Wed to the Alien Prince by C.V. Walter

Chapter 15

It took days to get the connection ready for the calls. They'd had to contact the Space Station first and Kaelin had gotten to see Molly after the first call to her former workplace. She'd been in tears and Mintonar was upset that there was little he could do to make them better. Now, it was her turn, and she was sitting in the chair in the room that had been designated for communicating with the humans.

Kaelin was waiting patiently for the call to be set up. At least, she thought she was waiting patiently. When Roger put a hand on her shoulder, she realized she'd been bouncing slightly in anticipation.

She reached up and patted his hand, amazed that she was able to do that, and nobody looked at them sideways when he smiled at her. Her heart still raced when she touched him and her body leaned towards him without conscious thought. Even if he said it would get better as they got more used to each other, that actually having sex would settle their nerves more than anything else, she still wasn't sure she wanted it to.

That was something she hadn't realized earlier. She enjoyed this feeling of need, of desire. If it went away when they had sex, she was going to be very disappointed.

Well, no, that was a lie. She desired him with every fiber of her being and holding off the way they had was driving her to distraction. He'd held her every night, determined to be near her as much as possible, but he wouldn't move forward until they'd at least started the official negotiations between their families.

Aidan gave her the thumbs up and moved out of the way, back to where the camera couldn't pick him up but he could still see what was going on if there were any problems.

"You've got a secure line on our end. You sure your mom's is, too?"

Kaelin shrugged. "It's supposed to be. If it's not, she'll find a way to tell me."

"Dialing now," Aidan said and pushed the controls.

The screen flickered and the sound of a video call attempting to connect filled the room. When the sound stopped abruptly, Roger stepped to the side and it took all of her effort not to watch him move out of the camera range, as well.

Then her mother's face was in front of her, eyes wide with panic, and Kaelin felt the guilt she'd been trying to fight off hit her full in the gut.

"K.K.!" her mother exclaimed. "Are you alright? Where are you? What happened at the hotel?"

With a glance over to Aidan, Kaelin took a deep breath. "Hi mom," she said, brightly. "I'm fine. I told you I was going to be staying a bit longer, didn't I?"

"Kaelin, you never actually checked into the hotel and there was an incident and you were in the videos and-" her mom stopped talking and squinted at her. "And where are you now, exactly?"

"You are never going to believe me," Kaelin said with a laugh. "You got a minute? Alone? No listeners? I kinda need to ask you a few things."

"What kind of things?" she asked.

"Nothing that will compromise, um, anything," Kaelin reassured her. "I just, um, so, I met a guy."

"I know you met a guy," her mother said, her voice dropping an octave. "And I was so excited for you until we couldn't find anything about him. Anywhere. On anything. Nobody knows who he is and the room he was staying in was rented to your friend Molly who was supposed to also check in at the hotel but there's no evidence that she's actually on the planet. All the forms were signed by her son and-"

"How much checking up on me did you do?" Kaelin demanded. "You promised you were going to let me handle myself this weekend. What the hell, mom?"

"I didn't check up on you," her mother protested. "The general was asking if that was the hotel you were supposed to be staying at and things started coming out."

"How many of those things are classified?" Kaelin asked.

"None," her mother said. "Yet. Why? What's going on, K.K.?"

Kaelin sighed and waved Roger over. It was hard to drag her eyes away from him to look back at her mother but it was worth it to watch the absolute astonishment on her mother's face when she got a good look at the man who took her breath away.

"Mom, this is Roger," she said.

"Prince Serogero Tarisius Martonak of the House of Heresius, at your service, ma'am," he said, bowing to her just slightly.

"K.K., what have you gotten yourself into?" her mother breathed. "Your father-"

"Has nothing to do with this," Kaelin told her. "I'll tell him eventually but I don't think he has his girlfriend's job checking up on me."

"I told you, I wasn't-"

"I know," Kaelin told her, exasperated. "But you know way more than you should and it's all going to get really messy if we don't, I mean, Roger's people are really nice, mom."

"How nice?" Her mother asked, eyes narrowed.

"Not that," Kaelin said, blushing. "Not yet, anyway, and I wouldn't have regretted it if we had gone there which we haven't. And won't until a few things are settled."

"Is that why you're calling me?" Her mother asked. "To, what, get permission to have sex? Kaelin, baby, we've talked about this."

"Not just that," Kaelin said and looked up at Roger. She didn't think she'd have a problem bringing this up with her mother but here she was and she couldn't quite manage to get the words out.

"There are certain things that must happen in my culture before someone of my status can think to create that kind of bond," Roger said with a slight bow. "And one of those things is the families acknowledging and accepting the bond."

"One of those things?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do I get the feeling that me accepting my daughter’s boyfriend is the most minor of the things you're going to want from me?"

"Mom," Kaelin protested.

"No, she is right to be suspicious. Ms Carter, Mother of Kaelin, I am asking to open Joining negotiations with you and your family that I might take Kaelin as my mate, bound to me by choice and recognition."

