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Thank you so much for your interest in ERYX! Scroll down to read the first chapter…

Chapter 1Olivia

“I hate space travel,” Olivia muttered into the toilet, her hands gripping the edge until her knuckles turned white. Her stomach swirled again as the cabin rumbled. Cars and planes made her queasy, but apparently spaceships were the real killer. The USS Pegasus had left Earth nearly two days ago. Olivia hadn’t lasted longer than an hour before the motion sickness—space sickness?—hit her. The docking procedure didn’t make it any better. The overhead speakers declared the USS Pegasus was docking with The Queen Avra. It’d been repeating the same message for ten minutes.

Ten minutes too long.

That was what Olivia deserved for trying to be supportive. When her best friend, Lexi, had told Olivia she was marrying alien royalty, Olivia did what any good friend would do—offer to help plan the wedding. But when Olivia had imagined planning her friends’ weddings, she had always assumed they’d be looking at venues and stuffing themselves at cake tastings on Earth. Where else would they do that?

Everything had changed a year ago when the Herkleians made first contact with Lexi’s asshole uncle, tech billionaire Grayson Seymour. The towering aliens with sharp horns and blue scales had offered Earth a position within the Intergalactic Alliance, a collection of twelve planets that shared technology and resources. But unlike the other alliance planets, Earth didn’t have a single royal family to seal the deal through marriage. The Herkleians had negotiated with Mr. Seymour instead—which was why Olivia’s best friend was a day away from becoming a freaking alien queen.

When Olivia had first learned of the arrangement, she had tried to talk her friend out of it. Now, six months later, Lexi was happy and in love, her fiancé, Anax, not only an alien king but also her soulmate. Well, not exactly soulmate. Lexi had said they were matebonded, but Olivia was sure the terms were close enough. Her friend really had hit the jackpot. How many others could claim a super-hot royal alien as a soulmate?

The rumbling stopped before a ding sounded through Olivia’s cabin. “Docking successful. Welcome to The Queen Avra. An attendant will arrive shortly at your door to lead you to your new chambers.”

Olivia peeled herself from the toilet and crawled into the cabin. After pulling on her classiest pair of ripped jeans, she tied her black hair in a quick topknot. She didn’t need a mirror to know it looked flawless. The benefits of being a trained hairstylist. She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and nearly ran from the cabin. The sooner she left the USS Pegasus, the better. Everyone onboard was human, either friends of Lexi or delegates from various Earth countries. The medic had given Olivia some pills, but unfortunately her pain wouldn’t go away until arrival on The Queen Avra, a Herkleian ship-turned-station. Her daydreams of its stabilizers and advanced medical equipment had kept her alive over the last forty-eight hours.

The door to her room swished as she approached. “Olivia!”

The ship rumbled out a final groan. Olivia slapped her hands across her mouth, her stomach rolling. Lexi stood in the doorway, eyes wide, her blond hair wrapped around a halo-spiked tiara and her gown decorated with sparkling burgundy scales. She was absolutely beautiful.

Olivia shoved past her and hurled into a potted plant.

“Oh, God, what’s wrong with her?” A light hand touched her back.

“The doctor on board reported her space sick, my lady.” From the corner of her eye, Olivia saw the outline of a second person, nearly a foot taller than Lexi’s five-three frame. “Nothing too serious.”

“Can you get some water, Kynna?”

Kynna. Lexi’s Herkleian attendant. Olivia had heard about her during their phone calls. What a great first impression for Lexi’s new friend.

Olivia tried to push to her feet, but almost lost her balance. “You didn’t tell me this would happen.”

“It never happened to me,” Lexi said.

Of course Olivia was cursed with space sickness and not Lexi. Her friend always had the best luck.

Hence the hot alien fiancé thing.

Kynna returned from the cabin. Olivia tried not to gape. She had seen pictures and videos, but Kynna was her first in-the-flesh alien. Her dragon-like scales glimmered like azure stones and radiated a gentle heat that Olivia could feel across the hall. Herkleians had hair like humans—Kynna’s the color of the midnight sky—but their bright-colored irises were slitted and black antler-like horns sprouted from their heads. She offered Olivia a cup of water, her black-clawed fingers wrapped around the glass.

