Kenan's Mate: A Dark Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Kleaxian Warriors Book 1)

by Sue Lyndon

  All the vibrant colors of the forest fade to black and gray.

  Covering my face as my sobs deepen, I don’t think I’ll ever laugh again, let alone smile. I’m going to lose Heggal, and Kenan is going to beat me. The image of the woman covered in bruises and with thin red welts from the town flashes in my conscious, as well as the picture of Katrina lying unconscious on the bed, her eyes swollen shut and the sheets stained red. Will he flog me bloody? Use his fists?

  I jump when a hand closes over my shoulder. It’s Kenan, and he’s panting. Whatever he did to Heggal caused him to expend a great deal of energy. I send up a prayer for my gentle friend who didn’t deserve the violence visited upon him.

  “Where’s Heggal? What have you done with him?”

  He yanks me up by my hair and his lips brush across my ear. “Heggal’s condition is the least of your worries, little human. You not only disobeyed an order, but you lied to me.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with speaking to a servant!” I scream. “He’s been kind to me. He’s showed me things. He showed me what happened after the attack on the Stargazer, when you carried me to a medical tent. He showed me how anxious you were over whether or not I’d live!”

  The hand in my hair clenches, making my scalp burn. “Heggal wasn’t there. Anything he showed you could have been made up. His kind are great deceivers. It’s why they were conquered long ago and sold into slavery.”

  “You threatened to kill the doctor if he didn’t save me! I saw it in my mind. Did that not really happen?”

  He jerks my face toward his. His skin is dark-red and splotchy. I’ve never seen it this shade before.

  “Yes,” he says, in a strangely quiet tone. “It did really happen. However, he wasn’t there to witness it with his own eyes. To possess that memory, he slid his mind into someone else’s. Someone else who was there that day. Probably one of my soldiers. He must have briefly touched the soldier who flew the hovercraft up the mountain after the attack. The man came inside for a while. But it’s no matter. I will send Heggal far away after he wakes up.”

  His words make my blood run cold. “After he wakes up? My God, Kenan, what did you do?”

  He doesn’t answer, but he finally releases me. I rub the back of my head, my scalp still screaming in pain. “Walk upstairs to our bedroom and strip off your dress. Kneel on the floor and await my arrival.”

  “Kenan, please. I only lied to you now because Heggal is my friend, and he said if you found out we communicated you would send him to serve your relatives on a faraway mountain. Don’t send him away, please.”

  “I should have beaten you harder that first time you disobeyed me, Laylah.” A cold darkness enters his livid gaze. “If I had beaten you harder, we wouldn’t be standing here having this conversation, and you wouldn’t have dared to lie to me.”

  I shudder and try to retreat, but my legs are too weak to manage a single step. I know he’s seeing the ghost of his dead mate in my disobedience. He’s thinking if he doesn’t punish me badly, as severely as he should’ve punished her for taking unchaperoned walks in a forest full of bears and wildcats, I will one day meet a similar fate to Ellonia’s.

  His fists clench at his sides and for a moment I think he’s going to knock me to the ground. But he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When his eyes open, he says, “Go to the bedroom now, Laylah. If I must ask again, I can’t promise I won’t drag you upstairs by your hair.”

  I don’t remember walking to our bedroom, but I soon find myself standing in the middle of the room, divested of my dress. I’m in a nervous trance. I don’t want to accept this is my reality and I’m about to endure a terrible beating from Kenan. Hot tears stream down my face. If he makes me bleed, or covers me in bruises, or sends Heggal away, I’ll never forgive him. My world will remain forever dark.

  Sorrow envelopes me so thickly each breath becomes a struggle. I feel like the woman in the calling song, though I’m mourning the loss of the mate I thought I had, rather than a death. All the happiness I’ve found on Tallia with Kenan has come to an end. The rest of my life will be cloaked in misery.

  The echo of footsteps coming up the stairs sends me scrambling to the floor. I kneel and wait in horrible anticipation. Each heavy footfall makes me flinch. When the door slides open, I don’t dare look up.

