“He’s not here right now, is he?”
I chewed on my lower lip, thinking. Aster was outside working off his nervous energy. “Time we stopped pretending this is a fair fight,” I said. “Get that translator to transmit to me. You’re going to do a lot of reading.”
Chem nodded, cheeks colored with appreciation. “And tomorrow?”
“I’ve made the Enhette feast so many times, I can do it blindfolded.”
“Don’t let the queen hear you say that.”
No, she might demand I backup my boast.
“And the third day? How would you manage that?” Chem asked.
The third day of the challenge was a hunt, rite of passage every Fremm undertook to mark the transition from child to adult. By spilling the blood of an animal, the hunter was now able to provide for themselves and their family. Usually small animals were chosen, like rabbits. They could be harder to catch but would not injure the hunter.
“I don’t know,” I said. My knife skills were fantastic by kitchen standards. Would it be good enough for the hunt?
Aster returned inside and declared a long day over, dismissing Chem.
Alone at last.
My komplan placed a finger under my chin and lifted my face towards him, his mouth claiming my own in a gentle kiss. My skin tingled where we touched and my body hummed with aroused electricity. Hot damn.
Aster pulled away, his warm dark eyes still locked with mine. “You have endured a long day. If you want to rest...”
“Don't you dare stop,” I said.
Strong arms surrounded me, squeezing me into an embrace and carried me up the stairs. I squirmed playfully, loving every step of the journey. Another possessive kiss and the world melted away. He walked us to the edge of the bed and sat down.
“Undress for me,” Aster said.
Oh, the prince wanted a show.
I turned my back to him with an exaggerated swing of my hips. Snaking one arm around, I unzipped the back of the green dress. One shoulder strap lowered, exposing the warm color of my skin. The other strap fell. With a wiggle, the dress slid away. My arms raised to the bun on my head and the dress fell to the floor.
Aster groaned.
I couldn’t fight my smile; making that stubborn man lose control was too much fun. Hairpins removed, I shook out my curls, letting them spill down my back. Off came the bra. I flung it over my shoulder towards Aster, carefully covering myself. Shoes slipped off. All that remained were the black lace panties. My fingers hooked around the elastic waistband when Aster said, “Leave them.”
Large hands grabbed my hips and greedily pulled me towards him. I giggled and squirmed, climbing into his lap. Aster had divested himself of his clothes. His cock was at full attention and pressed against my thigh.
“I missed the show,” I said, running my hand along the hard muscles of his chest. Once again I marveled at his physique. There was not an ounce of excess flesh on him. He was solid muscle and so very, very masculine. “I wanted to watch you undress.”
“Not much for you to see,” he said, pulling my mouth down to his.
“Liar.”
His hands rested in the small of my back but they did not stay there. Rough and calloused like a warrior, his hands appreciated the round curve of my ass and then travelling down to exploring the length of my legs, rubbing and generating a maddening friction. I slowly rocked, raising and lowering myself on his lap, rubbing his cock with my inner thigh. My nipples brushed against his chest, illuminating slowly at the points of contact.
His fingers pushed at the edges of the panties, rubbing the skin under and making me whimper. He pulled away the elastic of my panties and slip his hand in. His thumb brushed the lips of my pussy, sending me shivering delight.
With a growl, he rolled me onto my back. My panties were torn away. I repeat, hot damn.
Aster knelt before me and spread my thighs. He took his time, studying my delicate flesh. “You are lovelier every time I touch you,” he said softly. I quivered with need. Words were nice but I needed him inside me. Now. I said as much. Finally, he lowered his face, pressing into my folds and inhaled deeply.
His tongue flicked the tip of my clit, sending sparks of sensation through me. No more Mr. Nice Alien. My body recoiled immediately from shock but his hands were on my thighs, holding me in place. I breathed out and settled into his tongue and mouth, warm and moist. He slowly lapped the length of me, taking pains to explore every fold and crevice. He circled my most sensitive nub, alternating between sucking and pushing. His tongue speared me. My hips bucked. I was so ready for him. I needed his cock in me now.