Olivia quickly grabbed for the cup and gulped the water down in a single second. She huffed out a refreshed sigh and tried on a tired smile. “Let’s try this again.”

Lexi beamed and opened her arms wide. “I’m so excited you’re here! I haven’t had a hug in months.”

Without further explanation, Lexi crushed Olivia in a giant hug.

“In months?” Olivia choked out.

Lex squeezed tighter. “Herkleians don’t hug.”

Not the worst cultural practice. Olivia bit her lip to stop herself from saying so. Lexi was a hugger. Always had been. Once at a bar during college, Olivia had said she didn’t like hugs. Lexi had insisted on hugging her a thousand times that night. Like exposure therapy, a part of Olivia almost liked Lexi’s hugs now. Almost. Maybe it was because she had missed her. The friends hadn’t gone six months apart since Lexi’s internship after sophomore year. Olivia didn’t know what she was going to do without her bestie. It wasn’t like the future Queen of Herkleios could visit Earth on the regular.

Lexi pulled away after a minute. “There’s so much I have to tell you. But first, I want to show you something.”

***

The Queen Avra was a marvel compared to Earth’s first ship, the USS Pegasus. Instead of interiors that reminded Olivia of the military bases she’d grown up in, uncut glowing rocks threaded through the gold walls and ceilings. The floor wasn’t boring black, but made of cobalt blue marble mixed with sparks of gold. Twisting staircases emerged from the stone to lead to different floors. Strange plants swayed within the pot holders and displays, bright pink and purple and blue petals near the size of Olivia’s head.

Lexi hadn’t stopped talking since they had left the Earth ship, talking a million miles a minute about every little thing that had happened in the last six months. Olivia had heard most of it, but, damn, her friend had been busy. Olivia tried to take it all in, but she was still feeling shaky. When Kynna had taken Olivia’s bags to her new room, Olivia had almost begged the alien woman to bring her, too. She needed to crawl into bed if she were going to survive the wedding tomorrow.

“How much further to the venue?” Lexi had insisted on showing Olivia the options for their venue, whatever that meant. “Isn’t it a little late to be making changes?”

Lexi waved away her concern. “It will make more sense if I just show you.”

They continued down the hall. Olivia was glad to see Lexi so happy. While Olivia didn’t usually support marrying someone after only months of dating, she made an exception for Lexi. Though, Olivia wasn’t only opposed to getting married quickly. More like marriage altogether. Olivia had watched her parents go through a bitter divorce when she was eleven and had decided then she’d never marry. Lexi’s parents’ love story had ended with the death of her father from cancer, making her as wary of relationships as Olivia… until her alien king had changed all that.

“Here.” Lexi waved her hands in front of double doors, which slid open to reveal a bright white room. Olivia waited for her eyes to adjust, but they didn’t. Everything from the floors to the walls was white with no end in sight.

She squinted. “What is this place?”

 “It’s super cool! When Anax told me about it, I knew it’d be the perfect place for our wedding.”

Maybe six months on another planet had caused her friend brain damage. “This white void of a room?”

“No, silly. Let me show you.” Lexi grabbed her hand and dragged her forward. Once they stood in the center, Lexi tapped at a gemstone on her golden bracelet. A screen projected out of the gem, displaying block-shaped letters. After a second, Olivia’s newly implanted translator switched the Herkleian words to English. “Scene 508.”

The room plunged into darkness. Olivia shrieked. What the hell was going on? Before she could ask, a light burst through the room. It didn’t come alone this time. Sound and scent followed. Olivia now stood in a lush alien jungle. Green-blue moss climbed the base of towering trees, their purple-leaved branches creating a twisting canopy overhead. Birds and animals and insects chattered around her, but she didn’t spot any on the twisting vines around her. Glowing flowers emitted thick but sweet smells, mixed with the familiar scent of dirt. No matter what planet Olivia was on, dirt smelled the same. But Olivia wasn’t on another planet. The Queen Avra was a space station, parked halfway between Earth and Herkleios to allow people from both worlds to attend the royal wedding of the century.