  Kenan’s strong presence fills the room. His boots pause in my vision, and my gaze travels up far enough to glimpse the implement he’s holding. I expected a long whip, but it’s short and looks flexible. Like a riding crop. I gulp.

  Tension radiates from Kenan as he looms above me. I hear a clinking sound and, finally, I look up. Gleaming silver manacles hang from the ceiling. Our eyes meet, and my heart sinks at the firm look of resolution he’s wearing.

  He isn’t going to change his mind, no matter how much I plead or fight. I might not be able to fight him—given his size and strength, what’s the point?—but I can still beg for leniency. I cling to a final thread of hope he will realize what he’s doing is wrong.

  “Kenan, I beg you, please just spank me. I know I disobeyed you, and lied to you, but I’m so very sorry. Please don’t whip me with that.” I sound weepy and pathetic, but I feel even worse. My heart teeters on the edge of deep canyon, and if he locks the manacles around my wrists and takes the crop to my back, it’ll fall into the gorge and shatter into a thousand pieces.

  “Heggal probably knows everything about you there is to know. All your secrets, all your happiness, and all your sorrows. A Kleaxian female would never dare touch a Ghessan, and I thought I’d made my orders clear enough the first time. I’m your mate, and I expect you to obey me when given a rule. That rule was given to protect you. I don’t want a Ghessan snooping around in your mind. If he has sinister plans, and, yes, a long time ago Ghessans tried to rebel against their Kleaxian masters, he could have gotten vital information from you, had I discussed any confidential Kleaxian matters with you. Had I known you were inclined to disobey this rule, I would have banished all Ghessans from our home.”

  “Heggal is harmless, Kenan. I swear. He has a good heart.”

  He gives a snort of derision. When I look down, he places the tip of the crop underneath my chin, forcing my gaze back to his. The implement is cool against my skin, and I shiver so hard I half-wonder if I’m going into shock.

  “Have any of the other servants communicated with you?”

  “No, they haven’t.” Time to be completely honest. “I’ve tried speaking with them all, and all but Heggal have ignored me. I swear I’m telling the truth.”

  “Stand up.” His command is sharp.

  “Don’t do this, Kenan, please. I beg you. Spank me instead.” I can hardly see through the flow of tears. “Or whip my breasts with one of your belts, please, Kenan.” I can’t believe what I’m asking for, or that I actually mean it.

  When he lifts me up and locks my wrists in the manacles above my head, one at a time, my heart teeters closer to the precipitous edge of that canyon. I have to stand on my tiptoes, the manacles hang so high from the floor.

  I’m stupid for loving Kenan. So fucking stupid. He’s a monster. He’s the big scary bad man from the movies who’s completely irredeemable, despite being occasionally charming. Monsters can be charming and beautiful. I know that now.

  No matter how hard I fight, I’ll never be the brave heroine I used to believe I was. I’ll never escape him and save the day. Saving the day would mean making it back to Earth, with all the other taken human women at my side. And that’s impossible.

  He pulls a contraption from his pocket that looks similar to the devices the doctor ran over me in the tent. Hovering it in front of my stomach, he crouches as he reads the device. When he stands up, he says, “You’re not with child right now. I didn’t think you were, since your aura should turn a darker blue if you get pregnant, but I had to make sure.”

  I suck in deep breaths and pray for a miracle, pray for Kenan to have a change of heart, an epiphany that if he goes thro
ugh with this, our relationship will be changed forever. Damaged beyond repair. There’s a flicker of regret in his eyes as he moves behind me, but before he disappears from my vision, the firm resolve returns.

  “You’ll get twenty.”

  “Are you going to make me bleed, Kenan?”

  “You didn’t fear me enough to obey me, and now I must make sure you never, ever tell a lie again, Laylah, let alone deliberately break a rule.”

  “Please,” I beg, one last time.

  He doesn’t heed my sorrowful plea, and I hear the sickening whoosh of the crop before the line of fire spreads across my back. I scream, and then the world goes black.

  Chapter Twenty

  When I awake, Heggal’s pale face is the first thing I see. He’s leaning over me and holding my hand. A dark bruise covers his left cheek, and both of his eyes are slightly swollen. I gasp and try to wrench my hand from his, but he smiles kindly and speaks in my mind.

