Wing and a Prayer: Silverstar Mates (Intergalactic Dating Agency) (SILVERSTAR MATES SERIES Book 2)

  WING and

  a PRAYER

  SILVERSTAR MATES

  Intergalactic Dating Agency

  USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  LEA KIRK

  WING AND A PRAYER

  Silverstar Mates

  Intergalactic Dating Agency

  Happily ever after didn’t work out.

  After her divorce, Meryl Faulkner decided to embrace all the best life has to offer: family, friends, and retirement. She never expected a sexy winged alien to divebomb into her quiet, orderly life. And he seems to think he’s her mate!

  Deemed un-mateable from birth.

  Years ago, Rol Raptorclaw came to terms with the solitary life society thrust upon him. Serving his monarchs keeps him too busy to be lonely—mostly. So how is it that one maddening human female has inserted herself into his unworthy heart?

  Rol is determined to convince Meryl he is not a flight risk, but can he do so before the trade negotiations with Earth wrap up and he must return home?

  Welcome to the Silverstar Agency, specializing in intergalactic love matches for those over fifty.

  Contents

  About Wing and a Prayer

  Chapter 1 * Chapter 2 * Chapter 3 * Chapter 4 * Chapter 5 * Chapter 6 * Chapter 7 * Chapter 8 * Chapter 9 * Chapter 10 * Chapter 11 * Chapter 12 * Chapter 13 * Chapter 14 * Chapter 15 * Chapter 16 * Chapter 17

  A Note to my Readers * Sneak Peek of Trial by Fire * About Intergalactic Dating Series * About the Author * Other Books by Lea Kirk * Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Legally speaking, Meryl Faulkner was in a gray area, and that was not a good place for a retired divorce lawyer to be. The whole situation wouldn’t be quite so bad if she hadn’t involved her goddaughter in her crime last night.

  She tapped the edge of her debit card against the grocery checkout counter. If that damn man—because it was always a man—hadn’t pissed her off so royally, she would’ve thought things through a little more carefully. Which wasn’t an excuse because the facts spoke for themselves.

  The first time she’d met the giant winged Bezchian lug, Rol Raptorclaw, she’d been all sorts of turned on. What guy his age could carry off the shirtless look so flawlessly? Had such defined abs? Looked so hot in leather flying straps and black pants? And spoke in a voice that could make a woman orgasm on the spot?

  And those wings—my God.

  But seriously, everything would’ve been fine if he hadn’t tried to undermine his good friend Kyzel’s budding romance with her best friend, Robyn. Poor Robyn deserved a chance to find a guy who was better than that damn ex-husband of hers, Kevin. And Kyzel was exponentially better than Kevin.

  Meryl had warned Rol to back off, but had he listened? Nooo. Of course not. Instead, he’d cornered Robyn during her lunch break yesterday and done everything to make her jealous of Kyzel’s dead wife.

  She frowned. And speaking of Robyn, her friend hadn’t followed up about that with her today. Maybe she should drive by on her way home from the grocery store and make sure everything was okay. It was so unusual not to hear from her.

  “Ms. Faulkner? Ma’am?”

  Meryl blinked, the familiar electronic beeps and buzzes of the store filtering back into her consciousness. She met the expectant brown-eyed gaze of the grocery clerk. Cute young thing with hair done in neat cornrows.

  I used to be that young. And cute.

  The girl waved one hand in the direction of the ancient card reader. “You can tap your card now.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry.” She set the card over the scanner.

  What was the line from that movie? “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.” Sixty-three used to seem so far away, but now here she was, retired and just a couple years away from being a senior citizen.

  She stared at the back of her hand. A few age spots there, barely visible against her brown skin. It helped that she bleached her shoulder-length curls to a light-gold color. It hid the salt and pepper that only she knew was there. Not much she could do about the crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes, though. Robyn called them laugh lines, and maybe she was right.

