Love From Above_A Scifi Alien Romance Read online

  The money I had obtained by playing music in the street. I had found an instrument left on the edge of a lawn in the suburbs with a Take Me sign, along with a box of odds and ends and a suitcase of men’s clothes. I assumed some woman was getting rid of her ex-husband or ex-boyfriend’s belongings.

  I had picked up the instrument because I have some skill on one of the stringed instruments from my home planet called a Fanth’ree. After a few months, I had figured out how to get some pleasing sounds from the thing. In my travels in the human world, I had noticed that people gave money to musicians who played in the street, so that’s what I did. It only took a couple of weeks before I had more money than I would ever need, living as I was as a tiger.

  When I occasionally interacted with humans, I pretended to be mute, though with the language chip I could communicate with them fluently. It was about avoiding notice, since I wasn’t supposed to be on this planet. And also, I had a feeling that if I started talking to them, I would grow fond of these primitives — and that was the last thing I wanted.

  I walked down the road that led through the deserted park area that surrounded the zoo until I reached a busier street. Then I lifted my hand the way I had seen other human males do, and a car stopped for me. I got in and directed him to my favorite bar, where the drinks were strong and the human females scantily clad.

  I never mated with any of the sexy females. Never even spoke to anyone. But I enjoyed the music, and I did what I’ve heard humans call people watching. It was a lonely existence, but that was how my life had been since my family had been destroyed.

  I also munched on some beef sliders, which are my favorite Earth food. Some meaning about six orders of them. The pumping bass in the club vibrated through my chest, and I popped the last bite of the final delicious roast beef slider into my mouth. These humans might be primitive and superstitious, but damn could they make great party food. I made a mental note to take some of these with me when I left Earth.

  A dark, heavy song came on, and the music was filled with desire and yearning. I watched as a human male began dancing behind a female, if you could call it dancing; it looked more like vertical sex with clothes on to me. She turned to give him a look, seeming to like it. I observed their interactions until she turned and faced him. Soon they were kissing on the dance floor, as if no one else was there.

  I averted my eyes. Get a room. Seriously.

  Somehow, watching the couple kissing reminded me of the vet and made me yearn in a way that I found troubling. I didn’t want to want this human female. It made no sense at all. It was dangerous.

  Abruptly, I decided it was time to head back to the zoo. As I walked back, the night was cool, the stars were out, and the road through the park was relatively deserted, with only the occasional car passing by.

  I shifted into the form of a dog so I could run the rest of the way back. It would help me clear my head, plus I would get there faster. It wouldn’t do for me to return late, when the night shift was making their rounds, and have them find a tiger missing. I grimaced at the thought.

  That would be pandemonium.

  On four furry legs, I loped through the trees and back towards the road. I was lost in thoughts of home, mixed strangely with thoughts of the vet. And because of my preoccupation, I didn’t quite notice when I reached the road and stepped off the curb.

  If I had been paying attention, I wouldn’t have crossed on a bend, where approaching traffic couldn’t see me.

  If I had been paying attention, I would have looked both ways before stepping out.

  If I had been paying attention, the car wouldn’t have smashed into me, knocking me unconscious the moment I hit the pavement.

  3

  Alyssa

  I drove the car on automatic, barely noticing where I was going. I had driven this route from work to home so many times I could do it in my sleep. And maybe tonight I was half asleep, after a ten-hour shift in the emergency vet clinic where I worked.

  Not good, I know.

  At least this road through the park was deserted with almost no traffic. That’s why I had taken it.

  I glanced at the clock, bleary-eyed.

  2:34 am

  I sighed, feeling heavy with fatigue. There had been an unusual number of emergencies tonight, and my supervisor had asked me to stay on till things slowed down. Generally, I was done by midnight. But not tonight.

  I wanted to open the window and blast myself with the cool night air, but that would probably wake Zoe, my baby daughter, who was sleeping in her car seat in the back. And that was the last thing I wanted or needed.

  She was sleeping. I would take her home, nurse her, and put her straight to bed.

  Maybe I ought to have stayed over at Callie’s house — my friend who takes care of Zoe when I have to work. If I had done that, I would be sleeping right now. Instead, I was still over an hour from going to bed.

  I groaned internally.

  I was so damn tired that I wanted to pull over and go to sleep right here in the car on the road. I loved working at the emergency veterinary hospital. And tonight, I had saved the lives of six dogs and a cat.

  That would make their owners and families very, very happy — never mind the animals, who would have died without my help.

  That made me feel good. Really good.

  But it was so exhausting.

  Especially with a little one.

  And not for the first time, I longed for my husband. I didn’t only want him because we had planned on sharing the joys and burdens of raising Zoe. I missed him.

  He had been my best friend since I was six. At some point, we had realized that we were more than friends, and we got married.

  I sighed again, and my eyes teared up, but I blinked them away. Why that fucked-up office worker had come in and shot the place up, I would never know. And why I had encouraged Harris to go to work that day when he had a cold, I would never know either. It was partially my fault that he was dead and that Zoe had never had a father.

