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  “No male may claim a female until the Suhlik are removed from Earth, according to the treaty. Your actions have violated the treaty.”

  “Yeah, about that,” Penny said, moving to her cot. Kol picked her up and arranged her carefully on his lap, his arms around her waist, mindful of her wounds. She gave his shoulder a friendly pat. Not the affectionate gesture he wanted from his mate but good enough for the moment. “I’ve read the treaty a few times, more than a few, and it’s pretty specific about how and when a woman is tested to be matched. She has to be old enough, healthy enough, single and no kids.”

  “I am familiar with the terms of the treaty,” he said.

  “Right, and a male can only claim a woman he’s been matched to.”

  “And no matches will be made until the war is over, which is why Kol’s transgression is—”

  “Perfectly legal,” Penny said, confidence in her voice. “I claimed Kol. Nothing the treaty says a human woman is prohibited from claiming a Mahdfel male, warlord.”

  A smile flickered briefly across the warlord’s brutal face. For a moment, his features softened and the warlord became Kol’s father, Vadi Ruh, a persona he saw seldom and only in private. “Call me Ruh, if we are to be family. However, to ignore the genetic test—”

  “I’m sure it’s very important, but I don’t care. Kol’s mine. I’ll take the risk.”

  Kol stroked her back. “I would still like to take the genetic test, if only to know how close a match we are.”

  “I don’t care about that,” Penny said.

  “I do. You are far too precious to lose in a risky pregnancy. If we never had children, so be it. I can accept that. I can never accept a life without you.”

  Her smile brightened. “Big Red, you gigantic softie.”

  The warlord slapped Kol on the back. For a moment, a father’s pride shone through. “She has the mind of a diplomat,” he said with approval.

  “And the heart of a warrior,” Kol agreed.

  Penny tilted her head up, lips soft and sweet. He knew that look. She wanted a kiss. He was happy to oblige.

  Ruh thumped Kol hard on the back. “Your female remains here until the medics give a satisfactory report.”

  “And you?” she asked Kol.

  “I remain with you.” It was decided long ago.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Penny

  Kol stayed by her side. Nurses came and went, dispensing IV bags and pills. Jasmine caught Penny up on the latest news about the war and family, and the hot gossip from inside the refugee camp. Apparently some women were hooking up with the aliens and not everyone was happy about that. Penny totally saw Jasmine give Kol the side eye. Because this was a reunion, Penny didn’t want to ruin the mood and say anything. Tomorrow, though, that nonsense stopped.

  Eventually she grew tired. Kol climbed into the bed with her.

  “There’s not enough room.”

  “This was designed for a Mahdfel warrior. There is room.”

  “For one! Not two people.” She gave him a playful jab with an elbow. The pain meds created a lovely hazy feeling in her body and she was only distantly aware that she hurt herself being a smart ass.

  Kol positioned her to rest on top of himself. “Two.”

  “I hope you enjoy being a mattress.”

  Another girl a bed over snickered. Penny narrowed her eyes in the darkened room but took the high road and kept her bitchy comments to herself.

  She snuggled into his warmth. “So your dad’s the warlord, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does that make you a prince or something?”

  “No, Mahdfel leadership does not work that way. I am a warrior, nothing else.”

  “Still, it’s got to suck working for your dad.”

  He took a deep breath, as if debating what to say. “There are moments when I believe I am held to a higher standard.”

  “I think that’s true of all parents.” Alien or not. “What happens now?”

  “Now you sleep. You heal.”

  “No, I mean with us. I claimed you,” she said in a whisper.

  “Ah.” He stroked her back, lulling her into sleep.

  “Do I have to go live in space with you? I want to finish college. I mean, I know classes are cancelled now, but they’ll be back one day, and when they come back, I want to be here.”

  “And after your education? You are a scholar. You will never be finished with your education.”

  “Education costs money on Earth, so I will be done eventually. I don’t have a fortune to spend being a perpetual student.”

  “Your family?” he asked.

  “And your family?” Leaving her family behind would suck. It just would and there was no guarantee that his family would accept her. The warlord—his dad—was terrifying. Penny trembled to imagine her future mother-in-law.

  “Our family.” His lips brushed her forehead.

  Oh, she liked the sound of that.

  “I will retire and remain on Earth,” Kol said.

  “You can do that?”

  “Many warriors do when they claim their brides. It is not unusual.”

  “Yeah, but this ‘being a warrior’ is kind of your thing. It’s unfair of me to ask you to give it up.”