“Aster, please,” I said between gasps. “I need you.”
His slipped a finger in my silken entrance, twisting it to hit all the sensitive spots. My hips lifted off the bed. I needed more. Another finger. Now there was no fancy moves, just the pumping of his fingers and his tongue still working my clit. Another finger slid in. My muscles clenched around him tight, not letting go.
My climaxed coursed through me. Stress and worry vanished and there was only his mouth and his fingers and joy.
The comm unit beeped.
Aster growled but pulled away. I whimpered as he withdrew his fingers, suddenly empty. His eyes were mournful as he picked up the discarded wrist unit. “What!”
“Forgive the interruption, Captain,” Chem’s thin, electronic voice sounded.
“Hurry up and say it or I will flay you alive.”
“I thought you would like to know that the Royal Guard are entering the house.”
A knock sounded on the bedroom door.
With a snarl on his lips and cursing about there being no point in having his own house if anyone could just walk in, Aster flung over the door. Hands on hips and thick cock standing at attention, he stared down the surprised guard.
“What is it!”
The guard at the front paled and cleared his throat, eye trying to avoid the massive erection pointed at him but failing. “The Queen has asked us to escort you back to the palace, Your Highness.”
Aster did not move. The collective eyes of the guards went from Aster’s cock to me on the bed, clutching a sheet to my chest. Mortified, I could just melt into a puddle.
The guard continued, voice growing weaker and more uncertain with each word. “The Queen does not think it appropriate that Your Royal Highness stay with the Terran before she is deemed worthy.”
“Do you mean my kompli? My mate?”
The guard nodded, brow sweating and his eyes looking everywhere but Aster’s thick blue cock. “Her Majesty says you are to come with us. Now.”
“No.”
“We are authorized to use force, Your Highness.”
Aster growled and slammed the door shut with such force the wood groaned.
He turned to me, nostrils flared. I had the sheet wrapped well around me now. “You have to, love,” I said quietly.
The growl was loud enough to stand the hairs up on the back of my neck. He opened the door again. “You will give me time to say goodnight to my kompli.”
The front guard shuffled and tightened his grip on his spear. “Our orders are now, Sir.”
“Would you march me naked all the way to the palace?” The door slammed shut again, wood creaking in protest.
Aster approached the bed. The sheet slipped away from my chest. The mood was thoroughly killed for me but Aster remained at full staff.
“Let me help you, love,” I said, slipping away from the bed and towards him.
“This is unreasonable,” he said, but his voice softened as I laid a hand on his chest. His skin illuminated at my touch and the strong beat of his heart pulsed. I kissed his lips and moved to his jaw, running my tongue over the cords of his neck, those strong shoulders and perfectly sculpted pecs. My lips and tongue travelled lower, enjoying the firm ripples of his abdomen. I wrapped my hands around his thick cock, already glistening with pre cum, and sank to my knees.
“What are you doing?” he
breathed.
“Giving you a goodnight kiss,” I said. I cupped his balls in one hand, the other holding him at the root. I took the head into my mouth, going as far down the shaft as I could, filling my mouth. My tongue swirled along the ridge, my hand stroking up. This was his favorite act, I knew, partly because of the novelty. Blow jobs were too risky with Fremmian fangs but my fangless Terran mouth was more than agreeable. I continued to lick, suck, and pump. Aster’s large hand rested on the top of my head, guiding me.
I ached to have him inside of me, my channel clenching when Aster moaned and pushed his cock into my mouth. My eyes flicked upwards; Aster’s eyes were closed and his lips slightly parted. I would miss him desperately tonight, but there was no time. There were literally armed guards on the other side of the door, listening to Aster moan my name.
My hands moved to his ass, gripping the firm cheeks and urging him forward. Aster pumped into my mouth, gaining speed and losing control. I took him as far back as I could and finally felt the warm heat of his seed filling my mouth. I swallowed most but some dribbled out of my mouth when I smiled.
