I longed to have those eyes focused on me not just in pleasure, but with love. Affection. Desire. But those were a fool’s dreams. Those thoughts did not belong to a scarred warrior like me.
Perhaps if I could seduce her, bring her enough pleasure, she would learn to tolerate my appearance. It was the best I could hope for, but that hope burned and twisted inside me like hot knives. Wanting her was painful, but it was an agony I refused to give up.
I strode to my quarters, my balls empty, my body sated by the pleasure of my one perfect female. Gods, I’d claimed her first virginity. She’d allowed it. Enjoyed it. Even came from the pleasure of it. Of submitting to me. Of course, I’d ensured her desire and completion... several times first, but she’d been right there with me.
Me.
As I nodded to a group of Hunters who passed on the garden path, I had to wonder if one of them would be better suited. None of them would need to blindfold their marked mate to fuck her. None of them would be terrified, as I was, that the very sight of them would cause a beautiful young innocent to run away in fear.
But even the thought of my mate with another brought my hunting instincts to the fore and I had to fight to control the urge to attack the Hunters as they passed. Instead, I focused on the lingering taste of Helen’s sweet pussy on my tongue, the sound of her cries as she’d come apart for me, giving me everything.
Helen had submitted. Beautifully. Following my every command, giving over her control in mind and body. To her marked mate.
The burning of my palm and my sated cock were proof she was mine.
But she wasn’t. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. Not truly.
She accepted me, for now. At least, I could pretend she was mine as long as she didn’t see me.
A group of brides walked by, getting a good look at my face and their expressions changed from carefree laughter to horror. As usual. Their pace quickened and their whispers lingered long after they did.
I was used to it. I was scary looking. Dangerous in appearance. Ruthless.
Gods. I even scared new Hunters. Why I was assigned to the Touchstone, where innocent and naïve virgins were brought to find their mates, was beyond me.
But here I was, the feared one.
I hadn’t always been this way. No. One battle and I was ruined. Injured by an ion blast and pinned behind enemy lines. I’d escaped the Hive, but I’d been on the run for days and the wounds to my body had healed before I could reach a ReGen pod. I was scarred for life. Ruthless slices and mottled skin marred my face, my neck. To a female, I was hideous. The virgin brides who’d walked by were proof of that.
And yet I’d been blessed by the gods to find my marked mate. Other Hunters were envious of me. My mark had guided me to her and the dreams we shared proved the bond. But she would not want me if she saw me. She would be horrified. Afraid. Scared of me. The one word I feared she’d utter, butterfly, would come from her lush lips.
I couldn’t survive her rejection. Everyone else in the universe I could handle. But sweet, innocent, pure Helen? Seeing fear or loathing in her eyes would destroy what was left of me. I’d thought myself invulnerable after the ion blast attack. Nothing else could hurt me. Nothing in the war or on my home world would ever be able to bring me low. I was a survivor. Strong. So much stronger than the others.
Yet one touch and Helen made me weak.
“Well?” Hunter Quinn asked, slapping me on the back as I came through the grand entry of the building. We were cousins, of a size, yet where I was dark he was golden light with chiseled features and an unmarred form. The women of Everis frequently offered themselves to him, yet he waited for a marked mate. He was an eternal optimist.
A fool whose grin was broader than mine.
“She’s perfect,” I admitted, thinking of her sitting on the garden bench waiting for me. Then on her knees naked. On the table spread wide and at my mercy. Of her mouth, stretched wide around my cock.
“I told you.” Quinn was not yet mated. We’d fought together for years and were stationed at the Touchstone for the past six months. He was hopeful of a match of his own. Eager for it. And when my mark flared to life only a few nights ago, when I’d woken up exhausted from dream sharing, he’d been jealous. Happy for me.
Gods, too fucking happy for me. He just didn’t understand.
“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Your cock flagged too soon?”
His sly grin backed his jest.
“Asshole. Her first virginity is claimed.”
He slapped me on the back again. We moved away from the doorway as other Hunters wanted entry.
