She’d paid in cash, after all.
It was none of my business if she wanted to drag a passed-out alien into her hotel room and… do whatever it was she planned to do with him.
We dropped him on the bed and she stood back to stare at him critically.
“You planning to kill him?” I asked, only about half-concerned. “Because if you are, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do it here. I need to keep this job.”
She turned a shocked expression in my direction. “Kill him? No! Of course not. I’m hoping to heal him.” Reaching down, she pulled back the sash he wore with his alien skirt—more like a kilt, I guess, but it looked like a skirt to me. “He’s wounded.”
“Mm-hmm.” Good. As long as he didn’t die, I could ignore them both.
“Could you help me strip him before you go?”
“Strip him?” I couldn’t keep the shock out of my voice.
“Please? I’ve got to get him cleaned up better.”
He muttered in protest, but we ignored him, struggling to pull his alien-man-dress off him.
And to be honest, I took a peek.
He was huge everywhere.
“Sure hope this isn’t just some alien man-cold,” I said dryly, but when I got another glimpse of his wound, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
“He got that saving me from other Khanavai,” Amelia told me.
I shook my head, not certain what to make of these two. “Well, let me know if you need anything.” I didn’t really mean it. It was just something I said when talking to guests.
But of course, Amelia Rivers took me at my word. “What’s your name?” she asked.
“Deandra Casto. You can call me Dee.”
“Actually, Dee, when does your shift end? Could I pay you to pick up some stuff and bring it back to us?”
It sounded harmless enough.
I should have known better.
But I felt sorry for her.
“I guess,” I sighed. “Give me a list. And the cash. I’ll be back in the morning.”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about the alien.
I spent most of the rest of my shift scrolling the latest vids on them. They were playing on all the major channels, so it was easy enough to find him. Amelia Rivers had led this guy on a hell of a chase—that had somehow ended up with him injured in a stolen car and her planning to take care of him.
As soon as Alejandro showed up for his shift, I headed out. “Room 118 checked in late last night. They said to skip the room cleaning this morning,” I told him, trying to keep my voice casual, even though my heart raced with the excitement of aiding fugitives.
“Got it.” Alejandro didn’t even look up as he responded.
Perfect.
At the pharmacy, I picked up bandaging material and some packaged food, and then headed back to the hotel, hoping Alejandro didn’t notice my car as I returned.
Amelia cracked open the door, then closed it to pull back the safety lock. She looked exhausted, like she hadn’t slept in days, as she took the bags from my hands. “Thank you so much.”
I moved into the room and shut it behind me, even though Amelia’s body language suggested she’d rather I simply left. I gestured at the alien, still lying on the bed. “How is he doing?”
“It’s still touch-and-go. The antibiotics, if they are going to help at all, should kick in sometime soon.” Amelia sounded as haggard and worn as she looked.
The alien on the bed opened his eyes enough to watch Amelia for a few seconds. He looked almost worried.
Probably afraid she’d get away when he wasn’t paying attention.
“The news this morning described the car you’re in,” I said. “You might want to move it around back. I’ll watch him while you’re gone, if you want.”
“Thanks. That would be great.” Then Amelia was gone, and I sat down on the bed next to the enormous pink man, who opened one eye to stare at me.
“Why are you helping us?” he rasped, his voice barely above a whisper.
I gave him an assessing look, realizing that if I hadn’t been implanted with a translator as a child, I wouldn’t even be able to understand him. “I’m not helping you,” I finally replied. “I’m helping her. Because I don’t think it’s right that you guys have the option to take women away from their lives, away from their families, away from everything they love, just because you want to have babies.”
The alien’s face fell, and for the first time, it occurred to me that he might care about Amelia. He nodded, acknowledging my statement. “I see what you mean.”
And Amelia was sticking around to help him. She could have dumped him here and left. Could they actually care about each other? Just in case, I patted his hand gently. “But if she decides to go with you, you take care of her, okay?”
“I will,” he promised.
Amelia came back into the room, locking the door behind her. “Car’s moved,” she told me. “Thanks for the heads up.”
“You should probably watch the news,” I said. “I keyed your room for our best vid pack. Don’t tell anyone.”
We shared a conspiratorial smile.
“Thanks again for that, too,” Amelia said, nodding toward a bag on a small chest at the end of the bed.
“No problem. I’m headed home. Check in with me tonight if you need anything,” I said. “Assuming you’re still here by then.”
Little did I know how much trouble it was going to cause me to have them there.
Chapter Two
Wex Banstinad
I didn’t plan to find my mate on a trip to Earth.
As far as I knew, Prince Khan had been the only Khanavai warrior who had ever actually gone to Earth in search of a bride. All the rest of us had to hope to be chosen to compete in the Khanavai Bride Games for one of the brides drawn in the lottery.
I, however, had spent the last six months seconded to the Bride Games, relegated to running the
