Arobi's Queen: A Mate Index Romance (The Mate Index Book 11)

by S. J. Sanders

  “All right,” she agreed.

  “Captain already said she needs to be escorted while his brother is on the ship,” Tanji informed the alpha cheerfully.

  Hayley scowled up at him. “You just couldn’t let me have it, could you? I could be nice and agreeable.”

  His wicked grin merely widened. “Care to snuggle, my sweet queen?” he said with a flirtatious glance before casting pointed looks at the bed as he came up behind her. His hands slipped flirtatiously up her side, making a shiver of interest zip through her at the light touch of his big hands. Despite the bloom of heat within her, she turned to smirk at him. He wasn’t getting anything that easy.

  “Drop dead.” She snorted out a laugh. He really had some gall.

  “The way you make me ache, I just might,” he teased as he wrapped his body affectionately around hers.

  She laughed and elbowed him in the gut, making the male chuckle and hold her that much tighter.

  Chapter 11

  Simah frowned at their queen as she faced him. Their thick bedding mat lay rolled in one corner, leaving the floor bare. They had tried on the first day to fight on the bedding mat, hoping to cushion her fall. That had been Exeri’s idea. Unfortunately, they had discovered that her balance was not quite as good as theirs, and she tripped and fell easily when she was forced to move quickly on the bed. It not only frustrated her but seemed to increase the chances of her getting accidentally hurt by the way she moved so unpredictably, so they returned to their usual method of sparring on the floor.

  Over the last several days, they had fallen into a comfortable rhythm of eating together as a family, playing various card games, watching the few random vids that they were able to get on their datapad, and sparring. Most of the time, Hayley just watched them fight, but for the first hour they focused on teaching her what she called “self-defense.”

  Although none of them liked the idea of even pretending to touch their mate in a manner that could harm her, Simah understood the sense in it. So their pack had taken turns, each male taking a day, to teach her what moves they felt would benefit her if the worst ever happened and she was separated from them and in danger.

  Not that he would allow such a thing to happen!

  There were times, though, when he scented something like anxiety from her and it not only worried him but also confused him because she attempted to hide it. If she was worried or scared about something, why not tell her mates? Why hide it from them?

  He didn’t like it.

  Simah narrowed his eyes on their queen, his tail flicking as she bared her teeth at him in a challenging grin. She had removed her knee-length skirt and shirt, wearing only her underclothing that covered nothing more than her most intimate areas. Although Arobi queens wore even less—usually only a wrap around their waist and a multitude of necklaces adorning their breasts—the sight was tantalizing, and highly distracting. It was bad enough that his cock had pained him nightly as he lay curled up near her, breathing in her scent but unable to touch her.

  “What are you waiting for, Simah?” she teased.

  His skin shuddered. He was waiting on her—any sign at all from her that she was interested in rutting. All it would take was one word, only the smallest invitation, and…

  “Simah! Earth to Simah,” Hayley laughed.

  He shook his head sharply and smiled in embarrassment. “My apologies, Hayley… My mind was elsewhere for a moment.”

  “So I noticed. What were you thinking about so intently?”

  He was tempted to lie and make up any excuse… Maybe about what vid they would curl up to watch together once they were done sparring. Instead, looking at her earnest expression, he couldn’t stop the truth from slipping off is tongue.

  “Having you beneath me,” he growled in a low voice.

  Hayley’s eyebrows shot up, her mouth falling open with a rapid, panting breath. He drew in a deep breath and could practically taste her rich, musky arousal on the air. He cocked his head, his eyelids drooping to regard her lazily.

  “Do you want this as well, mate? To feel yourself exposed and petted, tasted and rutted, until you have been so pleasured that you cannot summon the energy to move, much less spar?”

  A flush of desire colored her cheeks, but her lips quirked. “You have a filthy mouth, Simah.”

