His Virgin Bride (Interstellar Brides: The Virgins) (Volume 2)

by Grace Goodwin

  “Does that matter?” I asked, placing a coin on the bar to pay for the drink.

  “Not to me.” She raised a brow and shrugged, moving away to help the next customer as I sighed with relief. She could have raised the alarm, but there was the code Katie had talked about. Honor among thieves, as it were.

  Knowing before I turned what I would find, I shifted in my seat to where her eyes had darted, convinced she knew who I was and why I was here.

  They probably all knew.

  And yet, Garvos was not hiding. Far from it. He lounged in the corner surrounded by three large brutes and two silk-clad women. His gaze met mine. Lingered in challenge. Hunter to Hunter. Killer to killer.

  I could not attack him now. Not with the entire establishment full of innocent bystanders. An attack here and the body count would be a violation of my agreement with Styx, seen as an attack on the legion by the council of Seven, ordered and sanctioned by Everis. It would place my people in more danger. And my mate, kept safe and protected under Styx’s watchful eye.

  She was insurance. Leverage. And as much as I hated Styx for it, I was powerless against it.

  It seemed even murder had become a political game.

  Unwilling to remain, confident my challenge had been issued, I left my drink untouched and walked out into the night to lure my prey to me. And he would follow. There was too much Hunter in him, the predator too close to the surface. I would be a test he would not even try to resist.

  Rounding a corner, I made my way back to a large open area where I climbed into one of the false treelike structures like a vulture and waited.

  Seconds ticked by. One minute. Two.

  I heard footsteps coming from below me, but they stopped well short of where I’d intended.

  “Nice try, Hunter.” Garvos sounded too smug, his voice loud and filled with cold calculation.

  I ground my teeth to hold back a reply. He was behind me at least twenty paces and I was drenched in shadow. Well hidden. I’d chosen the place carefully.

  I just needed him to come closer. I couldn’t kill him. Not yet. Not until I had the answers I had been sent to retrieve. But he could kill me. And that put me at a distinct disadvantage. One I was more than used to. But never before had I Hunted one of my own people.

  He took two steps. Stopped. “You’re good, Bryn. The best I’ve come across. It’s almost a shame to destroy you and take your pretty little mate.”

  He laughed then as a group of killers dressed in black stepped from the shadows. Their armbands were dark green, the color the bottom side of a leaf in the shade, the color anywhere else in the galaxy would make me think of life. But the green of the Astra legion repulsed most who saw them. Thieves and spies, they dealt in both slaves and information rather than weapons or brute force like Styx and his crew. They were sneaky, without conscience, and had their weapons trained on me. They had not been inside. I hadn’t seen them, sensed them. They’d been lying in wait, almost as if Garvos knew exactly where I would go, what I would do.

  I’d been sloppy, distracted by my mate and the need to keep her safe. And now, she’d be in even more danger. If they killed me, I’d be leaving Katie in Styx’s hands, dependent on his honor to get her home, to protect her…or keep her for himself.

  Both thoughts made my blood pound with fury.

  Fuck. Styx and this silver band on my arm only offered me protection from his people. Not the Astra. But they weren’t supposed to be here, in Styx territory. Garvos was playing his leader for a fool.

  The first blast hit me in the hip. The second in the shoulder.

  I slumped, trying to recover, to think of a way out. It had been too simple for my prey to set this trap. Somehow, he knew not only about me, but about the deal I’d made with Styx. He knew about Katie. He wore a silver band, was pledged to Styx and walked freely among his people, but was working with the Astra legion? He was either insane or much more dangerous than I’d believed if he dared to openly betray Styx, had allegiances I hadn’t considered possible.

  Instinct had me twist and duck as a blast grazed my head, the side of my face.

  Pain rocked through me as the blasts continued and I fell.

  Rolling on the ground to try to get away, another blast hit me in the thigh, then the gut. My body convulsed as the rapid-fire ion blasts tore through my nervous system with jolt after jolt of agony.

  I blacked out to the sound of Garvos laughing, an apology on my lips. To her.

  My mate. Katie.