“Then what’s the matter?” He grabbed my arm, tugged me to a corner. When I didn’t respond, he continued. “Fuck, Zee, where is she? Why isn’t she with you?”
“She’s not with me because I refuse to let her see me.”
His expression went flat. “What?”
I sighed, looked away. “If she sees me, she won’t want me.”
“So how the hell did you fuck her mouth?”
“Blindfold.”
“Blindfold?”
“She’s submissive. Wants me to take control. It’s... incredible.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up, but he remained silent. Waited.
“I blindfolded her to enhance the experience.”
“Bullshit. You blindfolded her so she wouldn’t see your scars. How many fucking times have I told you your marked mate—if you were lucky enough to have your mark awakened—won’t give a shit what you look like? The match has been made since birth. It won’t change because of a few scars.”
I shook my head, knowing the truth. He’d said the same to me again and again, but it mattered not.
I knew. Helen wouldn’t want me if she saw me.
And then I’d be alone.
* * *
Helen
The other new bride arrivals gathered around the breakfast table laughing and giggling, their eyes full of hope and excitement. As women do, a few shared details of their first night with their new mates, Hunters eager to stake their claims and make themselves known.
Not mine. He kept me in the dark, and while I loved everything that had happened between us, I felt vulnerable. Unsure. Why had he refused to reveal himself to me? Was he undecided about me? The mark on my palm was hot and pulsing, even now, but was that a guarantee?
He’d come to me last night in my dreams, but had done nothing but hold me as if I were the most precious thing in the world. Breakable china. He’d insisted I keep my eyes closed, and I’d been happy to obey, listening to the strong beat of his heart and melting into his heat as his hands stroked my back.
I’d never felt safer, or more loved. So why did he deny me the one thing I needed? Why wouldn’t he reveal himself?
What if he didn’t want a mate? He’d said nothing about a future together. Nothing about claiming me, keeping me, making me his forever. Had I come across the galaxy for a fling? Because I could have had that back home on Earth a hundred times over.
I didn’t even know his name. And yet, I hadn’t asked. I’d hoped... I’d hoped he’d reveal more than his face to me.
“You’re too quiet, Helen. What’s up? Are you all right?” Lexi spoke from her seat on my left. Lexi was gorgeous, with long black hair and dark eyes. I knew she’d met her mate, a Hunter named Von, and judging by the flushed look on her cheeks and the happy glow in her eyes, she wasn’t grappling with the same doubts I had this morning.
“I’m fine.”
“Liar.” She took a sip of her juice and leaned in close. “Spill. Maybe we can help.” By we, she referred to her two best friends, Dani and Katie. Of the three, Lexi was the only one who smiled like everything was right in the universe. Katie scowled, as if angry every time the Hunter named Bryn walked by. And Dani, poor Dani looked even more miserable than I felt.
“I don’t think you can help me,” I said.
“Try us.” Katie lifted a dark brown brow over blue eyes, managing to look bot
h regal and annoyed all at the same time. The look made me grin.
“All right.” They leaned in close and I felt like I was whispering secrets in seventh grade math class. “I met my marked mate.”
“Yes!” Lexi pumped her fist as Dani tilted her head and Katie raised both brows.
“So what’s the problem?” Katie asked.
“I don’t know who he is,” I admitted.
“What do you mean you don’t know who he is? Have you met him? Has he—you know—claimed your first virginity?” Lexi blushed, but she didn’t mince words.
“Yes. But he made me wear a blindfold and won’t tell me his name.”
“What about your dreams?” Dani’s arms were crossed, her elbows resting on the edge of the table. She was petite and blonde, like a prima ballerina. Tiny and perfect.
“He makes me keep my eyes closed in our dreams, too.”
“That is weird,” Katie blurted.
Dani slapped her on the arm. “That’s not helpful.”
Lexi was staring at the mark on her palm as if the stupid thing would give her answers. I waited. Maybe it would. Maybe she would come up with some genius suggestion, because I had no idea what to do. She took a deep breath and lifted her dark gaze to mine. “Do you want him? Is he The One?”
