Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series)

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  “I was just going to use the one on my phone,” Pam replied, pulling into the long, long driveway and stopping before the then closed gates. Rolling down her window, Pam peered up at the camera mounted on one of the high walls before she called out, “little pigs, little pigs, won’t you let me come in?” gaining an honest giggle from her dark-haired passenger.

  “They don’t know our nursery rhymes,” Leah mumbled in her mirth.

  “Yeah, well. It made you laugh, didn’t it?”

  As the gates opened and the SUV went the last fifty or so yards to the front door, Leah saw they had a welcoming committee that included every warrior in residence. Each and every face wore a smile. “I think they’re glad to see us.”

  “Wouldn’t you be? I mean, from what they told me, our gender is the stuff of dreams to them,” Pam shot back before quickly exiting the car and running to the stairs. Rykhan broke away from the group as he came to greet her.

  And what a greeting it was! Yanking open her door, he didn’t even wait for her to unlatch herself from the seatbelt before settling his lips over hers. Not that Leah complained. Even though, when they finally disengaged, she murmured an, “Impatient much?” through swollen lips.

  “I have missed you, my Leah,” he breathed, pressing his forehead into hers. With her sitting in the SUV and him standing outside, they were almost eye-to-eye.

  ‘And I couldn’t have a better view,’ Leah told herself, but aloud said, “Good morning, baby. How are you?”

  Rykhan laughed in answer and quickly had her and her tote out of the car as he guided her along the driveway. “I was impatient for you to arrive.”

  With only the hand he had pressed to her lower back as if to help her up the stairs, Leah’s armband heated, beginning to beat in small pulses like it also was happy to be near him again. “What is in the bag, my Leah?”

  “Things that I hope will help you and your group,” she replied, smiling in greeting at the other men still standing outside the front door. Pam leaned against Wyst but held the fingers of Laxon on one side and Tyshar on the other. Raising an eyebrow in query as she walked by, Pam only responded with a grin accompanied by another eyebrow waggle.

  Making her way to the huge dining room table, Leah took her bag from Rykhan and plugged in her laptop. Arbrynt stood next to Rykhan watching her every move.

  “What is this device?” he asked his eyes shifting from the computer to Leah before trailing back.

  “A portable computer,” Leah said, glancing around the room for the nearest plug. While she’d brought an extension cord, she didn’t want to use it if she didn’t have to. After locating the nearest outlet, she pulled out the chair closest to it, opened the device, and pushed the power button. “I thought I’d use Excel to document your dating efforts to see what works and what doesn’t.”

  Both Rykhan and Arbrynt’s faces scrunched in confusion at her carelessly tossed out words, so Leah did a bit more explaining.

  “This device holds a program that is a spreadsheet. I believe that in order to quantify the results of your quest, documenting what methods you’ve employed in order to meet the highest number of…ah females, and which areas you have not yet used, would help identify what efforts have the highest percentage of success in your quest.” While she felt like a total ass spouting off the techno-speak, both the warrior’s faces relaxed in understanding and at the view, Leah thought she’d won some kind of contest. She waved the men over and pointed to the screen that was just then lighting up in front of her. “See?”

  “What is this thing?” Arbrynt asked again as Leah pressed some keys while she pulled up a new, empty Excel workbook. His eyes went to her before settling on Rykhan. “It is old, slow and only has this plastic piece to view the information!”

  “Hey, wait a second! I just bought it right after Christmas and I happen to know it’s the top of the line!” Leah countered heatedly, watching the blonde giant as he blithely closed the cover and disconnected the power cord. Scooping the unit off the table, he tucked it under his arm and thumped his way to the hallway, quickly disappearing around the corner.

  Leah turned to Rykhan with her hands on her hips while she sputtered, incredulous at the other warrior’s imperialistic actions. “What the hell was that?”

  Rykhan gathered her in his arms and as soon as he touched her, she felt her frustration begin to ebb. “He is just going to make it better, mica tisha. It will take him only a little time to improve it. Trust me when I tell you your computer will be better when he returns it. More superior to any other computing or communication device you can purchase here on Earth.”

