The Falcon Prince

“Can I put my shirt back on?” a scrawny man squeaked.

“Good Lord, man. I ain’t never seen muscles like that. What do you lift?”

“Lift?” Kristor thought for a moment. “Anything I want.”

The room exploded into laughter. Heath clapped him on the back. “I would imagine so.”

Heath quickly explained the rules of football. Kristor was disappointed to hear they couldn’t do anything more than steal a flag. A game of wits and speed. His brothers had often engaged in such sports.

This would at least pass the hours until he could convince Rianna it was time to go home to New Symtaria. The Queen Mother would be proud that he wasn’t using force—yet.

Chapter 4

There were already a few spectators sitting in the bleachers when Ria made her way to the sidelines. She noticed several women in the stands were talking on their cell phones: hands waving in the air, eyes twinkling, laughter erupting. She knew the symptoms well. They must have something new to gossip about. That was fine with her as long as she was off the top of their lists.

Then again, they could still be talking about her. Nah, the Miller Bend grapevine moved faster than the speed of sound—meaning they only heard what they wanted to hear. That was life in a small town. On the other hand, people were quick to help when someone needed a hand. She figured you had to take the good with the bad.

She tugged on the hem of her short skirt, feeling ridiculous wearing the blue-and-white cheerleading uniform. One of the women in the Women’s League had delivered it to her earlier in the week. As soon as she’d taken the skimpy, midriff-showing top out of the box, her heart sank.

It wasn’t that she was a prude. She had a dozen or more thongs and a couple of bikinis in her dresser drawer. For some strange reason wearing the cheerleading outfit made her think about strippers, poles, and men shoving money into the waistband of her skirt.

Her eyes strayed to the field. Some of her tension eased. She looked a hell of a lot better than the no-shirts team. Neil wasn’t bad. She could certainly tell he owned a set of weights and used them.

And for an older guy, Heath looked in pretty good shape. Some of the others should’ve left their shirts on, though. The next time Ben Dansworth made a smart-assed remark about her seeing an alien, she was going to mention his beer gut. That should shut him up.

Her gaze skidded to a stop when it landed on Kristor. No shirt. Bulging muscles as he stretched and turned. God, he was tanned and delicious.

Oh, baby, stretch a little more to the right.

He did.

Her mouth watered.

Get a grip! He could quite possibly be a serial killer. Just because he’d gotten Fluffy out of a tree, and had helped a little old lady up a small hill, didn’t mean he wasn’t a murderer. That could be a cover.

But it was difficult for her to believe that when she was staring at hard…sweaty…sinewy muscles. Her breath caught in her throat. “Now more to the left,” she murmured. “That’s it. Right there. Yum.”

So maybe he wasn’t a serial killer. Just crazy. Was it horribly wrong to lust after a guy if he was just a little off kilter?

Kristor suddenly stopped stretching as though he sensed someone watching him. Pffttt, as if everyone wasn’t. The guy had some seriously sexy moves.

Kristor scanned the area until his gaze stopped on her. He stared, apparently not caring that he was being rude. Yeah, right, why should someone who thought he was an alien care if he was being rude or not?

Turn away from him, she told herself. But it wasn’t so easy when he looked at her as if she was an earthly body he wanted to explore and conquer. That wasn’t going to happen.

His brain had probably been fried by too many Star Wars movies, and she was not about to play close encounters of the sexy kind with him. She didn’t want him pulling her against his strong chest, and she most certainly didn’t want to run her hands over all those muscles or…God, she couldn’t stop staring at him! He was like a freakin’ drug and she an addict looking for her next fix.

Heath pulled Kristor’s attention away, and she could finally take a deep breath. What had just passed between them? A blast of electricity?

No, she’d only reacted to a gorgeous body. The guy was built, she wouldn’t deny that.

Built? More like sculpted from fine marble, Shintara broke into her thoughts.

“Shut up!”

“Shut up is right,” Mary Ann said as she stopped beside Ria. Her hungry gaze latched on to Kristor like a starving cougar.

This was not the plan. Ria was supposed to make people question Kristor, not drool all over him. Not that any woman wouldn’t foam at the mouth. She sort of believed him about the warrior stuff. He had the broad shoulders of a man who would take command during a battle. But she refused to get the hots for a lunatic.

“I heard your mother rented your old room out to him.” She delicately dabbed the corners of her mouth. “Lucky you.”

Didn’t anyone get anything around here? She dragged her eyes away from Kristor. “The man is a stranger, Mary Ann. We know nothing about him. He could be an escapee from a mental institution for all we know.”

She was such a slut. When they were in high school, Mary Ann would go into heat every time a jock passed by. Nothing had changed.

Mary Ann turned, giving Ria the once-over. “I heard you saw an alien. They have great doctors in Dallas. One of them might be able to help you.”

“I didn’t see an alien.”

“That’s not what my sister told me. She heard from Tilly that you were all hysterical when you called the sheriff’s office saying you’d seen a naked alien with hawk wings in the woods behind your house.” Her gaze returned to Kristor as he did the warm-up exercises with the other men. “I wouldn’t mind seeing him naked.” Mary Ann raised her pom-poms and shook them.

Seeing Kristor that day in the woods was a vision Ria wouldn’t soon forget. She shook her head, then looked at Mary Ann. “You wouldn’t mind seeing any man naked.”

The other woman sighed. “True.”

Ria arched an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t let your husband hear you say that.”

“Oh, honey, Bobby Ray doesn’t care where I get my appetite as long as I come home to eat.”

She was probably right. Bobby Ray adored Mary Ann. She had him twisted around her little finger.

“Besides, I keep my man happy. Where do you think I came up with the design for these uniforms?” She gave a sly wink.

Eww.

“You comin’ to the Women’s League meeting Tuesday night?” Mary Ann asked. “We need to vote how we’re going to raise money for the new x-ray machine at the hospital.”

“Why not give blow jobs?” Ria smiled sweetly.

Mary Ann stooped to re-tie her tennis shoe. Her expression was thoughtful when she straightened. “That’s an idea. You think Bobby Ray would mind?”

“I doubt it. He hasn’t seemed to mind too much in the past.”

“Ohh, good one.” She chuckled. “You know, I’ve always liked you, even though we all know you’re crazy.” Her arm suddenly went up and she waved. “There’s Becky, and Laura.”

Bitch. Ria turned and smiled at the other two ladies. The last two arrived as the guys took the field.

“Wow, look at the crowd,” Laura said.

What had started out as a few loyal, bored relatives in the bleachers had grown to overwhelming proportions. Ria had a feeling Kristor was the reason for the rise in popularity of the game today.

The next hour was filled with cheers and jeers. For an alien, Kristor had picked up the game pretty fast. Let