"That sounds like you're asking for permission to marry her," Kaelin's mom said. "Is that a requirement on your planet? No sex before marriage?"

"Not exactly," Roger said and put a hand on Kaelin's shoulder. "Things are trickier for people in my position. If I only desired Kaelin as a mistress, I could have her, without anybody's consent but hers and mine, and only because I prefer my women to come to me willingly."

"Nice of you," her mom said, the sarcasm in her voice strong.

"But I want more than that from your daughter. I cannot imagine a life without her in it and there is no other woman, on my planet or yours, who suits me so well. I would make her my ajoia and a princess of my people, if you would allow it."

Kaelin could see the considering look on her mother's face. "Kaelin is my only daughter," she said. "I don't have a problem with her having a boyfriend but this sounds like not just marriage but something that's going to have a whole lot of political implications."

"Yes, ma'am," Roger said. "There would be implications no matter who I was but I understand you would be hesitant to-"

"No, I don't think you quite understand how much this is going to change things for her, for us, for our planet," her mother took a deep breath. "I don't think I understand how much is going to change, quite frankly."

"My first concern," Roger said. "Is taking care of your daughter. Keeping her safe and happy is the most important thing I can do. In order to do that the best way possible, I'm going to need your help."

"And there it is," her mom said, leaning back with her arms folded. "What do you want from me?"

"I wish I could say there was nothing," he told her. "And I honestly don't know what you are able to offer. If we were on my home planet, these negotiations would have been started by our lawyers months ago."

"You have lawyers on your planet?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Some who specialize in these kinds of negotiations."

"Alright, since we're rushing these things, what do you want?"

"The most important thing, and the thing that will help us the most, is your public support when our presence becomes known."

She stared at him and Kaelin could feel the urge to squirm become more intense with each passing moment.

"So you really are aliens," she said. "And you've abducted my daughter with the expressed intent of making her a princess which, since you are a prince, would make her your wife. Do I have the facts correct, so far?"

"It's a bit larger of a commitment than what I understand about your marriages," Roger said. "But yes, that's correct so far."

"This will be a political position in addition to being a romantic offer, correct?"

"Of necessity, yes."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "So, my not condemning you as a kidnapper and ruiner of virgins is rather important, isn't it?"

"Mother," Kaelin snapped, her horror at her mothers words thrumming through her body.

"It would be helpful if your people did not greet us as the enemy," he said. "We are not here to hurt anybody. My ability to connect with your daughter on a level beyond what either of us has experience with any other person, human or Orvax, is not only entirely unexpected, it's a blessing to my people. I would hope we can extend that blessing to humanity."

"Yeah, you're definitely a politician."

"Mom, please," Kaelin said.

"Kaelin, stay out of this," her mother snapped at her. "He's asking for a whole lot more than permission to date you and I need to have it clear exactly what he knows and what he's expecting me to do. Because this stopped being just about you running off with a boy the minute he decided to make you a princess."

Kaelin opened her mouth then snapped it shut. Hadn't she been thinking the exact same thing when he first started talking about making their time together into a commitment?

"Would you have rejected me out of hand if I had been just another young human male?" Roger asked.

"You've known K.K. for a week. Less than one, actually, so yes, I would have told you to grow up a little and get to know her before asking for permission to marry her," Kaelin's mother said. "But that's not what you're asking for, is it? There's no permission, it's just diplomacy and public relations for when you make yourselves known. Whatever I decide to do, you're taking Kaelin away."

"Mom, it's not-"

Roger squeezed her shoulder. "It's only right that a woman should start her own household when she becomes a wife," he said. "I'm not taking her away, I am giving her a place to call her own and the ability to do the things she was born and trained to do. She has so much knowledge and potential and it's time for her to use them in pursuit of the things she wants."

Kaelin's mother nodded. "So she's not going to be set on some shelf and told to visit a handful of charities?"

"We could not afford to let her be nothing but idle, even if it was what she wished to do," Roger said. "As it is, we will both be so busy, I fear we'll only ever see each other in bed once the ceremonies are completed."

"I'm not a fan of that, either," her mother said.

"Mom, please," Kaelin said. "I know what I'm getting into."

Her mother sighed. "I know, K.K. I also know what it's like to be married to a politician. Especially one that's driven and actually cares about doing his job and representing the people he's supposed to on a larger stage. He's not kidding about never seeing you during the day and I'm worried that will extend to over night, as well."

"He's not going to cheat on me," Kaelin said softly.

"You can't know that," her mother said.

"Actually, she can," Roger said. "One of the things that make my species different from yours is the nature of our romantic bonds. When we find our match, it's difficult to stray from them, and becomes impossible after a certain amount of time. Through some very strange genetic quirks, the members of the royal family are more firmly bound to our matches than any other."

"Oh really?" Kaelin's mom said, a small smile creasing her lips.