by Renee Rose
There wasn’t much room in the washtube, but he managed a few slaps of her ass before he lined his cock up with her pussy’s sweet entrance and pushed in.
“Oh stars, pet. It’s better every time. I will never sink into your wet heat without believing it’s the only thing keeping me alive.”
She giggled. “I don’t think my pussy is that special.”
“Oh it is, beautiful. Believe it.” He withdrew and thrust into her again, sending her up to her toes with the force.
“Is this my punishment?” she asked, voice husky.
“No, pet. This is just me letting off some steam.” He wrapped his fist in her hair and pulled her head back as he shoved his cock in deep again. “By the time this night is through, I promise every inch of your body will have been punished… and rewarded.” Another hard shove. “And this is just round one with your sweet pussy. I plan to pound you so hard, you won’t walk straight tomorrow, and I’ll have to spend the entire day kissing it better.”
Mina’s knees buckled.
He caught her around the waist, stabilizing her hips for his thrusts. In and out he pistoned, eyes rolling back in his head with the pleasure of it all.
“F-fuck me, Master,” she gasped, reverting to the Ocretion word for sex.
He loved it. Somehow it sounded more crude, invoking memories of the brothel where he’d first claimed her.
“I’ll fuck you,” he growled. “I’ll fuck you long and hard and teach you that there’s no way you can live without me.”
“I can’t,” she agreed. “I can’t live without you.”
His heart exploded with satisfaction. Three more strokes and he came, his shout echoing in the washtube. The shower was on the oil cycle, spraying their bodies with a fine mist of aromatic oil, and he used it to slide his fingers down her belly and rub the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of her sweet pussy.
She went off, clawing the wall of the washtub, screaming, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”
“Yes, you’ll be my mate?” he challenged her, slapping his loins against her ass with another hard thrust.
“Yes,” she moaned.
“Yes, you’ll let me pierce you?”
“Yes.”
Now his own knees almost buckled, but with relief. He dropped his mouth to her neck and kissed and sucked his way to her shoulder. “That’s good, pet,” he purred. “I promise I’ll figure out everything in the universe that puts light into your eyes and deliver it to your feet.”
“Erick.” Her voice sounded choked, so he pulled out and whirled her around. Her arms shot around his neck as she blinked back tears. “I know you will,” she whispered. “That’s why I love you.”
He leaned his forehead against hers, not kissing her, just breathing her breath. “I love you so much, Taramina, daughter of Seke.”
Epilogue
Pal squared his shoulders and rechecked his weapons as they disembarked the spacecraft. They hadn’t been followed on this trip—both he and Erick had been watchful. He walked behind Erick and his mate, where he could keep an eye on the two of them and any potential threat.
Prince Zander himself had commanded Pal accompany Erick as his royal guard on the emissarial trip to the planet Jujo. Erick usually operated solo, but since he was taking his new mate along, he required protection.
If they’d asked Pal—which they hadn’t—he would’ve suggested they leave Tara on the palatial pod, where she could be protected. Especially after what happened on their last mission.
But apparently there was nothing Erick would deny his mate, and she wanted to be a part of the political machination.
For his part, he was honored to have been chosen. Although flying with them was as awkward as the last mission, when he had to avoid looking at Tara, and the human, Lily, who’d been naked except for collars around their necks.
Being in a small space with a Zandian female during breeding season—one who didn’t belong to him—frayed his control. At least, here at the Emperor of Jujo’s palace, he’d be able to breathe without getting a hard-on.
Or maybe he wouldn’t.
As they entered through a downpour of lights in every color, a show designed to make it seem like the colors rained down on the guests, they passed through an atrium filled with glass cages. Each one contained a scantily clad female, moving her body in time with a rhythmic pulse.
Veck. He adjusted his cock.
He wondered how Tara felt about the show, considering she’d been used this way—illegally—by an Aurelian collector and later a pimp. Her attention seemed to be drawn to a human female—the most beautiful he’d ever seen.
She had long, thick black hair and caramel-colored skin. She wore a pair of black boots up to her thighs and a matching collar, with nothing in between. Her hair had been twisted into two knots on the side of her head, and two long tails tumbled from the knots. Giant dark eyes, framed with ridiculously long lashes, took in everything around her as she swayed seductively to the music.
The human’s movements hitched when she saw his party, and while he’d love to say it was from his sheer masculine magnetism, the female had eyes only for Tara. Her lush mouth spread into an ample smile, punctuated by deep dimples. She slowly lowered to a wide-kneed squat, undulating her hips in the most distracting fashion.
He cleared his throat, trying to get a handle on his raging libido.
All too soon, they’d glided past the enchanting creature, but when they reached the ballroom, Tara stopped and touched his arm.
“The mission has changed, Pal.”
He arched his brows. “It has?”
“Yes. Erick and I can protect ourselves. Your job is to extract Leti, that human female, and bring her to our ship without the Jujo knowing we were behind it. Can you do that?”
His sense of honor warred with desire. Zander had ordered him to protect Tara, not steal a human slave.
A very female human slave with the nicest pair of breasts he’d ever seen. Lickable breasts.
