Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series)

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  Rykhan nodded and leaned towards Leah. “I’ll be right back.

  However, Bronsyn corrected him. “No, with both of you.”

  A slight frown creased Leah’s face as her eyes flicked between the two men. While Rykhan did not want to upset her or cause any additional stress, when the leader of their quest asked for a meeting, who was he to refuse? To include Leah in the proceedings put a different spin on whatever was about to happen. But then again, she did wear his wahrom.

  His Leah was obviously a female who Tsiran, in his infinite wisdom and goodness, had marked as one of their own.

  Rykhan motioned for Leah to follow Bronsyn as the older male led them to a room tucked away and behind the kitchen that was simply furnished with a couple of club chairs and a long leather couch set on either side of a coffee table. The main feature of the room was the large window that overlooked three of the five different patios as well as the pool area.

  Along their Mycalyte connection, a sharp fission of uneasiness move through his mate as she lowered herself to the couch although he did not know why she was distressed.

  Without conscious thought, Rykhan seated himself close enough for the side of their bodies to touch. Taking her closest hand in his and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles, he immediately sensed her heartbeat steadying as she calmed.

  Although he had heard tales of the tie between true and legitimate mates, Rykhan had discounted it as nothing more than religious parables on how to treat females. Nevertheless, he was quickly learning that the priests had spoken truly. Bronsyn’s eyes seemed to miss nothing as he settled into one of the large chairs opposite the young couple and propped his bare feet on the edge of the coffee table.

  “I do not know how much my men have told you about our situation,” Rykhan’s mission commander started, rubbing his chin as his blue eyes, the color denoting the Galaxi tribe he came from, holding Leah’s gaze.

  “Not much,” she replied, shifting to look at Rykhan before turning her face back to Bronsyn. “Just that you and your group are new to the States and only recently got here.”

  Bronsyn nodded and Rykhan again discerned a spike of discomfort from Leah. He thought the small smile her lips maintained was forced. His concerns were verified when her heartbeat escalated at Bronsyn’s next question.

  “Did they mention where we are from?”

  “A country called Galaxia?” She stuttered through her answer, her accent charming as her mouth moved over the unfamiliar name of their planet.

  Bronsyn’s look seemed to become more intense, more direct. “And where do you believe that is?”

  Rykhan took in the tilt of her head, her long hair sweeping along her shoulders, as she seemed to struggle to remember what Rykhan had told her when they first met. However, her unease had morphed into a full body tremble. “I guess it’s one of the new countries that came out of the old U.S.S.R.”

  Rykhan twisted in place so that he could use his unengaged hand to stroke lightly on her jean-clad thigh. According to legend, the more contact made on the large muscle groups, the better in calming one’s mate. Once again, Rykhan could sense the tranquility as it settled into his Leah just at the feel of his touch.

  However, he instantly realized that he had gone too far as his armband began to heat and his tailpor immediately lengthened. As if responding to the echo of his physical desire, Leah released his handhold in order to stroke her own wahrom.

  “I think you know that isn’t the truth.” Bronsyn’s voice was a low growl within the confines of the small room and helped take Rykhan’s mind off of its determined path of getting Leah alone and naked once again..

  Leah nodded and took a deep breath. “Yes, I suspected it anyway.”

  The leader of the warriors dropped his feet to the floor as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, never lowering his gaze. It was a position the other man used well and one Rykhan had learned as well. It was a posture typically only used to intimidate a foe, and found Rykhan frowning at its use in their present setting.

  Rykhan’s Leah pressed herself back into the cushions to maintain a distance between her and the commander.

  As far as Rykhan was concerned, Bronsyn’s next words did not help in calming his mate. Although he still did not understand where Bronsyn was going with all his questions. “In all of our planning and preparation for this mission, no one, not a member of our councils or even our most respected scientists foresaw you, Leah of Phoenix. No. You are something that we, in even our wildest dreams, could not have anticipated.”

