by Lynn Tyler
Helan Universe 1
Mate for Two
It’s not easy being king, especially when you’re the king of a dying people. But that’s exactly what D’Arik is. Now, he and his consort, Varin, are faced with the task of finding a female mate to carry their child.
Jacy Townsend is enraged by the thought of human women being bartered as broodmares to an alien race and helps to find a rebellion. But what will she do when she is chosen to be the queen of the very people she is rebelling against? And what will D’Arik and Varin do when the find out she is supporting the evacuation of human women?
As emotions and passion clash with fundamental differences, Jacy, D’Arik, and Varin must find a way to come together if they want to have any hope of saving the Helan race.
Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Science Fiction
Length: 40,997 words
MATE FOR TWO
Helan Universe 1
Lynn Tyler
MENAGE AMOUR
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Amour
MATE FOR TWO
Copyright © 2012 by Lynn Tyler
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-970-8
First E-book Publication: December 2012
Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
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DEDICATION
To my awesome sisters-in-law, Lisa, Jess, and Cyndi. You’re the sisters I always wanted.
MATE FOR TWO
Helan Universe 1
LYNN TYLER
Copyright © 2012
Chapter 1
D’Arik sat at his desk staring at the latest report from back home. The best scientists and statisticians all agreed. The population of Helan was dangerously low. If a compatible species wasn’t found soon, the entire Helan species would die out in about three generations. His own physician believed they had seventy-five, maybe one hundred years at best before the Helan species was completely gone. It was entirely conceivable that the beginning of the end of his people would be in his lifetime.
The starship lurched slightly as it corrected its orbit around the blue-and-green planet remarkably like his own home. The people on this small planet thrived, numbering in the billions. If only they knew what they had. Gods, if the Helans numbered even half of this species, he would be back at his own home, in his own room instead of crammed into a tiny bed with his very large consort. Not that he minded snuggling up to Varin, but there was something to be said for having enough room to stretch out without his feet dangling off the end of the bed. And poor Varin was even taller than he was. Luckily, Varin had simply smiled and told D’Arik that he’d slept on worse.
He forced aside the thought of the male waiting for him, asleep in their bed, and focused again on the report in front of him. His eyes snagged on one of the last paragraphs, detailing the conclusions of the report. In their incessant attempt to breed the ultimate male warrior, his ancestors had actually ended up breeding their women’s ability to carry female fetuses right out of their species. The few Helan women who were still alive were well past childbearing age and had never produced any female offspring.
D’Arik pushed the papers aside and spun his chair around so that he faced the window. He began to shake with the implications of that report. These humans were their last hope. If this species wasn’t genetically similar enough for the females to carry Helan children, they were out of luck. They probably wouldn’t be able to find another similar species in time to save themselves. Even if these humans were able to carry Helan children, there was no guarantee they could boost their population enough to matter in the long run. The scientists had warned him that if they found a compatible species, it may only buy them another few generations before the whole crisis started again. At least a few more generations would give their scientists more time to figure out a solution to their problem.
Gods, he was so tired. He’d been at this for hours, gazing at this forsaken report, praying with all his strength and faith that something would change and illuminate the solutions to every single one of his problems. He grabbed his goblet of miri and gulped it down. Seizing the bottle of the bitter alcohol, he tipped it upside down and let the last of it drain into his glass. He was disgusted with himself. The entire weight of his world was resting on his shoulders, and here he was, drinking himself into oblivion. His hand was shaking as he raised his glass to his lips, and D’Arik could feel himself shutting down.
He collapsed into himself, his shoulders hunching and abdomen contracting so that he was bent at the waist. The only thing that stopped him from being bent completely in half was the fact that his forearms were resting on his thighs, essentially propping him up. His head felt as if were too heavy for his neck, and it fell forward so that his gaze was directed to the carpet beneath his feet. He felt utterly hopeless, and fear had been his constant companion since his parents had died, leaving him the High King of Helan. He was so damn scared that he would watch his people die out before his very eyes and not be able to do a fucking thing about it.
He pivoted so that the wall was directly in front of him and threw the goblet as hard as he could, watching the miri drip down the wall onto the shattered glass.
The anger faded from him as quickly as it had risen, leaving him with a weird sense of dissociation. Those ancestors were long dead, and anger really wasn’t helpful.