Aster immediately fell to his knees, the large man leaned against me. His arms wrapped around me tightly, clutching me to him. “I do not care what happens,” he said, voice low and quiet enough for only my ears. “I will not let you break our bond. You will not release me.”
Chapter Eight
Evie
I won’t lie and say I rested well, or at all. Curled up on Aster’s side of the bed, I mentally went over Enhette recipes. The theme of the holiday food was a small animal cooked inside a larger animal, sometimes in a pie crust. Mentally chopping with my knife blade and reciting measurements, I attained a half sleep.
At dawn, I crawled out of bed. Big day. Only your future with the man you love at stake. No pressure.
Maja waited for me downstairs.
My back stiffened at the sight of the beautiful woman. She was dressed modestly in a white work dress with a grey apron. She presented a similar outfit for myself.
Within an hour we were in the palace’s empty kitchens. My guess was correct, the challenge was preparing the Enhette feast. All instruments and ingredients were at my disposal but only Maja remained as staff. Designed for a small, coordinated army of cooks, the kitchen was cavernous with just the two of us.
Baris spread her arms wide. “At midday, you will present us your feast. I look forward to sampling your effort.”
I returned the queen’s empty smile and did the curtsey I practiced until my thighs aches. In the corners of the room, light glinted off camera lenses. So I was being recorded. Better off not knowing if just the court watched me or the entire planet.
On the whiteboard near the pantry, I quickly listed the dishes to the left and the ingredients to the right. “Bring me these items.”
Bread first, as it would need the most time. The second most time consuming item was the egg in jellied meat loaf. I set a dozen sets in a large bowl with vinegar. The dish sounded worse than it tasted, once you got past the gelatinous texture. The shell on the lightly pickled eggs gave a nice crunch.
Look, don’t get all judgmental. It’s alien cuisine. Terran food was just as strange to them. The Fremmian palate had more vinegar and sour notes than most humans could tolerate. Most Terran cooks wouldn’t go acidic enough, but that wasn’t my problem today. Time was my problem. Midday was five hours away. The schedule would be tight but not impossible.
Maja followed directions well but it was obvious she was no sous chef. Her chopping was slow and not uniform, which would not affect the taste of the end product, just the appearance. Anything going on a top layer or involved with the presentation, I would have to complete. Just be everywhere and do everything, don’t let anything burn and make it picture perfect. Sure. Oh, and everything in the kitchen was designed for freakishly tall Fremm, so I needed a step stool like a child. Dignity taken down a peg? Check.
I miss Jaimie and her nonstop chatter. As background noise, it made the hours in the kitchen fly by. I paused, staring at the bank of windows high in the wall. There really was no real obstacle preventing me from talking to Jaimie now. The computer connected the call almost immediately.
“Girl!” Jaimie’s voice squeaked over speakers. “I just saw you on the news. What were you thinking?”
“Tell me all the hot gossip I’ve been missing,” I said, shaping a mixture of raw meat into a loaf. Gelatin was bubbling away, ready to pour.
“Mostly it’s about you and that blazing blue devil, but you would not believe you had the nerve to show up and try to get your kitchen…”
Jaimie gossiped and I worked, just the way it should be. Listening to her allowed my mind to remain occupied and let my hands do their job without the complications of over thinking. Maja smiled occasionally at Jaimie’s remarks but said nothing.
I’m still not sure how I feel about the Fremmian woman. Baris threw Aster’s ex-lover and ex-fiancé in my path to distract me, and it worked, but that wasn’t Maja’s fault. She seemed to be a person I could really like given time, for a spy. I have to remember that she’s a spy for the queen.
The beast of beasts, a series of birds stuffed inside ever increasing birds, was in the over. Maja had to lift the roasting pan. It’s hard lifting thirty pounds of fowl over your head.
Next was the gooey cheese to serve with the bread at the end of the meal with wine. It was similar to a Terran mozzarella, just very, very salty. Actually, it sucked the water out of your mouth but Fremms enjoyed consuming food that actively fought back.
