Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series)

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  Leah shifted so she could see his face. “I’m guessing a yon is a year and a mert is a month in my language?”

  “Yes, mica tisha, although the timing is a little different but not enough to mention.”

  She didn’t take her eyes off Rykhan as she wondered how to ask her next question. When she opened her mouth to speak, Leah felt a tenderness well within her that she knew tempered her tone. “How long has it been since you’ve seen a woman, then?”

  Rykhan closed his eyes and when they opened, the deep pain she saw evidenced there struck her hard. “I have no memory of one except through holographs and vids.”

  “My mate was one of the first to succumb,” Bronsyn added quietly. “First my Maryll and then my youngling, Syra.”

  She seemed to have no control over the hand that moved to cup Rykhan’s cheek, nor the sweet thrill she received when he again closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her palm.

  It was Leah’s turn to swallow deeply at the emotion she easily read in the small move. “And you expect me to contribute?”

  Rykhan lifted a hand and waved towards her arm jewelry. “Do you have a choice, mica tisha?”

  She couldn’t believe how fast her tender feelings morphed into rage.

  “Shit, yeah, I do!” she exclaimed and then decided what she’d blurted wasn’t emphatic enough. “And oh, hell to the yeah, I do.” Leah tried valiantly to corral her thoughts in order to answer his challenge. “Human women have free-will and independence that we aren’t afraid to use! We are not brood-sows, only available for your kind of guys to attach to and thrust out a release that might or might not result in a baby. And no matching piece of jewelry gives anyone the right to ‘claim’ her. That’s not how it works on my planet, dickwads.”

  At their incredulous looks, Leah took her objections down a notch, in an effort to help the two men to understand her ‘human’ point of view. “Earth girls aren’t defined in terms of being a reproduction factory! We have just as much right to lead a fulfilling life as anyone else, which may or may not include children. In fact, most women I know just want to meet a nice guy, buy a home and do the whole suburbia thingy, ya know?”

  The men shared another confused look and Leah tried to come up with a better explanation. “Look. I’m so sorry for your loss. It sounds as if it was a horrible time for you—for your entire planet. But I don’t see how only six men can be expected to reproduce enough in order to repopulate your worlds.” Bronsyn lifted an eyebrow as if that thought had never occurred to him. “Or are you going to do the whole multiple wives thing? Because if that’s your plan, I gotta tell you, it’s against the law here in the States.”

  “Multiple wives?” Rykhan jerked his head back and stiffened his shoulders. “We only take one mate and that union lasts until one of the pair dies as instructed by Tsiran’s edicts.”

  “Well, that’s good to know.” Leah pressed her fingers to her mouth. “Still though, you’ve got to understand what you’re up against. You want families and there are women who have that same desire as well. However, they are not gonna just come out of the woodwork and immediately give their ‘I do’s’ before popping out a couple of puppies! That’s not how it all works.”

  Another thought intruded.

  “Didn’t you say you’re only here for six months?” At Bronsyn’s nod, Leah slowly shook her head. “Honest to god, I hope you’re prepared to be disappointed. The only kind of women who would be willing to get married and pregnant in six months are not the sort of women I think you’d want. And that’s even if you didn’t intend to take them to your Galaxia.”

  Bronsyn reduced all of Leah’s objections into one question. “You think our mission is impossible?”

  She nodded firmly while murmuring, “Yep.”

  “Is it because of the timeline or due to Earth’s culture?” Rykhan voice was soft but Leah thought it was only because he was trying to process her words.

  “Both, baby,” she replied. “Maybe not Earth’s culture but here in Phoenix, not very many people meet, fall in love, then marry in only six months. Geesh! That’s not even enough time plan a wedding!”

  Silence descended and Leah kept to herself as the two men thought. She hoped they understood and didn’t blame her for poking holes in the goals of their mission.

  But if she didn’t tell them, who would?

  “You have given us much to consider,” Bronsyn announced, rising to his feet. “Thank you for listening and I ask that you keep all you have learned today just between us. Our studies have shown your species doesn’t react well to things they don’t understand.”

