Ravenous Alien Mate

by Sue Mercury

  Another tear trickled down her face and he was quick to wipe it away. The sight of her anguish pained his own heart.

  “I have come to truly care for you, Jav,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion. “I-I agreed to the parole board’s terms for early release because I couldn’t bear to spend another night in jail. I felt as though I was losing my mind in that cell. But ever since I came to Mars, ever since I met you, I started to feel whole again. You made me feel safe and you always treated me with kindness. It was wrong of me to lie to you, Jav, and I am so very sorry, but I did care for you. I wasn’t faking any of that. Being sent away from you is my greatest fear.”

  “Send you away?” A deep growl tore from his throat. “We will never be parted, Leah. Never.”

  He cupped her face and continued wiping at her tears. His chest ached and each breath became a struggle as he imagined life without his sweet mate, the human female he had come to love. Even after learning of her deceit, his devotion for her remained unwavering. He still loved her, and he would still protect her with his life.

  “I want to prove your innocence, my sweet mate. Is there anything else you have been keeping from me? The more I know, the more I can help you.”

  “This won’t help with our current predicament, but I want to come clean about everything. I-I told you I was an only child, but I had a brother. I’m not sure if he’s alive. We were never close and he never contacted me in prison. Also, the reason I gave you for applying to become a mail order bride was false.”

  “I suspected as much,” Jav said, stroking her hair. Her application hadn’t contained any detailed information about her, though it had displayed her status as an ex-prisoner. Orrsa had managed to access the Martian Affairs systems in Zone 12 to provide him with a copy of the application. “Leah, but you must promise to be honest with me from this day forward. No more untruths between us.”

  Her eyes glittered under a fresh sheen of tears. “I promise. But what will happen? Miranda has accused me of something very serious and I do not know how to help you prove my innocence.”

  Just then, Rem marched back into the room, the other palace guards following him. Jav rose to his feet and growled. “I told you to give me some time alone with my mate,” he growled in Marttiaxoxalian. He stood in front of Leah, prepared to protect her if they tried to take her into their custody. He wouldn’t allow them to lay a finger on her, not even Rem, who had been his friend for many years.

  “Search the bedroom first,” Rem called out to the guards. He crossed his arms and stared at Jav as the guards disappeared in the direction of Jav’s bedroom.

  “What are you doing?” Jav roared.

  Before Rem could answer, one of the guards appeared at his side, holding one of Leah’s dresses. It was the same purple gown she’d been wearing the day he’d claimed her in an alcove, which had occurred on the same day of her private conversation with Miranda in another alcove.

  When the guard pulled a mini-blaster from the pocket of the purple dress, Jav’s heart nearly stopped.

  “I am sorry, old friend,” Rem said, “but I have no choice. There is physical evidence against your mate. I must take her into custody. She will not be harmed; I give you my word.”

  Jav lowered his head and drew in a deep breath, preparing to rush at Rem and the other guards. His head and his horns were much larger than theirs. He was certain he could take all of them down easily. One headbutt to any of their skulls and they would likely be knocked senseless. Leah wasn’t going anywhere with them. He would die before he allowed them to touch her.

  She was his. His mate. His love.

  “Leave my quarters at once,” Jav said, his voice a menacing rumble. “You know my strength. You know what I am capable of. I don’t wish to hurt you, Rem, but if you take one step forward, I won’t hesitate.”

  “Jav,” Leah whispered behind him. “Please, I don’t understand what’s happening. I don’t understand a word of your tongue, and I don’t know how that weapon got in my dress. I swear it’s not mine.”

  Jav drew himself up to his full height as he stared down at Rem and the other guards.

  “When the fighting starts, my sweet mate, I want you to go hide in the closet. Don’t come out until I call your name.”

  Chapter 26

  Leah watched in horror as Rem approached. Jav growled and tensed, then lowered his head and flew at Rem. The green Martian guard lowered his own head and the ear splitting sound of their horns crashing in battle soon filled the room.

