Aspectians

Aspectians (Box Set)
Kate Hill
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2015 Kate Hill
Excerpt from The Teddie

The idea of seeing the Aspectian Ambassador in person had Erica's thoughts racing and adrenaline pumping. Of all the alien cultures Earth mingled with, Aspectians fascinated her the most. In spite of a decade of excellent relations with Aspectia, some people still feared their shapeshifting ability. The prejudice against them was so great that all Aspectians who traveled outside of the south seas island under their rule were required to wear silver identification bracelets. Silver rendered the Aspectians unable to shift shape. When the precious metal touched their flesh, they appeared in their true form.

The uninhabited island had been given to them as part of the treaty agreed upon by the Continental Council in charge of human-alien interactions. In return, on the planet Aspectia, humans had also been given a designated area to occupy.

To further seal the bond between their planets, the Aspectians had asked that an Earth woman marry the Ambassador. At the moment he was touring the world to find a compatible, willing woman. There was no shortage of interested contenders for the position. The ambassador had wealth, power and almost limitless political connections both on Earth and Aspectia. Not to mention that the woman who married him would be offered the shapeshifting gift. If she was able to endure the change, she would become like her husband, practically immortal.

He didn't seem to be in a rush to select a mate, however. It had been over a year since the announcement that he was to marry, but he still hadn't made a decision about who the woman would be.

Tonight he had been invited to a dinner party at the home where Erica worked as a maid. Her employer was Will Doran, the American representative on the Continental Council. His daughter, Harley, was determined to sink her proverbial hooks into Ambassador Javier. Working in the house, Erica knew that pretty blue-eyed Harley wasn't nearly as sweet and friendly as she acted in public. The woman was a stuck-up bitch, but she was poised, intelligent and thanks to the wonders of modern cosmetic enhancements, stunningly beautiful. No doubt the ambassador would be as taken with her as most men seemed to be. Harley left behind a trail of broken hearts, her often cruel treatment of her partners kept secret by payoffs from the family's fat bank account.

Erica didn't even know the ambassador, other than what she saw of him on the newscasts, but already she felt sorry for him. There was something about Harley that men found irresistible. If only a little of that would rub off on Erica.

Not that she considered herself bad-looking, but on a maid's salary she couldn't afford cosmetic enhancements. In truth she didn't want any. Unlike most of the population, she didn't believe synthetic parts were necessarily more attractive than natural ones. She found it strange that a species who spent so much time trying to change their natural appearance could harbor any prejudice at all against a race with the innate ability to change shape.

"Erica, come on," called Nora, another maid in the household.

Erica turned from the expensive marble table she was dusting in the corridor toward the kitchen where her coworker stood in the doorway.

"The guests are starting to arrive," Nora continued. "We need to serve the hors d'oeuvres."

Erica smoothed the skirt of her pale blue uniform and walked toward the kitchen. "Is he here yet?" she asked.

Nora shook her head. "Not yet. I wonder if he'll be in his true form or if he'll use his exemption?"

As a courtesy, certain Aspectians were allowed to travel without a silver bracelet -- mostly those of the ruling class or those who still followed the archaic religious teachings that prohibited Aspectians from revealing their true form to anyone except blood kin or their legal mates.

"He's appeared in public before in his true form," Erica reminded her. "So why would tonight be any different?"

"Because tonight he's coming to see…" Nora paused, tugged Erica closer and whispered in her ear, "the bitch. Harley. Miss 'I only date handsome, young, rich bozos.' If the alien ambassador is interested in turning her head, then he'd better shapeshift himself into a superstud because in his true form the man is hardly cover model material."

"I don't know about that. Obviously you didn't see last week's interview with him at home on the island. Those shots of him walking on the beach in swim shorts." Erica closed her eyes and sighed, her nipples going stiff just from the memory of his gorgeous body. Long-limbs. Lean with chiseled muscles. Yes, an unfortunate childhood accident had left him deformed, but to Erica that didn't detract from his appeal. Actually it made him seem even more real and intriguing. Though she knew better than to believe any public figure was completely candid in an interview, she couldn't help liking what she'd seen. Considering his father was the current leader of one of the oldest, most powerful families on Aspectia, Javier seemed like a normal person and surprisingly straightforward for someone in politics. Of course that's what made a good politician. The ability to make others believe he truly understood average people, even if he considered them little more than peasants.

But during the interview, she had discovered that Javier's mother actually had been a peasant. She and his father had married centuries ago, during a time when Aspectians frowned upon the mingling of mortal and immortal blood.

Regardless of whether or not Javier was as decent as he appeared to be, she couldn't wait to see him.