Dangerously Mine

by A. M. Griffin

  Sa’Mya dipped her head slightly. “I am aware he buries himself in you night and day. That is why I thought we should come to some type of reconciliation. You will have to show me respect if you want to continue to bed my mate. Otherwise, you could come to some type of unfortunate accident.” Sa’Mya shrugged and looked toward her guard.

  Eva didn’t flinch from her obvious threat. Taio would never let Sa’Mya harm her in any way, especially now that she carried his child.

  “Threaten me again, Princess, and I’ll cleave your tongue out with the first thing I find. And then for good measure, I’ll poke holes in your eyes. I will leave you unable to threaten anyone else ever again. Mistress.”

  Before her guard could reach for his blaster again, she left to join the guards. That bitch can sure make anyone want to pummel her into the ground, she fumed as she walked away from the trio.

  Sa’Mya watched Eva walk away. The conversation had gone better than she thought it would. Eva was wrong, of course. Taio would not resume his search for a mate. Sa’Mya wouldn’t return to her home world without the protection of King Taio.

  He did spend much of his time fucking Eva. It should bother her, but it didn’t. She had never been with a male before and was not sure if she ever wanted to be with one. So if Taio fucked Eva, it meant he wouldn’t expect the same treatment from her.

  She wanted Eva to stay to fulfill those needs for him, but she also wanted them both to tone it down after the bonding ceremony. Even if she didn’t want to have sex with her mate, she didn’t want the rest of the palace to know it was still going on.

  She would have to speak with Eva again, this time forming her words better so Eva wouldn’t walk away before she got her point across.

  She watched as Eva finally reached the training field and began to swing at the structures, undoubtedly wishing it was her she was beating. She had been truthful when she told Eva she understood why Taio kept his head between her legs. Eva was a fine specimen.

  “Find the servant Yazmine and have her meet me in my chambers,” she said to Moira.

  Sa’Mya smiled as she listened to her assistant carrying out the order. Yazmine would keep her busy until Taio arrived.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “It is my honor to introduce you to my chosen mate, Princess Sa’Mya.” Taio wrapped his arm around Sa’Mya’s shoulders. They both exchanged a smile as the room erupted in cheers and hollers. Everyone around her was ecstatic.

  Eva plastered a smile across her quivering lips.

  What did I expect?

  Commitment?

  Love?

  Forever?

  Marriage?

  Wife?

  Husband?

  Family?

  She was clearly the fool, again.

  The only fool in the room.

  The only fool who believed an orphan from Earth could be wanted by the King of Sonis.

  An elephant sat on her chest. Pain radiated from her jaw down to her left shoulder and arm. The room was getting dimmer.

  Good Lord. I’m having a heart attack.

  Lo’Ren approached her.

  What the hell is she talking about?

  Was she asking her if she was okay? For real?

  Her entire world, being, had come crashing around her.

  Why does she have that look on her face?

  She tried to smile harder for Lo’Ren, wanting the other female to see she was fine and leave her alone.

  She took a wild sweeping glance around the room. Who the hell was turning down all the lights? And who turned up the heat, sheesh. She was on fire.

  Her eyes swept to Taio and Sa’Mya again. Sa’Mya was smiling broadly at Taio’s mother and sister while he stood by her side, his arm now around her waist.

  The fucker. Son-of-a-bitch cocksucker.

  Her fingers began to tingle.

  Oh yes, she had almost forgotten she was having a heart attack.

  “Excuse me, Lo’Ren. I think I may be having a heart attack. I don’t want to embarrass myself any more than I have, so I’m going to leave now.” She turned and made her way toward the exit.

  Smiling at everyone she passed.

  Lips still quivering and eyes misting over.

  She walked down the corridor, picking up her pace the farther she got away from the reception room. She started for her apartment but stopped short.

  “I have nowhere to go,” she whispered. She stood in place for a little longer as the realization hit her.

  She didn’t want to go back to her apartment. The apartment that belonged to Taio.

  She turned in the opposite direction, toward the training field. Only after reaching the dark and deserted training field did she allow herself to crumble. She had endured loss and abandonment before, being alone and being unwanted. She would get through this as well.

  But right now it hurt.

  * * * * *

  Opening her eyes, she stared at the dusty ceiling. It was familiar to her, as it should have been. She had looked at the same rain spot for what seemed like forever.

  She let her eyes focus on the right corner, where a green-and-orange-spotted spider had its web. She had never seen a spider that big, that orange, that hairy or that ugly before. At first she had been afraid of it. Then she began to welcome its bite, hoping it was deadly and quick. Now she realized it was just a fat, ugly, lazy spider.

  She did feel somewhat better. She no longer wanted to lie in the equipment room and die. This was her first pity party and hopefully her last. If Taio didn’t want her, then fine. He was not the first person who rejected her, but he would surely be the last.

  She was so much stronger than this. There’d been walls in place to prevent this sort of thing. Whose idea was it to let them down anyway?

  Rolling to a sitting position on the side of the training mat, she let her feet hit the floor. Her head immediately dropped to her hands and arms to her knees. She was exhausted. She only moved to empty her bladder. She’d cried herself dry.

