Star Mate Matched

by Margo Bond Collins

  “Operation Dump and Jump commencing in three, two, one…”

  The ship shuddered, and I felt it tearing away from the connection the Karlaxons had made between the two ships. At the same moment, it jumped into hyperspace.

  This jump seemed to take longer than usual, the vision-bending effects roiling my stomach even after all the hyperjumps I had made in my career.

  We came out of the jump into a completely empty area, the nearest stars twinkling as tiny lights so far away I could barely make them out.

  My hands danced over the nav control panel as I brought up star chart readings to verify our position. I couldn’t find it. “Computer, where are we?” I asked.

  There was a long silence as the computer worked to come up with an answer, and I kept trying to match our location with known star charts.

  “Uncertain,” the computer finally said.

  Uncertain? What the hell does that mean?

  “Computer, verify.” I glanced over at Nora, who had turned a peculiar shade of pale green and was clutching the armrests of the chair she occupied.

  “Verified,” the computer said. “We are currently located in no known part of the universe.”

  I slammed my hand down on the console in front of me and cursed. Then I shoved it out of my way and stood up. Turning to Nora, I grabbed her by the upper arm and dragged her out of her chair, planning to explain to her exactly how the predicament we now found ourselves in was completely her fault.

  Instead, when I touched her, the mate-bond of my people flared to life, allowing me to feel everything she felt in that instant.

  The top layers of her emotions were full of anger bubbling up against me. Her rage popped like tiny bubbles in an effervescent drink, fizzing through the bond.

  In the next layer down, I felt a swirl of other emotions. Fear—absolute terror, actually.

  Attraction, drawing her toward me.

  And below that, sadness and loneliness, a deep well that colored everything else.

  That last emotion awoke my protective instinct.

  Mine, my inner beast growled. Mine to protect.

  With a frustrated snarl, I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her and pressing my lips to hers in the most ancient of mate-bindings. With my mouth, I claimed her as I kissed her, capturing her tongue with my own, holding her steady as she melted in my arms, her body conforming to mine. My cock hardened at the feel of her in my arms, and she moaned into my mouth as it pressed against hers.

  When I finally pulled away, we were both breathing hard.

  “Commander,” the computer spoke into the silence of our heaving breaths. “There’s a problem.”

  “What is it?” I asked impatiently.

  “This woman is not your mate.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Nora

  Dax’s kiss worked on me like a drug, leaving me aching and wanting more.

  When he dragged me out of my chair, I had half expected him to toss me out the nearest airlock. The last thing I anticipated was for him to pull me up against him and kiss me senseless.

  The computer announcing that I was not his mate made my head spin even more.

  When he kissed me, I was certain I felt emotions actually coming from him. Frustration, anger, and a deep, longing desire like nothing I had ever felt before.

  As we stared at each other after the computer’s announcement, all I could really think about was how much I wanted him to kiss me again. My lips felt almost bruised from the intensity of that first kiss.

  “What do you mean, she is not my mate?” Dax didn’t loosen his hold on me as he queried the computer.

  If nothing else, at least that kiss had apparently ended our argument.

  A surge of amusement flew through me, and Dax gave me a confused look, almost as if he wanted to ask what was so funny.

  But if I acknowledged that look, I might have to admit that I really had felt his emotions when he was kissing me.

  “Computer?” I followed up. “Why are you saying I am not Dax’s mate?”

  What is wrong with me?

  Moments ago, I had been determined to convince Dax that I was not his mate. Now all I wanted to know what why the computer said I wasn’t.

  Ugh. This alien catman is making me insane.

  I pushed against his chest and wiggled out of his grasp. He let me go, his expression abstracted as he moved to the console at the front of the room and began tapping in information—trying, I assumed, to figure out why the computer had suddenly announced that I was not his mate.

  Chapter Twelve

  Dax

  “What the flark do you mean, she’s not my mate?” I demanded again.

  “The recent malfunctions in my data core led to a misidentification of your potential mate.” Somehow, the computer’s voice sounded even more neutral than usual. I leaned over and pulled Nora close again, drawing in the scent of her hair.

  Everything about her screamed at me that she belonged to me. She was mine.

  My inner beast snarled in agreement.

  “What does that mean, that I was misidentified?” Nora asked.

  I noted that she didn’t try to wriggle away again.

  “The Earth female with you at the moment of our arrival is Commander Dax’s actual mate.”

  “I knew it,” Nora muttered. “Of course it was the skinny blonde. It’s always the skinny ones.”

  “The other one?” My voice rose in something between astonishment and horror. “That one was too thin. She would never be able to carry a Drovekzian offspring.”

  Nora slapped my arms away from her. “Carry your offspring? Is that your only criterion?”

  I decided it would probably be best if I did not tell her I had considered taking them both as mates.

  My inner cat chuffed in amused agreement.

  “The possibility of healthy offspring with Nora Marlin is 83.7%. That is a 10% lower reproductive rate than would be possible with your true mate.”

