“My time is yours,” Rymingten said.
“True.” Holding a palm up to the others, she kept them in their places as she directed Rymingten a short distance away to a vacant area between two tents.
He waited to see what this spell-wielding queen designed for him now.
With her back to him, she began, “Your display earlier was quite impressive.”
“Thank you.” He folded his arms over his chest and stood with his legs wide, ready for anything. No matter what she had done to him in the past, it was not in him to cower to anyone. “I will be honest. My aim was not to impress, but to succeed.”
She glanced at him over a shoulder, a twinkle reflecting in her eyes. “I’m sure.” She faced him fully but kept her hands behind her back. “You had the advantage…could have won. Why didn’t you? A simple raising of the hand would have called the exhibition in your favor.”
Space rat shit! Leave it to this perceptive queen to dig into the one thing he didn’t want to discuss.
“I guess the princess was just a little more cunning than I. She claimed the upper hand…” he shrugged. Her daughter had won, why this was even a conversation was beyond him. Wasn’t the outcome what every inhabitant on this damn planet wanted?
“Hm.” The queen held his gaze with her intense eyes that appeared clear—colorless.
The lack of color reminded him of the great Crystal Lake on his planet. Her discerning stare made him more nervous than he would have cared to admit, even to himself.
“I’m going to offer you something that I normally don’t.”
He lifted an eyebrow, she had piqued his interest. “That is?”
“A boon.”
His chest tightened and a cool sensation rushed along his body. He lowered his arms. “That’s not possible. I didn’t win the match.”
Was she just playing with my emotions?
“No, you did not and the truth behind that reason is a lot more interesting to me.”
Double shit. He tossed up a prayer that the Argona queen would not ask for more details of that moment in the arena. He kept his silence.
“You, Kitcy warrior, are more formidable than I think anyone, even me, had anticipated. I’ve already set plans in motion to discuss such matters with my council.”
“Is this why you are granting me my boon?”
She continued to give him direct eye contact but didn’t answer. “You have it, why is it of concern to you?”
He didn’t agree, but held his peace because he was going to get to go home. He would have anticipated feeling relief and nothing but joy at having this planet and all he’d endured at his back, but he couldn’t dredge up that emotion. Frustrated at himself, he said, “I appreciate your generosity. I’d like to return to my planet. I have dishonored my King in not fulfilling a marriage he arranged. It is imperative I make my apologies. Please offer my regrets to your daughter.”
Tilting her head, her gaze darkened, turned hard. “You have misunderstood my offer. Not only that but you gave your word to join with Krysteena.” It was the queen’s turn to cross her arms. “Are you telling me that Kitcy males are not honorable?”
His brows tightened and heat fused through his body. No one, not even a majji queen would stand before him and slander the Kitcy integrity. “We have never had any reason to have anything less than pride in our honor.” He couldn’t help the growl reverberating through his words.
“Then show it,” she declared, lifting her chin.
With tight lips he raised his chin as well. Evidently, he was still nothing more than a pawn in this queen’s games.
“Your boon will be granted after joining and festival.” She raised a hand, as if she expected him to say something.
He didn’t.
“I don’t take the importance of your requested trip lightly, Rymingten. However, it won’t be a permanent return.” She placed her hand on his shoulder and once again those eyes of hers went clear.
Unsure of what her touch allowed her to pick up on, or whether it possibly allowed her to read his mind, he kept his thoughts and plans of what he would do once home at bay. “I understand,” was his simple reply.
Removing her hand, she gave a sharp nod. “Very good.” She moved past him and headed back toward her mate and entourage.
Rymingten watched as her mate moved up beside her and offered his arm as everyone else fell in step behind her.
When he came out from between the tents, Dorth rushed toward him. “You must be some kind of special male if the queen favored you with a personal visit. An honor. An honor, truly.” The small male rambled on in excitement as he waved Rymingten on. “We must hurry. You don’t wish to bring shame to Princess Krysteena by being late to the ceremony.”
“Oh, never that.” Especially since getting the joining done and over with meant the sooner he would be able to board a vessel and head home. He lengthened his strides, making Dorth’s shorter legs triple time in steps to keep up.
A few moments later, he and Dorth arrived at a large plain wooden structure. It was unadorned with a double-panel entrance.
Reaching his hand out to slide the panel open, Rymingten was halted by Dorth’s small hand covering his own.
“Wait.”
He glanced down at the blue male. “What is it, Dorth?”
“Dimu people believe that a joining is a special event.”
“Even when one is being forced into it?”
Dorth waved the question away. “No matter. The galaxy gods plan and orchestrate it all.”
Rymingten didn’t fully agree with the other male, but he kept his doubts to himself. “You tell me this because?”
“Because I would like to offer you words not to war against the will of the gods, but receive the blessing of the gift. May your joining be strong and produce many offspring.”
“If I don’t get inside none of that is going to happen.”
Dorth chuckled. “Very true.”
Rymingten shoved the panel open, took one step in and came to a halt.
