Maid for the Beast

by Grace Goodwin

  My apartment was a crime scene. I’d been handcuffed and taken to the police station. I’d been questioned for hours and released just before dawn. I had no idea what happened to Braun once the alien took him. He was not from Earth. He didn’t understand our justice system or laws. He’d done nothing wrong except be there for me.

  I’d asked the humans around me about him, but no one would tell me anything. Not the cops who’d brought me to the station. Not the detectives who’d interviewed me. Not even the public defender who’d sat with me and guided me through the questioning. No one had seen a huge-ass alien. There was nothing I could do except get a ride to the hotel and put on one of the uniforms that were reserved for new employees. I’d stock my cart and head to the VIP floor and start with Braun’s room. Talk to him. Maybe he was there, sleeping. The idea of climbing into his big bed and curling up in his arms made me almost whimper.

  I got to work, loading my cart.

  “Did you hear?” Tina asked, passing me in one of the service hallways in the basement.

  I rearranged a stack of folded towels on my cart so they wouldn’t fall. “What?” I glanced at her over my shoulder. Her eyes were wide and bright, and she seemed almost gleeful.

  “There’s a new bachelor beast!”

  I stilled, swallowed. “What?”

  She shrugged, but the smile didn’t slip. “You heard me.”

  “Yeah, but… what?” No. That wasn’t possible, was it? Where was Braun?

  She looked left and right, and I forgot to breathe. “Roderick heard it from Jan, who heard it from Julio, who was delivering breakfast to the show’s producers. That’s all I know, but they’re getting all the contestants together right now to give everyone an update.”

  At my apartment Braun had said he was no longer with the show, but that had been before we’d been arrested. Well, not arrested. Questioned. In handcuffs. If he wasn’t going to be on the show anymore, could it be because of what had happened with Kevin? But if I’d been free to go, then so had Braun. He was innocent. He hadn’t even touched Kevin. God, Kevin Barrister had to be the only guy unlucky enough to literally kill himself with a flat-screen TV.

  I set my hand on her arm. “Where’s the meeting?”

  Her eyes widened behind her glasses. She was older, midfifties, with two small grandchildren and a husband who adored her. “What rooms are you cleaning today?”

  I pulled out the piece of paper with my list, and she snagged it from me, skimmed it.

  “In Beachcomber,” she said, waving her hand. “Go. Find out what’s going on, and I’ll start on your rooms. But come right to me when you hear.”

  A burst of energy had me hugging her. “Thank you!” I called as I ran down the muggy hallway to take the stairs to the small conference room on the second floor. I was panicking inside. A new bachelor? That made no sense.

  As I stood outside the closed doors, I took a deep breath, then another. My heart was pounding, and I couldn’t just storm into a room. My job was to be invisible, and I had to act like it. I opened the door enough to squeeze through, then turned toward the corner where the water station was located. I pretended to organize the used glasses as I surreptitiously watched. And listened.

  There were about fifty people in the smaller event room. The space was set up for a conference with rows of chairs facing a single table with three microphones and three chairs obviously set up for speakers. All twenty-four of the contestants were seated, although I didn’t take time to count heads. Probably the show’s staff filled in other spots. I recognized Chet Bosworth standing with a man and a woman facing them all.

  “There will be a delay in production,” the man said, and I assumed he was the producer. He glanced at Chet. “Longer than the one we already had. At least two weeks.”

  “But is there really a new beast?” one of the women called.

  “Yes. He is an Atlan warlord, just like Braun. The governor from The Colony has not given me the name of his final selection yet, but he will be everything Braun was and more.”

  I snorted. No way. Sorry, mystery Atlan guy, but no. No one was better than Braun.

  “The new warlord will arrive directly from The Colony on the day we begin filming,” the woman said and then cleared her throat. “He will not have time to do anything except change clothes and walk directly to the production studio.”

  “What? Why?” I heard multiple rumbles, murmurs of shock, and a lot of half-thought-out questions.

  “Don’t want to lose another one. That’s two for two.” One of the female voices said the words, and I realized they were true. Wulf to Olivia. And now Braun to me. All these gorgeous women and not one match yet. The show’s producers had to be enraged.

  The woman speaking held up her hands for silence, and the small group complied. “I have spoken to several of the warlords on a conference call, and I feel confident any of them would be an excellent replacement for the show.”

  “But what about Braun?” another asked.

  Yeah, what about Braun? My heart caught in my throat as I waited for an answer. Braun should be sleeping right now, sprawled at an angle across the big bed in his suite.

  “Warlord Braun has found his true mate and has returned to The Colony.”

  I froze. Tried to swallow. I outright stared at the producer now, not even pretending to do anything but listen.

  “Found his mate?” It was Room 1214 who spoke. Unlike the others, she stood when she asked her question. She looked sleek and perfect. And bitchy.

  Chet Bosworth cleared his throat, raised his hand as if to rub his eye, then dropped it quickly. “Yes.”

  “You mean he’s been matched?” she asked, then glanced down at the other ladies around her. Whispers began.

