by Jana Leigh
Chapter One
Xander stood on the balcony and felt his male mate enter the room behind him. He smiled and waited. Des was late; he was probably training the rest of the Warriors with the new toys that Cash developed. They would do well when they had to go to the surface and blend in.
“Xan?” Des yelled as he walked back into their home. The home was traditionally decorated in their home planet’s décor. When they barely escaped the planet’s destruction with the ship, they at least planned ahead of time and put their personal belonging aboard since they knew they would no longer be able to return home.
The bold colors of red and blue adorned the furniture along with the huge pillows on the floor, while the wall held pictures of their lost planet, and the families they would never forget. It was hard, even after all this time, to know they had lost so much all because the Hopis wanted to have what they had.
“Des, here,” Xander said and looked at his mate closely. The training had been rough; his mate had marks on his shoulders and arms where the new weapon had been used on him. Xander hoped the other new toys were useful.
Des smiled at him arrogantly and bowed his head. Even though Des was his mate, he insisted on the formal greeting, after that though, Des walked to him and kissed him passionately. Xander pulled his mate’s long, thick, black hair that was tied behind his back with a traditional wrap from their planet, angling his head so he would be able to get the most out of his mate’s kiss.
They were large, tall men, both leaders, and both dominant. Sometimes both of them wondered how they were ever paired together. The Gods truly had a sense of humor. Xander was the leader of the city they lived in, Des was his Second, and they were a force to be reckoned with when challenged.
Standing well over six foot, Des had black hair and Xander had white. They were opposites in looks and demeanor. Xander was Alpha all the way. He dominated every room he was in, where Des was a bit lighter and had a lot more humor according to him. Xander would shake his head and laugh every time his mate made the statement.
Xander had been the leader of the Warriors when they left their planet. However, when all the other ships were destroyed in the blast from the planet blowing up, he became their overall leader. Unfortunately, the ship they were on was only filled with male Warriors. None of their women had survived. They knew they were supposed to have a second mate, it was the way of their planet, but since the females were all dead, they were forced to accept and be happy with only one mate.
Xander never complained, he loved Des like a mate, like a man, and like a friend. There was no one he would rather be with—in time of trouble or happiness—than Des, though both of them felt the emptiness of their missing mate.
The leader pushed his tongue past his mate’s mouth and demanded a response. Des did not let him down, and they explored each other’s mouth as if it was the first time they’d kissed. Thankfully, Xander had just gotten out of the shower, and hadn’t bothered to dress so the cloth around his waist was quickly dispatched. Des only had on sparse clothes from his workout, which were quickly removed while they continued to kiss each other.
Des ran his hands over Xander’s shoulders and chest. Their muscles were sculpted showing how they kept in shape in case they needed to defend themselves. Xander’s face was angular, and what some may not consider handsome, until they looked into his eyes. They were the most amazing color. Some would say they were purple, but whatever, Des loved looking into them. While Des was boyishly handsome, no matter their three hundred human year age, he had a perfect nose, cheekbones, and mouth. His face would be one many of the human women swooned over when they surfaced.
Xander ran his hands down his mate’s back and grabbed his ass. It was tight and firm and he loved to pull his mate close and rub their cocks together while they petted and kissed each other.
When Des finally pulled back, he looked at Xander and smiled, “Well, welcome home to me.”
“Yeah, well we need to talk, but I have something that needs taken care of first,” Xander said and looked down at his engorged erection.
“Really, well we can’t have a leader unsatisfied, can we,” Des drawled with his sexy deep voice. Xander laughed and pulled him into another deep kiss.
Xander thought back to that fateful day when the leader of their planet came to him and told him what was happening. It had been on his mind all day long for some reason—like he could feel some kind of change coming their way. The thoughts he had made him very unsettled. Xander hated that feeling and so he did what was natural to him in this situation, he fought for something to control.
“To the bedroom,” Xander growled and pushed his mate in front of him. He shook off his thoughts and followed his mate.
Des laughed and turned, “Wait, before we get all involved there are things we have to discuss.”
Xander frowned and nodded, turned off his thoughts as he looked at Des with expectation, then led the way into the living room where he sprawled out on the comfortable couch. He mused at the way his people had developed after they had landed on this planet.
The expansion of their underwater world had been slow, but once their techs figured it out, they moved quickly. The bottom of the ocean was not smooth, and they had to clear little by little so the bubble would be sealed. They used the ship as a place to live until they were able to get materials to build their own homes. It had taken a long time.
“So what do we have to talk about?” Xander asked when Des sat down across from him and sprawled in a similar manner.
“Rosul developed a better security monitoring. There is a storm coming in, it looks like it will be strong. We have several men above water, and we are calling them back, but we are not sure if they will be able to make it back in time. In addition, a ship was using their radar, scanning the bottom of the ocean floor. The technology too advanced for humans,” Des said somberly and watched as Xander’s face hardened and his lips thinned.
“Have they found us?” Xander asked briskly.
“No, we have our own cloaking. We still have to be careful though,” Des said.
