by Presley Hall
Lifting my head again, I catch her gaze.
“I love them deeply as my brothers, every one. I would gladly have died for any one of them in battle if need be, and one day, I still may be called to. But I never hoped for a mate or a family. I never knew what it was like to fight for one person in particular, to love someone so deeply that I’d do anything to keep them safe above all else.” I touch her face gently, running my fingers over her pale, smooth skin. “But I do now. And it means everything to me. You mean everything to me.”
I kiss her as if to seal my words, slow and soft and deep, trailing my tongue over her lower lip and sliding it into the heat of her mouth, wrapping my arms around her as I pull her close to me.
Her body melts against mine, the soft curves of her breasts pressing into my chest as my hips settle between her thighs as if she was made for me. And in this moment, I truly believe that she was.
My mate, my Irisa, the woman I was always meant to find.
She moans softly as she feels my cock begin to harden between us. The touch of her body is enough to instantly arouse me, stoking the embers of desire into a roaring flame. Our soft kiss turns fierce, and I roll my hips, coating my cock in her arousal as it slides through her folds.
I can’t be close enough to her. I can’t get enough of her.
Even as I thrust into her, her moans as sweet and musical as her singing, I still crave more. And as she comes apart around me, her body melting into mine as she yields to me completely, I know that there could never be anything better than this. Nothing more perfect.
She truly is my ideal match, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.
But first, I have to get us off this deshing planet.
22
Brooke
The next few days pass both too slowly and too fast all at once. I can’t wait to get off Nierra and to Kalix where I can start my new life—a life that now will include Zhori and the bond that has sprung up between us. The future in front of me suddenly seems bright and colorful, full of love and pleasure and possibilities, and I want it more than I can possibly describe.
But at the same time, I also never want to leave this room.
All my fantasies and longings and dreams about Zhori couldn’t possibly have prepared me for the real thing, for how incredible it would feel when we finally came together.
I’ve had sex before, but I never knew it could be like this. I always thought of sex as something fun, something that could be pleasurable with the right partner or disappointing with the wrong one, a possibility for intimacy if you found someone you could love. And after the heartbreak of Noah’s betrayal, I avoided sex altogether for a long time.
But with Zhori, it’s something else entirely. It is fun, and intimate, and pleasurable, but on a level that I’ve never experienced or even dreamed of.
Sometimes it’s fierce and urgent, and other times it’s sweet and slow, but I always feel as if I’m learning what it truly means to become one with someone, to have someone be the other half of me. The intensity of it might be frightening if I hadn’t already learned to trust Zhori so completely, but since I do, it just feels as if we’re exploring new territory together.
Since we have our transportation arranged with Vortax, all we have to do is wait. Zhori goes out once for supplies, telling me with a grin when he returns that he doesn’t want to have to leave the room again until it’s time to head to Vortax’s ship. Then he picks me up and tosses me onto the bed, following me down and ravishing me with his mouth until I lose count of how many times I come.
We don’t have to sneak out to try to arrange passage off-planet anymore, so there really is no reason to leave the inn. All we can do is hunker down and wait… and enjoy each other.
It’s the happiest I’ve been in a long time, and certainly since coming to Nierra.
We do our best to forget about the danger and the upcoming attempt to flee the planet, and just spend time getting to know one another better than we did before. Lots of sex, lots of talking, and more sex. We spend more time out of our clothes than in them, and I have no complaints about that at all.
Zhori makes me feel desirable and beautiful, and I’m a little awed at the fact that this gorgeous alien is so hungry for me. The same desire burns through my veins too, my body ready to welcome him whenever we fall back into bed together—or into the shower, or the table, or, on one occasion, the floor in front of the fireplace.
With nothing else to do, we’re like newlyweds on our honeymoon. I never would’ve thought I’d wind up basically married to an alien I’ve known for a few weeks, but I’ve never been happier.
And if there’s anything I’ve learned since my abduction, it’s that life can change quickly, so you should never take the good parts for granted. My relationship with Zhori makes me happy, so I’m not inclined to worry too much about whether or not it’s “normal.”
Because normal or not, it’s incredible.
I’m insatiable for him—not just for his body, but for his heart and mind. I want to know everything I can about him, and he seems to feel the same way about me.
I try to sing for him once, hoping that the bond will have fixed my hang-ups about singing in front of other people. But the nerves bubble up like they always do, and I choke, my throat tightening around the notes. Zhori is kind and reassuring, telling me that it will come in time, that I need to be patient with myself—and that even if I never sing for him, it won’t change how he feels about me.
His patience helps a lot, and I try to take small steps instead of throwing myself into the deep end.
I leave the door open when I shower so that he can hear me while I sing in there. The thin curtain around the shower stall feels like enough of a barrier that I can slowly allow myself to open up a bit more, singing loudly and clearly instead of just humming or whispering.
Once he’s sure my song is done, he either joins me in the shower or waits until I step out and picks me up, throwing me onto the bed with my hair still damp and fucking me so thoroughly that I see stars.
