The Falcon Prince

Chapter 15

Saying one thing, and doing something else was another. Ria had told Kristor she had to work today, and she did. She might own her own business, but that didn’t mean she could take off whenever she wanted. Most of the time, she put in long hours at her shop. And until she’d hired Jeanie and Katie, she rarely took any time off.

Not that she was complaining. She enjoyed grooming. It was all Ria had ever wanted to do. She loved animals, even tiny terror Sukie.

So why was she bored today?

Granted, keeping up with the books was not her favorite thing to do. She looked at the open ledger, and the numbers ran together. She closed her eyes for a moment and massaged her temples.

Maybe she needed to open the window. Her tiny office was located at the back of the shop and it was the size of a small walk-in closet. From here, she ordered supplies and tallied receipts.

The office was dark and dismal as the walls closed in around her. Why hadn’t she at least painted it a pretty yellow? She hated looking at the dull brown wall color. It was enough to make anyone depressed.

Deep down, she knew that wasn’t her problem. She had sort of hoped Kristor would drop by. There, she had finally admitted it to herself. She missed him.

But had he stopped by?

Nope, he’d stayed away, and she was surprised at how much she did miss him. Oh, Lord, how could she let him worm his way into her heart? Was this what he meant when he said she would change her mind about going back with him?

No, she hated heights. She had a fear of flying. Flying! Ha! It was a hell of a lot more than that! He was talking about zipping through outer space, and that was so not going to happen. Not just no, but hell no!

It was the sex. That’s the only thing she was interested in. Had to be.

She leaned forward and rested her head on the desk and closed her eyes. The sex had been really good. She’d never had multiple orgasms before Kristor came into her life.

You mean you actually did have orgasms before him? Wow, how did I miss that? Shintara interrupted Ria’s thoughts.

“I had plenty of orgasms, thank you very much,” she said without moving.

You could’ve fooled me.

“If you’re trying your hand at being funny, I’m not laughing.”

“Uh, Ria, who are you talking to?” Carly spoke from the doorway.

Ria jerked to a sitting position. “Carly, I didn’t hear you.” Her laugh came off worse than weak. “I was just thinking out loud.”

“Sounded more like you were carrying on a conversation.”

Now would be a good time to change the subject. “I thought you were coming over to my house tonight?” Ria came to her feet, smoothing the wrinkles out of her shirt.

“I thought we could run by the grocery store and grab what we needed. Maybe a pizza, and I have a bottle of wine. How’s that sound? I know neither one of us wants to cook.”

“That sounds terrific.” And it did. Anything to break up the monotony of her day and get her mind off Kristor.

Carly smiled. “It will be great catching up. Did you know the bank is planning an Alaskan trip? We’re giving a discount if they can get twenty people to go.”

“Are you going?”

Carly shook her head. “No way. So far, most of the people who have signed up are elderly. I think as soon as you have Katie trained, we can finally take that cruise we’ve been wanting to go on, though.”

“A cruise sounds really good right now.” But running away wouldn’t solve Ria’s problems. Not thinking about them tonight would at least help. “So what are we doing?” she asked.

Carly shrugged. “We haven’t gotten to talk girl stuff in a long time. I had that godawful cold, then you sort of hooked up with your alien….”

Ria hugged her friend’s arm. “You’re right. Let’s watch Beaches or Steel Magnolias. How’s that sound?” And please don’t mention my alien again, she silently begged.

Carly grinned. “And cry until we run out of tissues.”

They both laughed. Ria realized just how much she valued Carly’s friendship. They’d been through nearly everything together. This was exactly what they both needed. It would be great to forget about the fact she was part alien, and a shapeshifter at that.

She studied Carly for a moment. What would her friend say if Ria told her that she had shifted into a frog? She grimaced. Carly would probably cry through a box of tissues and tell Ria not to worry that they would find help for her. Probably even mention the doctors in Dallas.

No, she couldn’t tell her without proof, and Ria had already decided never to shift again. Tonight, they would relax, and Ria wouldn’t worry about a blasted thing—including being part alien. And she especially wouldn’t think about Kristor.

But she couldn’t stop the niggle of frustration that Kristor wouldn’t be around. Not around to hold her, to caress her, to make passionate love to her.

How’s that for taking a trip—a guilt trip. Carly was her friend and they hadn’t done a girls’ night in a really long time and all Ria could think about was Kristor. They would make up for it tonight.

