Star Mate Matched

by Margo Bond Collins

  He shot me an indecipherable glance. “The Karlaxon are a cruel race. They live for the hunt, and when they die, they leave their comrades where they fall.” He paused. “What do your people do with their dead?”

  “We bury them. Usually with some kind of ceremony for the mourners.”

  Dax gave an oddly satisfied nod. “So who-mans—”

  “Humans.”

  “Hyou-mans,” he continued, “revere their dead.”

  “I guess so. I mean, we don’t worship them or anything. Most of us don’t, anyway.” I paused, trying to figure out how to say what I meant. “But we generally don’t just leave them where they die.” I considered tempering that statement, thinking of all the times people were murdered and left where they were, but decided to stop while I was ahead.

  Humans aren’t always all that great.

  “What do the Drovekzian do?” I asked.

  “We don’t pollute our planet by burying them in our soil.”

  Okay. So maybe Dax didn’t think we were all that great, either.

  “But we, too, have ceremonies to honor the dead before they are incinerated.”

  “Kind of like cremation?”

  He frowned as he considered, and I wondered if the translation matrix was working like it was supposed to.

  Maybe we’re just too different for any translator to work perfectly.

  The thought shook me. When I feared he was dying, my heart urged me to save him, to make sure he was okay. But now that he was well again, I was back to worrying I was crazy for even considering going with him.

  A whole planet of Daxes. What would that be like? Could I live there? Would homesickness overwhelm me?

  Yep. I am definitely insane. I should ask him to take me home now.

  Instead, what came out of my mouth was, “What’s next, Commander?”

  He bit his lip as he considered, and I had an overwhelming urge to kiss him again. He was gorgeous and strong, and it took every ounce of strength I had to keep from jumping him right then and there.

  I forced myself to stand still as he called out a series of coordinates to the computer.

  “Where are we headed?” I asked.

  “I planned to take you to my planet to meet my family, but I think we had better head to the Battleship Lavelek first. This scoutship will need to be thoroughly examined and reprogrammed before it goes out again.”

  A wave of relief washed through me. “So I don’t have to meet your family yet?”

  Dax gave me a quizzical look. “You would rather meet my comrades-in-arms first?”

  Ugh. No matter where we went, I would be dealing with Dax’s people before I had figured out whether I even wanted to stay with him.

  FML. Again.

  But I couldn’t very well say that aloud.

  I had just opened my mouth to say something inane when Dax reached over and very deliberately placed one hand on my bare shoulder. My mouth snapped closed as he frowned in concentration.

  Then his gaze shot up to my face, his eyes wide in surprise. “You are worried about meeting my people?”

  “Well, yes. I mean, you grabbed the wrong girl. The computer says—” I pulled up short, my brain finally catching up with my mouth. “Hey. Wait a minute. You didn’t know that until you touched me. What the hell is going on here?”

  His previous frown returned—but this time, he looked fierce, not like he was thinking. “Did you not feel my emotions when we kissed?”

  I gaped at him, mouth hanging wide open. “I—um—”

  “You must tell me immediately.” He grabbed both my shoulders and pulled me toward him as if he wanted to shake me. “If you did not feel my emotions, then something is very wrong.”

  Twisting out of his grasp, I shook my shoulders and rubbed my hands over them, brushing away the intensity of his touch.

  What should I say?

  If I told him I had felt what he was feeling, he might assume that I was consenting to be his mate. But if I lied and said I hadn’t felt anything, I might lose my chance to be with him—if, of course, I decided that’s what I truly wanted.

  “I don’t know what I felt,” I finally said, settling for a half-truth. “It was…unusual. Like nothing I ever experienced before.”

  That last part was totally true, at least.

  His frown subsided. “That was the mate-bond. It allows us to sense our mate’s emotions. And it is how I know that we do belong together, no matter what the computer says.”

  There was something bewitching in the idea of his certainty. What would it be like to be with someone who was so sure we were meant to be together?

  The computer chose that moment to interrupt. “Calculations complete. Prepare for hyperdrive jump to the Battleship Lavelek.”

  Great.

  If the computer did what it was supposed to do, I would be meeting more of Dax’s people soon.

  I’m not sure I’m ready for this.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dax

  As soon as we came out of the hyperdrive jump, I signaled the Lavelek to let them know we were coming aboard. Nora watched with huge eyes as the Drovekzian battleship loomed above us, and I set a course for the landing bay.

  “It’s huge,” she breathed.

  I set our coordinates and left the rest of it to the computer.

  Nervously, Nora reached up and patted her hair. I glanced at it out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the lovely pile of blond curls she had started with atop her head was now a little worse for wear.

  And her once-white dress, despite having the worst of the bloodstains cut out of it, was no longer the lovely confection it started out as.

  Not that I cared. Her current disheveled state came from fighting against the Karlaxons, saving me, and working by my side to move the dead Karlaxon from the bridge.

  Every stain on that dress, every curl out of place, had been earned—and then some.

  My mate is perfect.

  I dared any Drovekzian to suggest otherwise.

  Glancing down at my own uniform, I realized it was fairly bedraggled, too. I could have changed into a new uniform, but if Nora couldn’t meet my crew looking her best, I wasn’t going to outshine her.

