Rescued by the Alien Barbarian (Warriors of Warden Book 4)

by Sierra York

  She tried to tell him she was awake but it came out mumbled.

  “Oh, thank fuck.”

  Carissa had never heard him use that word. She instantly sat up. “I’ve never heard you speak like that before.” It didn’t come out as clearly as she’d have liked but the look on his face told her he understood.

  “I’m sorry. Do you not like that way I speak?”

  She giggled. “I don’t care really. It just surprised me. You don’t look gentle, but you always have been. That isn’t a gentle word.”

  Grys nodded. She noticed his eyes looked sad. She tried to sit up. He helped her and then immediately moved away from her.

  “Why don’t you want to touch me anymore?” She blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.

  Grys snapped his head up. “You don’t want me to.”

  “Whatever gave you that idea?”

  Grys stood up from the bed and began to pace along the side of it. The room was small and his large frame filled most of it. “Well, let’s see. All week you’ve not even thought about touching me. As far as I can tell you haven’t thought about me at all.” He said as he stopped and stared at her while tapping his temple. “See, I would know. Fated mates. What a joke.”

  Grys returned to his pacing. Carissa got to her knees and crawled to the edge of the bed. She attempted to grab hold of him on each of his next few passes by the bed. “Grys, please.”

  He ignored her. “Then I ask you to marry me, and you cry. You cried and passed out!” His voice sounded harsh even to his own ears. He was angry. He’d risked so much—and it hurt horribly when she’d rejected. Him. He couldn’t help it.

  Carissa jumped off the bed and onto his back. “Stop. Stop this instant!”

  Grys halted. He reached behind him and took hold of her arms before pulling her to his front and setting her down on the floor in front of him.

  Carissa stared up into the sad face of the male she loved. She reached out and smacked him in the arm. “Males are really stupid. I’d always heard that, but never realized how true it was until this very moment.”

  Grys rubbed the spot where her tiny fist had hit him. “What? We are not.”

  She shook her head. “Oh really? Did it ever occur to you that I wasn’t thinking about you because you weren’t thinking about me? That connection of ours goes both ways, you know.” She couldn’t stand still, but wanted to watch his face. She started to bounce on the balls of her feet just slightly. “You never thought about it. Just like you never thought about the fact that telling me that your mother would be vile once she met me would make me think that she would hate me. Maybe that she already hates Maria. Maybe she hates Earthlings. You also didn’t think about that fact that you had me thoroughly convinced that you didn’t want me, and therefore springing a marriage proposal on me wasn’t exactly fair.” Carissa glared at him, as his jaw dropped so low it looked unhinged.

  She wouldn’t allow herself to feel bad as she watched realization and horror settle over his eyes. He closed his mouth and then opened it again but this time to speak. Carissa stood on her tiptoes and covered her mouth with her hand. “No. I’m not done. I know that when I came here with Maria, I was pissy and scared, and I wanted to go home. But I’m more sorry for that than I can express. Because the entire time I was locked in that horrible room, enduring all the tests, all the questioning—I knew you were out there somewhere, and I was determined to find you again. I thought about you constantly.” She lowered her hand from his mouth and settled herself back on flat feet. She lowered her head and looked at the ground. “I’m sorry I’m not who you thought I was, but I promise I’ll show you the real me from now on.”

  Grys was slowly coming out of his shock. How in the name of the Milky Way could this beautiful female think she had anything to apologize for? He felt like less of a male for even allowing it. She had nothing to apologize for. He’d been the cad. He’d been so worried about his own feelings that he made assumptions and disregarded her feelings completely. He was horrible. No wonder she didn’t want to marry him.

  Grys waited for her to finish, and as soon as she did he fell to his knees in front of her. He needed her to see his face. He took her hands in his own. “Carissa, I love you. You’re my fated mate, but I love you for you, not because I have to. You have nothing to apologize for. I realize now that I was overly concerned about your well-being and I made poor decisions you should have been included in. Can you ever forgive me?”

