by Ivy Barrett
Bron shook his head, though desire still burned in his gaze. The last thing I need right now is to go into rut. I’m definitely attracted to her, but it’s better if I keep my distance.
That would make LeAuntiez’s courtship easier, but they were a pod. LeAuntiez was relatively certain she was his soulmate. It was the only explanation for why he’d sensed her peril. And the most probable reason for why he’d reacted to her so strongly was his connection to Bron. If she were Bron’s mate as well, this could become something really special. Bron had a right to know why he was pushing.
I think she’s my soulmate.
“Seriously?” Bron blurted, disbelief clearly written on his face.
“You two can speak telepathically.” Kyla looked from him to Bron and back.
Did I say that out loud?
LeAuntiez shook his head with a helpless smile and sat in one of the two remaining chairs. “Yes, you spoke aloud,” he said to Bron, then to Kyla, “and yes we can speak mind to mind.”
“I didn’t think the Ventori were telepathic.” She held the blanket closed with one hand and grasped the mug with the other. At least she’d finally stopped shaking.
“We’re not, at least not most of us. LeAuntiez formed a link that allows us to pass thoughts to each other. The connection doesn’t work with anyone else.”
“And you still need practice, my friend. That was a rookie mistake,” LeAuntiez grumbled.
Bron actually relaxed enough to smile.
* * *
Kyla blew on the steaming coffee as she surreptitiously glanced at the two males across the table from her. Chancellor Savator, bold, ruthless, powerful. He literally eclipsed the chair on which he sat. All she could see was the spindly legs. And if Savator weren’t intimidating enough, she’d been rescued by LeAuntiez, commander of the Brokvata, most feared group of mercenaries ever assembled. Humans feared the Ventori, and the Ventori feared the Brokvata. She’d seen both of these icons, heard whispers and speculation about their personalities, but this was the first time she’d interacted with either of them.
The chancellor had a brooding quality as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders, which it basically was. His hair had a tendency to curl and emerald green threaded through the dark strands, creating an eye-catching combination that shimmered as he moved his head. The same vivid color formed thin serpentine lines in his eyes, a bright marbling among the endless black. The color wasn’t natural, but it suited him. Like all the Ventori, he was well over six feet tall with a body shaped by solid muscle and ropy sinew.
She shifted her gaze to LeAuntiez and felt the oddest fluttering in her belly. One look from Chancellor Savator and she instinctively dropped her gaze, even felt the irrational need to get on her knees. LeAuntiez, on the other hand, made it hard to look away. He was saved from being beautiful by the firmness of his jawline and a powerful chin. He was also very tall, yet his body was lean rather than bulky. His long blond hair and intense blue eyes reminded Kyla of the paintings she’d seen of angels, the kind of angels that brandished swords and charged headlong into battle.
Shame tugged at her consciousness, making her feel antsy and selfish. How could she sit here sipping coffee and ogling males while Erin was still in danger? LeAuntiez said he was going to send his brother after Erin, but Kyla had no way of knowing if he’d actually done so. He hadn’t activated a com-link or turned away while he spoke telepathically. In fact their conversation hadn’t lagged for even a minute.
Licking her lips, she forced herself to be brave. “Has Urrya seen any sign of Erin? I’m really worried about her.” There, that was better than an outright accusation.
For a fraction of a second LeAuntiez’s expression changed, almost went blank, then he shook his head. “He’s still looking, as are others on the ground.”
She nodded, having no real choice but to believe what he’d said. If he was lying, she’d find out soon enough.
LeAuntiez looked at her strangely then turned to the chancellor. “Bron, get Urrya on the com-link. Our guest doesn’t believe I actually made contact with him.”
“I didn’t say that,” she objected, but it was too late. The chancellor used the control panel implanted in his forearm to trigger audible communication. “Savator to Urrya, report.”
“No luck yet, sir. But she’s on a skimmer. She couldn’t have gone very far.”