  Time to get up and get on with her life. With or without Taio.

  “You have decided to get up now?”

  Although he had not spoken to her, she never doubted that he was never far from her side.

  “Hi, Ship.”

  “I want to offer you my condolences.”

  “No one died, Ship. You don’t offer condolences because someone got dumped.”

  “I thought it was the appropriate word choice. Your intimate relationship with Taio has died. Never to be the same again. An ending to a love affair. The ending to—”

  Eva threw up a hand. “Point taken. Thank you.”

  She wanted to ask if Taio knew where she was, then thought against it. He probably did, all he had to do was run a heat signature sweep of the palace and find her. He had no need to seek her out. Did not care. Did not miss her.

  She shook her head, attempting to get those hurtful thoughts out of it. Her pity party ended two minutes ago.

  She slapped her knees. “Better get this show on the road.” She attempted to will her legs to straighten and support her weight.

  “What show? Is the lack of food making you delusional? I found out humans cannot go more than two to three Earth days without food or water. I was monitoring you to make sure you did not die of starvation.”

  “How kind of you.” She genuinely meant that. It was not often that someone looked out for her well-being. “I really appreciate it.” Finally straightening, she reached out to a piece of equipment to stabilize herself.

  “What do you plan to do now?”

  What was she going to do? “I don’t know, Ship.”

  * * * * *

  “Sir, Eva’s heat signature showed up in the training hall,” Jor’Dan said.

  Taio inhaled sharply. She had been found. That was the best news he’d heard in a lifetime. He’d had everyone searching the palace from top to bottom. Everyone helped in the search except Ship, who had been tight-lipped since the announcement.

&n
bsp; He was about to make the call to have the search extended outside, not believing or wanting to believe she was dead. That would have been the only reason as to why her heat signature would not have shown up.

  He hadn’t known it would hurt as it had to make the announcement. Looking at her made it worse. His first instinct had been to run over and hold her. It had taken all his resolve not to look at her again, for fear he would do just that.

  Sonis needed this match. With Laconia behind the bonding, Sonis could finally be a thriving world. He had more important responsibilities to think of. It would be extremely selfish of him to make a decision with his cock instead of his head.

  “How did she get into the training hall without being detected? We searched that entire area.” He turned to Rasha.

  “We didn’t bother to look in the old equipment rooms,” Rasha said. “The heat sensors were draining energy from the ionized weights held there. Remember, you had the sensors disabled. They’ve been unused for many cycles. If she was hiding in there we would not have picked up on her heat signature.”

  “She hid in there for two whole rotations?”

  His initial relief was now turning to fury. He’d turned the entire palace upside down looking for her while she hid away. What did she hope to prove by this little stunt? Besides, Eva knew this day was coming. He still had to marry Princess Sa’Mya, who was none too happy that he put their ceremony on hold while he searched high and low for Eva.

  Taio stormed the restroom as Eva was coming out. He didn’t know if he should crush her close to his body or grab her, shaking some sense into her little human brain. When he reached her, he did neither.

  “Do you know how much time I wasted looking for you?”

  Eva blinked in surprise. She was red in the face, and she narrowed her eyes, peering at him through the slits. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time. But I don’t recall needing to be found and I don’t recall asking you to be the one to do it.”

  “I’m glad you are unharmed, Eva.” Rasha stepped up, clearly trying to diffuse the situation.

  Eva kept her eyes glaring at him. “I appreciate your concern, Rasha, but I was never in any danger.”

  “You could have been in danger. How were we to know you were safe while you were hiding in the equipment room? You are still my responsibility.” Rasha clenched his fists at his sides.

  “For your information, I was not hiding. I don’t hide, not from you or from anyone else.”

  “If you weren’t hiding, what were you doing?”

  “I actually don’t owe you an explanation. But if you must know, I was making plans.”

  “Plans?” he asked, perplexed. “Plans about what?”

  “Plans about my future. If I have to be trapped here with you, I thought it would be a good idea to figure some things out.”

  “Trapped? You are not trapped!”

  Rasha took a step to move in front of Taio. “Maybe we should allow you to have a nice warm bath, eat and then revisit this conversation later. Does that sound good?” Rasha took Eva’s elbow and tried to lead her out the door.

  Eva snatched her arm away and spun around. “I am too trapped. You told me you have complete authority over me and I can never leave! Where I come from, that’s considered trapped!”

  Taio straightened his shoulders. Never had anyone yelled or spoken to him as Eva was doing. Did she really feel forced to stay with him?

  “You are free to go wherever you desire,” Taio said calmly.

  “Now, it would not be beneficial to say things we do not mean,” Rasha interjected.

  “I mean what I say, Rasha, do not involve yourself in matters that are not your concern.” Rasha nodded once and stepped out of the way.

  “Eva, you have plenty of credits in your account. Coyl and the others were not rich, but they had well-paying salaries. Once they attacked you, they immediately forfeited their worth to you. You have enough to be comfortable with for a while.” He turned on his heel, but stopped before leaving. “I will have Mazel look for vacant properties on Sonis for you. If you don’t find one to your liking, feel free to build one.”