  But the words never came.

  And then there was nothing.

  Chapter Seven

  Katie

  So, I’d never been much good at doing what people told me to. Case in point, Bryn. I’d sneaked aboard his ship to help him on his hunt for Garvos. I definitely hadn’t stayed naked in his bed to wait for him, as he’d wanted. I’d been over his knee for a spanking for my defiance. He’d felt the need to handcuff me into submission, although by then I was fairly compliant.

  Well, I was compliant because I was getting what I wanted—his hands on me. His body. His mouth. Just him.

  “This way, please. I’m to escort you to dinner.” Blade, the giant silver haired god, Styx’s second in command, bent slightly at the waist as I opened the door to the room where Bryn and I had gotten wild not long ago. I’d cleaned up, relaxing in the spray of a hot water after my mate left to hunt, trying not to think too much about where he was going or what he would be doing. Styx had sent a new gown with a note I found charming and impossible to resist.

  A beautiful gown for a beautiful woman.

  I had to admit, the man had good taste. The thick fabric was like liquid silk in my arms and clung to every curve. I looked good. Super-model good. And I couldn’t wait to see Bryn’s face if he got back. No--when—he got back. I walked with Blade down a quiet corridor wearing my new gown and ignored the way his eyes roamed hungrily over my body. Normally, I’d be flattered by the attention of a man like him. But now, all I could do was bite down on my bottom lip and ignore the twisting behind my rib cage that seemed to intensify the longer I was alone. My mark was going cold as Bryn moved farther and farther away from me. At least, that’s what my wild imagination was insisting.

  Guilt prodded at the edges of my mind, guilt for being here, for following my mate, for defying him. But then, I’d never fallen into that trap. Not since I was a kid and I realized I was more responsible at seven than my thirty-year-old parents would ever dream of being. No, I didn’t play dead and I didn’t second-guess my choices. I’d followed Bryn to this stupid planet because he didn’t give me any other choice. He kept secrets. He hid the truth. He tried to deny what was between us, what the marks on our hands really meant.

  When he touched me, I burned. I’d been matched to Everis, and I’d found him. He was everything good, everything I’d never been, honest, noble, self-sacrificing, committed to the greater good and to serving his people. Me? I was committed to him. That was my only saving grace. The beginning and the end of the new Katie.

  And now he knew I wasn’t going to be a sweet, timid mate.

  No. He’d learned I was going to be anything but.

  The three hours in the quarters Styx had so generously provided, the second claiming, had soothed both of us. Except for my ass. I wished there was a bag of frozen peas on Rogue 5 to sit on. While Bryn had been gentle, at least as gentle as he could be with a mate like me, I’d need more than three hours to ease the soreness of the second claiming.

  But I liked the ache. It reminded me that he was mine. That he wanted me. That this thing between was powerful enough to push him over the edge.

  And I pushed Bryn’s buttons because I was scared. I wasn’t one to lie to myself and I recognized the frightened little girl just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I pushed because I needed him to prove his strength, prove that he would always be there, that he would take care of me, no matter how much I kicked and scratched and fought, no matter how ugly things got. I needed to know h
e would stick, that he would know how to make me feel secure, even if that meant he bent me over his knee once in a while and gave me a spanking. At least I knew he cared. And that concern, his sincerity broke me. I gave him everything.

  Which was completely ridiculous because I never yielded for anyone. And yet I craved more. Pushed him, and he pushed back. The cuffs, the vibrator, the ultimate dominance over my body. Everything I would have refused with a guy on Earth. First fiery touch of a hand on my ass and I’d have shouted out a safe word then punched him in the nose.

  No, I would only surrender to Bryn.

  That was why, when Bryn had readied himself for the hunt, and Styx had allowed him access to his legion to find Garvos, I didn’t argue—too much—when Bryn insisted I remain safely behind.

  A door slid open to reveal my host seated at a table set for six, complete with candles, sparkling goblets for the wine and plates that looked like fine china lined with platinum. Blade stood behind the chair next to his sister, Silver, and two other men I didn’t recognize rose from their seats as their leader did. Good grief. What was this? Martha Stewart on Mars, special holiday edition?

