Magic, New Mexico: A Touch of Fate (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Fated For Curves Book 1) Read online

  Where was the spaceship?

  She stood again, put her hands out to keep her balance and found her sea legs. Luckily, her glasses had stayed on her face during all that and she could see a clear path of eviscerated ground and trees pointed toward the highway. But, somehow, miraculously, thank you Universe, the ship had missed her tiny house, her truck, and twenty yards into the trees, her bath house.

  Kady thrust her fist into the air. “Heck, yeah.”

  And she fell on her ass again. A couple of presses to her ears helped a little bit, so she tried again, holding a finger in one ear, which seemed to help.

  “Holy crap on a cracker.” She could see the ship, and there was something or someone, yes, a man, glowing and lying on the ground next to it.

  A golden man. Not gold like he’d been tanning in the sun, and not like an Academy Award, but gold like he’d been planning on going clubbing and put on every bottle of sparkly bronzer from Walmart’s clearance section.

  Could she, should she get closer? See if he was breathing?

  She should get in Herbie Husker and drive far, far, far away from here. Maybe set up shop in the deserts of New Mexico. Surely, no one would bother her there.

  But, he was an alien and he could be dying.

  On the other hand, he and his spaceship almost killed her and everything that was dear to her.

  But, this was a chance at first contact with an alien race.

  She shook her head. What, was this, Star Trek? She was no Uhura, T’Pol, or Captain Janeway.

  The authorities would be coming any minute. They would take care of everything.

  Men who were the authority type would come marching up her side of the mountain. Authority types were the worst of the alphaholes in the world in her experience. They never understood her. Better if she bolted now.

  She opened the door to Herbie, stared at it, and slammed it shut.

  Damn it. She couldn’t leave a possibly dying alien man lying in her backyard. He could be suffering and if he wasn’t now, the sound of those sirens coming up the mountain meant he would be soon.

  They’d put him under a microscope and never let him go. People were bastards, that she knew.

  If she could save another being in the universe from being poked, prodded, bullied, and hurt, then she would.

  It would add to her karma bank and maybe someday be returned. Not that it ever had before. No one had ever saved her.

  She couldn’t allow that to happen to another being.

  Okay. Save the alien, save the world.

  Kady glanced in the direction the emergency services were coming from and then into the burning trees. She didn’t have much time. It might work if the alien or aliens were conscious. Which would be a miracle.

  She grabbed the flashlight from Herbie and headed into the hole in the trees.

  “Please be a nice alien species here for first contact and not the point man in the alien invasion, because I don’t know any fighter pilots that look like Will Smith.”

  The alien man groaned, or maybe growled. Oops. Had he heard that? Was he awake?

  Another twenty yards and she could see him head to toe. And what a hell of a head, and toes, and muscled legs, and wide shoulders, holy cannolis, look at those abs.

  If all aliens were built like this guy she volunteered to be Earth’s ambassador to his planet. Although she wouldn’t get any ambassadoring done because she’d be daydreaming all day and every night about all the dirty fun things she could do with a man like that.

  Not that he’d be interested in her, but a girl could fantasize all she wanted.

  He groan-growled again and one leg moved revealing more skin through the tears in his clothes. Plus, she swore she saw black fur.

  Huh. A humanoid with body fur was plausible. Or maybe he just hadn’t manscaped properly.

  She shined the flashlight across his body, mostly to figure out what his injuries might be and to see if she could figure out how to move him, and a little bit to see more of his, uh, fur.

  Her light caught on some sort of pendant hanging from his neck. The cord was torn and ready to fall off. The stone looked like a large piece of amber, carved with a bear paw print.

  A siren echoed off the mountain. They were getting closer.

  No way she could help by standing here gawking at him. She took several tentative steps, and with each one, the medallion’s light grew brighter. Hopefully that was a good sign, like E.T.’s heartlight.

  “Hello? Hello? Mr. Hotty Alien Fur Man. Can you hear me?”

