by Renee Rose
Their Zandian Mate
Renee Rose
Burning Desires
Contents
Publisher’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Epilogue
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Acknowledgments
A Note from the Author
About Renee Rose
Other Titles by Renee Rose
Copyright (c) 20018 Renee Rose Romance
Originally published in Alien Alphas, Copyright © 2017 by Stormy Night Publications and Renee Rose
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Rose, Renee
Their Zandian Mate
Created with Vellum
Publisher’s Note
This book is intended for adults only. BDSM, spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.
Chapter 1
If this was prison, she’d stay forever.
Her cell might very well be the finest in the galaxy. Eslyn curled up on a shimmering spider silk coverlet in shades of teal and turquoise and nursed her infant. Thankfully, she wasn’t in the dungeon in the belly of Prince Zander’s palatial pod, like her mates.
Former mates.
She didn’t claim any of those males, other than as the sires of her young. Stars, she was glad to be out of their hands and safe on the pod. Even if she was a prisoner to her room.
A prisoner living in absolute luxury. Her chamber had a temperature-controlled floating cradle for her infant, complete with a one-way see-through cover that projected images of Zandian nature on the interior walls and played soothing music or simulated her heartbeat. Oh, and it was soundproof, so the squawks of her other children wouldn’t wake Sol, but his cries were piped out so she’d know if he needed anything.
She also had her own washroom with a fully automated wash tube and adjoining sleeping quarters for her other three children, who’d been treated as royal guests.
The door to her chamber beeped a warning and swished open. She lifted her head from a fluffy pillow, an expectant smile on her face. But it wasn’t one of her young, whom the prince had allowed to roam free on the pod while she remained under lockdown. Instead, the huge guard, who terrified the children with his scars and limp, loomed in the doorway.
“Prince Zander wishes to see you now.” His deep voice made him seem even bigger, if that was possible. There’d been a rotation of three guards at her door, each unnerving to her in his own way.
Her heart shot up to her throat. She popped her infant off her nipple, slid off the bed, and slammed straight into a wall of muscle. “Oh!” Make that solid, terrifying, delicious muscle that smelled of pure male.
The warrior had come into her room and now stood beside the bed, as if he’d intended to help her off. He caught her by the nape and steadied her, his other hand cradling the head of her infant. “Forgive me, I only meant to help with the young.”
She stared up at him in surprise, her breath leaving her chest in a whoosh. Their gazes locked. His shone blue-black, much darker than the usual brown-violet of most Zandians. His sheer size and the burn marks on his face and hand intimidated her. Hell, he would intimidate any female. But there was a kindness in his expression, a gentleness in his touch.
Although there was nothing gentle about her reaction to it. Everywhere his palm touched, her skin prickled with heat, zings of electricity sparking beneath his fingers.
Her instinct to breed during her planet’s annual season had been dampened by lack of interest in her partners on Zandia, but it must have kicked into high gear here on Prince Zander’s pod, because the closeness of the male sent her hormones raging. She could practically sense them charging through her veins like a drug.
Her lips parted but no sound came out. She couldn’t seem to formulate any words in response.
“May I?” He gestured toward Sol, her infant. His hand remained at her nape, thumb making tiny circles on her skin. Frissons of heat kicked through her body, concentrating between her legs and further rendering her mute.
She swallowed, bringing her focus to his question with effort. Since she’d arrived, beings had clamored to take charge of her young, the only full-blooded Zandian young alive. They’d left Sol with her, but the other three had been whisked away. Every time they left she feared they wouldn’t return.
Still, she didn’t dare disobey the giant warrior. She offered the baby, which, sadly, caused the warrior to remove his touch from her neck to take him. The care he showed in the task, though, mollified her. He stooped low to match the height of her arms and eased her gurgling young into his rock-solid embrace.
For a moment, she remembered the awe she and her ex-mates had felt after the birth of their eldest, Alyx. But it hadn’t lasted long. And the males had given her no rest at all before they began making their complaints and demands again. Forced to survive in the wilderness of their planet together, they’d grown to hate each other as much as they relied on each other. And she, in particular, had become the focus of the males’ dissatisfaction. Probably because she was easy to knock around.
What would her life have been like if she’d mated an honorable male like this one instead? A warrior and protector? Too bad she’d never know.
Wonder lit the warrior’s dark eyes as he smiled at Sol, who offered a tenuous smile back. “A miracle,” he murmured.
“Yes.” His excitement was the same she’d seen in the warrior Tomis’ face when he’d first seen her young. Before she’d betrayed Tomis’ mate, Talia.
Remembering she’d probably been summoned to hear her fate, a spike of fear shot through her and her hands twitched to snatch the young back. “Were you ordered to take him?”
The warrior’s brows drew together. “Ordered? No. Do you fear I will keep him from you? That will never happen.” He squared his shoulders and the horns on his head stood up as erect as his spine. “I wouldn’t let any being keep you from your young, ever.”
