Rhal Part 2 (Scifi Alien Serial Romance) (The Ujal)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

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One droplet of Rhal’s genetic material is all it takes to derail Cara’s future. Now it’s time to discover how much he’s changed her. One droplet of seawater later shows Cara that life as she knew it is over.

RHAL is a five-part serial (like a TV show) with a new installment out every Friday. The entire storyline will be available for FREE with Kindle Unlimited, or you can wait to download the full story as a bundle for $2.99.

Cara knew she couldn’t hide at home forever. It’d been three days since she’d discovered she’d be alone for the rest of her life.

Degenerative genetic material.

Right. Who even knew what that meant? She snorted. The Population Ministry, that’s who.

With a shake of her head, she lifted her half-filled coffee mug to her lips. She blew cool air on the steaming liquid and then took a small sip. The bitter brew slowly got her body wakening, her mind gradually catching up with the rest of her. She still felt like shit, the flu she’d been carrying around still dogging her steps. She realized she was gonna have to break down and go to medical. Maybe they could give her more information on this weird flu
and
her “degenerative genetic material” crap.

Watching the sun gradually transform the sky from darkness to multi-colored light, she realized why her best friend, Rina, loved this beachside house. It’d belonged to Rina’s parents, then Rina herself before she mated Tave, and now Cara rented it for next to nothing.

Which meant she got this gorgeous view every day. Then there was the
real
scenery: Ujal and human males training on the sandy shore. Different groups trained every day, and there was no missing them running past every hour of the day.

Cara preferred ogling the early morning runners made up of mostly Ujal. The way they moved, the way their scales shimmered—and didn’t—as they fought to control their bodies… The task was a race through the ocean shallows, enough salt water touching their feet so their scales and tail threatened to emerge. Their job was to remain on two feet and scaleless. Warriors and guards needed to be the strongest of all Ujal. She knew the station had just gotten another round of recruits, which meant her morning would be a combination of eye candy and giggles as the young males lost some of their control.

She shouldn’t laugh. Really. But sometimes a girl needed a chuckle.

Cara needed it very, very badly.

A rainbow of tails dancing through the water caught her attention, and she smiled when a small group of younglings played in the water. Three older Ujal remained near them, teaching the children about the ocean and how to combat the sea’s dangers.

Dangers and joys.

Cara’s skin itched, her body vibrating every time she stared at the rolling waves. She’d been uncomfortable in her own body for almost two weeks, everything inside her beckoning her to the sea. She felt as if she were on drugs, uppers making her rush around and jumpy as hell while downers made her sleepy no matter the time of day. She was two sides of the same coin at the same time. Yeah, medical was definitely in her future.

She took another sip of coffee, the once delicious drink now disgusting to her taste buds. That was bizarre as well, the sudden shift of appreciation for the drink. Love, then hate and then love again. She rolled the cup between her palms, eyes trained on the mug. Was that part of what was wrong with her?

Degenerative genetic material
.

She took another swallow, and the drink was back to being delicious. Fun.

Movement to her left drew her attention, and she spied a group of men jogging down the beach and toward her. She kept her gaze trained on them, waiting for a tell-tale flash of color and there it was. So, a dozen Ujal raced across the sand, then. A single male ran backward, his steps sure and smooth as he ran with his back to her and faced the males he led. The closer they got, the more she could see, and she felt bad for the young males. More than one had difficulty with his scales, their natural cover hovering beneath their skin or fully out and threatening to turn into a tail at any moment.

The leader’s green hair billowed, the wind snatching at it and forcing the strands to dance in the air. So, not Rhal then.

She wasn’t sure if she was happy or sad about that.

Happy. I’m happy because I don’t want to speak with him or see him ever again.
Right, she’d keep telling herself that and maybe one day she’d believe it.

The group continued to approach, growing larger in her vision as they closed in on her. It’d still be another five minutes before they drew abreast of her small house, but she kept her gaze trained on them anyway. Might as well enjoy the men coming and going.

The house phone rang, the tone cutting through her thoughts, and she quickly snatched the wireless receiver from the small table beside her. She didn’t even have to bother checking caller ID. There was only one person who tried to call her this early and at exactly the same time each morning—Rina.

“Heya.” She swallowed a mouthful of coffee. “How goes it?”

“Depends. How are you?” There was no missing the concern in Rina’s voice.

This was the same game they’d played since her friend had dropped her at home after their interesting visit to the Population Ministry. Same shit, different day.

“I’m fine, Rina.” She sighed. “Just like I was yesterday and the day before and the day—”

“Oh, you weren’t fine two days ago.”

Yeah, there was no arguing that one. “Okay, well, I’m fine
now
.”

“Fine enough to come back to work?”

Cara groaned. She didn’t really wanna, but she didn’t have much of a choice either. “That depends. Will I be assigned to…”

That
part of the building. The part where Rhal trained the younglings. Cara’s job included random inspections of every department on the station. She wasn’t assigned to one department, she was assigned to them all. Which was good and bad. At the moment, the bad was due to the possibility of seeing Rhal. Between his rejection and the Population Ministry, she was so not ready to face him.

“I talked to, you know who, and told him what was what. He said you can work where ever you want as long as you come back because I’m apparently a pain in his tail when I don’t have you nearby.”

Cara couldn’t help laughing and could imagine Tave’s frustration. Since Rina was pregnant, Tave refused to allow her to do anything and it was only when Cara was with Rina that her friend relaxed.

“So by coming back, I’d be doing the Ujal prince a personal favor and—”

“Hey, you’d be doing me a favor too,” Rina pouted.