Lexi twirled past her. “Isn’t it amazing?”

Olivia could only gape. She could accept the room changing to look like a jungle, but not to feel like a jungle. Even the humidity seemed real. She drifted toward the nearest tree. Her hand didn’t fall through the hologram but settled on its solid trunk. A real freaking alien tree. “What the hell is going on?”

“That’s what I said when I first saw it, too. Honestly, I have no clue how this works. All I know is this room can mimic the sights, smells, and sounds of any location you want.”

“Any location?” Olivia tried to snap her jaw shut, but it was too much to take in. The Herkleians had amazing technology, but this was almost beyond her dreams. “So you can get married anywhere you want on Earth?”

“Not just Earth.” Lexi threw her hands to the sky. “Anywhere in the galaxy. This scene is from a jungle on Yazd, one of the alliance planets. Anax took me there once.” She sighed, almost dreamily.

A brief pang of jealousy twinged through Olivia’s heart. She’d dated, but no one had ever made her sigh like that. “I’ll admit, this is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, but you struggle to choose what takeout to order. How are you going to decide with literally endless options?”

“I know, right?” Lexi flicked at her bracelet again and two chairs appeared. She plopped into one. “Not really knowing what all the options are helps narrow it down a bit. But do I want a summer wedding? A fall wedding? A beach wedding? Maybe even a Guroverian desert wedding?”

Olivia dropped into the seat beside her. She tilted back her head and scanned the purple canopy. “Well, I have no idea what that last one was, but show me your favorites.”

“Okay.” Lexi sat straighter. “I have a top five. I know it’s a royal wedding, so I’m not supposed to go minimal, but I think an outdoor wedding might mute the formality of it all.”

“Outdoors it is. Like a beach wedding?”

“Maybe.” She bit her lip and paused. “I’m not sure yet. Let me show you. Scene 245.”

Olivia nearly tumbled off her chair as in sank into thick yellow sand. She jumped off it and spun. The jungle trees behind her had disappeared, replaced by an endless blue ocean, waves crashing against the nearby shore. Salty wind grazed across her face and tugged at the edges of her burgundy leather jacket. She raised her hand to block the bright sun from her eyes.

Lexi strolled past her, closer to the water. “Is it too hot? And what about the sand? It isn’t real, but it feels real as long as you stay in the room.”

Olivia shrugged. “At least your guests won’t actually find any in the weirdest places days later?”

Lexi tapped at her bracelet again. This time, instead of a single chair, nearly a hundred popped onto the sand, separated into two sections. Tied to the back of each seat was an artful bow of pink peonies mixed with glowing Herkleian flowers. Exactly like the sketches Lexi had shared during their chats last month. In the aisle, larger flower displays exploded into life. Olivia hadn’t ever thought to ask how her friend planned to get Earth flowers in outer space. Apparently, Olivia had her answer.

“It looks amazing, Lexi.” Olivia walked down the aisle to stand next to her friend and the space for the altar. “Do you like it?”

She pursed her lips. “Hmm.”

With another flick, the sky dimmed to night and torches flickered into place. “Herkleian wedding ceremonies are always at night.”

“It’s still beautiful.”

Lexi settled into place at the end of the aisle. The air in front of her wobbled for a moment before a seven-foot-tall Herkleian with towering horns, silky black hair, and slitted blue eyes appeared. Unlike the chairs, flowers, and torches, he was definitely a hologram. Unless Lexi had somehow transported her husband-to-be into the room.

Olivia stumbled back. “Wow.”

“Stand in the spot behind me.” Lexi ran halfway down the aisle as a dozen other hologram-people appeared. Some had familiar faces—Lexi’s mother, her friend from high school, and her two blond cousins. But the groom’s party was entirely alien, starting with King Anax’s best man. Under sharp, black horns and dark green hair, intense purple eyes pierced through Olivia’s core. Her heart fluttered. The alien male had broad, muscular shoulders and azure scales marred by tiny scars, but she barely noticed at the sight of his ripped abs. Herkleian males didn’t wear any shirts, preferring shoulder sashes or leather-like pauldrons. Something she had thought would make a wedding uncomfortable until this exact moment. Olivia’s eyes traced lower to powerful legs in tight, dark pants. Her mouth went dry.