  Chapter

  Three: A Bear in the Woods

  A female voice penetrated Black’s brain. That damned computer better shut up.

  He forced one eye open, shut it again against the piercing light, took a breath that hurt to his claws and tried again. He opened his eyes, blinked and found the most beautiful girl creature he'd ever seen standing over him. No, she wasn’t a girl. This was a woman. If his head would quit pounding for one damn second he’d do his best to woo her straight into his bed.

  Unless, she was a Fate come to take his soul across to the afterlife. Then she could go fuck herself. He’d stay and watch.

  “Oh good, you're not dead. Well, not yet, anyway.”

  A Fate wouldn’t ask such a question, would she? No. So not a harbinger to the next life, that meant she was a luscious, warm, slightly out of focus, but gorgeous none-the-less, woman.

  “Can you move? Oh, maybe you shouldn’t move. Wait one minute while I go see if I have a neck brace. I took CPR in the eighth grade.”

  “No. Do not go.” This language felt thick coming off his tongue. His translator must have gotten shaken up in the crash along with the rest of his brains.

  “Okay.” She squatted down beside him.

  If his arms didn’t feel so limp and heavy he would have grabbed those luscious hips and pulled her on top of him.

  Whoa. While he was as horny as the next bear, now was the not the time or place to have sex on the brain.

  “I’m Kady. Can you tell me your name?”

  “What's a K-D?” Maybe more than the translator implant in his brain was broken. What’s a K-D? Such fool things hadn’t come out of his mouth since he’d gone through the change from cub to bear and received his Soul Ember.

  She laughed and it felt like sunshine and the strongest dark liquor all rolled into one. Both his head and his cock wanted to hear more.

  “I'm a Kady. I mean, that’s my name. I’m a human.”

  Of course she was. This was Earth, the small blue planet it had taken him more time than he could afford for him and his team to get to. He blinked trying to force his brain to work.

  His team. He was here to find a way to defeat the spectrals. Not to find a woman.

  Well, he’d found one, and she was going home with him and straight into his bed if he had anything to say about it.

  Fates above, he could hardly wait to sink his cock into her soft flesh.

  No. He didn’t have time for that sort of pleasure. He had a war to win.

  “My name is Black—”

  A shrill sound, much like his warning signals on the ship blared rhythmically from somewhere nearby.

  Kady glanced over her shoulder, through the destruction his ship had caused. “Ah crap. They’re coming.”

  “Who?”

  “The men in black, the CIA, the alien abductees, take your pick. But whoever it is, won’t be good.”

  Passion had warned him the people of this planet were primitive and under no circumstances should his team allow themselves known to anyone besides the residents of Magic.

  This mission had clusterfuck written all over it. There was too much at stake to let the people of Earth interfere. His bear wavered at the edge of shifting, ready to heal his wounds and take control.

  But, it waited, not wanting to scare the woman away.

  “I will fight them off, defend you.” Just as soon as he could stand.

  “Yeah, I don’t think so. Can you g
et up? Maybe lean on me and we can hide you in my house until the hubbub is over. Although, you might crush me. Geez, your big.” She covered her mouth with both hands. “Oops, sorry. I did not mean to say that out loud. But seriously, if you don’t want to be experimented on and anally probed, we’ve got to get a move on.”

  “Anally probed?” What sort of people were these Earthers?

  “Oh, wait. That’s what the aliens do. If I take you in, you have to promise not to put anything near my anus.” She wagged her finger at him.

  “I promise not to put anything near your luscious ass unless you ask me to.” He blinked and swallowed. How had that popped out of his mouth?

  “That will have to do. Come on.” She laced one arm around his torso and helped him to his feet. “Oomph. You are not going to fit in my front door.”

  Her touch scorched his skin, burning up his arm across his chest where her body was pressed to his side and straight to his heart. His bear side roared out its claim on her. Black wanted to both jump away and hold her closer, tight to his body and never let her go.

