Arobi's Queen: A Mate Index Romance (The Mate Index Book 11)

by S. J. Sanders

  “Replicator food is not the best,” Tanji said sympathetically as he seated himself at her other side. “Do not worry. Our home has good fresh food. We only use a replicator when we have no other options available.”

  “I’m afraid your replicator will get quite a workout. I am not living without my coffee,” Hayley stated with a meaningful tap on her mug.

  Bilax chuckled. “I am sure it can handle a daily cup of your human drink. We are well aware that many of your species enjoy it to aid them in waking.”

  She stared at him, nonplussed, her eyebrows arching. “You’re talking like I’m only going to only have one cup of coffee a day.”

  The male’s amusement disappeared as he gave her a curious look. “I do not understand.”

  A snort of laughter escaped her. They really thought that was all she would drink!

  “I mean to say that I’m only just getting started,” she retorted sweetly as she pushed back up to her feet. “And this won’t be including other cups of coffee I’m going to drink throughout the day. Like I said—your replicator is going to get a workout.”

  She felt their gaze on her as she walked back to the replicator and ordered more coffee. At some point as she stood there, she felt their attention wander from her back, slipping down to her rear. She wasn’t absolutely positive, since she had her back turned to them, but she wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of them had their eyes glued to her ass.

  Grabbing her freshened cup, she turned abruptly, and four heads snapped up from the region of where her ass had been to focus on her face.

  “Ha, caught you!” she chortled as she brought her cup up to take a long sip. Smirking over the rim of her cup, she shook her head.

  Instead of looking guilty, Exeri grinned and leaned forward in his chair confidently, his tail flicking casually beside his leg in an almost feline manner, despite the quasi-jackal features of his face. His burning eyes smoldered at her in every way. “We have no shame over the desire our queen inspires in us.”

  Okay, she had to give him that one. That line was good. A shiver stole over her at the look he leveled on her and the huskiness in his voice. She squeezed her thighs together and looked away uncomfortably. He was an alien for gods’ sake—and not even a normal alien. The Arobi were like the hellhounds of alien races. What was wrong with her?

  In an attempt to distract herself, Hayley fixed her eyes on the bedding stretched over the floor. The room was really bare of any kind of entertainment. Glancing back over at the alpha, she raised an eyebrow.

  “What do you guys do for fun?”

  He jerked his head toward the bed. “We will usually roll up the sleeping mat for a few hours for sparring.”

  “Sparring… That sounds fun…” she murmured thoughtfully. Learning how to protect herself wouldn’t be a bad idea. The guys must have had some tricks that they could teach her…

  Bilax laughed from where he sat and shook his head. “We cannot spar with you, Hayley. You are too small and soft. We would hurt you.”

  Her mouth turned down at that. “I’m not helpless. I didn’t grow up sheltered and coddled. I need to be able to protect myself.”

  Simah shook his head with a small smile. “Why would you need that when you have us? We will never let any harm come to you.”

  “None would dare to try to harm you, or take you from us,” Tanji agreed with a confident grin. His face suddenly lit up. “I know what we can do together!”

  Turning, he rifled through a small beaten up bag on the floor tucked into one corner. From it, he pulled a deck of cards that had obviously seen better days. Hayley felt her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Tanji took one look at her face and his grin widened.

  “Frahnkee and Rodreegez taught us many games with these cards. It would be a pleasure to play a game with our queen.”

  Hayley made herself comfortable. “Do you know how to play Hearts?”

  All four males nodded eagerly as Tanji began to shuffle the cards like a pro and dealt them out. She supposed it wasn’t a bad way to pass the time.

  Hayley peeked at her cards as she spoke. “You do realize of course this doesn’t get you out of letting me spar with you.” Laying them down again, she looked at the Arobi. “I appreciate that you want to protect me and all, and I have no doubt that you’ll do exactly that… but I also know that shit happens. If there’s ever a situation where I may need to be able to fight my way out of trouble to keep myself safe until you can get to me, I need to know how.”

