by Sue Mercury
“It used to be long,” she found herself saying. “I only cut it short recently. I-I miss my long hair.”
“Why did you cut it?” he asked, looking genuinely curious. He stepped closer and the heat of his body waved against hers. Tingles raced through her and pleasure coiled low in her belly, the sensation completely unexpected and somewhat alarming.
“I thought it might look good short, but I was wrong,” she said, deciding now wasn’t the time to explain her real reasons for cutting it short.
My ex, who also happens to be the father of my child—surprise I’m pregnant!—as well as a powerful entertainment company I used to work for, are both probably looking for me.
Yeah, she’d better hold off on dropping that bombshell, at least until after they were mated. Vaxxlians mated for life, and God how she needed that protection more than anything. Even though she was still scared to mate with this huge alien, she decided she would go to bed with him as soon as possible. Would he want to mate with her today?
“It looks beautiful,” he said abruptly, his eyes starting to glow. “You are beautiful.”
She wanted to ask why he had assumed Skylar was his mate but couldn’t find the words. She tried to lower her gaze, but he wouldn’t release her chin.
“You’re shaking, little human. You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”
Chapter 4
“I’m not afraid of you,” Sienna said, giving him what looked like a forced smile, for it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“You’re trembling in fear,” he said, keeping his tone as gentle as possible in hopes of soothing her nerves. “But you need not fear me. I will be your mate and your protector until the end of our days.”
He watched as she appeared to process this information. He tried to think of something else he might say to help calm her but came up empty. He was still reeling from the fact that his dreams had been wrong.
Why had he dreamed of a long-haired blonde female for so many years?
It didn’t make sense. And yet now that he’d spent time staring into Sienna’s stark blue eyes, he was starting to feel a connection to her similar to the connection he’d experienced with the blonde woman from his dreams.
Of course, it still troubled him that his visions had failed him somehow, particularly when thoughts of the golden-haired beauty had carried him through the bleakest parts of the war against the Irrcons—she’d been his beacon in the darkness, the promise that he would survive.
Guilt settled upon him. He had behaved poorly upon his arrival in Sienna’s apartment, brushing past her and moving straight for her blonde companion. He’d gotten down on his knees before the wrong female. The tips of his ears burned at the memory. He thought of the small black box he had in his pocket, the gift he’d brought for his mate, and he hurriedly reached for it.
He stepped back and handed the box to Sienna, and their fingers brushed as she accepted it, causing a sharp wave of awareness to flow through him. At least her eyes were the same as from his visions, he thought. So were her facial features. Though the other woman had been golden-haired, now that he considered it, her eyes and her facial features hadn’t been quite right.
“This is for you,” he said, nodding at the box. “A gift for you, my mate.” He hoped the gesture helped make up for his grave error from earlier, though he was starting to worry it would be some time before Sienna forgave him for the mistake. She was shaking and looked scared. Was she worried he didn’t find her pleasing? He hoped not, and he also desperately hoped she appreciated the gift and wore it with pride as his mate.
“Thank you, Myadd,” she murmured, her gaze falling to the box. She opened it and withdrew the delicate silver bracelet that was surrounded with small gemstones, all quite rare, having been mined on Vaxxlia before the planet’s destruction. She turned it over in her hands, allowing the gemstones to catch the light in the room. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. Thank you.”
He took the box from her hands, set it aside, and reached for the bracelet. “Let me help you put it on, little human.” Warmth filled him at the thought of seeing her wear the item of jewelry he had put a great deal of thought into acquiring. Khann had accompanied him on the shopping trip into the marketplace of Starrzia and in the end they had purchased three bracelets, one for his mate, and one for Khann and Axall’s mates as well.
He fastened the bracelet around her wrist, enjoying the feel of her soft skin as he touched her. Once the bracelet was in place, he grasped her hands and pulled her closer. “I would like to leave Earth very soon,” he said. “Today, if that is acceptable to you. Do you have any family members or friends you wish to say goodbye to before we depart?”
She shook her head. “There’s no one. Skylar—the woman who was in my apartment when you arrived—she’s pretty much my only friend and we’ve already said our goodbyes. I’m ready to leave immediately, if you would like. I-I have already packed my bags.” She swallowed hard. Not for the first time, he thought he glimpsed tears in her eyes.
He reached to cup her face with one hand and brushed a thumb over her cheek, even though her tears hadn’t yet fallen. But if they escaped her eyes, he was ready to wipe them away, ready to soothe his mate. He only hoped he wasn’t the cause of her tears. Was she upset over his behavior when he’d first arrived? In any case, he supposed he ought to issue a heartfelt apology. She was his mate and it wouldn’t be right to cause her sadness.
“My little human,” he began, “please know that I am sorry for mistaking Skylar for you.”
“It’s perfectly all right,” Sienna said, her eyes falling to his chest. “I’m not upset with you in the least.”
Still cupping her face, he lifted her chin higher, until she had no choice but to stare into his eyes. “You’re trembling and you look as though you’re on the verge of tears, sweet Sienna. If my behavior has caused you to feel this way, please know that I am sorry and that I wish I could take all your fear and sadness upon myself. I want you to feel safe and at ease in my presence.”
