“It’s discussed quite a bit on Khanav Prime. Seems like both our governments would want people on Earth to know the Khanavai warriors are still here keeping you safe.”
Natalie nodded. “There’s plenty of information about that. Advertisements on television, online discussions, all sorts of places. But just that you’re keeping us safe. We don’t get much about the specific details.”
“That does make sense. Our government doesn’t want Earth to learn much about our technology. Our culture is very careful about sharing tech these days—supposedly, that’s how the Horde got enough information on us to poison our gene.”
Natalie stopped and bent over to touch a flower growing beside the path. “We do have access to some Khanavai tech. There are transporters installed in some cities, and it’s possible to buy passage, though it’s very expensive. And I’m sure the Earth governments have transporters. There are always meetings going on between leaders without any indication of how they traveled. We all assume it’s by transporter.”
I was about to tell her how the transporter had ended up in Khanavai possession in the first place, because it wasn’t native to us. We hadn’t designed it or built it originally. But as I opened my mouth to speak, Tiziani appeared on a path intersecting ours, having apparently come into the garden from a different area, his yellow skin once again glowing brightly in his agitation. He marched directly toward us as directly as an arcnov desert beetle’s line in the sand.
Coming to a halt immediately in front of us, he put both hands on his hips, widening his stance as if he were a puff-feather blowbird trying to make himself look larger to his rival.
“I have been doing some research on human tradition,” he announced in a tone that suggested we should know the significance of his statement.
I gave it a beat, then two, before I said, “And?”
“It is a human tradition that two suitors for the hand of the same woman may have a duel in order to determine the winner.”
I shot a glance at Natalie, who was frowning and shaking her head. “I don’t know anything about that,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.
“Her hand?” I glanced down to where our fingers threaded together.
“It’s an Earth phrase. It means mating.” Tiziani’s irritation practically vibrated from him. “I am challenging you to a duel.”
“What kind of duel?”
“To the death,” Tiziani intoned.
“Did you learn to announce things like that in guardsman training?” I couldn’t help the derision dripping from my voice.
“A duel to the death? Don’t be stupid.” Natalie waved her hands in the air in front of her, the motion clearly one of negation. “I’m not going to have you try to kill each other for me.” She stepped in front of me, moving between us, then standing on her tiptoes to speak more directly into Tiziani’s face. “I have no intention of marrying anyone,” she said, her voice firm and clear. “I have said from the very beginning that I planned to go back home. I have been playing these games to lose. I don’t know why no one is willing to listen to me when I say that.”
“I watched the spanking ceremony you had with him,” he growled. “I saw how he softened it, acting as if our time-honored ceremony was for titillation instead of punishment. He is no true Khanavai.”
“I don’t care if he’s a true chimpanzee. Even if I were planning to choose someone in these games, it would never be you. Listen carefully. I would never marry someone who hurt me like you did. I still can’t sit down comfortably.”
“This is not between us,” Tiziani said dismissively. “It has nothing to do with you, Natalie. Stand aside and let the warriors deal with this.”
Natalie gasped in outrage, her hand swinging up as if to slap Tiziani. Quickly, I dropped her other hand, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her out of the way before Tiziani could do anything to damage her further. Holding Natalie back with one hand, I extended the other arm to put it against Tiziani’s chest. “Fine. You can have your duel,” I said to the other Khanavai. “Send me the details via com, and I will meet you this evening.”
Finally satisfied, Tiziani nodded once and turned sharply on his heel to head back to the Grooms’ Quarters.
Natalie spun on me as soon as he was out of sight. “You can’t do that. You cannot kill him just because he says he wants a duel.”
I felt a warm glow start deep inside me. “You’re that sure I will win?”
“Of course you’ll win. That’s not the point.”
The warmth inside me exploded into a smile. “Then what is the point?”
“I told you. You can’t kill him.”
“Yes, I can. I’m a soldier. We are taught to kill. I’ve trained for it since I was a child.”
“That’s a…” She heaved a put-upon sigh. “Of course you are capable of killing him. That’s not what I meant. Killing him is a terrible idea.”
“You don’t think Vos will say it’ll make for a good show?”
She dropped her face into her hands.
“I don’t give a flying space-fuck what Vos thinks makes good television. Or what he thinks we should do. I will never forgive you if you kill him because of these damned Bride Games.” Her voice came out muffled from behind her hands.
I placed one finger under her chin and tilted her face up toward me. “What if I promise not to kill him?”
“You’ll be holding back, and he won’t, and I’m not sure that you will win under those conditions.”
So much for that warm little glow inside.
Still…did that mean she was worried about me? The thought made me want to kiss her again. To make her smile.
To make her happy.
At that moment, I realized that even more than I wanted to make her mine, I wanted to make her happy.
And I know exactly how to do it.
I shook my head. “I won’t lose. I promise not to kill him. And I promise I won’t let him kill me.”
“Why are you going to do it at all?” she wailed.
“Come on.” I took her hand in mine again and pulled her back to the games area. “Let’s go talk to Vos again. I have an idea.”