I thought of his deep voice, his gentle hands, the way his commands made my body melt and sing at the same time. “Yes. I want him.”
Lexi and Dani leaned in even closer and I did the same as Lexi asked her next question. “When are you seeing him again? In person, I mean.”
“Tonight, in my rooms.”
Her eyes sparkled with mischief and I knew, whatever she suggested, I was going to do it. “Does he want you to wear a blindfold again?”
“Yes.”
“Then just don’t.”
I shook my head. “No. I can’t do that. I have to... I mean, I want to follow his commands.” I blushed admitting that, but none of the girls gave me grief.
“They are dominant, these Hunters, aren’t they?” Lexi asked, that wide grin showing she liked it when her mate took charge, too. “If you have to wear a blindfold, then you’ll borrow it from me.”
I glanced at Katie, whose mouth formed an Oh before stretching into a wide grin.
“I don’t understand,” I replied. And I didn’t. I had no idea what the heck was going on. What were they planning?
Lexi rubbed her palms together with glee. “You’ll have to dim the lights, so he can’t see the material very well.”
“What are you talking about?”
Her smile made me want to smile back, so I did.
“I have some material you can use to make a blindfold. It’s see-through, you know. So you can obey his command and see him at the same time.”
“If you keep the lights dim, he’ll never know you cheated,” Katie added. “Just keep your eyes closed until you’re pretty sure he’s not looking at your—umm—face.”
Dani burst out laughing and I sipped my juice, sure my face was as red as the strange fruit in the bowl in front of us. I debated their plan, wondering if it was a good idea. But when breakfast was over, I didn’t resist as Lexi led me to her room.
Chapter Four
Helen
Dinner had come and gone and the hour grew late as I waited. I sat on the corner of my bed, my back straight and chin held high as I anticipated my mate’s arrival. The gown I wore was black silk—just as he’d requested—and clung to every curve with a gentleness that made my skin sensitive. It hung to the floor, covering the black thigh-high stockings and garters I’d asked Lexi to help me get this morning. I added a barely there G-string and no bra to complete the indecent outfit. On the outside, the off-the-shoulder gown made me look regal and composed.
Underneath, I was dressed for pure sin.
This sooo wasn’t me, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Meaning, a sexy outfit.
Dani had helped me with my makeup, and my lips were bright red and glossy, my skin flawless. I knew my mate couldn’t see my eyes, but they were shadowed to perfection just in case he decided to look.
I wanted him to look. I wanted him to rip the blindfold off and look me in the eyes, declare his love for me. Tell me he wanted me forever and beg me to allow him to claim my pussy as his own.
But that was a dream. Tonight, I had one goal. One.
To see him. To learn his identity. I needed to know what he was hiding. No—why he was hiding from me.
The pearlescent blindfold that covered my eyes was pure genius. The outer appearance was reflective ivory, but from the inside I could see through as if I were looking through a two-way mirror. I could look at him, watch him, see him. And as long as I stayed out of direct light, he’d have no idea I was disobeying him in this small way.
Disobeying? Bending his request to fit my needs, too.
As the door to my chamber slid open, I was careful to tilt my head as if I could hear him, not see the giant shadow of a man lurking in the doorway. My heart pounded as he approached, but I held myself still. Waiting.
I needed to obey him. I needed him to be happy. The war within me was real, and almost painful at the thought that I was deceiving him. That I might disappoint him.
But I remained silent. I had to know.
The quiet of the room stretched and he took two steps closer, his face hidden in shadow as the door slid closed behind him. I had the room lighted by a handful of scented candles I’d asked Officiate Treva to help me find. She’d scowled, informed me that open flames were forbidden in the Touchstone, then winked and taken me to one of a handful of S-Gen units, Spontaneous Matter Generators, and asked me what scent I wanted.
It had been like watching a scene from Star Trek as she’d talked to the machine and five ivory candles had appeared, scented with cinnamon and vanilla.
