Hawk: Sky Mates (Intergalactic Dating Agency): a Sci-Fi Romance Read online

  Hawk

  Sky Mates (Intergalactic Dating Agency)

  Susan Grant

  Contents

  About Hawk

  Acknowledgments

  Hawk

  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

  Chapter 18

  Also by Susan Grant

  From the Author

  Copyright © 2020 by Susan Grant

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction about fictional people.

  Edited by: Victory Editing

  Cover art: Croco Designs

  ESCAPE (THE PINA COLADA SONG)

  Words and Music by RUPERT HOLMES

  Copyright © 1979 WC MUSIC CORP. and THE HOLMES LINE OF MUSIC, INC.

  All Rights Administered by WC MUSIC CORP.

  All Rights Reserved.

  Used By Permission of ALFRED MUSIC

  Other Books set in the Triad Alliance World

  Otherworldly Men Series

  Guardian Alien

  Royally Mated

  Cyborg and the Single Mom

  Borderlands Series

  Warleader

  Hunting the Warlord’s Daughter (2020)

  Raider Born (2021)

  Sky Mates Series

  Hawk

  Falcon

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  About Hawk

  Introducing the sweet and steamy SKY MATES Series… All the fun and action of Top Gun plus romance when smokin’ hot aliens are assigned to a base on Earth.

  In a small town in Texas, a woman on a mission meets a big alien warrior with a tender heart…

  They were the match no one expected—especially them.

  Commander of the fierce air warriors of Sky’s End, Hakkim “Hawk” comes to Earth for business, not pleasure. The future of his remote world depends on his squadron finding their perfect matches and flying partners. With responsibility for the mission’s success resting on his shoulders, finding his own mate never occurs to him—until he crosses paths with the Terran pilot assigned to work with him on Project Sky Mates.

  Fighter pilot Captain Kelly “Crackers” Ritz has always been better at flying than dating. Jets can be dangerous, but they’ll never break your heart. Avoiding love has been easy—until she’s selected to be the liaison for a team of mysterious alien pilots. She feels an instant connection with their part-cyborg leader. But she’s supposed to work with him, not fall for him…isn’t she?

  When Hawk claims Kelly as his Sky Mate, his world says no. With only a few weeks to go before he has to return home, will he break his vows to his people to be with the woman he loves, or be forced to leave her forever?

  For a sweet and steamy, Texas-two-stepping, afterburner-blasting, galaxy-spanning adventure, join the world of SKY MATES and read HAWK today! (An Intergalactic Dating Agency story.)

  Dear Reader:

  I wrote the SKY MATES Series to stand on its own. The books can be read in any order. But chronologically the SKY MATES stories take place after HUNTING THE WARLORD’S DAUGHTER. Or you may prefer to read the abbreviated multiseason recap below before jumping in (contains no spoilers).

  Recap

  Previously…

  Long ago, the galaxy was whole. Goddesses lived among the humans and were worshipped as descendants of a mysterious, eons-old race of divine beings.

  Under threat of religious extermination by Drakken warlords, the goddesses were forced to flee. They found refuge on an icy planet, Sakka; formed a new government, the Coalition; and declared war on the Drakken Empire.

  Centuries after the Schism, the two sides still battled to annihilate each other. They called it the Great War.

  Then everything changes when an unlikely world disrupts the galactic balance of power: Earth.

  Peace is won. The Coalition, the Drakken, and Earth unite, and the Triad Alliance is born. With pirates, deserters, terrorists, homesteaders, and the warlord’s loyalists on the loose, the galaxy remains a dangerous place. Old wounds will take time to heal.

  But on Earth, the first ever Galactic TopGun school opens for business…

  Books set in the Triad Alliance World:

  Otherworldly Men Series

  Guardian Alien

  Royally Mated

  Cyborg and the Single Mom

  The Borderlands Series

  Warleader

  Hunting the Warlord’s Daughter

  Raider Born

  and the spin-off series

  Sky Mates Series

  Hawk

  Falcon

  More to come…

  Acknowledgments

  For Haley, George, Courtney, Becca, Marti, Heather/Lea Kirk, my story coach, Dawn Alexander, for being the wind beneath my wings, the Women Service Academy Grads Facebook group, and a few others (you know who you are). In ways big and small you helped me get back in the game. Thanks to you, I climbed back on the mound to throw another pitch.

  Okay, that’s enough baseball analogies. I’m a storyteller, Jim, not a ballplayer! xo ~ Susan

  Hawk

  I stood, my eyes turned upward still

  And drank the air and breathed the light.

  Then, like a hawk upon the wind,

  I climbed the sky, I made the flight.

  — Elizabeth J. Buchtenkirk

  Chapter One

  Major “Hawk” Hakkim was ready to end the misery. His long legs had grown stiff, and he yearned to stand and stretch. The interstellar transport’s seats were meant for shorter trips—and shorter humans.

