“You do more than that,” Jessica said. “Rachel told me you wanted to open a spa.”
“On Earth,” I clarified. “The Colony is not really the place. I can’t see any of those guys going in for a facial. There’s not enough women there.”
“There are on Prillon Prime,” Jessica said, those eyebrows going up and down again.
“Viken, too,” Leah added, then looked at Jessica. “I haven’t had a spa day since Earth. You know, I’d come to Prillon Prime for a girls’ spa day. And if two queens showed up…”
“It would be the hottest place on the planet!” Rachel added.
I was quiet, bit my lip and thought. “The idea is a good one, and I can read between the lines. You’re saying all this because you think Nik and Sam want to claim me. I say it’s just a fling.”
After everything I’d learned about them, I was even more certain the match was uneven.
For once everyone at the table seemed out of words. Everyone but Jessica. “Just be careful, okay? They aren’t human, Lucy. They don’t think like humans. Not when it comes to claiming a mate.”
A guard dressed in black camo from head to toe, toting a nasty looking weapon, appeared at the door and cleared his throat. He was golden, like Sambor, and serious as hell. “My queen, Prime Nial has requested your presence at once. There has been word from Styx Legion. And Commander Zeus is on the comms.”
Jessica stood like her chair was on fire. She took a step, then looked back over her shoulder at me. “They’re good guys, Lucy. Really good guys. Don’t break their hearts, okay?”
I nodded as she left. Around me, the others speculated what the message from Styx Legion on Rogue 5 might be about. Apparently, the leader—named Styx—had taken a human woman for his mate as well. And this Commander Zeus? He was the only half-human, half-Prillon commander in the Coalition Fleet. Mikki told us he’d been in contact with her mate, Dr. Surnen, multiple times because somehow he’d taken a human woman captive. A human woman who was contaminated and still connected to the Hive. And Dr. Surnen was one of the foremost experts on removal and destruction of Hive integrations.
A human woman turned into a Hive, then captured by a Coalition battlegroup. Alive?
Fuck me. And I thought I had problems. I felt like I was pretty darn petty.
By the numbers, there weren’t very many of us Earth girls out here in space, but we sure did seem to be everywhere, right in the thick of this war.
Under the table, Lindsey took my hand and squeezed. “It’ll work itself out, Lucy. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried.” I lied like my life depended on it, because somehow this fling had turned serious on me, and the males I’d taken to my bed weren’t even here. How had this happened? And what the hell was I going to do now?
6
Niklas, Prillon Prime, The Palace
* * *
I worried Ander would notice or care that I hadn’t been the most… diplomatic with Helion, not that he never deserved such poor treatment. The Prillon was an asshole, and my job was to be nice to assholes. Dr. Helion, despite his well-earned reputation for being difficult to deal with, was invaluable to the entire Coalition. No one could do what he did and remain unaffected.
The male needed a mate more than anyone I knew. However, I had no idea if there existed a Prillon male insane enough to be his second. Gods help them if the day ever arrived when Helion took the Interstellar Brides Program matching test. Gods help all three of them.
That was assuming there was a female out there, somewhere in this universe, tough enough—or insane enough—to put up with that male. On more than one occasion, I had seriously doubted even the Brides Program could find a match for him.
Watching him argue with Vice Admiral Niobe had made me bite back a smile more than once.
That female was not to be fucked with. The Elite Hunter standing at her back—Quinn, her mate—didn’t bother holding his amusement in check. But watching the fire burning behind Helion’s gaze, I decided there was, indeed, a perfect female out there for him. I’d place odds that the female in question would be from Earth.
These human females were a force to be reckoned with. Including mine.
Lucy. I could not wait to return to her, place my collar around her neck and make my intentions known.
I’d enjoyed being taken by her, claimed by her last night. Although I doubted Lucy realized that’s what she’d been doing.
But I knew. So had Sambor. We’d accepted her claim with every touch. She was ours now.
Thank fuck Ander grew tired of the meeting as well. We weren’t getting anywhere. Helion had yet to have a breakthrough with the Nexus unit. It had been months with no progress. There would be no resolution today.
“Gwendolyn Fernandez is the only one left who might be able to communicate with that thing,” Helion said. “With her own time with the Hive, her integrations…”
“We know about her,” Niobe said. “But she’s rogue. No one has seen her in months. She’s a ghost.”
Ander sighed. “She was on The Colony. Friends with my mate and the other females from Earth. I asked the queen to try to make contact through her network of human females.”
Niobe looked at Ander with wide eyes. “You did what?”
“It is my mate’s birthing day celebrations. The females from The Colony are all at the palace.”
“Yes, we will be at the ball tomorrow night,” Niobe said, flicking a glance at her mate.
“I should be with her now, not here.” He all but glared at Helion. “If getting to Gwen through the ladies is all we need, then we can end this meeting now. I would prefer to avoid Jessica’s wrath.”
Niobe laughed as her mate muttered, “I can imagine.”
