by Jayne Ripley
She needed him. He would do everything in his power to be there for her.
She was his mate. It was as simple as that.
The princess slowly turned and stared at Jennifer. Her gaze was as sharp as daggers, searing like a laser. She didn’t say anything else. The princess only stared at his mate in silence.
Jennifer appeared completely shocked by what Nahkar had done. She didn’t seem aware of the princess or her fury.
Nahkar feared the princess might strike Jennifer again—or worse, order her bodyguards to kill his mate. He readied himself to make a last stand. He would show Jennifer how much she meant to him by defending her to his last breath.
Instead, Piedasa turned in a swirl of skirts and stormed from the room. The double doors whispered shut behind her.
The big room was very quiet afterward.
“She’s very charming,” Darkon said. “I can see why you like her.”
Jennifer let out a burst of laughter. Her hand flew up, and she covered her lips as if ashamed she had done something unseemly.
“No, go ahead and laugh,” Nahkar told her. “I was a fool ever to get involved with her.”
His skin felt too hot, too tight. He hated admitting he was wrong. Right now, he felt as if he’d failed Jennifer. That hurt far more than any slap from a spoiled princess.
Darkon was watching him closely as if he understood. Nahkar expected the fighter to make another quip or joke, but he didn’t.
Instead, Darkon said, “Don’t blame yourself too much. You’re famous and caught her eye. It’s not like you had much of a choice. The princess proved she isn’t the type who takes a refusal graciously. Besides, all three of us are ‘owned.’ We need to stick together going forward.”
Nahkar’s heart lifted when he saw the agreement in Jennifer’s blue eyes. He’d expected her to show him scorn or contempt or even disappointment. After all, it was clear he had been intimate with the princess at one time. Any of those would have crushed his heart, but he saw only empathy in those wide eyes of hers.
His throat tightened with unexpected emotion. He struggled to control himself for the thousandth time since he’d first seen her. Especially since he had to stop himself from sweeping her into his arms and thanking her from the bottom of his soul with a kiss that would leave her panting.
The only reason he didn’t give in to his desire was a simple one. He wasn’t used to feeling emotions this deep and powerful. They left him stunned, like a blow to the head.
What things this little human did to him. She could defeat him with a look. Or with a sympathetic word. Whatever else the mara vrhon was, it had taken all he thought he’d known and turned it on its head.
“Thank you for sticking up for me,” Jennifer said. “Again.” She gave him a shy smile. “It’s getting to be a habit for you.”
He didn’t know what else to do but smile. “You are important to me.”
Her cheeks changed color. They were a creamy peach, and they suddenly grew pink. He suspected that blush was a good sign. His words had touched her. They locked gazes. The heat, the intensity between them grew until Jennifer suddenly glanced away, coughing gently into her hand.
“So…” she said, looking around the room. Anywhere but at him.
That didn’t bother him. It made him gloat inside. It meant she wanted to look at him and was doing all she could to avoid it. It meant he might be getting under her skin almost as much as she had gotten under his.
“My thoughts exactly,” Darkon said with that amused smile on his lips, breaking the sudden tension. “So…what do we do now?”
“That’s going to be a hard act to follow,” Jennifer said, giggling a little. “It has been a long day. I’m wiped.”
Nahkar grunted. “We did start a riot.”
“And we got ourselves sold off to some faceless rich freak who threatened our lives,” Darkon added.
Jennifer nodded, grinning. “And a not-very-Disney princess showed up and called Darkon and me trash and slapped me around for getting cheeky. Good times.”
Nahkar slowly rubbed his jaw. He didn’t know what the word Disney meant, but he guessed it was some kind of insult. “Don’t forget that she hit me in the face too.”
“Who could forget that?” Darkon said happily. “That was the best part of my day.”
Jennifer laughed again. Even Nahkar had to smile. The most primitive, selfish part of him felt annoyed that Darkon had been the one to make her laugh. He felt a twinge of envy at the way her eyes sparkled when she looked at the Quindon fighter.
