Her Alien Forgemasters
Page 19
Thank You for Reading Her Alien Forgemasters
Keep reading for a bonus scene from book four - Her Alien Spymaster
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I hope you enjoyed Anya, Tra’var and Damos’s story.
If you’re looking for more stories like this one, I invite you to explore the other books in the Drift universe, which now Include Haven Colony, Nova Force and the original Drift series.
Bonus Scene
Yardan and Skye
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Being sick was a new experience for Yardan, and he wasn’t enjoying it. In fact, it was one of the most humiliating trials of his life. He was as weak as a newborn and his mind refused to focus. Worst of all, he needed to rely on other beings to help him. Even the simple act of relieving himself had left him exhausted.
The cyborg female, Skye, had carried him out of the tavern. Oh, he’d pretended she was just supporting him, but the truth was she’d barely let his feet touch the ground. He was grateful to her for not revealing just how weak he was, but he chafed at the thought that he now owed her for that sop to his already battered pride. He was the prince’s trusted advisor, the one who unearthed every secret threat and stamped it out before it could take root. Not only had he failed to detect this attack, but he’d fallen victim to it himself, just like every other Vardarian in the colony.
He didn’t have to open his eyes to know Skye was nearby. She’d stayed close ever since they’d returned to the prince’s modest palace. “How’s the prince?” he asked.
“Almost as grumpy as you are, but he’s recovering quickly. You would be too if you’d taken the injection when it was first offered,” she said wryly.
He opened his eyes and looked toward the sound of her voice. She sat less than a meter from his bedside. Her hair was somewhere between blonde and brown, darker now than it had been during the summer when the tips had been bleached by the sun. He’d seen her from a distance more than once, but they’d never spoken until yesterday. He had too much to do, and his position did not allow for distractions of any kind. Especially not females. A spymaster had but one purpose, and his loyalty to the one he served had to be absolute.
“I should have been given it first to ensure it was safe. Since no one thought to ask me, I saw no reason to put my need before that of the others in the prince’s service.”
She snorted. “You could just admit you were sulking because no one consulted you.”
“I do not sulk. It would be beneath my station to behave in such a way.”
“Uh huh.” She gazed at him with eyes as blue as a summer sky. “I have spent my entire life surrounded by men who never want to admit to feeling emotions. You don’t need to pretend with me.”
He ignored her blunt statement to ask the question that had been foremost in his mind since his return to the palace. “Why are you even here?”
Her smile really was beguiling. It softened her features and made her seem approachable despite the fact she was far taller than most females and far more deadly. The cyborgs of the colony were all from the same research station, and every one of them had been deemed too dangerous to be allowed off world.
“Where else would I be?” she asked.
Answering a question with another question was one of his tricks, and he wasn’t enjoying having it turned around on him. “That isn’t an answer.”
She cocked her head. “You haven’t noticed yet? Breathe deeply, Yardan. Tell me what you smell.”
He breathed in. His sense of smell was limited, but he could still pick up stronger odors. The scent of home cooking, the spikey tang of a suspect’s fear… and even a whisper of something that shouldn’t have been in his rooms—the scent of a female.
He shook his head. “I don’t smell anything unusual, but that’s not surprising. I haven’t had full use of that sense in more years than I care to admit to.”
Her smile flickered and then died. “What? Nothing? Why not?”
Yardan sat up, some sense whispering to him that this conversation was more important than he currently understood. “I am the prince’s Naram T’kar. You would call me his spymaster. The day I finished my training and made my vows, I did what all the others before me have done. Those in my role can have no distractions. I have no anrik. I severed ties to my family and friends. I gave up what few possessions I had, and the healers adjusted my senses so I will never be tempted by the greatest distraction of all.”
“What would that be?” Her tone held a brittle edge now, and something wary and sad flickered in her lovely eyes. He had no idea why she was upset.
He touched his nose. “If I were to find my mahaya, I could not fulfill my duty. So the healers made me so that I cannot detect those pheromones. It affects my sense of smell and taste, too, but not completely.”
“But how would that work? Even if you can’t sense your mate, she would sense you.”
“The ancestors set me on this path. I have no mahaya. But even if I did, the healers ensured I would never give off the pheromone that would attract a female.”
Skye rose to her feet, tension crackling off her now. “You’re wrong about that.”
“I am not. This is my purpose. This is the life the ancestors set out for me when I was still a boy.”
“Your ancestors got it wrong, then.”
He didn’t understand. “What did they get wrong?”
“You do have a mahaya, Yardan.”
“That’s not possible.”
This time, her smile was bitter and sad. “Then why have I been feeling the pull of the sharhal since I picked you up off that floor?”
“It’s not. No. You can’t be. I cannot have a mate.”
“You’re wrong about that.”
“You don’t understand. This isn’t possible.” It couldn’t be. Not unless the ancestors had taken leave of their senses… or he wasn’t supposed to be Tyran’s spymaster anymore. Was he to be stripped of his position for failing to protect the prince? Was this some sort of punishment?
“You know, if you keep telling me I’m wrong and that you can’t have a mate, I’m going to start taking it personally.”
He scrubbed a hand over his close-cropped hair and tried to find some words that weren’t going to make this situation worse. “It’s not you. You’re lovely. Truly. Any male would be lucky to claim you as his own. But I’m not that male. I can’t be.”
“You keep saying that.” She walked over and put a callused hand on his cheek. “But you’re wrong.”
The touch of her hand felt better than anything he’d ever known. Tender. Gentle. Right.
He turned his head and brushed her hand away with his. “This is not happening.”
“Oh, it is.” She let her fingers graze over his cheek as she moved away. “If you don’t believe me now, that’s fine. I’ll go to your healers and have them confirm it. Then I’m coming back here. You have until then to come to terms with this.”
A tiny whisper of suspicion sounded at the back of his mind. “You seem to be adjusting quite well to the idea of being bound to a stranger. Most humans take longer.”
She winked at him. “I’m not human, though. I’m a cyborg. And after everything I’ve already survived in my life, this doesn’t scare me at all. I’ve been to hell and back so many times I know the way blindfolded.”
“And if I say no?” The words were out before he could stop himself. He knew what would happen if he denied her this claim. If it was real, that is. She’d suffer pain, madness, and possibly death.
“If you say no, that’s your choice to make. I’d rather go back to hell again than take another being’s choices away from them. I know too well how that feels.”
He didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing.
“There’s one more thing I need to say, and then I’ll go. Being stubborn is not the same as being right.”
She blew him a kiss and departed, leaving him alone with dozens of questions and no answers.
Was the beautiful cyborg a pla
nned distraction, a punishment… or his reward?
Want to know what happens next?
Her Alien Spymaster releases early in 2022
About the Author
Susan lives out on the Canadian west coast surrounded by open water, dear family, and good friends. She’s jumped out of perfectly good airplanes on purpose and accidentally swum with sharks on the Great Barrier Reef.
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If the world ends, she plans to survive as the spunky, comedic sidekick to the heroes of the new world, because she’s too damned short and out of shape to make it on her own for long.
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To contact her about her books or to arrange end of the world team-ups, you can email her at susan@susanhayes.ca.
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For all titles by Susan Hayes, please visit her website:
susanhayes.ca
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To keep up with her latest news, releases, and appearances you can join her
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Want to read more stories with book boyfriends
that are out of this world?
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Check out Susan’s other
Sci-Fi Romance Series
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The Drift: Astek Station
The Drift: Nova Force
* * *
The Drift: Haven Colony
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The Omega Collective
Co-written with Mina Carter
Star-Crossed Alien Mail Order Brides
3013: The Series