“Understood. Carry on.” He started to deactivate the link then grinned at her, but his gaze remained cold. “Unless you have something else to ask him.”
“Thank you, but that wasn’t necessary.” She looked at LeAuntiez, confused by his reaction. “It was just a passing thought, so how did you know?” Then a disturbing possibility popped into her mind. “Are you reading my mind?”
“I’m empathic,” he told her. “There’s an important difference. I sensed your mistrust. I didn’t hear the specific thought.”
A secretive look passed between the two males that made her suspect there was more to the story, a lot more. LeAuntiez clearly had psychic abilities. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the details.
She finished the coffee in a few quick gulps as soon as it had cooled enough to guzzle. “I’m much calmer now. If you’ll just print me a uniform, I’ll go home.”
The chancellor reached across the table and took the mug from her hand, his fingers intentionally brushing over hers. She tensed. According to the orientation she’d undergone a couple of weeks ago, there was only one reason he’d touch her like that. He wanted to see if they were compatible enough to trigger ‘rut,’ Ventori slang for bonding fever. All she felt was the warmth of his skin, but that wasn’t unusual. Generally the male reacted first, and then his body manufactured pheromones that aroused the female. It was a process she had no desire to experience firsthand.
Her heart began to pound and panic bubbled up inside her. “I really should go.” If he was going to become sexually aggressive, she wanted to be very, very far away.
But he didn’t turn into a ravening beast. He walked across the kitchen and refilled her mug. She watched him closely, trying not to notice how well his uniform fit his muscular body, or how the threads of green in his hair shone. His shoulders were at least a mile wide, but his hips were narrow, creating a dramatic angle from armpit to hip. And his butt. Damn, the man had a nice ass. Was the rest of him equally impressive? Heat curled through her abdomen and gathered between her thighs, making her core feel empty and achy. Oh, no, this wasn’t good at all.
Her eyes widened and she looked at LeAuntiez. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing. What you’re feeling is perfectly normal. Apparently your compatibility score with Bron is quite high. Usually for the female to feel the attraction it requires some sort of intimate interaction.”
“Will you please fly me home, right now? I don’t want any part of this.”
The chancellor set the mug down and slowly turned around, keeping the breadth of the kitchen between them. “I will never harm you, Kyla. In fact, I will never touch you again unless you want me to.”
But she already wanted him to touch her. She wanted him to push his cock deep inside her and fuck her so hard she couldn’t walk for a week. She shook her head. “I can’t be your mate. Erin would never forgive me.”
For some reason that made the chancellor laugh. “And Erin’s opinion is more important than yours?”
“Right now it is. I can’t think about anything else until I know she’s safe.”
“Fair enough.” He picked up the mug and handed it to LeAuntiez. “Give this to our mate. If I touch her again I’ll kiss her, and likely a whole lot more.”
“Understood.” LeAuntiez carefully passed her the mug, but it looked as if he were trying to avoid touching her too.
Wait a minute! The chancellor had said ‘our’ mate, not ‘my’ mate. “Do Celestians go into rut like the Ventori?” She wrapped her fingers around the mug, holding the blanket closed with the pressure of her arms.
&nbs
p; “Something similar.” His voice sounded tense, almost mechanical.
“Then I’m… or rather we’re…”
“Yes, I believe you’re my soulmate. That’s why I sensed your fear.”
“Perfect.” She took a sip of coffee, trying not to lose what little remained of her composure. “I’m not going back to the women’s quarters anytime soon, am I?”
“No, love, you’re not.”
Tears started flowing again and the next thing she knew she was sitting on LeAuntiez’s lap and his strong arms held her snugly against him. “We’ll protect you and take care of you. You have nothing more to fear.”
She wanted to believe him, but her emotions were simply too raw. It felt wonderful to be sheltered in his embrace, yet she knew he wanted so much more than just to protect her.
Emotions tossed and churned inside her, building like a gathering storm. Her best friend was lost in the wasteland and Kyla had helped her escape. Three men would likely lose their lives and it was at least partly her fault. Now the two most powerful males in the Protectorate wanted to mate with her. It was too much. It was all just too damn much.
