’S GOINGHim again.

Sonia frowned at the horned man with silver hair and an aubergine complexion sitting under an umbrella on the beach, enjoying a drink with its own umbrella.

He wasn’t striking or good looking. His silver hair didn’t gleam in the sunlight, and there weren’t other colors mixed into the strands that made her want to run her hands through his hair for a closer inspection. The sunglasses did not make him look hot. The loud floral shorts that dipped down on his hips were tacky, not whimsical. His thick legs stretched out on the sun lounger were not sexy as hell.

He was a stalker. Her alien stalker and his attractiveness did not make it okay.

Sonia turned her attention back to her sketchbook. She was working. She didn’t have time for alien nonsense.

Using a light pencil, she roughly blocked in the scenery. The cruise ship was docked in the planet’s orbit for a week. Every day the shuttle brought passengers down to a new location, each utterly picturesque and charming. At first, Sonia was delighted. The scenery was lush and so different from her job at the insurance call center with gray carpets and gray walls and gray cubicles.

Now? After a year and a half of picturesque and charming locations, it was boring.

Wow. The burden of my problems.

She felt spoiled to even dare complain. Her friend, Wyn, volunteered to be matched to a Mahdfel alien and gave the monetary compensation—the bribe—to Sonia and told her to do something amazing. It wasn’t never-work-again money, but it was enough to quit her boring job and paint full time for a year or two.

Sonia initially wanted to refuse the money on principle. Nearly two decades ago, Earth’s government signed a treaty with the Mahdfel, trading women for protection during an invasion from the Suhlik.

What were the alternatives? Die nobly? Earth was losing the Invasion.

Yeah, yeah. Sonia heard that weak sauce argument plenty of times. She was just a kid during the invasion, and she lost a lot of family. After the aliens left, it was just her and Grandma Newton. The Invasion was bad. Real bad, but that didn’t change the fact that the treaty was wrong. She found that the people who didn’t have a problem with it were typically born with a p***s, and got to skip the mandatory testing every birthday from age eighteen on.

The government throwing a pile of cash at the women who were matched was the frosting on a crap cupcake. It was tainted, lousy money, but it spent just the same. Sonia was far too practical to refuse Wyn’s gift.

Wyn had always talked about taking a really long star cruise, the kind that lasts a year or more, and that sounded good to Sonia. Here she was with four months left of her two-year long cruise and she was ready for something new.

Was Sonia a hypocrite? Absolutely. She’d worry about her existential crisis from the comfort of her cabin during her star cruise. Add in the fact that Wyn volunteered and was disgustingly happy with her alien husband, that helped settle Sonia’s lingering moral dilemma.

She had other problems, like what was she going to do when the cruise ended? Returning to her call center job was safe but so unappealing. Maybe she’d just stay at the last port of call and take a job doing something. Waiting tables, maybe. The one thing Sonia learned from traveling was every place had cafés and bars. People were always willing to pay to have someone bring them food and drinks.

She picked up a few commissions for digital art, mostly small pieces, for walking-around money. Maybe she could expand that and skip waiting tables.

“I don’t think my eyes are that squinty,” a deep voice said.

“I’m not drawing you,” Sonia said, leaning an arm over the book to cover the sketch.

What was he doing talking to her? That wasn’t what they did. She went to touristy places, enjoyed the scenery, and he just randomly appeared, like it was a huge coincidence. Small galaxy, etc. She scowled. He smirked from a distance. Rinse. Repeat the next time her ship docked.

“I think you are,” he said.

“I’m leaving a clue. If I go missing, the authorities will know who is responsible.”

He laughed.

The fucker.

Fine, she had been drawing him. Sure, it was a busy scene between the sea, people walking the beach, and the greenery, but all that was noise that swirled around him. He had an interesting face. She could admit that. He was an oasis of calm in the riot of sunlight and color. His figure was partially hidden in shadow, enigmatic and compelling and far too good-looking—

She didn’t even know his name, and the mystique did not make him more attractive.

Sonia slammed the sketchbook shut.

She was not going there.

“I have to go,” she announced, standing up so quickly her knees knocked into the table. The tall glass of cold water teetered, the contents sloshing from side to side.

He caught the glass before it spilled a drop.

Sonia wanted to scream in frustration. How was he so annoying?

“What’s your name?” she demanded, jabbing a finger to his chest. She might as well have been poking a stone wall from the feel of it.

He glanced down at her finger and grinned, all white fang against an aubergine complexion. His eyes crinkled at the corners, betraying a lifelong indulgence in laughter. In the six months since he started stalking her, they hadn’t exchanged more than a handful of words, and Sonia had never demanded his name.

She knew him. Well, she knew about him. She witnessed him abduct her friend at gunpoint a year ago. Sure, sure. Wyn was fine. He just needed her thumbprint or something to unlock a door. Still, Sonia was halfway across the galaxy when she saw the whole thing go down through a video screen and she had never felt more helpless.

So, that guy? Not a fan.

“My name is Caldar,” he said. “What is your name?”

Nope. This wasn’t a conversation. She said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. How rude of me. My name is none of your business. f**k off.”

“That is a mouthful. Are all Terran names so complicated?”

Sonia stuffed her sketchbook and pencils into her bag. She had better things to do. She pressed her thumb to the payment slot on the table to leave.

Of course, he followed. She sped up, walking at a quick pace.

“You should have dinner with me,” he said, trotting alongside her. People on the street gave them a wide berth, partly due to the furious scowl on Sonia’s face, but mostly due to the Mahdfel dogging her steps.

She stopped and turned to him. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I am charming?” He smiled, and damn it all if the sunlight didn’t sparkle on his fangs.