I know my singing turns him on, that he thinks my voice is as beautiful as my body. I hope the day will come when I no longer need that barrier between us to feel confident in singing for him—but I also know that I have the time now. There will be plenty of time for me to work through my old hang-ups.
Or at least, I hope so. We still have to get off Nierra in one piece.
As we learn more about each other, it only makes me care for Zhori more. I already knew he was brave and honorable—he came back for me, a woman he didn’t even know, because he felt duty-bound to do so.
But as he tells me stories about battles and his travels through the universe, I realize that he’s more than just brave. I’ve seen how determined and loyal he can be, and his stories paint a picture of a man who can be wild and a bit reckless too, which I find more than a little sexy. He makes me feel reckless myself, as if I can be anything with him, show him any part of myself and trust that he’ll still want me.
On the day that we’re supposed to meet Vortax at his ship, I wake up early.
My nerves are already on edge as I blink up at the gray light beginning to shine through the window. I’m naked, wrapped in Zhori’s arms beneath the blankets, and I run my fingers slowly over his forearms, marveling at how gorgeous he is. He’s handsome and brave and strong, and all mine.
God, I can’t believe how lucky I am.
He moves under my fingertips, his muscles rippling like liquid bronze, and I realize he’s awake too. He rolls me onto my back, looking down at me with a serious expression in his eyes, and my hands go still on his arms.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him softly.
He takes a deep, shuddering breath. “I have to ask you, before we get onto the ship with Vortax… I didn’t want to ask it before. I wanted to enjoy the time we had together. But I promised you that you would have a choice, and you still do. Do you want to go back to Earth, Brooke? Do you want to go home
? Or do you want to come to Kalix with me? It’s your choice, and if you don’t want to stop at Kalix, I can pay Vortax more to take you directly to Earth. I’ll do whatever it is that you choose.”
I hesitate, momentarily caught off guard by the question. Then I smile up at him, shaking my head.
Of course he would keep that promise, even after all this, I think wryly to myself.
I’m certain it’s not because he doesn’t want me to come to Kalix with him. I can see in the expression on his face and the tension running through every line of his body that there’s nothing he wants more than to keep me by his side.
But he vowed to give me the choice, and I know his honor demands nothing less, even now that we’re mated.
For me, though, the choice is clear.
“I don’t want to go back to Earth,” I tell him, reaching up to caress his cheek as his eyes soften with relief. “I was abducted there, sold by my own government, sent to be a slave. Thrown away like garbage. I thought my life was over when I was captured. But instead, I found freedom out here in space.” I press my hand against his cheek and feel him lean into it, joy and relief flooding his features. “I want to be wherever you are, Zhori. There’s nothing left for me on Earth.”
The last words have barely left my lips before he reaches for me, his hands tangling in my hair as he sits up and pulls me onto his lap. His lips meet mine in a fierce kiss.
His tongue slides into my mouth, tangling with mine, and as he hardens against my stomach, I can feel the bond strengthening and deepening between us.
It’s as if this last exchange, the honoring of his promise and my commitment to staying with him, caused something new to click into place. It’s not only my body that has accepted him, but my heart and mind and soul as well.
“My soul has recognized yours,” I whisper against his lips. “You’re my one true mate. My perfect match.”
Zhori stiffens against me, his forehead pressed to mine as he lets out a groan of mingled need and satisfaction.
He’s inside me moments later, neither of us able to wait for what we so desperately need. His hands seem to be everywhere as he thrusts into me hard and fast. I cling to him, my legs wrapped around his lean hips, heels digging into his ass as he drives into me over and over.
Claiming me.
Completing me.
Making me his.
I want all of him, just like this, forever, and as I feel myself come apart in his arms, I scream out his name. His cock swells and thickens inside me as he follows me over the edge, every inch of his skin pressed to mine.
Afterward, we lie in each other’s arms for a few too-short minutes before reluctantly climbing out of bed.
We dress quickly, eating on our feet as Zhori checks his weapons and I bundle up, concealing myself as much as possible with my thick clothing. Our little nest of a room, despite being on Nierra, suddenly seems like a haven that I’m afraid to leave. The planet around us might be a horrid place, but in this tiny, warm room, we’ve made months of memories in a few days, clinging to each other in the midst of all this fear and danger.
But as much as I long to stay in the little bubble of happiness that Zhori and I have made, I’m also just as eager as he is to get away from here. Once we’re safely back on Kalix, we can make a new place together—one that we’ll never have to run away from. One that will always be safe.
The morning is cold and gray. As we step outside the inn, wind whips around us, blowing freshly fallen snow everywhere in drifts across the street and making it difficult to see.
“At least it’ll make us harder to find,” I mutter to Zhori as we bend our heads into the wind and stride as quickly as we can toward the docks. “No one could pick us out in this.”
“Let’s hope so,” he says tightly.
We’re quiet as we make our way across the city. The wind makes it hard to hear anything, and we’re both focused and alert, watching out for any threats.
