by Presley Hall
Consumed
Fated Mates of the Kalixian Warriors #6
Presley Hall
Copyright © 2020 by Presley Hall
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Fated Mates of the Kalixian Warriors Series
Claimed - Book 1
Stolen - Book 2
Rescued - Book 3
Bound - Book 4
Broken - Book 5
Consumed - Book 6
Damaged - Book 7
NOTE: Each book in this series can be read as a standalone, but for maximum enjoyment, it’s recommended that you read the series in order.
Voxeran Fated Mates Series
Her Alien Prince - Book 1
Her Alien Savior - Book 2
Her Alien Beast - Book 3
TBA - Book 4
TBA - Book 5
NOTE: Each book in this series can be read as a standalone, but for maximum enjoyment, it’s recommended that you read the series in order.
Contents
1. Lucy
2. Tycran
3. Lucy
4. Tycran
5. Lucy
6. Tycran
7. Lucy
8. Tycran
9. Lucy
10. Lucy
11. Tycran
12. Lucy
13. Lucy
14. Tycran
15. Lucy
16. Tycran
17. Lucy
18. Tycran
19. Lucy
20. Tycran
21. Lucy
22. Tycran
23. Lucy
24. Tycran
25. Lucy
26. Tycran
27. Lucy
28. Tycran
29. Lucy
Epilogue
Also by Presley Hall
1
Lucy
“All right, ladies,” I call out, clapping my hands together. “Let’s start one at a time with foundation moves, and then we’ll put together a little bit of choreography!”
The high, spin-instructor-y tone of my voice makes me cringe a little, but I can’t help it. I’ve spent too much of my life in fitness classes when I wasn’t working at the club back on Earth.
I never thought I’d be teaching any kind of fitness class, let alone a pole-dancing class. But here on Kalix, strip clubs aren’t exactly a thing, so the next best option was setting up a pole class for the other women from Earth. Ever since the Kalixian warriors rescued us from the disgusting Orkun warlords who abducted us, we’ve all been doing our best to settle in on this planet and make a home for ourselves here.
The pole dancing class gives everyone something fun to do, and it helps keep me from getting rusty. I spent years developing my dancing skills at the clubs I worked at in Vegas, and it’s something I genuinely love doing.
“Who’s up first?” I survey the assembled women. Of the nearly two dozen who were rescued from the Orkun, ten showed up for my class today, which I consider a great start. “Cora? How about you?”
The petite woman with blue-green eyes tucks a strand of wavy hair behind her ear, glancing around as if maybe I’m addressing a different Cora. I grin encouragingly, gesturing her forward.
“All right.” She stands up and takes a breath before grabbing the pole and beginning the sequence of basic moves I’ve been teaching everyone.
I was a little on the fence about whether setting up a class like this would actually work, but Autumn convinced Sorsir to talk to the Kalixian in charge of the building all of us single ladies live in, and he let us rig up a pole and studio area in the basement.
Considering Sorsir met Autumn at a club in Monri, it wasn’t hard at all for her to convince him. I still laugh when I think of how quickly he agreed.
I know most of the women here miss very little, if anything at all, about their lives on Earth. And those who do have something to miss have found enough to replace it that they don’t want to go back.
And I don’t either, exactly. In the time that we’ve been here, I’ve come to enjoy Jocia, the capital city of Kalix, even if it’s far from the metropolitan area that I’m used to. The Kalixians view it as a bustling metropolis, but they’ve definitely never been to Vegas.
Cora finishes the last foundational move in the sequence, and I nod approvingly. “That’s great! You’re transitioning really smoothly from one position to the next, using your core to help stabilize you. You’re a natural.”
She grins, flushed with pride and exertion as she steps away from the pole.
“I can’t wait until I can join in,” Rose says with a laugh, settling back in her chair with her hand on her belly, which is becoming more rounded by the day. She looks at my flat stomach enviously. “I miss having a figure like that.”
Autumn helped us scrounge together some clothes that the women could dance in. There are no yoga pants or sports bras to be had here on Kalix, but we fashioned some stretchy material into bandeau bras, cut some skirts very short and made a slit up the side all the way to the waistband, and voila, we managed to come up with a reasonable facsimile of something you’d dance in at a club.
“I miss not feeling sore,” I tell her with a laugh, touching my abdomen. I can’t do half of what I used to, and it’s clear from how sore I am after yesterday’s class that my muscles aren’t in the shape they were before. It feels good to get back into the familiar motions, and I want to stay active and find a place for myself here. Rose, Harper, Autumn, and Emma have all found theirs, and while I don’t want a mate, I would like to have a purpose.