  Somewhat mollified by Rykhan’s explanation as well as the calm that had spread, Leah relaxed into his embrace and gazed up into his clear blue-green eyes. “How long will it take him?” she asked, feeling their shared look down to her toes.

  Seeming to catch on to her train of thought, Rykhan pressed her closer. “Twenty lesps would be my guess.”

  “And a ‘lesp’ converts to what in Earth time?” she breathed, feeling the pulsations of her bracelet begin to beat in a number of sensitive places on her body.

  His eyes flash and the look in them began to build her desire even before he answered. “One Earth minute, give or take. So Arbrynt should return your unit in ten to fifteen minutes.”

  “Oh, goody,” she breathed, lifting her mouth towards his, but just before their lips touched there was a flurry of movement at the front door as the others came inside the house. Grabbing her hand, Rykhan moved quickly into the little den that they’d met with Bronsyn the day before.

  As soon as the door closed, she was again within the circle of his arms their mouths fused, tongues undulating as they allowed their passion to flow between them. Several minutes passed before Rykhan lifted his head. “That couch looks comfortable.”

  Turning her eyes away and training them on the large piece of furniture covered in plaid, Leah decided not to play coy. She wanted him too much to play any kind of game. “It certainly does. But you could always bend me over one of those armchairs…”

  The light in his eyes flared as he caught onto her suggestion and just as he shuffled her to the area behind the pair of large cushioned chairs, there was a bump on the door. They both stared in the direction of the sound before the door crashed open as Pam and Wyst tumbled in a flurry of tangled bodies.

  It took Leah a couple of seconds before her sex-crazed brain made sense of the scene, but once it did she quickly covered her mouth to hold in the laugh that wanted to escape.

  Wyst was fully supporting her petite friend. He had to, because the smaller woman’s legs encircled the large warrior’s waist while her arms wrapped around his neck in what appeared to be a death grip.

  Apparently Pam’s protestations of the night before had been just a denial regarding marriage and had not held the truth in her feelings for Wyst. Not if what Leah was avidly watching was true. In how the two couldn’t take their mouths off each other long enough to determine if the room was empty or not.

  “You need to take yourself and your female elsewhere, brother,” Rykhan announced on a low drawl and Wyst’s eyes shot to where Leah and her warrior stood even though Wyst still didn’t disconnect from Pam’s mouth.

  “Honey, please,” Pam begged against his lips, wiggling in supplication as she pulled Wyst’s t-shirt up. A move Leah figured was a pretty difficult thing to do considering the hard-pressed twining of their bodies.

  “Sorry,” Wyst offered, but Leah could swear it was on a moan as he backed out the door, snatching and missing the handle as if to close it.

  She turned to look at the man standing behind her and couldn’t repress her smile. “So we aren’t the only ones, huh?”

  “I do not think their attraction is the same as ours, Tersa blay,” Rykhan intoned slowly as he caressed her waist, lifting a hand to indicate her wahrom. “Perhaps you could warn your friend that Wyst…”

  “I can’t warn Pam about shit, baby,” Leah inter
rupted, fully moving to squash herself against the man who was beginning to ensnare her heart. “She’s got her own mind, her own way of deciding what’s good and what’s bad. Between right and wrong.” She looked back at the still opened door with a sigh. “And if she’s set her sights on your Wyst, then…”

  “He has stated many times that he will join with as many human females as he can before he is required to pair with just one, my Leah.” His voice reflected the concern she was able to see in his face. “I do not wish the sister-of-your-heart to become hurt by his inability to settle.”

  Raising her observation from his mouth to his eyes to see pity reflected and decided she needed to warn him as well. “What happens if she breaks his heart, hmm? My girlie likes men and isn’t shy about her need for variety.”

  His eyes took on a steadier gaze, one that spoke of his thoughts and almost warned her of his next question. “And you, my Leah? Are you the same about needing variety, several men to assuage your needs?”