Now those candles flickered and glowed in the darkness of my bedroom as my mate approached.
My hair was up in a twist, baring my neck and shoulders and I held my breath as his fingers trailed over my collarbones, my jaw. His touch was soft. Reverent.
“You are very beautiful, Helen.”
The sound of his voice sank deep into my bones, the words warming me as much as the feel of his skin on mine.
“Do you know what happens tonight?” he asked.
I gave a small nod, but kept my head angled down. Just the feel of his caress had my nipples pebbling and I wanted more. I was afraid for him to learn of my duplicity and be angry. If he were to do that, I wanted it to be later. I would see him first. And have him claim my second virginity.
For if he did, I was one step closer to being his.
And he was one step closer to being mine.
Tied to me irrevocably just as much as I would be his. Permanently.
“Yes, Master.”
“Say it.”
I licked my suddenly dry lips. “You’ll claim me again.”
“Yes, but where?”
Gods, it was a little embarrassing. I hadn’t even considered this type of sex until coming here. And now, with him, I wanted it. After the way he’d brought me pleasure the day before, I knew he’d make this good, too. I had no fears.
I would give myself to him in this as well.
And so I took a deep breath and told him. “You’ll claim my ass.”
“My good little mate.”
When he took my chin and tipped it up, I kept my eyes closed. I wasn’t ready yet. But when his lips met mine, when his tongue delved deep to find mine, to play, I forgot all about seeing him. I felt.
And when he lifted his head and traced the edges of my gown with his fingertips, I dared. My eyes fluttered open, I saw him for the first time. Him.
Big. Broad. Dark hair, strong brow, square jaw. Blunt nose. Full lips. Eyes that held fierce need. Heat. Love.
I saw all of that in a blink of an eye, for while I’d never seen him before, had no idea to his appearance, I knew him. My mark pulsed. Throbbed along with my pussy.
And then I saw what he’d been trying to hide. Not at first, mind you, but seconds later. Scars. All over his face, his neck. One sliced through his eyebrow and down his cheek.
He was marred by what I assumed was battle. His kisses lingered, tracing the line of my jaw, my cheek. I lifted my hands to him, eager to touch and explore, to claim what was mine.
The moment my hand settled over the scars on his neck, he reached for me, pulled my hands from him. He was breathing heavily, panting as if he’d just run a marathon, as he pulled my hands down and held them in front of me. He locked my wrists in a gentle grip where I could not touch him, could not learn the truth with my fingertips.
But it was too late. I knew him. Knew his face. Knew he was mine.
“Mate,” he breathed.
It broke me from my staring and I tilted my head down again. My heart pounded in my ears, afraid he’d seen my eyes, saw me staring. Knew I knew the truth.
I’d heard his name was Zee. He was frightening to the other brides, a monster among gods when he walked with the other Hunters. I’d heard much speculation about how he’d gotten his scars, but no one dared to ask. With the advanced technology of the alien races, it had to have been something terrible. Too horrible to imagine.
The thought made my heart ache for him and I had to clench my jaw and bite my tongue to hold back words of sorrow or sympathy. Something. Everything was churning inside me until I couldn’t sort through the emotions.
He was hiding his scars. I wanted to reach up, touch them, feel every rough line, every white stripe that burdened him. The weight of them was heavy upon his shoulders, upon his heart if he would not share them with me. Me! His marked mate.
His soul must be as battered and torn as his face.
“Mate, the kiss was not enough,” he murmured, his voice an octave lower. “We’ve only just begun this night.”
I shivered at the possibility, yet my mind was awash in his pain. In his need to hide. He gave to me so thoroughly, learning my body and giving it the pleasure I didn’t even know I craved. He cared for me, I sensed it. Somehow, perhaps even protecting me from himself? What was I to do? I couldn’t pull down the blindfold. I couldn’t let on that I knew. I sensed... no, I knew, he was a proud male. I could not harm him further. But there was one thing he could share—
Alien Alphas: Twenty-Three Naughty Sci-Fi Romance Novellas Page 23