  Sky warriors weren’t meant to travel crammed into passenger cabins. He’d rather be piloting one of the six Raptor starfighters stowed in the cargo hold, adapted for his team’s assignment to the Galactic TopGun school on Earth. But he’d repeat the slog across the galaxy a hundred times to ensure the future of his people.

  The most prized warcraft on Sky’s End, their incredible Dragon ships, were eons old, the legacy of a mysterious, more technologically advanced past. The Dragons were a symbol of his people, the reason for their pride, their self-sufficiency, their uniqueness in the galaxy.

  The first time Hawk had glimpsed one of the warships, as a preschooler in the arms of his father, was seared in his memory: “Son, someday you too will take to the stars in these magnificent machines. You’ll join your mother and me in doing so, and you’ll claim your place in the long silver line of our ancestors.”

  Flying Dragons was his birthright.

  He could hunger to sit at the controls of one all he wanted, but the ships were too complicated for even experienced, fully bioengineered Solos like him to master. Dragons needed two pilots to fly them, a bonded pair—Sky Mates. But matches had become rare. Scientists blamed the crisis on something called genetic drift. There would be fewer and fewer compatible pairings until they ceased altogether. The Dragons would become obsolete, and then Sky’s End would be dependent on other worlds for their defense. Would sky warriors become obsolete next?

  Hawk was determined to make sure that didn’t happen.
>
  He returned his focus to the data-vis in his lap and his preparation for what was the most important mission of his life. A new message had come in from Captain Ritz, his Terran liaison for Project Sky Mates.

  Captain Ritz, K: Great news! Everything is all set for your arrival. I’ve arranged for your quarters on base, and your clearances came through.

  His grim expression eased. For many weeks, he’d been in contact with Kelly, hashing out the details of Project Sky Mates. Communicating with her had become a favorite part of his day, and he checked for her messages even when they weren’t due.

  In the top corner of the communications window was her official Space Forces headshot: a glimpse of brown hair brushed away from a pretty face, wide-set, dark brown eyes looking back at him with a frank, almost daring regard. A corner of her mouth dug into her cheek—a hint of an irreverent grin? He didn’t know how tall she was, how short, whether she was plump or lean, her voice soft or strident. Not that it mattered. He felt something in their interactions that energized him. A connection.

  To a sky warrior, synergy was everything.

  She wasn’t mated according to her official file. He wondered why not. She was a warrior on her world, a fighter-pilot instructor teaching at the TopGun school. Her qualifications were impressive.

  She’ll make someone a fine Sky Mate.

  The thought of her being paired went through his mind and generated a hot flicker of possessiveness, an emotion he had no right feeling. DNA testing showed no match existed for him on Earth. Wishful thinking wouldn’t change that. Captain Ritz could be a colleague, an ally, and he hoped a friend, but no more.

  Sometimes wistfulness overtook him, and he was sorry he’d never have a mate of his own, the one who would make him whole. He’d seen firsthand how incredible such a bond could be from watching a couple of legendary Sky Mates—his parents. Despite their high expectations that he might also be matched, it was not to be.

  Still, as their eldest, he hoped to live up to their example in other ways. To fill a need inside himself that he’d never quite been able to satisfy, a missing piece. So he’d focused on paving the way for younger pilots to find their matches. It had been his idea to bring a team of candidates to Earth.

  There had been one successful pairing already. The couple, a Terran female and one of their sky warriors, was now in training. To everyone’s delight, it was going well.

  We need more.

  A rumble coursed through the ship. Hawk could tell by the vibrations that the pilots were maneuvering toward Sol System Station, their transfer point, slowing to match its rotation.

  “May I?” A service attendant collected Hawk’s empty glass. Her regard lingered on him, on his eyes especially. “We’ll be docking soon,” she informed him, swallowing as she stared.

  He was used to it. With genetically engineered silver hair and vivid lavender-brown eyes, powerful musculature, and a faint silvery cast to their skin, sky warriors were a rare sight outside their warcraft, let alone off their homeworld. “The Monks of the Rim” some called them because of their planet’s remote location, their almost religious devotion to the art of flying, and their reclusiveness.

  Yet when duty called, they’d answered. The Coalition would have lost many more lives if not for their intervention in the war. Still, most were unnerved by what they didn’t understand. Fortunately, the Terrans knew little of his people’s uneasy history with the rest of the Alliance, and were unfamiliar with the derogatory labels.

  Hawk nodded politely, breaking eye contact, and the attendant resumed her duties. Her uniform followed her every curve as she shimmied away, to the obvious delight of the troops.