He dropped to his knees and automatically began cleaning up the sharp pieces of glass, not even flinching when an uneven edge sliced through his thumb, leaving blood welling from the shallow cut. He stared at the small wound, completely at a loss as to what to do. He was dimly aware that he was displaying symptoms of shock.
“D’Arik?” Varin’s soft inquiry invaded his distress, and he latched onto his mate’s deep voice as if it were his sole anchor in the sea of his insanity. “Why don’t you come to bed, liro?”
D’Arik winced at the term of endearment. How could Varin refer to him as his dear one after D’Arik forced the other man to mate with him all those years ago? Varin should hate him for making him give up his top position in the space fleet. Varin had worked his ass off to make it to admiral in such a short time. It was just one of the things that had attracted him, still attracted him, to Varin.
A rough palm cupped his hand, and long, graceful fingers blotted the blood from his thumb with a square sheet of silk. He looked up, startled to find that his mate was squatting in front of him, speaking to him quietly, although he couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the words. D’Arik hadn’t even heard him move. He allowed Varin to pull him to his feet and staggered a little while his head spun. He must be drunker than he had realized.
Stretching out an unsteady hand, D’Arik caressed Varin’s bristly cheek, letting his thumb linger over the full lower lip he loved so much. There really wasn’t anything about his mate that D’Arik didn’t love. “Oh, liro,” he whispered as he traced the line of Varin’s strong jaw. “How is it that you don’t hate me for forcing you to mate with me?”
“How much have you had to drink?” Varin steered him toward the sleeping quarters, and he let himself be led along. He just didn’t have the strength to do anything else.
Varin began peeling the robe off his broad shoulders and letting it drop to the floor. The brush of Varin’s fingers across his naked chest stirred something deep in his body. His cock began to come to life and bobbed near his stomach. Unfortunately, while his body was raring and ready for his mate, his mind was fuzzy, and he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling enough to initiate lovemaking. And really, how selfish was it that he was ready to have sex when his people were on the brink of extinction?
He must have said that last part out loud, because Varin kissed his temple and pushed him toward the bed. “It’s all right, D’Arik. It’s natural for your body to react to my closeness. We are mates, after all, and our mate bond is strong.”
Flopping down on the bed, D’Arik watched his mate strip. The bed dipped as the heavier man slipped between the sheets and propped himself up on one elbow so that he was looking down on D’Arik. As much as D’Arik wanted to want sex right now, and as much as his body seemed to want it, he just couldn’t seem to really get in the mood to accept any sort of pleasure. That didn’t mean he couldn’t please his mate, though. He reached for Varin, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and pulling him down for a kiss.
Varin allowed the kiss for a few minutes until D’Arik’s hand slid down his chest to grip his hip and pull him closer. He closed his eyes as Varin’s hard, erect cock rubbed against his own. Maybe having sex was a good idea after all.
Varin shifted his hips, putting some distance between their lower bodies, and Varin ended the kiss. “No, liro, not like this. You can barely keep your eyes open.” He patted D’Arik’s ass three times and then slapped his hip gently. “What you need is sleep.”
D’Arik opened his eyes and stared at the wall over Varin’s shoulder. “What I need is for these humans to be compatible genetically and for them to allow us to mate with their females.”
A soft stream of warm air fluttered across the side of his jaw as Varin heaved a huge sigh. “You still have to sleep sometime. Let me help. Here, roll over on to your stomach.”
He grunted but rolled over anyway. He may be high king, but he was a slave to his mate’s demands. A ribbon of warm, viscous liquid poured in a line down his back, and he couldn’t hold back a groan when strong thumbs dug into his tense muscles.
D’Arik let himself float as Varin worked out the knots and kinks that had accumulated in his back. Sleep finally claimed him, and the last thing he remembered was Varin’s voice quietly crooning in his ear.
Chapter 2
Varin kept massaging D’Arik’s back long after he’d finally fallen asleep. He was worried for his mate. In the past few years, D’Arik had gone from the happy, affectionate, warm prince to the grim, stressed-out, distracted king he was today.