  “Go, Leah! Now!” Jav’s command reached her and she forced herself to her feet, though her legs were trembling so hard she could barely make them move. She couldn’t believe it had come to this, couldn’t believe Jav had to fight his own people. By now, she had surmised that Rem and the other guards wanted to arrest or at least take her into custody. That’s why Jav was fighting for her, because he didn’t wish to let her go.

  Beneath her fear, her heart fluttered with the knowledge that Jav still wanted her. He wasn’t handing her over to the guards who’d come to take her away, even though they’d found a freaking weapon in her things. Just as she started to suspect how it had gotten there, a deep male voice called out over the noise of Jav and Rem’s continued fighting.

  She paused in the bedroom doorway, clutching onto the wall for support. The sitting room was in disarray, with furniture upturned and smashed to pieces, paintings knocked off the walls, and light fixtures lying broken on the floor, pieces of glass covering the entire area.

  Jav and Rem ceased fighting, though their horns were still locked together.

  The new voice rose again, and Leah’s gaze traveled toward the entryway. An angry looking red Martian stood before them, holding a tearful Miranda by her arm. Leah couldn’t understand what the red Martian was saying, though she suspected he was Miranda’s mate, Pettak. Why had they come here?

  She watched as Jav and Rem unlocked their horns and backed away from one another.

  The red Martian continued talking and occasionally gave Miranda a sharp shake, which only made her cry harder.

  “Your people killed my brothers!” she cried out in Galactic Common. “In the war. I lost my three older brothers in the war! You are nothing but vile savages. All of you. When the resistance recruited me, I accepted their proposal.” Despite her tears, she shot a furious look at the red Martian, who growled and shook her again.

  Jav approached them. “Did you plant the mini-blaster on my mate?”

  Miranda sniffled and nodded.

  “Why? Why did you plant the weapon on Leah?” Jav asked. “Why get rid of it before you had a chance to complete your mission?

  Miranda’s tears suddenly came faster. She wiped at her face and looked around the room. “I-I started to have second thoughts. Queen Esmay has been very kind to me, and she’s human. I couldn’t hurt her, especially knowing that she is carrying her first child. So, I decided I would simply kill the king, but the queen loves him. I-I couldn’t do that to her.”

  “That still leaves the question of why you planted the weapon on Leah when you could’ve disposed of it elsewhere.” Jav crossed his arms and stared at Miranda.

  “Because I know the Marttiaxoxalians plant spies among the resistance. I feared word would get out that a human female was planning to attack the king and queen, and even though I was assured my identity would be kept a secret, I still feared capture.” Miranda looked at Leah, her expression turning apologetic. “I’m sorry. I feel awful for what I did, how I lied to you and drew you into speaking with me in the alcove. I made the whole argument with Pettak up just so I could find myself alone with you. I knew it was only a matter of time before the Vash’arr discovered the plot against the king and queen, but I thought if I planted the mini-blaster on you that I could get out of this with my life.”

  “You think we’ll kill you?” the red Martian asked, and for the first time since his arrival, his eyes gleamed with warmth. “We do not kill females, particularly those we have
taken as mates.”

  “You would still consider me your mate after what I have done?”

  “Yes, and I will not let you go.” The red alien paused for a moment, appearing thoughtful. “I suspect you will be banished from the Marttiaxoxalian Empire as a result of your crimes, but you will not be leaving alone.”

  Miranda started to shake her head, but Pettak lifted her in his arms and started heading for the exit. “I trust you will inform the king about my mate’s confession. I know she must be held in the dungeons until her trial, though I am prepared to stay with her. I’ll not be parted from her.”

  Rem and the other guards followed Pettak out of the room, leaving Leah alone with Jav.

  Her heart raced as she stared at him from across the mess of the sitting room. She started to walk toward him, but he shot a hand up, motioning for her to stop.

  “Stay right where you are,” he said. “I don’t want you stepping on any glass.”