  “I speak only the truth of what I most desire and what has been plaguing my thoughts for days now. You want me to tussle and spar with you when I would rather tussle you beneath me in a far more pleasurable way.”

  “That’s… a very intriguing proposition,” she murmured breathlessly. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as a smirk tipped her lips. “I don’t know, though… You seem awfully afraid to touch me. I’m not into timid men.”

  Timid? A growl ripped out of him, vibrating through his chest. Hayley didn’t appear to notice it as her smile widened provocatively.

  “I like strong, dominant males who aren’t afraid to bend me over and give it to me hard. I’m just not sure you have that in you if you’re reluctant to so much as knock me on my ass,” she laughed.

  “You play with fire, female,” Simah rasped.

  “Maybe I just want you boys to stop pussyfooting around and actually show me how to fight,” she challenged.

  With a low rumble, he lunged forward. Their queen gave a startled shriek and dodged out of the way, laughter still in her voice. The pack looked at them from where they had been clustered around the datapad, grins breaking over their faces as they drew closer to watch. Simah feinted left and rounded on her with a burst of speed as he pounced, dragging their female to the floor with him. Pinned beneath him, her soft, welcome heat encompassed him as their bodies rubbed together. Their faces were so close that he could see the way her odd round pupils dilated with interest, and a tantalizing scent had his cock swelling in his sheath. Tanji set the datapad down on the table.

  “Come on, Hayley, pulverize him! Oh! Use that move I showed you!” he shouted.

  Simah turned toward his pack brother and frowned. What move?

  Hayley gripped his arm, yanking inward toward his chest at the exact same moment he felt her feet hook around his. Although he outweighed her by quite a bit, she bucked up and over, sending his body careening to the side, the force bringing her to roll on top of him. He instinctively whipped his tail up to knock her off him, but she kicked his tail with one foot, causing it to snap back toward the ground while her small fist came up and punched him in the throat. He could tell that she held back, so it did little more than make him choke and cough, but the pressure of her knee over his groin clued him in to exactly what the follow-up move would have been if they had been sparring in earnest.

  “All right,” he wheezed in playful mock surrender, “this round is yours.”

  The triumphant grin that spread on her face was sweet and fed his desire. The moment was only sullied by Tanji’s whoop and the rumble of laughter from his pack brothers. He rolled them back over again and dragged his muzzle down her jaw, feeling her body quiver beneath his with excitement, her scent intensifying. He pressed his swollen sheath against her mound suggestively, and nuzzled her before leaping gracefully to his feet.

  Hayley lay there on the floor, watching him with amusement until he stretched a hand down to help her up. Tugging her to her feet, he set her in place and moved a few paces away from her.

  “Now you attack me,” he challenged.

  Her eyes flicked over him, looking for an opening. Simah could feel his smile widening. She was a bit transparent, but so far she was doing the things she had been taught over the last several days. When she attacked, it was a flurry of movement, directing hits toward all his vulnerable places. She did quite well, showing herself to be a quick learner as she jabbed and feinted to draw him in. She managed to get pass his defenses a couple of times and land hits. He allowed this to continue for a time until he turned just enough to whip his tail around and knock her legs out from beneath her. She landed with a jarring thud that had him r
ushing to her side.

  “Are you okay? You hit the floor a little harder than I planned,” he admitted with a wince.

  Hayley lay there groaning, her breath panting out of her, but she gave him a shaky grin and nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. Fucking tails, man.”

  A chuckle escaped him as he squatted down at her side. “Many species have tails. You will have to learn to watch for it because they will not hesitate to use it to attack or disarm you. The Edoka especially have a prehensile tail covered with spines at the end, which makes it a particularly effective weapon.”

  “Remind me… not to pick a fight with an Edoka,” she panted weakly. Slowly, Hayley sat up, wincing as she accepted his hand to hoist her to her feet. She rubbed one hand on her ass as she glanced longingly toward the cleansing unit. “Okay, every inch of me is sore. I think I’m going to go soak in the bathtub—pitifully small as it is—while you guys beat the hell out of each other.”