  I would never do anything that might make her uncomfortable.

  Leading her to the scoutship’s exit, I stood patiently as we finished docking. When the door slid open with a hiss, I was delighted to find an entire regiment of my soldiers waiting to greet us. They snapped to attention, one fist on each abdomen in the traditional Drovekzian salute.

  I returned the gesture and took Nora’s hand to lead her off the ship. To her credit, she moved as regally as if she were a clowder alpha female—which, come to think of it, she now was.

  Or at least, she would be as soon as we completed the mating ceremony.

  “At ease,” I commanded my soldiers.

  They all dropped their salutes and relaxed into a standard stance.

  “Commander,” my second-in-command, Braxen, stepped up to greet us. “Welcome back. We didn’t expect you so soon.”

  “We ran into a little trouble with the Karlaxons.”

  Braxen’s eyes widened, and his gaze flicked toward my mate. “I’m sorry to hear that, sir.”

  “We dealt with it, for the most part.” With Nora’s hand still in mine, I headed toward the bridge, Braxen striding along the other side of me. “However, that scoutship needs to be completely overhauled and checked for Karlaxon spyware. The computer core was hacked, and we almost didn’t make it back at all.”

  Braxen came to a dead stop, his mouth hanging open. “They hacked our computer core?” He jogged a few steps to catch up again.

  “And boarded the scoutship,” Nora interjected, her tone indignant.

  Braxen hissed between his teeth, and out of the corner of my eye, I caught Nora clamping her other hand over her mouth as if to stifle a giggle.

  For the first time ever, I considered how the battleshi
p must appear to a complete stranger. My soldiers were neat and clean, close-fitting black uniforms contrasting nicely with the bright shades of their neatly trimmed and combed fur.

  But Nora’s people didn’t have fur. Her skin was almost entirely bare, rather like the Drovekzian tribes at the tip of the northern desert—but unlike their skin, Nora’s didn’t have thick wrinkles.

  “Nora, this is my first officer, Braxen. Braxen, this is my mate, Nora.” I gave Braxen a sidelong glance. “She killed one of the Karlaxon soldiers.”

  This time, Braxen’s hiss held more surprise than anger. “I’m impressed.”

  Nora shrugged. “He was trying to shoot Dax.”

  That simple statement, indicating as it did that Nora would never hesitate to protect me, sent a warm glow through my entire body.

  “We will be in my quarters getting cleaned up,” I informed my first officer, who gave a sharp nod of acknowledgment.

  “There is one other thing, sir,” Braxen said.

  “What’s that?” I paused, waiting to hear what he had to say.

  “Just before you boarded, we received notice that General Galatov will be arriving in roughly two sundrops.”

  I repressed a sigh. Of course Galatov would plan an inspection while I was away. “I think you could perhaps delay informing the general that I’m on board until his arrival.”

  Braxen’s eyes glinted with humor, but he refrained from smiling. “Yes, sir.”

  “Inform me when the general arrives.”

  At Braxen’s salute, I turned down the corridor and led my new mate to the senior officer’s quarters.

  I had definite plans for those two sundrops.

  As we entered my cabin, Nora asked, “What exactly is a sundrop?”

  I blinked, trying to determine how to answer her. “I believe you called your unit of time an hour? A sundrop is a holdover from our time before space travel, when we measured time by how far the sun had declined in the sky.”

  “Thanks.” Her voice had gone quiet, and nervousness radiated off my mate as we stepped into my quarters. It coursed through her entire body, sparking through her palm and into my hand.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked her.

  With a quick jerk, she pulled her hand away from mine as if she had only now realized I could sense her mood through it. “You said we were going to get cleaned up?”

  I allowed the subject change. There would be plenty of time later to discuss our feelings for one another. “I thought you might like to bathe before meeting the general. I will arrange for a change of clothing for you, as well.”

  She nodded jerkily.

  Keeping my voice soothing and calm, I continued speaking. “I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable. But,” I continued, stepping up and taking both her hands in mine, “I would very much like it if you bathed with me.”

  At my words, a surge of desire flowed from her through the mate-bond. I savored the feel of it. “And I sense you might like that, as well.”

  When she answered, Nora’s voice had turned husky. “But no sex, okay? I don’t know if I can stay with you. I’m not ready for that.”

  “Define what you mean by sex?” I asked, wanting to make sure we had no misunderstandings.

  Nora’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink and I felt her embarrassment through our link. “I don’t even know if our… If we… I don’t even know how your people…” she stammered.

  “We are physically and genetically compatible,” I assured her.

  “No penetration,” she finally managed to say. “Nothing that could end up with me pregnant.”

  I pushed down an urge to smile. Apparently her definition of sex was fairly limited.

  Good.

  “I promise, no penetration, nothing that could get you pregnant.”

  She swallowed hard and nodded.

  “Give me a moment to put in a request for new clothing,” I said, and moved to the computer.

  Letting go of Nora’s hands was almost more than I could do, and as soon as I finish inputting the commands, I reached for her again, and led her into my bathing suite.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Nora

  “I thought cats didn’t like water.” I hardly knew what I was saying, I was so nervous about bathing with Dax.