My shoulders relax a little when we reach the docking bay. I spot Vortax’s ship almost immediately—shiny and black, just as he said, standing out even in the blowing snow. To my surprise, he’s on the landing, still dressed in just a leather vest and pants despite the frigid cold, with his long feather earring flapping in the wind.
“You’ve arrived!” He calls out the greeting as we near, his dark eyes glinting as he grins wolfishly at us. “And just in time! Hurry, I’m due to leave shortly.”
Relief washes over me as Zhori and I hustle toward the ship.
It’s right there. In just a few more paces, I’ll be able to touch it. We’ll be on board soon, leaving Nierra, hopefully never to return.
We made it. We succeeded.
I turn to look at Zhori, opening my mouth to tell him how happy I am, how grateful for everything he’s done.
But as the words pass my lips, they’re drowned out by the sound of an explosion, a boom so loud it hurts. I’m thrown backward, flying through the air as the world spins around me, and then every ounce of breath is forced from my body as I collide with the hard, frozen surface of the dock.
As I try to push myself up to my elbows, my ears ringing and my vision blurry, I realize that I can’t see Vortax any longer.
All I see is a hollowed-out shell of smoking, twisted metal where his ship once was, and the destruction around it from the explosion. I peer around wildly, trying to find Zhori, but I can’t find him at first. The blowing snow, smoke, and my own dizziness seem to blur everything around me.
At last, I catch sight of him, pulling himself up to his knees with a groan, blood trickling down his forehead. His coat has fallen open, and his bronze skin shines in the white blur all around us.
“Brooke!” he shouts, but before I can call out to him, I hear the sound of running footsteps.
A dozen armed men rush toward us. My heart sinks as I realize that they’re wearing Savyiek’s colors. They surround Zhori, ignoring the sudden, desperate screams that spill from my lips as they start to beat him.
He tries to rise to his feet, growling with an almost animalistic sound as he strikes out at them. But there are too many of them, even for him, and he’s been weakened by the explosion. As they hit him again and again, kicking and striking him, one of the guards pulls out a blaster. I scream as he fires it at Zhori.
My mate’s body stiffens, and he collapses in a heap.
For a horrifying moment, I think he’s dead. My heart seems to collapse in on itself. Then two guards pull him up and bind his hands, and a rush of relief fills me. They wouldn’t do that if he was dead. He must be tranquilized or something.
I stagger to my feet as a handful of the guards come for me next, my momentary relief shifting back to terror.
Somehow, Savyiek found us.
Hot tears prick my eyes, and I kick and scratch at the guards as they reach for me, but I know it won’t matter. If Zhori couldn’t fight them off, I certainly can’t.
Dammit. We were so close. So fucking close.
That’s my last thought before I feel the butt end of a spear strike the back of my head, and I sink into darkness.
23
Zhori
When I come to, I feel groggy and disoriented. My vision is blurred, and all my other senses seem to be fuzzy as well.
Forcing my protesting muscles to obey, I glance around and see that two large, hulking aliens are dragging me, one on either side of me, with their hands gripping my arms painfully. Although I’ve forced my way back to consciousness, I know they must’ve hit me with some kind of tranq. None of my limbs seem to work—I’m paralyzed despite being awake, unable to fight back or defend myself.
Desh it all. I need to fight.
As my captors haul me forward, I try to get some sense of my surroundings, anything that might help me guess where I am. The floor that I’m being dragged over is made of veined marble, gleaming in the stark light coming through the huge windows. The windows are hung with luxurious red drapes that look like fountains of blood pouring dow
n the stone walls.
Snow is falling outside, and I realize we must still be on Nierra. Everything about the building I’m being dragged through screams of wealth and opulence.
Savyiek.
If I had to guess, I’m being dragged through his mansion at this very moment. His guards were the ones who attacked us at the docks. They destroyed Vortax’s ship, and probably killed the smuggler as well.
I wince as a set of doors in front of me open and the guards drag me deeper into the massive complex. I see a small docking bay to the left, with a sleek ship inside, but it barely registers as the tranquilizer in my system numbs me, pushing me to the edge of consciousness again.
Another door opens, and I rouse slightly as I feel my knees dragged over some rough surface, cold and hard. A stale stench reaches my nostrils, and as I struggle to open my eyes again, I realize that I’ve been brought to a holding area.
Of course Savyiek has a dungeon.
The guards heave me forward into a cell. Every part of me screams that I should fight back, but I can’t. I’m rendered entirely immobile, unable to do anything but land in a motionless heap on the hard and frigid floor as the door of the cell slams shut.
“Put her in another one.”
A muffled voice reaches my ears. I hear another cell clank closed before the guards’ footsteps retreat.
Brooke.
Her name filters through my mind, a dozen emotions flooding me as I think of my sweet, beautiful mate.
I want to make sure she’s all right.
To protect her.
To go to her.
But darkness drags me under, and this time, it’s too strong to resist.
