But they’re so damn hot!
Where had that come from?The thought popped into her brain unbidden. Probably sparked by a casual remark from her friend Cass. She’d spent only a short time with Commander Cassidy Randall, her former CO on the Luna, over the last two weeks before she took off on the Tharan ship with a pair of incredibly sexy alien warriors. Though she hadn’t come right out and said so, Kyra got the impression she was sleeping with them.
Goodness knows, Kyra wouldn’t blame her. Every Tharan she’d seen so far was more attractive than any of the male Earthers she knew – and they all had an identical twin. Rhynn and Rhom, Cass’s alien … What was it she called them? Oh yeah, her ‘mates’. That had to mean sex partners. Those two looked like gods from ancient mythology.
Always an engineer, her analytical mind had been keeping her awake for hours over the last few nights. She’d start out trying to figure out how it might work. Did the twins know she was involved with both of them? They had to. Did they take turns coming to Cass’s room? Or did they do kinky alien sex things to her at the same time? Before long, trying to put it all into charts and schedules would give way to wicked fantasies and she’d fall into a restless sleep filled with erotic dreams.
Though she couldn’t remember her dreams from last night, she woke up feeling horny and frustrated again. Thank goodness, she’d been able to control her annoyance just now instead of snapping at her newly appointed superior officer. To be fair, Jynn hadn’t done anything to warrant a nasty remark. She knew what was expected of her. He and his twin had given her a thorough rundown on their operation protocols before the mission began. She’d even signed off on them. He’d just caught her in a moment of weakness.
Those moments didn’t come often. As head engineer, she’d supervised the cyborgs over the last two weeks while they played out endless simulations she created to cover every imaginable situation the Luna might face on this mission. She’d insisted they repeat each exercise if they made even the slightest mistake. If she had to hand over her ship to mirror-image aliens with a faint purple tinge to their skin, she was going to make damn sure she and the other passengers were as safe as they could be.
Thinking of the other passengers reminded her she hadn’t checked in on them yet. Now that the Luna was underway, they were probably anxious about what lay ahead.
“Sirs, I request permission to leave the bridge. I’d like to check on our passengers. Make sure they’re comfortable.”
Jax glanced at his twin. She suspected they shared some form of wordless communication, since she’d seen them do that so often. She’d ask a question and their eyes would flick toward each other. Then one would answer for both.
Jynn inclined his head. “Certainly, Lieutenant. That’s an excellent idea. After all they’ve been through, getting underway again might bring up the trauma of their previous journey. I’m sorry we didn’t think of it ourselves.”
You’re cyborgs. What do machines know about feelings? Kyra suffered a pang of guilt over her immediate reaction. She shouldn’t judge them. Their handicap wasn’t their fault. At least, not completely. She’d heard a rumor that only one of the brothers had been injured in battle so severely he had to be transformed into a cyborg to save his life. His twin made the decision to undergo the same bio-modification, claiming it was no sacrifice to once again share the same life force.
“Thank you, Sir. Sirs,” she amended, nodding first to one and then the other. She made a mental note to herself to get some clarification from the other Tharan twins in the crew about the proper way to address dual commanding officers. “I’ll give you a full report on them when I return.”
She headed down a drab gray corridor. The Luna was a relatively small cruiser. Jax and Jynn insisted on giving each of the four alien females her own room in the crew’s quarters. Their team was bunking in the hold, where Kyra had been locked up along with the other captives before their rescue.
As commanding officers, the twins were sharing the room Cass had when she was in charge. The one nearest the bridge. Next door to Kyra’s room.
She was aware of their presence every night. They kept appearing in her dreams. Sometimes on the bridge in their uniforms. Sleek black pants and deep blue shirts that fit like a second skin, molded to those powerful muscles rippling underneath. Other times, they’d be standing next to a huge bed with their backs to her, naked, watching as Rhynn and Rhom made Cass scream in ecstasy. She’d wake up hot and sweaty, wishing one of them had turned around. What did alien cocks look like? Did cyborgs even have cocks?
She had only a vague idea of the medical procedures they’d been through. In uniform, they didn’t look any different than the other Tharans – except for a glowing disc under their shirts where an Earther male’s nipple would be. Jax’s disc was on his left side, Jynn’s on his right. Other than that, she had no clue how cyborg bodies might look.
This preoccupation with sex was all Cass’s fault. Cass and her hints about the hunky aliens. Kyra had been celibate for months even before joining the Luna’s crew. It wasn’t because the breakup with her fiancée had been so traumatic. Quite the opposite. Charles was always calm and rational. Infuriatingly so. He’d taken the ring back, given her a sad smile, and wished her well. How can a man in love have his bride-to-be call it off a month before the wedding and wish her well? He should have ranted and raved, demanded to know the reason why. Swore he didn’t want to lose her. Vowed he’d do whatever it took to win her back. Charles handled it as though he was in charge of customer service and she’d just returned a toaster.