  But I shut down that way of thinking. It led to a deep black hole from which I was pretty sure I would never emerge. My mother had raised me to be tough, and I would be strong for my baby. She needed me. And there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her.

  I approached the part of the road that went through the park and in the dark didn’t see the first speed bump, which I usually remembered to slow down for. That meant that I hit it going way too fast, and the car bounced, and Zoe started to cry.

  I felt frustration and desperation welling up in me.

  No, please. Just sleep. I don’t have any energy for you right now.

  But she was upset, and she was not going back to sleep.

  Her cry grated on my already frazzled nerves, and I put my hand back to touch her. I checked the road — no traffic.

  I quickly looked back at her for a moment, trying to soothe her. I twisted back a second later, feeling a huge thump.

  Oh my God.

  I had hit someone.

  No. Not someone. Something.

  I jumped out of the car and looked at what I had hit.

  A dog.

  Jesus. Some vet I was. Spend all night saving animals, only to kill one on your way home because you were tired and careless? Way to go, Alyssa.

  I bent down and checked over the unconscious animal, making a quick decision. There was no way I was going back to the vet ER, and I had plenty of supplies at home. I could take care of it there. And then, tomorrow, I would figure out what to do with it.

  I popped the trunk and then picked up the dog, still fuming about irresponsible pet owners, and realized that the damn thing was really big. I couldn’t tell what breed it was in the dark, but it seemed huge. Or maybe I was just tired. I staggered a bit with the large animal, but managed to get it into the trunk.

  I had only been out of the car for a minute and Zoe was still screaming in the back, so I jumped into the vehicle, pulled off the road, and parked. Taking a deep, calming breath, I got
in the backseat and, after unbuckling her, took her out of her car seat.

  I nursed her until she was calm, and then put her back in. I didn’t know how badly the dog was hurt, so I zipped home as quickly as I dared, hoping it wouldn’t die before we got there.

  We soon arrived at our three-bedroom house that was way too big for a single mother and her daughter. Once there, I opened the trunk to give the dog air and brought Zoe into the house. As soon as she was settled and sleeping, I came out and carried the animal into the house.

  A quick examination showed that nothing was broken, and his breathing was stable. I put him on an IV just as a precaution. Maybe I’d just hit his head, and that’s what knocked him out. Who knew? It wasn’t like I could ask him.

  I found the old kennel that my mother had given me after her dog, Peanut, had died. I put the injured animal in it and locked it, draping a blanket over top. The dog was still unconscious, and I was so done with this day.

  But I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep yet. I was too wound up. I went and ran myself a bath, wishing I could just have a glass of wine to calm down.

  That was out of the question, because I was still nursing Zoe and even though supposedly it was okay to have one glass, I wasn’t willing to risk even the slightest chance that she might be hurt. I never needed a drink that much.

  Still, tea might be nice. I dragged myself to the kitchen to make some, when a thought struck me.

  What if the dog woke up and got upset because it was in a strange kennel? I had seen it happen before.

  Then it might pull out the IV. That would possibly damage the equipment, and also might hurt the animal.

  I decided to remove the IV from the dog before I got in the bath, just in case. When I went back into the laundry room, I froze in astonishment that quickly became fear.

  There was a naked man in the cage, carefully pulling the needle out of his skin. He had black hair, piercing blue eyes, and a muscular body.

  He looked up and stared straight at me.

  “What the…?” I said, backing up as quickly as I could. He reached through the bars and deftly undid the latch. My mind was reeling as I scrambled away from him.

  Where had he come from? What had happened to the dog? Why had he taken the dog from the kennel and crawled in himself?

  Or was he the dog? Or maybe a werewolf?

  If he was a werewolf, I needed something silver. Too bad the handgun I kept upstairs in my bedside table didn’t have silver bullets. And too bad I didn’t keep the damn gun downstairs.

  I ran for the dining room in search of silver. Nothing seemed outlandish to me at that moment, when I had left a dog in a kennel and come back to find a man there instead. I tore into the dining area and yanked open the china cabinet, pulling out the silver salt and pepper set my mother-in-law had given Harris and me for our wedding gift.

  The man appeared in the kitchen doorway a half a minute later, holding a towel in front of his junk.

  Now what? I wondered, as he approached slowly with one hand up, as if to show how not dangerous he was. His other hand was still holding the towel.

  I glanced at the salt shaker I was holding. The only thing I knew about silver was that it had to touch the werewolf. It wasn’t going to work here in my hand.

  “Stay the hell away from me. I’ve already called the cops,” I said, though how he would ever believe that I’d had time to call the police in the half a minute we had been in separate rooms, I had no idea. Not to mention the fact that my phone was still in my purse in the laundry room.

  “Calm down, please,” the man said, and somehow I felt like I had heard his voice before. It sounded almost rusty, as if he hadn’t used it in a long time. “Look, I know you.”

  What? I did not know this man. I ignored my sense that there was something familiar about him.

  Oh God, was he a stalker? Was this going to turn into some weird nightmare scene from a movie?

  Why the hell had I decided to keep the gun upstairs? I needed it right now. I thought about getting it, but vetoed that immediately. My baby girl was asleep upstairs, and I would not go anywhere near her.