  “I won’t need her help,” she said. Taio turned just in time to catch her squaring her shoulders. “If I’m free to go, then I’ll go. Ship, will you help me find the first transport off Sonis?”

  “Where is your destination?” Ship asked.

  “Anywhere but here.”

  Taio walked away, not looking back. If she planned to run to Alexion, he would let her go.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “What day did you reschedule the ceremony for?” his mother asked. Her weariness was clearly visible on her face as she peered at him from the communication screen.

  She’d called him to complain about his behavior. Apparently, no one wanted to be near him because his attitude was less than desirable these past three lunar cycles.

  He hadn’t even realized everyone was avoiding him. He’d been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice anything else. But the moment she brought up the ceremony, he instantly tuned her out. Apparently, they had now moved the discussion from his behavior to the ceremony.

  “Taio! Pay attention to me. It is time for you to snap out of it and move on with your life. You have a beautiful mate-to-be who has been waiting patiently for you to come to your senses. You cannot continue to put her off,” his mother said firmly.

  Taio could hear the distress in his mother’s voice. His mother, father and sister had returned home to the main planet awhile ago. When? He wasn’t too certain about that, most of the guests had left when it became apparent there wouldn’t be a bonding ceremony anytime soon. Kiehle left well before his parents—he still had a business to run.

  “Taio!” his mother called out again. His eyes snapped back to the communication screen.

  “Yes, Mother.”

  “Well? What is the new date?”

  “I haven’t set it yet.”

  “Tsk. That poor girl. What are you planning to do? Keep her hanging around while you mourn the loss of your lover?”

  “I am not holding her hostage, she can leave whenever she wants.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be an ass.”

  “Mother, you don’t understand. I am still bonding with her. I can’t afford not to, Sonis needs her. I am trying to get some things in order first. I felt rushed into it anyway.”

  “Pah. You were more than ready to mate with her. It’s only after you let your little concubine go that you took this downward turn,” she said. “I thought I had it figured out. I am partly to blame as well.”

  “You are not the blame for this. It was me. I wasn’t honest with Eva from the beginning.”

  “No. I thought I knew what was best for you. I should have supported what I knew in my heart from the beginning.”

  “You knew about my feelings for her?”

  “Ha! Everyone who has eyes knew how you felt about Eva and how she felt about you,” she said. “And you are correct, I don’t understand. I don’t understand how you let her go so easily. If I had someone who loved me and I loved them back, I would have fought harder to hold onto it.”

  “But I’m king here. I have to do what’s right for everyone. I have to think of more than just my needs.”

  “Oh I see, so who does it benefit if your staff is too afraid to approach you because you’ll lash out at them? Who benefits if you have not completed one task? Who benefits when your business contacts are requesting not to deal with you? Who benefits if—”

  “Mother! I get the idea.”

  “My sweet baby, I am just trying to get you to understand that if you are not happy, it does affect everyone. I just want you to be happy.”

  “Even if I want her, it could never be more than what it was. She’s not royalty. She has nothing to offer Sonis. What would the other delegates think if I mated with a species that couldn’t defend their own world?” He had been thinking about this ever since she left.

  “I thoug
ht I raised you better than this,” his mother said. “I wanted so much more for you, Kiehle and Saia. No matter how you were brought into this world, I wanted you all to make your own decisions and choices. To be able to weigh the good and the bad. When you left home and set up on Sonis, I was so proud of you.”

  “I know, Mother.”

  She raised her hand. “No, you don’t. I wanted to do right by you. Who cares what those stuffy old dignitaries and council members think? You have the best defense system known to us. You have an entity that is as old as this galaxy at your side. And you had a female who loved you.”

  Taio hung his head. His mother was right. He had been so caught up in trying to do right by Sonis that he wasn’t doing right by himself. So what if he mated with Eva? No one would dare think him weak, they would find out the hard way he wasn’t.

  He pushed back his chair and began to rise.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I am going to find Eva.” His mother was right. He needed to get Eva back.

  His mother smiled and blew a kiss at him. “Send me a new date for the ceremony!”

  He found Sa’Mya lounging in the library with Yazmine lying at her side, playing with her long, golden tresses. He guessed Sa’Mya wouldn’t be too heartbroken about what he was about to tell her. She seemed to prefer Yazmine’s company to his anyway.

  “Can we go somewhere and talk, alone?” He sent a dismissive glance toward her personal guard, Moira and Yazmine.

  Sa’Mya had taken the news better than he could have imagined. “It was clear from the beginning the two of you were in love. We all knew it was a package deal and she was part of the package.”

  “I am sorry for making you wait all this time for a ceremony that will not take place.”

  Sa’Mya let out a heavy breath. “To be honest, it was a vacation for me. I enjoyed being here.” She gave a sweeping glance around the old library that held millions of data files.

  “You are welcome back anytime you want to visit.”

  Sa’Mya’s eyes became distant. “Taio, I do have a favor to ask of you.”