by Susan Hayes
“Were getting what?”
“Heated.”
She glanced up at him, eyes wide. “You don’t mean—God, you’re blushing. You do mean that.”
He stiffened. “I am not blushing.”
She uttered a breathy laugh that made his balls tighten.
“Your ears are red, so you are blushing, at least a little. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing. I’m just so relieved to know they’re okay. They’re more than friends, they’re like family. The only family I have. It’s just been such a horrible day, and then they didn’t come back, and I thought something had happened to them.”
“What happened to you today?” The words were out of his mouth before he even knew he was going to speak.
“I found out I’m losing my job. I mean, I’m not fired or anything, but the store is shutting down. Then Lisa and Maggie both got dates for tonight and I…” She stopped talking, her teeth closing on her plump lower lip.
“What else happened?”
She shook her head, setting her dark curls bouncing. “It’s nothing. Really. Just a bad day that ended with a baking spree and a burned hand.”
“You hurt yourself? Show me.” Burns were something his people were very adept at treating. When a Pyrosian couple mated, they unlocked their ability to manipulate fire. While each couple was immune to the flames of their mate, that immunity did not extend to anyone else who might be within range.
She extended her hand to him, palm up. “I already treated it. I’ll be fine in a day or so.”
If they were aboard the Firebrand, the medical center could treat her in a matter of minutes. It was a sharp reminder that the humans were still a fledgling race, with a great deal to learn before they were ready for contact with the rest of the galaxy’s residents.
“What did you treat it—“ he stopped talking as his hand cradled hers and a cobalt-blue spark arced from his hand to hers.
“Did you see that spark? It didn’t hurt, but it was so bright!”
“I saw it. Very strange.” That might be the biggest understatement of his life. He had just experienced the Spark; a sign from the Gods that this female was his true mate. It wasn’t merely strange, it was incomprehensible. He didn’t have permission to claim a human female. Flames, he wasn’t even supposed to be on this damned planet.
“What were you asking me a moment ago? Did you want to know what I treated the burn with?” Gwen asked.
He looked at the small blisters and reddened skin of her fingers. It had to be uncomfortable. He didn’t like the idea of his mate being in pain. “I did. These still look painful.”
“It’s not that bad.” She dismissed his concern with another shake of her head. “I soaked my hand in cold water and dressed it with aloe vera gel. From the plant over there. I’ll be fine.”
His mate had treated her injury with plant sap? Unacceptable. He ignored the outraged voice. She wasn’t his mate. She couldn’t be. It was forbidden.
She withdrew her hand from his, and he had to fight the impulse to grasp it again. It had to be the Scorching; the mating fever that possessed all of his kind at the moment they found their mate.
“You need to take better care of yourself, kaheya.”
She frowned at him. “I can take care of myself just fine, thank you. And what did you just call me?”
His control was slipping already. “In my language, it means little one. I meant no offense by it.”
All the warmth in her eyes vanished as she moved away from him. “I’m not little, though. Not even close. And what language was that, anyway? I’ve never heard anything like it. Your accent is unfamiliar, too.” Her eyes narrowed. “I think I want to speak to my friends, now. I need to be sure they’re okay.”
“You cannot speak with them at the moment. As you already know, they’re out of communication range, and are…otherwise occupied.”
Gwen crossed her arms across the lush curve of her breasts and glowered up at him. “Either find a way for me to talk to them, or I’m going to call the police.”
“I cannot let you call the authorities, Gwen Hudson. There is too much at stake.” He was aware that the action he now considered ran counter to almost every order he’d been given. Every order but the one that mattered most: protect the mission.
And claim my mate. The second thought came unbidden but too strong to ignore. Honour and duty had always been his focus. They defined his life and gave him purpose. Now, there was another force driving him. Her. There was only one way he could think of that would fulfill both duty and desire, if only for a few stolen moments. He offered her his hand. “Come with me, and I swear to you I will answer all your questions.”
She stared at his hand, clearly at war with herself. “You want me to go with you? It’s the middle of the night, and you’re a complete stranger. A strange one at that. Why should I trust you?”
He squared his shoulders and gave her the truth. “My name is Kash Denza, Commander of the Pyrosian star cruiser the Firebrand. I swear on my honour that no harm will come to you while you’re with me.”
“Not good enough.” Gwen shook her head and gave him a look that pierced his soul. “I’ve known too many honourless people. Swear on something else. Something precious to you. Then maybe I’ll believe that it’s safe to go with you…and everything else you just claimed.”
Her courage was intoxicating. He had announced that he was an alien in command of a starship, and she hadn’t so much as flinched. “My honour is precious to me. But if you need more then here it is. I promise you on the life of my mother and father that you will be safe.”
The silence stretched out between them for so long he started to wonder if she would reject that vow, too. Her gaze stayed locked on his, her expression one of careful consideration.
Finally, she gave a sharp exhalation and nodded. “You’re serious. Holy shit. This is real, isn’t it? You’re from another planet.”
“I am from Pyros, as are the males with your friends.” He extended his hand to her again. “Come with me, and I’ll show you.” Once she was on the Firebrand, she wouldn’t be able to alert anyone to what was happening.
