In Love With Alien CUpid: A Sci-Fi Alien Holiday Romance Read online

  In Love With Alien CUpid

  A Sci-Fi Alien Holiday Romance

  Zara Zenia

  Illustrated by

  Natasha Snow

  Edited by

  Elizabeth A Lance

  Copyright © 2021 by Zara Zenia

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Natasha Snow Designs

  Edited by Elizabeth A Lance

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the authors’ imagination.

  Contents

  VIP Reader Club

  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

  Epilogue

  About Zara Zenia

  Also by Zara Zenia

  Preview of Alien Prince Charming

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  Chapter One

  Cindy

  A glance at the clock told me I'd slept for three hours. Three. Bleary-eyed, I dragged myself from my bed and into the hall. Seeing the bathroom door closed, I growled and banged on it. "Terry, hurry up! You know I have to get to class."

  "Fucking shit, can't I take a dump without you bangin' on the fucking door?" my brother's voice carried through the thin wood.

  "Damn it, Terry, you shouldn't even be here, it's eight a.m.; you should be in school! Why aren't you there?"

  The toilet flushed and the water turned on. A minute later, Terry pulled open the door and stared at me with that glazed look of a teenage boy. His curly brown hair was unkempt and messy, and he had a black bandana wrapped around his forehead. He was dressed in baggy jeans, and an oversized DJ Drama t-shirt and his Air Jordans, which he'd insisted Mom buy him for Christmas, despite them being outrageously priced, were on his feet. Mom had done it because he'd had a tough year, what with the police accusing him of theft and throwing him in Juvenile Hall for six months. Mom had been out of her mind with worry over him, but he insisted it was all a mistake. That the cops had mistaken him for someone else, but they wouldn't listen and so he had to do six months. If I'd had the money to get him a good lawyer, maybe he wouldn't have had to be in there for so long, but all the money I had went to household bills and college expenses, and my car. There wasn't much left over for things like attorneys.

  "I'm goin', I'm goin'. Fuck. You ain't Mom. Stop tryin' ta boss me."

  I sighed as he brushed past me and fled the house. I knew my seventeen-year-old brother was just going through a phase, but I really wished he'd be just a tad bit more responsible. Still, he was just a kid and he had time to grow up. I moved to the front door and locked it, then headed back to the bathroom.

  I took a quick shower and then dressed for class in a pair of fitted jeans and a cute green top. I after drying it, I pulled my curly auburn hair up into a messy bun. I applied some lip gloss and then picked up my bookbag and headed out the door, locking it behind me. We didn't live in the best area, actually we lived in one of the worst parts of East Oakland. Last I'd heard, Webster, the neighborhood where we lived was the third highest crime rate area. So, I always made sure to check the locks. I didn't want to have my stuff stolen. I worked too hard already and didn't want to have to be replacing stuff.

  I pulled up Mom's number on my phone and texted her. I'll stop at the store on the way home tonight. I'll cook. Any preferences?

  She didn't answer, but that was okay. I knew she would when she caught a break at the hospital. Mom was an RN. She'd worked her ass off forever since Dad walked out on us when Terry was three. We hadn't seen him since and I didn't care to ever see him again. He'd left us and hadn't contributed anything to our well-being over the years, so to me, he was less than nothing. We had no extended family, it was just us three and we were pretty close for the most part.

  I clicked the keyfob to me beat up blue Toyota Corolla, tossed my bag in the back and got in. The drive to UC Berkeley wasn't too bad and I was there with ten minutes to spare before my first class was to start. It was the beginning of the semester and I was in my second year, studying folklore and history. I wanted to go into teaching, not that it paid a lot, but it was better than what I made now working at the local drug store making barely more than minimum wage or as a dog walker for the elderly people in our neighborhood.

  I took a seat in the front of the class and pulled out my book, a notebook, and a pen to take notes. I had no idea what was planned for the class, Celtic Mythology and Oral Tradition, but I knew it would have to do with histories of Ireland and Scotland, seeing as it was Celtic. The course description said it was an introduction to pre-Christian beliefs and would be a study of methodology of investigating ancient and medieval belief systems.

  I'd always been fascinated by the Irish and Scottish Celts. So, this was a class I was looking forward to. I was even considering minoring it Celtic Studies, since that was something UC Berkeley offered. There were a ton of classes available on the Celts and was looking forward to taking more of them, should this one prove to be as intriguing as I figured it would be.