“Olivia?”

Olivia ripped herself from her thoughts. Lexi had said something—possibly more than one something—but Olivia hadn’t heard a thing. She pointed at the alien. Looking into his intense purple eyes again made her flush, so she quickly turned her gaze back to Lexi. “Who is that?”

Lexi’s brow creased, but she answered, “Oh, him? Eryx. Anax’s older brother.”

His brother? Olivia internally smacked herself. She couldn’t lust after Anax’s brother. But she couldn’t force her eyes away from the male, either. It was a cliché to hook up within a bridal party, but Olivia had never wanted it more. Hot damn, he was handsome. And strong. And scarred. Warmth flooded her chest and sunk lower.

“Are you okay?” Lexi came forward and reached for Olivia’s forehead. “You look flushed.”

Of course she looked flushed, Olivia wanted to scale Lexi’s future brother-in-law like a tree. “I’m fine. Perfectly fine. What were you saying?”

“I have no idea how we’re going to get good pictures. My half of the bridal party is at least a foot shorter than Anax’s.”

“Oh.” Olivia’s eyes trailed back to Eryx. Olivia had a few inches on Lexi, but even she was short next to the seven-foot muscled alien. “I don’t think anyone will notice. Not when we’ll be standing next to half-a-dozen shirtless males.”

Lexi snorted. “I will warn you, Liv. The males come off a little… strong.”

“A little strong?” Olivia’s inner feminist went on high alert. “Are you telling me any minute a man is going to come in here and tell me how to live my life? You know I hate it when they do that.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. I’m just telling you they come from a culture where females rule and males take on the role of protector.”

Olivia crossed her arms. “Okay, so exactly like home?”

“It’s all talk back home, but here actions speak louder than words,” Lexi replied. “Just don’t freak out, is all. I’ll warn my mom, cousins, and Rachel, too, but I know it will bother you especially.”

Lexi tapped at her bracelet, flickering to another scene, this one of a meadow filled with glowing flowers, but Olivia barely noticed. Her mind drifted back to Eryx. Too bad he’d be an overprotective alpha. Or maybe that was exactly what she needed him to be. Less chance Olivia would drunkenly flirt with him during the reception.

For the first time in years, Olivia’s heart panged in disappointment at the thought.

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Thank you so much for your interest in ANAX! Scroll down to read the first chapter…

Chapter 1Lexi

“How do I get myself into these situations?” Lexi muttered. She pulled at the high-neckline of the dress her uncle’s assistant had stuffed her into. The ornate gown pinched at her shoulders, drowning her in embroidered crystals and a white shimmering overlay. The damn thing even had a cape. Every step ended with the possibility of her tripping and falling flat on her face.

Her uncle’s hand dug into her arm. “You will not ruin this for me.”

Lexi clenched her fists at her side. When Earth first started receiving messages from deep space, Lexi hadn’t believed it. She had naively bet her best friend, Olivia, if the aliens turned out to be real, she’d marry one. Now, three months later, that was exactly what she was doing. Not that Olivia was making good on the bet, but Lexi still felt like an idiot for saying it. 

“Smile and don’t speak unless spoken to,” Uncle Grayson said as they reached a massive set of carved doors. She forced her smile to stay bright when she looked into her uncle’s cold eyes. 

Grayson Seymour, CEO of Gravitas Technologies, billionaire, and all-around asshole, had made first contact with Earth’s new visitors. When their ships had landed, he had personally greeted them, cameras at the ready to document every moment. Her uncle wanted a place in the history books and he’d gotten it. Not only for that first meeting, but for what came next, too.

Like the rest of the world, Lexi had sat glued to her TV as her uncle boarded the ship. The existence of aliens had been too surreal, let alone her relationship to the man holding Earth’s future in his hands. When his name had lit up her cell phone, Lexi couldn’t imagine why calling her would be anywhere on his to-do list. She could count on one hand how many times she’d seen him. He was one of the richest people in America, but Lexi had gone to public school and lived in a picket-fenced bungalow. Lexi never interested Uncle Grayson, especially after her dad had died of cancer when she was sixteen.

