by Celia Kyle
“Do not point at her,” Sevith hissed. “Do not touch her. Do not look at her.”
“Call off your goons, Jenna!” Roy shouted.
Like she had control in this situation? The fuck was he smoking? “They’re not my—my anything. I don’t know what’s going on either,” she tried explaining.
“If we can disengage from this situation, we will explain to you what is going on,” Hiren offered in a smooth voice, a sense of peace accompanying his words and soothing the harshest edge of her anxiety.
“Sevith,” she hissed, “let my customer go before my manager comes out and sees this.”
Roy was an asshole—no way around that truth. He had little or no respect for women, and none of his lackeys ever saw fit to intervene when he got out of hand. She tolerated him because that was her job and she was in no position to turn down a paycheck—not with rent, groceries, and Noah’s lung treatments to cover. So, if she had to deal with a mouthy, overly touchy regular like Roy in order to get paid… that was that.
Not once, ever, had her boss told Roy to stop his rude behavior. She basically had to put up with it or quit. So, she was stuck having to take the misogyny and objectification with a smile and grace, as women had for millennia.
But now, Roy was at the mercy of the Drokten commander, which could spell very, very bad news if he didn’t do as he was told.
She glanced at the two tall blue warriors. Why had these two gone so far out of their way to track her and then defend her, threatening one of her regulars with violence?
What had she done to incur this treatment?
“Let me go, you assholes,” Roy rasped.
Sevith growled, pulled back a fist, and punched Roy in the face.
Jenna put a hand over her mouth, trying to cover her smile. Because, darn it, that was pretty awesome.
The manager of the diner—who doubled as the main cook—stormed out of the back with a scowl of anger and shock on his face. He propped his hands on his hips, full rage brewing in his dark gaze as he surveyed the scene unfolding like a soap opera in the microcosm of his little diner.
“What the hell is going on out here? Put him down!” The manager shouted at Sevith, face red with fury. “That’s a paying customer, you big, blue brute!”
Hiren visibly winced and squinted his eyes at the manager, almost looking sorry for Jenna’s boss, and a second later she discovered why.
Still gripping Roy by the collar, Sevith marched aggressively up to the manager and glared down at the male, baring his fangs like a wild animal. The manager recoiled, looking much smaller by comparison to the over six-foot-tall, muscular alien male.
“This male was harassing Jenna Perry,” Sevith snarled. “He deserves to be punished for touching her. She does not belong to him. She belongs to me and my Bahn.”
“Just a point—I don’t belong to anybody!” Jenna interjected bitterly. Which reminded her of exactly why she’d run away from these two last night. They’d wanted to take her to their ship. Is that why they were here, again?
The manager barely glanced at Jenna before turning to Roy, who was still being held immobile in Sevith’s mighty grip. “What happened, Roy?” he asked.
“I was mindin’ my own business, playing around with Jenna as usual, when these damn aliens showed up outta nowhere causing trouble. I guess she has them on retainer now or something. Let me tell you right now. This is not the level of customer service I’ve come to expect from this establishment and I won’t be coming back!” Roy blustered, but it lost some of its effectiveness considering he was still Sevith’s captive and blood was trailing down the corner of his mouth.
“It wasn’t exactly like that,” Jenna tried to protest.
“I don’t want to hear from you,” her manager sneered. “Let the men talk.”
Oh dear god, he did not just say that. How long had she been putting up with this crap now? A year?
“She isn’t worth the trouble. I’m done here. For good,” Roy spat smugly. “Me and my whole crew are never returning.”
Little rat bastard…
The manager’s face paled and then went blotchy red again as he glared at Jenna, his nostrils flaring with his anger. He pointed an accusatory finger at her and bellowed, “You’re the reason these aliens are making trouble in my diner? You—waitress—you’re fired.”
This was so fucking unfair. Unfair, and yet totally predictable. Without warning a shock of powerful rage and bitterness rose in Jenna’s chest. Hiren reached for her, but she managed to pull away.
Her eyes darted around—to all the people who were staring, waiting to see what she would do or say. All the regulars who’d let this happen to her, who just sat back and watched. She decided she no longer had any need to be at the diner, at all.
So, with one last conflicted glance at Sevith and Hiren, Jenna spun on her heel and darted behind the counter and through the swinging door into the kitchen. Before anyone could do or say anything to stop her, she ripped off her apron and tossed it aside.
From the front of the diner, she managed to hear Hiren call out to her, “We will wait for you by the entrance!”
She snorted out a bitter half-laugh. As if she would just calmly meet up with them after all that? Were they delusional? She gathered her things and slammed through the back door of the building.
She made it outside and briskly walked down the street toward the bus stop, worry churning uncomfortably inside her gut with every step. Nothing was as discouraging, as heartbreaking, as the realization that so much of her life—her world—was out of her control. These males, both human and alien, could step in and destroy the delicate, precarious balance of her life without a second thought. She knew the diner manager would report her dismissal immediately, which mean she would have to find a way to supplement her income right away unless she wanted the Department of Families on her doorstep.
