Earth hadn’t exactly been quiet about its location. Surely they must have noticed something originating from Earth.
“You call your species a human?” Klaej said.
She nodded, her mouth filled with a sour taste. It felt strange to talk about herself as a human. To have that in her perception. It was foreign. She was a woman, a soldier, but never had she thought of herself as human. But here, she was a human. From Earth. “All seven and a half billion of us.”
“Seven and a half billion? How many of you are female?” Setzan said.
“Why? You thinking of going for some booty?”
“Booty?” His dark brows creased.
“Yeah. Find some more ladies?”
“Now you are speaking in riddles. If you’re alluding to us finding another female, then rest assured, we have only one mate for our entire lifetime. After you, there is no other for us. One female for a Triad of brothers. It has always been that way and it will be that way forevermore.”
Riley blinked. “You mean that this…” She gestured between all of them. “This is normal to you and you won’t, uh, be attracted to anyone else?”
“Attracted is too weak a word for what we feel for you. You are the only female for us. You will be by our side and we will be by yours. As a fully-formed Quad,” Rujali said.
A mass of emotion bombarded her as she read between the lines. That they felt affection for her was beyond doubt, but it was that same affection that was never going to let her go. What was the term—a jeweled prison?
“Once we’re mate-synced there will be no question of our dedication to you,” Klaej said.
“Wait! What? Mate-sync? What the hell is that?” Her heart hammered in her chest. Holy fuck. Why did the target keep moving?
“It is when we are fully bonded. All four of us at one time. You are our conduit for our full connection,” Rujali said. ‘Don’t you have that on your planet?”
“No! We have nothing like that. Nothing you’re saying is making sense to me.” She swallowed hard. All of this was too much information. She needed time to think. To breathe. And it wasn’t here. “Look. This is not the time or place to discuss this. Let’s get out of here and then, when we’re sure that worm thing isn’t going to come back, we’ll sit down and have a nice long chat so I can understand everything. How does that sound?”
The fact she didn’t intend to do any of that went beyond saying. As soon as she was back at that port, she was going to find someone who’d take her the hell back to Earth.
She might never see her men again, but her life would go back to being that of a simple soldier. Her heart protested the thought, a twang added to each beat, but she had to set that aside. What they were talking about was just so… permanent. And impossible.
“That is true. We have our mate, now we need to get her to safety,” Klaej said.
She looked up into his deep, shining emerald eyes. She didn’t bother resisting the impulse to cup his cheek. Just while she still could. His skin was soft suede beneath her touch. She committed this to memory.
She had no intention of becoming part of this crazy Quad thing , let alone this mate-sync thing. It sounded more and more alien to her and that was something she wasn’t prepared to do.
And when it came down to it, that’s what they were. Aliens. She really knew nothing about them, their ways or what even this Homeland was like. For all she knew, this tenderness, this thoughtfulness, this caring was all a big ruse to lure her into a false sense of security and when they got her into a situation she couldn’t get out of, they’d change.
She’d seen enough of men who became possessive pieces of controlling shit with marriage, or after a child was born. They slowly chipped away at confidence, independence, and ability to make a decision until the person they were supposed to care for the most was a shell of their former selves.
Yeah. That was so not going to happen.
“I’m one hundred percent in line with that.” She took a deep breath, relegating her mental turmoil to another past of her brain. “Now. Which way do we go?”
They stood in the middle of the tunnel, each side stretching into inky blackness. It was only the blue light from the numbing device that allowed her to see anything at all.
Rujali took her hand, almost as though he didn’t trust her not to disappear. Not that he was far from the mark. Not far at all.
“This way,” he said.
Her men surrounded her. Klaej took the lead, and Rujali and Setzan strode next to her. They moved with a stealth told of experienced training. Setzan held a rifle-type weapon. Rujali was content with the blue-flamed blade that cut through anything like butter, and Klaej held the numbing device in one hand and a lethal dagger in the other. Damned if they weren’t all as sexy as hell, with their bare chests, inked flesh, and ridges of hard muscle that undulated with each step.
She was surprised to find she was getting horny again despite that fact she’d just orgasmed and this so wasn’t the place. She tried to stifle a shudder. As though sensing what she was feeling, Setzan sent her a side-glance and smirked.
Normally a look like that would have her back up, but coming from his handsome face it merely amused her. He was too damned good-looking for his own good. Rujali was more rugged, with his golden beads and thick swirling tatts, and Klaej was as calming as a walk in a forest glen.
That she felt as intensely and as differently for each of them was beyond her reasoning. She should feel like an absolute slut. Women were labelled as such for leading two men, let alone the fact men did it all the time to women. Underhanded bastards. What hypocrisy. She knew personally what being used like that felt like, yet to them it was virile.
It was a vast difference to how Rujali, Setzan and Klaej treated her, though. Instead of feeling used, she was valued. There was companionship, concurrence, sharing and unity between her men. They were nothing like the men of Earth. Not the ones she’d come across, anyway.