Hard racking sobs shook her shoulders as anguish and guilt pelted her from opposite sides. LeAuntiez rocked her, gently stroking her hair. But she couldn’t calm down, could barely breathe. She frantically sucked in a breath, but that just made her head spin. The room seemed to swell and then contract, pressing in on her until she wanted to scream. So she screamed. Inside her head the sound rang out over and over, but outwardly she just sobbed.
“Sleep, my love. Go to sleep,” LeAuntiez’s silken command dragged her into oblivion.
* * *
“Why in fuck did you knock her out?” Bron demanded as he watched Kyla go limp in LeAuntiez’s arms.
“She was hysterical,” LeAuntiez defended. “This will allow her to rest and calm down.”
“I don’t want her calm,” Bron grumbled, scrubbing one of his hands over the stubble on his chin. “I want her wild and willing, arching beneath me as I fill her with my cum.”
“Look up your score, make sure it’s the highest of Kyla’s matches. If not, you’ll cause an uprising among the men. They’re already complaining about how many of the mates have gone to commanders or a certain favored minister.”
It was true. Many of their friends had ended up with females, but the outcome had been largely circumstantial. The defenders had simply been in the right place at the right time. Still, LeAuntiez was right. If his score with Kyla wasn’t extremely high, it would cause an uproar. “Where are you taking her?”
“Upstairs.” He stood and shifted her higher against his chest. “I’ll put her in your bed if you promise not to touch her.”
“I already promised,” Bron snapped. “Don’t insult me again.”
A knowing smile curved LeAuntiez’s lips. “Go run a simulation. You’ll feel better.”
Bron didn’t want a pleasure simulation. He wanted the snug heat of his mate’s wet pussy or her soft mouth. One touch, a brief brushing of fingers, and he’d been hard as an alloy spike, ready to rip away the blanket and claim her right there on the kitchen table. He’d had to turn away, remove himself from the ongoing temptation of her pretty face and curvaceous body. Though finding a mate was every Ventori’s wildest dream, the timing couldn’t be worse.
Camp Accord, the first and only Ventori colony on Earth had only been open a few weeks and already they’d been attacked by rebels. The worst part was the rebels seemed to be Ventori, not human, or some combination of the two.
They’d identified the rebellion’s leader. Bron still couldn’t believe he was—or had been—part of the high command. Next to LeAuntiez and him, the six ministers were the most powerful members of the Protectorate. And former Minister Kniark Zapt had organized and executed not only the raid on Camp Accord, but a secret trafficking network. The network identified potential mates and sold them off-world, or bartered them to mercenaries in exchange for support in annihilating the Skarilians. Bron could support their long-term goal. He hated the Skarilians with every fiber of his being and knew they must be stopped. Still, he fervently disagreed with the means by which the rebels were advancing that cause.
Rhythmic thuds drew his attention to the stairs. He walked into the living room as LeAuntiez reached the bottom.
“One of my contacts just spotted Zapt in Dallas,” LeAuntiez informed him. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
LeAuntiez didn’t wait for a reply. He ran out the front door and launched himself into the sky.
Bron secured the door LeAuntiez hadn’t bothered to close and longingly looked toward the stairs. How long would LeAuntiez’s command last? He’d promised not to touch Kyla, but he did not want her to wake up alone.
First he needed to verify their compatibility score. It would determine how aggressively, or if, he would pursue her.
He accessed the main database then launched the matching program. A split second later he had his answer. Ninety-nine point four. He wasn’t surprised, but he was pleased. He quickly verified that none of her other scores could compete, then closed the program and headed upstairs. As her number one match, he had the right to court her first. The others would have to wait until she officially refused him, or until the thirty-day trial period elapsed.
Blowing out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, Bron allowed himself to smile. He’d thought a mate would encumber him, make his already complicated life even more so. That was probably true, but the stress was incidental. Now that he’d found a nearly perfect match, claiming her was his top priority. How could he expect his men to embrace a program he wouldn’t participate in himself?
