by Presley Hall
Jaro is a good man, a good warrior, and I don’t think overmuch about the implication he’s hinting at. When I first met him, he was convinced that I couldn’t be trusted—even as my men and I worked to bring him back to health. Now, he trusts me with his life, as I trust him. Jaro has had a difficult life, and I do not blame him for being paranoid, but in this case, I know it’s unfounded.
“They will, yes.” I speak slowly, measuring my words. “Why don’t you trust them?”
The question isn’t accusatory, merely curious. I trust Jaro, and I want his opinion.
His mouth twitches into a frown. “Because they are strangers.”
“You and I were strangers once too,” I remind him. “And now I consider you a friend.”
The hard lines of his face soften just briefly. Then he lets out a sigh, turning to face me. “I will follow you in anything, Droth. You know that. You saved my life, and it’s a debt I can never repay. But these women… we don’t know them. Charlotte has proven herself trustworthy, but what of the others?”
“They fought alongside us yesterday.”
He makes a noise in his throat. “True. They fought to protect the ship anyway.”
My lips press together at his words. I don’t believe the women’s motivations for fighting off the raiders were as calculated as that. But I can see that Jaro will not be swayed.
“They’re beautiful,” he comments suddenly, and I turn to look at him, surprised at his words.
“They are.”
None of the others can compare to my mate. To me, they all look rather nondescript compared to her. But Jaro is right. Objectively, they are all quite attractive.
“Beauty can hide many evils,” Jaro says, and I hear something in his voice that makes me think he speaks from experience. I don’t know his full history, but I know he spent many years as a slave on a planet far from Vox. “And it can blind one to the truth. Just because something is beautiful, just because it draws you in, doesn’t mean it’s good.”
His mouth flattens into a stern frown, and I follow his line of sight to a small group of women on the other side of the clearing, standing in a tight group with blasters in hand. I can’t tell if there’s one female in particular that he’s focusing on, but he stares at them for several long seconds. Then he shakes his head, as if dispelling some inner thought.
“I trust you, Droth.” He turns to me and inclines his head slightly. “So I will give them a chance. But I will be watching. And I won’t be blinded.”
With that, he turns and strides away to join the other workers.
I wait until Jaro is gone to let out a heavy breath. He’s one of my best men, and I trust his judgement, but in this, he is being too cautious. These Earth women are our allies now, and Jaro will simply have to get used to it.
“Droth.”
I turn around at Axen’s call and find him walking toward me. I lift my chin. “What is it?”
He doesn’t answer immediately. When he reaches me, he leans close and mutters in my ear. “We found one. It’s banged up, but it can be fixed.”
I know exactly what he’s talking about.
An escape pod.
My immediate reaction is dread, and my mind is almost blank with it. Secretly, I hoped that we wouldn’t find an escape pod, or that it would be damaged beyond recognition if there were one. But the gods have seen through the selfishness of my prayer.
This is a way for Charlotte to get home. To leave me. I have to tell her about it, even though every instinct I have rebels at the prospect. It’s the right thing to do. The honorable thing to do.
The only way to truly take care of my mate.
She has to have the choice.
I nod at Axen, and he strides away.
Charlotte is in the shade of the trees, wiping at her brow and talking amicably at Kzuri. She makes a wide gesture with her hands, and her eyes catch on me. A smile spreads across her face, and she speaks to Kzuri again briefly before heading toward me.
“Hey.” She grins when she reaches me, taking my hand and twining our fingers together.
My heart clenches. I was meant to be resting last night, but after I woke to find Charlotte by my side, we passed several long hours talking, making up for all the time we couldn’t talk before.
I know her better now than I ever have before.
And I’m also closer to losing her.
“Come with me. I need to show you something.”
It’s the only thing I can manage to rasp out. Her smile drops, and I lead her around the side of the ship to the far end. When we’re away from the group, I stop walking and turn to her.
Her brows pinch together, worry lighting in her green eyes. “Droth, what’s wrong?”
“We’ve found an escape pod.” The words fall from my lips without warning, and I want to stuff them back inside as soon as they’re out. It’s already done, though, and I can’t take it back. “Axen says it’s a little damaged, but that it can be fixed. There’s a way for you to leave.”
Her eyes widen before her gaze drops to the grass. She’s silent for a few moments, but then she looks back up at me. “Is that what you want?”
“What?” I blink at her in shock. “No. Of course not. I want… I want you, my kira. By my side, always. I will never…”
My words trail off.
Charlotte is watching me intently, her expression unreadable. The words that are pressing against my lips are ones that shouldn’t be said in haste, but now may be the only chance I have.
And I want her to know.
“I will never love another like I love you,” I tell her. Her eyes widen, but I keep going, barreling past my declaration. “You’re my mate. I adore you. Everything I learn about you makes me care for you more deeply, and I want to learn all there is to know. I don’t want you to go.” I have to swallow before forcing the rest out. “But your happiness means more to me than anything. If this is what you desire, then I won’t stop you, even if everything inside of me wants to.”