Nahkar always played the role of a savage and uncivilized fighter for the crowds and holo-screens at the arena. But that didn’t mean he had to turn into a jealous zugawa with Darkon. After all, Darkon had fought by his side against the slavers. Nahkar hadn’t even needed to ask him to do so.
In his view, that was the action of a true friend.
Yes, he would’ve preferred to have this luxury suite high in the Grandvier Palace all to himself…with Jennifer Smith, of course. But no one had asked him his opinion when they’d dragged him here. After the fight with the Jandami slavers and the arrival of the Imperial Guard, he’d been in no condition to complain. So he couldn’t blame Darkon for being a third wheel or distracting Jennifer’s attention from him.
He turned his focus back to the tiny Terran female, where it belonged. She looked just as heart-wrenchingly beautiful as ever. The elegant dress only enhanced her small but curvaceous form, the color complementing her skin tone and eyes.
He was lost. One look and he’d known he needed her in his life. The princess had been forgotten. All the other females in his past were a distant memory. In his mind, they were nothing but candle flames and Jennifer was the sun.
Nahkar only needed the chance to prove that to her. But he was no fool either. He knew he needed to go slow and not scare or overwhelm her. She was tough. She’d shown that when the princess had stormed in here. But he didn’t want to take a chance on driving her away or losing her to someone else. This had to go perfectly.
Even though Jennifer had said she was tired, he didn’t want to let her go. Between him and Darkon, they managed to convince her to fully explore this huge luxury suite that would serve as their fancy prison until the next arena battle. They both let Jennifer pick her room. She chose one with a view of the station center and the huge island park on the artificial lake. Nahkar took the room next to Jennifer’s. He wouldn’t be able to sleep without knowing she was safe. Darkon took the suite room across the hall, with a stunning view of the curved space station dome, the stars, and Onocron Four.
Jennifer marveled at all the technology and luxury around her. She was like an excited child. She laughed often and easily. Her eyes were wide, and whenever she gave a breathy, excited gasp, a bolt of lust ripped through him. He had to bite back a groan as he stiffened in his pants. That gasp… Grox, it drove him wild. He swore he would hear it again. But next time, it would be his hands, his tongue, his touch that brought that delightful sound out of her.
The station orbited Onocron Four and had now traveled away from the sun, blocked by the planet’s shadow. The station city lights came on.
The three of them returned to the suite’s great room and settled on the furniture. None of them wanted to watch the holo feeds. Instead, Darkon began to tell her a few stories of the arena and life as a fighter. He toned down the dangers though, so Nahkar started sharing his own stories. He didn’t even have to add much exaggeration. His stories were exciting enough without it. Then Nahkar listened in fascination as Jennifer talked of life on Earth.
The little human’s homeworld was so different from life here on Quasarask Station. It was primitive in many ways, but she made a point of telling them slavery had been outlawed, and humans did not have to buy their citizenship where she lived. They didn’t have a royal family in her home’s faction area, which seemed strange to him.
She also shared little details of her life and job and friends. He liked that e
ven better. Surprisingly, he actually felt close to her friends, especially the one called Melissa. It was an odd feeling because he had never met them. But whatever part of him that had exploded into life when he’d first seen Jennifer felt just as strongly that her friends made her life better. So he approved of them with all his heart.
The three of them laughed and talked for long into the night. Finally, Jennifer gave a big yawn and stretched. He could barely take his eyes off her. Her every movement, every breath demanded his rapt attention. She was so beautiful to him, so full of life. When she smiled, his heart pounded. Those lips…he wanted to claim them. Her voice soothed him and stirred him at the same time. It didn’t make sense, but it was true.