  I’ll take those odds.

  Nora continued her line of questioning doggedly. “What other criteria are you using to choose a mate?”

  “I did not think you even wanted to be here,” I pointed out.

  “I didn’t.” She spun away from me, her fluffy white drapery flaring out, then settling back down around her ankles as she stood with her back to me, arms crossed over her chest, her body language a clear dismissal.

  But I did not intend to accept that dismissal. Slowly, I walked around her, and tilted her chin up with my knuckle. She blinked rapidly, but one tear escaped her brimming eyes.

  “If you don’t want to be my mate, why does the thought of rejection make you cry?” Gently, I wiped the tear away from her cheek.

  Nora jerked her chin out of my hand. “I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m not sad. I’m just… angry.” She made an inarticulate noise and stamped her foot. “I am so damn tired of losing everything. This has been a horrible day at the end of a terrible week, and I am ready for it to be over.”

  “Horrible day?” I didn’t want to make my mate cry. And no matter what the computer said, she was my mate.

  I waited, hoping she would tell me everything. Soon enough, my patience was rewarded.

  “I lost my job,” she muttered. “I basically got jilted at the altar.” Her voice rose. “I can’t move back into my old apartment. And then I got kidnapped by a green freaking tiger alien and taken off into space and attacked by some horrific rhinoceros space-monsters.” Her words began to run together toward the end, culminating in a great, shuddering sob.

  With a wail, she threw herself into my arms.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nora

  I didn’t intend to start crying—and I certainly had no plans of throwing myself into Dax’s arms if I did.

  Yet I found myself sobbing as he wrapped his arms around me and stroked my hair comfortingly. He murmured soft alien words that weren’t automatically translated for me.

  When my weeping s
torm subsided, I pulled away from him, glancing around for something to wipe my tears. In the end, I shrugged and lifted the top layer of chiffon in my skirt.

  This wedding dress is trashed, anyway. Whatever.

  Dax took me over to one of the oversized seats at the console, then sat down in another chair across from me. He leaned forward, keeping my hands in his. Next to his, my fingers looked like they belonged to a child’s hand.

  “Would you like me to take you back to your planet?” he asked solemnly, his giant green eyes staring to mine intently.

  I was shocked into silence. Was this gorgeous, infuriating, giant tiger-man alien really asking me what I wanted? He struck me as more domineering than that—but his tone suggested he meant it.

  Pausing for a long, silent moment, I considered my options. When I finally spoke, my words came out haltingly. “I don’t have anything there.”

  “Would you like to come with me?”

  “The computer said we weren’t a match,” I reminded him.

  Dax laughed. “If you choose to become my mate, we have more than an eighty-three percent chance of having a child together.” He shrugged. “That is a higher reproductive rate than any mate I could find on my planet. And should we decide to have offspring, our scientists could help us ensure that any children were strong and healthy.”

  This is insane, Nora. It would be the reboundiest of all rebound relationships ever in the history of … well, of everything ever.

  And yet… part of me wanted to go with him.

  I had not been exaggerating when I said I had nothing left. William had convinced me to get rid of practically all my old friends. They didn’t fit in, he had said.

  Of course, he ignored the fact that I didn’t fit in, either—more than once, I wondered why he chose me at all. It was no wonder our relationship ended like it did.

  All of those issues also applied to this strange cat shifter alien who was now offering to take me away with him.

  But at least this time, I know for sure that we come from two different worlds.

  A snort of laughter escaped me at the thought.

  “What do you find amusing?” Dax asked.

  “I’m not going to find you fucking someone else in the bathroom on our wedding day, am I?”

  He frowned for a moment as he worked through the meaning of what I had asked, and then his expression turned to outrage. “Once we are mated, I will never fuck anyone but you. As far as where… Well, we have lovely bathing pools on Drovekz. I would be happy to take you there, if that is what you desire.”

  His exaggerated leer and wink left no doubt about what he meant by “taking” me.

  This time, my laughter was full-throated. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to go home. I don’t know if I want to race off to some other planet. This morning I was supposed to marry someone else. How can I be sure what I want?”

  He squeezed my hands gently. “I can be certain enough for both of us, at least in the beginning.”

  Could he? Really?

  We stared at one another for a long moment, Dax’s gaze growing more heated by the second. We leaned in toward each other, and just as his lips brushed against mine, the computer announced, “We have arrived at our destination.”

  Cursing under his breath, Dax dropped my hands and spun around to check the console. “Computer, verify location.”

  “Verifying coordinates.” The computer rattled off a series of numbers and letters that made no sense to me, but left Dax cursing more loudly.

  “Is there a problem?” I asked.

  “This is not our programmed destination.” His fingers moved over the control panels, and a display opened up in front of us, showing a field of stars glittering in the darkness.

  “So where are we?” I asked.

  “I’m still working that out.” Deep furrows of concern lined Dax’s brow as he continued examining a readout scrolling up one side of the viewscreen. “That’s not right,” he muttered. “Can’t be.”