  Carissa couldn’t understand why Grys was on the floor, but she loved that she could see his face without having to look up. His eyes had little flecks of white in them that she’d never seen before because she’d never seen them at this angle. His hands felt protective around hers. His words flowed through her, filling in the holes where information should have been and knitting tighter the tears in her heart created by them, from the beginning of their journey. He’d asked her for forgiveness. She nodded her head and closed her eyes. The force of her eyelids closing allowed a few stray tears to escape and roll down her cheek. Grys wiped them away with his thumb.

  She took a few breaths and then opened her eyes. Grys was before her on his knees, and he’d asked her a question that she’d been unable to answer. She looked deep into his eyes, following the white flecks as his eyes danced across her face. “Yes,” she breathed.

  Grys’ eyes popped a little. “Yes? Yes what?” He couldn’t believe it, and needed to hear it clearly.

  Carissa nodded. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”

  There were no words he could think of that would express to her the way his heart felt, so he reached forward and brought Carissa to his chest before claiming her mouth with his own furiously. After a long moment, her released her, pulling away just slightly. “Ready to go home, future Mrs. Htfld?”

  Chapter Eight

  The air was so dry. Carissa had never been to the desert but she’d read about such places. Places where water was sparse, and the sun was hot and deadly. She didn’t think that this was the same exactly. The sun was further away and it felt different against her skin. “Is all of Htfld a desert?”

  Grys took her hand and helped her off the stairs of the ship. “No. We aren’t topside much anyway. We store the ships here because it only makes sense but, we all live under the ground.”

  Carissa stalled mid-step. “You live underground? Like no sunlight?”

  Grys nodded. “Yeah, but it is by choice. If you want to be in the sunlight you can go topside. We Htflds have very fair skin and have trained ourselves to stay out of the sun as much as possible. But I’ll bring you up as often as you’d like. Come to think of it, Maria probably enjoys the sun too. You both could come up together.” He ended with a huge smile on his face.

  Carissa loved his smile. It made her warm in ways she’d never felt warm before. She leaned into his hands and fell onto his lips. She let all the thoughts she’d been pushing to the back of her mind loose. The images assaulted her, made her desperate. Her breathing became shallow as they embraced just outside of the ship. She found herself thinking about his hands on her body. He was holding her hips and slowly moving his hands up her side along her ribs before moving to cup her breast in his palm.

  Carissa gasped at the sensation of his hand against her hardened nipples. Pleasure shot through to her core. She jerked against his lips. Grys responded by holding her tighter and pushing an image of his own into her mind. He started where she’d left off, his hand cupping her breast softly before moving his hands to unbutton the top of her frock, sliding it down around her arms until it fell off her fingertips. Carissa saw in her mind what Grys pictured her body to look like, and said a silent prayer that when he saw it for real he wouldn’t be disappointed. Imagined Carissa’s breasts were fuller and a bit higher than Real Carissa’s. Imagined Grys moved his lips from her mouth to her jaw and down her neck before he leaned down and sucked a nipple into his mouth and rolled it with his tongue. A deep moan escaped Carissa, and then a loud voice made h
er jump.

  “For real, you two need to get a fucking room.”

  Grys seemed to be breathing much more normally than Carissa, though she noticed that he held her firmly against him, his hand on the small of her back. She could feel what she thought was his hardened penis digging into her hip. She found her thoughts drifting to imagine it; what it looked like, what it felt like. She started to lick her lips, and Grys exhaled sharply as the image of Carissa reaching into his pants crossed her mind. At the sound of his breath, she realized he must be seeing it too, and she quickly shut down her thoughts. Grys inhaled and said to Ryn. “Fuck off. You have fifteen minutes to get to Mother and Father before I tell them you’re back and haven’t seen them.”

  Ryn responded harshly. “You wouldn’t.”

  Grys leaned over Carissa, still pressing her tightly to his body. “You bet your ass I would. I’m getting there as fast as possible because I’m making this female my mate in every sense of the word before morning.”

  Ryn laughed. “Of course.” Then shook his head and walked to a small building with a blinking red light at the top. “See you there.”