  “He’s found his bride, so yes,” the male producer said. “He took his mating cuffs and wears them now. He is off the market, ladies. But not to worry, we have another most eligible bachelor on the way.”

  Everyone started to talk at once.

  Braun had found his mate.

  Braun had found his mate.

  Braun had been matched.

  He had gone back to The Colony.

  God, he hadn’t gotten the first flight out of town. No. He’d transported off Earth. Gone meant really, really gone.

  My heart thumped, hard and heavy. Then cracked. He’d left the planet? Been matched? But what about me? What about… everything we’d shared? The sex? Visiting with Howard?

  “That’s not fair,” Room 1214 said. She may have even stomped her foot on the carpet, but I couldn’t see the lower half of her body to be sure.

  For once I was in complete agreement with her. It wasn’t fair, but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. He’d found his mate. His true mate. That was what Chet had called her. His true, as in one-and-only, destined, love-of-his-life, fated mate.

  I couldn’t compete with that.

  “How?” she asked. “I mean, he was in the hotel with all of us. When could he meet someone else?”

  Chet sighed and lifted his hands in a hopeless gesture. “I am not an expert on aliens, ladies. Obviously the show hasn’t had much luck with them, especially after what Warlord Wulf did to the set. If Braun has found his mate, then he must have been notified. I have to assume he’d been tested and matched through the Interstellar Brides Program. All I know is that I got a call this morning telling me he was gone, that he had returned to The Colony to be with his mate and that a replacement would be coming.”

  I had no idea if he was speaking the truth or not because if there was anyone sleazy and cheap, it was Chet. But the producers weren’t denying any of it. All they cared about was the show, the production schedule. If Braun was still here, they’d go with him, not wait until a new bachelor beast was identified. They were too lazy to do otherwise.

  Talking started again, louder this time. I wasn’t the only one stunned. I was, I hoped, the only one who’d been with Braun. Who’d taken him to meet her parents. Who’d slept w
ith him. Who’d fucked him in my shower. And on my couch. And the floor. And the side of my bed. And in my bed. I was the only one who’d slept with his big arms wrapped around me, making me think everything was going to be good and happy and full of love.

  And I’d believed the lie, even after we’d been arrested together. I’d believed in him.

  The woman at the front cocked her head and shrugged. “Ladies, if Braun found his mate, then it never would have worked with you. Unlike guys here on Earth, Atlans know. Their beast knows. You should be pleased for him, but excited that a new warlord might be yours.”

  Talk kicked up again, but there was excitement now. Braun was old news. Out of sight, out of mind. If there was no shot at a match, they were done with him.

  Did that mean I was done, too?

  “We can’t even say goodbye?” someone called.

  Yeah, I wanted to at least say goodbye. Didn’t I?

  The trio in the front looked at each other. “He has already been transported back to The Colony. There is no mention of him ever returning to Earth.”

  Oh. My. God.

  One of the glasses slipped from my fingers and dropped to the floor. It was muffled by the carpet, but a few heads turned my way. I picked it back up, then walked out of the room and to the service stairs. They were deserted, but I could hear the clanking of dishes below. I leaned against the cinder-block wall and took a deep breath. Tried to figure out what was going on.

  Braun was on The Colony. Light-years away. He wasn’t coming back. He’d found his mate. He’d been matched.

  Was that what he’d meant the night before? When I’d let him into my apartment, he’d said he had something to tell me. I had noticed the large, beautiful cuffs around his wrists, but I’d hoped he’d been wearing them for me.

  Back to the wall, I slid down until I sat on the top step and sobbed. I’d been so stupid. He had never fucked me with his beast. That’s the one thing that had never made sense. All the times he’d touched me and held me and made me come all over his cock, he’d never let his beast out. Not like when Warlord Wulf had trashed a camera crew and taken his new mate up against a closed door on live television. Braun had never lost control like that. And now I knew why.

  I wasn’t his. The man might have enjoyed my body, but his beast had not been interested.

  Now he was gone. Forever gone. Off-the-planet gone. He’d told the police officer he wasn’t with the show anymore.

  Had he come over to tell me he’d heard a match had been found? From the TV show’s previews, I knew he’d been tested by the Interstellar Brides Program several years ago, but no match had been made.

  Until now. Had he come over to offer me the courtesy of telling me that?

  Of course he’d leave as soon as he could. He’d been to my place to say goodbye, but the fuckup with Kevin had held him up. God, he’d almost gotten into big trouble that could have kept him from his mate. From going home.

  I leaned my forehead on my knees. I wasn’t his. I didn’t belong to Braun. Some other female did. Were they together now? Had his match been transported from Earth to meet him on The Colony? Or was she from some other planet? An alien woman? A human? Was she tall? Was she beautiful? Were his cuffs already about her wrists? Was his beast soothed and happy with her? Was he fucking her and claiming her while I sat here and cried in a stairwell?

  Of course he was. She was his perfect match. I knew all about the Brides Program, how nearly perfect the matches were. It wouldn’t be any different for Braun.

  Braun.

  Tears burned down the back of my throat, forming too fast for all of them to escape from my eyes.

  I’d known him for two days, and I was devastated. Heartbroken. Lost.

