Page 12 of Rock Hard Alien

Cleo squeezed my knee again. “Most of the aliens we're dealing with have a biological way of recognising their mates. Sorry, partners. I'm so used to alien slang. They call their forever partners their mates. And in some species, they can't even have sex with people who aren't their mates. Other aliens go crazy when they're separated. It's not just a philosophy or a tradition. It's actual biology.”

Pam groaned. “Don't remind me of the time we had a huge Vikingr warrior go on a rampage in this very office. His kind go into an almost dissociative state when they encounter their mates, the fýst. He pulled out his axe and was ready to defend her from some kind of imagined threat. Quite scary yet also very romantic.” She laughed softly.

“He mentioned something about mates,” I said. “It didn't make sense at the time. But what does that mean? He chose me to be his what, exactly? Girlfriend? Wife? Do I get a say in this?”

“That's the question everyone asks.” Pam nodded. “And there is no easy answer, unless you believe in destiny, fate, a deity who predetermines everything. From what I can tell you after years of matching aliens with humans is that no couple that was brought together through a mating bond ever split up. That's not to say it's always easy, especially for the human women. We're not used to believing in soulmates. We don't like the universe making decisions for us. But think about this. What were the chances of you encountering a centuries-old alien from a planet so far away we've never even heard of it? Maybe there was a force that brought you together - call it whatever you wish.”

“Uhm... Georgie?” Cleo had turned around and was looking out of the window.

I followed her gaze. Gulped. Looked again.

Pam laughed. “I think your gargoyle is ready to continue your conversation.”

Cairn was perched on the roof opposite, wings spread, looking very much like the Guardian I'd come to inspect this morning. I could feel the weight of his attention from here. He was watching me.

Pervert.

Stalker.

Yet I was a little relieved. At least now I knew that he was safe. I shouldn't have cared. He was nothing to me. Yet deep inside my mind, a tiny part was celebrating his return.

“Shall we open the windows and let him in?” Pam asked. “And then I can go and inform the Intergalactic Authority that we need their help in erasing all traces of him. This is the city centre. He'll be on more camera feeds than I can count. Aliens are such idiots sometimes.”

Cleo turned to me. “Are you ready for that? He's a bit intense.”

That he was. But now that I'd accepted that he was an alien, I was ready to hear him out. That didn't mean I was ready to become his mate. I didn't know the guy. I had plans. And I didn't know how he felt about me working with stone. Maybe he'd get upset watching me chisel an uneven spot on another grotesque. How much of him was rock, anyway? How far did his soft side extend?

I cringed. Here I was thinking of an alien gargoyle's dick. I blamed the stress of this whole situation. And the fact he was staring at me from across the street, utterly intense and utterly breathtaking.

“Alright, let's do this. Can I have some privacy with him first?”

Cleo snickered. “Planning something?”

“No. Eww. I just don't want him to get distracted. I need answers. Lots of them.”

Pam grabbed her teacup. “We'll leave you to it. But tell the gargoyle that I want a chat. All aliens on Earth need to be registered with the Intergalactic Authority. He's a special case, so I'm sure they'll allow him to stay for now, but they'll probably put him under my oversight.” She sighed. “Great. I was planning to go home early today.”

I waited until the two women had closed the door behind themselves, then I approached the large French window. The wood of the frame was old and splintered in places. I hesitated for a moment, but then I looked at Cairn, still perched on the roof opposite. He looked lonely.

I opened the window and stepped back, an invitation.

He shook his wings, turning from stone to someone burning with life. For some reason, I was glad he'd followed me.

Six

Cairn

“Do I get a say in this?”

I'd been straining to hear their words, but that sentence struck something deep inside. My tail slapped against the tiles as my brain struggled to understand why it affected me so.

I'd been so overwhelmed by waking, finding my mate and touching another living being that I had treated the bond as if it settled everything. My instincts recognised Georgie. They demanded I keep her close, protect her and make her mine. That's what a mate bond was.

But Georgie hadn't chosen me.

Not yet.

And from their conversation, it had become clear that humans did not mate in the way gharrgoils did. Did they truly not feel the same bonds to their mates? I knew they took mates. I had watched them from the castle walls, couples, males and females, females and females, males and males.