  Most of her life had been happy. Even married life with Nathan had been fun, despite her scare with cervical cancer, and the resulting hysterectomy that stole their ability to have a family. He had been there for her, strong and reassuring, for twenty-seven years. They’d lived their happily ever after until…Charlotte. Ditzy, petite, young Charlotte Cremean with her deep brown eyes, thick dark hair, and her equally thick head.

  Totally missed all the signs on that one, didn’t you?

  Hadn’t even batted an eye when Nathan wanted to hire her as their new secretary. Why would she have? She’d trusted him. Now all she had to show for those years were scars. A puckered one on her abdomen, and invisible ones on her heart. Did she need any other reminders how men liked to play women?

  Aren’tcha glad you kept your last name now?

  “Here’s your receipt, ma’am.”

  Ma’am. I’m old enough to be a ma’am.

  “Thank you.” She took the receipt between her fingers and jammed it into the bag with the yogurt and bananas.

  “Has anyone told you that you look like Michelle Hurd?”

  She clamped down on the snort trying to escape. “So often that I’m thinking of applying to be her stunt double.”

  Not that anyone would hire a “ma’am”-aged woman to do that job. Much easier to hire a younger, more flexible one and do distance shots.

  “You could.” The girl laughed. “Have a good evening.”

  “You too.”

  Out in the parking lot, the old wheels on the grocery cart rattled, and the whole thing shimmied. Damn thing better not fall apart on her before she got to the car. How was it that after ten years, asphalt was still a thing? Didn’t one of the other planets that belonged to the Galactic Alliance have a better surfacing solution they could share with Earth?

  Earth’s been part of the Alliance for a decade already, yet the first time I met an off-worlder was only a few days ago.

  What was it about Rol that kept him floating to the forefront of her thoughts all the time? The dignified gray and brown headfeathers and wings? His buff body—as buff as a twenty-five-year-old’s? Which sort of made sense since a spare tire would be difficult to fly with. Or those eyes…one gray and one blue…that she could stare into for hours…days…months…years?

  Dammit. Don’t think about him like that!

  She stopped behind her sporty little silver coupe and loaded her bags into the trunk. Rol was a dick, and she’d wronged him for it by having her goddaughter, Kathy hack into the Silverstar Agency’s database, submit a fake application for him, then bio apped one of his feathers to them as well. And that damn feather was still in her purse. Why? Because it smelled all allspicey-warm, like Rol, and she couldn’t let it go.

  Who’s the dick now, Meryl? Ma’am?

  She rolled the empty cart into the rack. He’d be so pissed if he ever found out what she’d done to him. If she was really lucky, he’d be long gone before the agency matched him, and the whole thing would blow over. As hard as it was to admit it, she’d let down all womankind with her petty little stunt.

  And yet, just the thought of him leaving made her heart sad. It was beyond crazy, but she might be hooked on the guy, which was another thing he could never know.

  She slid behind the steering wheel, the bucket seat conformin
g to her ass. The cheery notes of The Wedding March came from inside her purse, and her stomach clenched. It’d seemed funny to give that ringtone to Nixy Vogel, the Silverstar agent assigned to her. Now, not so much.

  This could be the call you’ve been dreading.

  The one she’d known would eventually come the moment Robyn had coerced her into submitting an application with her. It wasn’t like she needed a guy in her life again. Why, oh why didn’t she think to have Kathy delete her application last night?

  “Well, Nixy, honey, leave a message.” It was getting dark, and she still wanted to drive by Robyn’s to make sure her bestie was home and safe.

  Anything Nixy had to tell her could wait until after the groceries were put away.

  Chapter 2

  Four days later.

  The desert sun beat down on Rol Raptorclaw’s wings, glaring off the white sands and heating the old, cracked black asphalt of Earth’s galactic spaceport. Soon he would board the ship bound for Bezchi, along with his monarch, Kyzel, and Kyzel’s new mate, Robyn Martin Donahue.

  Soon.

  Right after Kyzel and Robyn finished their little kissy reunion at the end of the ship’s boarding ramp. In plain sight of everyone. Including Robyn’s youngest daughter, Kathy and best friend, Meryl.