They went shopping, then met back at Ria’s. The pizza was in the oven, and they each had a glass of wine when a motorcycle roared in Ria’s driveway. Carly looked at Ria, her eyes accusing.

“I swear, I didn’t know he was coming over.” Ria still couldn’t stop the flutter in her chest as she got up from the sofa and went to the door. She pushed the screen open. “Kristor, hi.”

He strode inside, his presence filling the room. Carly came to her feet. Ria looked between the two.

“We were having a girls’ night,” she told him. It was only fair that she keep her promise to Carly.

Kristor looked between the two women. “I have interrupted.” He caressed her face with the back of his hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No,” Carly spoke up, a smile pasted on her face. “Stay with us. Unless you’re afraid to be in the room with two women who plan to watch a really sappy movie.”

He squared his shoulders. “I am a warrior. I fear nothing.”

Ria chuckled, but sobered when she looked at Carly. “Are you sure?”

Carly nodded. “More than sure.”

Ria felt as if she had the best of both worlds. It was strange, but she wanted Carly to like Kristor. Maybe it was a good thing he’d dropped by the house. It would give Carly a chance to get to know him better.

“The pizza should be ready,” Ria said, and made her way to the kitchen.

“How do you like Texas?” Carly asked as she followed.

“It’s very different from my home,” Kristor said.

Carly reached into the cabinet and brought down the paper plates. “I hope you don’t mind paper plates. Ria and I always eat off them when we have a movie night so we don’t have to do dishes, but I’ll get out the real thing if you’d prefer.”

“A paper plate is good.”

Carly acted as if Kristor was a guest who wouldn’t be around much longer. At least, that’s how it seemed to Ria. It was almost as though Carly were marking her territory.

Ria shook her head. She was reading too much into the situation. Carly was doing no such thing. She was only being polite.

They carried their pizza back into the living room. Kristor had chosen an orange soda rather than wine. The guy was getting a serious addiction to orange flavored drinks.

“Where exactly are you from again?” Carly asked.

“New Symtaria. It’s very far away.”

Ria cast a warning look in Carly’s direction, but Carly refused to meet her gaze.

“And what exactly do you do in New Symtaria?”

“I am a warrior, a prince. My father and mother rule the land.”

Ria groaned.

Carly’s mouth dropped open, then snapped closed. “You’re a prince?”

“Yes.”

“Then what the hell are you doing in Miller Bend?”

“I’ve come to take Ria home. She is part Symtarian. A princess in her own right.”

Carly was looking at Kristor, but when his words sank in, her head whipped around to Ria. “You knew all this, but you haven’t said a word to me? When were you going to say something? When you were boarding the plane?”

Ria cast a look at Kristor that should have had him cringing, but he only looked confused. It seemed as if he wanted to explain he hadn’t told Carly that Ria was part alien, or that he was an alien and Symtaria was another planet, but from the look of deep disappointment on Carly’s face, he might as well have told her everything.

“I’m not leaving with him,” Ria tried to explain.

“Not yet, you mean. I can see the way you look at him. He’ll convince you to leave. And I wouldn’t blame you.” She set her drink on the coffee table and rose. “He’s a prince, and you’re a princess. It’s a fairy tale, and what’s a fairy tale without a fairy-tale ending?”

“Being a princess means nothing to me.”

Carly gave her a weepy smile. “That’s what makes you so special. You’ve never cared about anything except the excitement of being alive. Not everyone can be like you, though.”

Ria stood, taking a step toward Carly, but Carly held up her hand. “No, you really need to go with him. You’re a princess.” She laughed, but it came out sounding more strangled than anything. “You were meant to be a princess.”

“I would’ve told you, but I was afraid you’d think I was crazy.”

“I never did in the past when people would say something about you talking to the voice in your head. I always sided with you.” She grabbed her purse. “I’m feeling kind of tired. I think I’ll just call it a night.”

“Carly?”

“No, it’s okay. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

Her eyes shone with the unmistakable glitter of unshed tears. “I’ll be fine.”

Ria watched from the door as Carly made her way to her car and got in. Then Ria watched her drive off.

“I like your friend,” Kristor said. “And pizza.”

Ria turned. She was going to absolutely kill him.

“What?” he asked.

“What? How can you sit there and ask what? It will take me spending all day on the phone with Carly to make sure she understands I’m not leaving with you. Why did you tell her all that?”

