Chapter Seven
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Draeken was lost to Stella’s kiss. She tasted just as he remembered and he wanted to rekindle this romance more than he wanted anything, even though he was in the middle of being sent to a gulag. She’d moved here for a connection with family and he understood that a little better than he used to. The ten-year sentence handed down to him in the Royal Magistrate’s Court had certainly woken him up.
She broke the kiss, sucked in a breath and stared toward the entrance.
“Oh my gosh! It’s the sheriff,” she whispered, lowering her head.
“Maybe we should keep kissing then. He’s never seen me.”
“No. Let’s get out of here.”
“We still have to pay the bill. I’d imagine this place frowns on the practice of any dine and dash maneuvers, yes?”
Stella narrowed her eyes. “How do you know what a dine and dash is?”
“I read quite a bit about Earth after you left Alpha-Prime. Even if you didn’t have family here, it’s a pretty interesting place to live. I understand the appeal. And this town is great. I’d never heard about it before.”
“Me neither.” She scanned the room again, likely looking to see where the sheriff was. “Wait until you see Alienn, Arkansas. It’s another place not to be missed.”
“Tell me about it.” A small smile formed on her lovely mouth, but then dropped. Her eyes widened and she lowered her head. The bell over the door tinkled again. Draeken looked over one shoulder to see a tall man exit the diner. “He’s leaving.”
“Let’s hope he didn’t put a wanted poster up with my picture.”
“I doubt it.” The waitress arrived with a small slip of paper in her hand and asked if they wanted anything else. She placed the bill face down on the table when they both shook their heads.
“See? The waitress didn’t even notice us. Relax.”
Stella reached into her pocket and pulled out her money. “I won’t relax until we get out of town.”
“But we can’t leave yet.”
“Oh, yes we can. Come on, let’s go.” She stood, but kept her back to the front door. She peeled a bill from her stash and put it on the table.
Draeken grabbed her forearm. “Sorry, Stella. Not until I find out what happened to Riker.”
She leaned down. “Don’t worry. My teammate is already looking for him.”
“I appreciate that, but I need to see him with my own eyes.”
Stella pushed out a long sigh, sounding annoyed.
Draeken persisted, “If he was a member of your family, you’d insist on finding him yourself. Right?”
“Maybe. However, your immediate circumstances are different than mine.”
“How so?” He knew, but he loved it when she got wound up and righteous.
“I’m not on my way to a gulag, having recently crashed on a strange new planet.”
“You are the local criminal on the run, though, not me.”
“Exactly, which is another great reason why I need to get out of town pronto with you. I have a mission to fulfill and many challenges right now.”
So do I. But Riker first, everything else later. Draeken didn’t want to fight with her. He understood her reasoning and feelings and couldn’t argue with her motives for wanting to leave immediately, but he wouldn’t leave town without finding Riker. He couldn’t.
He stood and slipped his manacled arm around her waist. “Please, Stella. Please understand.”
She looked into his face. He saw her uncertainty.
Stella let out a little sigh and he knew he’d won. “Where do you want to look? If he’s not at the sheriff’s office, where else would he go?”
“He’d probably look for me wherever he thinks I’d go.”
“And that is?”
He shrugged, embarrassed by what his own brother likely thought of him. “Nearest pub or bar, I’d imagine.”
“Okay. We’ll take a stroll down the street on our way out of town. If we see a pub or bar, we’ll pop in quickly for a looksee.”
Draeken nodded. “Thanks, Stella.” He was sincere in his gratitude, but he also knew he’d keep looking, even if he had to ditch her before they got to the edge of town. He’d scouted the area some before settling onto the park bench last night. He’d rather go with her, but would go without her if he had to.
They exited the diner, Draeken in the lead, shielding Stella—who was deliciously buried completely into the back of him—in case the sheriff was hanging around nearby, ready to pounce once they left the crowded diner.
“I don’t see him. I think we’re safe,” Draeken said. Stella disengaged, moving to walk beside him as they ambled down the street, darting her gaze left and right and occasionally over one shoulder with every other step.
It was painfully obvious Stella was uncomfortable in the role of criminal on the run. She’d always been a straight arrow, even during their short romance.
Draeken hadn’t been with anyone since Stella left Alpha-Prime almost a year ago. Any female he saw, spoke to or spent time around hadn’t measured up to Stella. Maybe because none of them had her unique scent to begin with, thereby making him disinterested in tasting them.
Stella tasted amazing. He’d known when they were together she was special and different and one of a kind.
He should have never let her go.
He should have followed her to Earth on the first available transport.
He was surely a fool to have let so much time go by without contacting her.
He’d spent a considerable amount of time since her departure contemplating the difficulties of moving to Earth. The largest barrier was, of course, his family.
Even now that was still his largest issue. Once he was able to leave the gulag, his parents would want him to return to Alpha-Prime.
Draeken had different plans. He wouldn’t be at the gulag for ten years, whether his behavior there was good, bad or indifferent. He cast that thought away for fear of giving away his greatest secret.
Yes. His parents expected him to settle down on Alpha-Prime to run some aspect of the family business or at least not get into trouble ever again.
A single morning spent in one small town on a planet with vast and boundless possibilities and Draeken already wanted to stay forever. He wished he could talk to Riker about it. Maybe once they were on the way to the gulag again, he’d bring it up.
His brother might understand. Draeken knew he’d once contemplated a move to Earth. Draeken didn’t know how or why, since Riker had stopped mentioning it. Perhaps their parents had a hand in that changed decision as well.
It was natural for parents to want their children to stay close, but Draeken had never thought about leaving Alpha-Prime until Stella decided to do so. He’d never planned on living on any other planet, and the gulag definitely wasn’t his first choice.
Riker had been the one with pie in the sky dreams about space travel and visiting other planets. Likely their parents had curtailed his dreams in that regard. Draeken couldn’t imagine what Riker would say when he told him his ultimate plans.
He hoped his brother would understand. Deep down he expected him to get it better than anyone else.
Draeken and Stella had traveled quite a ways down the main street of Nocturne Falls before she nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.
“What?” he asked gruffly after being pulled sharply to the present situation.
“Howlers. The place looks like a bar or a pub, right?”
Draeken eyed the front of the building and nodded. “Right.” He glanced over one shoulder, noticing that they’d covered quite a distance as he’d contemplated both his past without her and the future he wanted…with her.
Would Stella even consider a future with him? Was being sentenced to a gulag a huge deal breaker for a rekindled romance once he was free?
“Let’s go in.” Draeken didn’t actually expect to find his brother here. It wasn’t like he would belly up to the bar, suck down drink after drink and wait for Draeken to walk in. What would he do?
Draeken stopped Stella from opening the door. “Hold up. Maybe he’s not inside. Maybe he’s just watching the place to see if I show up.” He casually looked around, first one side and then the next as if he were stretching and getting ready to get his drink on before entering the bar.
Stella yanked on his arm. “You said pubs and bars. This is definitely a bar. Let’s take a look around and then we leave. Right?”
“Right.” Sorry, Stella. I’ll have to ditch you after this quick look inside.