  She stared up at him, shocked Rykhan could even entertain that particular notion after what they’d done in his bed yesterday. As she opened her mouth to blast him and his thoughts all to hell, she heard Arbrynt call. The blonde warrior was bellowing, “Rykhan’s female? Where is Rykhan’s female?”

  “Why won’t any of them say my damn name, for god’s sake?” she huffed, unwinding herself from Rykhan’s grasp as she moved towards the door.

  Just as she cleared the doorway Rykhan’s explanation came from behind. “Because to call another man’s mate by her name before they are sealed is the worst sort of offense. It means a challenge as to the validity of the proposed union and expresses the intent to fight until there is only one victor who remains to claim her.”

  Stopping dead in her tracks, she skewered Rykhan with a glare. “That’s the most barbaric thing I’ve ever heard you say. Women are not a prize to be won!”

  “They are on Galaxia and Nutrol,” he muttered in correction as he approached. “And the most worthy one a warrior can fight to attain.”

  *.*.*.*.*

  Leah had to admit her new and improved laptop was the shit, with its speed and the way she only had to point to an area in the holographic image that rested above the keyboard to access it. The fact that it had its own power source was amazing as well. However, she still didn’t care for the way Arbrynt had taken off with her largest and still yet-to-be-fully-paid-for purchase.

  As Pam led the group in comprising a grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch, Leah began building her spreadsheet, finding it was so much easier to navigate than she remembered. After expressing her delight at how it now performed, Rykhan explained it extremely succinctly. “Arbrynt makes every sort of mechanical thing better.”

  The other blonde warrior was staring at his huge hands as he attempted to spread butter on the slices of bread spread out before him. But the softness of the squares caught on the knife he wielded and tore into the spongy, yeasty pieces. Without thinking, Leah moved to stand next to him. She took the knife from his large fist, held it and then subtly turned it until it was canted on an angle. “You need to smear the butter onto the surface, Brent,” she murmured, hoping she hadn’t overstepped her bounds in helping the large man. She handed the knife back with a small smile and the warrior’s frown eased.

  ‘Maybe Bronsyn was right’, she told herself as she took in all the activity within the large kitchen. Maybe she and Pam were the ones to help the alien men navigate the slippery slope of Earth’s culture. To assist them in their search to find women who would not only provide them with children but could also help rebuild their planets.

  ‘And find happiness in bed’, her mind squealed so loud she giggled. Darting a glance at Rykhan, she let her eyes rest on the gorgeous man who claimed to be her destiny.

  What was it about him that held her so enthralled? Yeah, he was hot as hell. Sweet too, which was a huge bonus. However, there was something else, something that downright connected them in a way she didn’t understand.

  Reclaiming her seat to shut down the programs, Rykhan grabbed her hand to get her attention. “The way you approached Arbrynt was perfect, my Leah. He is a prideful man, unbending in his ways. And yet, you guided him, mica tisha. Allowed him to retain his dignity as you taught him…gentleness.”

  Leah lifted her gaze to Rykhan before shifting it to the other men around the table. When her eyes met Bronsyn’s, the older man nodded as if he’d heard Rykhan’s softly uttered words. Tyshar too was looking at her with consideration and a small smile. She felt a need to push their compliments, both verbalized and unspoken, aside. “It took me a while to work out the whole butter-to-bread thingy, myself.”

  “But you shared it with us, our Leah of Phoenix,” Bronsyn murmured firmly. “It is a wise female who corrects a male without causing him to feel the loss of honor at her instruction.”

  Leah closed her eyes and dropped her head. It was too much for her to take. Their scrutiny was one thing but when combined with their acceptance and gratitude for a gesture that was so simple…she didn’t know how to react except to retreat into herself.

  Luckily, Pam picked up the slack directing everyone’s attention to her as she sashayed into the dining room carrying a large tureen. “It may not be up to the Cordon Bleu’s standards, but I declare this lunch a success,” she giggled as she twisted to fit herself in between the warrior’s in order to place the large container in the center of the table. Dusting her hands off as she stepped back and pointed her chin at the ceiling as she yelled, “Lunch is damn-well served, dudes. Come and get it while it’s hot!”