Ander wrapped his knuckles on the desk. “Helion, I asked Jessica and Lady Rone to contact Gwen. We have a meeting set for tomorrow in Sector 437 if she accepts. Until then, we’re done here.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just nodded at the guards and left the room, leaving Dr. Helion stuttering in shock.
“Lord Ander! Wait one moment. I need more details.”
“Tomorrow, Helion.” Ander didn’t even look back.
“You going to the royal ball?” I asked, looking at Dr. Helion.
“I have work to do.” With that, he took off after Ander. The sight made me smile. He would have no luck whatsoever. None.
Sambor and I nodded to the others, then followed him out.
I’d been distracted during the meeting with Helion, thinking of Lucy. Everything about her, especially the unsure smile that had spread across her face when I’d bumped into her on the dance floor. That one, small curve of her lips and I’d been done for.
I’d been ready to toss her over my shoulder and carry her back to my quarters near the palace. Then she’d propositioned me. Us. An unmated Earth female had boldly requested Sambor and myself give her orgasms.
As if that had ever been in question. Then she’d led us back to her room by tugging on invisible chains like we were submissive Trion females. We’d proven for hours that we were far from female and had exactly what she needed to be satisfied. Over and over again.
Her cries of pleasure, the way her pussy had clenched and dripped all over our cocks, her nails as they dug into my back. The way she writhed as she rode Sambor to her own satisfaction.
She’d used us so beautifully. And we’d allowed her to possess us, to take whatever she wanted, from our taste to the seed from our cocks.
Fuck, had we allowed her. I would have given her the blood from my veins last night.
Tonight Sambor and I would pledge her our lives. Our honor. Our protection. Tonight I would place the collar around her neck and we would know her mind, her heart, her desires.
During a moment of clarity, I’d sent a message ahead to one of my staff to deliver the collars to the transport room on Prillon Prime, and they’d been waiting for me, two dark Lorvar family blue collars, and one much smaller black collar for our new mate. I didn’t
want to waste a moment before going to Lucy.
Now, after transporting from IC, I stood before a locked door at the palace and gripped the collars in my hand, looked down at them as I had over the years. I’d waited for this moment when I would approach the female to be my mate and stake my claim. Our claim, for Sambor had waited equally as long.
He shifted his weight from foot to foot, was just as distracted and eager. Almost ravenous for Lucy from Earth.
I looked to him. He nodded. I rapped my knuckles on Lucy’s door. Beside me, he took a deep breath. Exhaled.
“I told you I don’t want to do karaoke with—” Lucy’s words cut off when she saw us, the door bouncing off its well-oiled hinges and bumping into her hand, which was still sticking out.
Her green eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open. Clearly she hadn’t expected us. I watched her thoughts flit across her face before she put her hand to her head, then stepped back and slammed the door in our faces.
Sambor looked to me.
I frowned, knocked again. “Lucy.”
“Um… come back later!” she called, her voice muffled by the thick door.
“We are not coming back,” I said. She may have been in charge the night before, but not now. “Open the door, please.”
“I will if you come back later.”
“What is wrong, Lucy? Are you hurt?” Sambor asked.
“No. I’m fine. It’s just…”
I stared at Sambor and he shrugged.
“Open the door, Lucy, or your ass will have my handprint when you come next.”
She moaned.
“You are hurt. Move away from the door, Lucy. I am opening it to see to your safety.” Sambor’s words were laced with the same dominance as mine, but his held concern too. So much for me being the diplomatic one.
He turned the knob and slowly opened the door, cautious not to bump our mate. Sambor stepped in first and scooped her into his arms. I followed him over to the bed, where he sat, placing her in his lap. His hands roved over her body, and I looked but could find no injury.
“What hurts?” I asked.
She looked to me. “Nothing hurts.”
“Why did you moan?” Sambor asked as she swatted his hands away from her breasts. The way the nipples pebbled beneath her simple white shirt didn’t indicate they were injured. What had she done while we’d been gone?
She closed her eyes. “God, could this be any more embarrassing?”
“No injury is shameful,” Sambor said, lifting her up as if she were a doll so she stood before him. He spun her around in a circle, checking for something broken or bleeding.
“I moaned because Nik’s words were hot.”
Sambor stilled.
My cock was instantly hard. “You want to be spanked.”
She looked over her shoulder at me and blushed a bright pink.
“Well, a good-girl spanking.”
“A good-girl spanking,” Sambor repeated. “You slammed the door in our faces first. Why?”
“Why?” she said, tossing her hands up in the air. “You’re all gorgeous in your uniform and Prillon leadership clothes, and I’ve got my hair up in a sloppy bun. I have no makeup on, and I’m wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt.”
I looked her over from the wild hair on top of her head to her toes. She was covered in freckles, golden dots all over her face and arms. Sam must have noticed the same thing as he hooked a finger into the round collar of her shirt and tugged it down an inch or so, exposing a few more of them.
“I do not know what yoga is,” I replied absently, intrigued by her gorgeous marks. I hadn’t seen them on her face and chest the night before when we’d gotten her bare.
Why would she hide such rare marks?
“It’s an exercise regimen that made me flexible enough to have my knees by my ears last night.”