Erick was capable of protecting his mate, wasn’t he?
And it wouldn’t take him long to devise a plan to free the human. He just needed to make sure no one knew the Zandians were responsible.
He bowed. “As you wish, Lady Tara. Extracting the human will be my pleasure.”
Please enjoy this excerpt from Their Zandian Mate, which will be included in the anthology Alien Alphas, (available for pre-order December 5th!)
Their Zandian Mate - Chapter One
If this was prison, she’d stay forever.
Her cell might very well be the finest in the galaxy. Eslyn curled up on a shimmering spidersilk coverlet in shades of teal and turquoise and nursed her infant. Thankfully, she wasn’t in the dungeon in the belly of Prince Zander’s palatial pod, like her mates.
Former mates.
She didn’t claim any of those males, other than as the sires of her young. Stars, she was glad to be out of their hands and safe on the pod. Even if she was a prisoner to her room.
A prisoner living in absolute luxury. Her chamber had a temperature controlled floating cradle for her infant, complete with a oneway see-through cover that projected images of Zandian nature on the interior walls and played soothing music or simulated her heartbeat. Oh, and it was sound-proof, so the squawks of her other children wouldn’t wake Sol, but his cries were piped out so she’d know if he needed anything.
She also had her own washroom with a fully automated washtube and adjoining sleeping quarters for her other three children, who’d been treated as royal guests.
The door to her chamber beeped a warning and swished open. She lifted her head from a fluffy pillow, an expectant smile on her face. But it wasn’t one of her young, whom the prince had allowed to roam free on the pod while she remained under lockdown. Instead, the huge guard, who terrified the children with his scars and limp loomed in the doorway.
“Prince Zander wishes to see you now.” His deep voice made him seem even bigger, if that was possible. Ther
e’d been a rotation of three guards at her door, each unnerving to her in his own way.
Her heart shot up to her throat. She popped her infant off her nipple, slid off the bed and slammed straight into a wall of muscle. “Oh!” Make that solid, terrifying, delicious muscle that smelled of pure male.
The warrior had come into her room and now stood beside the bed, as if he’d intended to help her off. He caught her by the nape and steadied her, his other hand cradling the head of her infant. “Forgive me, I only meant to help with the young.”
She stared up at him in surprise, her breath leaving her chest in a whoosh. Their gazes locked. His shone blue-black, much darker than the usual brown-violet of most Zandians. His sheer size and the burn-marks on his face and hand intimidated her. Hell, he would intimidate any female. But there was a kindness in his expression, a gentleness in his touch.
Although there was nothing gentle about her reaction to it. Everywhere his palm touched her skin prickled with heat, zings of electricity sparking beneath his fingers.
Her instinct to breed during her planet’s annual season had been dampened by lack of interest in her partners on Zandia, but it must have kicked into high gear here on Prince Zander’s pod, because the closeness of the male sent her hormones raging. She could practically sense them charging through her veins like a drug.
Her lips parted but no sound came out. She couldn’t seem to formulate any words in response.
“May I?” he gestured toward Sol, her infant. His hand remained at her nape, thumb making tiny circles on her skin. Frissons of heat kicked through her body, concentrating between her legs and further rendering her mute.
She swallowed, bringing her focus to his question with effort. Since she’d arrived, beings had clamored to take charge of her young, the only full-blooded Zandian young alive. They’d left Sol with her, but the other three had been whisked away. Every time they left she feared they wouldn’t return.
Still, she didn’t dare disobey the giant warrior. She offered the baby, which, sadly, caused the warrior to remove his touch to take him. The care he showed in the task, though, mollified her. He stooped low to match the height of her arms and eased her gurgling young into his rock-solid embrace.
For a moment, she remembered the awe she and her ex-mates had felt after the birth of their eldest, Alyx. But it hadn’t lasted long. And the males had given her no rest at all before they began making their complaints and demands again. Forced to survive in the wilderness of their planet together, they’d grown to hate each other as much as they relied on each other. And she, in particular, became the focus of the males’ dissatisfaction. Probably because she was easy to knock around.
What would her life have been like if she’d mated an honorable male like this one instead? A warrior and protector? Too bad she’d never know.
Wonder lit the warrior’s dark eyes as he smiled at Sol, who offered a tenuous smile back. “A miracle,” he murmured.
“Yes.” His excitement was the same she’d seen in the warrior Tomis’ face when he’d first seen her young. Before she’d betrayed Tomis’ mate, Talia.
Remembering she’d probably been summoned to hear her fate, a spike of fear shot through her and her hands twitched to snatch the young back. “Were you ordered to take him?”
The warrior’s brows drew together. “Ordered? No. Do you fear I will keep him from you? That will never happen.” He squared his shoulders. “I wouldn’t let any being keep you from your young, ever.”
Flutters took off in her chest as she craned her neck back to meet his fierce gaze. Was this male swearing to protect them? “But what if Prince Zander orders it?”
The warrior hesitated, giving her the true answer. He would follow orders, same as every guard here. But he said, “It won’t happen.” He lifted his chin toward the door. “Come, the prince awaits.”