Sienna released a quick, shuddering breath and blinked rapidly. “Why?” she asked in a whisper. “Why did you think Skylar was your mate?”
At first, Myadd hesitated to mention his dreams about a golden-haired, blue-eyed beauty, but as he pondered Sienna’s question, he realized it would be cowardly to conceal the truth from her. It would also be wrong. In a mating pair, males and females were supposed to be honest with one another. He took a deep breath, preparing to confess the secret he had harbored for years, the secret he had never revealed to another soul, not even to his older brothers.
“I thought Skylar was my mate due to her appearance,” he said, and at Sienna’s immediate crestfallen look, he hurried to finish his explanation. “I have dreamed of a blonde female many times during the last few years. Well, to be honest, I have dreamed of a blonde female every night for years, a blue-eyed blonde female, and I came to believe that I was having visions of my future mate. When you opened the door, I immediately looked for a female with golden hair, and that is why I assumed Skylar was you. Again, I apologize for the mistake and hope you realize that I am very pleased to meet you and I’m eager to claim you as my mate. Now that I have looked more closely at you, you seem familiar to me. Your facial features and eyes are the same as the woman from my dreams. The color of your hair matters not to me, sweet Sienna. It’s you that I want. Only you.”
Chapter 5
As Sienna listened to Myadd’s explanation, the tears she’d been holding back finally rolled down her cheeks. Before she could wipe them away, he brushed over them with his thumbs, a look of concern deepening the lines on his handsome face and making him appear older.
The tears that trickled down her face were borne from relief, however, and not sadness. He had been dreaming of her. For years. She trembled harder, a sense of disbelief filling her.
He dreamed about me. The real me. Not the me that’s in hiding. Not the me with the hastily cropped and dyed hair who
’s afraid of her own shadow.
“Please don’t cry, little human,” he said. “I find you very beautiful and I am honored to become your mate. In fact, I wish to make you mine as soon as possible.”
“I-I think I need to sit down,” she said.
He guided her to the couch and they both sat down. He turned to face her, once again taking her hands in his. She glanced down. God, his hands were huge. Yet thus far he had treated her gently. And he’d apologized for earlier, when he’d mistaken Skylar for her. A real apology, too. She had sensed his sincerity as he spoke. It seemed almost too good to be true. Maybe Skylar was right about Vaxxlians being gentle giants.
“Myadd, this dark color,” she said, gesturing at her hair, “well, it came from a box of hair dye. I’m a natural blonde and until a few weeks ago, my hair was even longer than Skylar’s, so perhaps… perhaps you really were dreaming of me.” She avoided his gaze as she spoke, feeling uncertain and shy around him, as if she were confessing to some horrible deed. She’d cried when she cut her hair, hating that it needed to be done. Talking about it to this huge sexy Vaxxlian male she’d just met made her feel vulnerable, completely stripped of her defenses.
And yet she experienced a surge of hope and wonder just thinking about the possibility that he had dreamed about her every night for several years. After the hell she’d been through, how wonderful would that be? Her very own happy ending. Maybe.
As he held her hands and stared into her eyes, the intimacy of the moment took her breath away. She had just met this alien, this powerfully built Vaxxlian, but she was starting to feel a spark between them. A connection. Something that defied logic.
Myadd reached for her hair and stroked it. A smile touched his lips. “I am pleased to hear that you are a natural blonde and that you only recently changed your hair, little human. Not because I have a preference for golden-haired females, or because I don’t think you’re beautiful like this—I assure you, Sienna, you are quite exquisite—but because I worried I might be losing my mind a bit. An odd and disturbing thing it would be,” he said slowly, “to have visions that turned out to be incorrect.”
“I understand what you mean,” Sienna said. “I’ll admit I was taken aback when you first thought Skylar was your mate, but now it makes better sense. Do Vaxxlians typically have dreams or visions about their future mates?”
“I do not believe so, though I cannot say for certain. Occasionally, Vaxxlians can possess unusual powers. I have heard of some having the gift of knowing what events will come to pass, as well as some who can move objects with their minds. We also have healers who are capable of healing others by touch alone.”
He returned both his hands to hers and started caressing the undersides of her wrists with his thumbs. Goosebumps rose all over her and even as she felt increasingly unsettled in his presence—she couldn’t stop flushing or trembling—she was beginning to feel safer with him. Though his immense size was jarring, as it reminded her of Brett, a quick glance into his otherworldly green eyes left her centered in the moment, reminding her that he wasn’t the awful man who’d made her cower in fear so many times.
“I like touching you,” he said, continuing to stroke her wrists. “You are so soft, little human.”
She flushed and fumbled for a response, but ended up making a choking noise and started coughing. She covered her mouth and blushed harder while he patted her on the back.
“Sorry about that,” she mumbled.
“Let me get you a drink of water,” he said, rising to his feet. He hurried over to the tiny kitchen area that was tucked into the corner of her one room apartment and opened the fridge. After withdrawing a water pitcher, he searched for a glass in the cabinet and then poured her a drink.