I’m not going back, I know that much. Even if King Khrelan found some means of sending us all safely back to Earth—and none of the other women have expressed an interest, so I know he hasn’t looked into it—and even if I wanted to leave the friends I’ve made here behind in order to have a shot at my old life, it isn’t safe for me to return.
I was one of the top-earning strippers at one of the biggest and most popular clubs in Vegas, and one of the nicest ones too. It was luxurious, everything about it designed to look like a high-class cabaret instead of your local neighborhood strip joint. But the owner of the club, Larry, got into some bad gambling debts with the kind of men you didn’t want to cross in Vegas, and he was desperate for money.
Knowing what I know now about the Orkun warlords making deals with humans to abduct women, my best guess is that my former boss started selling us to them. I wasn’t the first dancer to go missing, but it was spaced out just enough that there were reasonable explanations for it. One girl supposedly got pregnant, one moved back home to take care of a sick grandmother, and one was fired.
Except now, of course, I don’t believe any of those excuses that we were given for their sudden absence.
On the day I was abducted, Larry asked me to run an errand for him. He sent me down to a sketchy pawn shop near Fremont Street with a couple of watches, promising me a ten percent cut of the money from the sale if I took care of it for him.
Looking back, I know it wa
sn’t a smart thing to do. But I’d worked for him for years, and I thought that even though he could be a bit of a sleaze, we had a good business relationship. I made him a lot of money. Why wouldn’t he look out for me?
Clearly, I didn’t make him as much money as the Orkun were willing to pay.
I miss my home sometimes. I grew up in a suburb outside of Las Vegas and moved into the city after my mother—who raised me alone—died of liver cancer, having drunk up all of my college savings. I spent my childhood with those glittering lights outside my bedroom window, and I dove headfirst into the Vegas life as a starry-eyed eighteen-year-old.
But even though there have been some adjustments, I’ve done all right here on Kalix. I’ve even made a close friend in Emma, something I haven’t had since high school, and I’ve grown closer to the other women too.
The lack of competition between us makes it easier to form friendships than it was at the club—we aren’t fighting over tips, or schedule slots, or even men. The Kalixian mate bond means that there isn’t really any need to compete if you’re hoping to find a mate, because the bond will make sure you’re chosen by your perfect match.
And for someone more like me, who’s solely interested in a fling? Well, the whole planet is populated almost entirely by men, most of whom haven’t seen a female in over a decade. It wouldn’t exactly be hard to find an interested one, especially if, unlike me, you weren’t committed to holding out for one of the Alpha Force men.
And one in particular, I think, then push the thought away just as quickly.
Of course I’ve managed to set my sights on the one warrior who doesn’t seem to have the slightest interest in any female, of any species, anywhere.
“This is an insane workout,” Harper says with a laugh when she finishes the short routine that I put together for the women to practice today. “I used to do yoga and spin, but that’s got nothing on this.”
“You should try an MMA class sometime.” Jade smirks from where she’s sitting on the floor, cross-legged.
“Come on, Jade, you give it a try,” I urge, gesturing toward the now empty pole. “You’ll be good at it. You’ve already got a ton of muscle, and I promise that’s the hardest part—getting strong enough to be able to lift yourself and move around it.”
“I’ll do it if Emma does,” Jade replies with a laugh.
Emma, as I expected, flushes bright red. “Um, I don’t know…”
“Come on, it’ll be fun. It’s just us ladies here, no pressure. No one is going to put you on stage in… wait, do they even have clubs like that here?” Jade asks.
“No, they do not.” Emma tucks a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, her face still flaming.
“I bet Khrelan would love it.” Jade grins, her green eyes twinkling. “He’s so serious and nerdy. Those guys go nuts for this kind of thing.”
“Did you just call the king of an entire planet nerdy?” Emma gapes at her.
Jade shrugs. “I mean… he’s perfect for you. Quiet, studious, diplomatic. But I bet he’d implode if you started stripping for him.”
“Fine.” Emma stands up, a small smile working its way onto her face. “But you have no idea what Khrelan is like in the bedroom.”
“If he’s anything like Brele…”
“Oh god, I don’t want to hear about my brother-in-law.” Emma laughs, wrinkling her nose and shaking her head vigorously. Listening to their teasing banter, it’s easy to forget that Emma is also queen of an entire planet. She’s never let it go to her head, although I know she takes the role seriously. She tugs at her short skirt a little before pointing at Jade. “I’ll get on the pole. But you’re next, I swear.”
A small flutter of envy fills me as I listen to them banter about how their men are in bed. It’s been… a long time for me in that department.
