Royal Defender: Her Space Guardian (Celestial Mates Book 9)

by Therron, Marla

  “That's ridiculous,” Rachael said with a snort. “I couldn't carry your child better than someone of your own race.” She paused. “I don't even know what sort of...anatomy you have, or if we'd even be compatible for such a thing.”

  Tavaayn's look turned into what was practically a leer. “Let's make like kids,” he suggested. “I'll show you mine if you show me yours first. But I can assure you; we're more than compatible. I did my research.”

  Rachael blushed even more brilliantly and couldn't meet his gaze for a long moment. “So it's all about power and ensuring the continuation of your proud lineage?” she asked.

  She didn't want to admit that she was disappointed, but the fact remained that she very nearly was. She of course had never expected her first marriage proposal to come from an alien, and especially not in this sort of a situation, when she was marooned on her own on his planet.

  But she had always dreamt that the first—and hopefully last—proposal that was ever directed at her would be because someone somehow found her curves to be attractive. Because they thought she was smart and witty and good at conversation. Because they valued her work. Anything like that.

  She just didn't want to hear that he was only proposing to her because it would benefit him personally. Next thing she knew, he would be saying that he just wanted to come home to a clean house with a meal already on the table, as though her brain were worth nothing.

  Which she supposed it wasn't, on this foreign planet with its elements that she didn't even understand. She couldn't be much of a scientist if she didn't even know what she was experimenting with…

  “Are you waiting for me to tell you how attractive I find you?” Tavaayn asked, surprising her. Perhaps her thoughts and feelings were more transparent than she ever could have realized.

  “Because believe me, from the first moment that I laid eyes on you, when you were getting off your spaceship, I knew that I wanted to take you to bed and make you mine. I knew that you were the most attractive being that I had ever seen, Saveithyans included. I knew that you were going to be an interesting challenge to me mentally as well as physically. And I have been excited to take on that challenge.”

  He took a deep breath. “There's more to it than just the politics or your safety or any of that, though,” he finally admitted. “You're destined to be my mate.” He smiled crookedly at her.

  “I imagine you must feel it, in the same way that I do. Every time I touch you, it's as though there were a little jolt of electricity in the air between us. I can practically feel the tension humming here; I can practically taste how perfect we are for one another. A perfect melding of-”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rachael said, backing away. For the first time in all of this, she looked scared. “I don't know what you're talking about,” the earthling said, still holding out her hands in front of herself as though she could physically ward off his advances as well.

  “Destined to be your mate?” she asked, laughing a little shrilly. “Destiny, fate, gods—none of that stuff exists. I don't know what you think you're feeling between the two of us, but-” She cut herself off.

  The thing was, he had to be a total psycho to be thinking such things about her. She inwardly cursed at herself, wondering why she'd had to push him. She'd just wanted a little acknowledgment of the fact that she was, in fact, someone with marriageable qualities, but it seemed that fishing for them had really backfired: now she had an alien who was apparently obsessed with her, inventing scenarios when they ended up together.

  She could only imagine how his ruthlessness might lead to jealous, could only imagine the kind of damage he could do to her or to someone she loved, like Damien.

  She swallowed hard.

  “I'm not going to hurt you,” Tavaayn said quietly, trying to close the gap between the two of them. But Rachael just continued to back up, and eventually he stopped trying to move closer to her, holding all of his arms out as though that might show her that he wasn't going to hurt her.

  The alien shook his head. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I thought that you could feel it too, or else I might not even have brought it up. Perhaps it's something that only Saveithyans are sensitive to. All I know is, from the time I was young, I knew that there was someone out there, someone who would complete me so that we would become a perfect whole. You can imagine how devastated I felt when the physicians declared that none of the women on this planet were fit to be my mate.” He grimaced.

  “And now you think you've found that perfect other half in me,” Rachael said flatly.

  The Lord Commander shrugged. “I can't really explain it, if you're not able to feel it,” he said. “It's almost like...my blood is singing at my every sighting of you. I lust after you, of course, but it's something more than that. I want to honor you. I want to make your life as comfortable as it can be. I want to–“

  “Enough,” Rachael interrupted. She shook her head. “I don't want to hear it—no more about any of it,” she said. “We can't be soulmates; that would be impossible. Why, I'm not even supposed to be here! And anyway, I've already found the man I'm meant to spend the rest of my life with.”

  “The one you mentioned sent you here, while knowing full-well that you wouldn't be able to return back home?” Tavaayn asked, arching an eyebrow at her. “He seems like a real winner.”

  “I love him,” Rachael said. “And he loves me. He just was giving me an opportunity to prove myself as a scientist. With the success of this mission and my return back to Earth, I could do anything I wanted with my life. Perhaps you don't understand that since you think I could have everything I ever wanted here, but believe me...” She shook her head again.