  Exeri met her eyes, his expression thoughtful. Although it wasn’t exactly the real reason she wanted to learn, it was still a compelling enough reason in her book. Even if she wanted to stay with the Arobi, she wouldn’t feel comfortable depending on them and not knowing the basics of how to protect herself. She wasn’t a woman to just sit there helplessly. That just wasn’t who she was. Now she just needed to convince four overprotective males, who seemed to alternate between skeptical and worried.

  Hayley tried not to roll her eyes. “Look, guys, this super protective thing you have going on is sweet… and sexy as hell”—Gods, did she love big, protective, dominant males—“but even among humans, women often learn some sort of self-defense just in case the unexpected happens.”

  Exeri finally nodded. “You are right. Let us play for now, and then after a few games, we will teach you some basic moves to protect yourself. You will spar with us—and we will be gentle.” The last was obviously said for the benefit of the pack, who looked sick at the idea.

  Her lips tipped up in a smile. It was actually good to know that they were reluctant to do anything that had the slimmest chance of hurting her. Although the idea of being struck by them made her muscles instinctively want to lock up with dread, knowing that they didn’t want to do anything to hurt her—and would go out of their way to be gentle—helped. Most importantly, she would be learning what she needed to help her survive. She knew damn well the universe wasn’t a safe place, and even less so for a human female on her own.

  Her stomach immediately twisted at the thought of being alone. In some ways, being free and in charge of her own fate was so alluring, but at other times—like right now—it was scary as hell. There were so many horrible things that could happen to her.

  Tightening her jaw, she shoved those doubts down. She didn’t want the guys to catch her sudden upwelling of anxiety. More than one twitched their ears uncomfortably, so she forced a pleasant smile.

  “Sounds great, Exeri. Thank you. Now let me show you how well I can kick all your asses at cards,” she said with a smirk.

  Just like that, the mood shifted among the males. Their ears pricked forward, and smiles lightened their expressions as the males fell into trash-talking each other as the game progressed. Soon enough, Hayley found herself laughing and taunting right along with them.

  It felt… good.

  Chapter 10

  The starship was an endless source of fascination for Hayley. When she wasn’t sequestered with the guys, she found that she never got enough of exploring. Naturally, the space given was finite, especially on such a small merchant ship, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before she became bored of wandering the same corridors, but for now, it was entertaining.

  Sometimes one of her “mates” accompanied her, but more often than not she was trusted to make her way around alone as long as she made sure to let them know she would be walking the decks. They always had a good estimate of how long she would be gone, even though her strolls were slow and easy. If she got sidetracked and it delayed her more than a handful of minutes, she was soon tracked down by one of her protective males.

  The same protective males who were waiting impatiently for her to return because she’d been distracted by the view of a distant interstellar cloud. The colors were so vivid, and the shape so interesting, that she had amused herself far longer than she had intended. She knew that she was already really late.

  The guys were going to be upset.

  They were never
very happy when they finally caught up to her. She wondered which one they would send this time… She hoped it would be Simah. Although he packed an impressive growl, he was the quietest male and enjoyed spoiling her. Well, all the males spoiled her, strictly speaking, but Simah was especially soft-hearted when it came to her. He had trouble being stern or saying no, which at times worked to her advantage… especially at times like these.

  Surprisingly, although Tanji was a goofball, he had already proven once that he could be a real dick when he was worried. Not as bad as Bilax, who was King Dick. She was thankful that Exeri never came after her because if Bilax was King Dick, she had a feeling that the alpha would be worse when he was worried—it was probably why he sent the other males to find her. And yet somehow, that arrangement worked for her.

  Although they didn’t look anything close to human, she felt a surprising attraction to the pack. Or maybe it wasn’t such a surprise. They took every opportunity to casually touch her, and sleeping so close to them at night made her accustomed to their presence. More than that, however, she was beginning to enjoy their company. The curious combination of sweet and stern appealed to her—not to mention their sleek, predatory build that boasted strength and control.

