Big Blue Valentine: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance Read Online Free Page A

felt upon realizing she squeezed the lemon into his dresman juice waned as he navigated the servants’ corridors, and gradually, his remaining anger faded to disappointment.
    Her actions this morning were impulsive and childish, and now instead of setting upon their sky cruise, he had a wife to punish. He couldn’t go lightly on her either. If he’d turned blue in front of Parliament and the millions of Aklannians watching around the planet, an investigation would have been opened by royal security forces. Meanwhile, his opponents would have snickered and made rebellious waves behind his back. If it had gotten out that his own wife had slipped lemon juice into his beverage, Parliament members against interspecies marriage would call for Minnie to be charged with treason. Not that he would ever allow any such charges to be brought against the princess—he would pardon her himself if things ever went that far. But he still didn’t wish for her to endure such a frightening and stressful ordeal.
    He raked a hand through his hair and entered his chambers. He strolled through each room, scanning for Minnie but finding her nowhere. The bathroom was empty, the large tub dry. He growled as fury returned and burned hot under his skin. She hadn’t obeyed him.
    “Minnie!” He marched through the halls, calling her name. He no longer cared who saw him. The workers in the greenhouses made a valiant effort not to stare, and he cursed to discover she hadn’t been seen there in days. Where could she be?
    He rushed to her private library, his heavy footfalls echoing through the palace. Big and blue and angry, all those he passed in the hallways gave him a wide berth. He strode into Minnie’s library and slammed the door behind him. A gasp from the corner of the room caught his attention.
    “Minnie, I know you are here. Come out from your hiding or this will go so much worse for you.”
    She emerged from between two tall bookshelves, her demeanor as subdued as if she’d already been spanked soundly. The red dots still covered every bit of her exposed flesh, though those on her face appeared smudged. His heart panged when he realized her tears had washed them away. He moved to her and clasped her shoulders in a gentle manner.
    “Minnie, look at me.”
    Her tearful eyes rose to his, and her lower lip trembled. Her body quaked in his hold. The urge to comfort her prevailed, and he wrapped his arms around her and drew her against his chest, petting her hair and rubbing her back.
    She sniffled. “I know I did wrong, Zak, and I’m so sorry. Are you going to send me away? Back to Earth?”
    Startled by her question, he pulled away from her partially and stared down at her. Where had she gotten such an idea? She could turn him blue permanently and still, he would keep her at his side forever. “I would never send you away, wife. Whatever made you think I’d do so?”
    A shudder coursed through her, and fresh tears welled in her pretty blue eyes. She blinked, and he caught the fallen moisture with his thumbs. “I totally screwed up. I’m sorry. All because you forgot Valentine’s Day, which is silly, I know. Now you’ll be blue for days, and I’m sure you have obligations in Parliament you’ll have to cancel. I also scared Princess Genna and the children and made them think I had some kind of horrible disease, and I made your mother scream and faint. I certainly won’t blame you if you want to send me away. I haven’t been a very good wife to you, Zak.”
    He cupped her face and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Minnie…”
    “No. Let me finish. I thought I could be sweet and submissive to you, the way Aklannian wives are expected to be for their husbands, but I’ve failed miserably. Surely your parents will wish me to leave Erta’Aklann too.”
    He tensed, upset that she could even entertain the thought of leaving him. She was his wife. She belonged to him and he would never let her go.
    Unless she wasn’t happy here.
    An