But while the Herkleians were eons ahead of Earth technologically, they still held on to more traditional values. It was customary for marriages to seal agreements, joining the two groups into one family. Uncle Grayson had never married and had no children. To have his historical alliance, he needed Lexi. But she hadn’t said yes for him. After her dad’s death, the hospital had sent her family a bill it’d take a lifetime to pay off. Olivia thought her crazy to marry an alien for money. Her mom had told her nearly the same thing, but Lexi couldn’t watch her family struggle when she had the power to change it.

“Open the doors.” At her uncle’s command, the staff snapped to attention. Lexi repressed a flinch. Asshole. The betrothal ceremony tonight was at Gravitas Technologies’ sleek headquarters in Cali. Lexi had scoffed when she’d seen the tacky, gilded envelopes he’d chosen for the event, but the location hadn’t surprised her. It was exactly the excuse her uncle needed to boost his company’s stock prices.

The doors creaked open and Lexi sucked in a deep breath. She imagined her mom, the relief on her face when the banks stopped calling, their debts paid. Uncle Grayson’s grip on her arm tightened, cutting off the circulation at her elbow, but Lexi held onto her grin. Lights flared into her eyes from the garish chandeliers and the flash of cameras. The people who swarmed the stairs weren’t aliens—at least, Lexi didn’t think so—but press from top media companies. Her uncle wanted the event televised across the galaxy. The crystals on her gown caught the light and turned it into a blinding sparkle. She probably looked like a lamp. Lexi tried not to break down into hysterical laughter.

“Mr. Seymour, over here!”

“Miss Alexandra, you look beautiful!” 

“Mr. Seymour, what will this alliance mean for your company?”

Her uncle raised a hand. “Thank you, thank you. No questions at this time.”

Bodyguards in black gently shoved their way through the press pool, Lexi and her uncle followed in their wake. Her face hurt from all the smiling and she’d only entered the atrium moments ago. Lexi tried to peer over a bodyguard’s shoulder. Maybe she could flag down a server for some wine.

Then she saw them.

Her jaw dropped. If her uncle didn’t still have his hand on her arm, she’d have tripped over her own skirts. She had seen the Herkleians on TV, but the screen didn’t do them any justice. They were humanoid in shape, with two legs and two arms, but the similarities ended there. Instead of skin, they had azure blue scales, iridescent and curved like the hide of a fairytale dragon. Sharp black horns protruded from their heads, some under an inch but others towering antlers. Their horns made their already-tall figures even taller. Even the females stood at over six feet. The males loomed over her uncle’s human guests. 

The females all wore elaborate ball gowns, fabric weaved into the shapes of bright flower petals and vines, but the males had simpler outfits—tight, sculpted pants and nothing else. In the place of shirts, the males wore a swatch of fabric over their shoulder, the muscles of their chests exposed. They looked like the bodybuilders Lexi tried to avoid the few times she convinced herself to go to the gym. Her mouth watered. Maybe being married to an alien wouldn’t be horrible if they looked like that. 

Within a crowd of standing Herkleians, an older-looking male and female sat on gilded thrones. The male’s hair was a purple so dark it almost looked black, swaying down to his waist like a swath of silk, whereas the female had vibrant red curls piled upon her head and weaved around her horns. The King and Queen of Herkleios, surrounded by their family. The royals stood out from the other guests, all of them in white and gold, but the king and queen shined like beacons. Gold detail that mimicked scales and glittering feathers adorned the white silk-like fabric of their robes. Upon their scaled foreheads sat crowns that speared upward into bursting halos.

Uncle Grayson stopped before the thrones and bowed as if he were a true gentleman. “King Xenobaccus, Queen Chryseis, may I present my niece, Alexandra Seymour.”

Lexi attempted her best curtsy and managed not to fall on her face. From this close, she noticed the Herkleians had slitted irises. The king’s were a bright purple, the queen’s a dark orange. Her uncle nudged her in the side, a sharp elbow. Lexi snapped her jaw shut. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesties.”