Her world shifted again. She was constantly trying to find steady ground, but it seemed as though it hadn’t settled yet. Each second brought with it a new perspective. She’d never thought so long or so hard about anything in her life.
She must truly be losing her mind. Her life had been simple. Follow orders. Fight bad guys. She was a simple soldier and that was fine by her.
Everything had become so complicated lately, she yearned for that easiness again. Why did it have to change for her at all? She’d been happy—relatively anyway. That had all altered in a moment she had no control over. It wasn’t fair. If anyone had stopped to ask what she wanted, she would not have chosen any of this.
But then again, she wouldn’t be surrounded by gorgeous men whose sole purpose was to give her orgasms. She wouldn’t have known what it felt like to be so… cherished. And her heart would have remained behind its little glass cage she’d put her heart in. Safe. Secure.
Unfulfilled.
Shut it, mind. Bring your head back in the game.
If one of those worms came at them again, they’d have a hell of a fight on their hands.
They passed a tunnel leading off to the right.
Setzan stopped and dug around in his pocket. Riley came to a halt between Klaej and Rujali. She stared at the glowing chip in Setzan’s palm. It had an otherworldly eerie glow to it, so blue it was almost white and shone brighter than any torch she’d seen even though it was no more than the size of a fingernail.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“It’s a chip from the Ozar tower,” Setzan said.
“It means that the crystal is very close. Look how bright it glows,” Rujali said.
“It will only glow so bright if the crystal is near. Like it did at the spaceport,” Klaej said.
“A crystal. About this big?” she asked, measuring with her hands. “This wide?”
Rujali’s dark gaze settled on her. “How did you know that?”
She shifted. “Back at the airport, when those Reptiles first brought me
here. They had a crystal that glowed as bright as that chip. It was extremely hot.”
She knew from personal experience when they’d pressed it against her skin and she’d almost lost consciousness.
“The Ozar Crystal. We have to get it,” Klaej said.
“But, our mate is here. We must get her to safety,” Setzan said.
“We may not have this chance again. And then everything will be to no avail if we don’t have the crystal,” Klaej said.
Rujali looked torn. His gaze pierced her, but she could tell he wanted this crystal. It had to be important to them, otherwise she knew there would be no debate about ‘getting her to safety’.
She rolled her eyes. “Then let’s go get it.”
“It will be dangerous.” Setzan sounded affronted she’d suggested she go.
“Listen, I don’t know if you fully understand this, but I’m a soldier,” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “I fight. I’ve done it a long time now. I know what I’m doing.”
All three exchanged looks.
She gritted her teeth. This was exactly the same reaction she’d had with lots of men. First disbelief she did what she did, and then disbelief that she did it so well.
“You ask me to trust you time after time. Now I’m asking you do to the same, and look at your reaction,” she said. “I came for you. Got you out of that cell. Fought that wormy thing and still you doubt me.”
Klaej crossed his arms. She tensed, working herself up for the usual argument.
“She is right,” Klaej said. “We have been blessed with a warrior mate.”
They considered her a warrior mate? Her head jerked back as she gave each of them an incredulous look.
Setzan nodded. “You are strong, Riley. That is not up for debate. I am honored you are prepared to fight at our side.”
Rujali nodded, the beads clacking, “I agree. The four of us stand together, just as it should be. I thank the fates every hour that they brought you to us, Riley. Now, we’ll go and retrieve that crystal and restore life to our land.”
“Then let’s not waste any more time,” Klaej said.
They formed a protective circle around her as they stalked into a tunnel in even deeper darkness than the one before. Adrenaline spiked her blood at the promise of battle, but even more than that, she still reeled with shock. Her world had just shifted in yet another direction. She usually had to fight hard to get men to respect her career. She had to prove herself over and over again all the time. Work three times as hard as any man to earn half the respect. It was exhausting.
It was why she’d kept her heart to herself. Life was hard enough without that sort of weakness.
Yet, every time she thought the worst would happen, they proved they knew her more than she gave them credit for. It was nice.
But it would make the time she would leave them that much harder.
Chapter Sixteen
Klaej
Just the thought of claiming the crystal and then finally claiming their mate was beyond Klaej’s wildest dreams. To have it all so close, yet so uncertain, made his blood heat with longing.
He made sure he stepped close to Riley. If there was an explosion, or if one of the scaled ones attacked, or gods forbid a giant worm attacked them, he would be close enough to protect her. Although she didn’t need him to, it made him feel better.
A smile fought to appear in his mouth at her ferocity. As if she had to prove anything to them. They knew her better than she knew herself. The fates wouldn’t have found her for them if she didn’t, in all ways, complete them.
However, she didn’t know their ways, so she was unsure. But she soon would. Maybe she even did subconsciously. She’d come back for them when she didn’t have to. She’d fought for them, risking her own survival. A mate didn’t do that unless they were connected on a deeper level than even he understood.
She might be afraid because she was unsure of their ways. He wondered if she might even feel the full mate-sync when it happened. Maybe her species was just too different. But surely the fates would have taken that into consideration.