“For now, when everyone gets back, we stay inside the city until we can figure out what is going on. We will come up with a plan,” Xander said and smiled at his mate closely.
“I will call the command center; we will have to lock the doorway after the last Warrior returns.” Des picked up the small communication device they used. It worked in their underwater city. When they left the safety of their city, it was equipped with a locator, and the ability to communicate with whomever was on the surface. The device resembled the human’s cell phones, but more advanced.
“I am pretty sure that can wait,” Xander said, standing and taking the communication device from his mate and grinned, “I think we should get cleaned first and then we can see about work.”
Des laughed and pulled the man in for a kiss, “I agree.”
When they reached the shower, both were naked and hard, Xander felt his erection practically pulsing. He had been in this state since he saw the man who was his mate walk through the doors; it was like this all the time. Gorgeous, sexy, smart, Des was everything he wanted in a mate. If only they had found their third, she would have been on the ship with them. Most the men who survived the last attack were mated but none had met their third yet. Warriors had a hard time finding their mates.
It was because of their makeup. They were hard, and rough, and their women needed to be strong with potential as a leader. That was the way of their people. The King was once the most powerful Warrior, Xander was next in line for the throne. His mates would be the King’s Consorts and considered leaders, too.
Standing under the needles of hot spray, he reached down and grasped his mate’s cock. Shit, his lips were thick and sexy, and Xander could only imagine them being wrapped around his cock. Xander drew his hand over his cock, closing his eyes and dreaming it was his mate’s mouth.
Des wrapped his hand in his mate’s long hair and brought
him in for a passionate kiss. He was demanding and knew it. After training all day, his aggression was peaking. Xander knew that, and although he was also dominant and took control of their sex life, many years ago they came to terms with each other’s differences. Des explored his mate’s mouth with his tongue, making sure he tasted his mate’s flavor. He loved when they were close like this, it was intimate, and made their bond strengthen. Slowly Des pulled his mouth from his mate’s mouth and then kissed down Xander’s chest slowly.
Xander leaned back a little, let the water flow over his head, and down his body as Des explored him. When Des got to his stomach, Xander leaned back and smiled before wrapping his hand around Des’s hair to make sure he had a good grasp before Des took his cock into his mouth. Xander smiled when Des teased him and then proceeded to guide his mate to where he wanted him. Des teased him by licking the tip of Xander’s cock first, running his tongue over the smooth tip, then he licked the other side and swirled his tongue around the tip where a bead of pre-cum had formed.
Xander sucked in a deep breath as Des trailed a finger over his tip, and then moaned when he fisted him completely, stroking his cock. The hot water streaming over him, making it feel like a smooth, warm mouth was engulfing his cock as his mate pumped him.
Xander leaned against the cool shower wall, while his mate stroked him. The shower was large enough for both of them. They had made sure of it when it was built. There was nothing more intimate to their kind than showering with a mate. The light caresses, the feeling of sharing and taking care of someone was a powerful emotion. Because the water was filtered and more like their home planet, they used showering as a time for bonding. They were able to hold off their shift when they showered because of the filtering system, it took out the elements in the water that triggered their shift.
Des reached down and cupped Xander’s balls. Moving in a slow, easy motion, Xander pumped thinking about pounding into his mate’s ass. His mate was the full package, and one he loved to top. Both men were dominant; however, Xander usually liked topping his mate.
Shit, his mouth felt so good, Xander thought, and leaned back against the wall of the shower while Des renewed his attention. Using one hand to grasp the end of Xander’s shaft, Des took him into his mouth fully and then swallowed before sucking and pulling him out of his mouth.
“Des, damn it, you are killing me,” Xander said and sighed.
“I know, you can think about pounding into my ass while I suck you off. I am thinking about taking this thick cock and making me feel like I am alive. Only with you in me, connected, sharing our bond,” Des whispered and then sucked him into his mouth again.
The thought of his mate surrendering to him made him groan as he pumped faster with Des allowing him to set the pace.
Xander could be in control when he needed to and then other times Des would take over. Xander felt his cock harden even more to the thought of letting someone take care of him. Only with his mate would he be able to show that side of himself. To the Meridian, he was the King, the man who would lead them. Not wanting to think about work, he went back to thinking about his strong and charismatic mate.
Xander pulled his mate up quickly, wanting them to come together. He grabbed his mate and kissed him passionately before wrapping his hand around Des’s cock. Des smiled at him and did the same.
They pumped their hands faster as the thoughts turned more carnal. Xander thought about what his mate looked like naked, his muscular body sweaty with exertion from their lovemaking. His hair messed from Xander’s hands wrapping in the strands. His lips full from kissing them passionately. Finally, his head on the pillow next to his, sleeping after they made love. A shiver ran through him as he pictured them kissing and touching each other. He opened his eyes and stared at Des using his other hand to trace down his mates back and pull him in closer.
With their cocks next to one another, they grasped them both together, and together they began to feel their passion rise as their skin moved against one another. Xander called out to his mate as his balls drew up and he could feel the passion ready to burst.
They came together in a flurry of passion, love, and the knowledge they were mates and together.