The queen only glared, but the king bared sharp fangs in what Lexi hoped was their version of a smile. “Well met, Lady Alexandra.”

When he spoke, the translator at her ears buzzed. The Herkleians had provided external devices for all the guests, but Lexi would receive an injection once she left Earth for Herkleios. She swallowed. Once she left Earth. Her uncle had said she could return in a year when the courtship ended, but once she married, Lexi would be expected to stay with her husband. This was her last night on Earth.

“Your uncle has told us much about you,” the king continued.

Like what? Uncle Grayson didn’t know this first thing about Lexi. “Hopefully good things, Your Majesty.”

“Of course, of course.” The king pushed to a stand, his hand settling on the pommel of a cane decorated with a ruby-looking gem the size of her fist. In the place of fingernails, he had sharp, black claws decorated with jeweled rings. She barely stopped her jaw from dropping again. “Let me introduce my family. Or should I say, our family. A few are already enjoying the party, but you’ll meet them all soon enough.”

Lexi replied with a fake chuckle.

The king started gesturing at the Herkleians around him. Except, Lexi realized, not all were Herkleians. Most had the azure scales, black horns, and colorful hair of King Xenobaccus, but it was easy to spot who else married into the family. There was a female with green feathers instead of hair and sand-colored skin, while another male was entirely grey, almost like a living statue. Earth’s new visitors were part of an alliance of twelve planets, with the Herkleians being the undisputed leaders. Soon, Earth would be the thirteenth planet to join them.

The king introduced her to each member of his entourage. Hatria. Myrtos. Vasilax. A dozen other names she quickly forgot. She smiled and muttered a polite ‘hello’ to each of them.

“If you wouldn’t mind, Lady Alexandra, your uncle and I need to talk in private.” King Xenobaccus put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Lexi flinched. His scales were a few degrees warmer than human skin, but oddly smooth. “Please, enjoy the party.”

If only Uncle Grayson was as nice as the Herkleian king. Lexi looked over at her uncle, the only person she knew in the room, but he’d already turned from her, his focus entirely on King Xenobaccus. They strolled towards a group of humans in black suits—dignitaries and ambassadors from around the world. Her betrothal was nothing compared to the treaties and trade agreements being signed tonight.

Gentle music started, an airy sound almost like harps and lyres. Lexi wandered in the music’s direction. Both human and alien guests looked on from a distance, no one daring to approach her. Maybe she’d have stared, too, if their situations were reversed, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet anyone’s eyes. 

Smells like she’d never encountered before drifted past her nose. Her uncle hosted the party, but the Herkleians had insisted on supplying the catering. She had no idea what to expect, but Lexi hadn’t been able to stomach food since breakfast this morning. She approached the buffet. Bright but unfamiliar fruits and tiny pastry-lookalikes laid artfully on cylindrical trays, but the focus of the table was a giant, blue, hairless rabbit, spitted like a roast pig. Nothing looked familiar. Lexi had no idea what anything was, let alone how it tasted.

“You’re unfamiliar with the cuisine,” a deep voice said from behind her. “I can help you fill your plate.”

Lexi spun and met piercing ice-blue eyes. They belonged to a Herkleian male in the white and gold of royalty, his shoulder sash dotted with military medals. The intensity of his gaze caught her entirely off-guard. When her eyes met his, a warm flutter of desire sparked low in her stomach. Lexi took a deep breath to steady herself. Was it normal to feel attraction towards an alien at first sight? While not the largest in the room, he was nearly seven feet tall of lean muscles she couldn’t help but notice. Her eyes traced his broad shoulders, his menacing horns, his washboard abs. A high-tech sword-like weapon hung from his gold belt, drawing her eyes lower to the bulge of his pants. A massive bulge. She flushed and quickly re-focused on his slitted blue eyes. 

Lexi didn’t have a chance to reply before he grabbed a solid gold plate from the table and began filling it with questionable-looking food. “Um, thanks?”

“You’re quite small. Do they feed you enough here?”