Chapter Seventeen
Natalie
“Two visits in one day. To what do I owe this honor?” Vos remained behind his desk this time, and Cav and I didn’t even bother to sit down.
“I assume your cameras caught that little exchange in the garden?” Cav asked, his tone daring Vos to lie.
“Of course.”
“Oh,” I realized. “That’s how Tiziani knew where to find us, wasn’t it? You were filming us the whole time.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the Games Administrator.
His laugh had always sounded so cheerful and real when I’d watched the games in previous years. Now it made me want to claw his eyes out.
“You two are this year’s most favored couple. If you want a job in entertainment when this year’s games end, you’ll be able to name your price.”
I clenched my fists by my side, fighting myself not to pick up the stupid paperweight of Earth, the station, and Khanav Prime he had on his desk and bash him over the head with it.
Cav placed a calming hand on the center of my back, and I instantly felt better.
Fine. I won’t murder the Games Administrator.
Not yet, anyway.
“I have a proposal for you,” Cav said.
Vos raised one amused eyebrow. “You’re supposed to propose to the bride, not to me.” When neither of us joined in his laughter, he sat back in his chair and clasped his hands over his stomach. “Do tell.”
“Turn this duel Tiziani has requested into a real spectacle. Hold it in the main arena with a full audience. Set it up however you like—”
I opened my mouth to speak, and Cav increased the pressure of his hand on my back. “—but do not allow it to be to the death. That will alienate too many of your human viewers.”
Alienate. Interesting translation. I wo
ndered about the connotations of the original Khanavai word.
Vos leaned forward, his elbows on the desk. “I’m intrigued. Go on. What do you get out of this? I assume if you win, you want to be named Natalie’s mate?”
He gestured at me as if I had no real part in this conversation. As if I were merely a prize to be given out. I was tired of being treated like an accessory to discussions rather than a full participant.
But Cav was already answering. “No.”
This time, both Vos’s eyebrows went up in surprise—the first genuine expression I had seen from him since I arrived. “Then what do you want?”
“If I win, Natalie gets to go back to Earth, totally free of any further obligation to you, the Bride Lottery, the Bride Games, or Khanav Prime.”
I gasped. Cav had made it clear that he wanted nothing more than to choose me as his mate. So why was he doing this?
Because he cares about me, the tiny voice inside my head whispered.
Vos gave us both a calculating look, then slowly smiled. His amused expression once again made me want to slap him. “And if you lose?”
“I won’t lose.”
“Come now, Cav. A wager without a penalty is no game at all.”
Cav glanced at me, a flicker of anguish flashing through his eyes. Then his gaze hardened, and he turned back to Vos. “If I lose, you do not allow Tiziani to claim Natalie as a mate. Instead, I will agree to be stationed here for a complete Earth year, working for you. Through the next year’s Bride Games.”
No. That would ruin his chance to attend the Special Ops school.
“On camera?” Vos leaned forward.
“Yes.”
“As a returning groom? The first Khanavai male ever invited back to try again?”
“Sure.”
“No.” Both Khanavai males’ heads whipped around to stare at me as if they had forgotten I was there at all until I spoke. I glanced back and forth between them. Then I pointed at Vos. “You make sure this duel is not to the death. Cav winning will make every woman on Earth swoon. And if Cav loses, I will marry him—in the first-ever live broadcast of a Bride Games wedding.”
Vos clapped his hands together and laughed aloud, even as Cav said, “You can’t do that.”
I spoke over them both. “If Cav wins, you get your TV hero, and we get total freedom. If he loses, you get your broadcast version of a happy-ever-after, and Cav and I still get to leave—after the wedding. Either way, this year’s Bride Games will be the show to beat for years to come.”
There. That should give Vos an offer he couldn’t refuse. And no matter what happened, Cav would be able to attend his spy school next year.
Vos set his chin in one hand and tapped his fingers against his mouth as his narrowed gaze flickered back and forth between us. Slowly, he nodded, and then sat up straight. “Agreed,” he said briskly. “I will contact Tiziani and tell him the duel has been converted to a game.”
“Will he refuse the new terms?” I asked.
“He won’t know our terms. There’s no need.” Vos turned to the viewscreen beside him and began flipping through option. “I will set the duel for tomorrow afternoon and will contact you when the arrangements are finalized.”
“I can’t believe you did that,” I said, once the secretary had again escorted us to the outer corridor and closed the office door behind him.
Cav’s cheeks turned a dark blue, and I wondered if that was his version of a blush. “I couldn’t allow that puffed-up Lorishi carrion slug to claim you. Not under any circumstances.”
“But you didn’t have to make them agree to send me home if you won,” I said quietly.
His blue blush deepened, and he gave an embarrassed shrug. “Yeah, I did. I want you to have whatever you most want.”
And isn’t that the truest definition of love that exists? the voice inside my mind insisted.
“Anyway,” Cav continued, “your offer to marry me if I lose is insane. You know Vos will do everything in his power to make sure I can’t win.”