  Oblivious to my thoughts, Styx rose and held out my chair like a gentleman. His gaze lingered on every line and curve of the gown from the draping of black fabric between my breasts to the three silver lines down the sides of each sleeve indicating that I was still in his territory, still under his protection. My armor was back in the suite, but after two days in space, a solid claiming and a hot shower, it felt nice to fix up my hair and wear something gorgeous. The combat boots I wore beneath would just have to do and might come in handy if I had to kick any of these men in the balls.

  “Beautiful, Katie. Black suits you,” Styx said, when I joined him them and sat down in the chair next to him. “That’s much better.”

  The others sat and a plate filled with food was placed before me, the scents of meat and spices drifting from it. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was; Bryn had certainly made me work up an appetite.

  With Blade to my left and Styx on my right I wondered if they could smell me, if they would know that Bryn had filled my ass with his seed, but not my pussy.

  They both inhaled deeply and I froze, my hand halfway to my fork. When Styx picked up his fork and speared a piece of meat, I had to assume he was satisfied.

  “What’s better? That Bryn’s not here?” I asked, picked up my cup, looked in and saw…water? It was my turn to sniff. It smelled sweet. I took a sip. Some kind of fruit juice.

  “Your attire. You are a beautiful woman and should not hide your curves.” He grinned, a hint of mischief dancing in his eyes. “And I like seeing you wearing my silver. Styx attire suits you.”

  I couldn’t miss the admiration in his gaze as it swept over me. The dress clung, draping in the front to display my cleavage before sweeping to off the shoulder sleeves striped with silver. The sleeves were tight, form-fitted to my wrists as the rest of the gown wrapped tightly beneath my breasts to hug my waist and hips before falling like a waterfall of black silk from mid-hip to my ankles.

  I paused, remembering his name was the same as the legion because he’d killed to be the leader.

  “Thank you,” I replied. What else could I say? Arguing with him would not get me tossed over his knees, would not get me the what I wanted. He wasn’t Bryn. He wasn’t mine. And I didn’t want to tangle with him, verbally or otherwise.

  “Are all females from Earth as bold as you?” Styx asked. He held his fork and knife and I couldn’t help eyeing his hands. I had a thing for hands and his were rugged, blunt and powerful. They were lined with scars, some small, some not and I had no doubt some of them had come on the blades of a dagger in a street fight.

  And he thought I was bold? I had to laugh. “No. The opposite most likely, but I didn’t grow up around a lot of pampered women. Let’s just say I grew up in a rough part of town.”

  One dark brow went up. “And what is this—rough part of town?”

  To delay, I speared a piece of meat and put it my mouth. Took my time chewing, savored the delicious flavors. I wasn’t going to ask what kind of animal I was eating.

  “Where I grew up, the city was divided into territories under gang rule. Each gang controls their own section and will kill to protect their turf or their crew. They make their own rules, their own laws. Punishment is harsh and there are no exceptions. They don’t bend and the leader is usually the strongest or the most merciless among them.”

  “Like here,” Blade said on my left.

  I nodded. “I suppose.”

  “Were you in one of these gangs?” Styx asked.

  “Yes. And so was my brother.” I swallowed more juice as a shudder rocked through me. “It’s the reason I’m here. I went to prison. But it got my brother killed.”

  Styx was studying me, his eyes cold. Serious. “And what do you think of the gangs you lived with? Of this kind of life?”

  I knew what he was asking, and I couldn’t lie. “I don’t know any other life. The good leaders, the strong ones, offer a better life than fending for yourself. There is loyalty there, safety, honor in the hierarchy. Ruthless honor, but it exists. I understand it and I respect it.”

  His gaze softened and I could breathe again. All I needed to do while Bryn was out hunting was make an enemy of the leader of the Styx legion.

  “Yes, there is honor here,” he said, glancing at Blade.

  Blade swallowed a bite of food, washed it down with his drink. “You would have Styx’s teeth marks in one shoulder and mine in the other if we weren’t honorable men.”