Recapping the massage oil bottle and placing it on the small table beside the bed, Varin wiped his hands clean on a small towel and gazed at D’Arik with concern. The stress of the past few years was beginning to show on the handsome man. Lines carved by the constant worry and strain fanned out from his eyes and the corners of his mouth, softening only a little in sleep. He was losing weight, and dark circles ringed his eyes. The man didn’t eat enough anymore, and he slept even less. Unless Varin forced him, D’Arik would skip meals and stay up all night poring over statistics that never seemed to change. Varin’s heart broke for his mate every time a new report was transmitted.
His cock twitched and pointed straight out from his body at a ninety-degree angle, reminding him that he hadn’t made love with D’Arik in a few days. He looked ruefully down his body. There was no way his erection was going to subside on its own, not after he’d just spent close to an hour stroking his mate’s naked body. And he definitely wasn’t going to wake him up just to get a little relief. It would have to be a warm shower and a tight fist for him tonight.
He walked into the washroom and shut the door as quietly as he could. One advantage to being the king’s consort was that he could have hot showers on whichever spacecraft they boarded. He stepped into the stall and let the hot water loosen his own muscles.
Bracing himself with one hand on the shower stall wall, he gripped the base of his erection and pumped slowly. He thought back to the young man the prince had once been.
“Varin, it’s good to see you again.” The high king shook his hand vigorously. “You’ve come to witness D’Arik’s Choosing Ceremony tomorrow?”
Varin’s heart twisted and dropped. He just couldn’t seem to stay away from the prince. He’d wanted him and desired him since he’d first met the young man all those years ago. It would tear his heart out when D’Arik took a consort at his Choosing Ceremony tomorrow night, but he’d always had to see him every time he was on Helan, and this time was no different. “I wouldn’t miss it, Your Majesty.”
The king grinned at him, obviously proud of his son. “Yes, well Consort D’Amarin and I have decided to break with tradition and allow D’Arik one night of complete freedom tonight, provided that he takes a responsible escort with him.”
Varin had to fight to keep his smile in place. He had a nasty feeling he knew exactly where the king was going with this conversation. Sure enough, the king did exactly what he was expecting. “There is no one we trust with his life more than you. Would you mind very much using your free time escorting him to a pub?”
Oh gods, what was he supposed to say? You can trust me with his life but not his virtue? “It would be my pleasure to escort the prince tonight.”
“Wonderful, wonderful. I knew I could trust you to say yes.”
Just a few hours later, Varin felt the corners of his lips twitch as he fought a smile. Prince D’Arik had been so excited about his rare evening of freedom and had been charming and enthusiastic all night. They had dismissed their vehicle in favor for walking back to the palace. While Varin kept a sharp eye out for any threat to the prince, he knew that the chances of D’Arik being attacked while he was with him were rare. He hadn’t clawed his way up from nothing to admiral of the space fleet on his personality alone. He was arguably the most dangerous man on the planet, and everyone knew it. Still, it wasn’t until he had the prince safely in the palace that he relaxed his guard.
D’Arik continued talking away, practically bouncing down the hall toward his suite. Varin really should leave now. There was no danger to the prince in the halls of his own home. Except from him. But he couldn’t tear himself away from young man, even when they reached the doors to his rooms. “Would you like to come in for some miri?”
Shaking his head, Varin laughed out loud. “You really have a fondness for that rotgut, don’t you?” Against his better judgment, Varin followed him into his rooms. He didn’t even stop when D’Arik led the way right into his sleeping quarters. The sight of the huge bed in the middle of the room had him thinking of naked, hot bodies writhing against each other in pleasure, and his cock twitched in his pants.
A goblet of miri was suddenly thrust in front of his face. Varin accepted it and raised it in a toast. “To your Choosing Ceremony.” He tossed back the entire contents of the glass in one gulp, shuddering as the bitter liquid burned a trail down his throat and into his stomach.
The prince rolled his eyes and took the glass back from him, placing it on the table next to the bed. “We’ve known each other for a while now, haven’t we, Admiral Varin?”
The sound of his name on D’Arik’s lips drove him crazy with want. “Yes, Your Highness. About ten years now, if I remember correctly.” What was the other man up to?
“Mmm. That’s a long time. You know, I’ve always considered you to be a great friend and confidant.” D’Arik took a step closer and licked his lips, that pointed tongue running across his mouth erotically. Fuck, he had to get his mind out of the gutter. This was the prince who was talking to him, not some commoner. The prince started speaking again, seeming to change the subject at random. “Thank you for taking me out today.”