  His fellow passengers didn’t seem to share his distaste of being confined to what amounted to a cage with an occasional refreshment thrown their way. They cracked jokes and flirted with the cabin attendants, clearly enjoying themselves.

  Space travel when no one was shooting at you was still a treat for most. The galaxy was only two years into a peace treaty after a generations-long war between the Coalition—the government his people had aligned with—and the Drakken Empire. A newcomer, Earth, was the third component of the Triad Alliance. Protected as a shrine world, it was the backward birthplace of Crown Princess Keira’s Terran mate.

  “Charmingly backward,” Hawk had said when he briefed his team. “Be respectful. Don’t flaunt our air superiority. We’ll obey the Terrans’ customs and do our best to further their belief they’re getting more out of this arrangement than we are.”

  Galactic cooperation made for a good cover story. The true purpose in coming to Earth was far more serious: a desperate, last-ditch effort to find Sky Mates.

  Captain Ritz, K: I’m trying to think of enjoyable things for everyone to do when we aren’t busy flying. Anything special you would like to see while here?

  He very nearly confessed how much he looked forward to exploring—exploring her companionship. Yet he must tread carefully. Sky’s End needed the Terrans on their side. He could little afford a cultural gaffe that would give the Terrans an excuse to back away from the project.

  Major Hakkim, H: On behalf of my candidates, I thank you for your due diligence on the matter of seeing to our comfort. We will discuss the subject further after I arrive.

  There. The ideal response—succinct and appropriate.

  The cabin lights brightened, and one of the pilots announced that docking was imminent.

  “Finally, eh, sir? My ass has grown roots.” Sitting in the seat across from him, Hawk’s top Solo, Falcon, wore a crooked grin. The son of the governor of Cloud City, he was a large man but agile, quick to laugh, his long silver hair in tight braids, cut short on the sides of his head like Hawk’s. He fairly vibrated with energy—energy that Hawk and the other senior Solos constantly redirected to his mastery of flying skills.

  “Finally,” Hawk agreed. “And well worth the pain.”

  “What news does your Terran officer have for us?” Falcon motioned with his chin at the data-vis. Hawk’s mouth twitched, and he shook his head. Falcon’s endless fascination with his interaction with Captain Ritz amused him. He’d had exchanged hundreds of messages with her, maybe thousands. Somewhere along the way, their communications had started to feel more like pleasure than duty. But his Terran officer? Maybe the pleasure he took in their correspondence was more obvious than he’d thought. “She hopes to include us in some recreational activities.”

  Falcon arched a dark silver brow.

  “I know,” Hawk said wryly. Recreation… He was a stranger to it. They all were. How quaint Earth was.

  Charmingly so. Yet Sky’s End mustn’t let the Terrans’ more endearing qualities trick them into letting down their guard. The Terrans hoped to gain access to their Dragon warships through this new and exclusive relationship. That wasn’t going to happen.

  “How long before we’re matched? Does she have an estimate yet?” Falcon persisted. One of the rare few fortunate enough to have been matched, as a teen he’d suffered the loss of his Sky Mate-to-be before their joining could happen. A horrible tragedy. Yet despite his internal scars, Falcon was one of the best young aviators in a generation. Matched once already, it was likely he could be paired again, the medical board believed, based on centuries of data. Seeing Falcon matched was a priority at the highest levels of the government.

  “Captain Ritz told me there may be several potential matches for you and the others,” Hawk said.

  Falcon’s eyes lit up. The other candidates leaned closer, their ears perked like eager house-pups.

  Hawk’s expression gentled as he aimed a glance at the four males and one female he’d handpicked for this mission. Unlike him, their DNA revealed a high potential of finding Sky Mates on Earth. They were his precious cargo, his world’s future, their best and brightest, seasoned combat veterans all. Like the Raptors they flew, they didn’t sport visible battle scars.

  As for what lay hidden on the inside? Well, that varied from warrior to warri
or. Despite being the “old man” of the group at thirty-five and despite having seen more action than most, Hawk thankfully didn’t suffer nightmares or flashbacks. Some sky warriors under his command struggled though.

  Some of them were here.

  The prince, for one. But Prince Narekk’s trauma had occurred in childhood and he’d rallied, a source of strength and an example of resilience—and sometimes exasperation—for the tight-knit royal family, whom Sky’s End had sheltered during the war.

  His only female, Ellfen, a war orphan, had impressed him since she was a wide-eyed young rook at the academy. Her hair was longer and silkier than theirs, and her striking appearance had won her looks from the troops on board, which she ignored. She was a tough one and kept her walls high to protect what Hawk suspected was a tender heart. He had high hopes for her and the other two Solos, the twins Rigel and Rowan.

  And of course there was Falcon. Despite suffering the unimaginable pain of a severing—of losing his mate—he made no secret of longing for the connection again, more so than the rest of them who had never experienced it.