“I’m no scientist, mate. I do not know.”
Maxim agreed. “Nor I. I was a commander. Now I am governor of Base 3. But, once we arrive, you can ask the doctor anything you’d like. I will bash in his skull if he does not give you satisfactory answers.”
“You guys are too much.” Her fingers stroked the smooth black strip. Embedded within were microscopic circuits that would link her to us forever. And once we officially claimed her, the collar would match Maxim’s and mine, the deep fiery copper would look magnificent against her creamy flesh.
She sighed and lifted her head. “I really have to wear this to go?”
She was questioning everything, and I couldn’t blame her, but I was becoming impatient. I wanted her on the Colony where no one could take her from us, where we could protect her. Where she couldn’t run.
Maxim offered her a rare smile. “You do not know much of the Colony. You must trust us. You are the only thing that matters to us now. We will never allow any harm to come to you.”
She shook her head. “Big words, warrior.” She licked her lips, but returned her attention to the collar. “Very big words.” Her doubt was evident, but there was no help for it. She’d been betrayed by her own people. Earning her trust would take time. Time we would have, once we got her off this fucking planet.
“We are a planet of exiles, banished when we no longer fit into life on our home world. Like you, we were trapped against our will, for reasons out of our control. We understand your frustration, and your fear.” Maxim stepped forward and lifted his hand to her cheek. She didn’t lean into his touch, but she didn’t pull away either. It was a start.
“Okay,” she said, her shoulders relaxing. “Let’s do this.”
I didn’t breathe as I waited. Waited. She lifted the collar and put it about her neck. She lifted her hair and placed the ends near one another. I knew the moment they sealed automatically, seamlessly. All at once, I felt the mating bond.
I felt her.
* * *
Rachel
I reached for the thin strip of black material. The ribbon looked as innocuous as a piece of silk I might have tied in my hair as a little girl, but I felt like a dog putting on a collar as I lifted it to my neck. I would have refused had my mates not already each been wearing one as well.
When in Rome…
The collars were no more than an inch thick and somehow emphasized the thick, muscled bands of my mates’ necks. Mine was black, but my mates’ collars were a deep, beautiful copper color. Rather than make them look feminine or weak, the copper bands made them look like savage warriors, stronger. Stranger. Exotic and sexy and impossible to take in all at once.
And that pussy-clenching reaction happened before I could even begin to process their odd skin coloring and eyes.
The big one, Maxim, my matched mate, was nearly seven feet tall. He wore a dark, mottled uniform of some kind that looked like camouflage for hiding in the shadows, or outer space. His features, while mostly human, were angled a little too sharply and his skin was a dark red brown, the rich hues of an African American, yet more copper toned, more caramel less mocha. It was an odd color that defied true description, but was stunning. Remarkable. I wanted to touch, to feel the color’s warmth. His eyes were dark, a rich brown that made me feel like I was drowning. I couldn’t think when I held his gaze. Hell, I couldn’t breathe and look into those eyes. And that scared the hell out of me.
Of course, he’d pulled apart the bars of my jail cell as if he were Superman, so he definitely revved every single bit of estrogen in my body. If a man could do that with his hands, it made me wonder what else he could do.
My second mate, Ryston, was huge as well, just a few inches shorter. He wore the same strange armored uniform, but he looked like a walking golden halo. His skin and hair, even his eyes were a pale gold so fair it looked almost silver. His left eye and temple had been modified with some kind of cyborg implants that created odd tracks of silvery blue in his skin and gave the inner rim of his eye a strange, silver glow.
I looked at the warden as I closed the collar around my neck. As soon as the ends neared one another, they closed automatically, like two magnets finding their opposites. A heady warmth flooded my neck before racing up and down my spine. I shivered as the heat spread inside my skull, like someone was pouring a pitcher of hot water inside my head, filling me up.
Something clicked. That was the only way I could describe what happened. And then…
God.
Pain. Lust. Worry. Longing. Power. Aching loneliness.