  Simah’s eyes tracked her as she walked over to the cleansing unit, her hand still rubbing her bottom as she muttered curses under her breath about sneaky, underhanded moves with tails. If he grinned a bit wider than necessary at her foul words, no one seemed to notice.

  “Enough staring after our queen,” Exeri barked, drawing them all out of their collective admiration of her tailless ass.

  The alpha’s gaze was hard. The male lived and breathed discipline, but that was what eventually helped get them away from their master and set them free—the unwavering discipline and strength. With Exeri as their alpha, they would not fall victim to a rival or enemy.

  “We pair off. Simah, you are with me today,” Exeri ordered.

  Tanji gave Simah a sympathetic look before jogging over to Bilax. It wasn’t that any of them resented Exeri or his prowess, the alpha was just brawnier than the rest of them, and also half a head taller. It meant that, while they would learn something useful from the intensive training that the male had been required to go through during his adolescence, they would also be getting their asses handed to them, as the human saying went.

  “We dock on Antari Minor tomorrow,” Exeri said. “Soon we will have our mate home with us. We have had it easy on the ship, but we cannot think that it will be so easy when we are planetside. Even if it is our home, we all know how treacherous it is. The extent of which I hope our queen never discovers. We need to protect her,” he finished solemnly.

  Simah dropped his head in acknowledgment as he faced their alpha. Outside the natural predators that ravaged the territory, the planet was settled by some of the most reprehensible dredges of sentient life he had ever encountered. There were countless males who would attempt to steal her, hurt her. Simah’s jaw clenched as he met Exeri’s eyes.

  He would do anything, endure any punishment, train as hard as it took to keep their mate safe.

  The alpha’s ears tipped in satisfaction. “Let’s begin,” the male growled.

  Chapter 12

  The overhead comm crackled to life sometime during the early hours of the ship’s day cycle, and Bilax groaned as he rolled to his side. He wanted to kill whoever thought an announcement before first meal hour was necessary. He scowled up at the comm in the ceiling before the captain’s voice blasted out of it.

  “Attention, crew—and passengers,” the captain added almost as a disgruntled afterthought, “we are now approaching Antari Minor. Initialize orbital descent sequences. All passengers, begin preparations for disembarkation in two hours.”

  As the comm ended, Bilax heaved a sigh and dropped his head back down onto a pillow, grateful that they would be arriving planetside soon. The pillow, like everything else in the small space, smelled of Hayley. Never had he smelled anything quite so sweet, so alluring… so torturous. He grimaced as he shifted on the mat, his cock aching within his sheath. Maybe he could just sleep for the next hour and a half and try to escape his suffering…

  A foot kicked his shoulder and Bilax muttered a threat of punishment under his breath as he swatted the offending appendage away. Tanji laughed and kicked him again. “Come on, we are awake now. Might as well get up.”

  “I have a significant part of me trying to ‘get up.’ I am fine right where I am,” Bilax muttered, burrowing deeper into the bedding.

  “I really could have done without that information,” Simah said nearby, his voice muffled by a pillow.

  Snorting with humor, Bilax shifted the weight of his sheath with one hand so that he wasn’t squishing it at an uncomfortable angle and sighed. He was just getting comfortable again when Tanji—the male whose name should be changed to “death wish”—nudged him again.

  “Are you not supposed to be a big bad fighter? Were you not reared to rise early, train all morning to be in fighting shape?” the male teased.

  Bilax cracked an eye open and glared at him. “Precisely why I choose not to get up early, unless you want me to turn you into a steaming pile of shredded…”

  “Not something I want to think about before my coffee,” Hayley broke in as she wiggled out from beneath a blanket, her hair in chaotic disarray around her.

