by K. D. Jones
“Don’t do that,” she told him, pointing her small finger at him.
“Do what?” he asked curiously.
“Look at me with those bedroom eyes. I can’t resist you when you do that.”
“Really?” his tone deepened and became huskier. He moved closer to her making her back up against the wall.
“TylOR.” Her eyes became heavy as she felt his warm breath against her cheek.
“Mm…you smell so good. Maybe we should forget this dinner and go back to our own suite. I want to taste my dessert first.” He sucked her earlobe into his mouth.
“Oh…” Her panties were completely soaked. An unfamiliar voice broke through the lust-induced fog she was in.
“I would not mind having dessert first either.”
TylOR growled as he reluctantly pulled away from Elizabeth’s delectable body. He turned around but kept his body between his female and the male that rudely interrupted them.
“AshOR.”
“TylOR.” AshOR turned his attention to the small female peeking around his brother’s back. He gave her a dazzling smile. “Good evening, Lizzie. You look lovely…from what I can see of you.”
“AshOR. it’s good to see ya.” She tried to shove TylOR out of her way but she couldn't get him to budge. “Move it!” she growled at him.
TylOR sighed and moved to the side allowing Elizabeth to move forward. But he reached out a hand and snatched her waist, keeping her at his side. When she glared in frustration at him he simply answered her, “Mine.”
“Men!” Lizzie gave up trying to move away from TylOR and settled against him. She wanted to say something else but the door to the Primes’ suite opened.
Prime Leader KadEN stood in the doorway looking at the three in the hallway. “Were you going to have dinner out here?”
Lizzie blushed feeling embarrassed for TylOR acting so possessive. She managed to move past him toward the door. “Hi.”
Prime Leader KadEN glanced down at the small Earth female and smiled gently. “Miss Connell, welcome to our home.” He moved to the side so she could enter the suite.
Lizzie had never been so relieved to see another woman in all her life. “Prima Lindsey, thank ya for inviting us to dinner.”
Lindsey gave the other woman a hug. She was a couple of inches taller and had to bend down a little. She liked Lizzie. She was smart, funny, and that southern accent was simply adorable.
“It is my pleasure. Come, let me show around.” Lindsey led Lizzie further into the suite. Of course one of the first stops was the baby’s room. Prima Lindsey was breeding with their first child.
The males went to the main living space and settled into an easy conversation. They were typical males. Touring someone’s suite or checking out their newly made baby’s room was not a top priority to them.
Lizzie watched as Lindsey’s face lit up the moment she entered the baby’s room. It was painted in a pale soft yellow. The furniture was all white. There was a mobile of stars, moons, and if Lizzie wasn’t mistaken, a couple of miniature sized transports.
“It’s beautiful,” Lizzie said as she fingered the mobile.
“It is. My father made the mobile for me. He’s very handy with carvings.”
“It must be exciting for you preparing for a baby.” Lizzie looked at Prima Lindsey’s swollen stomach with envy. Would TylOR want children? She had never thought about having children before because it always seemed so far off to her. But lately it was like her biological clock was ticking or something and she found herself longing every time she saw a child or someone pregnant.
“Lindsey, the servers have the dining table on the balcony ready.” Prime Leader KadEN stood in the middle of the doorway looking at his mate with adoration.
He held out his hand to her and Lindsey walked over to him and placed her hand in his. He leaned down for a quick kiss but lingered. Lizzie had to look away. She felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment. She followed them out of the baby’s room and down the hall back to the main living space. Both AshOR and TylOR were standing there waiting for them. TylOR held out his arm for her to take and she slipped her arm inside his.
Lizzie looked at the beautiful table setting lighted by candlelight and torches on a balcony overlooking the city of Kiljor. It was so breathtakingly beautiful. She took a moment just to appreciate the gorgeous view. Her moment didn’t last long.