  The classroom door opened and our teacher, Professor Morrison strode in with a red-headed and bearded man at her side. Professor Morrison I knew because she was one of my advisors and was the one who told me about the Celtic Studies program in the first place when I expressed an interest. She was always impeccably dressed in business suits, and today was no exception. She was dressed in a brilliant red suit that showed off her ebony skin to perfection. Her hair was in its usual short dreadlocks and she wore heavy gold jewelry.

  She and the man, who I had to admit was extremely attractive, moved to the teacher desks at the front of the room. I had to wonder who he was as he set down a stack of books on the desk next to Professor Morrison. He wasn't tall, maybe about five foot seven, but he was muscular. He was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt with a tie. The shirt was a bright blue and as he moved it strained against his biceps in a fascinating way. He glanced up at me as I studied him, and I felt heat crawl up my neck to my cheeks before I looked away. But when I looked back a minute later, he was grinning at me.

  Our class wasn't too big, maybe only thirty students by the time everyone was seated. Professor Morrison moved to the front of the class and encouraged everyone to be quiet.

  "Good morning, I hope you all are ready to for this semester. As you should be aware, I am Professor Morrison, and this is Celtic Mythology and Oral Tradition. If this isn't the class you signed up for, you'd best be on your way, else I'm liable to hold you accountable for all work." She grinned and looked around the room, but nobody moved. "Great. Seems
we're all in the right place. Now, before we begin, I want to introduce my graduate student assistant, Michael McCarthy. He's over here from Ireland, helping me out while he finishes his studies. If you have any questions about this course, assignments, or courses of study, I can assure you, Michael can answer those for you." She looked over at him and he stood.

  "Hello," Michael said, looking at us all and giving us a small wave.

  There was a light Irish brogue to his voice that sent a little thrill through me and I was pretty sure I melted into a pile of goo just hearing it. I opened my notebook and uncapped my pen to hide my attraction to the man.

  "Now, to begin… Over the course of this semester, we are going to explore the mythology of the Celts, from their deities to their festivals as well as their belief systems and how they are reflected in text. You should have all received your assignment for today over the past weekend, and I hope you've all done the work, because we will be discussing it shortly."

  I was so thankful that I'd looked over my courses on Saturday and seen the assignment. It had been to read one of the tales in our textbook, which I'd done. It was about the battle between the Tuath De Danann, a supernatural race and the Fir Bolg, the people who inhabited Ireland at the time. I had found it a fascinating tale and had done some extra research that night into the Tuath De Danann and had discovered all kinds of fascinating things about them.

  Professor Morrison went on to discuss the tale and Michael interjected here and there with different things that made her laugh or debate with him. Of course, it was all friendly and drew the class in to the discussion, which was what Professor Morrison wanted. I'd even commented on some of my research and Professor Morrison had said she liked my initiative, though she disagreed that the Tuath De Danann were supernatural beings, just merely clever humans who were strong in battle tactics and knowledge, which allowed them to easily conquer the land and the people.

  When class ended, I gathered up my things and headed off to my next class with a final glance at the handsome Michael McCarthy. As I hurried off to Theories of Narrative, I half wished I'd been able to hang back and talk to him, but I really had no time in my life for men, unfortunately. Besides taking a full load of classes, I was working two jobs, plus helping Mom out with the upkeep of the house, cooking and cleaning and that sort of thing. No, unfortunately, I had no time for dates.

  Later that afternoon, I sat down on one of the benches to organize my backpack. I had finished with my classes for the day, but my day was far from over. I still had to go to the store for groceries, get dinner started and then head out for my second job. It wasn't exactly a job per say, I mean it was, but I didn't make much at it. It had started out when I was about ten as a way to help Mom out and sort of evolved from there, but it didn't pay really well. I'd started walking dogs for my neighbors who at the time had paid me a dollar a day. Now I was up to five dollars a day per dog, and I walked six dogs. Sometimes though, my clients couldn't afford to pay me in cash, so they paid me in food, which worked too. Mom was always glad to have the extra casserole. Still, it was something I had to do every afternoon, but I enjoyed it.

  I was actually off from the drug store that night, seeing as I'd worked a twelve-hour shift on Sunday, which was why I was cooking tonight. I zipped up my bag and stood up, then stepped into the path and straight into a solid chest.

  "Whoa there, beautiful."

  I looked up and stared into the eyes on Michael McCarthy and blushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I guess I wasn't watching where I was going."

  "Lucky me then." He grinned. "I was just hoping I'd run into you."

  "You were?" I asked in surprise.

  He nodded. "I was just thinking, I wish I'd run into the beautiful girl from Professor Morrison's class, and here you are."

  "Oh, well… hi? I'm Cindy."