  Nee-ner, nee-ner, nee-ner. The sirens grew closer and there was more than one.

  “Can you walk?”

  “Of course I can, I am a Star Ranger.” He took one step and stumbled, falling to his knees and then rolling into some very prickly bushes. Stars circled above him and they weren’t the ones in the night sky.

  “Crap. I’m sorry, I should have gotten a better hold on you.” Kady’s face appeared above his and the stars faded into her eyes. “What if I roll you over to my house?”

  “No one is rolling unless it’s around in your bed.”

  There it went again, his cock controlling his mouth. Get a hold of yourself, bear.

  “You’re adorable, but we do not have time for this.”

  No, no one had ever called him adorable, not even as a cub. Tough, driven, brute, asshole, but never adorable.

  “I don’t think I can drag you, and I doubt if I covered you in bushes we’d escape their notice. Hmm.” She patted a finger on her lips.

  What a beautiful pout she had.

  What was wrong with him? Men who wanted to anally probe him were hunting him and his ship down, while the lead he had on the spectral soul stealers was growing colder by the minute, and all he could think about was getting her lips around his hardening dick.

  If he could get a hard-on, he could get his ass off the ground and walk. “We will walk to your home. Just give me a minute.”

  “Maybe I can whip up a pair of crutches out of these branches.” She lifted the debris of wood he’d created in his fall, rooting around and tossing several branches aside.

  “No, lend me your shoulder again. I promise to stay standing if your home isn’t too far away.”

  “Only to the other side of those trees, at the edge of the meadow.”

  Black glanced in the direction she indicated. The distance wasn’t far, but felt like the length of twelve fallenball fields. He would have to pull on all his reserves to make it. He was a warrior, an elite Star Ranger, and he’d had a lifetime of training, practice, and on the job experience in pushing his body to the max.

  He sat up, breathed through the pain and got on his feet. He wobbled until Kady slipped under his arm, doing her best to help support him.

  “Good job. Ready?”

  Again, her touch burned in that amazing way. It must be his injuries. “Ready.”

  He took one step forward, swayed and leaned heavily onto Kady.

  “That’s it. One foot in front of the other, and soon we’ll be walking out the doo-oo-oor,” she sang.

  Her voice wavered and she glanced toward the lights coming toward them.

  She was worried. He wanted nothing more in life than to soothe and protect her. The way to do that now was to get out of danger.

  He took another step and another. Each felt like he was trying to walk on a ship with two-hundred percent grav plating during a solar storm. But, gritting his teeth, they made progress.

  Woo-oof. Woo-oof.

  Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark.

  Aw-oooooooooh.

  “What the fuck is that? Do you have three-headed Pardovian aardvarks on this planet?” If so, even calling up his bear, they were screwed.

  “Shit buckets. They brought search dogs. We’ve got to move, mister, alien, dude.” Kady tugged at his arm and pulled him into a slow jog.

  Each step rattled his bones, several of which were probably broken. Damn. He should have looked through the wreckage of the ship for a med kit.

  He shoved the pain aside. “Where is your home, I don’t see it.”

  “Just there, through the those trees.”

  The dog’s barking behind them grew louder and closer. The shouts of men’s voices could be heard now too.

  “But, I don’t think we’re going to make it before they hit the clearing.”

  All their running would be for naught. If they saw him, they would pursue. They needed somewhere to hide. With his next step, Black pivoted and felt something in his ankle snap and crackle. “There, go toward that small hut at the edge of the woods.”

  “The bathhouse doesn’t lock. They’ll find you.”

  “It’s our only choice. Go.”

  Kady nodded and headed for the small hut. “I’ll cover you in towels or something.”

  Ten more meters and they’d be there. Black tripped over his own forsaken feet and they both tumbled to the ground this time. He wrapped his arms around her and took the brunt of the fall to his left shoulder. They rolled several meters and stopped dead when his back hit a tree.

  “Are you okay, my Kady?”

  “Crfph brrrrrf.”