  The Lord Commander shrugged broadly. “As you say, I don't understand it. Perhaps I am not understanding the dynamic that the two of you have, having never seen humans interact with one another in person. But I do think that you deserve better treatment than that. I'm offering you the whole planet, practically...”

  “I don't want it,” Rachael said miserably. “I don't want Saveithya. I just want to go home.”

  Chapter Six

  The next couple days, none of the Saveithyans approached her at all. Of course, there was Vox, who was good about bringing Rachael her meals in a regular fashion based on the sleep schedule that Rachael had contrived—it was a bit difficult to figure out when she should be sleeping when the amount of daylight never seemed to change around the palace. But she still couldn't talk to Vox, she could only listen when the other woman chose to speak—something that was rare after that first day.

  She wandered aimlessly around the palace and, especially, the palace gardens, but she didn't really take any of it in anymore. The wonder that she'd felt when Tavaayn had shown her around was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a bitterness that grew heavier day by day.

  The thing was, as she'd previously surmised, she was a prisoner there. Someone was always there to watch her every move, and she wasn't allowed anywhere near her spaceship—not even to see if maybe there was some way to contact the home team from there. She still hadn't managed to make any of her mechanical components transmit a signal, and she was growing more desperate by the minute.

  What she didn't understand was why the Lord Commander didn't just force himself upon her. It wasn't as though she could really refuse to marry him—they could make it so that she didn't have any choice in the matter. And with their barbaric, moral-less ways, she doubted any of them would have any qualms about doing so. What did it matter if she married someone she could never love? All she had to do was sit there quietly during their bloody celebrations and pray to gods she didn't believe in for a quick demise.

  On the fifth day of this, as she was finally returning to her quarters, a siren began to blare deep inside the palace. The sound reverberated out, along every corridor. Those people that she could see froze and then dropped to the ground, and Rachael found herself doing the same, although she didn't know exactly what was happening.

  The g
round lurched beneath them, and then all was silent. But no one moved.

  They remained like that for the better part of an hour, and then, as if by some unspoken signal, the others began to rise, collecting their fallen items and scurrying off in every direction. Rachael stood watching them for a long moment, wondering just what had happened. She felt more isolated than ever, knowing that even if she asked one of them what had happened, they wouldn't understand her. She couldn't get any news about what had happened unless she found Tavaayn, and the last thing she wanted just then was to find him.

  As it turned out, though, he found her, as he was barreling down one of the corridors. At first, it looked as though he was paying very little attention to anyone or anything around him, but when he reached Rachael, he grabbed her arm without even looking. “Come on,” he said, dragging her along with him.

  “What happened?” Rachael asked, ignoring the fact that his tight grip on her bicep was likely bruising her.

  “Pirates,” the Lord Commander said quickly. “And now, there is to be a meeting in the main hall.”

  Rachael blinked. “There's an ocean here?” she asked. She couldn't recall that from any of her lessons on Saveithya's geography, and that seemed like a strange thing to have missed. Why, if there was an ocean, it should have even been visible on the satellite images that they had taken of the planet. But she couldn't recall that at all.

  Tavaayn's brow furrowed. “Of course there isn't an ocean here,” he said, sounding patronizingly patient again. “These pirates didn't come from across the oceans like they used to on your Earth,” he said, “although the idea that they might do such a thing is so...quaint. But no, these were space pirates, a deadly bunch with frighteningly accurate laser aim.”

  “Oh,” Rachael said. “So they took your...whatever it was they were after and left again?”

  “No,” the Lord Commander said, gritting his teeth. “They gave us their threats and told us when they would return to collect their bounty, and then they left. The meeting right now is to figure out how to deal with the situation when they come back.”

  “Oh,” Rachael said again. She shook her head. “But whatever resources it is that they're after, isn't it better to just give in to them? All the money or power or resources or...well, whatever it is that they're after. None of that can be equal to the loss of life, can it? I mean, I know you Saveithyans don't view life quite the same way as we humans do, and I know you're more than used to shedding blood in your ceremonies and elsewhere, but if these space pirates are so good at firing their lasers… Well, isn't one Saveithyan worth more than whatever material goods you could offer them?”

  “Of course our lives are more important than material goods,” the Lord Commander snapped. “The situation is a bit more complicated than that, though.” He scowled over at her. “Now, if you don't mind, I'd prefer if you would remain silent during the proceedings in here. We need to come up with an executable plan as soon as possible, and the last thing we need is for you to interfere without fully understanding the scope of what's going on.”

  “Fine,” Rachael said, bristling a little at his tone as well as his words. “But do you mind telling me why you're dragging me along to this meeting anyways, if you don't want me to really be involved in any of it.”

