Rye (Joyadan Mates Book 1)

by Sadie Carter

  Rye had explained how they had figured out where she was after she’d told him everything that had happened to her. It seemed hard to believe that it had been less than twenty-four hours since she’d been taken.

  Rye’s face was grim as he stared over at the door.

  “If you want to go be with them, then you can go. I’m fine.”

  I’m not. Stay.

  She didn’t say the words. She knew the man Rye was. He would never be happy living a safe, normal kind of life. He lived for adventure.

  He turned back with a scowl that surprised her. “I need to be with you.” He leaned over her, placing his hands on either side of her shoulders. “Do you know how much you aged me? How terrified I was when I woke to find you gone?”

  “You were?” she whispered, hardly daring to breathe.

  “Hell yes. What did you think? That I sat here and played cards? That I would just shrug off the fact that you had been taken and go on with my life? Did you think I wouldn’t come for you?” Those last words were half-yelled. She knew he wasn’t angry at her. He’d been scared, and he didn’t like feeling helpless.

  That made two of them.

  “I thought you were dead. I thought he’d killed you. Do you know how scared I was?” she asked him.

  “You know that I will come for you no matter what, right? No matter what happens I will always find you.”

  “I know.”

  “I need you, Elika. I love you. Which is why we’re going back to Zerconia, and you’re going to move into my house where I can keep a goddamn close eye on you. There’s no more getting kidnapped for you.”

  “But what about your brother? You have to find him.”

  He shook his head. “And I will. One day. But right now, I need to be with you.”

  “Can’t you do both?” she asked. “I can come with you to find Lochlan.”

  “No, what you need right now is to feel safe. To have a home.”

  “Yes, I do.” She took hold of both his hands, leaning into him. “I have a home. With you. You make me feel safe. You are my home.”

  He studied her. “I love you.”

  “And I love you. Always.”

  “You better. Because you’re never getting rid of me.” He leaned in and kissed her. “You’re mine.”

  “Then it’s settled. We’re going to find Lochlan. Together.”

  “We’ll see.”

  His communicator buzzed, and he glanced down at it then stood. “I’ll be back.” She watched him leave, tension riding her. The soup he’d been feeding her curdled in her stomach. After a few minutes, the door slid open, and he returned, his face serious.

  “Pnir? Was he there?” she whispered. What would she do if he’d somehow gotten free?

  Rye nodded. “He was there. He’s dead.”

  She placed her hand over her stomach. “I killed him.”

  Rye sat next to her and pulled her against him. “He deserved it. If you hadn’t, I would have. I don’t want you to regret what you had to do.”

  “I don’t. He wanted to corrupt me. He killed Alain. I know he deserved to die.”

  Rye pulled back and cupped her face. “You did what you had to. Because you’re strong. You’re a fighter. You’re also the woman I love. My ferocious, feisty witch.”

  “Still not sure I like that word,” she teased. “But I’ll take it as a fucking compliment.”

  He just grinned and kissed her.

  Thanks for reading Rye. I hope you enjoyed it! Please consider leaving a review, it really helps indie authors. Read on for some excerpts from some of my other books.

  Sadie.

  Books by Sadie Carter

  Zerconian Warriors Series

  Alien Warrior

  Alien Lover

  Alien Mate

  Sweet Alien Savage

  Alien Savior

  Alien Morsels

  Alien Mine

  Joyadan Mates

  Rye

  Excerpt from Alien Warrior

  “You were sent out here alone on purpose?” Happy asked.

  “Yes.” She scanned the sky nervously. They couldn’t have long before those lizard creatures appeared. It didn’t usually take them long to sense fresh prey.

  “But you are a female.” Grumpy looked like he’d swallowed something sour.

  She folded her arms over her chest. She’d refused to get changed out of her baggy top. No way did she want to give these aliens any ideas. Not that her body was anything to brag about, but she didn’t want to tempt fate. “Nice of you to notice.”

  “Why would they send a female to welcome us?” Happy asked.

  She sighed. “Look, just let me speak to your commander and then I’ll get out of here.”

  “You keep looking up at the sky. Why?” the sex god asked.

  Zoey just stared at him, all of her thoughts fleeing as a rush of arousal flooded her.

  “Female?” He frowned. “Are you well?”

  “What? Oh, sorry. My name’s Zoey. Umm, what was the question? Oh yeah, I’m checking for lizards.”

  “Lizards?” He repeated the word slowly, as though it was foreign to him.

  “Yeah, fire-breathing, flying lizards. That’s why we built the dome. To protect ourselves from them.”

  “From fire-breathing, flying creatures,” he stated with a frown.

  “Yes.” What was so hard to understand about that?

  “Yet you came out here without any sort of protection?” There was clear disapproval in his voice. “What was your minder thinking?”

  “Look, I don’t know what a minder is. What I do know is that my commander is waiting for me to report back. So if you could ask your commander to please come out here before those slimy, fire-breathing lizards turn us into a giant bonfire, that would be great.

  “We don’t have all day, so come on.” She made a hurry-up gesture with her hands. Probably not her best move, she realized, when all three frowned down at her.

  “Take me to your leader.” Seriously, she didn’t just say that, did she? She needed to cut down on the time she spent in front of the screen.

  “My name is Dexanon Xa’a. I am the Crown Prince of Zerconia. And I do not negotiate with females.”

  Excerpt from Alien Lover

  Oh, crap. When his “I-am-your-leader-you-must-obey-me” attitude appeared, then Zoey knew he was holding on to his control by a thread.

  “Dex! I’m okay. Dude, let me past or he’s going to kill you.”

  The male didn’t budge.

  Glancing behind her, Zoey grabbed a chair and stood on it, giving her just enough height to see over the male’s shoulders.

  “Dex, calm down. I’m okay.”

  “He touched you.”

  She winced at the rage in his voice. Thor and Macon had each grabbed one of his arms while Koran clasped him around the waist from behind.

  His fury-filled gaze was centered directly on the male still standing in front of her. “I’ll kill him.”

  “For touching me? Dex, chill. Besides, I touched him.”

  Dex snarled and pushed against the warriors holding him. They barely managed to hold him back.

  Okay, wrong thing to say, Zoey.

  Amazingly, the silent male didn’t seem to be the least perturbed by the infuriated Zerconian warrior threatening to kill him. Maybe he wasn’t quite right in the head.

  “Dex, just let me explain. I bought him at a slave auction.”

  “I know.”

  He did? How?

  “You were there? What were you doing there?” The image of the naked female popped into her head and she placed her hands on her hips, scowling at Dex. “Just what were you doing there, Dexanon Xa’a?”

  “I was retrieving some of our warriors, mate,” Dex growled. “You were not supposed to be there. I left orders that you were to return to the ship before the auction began.”

  “You didn’t tell me that I wasn’t supposed to be there.”

  “Zoey,” Thor interjected
in a strained voice, “explain yourself quicker.”

  She glanced over at the healer, who was usually pretty easygoing—at least in comparison to the rest of them. His face was strained, tense. The three warriors holding Dex weren’t weaklings. His rage must have given him extra strength.

  “Dex, all I did was grab hold of his hand to tell him that I would help him. I was just trying to be friendly.”

  “You are not to touch other males.”

  Zoey sighed. “I touch Koran and Thor.”

  “Stars, woman, are you trying to ensure our deaths?” Koran asked incredulously.

  “You know I just see them as friends. It is the same with this guy.”

  “He is a sex slave! You bought a sex slave!”

  Oh. Crap.