by Lynn Tyler
Varin hid a smile and watched the she-devil trudge her way toward the shuttle as if she were walking to her death. Despite her obvious, and at times loud, unhappiness with the situation at hand, he was excited to get her back to the ship.
He’d been surprised by D’Arik’s choice of female but immensely pleased that his mate evidently felt the same strong attraction for the feisty female that he did. The girl had spunk, and he had a feeling he would enjoy taming her. Or being tamed by her. He would do anything to make her happy, and he knew D’Arik would as well. He was just a little scared by what their spitfire might demand.
He watched as Jacy said a stiff good-bye to her father, still amazed that her father treated her with so little regard. D’Arik was already inside the shuttle, speaking to the pilot about the best trajectory to breech the Earth’s atmosphere safely.
The pale sunlight caught Jacy’s hair, and shades of burnished gold and even deep red shimmered throughout her long tresses. It was so beautiful, and all he wanted to do was thread his fingers through it and see if it felt as soft as it looked. He ached to know if the curls between her thighs would be the same color or if they would be a darker shade. His erection pounded uncomfortably against his zipper, and he was pretty sure that he was giving the assembled crowd quite an eyeful.
Jacy finally stepped toward him, her steps getting smaller and more reluctant with every inch she moved. By the time she was standing even with him, he was nearly hyperventilating with impatience. Only D’Arik’s calming influence he could feel through their bond kept him from throwing her over his shoulder and manhandling her into the shuttle. Instead, he helped her over the side carefully, not letting go until he saw D’Arik take her around the waist and lift her more fully in.
Varin looked back at the crowd and nodded to the president, who finally had the grace to look sad at his daughter’s departure. It would be highly unlikely that, once they left orbit and returned to Helan, they would return any time soon. Hopefully Jacy would be pregnant with D’Arik’s child by the time they reached Helan, and they could settle down in the palace and raise their family. He nodded at the other man and turned his back on him, vaulting into the shuttle with more grace than he’d originally hoped.
D’Arik had taken his seat on the very right in the back of the shuttle. On his left, Jacy sat poker straight and staring at the wall with a quiet concentration. He took his own seat on the other side of Jacy and checked her straps even though he knew D’Arik would have strapped her in securely. He really just wanted an excuse to touch her.
The pilot started the engines, and Jacy jumped slightly. Her eyes were suspiciously bright. He suspected she was trying desperately to hold back from crying, and he ached to soothe her, to comfort her. He’d never felt this concerned for anyone except D’Arik, and even then it wasn’t until their mate bond began to show itself that the urge to protect the man was almost unbearable. It was almost as if his mate bond with Jacy had begun to solidify already, which typically didn’t happen until after a couple’s first sexual experience together. Perhaps the hormonal link happened with humans much sooner than expected.
Whatever the case and for whatever the reason, Varin was nearly completely overwhelmed by the need to protect her. One look at D’Arik and he knew his mate was feeling the same thing. But Jacy was so prickly, he doubted she would put up with any of their attempts to comfort her. They were the ones who were removing her from her home, after all.
Very slowly the shuttle lifted off the ground and hovered, gathering power for their attempt to breech the atmosphere. It shouldn’t be too hard, and the pilot they had was the best in the fleet, but it still required a lot of speed and just the right angle. The pilot counted slowly backward as he prepared the machine to speed forward. “Lira,” he whispered. “Prepare yourself for a sudden acceleration.”
She turned her head and aimed a glare at him. If looks could kill, he would be dead by now. Not just dead, he would be a pile of ash on the floor. Gods, he loved it. She opened her mouth, no doubt to blast him with some tirade or another, when the shuttle suddenly lurched forward and hurtled skyward.
All the blood left her face before a fine sweat began to break out on her forehead. Shit, he hadn’t thought about the fact that she would probably get space sick. Most people did on their first flight. He could still remember his own first time in shuttle trying to breech the atmosphere. It had been so bad, he’d wished for death. D’Arik, damn the man, had done his first shuttle flight without a hitch. He hadn’t even flinched.
He turned his attention back to Jacy and scrambled for a sick bag as she began to swallow convulsively. Hearing D’Arik whispering softly in her ear, he concentrated on holding the bag under her while he scrounged around in the panel of his armrest. There were some antinausea serums in here somewhere. They were supposed to be standard with any shuttle. Finally locating the syringe with the right serum, he handed the bag to D’Arik and prepped her arm for the injection. “What are you injecting into me now?” she managed around a round of painful-sounding gags. If it makes my head echo like the last injection did, I’ll kill you.”
Varin snorted as he gestured toward the syringe. “It’s the implant that makes the echo. This is to help with the sickness,” he said in what he hoped was a soothing voice.
Another round of gagging had her nodding her consent, and he slipped the needle just under her skin. Pressing the plunger down, he waited until the last of the serum had passed into her body before disposing of the syringe.
Almost immediately the color came back to her face, and her whole body relaxed. “Better?” D’Arik asked.
She nodded twice before her eyes rolled back and she slumped against her straps. Varin panicked, sure he’d just killed her, until D’Arik’s calm voice interrupted. “She’s just asleep,” he said quietly, taking care to position her head so that her neck wouldn’t get sore as she slept. “Remember? The doctor said that it might help her to sleep?”