  And so very desperately excited. My whole body ached for him to touch me, no matter how much I might try to set limits on what we could do together.

  You’re an idiot, Nora, my conscience—or something like it, anyway—said. Every single time he touches you, it pulls you closer to him. You’ll wind up getting hurt.

  I knew the voice in my head was right. If I wasn’t careful, I would end up falling in love with this beautiful green tiger man.

  Alien, the voice reminded me. He’s an alien.

  But I didn’t care.

  “Perhaps the felines on your planet hate water. But I love to swim. And bathing with you sounds like the perfect ending to a long and trying day.”

  I hadn’t expected to find an actual bathing room in a spaceship. But this one was gorgeous in every way—except for the apparently ubiquitous orange walls.

  The tub Dax led me to was Drovekzian-scaled, the size of a large hot-tub back on Earth.

  Oh, what the hell, I thought, shoving my inner critic down. I’m here. I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

  I turned to face Dax, wrapping my arms around his neck and moving to kiss him, interrupting whatever he’d been planning to say next.

  It didn’t matter what he said. I knew how he felt.

  Because I feel the same way.

  And also because every emotion poured through the mate-bond, leaving us with no emotional secrets from one another—at least not in this moment.

  Dax returned my kiss with a passion I suspected his soldiers would be surprised to discover—but only because they had never paid enough attention to the intensity with which he tackled every task.

  When he pulled away, he gazed down at me with those intense eyes of his, as if he could learn everything about me if only he studied me enough. The thought sent shivers running through my body, my nipples tightening beneath my now thoroughly trashed wedding dress.

  He ran one hand down my shoulder, his touch sparking against my skin. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  “Can’t you feel how ready I am?”

  He grinned. “I can.”

  “You feel…” For the first time, I actively searched out the mate-bond, tasted the emotions running through it. “Excited. A little nervous.”

  “And more certain than I’ve ever been about anything before.”

  His words sent a shiver of desire rolling across my skin.

  He pulled me over to the recessed tub and moved behind me to unbutton my dress, his mouth following his fingers to kiss every inch of my back.

  The remains of the wedding dress puddled at my feet and I kicked it away—that dress I had donned with such hope.

  Now I hoped it had led me to something even better.

  Under the dress, I wore white undergarments, including stockings and a garter belt. The garter was intact, but the stockings were in ribbons from running in my bare feet.

  “What are these for?” Dax asked curiously, smoothing one hand over my leg.

  “Nothing, anymore.” I paused, reveling in his touch as he continued to stroke my leg. “I love watching your hands,” I murmured.

  He glanced at me with a smile. “I’m enjoying watching all of you right now.”

  “I’d like to see more of you.” A hot blush crawled up my face. “Again.”

  A surge of need swam through me, leaving me dizzy, and I wasn’t sure if it was mine or Dax’s.

  I pressed myself against him, running my fingers through his hair as I kissed him, smoothing down the light fur that ran across his shoulders. Our tongues tangled, and a hot knot of desire settled in at the core of me.

  He hooked his thumbs in the elastic of my panties, catching the garter bel
t, too, and slid them all down over my hips and down my legs, kneeling to remove them entirely before dropping them on the floor next to the wedding dress.

  “And this?” he asked, frowning at my bra. “How does this contraption work?”

  I laughed as I reached back to unhook it.

  “Much better,” Dax breathed as he slid the straps down my arms, freeing my breasts. “You should never wear one of those again.” Cupping my breasts in his hands, he leaned down to kiss first one nipple, then the other. “You are too beautiful to be covered in so many constricting layers.”

  All my usual internal denials—my stomach is too big, my thighs wobble too much, I’m too fat—died away. For possibly the first time in my life, I actually believed in my own beauty, because I could feel it through the mate-bond. I could sense Dax’s awe and desire for me.

  When I was completely naked, Dax swept me into his arms, one hand under my knees, the other supporting my back, and stepped into the tub. Hot water swirled around me as he set me on a molded seat, and I sank back against the edge in pure enjoyment.

  “May I wash you?” Dax asked.

  “Am I that dirty?” I teased.

  “I like the idea of touching every part of you in this way.” Golden flecks in his deep green eyes began to churn as a heated longing slid through the mate-bond.

  “Yes. Please.” My eyes fluttered shut as he dipped his hand into a dish holding a thick, purple liquid and began rubbing it on my legs.

  He moved slowly, soaping up every part of me, beginning with my legs, then moving to my arms and hands. When he’d finished there, I pulled the remaining pins out of my updo, letting my hair cascade down around my shoulders.

  He made small appreciative noises as he washed my hair, and I suddenly realized he was actually purring. His contentedness flowed through his touch, the mate-bond reflecting our feelings back and forth between us.

  By the time he cupped water in his hands to rinse the soapy substance from my hair, I ached to feel him touch me more intimately. He moved around to sit behind me, his muscular legs stretched out to either side of mine.

  As if he’d read my mind—or at least the mate-bond—Dax gathered more soap and began rubbing it across my chest, circling my breasts, brushing his thumbs over my nipples.