  Another kiss and a voice in her ear. “You like having a warrior in your bed, my mate.”

  Smiling, she buried her face against him. Maybe she did like the idea of having a warrior in her bed. Big deal.

  “Once we drive the Suhlik from Earth, there is a high probability of them returning with additional forces.”

  “This has happened before?”

  “On Rolusdreus. A Mahdfel presence will always be needed on Earth.”

  “So you’ll stay on Earth?” Hope swelled her heart.

  “I will remain on Earth as long as you are here. It was decided long ago.”

  His arms wrapped around her and Penny fell into a deep sleep, safe and warm and hopeful.

  Epilogue

  Penny

  Six Years After the Invasion

  Penny swatted away the greedy little hand.

  “Momma!” Mend clutched his hand, eyes wide with betrayal, but Penny knew his tricks.

  “You do not grab cookies hot out of the oven.” She couldn’t blame him, her cookies were amazing, but rules were rules. Teaching that kid some manners was like banging her head against a brick wall. “If you’d like a cookie, what do you do?”

  “Ask.” The toe of his shoe worried at the tile floor. His tail hung meek at his side. Without the tail, Mend looked every inch a five-year-old human boy. Every day he looked more and more like Penny’s brother, Christopher. If Chris had a tail, of course. She’d been thinking more and more about brothers recently. Mend and Chris, despite being nephew and uncle, shared the same complexion, the same tight curls and the same dark eyes. However, Mend’s inclination to take first and beg forgiveness later came directly from his father. “Vadi Mend, don’t make me tell you twice.”

  His tail twitched. At home, he left it unbound. In public, they kept it under his clothes. Little kids didn't know better than to grab it and people who were old enough to know better were just rude and wanted to tug on the cute kid’s tail.

  When he was born, Kol held up his son in triumph, the baby boy red faced and screaming like a banshee. Then he turned the infant over and Penny got an eyeful of the tail resting at the top of his little butt. “I thought he was going to look like me,” she said.

  Kol shrugged, unconcerned. “Genetics are complex. We look more like our mothers than our fathers but some little things slip through.”

  “A tail is not some little thing.”

  “Indeed. His tail is quite impressive for a warrior his age. His prowess will be formidable.”

  Her formidable little warrior did not want to apologize for sneaking a cookie and he equally did not want to ask for a cookie, either. Stubborn boy.

  “I guess I’ll have to ask your father to help me eat all these coo
kies,” Penny said, sliding the chocolate chip cookies off the pan and onto the cooling racks.

  “No! He’ll eat them all.”

  “Probably.” Penny wouldn’t let Kol, but Mend didn’t need to know that. He needed to learn how to ask permission. “Too bad someone is too stubborn to ask for a cookie.”

  “A warrior doesn’t ask. A warrior takes,” he said. His eyes tracked her motions as she moved the cookies from the pan to the rack.

  Not this again. They needed to get Mend in a Mahdfel school soon. He was already bigger than most human children his age, and stronger. He had a never-ending supply of rambunctious energy that destroyed furniture in the house. They needed to direct that energy into something productive. Five seemed early to start a warrior’s training, Penny had once thought, but after Mend broke the kitchen table—completely an accident that she wouldn’t have believed possible unless she saw it herself—she was ready to let her little boy grow up.

  “A warrior behaves with honor.” Kol swept up Mend and tossed the boy over his shoulder, Mend laughing and kicking his legs. His tail lashed at Kol’s face, who stoically ignored it. “May I have a cookie, please?”

  Penny flashed her husband a thankful smile and handed him the largest cookie. “Certainly. Thank you for asking.”

  “I want a cookie.” Mend squirmed and Kol swatted his butt, cookie temporarily lodged in his mouth. “Can I have a cookie?”

  Kol raised his eyebrows, waiting for Penny’s nod before he set the boy down.

  Mend rubbed his bottom, but Penny knew he wasn’t hurt. He might have inherited Penny’s looks, but it was superficial. All the stuff under the hood, so to speak, was pure Mahdfel. His skin was thick. Not a metaphor, it was literally thicker than human skin. He grew faster than a human, healed faster, senses were heightened, was stronger and would one day grow to be as muscular as his father. Whether the cold would have the same effect on him, they didn’t know yet. The weather never turned cold enough in Florida to find out.

  “Momma, may I have a cookie.”

  Penny waited.

  “Please?”

  She beamed her most radiant smile. “Thank you for asking.” She held out two cookies for her little monster who snatched them immediately before dashing out of the kitchen. She leaned against the counter, listening for the slam of the front door as he ran outside.