The raw, primitive side of him would’ve loved to sweep her into his arms, kiss her until she melted, then carry her into his bedroom to really show her what pleasure meant. But he was no fool. He needed to be careful with her because she meant so much to him. He would not destroy his chances with her by pushing her too hard, too fast. She’d had a lot of trauma in her life since she’d been ripped from her home. He understood that.
At the same time, he intended to make his claim on her so that no other male would even think about making a move on his human. His Jennifer.
Eventually, she began to yawn more and more often. After a huge yawn, she blinked at them both with tired eyes. “It’s been fun talking with you, but I need to get some sleep. I’m completely exhausted. I should’ve gone to bed hours ago.”
Nahkar stood. “I will walk you to your room.”
It would be a struggle not to touch her one last time when seeing her off to sleep. He would hate every second away from her, but he could at least do this for her.
She smiled at him, her eyebrows raised. “Thanks, but I’m pretty sure I can find my bed on my own.”
He frowned, not knowing what to say to that. He supposed it was silly to escort her down the hall. The three of them were the only people here. Yet he still felt the need. It was powerful too.
Surprisingly, Darkon helped him out.
“Nahkar’s people take their guest’s welfare very seriously,” Darkon told her. “It is even more important for Nahkar because of the mara vrhon. He needs to make sure you are safe.”
Nahkar glanced at the other fighter, surprised and touched that he had stepped in to help when Nahkar had been struggling with how to express the needs he was feeling.
She did not laugh. She looked from Darkon to Nahkar, frowning a little, but then she nodded. She even took his arm as they walked across the main room to the bedrooms. Her touch, her skin against his was all he could think about. He walked slower, aware that his legs were much longer than hers.
When they reached the room she had chosen, she turned to him and smiled. “Goodnight, Nahkar.” She paused, staring up into his eyes with her pretty blue ones. “Thank you. For everything.”
He nodded and watched as she opened the bedroom door and closed it softly again.
He turned and headed for his own room, knowing that sleep would be a long time coming for him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Darkon
Darkon spent a mostly sleepless night tossing and turning in the room he’d claimed. He hadn’t been able to get Jennifer out of his thoughts. The sight of her in that beautiful dress had hit him like a blow from a razor-dreng tail. She had been stunning. The curves of her body, her breasts, those shapely legs, all of them had set his head spinning and had his cock painfully hard. Keeping his mouth shut and hiding his growing desire for her was even more painful than his straining cock.
This could not go on. He was trapped in this suite, at least until the next arena show, but this was going to drive him out of his mind. Desperate for relief, he had taken his hard cock in his hand and stroked himself off, all while imagining his hands roaming Jennifer’s naked body, his lips kissing all along her smooth skin, his tongue delving into her mouth, plundering her, then tasting her pussy, driving her wild as he teased her clit. He wanted to kiss her soundly, to worship every part of that curvy body, to bring her to the heights of bliss and fuck her soundly until both of them were exhausted.
Thinking about her, he hadn’t lasted long. He’d had to bite back a groan as he came hard, his cum spurting from him, wasted because he wasn’t filling her with it. He lay there, breathing fast. He’d hoped that would take the edge off his frustration and let him sleep, but it didn’t. It only made him want her more.
What was wrong with him? It really did feel like he was caught in his own form of mara vrhon.
This would kill him if he didn’t do something. Besides, why should he deny his growing feelings—almost an obsession now—for Jennifer just because Nahkar’s Ikestran biology had reacted to her the moment he’d seen her and caught the scent of her pheromones? When had Darkon ever rolled over and shown his throat and submitted to anyone? Never. Even the slavers who had taken him had found him a handful. They’d been eager to sell him off because he was such trouble. So if he wanted the blue-eyed Terran in his life, he needed to do something about it.
But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Nahkar wanted her badly too. Their two competing desires for one female would lead to a broken friendship. It might even lead to violence. They had always been competitors, but that friendly-yet-fierce competition had never come between them.
He had a bad feeling that Jennifer would.
He knew he should forget about her. The safe thing would be to let his friend have her.