Excerpt from A time For Change
Isle of Paradise Series Book Two
by Marquaylla Lorette
Prologue
Katarina and Zuri woke with a start from the sound of glass shattering in their home.
“What the hell was that, Zuri?” Katarina asked her mate as she sat up in bed.
Just as Zuri was about to answer his mate, an unfamiliar voice could be heard as it shouted cruel words at them from the front of their yard.
“Zuri, Katarina, you are a disgrace to every type of shifter. It is unnatural for a cat and wolf shifter to be mates. Let Ursula perform the un-mating spell on you and we will leave you alone, but only if you stay away from each other and let us help you find a mate. They will not be your true mates but at least they will be of your own kind,” a voice from Zuri and Katarina’s front yard shouted.
Katarina and Zuri were the first shifters to be true mates with a different type of shifter species. Zuri was a cat shifter while Katarina was a wolf shifter. Their lives had been put through hell from different shifters ever since they learned they were mates on Katarina’s eighteenth birthday seven years ago.
Zuri pushed Katarina onto the bed just as a brick flew through their bedroom window. If Zuri hadn’t acted quickly, the brick would have hit Katarina in the head. Brick after brick soon began flying through their bedroom window.
“Come on, Katarina, I have to get you to the bathroom before one of those bricks hits you,” Zuri said before he covered Katarina’s body with his and carried her to the bathroom.
Zuri sat Katarina inside the bathtub and climbed to the window in the bathroom. He could see shifters of different species on their front lawn with bricks and shotguns in their hands. Zuri was shocked to see some of his and Katarina’s family members in the front of the line leading the pack. This pissed Zuri off. He felt as though family should stand by you, no matter what the situation was, not lead a pack of vultures to their house with bricks and shotguns in their hands.
Zuri jumped down from the window and shifted into a huge lion, he was going out there to give the Isle of Paradise a piece of his mind. Bullets began flying through their house before Zuri could make it to the bathroom door. He leaped into the air and landed on top of Katarina, who was still in the bathtub. Zuri was careful not to crush the pup in Katarina’s stomach as he landed on top of her.
Katarina pushed Zuri off her and roared as she shifted when the bullets stopped. She couldn’t believe they tried to kill them, and now she was going out there and killing as many of them as she could.
Zuri, still in his lion form, leaped over Katarina and blocked the bathroom door. He roared out in a language only he and Katarina could understand. ‘Katarina, NO! Think about James, he could be harmed if you go out there,’ Zuri said.
Just before they went to bed a few hours ago, Zuri was able to sniff out the sex of their pup. They agreed to name him James, before drifting off to what they thought was a peaceful sleep.
The mention of James’s name stopped Katarina in her tracks. She had let her anger overpower her commonsense, causing Katarina to act before she thought it through. She had to release her anger somehow or it would fester inside of her until it was uncontrollable and finally exploded. Katarina growled as loud as she could, releasing her anger in the process. The vibrations from her growl shook the ground beneath them. Her energy quickly depleted, causing her to shift back, with Zuri not too far behind her.
“We have to make it to Alpha Baron’s house somehow,” Zuri said as he opened the bathroom door and crawled into their room, just in case the shifters outside had something else to throw or shoot into their home.
As they were crawling into their room, the only Gypsy alive appeared in front of them. Zuri was shocked. He didn’t know whether Ai
she, the wolf shifter, was on their side or not, so he dove on top of Katarina to protect her.
“Get off me, Zuri, it is fine. Aishe is Baron’s first Beta’s mother. She is here to help,” Katarina said as she struggled to get Zuri off her.
“Zuri, Katarina is right. I am here to help you both,” Aishe said as she watched Zuri stand.
“How are you going to help us?” Zuri asked, as he looked up at the woman that he had been scared of when he was a child.
“I am going to get you two off the Isle, somewhere where you’ll be safe,” Aishe answered.
Katarina and Zuri looked at each other in confusion because neither of them had ever been off the Isle.
“We cannot live amongst the humans, remember what happened the last time a shifter or magical being tried that,” Katarina stated with a worried looked on her face.
“If you stay here, your child, as well as you both, will be killed before the Alpha or anyone else can arrive to help. You will be fine living with the humans as long as neither you, nor your children, accidently shift in front of them or tell them our secrets,” Aishe said as she reached into her pockets for her secret potion.
“Wait a minute, you said children, we are only having one child, a boy, who we will name James,” Zuri said as he looked up at Aishe.
“For now you only have one child on the way, but if you stay on the Isle you will not live long enough to have another. Now you have a choice: stay on the Isle and die, or move to the human world and live long enough to bring two beautiful children to the world,” Aishe said as she gave them the potion.
“We will leave the Isle if only to give our children a fighting chance,” Zuri said to Aishe as he accepted the potions for both him and Katarina.
“I already have a home and clothes on the human side for you. There will be a job waiting for you, Zuri, working with my parents’ human best friends. Do not worry, they know who my parents really were before they were discovered by the other humans. If you need anything, do not be afraid to ask them.