Her mouth stretches in a little smile, and she steps closer to me, slipping her arms around my waist. “I’m glad to hear that, Droth. Because I’m not leaving.”
Time itself seems to freeze. If the wind stirs, or if someone speaks, I don’t notice it. All I can see is Charlotte’s beautiful face, all I can smell is the sweetness of her, all I can hear is the echo of her words ringing in my head.
I’m not leaving.
Words have no place here. There is no word in any language that can describe the way my spirit soars.
So instead of showing her with words, I kiss her and fold her into my arms, both relieved and desperate. It’s almost like a dream, and I’m afraid to wake up.
Her fingernails trail up my back, and I break away from our kiss to bury my face in the crook of her neck, holding her tight and refusing to ever let go. Her scent is climbing, the alluring smell of her arousal filling my nostrils, and my body is going into overdrive.
I need to have her now. The thought of holding back feels like it might kill me.
Charlotte breaks from my grip with a breathless moan, then begins walking backward, crooking her finger in a gesture that urges me to follow. She pulls me along with only the beckoning of that single finger and the promise in her eyes, luring me into the trees and away from our people as if she’s a goddess set on spiriting me away.
As soon as we’re hidden by the canopy of trees, our bodies collide again, lips moving desperately against each other as our breaths mingle. My hands slide over her perfect body, and the little sounds she makes urge me on.
We stumble over the soft ground until her back hits the trunk of a large tree, and I pick her up and wrap her legs around my waist as I grind against her.
I still can’t believe that she doesn’t want to go, that she’s chosen me. Echoes of the pain that’s filled my chest for the past few days still reverberate in my heart, and I kiss her even harder as if to prove to myself that she’s really here. That she’s not going an
ywhere.
That nothing will ever separate us.
Unable to resist, I reach between us and run my fingers over the small button that brings her so much pleasure. She gasps into my mouth, and I fumble with her makeshift clothing, tugging it free until I have access to everything I want. As the skirt and hip coverings fall to the forest floor beside us, I can scent my mate’s arousal even more strongly.
I can’t wait. I want to taste her skin, her core, her sweet arousal.
But there will be time for that later. We have so much time now—our entire lives stretch out before us.
At this moment, what I need more than anything is to be inside her. I need to feel Charlotte’s body envelop me, need to feel that connection between us.
With a low grunt, I haul her away from the tree, carrying her over to a soft patch of grass that’s completely hidden from view of the ship and the people around it. I lay her down gently and strip off my loincloth in a fluid motion, letting my cock spring free.
Charlotte’s gaze roams over my body, and when her attention drops to my hard shaft, she pulls her lower lip between her teeth.
Slanch. It’s almost more than I can take.
I fist myself, pumping my aching cock twice, and Charlotte whimpers, sitting up just enough to grab my shoulders and pull me down over her.
I don’t hesitate to push myself into her, and her fluttering walls feel more perfect than anything I’ve ever imagined as they clench around my cock. The markings on my skin glow softly as she envelops me.
“You’re so tight, my kira,” I murmur. “You feel so good.”
“Fuck, yes. So do you, Droth.” She groans as I begin to thrust, her thighs tightening around me. “I’ve never felt anything like this.”
My cock pulses at the sound of her voice and raw honesty of her words.
I like being able to speak to my mate while I claim her.
I slanching love it.
My pace picks up, but after several more thrusts, Charlotte wraps her legs around me and pushes my shoulders until I roll onto my back with her straddling my hips. When she is fully on top of me, she moans softly and lays her hands flat on my chest. I try to stay still, but my hips jerk, moving of their own accord. She gasps as I fill her even more deeply, her fingernails digging into my skin.
Then her hips start moving.
Gods. It’s so good.
She rocks against me slowly at first, but then her movements pick up speed and urgency. I grip her hips as she rides my cock, spearing herself over and over again, taking me all the way to the hilt.
Then she sits up straight and arches her back, grinding against me. Her hips roll and her mouth falls open. She gasps and moans, her cries growing louder as her walls squeeze around me. The sight of her taking her pleasure in the morning sun isn’t something I’ll ever forget, and the pressure in my own stomach starts to become too much.
Charlotte’s cries peak, her walls spasming and constricting around me as she comes hard. Her hips twist and rotate as she grinds herself against me, drawing out every last drop of her pleasure.
Finally, her body relaxes, and she slumps on top of me, breathing hard. But I’m not done with her yet.
I sit up, claiming her lips in another deep kiss.
She responds immediately, her tongue tangling with mine, as hungry for me as I am for her. Her arms snake around my shoulders, and I wrap my arm around her lower back, pressing her down as I roll my hips. She makes a little sound of surprise that turns into a quiet moan when I thrust upward, dragging her little button along the hard ridge it’s pressed to.
That’s all the encouragement she needs.
Charlotte wraps her legs around my waist and moves against me just as I move against her, both of us trying to join our bodies together as closely as possible.
She cries out again as her walls clench around me, another climax shuddering through her body. At the feel of her letting go a second time, the coil in my belly explodes, and my cock pulses as I empty myself inside of her.
