Rescued By The Warrior Lord

by Roxie Ray

  “Maybe so.” I placed a hand against his chest and squeezed it gently. He really was built like he was made of all stone and steel. “I think I’m probably just lucky, though.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Very lucky,” I confirmed, stealing a quick kiss from his lips. “Everything I’ve been through, I’ve had this fearsome Lunarian warlord watching over me. Keeping me out of trouble—or getting me out of it when it finds me anyway.”

  Haelian chuckled. “Perhaps your warlord is the lucky one. Perhaps he would enjoy the pleasure of keeping you out of trouble for the rest of your life.”

  “I’d like that.” I closed my eyes and nuzzled his jawline. He smelled incredible—dark and rainy as ever. All it made me want to do was fall asleep all over again. But then a little growl rumbled through my stomach, loud enough that I knew there’d be no more sleep for me—at least, for a little bit.

  “Are you hungry, my love?”

  “Mm. I guess so.” In all of the chaos and the travel that followed, I couldn’t actually remember the last time I ate.

  Haelian reached over to the table next to his bed and pulled a small plate onto his chest. I smiled at the sight of it—then frowned when I saw what it held.

  “Oh. These are those gilly-fruit things, aren’t they?” I wrinkled my nose up and sighed. “They’re so sour…”

  “Ah. Forgive me, my love.” Haelian moved to take the plate away again. “When the servants brought them in earlier, I did not think to ask for anything else. It was foolish of me. I should have recalled…”

  But before he could move the plate out of reach, I grabbed one off of it anyway.

  “It’s fine,” I told him. “I’m too hungry, handsome. I’m sure I’ll be able to manage.”

  Tentatively, I gave the fruit a little nibble. My teeth cut through the outer skin and burst the flesh beneath. I winced in preparation for that familiar, intense lemon taste to pucker my lips…

  But the puckering didn’t come. Instead, the juice that flowed over my tongue was pleasantly sweet, like lemon sorbet. I blinked in surprise, then popped the whole fruit into my mouth.

  It made my whole brain light up. These didn’t taste sour at all anymore. If anything, they were good enough to feel like dessert. Immediately, I reached over and grabbed for more.

  “You do not have to eat them if you do not enjoy them, Sawyer,” Haelian chided me. “I can easily go to the kitchens and summon up something more suitable.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I moaned softly as I popped another into my mouth. “These are amazing now. Are you sure they’re the same thing?”

  Haelian was quiet for a moment, then moved the plate away.

  “Hey!” I yelped, reaching for the plate. “I was enjoying those!”

  “Sawyer…” His voice was breathy and low. “Do you not recall what Nion told you?”

  “Um…”

  I wracked my brain. Nion had told me a few war stories during his time serving off-planet with Haelian, Kloran, and Leonix. He’d talked a little about Haelian’s family—the way Haelian’s father and mother supposedly fought like they completely despised each other. But I couldn’t remember anything about gilly-fruit. Except that…

  “Oh.” I licked my lips clean of the fruit’s juices, just to make sure that I wasn’t somehow mistaken about how good they tasted. “He said…he said that when a human woman becomes pregnant with a Lunarian child…”

  Her sense of taste changed. Bria had confirmed as much for me during my time at the palace in the capital. I’d seen her eat gilly-fruit nearly every day when we’d been there together.

  “My mate,” Haelian purred. He pulled me to him, placing a triumphant kiss on my lips with the juice of the gilly-fruit mingling between us. “You are with cub.”

  I drew in a sharp breath. Pregnant with Haelian’s child…After the last time we’d made love, of course I’d suspected that there was a possibility. Every time he’d been inside me, my entire body had been desperate to be filled with his seed. But so much had happened since the last time we’d been together, the thought hadn’t even been given a chance to take root in my mind.

  And all the while, it seemed, something else had taken root instead.

  Haelian didn’t give me time to react. His kisses came fast and hard and unrelenting. The taste of the gilly-fruit wasn’t the only sweetness between us. As Haelian’s tongue tangled with mine, he was everything. Lover and friend. Master and mate.

  Mine, mine, mine—and I was his.

  We tore each other’s clothes off with frantic, fumbling fingers. Whatever hunger I’d felt just a few moments ago was gone, replaced with a more urgent need. A different hunger altogether—but a hunger just the same. His kisses trailed all over my body, conquering every inch of my skin as fast as he was able to uncover it.

  When I was finally able to work his trousers down over his hips, his cock spilled out of them. It slapped against my stomach, heavy and already hard.

  “Need you, Sawyer.” His eyes met mine. His irises were as deeply blue as I’d ever seen them. “Love you. Need you. Badly.”

  “Have me,” I panted as I took his cock in my hand. I leveled it at my slit with greed. “Take me.”