  The men eyed the beautifully painted tureen as well as the platter piled high with the wedges of sandwiches but made no other move. Leah stood and reached for Rykhan’s bowl. “Seems you guys don’t know about the passing of plates. Therefore, here’s how we’re gonna work it. You hand me your bowl first and then give me your other dish.” There were a couple of embarrassed expressions before she dropped her eyes to her hands as she ladled the thick soup into Rykhan’s bowl. She handed it back to him and accepted the smaller plate that soon filled with several sandwich triangles.

  Soon, everyone had the food before them and all talk within the room quieted as each began to eat.

  “Is this as it was in the time before? With your blays?” Laxon asked, breaking the comfortable silence in a low voice.

  “Yes.” Bronsyn’s held so much yearning in just his one word answer. His eyes stared into his bowl as he continued. “It was the small everyday interactions that we all discovered we missed the most. The sharing of meals, the conversations in the quiet of the evening after the younglings were in bed was when the ache for our loss found all of us grieving. Without our females, the togetherness…” The commander’s regretful voice wound down slowly.

  The men could’ve hidden their thoughts from her and Pam but most of the speech she’d heard that day had been in English. Or the Picari version of it anyway. She knew speaking a dialect Rykhan had admitted had been so hard for him and his warrior brothers to learn, using it in front of the human women was the Picari’s way of including her and Pam into their lives.

  Pam wiped a tear from her cheek and Leah thought her friend was just as affected by Bronsyn’s words as she was. The other woman called a halt to the sadness as she clapped her hands together. “Listen up! After lunch, we’re all going to the mall. Time for trendy threads and help with the hair, boys!”

  “I’m sorry I cannot attend,” Bronsyn said. “There is a scheduled Committee call I must attend.”

  “Leah and I won’t be going either,” Rykhan explained as he slid an arm around the woman seated next to him. “Since my search is over, there is no need to change myself.” He stopped and turned to Leah. “Unless you think I need to. Would you like me to cut my hair?”

  “Nope,” Leah replied with a slow smile. “I kind of like you just the way you are. Are you sure your search is over, though? As in, you don’t want to see anyone else?” While she lik
ed the fact he had just admitted they were a couple, she wasn’t sure that he should put all his hopes on one girl. Especially because he’d zeroed in on the one girl reluctant to marry him and move to another galaxy.

  Rykhan leaned until his mouth rested next to her ear. “Did you not understand my text last night? Of how I confessed that you are everything I’ve ever hoped to have?”

  Leah held her breath as delicious shivers began to roam with his breath on her skin and the beautiful words he used. It was overwhelming the way the man made her feel. Deciding there was a definite need for a change in the conversation, she quickly started in on the first subject that came to mind. “How’s Bronsyn going to be able to communicate with your people? Aren’t they still on Galaxia?”

  “Yes,” he drawled, handing his empty bowl and plate to Laxon before turning back to Leah. “The signal he uses goes first to the Searcher and then they boost it to hit the relays that we set in place on our journey here.”

  Her confusion brought her eyebrows together and at the sight, Rykhan explained in more detail. “The Searcher is our star-cruiser, the one Bronsyn mentioned yesterday. Now, it is avoiding detection by idling behind your moon. Bronsyn’s transmission will go first to the star-cruiser where it is amplified in order to reach the first of the relay beacons, there the signal will be amplified again and bounced to the next relay, and so on until it is picked up in Galaxia.”

  Leah tried to imagine how it worked but couldn’t quite see it in her mind’s eye. “Wouldn’t there be a time delay?”

  “Not any of measure,” Rykhan agreed. “Galaxia is famous for our amazing technology.”

  “I can imagine,” Leah murmured her head spinning with the new knowledge. “What is the Searcher like? I mean, you said that you’d been on board it for what? Six merts or something?”

  She took his smile to mean that he liked that she remembered the finer points of yesterday’s conversation. Either that or because she had used the Picari word ‘merts’ instead of saying ‘months’. “If I could get permission, would you like to see it? Maybe do a…what do you call it? A tour?”