My mates’ emotions flooded me with such ferocity my knees collapsed.
Before I could hit the floor, Maxim’s massive arms lifted me, holding me to his chest like I was a small child. In fact, I felt small and helpless as the chaos bubbling inside me only increased with the physical contact.
Touching me actually hurt him. Not a physical pain, but an emotional need so deep, so starved for so long, that contact with me made him ache.
I knew Maxim carried me, but I closed my eyes and relaxed against his chest. I’d made my decision. No sense fighting it now.
“We are ready for transport, Lady Egara.” Maxim’s deep voice rumbled out of his chest and through me, causing my breasts to grow heavy and my core to ache.
Holy shit. I was in deep fucking trouble here.
“Don’t call me that.” The warden’s voice sounded, for the first time since I’d met her, flustered.
Ryston answered her. “You will always be a lady of Prillon Prime. Your mate’s brother sends his regards.”
Maxim must have worked to control his emotions because the blast of sensation from him faded and I took a deep breath, grateful that I was back in control of my body. In control, but I wouldn’t stop the memories from flooding me now that I had two men of my own. Two mates. Two huge bodies to lay me between them. Two huge cocks to stretch me open, fill me up, make me scream…
Holy shit. That processing dream was suddenly on a running loop in my head and I couldn’t think about anything but fucking. Being taken. Claimed. Wanted.
Lust was too tame a word for the spiral of emotions spinning through me. Mine. Maxim’s. Ryston’s. I couldn’t tell which desires were mine and which were theirs. But their emotions tasted different in my mind. Maxim like a cold, banked fire, so intense that touching it would singe me to the bone. And Ryston, he was like a wild storm inside me, ardent, impatient and eager.
“Control yourself.” Maxim’s command barely penetrated, but soon after both of my mates must have shut down their emotions as much as possible because suddenly, I could think. I was still thinking about their cocks filling me, their hands all over my body, but at least I could think.
Maybe that was the worst of it.
Opening my eyes, I found that Maxim had carried me to stand inside a strange room with blue lights glowing all around us. Beside us, on the floor, was an odd pool of bright blue water that looked, and smelled, oddly inviting.
Ryston stood beside us. But he wasn’t looking at the warden. His pale golden eyes were focused completely on me.
And just that quickly, I gasped, jerking in Maxim’s arms as Ryston’s emotions flooded me. Longing. Fear of rejection. Hope. Desire. Anger that I’d been threatened. Shame at needing to touch me, but stubborn pride in his ability to resist.
Everything feminine and gentle in me responded to my mates’ pain. I needed to soothe them. I needed to offer comfort in the face of such stoic emotional agony.
“God, I’m in trouble here.” I muttered the words to myself, but both of my mates’ faces turned to focus on me. And they focused. Completely. As if nothing else in the universe mattered but what I might say next. It was uncanny and wonderful all at the same time.
I held out my hand to Ryston, unable to deny him what he so desperately needed for another moment.
His giant golden hand wrapped around mine and I was flooded with his gratitude and contentment, his longing to make me happy, even be
I squeezed his hand and squinted at him in confusion. “Contaminated flesh?”
Years of physiology and biochemical knowledge jumped to a red-alert status in my mind as I waited for his answer. No matter what was wrong with him, I could find a way to fix it. Figuring out biochemical reactions was my life. Well, was my life. Before GloboPharma, and prison, and…aliens.
Maybe these aliens needed me. Maybe I could be useful on their planet. The prospect of having a puzzle to solve almost made up for my concern over Ryston’s health. Almost. “What do you mean? What are you contaminated with? Where is it?”
Maxim’s quick intake of breath meant I’d said something unexpected even before both of their reactions flooded my mind. Shock. Disbelief. Confusion.
“This, mate. My face. My eye. Maxim’s arm. We both carry lasting marks from our time with the enemy.” Ryston lifted his free hand to point to the silver markings in his temple.
