Second Chance Match for Derius

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Derius wasn’t nervous nor did he have his hopes up that this five day dating experience would yield anything much for him.

His government decreed every eligible male had to go through this ritual, hoping for matches with human women from all over the Sectors, to become a part of the galactic civilization more quickly.

The first round of the dates arranged by the Intergalactic Dating Agency had gone fairly well last year.

Even the Crown Prince had met his fated mate and subsequently married her.

He checked the token in his hand, which bore an abstract symbol and stubbornly refused to glow.

When his date was near, it would light up so they could find each other.

It was a little ice breaker the IDA insisted on, here on their Resort Planet.

You could cheat, however and check the app on your handheld to see exactly where the person was.

Derius looked at his four best friends, brother soldiers he’d do anything for, just as they would for him.

Three of their dates had showed up in the last half hour as the passenger liners arrived from Earth and other Sectors planets.

The table was lively with laughter and banter as his friends and the women got to know each other.

“Maybe I’ve been stood up,” he said more or less to himself as he signaled the waiter for another feelgood.

Doesn’t matter, whoever IDA picked for me won’t hold a candle to my mystery woman.

She’d been a one night stand by mutual consent, three years ago on a planet whose name he’d forgotten but the memory of the woman stayed warm and alive in his mind and dreams. He’d never forgive himself for the way he left.

Not even a note. They hadn’t even exchanged names so he’d had no way to find her after the sudden deployment which had called him away ended so badly and he’d been in the military hospital.

I was an idiot, he told himself not for the first or even the hundredth time.

Raising his eyes because the amber depths of his feelgood carried too many painful memories, he surveyed the dance floor, where lucky couples twirled and shimmied.

A woman was coming across the crowded floor toward their table, moving with purpose.

He blinked, afraid he was having a hallucination or had gotten drunk without realizing it.

She was tall, blond, beautiful. She was the woman he’d been fantasizing about for the last three years.

His token beeped and lit up. He saw her check the one in her hand, which was the same.

Afraid to hope, Derius slid off his chair and stepped to meet her. “You!” he breathed in astonishment and joy.

“You!” she said with venom and vitriol as she came to an abrupt stop on the edge of the dance floor.

Yanking at her purse strap, then putting her fists on her hips as if ready for combat, her face contorted into a scowl.

“Oh no, I am not doing this. There’s been a mistake.

I wouldn’t date you if you were the last man alive in the Sectors.

Come to the resort planet for five days of fun, they said.

Five days of sheer hell is more like it, if I’m forced to be in your company. ”

“I don’t blame you for being upset,” he said, moving closer although he was surprised by how agitated she sounded.

“You didn’t even leave me a damn note, not a word. Just fucked me and left.” Her voice was ice and her face was set in unforgiving lines at odds with her lush lips and gorgeous eyes. She backed away as he advanced and he was afraid she was going to flee altogether.

“I got recalled to duty,” he said, resisting the urge to take hold of her wrist to make her stay. She’d probably swing the damn purse at him, as angry as she obviously was.

“In the middle of the night? Do you think I’m an idiot?” She retreated another step as he advanced. “Don’t touch me.” Her voice was pure ice, cutting and cold.

Derius held up his hands and stopped. “I can explain—”

“Said every man who ran out on a woman, ever.” She wasn’t giving an inch.

“Fate’s reuniting us, here of all places,” he said reasonably but inside his chest his heart was pounding as it never did in combat. He couldn’t lose her. There had to be a way to convince her to give him a second chance. “Can’t we at least sit and talk it out?”

She turned on her heel. “I’m going to demand to speak to the Resort Planet manager and end this farce.”

He hurried after her as she cut straight through the dance floor, ignoring the couples she brushed past. “Lady, wait.”

“For you to make a fool of me again?” She shook her head, blond hair swirling. “You do have that old saying on Ardanna too, right? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”

Reaching the hostess’s desk, she made her demand to speak with the resort manager.

The club’s bouncer appeared at her elbow and Derius moved closer.

If the man laid a hand on her he was going to regret it.