Everyone took their seats. Lizzie sat down and frowned when she realized she was sitting in between both AshOR and TylOR, two brothers who acted more like enemies than family. How did she get to be so lucky? She noticed an extra place setting on the other side of AshOR. She was about to ask if someone else was joining them when the suite bell went off.
Lindsey looked over at KadEN. “Our last guest has finally arrived.”
One of the servers went to answer the door. Prime Leader KadEN stood to greet him. “Welcome to my home, StrykER. This is my mate, Lindsey.” Lindsey tried to stand but KadEN gently pushed her back in her seat.
StrykER bowed at Lindsey. “Prima Lindsey, it is an honor to meet you.”
“Thank you for coming, StrykER,” Lindsey said.
KadEN next introduced the stranger. “StrykER, you already know Commanders, TylOR and AshOR. Let me introduce Doctor Elizabeth Connell from Earth.”
Lizzie stood up along with AshOR and TylOR and went to clasp forearms but StrykER took her hand and brought it up to his lips instead. AshOR and TylOR both growled at the male until he let Lizzie’s hand go. She frowned at the two men at her side. What the hell was their problem?
The man, StrykER, was intimidating to say the least. He wasn’t as tall as TylOR, only six feet eight inches. He had really short blond hair and these piercing dark blue eyes. When he looked at Lizzie head to toe she felt herself shiver.
“Doctor? Is that the same as a medic?” StrykER asked as he released her hand and took his seat next to AshOR.
Lizzie sat down and the males follow suit. “Yes. But I am not a regular medic. I specialize in languages and cultures. I am more of an educator.”
“You study languages? Is it not obsolete with the translators?” he spoke down at her.
Lizzie didn’t like this man’s attitude at all. “I do not have a translator.”
He looked at her in surprise before masking his emotions. “How is that possible?”
She gave him a superior look of her own. “I don’t need a translator. I speak over twenty fluid Earth languages and I am currently learning ancient Katieran and ancient Morin.”
StrykER looked at her with new eyes. Then he spoke the few Morin words he had been able to decipher. “Why are you with the Commander?” He nodded at TylOR.
Lizzie blushed before she answered him back in the Morin language. “That, Mr. Nosy, is between me and him.” Stryker laughed at her response. The reaction did a strange thing to his whole demeanor. He no longer looked like evil in carnet. The laughter left him with a smile on his face that lightened up his eyes. He went from good looking to dark and sexy. She spoke without thinking, “You should laugh more. It makes you look less scary.”
StrykER smiled at the little Earth female with the strange fiery hair. “I need the scary to help with my interrogation skills. I have to intimidate those I question or they will not tell the truth. People do not find a laughing male very intimidating.”
Lizzie smiled back at him. “I guess not.”
“She is my bond mate,” TylOR growled at StrykER. He did not like that the male could speak a language with his mate that he could not speak. He was secretly learning how to use the silent language after having seen the village leader on the Colonial Planet flirt with Elizabeth.
StrykER looked over at TylOR’s glare. “She has already said as much.”
He looked over at Elizabeth and noticed the pink color of her face. He reached for her hand under the table and squeezed it. It took a few seconds but she squeezed his hand back. It made him more at ease.
“So, Dr. Connell,
why did you decide to study the Morin language?” Prima Lindsey asked, trying to steer the conversation in a neutral direction.
“Please, call me Lizzie. I was already studying the ancient Katieran. I had listened to Commander KydEL talk to Prima Captain Jaxon about them having problems translating the Morin communications they intercepted because they seemed to be a more ancient dialect. I asked if I could get some samples of both the ancient and the modern written and spoken Morin language. I wanted to compare the two to see if there were any similarities. It’s best to learn to decipher the written language first before trying to learn the spoken language. The exception would be for those cultures that do not have a written language. It may take a little longer but I always get a language down.”
StrykER leaned forward with interest. “So you basically break it apart, dissect the language. Then you build it back up piece by piece to make it whole again.”