  "Dia duit, Cindy." He chuckled and it sent a shiver of pleasure through me, vibrating over my skin like a caress. "I was intrigued by your thoughts on the Tuath De Danann in class today. I was wondering if you might want to grab a cuppa with me sometime? We could discuss them more in depth…"

  "Coffee?" I questioned, thinking about it.

  "Well, tea generally, forget you Yanks don't drink much of it here, coffee's fine, what do you say?"

  "Okay. Um… when?"

  "When are you available?" he asked.

  "Good question, I'm not sure at the moment. Can I call you later and let you know?"

  "Of course. Here's my number." He clicked open a pen and wrote his number on a card, then handed it to me.

  "Got another one of these?" I lifted the card. "I'll give you mine."

  Smiling, he produced another card. I took it and the pen from him, wrote my number down and handed it all back to him.

  "I'll look forward to hearing from you." Michael tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear and his light touch made me draw in a sharp breath.

  "I've really got to go, so I'll call you tonight," I murmured as I started to walk away backward.

  "Careful there, love, wouldn't want you running into anyone else," he said with a chuckle.

  "Right." I nodded, giggling. "Bye!" I said with a wave and then headed to my car. As I climbed behind the wheel I had to wonder again, now that we'd actually talked and connected, how I was going to manage to fit him in to my already busy schedule. Sighing, I turned the car over and headed to the grocery store.

  Chapter Two

  Mike

  I'd been on this planet for nearly three hundred years now, and I still worried about being discovered as an 'alien'. I was actually from the planet Belasia, which was a heavily forested planet about three galaxies away. Our people tended to migrate to other planets and shift to fit in with the local inhabitants. When I'd first come here to planet Earth, I'd settled in Ireland with some of my brethren. I moved to the US after the American Revolution and followed the gold rushers out to California. I'd had a claim and mined a fortune in gold which I used to make things. Gold was precious to us Bellamar. Even more so to us than to humans, so we tended to hoard it and use it for various luck items, communication devices, and weapons.

  Of course, seeing as Humans don't live quite as long as we Bellamar tend to, over the years I've had to change my name and appearance, but I always kept my wealth, setting up new identities long before I needed them. It was easier back before humans had developed technology. Back then all I had to do was move, travel to a new area or country. Now there were rules, and regulations, and security, and a million other things that had to be dealt with. I'd lived all over the upper west coast of the United States for numerous years after the gold rush but returned to Ireland about forty-five years ago. Ireland was a lovely place, the people are friendly there and I fit in well, but it was a smaller country, and I knew I'd have to leave it again, so I had decided to come back here to California, and with that in mind, I'd set up my current identity so I could make that happen. Running into Brandy, Professor Morrison on the Isle of Man had been serendipitous.

  I'd befriended her and she invited me to come finish my studies at UC Berkeley. So, after applying for and receiving a student visa, I'd hopped on a plane and made the trip. Of course, now that I was here, I'd probably manipulate things and make it so I could stay for a number of years. That was something us Bellamar were good at, blending in, fashioning proper identification and credentials. It was essential for us to do so to keep us from being discovered. I supposed it helped that we were also extremely lucky, considering that was something we were able to manipulate.

  That morning, as Brandy and I walked into her first class, Celtic Mythology and Oral Tradition, I was struck by the auburn beauty sitting in the front row, but I attempted to keep my eyes from straying over to her as I set my things down. "Looks like it's a good-sized class," I murmured.

  "Yes, twenty-nine students signed up, not too bad for an intro class." Brandy nodded.

  I glanced up and noticed the beauty looking at me and couldn't help but smile at her. She was extr
emely attractive, and I couldn't look away. My smile widened and she blushed and looked away.

  "Are you ready?" Brandy asked a moment later.

  "Aye." I gave her a nod.

  Brandy started her speech and introduced me, and my eyes traveled over the group of nearly thirty students before landing back on the pretty girl in the front of the class. She stood out among everyone else as a bright and shining light. From that moment on the girl had been in my thoughts. All through class I'd engaged with Brandy and the class, but always with a thought to drawing the beautiful girl out. She had the softest looking auburn hair, and pretty brown eyes that looked just a bit tired and stressed. I wanted to know what made her so tired and stressed, and I wanted to ease that for her.

  In all my years on this planet, I'd only been with a handful of human women, none of whom I'd ever told who I really was. It was much too dangerous. So, I usually only stayed with them a short time and then broke things off and moved on. But I'd just arrived here, in this life, and I wasn't ready to move on yet. Getting involved with the beauty probably wasn't the best idea, but something about her drew me in. She was cute and adorable, and I wanted to be close to her.