Varin relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. Since D’Arik had chosen this woman for their mate, they had been screamed at, nearly puked on, and now passed out on. He smiled as he wondered what Jacy might do next.
D’Arik slipped his arm around her shoulders when her head flopped forward again, and Varin felt his smile turn into a frown as he probed his own feelings. Surprisingly, the sight of D’Arik cradling the female didn’t seem to bother him. It certainly didn’t inspire the jealous or possessive feelings Varin had worried about when he’d previously contemplated taking a female into their relationship. If anything, the action comforted him. He liked knowing that there would be someone there for D’Arik if something happened to him. It gave him a strange sense of peace. It also freaked him out just a little.
His lover and king glanced up at his face and gave him a soft smile. The lines around D’Arik’s mouth and eyes had softened, making him seem younger. Those stress lines hadn’t softened like that in the last few months. Of course, D’Arik would be relieved that he was finally able to do something about the crisis facing their people, but Varin had the idea that perhaps the peace he sensed in the other man had more to do with their new mate than the agreement with the humans. “We’ll have to get another bed set up next to ours,” D’Arik whispered, stroking Jacy’s long hair gently. “There was hardly enough room in there for us.”
Nodding his head in agreement, Varin picked up their female’s hand and studied it intently, looking for any sign of difference between their species. The ship’s doctor and science officer had been amazed that the two species had such similar genes. In fact, other than the Helan’s propensity for breeding very large males, something that had been selectively bred into their population, there was very little difference in the two species. A fluke of nature, certainly, but a miracle nonetheless.
The shuttle docked on the starship with barely a shudder. Jacy slept on, even when Varin released her straps and lifted her out of her seat. He carried her to their quarters, ignoring the reverent stares of the
crew and barely restraining his possessive growl. Only the soft touch of D’Arik’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from snapping at the men. “She’s their queen, liro. It’s natural for them to stare.”
He nodded but didn’t bother to hide his scowl. It might be natural for the men to stare at Jacy, both because she was the new queen and because she was a female, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.
Sighing in relief when he finally stepped into their quarters, he laid her on the bed and covered her with the blanket. D’Arik came in behind him and wrapped his arms around Varin’s waist. “She looks good in our bed,” he murmured.
Varin turned and laid a gentle kiss on D’Arik’s lips. “She does, liro.” He looked at the timepiece on the small table next to the bed and sighed. “I have to go to the bridge and get a progress report, on both the status of the registry down on Earth and on the status of our ships on the way.”
Kissing his cheek, D’Arik stepped away and dragged a chair over to the side of the bed. Picking up his drawing tablet, he settled into the chair. “I’ll stay here until she wakes up.”
Varin smiled, knowing that his mate was going to sketch the woman sleeping in their bed. “I want a copy,” he said. Pressing a kiss to D’Arik’s temple, he turned and paused in the door. “I’ll send the doctor down to check on her, just in case.” He left, feeling the tiny smile on his lips grow larger. Life with Jacy would never be dull, that was for sure.
Chapter 9
Jacy slowly came awake and snuggled deeper into the pillow. It didn’t feel like hers. It didn’t smell like hers, either, but oh lordy, it smelled good. Like leather and limes, and more faintly, like cinnamon and musk. It smelled like everything good in life, and if she could bottle that scent, she would make a fortune. Women would bathe in it. Well, maybe the scent was a little masculine for women to bathe in, but they would make their boyfriends and husbands bathe in it. She would wash her linens in it.
Something was wrapped around her legs and cutting off the circulation to her left foot. She kicked at it viciously, suddenly realizing that she was still in her dress from the welcome dinner. She must have fallen asleep in it.
Memories of the night before rushed to meet her. Her mating to the High King of Helan greeted her, only to be pushed aside by the memory of the wretched shuttle trip. She had been pretty sure she was about to retch up her intestines but couldn’t remember anything after that point.
Lying still, she debated whether she should get up and take a look around, or if she should pretend she was still sleeping and put it off. She’d never taken the easy way out in her life, but she felt it would be justified if she hid from the situation for just a little longer. After all, it wasn’t every day a girl found herself on board some kind of spaceship.
The sound of rustling material made her decision for her, and she opened one eye, just a crack. The Helan king was sitting in a chair next to the bed, scribbling with some kind of stylus on what looked like an iPad. He didn’t seem to have noticed that she was awake yet, and she used the opportunity to inspect him fully. He was gorgeous, as breathtaking as Varin. Maybe all Helans were beautiful.
He had that perfect golden skin that every sun worshipper coveted. It looked velvety soft and prickly all at once with his light growth of blond stubble. Light-blond hair hung to his broad shoulders, and she could just imagine it pooling on either side of their faces as he leaned over her. A trim waist and narrow hips called for her hands to stroke and explore. He was smaller than Varin but not by much, that was for sure. He still had defined muscles, just leaner and longer than the other man’s. An image of the two mens’ hard bodies, so different and yet both stunningly beautiful, twined together on the bed wound its way through her brain. Instead of repulsing her, it excited her, though that wasn’t really a surprise to her. Her e-reader was loaded with man love.
