Dekon: Fated Mate Alien Romance (Mated to the Alien Book 10)

by Kate Rudolph

  "So the spicy redhead warned you?"

  Deke shrugged.

  "You're not making this any fun. I traveled half the galaxy just to follow you. Some luck we both ended up on the Temple of Peace, isn't it?" He was speaking jovially, as if they were having a friendly conversation and not the flirtation that led to a deadly fight.

  "Doesn't look like we were there for the same reason."

  "I was just there for the gold, never expected to see you again. But luck has always been on my side. You lost your nerve." The Butcher sounded sympathetic. "It happens. Obvious it would happen to you. You don't have the heart for it."

  He hated to agree with the man holding him hostage, but The Butcher had a point. Deke's heart had never been in mercenary work. But he wasn't about to agree with the bastard.

  "Let these three humans go, and you can have me."

  Manda made a protest in the back of her throat, but she clamped it back before any words came out.

  The Butcher laughed. "I forgot you were funny. Why would I let them go when I have the three of them and you?" He seemed genuinely curious.

  "They haven't done anything to you."

  "Why does that matter?" He raised the blaster towards Manda and Deke saw red.

  He didn't think. He charged.

  Before the shot went off, Manda dropped to the ground. She wasn't hit. He knew that. But he had to put her out of his mind. He let the darkness of the fight swallow him whole as he engaged with The Butcher.

  But The Butcher had earned his name. They traded blows, and even Deke's claws didn't seem to have much of an effect on the man. But he wasn't going to win. No matter what happened, he wasn't going to win.

  He did manage to knock the blaster away, sending it skittering towards the other end of the room. He couldn't keep track of where it landed, but at least it was out of The Butcher's reach.

  Punch.

  Kick.

  Swipe.

  Jab.

  It all blended together.

  "Deke, down."

  He dropped at Manda's yell and felt the heat and sizzle of the blaster shot go over him and slam right into The Butcher.

  The Butcher went down, but he wasn't out. The blaster wasn't modified to be lethal.

  But it was enough. The Butcher scuttled back. They were right near the front door and he managed to get his hand on the handle. He opened it and backed out.

  Then he froze.

  Deke wasn't sure what was happening, but then he saw just over The Butcher's shoulder. Vita, Braxtyn, Shayn, and Naomi were all standing there, each of them holding one of Vita's scary-looking blasters.

  "On your knees, asshole. We've got you." Vita spoke with the authority of someone carrying a huge weapon.

  And The Butcher went to his knees. It was done.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Manda expected more fallout. She expected her parents would want to lock her in a cellar somewhere and never let her out. But after The Butcher was taken care of, they seemed to chill out. There had been a bit of panicking once she explained that Dekon was her mate and that they planned to move in together, a decision Manda had finalized while she was panicking about Deke fighting The Butcher. But something about a fight to the death had made her parents realize she was a grown up now.

  Or maybe that was their therapist explaining Manda's need for independence for the thousandth time.

  Manda didn't care why. She was going to take the win.

  And now, three weeks later, the shape of her and Dekon's new house was finally starting to appear.

  There were piles of building materials all around them and a few rented robots putting it all together right alongside her, Deke, and the rest of the family. Even her parents were helping out. But for right now, she and Deke had stolen away to get a few moments to themselves.

  "Do you like it?" Deke asked.

  The house was going to be small. Just two bedrooms and a kitchen and living area and a bathroom. Nothing fancy. Deke felt like more space would be wasteful, and he was used to the cramped quarters on spaceships. And Manda had been living in one bedroom, so suddenly having a whole house seemed like a lot.

  Anyway, the way the house was designed, they could add on more if they needed it later. Kids?

  She wasn't sure about that. And the one time she and Deke had almost had a conversation about it, he'd started sweating and got a panicky look on his face.

  So that was something that they would deal with later.

  "I'm going to love this place," she said. She laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you."

  Deke jolted, dislodging her.

  "What?"

  "You never said it before." His eyes had gone blue with strong emotion.

  "I've said it before," Manda protested. She was sure she had. Right? "I've said it."

  "You haven't," said Deke.

  Had she really not?

  "Well, you haven't said it either." It might have been a little childish to throw that back in his face, and she hadn't really cared about it until right now. They were just words. They had gone through more than enough to prove their love to one another.

  "I love you," Deke said, like it was obvious.

  She could tease him. She could keep this argument going forever. But it wasn't really an argument. And it was obvious.

  "Since when?" Okay, she had to tease him a little.

  "I realized it when we were on the shuttle heading back to Earth. But I must have been in love with you beforehand."

  "So you realized you loved me when you had sex with me."

  Deke sputtered. "That's not what I--you're--that's... When did you realize you were in love with me?" he shot back.

  Manda clamped her mouth shut. Because it had been the exact same night. It was time to change tactics. "No one's in your room back at the big house. No one's at the house at all. Want to make this break a bit longer?"

  Deke sucked in a ragged breath and then glanced over at where all the others were working. "They'll realize we've gone."

  "Not until we're already away. Come on."

  Deke grinned and laced their hands together. They snuck off back towards the main house and up the stairs to Dekon's room.