  Kol wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in. He might have thought he was being sneaky, but she totally saw him grab a second cookie. “What? I’m bigger. I need more calories,” he said around a mouthful of purloined chocolate chip.

  Penny leaned into Kol, letting his solid warmth soak into her. “I don’t know if I can handle two.”

  “You handle—” He coughed, spraying crumbs down her back. Hands clamped tight on her shoulders. “—two.”

  Penny nodded.

  “Two?”

  “Yes.”

  His arms tightened in a crushing embrace. He shook with joy. “Two!”

  Penny wiggled away. “This is serious. Mend doesn't like sharing cookies. How is he going to be with a baby brother?”

  “Being the eldest brother is a great honor and a burden. It will be his responsibility to show his brother the way a warrior conducts himself.”

  That was the part that worried her. She loved her son but he could be a brat. He was stubborn and he didn’t like to listen.

  Kol gave her another squeeze. “Mend is the sort who needs responsibility. I was much the same.”

  “Sassing your momma?” Slamming doors and breaking furniture. None of it was malicious or spiteful; Mend was just a little boy who didn’t know his own strength. And liked to push boundaries.

  “I spent many hours sweeping the desert to learn patience.”

  “Sweeping the desert?”

  “Yes, I swept the sand away from our home.”

  “It’s a desert.”

  “Exactly. My mother was never at a loss for how to keep me occupied.”

  “So you’re advocating that we give Mend the responsibility of a little brother to calm him down?”

  “There is no greater test of a warrior than ensuring the safety and wellbeing of his family.” Kol crouched down at her feet and pressed his lips to her stomach. “I will impress this upon our hard-headed son, which he gets from you.”

  Penny laughed. “You got a lot of nerve blaming that on me.”

  “I don’t hear you denying it, my mate.”

  A tug on the bottom of her shirt distracted her. Mend had managed to sneak quietly back in the house, probably to grab more cookies. “Momma, is it true? I’m going to have a brother?”

  She nodded and smiled. “Yes, sweetie.”

  “Your brother will need you to teach him many skills,” Kol said.

  Mend nodded sagely, staring at her stomach, where Kol’s hand was still firmly planted. “Can I touch the baby?”

  Sure, now he developed manners. Maybe Kol was onto something about the responsibility of being a big brother. “Absolutely.”

  Penny placed his hand on her still-flat stomach, his little brown hand resting next to his father’s large red hand. Her men.

  Looking at her, Kol’s gaze locked with hers.

  “You are for me, Vadi Kol,” she said.

  “As you are for me.”

  Thank you for reading!

  I hope you enjoyed a little trip back in time for Penny and Kol’s story.

  Love the notion of being snowed in with an alien, all snuggly and looking for ways to keep yourself occupied? Check out the other Starr Huntress titles on this theme, all being released this November.

  Snowed in with the Alien Beast - Kate Rudolph

  Snowed in with the Alien Doctor - Abigail Myst

  Snowed in with the Alien Prince - Sonia Nova

  http://starrhuntress.com/snowed-in-with-starr-huntress/

  But, Nancey, the red guy was fun and all, but I want more of my purple warriors?

  Currently I’m working on a Super Secret Project with some other authors. We’ll be doing some cover reveals and teasers next month. Follow my Facebook page to be in the know.

  https://www.facebook.com/NanceyCumm/

  After that, I’m heading back to the main series. Realistically, I’m looking at January. This one is Rohn’s story. He doesn’t particularly want a mate but he’s getting her whether he likes it or not.

  Also Available

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  Seeran

  Delivered to the Aliens

  Dragons of Wye (with Juno Wells)

  Korven’s Fire

  Ragnar

  Alpha Aliens of Fremm

  Claimed by the Alien Prince

  Bride of the Alien Prince

  Alien Warrior’s Mate

  Alien Rogue’s Price

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  Snowed in with the Alien Beast

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awkes

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  About Nancey

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  I write fun, flirty and fast stories featuring sassy heroines, out-of-this-world heroes, all the mischief they can managed and plenty of steamy fun. Hopefully you want to read them too.

  I live in an old house with my husband and a growing collection of cats.

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  Copyright Notice

  Snowed in with the Alien Warlord

  Warlord Brides Index 1

  Copyright Nancey Cummings

  Cover design by Nancey Cummings

  Published November 2017

  Published by Menura Press

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book only. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printer or electronic form without prior written person from the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.