Flutters took off in her chest as she craned her neck back to meet his fierce gaze. Was this male swearing to protect them? “But what if Prince Zander orders it?”
The warrior hesitated, giving her the true answer. He would follow orders, same as every guard here. But he said, “It won’t happen.” He lifted his chin toward the door. “Come, the prince awaits.”
She attempted a clumsy curtsy. She wasn’t used to formalities, although she’d better remember them quick, or she’d risk angering the sovereign. “Yes, Master.”
The warrior shifted Sol into the crook of one elbow and dropped a meaty hand on her shoulder. He propelled her toward the door. If only, she thought she heard him mutter.
“I’m sorry?”
“Call me Granit,” he said.
She managed a small smile. “Granit,” she repeated. “Thank you.”
She ignored the tingles of warmth the warrior inspired. This was no time to think about males. She was headed to see the prince, to hear his determination of her fate. Would he punish her for the part she’d played in Talia’s brief capture? And what would he do with her former mates?
“D-do you know what’s going to happen to me?” she dared ask as Granit led her briskly down the corridor.
“I don’t. But Prince Zander is a fair ruler. I trust he will make a wise decision, as always.”
A knot twisted in her solar plexus. During her incarceration the p
ast two planet rotations, she’d rehearsed a hundred different pleas and excuses. She hadn’t known what her mates planned, she didn’t have a choice—that one was mostly true. Her mates wouldn’t have hesitated to beat her senseless if she’d tried to interfere. But she wasn’t an idiot. She could have tried to warn Talia or Tomis, could have done something—anything to come to their aid. But she hadn’t. Worse, she’d wickedly been glad they’d gone after another female, so she wouldn’t have to bear the brunt of their debilitating attention any longer.
It was wrong and she deserved whatever punishment Prince Zander believed necessary—unless it involved removing her young from her. She’d fight that sentence tooth and nail. As they rounded a corner, she wished to take her infant back simply to have something to do with her hands, something warm and soft to clutch to ease her anxiety. Something to show she was a good mother, deserving of keeping her young with her. But she was afraid to ask.
How had Zandians dealt with lawbreakers? She wished she could remember, but she’d been too young when their society had been extinguished. Would her other children be present at her hearing? She hoped not. She didn’t want them to fear for her.
Granit brought her into a grand hall, lit with crystal-embedded skylights and filled with living plants and trees. She’d spent her entire life surrounded by the natural beauty of Zandia, but the palatial pod awed her with its high-tech opulence.
On a raised dais on a marble throne sat the prince.
She scanned the room through tear-filled eyes but didn’t see her children amongst the crowd, nor did she see her ex-mates. Thank the stars.
Silence fell at her arrival. The beings present—all Zandian, save the human females who served as mates to the most important Zandians—stared at her. The sight of Talia and Tomis made her chest tighten. Though Talia had told her they were the only two Zandian females, another stood beside her—a small, pretty Zandian female with reddish-blonde hair. So another had been found. Maybe they wouldn’t think Eslyn’s existence was quite so precious now. Of course, they only cared about her ability to breed, anyway.
Which she could do from a prison cell.
Just let me keep my young.
Granit nudged her forward and she approached the throne, drawing as close as she dared and dropping to her knees. No excuses. She’d plead guilty. She just hoped he’d have mercy on her.
For what felt like endless minutes, Zander remained silent. She didn’t move, didn’t breathe. Didn’t dare lift her eyes.
“Eslyn. Rise and face me,” he said at last.
She stood on wobbly knees and curtsied. “My lord.”
Damon sidled up beside Granit, who held the female’s infant. At least ten servants and two of the human females had offered to take the baby off Granit’s hands, but his friend had refused. And no one argued with a male Granit’s size.
“She’s afraid,” Damon murmured to the male who’d been like a brother to him since their escape from the Finnian invasion.
“I tried to calm her, but I’m not the sort a female finds comfort in.” Granit grimaced. Between his huge size and the burn marks on his face, arm, and leg, Granit made an imposing warrior.
“At least the infant doesn’t mind you.”
Granit smiled down at the tiny young, who cooed and gurgled back. “No, he hasn’t learned ugly yet.”
Laake, the third in their bloodless brotherhood, appeared on Granit’s other side and reached for the baby. Granit appeared reluctant, but gave the child up.
Damn. He’d been angling for a turn. But Granit always had had a soft spot for Laake, who he’d once risked his life, and sacrificed his good looks, to save.
He, Damon, and Laake had been assigned to watch the female’s room since she’d arrived two planet rotations earlier. An honor they’d relished. He’d beaten off four times between shifts imagining all the dirty things he’d like to do to that gorgeous female.
“Eslyn, I’ve heard from Talia and Tomis their account of what happened on Zandia. I’d like you to tell me, in your own words, your part in the capture of Talia, daughter of Seke.”
The female’s face, normally a lovely shade of peachy-purple, had turned a pale lavender. Her throat bobbed with effort to swallow. “Yes, my lord.” The words came out hoarse.