  He entered me with a ragged breath. Haelian’s cock slipped inside me with ease now. It was like he’d reshaped my pussy to perfectly accommodate him—and only him. I could feel him holding back—but I didn’t want him to keep anything from me. Not a single thrust.

  “More,” I begged. “Please.”

  Haelian kissed the plea from my lips. “You will have all of me, Sawyer. But… slowly. I do not want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t hurt me, Haelian.” I couldn’t help but laugh a little as I bucked my hips up so he could enter me a little deeper. “You couldn’t hurt me if you tried.”

  It was like that was all the encouragement he needed. Gradually, I felt him let go. His thrusts came harder and faster every time he entered me. Every time he withdrew, it felt like it pained us both to be apart.

  When our orgasms came, they peaked together in a burst of unimaginable light and heat. He growled and snarled against my neck. His cock plunged as deep into me as our bodies would allow.

  And just like that, in the bed of the palace that would be ours from that moment on, it felt like we were finally one.

  Haelian’s cum dripped from me as he withdrew. But his kisses—those didn’t stop. Not for a long time, until our breaths both slowed and our lips were too busy mouthing I love yous instead.

  “You are mine now, Sawyer.” He rested his forehead against mine and stole another kiss, no less fierce than any other he’d claimed from my lips. “My female. My mate. Mine, and mine alone.”

  My fingers were still trembling with excitement as I ran them through his thick red waves, brushing them away from his brow. “And you’re mine too, aren’t you? Only mine?”

  Haelian chuckled and scooped me up into his arms.

  “I would rather die than have another, Sawyer.” He nuzzled his nose against my temple, and I snuggled deep against his chest in return. “There will never be anyone but you for me. Not for my entire life.”

  That same feeling I’d always had when I was close to him was stronger than ever before now. Warm. Safe.

  Owned. Wholly and completely.

  And for once, it didn’t feel like it would ever go away.

  Not for the rest of my life.

  24

  Nion

  The wounds healed. They always did.

  Two weeks after the battle at the palace, I forced myself up into a sitting position and winced at the way my stitches pulled taut at my side. This latest injury was far from the first I had taken fighting the Rutharians. I knew it would be far from my last.

  “Water,” I croaked. My tongue felt as though it had been rolled in sand while I was at rest. I held out a hand, keeping my eyes closed against the force of a roaring headache that felt blinding even behind the darkness of my eyelids. After a few mom
ents, a glass was placed between my fingers. I drank deeply from it. When I reached the bottom, I passed it back. “Another.”

  “Are you sure that is wise, Nion of House Nothing?”

  I pried my eyes open just a crack at the sound of the voice, cool and sharp, almost cruel. Not the stern tone of a healer or the soft coo of a lady volunteer—no, I knew this voice well enough, and it came from no one so genial or kind.

  “Apex.” I blinked as I spotted the streak of white hair in his black waves, his black eyes peering down at me with amusement. “I did not realize you had an interest in medicine. Are the specters not treating you so kindly anymore?”

  He laughed, a crude, distant sound. “The intelligence division is kind to no one, Nion. You should know that well enough by now.”

  Admittedly, I would have preferred to see a healer upon waking. Or better yet, been doted on by one of the noble ladies who I’d heard shuffling through the infirmary’s halls. They always liked fussing over injured soldiers—and I had yet to meet a noblewoman who did not enjoy entertaining the idea of time spent with a rough, classless warrior. But apparently, Apex was my attendant for today.

  Which begged the question—what in the moons’ names did he want?

  “I am merely surprised to see you here, Apex. Not as surprised as I was to find you fighting by our side at the palace, though.”

  Apex shrugged and poured me another glass of water. This, I drank even more quickly than the first. I could have swallowed an ocean for how thirsty I was.

  “My loyalties do not lie with the intelligence division alone. You called for me. I answered as best I could.” His black eyes narrowed. “What I wonder is, why you sent for me in the first place.”

  “Haelian’s orders,” I told him honestly. “As much as you know we grunts enjoy rubbing elbows with you specters, I believe you know I would have preferred to leave you and your people out of it.”

  “Me and my people,” he repeated, then scoffed. “Do not be naive, Nion. We are all Lunarians here, are we not?”

  I stared him down. “I do not know, Apex. Politics were never my strong suit. But from what I have heard since the battle…no, I do not believe we are one people anymore.” My gaze turned icy. Apex had fought at our side at the palace, true, but when Haelian and Kloran had stopped by last week, they had not spoken well of the rest of his division. “Word is that your Lady Idria was fleeing the palace just before the battle. With a host of guards in tow, no less.”

  “Yes.” Apex’s voice was quiet, but he spoke unguarded. A rare thing for a specter indeed. “But Lady Idria is not my mistress, nor my commander.”

  “That is news to me, Apex. Are you specters not just rings wrapped around her slender fingers?”

  “No,” he said, his voice now a whisper. “No, I do not believe we can be anymore.”

