Alien Knight Blind Date Disaster

she could take him. One. And doing so was one of the worst ideas she’d ever had in her life because she would be revealing more than she wished. She debated with herself all of three seconds. The fact of the matter was, she couldn’t stand the thought of him dying. “I have somewhere we can go. But you have to promise me, Falden, promise me you won’t turn me in and you won’t take anything.”
Falden raised his eyebrows questioningly and crossed his arms. His vision was fading, but he refused to make any promises. She was a reporter investigating the Caldorians. Investigating him and snooping around might lead her to the Lumerian Knights, whether she knew it or not. He couldn’t make promises. Just the opposite, in fact. His mission was to stop her from revealing any of their secrets.
“Promise me. That’s the only way, or I’m taking you to a hospital and dropping you off in the emergency room. Take it or leave it, Commander.”
Falden sighed. This was getting him nowhere. The bullet needed to come out, and he needed rest. What he really needed was the maju water he kept on the Caldorian base. The water contained the Lumerian crystal’s healing elements in their concentrated form. but that wasn’t an option. This reporter had lied to him, and he couldn’t risk taking her onto the base until he knew what her true agenda was in meeting with the mysterious John tonight. “I promise not to take any of your things. Is that good enough?”
She was already shaking her head, the false red hair swinging around her shoulders in a shimmer. “No. Not good enough. Say it. Say, I promise I won’t turn you in to anyone.”
Falden gritted his teeth. “I promise I won’t turn you in to your human authorities.” He might put her over his knee and spank her, but he wouldn’t turn her in to the authorities of this planet, no matter what she had done. And among his people? There was no higher authority among his people. He was judge, jury and executioner. They had made an agreement, eons ago, with the royal family of Caldor, that allowed the Lumerians to live in peace on Caldor, hidden from their enemies. And the Lumerian Knights honored their vow to protect Dagan’s ancestors, Dagan himself, and one day, his descendants.
But if push came to shove, the Knights would obey Falden, not the Caldorian king.
Isabella gave him her most professional smile as she prompted, “And I promise I won’t take anything. Say it.”
“You have nothing I need, Isabella,” he hedged. Damn, the woman was stubborn.
Well, that stung, she thought, but he was also borderline delirious, his eyes glazed with pain. “Just promise me, Falden. Say it. I promise I won’t take anything.”
“I give you my oath of honor as a L…warrior that I won’t take anything that belongs to you without your permission. Nor will I turn you over to your human authorities.”
Falden kept his gaze steady as she inspected him for long seconds, judging him, weighing his sincerity or maybe the slipup he’d almost made. He’d nearly sworn an oath as a Lumerian Knight, his most sacred oath. An oath that would reveal to a stranger what he’d spent two thousand years hiding from everyone and everything in the known universe to protect his people. His vision had started going in and out. Perhaps that would account for his slip of the tongue.
Or perhaps it was vanilla and oranges and soft, tempting curves. His resolve certainly hadn’t lasted long against her. With her hot pussy clamping down on his fingers, her hands in his hair, her voice begging for more, he’d fallen into her trap like a young man barely in control of his cock, not an ancient warrior, a Lumerian Knight who’d fought and survived more wars than he could remember. What was wrong with him?
“Okay. This is probably a mistake, but okay.” She put her hands back on the steering wheel and ignored the fact that they were shaking. “Stay with me, Falden. Don’t faint.”
“Warriors do not faint,” he corrected her. Funny, he didn’t remember her being so bossy. He looked down at his hands. They were covered in his blood, his shirt and trousers soaked. “But perhaps you should drive at maximum speed.”
The car gunned forward, and Falden closed his eyes, uncaring where she took him. He trusted her not to take him to his enemies. She would not be on base, not be a threat to his Knights or the Caldorians he protected. For now, that was good enough. When she took a hard left turn, his side slammed into the door and he didn’t bother sitting back up. The effort required didn’t seem worth the fight.
“Falden?”
Her voice sounded oddly distant, as if through a heavy fog. He liked her voice. The sound of it. The way the feminine tones soothed him to his very soul. “My Bella,” he whispered as the lights faded and everything went black.
Isabella tapped Falden. “Hey, big guy. Open your eyes. We’re almost there and you’re too big for me to carry up the stairs.”
Reluctant to obey, he did only because of the worry in her voice. He sounded more strained than he intended. “All will be well. Do not fear for me. I am not so easily killed.”
“Easy for you to say. What do you weigh, anyway? Two-twenty?”
“I do not know this term. What is two-twenty?”
“Two hundred and twenty pounds?”
That made him chuckle in spite of his pain. “No.” Fully armored, he weighed nearly three hundred, but he didn’t tell her that. He could walk. Besides, he wasn’t wearing full armor. And he’d been shot on this backward little planet by a native human with an ancient weapon. Metal bullets. Pathetic. He would be the laughingstock of the Knights for this. Stupid mistake.
Like touching her. Foolish. Wanting a repeat? For that desire, insanity was a better word.
No. He wouldn’t think about her skin. Or her oranges-and-vanilla