But yesterday he’d been increasingly certain that he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t let her go. Not without trying. It wasn’t in his nature to give up so easily.
This wouldn’t be easy. It had been a while since he’d last seduced a female. Longer than that since he’d had a deep and lasting relationship with one. Once, long ago, he’d been betrothed, but that betrothal had been broken when he’d been exiled. Ever since many of his former comrades, friends, and family had betrayed him, forcing him to flee his homeworld, he had avoided falling hard for any female. That didn’t mean he’d been chaste. Not at all. He loved sex, but he kept things on the level of lovers with benefits, never risking his heart.
Why did he have the feeling deep in his guts and deeper in his heart that this Jennifer Smith from Earth might change that for good? Why was he worried that she would come to mean so much more to him than anyone else? Was it those big blue eyes of hers? Was it the way she smiled? Was it how jealous it made him when she smiled at Nahkar?
Still restless, he put his hands behind his head and stared out the room’s synth-glass window at the expanse of stars. His thoughts turned and tumbled inside his head. It was almost laughable how frustrated he’d become in so short a time. Maybe he just needed to get her out of his system.
That had to be it. On his homeworld, love between three Quindon was not uncommon. He had quite a few amazing memories of his time before his exile when he’d shared his bed and an eager female with Grazton or Vidan, his friends before his fall. He had a few other unforgettable memories of sharing a bed with two eager females. It had not mattered. For Quindon, love in all its forms was a powerful, beautiful thing.
He finally made a decision. Tomorrow morning he would confront Nahkar and explain how he felt about Jennifer. Nahkar would understand since he felt the same way about Jennifer. On second thought, the Ikestran probably wouldn’t understand at first, so Darkon would need to bring him around.
Because Jennifer didn’t belong to Nahkar. She didn’t belong to Darkon either. Not yet, anyway. They needed to win her. He knew he had a chance with her. He’d been sure of it during the moments they’d shared after the spoiled princess had created her scene and stormed out. Jennifer held some attraction to him as well—that wasn’t just his ego talking either. Or maybe it was. But he was determined to stay positive.
So, if Jennifer was willing, why not share her and she could share them? Darkon was certainly patient enough to show them how three made love without anyone being left out. He
would be their teacher, opening their worlds to an amazing, unforgettable experience.
It would be downright heroic.
After making that decision to take action, he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.
It seemed like only seconds later when the room’s alarm went off, increasing the light in his suite and playing music from his homeworld until he groaned and sat up. He sat on the edge of the bed, naked, restless and tired, looking out the window as the station’s orbit brought it back into the light of the system’s sun. Last night he had been filled with purpose, but the thought of making his move today had him on edge.
Yesterday, servants had brought his clothing from his quarters in the fighter’s barracks and filled the room’s closet. They had even brought his fighting mask, but not his spear. The evil-looking mask had become a symbol for the character he played for the crowds. The gamemasters loved it. He endured wearing the mask for different reasons. It kept his face from appearing on holo-screens on his homeworld. He didn’t know if any of the people who had betrayed him still cared enough to pay an assassin to come for him, but he believed in stacking the odds in his favor whenever he could.
He glanced through the outfits, wondering what colors Jennifer might like. He smirked at himself but ended up choosing a soft gray olkeshmin doublet with black accents that complimented his physique, trousers that showed off his leg muscles, and knee-high boots. While fighters like Nahkar liked to storm into the arena shirtless for the delight of the audience, the persona that Darkon played wore fancier clothing. Clothing that was almost always ruined by monster blood. His corporate owners had always purchased more. He wondered if his new faceless master would continue replenishing his wardrobe or if he’d be forced to wear a bunch of gore-stained outfits from now on.
After he cleaned and dressed, he wandered out of his room, filled with renewed determination to make his move. He would only hate himself if he let a fascinating creature like Jennifer slip through his fingers without at least trying to get closer to her.
