I heard a funny sound from Eela, but she remained quiet. If females could guide their mates by pillow talk, I could get what I wanted by pricking their vanity or male pride. These were all leaders of the planet.
They all took offense by my statement.
“Naron’s death was recorded at four minutes after transport of his mate,” someone from our left called out.
“She could have found a knife in that time.”
“Even if I did kill him, I couldn’t return to Earth. I’m now under the protection of Naron’s family. I believe his brother is the male head. Why would I kill my mate, my matched mate, knowing I would be forced to go live with his family?”
“You fled immediately. Trion intelligence reported your presence at Omega Dome, in Sector Zero. If we are about to be attacked by Cerberus, as you claim, it is most likely at your bidding, treacherous female.”
“Earth is a new member of the Coalition. No one from Earth even knows of the Omega Dome’s existence. No one.”
Bertok stopped about fifteen feet in front of me, hands folded in front of him like a creepy, old priest.
“Leave her be, Bertok. She is small. A female.” One of the other Councilors stepped forward. “I met Naron. This female is incapable of defeating him.”
The conversation seemed to be turning in my favor, so I resisted the urge to argue. I knew how to fight dirty. I could murder a man Naron’s size, if I had the element of surprise and got lucky. But that didn’t mean I had.
“It is a Councilor’s duty to protect the planet from danger, including those of the lying, female variety.”
I cocked my head to the side. “If I was so dangerous, why did you sell me to Cerberus? Why did you trade me, a human female, for his assistance in destroying an opposing region’s city?”
Murmurs swirled around us.
“What city?” someone asked.
“Bakkarholt.” Eela spoke up from behind me and shouts erupted at her response.
“Two Trion fighters have engaged a Cerberus attack ship in Trion air space.” The announcement came from the guy who’d spoken into his wrist watch.
The silence was deafening as everyone absorbed the news. I didn’t wait to press my advantage. “Cerberus is here because Bertok arranged it. He used me to deliver the coordinates of Bakkarholt through a necklace. I’m not up on my Trion politics, but what would happen if that city was destroyed?”
All eyes turned to Bertok as the other Councilors considered the answer.
“And what would happen to Cerberus if he was blamed for the attack?”
“Nothing,” Eela said, her voice loud and clear. “Everyone knows his evil legion can’t be stopped. Only the Coalition Fleet would have the firepower to destroy them, and they are too busy fighting a war.”
“This female speaks nonsense. She murdered her mate and fled to Omega Dome.”
“Careful with your lies, Bertok. Are you sure Cerberus will really fire upon Bakkarholt? I mean, you messed up. You promised Cerberus a bride from Earth. But I’m here and not on Rogue 5. You didn’t uphold your end of the bargain. What happens when you break your word with Cerberus legion? Maybe he sent a ship here for retribution. What we call payback on Earth. Maybe they’re here to kill you.”
It was a bluff. I had no idea what Cerberus was going to do. But if Bertok freaked out and tried to save his own ass, then everyone in the room would know the truth. As no one moved to stop me or interrupt, I assumed they were waiting for Bertok’s reaction as well.
“Cerberus is here for you, Bertok. You. They don’t care about Bakkarholt,” I repeated. “What’s the biggest city in your region? Maybe they’ll be satisfied with blowing up your house? Maybe they’ll track you through your comm system and send assassins? But they’re here. You should probably say goodbye to your family and friends.”
His eyes widened, and he turned his back to me. Speaking into his own wrist device as he spun on his heel, he started walking toward a door at the back of the chamber. “Sound the alarms in the Wildlands. Danger level five. Threat imminent.”
“Guards, seize Councilor Bertok!” one of the men shouted.
The guards nearest Bertok were the protection trio who’d come in with us. They started to move, but I was closer to Bertok. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to take him down.
I ran for him, spun my titan stick around in an arc and lunged, zapping the guy in the ass.
He startled, stiffened and let out a high-pitched yelp. Turning, he glared at me. “You! You ruined it all!”