Derius might be retired from his Special Forces team but he still had all the muscle memory and moves.

“The admin offices aren’t open this late in the evening, ma’am,” the hostess was saying in a placating tone. “Mr. Delain won’t be available until tomorrow.”

“Bullshit. There has to be someone on duty I can talk to. This screwup has to be fixed. I can’t wait.”

Derius touched her shoulder and she swung around as if she was going to hit him.

He raised both hands in a calming gesture.

“Obviously there’s nothing to be done tonight.

Why don’t we go to the hotel and ask the desk to make us an appointment with Delain for first thing in the morning?

Your luggage will already be there in our suite.

You can unpack, take a shower, relax. I’ll order room service if you’re hungry—”

She studied him head to toe with the demeanor of an unhappy drill sergeant staring at a sloppy recruit. To his surprise and relief, she nodded. “I suppose you’re right, going to the hotel is the next move. Maybe I can get my own room.”

“Do you know which hotel you’re at?” the hostess asked, obviously anxious to move this unpleasant incident out of her club and away from the highly interested bystanders.

“I do, thanks,” Derius said. He took his agitated date’s elbow and she allowed him to escort her out of the club and onto the brightly lit street outside.

Resort Planet was basically a 24-hour playground, not only for the dates the IDA arranged but for crowds of other guests who flocked to enjoy the amenities so he wasn’t surprised to find the sidewalk crowded.

“It’s not far if you’re okay to walk,” he said, taking a look at her heels. “Or I can hail a zip cart.”

She pulled her arm away and he allowed it, although touching her soft skin had sent a jolt directly to his cock and brought back all his memories of their one night together. “Which hotel?”

“The Ocean View.” He pointed at a brightly lit structure further down the promenade.

“I’ll walk. It’ll be a relief after all those days cooped up on the spaceliner.” She gripped her purse more tightly and set off toward the hotel he’d indicated as if she didn’t care if he came with her or not.

Derius caught up and then matched his pace to hers as they proceeded in silence. “I really was recalled,” he said.

She held up an imperious hand. “I do not want to hear it. Not now, not ever. This was a mistake and I intend to leave as soon as humanly possible.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Derius prayed to the Ardannan deities that it wouldn’t be possible for her to depart the planet tonight, or even tomorrow.

He’d been given a second chance with the woman he’d dreamt about all through his difficult convalescence from the war injuries and his subsequent retirement on the home planet. He couldn’t lose her now.

At the hotel they gave their names to the clerk on duty, who was absurdly cheerful and helpful. Her eyes grew wide as the woman demanded an appointment be made for first thing in the morning to meet with Mr. Delain but she obligingly went into her system and assigned them a time slot.

“You don’t have to be there,” his unhappy date informed Derius in scathing tones.

“I’m here under orders from my government,” he replied, thinking fast. “I have to be in any meeting regarding my assignment. I’ll have to report this, you know.”

“Making threats are we?” she asked, eyeing him with disgust.

“Stating a fact. I don’t want to fight with you.”

“I don’t suppose you have another room you could give me for tonight?” she asked the clerk who was taking in this back and forth with astonishment.

“I’m sorry but we’re fully booked. Each bedroom in the suite has its own lock though and there’s a button to call for emergency assistance,” the clerk said, leaning over the counter and lowering her voice.

Now Derius was mad. “I’d never lay a hand on you or any other woman without consent,” he said heatedly. “I can sleep on the beach if you’re that worried.”

“It’ll be fine,” his date told the clerk after a long moment of visible deliberation.

The woman handed over the two tokens. “Suite 310, on the ocean side of the hotel. You’ll have a terrific view. Have a good evening.”

“Doubtful.” His date stalked toward the gravlift.

When they reached their suite she ignored the view from the private balcony and everything else, going straight to the second bedroom and slamming the door.

The lock engaged with a series of clicks as Derius sank into the chair in the sitting room and ran his hands through his hair.

How did things get so fucked up? Well he’d been an idiot three years ago and now he was paying for it. The gods must be laughing.