  That was putting it a little too mildly, but Leah got what he was saying. “I won’t betray your trust, sir.”

  He smiled and reached for the doorknob but stopped to turn back. “Would you mind if I took a photo of your wahrom? While my leaders have heard the legends of how females can grow them, none of them have ever seen one.”

  “Can I get back to you on that?” It wasn’t as if Leah was camera-shy or anything but if some dudes on a world far-far away needed a picture of her to believe it then count her out. God, it was just like that doctor at the Urgent Care who wanted to do a paper on her metal ‘growth’.

  “Certainly,” the commander replied smoothly before he left the room.

  She stood and fussed with her top and jeans. It felt like she’d been in the small room for hours! Rykhan also gained his feet and moved close until there was but a hands breadth of space between them.

  “You are magnificent,” he said on a sigh and she raised her eyes to look up at him. “The way you challenged Bronsyn and the whole mission was nothing short of amazing. You brought up points no one else has even dared to address.”

  Her cheeks heated with his warm praise. “Somebody had to be the voice of reason. Even if it was just me.”

  He closed the tiny distance between them and enveloped her in his arms. “I’m so glad it was you, my Leah. So very glad it was you.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Leah was quiet on the drive back, caught up in the churning of her own thoughts as she tried to process all she’d learned and experienced through the day. Even Pam seemed subdued and wasn’t driving as if she was going to win the Indianapolis 500 on nothing more than a suburban freeway. Leah was more than thankful since she didn’t think she could take anymore hair-raising surprises for awhile. She’d experienced enough in the last twenty-four hours, what with the appearance of her armband that was a smaller but perfect replica of Rykhan’s, the unbelievable sex they’d shared and then Bronsyn’s confession and admission that the warriors were actually aliens who needed her help.

  Although she had to admit, some parts of what she’d gone through had been better than others.

  Like when Rykhan had pulled her away from the crowd after their dinner of delivered pizza and had done nothing more than hold her closely against his chest. It had only seemed natural that her fingers had sought out the hard metal of his wahrom as she’d pressed her face into his neck, just as his hand had found hers. If his reaction was any indication, the caresses she gave his own metal caused just as much of a response in him as she felt when he stroked hers. It had even gotten to the point of pressing his hard manhood into her hipbone, clearly indicating he was more than amenable to going back to his room.

  Maybe it was because of his behavior she believed him about never seeing a real, live girl until they arrived on Earth.

  On the other hand, she’d gotten just as aroused, had been tempted to do it again when he caressed her wahrom as well. Just the memory of their combined orgasm when their arm jewelry collided, had Leah turning to the passenger window to hide both her blush and her smile.

  Both Rykhan and Bronsyn had not hidden their disappointment when she’d repeatedly denied her destiny was a done deal, that Rykhan was her ‘true and legitimate mate’. Leah had tried to explain it, had cited that while she wasn’t against marriage in any way, shape or form, there was no way in hell that she was
getting legally tied to a man she’d only recently met. In retrospect, she was glad she’d objected early on because the more she found out about their plans, about how they were to meet women who might be willing to join with the warriors, she’d realized how little they actually knew about the fairer sex. At least those on her planet.

  Was there a difference between the Picari females and Earth women? In Leah’s opinion, the answers she’d received to her questions had been sadly lacking. Especially in the areas of career opportunities and outside interests for those of the feminine persuasion on either Galaxia or Nutrol. That was, once she got over the shock the warriors actually expected their brides to blithely climb aboard their star-cruiser and relocate some place no one had ever heard of!

  “Ridiculous!” she muttered, not realizing she had spoken aloud.

  “Naw, I think it’s just flat-out sad,” Pam answered with a sigh. “I mean, imagine coming all this way and trying find your other half using the stupidest of all human stupid stuff like speed-dating or find-your-soul-mate-dot-com in order to find a partner.”

  Leah’s eyes flew to her friend. “They told you?”