She wanted something more. A deeper connection, like the ones the characters had in the old novels she collected. Romance, adventure, breathless passion. None of which seemed to exist nowadays on Earth.
If she couldn’t have romance and passion, she’d settle for adventure. Kyra volunteered to be one of the all-female crew for the maiden voyage on the new Federation ship she’d been helping to design. The Luna. Six months of training, followed by six months of maneuvers in deep space, designed to put the Luna through her paces. Adventure? Hah. It turned out to be even more boring than being with Charles.
She’d begun to regret making such a big decision on the rebound. But then Cass answered a distress call from an unknown Earth vessel. A transport craft filled with missionary families on their way to Proxima Minor. Their ship had broken down and they’d drifted off course.
How did that old saying go? Be careful what you wish for. Kyra had had her fill of adventure ever since that day. The distress call was real enough. But the passengers weren’t missionaries. They were space pirates. They hijacked the Luna, took her and the rest of the crew prisoner, and continued on their rampage through the galaxy. Conducting raids on peaceful planets, slaughtering the alien males. They dragged the females back to the Luna and locked them all in the hold of the ship, to be sold or traded for weapons and supplies.
Kyra pulled herself together as she rounded a corner and knocked on the first door she came to.
“Good morning.” Mika, the female from Daan 57, opened the door. Tall and rail thin, with the distinctive Daanan bony ridges crisscrossing her skull instead of hair, it wasn’t surprising that the Earther pirates hadn’t considered her attractive enough to sell off. Her mother had been traded away as slave labor right after they were taken, to cook for miners on a passing asteroid.
“Please, come.” Mika ushered her in. The other three alien females had gathered there as well, speaking in hushed tones. They fell silent when Kyra stepped into the room.
She was grateful for the Tellex chip implanted behind her left ear. With it seamlessly translating, she could converse with all the alien beings she’d encountered so far.
“Is there any news?”
Kyra hated to dampen the look of excitement on Yenna’s face. She and her sister Esme sat side by side on the edge of the bed, holding hands. They’d been kidnapped when the pirates raided Skiri, along with their daughters. Both younger females were among
the thirty-one captives who’d been sold off before Cass and a team of Tharan warriors took back the Luna.
“I came to see how you’re doing, now that we’re underway. As you know, the Tharan twins Jax and Jynn are in command of the Luna now. The pirates are all on board the Gemini. When each group of females is returned to her home planet, two of the pirates will be left there as well, to be tried and punished by the inhabitants of the planets they’ve raided. Our people will all see justice done.”
The females nodded. The Tharans had given the decision on what to do with the pirates to the alien females they found on board who were still being held captive. Twenty–six of them, plus Kyra and her remaining crew member Aliya, the Luna’s medical officer. Twenty-two were now on their way home on the Gemini, along with Aliya. The four in front of her had elected to stay on the Luna. The beings they cared most about were still prisoners and they wanted to be there the moment their loved ones were rescued.
“Over the last two weeks, you’ve all met the warriors who volunteered to come with us on this mission. Tharans are the toughest beings in the galaxy. If anyone can track down our loved ones and get them back, it’s this team.” Kyra didn’t know if that was true or not, but it didn’t matter. She’d have said anything to take away the pain she saw in their eyes.
She felt compelled to add something more. Some morsel of hope they could cling to. “Yenna, Esme... what you may not know is that Aura, the Tharan female who was sold to the Rapture Dome along with your daughters, is the mate of two of the warriors on board. Dagon and Dru won’t rest until they get her back and when they do, they’ll bring your daughters with them.”
She turned to the room’s last occupant, a young female with a row of spikes down her back from an outer planet in the Krion sector. “Solara, the last we knew, your mother was headed to the slave auctions on Botryl XR along with my friend Delta, the Luna’s First Mate, and seven others. We’re on our way there right now. I promise you, we’ll find out who bought every one of them and track them down.”
By the time she left the room, Kyra was drained. She picked up her pace, anxious to get back to the bridge where all she’d have to deal with were diagrams and numbers on holographic screens.
The cyborgs stood in front of the wall of glass at the prow of the ship with their backs to her. Just like in my dream. Well, almost. I wish they’d take their clothes off. The thought triggered a shocking gush of dampness between her thighs. Embarrassed, she squeezed her legs together and slipped into her seat.
Jax turned when he heard her step onto the bridge. “We were about to summon you.” His eyes widened slightly and his nose flared, as though he’d caught the scent of her arousal. “You have a transmission waiting. On a secure line. I believe it is from Commander Randall.”
Kyra took her place and slipped in an earpiece.
“It’s Cass,” the message began. “I didn’t get to talk with you privately before I left. You’re going to be the only Earther on board the Luna with the Tharans. There are a couple of things you need to know about the males of their race. First, have you noticed anything odd lately? Any unusual thoughts or feelings you have when you’re around them?”