Krysteena stood with an Argona female dressed in a long thick chiton and a long white sash draped across both her hands. However, Rymingten only had eyes for his intended. Krysteena’s appearance took his breath away.
She wasn’t dressed in her normal planet apparel. Like himself, she was adorned in all onyx. But it wasn’t the color that gave him pause. No, her dark hair was loose and hanging in thick waves around her shoulders and down her back. Even with her head bowed, the urge to run his fingers through it was overwhelming. Images of it draped over him as he thrust deep inside of her assailed his mind and caused a warm shiver to heat his gut. Her hair wasn’t the only thing that drew his attention. Normally, the Argona clothing kept everything covered of the women from the collarbone down to their thighs, but the top Krysteena wore now had tiny straps and revealed the upper swell of her breasts while it clung to her upper body like a second skin.
Unlike the traditional chiton, which he assumed was meant to detract from their female sexuality, this ‘joining’ costume did the opposite. The lower part of her body was covered by a swath of silky material that wrapped around her hips and thighs cascading to the floor. All the intricate layers made him want to find the lead piece and unravel her…see all her secrets that lay beneath it. Seeing Krysteena before him made him consider delaying his boon request, maybe just one day. If things worked how he wanted them to, it was possible he would never be seeing his joined mate again.
His chest ached with that thought.
“Rymingten, please come forward.” The woman in white encouraged him.
Drawn out of his daze, he realized he must have been standing there by the entrance for some time as he ogled his intended. Glancing around as he progressed forward, he noticed there were multicolored flowers scattered all over the floor filling the place with a fragrant sweet scent. It just made him long more to smell Krysteena’s beguiling aroma he’d chased while they were on Earth.
The queen and ot
her females in attendance were all seated on pillows on the floor folded up in some weird position. There were males fitted close behind each woman. He assumed they were their mates as intimately as they sat with the males’ chests to their backs and their hands joined over each females’ abdomen. The females’ eyes were closed as if they were in some sort of trance or meditative state. Other guests, not Argonian, stood around the outer wall observing.
“I am Synthia, the joining majji, keeper of the vows between every Argona female and her mate. Today I will seal…”
Rymingten heard the woman speaking to him, but as he arrived Krysteena lifted her head and gazed at him with a small smile on her full lips. His heat went up twenty degrees and he could care less about the words the joining majji spouted. It confounded him how even when he wasn’t touching her his body still reacted so intensely to her. He’d have to work hard at keeping himself in check. Otherwise for the time they had together he would be a slave to his lust for her. His cat wasn’t any help—all he wanted to do was mark Krysteena with his scent, claim her as his own.
Krysteena’s smile became wider and her gainsboro gaze lit up with humor.
Seeing that made him aware that it was possible he’d missed something important.
Turning his head to the right he stared at the woman that would join them. With her head tilted to the side she stared at him as if he wasn’t in control of his mental faculties. The truth of it was that Synthia was probably right. Around Krysteena his mind was stardust.
“Your pardon, Synthia. Can you repeat what you said?”
“Yes. Wash your hands in the bowl.” Synthia nodded behind him.
Rymingten didn’t even know at what point the Dimu female had come up behind Krysteena. Turning he saw Dorth, his escort, holding a bowl filled with a red-hued liquid. There were red petals floating in the water and he assumed they were responsible for the tint. He dipped his hands into the water and rubbed to cleanse them. When he pulled them out, he noticed his hands had taken on the dye as the moisture seemed to evaporate quickly.
“Face one another again.”
Following the majji’s instructions, Rymingten faced Krysteena.
“Link your hands together.”
Krysteena moved up a step and held her palms up between them, showing off the red color that matched his.
He closed the gap, placed his hands against hers and felt her lace her fingers with his.
Synthia walked the few steps to them with the sash and began wrapping it and looping it around and between their hands. The sash bound the fingers of each of their hands tightly together.
He realized that the snug fit caused him to feel not only the throb of his own blood flow now trapped from the bindings, but the thump, thump, thump of Krysteena’s pulse as well. The longer they stood there, the more in sync it seemed their heart rates became, as if one.
“Stronger than a cord, tighter than a rope…nothing shall break this bond. Stronger than a cord, tighter than a rope…nothing shall break this bond.”
Rymingten heard the low chant of the queen and the other Argona females around them. Over and over they continued the phrase until their voices rose to a crescendo that seemed to cause the room to vibrate. Even their heartbeats began to match up with the rhythm of their words.
Was a spell being cast on them? Rymingten’s heart skipped a beat, as he wondered how he could stop this act, break whatever bond was being invoked on him and Krysteena. However, even as his mind struggled, his body fell in line, once again his pulse returning to that of his mate and the majjis’ tempo.
Krysteena’s gainsboro gaze held his. He would have expected that they would have taken on some strange glow, showing she was performing some bondage trick on him, but they remained clear, bright as if filled with hope.
For us? His chest filled with pride even as he tried to keep himself neutral to what was happening around him, to him.
“Rymingten, do you promise to care for and honor and guard Krysteena with your life?” Synthia asked as the females fell silent around them.