Either way, it was going to happen. There was no way any of them would let her out of their sight, and never again would she be unsure of where she stood.
He could just imagine how it would happen. All three of them filling all her holes. Rujali would take her pussy. Setzan would take her delectable backside, and she would offer her mouth to him. Her mouth, her hands, her body, her soul. All three of them must impale her in the most intimate of ways to ensure her complete acceptance for the sync to fully form.
She was a different species, yes, and maybe without the crystal their mate-bond would not be possible, but soon they would have it. Nobody could deny the power of the crystal. After the mate-sync, she would have no more doubts.
Before then, they would have to show her how it might be between them. And if she resisted, they would show her more. A thrill ran through his body at the thought of keeping her naked and well-loved in their bed, her body sated after reaching numerous orgasms, too tired for her mind to work and doubt herself.
The few times he had been fortunate enough to bring her to completion, she had responded so completely. Once she surrendered her mind, her body was free to seek its release. She was full of thoughts, most of them stopping her from accepting her life-right of being the center of their universe.
He had to put it down to the society she’d come from. Their males seemed to lack the inner confidence to let their females shine in their own right. As though keeping them unsure and under control, doubting their abilities, their actions and their words, even their feminism, would ever truly honor a female. Were they so weak and afraid they resorted to those tactics?
Males were built bigger, stronger, and more heavily muscled, but females bore life. Their minds focused on nurture, peace, and harmony. Their whole existence kept masculinity in check and that was more powerful than even that of the crystal. Male aggression, if unchecked, would lead to total destruction.
He shuddered to think a planet of billions of people being ruled by masculinity. It was an absolute wonder the planet hadn’t blown itself up by now. It must have had war upon war, death, despair, and destruction, instead of peaceful and harmonious negotiations where life won overall.
He had to wonder if that was why she fought so well. Living in a male-dominated world would mean war and fighting. Femininity would be an exploited weakness.
He was sure, when Riley fully understood their ways, she would finally be able to break past a life of selfish domination. It was going to be an honor to watch the transformation.
A part of his heart ached knowing that she was only one. That half of her planet’s population was repressed. Humans seemed intelligent. Civilized. Educated. He had to wonder at the erroneous gender imbalance and how far humans might have progressed if that had not been in their culture. Such a sad flaw.
Hissing and clacking echoed down the tunnel. All four of them paused, silent. They edged to the wall and flattened against it. Rujali signaled to shadow him in single file. Riley followed on silent footsteps, like the seasoned warrior she was.
A faint grey light illuminated the rock walls. Now that he’d seen the creatures that had created these tunnels, he could easily see how they had gnawed through solid rock to create them.
Rujali signaled to move cautiously. They edged forward. The strange clicking language of the scaled ones grew louder. If only he could understand them, but the translators didn’t work with their language, which was very strange. There wasn’t a known language in the universe that hadn’t been translated.
They approached a sharp bend in the wall. They flattened against the wall and Rujali peeked around the corner. His mouth was set in a grim line, his eyes dark with rage.
He motioned them to retreat. “Gods. They have all three crystals.”
Klaej reeled as the information sunk in. “All three? Gods, our whole Homeplanet is at risk, not just our Homeland. How d
id they do this? Why did we not hear of it from the other Homelands?”
Of course they might not have heard of it, with the long-term infighting of their planet’s regions. Not only was their region suffering—but all three. If they didn’t retrieve all three crystals, their entire race as a people were in dire straits. Without their retrospective crystals, each Homeland suffered as they did. No mate-bonds. No Quads. No children. No future In the matter of a generation, their species would disappear.
“I do not know, my brother. That is something we must rectify. Our people. Our children.” Rujali choked on a tight throat, “We will get them all back. I don’t care about our fighting. A child is a child no matter what Homeland they are born on.”
Klaej squeezed his brother’s shoulder. Seztan nodded. Their infighting was petty. The decimation of their species put things into perspective. If they had known all three crystal had been taken, they could have worked together for the peace of their entire Homeland. Instead, they’d wasted a decade on their own. “Maybe we would have found it sooner had we worked together. We should be ashamed,” Rujali said.
“Don’t think about that, brother. We are here and we will do what we need to do,” Seztan said.
“We’ll make it right,” Klaej said.
Rujali let out a heavy sigh. “Let us look to the future. Now that we have found ours, we will ensure that for everyone on our Homeplanet. It is the only way forward.”
“So… these crystals are precious then?” An expression stole over Riley’s face. Just a flicker he would have missed if he hadn’t been looking. It was at odds with the expression she wore in the heat of battle. That expression was fierce and full of passion. This one was somewhere between lost and defiant.
Until they had her in their bed in the claiming ceremony, he would maintain his vigilance.
“They are the most precious commodity on our planet. They are beyond priceless. Our planet will not survive without them. Not only will our Homelands die, but our Homeplanet will perish as well,” Setzan said.
The Ozar Triad Page 12