  Black lifted his head and stared down at her. “Kady, can you speak? Where are you injured?”

  “Can’t. Breath.”

  “Your lungs are damaged?”

  “Get. Off.”

  Black rolled so she was atop him instead of the other way around. “I’ll try to be more careful not to crush you the next time you’re under me.”

  Damn fool mouth. Didn’t it understand they were in danger.

  Kady’s deep brown eyes sparkled and she slowly blinked. “Next time?”

  “Soon.”

  “Over there!” A voice sang through the air followed by a cacophony of barking and other shouts.

  “Oh no. They’re going to see us. Hurry.” Kady jumped up and yanked him into the hut through a fabric flap. She tied it shut behind them and then ransacked a small wooden wardrobe next to the door.

  “Here, quickly, take off your clothes and get into the hot tub.” She threw a large tan towel at him and grabbed another.

  Hot tub?

  Black stared at the room. “What is this place?”

  Dark wood floors surrounded a large white marbled basin with a wooden lid. Opposite was a two-person sized wooden box with a glass door.

  If they were on Honaw, this would be the pleasure den of a high-end lady of the night.

  “Hurry, they’re coming.” Kady ripped off her top, tossed her fogging glasses on the bench, and wrapped a towel around herself. She wiggled out of her pants and dropped the clothing into a pile on the floor.

  Pleasure den or no, if they were getting undressed, he was all for it. Hopefully she had more of a plan than towels and using her naked body as a distraction.

  Although, that was a hell of a good plan. Both his logical brain and the part of him that needed to stake his claim on her agreed.

  Black groaned as he took off his shirt and peeled himself out of the carbon-fiber pants. They had protected his legs from the worst of the crash and the subsequent falls. His cock thanked him for that.

  Kady flipped the wooden lid off the large basin and he saw it was filled with steaming water. Oh, fuck yeah.

  She turned some knobs on the side of the tub and both bubbles and colored lights came on. What a bizarre addition to her pleasure ritual, but one he’d remember. It would hide his wounds and the difference in
their skin color should the men in black and their, uh what did she call them? Ah, yes, dogs, come calling.

  “Black, get in.” Kady was already in the water, but with her towel wrapped around her. He’d get it off her soon enough.

  He tossed the towel she’d given him on the little bench next to her glasses and climbed in, one leg at a time. Kady’s eyes widened watching him. Her already rosy cheeks went even more red and she turned away.

  What a fantastic sexual indicator. A flush of her skin. He could practically see the vasodilation that must be occurring to turn her face and chest such a lovely shade. He’d remember that and make sure to make it happen as often as he could.

  These humans were much more interesting than he expected. No wonder the former Star Ranger, Frost, had mated one.

  Steam from the hot water filled the hut quickly and the warm water felt unbelievable on his sore and broken body. Black waited for the tendrils of pleasure to wash over him.

  He’d been more than a little surprised that this human woman would bring him into her bath. Would she be able to resist the water’s pleasures? He hoped not.

  “Hey, anyone inside?” A voice called from the other side of the hut’s fabric door. “We’re coming in.”

  “Yikes, okay. Showtime.” Kady looked from the door to Black, visibly gulped and moved across the pool to him. “Who’s there?” her voice lilted, all sweet and innocent. “We’re in the hot tub and would rather not be disturbed,” she called back.

  “Sorry lady, this is a national emergency.”

  Kady’s arms held the towel tight across her ample breasts, but the rest of the material floated around her. His hands developed a mind of their own and wrapped around her waist, pulling her body to his.

  She was so damn lush, hips he could sink his big paws into, an ass that went on forever and soft, silky skin. Now if he could get that towel off and reveal what he knew were going to be epic tits.

  Having her mostly naked, millimeters away from his raging hard-on, the part of him that cared about saving the universe gave up.

  Kady slapped his arm and whispered, “This is not real, so don’t go thinking your hands are wandering any further than my waist, mister.”