  How long could two people kiss like that, anyway? They must be aware that they would have two days in space to get it out of their systems before arriving on Bezchi. He fought the urge to roll his eyes in a manner unbecoming of the prime advisor to the monarchs of the Raptorclaw clan. The Bezchian contingent—including himself, Kyzel’s bodyguard, Fyad and the phoenix mate-matcher, Elder Kai Firewing—all patiently waited for Kyzel and Robyn.

  Well, he and Fyad did. Elder Kai looked like he had eaten something sour. Not that Rol did not have some empathy for the elder. It was awkward standing by waiting, especially with Meryl no more than two wingspans away from him.

  You only have yourself to blame.

  It was, after all, he who had facilitated this reunion by sneaking off to Robyn’s house this morning and convincing the stubborn human that she did not need to be Bezchian to serve their people—and hers.

  Lucky for him, she had seen the truth of the matter and come along willingly. If she had not, he had been prepared to scoop her up and fly her to the spaceport anyway. Such an action could be classified as an abduction, but his choices had been limited. The sorrow shrouding Kyzel had been too much to bear because Kyzel was not only his monarch; he was his friend.

  “Oh, lighten up, Rol.” Meryl’s melodious voice drew him back to the present.

  He gave her a sidelong glare. She had been a bur in his wing since he had first encountered her one Earth-week ago. It was a shame, too, as she was quite tolerable when she was not speaking to him. “I am unfamiliar with this saying, Ms. Faulkner.”

  Meryl smirked and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes deepened. “It means, don’t be such a tight-ass. A little spontaneity is good for the soul.”

  What was more spontaneous than flying Ms. Donahue out here without his monarch’s knowledge or blessing? This time he did roll his eyes skyward. The young human female standing next to Meryl giggled. Robyn’s daughter, Kathy happened to also be related to Meryl by an Earth ritual called baptism. How unfortunate for the youngling.

  And how callous of you to even think such a thing.

  Since meeting her, Meryl had shown the capacity to care deeply for those she loved. He just did not happen to be included in that select group, for whatever reason.

  No, the reason was plain: he had not earned that designation in her life. He may have even revolted against it on some unconscious level.

  He shifted his gaze to Elder Kai Firewing. The Firewing clan’s main function was to match mating pairs within the other four Bezchian clans. It was an ancient tradition that they had upheld for thousands upon thousands of sun migrations.

  Oh, there had been a few exceptions, of course. Kyzel had just done the unthinkable by eschewing that tradition and finding his new mate through the services of the Silverstar Agency on Earth. And about fifteen sun migrations ago, a Raptorclaw ship’s captain had liberated a pirate ship of its Earthling “cargo”, then mated with one of the females.

  Eva Raptorclaw. Dear, sweet, pain-in-the-wing, Eva. If not for her, the Galactic Alliance of Planets would not have bothered making first contact with Earth ten sun migrations ago.

  And then there is you.

  Unmateable, because of weakened genes. An affliction all could see each time they looked into his duel-tone eyes. One gray, one blue.

  The sound of footsteps on metal intruded on his thoughts. Kyzel and Robyn had ended their kiss while he was distracted, and were strolling up the boarding ramp, their hands linked.

  Finally, it was time to go. He slid his gaze back to Meryl. Her brown skin was covered with a thin sheen of moisture, almost glowing under the midday desert sun. Even her hair—dark at the roots, but golden at the ends—shimmered like fire in the sunlight.

  Meryl Faulkner was fire, in her appearance and in her personality. Touch her, and he might get burned. But, if he could touch her, just once, it might be worth the pain. Even though the female seemed perpetually angry with him.

  Ah, well, it was not meant to be. Despite both of them being well past prime heir-providing years, he was still not an acceptable choice as a mate.

  He stepped toward the ramp, glancing up at his monarch. Kyzel had stopped midway up the ramp, and now stared at him with an expression of stunned disbelief, a human cell phone in his hand. Rol frowned. Was that the same one the Silverstar agent, Nixy Vogel had given him the day they had arrived?