“This is crazy. Stuff like this only happens in the books I read. Big, handsome alien commanders don’t just arrive on Earth and ask someone like me to go with them.”
She thought he was handsome? Given how she had reacted to him at first, that had to be a sign the Scorching was affecting her, affecting her judgment. It was another reason he needed to get her to the Firebrand. If there was any way to stop the Scorching from claiming them both, the medical staff on board would know of it. As much as he desired a mate, he couldn’t claim her. That was not his mission. “We didn’t announce ourselves, and we don’t intend to. I’ll explain once we’re on our way.”
She took a single step towards him, then darted away again. “I need my phone. Not that it's working at the moment, but I should still take it. And my purse. Oh, and these!” She returned to the kitchen and grabbed the tin of cookies he had sampled. “I eat when I’m nervous. If I’m doing this, I might as well be prepared.” She slipped the tin into her bag and rejoined him, taking his hand with trembling fingers.
He drew her close and activated the teleportation device on his wrist, setting a brief countdown period before it initiated. “I am going to teleport us to my ship. The process is not painful, but it is disorienting and somewhat unpleasant. It won’t feel like it, but I will be with you the whole time.”
“It’s okay. I’m used to being alone.”
Her words shredded what was left of his control. “You will never be alone again, kaheya.” He pulled her into his arms, crushing a kiss to her soft mouth as the world around them disappeared, and they were transported through the void.
3
Gwen pinched herself. She had to be dreaming. There was no way this could be real, could it? Men who looked like Kash wouldn’t look twice at someone like her, never mind pull her into his arms and kiss her. And holy hotness, the
man could kiss. He slanted his mouth across hers in an act of undeniable possession, and she felt the impact all the way down to her toes.
Strong arms held her close, letting her feel the hard planes of his body pressed against her. His lips tasted hers, his beard rough against her skin. She felt a rush of heat that set her blood boiling and made her pussy slick with need. Her head spun like she’d had too much wine and she leaned into Kash, wrapping her arms around his waist to steady herself.
At that moment, a bone-piercing screech erupted around them. He crushed her to him with enough force to make her gasp, and then everything vanished. She drifted in an infinite stretch of nothingness. She started to panic and then remembered Kash’s words. He’d told her she’d never be alone again, that he would be with her. She clung to that promise, trying to imagine that he was still holding her, despite the fact she couldn’t feel her own body. She was part of the void, and it was part of her. The only thing that kept the terror at bay was the memory of Kash’s last words.
The world came back in a rush. Her senses were overwhelmed with input. Light. Sound. Colour. Touch. She sucked in a breath and pressed herself against the solid comfort of Kash’s body. His heart beat hard beneath his ribs, the tempo almost as fast as hers.
“Well, that sucked. Please tell me we don’t have to do that again anytime soon.” She whispered against his lips, then her eyes flew open as she reconsidered her words. “Wait. I mean the teleportation part. Not the kissing. Kissing good. Teleport bad.” Shit. She was babbling again. He was going to think she was an idiot.
Kash chuckled. The low, rumbling sound rolled through her, somehow making her feel better despite the fact he was laughing at her. “You did well. Most first-timers emerge from the transition disoriented and traumatized.”
“You said I wouldn’t be alone, even if it felt like I was.” She leaned her head back to look into his eyes. “I believed you.”
A gleam of gold flashed in Kash’s eyes, dazzling her. Before she could comment, he speared his fingers into her hair and bowed his head, ravishing her mouth with another kiss. Lips slanted across hers in a full-force sensual attack that had her senses reeling all over again. He nipped her lower lip in silent demand, and she opened her mouth to him, inviting him in. His tongue tangled with hers, a low groan of need rising from his throat.
He guided her backwards a few steps until her back was pressed against a cool, smooth surface. He didn’t stop moving until she was pinned in place by his body. The hard line of his cock easily felt against her stomach. His hand left her hair, tracing its way down her shoulder, over her breast, to finally stop at her hip. Without a word, he took hold of her with both hands, lifting her until she was eye to eye with him, her feet dangling far above the floor.
Panic warred with arousal at his quiet display of strength. No one had tried to pick her up since she was a little girl. She was too fat for any man to even try. Now Kash knew exactly how much she weighed. The thought mortified her.
She tore her mouth from his, turning her head to hide her embarrassment. “Stop. Put me down, please.”
He froze. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. You’ll be the one who ends up hurt if you keep trying to hold me up like this. I’m too heavy to lift.”
“Too heavy?” Kash sounded indignant. “I am a soldier of Pyros, not one of the weak males of your species. I could carry you around for several of your days without discomfort.”
“You could? You’d want to do that?” It was getting increasingly hard to think. Her thoughts were muddled, her heart was pounding, and all she wanted to do was throw her arms around Kash’s neck and kiss him again.
He chuckled, and she felt the sound roll through her like the tolling of a church bell. “Look at me, so that you see the truth of my words.”
She turned her head to find him staring at her, his hazel eyes bright with desire and his expression open.
“Having you in my arms is no hardship.”
He was telling the truth.