Lizzie’s eyes twinkled with excitement. “Exactly.”
“Interrogation is a little bit similar to that. I have to break apart a statement, dissect it. I need to see if it there are holes in their story. Then I have to put it back together piece by piece to find the truth,” StrykER told her.
The food arrived and a silence fell while everyone ate. TylOR and AshOR kept putting food on her plate when she wasn’t looking. She glared at both of them. “Stop it!” she whispered angrily. They both shrugged their shoulders. She looked up and spotted StrykER watching them. He raised an eyebrow in question but she refused to say anything. She just made herself eat the food on her plate the best she could. But if one of them tried to put something else on her plate she might just stab them with her fork. Damn controlling men!
The conversation was kept light and the meal went by reasonably fine. It wasn’t until KadEN asked a loaded question to TylOR that things went to hell.
“Commander, when you depart tomorrow, I will make sure your mate has all that she needs here on Kiljor until you return.”
“I appreciate that, Prime Leader,” TylOR said, nodding at his friend.
Lizzie glared at the two of them. “What are you talking about? I’m not remaining here. I have an assignment on the next Katieran refugee transport. I have to meet up with them.”
“No.” TylOR shook his head.
“Absolutely not,” AshOR also spoke up.
She looked at the two of them. “Excuse me? It is not up to you, either of you.”
“It is too dangerous. Not only are we still unsure where the Morins are, but now we have the Purist rebels to deal with. They could be anyone. We have no way of knowing. It is just too dangerous. Besides, you are my mate now, so you do not have to do these assignments anymore. I will provide for you,” TylOR told her with confidence that what he said would be done.
Lizzie was about to let TylOR have it when AshOR spoke up, “I hate to be in agreement with anything my brother says, but he is right. It is too dangerous.”
Lizzie felt railroaded by the two men. “AshOR, I thought you were my friend.”
“I am more than your friend. You mated my brother, which makes you my family. I protect my family.”
Holy crap! The first time the two brothers ever agreed on anything and it was to deny her a choice in what she does with her life. She knew her face was turning red with anger. She was about to go off on somebody, possibly two somebodies.
“Miss Connell’s translating abilities might come in handy. Perhaps she should come along, but not to the Katieran transport, but to assist with translating Morin transmissions,” StrykER suggested while eating his food.
The two brothers glared at the other male. StrykER had not made himself any friends with that suggestion. AshOR sighed before saying, “Fine, Lizzie can come with me on my transport.”
“When the fires of Kitana go out! If she goes it will be on my transport with me since I am her bond mate!”
“We can let Lizzie decide which transport she will go on.” AshOR knew this would only anger TylOR more. He so did love pushing his big brother’s buttons.
Lizzie stood slowly placing her napkin on the table. “Thank you for a lovely dinner, Prime Leader KadEN and Prima Lindsey. Everything was delicious. If you will excuse me, I am suddenly not feeling well.” She looked over at StrykER. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
StrykER smiled at her with mischief in his eyes. “I look forward to seeing more of you on the transport, whichever one you choose.”
Lizzie didn’t wait for TylOR. She gave both brothers an icy stare that had been known to make her students burst into tears. She stormed out of the Primes’ suite slamming the door shut behind. Damn irritating men! She couldn’t shoot them and they were just too damn big to hide the bodies. Ugh!
Chapter Fourteen
“Well, that was certainly entertaining,” StrykER commented while still eating his food. He couldn’t help the smirk that was on his face.
TylOR growled and looked like he was about to launch himself at the other male. KadEN had to step in. “Commander!”
TylOR instead stood abruptly. “Thank you for dinner. I will see you in the morning before we leave.” He bowed at Prima Lindsey and then left the table.
AshOR stood as well. “Thank you for a very enjoyable dinner. Goodnight.” He also bowed at Lindsey and followed his brother out of the suite.
KadEN sagged back in his seat. What a night. He looked over at StrykER who was smiling contentedly while he ate his dessert. The male was strange.