  I began to shift around so that I was between him and the stairs that led to Zoe’s room. “Calm down?” I said, making my voice as strong as possible. “You’re trespassing. Get the hell out of my house.”

  “Please,” he said, again stepping a little closer as I edged towards the door. “Let me explain.”

  “Just get out.”

  “But I—” he said, getting a little too close for comfort.

  I reacted and threw the silver salt shaker at him. It bounced off his bare chest, and annoyance flashed across his face.

  Shit. That didn’t do anything. Maybe he wasn’t a werewolf.

  As I moved past the stove, I grabbed a frying pan, backing towards the stairs.

  “Please let me explain and it will all make sense,” he said.

  “I left a dog in a kennel and came back to find you. I don’t see how that’s ever going to make sense. I’ll be reporting this to the authorities.”

  “Please don’t,” he said, moving in too close again.

  I swung as hard as I could at his head, holding the cast-iron frying pan upside down. He brought up his free hand to block it; the frying pan glanced off his arm and knocked him hard above the eyebrow on his far-too-handsome face, leaving a curved gash that began to bleed at once.

  “Ow, shit,” he said, giving me an angry glare and putting his hand to the cut. He gave me one more reproachful look and ran out the front door. The last thing I saw of him was his disturbingly sexy bare ass running down the driveway.

  “So,” the police officer said, with a long-suffering look on his face. It was now almost four in the morning, and we were sitting in the living room of my house. “You left a dog in the kennel and when you came back, a man was in there instead? And he was naked?”

  I tried to keep my temper. “He was actually pulling the IV out. Why would someone climb in and insert an IV, and then pull it out?”

  “You’re right,” he said, in complete agreement with me. “It doesn’t make sense. Though some people have … interesting … sex games that involve role play, and pretending to be various…”

  I glowered at him and he stopped speaking. I knew he thought I was a complete nutcase, but I tried to explain one more time.

  “I do not know the man who was in my house. I don’t know how he got into the kennel where I had left the dog. The only thing I can think is that he might have been the same…” I searched for the right word. “Creature.”

  “Creature?” he said. His eyebrows would have hit his hairline, I’m sure, if it wasn’t receding.

  I huffed out a breath of frustration. This was getting me nowhere.

  “Sir, there’s no sign of a dog, or a naked man, anywhere in the vicinity,” another officer came and reported. His gaze cut across to me and then he averted his eyes.

  “Thank you,” the officer interviewing me said.

  “You already did the breathalyzer,” I said, trying to be as patient as I could. “You know I’m not drunk.”

  “No,” he said, again agreeing with me completely. I wondered briefly if it was a technique they taught them in police officer school. “You’re not drunk.”

  His expression said hardcore crazy, maybe, but not drunk.

  “Look, Mrs. Duncan, you said you’ve had a long night. Why don’t you get some rest. And we’ll contact you if we need anything else from you for the case.” He stood up.

  “Sure,” I said, staring at the floor as they cleared out. Then I locked the doors and stood in the laundry room looking at the kennel.

  I wasn’t crazy.

  At least, I was pretty sure I wasn’t crazy.

  That meant that some weirdo who could change from a dog to a man was still out there. Maybe waiting until the police left to come and murder me and my baby in our beds.

  I grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen and walked slowly upstairs. Qui
etly opening my daughter’s room, I checked on her, and then shut and locked the door. I lay down in front of her crib, my hand on the knife, unsleeping, as the unused bath water slowly turned ice cold.

  4

  Lii’thoou

  With no time to shift, I took off running down the street that the vet’s house was on. It was late, and there weren’t many streetlights. I kept to the shadows.

  A few minutes later, I jumped behind a hedge just before a police car passed me with lights flashing, heading in the direction of the house. My heart was pounding painfully in my chest, and all I wanted to do was tear out of there and hide in a dark cave. I scowled.

  That was a weird thought — must be mental residue from taking animal form so often.

  I was naked, and I needed to get to some cover so I could shift. Good thing it was the middle of the night and the cop car was the only thing moving in this safe, tidy-looking neighborhood. I peered out from behind the bush and saw the vehicle stop at her house.

  Shit. She really had called the police.

  Damn.

  I knew enough about police officers to know that I wanted to avoid them. I was naked, which was a crime on this planet. And I certainly didn’t even have any ID if they caught me.

  I started to shake a little bit. This was bad. I couldn’t shapeshift when I wasn’t calm, so changing forms wasn’t an option until I could bring myself back to a state of peace.

  And I needed to do that as soon as possible, so that I could shift into tiger form once I was back in the zoo. I headed for the strip of woods at the end of her street, hoping no one would see me. There was a walking trail, which I followed until I made it to the park.

  Then I headed straight for the thickest part of the forest. Once in nature again, I felt my pulse slowing, and a sense of tranquility coming back, where before there had only been adrenaline and fear.

  And that’s when it hit me.

  I had talked to her.

  Sure, she had been scared, and she had hit me with kitchen tools. But it had felt really good to interact with someone again.