  She longed to explore them with her hands. Or maybe her tongue.

  Hayley chuckled as she rounded a corner at a jog, but collided with a tall, armored body. The armor clued her in that it wasn’t one of her males. The hands that brutally snapped up around her arms were not familiar, nor was the smell of him. Her eyes widened as she took in the swarthy purple complexion of the unfamiliar Vazith who held her in place. Her breath stuttering in her lungs, her eyes rolled up his form to find his hard, dark eyes piercing her.

  This wasn’t the captain, nor was it one of the friendly engineers or anyone she had met on her daily walks in the last few days. She was pretty sure she’d never seen him on board before. The male’s hard mouth curved into a smirk. She froze. The Arobi had taught her a few things, but it had only been two days. Sure, it had been fun practicing on the guys as they taught her their little tricks, but to put them into practice against an alien easily twice her size…

  Fuck, this guy was huge!

  Her confidence dropped in front of the large male as everything she learned skipped right out of her head.

  The Vazith dropped closer to her. “What is a tiny female doing running around without the safety of a male?”

  Swallowing thickly, Hayley tried to adopt an unconcerned look, though her heart jumped in her chest like a little bouncing jackrabbit. “The captain said it was okay,” she replied quietly.

  And he had. Within hours of the first lessons and she had shown signs of being bored, Exeri had commed the captain for permission for their mate to have run of the lower levels. The only areas off-limits were the engine room, crew quarters, and the flight deck. Everyone knew that… Who was this guy?

  The male’s smile widened. “My brother is letting a sweet little morsel like you run about. Are you one of his females, by chance? He has sworn off mating, but I know he has a little collection of females who make themselves available. Are you a new addition perhaps? Tell me, what did he promise you, little human, to get you to leave your home and get into his bed? I can perhaps offer you something even more for just a couple hours of your time,” he purred.

  Her stomach sank and she shook her head. From the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar Vazith pause, his eyes widening before he turned and bolted back down the corridor. She glared after him. That asshole!

  The male in front of her pressed forward insistently, and she swallowed fearfully as his much larger bulk closed in around her. She wanted to protest something sensible, like how she already had a mate—four, in fact—and that she didn’t belong to the captain. Instead what came out was…

  “You would really do something like that to your own brother?” She stared at him, bewildered.

  A husky laugh rumbled out of his chest as he lifted a hand and dragged one thick finger down the side of her cheek. “Vaziths share everything with their kin except their mate,” he said in a low voice. “He would not even care if I sampled your sweetness, nor if I fucked you all throughout the rest hour as long as I returned you undamaged.”

  Nausea twisted her stomach, and she shook her head vehemently. “But I’m not…”

  “Not what, sweetling?” he growled.

  “I’m not the captain’s...”

  “Unhand my mate,” snarled a low, menacing voice.

  Hayley’s head whipped around, relief running through her as she saw Tanji standing nearby, his entire body bristling with fury. His lips pulled back from his vicious teeth as he punctuated his order with a loud, rattling snarl.

  The Vazith holding her dropped his hand, much to her relief, but he didn’t back away. Instead, he stared at the Arobi curiously. “Your mate, is she? You do realize that whereas I would have some difficulty killing my brother and stealing this female for my own—my honor restraining me only to share in her pleasures and take my leave—I have no such reluctance when it comes to you, right?”

  Tanji’s growl rattled louder, and the male laughed.

  The Vazith cracked his neck. “Who knew when I docked that this hour would bring me such entertainment? Very well, creature… Let us see what you can do.”

  The Arobi didn’t waste precious time. He sprung forward in a whip of speed, his claws outstretched as his jaw opened and teeth snapped. The Vazith only had time to widen his eyes in shock before Tanji collided with him, dragging him down to the floor. The stranger did attempt to protect himself; Hayley had to give him that. He punched, jabbed, and attempted to throw the heavy predator pinning him down, but he was losing the battle. He pulled a knife, but one swing of Tanji’s tail sent it clattering across the floor. The Vazith bellowed angrily, all too clearly knowing that he was losing the fight. His sides began to streak with blood that dripped steadily from him, wetting the floor.