  “Oh hell, yeah. When you were all getting all up-tight and personal with Bronsie and Ryk in the den, the boys took me out to the back garden and laid it all out.” She sighed again and didn’t speak for a time. Leah however, rode the edges of incredulity since she’d somehow believed that she was the only one privy to that knowledge. “It had to have been the most depressing thing I think I’ve ever heard.”

  They continued for a few more miles, each seemingly caught up in what they’d heard earlier.

  “So you gonna do it?” Pam finally asked, glancing to Leah before training her eyes back to the roadway. “Help them out, I mean. Because I can pretty much figure your answer to the whole ‘pair with us’ speech was a big old ‘hell to the no’ like mine was. Since I’m guessing to ‘pair’ means to be engaged in some kind of, like, holy wedlock or some shit.”

  “I, ah…” Leah started. “I can’t believe I asked them why, if the need was so great, they didn’t just do a snatch and grab to obtain women to mate and replenish their worlds with.”

  “I know, right?” Pam’s blonde curls bounced in the light coming from the dashboard as she nodded her agreement.

  “Bronsyn said, and I believe I’m quoting him almost verbatim,” Leah started before lowering her voice in a weak imitation of the leader of the wickedly handsome warriors. “We are protectors, not thieves.”

  The laughter that rang out between the two women bounced off every surface of the car’s interior.

  “Honest to god, though, I don’t have any worries about those guys finding women. Because any woman with a pulse is gonna have wet panties when just one of those men drop trou’.”

  “You’ve seen them naked?” Leah’s voice squeaked in the upper registers and was a stark contrast to how she’d spoken earlier.

  “Yeah,” Pam offered with a shrug as she leaned an elbow against the edge of the doorframe. “There at the end when we were getting ready to leave. Ty, Shawn, and Gere were doing a Magic Mike at the edge of the pool. And let me tell you sister, my corneas still hurt. Whew! Those hunks are hotter than hot!”

  Leah smiled when her bestie turned towards her with a huge grin and waggling eyebrows.

  “Since they don’t have any hair below their cheekbones it was a complete and total ‘yowsa’ moment for this girl, to be sure! All those muscles were…” Releasing a long, heavy sigh, Pam let her voice trail off as if there were just too many adjectives available to just choose one.

  Leah found her mind rushing to the time when Rykhan had paused with his knee on the bed after removing his clothes. She had been so caught up in her own emotions that she hadn’t taken notice of anything other than the desire that’d shone clearly in his eyes. As her mind reviewed each and every inch of Rykhan’s skin as it slowly made an appearance, she found her thighs pressing together with just the memory.

  She caught Pam’s smirk before hearing, “makes a girl want to do a bit of grooming herself, you know?”

  Another thought intruded, strong enough that Leah felt she needed to say it out loud. “Do you think they’re all virgins?”

  There was a shrug and another sigh before Pam spoke again. “According to Brent, some of the fellas on their planets are mated to other males. As for our set of guys? None has taken that little turn in the road. Nope, our boys have been truly and scientifically proven to be straight.”

  Leah envisioned a scene from one of the many sci-fi and fantasy movies she indulged in, imagining a plethora of wires and electrodes connected to machines and the specific, nether parts of the warriors. “How do you think they did that?”

  “I dunno and I wasn’t about to ask,” came the response into the quiet space. “The guys didn’t get into detail about it.”

  The silence came up and claimed them again but Leah didn’t mind in the least. Her head was spinning with everything, even though it felt amazing to have Pam in the know.

  Knowing exactly what her friend meant about it being too personal a question to broach, Leah nodded. “But here’s what I don’t get. How can men with such awesome bods eat so much and still stay in shape? I mean ordering ten extra large pizzas for only the nine people is completely crazy, right?”

  Pam’s eyes rounded. “And when I helped clean up, all the boxes were empty. Every single one.” She glanced across the console. “Have you ever seen Ryk eat so much before?”