  Carissa watched him disappear into something that looked a little like an elevator and then turned to her future husband. “We’ve only been engaged for twelve hours. Are you sure you don’t want to wait?” she asked with a small giggle.

  Grys clutched the extra fabric on her frock, making it tight against her skin and causing her a little difficulty breathing. He pulled her against him, his cock grinding into her hip. “I love you, and no I do not want to wait.”

  Carissa returned his affection by swiveling her hips slightly so that she was massaging him. She watched him tip his head back before she traced down his chest with her nails. “Let’s go get married then.”

  ***

  Carissa stood at the large ornate door. Her heart was thumping in her chest. Grys put his hand on her arm. “They’ll love you,” he whispered as he raised his hand to knock on the heavy door.

  Carissa tried to exhale but it got caught in her throat. She was about to meet her future in-laws—what if they really didn’t like Earthlings? The door opened slowly into a shadowy hallway which hid the face of the person that had opened the door.

  “Hello, Grys.” Grys nodded toward the dark outlined figure.

  “Hello. I trust your trip went well.” Carissa thought she’d detected a hint of sarcasm in the unknown male’s voice.

  Grys put his arm around her shoulder. “Can’t complain.” He chuckled softly. “Mom and Dad here?”

  The large male finished shutting the door, making it almost completely black in the small entryway. The male walked past them toward where the only light was coming from. Carissa and Grys followed him, finally stepping into a large room with high ceilings and a carpet so plush Carissa almost stumbled. “Yes. They’re in the living room.”

  Grys clapped the male on the shoulder. “Thanks, man.” He then began to steer Carissa down a short hallway, where she could see a large doorway at the end. Through the doorway, she could see large pieces of furniture. She inhaled, held it, and slowly let it out. Grys pulled her tighter to his side, tucking her tiny frame against his much larger body.

  Carissa couldn’t respond. She just nodded.

  They walked through the large archway and into the most inviting room she’d ever seen. The soft carpet was through the entire house, but the walls in the room weren’t white—they were a soft gray. There were heavy curtains hanging from windows, windows that Carissa couldn’t fathom what was on the other side of. The furniture was heavy and comfortable-looking, yet still held elegant lines and was clearly well taken care of. The vast media center that took up an entire wall halted her in her tracks. Standing there staring at it, she berated herself. She should have known what she was walking into. She’d known that Grys’ family was royalty. She knew that technology wasn’t confined to Earth. She’d seen all that the Htflds could accomplish from a space ship. There was no reason she should be at all surprised by what she was experiencing now. She shook herself as Grys spun toward a female voice.

  “Welcome home.”

  Grys’ face lit up as he watched his mother and father rise from their place on a large chair tucked into the far corner of the room. “Hello, Mother.” He tipped his head. “Father.”

  “I see we’re to have a second daughter-in-law,” his mother said as she and her husband came to rest in front of the new couple. She put her arms out, reaching for Carissa.

  Grys’ voice cut through the tension filling the room. “Mother, Father this is my fated mate Carissa. Carissa, this is my mother, Mry, and my father, Thm, the leader of Htfld.”

  Carissa smiled and took a small step out of Grys’ embrace. “Hello,” she said. She thought she’d said it quietly—but her heart was hammering so hard in her ears, she couldn’t hear a thing.

  The beautiful female took Carissa’s hands and held them in her own. “Welcome to planet Htfld, and welcome home,” she said as her face lit into the warmest smile Carissa had ever seen. It made her heart immediately slow and her breath return.

  Carissa nodded. She knew she was staring, but she couldn’t help it. Grys’ mother had long, liquid blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and ivory skin. She now knew where her sons had gotten their looks. The female was amazing. Carissa forced herself to smile and speak. “I’m so happy to be here.” The longer they stood there, the more self-conscious she became. She could hear the males chatting behind them. Thankfully Mry dropped one of Carissa’s hands and turned to get the male’s attention.

  “We’re going to go see Maria. Get yourself together. We’ve already begun planning. You’ll be married this evening.”

  Grys looked shocked. “But how—?

  His mother laughed. “Ryn, of course.”