Lexi went red. No one ever called her small. She could stress-eat an entire pizza on her own and did so occasionally. Lexi glanced at the rest of his family. The females were all quite curvy. Something she had initially missed with her intense focus on the males’ hard abs. “Not to be rude, but who are you?”

  “Anax.” He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed his warm lips to her flesh. “Crown Prince of Herkleios.”

 “Oh.” Her skin tingled where Anax touched. She sucked in a breath and tried not to faint. Her brain went to mush just standing this close to him. She tugged her hand from his. “Well, I appreciate the offer, but I’m sure I can figure it out myself.”

“I’m happy to assist.”

Lexi crossed her arms. “I’m fully capable of feeding myself.”
He growled, a rumbling sound that sounded almost like laughter. “You certainly are a strong-willed female.”

Lexi narrowed her eyes. Hot alien or not, no one talked to her like that. “I’m not some baby. I don’t need my daddy to tell me what to eat”. 

He bared his fangs, a wolfish look. “So I’m your daddy now?” 

Lexi’s cheeks flared with heat. She had not meant to say that. Lexi prayed daddy didn’t have the same alternative meaning on Herkleios that it did on Earth, but given the glint in Anax’s eyes, he understood exactly what he said. The heat in her cheeks traveled down to her chest.

Lexi ripped her gaze away from his and focused on the buffet. This was her own betrothal. She couldn’t be flirting with random Herkleian royals. She circled the buffet to put distance between them and poked at a purple pear-like fruit. The surface was fuzzy like a kiwi. She recoiled. Lexi folded her hands in front of her, trying to appear ladylike. 

Across the table, Anax glided from one end of the buffet to another. He reached across the table to spear a chunk of the meat, his abs rippling with the movement. She snapped her jaw shut and returned her attention to anything besides him. 

“Here.” He settled beside her, an arms’ length away, and held the plate for her inspection. “The best of Herkleian cuisine.”

When she didn’t reach forward, he handed her a two-pronged fork. Lexi speared the pear-like thing. It oozed green juice onto the plate. Lexi’s stomach swirled, but a citrus-sweet scent reached her nose. She hesitantly raised the fork to her mouth and took a bite. Her mouth burst with flavor, like a candied orange but better. “Wow, that’s amazing.”

“It’s a tini. Found only in the southern regions near Agafyi. My father loves to hunt in the area and has brought home much of the cuisine.”

She stabbed another kiwi-tini. “I love it.”

“I’m glad.” His eyes traced her lips, watching her chew, but she didn’t care, not at the flavor exploding across her tongue. “What’s your name?”

She blinked at him. He had introduced himself, but she had never told him her name. “Lexi.”

A commotion in the press pool grabbed Lexi’s attention. A younger Herkleian male stood in the open doorway. Unlike the other alien royals, his robes were the purest of white and instead of a bare chest, a matching tunic was in place under his shoulder swatch. He couldn’t be older than eighteen. Like human boys, he hadn’t yet hit his growth spurt, but the Herkleian version of short made him nearly six feet. His shoulders slouched under the pressure of the yelling press, but across the room, Queen Chryseis’s gaze pierced into the male. He straightened like a fire was lit under ass.

“One of your brothers?” Lexi asked Anax.

The Crown Prince didn’t answer. Lexi turned. Anax stared at the other Herkleian, something on his face. She couldn’t read the expression. She glanced back at the younger prince, a nauseous swirling in her gut. He pushed his way through the press pool with the help of her uncle’s bodyguards and stopped beside the queen, who took his hand. Together, as one, they turned to Lexi. The queen nudged the boy closer.

“Lady Alexandra.” King Xenobaccus broke from his conversation with her uncle and crossed the room to stand at the Crown Prince’s side. At her full name from the king’s lips, Anax stiffened. “Allow me to present my youngest son, Prince Phintias.”

Dread coiled in her stomach. “It’s nice to meet you?”

“Ah. Your uncle did not tell you.” King Xenobaccus bared those sharp fangs. “Worry not, Lady Alexandra. Today, you’re simply betrothed. You’ll be married once my son finishes his education. Not for many cycles of this sun. I hope this…”

The world started spinning. This was a mistake. The alien that stood in front of Lexi was just a boy. A freaking teenage boy. But the king didn’t stop talking. This was her betrothed.