“You said you were her friend. I thought you would have explained some things to her.”

“I haven’t told her anything. And now she’s hurt because I didn’t.” She marched over to her wineglass and downed half the contents.

“Why?”

“Why what?” she asked.

“Why did you not explain anything to her? At least to tell her our relationship is more than what one would think.”

“I couldn’t.”

“Yet, you say she is your best friend.”

“I don’t just say it, I know it.” He was about to drive her to tossing the rest of her drink in his face!

“But you can’t tell her this.”

“She wouldn’t understand.”

“Carly is a friend. A friend would understand.” He came to his feet and walked over to her. “You must prepare her for when you do leave.”

She shook her head. “But I’m not leaving.”

He took her glass, setting it on the coffee table. “Are you sure?” He lowered his lips to hers.

Suddenly Ria wasn’t so certain. When the kiss ended, she was out of breath. “If you tell anyone else you’re here to take me back to New Symtaria, or that I’m an alien, I swear to God I’ll castrate you when you’re sleeping.

“Castrate?”

“Cut off your balls.”

“You would do that?” His expression said he wasn’t convinced.

“Just try me.”

Carly brushed the tears from her face. Donald had been right. Ria was going to leave with Kristor. He was a freakin’ prince, and Ria was a princess. Why the hell wouldn’t she leave with him?

Her footsteps were heavy as she trudged up the stairs to her second-floor apartment. She unlocked the door, went inside, dropping her keys on the little table. There was a mirror above it. She stared at her reflection.

Plain Jane, that’s what she was. Plain Carly. There was nothing exciting about her. Dull, dishwater-blond hair, dull blue eyes. That was her in a nutshell. Dull. And she had a zit coming up on her chin. For Christ’s sake, she was almost thirty. She wasn’t supposed to have zits!

She stomped to her bathroom, grabbed the toothpaste and dabbed some on the zit. “Not fair. Not fair at all.”

After washing her hands, she went to her refrigerator, brought out her bottle of wine, and took it to the counter. Then she poured the merlot nearly to the rim of her glass.

“This might not be fit for a prince, but it suits me just fine. Dammit, Ria, you were supposed to marry someone from here.” Carly took a healthy drink, then topped it off again. This was going to be one of those nights, but right now, she didn’t care.

She armed herself with a carton of double-chocolate, fudge ice cream from the freezer, not bothering with a bowl, only a spoon. With her arms loaded, she went to the sofa.

“Life is so unfair,” she said as she curled up on the sofa. Ria was cute and sexy. Carly loved her friend. And Ria deserved to be a princess.

On the other hand, Carly was tall, five-eight and a half. And she still got zits. And now she was going to have a pity party, because she wanted to, and no one could stop her. Not that there was anyone around who would.

She dipped the spoon into the ice cream, and shoved it into her mouth, then squinched her eyes closed when she got cold throat. As soon as it was almost gone, she took a big gulp of the wine. Of course, she’d get cold throat. It was the story of her life.

Ria would leave. She’d be crazy not to. My God, look at Kristor. The guy was a walking, talking, in-the-flesh fantasy.

What did it feel like to be a princess? To have the fairy tale? Carly closed her eyes and tried to imagine a knight in shining armor rescuing her from her dull life. The vision didn’t come.

Ria hadn’t looked any different. At least, not like Carly imagined a princess would look like. She certainly hadn’t put on airs. Not that she ever would. No, Ria would always be Ria.

Carly frowned. Where the hell was New Symtaria? She didn’t know of it, and she was a travel agent. It was her job to know all the countries—big and small.

The spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. Her heart pounded like a big bass drum inside her chest.

She’d never heard of New Symtaria, in fact. That was strange. If anyone should know about the country, it would be her. Right? Apparently they had kings and queens there, too.

Unless it was all a scam?

But why scam Ria? Money? No, she didn’t have a whole lot. Not that Kristor would know that.

But Ria did have her own business. A thriving business.

Carly had read about men who took advantage of women, stole all their money, then left them practically suicidal, and wondering what they had done wrong.

She came to her feet and marched into the kitchen. She jammed the ice cream back into her apartment-size freezer, and dropped the spoon into the sink. If Kristor was scamming Ria, Carly planned to out him. No one messed with her friend. She went back to the living room, grabbed her wine, and headed for the bedroom where her computer was set up.

New Symtaria. If anyone could find out about this place, it was her. She wasn’t a travel agent for nothing!