That made her uncomfortable, as did the way he was staring at her. Men didn’t look at her that way, like she was a triple chocolate sundae and they were coming off a three-day fast. She decided it was time for a distraction. She finally looked around her, taking in the gleaming walls and strangely empty space they were standing in. “So, uh, where are we right now?”
“We are in the airlock of the shuttle I used to get here. The teleportation device is only good for short distances.” Kash gave her a quick kiss and shifted his hold, cradling her in his arms. “And speaking of the shuttle, I should be flying us out of here. I’m not actually authorized to be on the surface.”
“You’re not supposed to be here? Why not? Your friends are.”
They exited the airlock through a door that simply appeared in the wall with a wave of Kash’s hand, entering an equally featureless corridor. White walls, pale orange floors, and nothing else but a few discreet keypads set flush with the walls.
“Joran is the crown prince of Pyros, and Vadir is one of the richest, most influential males on my world, and many others besides. Only the elite have been granted permission to undertake this mission.”
Gwen stared at him, perplexed. “But, you’re perfect. I mean, look at you. Any woman would be thrilled to have you as their match. And who made those stupid rules, anyway? I get why I was rejected, but you?”
“Who rejected you?” He ignored everything but the last thing she’d said.
“Star-Crossed. This interstellar matchmaking service your people cooked up. I applied, too. Lisa and Maggie got accepted, but they didn’t want me. And you didn’t answer my other questions.”
His arms tightened around her. “You ask questions in bunches. How do you even keep track of the answers?”
“That wasn’t an answer. That was another question.”
His lips curved into a brief smile. “It was.”
When he didn’t say anything more, she rolled her eyes at him, which made him smile again. She liked it when he did that. She got the feeling Kash didn’t smile that often. “So, who decided you couldn’t claim a mate or a match or whatever?”
They entered a small cockpit area, with two seats and a console full of monitors and panels marked in a language she’d never seen before. He set her down in one of the chairs, taking the time to fit her with a kind of safety harness before taking the other seat. His fingers flew over the console, activating lights and monitors.
The idea that they were leaving Earth was more than she could deal with, so she trained all her attention on Kash. His words. His actions. The low rumble of his voice. She’d never been turned on by a man’s voice before. Not until she’d met him.
Everything about him made her hot. She was a reclusive bookworm who had been known to stammer and flee a room if a man so much as asked her name. Yet, she’d walked out of her house with a smoking hot alien who kissed like a god and told her she was tiny. Either she was losing her mind, or the universe had stopped making sense. Either way, she wasn’t in a rush to go back to the way things had been.
“King Janus, the ruler of my planet, was the one who decided who would be selected for matching with human females.”
She snorted. “Well, that explains why his son made the list.”
“Prince Joran made the list because no prince can ascend to the throne until they are mated, thus ensuring that the family line will continue. Joran’s true mate was not on Pyros. The need to find the one female destined for him is the reason we are all here.”
“Wait. You’re telling me that Maggie is the prince’s true mate? How can you tell? And how is that even possible?”
“You are asking your questions in bunches again. I will answer as best I can once we have left the surface. Would you like to watch our ascent?”
“Could I?”
He looked at her askance, his fingers keying in another set of commands. “I would not have offered if it wasn’t possible.”
The front wall of the cockpit
was suddenly filled with lights. The city of Vancouver was stretched out beneath them, glittering like a thousand stars nestled together. The lights ended abruptly at the coastline, and beyond that was nothing but the pitch-black water of the Pacific Ocean.
“It looks so beautiful. I had no idea.” She leaned toward the image, trying to memorize every detail.
“Neither did I.” Kash wasn’t looking at the monitor, though. He was staring straight at her.
He could have left the shuttle’s onboard computer to handle the flight back to the Firebrand. Normally, Kash would have done exactly that, but there was nothing normal about this trip. He needed to stay busy, with his mind on the flight and his hands on the console. If he didn’t, then he’d have Gwen in his arms again before they arrived. After a lifetime of discipline and focus, the Gods had presented him with a temptation he couldn’t resist. Gwen.
By the Flames of the First One, she was lovely. He tore his gaze away from her, locking his eyes on the controls.
The memory of how she’d felt nestled in his arms was branded in his mind forever. So was the moment that the Spark had arced between them, announcing to the universe that she was the one he’d given up hope of ever finding. Why did the Gods have to bring her into his life now? He couldn’t claim her. He had a mission to fulfill. Lives to protect. And above all that, he was not one of the males selected for matches. To claim her would mean defying a royal command.
“Kash?”
Gwen’s soft voice wrapped around him like a physical caress, sending all the blood rushing straight to his cock. As his dick strained against the tight confines of his pants, he wondered why any human male would wear such clothes. He couldn’t move, fight, or even react to a female without discomfort. Were they intended to emasculate the males as some form of punishment? He shifted in his chair like a bored recruit, but it didn’t help.
“Is it okay if I talk, or am I distracting you?”
“You’re not distracting me,” he lied.
“You said you’d answer my questions about true mates once we were in the air.” She gestured to the view. “We’re not on Earth anymore.”