  “I don’t…” her eyes swung between the two men as she raised a trembling hand to her mouth. Rykhan pressed his female deeply into his side, somehow knowing she was on the verge of crying or screaming since her stress was so great. “I don’t understand.”

  Rykhan moved his farthest hand to the inside of her elbow before sliding it up, underneath the sleeve of her clothing to her armband. He could feel its metallic pulses and knew it was beating and warming at their skin-on-skin contact. As his fingers skimmed over its surface, he was aware his Leah experienced another wave of sexual desire so powerful it stole her breath away, much as the stroke had affected him. Rykhan only hoped she felt it as if his fingers had stroked her directly in her secret, womanly places instead of simply on the metal surrounding her bicep.

  “Please be at peace, mica tisha,” he murmured with his head pressed to the side her face.

  She turned to look at Rykhan and he saw her beautiful dark green eyes were almost wild, attesting to all he was experiencing through their connection. “He’s scaring me, baby.”

  When his hand moved back to the skin of her inner elbow, Rykhan sensed when the feelings eased and she was again able to breathe without hitches, even if it was only to do so in panted breaths.

  “You’re talking about the metal thingy on my arm, aren’t you?” She did not curb the sharpness of her tone or the trembling of her voice. “The bicep bracelet Rykhan calls my ‘mark of a warrior’.” As both men nodded, Leah began to shake her head in the negative. “That can’t be true though, because God knows I’m about as far from a warrior a person can get!”

  “Yet there is no denying the gift Tsiran has bestowed on you, mica tisha,” Rykhan murmured as he leaned forward in order to fully watch her face. Leah’s entire body stilled at his words and she raised her chin. He could not tell if his words made her angry, alarmed, or simply agitated. However, he would have bet money that she was no longer feeling any measure of the peace they had previously shared.

  “I don’t freaking know any ‘See ran’ or what that ‘mica whatever’ name you keep calling me is!” she snapped both fiercely and firmly as she shared her glare between the men. Pulling away from his embrace, she shifted her weight until they were no longer touching. Even with the distance between them, Rykhan could still perceive her anxiety.

  “Don’t the people of Earth believe in the one true god and his mate?” Bronsyn’s voice sounded incredulous.

  “Some do, some don’t,” Leah mumbled through tight lips, holding her arms across her chest. Rykhan felt the constant change in subjects had unsettled her to the point her nerves were jangling. “Are you saying that’s your word for God?”

  “Yes. And mica tisha simply means ‘my own’ in English,” Rykhan explained as serenely as he could. He even included another caress of her arm while he spoke. When she did not pull away from his touch, Rykhan slid closer. He somehow sensed she needed him to help maintain equilibrium.

  She looked Rykhan dead in the eyes. “There is no way in hell you guys are serious! You!” she shouted, pointing a beautiful finger at Rykhan’s face. “Stop claiming I’m yours! We haven’t even known each other a full month, for hell’s sake! You can’t honestly believe the shit you’re spouting!”

  Rykhan did not need their connection to understand his Leah was refuting what was between them in order to find her center. “Listen, mister. You’re extremely hot and really sweet but just because we sport the s
ame arm jewelry and have amazing chemistry between the sheets doesn’t mean we are fated to be together or anything!”

  “Oh but it does!” Bronsyn’s bellow was loud, as strident as Leah’s had been in the small room, and at such a volume that the background noises in the kitchen immediately ceased. “That is exactly what it indicates! And the fact that you, as a human female, bear the identical mark of one of Picari’s elite Protectorate only proves that you are Rykhan’s one true and legitimate mate.”

  *.*.*.*.*

  Leah’s head spun and she tried to pull out one thought in which to argue such a ridiculous statement but there were so many swirling that she floundered. That was until she latched onto two words that Bronsyn had said. Words the other warriors also used frequently.

  Two measly words that brought ice to her veins and wide, shocked eyes back to the older man.

  Human.

  And female.

  “Holy shit,” she whispered, unblinkingly as she stared at the longhaired man before turning once again to Rykhan. Her mind was providing other items to the list, preparing an argument so wild that she caught her breath.