  He was at her side a second later, his arms wrapped tight around her. She rested her head against his chest, secure in the refuge of his embrace. Warmth filled her heart to overflowing.

  He’d listened to her. He hadn’t judged her or scolded her for her past mistakes. He hadn’t threatened to send her away. And he’d fought for her. She could only imagine what would’ve happened if Pettak and Miranda hadn’t shown up in time, before the fight between Jav and Rem had become even more serious.

  “Are you all right, Jav?” She asked, reaching for his head. She cupped the side of his face and peered into his dark otherworldly gaze.

  “I am well, my mate. No need to worry. Rem is a formidable warrior, though he is not a member of the Vash’arr. He would’ve died trying to take me down.”

  “I’m glad it didn’t come to that. He’s your friend,” she said. “Or, rather, he was your friend. I am sorry to be the cause of discord between you and Rem.”

  Jav stroked her back and leaned his forehead to hers. Then he straightened and ran his hands through her hair, his touch bringing her comfort. “Miranda was the cause of the discord, not you, my sweet mate. Besides, Rem and I are still friends,” Jav said, sounding a bit confused. “Why would you think otherwise?”

  “Well, the fact that you both just tried to kill one another.”

  Jav chuckled. “Rem was only performing his duties to the crown, and I was protecting my mate, as any honorable Marttiaxoxalian male would. I know, if our situations had been reversed, Rem would’ve fought anyone who came near his mate. In fact, I’ve seen him do it before. Rest assured, we are still friends.”

  She shot him a relieved look. “I’m glad to hear it.” She inhaled a deep breath and summoned the bravery to ask the next question on her mind. “Jav, um, what will happen to Steven?”

  “Do you care for the male?” Anger glimmered in his eyes, his nostrils flaring.

  “No, of course not. I’m just curious. I-I’m still shocked to learn he’s alive. I feel as though I’ve just seen a ghost. Years ago, when we lived together, he would occasionally speak out against Martian rule, though I never imagined he would join a resistance group.”

  Jav’s expression relaxed, the gleam of fury in his gaze fading. “Steven, along with the other males who were captured alive, will be interrogated and then put to the death. We are not in the habit of showing our enemies mercy.”

  His answer confirmed her suspicions. It also reminded her just how fierce the Martians could be, as well as how fierce her own mate was. Sometimes, given how gently he treated her, it was easy for her to forget that Jav came from a race of aliens who’d conquered her own. “I suspected that would be the case.” She straightened. “I-I wasn’t planning to beg you for his life, I just wanted to know. It’s strange. It feels as though a lifetime has passed since I last saw him.”

  She had mourned Steven’s loss, ten years ago when she’d thought he’d been put to death. Hearing that he was still alive, and apparently wreaking havoc within Zone 12 with a group of resistance fighters, left her a bit shaken.

  He’d somehow managed to escape prison. How, she had no idea, but she couldn’t help but feel bitter toward him, knowing that he’d been alive and well while she’d been losing her mind in prison. Had he known about her twenty-five-year sentence? Had he ever thought about breaking her out? Knowing his character, she doubted it.

  But Jav… he would never allow her to go to prison. He’d fought his own friend in order to keep her out of captivity.

  His wrist comm beeped and buzzed. He looked down at it with a frown. “It’s a message from the Vash’arr. One of the human males in the dungeons just confessed that some of the prisons on Earth, including the women’s prison in Zone 12, have been supplying brides to the mail order bride program.”

  “Is that illegal?”

  “No, however, some of them, including the prison you were held in, have conspired with humans who work for Martian Affairs to steal the galactic credit payments that are supposed to be given to the human females upon being accepted into the mail order bride program.”

  “Wow. I’d wondered why the parole board never mentioned the money when they offered me a chance to leave Earth. Now it all makes sense.” She sighed and wondered how many other women had been released from prison under similar circumstances.