Damon waited. Laake and Granit already believed her innocent, but then they’d probably believe her capable of shooting rainbows out her fingertips, they were so taken with the female. They took turns standing at her door, watching a hologram of her movements in her chamber, inhaling her scent every time the door opened.
The entire pod had been turned on its head by the arrival of the two females, especially since it was breeding season.
Damon found her just as fascinating as his friends, but he needed to hear the charges against her and how she answered before he came to any conclusions. Did she love her mates, who had kidnapped Talia? Would she attempt to protect them?
Eslyn looked over at Talia and dropped her head. “Sankro, Elit, and Banf wanted to keep Talia as soon as they saw her. When they realized she hadn’t yet been pierced by Tomis, they saw an opportunity. Sankro told me to invite her to sleep with me, to separate her from the warrior. In the morning, they threatened to kill Tomis if she didn’t send him away.”
“And did you hope to keep Talia, as well?”
Eslyn’s eyes swam with tears. When she looked over at the other female, they trickled down her cheeks.
An itchiness stretched across Damon’s skin. He hadn’t known Zandians cried—had believed that to be a human function. Seeing their female—for he, Granit, and Laake had come to think of Eslyn as theirs since they’d been assigned to her—in tears disturbed him. His fingers curled into fists, the desire to end her suffering shooting a spike of adrenaline through his system.
But he couldn’t stop her questioning. And while Prince Zander was difficult to read, Damon believed he’d be compassionate with the female. She was, after all, one of only three fertile Zandian females alive. A precious commodity to their near-extinct species.
“I did,” Eslyn choked. “Forgive me, I did. I wanted to leave Zandia with them, but my mates wouldn’t allow it. So, instead, I hoped for company. I’d had no one but my mates and children for fifteen solar cycles. I’d been so lonely.”
Zander tapped the arms of his throne. “Do you believe the kidnapping to be mainly Sankro’s idea or all three of your mates?”
Grief flickered over Eslyn’s face. For her mates? He ground his teeth. The word around the palatial pod was that they weren’t honorable males. Talia seemed to believe Eslyn’s behavior was coerced. “Every idea was Sankro’s.” Bitterness lowered her tone. “But the other two follow.”
“Like you did.”
She bowed her head. “Yes, my lord. I am sorry.”
Why did she not defend herself? Tell the prince if she’d been pressured?
“Did you fear reprisal if you did not?” Zander prompted.
“There was always reprisal.” Again, he heard rancor in her words.
Had her mates abused her and the children? Veck, he would make them pay if they had.
“I offer you no excuses, my lord. Yes, I was afraid of Sankro—always. But I should have tried to warn Talia or Tomis of their plan.”
Zander nodded. “I understand you at least did not sound an alarm when Tomis returned to rescue Talia.”
Eslyn’s lips parted and a pretty blush stained her cheeks. She ducked her head. “It only gave him a moment’s advantage, and I don’t believe he needed it, anyway.”
Prince Zander considered her for a long moment. “Eslyn, I understand the situation on our planet forced you together with the only other remaining Zandians. Is it your intent to remain mated to the males you lived with?”
“My lord, I do not presume to make plans for my future, other than to ensure the happiness and health of my young. I was told when I arrived to await your decision on my fate.”
Zander made an impatient gesture with his hand
. “I’m asking if you wish to remain mated to them?”
Eslyn wrapped her arms around herself. “Not in the way we were, my lord, no.”
What did that mean? Did she wish to be rid of only one or two of them? Was there a mate she loved? Damon hadn’t considered the possibility of her wanting or missing a mate. It had been easier to think they were all scoundrels deserving to lose their precious female.
Zander nodded as if he’d expected this answer. “Eslyn, you’ve lived apart from society for fifteen solar cycles under unusual circumstances. I am willing to forgive your actions against Talia, but I need to be certain you’re fit to be included and trusted as a free member of our society. You had three mates on Zandia. I’m assigning you a new set of three guardians. They will be responsible for administering punishment for your actions against Talia and for reconditioning you to live among us.”
No. No, this wasn’t the outcome he’d hoped for. Had the prince already picked new mates for their female? They’d never even had a shot at courting her affections.
Eslyn’s throat worked. “G-guardians?”
“Yes.”
Damon scanned the crowd, his jaw flexing with tension. Who had the prince selected as her guardians? He didn’t see any warriors standing by.
To his shock, Zander met his gaze. “Damon, Granit, Laake. Step forward, please.”
His pulse went into hyper-drive. Could it be? Not waiting for his friends to gather their wits, he advanced, taking a position behind Eslyn. The female darted a nervous glance over her shoulder at him. Granit and Laake arrived to flank him. The three bowed.
“Damon, Granit, and Laake, you will take responsibility for Eslyn’s punishment and reconditioning. Keep her supervised at all times until you deem her ready for Zandian society.”