I dissolved the citric acid and rennet into water. Next I heated the whole milk in a pot and slowly added in the acid. Once the milk was the right temperature, I added the rennet and removed from heat. While the first batch sat, I brought a second pot of water just to boiling and turned off the heat. I ladled out the curds from the first directly into the near boiling water. The hardest part was letting the curds sit undisturbed for five minutes while the cheese set up. Any undo fiddling and the cheese would become too tough and lose the delightfully gooey texture.
Standing near the stove, I wiped the sweat from my brow. Multiple ovens were on and the kitchen was hotter than a furnace.
When the timer went off, I gently scooped out the curds to the stone countertop. While still hot, I folded twice and gave the cheese a good stretch. Then I separated used a knife to cut the cheese into individual portions. I demonstrated how to roll serving sized balls and Maja set to work.
The last was a haivaln, a type of poultry, served nearly raw in a sauce of wine and the creature’s own blood. Again, aliens. Once you get past the vampiric aspects, it’s rather nice and tangy.
“Where’s the haivaln?” I asked.
“Tied up outside the backdoor,” Maja said, rolling balls of cheese.
Curious, I opened the backdoor. Sure enough, there was the feathered beast pecking at the ground. I untied the bird and picked it up, its powerful wings beating against me. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?
At the counter, I pinned the bird with one hand and grabbed a cleaver with the other. Raising the blade, the bird squirmed under my grip and its orange beak open and closed without making a sound. It was the single most pitiful thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve never killed an animal before. All my supplies were frozen or freeze dried.
I just couldn’t bring myself to lower the cleaver.
Maja grabbed the bird quickly and twisted its neck in her two hands. She handed the bird back to me with a frown. “The queen wants you to fail. Do not give her an easy victory.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ve never butchered a live animal.”
“Are you able to clean it?”
I nodded. With a swift blow, the head separated from the body. The carcass drained into a metal bowl.
“Why are you so helpful to me?” I asked.
“It is my duty,” Maja said.
“Really? You get those aristocratic hands dirty much in the kitchen?”
Maja cast her eyes down and shook her head.
“Then why?” I asked.
“The Queen aims to insult you with my presence,” Maja said, eyes slowly rising from the floor to firmly fix on mine. “But she wants to punish me.”
I chewed my lower lip. There’s so much I don’t understand, like why being my helper is punishment. “Why would she do a thing like that?”
Maja flushed with the marks of embarrassment and distress. “Because I refused Aster and his offer of marriage.”
Too stunned to think of the right reply I confessed my ignorance. I knew of the broken engagement. I did not know Maja was the one to break it. There’s so much I don’t know about Aster, about his past loves, and apparently, past fiancees.
“No,” Maja said, turning back to her cutting board and a pile of peeled lef. She worked the knife, making thin slices. “I admired Aster very much, and I believed we could have been happy enough, but I was vain and wanted drama. So I refused him.”
“And Baris doesn’t like being told no.” I knew that first hand. “I thought the families had a contract?”
“Yes, we would marry in time but I wanted a display before acceptance,” Maja said. “Then he was promoted to captain and when he next returned to Fremm, he had his mate.” The despair was plain in her voice.
“How long ago was this?” I asked. Recent enough to hurt, obviously.
Maja set the knife down and dapped a corner of a kitchen towel at her eyes. “It does not matter, your highness. I was not his mate. Another failing in the eyes of the Queen.”
Poor woman, forced to serve the woman who married her love and being constantly reminded that she would have had this position if not for her vanity. Punishment indeed.
“What would have happened if you did marry Aster and then he found his mate?” I asked. The binding of kompli and komplan were not well understood. If a man already had a partner, could he even feel the pull of his kompli? Would I be in a universe without the protective arms of my big blue man? Or would I be forced to share him with a woman not bound by metaphysical ties but a legal contract?
Bride of the Alien Prince: Alpha Alien Romance (Alpha Aliens of Fremm Book 2) Page 5