  “Arrest warrants have been issued for many humans who work inside the prisons, as well as those from Martian Affairs who joined their scheme.” He paused and his gaze turned thoughtful. “A few days after you arrived, I contacted Martian Affairs in Zone 12 to ask them for a copy of your mail order bride application, but I was told that they were having technical difficulties and could not help me at the time. Now I know they were likely stalling.”

  “Why did you want to see a copy of my application?”

  “I sensed you were hiding something, and I was worried about you.”

  She couldn’t blame him for trying to check up on her. She had been hiding something from him. But now the entire truth was out in the open, staring them both in the face. Her chest tightened with emotion. Despite her mistakes, he still wanted her.

  A long silence fell between them, during which he continued running his hands through her hair and over her face, all the while staring at her with an intensity that stole her breath. It was as though he were trying to memorize her features.

  Feeling a bit shy under his attentions, she tore her gaze from his and looked at the mess in the sitting room. “Should we start cleaning up?”

  “Not now.” He swept her off her feet and carried her into their bedroom.

  “What are you doing?”

  He stood her beside the bed and started stripping off her clothing, his movements slow and gentle, and every few seconds he paused to kiss her shoulder or her stomach or even her elbow.

  Finally, once he had her completely naked, he rose to his full height and stared down at her, his eyes shining with affection. When he finally spoke, his reply to her question made her heart dance.

  “I am preparing to claim the female I love.”

  Chapter 27

  He loved her.

  Leah stared up at Jav, her spirits soaring. Not only did he still want her, despite the many lies she’d told him, he loved her.

  His forgiveness, so easily offered, as well as his affection for her, caused a lump to form in her throat. Her eyes burned with tears and she didn’t try to hide them. He was her mate and they were to spend the rest of their lives together. It was time to stop hiding from him and finally share all of herself.

  No more walls. No more holding back.

  “Jav, I love you, too. With all my heart.”

  He gathered her close. “My sweet mate,” he murmured into her ear. “My sweet Leah. I have known I loved you for some time and I only wish I’d told you sooner. I am sorry you feared I might send you away if I learned about your past. We will never be parted. Do you hear me? Never.”

  He tightened his hold on her, and she buried her face in his chest, intense waves of relief causing her
to shudder in his arms. She had been so nervous about what might happen should he learn her secrets that she’d been in a state of constant anxiety since her arrival on Mars. As the worry drained from her, she continued quaking in his arms. Though her legs felt weakened, she trusted he wouldn’t let her fall.

  He pulled back and gazed into her eyes, then leaned down to kiss her. As his lips pressed to hers, he backed her against the bed and set her upon the mattress, bringing his body atop hers. He proceeded to kiss her all over, trailing his lips down her neck and over her bosom, then kissing the length of each arm and leg. When he kissed the soles of her feet, she giggled and thrashed around.

  “Please, no! I’m ticklish!”

  He shot her a wicked grin and commenced running his tongue along her stomach, only to work his way lower, and lower still, with each passing moment. His mouth came to hover at her aching entrance and he breathed against her lips, the hot puffs of air making her whimper with longing.

  “No matter how many times I taste you,” he said, his voice deeper than usual, “and no matter how many times I sink my cock into you, I can never get enough. I crave you with every moment of every day. Three hundred fluxxing years from now, I will still crave you just as fiercely as I do now. I’ll never stop desiring you, and I’ll never stop loving you.”

  He lowered his mouth to her slit and licked through her folds, a slow and tortuous swipe of his tongue over her aching center.

  Leah gasped and writhed against his probing tongue. When he pushed a finger inside her, the added pressure left her sweltering under her mounting need. Oh God yes. She reached for him, grasping the base of his horns as she undulated her center upon his mouth.

  He added a second finger and pushed deep into her pussy. She cried out, the sudden fullness causing a jolt of euphoria to rush through her. He pressed his tongue hard upon her clit and started growling, which caused an immense vibration on this most sensitive part of her.