*****
“TylOR!” AshOR called out as he walked faster to catch up to his furious brother.
“What?”
“Could you stop for a moment while we have a conversation like, well not like family, but as civilized people?”
TylOR stopped walking and turned to glare at his younger brother. “Talk!”
“Look, I did not want Lizzie going on the transport either, but she has her mind made. From my experience, when a female as headstrong as our Lizzie makes up her mind there is not much you can do to stop it. I suggest you give her time to cool down.”
“First off, she is not our Lizzie. She is my bond mate. Second, I do not need you to tell me how to deal with my female!”
AshOR held up his hands. “Whoa. I am just trying to help.”
“Why do you care? You don’t care about anyone except yourself and maybe EllinOR.”
“I am not the unfeeling, selfish male you think I am. Granted, I have behaved that way. Part of me enjoys watching you squirm. I guess I am resentful after all these years of having never been able to live up to your shadow.”
“What are you talking about?” TylOR asked, crossing his arms against his chest.
AshOR snorted. “Goddess knows you look just like him right now.”
“Like who?”
“Our father,” AshOR’s response was met with silence. He continued, “The great Colonial Leader talked all the time of his son back on Kiljor. All his accomplishments—How he was top of his class—How fast he rose through the military ranks. The day you were announced the Commander position for Kiljor, father was ecstatic. No father could be prouder.”
“Then there was me. The second son—Always in trouble—Never good enough. Constantly being compared to my older brother and never being able to live up to what his prodigal son has achieved.”
TylOR was floored by what he was hearing. “But he stayed with you. He didn’t leave you or EllinOR like he left me. He chose you over me.”
“His choice wasn’t really a choice. He was too different for the Katierans, too different for the Kiljorns. He wanted to be somewhere where he could fit in. He would have brought your mother and you if she had chosen differently. He wanted that. If she had chosen to come with him, EllinOR and I would never have existed. How do you think it feels to grow up knowing that if your father could have chosen, he would have chosen to not have you be born?” AshOR’s voice cracked a little with emotion. He struggled to regain his composure.
For the first time Ty
lOR saw past AshOR’s carefree façade to a little boy who only wanted his father’s love. He could relate to that. He felt that too.
“Our father loved you and EllinOR. He was protective of the two of you. I do not believe he would have chosen any differently. In the end, he had three children that he cared for.” Did he just say that? It sounded so…reasonable.
AshOR tried to push aside the emotional outburst they just went through. “I think that’s enough of our father issues. The real reason we are standing here in the hallway is because of Lizzie. Whether you like it or not, I care about her. She is your bond mate, which makes her my sister. I want only to keep her safe.”
TylOR was feeling much calmer now. “I do not want her left alone with StyrkER.”
“Agreed. That male gives me the creeps.”
TylOR snorted. “But he is an excellent interrogator.” He sighed as he looked at is younger brother. He had never before had to ask another male for advice, but AshOR seemed to understand the Earth females much better than he did.
“What should I do…about Elizabeth?”
AshOR chuckled. “From my experiences with Earth Females, I have learned two things will work every time.”
TylOR waited and waited but AshOR was being overconfident holding back. He was near the end of his tolerance. “What two things?”
“One, the male is always in the wrong so the male has to say he is sorry.”
“But what if I am not in the wrong?” TylOR asked with confusion.
“You are male so you will always be in the wrong in her mind.”
“That is ridiculous. I have to apologize even if I am right?”
“Yes, and apologize even if you don’t know what you did wrong to begin with. Practice saying, ‘Honey, I was wrong and you were right’. It works every time.” AshOR nodded his head.
TylOR tried it out. “Honey, I was wrong and you were right.”
“Yes. Oh and add at the end, ‘please forgive me’. I swear that last part gets a smile from her.”
TylOR practiced again. “Honey, I was wrong and you were right. Please forgive me.”