  But she couldn’t believe it, couldn’t wrap her head around the crazy idea that they were…that the warriors she’d been interacting and laughing with were…

  “Aliens,” she murmured on a stricken whisper. Neither man moved a muscle or spoke a word to correct her. So she tried more in the hopes they would jump in and immediately set her straight. “Extraterrestrials. Spacemen. Creatures from another planet.”

  “I don’t know if I would call us ‘creatures’ since our species are humanoid and so similar to your own, but the rest of what you spoke is correct.” Bronsyn sat back in his chair and glanced at Rykhan, giving the man seated next to her a level albeit unfathomable look.

  Since Leah was beginning to hyperventilate though, she could pretty much figure that Bronsyn wondered at her reaction to his calmly uttered words. Her head turned so she could look into Rykhan’s beautiful Caribbean-colored eyes. She knew most of his emotions were visible in the depths of his blue-green orbs but she couldn’t find hint of a lie there.

  Honest to god, she was willing to pay every dime in her bank account for him to announce, ‘just kidding!’ Even a good old-fashioned yelp of, ‘psyche!’ would’ve been perfect in that moment.

  However, the large warrior who’d given her his virginity calmly sat next to her, unmoving and without speaking.

  “I gotta go!” she announced as she tried to find her feet, but Rykhan wrapped her body in his arms and brought his mouth to her ear. “You must calm yourself, my Leah. There is much more, so very much more you need to know,” he whispered and she wasn’t sure if it was the contact between them or how very fervent he sounded that caused her to stop. “We need your help.”

  “My help?” She knew her voice was in the squeaky range, but it only reflected the insane situation she found herself.

  “You are Tsiran’s choice for helping us in our quest, my Leah,” Rykhan replied firmly. “And the wahrom he has allowed you to wear is testament of it.”

  That was when her true freak-out began!

  Jumping to her feet, she tried to get around the table but the huge hunka-burning-love she’d been naked with made certain the way was blocked. How could he after all they’d done? At how wonderful their hookup had been.

  Or should she say ‘hookups’ since they’d done the deed magnificently not once but twice in the course of an hour.

  God, she was such a slut!

  And, if she believed what they were saying, was a complete and total ho’ for a man from freaking outer-space!

  “No!” she bellowed, trying a different trajectory but was stymied in her attempt to exit by Bronsyn’s huge form. “Get the freak outta my way, dude!”

  “You needs listen to us, Rykhan’s Leah,” the other man said calmly, but his outstretched arms told of his determination to keep her within the room.

  Leah decided to take a different tact. Standing at her full height, she planted a fist onto each hip and shifted her weight to one foot. Glaring, she slowly and firmly announced, “Either move it or lose it, ass-hat. Otherwise my knee has a date with your family jewels, comprende?”

  Bronsyn shot a glance to Rykhan. “I do not understand her words.”

  “All he wants is for you to listen, my Leah.” Why did Rykhan’s voice seem to coat her insides, providing a honeyed layer of calm when she was feeling anything but? “We understand you do not yet know us, that we’ve not built trust between us. But we are not here to harm you.” His look when their eyes caught and held was serious as hell.

  And just as deep.

  “I would never harm you, Tersa blay. Nor will I allow anything or anyone else to do so. This is my vow.” There was no mistaking Rykhan’s honesty even if she hadn’t been able to feel his emotions. From what she was getting, her amazing new boyfriend was being totally and completely truthful. Even if he was some kind of space creature. “Feel me, my Leah. Know that I speak in all sincerity.”

  “We both do,” Bronsyn was quick to offer and Leah took in their words, carefully watching their body language and expressions. Perhaps she could take a few moments to hear them out before she grabbed Pam and got gone.

  “Fine! But you can’t touch me,” she announced, again pointing finger at Rykhan. “And you can’t dazzle me with some kind of Jedi-mind shit, okay?” Bronsyn seemed nonplussed at both her words and at her finger pointing, which she wished had held a weapon instead of looking only nicely manicured.