There was the asshole I remembered. Now I’d let every other Councilor see the man behind the curtain.
“Yeah, I’m not all that meek, am I? I’m just what Cerberus wants, except your plan didn’t work.”
The guards flanked me but wisely exercised caution about approaching Bertok with me waving my titan stick around.
“The only place you’re going to be ruling over is prison.”
His face turned dark red and veins popped out at his temple. He was one pissed off old asshole.
“Outpost Nine, this is High Councilor Henrick.” A deep voice came from somewhere in the room like a ghost, but I assumed it was some kind of speaker system. “We have intercepted a Cerberus craft and have destroyed it. Ion cannons were locked and programmed to target Outpost Nine and the High Councilor’s meeting.”
That was the last straw and apparently enough to prove Bertok’s guilt. The guards stepped toward Bertok, ready to take him into custody or whatever they did on Trion. But he wanted nothing to do with it. He tried to run past us, to get away, which was totally futile.
Still, it gave me one last moment of fun. I swung the titan stick up in a wide arc and brought it back down, clotheslining Bertok with the weapon across his chest. His feet flew up, and he dropped onto his back like I’d been a linebacker taking him out.
I grinned down at the asshole. I wanted to zap him again, but I didn’t. Then I thought of Naron and did just that, jabbed the fucker in the side with the sizzling stick. He writhed and screamed in pain. “That’s for my Naron, you fucker.”
“Mate, please tell me all is well there,” Isaak’s father said.
Eela moved to stand beside me, looked down at Bertok. “Everything is as it should be. Bertok is finished.”
I looked to Eela, smiled. “Yeah, it’s all over.”
“Zara?” Isaak’s voice came through the speakers. “Are you unharmed?”
“I’m fine, Isaak.” Fine. One of the worst words in existence. Because I was so not okay, not with any of this.
The guards lifted Bertok to his feet and dragged him away. It was over.
Cerberus was out of Trion’s airspace, their attempt to get revenge on Bertok failed. I had to assume the Rogue 5 leader would be content in knowing Bertok would be in jail for the rest of his life and would have no more issues with the planet. Or with me.
One more reason to get the hell out of here as fast as humanly possible. Reason one? Save myself any future trouble with Cerberus. Reason two? Hide my broken heart. I wasn’t sure which was worse.
Isaak would head back to space. His help was no longer needed. I was free. Able to do whatever I wanted. Isaak wanted to go back to space, to his hunting and running.
His pain was his to deal with. I couldn’t heal him. I couldn’t save him. And I couldn’t convince him that he had a home.
And like it or not, I did too. On Earth. No one said I had to go back to Boston. Maybe I’d find a nice beach somewhere and mind my own damn business. Peace was finally mine, and I would hold onto it.
I was free, but why was I so sad?
One of the Councilors approached me. I bit back a shocked gasp when he kneeled at my feet. “My lady, I am Barron. Your mate, Naron, was my cousin.”
“I’m so sorry.” I had no idea what else to say. This Barron was handsome, young, but not as young as Naron had been. But then, Naron had been a guard, and this male was a Councilor.
“Do not apologize. Today you
have delivered justice for Naron’s murder, saved every member of the High Council, and saved this city from Cerberus.”
Well, when he put it that way… “It wasn’t just me. I had help from Isaak and his family.”
“Ah, High Councilor Henrick and his surviving son.”
“Yes. And Eela.” Isaak’s mother had moved to stand beside me, but she was watching, a strange look in her eye I couldn’t quite figure out. Was this making her happy? Sad? Angry? And what was this, exactly? Why was a Councilor from Trion, an alien I’d never met before, kneeling at my feet?
“Lady Zara, you are brave, intelligent and very beautiful. I would be honored to accept you into my home and offer my protection.”
Oh.
“Your protection?”
He reached for my hand and brought it to his lips. “Yes, and my devotion to your personal well-being and happiness.”