  My mouth fell open. While conversation among the others swirled around us, I was focused solely on these two. It was hard to look away from them, their handsomeness very potent. But the truth of their words had me putting my fork down.

  “Bryn is my Marked Mate,” I said, repeating what they already knew.

  Styx reached across the table, grabbed my wrist, turned my hand so it was face up. We all stared at my mark.

  “Yet you are still unclaimed,” Styx said. “I smell him on you, but I know you are untouched.”

  I shrugged, made it seem unimportant, although what Bryn and I shared had been wild and impetuous, heated and very sexy. My pussy might not have experienced a cock, but I was definitely claimed.

  “You gave your word keep me safe and protected. Was that a lie?”

  Styx shrugged. “I never lie, Katie.”

  My silence was not meant as disagreement, but it must have bothered him.

  “People only lie if they’re afraid.”

  “And you’re never afraid?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. People like Styx weren’t scared, not anymore, because they had nothing left to lose. That had been me when I left Earth and joined the Interstellar Brides Program. But now I was terrified of just one thing—losing Bryn.

  Styx’s lack of reaction was confirmation enough. He was tough, and not at all bothered by my question.

  “I gave my word. You are safe with me. But if Bryn dies…” He didn’t finish his thought. Death here, like in the street gangs back home, was a part of life. No one expected to live long.

  “Are the legions really that dangerous?”

  Styx’s pale green eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched. “Rogue 5 is certain death for those who don’t know our ways. But if Garvos is in my territory, Bryn will find him soon enough.”

  “I just want to know if he’s going to leave a mess?” Silver asked me. “I hate cleaning up other people’s messes.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “No. He promised Styx the bounty on Garvos’s head. He’s not here to start trouble, just bring one man to justice.”

  “Gods save us from noble fools who don’t know the rules,” Blade added.

  Ah, we were back to rules. “Like the other Hunters? The two who came before Bryn and disappeared?” I was prodding now, but I wanted to know if it was Styx who had ended them for not giving him respect, if the Hunters died in a gutter after
a brawl, or worse, if they’d been outsmarted by Garvos.

  Styx nodded. “They did not know our ways. They had no respect and so I did not offer them any protection. I did not order their deaths, but those who murdered the Hunters were protecting our territory, as they should.”

  Sadly, I knew this to be true. “Kill or be killed…’,” I replied. “Have to protect your own.” I knew, from personal experience, it was true. I’d seen too many people die, including my brother, for the strength of the pack.

  “Are all women from your world as jaded as you?” Styx asked.

  I laughed, thinking of Rebecca. The young woman not much older than me who tried to befriend me, to get me into her shelter and off the streets. “Some. But some are just too stubborn to see the truth.”

  “What truth?”

  “That people suck.” I picked up my fork, ate another bite of food, this time a vegetable that had the taste and texture of a baked potato. “Even those who try to help can be jaded. There’s a woman who runs a shelter, a safe place for women to get off the streets, to escape gang life. She’s a year older than me, but she’s seen everything. The absolute worst.” I took a drink, swallowed down the food stuck in my throat. “But she just can’t stop trying to save everyone.”

  “And what was the worst for you?” Styx asked.

  I glanced up at him. “She came to a bar that was an MC hangout to tell me my brother had been murdered. I had a job as a bar-back there. She knew you had to be affiliated with the club to get out alive, but she wanted to tell me herself, not have some asshole in the club break the news.”

  Styx cocked his head to the side. “And this kind, stubborn Rebecca, did she survive?”

  “That night, yes. I was…not happy and I made sure no one touched her. But since then? Who knows? Something could have happened to Becca since I left Earth. I’m sure she’s still hitting the streets every night, trying to save the whole damn world.”

  The thought made me angry, and more than a little sad. I didn’t want to think about Becca, or Earth, about the loss of my brother and his choice of the motorcycle club over me. I left it all behind to become an Interstellar Bride. To start over, and yet here I was, sitting in a completely different kind of gang. I wasn’t in prison, I wasn’t wearing orange or ankle chains, but I was a prisoner nonetheless.