  Bronsyn and Rykhan exchanged grunts that Leah thought meant they were conversing in their own language before Rykhan turned and gave her a short bow. “We don’t understand all of what you say but please believe that my commander and I only want to enlighten you and seek your help in succeeding in our mission.”

  Somewhat mollified, Leah dropped her arms. “But I can leave at any time I want?”

  The men exchanged a long glance before Rykhan’s gaze came back to her. “You have my word as both a Nillr and as one of the most loyal of the Protectorate.”

  Not having a clue as to what her lover was pledging on, Leah decided to go with the flow because the man’s serious expression more than spoke of his commitment to both her and the truth of what was about to be revealed.

  Dropping her butt back onto the seat and the other men did the same.

  “Thank you,” Rykhan murmured and she instantly lit from within as he once again claimed her hand.

  Bronsyn cleared his throat, bringing her eyes to the older man. “I also thank you, Leah of Phoenix. For allowing me to tell you of our worlds and our mission while here on your planet.”

  Jay-sus.

  These guys were way into their major delusions of aliens and coming from a galaxy far-far away, if their unsmiling faces meant anything. Truthfully? If they offered her a Dixie-cup of Kool-aid, she was completely and totally outta there.

  After everyone settled and the noises from the kitchen resumed, Bronsyn began to speak.

  “A comet shot through our solar system, bisecting our two forward planets from the rest as it trailed across our skies. But it was the deadly Xion gas of the comet’s tail that caused all the damage.” Leah caught on to the bleakness of what was in his eyes. It was if the man didn’t want to tell his tale but felt he had to. She was still as the man looked away and swallowed deeply. “The gas only affected our females. Only infiltrated their lungs, their hearts as it stole them from us.” He stopped and swallowed again as if to gain control of his emotions.

  “For those us who were planet-side, we could only watch as whatever sickness the comet had caused consumed our dear ones.” His eyes determinedly locked on Leah’s. “We had no antidote to counteract the poison the comet had wrought and no medicines to give our females ease as they continued to die in our arms.”

  It was hard, but Leah kept silent and just continued to listen closely to the large, longhaired man Rykhan called his leader.

  H
e told of the shadow that fell over both Galaxia and Nutrol that was not only from the horrific grief of the males left behind but from the smoke of the all the funeral pyres as they released their beloved mates and female younglings into Tsiran’s ether.

  Of the droids sent out to explore the universe because the Aterians and Casticians, the peoples from the other planets in the Picari system, had denied the decimated societies the opportunity to find suitable mates among their populaces.

  It was when Bronsyn spoke of the surprise and joy when one of the long-range droids had sent back a transmission of Earth that Leah began to be engaged in his tale. His words painted such a clear picture that she could almost see the council chambers as he described it: the silence he and the other members maintained as the president allowed them to both view and hear videos plucked from Earth’s internet. Ones from an online dating websites, where female after female spoke of actively looking and seeking men to marry and with which to create families. As well as the wild euphoria and hope that raced through the room as the males realized they’d found the answers to their prayers.

  Because without females, the two planets were dying, in painfully hopeless and lonely, slow measures.

  “How long ago was this?” Leah asked quietly, amazed to find wetness on her cheeks. She hadn’t known when she’d begun to cry at Bronsyn’s tale, but she couldn’t deny the horrific sorrow she was feeling.

  “For which incident?” Bronsyn asked kindly, seemingly moved by Leah’s unspoken emotions.

  “Both, I guess.” She wiped her face with her hands before scouring her palms on her jeans. Rykhan was still close but didn’t make a move to touch her.

  Bronsyn’s eyes dropped to the floor. “We lost our cherished females over twenty-five yons ago.”

  He paused and Leah wondered how such a simple silence could sound both regretful and yet respectful.

  “And the transmission?”

  “Eighteen merts. Our scientists and experts in galactic travel had the Searcher built in a little over a yon,” Rykhan supplied. “It took us six merts to travel here.”