He slipped into his bedroom. LeAuntiez had placed Kyla on the bed without pulling down the covers. As she slept, she’d released the blanket and now it rested across her lower torso, revealing her breasts. He glanced at the full mounds with their dark pink nipples, unable to resist the temptation. He immediately dragged his hungry gaze back to her face. It didn’t matter. The image was locked in his mind. She wasn’t skin and bones, like so many of the human females. Kyla’s body looked soft, her curves generous. Her womanly shape was the perfect contrast to his battle-hardened form and LeAuntiez’s long, lean body.
She tossed restlessly, rolling onto her back and then to her other side. Her anxiety upset him, making it impossible to just stand there watching her suffer. He quickly pulled off his boots, then joined her on the bed, doing his best to honor his promise. He slipped one arm beneath her pillow and placed his hand on her hip, on top of the blanket. Though he was pressed against her, each millimeter of their bodies was separated by either his uniform or the blanket. He was stretching the concept, he knew, but she wiggled back into the curve of his body and gradually relaxed.
Chapter Three
Warmth surrounded Kyla, warding off the unwanted images and making her feel safe. As sleep’s haze gradually lifted, she become aware of her surroundings. She was in bed, but she wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there. She was snuggled up against someone warm and—her eyes flew open. The last thing she remembered was LeAuntiez holding her while she cried, but the emotions had still been overwhelming. He told her to sleep and then there was only darkness. Had he literally commanded her body to sleep? Like some mythical vampire? She shivered and the person beside her drew her more tightly against his side.
Carefully lifting her head, she looked up, expecting to see LeAuntiez. Instead, the moonlight revealed Chancellor Savator’s rugged features. She wasn’t disappointed, just surprised. LeAuntiez was more nurturing than the chancellor. At least he had been earlier.
She returned her head to the chancellor’s shoulder and tried to arrange her body more modestly. At the moment, her leg was draped over his, which opened her thighs and pressed her pussy against his rock-hard thigh. But the second she started to move her leg, he grabbed her thigh, holding her firmly in place.
“Want more already?” he muttered sleepily. His big hand slid
along her leg and over her hip, reaching even farther back to give her ass cheek a firm squeeze. He must be dreaming. His question made no sense. He hadn’t even kissed her yet.
Yet? Did she want Chancellor Savator to kiss her, to touch her, and fuck her? Do all the other wicked things Ventori males were rumored to do while courting their mates? He was ruthless and unrelenting, downright mean by most accounts. Was that the sort of male she wanted to be with for the rest of her life?
When females were trapped in a room with nothing to occupy their time, they gossiped. They talked about what they knew, what they’d heard, and what they imagined. Life had been so depressing, so empty since the Skarilians arrived that most of the females were intrigued by what the Ventori were offering. Kyla wasn’t ashamed to admit she fell into that category. The defenders were big and strong, their society was more advanced than humans, yet they were strangely old-fashioned as well. The females who had been claimed so far certainly seemed happy. Kyla couldn’t remember the last time she’d experienced that emotion.
But what would it be like to be mated to Chancellor Savator and LeAuntiez? They’d be strict. She had no doubt. They’d expect her to submit, to obey without question, and that frightened her. Obeying wasn’t generally a problem for her. If rules were reasonable, she tended to follow them. She was the only person she knew who drove within the speed limits. But the ‘without question’ part was daunting. She was curious by nature and had always questioned anything that didn’t make sense to her.
Maybe she was reading too much into this. The Ventori doctor had explained that females with Rh-negative blood were compatible with all the Ventori males. However there were different levels of compatibility. Only the strongest matches would trigger what they called rut, a sort of driving need to claim their mate and create Ventori babies. Maybe the chancellor wasn’t ready for a mate, or maybe they weren’t a very strong match. As if to clarify her rambling thoughts, his long fingers pressed deeper between her legs, teasing her folds from behind.