  “Because,” Tavaayn said, sounding like he was still gritting his teeth. “Because regardless of what you might personally believe, I still believe that you're my soulmate, and as such, my protective instincts are going nuts at the moment and all I can think to do is to keep you safe. Because the last thing I need at the moment is a distraction, and having you somewhere out of my sight is going to be a distraction. If you must know.”

  “Oh,” Rachael said quietly, trying to process that. She wasn't sure how she really felt about it, if she was being honest. Of course, she had her dislike of the cruel alien, and she had her distrust after his marriage proposal. But the fact that he wanted to protect her kind of warmed her deep down inside. She couldn't help but smile a little as they walked into the council room.

  Immediately, her ears were assaulted by the harsh Saveithyan language, and she could tell that some of what the other council members were saying had to do with her, judging from the eyes on her and the copious number of gestures directed at her. But none of them were wearing the nifty translator boxes like Vox had, so she was unable to understand a word that they said.

  She moved over to the corner and sat hesitantly in a chair, watching all of them.

  After a moment, the focus turned away from her, and they appeared to be getting down to business. She studied them as they argued over whatever policies they were coming up with and became very glad that she wasn't a Saveithyan politician. Some of their looks were just...nasty. It didn't help that they were practically shouting at one another—and in a language that she couldn't even begin to make sense of.

  She must have dozed off at some point during the long meeting, because the next thing that she was aware of was Tavaayn's gentle hand on her shoulder. She started and looked around, surprised to see that the room was empty except for the two of them.

  The Lord Commander grimaced, looking almost sheepish. “My apologies,” he said quietly, as though he were giving her time to adjust to being awake.

  “Apologies for what?” Rachael asked groggily.

  “I didn't expect that to take half as long as it did,” the alien said. “And if I had realized how tired you were right from the start, I would have found you a more comfortable spot to lie down in. We could at least have had one of the slaves bring you a blanket or something...”

  “It's fine,” Rachael said, yawning and stretching widely enough that her spine clicked in a couple places. She smiled sleepily at Tavaayn, feeling like being nice to him now that she was only half awake and not thinking about all of his bad points. “The number of times I've fallen asleep at my desk over the years...”

  Tavaayn shook his head, though. “It's no excuse; I should have been more thoughtful,” he said.

  Rachael shrugged but figured it was time to change the subject. “Did you solve everything that you needed to solve during the meeting?” she asked. “What was the final solution?”

  The Lord Commander glanced away from her, and she wondered what emotion was causing him to do that. “We've found a solution,” he said slowly. “But I don't think you're going to like it.”

  “It involves going to war or something like that?” Rachael guessed.

  “No,” Tavaayn said. “In fact, if we manage to execute it correctly and if they stay true to their word, there's the possibility that no one will need to die.”

  “That's excellent,” Rachael said enthusiastically. “So what did you decide to promise them? What did they ask for, anyways?”

  There was a long silence, and the Lord Commander seemed to be debating whether he wanted to answer those questions or not. “Their threat was that every unmarried woman here on Saveithya would be taken as a slave,” he said slowly. “As I mentioned before, unmarried people in our galaxy have less status than their married counterparts. These pirates need new crews, and they know they won't get volunteers. But they also don't want to risk upsetting anyone and having to fight a battle that they haven't started. So rather than kidnapping their slaves, per se, they take the outcasts of society.”

  “The outcasts,” Rachael said flatly. “Anyone who isn't married in your galaxy is an outcast?”

  “When it comes to women, yes,” the Lord Commander said, again looking unconcerned. “They cannot hold any lands or properties, nor are they allowed out to social gatherings on their own once they've reached maturity. Their skills don't typically equip them to hold jobs like our men do, so that makes them...very nearly useless members of society.”

  “That's appalling,” Rachael said succinctly.

  “Yes, well...” The Lord Commander shrugged. “That's just the way things are around here. I'm sure that there are places in your own galaxy where this is the case as well.”


  “We've come a long way from having women be subservient to men on Earth,” Rachael said haughtily. “In fact, we consider every sentient being, no matter their capabilities, to be equal and entitled to a decent life doing as they see fit,” she continued.

  Tavaayn looked amused. “Such a policy would never work here on Saveithya,” he told her.

  “No,” Rachael said sarcastically, “because who would fight in your arenas then?” She couldn't help but roll her eyes.

  “Be that as it may,” Tavaayn said, “the fact remains that the pirates have said they will return for every unmarried female that lives here on Saveithya. Of course, we cannot let that happen, so we will need to marry as many of the women off as we can over the course of the next three days before the pirates return.” He took a deep breath and smiled a little at Rachael. “Of course, one of the unmarried females living on this planet is you. I've graciously volunteered to be the one to marry you.”

  Rachael stared at him, her mouth open in shock. This whole situation couldn't have been orchestrated more perfectly, she thought, and for a moment, she began to wonder whether such a thing as fate or destiny really did exist. It did seem that there was some sort of supernatural force out there that was driving the two of them together…