“Nope.”

“Because all beings require sustenance and you could order the most expensive items to damage my supply of credits.”

While she did like the idea of ordering a fancy meal and sticking him with the bill, she didn’t want to sit through dinner with him.

“What you suggest sounds like a date, and I don’t date aliens,” she said.

“Aliens, or this alien in particular?” He waved a hand at himself and flashed a smile that would be utterly charming on anyone else.

Okay, fine. It was charming. He was attractive in that dangerous daddy way with his silvery gray hair and graying horns. The trouble was, it wasn’t a style choice. Sonia knew he was actually dangerous. Why he latched onto her, she had no idea.

“Look, let’s get this straight,” she said, jabbing his might-as-well-be-stone chest again. Why did she keep touching him? Ugh. “You know my name.”

“Sonia,” he said, practically purring with a bedroom voice that was pure sin. Was that a thing? A voice to go with bedroom eyes.

Yeah, that wasn’t creepy.

“You abducted my friend by gunpoint. I’m not interested. I’m never going to be interested. And I’ve got just about enough patience to tell you one more time,” she said, jabbing his chest with each word. “f**k. Off.”

His smile did not falter. If anything, the amps on his grin turned up a notch or two.

“Dancing?” he asked. “You move like a dancer.”

Sonia gave a frustrated scream. Walking at a brisk pace, she turned randomly onto streets, having no destination in mind. She didn’t kid herself by imagining that she could lose him in a crowd or outrun him. The man was a literal super soldier, genetically modified to be faster, stronger.

Don’t think about super endurance and what that would be like.

Great, now she was imagining Caldar with his bedroom voice and dangerous daddy vibes and his super endurance. It left her feeling achy and needy and so, so resentful. It wasn’t even Caldar’s fault. Sonia had no right lusting after the alien who endangered her friend. She knew better. Her brain got the message—we don’t like him—but her body was too busy daydreaming about super endurance and his strong hands.

This was the point in the romance books she read where the main character decides to bang it out of their system. That never worked. Someone always caught feels. Plus, the Mahdfel weren’t known for being the love ‘em and leave ‘em types. They were all in, for life. There were no casual hookups with the sexy alien warriors. She wasn’t falling for sexy alien tricks.

She just didn’t understand why this particular alien was fixated on her. It made no sense. She didn’t feel threatened by him. Despite all the bad things people said about the Mahdfel, everyone agreed that they pampered their mates. People never heard stories about being kidnapped and locked in a basement, or even being married against your will.

Other than the mandatory testing once a year, whether you like it or not.

If anything, Earth’s government was the bad guy here.

The alert on her comm unit chimed, letting her know to head back to the shuttle. Sonia had turned off the main road and found herself on a side street. Residential and down in the heels, from the looks of it. She had no idea where she was, and it didn’t seem good. The steward on the shuttle that morning cautioned passengers not to stray too far from the touristy areas. Certain neighborhoods were rough.

At the time, Sonia chalked it up to bougie nonsense. Now that the sun had slipped behind the buildings and the shadows seemed to swallow up the light, her bougie butt regretted not paying attention.

The map on the comm unit told her the port was on the other side of town. Honestly, all she had to do was look up. The massive cruise ship hung in the sky like a star. According to the map, the most direct route was through a park. With the sun setting fast, she didn’t want to walk through an unfamiliar and potentially poorly lit park. The alternative was to backtrack and keep to the main roads, but she didn’t have enough time. Maybe a taxi? Yeah, not in this neighborhood.

Sonia looked at the park and then down the empty road, weighing her options. Her alien was gone. Apparently, he got bored following her or maybe found someone knew to harass.

Fuck it. A brisk walk in the park sounded like a good idea.

Bad idea. Such a bad idea.

CALDARTerrans were impossible. Fragile and easily breakable, they seemed to have no idea how vulnerable they were. And stubborn, especially when you told them how vulnerable and fragile they were.

This Terran in particular, Sonia, was more stubborn than most.

He followed her through the twisting lanes of the picturesque seaside village. She marched with a determination and purpose he couldn’t help but admire. There was much to admire about her physical form.

Her complexion was a rich bronze that glowed in the sun. She kept her hair shorn on the sides in the style of a warrior, with long curls on top. Sometimes she decorated her curls with a colorful wax that smelled subtly of Earth fruits. Most intriguing were her eyes. They expressed every thought and emotion. In a certain light, they flashed with gold flecks. They were sharp and intelligent, and he desperately wanted them to soften with affection when they looked at him. Better still was the strength in her voice when she told Caldar all the ways she disliked him.

This was a female worth winning.

The streets grew gradually dingier and narrower. The buildings sagged with age, seemingly slouched against each other for support. His female did not notice, nor did she notice the curious eyes watching her.

So long as they only watched.

He followed at a distance, ready to be at her side in an instant if needed.

His female had made it very clear that she loathed him. Which was unfair, in his opinion, as she did not know him. He was used to being loathed. A male with his skills—lying, manipulation, and generally being a scoundrel—did not win him many friends. Or any. He didn’t need friends.

The Mahdfel clans would have nothing to do with him publicly, but he was too useful to ostracize entirely. He was the dirty, necessary secret, gathering information, strategizing, and placing players on the battlefield.

The metaphorical battlefield. He had been in battle for some time. At his age, most males would consider teaching the younger generation of warriors or retiring to be with their mates, perhaps raise a family.

Caldar wasn’t quite ready to call himself decrepit and throw himself out an airlock just yet. He had debts to repay and wrongs to right, starting with this stubborn female.

His female frowned at her comm unit. Glancing around, she crossed the street and entered a darkened park. He followed.