Oh! Shit. Was this guy asking to be my mate? My new Trion mate? What was I supposed to do? Give him a test run? Just say yes? Say no? I had no idea how to react when the bottom line for me was I didn’t want him. My heart and soul already belonged to someone else. Someone who didn’t want a mate. “You are very kind, but--”
“Back away from my mate, Barron.”
Barron didn’t break eye contact with me not for one second. It was like Isaak wasn’t even there, speaking his nonsense. “Gara, you will be honored and protected as my mate. I will adorn you properly and, as your master, see to your every desire.” He kissed the back of my hand again, his lips lingering this time. “Your every pleasure, my lady.”
Why was this guy on his knees? Why wasn’t it Isaak?
Barron was handsome. Built. Earnest. I had no doubt he would do exactly as he claimed. He would take care of me, adorn me, make me have unlimited orgasms.
But I didn't want him to touch me. There was only one male from Trion I wanted, and he wasn’t staying.
I pulled my hand from Barron’s grip as gently as I could. “Thank you very much for your offer, but I’m afraid I already have a master.” One that didn’t want me and had no intention of staying, but that was irrelevant. I’d already given my heart away, and I had no idea how I would ever get it back.
Eela took my hand, and I allowed her to pull me away. Past Barron. Past Isaak. Away. I knew we would go back to their home, and once there, I would lock myself in a room and cry until I had nothing left. And then I’d go home.
16
Isaak
Ever since I first heard of a human female at Omega Dome, I’d been intrigued. Concerned. Perhaps deep down, I’d thought I would save her.
Fark.
I could see clearly now that the second I saw Zara for the first time, it was me who was being saved. Saved from a life alone. A life without a home. Without a family. Without… love.
Zara, the cranky, feisty, wild female had shown me that the life I had was as empty as the sectors of space I’d been roaming. Maybe I had been the space pirate she’d called me.
A rebel. Rogue. Wild, myself.
Untamed.
No longer. Like Zenos, I was bewitched and, fark, besotted by an Earthling. The guy was so big, making an Atlan beast almost seem like a toddler, and yet Ivy had him on his knees. And he was happy to be there.
The sight of Councilor Barron on his knees, offering Zara everything I had not, gripped my heart in a panic, a level of terror I’d never felt before. Not while watching my brother die, not while hunting the Hive. Zara was my heart now. Without her, the worthless muscle in my chest would not beat.
Zara was silent on the journey back to my parents’ home. I didn’t argue with our destination, too concerned by the blank void behind Zara’s eyes.
I held her hand, but her flesh was cold to the touch, and she did not respond to me.
I was coming apart at the seams by the time we reached my childhood home. The moment the vehicle stopped, I led Zara inside to my old bed chamber and closed the door.
As soon as the lock was in place, I turned her to face me and dropped to my knees.
“Forgive me, gara. I demanded you call me master, but I did not care for you as I should. I was selfish. A fool. I demanded everything and gave you nothing.”
Her pale eyes widened, but she said nothing as my hands slid the silky material up her legs, higher and higher until it was bunched at her waist in my fists. Her pussy, pink and perfect, was directly in front of my face.
Perhaps Zenos was smarter than I ever considered.
I would get her naked and make her mine, adorn her so anyone who looked upon her would know she belonged to me, know it was my medallion on a chain dangling between her breasts.
“Zara, please, accept me as your mate, and I vow that even the gods will know that while you belong to me, I am the one kneeling, That I am the one to submit to your every happiness. Every desire.”
“Isaak. I can’t do this. I can’t live on that little spaceship. I want a family. A home. I want more than you can give me.”
I leaned forward, rested my head on her soft belly, breathed her in. My home. My life. My everything. “I give you everything, Zara. Everything there is. If you want to live on Earth, I will follow you. I offer my home here on Trion. If that does not suit, we can go somewhere else. Anywhere, as long as I am yours. My heart and soul are yours, gara. Forever.”
I waited for her response, the lump in my throat too big to overcome with words. I could do nothing but wait. And hope. And pray I hadn’t been too much of a fool.