  Be calm, child. All is well.

  I stop trying to remove my hand from his, but I don’t dare speak. I don’t want another beating. As I shift in the bed, I don’t understand why my back doesn’t hurt.

  Memories return in fragments, and I slowly place them in order. I only recall Kenan striking me once with the crop, then I must have blacked out, either from pain or from fear.

  I peer beyond the bed and catch a dark purple gaze.

  “No!” I yell, this time successfully tearing my hand from Heggal’s. Pulling the covers up to my neck, I stare at Kenan as he approaches. But rather than confident strides, his steps are slow, and he looks wary and strangely vulnerable. When he reaches the bedside, panic swells in my chest. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  “Laylah,” Kenan says in a pained voice. “Please, let Heggal touch you. He has something to show you.”

  I shudder. “But it’s against the rules.” I shake my head. What if Kenan is fucking with me to see if I’ll disobey him again? I can’t take that chance. I look to the ceiling where the manacles had hung, but they’re now gone. Retracted back into the ceiling, I suppose. That doesn’t mean Kenan can’t make them reappear and fetch his crop again.

  Kenan grabs Heggal’s hand and places it on mine. The first image flashes immediately.

  I’m in the manacles, and Kenan delivers the first strike across my back. I scream, and it leaves an angry red mark, but my skin doesn’t break. As soon as he finishes delivering that first strike, Kenan lowers his head, as if ashamed, and tosses the crop on the floor. I pass out at this exact moment.

  “Laylah!” Kenan immediately takes me out of the manacles. He carries me to the bed and inspects my back before turning me over and tucking me under the covers.

  He strides to a hidden panel on the wall and types in a code. From Heggal’s version of the vision, I sense he’s summoned a doctor. Sure enough, the doctor enters the bedroom not long after, carrying a small bag. After a quick examination, the doctor assures Kenan I’ll be fine. The mark on my back, which the doctor applied a healing salve onto, will fade overnight, possibly even sooner. He says I have no internal injuries. I simply passed out from fear.

  At the doctor’s proclamation, Kenan looks anguished as he stares down at me. He caresses my cheek for a moment, before straightening and ordering the doctor to examine Heggal in the servants’ quarters, give him any medical care he might require, and then scan his memory for signs of treachery against the Kleaxians.

  Heggal speaks in my mind.

  The doctor concluded I have no ill intentions toward you or my master, Laylah, and that is why I’ve been allowed here. Prince Kenan was rough with me as he dragged me to the servants’ quarters earlier, and, yes, he hit me a few times, but he didn’t cause any lasting harm and he sent the doctor to treat my injuries, Heggal informs me of his condition between flashes of images. I’m not in any pain now, and, with the doctor’s treatment, these bruises will fade by this evening.

  In the vision, Kenan cradles me in his arms, and a single tear rolls down his face. “Laylah, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I swear on my life I’ll never take a crop or a belt to you again. I was wrong to think you needed that much fear of me.”

  Eventually, the doctor sticks his head in the room to give the report about Heggal being innocent, other than breaking the rules and communicating with me. Kenan nods and, after the doctor departs, his look of anguish deepens. Another tear carves a path down his cheek.

  He holds me and kisses my forehead, uttering apology after apology.

  “I love you, Laylah, my sweet little human princess. I love you with all that I am, and I’m sorry I hurt you, and sorry I scared you so terribly.”

  He gives me one last kiss and lays me on the pillow, then arranges the covers over me with deliberate care, tucking them up to my neck.

  The vision fades and I blink, suddenly back in the present.

  Heggal squeezes my hand and speaks in my mind once more.

  Prince Kenan let me touch him and read his memories, so I might show you. He’s not going to hurt you, Laylah. I’ve felt his emotions and read his thoughts to know how remorseful he is for what he did. He truly does love you, and, my child, I know you love him. We’ll talk again soon.

  He smiles, drops my hand, and departs the room, leaving me alone with Kenan, who is standing a few paces from the bed.

  I exhale the long breath I didn’t realize I’ve been holding. When I meet Kenan’s eyes, he starts walking to me, only to pause mid-step. I sense the turmoil in him, and I think it must mirror my own.