  “Where are we?” I asked again, a knot of dread forming in my stomach.

  “According to this readout, we are on the outer edges of the Karlaxons’ territory. This is the last place we should be.”

  Looks like the computer got more wrong than just allowing Dax to choose me as a mate.

  “Can we get out of here?” I was almost afraid to hear Dax’s answer.

  “I certainly hope so. Computer, set a hyperspace course for the Battleship Lavelek at the coordinates I am inputting now.” He tapped away at the console, double checked the scrolling numbers, and said, “Please verify coordinates.”

  The ship rattled off another string of numbers, and Dax nodded. “Engage hyperspace engines now.”

  This time I was prepared as the stars I was looking at stretched out in front of me, and I felt like I left my stomach behind as we jumped again.

  When we next came out of hyperspace, Dax didn’t even have to wait for the readout. Something about the stars outside projecting onto the viewscreen made him start cursing immediately.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked tentatively.

  Dax’s gaze flickered between me and the viewscreen. “Not unless you have some magic way to convince the ship to get us out of Karlaxon territory.”

  “I’m afraid I’m not going to be very useful to you out here.” I was beginning to realize exactly how much I loathed feeling helpless. I had felt that way all day. Helpless to save myself from the heartache that William inflicted. Helpless against the mugger in the park. Helpless, even, against Dax when he appeared in his cat form.

  It was just so…stereotypically female. Yuck.

  “Wait here,” Dax ordered. “I’m going to go back to the computer core and see if I can figure out what has gone wrong.”

  “Are we safe here?”

  He shrugged. “We are still on the very outer perimeter of Karlaxon territory. If we are lucky, they will not spot us.”

  “And if we’re unlucky?”

  “Then maybe we will not notice them before they blow us out of the sky.” He flashed a rueful grin in my direction.

  I recognized that sort of grim humor as a coping mechanism.

  Helpless again, dammit.

  As soon as Dax left the bridge, I moved back to the cabinet containing the weapons.

  I might be helpless, but at least I can be armed.

  For all the good it would do.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dax

  For the first time, I understood what Jalek had meant when he said his mate was deciding whether or not they would be together—because now my mate was making that decision, too.

  As I jogged toward the engineering bay, I considered what that might mean for me.

  I could feel Nora’s emotions through the mate-bond. I knew she was mine. But she had not even recognized what that meant. Her people had no mate-bond of their own.

  And yet she can be bonded to a mate. That was interesting—the idea that she was receptive to a Drovekzian mate-bond, that I could bond her to me.

  Of course, I could still sever that bond if Nora decided she didn’t want to be with me. But with every touch, every kiss, it bound us together more tightly. If I let it go much longer, let our bond grow stronger, I would end up devastated if she left.

  When Jalek had told me that his human female, Lucy, was still deciding whether or not they were to become lifemates, I had brushed the claim away as a ridiculous idea. Only now did I recognize its significance.

  I want to make Nora my mate.

  I need her.

  If I were honest with myself, I would have to admit that losing her now would be devastating, even though we had not yet mated. And I did not know if I really could sever that bond. There were stories in Drovekzian culture about mates who had bonded so quickly that their entire lives had been destroyed when they were parted from one another, bonds that were so strong they stood the test of separation for years, bonds that kept mates together no matter wh
at difficulties they encountered.

  It wasn’t that I had not believed the stories—all mates in my culture shared some degree of the bond. But I hadn’t understood how absolutely all-encompassing those bonds were.

  Mine, my inner beast growled.

  Yes, I agreed, Nora belongs with us. The beast subsided.

  As I entered the engineering bay, I inhaled deeply and blew out a breath slowly, working to calm the anxious knot that considering losing Nora had left in my stomach.

  “Yes,” I murmured to myself as I headed toward the computer core, “Nora is mine. I will find a way to convince her to stay with me, no matter what.”

  Even if that meant intensifying the mate-bond long before she understood its true meaning.

  Half a sundrop later, I was still working through the issues with the computer.

  Somehow, the Karlaxons had hacked into the computer software, despite all our precautions.

  In order to dig out the virus they had installed, I had to go through every section of code, with the help of the computer’s self-diagnostics. The primary issue with that, of course, was that the computer itself was corrupted, which meant the diagnostics were suspect.

  “Garlockian underworlds,” I cursed. “This is more flarking complicated than following a claarbeast’s trail at sunset.”

  I spent the next several moments moving through each segment of the core, disconnecting it, and checking all the components before firing it back up again.

  For once, I wished I had brought a second-in-command on this particular journey.

  It might be traditional for a Drovekzian male to go alone to meet his mate, but I was beginning to think it was a stupid tradition.

  I could be on the bridge kissing Nora right now.

  My cock hardened at the thought, and I imagined sliding my hands down her sides and across her lush hips, reaching around to stroke her ass.

  “Flark.” I really needed to get the scoutship moving so I could get us out of here, take us someplace safe where I could seduce her properly.