I studied the unique, computerized-looking circuits that had been imbedded in Ryston’s flesh. The entire area was no larger than my palm. Not exactly an overwhelming piece of body art. I wanted to touch it, just to see what it would feel like under my sensitive fingertips, but that was all. And my hope for something useful to do with my future faded as well. “Everyone has scars. Yours don’t bother me.”
It was the truth. A few odd silvery lines? Big deal. I’d seen tattooed bikers with their entire upper torso inked in full-color chaos including skulls, naked women, Celtic designs, animals and all kinds of craziness. I’d seen people who had survived fires, the scars much larger and more obvious than a small streak of silver. Hell, I’d seen worse in the radiology wing of the cancer treatment center.
Ryston’s smile made my heart hurt and he bent down to kiss the back of my hand he held. “You are truly a miracle, mate.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that.” I didn’t understand what the big deal was but apparently, my reaction mattered. A lot. Maxim’s response was nearly as strong, his emotions bombarding me with hope and relief.
My mates needed to get out into the world and see some truly gruesome things if they thought I’d be turned off by a shimmer of silver in their skin. Please.
They broke me out of prison. They pretty much had me at Hello.
Maxim kissed the top of my head and I was irrationally delighted by the gesture, my chest flooding with warmth at his open display of affection.
I shouldn’t care. Emotional attachment was completely irrational. I’d known these two for all of fifteen minutes. But I did care. For some reason, I cared more than I was ready to admit. And after being alone through the arrest, trial and incarceration, it felt good to be held, to be touched. To be cherished—at least that was what the collar was making me feel.
“We are ready for transport, Warden.”
“Not quite, Governor. While I implanted her NPU so you would understand each other and communicate, her body has yet to be processed for transport to the Colony.”
Maxim sighed, clearly impatient, but unwilling to argue with the warden. “What do we need to do?”
“Place her in the water and step back. I’ll transport you two first. Once the protocol is initiated, she will be just a few minutes behind.”
Ryston squeezed my hand and released me, albeit reluctantly. Maxim, too, seemed strangely upset at the idea of being separated from me, even for a short time.
For big, bad-ass aliens, they were acting like marshmallows. And I liked it. A lot.
Maxim kissed the top of my head before bending down and settling me in the blue water, clothes and all. The water was warm, like a nice hot bath, and I immediately began to feel lethargic, sleepy.
Processed for transport? What the hell did that even mean?
I turned my head to look at Warden Egara, but my questions were already fading from my mind, as if they no longer mattered. Nothing mattered. I felt like I was in a dream. An amazing, comfortable, wonderful dream. The warden gave a little wave and swiped her finger over the table. “Good luck, Rachel. Your new life will begin in three…two…one…”
I tried to stay awake, but the bright blue light surrounded us and my head was suddenly too heavy to hold up.
The wall made a soft scraping noise as large panels shifted, closing us in like rats in a cage. For a split second, all I could think about was the scientific reality of transport, of my body being torn into billions of chunks of data and somehow streamed hundreds of billions of miles away, across the universe, to some strange planet I’d never seen.
Assuming all of those billions of tiny pieces of me were reassembled in one piece, I’d still never see Earth again. I’d never again put on my white lab coat or drive my car. Or smell a rose. Or watch snow fall in the mountains. Or hold a puppy. Stupid things. Little things. But losing them all together, in one big clump, hurt.
I wasn’t ready for this. If I’d volunteered for the Brides Program, or planned to accept a match, I could have figured all this shit out before I had to give it up. In the rush, I felt like something was being stolen from me. Like the millions of little things that made me who I was were being taken away. And I had no choice.
Yes, I had two hunky aliens who vowed to protect me, but somehow, I wasn’t quite sure that was going to be enough. The thought of never sleeping in my own bed again had tears streaming from the corners of my eyes. Stupid, but there you go. I couldn’t get them to stop.
A little whimper escaped before I could control myself, but Maxim’s voice found its way inside me, calming me.