“Thanks,” she said, once he returned and handed her the water. She took a long drink and suddenly remembered she hadn’t taken her prenatal vitamin yet today. Crap. She needed to remember to do that later, at some point when he was distracted. She couldn’t risk him finding out about her baby too soon. They hadn’t mated yet and they were still on Earth.
But, she had hopes that they would leave soon. He had indicated his readiness to leave immediately. She eyed her suitcases that rested near the front door.
“Well, should we leave now?” she asked, meeting his gaze. “Earth, that is?”
Before he could reply, an explosion sounded outside, the lights went out, and the entire building quaked. Myadd lunged for her, grabbed her and placed her on the floor. He covered her with his body as he held her close and pressed her beneath him.
As the lights flickered back on, she realized he was holding a syringe in his hand and aiming it at her upper arm. She screamed at the top of her lungs and twisted beneath him, even as the building continued shaking.
He grabbed her hard, his expression urgent. “Stop moving, little human. I need to make sure you’re protected in case you get hurt during this attack.”
“What are you talking about?” she yelled. “Get off me! I don’t want that shot, whatever it is! You have no right!” Thoughts of her baby propelled her to fight harder. She had no idea what the syringe contained and she sure as hell didn’t want to risk any harm coming to her unborn child. She attempted to knee Myadd in the groin, but he moved at the last second and pinned her more firmly to the floor. In the midst of her fear, her heart broke, because Myadd wasn’t a gentle giant after all.
He was a brute. He was cruel and she had every reason to be frightened of him.
He was no better than Brett. Tears pricked at her eyes.
“Settle down, little human.”
Like hell. She had cowered in fear too many times in her life. But now she had something worth fighting for. Her baby. She thrashed and clawed at him with all her might. But his strength far surpassed hers and he easily held her down. A growl escaped him and fear bounded through her. Would he punish her for fighting back? Brett would have killed her.
The lights flickered again, making it difficult for her to see what he was doing. When she felt the slight prick of the needle enter her arm, she cried out at the top of her lungs.
Chapter 6
Relieved that he’d succeeded in giving Sienna her dose of healing nanobots, Myadd tossed the emptied syringe aside and gathered her closer to his chest, even as she struggled against him. He knew he ought to have explained the reason behind the shot before administering it, but right now there wasn’t time. He needed to figure out what was happening and get his mate to safety.
Still holding her in one arm, he lifted his free hand and peered at his wrist comm. The radar screen showed several incoming missiles, all headed straight for this building. Fluxx. He growled, picked Sienna up, and headed for the hallway. Just as he exited her apartment, they ran into a panicked looking Skylar.
“They’ve found me!” the blonde screeched. “They fucking found me and now we’re all going to die!”
He had no idea what she was talking about, but he would not allow Sienna or her friend to perish during this attack. Several screaming people rushed past them in the hallway. He cast another glance at his wrist comm and cursed. They didn’t have much time.
“You’re not going to die,” Myadd told Skylar. “Follow us and hurry.”
He took off, heading for the stairwell. He heard Skylar keeping close, her breathing harsh and her footsteps heavy on the stairs as they climbed to the roof. In his arms, Sienna had stopped struggling, but she was also breathing hard and peering around with fright filling her gaze. He longed to see her looking calmer, but that wouldn’t happen until they reached certain safety. Far from this war-torn city. Far from Earth.
Once they arrived on the roof, he called out a verbal command to his ship, instructing the ramp to descend. They rushed up the ramp and onto the vessel.
“Close the ramp, raise the shields, and start the engines and prepare for takeoff,” he called out in his native Vaxxlian. The ship shuddered slightly with the closing of the ramp, and the telltale hum of the engines comi
ng to life sounded a moment later.
He carried Sienna onto the bridge and gently deposited her in the rarely used co-pilot’s seat. There was a small bench behind her that he nodded at. “Have a seat there, if you wish,” he told Skylar. “We must depart this city at once.”
“Thanks,” Skylar said. “Wow, I can’t believe I’m on a real Vaxxlian cruiser. Despite almost dying, this is pretty damn cool.” She reached for a button on the dashboard beside her and Myadd growled.
“Don’t touch that,” he said. “Don’t touch anything. Either of you.” He glanced at Sienna, trying to keep his expression gentle despite the firmness of his voice. He suspected she was still upset with him for holding her down and giving her the shot. “Do not worry. All will be well. You are both safe now.”
He guided the ship upward and away from the apartment building, away from the incoming missiles that would surely obliterate the structure. A quick scan showed a few humans remained inside. Some weren’t moving, their life signs remaining in a single location, which revealed they weren’t trying to escape. Likely, they had no idea ten missiles were headed their way.
He changed the direction of his ship and pressed frantically at his controls, devising a defensive maneuver that would keep the vessel out of harm’s way while he saw to the destruction of the incoming projectiles. He took them out two at a time, aiming the ship’s blasters at the missiles that were undoubtedly intended to take lives and create chaos, though for what purpose, he was not yet certain. But he could not simply speed away in his Vaxxlian cruiser while the remaining occupants in Sienna’s building perished.