  I’d thought—stupidly—that we’d had a connection. That what we’d shared had been special.

  He hadn’t even said goodbye.

  Braun, The Brig, The Colony

  “I am going back to Earth,” I said, storming to the bars. I’d woken up in the cell, this one more than strong enough to keep my beast locked within.

  “You can’t.” Governor Maxim stood just outside my cell, his human mate, Rachel, and his second, Captain Ryston, flanking him. Rachel had her arms wrapped around one of his, and her head was leaning against him as if she were offering support of some kind.

  “Let me out of here.”

  He shook his head. “Not until you listen. I’m sorry I stunned you, but you gave me no choice. It took four men to drag your ass down here.” He waved a hand around. In all the time I’d been on The Colony, I’d never known the brig to be used.

  Until now.

  “I’ve done nothing wrong. I need to protect my mate.” I looked at Rachel in the event she did not know my mate was a human female like her. Perhaps hoping she could talk some sense into her stubborn Prillon mate on my behalf. “My mate is Angela Kaur, and she’s still on Earth.”

  “Braun, as I told you, the death of that human caused an interplanetary incident. Earth has locked out all transport until things are settled. All transport to Earth has been shut down because of this.”

  “The human was a wastrel who stole from my mate. He was verbally abusive.”

  Maxim’s eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched. He didn’t like a woman being harmed any more than I did. “He was also well connected.”

  “If Earth’s justice system holds any worth of honor, that would not matter.”

  Rachel sighed and I turned to the small female. “That is true, Braun,” she murmured. “Unfortunately it does matter. People with power and money can get away with just about anything. Not all the time, and there are good people fighting against them, but Earth is not perfect. Not by a long shot.”

  “Earth’s issues are not mine. I have to get to my mate.”

  Maxim looked down at his feet, then back at me. “I know. I’m working on it with Warden Egara. We are going outside of the diplomatic circles. If we can make it happen, we will.”

  “If?” I was losing my mind. My beast raged, my fever pushing me to the brink. My beast pushed against me, and I began to grow.

  “Shut that beast down.”

  “No,” I countered.

  Maxim glared.

  I glared back.

  “There is nothing I can do until they open up transport once more.”

  “How long will that be?”

  “At least fourteen days.”

  “Are you serious?” Head bowed, I focused on the pain coming from my mating cuffs. That pain was Angela. A reminder that she was mine. She was real. She was out there, and she needed me. I would never reach her if I lost control. “Promise me she’s safe. Swear it to me.”

  He nodded. “Prime Nial knew you would be upset. Even though everyone’s been pulled from Earth, he has assigned an Everian Elite Hunter who has been stationed at the Brides testing center to watch over her until we can get her off the planet. She is being protected, and since he’s not legally allowed to be on Earth, she—and everyone else on the planet—will never even know he is there.”

  My beast was not happy, but the news that an Elite Hunter guarded her calmed him enough that I could think. And listen.

  “How long?”

  “I don’t know. I am hoping Lord Lorvar is as silver-tongued as Prime Nial claims. I am going to do everything I can. I sent you there to find your mate. I will not deny you. But you must be patient.”

  I growled. “My beast is not patient.”

  He sighed. “I know. I will let you out of here, but I don’t want to hear you’ve put a Prillon and two Viken in the med unit fighting in the pit to bleed off your rage.”

  “Mating fever.”

  “I don’t care. You keep your shit together or you lose her. You hear me, Warlord?”

  His words were true, and I gave a grunt in reply. I heard him. I didn’t like it, but I heard.

  “I am sending you on the next mission that requires an Atlan of your abilities. I’d rather you rip the heads off the Hive than my warri
ors in the fighting pit.”

  I grunted again. The idea of going into battle and destroying the Hive tamed my beast. Slightly. I thought of Angela on Earth. Alone. I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her, to explain. To tell her she was my mate. That my cuffs were for her. If that loser hadn’t been at her apartment, she’d be mine right now. She’d be here with me.

  If the dishonorable male, Kevin, were not already dead, I would rip his head from his shoulders anew for keeping my mate separate.

  I went to the bars and faced Maxim just as I had on Earth. “I will do as you say. I will continue to tame my beast until you gain me transport back to my mate. But you must do something for me.”

  He raised a dark brow, crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Angela Kaur’s grandfather,” I said. “His name is Jassa Singh Kaur. He is a warrior. A warlord in his own right. He fought the enemy. Lost a leg but came out alive.”

  Maxim lifted his chin. He understood a fighter of honor.

  “He is unwell. I do not think he will recover from his illness as Earth is primitive and Angela said his medicine is costly and most likely ineffective. He requires a ReGen wand.”

  “I can’t get—”

  “Warden Egara can,” I said, cutting him off. “I’m sure there is one within the Brides testing center. I want it used upon him. Heal the veteran. It is my duty to ease Angela’s suffering. He is a warrior of honor, and she loves him with her tender heart. If he dies, she will be heartbroken, and I cannot bear to think of her in pain. Not when something as simple as a ReGen wand can heal the elder.”

  Maxim studied me. “Done.”