  Thinking back over their dating history, Leah slowly nodded. “Yeah, I have, but just once when he took me to Sunday brunch. He initially ordered just a regular plate from their brunch selections along with a couple of sides but by the time he sat back smiling and dabbing at his mouth, he’d ordered and eaten every damn thing they had on the brunch menu!” She turned her head to the window before she spoke again. “I got a glance at the check before he settled it. It was over a hundred and ten dollars.”

  Pam’s soft whistle more than communicated her awe. “Shit! A day’s salary spent on nothing more than a meal?” Pam twisted her face towards her friend. “Where do you think they’re getting all their money, though? I mean, those boys are living large but do any of them have actual jobs or anything?”

  “Not to my knowledge, but I’m sure we’ll find out.” Leah frowned, coming up with and then discarding various ways the aliens could be making their bank--none of it even close to the realm of legal.

  Quiet reigned as Pam’s SUV ate the miles on the 101 West.

  Pam was the one that broke the stillness first. “Still and all, I don’t mind being on their payroll and helping them to fulfill their quest. But I can’t, and just damn well do not, see myself moving in. I mean, they’re gorgeous as all get-out but, geez! Living with a whole stable of studs? Uh-uh. That not my particular cup of tea.” She briefly shifted her eyes from the road to her friend in the passenger seat. “What about you?”

  Leah hesitated over her response. “Bronsyn and Rykhan seemed to think the unexpected and surprising bling on my arm somehow means that I’m automatically Rykhan’s one and only true love.”

  “Seriously?” As the vehicle sharply swerved, Leah grabbed for the passenger strap for the first time since she’d gotten in the car. Pam’s eyes were darting between both her passenger and the road which more than spoke of her friend’s distress. “Neither Wyst or Ryk said anything like that when Wyst showed me his wahrom. Something, I might add, that is the exact color of my totally amazing eyes.”

  Leah swallowed and tried to put her spinning thoughts into some kind of objective order. “Then maybe it has something to do with the design.”

  Leah’s gaze remained on her friend until a blaring horn signaled Pam’s SUV had drifted too far into the right lane.

  “Yeah, well. Just because his symbol, that the wahrom thingy, is almost a complete replica of Granny’s pendant doesn’t mean shit in my opinion. I mean, who the eff considers themselves bound to an alien, even of
the beautiful behemoth variety? Just because of some kind of symbol?” Pam didn’t sound as positive as Leah wanted, needed her to be. “But even Wyst seemed relieved when I turned his proposal down. Seriously, though. No girl likes to think of an arranged marriage even if the one doing the organizing is a god.”

  Leah had to give her friend props at her thought processes. So holding up a fist, she aimed it towards her shorter and blonde-haired counterpart, while muttering, “I hear ya, darlin’.”

  After their fists met and Pam had pulled onto Leah’s street, the effusive woman turned to her companion. “You gotta admit, these are some exciting times though, right?

  “Maybe a little more exciting than I’d anticipated,” Leah offered on a mumble as she released the seatbelt. “Whatever happened to just putting myself ‘out there’ as a girl some guy just wanted to date and maybe have sex with?”

  Pam’s laughter though stilled her hand and she looked at the woman who was more, so very much more, than a friend. “So tell me, Leah. How fast are you turning in your resignation?”

  With a rueful grin, Pam’s passenger muttered, “Who said shit about submitting a form to the DMV? All a person has to do is not show for three days without a medical excuse and they’re a goner.”

  Pam shot her fist into the air, head down and lips clenched as she pumped it again and again. “That’s my girl!” the blonde-haired woman cried while Leah extradited herself from the car.

  “So what time should I pick you up tomorrow, Pam?”

  “Is eight too early for a person without a job?” “At least it’s better than the six that Bronsyn suggested.” Tilting back her head, Pam laughed before adding, “That man as a freaking lot to learn about Earth girls.”

  There was no other way to respond but with a fervent and heartfelt, “you know it. And we’re just the ones to teach him.”

  Slamming the door with a giggle, Pam’s car took off before Leah turned her eyes to the night sky. Wrapping her arms around herself, she wondered which direction the Picari system was, even though the lights of Phoenix didn’t allow her to see many stars.