“Charlotte!” Her name falls from my lips on a ragged shout.
“Droth! Oh, God, Droth…”
Hearing her call my name back to me, lost in the waves of her own pleasure, fills my heart with something indescribable.
I belong to this woman entirely. Heart, mind, and soul. I am hers. And she is mine.
My love.
My mate.
My warrior.
28
Charlotte
I’m not sure how it’s possible for Droth to still be hard after making me come twice and then following me over the edge with a powerful orgasm of his own.
But he is. And the entire steely length of him is still buried inside me.
It feels fucking incredible. I feel closer to him than I ever have before. Maybe that’s not saying much, since we’ve only known each other a few days, but with the intensity of everything that’s happened, it feels like so much longer.
And we have so much longer still. We have forever.
The thought makes a pleasant shiver run up my spine, and I clench around him, making him groan and nip at my shoulder. I want to go again, but I think I need a minute to catch my breath and get my pulse back down to normal levels.
We were loud, I know it, and everybody outside the ship probably heard us, but I don’t care.
Droth lifts his head from my neck, his mesmerizing blue eyes gleaming in the light filtering down through the canopy of leaves above us. I lean forward and kiss him, slow and deep and lazy. When we break apart, he grins that sweet, lopsided grin. It’s so damn sexy that I can’t stop myself from kissing him again.
I can’t believe I ever thought I could leave this adoring man. And the fact that I can’t? The fact that everything in me rebels at the idea of getting into that escape pod and leaving him behind?
Well, that tells me everything I need to know.
“I didn’t know what it meant before,” I say quietly. “Love.”
My words are a whisper against his lips. Droth’s eyes spring fully open at that, and he pulls me a little closer, his arms wrapped around my back.
“And do you know now, my kira?” he asks, watching me carefully.
I smile. “Yes. I know exactly what it means. And I love you, Droth.”
“Just as I love you,” he murmurs back without hesitation.
My heart swells. It’s a simple exchange of words, but it means so much.
Before, back on Earth, I thought love was loyalty, sacrifice, and commitment. And it is—just not in the way I thought. Now I see that those things can’t be thrown into a pot and mixed together to create love. They are only the acts of love, the things that come about because we love. They are how we show the love we feel, but they’re not love itself.
It seems so obvious now, but I truly never understood that before. I didn’t know what real love felt like before this, with Joseph, and so I thought that the things I gave him—loyalty, sacrifice, commitment—were love.
But all I was doing was trying to manufacture something that could never truly exist between us.
“I thought I felt it before, with my husband,” I say quietly. “I sacrificed a lot for him, I stayed with him, and I thought that was how I loved, but it wasn’t. You’ve shown me that. You’ve shown me what’s truly possible.”
“Husband?” Droth cocks his head.
“Yes, it’s… back on Earth, we have a thing called marriage. Joseph is—was—the man that I was… bound to.”
“Oh.” Droth rolls us over in one swift movement and plants his hands on either side of my head, his cock still buried inside me. I swear I can feel it swelling and pulsing, as if even that part of his anatomy is trying to claim more of me. “You have another? Another mate?”
“No!” My eyes widen. I can’t even imagine calling Joseph my mate. “No. Whatever existed between me and Joseph, it was over a long time ago. He never really loved me, I don’t think. He cheated on me with a man, but I forgave him and agreed to stay with
him, at least for a while. I wanted to help him do good in the world, and I thought I was.” I sigh. “But I don’t think I ever really knew Joseph. He lied to me about so many things.”
“Well, if this husband—this Joseph—wants to challenge me, then I welcome it.” Droth smiles, but there’s something possessive and dangerous in it. It’s the smile of a predator, and it sends a little shiver down my spine, making my core clench around him.
“You don’t have to worry about him.” I pull the ring from my finger and toss it into the underbrush nearby, not even looking to see where it lands. My gaze is locked on Droth’s beautiful blue eyes. “He’s back on Earth. I can only pray he didn’t have any idea what the true mission of the Foreigner II was, that I didn’t misjudge his character that much. But I don’t suppose I’ll ever know for sure. Either way though, he’s never coming for me. He never truly loved me. But you? You’re my mate.”
It feels strange on my tongue, but so perfect at the same time. There’s no better way to express what this man is to me.
Droth’s wicked smile softens. He leans down and nuzzles the side of my face, his lips capturing mine in a searing kiss that makes me feel like I’m being devoured—in the best way possible.
Then his hips begin to move again.
And he shows me just how much I mean to him.
29
Charlotte
After Droth makes me come two more times, we sit in the secluded shade of the trees and talk for a while. Now that our feelings for each other are out in the open, now that I’ve officially decided to join him and his men in their village, that just leaves the question of the other women.
His voice is a comforting rumble in my ear as he promises me they will be safe with his people and that they’re all welcome at his settlement. I’m relieved he offered before I even had to ask, and I hope like hell that the women will accept his offer.
When we’ve spent as long as we can basking in each other’s company, Droth and I get ourselves back together and pick our discarded clothes up off the forest floor. Then we leave the woods hand in hand.