No, not a thing – except for this constant preoccupation with sex. She shot a guilty glance at the twins, just in time to catch Jax staring at her as though he could hear her thoughts. The twins left the window, Jax moving casually in her direction, as Jynn dropped out of sight behind her. Until now they’d both kept their distance and she felt an odd little flutter in her belly as he came closer.
“Tharans give off a special blend of pheromones when they’re attracted to a female that acts as an aphrodisiac,” Cass was saying. “It’s especially potent with human females. You’ll breathe it in when you get near them - and touching them or having them touch you heightens the effect. Don’t be surprised if you become wildly aroused when you’re around them.”
Suddenly she was aware of a tingle of heat flowing through her body. Becoming stronger with every breath. Jax loomed over her, only a few steps away. His deep blue eyes locked on hers and the tingle became a hot flush radiating out from her core.
There was a sudden burst of static in her ear.
“…asteroid shower. Need to wrap this up quickly before I lose you. I need to warn you about one other thing. If a pair of Tharan warriors is attracted to you, they’re genetically programmed not only to mate with you but to become your protectors. To keep you safe from harm, they’ll take charge. They aren’t being jerks when they demand your obedience. It’s as much a part of them as breathing. Resisting will only make them more determined, both to mate and to dominate. They’ll enforce their rules by…”
Kyra fumbled with her earpiece, scanning the frequencies to see if she could recapture the last few words. But they were gone, swallowed by another burst of static before the transmission cut out completely.
Jax’s smoldering gaze held her spellbound like a deer in the headlights. She couldn’t look away. She picked up a tantalizing aroma as Jynn suddenly materialized right behind her. The raw scent of clean masculine sweat coupled with something else she couldn’t put her finger on. Something exotic and spicy. She closed her eyes and breathed it in.
Cass’s message explained a lot. The flood of dampness between her legs when she stepped onto the bridge. The erotic dreams when they were in the next room.
But that wasn’t what had her heart racing. She could have sworn the last thing Cass said was that if she tried to resist her attraction to them or failed to obey their commands, her twin warriors would punish her – and there’d be nothing she could do to stop them.
coming May 2017
Dear readers,
Thank you for reading Their Captive Mate. I hope you enjoyed Cass and her dominant warrior twins.
Her story of newfound love coupled with discovering the erotic thrill of submission will be available soon in my novella Punishing Their Mate.
Book 2 of the Tharan Warrior Ménage is under way. It’s the story of Jax and Jynn, cyborg twins now in command of the Luna, and Lieutenant Kyra Banks, who stays on the ship to aid in the search and rescue mission. Jax and Jynn haven’t claimed a Mate yet but they are about to fall under the spell of the Earther’s tempting aura. And Kyra has no idea how savagely seductive cyborgs can be when they find a female who gets their gyron flowing.
I’m already dreaming up spicy scenes for a possible Book 3 where they track down the Luna’s navigator Sage. She’s been sold as a slave to the galaxy’s infamous bordello, the Rapture Dome.
But all of that depends on you, the reader. You have the power to make or break a book, even turn it into a series, simply by leaving a review.
I’d like to ask a favor of you. If you liked this book – or even if you hated it – please take a moment to post a review if possible. Here’s a link to my Amazon author page where you’ll find all my books.
I love hearing from readers! You can hook up with me on Facebook. Or email me directly: [email protected].
Hugs,
Kallista
USA TODAY bestselling author Kallista Dane’s erotic romances have hit #1 in Amazon’s Sci-Fi and Western Erotica as well as making the bestselling lists in Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance and BDSM. She combines eroticism with adventure, weaving tales of strong, independent women tangling with the hot Alpha males who appear in their lives when they expect it least but need them the most.
Kallista is happily married to her soul mate, who keeps her supplied with endless cups of Cowboy Coffee when she’s writing and plenty of inspiration for her next wickedly naughty scene the rest of the time.
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Sci-Fi Romance
Captured and Examined
Tharan Warrior Ménage Series – Sci-Fi Alien Dark Romance
Their Captive Mate
Tamed by the Cyborg Twins (coming May 2017)
The Star Portal Series – Sci-Fi Alien Romance
His to Command Star Portals: Book1
His to Claim Star Portals: Book 2
His to Conquer Star Portals: Book 3
His to Tame Star Portals: Book 4
His to Take Star Portals: Book 5 (a Star Portals novella)
Historical Romance
The Duke’s Prisoner
The Virgin Captive
The Lawman’s Lady
Captured by the Sultan
Judah’s Bride
1001 Exotic Nights: Blackbeard’s Tower
Contemporary Romance
Bared and Tamed
Bared by the Billionaire
Taken and Tamed
Reckless Obsession
Her Darkest Desires
Moonshine Creek
Paranormal Romance
The Devil’s Cowboy
Callie’s Gift
Their Captive Mate: A Sci-Fi Alien Dark Romance: Tharan Warrior Menage Book 1 Page 14