“Uh-huh. But maybe I want him to grant me a favor. Yours are always lame and you whine when you don’t like what I’m asking you to do.”

“Hey now, I—”

“Remember that time in seventh grade and I asked you to call Joey—”

Rina gasped. “He was the most popular kid in school! I wasn’t gonna pick up the phone and—”

“Exactly why I want the favor from Tave.”

“What, you want my mate to call Joey Falconi?”

Cara smiled widely. “Nah, maybe later. I want a little prince freebie in the bank.”

“Whatever, I didn’t want to help your flat ass anyway.”

“Flat?” She snorted. “I’ll have you know I’m way more bootylicious than you. I so have more junk in the trunk than—”

A low, masculine chuckle drew her attention and she turned her head and focused on the source of the sound. “Uh, I got company, princess.”

“It’s principessa. Don’t ask me why because I don’t get the need for the extra letters, but it is what it is.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. “I have company,
principessa
.”

“Oooh… Is it Rhal?”

A trident spearing her heart could hurt no less. No, it’d never be Rhal ever again. “No, Niax stopped by. Tell his highness I’ll be in on time and I appreciate the leniency.”

“Ugh. Kiss ass.”

“One hundred percent.” No lie. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, yeah,” her best friend grumbled, then the line went silent.

Cara pressed a button on her phone, ending her half of the conversation so she could talk to Niax. Staring at him, his sparkling green eyes, hunter green hair, and bare chest, and not for the first time she wondered why she couldn’t have fallen for him instead of Rhal. Niax was sweet and kind with the darker edge that made him sexy as hell. He had those dimples that had a woman wanting to get closer and then his eyes would go dark and the female would be torn between running and dropping to her knees.

He was a balance and Cara… seemed hell bent on going for the guy that was
all
bad.

But damn, he was pretty to look at.

“Hey,” she smiled at the pretty, pretty man—er, Ujal. “What’s up?” She peered past him to see the group of males he’d been leading now doing push-ups in the shallows. “I see you get to babysit this morning. Where’s…” Cara swallowed her question. She didn’t wanna know where Rhal was. “Anyway, do you want a cup of coffee or anything while you watch them humiliate themselves?”

That grin widened and something inside her fluttered to life. Heat surged in her blood and her skin felt stretched taut. Oh man, she had it bad. Ten days without Rhal and she was turned on by one of his closest—close-ish—friends.

“Cara?” He frowned and stepped onto the porch, his fluid strides bringing him closer. His shorts were loose and free flowing, the wind snatching at them and outlining every part of him.

Every
part. Including
there
and he was big
there
. She licked her lips, attention flicking from his groin to his face and back again. Her pussy throbbed, an ache forming and wrapping around her.

What the hell?
She’d been attracted to Niax in an abstract way, but…

“Are you all right?” His voice was deep and husky and she wondered if he recognized her growing desire.

“What?” She shook her head, clearing her arousal from her mind. “Sorry. Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“You have not been to UST lately. This is the first time I have seen you out here in a while. Just checking in,” he murmured.

“I’m fine. Good, even.” With his skeptical look, she pasted a smile on her lips. “Promise.” She lifted her mug and shook it gently. “Just drinking my coffee and Rina has me going in to work today. In fact,” she quickly drained her mug and grasped the arm of the chair, “it’s time I showered and got ready to go.”

Niax was there in a flash, his hand outstretched to help her rise.
Old world manners, alien looks
.

She grinned and placed her palm on his. “Thanks…”

Or, at least that’s what she’d tried to say. It sorta came out as a hiss that ended with a harsh inhale followed by a throb of overwhelming pain. Her palm in his burned, agony embracing her hand in a fiery hold and the bone-crushing ache singed her nerves.

It slithered up her arm, like an animal under her skin, pulsing and twisting until it enveloped her entire body, turning her into a throbbing ball of agony. She dropped her mug to the porch and snatched her hand from his. She cradled it against her chest, softly petting the injured part of her.

“Cara?” There was no missing the unease and concern in his tone.

“I… I…” She what? Felt as if her body was on fire because he held her hand? That sounded dumb.

But that’s exactly what happened. She placed her palm on his and then… the pain slowly lessened with each passing second and when it lessened to a manageable level, she carefully unfolded her hands to reveal her palm.

Her… orange palm?

The sun’s bright rays glistened off her skin. No, her
scales
. Scales. On her palm.

Scales
.

On her palm.

“Niax, I…” her attention went from her hand to him and back.

“When did you take a mate? I did not believe he would ever… I heard Rhal had…”

Dumped her. She knew the end of his sentence even if he didn’t say the words. “I haven’t mated anyone. I,” she swallowed hard. “What is this?”

Niax reached for her hand once again and she scooted backward, unwilling to let him touch her. She wasn’t ready for that amount of pain again. He immediately took a step back, his hands raised. “I will not touch you. I am sorry. Cara, this type of change within a human female is typically the result of an Ujal mating. You did not…”

“No,” she snapped. “I’m pretty sure I’d remember mating with someone.”

She didn’t think it’d be something a woman forgot.

“Perhaps not intentionally…” he paused as if searching for the words and his green scales shimmered. Great, now
he
was uncomfortable. “Even a small bit of Ujal genetic material shared with a human mate can initiate the change from human to Ujal.”

Small bit of… “Oh, fuck me.”

* * *

Rhal forced his gaze to remain on his trainees and not the position of the sun or the parking area to his right. He would not—could not—allow his attention to stray. And yet… he found himself glancing at the area every few moments. It’d been days since he had seen Cara, since he heard she was in search for a mate through the Population Ministry and Intergalactic Mating Agency.