  Hayley watched in shocked fascination. She was present enough to notice that Tanji wasn’t going for any lethal strikes to kill the male. He was merely hurting him—a humiliation he wouldn’t likely soon forget. A smile pulled at her lips, but the sound of boots racing toward them made her smile fall as she turned toward the sound.

  The captain came barreling up the corridor with the male who had fled only moments earlier. Unlike their last confrontation, the captain’s face was a mask of worry as he took in the sight before him.

  “Enough!” he barked. “Esiekta, yield, you stupid ewilig-fucker.”

  “Suck an ewilig cock,” the other male panted out.

  “I will let the Arobi continue ripping into you to teach you some manners,” the captain threatened with a short growl.

  The other Vazith seemed to consider this as he struggled for several more minutes. At least now, Tanji, his angry eyes narrowed, was no longer attempting to bite him, but he was making every effort to scratch thin cuts everywhere he could reach.

  “Fine! I yield!” the male bellowed.

  “Arobi!” the captain shouted in turn.

  Tanji fixed his glare on the captain before he dipped his head near Esiekta’s and gave one final snap of his teeth inches away from his eye before pulling back.

  Bounding back to his feet, Tanji darted over to Hayley’s side, practically flattening her against the wall as he shoved her behind him. He continued to growl as the injured male was helped to his feet. The Vazith shrugged off his brother and rubbed his jaw. It was discolored, already showing signs of bruising. And that was the minor damage. Deep gashes from the Arobi’s claws cut open the side of his face and tore both uniform and flesh on his torso and arms, dripping with a free flow of blood. The male didn’t seem bothered by it, however. A slow grin stretched over his face.

  “That was quite fun,” the male chuckled. “Ah, the long stretches in my ship do get rather dull. Nothing like a good fight to rouse the blood.”

  “You are bleeding all over my floor,” the captai
n observed in annoyance.

  “Oh, quit whining, Mitah,” Esiekta shot back as he barked out a long, loud laugh. “Now let us get a drink, shall we?”

  Very well,” Captain Mitah said. His gaze swung carefully over the Arobi. “Perhaps for now, the walks should be escorted. My brother has the self-control of an igna bug,” he recommended as he hauled the wounded Vazith from the corridor.

  Hayley stared after them. “Well… that was something.”

  She felt Tanji’s eyes on her and glanced up to meet his fiery gaze.

  “Can I just start by saying how sorry I am that I was running late?” she asked hopefully.

  “It would be a good place to start,” Tanji muttered. “And then you get to explain to Exeri why you were late and thus put yourself in immediate danger.”

  “No! Can’t you just mete out any old reprimand here and then we just forget all about it?” she asked hopefully.

  The Arobi smirked and shook his head. “I’m afraid not. This is serious and it is likely to get back to him. Better that he hears it from you than hearing it from someone else.”

  “Fuuuuck,” she hissed. “He’s so going to chew me out.”

  Exeri’s dark look when they entered their cabin did not bode well, and it only became worse as she fumbled out an explanation of the events starting with what waylaid her. He hissed out a long breath, fury tensing every line of his face.

  “I’m really sorry,” she said. “You know I get distracted easily. I didn’t mean to be gone so long. I certainly hadn’t planned to run into the captain’s brother—who’s roughly the size of a mountain, by the way. I tried to remember what you taught me, but…”

  The alpha’s face softened slightly as the rest of the pack made encouraging sounds of sympathy at her frustration. She felt like an idiot for not using a single bit of what they taught her to protect herself. Instead she had be saved, of all things.

  Exeri’s huge arms wrapped around her, drawing her close against his chest. “You did well. No one is expected to know what to do after just two days. We will continue to teach you, but since you are so easily distracted, you will be escorted by one of your males at all times just to make sure you are safe. This way you are free to enjoy whatever you like, and our pack will be comfortable knowing that you are guarded.”