Now I was the one who shrugged. “If you stayed here through the next Bride Games, you’d lose your chance to go to your spy school. Forever.”
His gaze searched mine, and again I pushed back the insistent voice clamoring inside my head, repeating its new definition. Love: wanting the best for someone else even if it means you don’t get what you want.
Suddenly, the idea of him losing this stupid duel made bile crawl up my throat. Not because I was anxious about having to marry him—oddly, that didn’t seem like the horrible fate it had before—but because I was worried Tiziani would hurt him.
For that matter, I was concerned that he might win the duel—for the same reason. Even if he won, he was likely to be injured, and I didn’t want to see him hurt.
“Walk me back to my chambers?” I asked.
“Of course.” Cav took my hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world. In two worlds.
And maybe it was.
All the way back to my room, I considered what I was planning.
It was probably foolish.
But at the end of the duel, I would either marry this beautiful, kind, thoughtful alien, or I would head home, never to see him again.
And I wasn’t even sure which I really wanted.
But I did know one thing.
I wanted him.
My body still ached from the spanking ceremony, in all the best ways. So when we arrived at my door, I opened it without letting go of his hands.
He followed me but didn’t move otherwise.
If I was going to do this, I needed to be my most forward self. I had never met anyone I wanted to be this open with before. “I want to see what we’re like together.”
“You do?”
“Yes.” My voice dropped down into a range that was pure sex. And I could feel Cav’s response to it. The air around us turned electric, causing all the tiny hairs on my body to stand on end.
He didn’t move, but his eyes devoured me. “I need this to be your choice,” he rasped.
So I stepped up to him, wrapping my arms around him as far as I could, holding his waist and tugging him close to my body. “Believe me, it is.” I tilted my head up to him. “Kiss me.”
Cav gathered me to him, lifting me off the ground to hold me, his hands cupping on my ass as he teased my lips with his tongue, urging me to open them. I wrapped my legs around him.
It was as good as I could have possibly imagined.
He trailed kisses down my neck, sending chills racing up and down my spine and my arms.
As tightly as we were holding one another, I felt his huge cock getting harder, pressing through his kilt-like uniform, the tip pressing against the core of me.
Damn, I wanted this man. This alien. I had believed I wanted David, back on Earth. But my attraction to the human man was nothing compared to the way my body reacted to Cav.
With a breathless little moan, I pulled my mouth away from Cav’s. “This is exactly what I planned when I invited you in.”
“I’m glad you did.” His eyes were heavy, dark with lust. He leaned in and took my earlobe gently between his teeth, then played with the shell of my ear with his tongue. I moaned, aching for him to touch me even more.
“Are we being filmed right now?” I managed to whisper.
He glanced around the tiny room with its human-sized bed. “There and there,” he said, pointing to two spots on opposite walls that looked just like the rest of the room to me.
“Can you do anything about that?”
Cav’s grin gleamed in the partial darkness. “Definitely.” With a quick step, he moved to the first wall and punched through it, revealing some kind of small electronic setup with a silver orb floating in the center. One twist and he had it out of the wall. He repeated the process on the other side of the room, then took both orbs into the hallway, where he stomped on them, leaving crushed bits of metal strewn across the floor.
“There,” he said when he return
ed. “No more cameras.”
“Good,” I said, taking his hands and pulling him toward the bed. Then I stopped and began stripping off the short dress Drindl and Plofnid had talked me into that morning.
When I wore nothing but my lacy bra and the tiny thong he’d already seen, I began trying to figure out the closures on his uniform kilt.
With a deep growl, Cav took over, finally unhooking everything and letting it drop to the floor. When he reached for me, though, I stepped backward and sat on the bed, drawing him closer to stand in front of me.
I reached up to take Cav’s cock in my hand, rubbing up and down it, feeling the bumps and veins and the sheer size of it. I ran my tongue around the tip, then sucked him as deep into my mouth as I could—which wasn’t nearly deep enough, as far as I was concerned.
I would never be deepthroating him, dammit.
I guess Drindl wasn’t entirely joking about the sucking ceremony—even if she didn’t know it.
The tip of his cock slipped in and out of my mouth several times, growing even larger and harder, before Cav groaned. “You have to stop now, my tiny temptress.”
I grinned at the term of endearment. I really would have to learn some Khanavai words.
If he loses tomorrow. If I go with him.
The thought sobered me.
Cav knelt on the floor in front of me. “My turn.”
Chapter Eighteen
Cav
I knelt in front of her, pushing her knees open, leaning in to inhale her hot fragrance, then slowly licking her wet slit. “I love the scent of your desire.” I placed my lips against her, allowing them to brush her as I spoke. “The taste of it. The way you stretch to take me.” I reached around and slid my hands along one ass cheek, my fingertips playing her, pulling her closer to me. “And I love the idea of you letting me fill you again and again.”
Natalie moaned every time I brushed against her with my lips.
The sight of her sitting there naked made me harder than I had ever been before. “I love you more than I thought it would be possible to love anyone.”
Entered in the Alien Bride Lottery Page 9