“I promise.” The words tumbled out of his mouth—he didn’t even consider not giving his word, something had happened to him in this place.
Synthia spoke to Krysteena next. “Do you promise to give him the security of your dwelling, protect him and guide him in the Argona way and receive his seed for the growth of planet?”
“I promise,” Krysteena declared without hesitation.
Coming to them again, Synthia removed the sash that held them. “Adorn your mate with his union ring.”
The same small woman came behind Krysteena again. This time in her hand she held a flat box. Krysteena opened it and removed something from within. Turning back to him, she held a golden half circle in each hand.
His hands rested at his sides as she approached him, her hips swaying seductively. It was hard for him to concentrate on what she held or what her plans were with it with her oozing such sensuality. He wanted to lead her to a close private room and do all sorts of things to her body and join with her in the literal sense of the word.
He wasn’t expecting the kiss. Not after how she fought him when he’d kissed her in the arena. The female pressing her soft lips to his now was different, pliant. She licked a slow path along the inside seam of his lips with the tip of her tongue.
Not caring who watched, Rymingten parted his lips and captured her teasing tongue, drawing her in and deepening the kiss. Lost in the taste of her, he cupped her hips and brought her forward, pressing their bodies together.
Two things happened at the same time. One caused his cock to stretch, but the other sent a cold chill along his spine.
Krysteena moaned as she secured the tight bands of a choker around his neck.
Immediately he pulled away from her.
“What in the meteor dog fuck—”
Clutching his shoulders hard, Krysteena pulled him to her, her lips brushing the shell of his ear. “Do not embarrass me before my people. Hold your concerns until we reach our dwelling.”
He stepped back and stared at her. He understood what it meant to have the pride of your people and he held his tongue, sinking his teeth deep into his flesh to retrain himself. For the time being. However, the female he was joined to now appeared more foreign and strange to him than she had on the day she’d abducted him. How did she assume she could collar him like a pet?
His cat rebelled and roared within him. Reaching up, he touched the metal snug around his neck and felt not only its strength but the power that caused a low vibration to it. He didn’t have to be told that it was held together by some spell. At that moment he wanted to be far away from this barbaric planet.
“I pronounce this joining down and sealed before witnesses and the galaxy gods.”
No! The word exploded in his head. He didn’t care that he had given his word to this archaic sorcerer queen, a female that ruled her planet where males were nothing but possessions. He wanted to back out of this situation, not caring how much he desired his mate. However, he knew he was well and trapped.
Everyone rose to their feet and began to clap and call out best wishes as Krysteena took hold of his hand and led him back down the path he’d taken to his doom.
It was at that moment that he really took notice of the males that stood beside the Argona females and saw they all wore collars of various designs, but all in gold—all prisoners of their mates.
When he and Krysteena breeched the panel that led them outside, he tugged her hand prepared to lead her off. “Krys, we must talk.”
She pulled back. “Not now. It is expected of us to celebrate.”
Sure enough, even as she said the words a throng of people began cheering and passing them refreshments and the music of the festival began to play louder.
Dancers filtered out of the crowd in bright flowing chitons that drew Krysteena into a circle as they tossed flowers at her. His mate’s face lit up with joy of the honor as she began moving along with the ladies in
a dance Rymingten could only think of as sexual and bewitching.
Her gaze on him, Krysteena circled and swiveled her hips left to right as she waved her arms in slow fluid movements over her head. Her dance was sultry and there was a smile on her face as she led him with the throng through the festival. Rym wasn’t sure if she was actually truly happy about the joining and enjoying herself or if she was just putting on a face for her people.
If she was playing a part then he would do the same, until he could get her alone and talk to her.
“Blessing on your wedding.”
Rym glanced briefly away from Krysteena and saw that Queen Eyleen’s mate was now walking beside him. This close, he could see the resemblance in features his daughter had inherited. Her gainsboro eye color and narrow nose were from her father.
“Thank you.” Rym tried not to allow any hesitation in his voice as he spoke with the man.
“I’m Pryde, a Zenlenthe warrior and father of your mate.” The male’s voice rang with just as much pride as his name indicated.
“Yes, I realized that.” Rym sipped his beverage as he thought about what he knew of the planet that Pryde was from. He broached another subject. “I wouldn’t think that we, imprisoned males, would be able to converse with one another.”
The other male arched a single brow high and gave him a hard look. “As a mate you are not a prisoner here. You now have the freedom to move about the planet whenever you desire.”
But not to leave the planet.
“I know the Argona way is not conventional when you think of how they choose to acquire their mates. However, you will come to realize these women are just as smart and passionate as they are strong. They care deeply for what is theirs and those under their protection.”
Rym glanced back toward Krysteena seeing her sample some kind of purple fruit from a vendor. She truly seemed to be enjoying herself. Her joy would have been infectious if he didn’t have so much doubt and anger weighing on his mind. “I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself.” He lifted a hand and touched the collar. “Well, I was.” Now he felt more neutered than he did on Earth as a sterile house cat.
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