She and her younger siblings already barely clung to a living wage, and now that she’d lost the income from the diner, things would only get tighter. If Jenna couldn’t find a way to prove her ability to provide for their small family, the state would swoop in and take her brother and sister away and put them in foster care.
And the state didn’t give second chances.
The idea of losing them was enough to cause hot, painful tears to burn in Jenna’s eyes as she broke into a near-jog down the street to the bus stop. She heard the telltale thump of heavy footsteps moving behind her, quickly gaining momentum and drawing nearer. She glanced over her shoulder to find Sevith and Hiren chasing her down. Even though her heart hammered like mad in fear—anticipation?—she tried her best to ignore their presence.
Sevith immediately caught up to her, seizing Jenna by her shoulders and halting her in her tracks. He tried to turn her to face them and give them her attention, but she wasn’t interested. “Leave me alone! Haven’t you done enough? I told you to stop, that you were going to get me fired. And that’s exactly what happened!”
“How could you leave without saying a word? There are dangers in this world you do not comprehend. You are ours. You need us to protect you,” Sevith hissed in return.
“You got me fired! I’m an adult woman. Okay? I’m well aware of the dangers in this city—and right now they’re you two!” Jenna snapped.
To her surprise, this seemed to silence Sevith. Hiren stepped up with a calm expression, arms raised and palms facing her as if in surrender. Clearly he wanted to smooth things over.
Not likely.
“Let us all take a moment to breathe,” Hiren soothed.
Jenna was having issues controlling her emotions, her feelings seeming to ricochet around in her head, fighting for dominance. Maybe their presence was making her more upset than she’d normally be? She couldn’t shake the sense that some of the emotions weren’t her own. That the feelings of the two aliens affected her, too.
But that was nuts. Right? Right.
That didn’t stop her from feeling her own anger and fear mixed with
exasperation, worry and bizarrely enough… arousal. Jenna couldn’t help but experience it all. She couldn’t figure out how in the world she could want to jump their bones and club them across the head with a baseball bat. She still vividly remembered the way the Drokten talked about her to Secretary Wells, claiming she belonged to them. Even through the calmness Hiren projected over all three of them, Jenna couldn’t hold back a petulant laugh.
“And also, you two somehow think I belong to you,” she hissed. “But I don’t. I belong to myself. I have my own life and responsibilities and they have nothing to do with you two.”
Sevith opened his mouth to protest—she could see the objection in his gaze—but Hiren shook his head, silencing his partner. “We understand your perspective and acknowledge your position.”
“You do?” she asked, with sarcasm dripping from her tone. “Since when? I overheard you both last night, telling the secretary you two were taking me to your ship. You were going to kidnap me!” Is that what the Drokten did—secretly kidnap human females and take them to their ship? If so, that broke her heart because she’d always thought so highly of them…
To Jenna’s relief, the bus rolled up to the stop right then. She turned to make a break for it, but Sevith stopped her with his gentle strength yet again.
Hiren spoke softly. “Wait, do not board this transport. Stay and let us explain. Listen to what we have to say. We have our own vehicle, a self-driver. We can take you wherever you wish. Please, give us but a moment of your time.”
Jenna stared longingly at the bus for a moment and then sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew in her heart that they would never give up unless she let them have their say. And they hadn’t been violent or aggressive toward her, only wanting to protect her in their own misguided way… She groaned. But at the same time, they were completely screwing up her life. “Okay, fine. I’ll ride with you but only if you agree to take me to my next job and answer my questions too. Oh, and I’ll owe you nothing in return. Got it?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for their response, not really expecting them to go along with her no sex, no kidnapping demands.
And yet…
“Agreed,” both Drokten said at once.
Huh.
Moments later, their glamorous self-driving vehicle pulled up to the curb and Jenna found herself momentarily awed by this expensive, high-tech car that basically no one else had. After a second of hesitation, she allowed the Drokten to help her inside. The two of them climbed in with her, and Hiren took a moment to program their destination after getting a brief description of the area from Jenna. Then the car started rolling along, leaving Jenna to stare at the two aliens warily.
No time like the present and no holding back…
“Okay, which one of you is going to explain to me why you two are following me. Why you think you can just barge into my world and destroy my entire life?”
Sevith spoke first, his gaze hot with need. “It’s because you are our mate.”
Seven
Jenna winced at his declaration.
Sevith frowned. Why was she reacting this way? Maybe she hadn’t heard him clearly? “You are our mate, our Oso,” he repeated. “The female who will complete our triad.”
Still, the female continued to frown.
Why does she look displeased? Sevith mentally asked his Bahn. Doesn’t she understand what an honor it is to be our Oso?
Back in the time when there were plenty of females on his planet—before the devastating disease that changed everything—Sevith and Hiren would’ve been considered a good match. Even now, when there were few Drokten females remaining, they were still deluged with offers to meet with unmated females from their home planet, to verify whether there was an Oso match. They’d declined until this point because they had not been ready to focus on a family triad. Now they were ready, and they did not need to return home to try and find a mate. Their Oso was before them in all of her golden-haired, lusciously formed glory. Suddenly that heightened need he knew so many other Drokten experienced—the need to procreate and save the future of their species and culture—kicked in.