  I groaned softly. All this talk of politics was above my pay grade, and I did not enjoy the way any conversation with Apex required so much dancing around the true point of the conversation. Let the lords and princes and kings do the verbal waltzing. I was a soldier—and even on bed rest, I did not have time for such things.

  “Perhaps, for a change, you could just speak directly and tell me why you are here,” I requested. In my experience, it could never hurt to ask.

  Apex laughed again, then took the glass from my hand. He lingered silently at my bedside for longer than I would have liked, but finally, he bowed his head in agreement.

  “The fact of the matter is this, Nion. There are traitors in our ranks. Lady Idria, I believe, among them—but she is far from the only one.” His eyes glinted with danger. “Though you did not hear that from me.”

  “Hear what?” I deadpanned.

  Slowly, Apex smiled. “You are a good man, Nion, and a better soldier. For now—rest.”

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” I gestured to the infirmary around me. “What I want to know is what you want from me when my resting is done.”

  Apex clapped a hand on my shoulder and rose to his feet. “I want you to lead our next mission, Nion. Kloran and Haelian are in agreement. There are more humans out there, helpless in the stars, and the high council has not pulled their support for the operation.” His voice lowered, full of tension. “At least, not yet.”

  I raised an eyebrow. Perhaps the high council had not withdrawn their support of our cause, but I could not pretend that the situation had not changed while I was recovering. Previously, these operations had been led by Haelian and Kloran. Generals and lords. To put this mission into my hands now instead…

  Things were obviously not as they had been. Perhaps they never would be again.

  “And what role will you play in this mission, Apex? Fighting at my side again, or doing your lady’s bidding instead?”

  Apex’s face was void of expression. Already, he was moving toward the door. But his voice was confident and clear as I had ever heard it.

  “The same role you play, Nion. Just, in a different form.” He lingered in the doorway, his eyes locked on mine. “We will save as many humans as we can, regardless of how the tides of Lunarian politics turn. And in the process, we will take out as many Rutharians as we can. I believe these are interests that, for the time being, at least, you and I share.”

  I clenched my jaw as he took his leave. Apex’s visit was unsettling…but not in the way I would have suspected.

  And for once, I thought, he was right.

  I could still recall the snarl on the face of the female I had carried from the Rutharian ship. Her tiny human claws had struck out at my cheek, leaving marks that I bore to this day, but in her eyes, there had not been fury. Only fear.

  I could still remember the way Sawyer had trembled when I placed her in the ship’s safe room during the Rutharian ambush. She had been surrounded by the protection of every Lunarian aboard the Avant Lupinia, but still she feared being reclaimed by the Rutharians so greatly that her entire body had shivered with the mere thought of it.

  A cold rage sank into my chest. No matter how the Rutharians had obtained their captives and slaves, these females had been in their care—and care did not come easy for the galaxy’s most ruthless race. These females could not fight for themselves, so I would fight for them. I would give my life for them, if it meant that they could live their own lives in safety away from the cruelties of those who would harm them.

  But I recalled, too, the body of my brother when it had been returned to Lunaria after his final battle with the Rutharians. The marks of torture across his torso and neck. The look of agony etched into his face, even after his spirit had found the peace of death. He had not been killed cleanly. He had been torn apart, kept alive for as long as possible so that he would feel the most pain.

  I would fight for him, too. For vengeance. For justice. And I would not rest until I found the Rutharian responsible.

  Until I could make my brother’s killer feel that same anguish. That same pain.

  “Nion?” General Kloran’s voice called to me from the doorway, drawing me from my thoughts. When I glanced down, I realized I was clutching my bedsheets in my fists so tightly, the fabric had begun to tear beneath my claws.

  “General.” I nodded and raised my hand to salute him, but Kloran waved the motion away.

  “We have the coordinates for our next mission.” Kloran’s words were simple and blunt. “We leave in a week’s time. The ship is being prepared now.” He hesitated as he glanced down at the dressings on my torso. “Will you be ready?”

  I nodded again. My body was tired, but it was healing. My spirit was not yet spent. “I will be.”

  “Good. Then rest while you can.” Kloran raised his own hand to salute me in parting. “You will need it.”

  I closed my eyes as he left my doorway. It did not surprise me that there would be another mission so soon. There was always another battle on the horizon. For as long as there were still humans waiting to be rescued from the Rutharians out in the galaxies, I would fight to see them
safe. For as long as my brother’s killer still lived, I would search the stars to seek him out and end his life.

  And for as long as there were still Rutharians in this universe, I would spill as much of their cursed black blood as I could until all they had harmed were saved—where possible—and avenged.

  Get ready for book 3 in the Lunarian Warriors Series, Saved By The Alien Warrior

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  Rescued By The Warrior Lord

  Lunarian Warriors: Book 2

  Roxie Ray

  © 2020

  Disclaimer

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.

  This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).