I’ve always been a more casual fling kind of girl, and when you’re tall, slim with just enough curves, blonde, and blue-eyed, it’s not hard at all to pick up a guy for the night in Vegas… and some incredibly hot ones too. I’ve hooked up with models, other strippers, Cirque du Soleil dancers, even a pretty well-known actor or two. But I have never in my entire life seen any man as gorgeous as the Kalixian warriors who rescued us on that Orkun ship.
Emma finishes her routine, showing off her curves well as she performs the last move. All the other women cheer for her, and I clap along with them.
“Your turn, Jade!” she calls out, waggling her eyebrows. “Let’s see your moves.”
Jade dusts off her hands as she walks over to the pole, eyeing the thing with a determined gleam in her green eyes. She is muscular, every bit as fit as any of the female MMA fighters I ever saw in Vegas. I’m a little envious of it, honestly.
“You’re really good at this,” I tell her as the class wraps up half an hour later, and it’s true. She took to it more quickly than any of the other girls who were new to it did. “You should come back for the next class.”
“I think I will.” She grins, pulling her long hair back and securing it with a strip of leather. “You should come spar with me sometime. And I’m going to find a way to train with weights here if it kills me.”
I chuckle. “Miss picking heavy stuff up and putting it back down, huh?”
“Exactly.” She laughs. “But the dancing is fun. Thanks for doing this.”
“It’s my pleasure.” I honestly mean it. I never thought I’d enjoy teaching, but this has been really good for me.
The large room begins to empty out, with several of the women waving or calling out their thanks before heading back upstairs to the pods we each live in—small, apartment-like units that are nicer than any of the places I ever rented back on Earth.
Rose gets to her feet, draping her braided hair over one shoulder as she approaches the small group of us left in the room. “Since we’re wrapping up here, would you ladies like to come with me to the training ring? You too, Lucy. I’m supposed to meet Tordax there. He’s training with the other warriors this morning.”
Emma can’t, since she has a meeting back at the palace, and Harper has errands of her own, but Jade, Autumn, and Rachel readily agree.
“I’d love to go,” I tell Rose. “Thanks.”
I’m always happy to watch the men train. I’ve been saying since day one that I’ve got no problem appreciating the gorgeousness of the Kalixians—and the Alpha Force men in particular.
And although I’m not saying it out loud, there’s one in particular that I’m hoping will be there.
Tycran.
2
Tycran
After two hours in the arena, there’s so much dust stirred up that it’s a little hard to breathe if you’re facing the direction the breeze is coming from. But I hardly notice.
All of my focus is on the warriors paired up in a circle around me. They’re the youngest of the Alpha Force, including two newer recruits who are still learning the basics. Tordax has put me in charge of analyzing their moves, looking for any weakness or poor technique, and he’s also given me the task of correcting it.
If there’s one singular thing that makes Tordax a good commander, it’s his ability to leverage what is unique about each of his warriors and put it to good use. He’s done no less with me. Some of the other warriors—Sorsir in particular—have a tendency to tease me about what they call my “machine-like focus,” but I ignore it, however good-natured, just like I do anything else that I consider a distraction.
I fight the same way I live my life, without a wasted move or breath, with complete and total focus, in pursuit of a singular goal.
Every waking and sleeping moment is focused on that one thing, and I don’t allow myself the pleasure of distractions of any kind. Many of the other warriors enjoy letting loose, particularly when we’re off-world—indulging in drinking, gambling, or the attention of females. Even the more disciplined ones, like Tordax and Malav, have allowed themselves the pleasures of home and family, of mates and offspring to come.
It’s g
ood, of course, that with the arrival of the Terran women, the Kalixian race has a future again. And I don’t begrudge the other men their revelry. But I refuse to allow myself to be sidetracked.
In the old days, there were men who devoted themselves to the worship of the gods, who stayed in temples, refusing themselves any sensual pleasure, whether it be women or drink or lavish food. That kind of ascetic lifestyle wouldn’t have appealed to me as a younger man, but now, after all that’s happened, I understand that sort of monk-like devotion.
And in the aftermath of the Orkun destruction, I’ve chosen to apply it to myself as well. Except, instead of devotion to the gods, I’ve devoted myself to war. To vengeance.
To the destruction of the Orkun, for good.
As I survey the practicing warriors, watching each in turn for a few minutes, I notice sloppy technique on M’Xelni’s part. He’s younger and less seasoned, so his fighting skills are less well honed. He has a tendency to leave an opening at his flank, not guarding it well, and an opponent could easily take advantage of that.
“Let me step in,” I tell his sparring partner calmly. “Vrexen, you can step out of the circle and go through some solo drills while I walk through this with M’Xelni.”
Vrexen gives me a nod, sweat and dust clinging to his bronze skin as he steps aside to allow me to take his place.