  Blinking bleary eyes at them, she stumbled to her feet, sending a wave of her perfume over the bedding. Bilax bit his pillow, muffling a moan of impatient desire. This was going to kill him! Thankfully, she did not look his way but stumbled over to the replicator, no doubt looking for her coffee.

  He lay there for several minutes, watching her as she staggered to the table with nothing but her coffee in hand. When she made no move to get up and replicate any food, he growled and stood up. He could hear Tanji chuckling behind him, but he ignored it as he prowled toward their queen. She took a long sip of her coffee, her eyes slowly traveling up his chest, a blush staining her cheeks.

  It took him a moment to realize that his bare hide was making the female’s color change. He snorted. Humans were a strange species, one of many who felt it necessary to bind themselves up in layers of material. He had never worn much but a woven cloth around his hips when he belonged to his master, sometimes even less if the male had wanted to loan him out for some amusement or another, or if a fight he had been registered that required it. It was strange to wear tunics and pants, no matter how loose they bought them from Edoka and Morith clothiers. He disliked wearing them at the best of times, finding the lightweight fabric unnaturally cumbersome, but it was even worse sleeping in them. For their queen’s sake, he kept his pants on, but he refused to sleep in the tunic. Before lying down, he had divested himself of the uncomfortable garment before rolling up in the bedding.

  She had not reacted then, but now, with the day cycle lights on, her face was red. He drew in a deep breath, and his muscles tensed at the rich, musky scent coming off her. She was aroused, and that immediately made his cock push insistently on his sheath in an attempt to extrude. He was barely able to keep it from doing so. He tried to distract himself by thinking of past battles, but it was not helping. Instead, he focused on the coffee cup in her hands.

  Crossing his arms over his wide chest, he narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you not going to eat anything?” he growled.

  Hayley smiled and shrugged one shoulder. “I often don’t eat in the morning. I’m just not hungry. The coffee is enough.”

  “That does not contain the necessary amount of nutrition or vitamins,” he objected.

  “That’s nice,” she yawned as she rubbed one eye. “Don’t really care.”

  Flummoxed, his mouth dropped open. “You do not care about your own health? Every species has nutritional requirements that must be met to keep them in prime condition…”

  “Fuck, I am out,” Tanji groaned as he grabbed a steaming bowl of what appeared to be mostly meat and headed to the door. “Your preaching about nutrition is enough to turn me off of my morning meal.”

  “Like that even qualifies,” Bilax snarled. “If you refuse to eat right, I will not be helping you later.”

  “Yes, honorable dam,” Tanji laughed. “I will be down in the cargo bay seeing to the goo
ds that we traded for and making sure everything is ready to offload when we arrive.”

  “I will come with you,” Simah groaned, and stumbled up, brandishing his datapad. “I need to go over our inventory anyway to make sure our count is all there.” He stopped to get his own bowl of food—again, mostly meat—and caught up with Tanji at the door.

  Why did no one ever take his advice about the requirements of a balanced meal for an Arobi’s natural diet? Despite being fed a high-meat diet in captivity, it was bad for them. Even he knew that when he was nothing more than a fighter in the master’s kennel and had been able to talk the male into giving him fresh fruits, vegetables, and some small amounts of grain when he won his matches, on his word that they would make him a stronger fighter. But did his pack listen to him? Of course not!

  He glared at the door after them.

  “Now look, you’ve gone and chased everyone away.” Hayley laughed as she took another sip of her coffee.

  Not surprisingly, she was correct. Exeri was always the first one up. He did not think that the male slept more than a few hours at once in all the time he had known them since they were kenneled together and eventually formed a pack. No doubt he was speaking to the captain and had something to do with docking at such an early hour. From what his comm indicated of the current time at the port city, the docking crew in Intakfell would not even be on duty to help unload for a few hours after they arrived.

  “I consider it important that my pack is healthy and well cared for,” he muttered absently.

  “Obviously,” she said with a small laugh. “But they’re adults, not Arobi pups.”