“You are mine, Rachel. I won’t allow any harm to come to you.”
The vow sank into my head and heart as I felt the vehemence of the words flow through Maxim’s body. He meant what he said.
He was mine. All mine. This giant, powerful, fierce warrior was devoted to me and only me. Like, die-for-me devotion.
It wasn’t a new life, but it was a start.
And damn it that didn’t make it a little too easy to trust him and surrender to the darkness that rose to take me.
Chapter Five
Rachel
Head spinning, I woke lying in some kind of medical station. The room was sparse, to say the least. My mates stood beside me, one at each shoulder as a third Prillon wearing a dark green uniform stood near my feet.
I blinked and my mates leaned down. “Am I on Earth?”
I knew the answer, but it was almost too unreal to assume otherwise.
“No, you are on the Colony,” Maxim said, tucking something around me. “Your processing was successful and we transported directly to the medical unit so the doctor can ensure you are well. Two transports in one day can be taxing, and you are so small and fragile.”
Small? Fragile? I was above average in every way, height, weight, cup-size and attitude, and I’d worked fourteen hours a day, every day, for the last four years. I’d worked two jobs through grad school. Just because I didn’t want to be murdered in jail didn’t mean I was fragile. Or weak.
I looked down, noticing the soft gray blanket. I was naked beneath as I could feel the chill of the exam table. The idea of being bare while they were clothed held appeal, but not like this. Not with the stern doctor. This wasn’t hot at all.
“Yes. I will assess her now.”
The doctor was Prillon as well, his coloring a shade between Maxim and Ryston. I was recognizing their physical traits, their size. Their dominating personalities. That was all fine and good with my mates. I could sense their emotions. I could forgive them being a bit bossy and overbearing when I felt the desire and longing that accompanied their words and actions. But the doctor? No.
Pushing up first on my elbows, then up to a sitting position, I took in the doctor as I wrapped the blanket around my back. Seeing my struggle, Ryston assisted in covering me, his gaze flicking once to the doctor. He wore a dark green uniform, more like scrubs than armor. His coloring was golden, more like Ryston than Maxim, but darker. Like honey mixed with a dash of cinnamon. I couldn’t see all of his body, but his left hand was strangely silver, just like Ryston’s temple. That was the only thing I could see that was cyborg. Maybe he had more under that shirt, but I didn’t care to see it. The only aliens I was interested in seeing naked were mine.
The doctor held a strange instrument in each of his hands, lifted one and waved it before me. Lights glowed on the cylindrical tube and he studied them.
“What does your magic wand do, doctor? Can it detect vascular changes, blood oxygen levels? Just the usual vitals?” I asked. “Of course, I don’t know what you guys consider vital.”
He arched one brow.
“This tool analyzes everything from your capillary refill to your kidney function. If there is an abnormality, it will inform me. Then I will perform secondary testing.”
A reasonable answer. As he continued to wave that stick around, Maxim and Ryston eyed me as if I might either leap off the table and run away or possibly implode from transport. I could sense their worry, but didn’t understand the cause. Was I missing something? I looked down at myself. What had been part of the transport processing? What about me had to be modified to live on the colony? To be a Prillon bride? Lifting my hand to my face, I felt to see if I had a metal implant in my eye.
“Are you hurt?” Maxim asked. The doctor lifted the wand to my face.
I shook my head. “No. I just wondered…wondered what had been done to me before transport. Did I get some silver stuff, too?”
“No. Absolutely not. No Hive implant will ever taint your perfect flesh. I assure you. We will keep you safe from the Hive, from any harm that may come to you.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “Greetings. I am Doctor Surnen.”
“Doctor.” It wasn’t, perhaps, what I was supposed to say, but sitting there naked with three aliens was making me a bit edgy.
The doctor continued with his weird scanning thing as he spoke. “A typical Prillon bride receives body regulatory implants and a full health assessment prior to arrival.”
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