The alien lineman at her door can't speak out loud. He can only touch Becky and promise forever inside her head?which is either wildly romantic or a sign she's finally lost it.

Becky
Three and a half days without power is enough to make any woman desperate. Desperate for lights, heat, a working coffee maker?and maybe a little human contact, even if the 'human' part is questionable.

Then Tono knocks on my door.

He's huge, striped black and green, completely silent, and somehow working for the county PUD. He can only talk in my head if he's touching me, which should probably make inviting him in for tea a terrible idea. Instead, it makes me curious. Very curious.

I live alone on the side of a mountain for a reason. I'm not waiting for a man to come find me, and I'm definitely not prepared for an alien who returns days later to calmly announce that I'm his chosen mate.

It's a lot to take in.

But something in me is done with playing things safe.

Tono
I came to Earth looking for a mate, but I never truly expected to find one. Not once humans saw my stripes, my tail, my silence, and all the ways I will never pass for one of them.

Then I followed the lantern light to Becky's little house.

She looked at me with wonder instead of fear. She touched me willingly. She asked me inside. And before I knew better, my heart had already decided she was mine.

My people do not treat mating lightly. When I claim Becky, the bond will not be something either of us can easily walk away from, so I should be patient. Careful. Reasonable.

Unfortunately, I am a former warrior defined by perseverance, not reasonableness.

So I will take my moon goddess to a forgotten resort world, show her pink skies and alien markets, and hope that when she sees the universe waiting beyond her mountain, she still chooses the male who would rather build a forever in the trees with her.