Karen Kelley - The Falcon Prince

She raised an eyebrow. Definitely stubborn, but very nice to look upon. Her thick, dark brown hair was pulled away from her face. Although her features were delicate, there was a sensuous, earthy quality about her that was undeniable. Her Symtarian blood, no doubt.

“What do you mean, you’re a warrior?” she asked.

The proud fighter in him sprang to the surface. “I defend my home from invading armies.”

She seemed to absorb his words, although she didn’t appear particularly impressed. Most women were. He had faced death many times and been victorious. He’d defended New Symtaria with his life, and would do so again.

“What do you know about my parents?”

Yes, she was very quick to dismiss his warrior status. Not that it overly concerned him. He was here only to complete his mission, and return with her to New Symtaria so she could embrace a culture as old as time.

And mate.

Possibly with him.

In fact, now that he thought about it, that was a good plan.

“My parents?” she prodded.

Stubborn, and in a hurry. She had been running when he’d first encountered her. She would not be the type who wasted time. “You come from a very prestigious lineage,” he finally spoke. “There is royalty in your blood, but we are not related, so it will be okay if we mate.”

She squared her shoulders. “I beg your pardon?”

He frowned. She did not seem to take to the idea very well. Maybe he wouldn’t mate with her. Why should he let her have the pleasure of his body, when she didn’t look as though the idea tempted her? This Earthling side of her was without passion.

He decided to ignore her response to the possibility of their one day mating, and continue explaining where she came from. “Your father had Symtarian blood. From what I’ve gathered, he was killed by one of the rogue Symtarians.”

Which was happening to more impures than he wanted to count. Some rogues didn’t like the thought of impures being brought back to New Symtaria and mixing with the pure bloods, but it was a necessity now. The Symtarian blood was too pure and, in a weaker mind, the animal guide was taking over the human side.

The animal guide’s natural instinct was to hunt and kill. It was causing chaos among the different tribes. The impure’s nature was more gentle, and the animal guide less dominant.

Except for Rianna. She did not appear that gentle to him.

“I’m of royal blood,” she stated dryly.

He wasn’t sure about the tone she used, but he would ignore it for now. “Yes.”

“And my mother?”

“She too has passed. I believe the rogue Symtarian scared her so much that she left you to be raised in the institution. I’m sure for your own protection. She was later killed when the vehicle in which she was riding collided with another.” It had taken much time to discover this information. He was ready to be done with it all.

She bit her bottom lip, blinking back the moisture that formed in her eyes. Kristor’s heart beat faster inside his chest. Was she about to cry? Women who cried made him nervous. He probably shouldn’t have delivered the information so bluntly, but what did he know about finesse? He left that to his brother. Rogar knew how to talk to women. It would be better to get Rianna back to Symtaria and let someone else handle her.

He cleared his throat. “Now, are you ready to leave?”

She shook her head, her expression puzzled. “Leave?”

“Yes, to go to New Symtaria.”

“Why would I do that?”

“To be with your own kind.”

“I don’t even know where New Symtaria is.”

“It’s in another galaxy, but I have the means to take you there.”

“The means…”

“Yes, in my spacecraft.”

Now she worried him. Her face drained of color. What had he said? The fear returned to her eyes as she eased her legs from under the table.

“Is something wrong?”

“You just told me that you’re an alien from another planet. What could possibly be wrong?”

Even though she said nothing was wrong, her actions were telling him something different. He reached for her hand. His sister had once told him women liked to hold hands. Except Rianna jerked away from him.

“Don’t touch me! Stay away from me and my family!”

“I don’t understand.” He opened his hands out, palms up.

She shot to her feet, stumbling in her haste to put distance between them. “Of course, you don’t. You’re crazy!” She took off running before he could get his feet out from under the table. He turned sideways on the bench and watched her.

Rianna had a nice run. Long legs stretching out in front of her. She would make a good mating partner.

Except each time they talked, she ended up running away.

I don’t blame her. You didn’t handle that well, Labrinon said. My plan is better. Throw her over your shoulder and let us leave this barbaric land.

“Silence!”

“He told me he was an alien from another planet,” Ria explained to Heath.

Heath gave an exasperated sigh, but before he could open his mouth, Ria hurried on.

“And no, I don’t think he’s an alien, but I do think he’s certifiable, and he’s renting my old room from my parents. He could murder them in the middle of the night. I want you to lock him up. Put him in the state hospital…something.”

“How about if I just talk to him for now?”

Just talk? That was all? He was a threat to her parents and possibly the whole community. She opened her mouth to tell him she wanted him to do more, but his expression said that was all he would do for now. It was a start, she supposed. “Fine. You’ll see. The guy is off his rocker.”

Heath scanned the park.

“There he is,” she said, pointing Kristor out. He was looking quite unconcerned that he was about to be carted off to the loony bin. The guy probably didn’t even know he was crazy. Heath would help rectify the situation, she was sure.

Heath started toward Kristor, or whatever his name was. It could be an alias for all she knew. Ria stayed right on Heath’s heels.

He stopped, studying her for a moment. “Wait here.”

“Wait here? But…but…” Of course. It made sense. Heath had a gun and everything, and if there was a tussle, he couldn’t concentrate on taking the stranger down if he was worried she’d get hurt.

“Okay, but be careful. He’s pretty big.”

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” Heath said, without much conviction.

And Kristor was big. The guy had some serious muscles. Sexy muscles. Not that she was even remotely attracted to him. The guy was a nut case. The outside package tempted her, she wouldn’t deny that. It was the inside that scared the hell out of her.

Ria tugged on the hem of her shorts, then twisted the material around her finger. If anything happened to Heath, her parents would disown her, the townspeople would probably kill her, and she was pretty sure Ruffles wouldn’t like her, either.

Not that the cat had much to do with her now. The cat had always seemed fond of Heath, though. Most men actually. Ria had adopted a slutty cat.

But if the stranger hurt Heath, Ria would feel so guilty. Heath was practically an uncle. He’d given Ria her driving test. She frowned. Her first speeding ticket, too.

“You look deep in thought,” Donald Evans said as he came to stand beside her.

She jumped, then quickly smoothed the hem of her shorts and stood straighter. She hadn’t heard his approach.

Donald was looking as handsome as ever. They’d dated for a while. Nothing serious, although Donald would’ve liked to take it to the next level. But when it came to sleeping with him, she drew the line. Maybe she still secretly harbored a grudge because he’d told on her about the whoopee cushion.