“You may as well sit up and explore your new home, lira. I know you’re awake,” D’Arik said quietly.
Her eyes popped open at D’Arik’s soft words. The translator interpreted the Helan language almost instantly, but this time, it didn’t throw her off course. In fact, she was getting used to the damn thing, and it was certainly better than not understanding a word he said. She sat up and glared at him, hoping she looked fierce and not like she was pouting. “How did you know?” she demanded. “Can you read minds or something freaky like that?”
D’Arik smiled and set aside the tablet and stylus. His smile was achingly beautiful, and she actually wondered if her eyes would ever recover from him. “Nothing quite so dramatic, lira,” he said, laughing. “Your breathing pattern changed.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. He was entering into dangerous territory here. “Are you trying to tell me I snore?” She kept her voice low.
His eyes widened at her low voice, and his smiling mouth formed an O shape. “Not at all. Why? Do you snore? Because I have to warn you, Varin snores when he’s particularly tired. I may need to invest in some earplugs if you snore, too.”
Jacy hid the urge to smile at his playful tone, although she was confused as to why he talked about Varin. Why would it matter if Varin snored? It’s not like he would be sharing their bed. She frowned and corrected herself. It’s not like she would be sharing anyone’s bed. They might be as good as married by Helan standards, but she didn’t know the first thing about the man. She had some of her own standards, and she intended to stick to them, married, mated, or not.
Before she could voice her concerns, D’Arik rose to his feet and gestured for her to follow him. He led her to some kind of closet and found it packed with clothes. There were dozens of leather outfits, what looked like a couple sets of silk ceremonial robes, and silk dresses of every color. “The black leathers are Varin’s. The man insists that he is allergic to color. The other leathers are mine, but only because Varin thinks that the leather offers better protection than silk, and he insists that I wear them.”
He pulled out a royal-blue silk dress and fingered the long bell sleeve. “The dresses, of course, are yours. I didn’t know what you would like, so we got your measurements from your tailor and had a few of every style made. We can have more made once you know what you like.” He replaced the dress and scowled at the leathers. “I don’t know why Varin will let you wear silk and not me. Maybe I should talk to him about getting you some leather dresses.”
Jacy was utterly speechless. The man talked a mile a minute, like he was nervous. He kept talking about Varin, and he even had some of the man’s clothes in his closet. Had she mated with some sort of crazy stalker? She backed away slowly, stepping into what looked like a tiny living area. There was a small table for eating and a couple of lounge-like chairs. She had spied a bathroom off the bedroom, and her bladder yelled out at her to empty it, but she didn’t want to get too close to stalker boy.
Just as she was about to make a break for the door, it opened, and the object of stalker boy’s obsession walked in, followed closely by four men dressed in navy-blue uniforms bearing the components for another bed. They froze when they saw her, hastily placed the parts and tools they carried on the ground, and laid their right fists over their left pectoral muscles, right over their hearts. As one, they dropped to one knee and dropped their heads so that they stared at the ground. She didn’t quite know what to do, and so she stared at the tops of their heads, feeling quite awkward with the whole situation.
D’Arik stepped up beside her and observed the kneeling men. When she dared to peek up at him, she was rather startled to see a pleased expression on his face. “Rise,” he ordered.
The men rose as one and looked to D’Arik for their next order. “Continue with your work.”
Each man bowed deeply to her and then again to D’Arik. They then turned to Varin and pounded their fists against their chests again before disappearing into the bedroom.
Varin stood stiffly in the door, arms crossed over his chest as he supervised the work. “How did they know I was awake?” she whispered to D’Arik
, choosing to ignore his more psychotic tendencies in favor of getting some answers.
“I told Varin you were awake. Sort of,” he answered vaguely. “I’ll explain in a minute when the men have left.”
She poked her head around Varin’s huge body and watched as the men set up the new bed flush against the existing one. “What are they doing? I want my bed set up across the room.”
Varin snorted but didn’t take his eyes from the men. “Not going to happen, Your Majesty.”
She jolted at the “Your Majesty” part. Feeling like an idiot for not realizing it earlier, Jacy finally made the connection with the men’s earlier reverent behaviour. By mating D’Arik, she had just become a queen. Oh god, how fucked up was that?
The crew finished their task and bowed once more and did that crazy fist-pounding thing at Varin before filing out of the quarters. Varin stayed behind and turned to face them, dropping his scowl to grin at them brightly. “Is that more to your liking, liro?” He began undoing his belt, which D’Arik took and hung in the small closet next to the door.
Varin continued to strip as he talked to D’Arik quietly. She couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, but then again, she was too busy staring at the mouthwatering body being slowly revealed in front of her. The bells at the end of Varin’s braids tinkled softly as D’Arik removed them and laid them carefully in a velvet-lined tray on a small table. A turquoise tattoo wound its way down his back, peeking through the heavy mass of hair that hung to his hips.
It wasn’t until Varin stood in nothing but his leather pants and began stripping D’Arik’s shirt off that she came to her senses. “What the hell is going on here?” she demanded, outrage and lust battling for dominance within her.