She attempted a clumsy curtsy. She wasn’t used to formalities, although she’d better remember them quick, or she’d risk angering the sovereign. “Yes, master.”
The warrior shifted Solo into the crook of one elbow and dropped a meaty hand on her shoulder. He propelled her toward the door. If only, she thought she heard him mutter.
“I’m sorry?”
“Call me Granit,” he said.
She managed a small smile. “Granit,” she repeated. “Thank you.”
She ignored the tingles of warmth the warrior inspired. This was no time to think about males. She was headed to see the Prince, to hear his determination of her fate. Would he punish her for the part she’d played in Talia’s brief capture? And what would he do with her former mates?
“D-do you know what’s going to happen to me?” she dared ask as Granit led her briskly down the corridor.
“I don’t. But Prince Zander is a fair ruler. I trust he will make a wise decision, as always.”
A knot twisted in her solar plexus. During her incarceration the past two planet rotations, she’d rehearsed a hundred different pleas and excuses. She hadn’t known what her mates planned, she didn’t have a choice—that one was mostly true. Her mates wouldn’t have hesitated to beat her senseless if she’d tried to interfere. But she wasn’t an idiot. She could have tried to warn Talia or Tomis, could have done something—anything to come to their aid. But she hadn’t. Worse, she’d wickedly been glad they’d gone after another female, so she wouldn’t have to bear the brunt of their debilitating attention any longer.
It was wrong and she deserved whatever punishment Prince Zander believed necessary—unless it involved removing her young from her. She’d fight that sentence tooth and nail. As they rounded a corner, she wished to take her infant back simply to have something to do with her hands, something warm and soft to clutch to ease her anxiety. Something to show she was a good mother, deserving of keeping her young with her. But she was afraid to ask.
How had Zandians dealt with lawbreakers? She wished she could remember, but she’d been too young when their society had been extinguished. Would her other children be present at her hearing? She hoped not. She didn’t want them to fear for her.
Granit brought her into a grand hall, lit with crystal-embedded skylights and filled with living plants and trees. She’d spent her entire life surrounded by the natural beauty of Zandia, but the palatial pod awed her with its high-tech opulence.
On a raised dais on a marble throne, sat the prince.
She scanned the room through tear-filled eyes but didn’t see her children amongst the crowd, nor did she see her ex-mates. Thank the stars.
Silence fell at her arrival. The beings present—all Zandian, save the human females who served as mates to the most important Zandians—stared at her. The sight of Talia and Tomis made her chest tighten. Though Talia had told her they were the only two Zandian females, another stood beside her—a small, pretty Zandian female with reddish-blonde hair. So another had been found. Maybe they wouldn’t think Eslyn’s existence was quite so precious now. Of course, they only cared about her ability to breed, anyway.
Which she could do from a prison cell.
Just let me keep my young.
Granit nudged her forward and she approached the throne, drawing as close as she dared and dropping to her knees. No excuses. She’d plead guilty. She just hoped he’d have mercy on her.
For what felt like endless minutes, Zander remained silent. She didn’t move, didn’t breathe. Didn’t dare lift her eyes.
“Eslyn. Rise and face me,” he said at last.
She stood on wobbly knees and curtsied. “My lord.”
~.~
Damon sidled up beside Granit, who held the female’s infant. At least ten servants and two of the human females had offered to take the baby off Granit’s hands, but his friend had refused. And no one argued with a male Granit’s size.
“She’s afraid,” Damon murmured to the male who’d been like a brother to him since their escape from the Finnian invasion.
“I tried to calm her, but I’m not the sort a female finds com
fort in.” Granit grimaced. Between his huge size and the burn marks on his face, arm and leg, Granit made an imposing warrior.
“At least the infant doesn’t mind you.”
Granit smiled down at the tiny young, who cooed and gurgled back. “No, he hasn’t learned ugly yet.”
Laake, the third in their bloodless brotherhood, appeared on Granit’s other side and reached for the baby. Granit appeared reluctant, but gave the child up.
Damn. He’d been angling for a turn. But Granit always had had a soft spot for Laake, who he’d once risked his life, and sacrificed his good looks, to save.
He, Damon, and Laake, had been assigned to watch the female’s room since she’d arrived two planet rotations earlier. An honor they’d relished. He’d beaten off four times between shifts imagining all the dirty things he’d like to do to that gorgeous female.
“Eslyn, I’ve heard from Talia and Tomis their account of what happened on Zandia. I’d like you to tell me, in your own words, your part in the capture of Talia, daughter of Seke.”
The female’s face, normally a lovely shade of peachy-purple had turned a pale lavender. Her throat bobbed with effort to swallow. “Yes, my lord.” The words came out hoarse.
Damon waited. Laake and Granit already believed her innocent, but then they’d probably believe her capable of shooting rainbows out her fingertips, they were so taken with the female. They took turns standing at her door, watching a hologram of her movements in her chamber, inhaling her scent every time the door opened.
The entire pod had been turned on its head by the arrival of the two females, especially since it was breeding season.
Damon found her just as fascinating as his friends, but he needed to hear the charges against her and how she answered before he came to any conclusions. Did she love her mates, who had kidnapped Talia? Would she attempt to protect them?