  Grys shook his head. “I’ll kill him,” he said before he went over to the females, kissing his mother briefly on the cheek, before taking his bride’s hand from hers. Grys led Carissa away from his parents. “Are you okay with all of this? I had no idea Ryn had messaged.”

  Carissa saw panic in his eyes. She brought her arms to his shoulders. “Grys, please stop worrying. I’m fine.” She ran her hands down the front of her Earth frock. “I feel a bit self-conscious in this frock, but other than that I’m good. I love you, and I want to marry you.”

  Grys picked her up in his strong embrace and brought his mouth to hers. After a deep kiss, he smiled at her. “I love you too.” He set her on her feet.

  Carissa looked back at his parents. “Thank you both.”

  Mry smiled. “Come on now, dear. We’ll go see what Maria has made for you to wear.”

  Carissa’s heart leapt as joy spread through her. “Maria? Is she here?”

  “Of course, dear. She’s just upstairs. She was napping, but I’m sure she’s awake now. She’s been up all night making you something fabulous to wear for your wedding.”

  Carissa turned back to Grys, gave him a hug, and stood on her tip toes to kiss him briefly on the cheek. “See you in a bit, soon-to-be husband.”

  Grys patted her on the ass quickly as she turned and bounced away from him. She turned and glared at him. After all, his parents were watching. Grys laughed and sent thoughts of his hands removing her frock and slowly tracing her collarbone with his fingertips before running them down across her chest and over her breasts. Carissa sucked in a breath and turned away from him with a huff. She was overheated now. Her skin was sure to be reddening, and a deep burning had settled into her belly.

  Mry took Carissa by the hand, which mortified her because she knew her hand had to be sweaty. “Fated mates, then?” His mother looked at her as she asked with a tilt of her mouth.

  Carissa looked back at her in shock and with a little more than a touch of embarrassment. “How—?” she questioned.

  Mry patted her hand. “Because once you’ve seen it you’ll always see it. Tylr and Maria are fated mates as well. Their connection is obvious, as is yours and Grys’. You’ll
have a wonderful life together.” His mother closed her eyes as they reached the landing at the top of the steps. “Thank you.” She finished softly.

  Carissa was overwhelmed. She wasn’t hated. They weren’t going to frown upon their marriage because she was an Earthling. His mother had been so sweet and kind. Her heart was so full; excitement had begun to overtake the self-consciousness.

  Mry knocked softly on the door at the top of the stairs. A soft, “Come in!” could be heard through the door. Pushing it open, Mry stepped in first, Carissa right behind her. Carissa stepped in front of her future mother in-law. She couldn’t contain herself. “Maria!”

  Maria was lying in a large four-post bed. It looked extremely comfortable. Maria was sitting up, but it was obvious she’d just woken up. “Carissa. Oh my, am I glad you’re here!” She jumped out of bed and ran to her friend before they embraced each other in a tight hug.

  Carissa was so excited to see her friend, tears began to flow down her cheeks. Maria hugged her tighter. “It is so nice to see a familiar face.”

  Carissa loosened her grip on Maria and pushed her friend back so she could see her face. “Are you okay? Are you not happy here?” Fear laced Carissa’s voice.

  Maria smiled. “Yes. I’m sorry that didn’t come out the way I meant it. I love it here. Tylr is the most amazing male, and the rest of the family is pretty great, too.” She looked at her mother-in-law and winked. “It’s just nice to be with someone like me, that’s all. They’re all so close here, and though I adore Mry, there aren’t many females around. I can’t wait to have a girls' night.” She finished with wide, excited eyes, bouncing a little as she turned away. “But before we can have girls' night, we’ve got to get you married!” She grabbed Carissa’s hand and pulled her over to a table in the center of the room.

  There was a heap of silvery fabric, an assortment of thread and what Carissa thought might be a sewing machine on the table. Maria noticed her puzzled look. “It’s a bit different of a process, and the newer machine has taken some getting used to. But thankfully I’d had some practice before Ryn messaged with the good news.” Maria picked up the heap of fabric and began fussing with it. After a few minutes of rustling and smoothing, Carissa stood before her friend with her mouth gapping.