  Rol made a vague hand-wave in the direction of the phone. “Did you forget to return the device?”

  Probably had it in one of the carrying pouches of his flying leathers. Surely, Meryl would return it, if asked.

  Kyzel shook his head. “Rol, you did not tell me you had applied to the Silverstar Agency.”

  A shiver of surprise went through his wings. Applied? Silverstar? What?

  Rol squinted at the ship taxiing to the launch pad. The ship he should be on right now, but because of the most bizarre circumstance, he was not.

  How by the ever-loving eternals did the Silverstar Agency get my name?

  Maybe the how did not matter, because he was staying on Earth to meet his match. His refusal to do so could affect the up-coming trade negotiations between Bezchi and Earth, and not in a positive way. He had personally put in a lot of effort to make them happen to begin with.

  A claw of suspicion gripped his gut. Had Kyzel submitted his name in revenge for the way he had attempted to dissuade Robyn from pursuing a relationship with his monarch?

  A wave of shame chased the suspicion away. How could he even think such about his childhood friend? Kyzel had never been a revenge seeker, and never would be.

  A rumble, followed by a wavering heat mirage billowing from under the ship brought his focus back to the ship.

  “There they go.” Kathy slid her arm around Meryl’s waist and the two leaned against each other in family solidarity.

  “Are you ready to go, Prime Advisor?” Kyzel’s bodyguard, Fyad grinned. His black-as-night headfeathers and wings glistened in the intense sunlight.

  The youngling seemed unusually pleased at the prospect of continuing his duties on Earth. This time for Rol and Elder Kai.

  Rol cast one final glance at the microscopic black dot in the blue sky that was his monarchs’ spaceship. He would be able to see it better if he used his hunting vision, but why bother? Gone was gone.

  “I am ready.” He had a meeting to attend with Ms. Vogel in an hour. “Elder Kai, will you fly with us?”

  Kai Firewing flexed his silvery-red wings. “Aye. We have delayed long enough.”

  Rol frowned as the elder—who was close to fifteen sun migrations older than his sixty—tromped toward a patch of open ground with room enough to tak
e off. Could it have been Kai who submitted his name? It made no logical sense, but the male had manipulated him into tricking Robyn to believe untruths about Kyzel, a plot designed to end their courtship and get the raptor monarch to submit to a traditional match on Bezchi.

  Yes, he understood Meryl’s outrage about that now. It had been a foolish thing to do.

  “Rol?” And speaking of Meryl….

  He turned his gaze to the irritating and beguiling female. “Yes?”

  “Thank you for getting Robyn out here before Kyzel left.” She made a shrugging gesture with her hands. “I appreciate it.”

  He suppressed the smile of satisfaction at the notion he had done something right in her eyes. Instead, he raised his chin a bit and gazed down his nose at her. “You are welcome.”

  Convincing Robyn that Kyzel was her true mate, then bringing her to the spaceport, was a point of pride. Of all his accomplishments as prime advisor, none had left him with the warm glow that now resided in his chest.

  If nothing else, he had proved to Meryl that, despite her vague threats of retaliation for his role in Robyn’s eventual kidnapping by her ex-mate, he did care.

  Meryl’s unusual green-brown gaze did not waver, and she smiled. A soft puff of a breeze fluttered her sleeveless yellow top, molding it over her small breasts and flat belly. But what really held his attention was the glimpse of her soul in her eyes. There must be more to her under her shell of contrariness. It was too bad he would never have the opportunity to find out.

  “Prime,” Fyad rumbled, a hint of agitation in his voice. “The elder has left without us.”

  “Let him go, Fyad.” For some reason, this did not trouble him, even though he should be a little more concerned about an old phoenix on his own on an alien planet.

  Fyad lifted his wings a little higher without opening them. “Monarch Kyzel charged me to watch over both of you, sir.”

  This was true. “Very well. It was an honor to meet you, Meryl Faulkner…Ms. Kathy.”