Uncle Grayson had married her off to an alien child.

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Meredith always dreamed of being whisked off her feet by a prince—she just didn’t realize he’d be a blue-scaled alien warrior.

Working a dead-end job in a chocolate shop, Meredith Sinclair has all but buried her dreams of finding happiness. But when a bland-looking man comes into the shop and starts asking her suspicious questions, the most ridiculous thing happens—he turns into a horned, seven-foot tall alien before her very eyes.

Sent on an expedition to determine the intelligence of the human species, Lord Kyrix Yio’naeus doesn’t expect his cloaking device to break down on his first mission. When a human sees his true form, he has no choice but to take her back to his ship. But at the touch of her soft skin, his blood ignites like it has with no other female. 

When the Herkleian government orders Meredith transferred to a lab for study, Kyrix will do anything to save her. Is it possible a human could be the fated mate to an alien royal? And even if she is, will Meredith and Kyrix be able to escape his crew for a future together?

KYRIX is a prequel to the Bride to an Alien Prince series. This standalone story has on-the-page heat, a guaranteed happily-ever-after, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.

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Snippet

“What the fuck?” Meredith yelled, staring at the same blue-scaled alien she’d seen in her dream. This had to be a dream. She had binged almost every sci-fi show on Netflix. It made sense her imagination conjured up hot, horned aliens who fit her fantasies to a tee. How could this be real life? Why would an alien visit her work?

Meredith shook her head firmly. This was not real. 

Then she glanced to the right at another freaking shirtless alien. He looked a few years older, with bright red hair under his shorter horns. “What in the absolute shit?”

“Human,” the new alien started.

Meredith scrambled off the table. A freaking floating table. The surrounding room looked straight out of a sci-fi show, if a low budget one at that. It was barely bigger than Cocoa Love. She stumbled into mad-scientist shelves filled with weird devices and vials of colorful liquid. She grabbed one of each in her hands. “What is this? Am I going to be probed? I am so not getting probed!”

When Meredith raised the vial over her head, the purple-haired man—male?—stepped forward. “Female, please—”

She glared at him. “Don’t call me that. What gives you the right to show up and turn my life upside down? Did you just decide, oh, this human seems irrelevant in her shitty minimum-wage job, let me go ahead and kidnap her?!”

“I apologize.” The male bowed. Legitimately bowed. “I never intended to take you, but when my cloaking device failed, I had to bring you to the ship.”

Meredith switched between the vial and the thingamabob in her other hand. The device looked more threatening and she gripped it harder. “What are you going to do? Hold me hostage and do weird alien experiments?”

The alien’s forehead crinkled. Confused, maybe? Did aliens have the same facial expressions? Meredith didn’t know. She hadn’t even believed in aliens a few hours ago. 

“No one will lay a finger on you,” he answered, his deep voice oddly calming. “Once your memory of the incident has faded, we’ll return you to your home immediately. I guarantee you’ll remain safe.”

“So, no probing?”

His forehead creases deepened. Definitely confusion, but he answered, “No probing.” 

“How long are you going to hold me?” Meredith had left the store unattended, but she didn’t care if it got looted. Served her boss right.

“We should have you back within an hour. We have no desire to hurt you. Our mission here is strictly to observe your planet.”

“Alright.” Meredith dropped the thingamabob. The red-haired alien cringed. Was he the ship’s doctor? “Sorry. Hope that wasn’t expensive.”

“There are three of its kind in existence at the moment.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry.” Meredith grabbed the device and thrust it into the doctor’s hands. “Did I break the most valuable weapon in the universe or something?”

“Valuable in the medical community, yes. It’s the smallest body scanner used to assess internal damage.”

Meredith wasn’t sure if she should feel bad or not. They had kidnapped her after all. Maybe it served them right to have their things broken. She shrugged. “Let’s get this show on the road. Give me your magic memory potion.”

Want more? Read the rest in KYRIX, a free novella-length story set in the Bride to an Alien Prince universe. You can get you copy at subscribepage.com/kyrix or subscribe for our newsletter on this blog!