Rosalynn has saved for years to reach the Alien Bride Race on the lunar spaceport, weary of retail smiles and nights with no one waiting at home.
She longs for an alien male who truly needs her, but faster women are carried away while a gold-eyed prince helps her up only to leave with another mate already over his shoulder.
Left alone in the field, she is handed a million-credit prize for remaining unchosen, the victory she never wanted.
Prince Zinnar soon regrets his selection and recognizes in Rosalynn a loneliness he understands, yet she is already bound for the spaceport with others closing in on her winnings and her life.
He will not return to his kingdom empty-handed, and the bargain he is ready to make may be her only shield.