When her hands lifted to my head, her fingers tunneling through my hair, I dared to breathe again.
“Master, please. You broke my heart. Convince me. Make me believe you.”
Master.
She’d said the word once before, to Barron, during his attempt to steal her away from me. But I had not dared believe it. But I would deserve her trust. Shower her with love and pleasure. And that started now, leaning forward and nuzzling her clit with my nose.
She gasped, widened her stance. Glancing up at her, I smiled. She wanted it. Whatever it was I would give to her.
With her legs further apart, I could lick her core, lap at the arousal that was always there. For me. Her taste, as wild and sweet as the female herself, coated my tongue.
Her hand dropped onto my head, her fingers tangling in my hair. Tugging me into her. I could tease her, bring her close to her climax and retreat again and again. I could. I had. I wouldn’t now.
Now it would be the opposite. I worked her with my tongue, my lips until she was panting. Gasping. Crying my name.
My cock was throbbing in my now-tight pants. My balls ached to be emptied, filling her and marking her deep in her pussy. Soon.
First, she would know that she belonged to me. That she was mine, body and soul. A Bride’s testing wasn’t necessary to know this. We didn’t have marked palms like Everians. I didn’t have seed power like the Viken males. Fark, I was proud I didn’t need it to satisfy my mate.
When she practically ripped my hair out as she came, her desire coating my mouth, my chin, my happiness was this. Her.
Us.
When her knees gave out, I collected her into my arms, lifted and carried her to the bed. I sat on the edge, held her on my lap.
“Gara, it is time to make you truly mine,” I murmured.
“We’ve already had sex,” she replied, nuzzling her face into my chest.
Setting her before me on her feet, I held my hands on her hips, the dress falling back down around her ankles. I was eye level with her breasts, her nipples with the little rings and chain clearly visible through the sheer fabric.
From my shirt pocket, I pulled out the family medallion. It had heft, but not enough to be painful for her as it would soon hang permanently from the chain between the rings.
“Mated Trion females are adorned. I’ve mentioned this before, but it has never been the right time. Now, it is.” I held the medallion between two fingers, so she could see it. “This is my family crest. It would make me pr
oud if you wore it.”
“Where?” she asked, her voice skeptical.
With one slow finger, I slid the strap of her dress off one shoulder then did the same with the other, so they were caught in the crook of her elbows. Her breasts were bare. Perfect. The pink nipples hardening as I watched.
Leaning forward, I licked one, flicked the hoop with my tongue. “Here.” I moved to the other nipple, gave it equal attention. “And here.” The chain swung slightly from the action.
She gasped but remained silent. “I will add jewels to the rings. Matching ones to this little Earth adornment.” I nudged the piercing in her navel. I glanced up at her. “I want to add a ring to your clit, bejewel it.”
She squirmed at my words. The idea of it made her hot. The reality of it would make her even hotter.
“Yes. Now. Please.”
My eyes widened in surprise. I was expecting her to argue, to offer up some kind of rebellion for the submission that wearing my adornments would permanently bring.
Her arms straightened by her sides, the dress sliding silently down her body to pool around her ankles. Her hands went to her pussy, her fingers bracketing her hardened clit. It poked out at me, swollen and eager for more attention. “Do it. God, the idea of a ring here makes me want to come again. I had no idea it would, but I want it with you.”
I had to know the reasons for her interest in it. She was aroused now, and I would not have her decision based on swirling desire. She needed to be clear headed enough to understand what it meant.
“Why?” I asked.
She arched a pale brow. “Because I love you, you idiot. I want to be yours. Permanently. I tested to Trion for a reason. I will submit but only to you. I’m proud to be yours. I want you to see my body and know it belongs to you.”
She’d said so much, but I was snagged on three specific words. “You love me?”
Rolling her eyes, she laughed. “Yes. I have no idea why since you’re such a stubborn, bossy—”
I didn’t let her say more only pulled her in for a kiss. She loved me!
Rebel Mate (Interstellar Brides® Program Book 20) Page 15