  Where do we go from here?

  “If it’s all right with you, Laylah, I would like very much to touch you right now. To hold you,” he says gently. “Can-can I please touch you?”

  I’m stunned. He’s never asked permission for anything. Hope rises in my chest. I swallow past the burning in my throat and nod. “Yes, Kenan.”

  A relieved sigh leaves him, and he moves to sit next to me. First his hand closes over mine, and he brings it to his lips and places a soft kiss on my hand. His warm lips are a balm to my aching soul. I sniffle, trying to keep my tears at bay, but it’s no use. The hot flow of quietly shed tears roll down my cheeks.

  Kenan wipes them away with his thumbs. “I know this might not make it better, but I don’t think I could’ve hit you hard enough to make you bleed, Laylah. It shames me to admit this, but I wanted you to think I might. The crop is a horrible implement, though, and I know that one strike hurt badly. I promise to hurl the crop to the bottom of the Carmuit Lake.” He swallows hard. “Are you in any pain?”

  “No, I’m just very tired. I-I thought all we had was lost.”

  He shakes his head. “If anything’s been lost, little human, we will find it again. Together.” He gathers me to his chest, and the steady beating of his heart thumps against my ear like a hopeful lullaby.

  “Kenan…”

  “No, I have more to say. Please, listen. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but please listen.”

  “All right,” I murmur against his chest. Despite all that’s happened today, his arms are the sweetest refuge. Odd that I’m not recoiling from him in fear. I suppose it’s because of the images Heggal showed me. Thank God for that. If not for those images, I would probably be cowering and begging Kenan not to touch me.

  “Human women are not like Kleaxian woman. I should not have expected you to mold yourself completely to our ways, especially given I am half-human. Tomorrow I will issue a royal edict for the Dennian Mountain towns and declare it illegal for Kleaxians to beat their human females severely, mates as well as slaves. I will pass this edict along to the rest of the royal family on other mountains and continents and recommend they adopt the same laws. The worst a human female can expect is a spanking, or perhaps a few strikes with a belt. No bruises, no blood drawn, and certainly no beatings with fists.”

  Again, I’m stunned. I peer into his eyes, my heart overflowing with relief. To think all the human women I’ve been agonizing about no longer need worry abou
t enduring a severe punishment, is more than I could have ever hoped for. I smile at Kenan through my tears.

  “That’s wonderful news. Thank you.”

  “Kleaxians who are caught breaking this law will be banished from Dennian Mountain, and their mates will be placed as servants, also to be treated kindly, in a law-abiding Kleaxian’s home. I doubt a single Kleaxian will defy the edict, as the mating bond is strong and no sane male wants to be without his mate.”

  The shattered pieces of my heart reassemble at the bottom of the canyon. I cup his face and press a kiss to his warm lips. “Thank you, Kenan.” I might not be able to send anyone back to Earth, but at least the other taken human women will not have to fear horrible beatings from their mates and masters. No more bruises, no more broken skin.

  “I’ve postponed tonight’s dinner.” He tucks my hair behind my ears. “You need your rest, my love.”

  I swallow hard. “Do you really love me?”

  He looks surprised. “Yes, Laylah. With my whole heart.”

  I fall quiet for a while, then eventually say, “I haven’t told you this yet, but…I love you, too.”

  Confusion spreads over his face, and he withdraws from me slightly. “How can you say that?”

  “It’s true. I realized it some time ago.”

  “But after what I did to you…”

  Grasping his hand, I kiss it in the same fashion he kissed mine only minutes ago. “I’ve already forgiven you.” I kiss his hand again. “I do love you, Kenan. With my whole heart.”

  He’s not the monster I thought he was. He wouldn’t have carried out the full punishment he’d promised me, even if I hadn’t swooned in fright. He’d tossed the crop down before he even realized I’d passed out, unable to administer any further blows.

  “Turn over; let me check your back.”

  I move onto my stomach, and he lowers the covers. His fingers trail over my back and I feel the tension draining from his limbs.

  “The salve has worked quickly. Your back is completely unblemished.”