My mind shifted to fucking her with my hands on her thighs, pushing her legs up and back. She’d been able to achieve remarkable positions with ease.
Sambor’s eyes widened, and his hands went to her hips, slid down the tight fabric that hid none of her curves.
“You are beautiful, mate,” I said. I remembered her words from the night before when she’d told us about her profession, how she wanted to make females feel confident. That their appearance affected their happiness. I’d said it was a mate’s job to make her feel attractive and confident. It was true. She was gorgeous, and I would never stop telling her that.
She laughed and turned to face me, although she didn’t appear amused. “I look like I should have six cats and drink wine while I knit tea cozies.”
I could understand and communicate with members of every planet in the Coalition, but Lucy had me stumped. I had no idea what to say to that, so I just repeated myself. “You are beautiful, mate.”
She huffed, then started coughing. “What did you say?”
Sambor stroked her back.
“I need to say it again?” I asked.
“You called me ‘mate.’”
“He did,” Sambor clarified. “Not once but twice.”
Her pink tongue darted out and licked her lips. “I’m not your mate.”
“Not yet.” I held up the open collars. “You will be.”
She sputtered, then stepped back, although I didn’t let her go far. “You guys are crazy! I can’t be your mate.”
“Why not?” Sam asked.
“This was supposed to be a one-night stand. No matter how good the sex is, a fling’s not the basis for a true match.”
“You chose us last night out of all the males at the party,” I stated.
She ran her hand over her hair, glanced at the ceiling as if it understood her better than we did. “Most of the guys there are mated. I don’t do married men. Or whatever they’re called in space.”
“That makes you honorable,” Sam stated.
She set her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Honor isn’t enough to spend your life with someone. Two someones.” She waved her hand in my direction.
“The attraction, the connection between us was instant,” I said.
She laughed. “You believe in love at first sight?”
I gave a slight shrug, looked her over and considered. “I do not doubt the bond between us.”
“I don’t even know you!” she shouted, tossing up her hands. She walked across the room, then spun around and came back our way, pacing as if she were on guard.
“I know enough to give you my collar,” I said, my words heavy. I’d never said them to anyone before, and I never would again. Lucy was mine. No other female would compare.
“I know you well enough to also wear a mating collar,” Sam added.
“What’s your favorite color? Do you like crunchy or smooth peanut butter? God, are you allergic to nuts? What about meat, do you eat it? Do you live in a house? What about you, Sam? Where do you live? I figured I’d marry one guy, but two is a struggle. I mean, do you even put the seat down? How am I going to survive two guys leaving the seat up?”
“What seat?”
“The toilet.” She was pulling at her hair, clearly on the verge of panic. “Oh shit. I forgot. Those implant things. Do you guys even pee anymore? They don’t on The Colony. It’s so weird. Everything is so weird.”
I stepped into her path and set my hands on her shoulders. “Slow down.”
Her green eyes narrowed as she looked up at me. “Don’t tell me to slow down. I’ve got an alien who wants to put a collar around my neck, and I don’t know how he feels about me except the sex. Sex is not a relationship.”
I held up the three collars, their lengths dangling from my fist. “Put the collar on and you’ll know everything. You have friends mated to Prillons. Lady Rone, Dr. Surnen’s mate.”
“Mikki.”
“Yes, the brilliant female who discovered the Hive’s water transport machines.”
“Yeah, they told me about them, how they can feel each other, know each other’s emotions, if they’re hurt or sc
ared.”
I nodded. “That’s right. You’ll know all of that, how Sambor and I feel about you, if you put on my collar. All your questions will be answered.”
“Just like that? The little things are what’s important.”
I bent at the waist so we were eye level. “Is knowing my favorite color truly important to a strong match?”
“Yes.”
It was important to know the nuances and character traits of another person. Especially one from a planet so different. Cultural differences alone were a huge impact on perspective, which was the issue at hand right now.
I lifted my hand and curled a strand of her soft hair around my finger. “It’s red.” I tugged her close and kissed her eyelid. “And green.”
She pursed her lips, but she wasn’t pacing anymore. Progress.
“Everyone you mentioned was matched through the Brides Program. They were tested and the match is almost perfect. None of them had to worry about leaving the cap off the toothpaste. I mean, you’re an ambassador and I was told about all your achievements as a fighter.” She pointed at Sambor. “You two are amazing. I’m… just me.”
“You are rare, not only in person, but in being unmated and no longer on Earth. Do you deny the connection between us? Is your pussy not wet for us?”
“My pussy should not be in charge of the rest of my life,” she grumbled.
“Put the collar on, Lucy. All will be revealed. Trust us, one more time.”
She rolled her eyes but turned her head to Sambor, who was still sitting on the side of the bed. He nodded. “I wish to share my every thought with you. How I feel. I wish to know you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, the act was not one of defiance but more like a wall of protection. “If I put the collar on, we’re not going to be instantly mated, right?”
Something loosened in my chest at her words, the fact that she was considering it.
“An official claiming, where the collar changes from black to dark blue, only occurs when your mates take you together.”
Surprise Mates Page 7