Yet their delicious female radiated cold feelings of entrapment—the emotions filling the vehicle like a stench.
An honor? Hiren rolled his eyes. Do you hear yourself? You are the eldest son of a great line of warriors, a member of the most renowned line on the planet, while I came from a long line of medium-level support specialists. I’m telling you right now, you need to let that high opinion of yourself go to listen to our Oso and feel her emotions. You will drive her away.
Sevith peered at Jenna, his Oso was now staring out the window with a pinched, angry look on her exotic features.
Dammit. He did not like it when he was wrong, and his Bahn was so obviously correct. Double dammit.
He could sense her fast heartbeat, and the rush of troubled thoughts flowing through her mind. But Sevith was able to gather one distinct impression. Jenna liked them, but she denied her feelings.
The spark of desire he’d sensed in her last night remained ever vigilant. She wanted them, whether she completely realized the truth or not, and that meant all three parties in the vehicle had the same goal. Correct?
It seemed like such a basic threshold to cross and stay over, but it was a crucial one, especially for a pair of Drokten. Human mating was much more complex than Drokten. The humans were a species that pleasure mated and might not mate for life, or might find more than one mate per lifespan. It wasn’t even uncommon for humans to form mated pairs without any intention of producing children. It seemed very chaotic, at best.
Let me try, Hiren attempted to soothe him through their link. Then he spoke aloud to their mate, “Jenna, you are—”
Suddenly Sevith could hold back no longer. He’d kept his pheromones at bay last night while he hid behind a pillar and allowed Hiren to make initial introductions. Then he’d spent the last diurnal searching for his female, only to find her in a workplace being touched inappropriately by another human male. Without any warning, an impatient need crashed through his senses and he had to have her in his arms, his claw between her thighs.
“You are ours,” Sevith growled, his control snapping as his groin tightened and hardened in preparation of mating the gorgeous human female so close to them. “You are staying with us.”
“I’m sorry. I must have misheard something. What?” she looked between Sevith and Hiren incredulously and then down at Sevith’s lap and swallowed hard.
Sevith… Hiren warned. But there was no stopping him.
“Mates,” Sevith repeated more firmly. His cock throbbed, a long, thick, firm length in his trousers. “You are our Oso, Jenna—our third. The female who is meant to be between us.”
Jenna nodded jerkily, as if confirming what she’d heard, and Sevith relaxed slightly, content in the knowledge that Jenna accepted her fate.
Except, then she lunged for the door, scrambling to find the mechanism used to open it and presumably roll onto the highway to freedom in a scrambling panic.
That did not go as anticipated… Sevith mentally grimaced.
“Let me out!” she demanded, her tone shrill and high-pitched as the scent of her fear and anxiety surged.
“Jenna!” Hiren reached out a hand to comfort her, but she drew away and kept tugging hopelessly at different parts of the door.
“Stop the car!” she barked the order, but neither of them moved to obey.
“This is not a human ‘car,’” Sevith grumbled unhelpfully, shifting in his seat and trying to get comfortable despite the aching hardness in his pants. Never before in his life had he ever had to deal with a rush of emotions this severe. Being this close to her, in an enclosed space with her scent filling his lungs, was pure and utter torture of the highest degree. His training had not prepared him for this.
It is torture for me too, Hiren confirmed.
“This is a Drokten transport. And what is wrong? Why are you trying to leave a mov
ing vehicle?” Sevith frowned, intent on her knowing his displeasure at her actions.
She leaned back in the seat and crossed her arms, glare in place. It did not appear that she found his frown intimidating or chastising at all. Disconcerting.
She glanced down at both of their laps, with their obvious hard cocks, and then she turned her head away, nibbling her lower lip. “I’m not joining some kind of alien threesome booty call!” She sneered. “That’s what you’re following me around for. Right? I don’t care what you have planned, it’s not happening. Let me out of here.”
“Boo-tee call?” Hiren questioned as he grabbed at his crotch and struggled to rearrange his own shaft to a more comfortable position. Both males were torn between the need to comfort their mate and the desire for her curvaceous form. “What does that mean?”
Sevith shrugged and answered, though he was not sure if Hiren spoke to him or their Oso. “I have never heard that human word before. It does not translate.”
“It means all you two want is me, naked, in your bed,” Jenna snarled. She was gloriously beautiful in her outrage and fury.
Aaah, Sevith thought, now she begins to understand. Sevith smiled. “Yes, I want you underneath me—underneath us.”
“Actually, I want Jenna on top of me, and underneath you,” Hiren corrected and that caused Sevith to grin even wider. Yes, his Bahn had an excellent idea.
Jenna gasped, her cheeks pink, but at the same time, Sevith easily scented her salty-sweet arousal within the cabin of the transport. Sevith grinned over at his Bahn. She desires us.
I smell it too, his Bahn answered. She wants both of us. I cannot wait until we can explore her body at our leisure.
“No, no, no. I don’t care how handsome and rich the both of you are. That isn’t happening.” Jenna huffed. “Look, I really appreciate how you’ve both tried to help me, but in the end, you’ve gotten me fired from two different jobs.” She held up two fingers to punctuate her statement.