  An afternoon in bed was much better than an afternoon of manual labor, even if they were going to get sweaty either way.

  And Manda couldn't stop smiling as Deke kissed her. The road to this moment had been long and twisty, but here she was with her mate who she loved. She couldn't stop smiling as he hoisted her up before hurrying up the stairs. They didn't make it to his room, not immediately.

  He pressed her up against the wall, his mouth covering hers and devouring her in a claiming kiss. Manda moaned against him, addicted to his taste. She would have done anything he wanted right then; he could have stripped her naked and had his way with her right in that hallway.

  Luckily he seemed to have slightly more presence of mind. He picked her back up and pushed his way into his room. They'd been staying there for the last three weeks, and her things had definitely filled up the spartan room. Their house couldn't be ready soon enough.

  But right now she just needed Deke. His body was heavy over hers, a reminder of those hard years that had molded him into who he was now. Not the same man who'd run away from her, not a man to be consumed by his fear. No, he'd grown, he'd changed. And she knew that he was continuing to change, just as she was. And they would be together for all the changes that their lives would throw at them.

  Deke stripped her bare until she was lying naked under him. He pulled his own clothes off quickly, and she enjoyed the sight of him in the warm sunlight, her Detyen mate. It was impossible to encompass the joy she felt just looking at him, especially with the way pleasure coursed through her body.

  He kissed her again. He was never allowed to stop kissing her. That was a new rule, one she'd tell him if he ever tried to pull away.

  He found her entrance and then he was pushing into her, his thick cock joining them together in th
e most primal of ways. Manda got lost in the moment as time gave way to pleasure. Her mate knew what to do to her to make her mind melt away.

  She cried out as he plunged into her just right, her fingers gripping his shoulders hard enough to leave a mark.

  His teeth scraped her shoulder as he came and some primordial part of her wanted him to bite down and mark her for all to see.

  "Do you think they're expecting us to go back?" Deke asked some time later, breath puffing out of his chest.

  "It is our house they're working on. We probably should." But Manda wasn't going to make a move until the last possible moment. She was too comfy, ensconced next to her mate, body sated and wonderfully warm. "I love you," she said, and she might have added a bit of emphasis, recalling their earlier conversation.

  "You only love me because you're having sex with me," he shot back. And then he enveloped her in his arms and was kissing her before Manda could even begin to formulate a response. And the more he kissed her, the less she cared.

  The road to home had been long and bumpy, but finally everything was perfect.

  Epilogue

  "There's a shuttle leaving every hour, we don't have to do this." Manda clutched Deke's wrist and tried to pull him back down the path to the NaZade house. Her and Deke's house was a dark outline in the dusky dimness but it held the promise of the future.

  One more week until it was ready. It couldn't come fast enough.

  "You've been avoiding this." Deke grinned and tugged her down the path.

  He was grinning a lot more lately. She loved to see it. "You should be avoiding it too. They're my parents."

  "And they love you," he assured her.

  "This is going to be awkward." Honestly, Manda didn't know how they'd avoided this for so long.

  "We've had dinner with them before."

  "Not alone! Everyone else was there. Can we invite Doryan? Come on!" They were almost to the house, and at this point she was complaining more for show. There was no turning back.

  The back door opened and her dad peeked his head out and waved them forward. "Come in!"

  "Hello, Jake," Deke greeted politely.

  "Suck up," Manda whispered as they climbed the stairs and entered.

  Her mate ignored her. "Thanks for having us, Lilah," he told her mom, who was carrying a large dish to the table.

  Her mom smiled. "I'm so glad you could make it."

  Manda thought things might turn out alright. Her mom and dad seemed happy. Deke was on his best behavior. She even managed to plaster on a smile. But once they sat down, no one spoke except to pass the food around.

  "How's the house coming along?" her dad asked.

  That was even worse than silence. The last handful of conversations she'd had with her parents had all centered around the house. They knew.

  But Deke was determined to make a good impression. "Almost habitable. I think everyone at the house will be ready to have their space back."

  "You're welcome to stay here. Manda's room will always be hers. Nice and soundproofed. Totally private," her mother offered.

  Manda's cheeks flamed. "Mom!"

  "What?" Her mother's brown eyes were all innocence. "You've expressed that you want privacy, I'm merely assuring you that you have it."

  Two months ago, this would have been a fight. Two months ago, Manda wouldn't have been able to see the sparkle in her mom's eyes for what it was.

  Teasing.

  "And Dekon wouldn't even need to sneak in through your window," her dad added.

  Deke choked on his drink.

  Her parents were grinning madly.

  "I don't know what you're talking about," Manda managed to say.

  Yeah, her parents weren't buying it.

  But it broke the tension, and dinner carried on with actual conversation. No need for Deke's family or their friends to act as a buffer. For half a second, Manda even considered taking them up on their offer of using her room.

  No.

  She had a hundred and one dirty things she wanted to do to her mate, and she couldn't do them if her parents knew it was a possibility.

  Some things were just too much to bear.

  ***

  After dinner Jake pulled Manda aside, leaving Deke alone with Lilah. They were washing the dishes quietly. This was the first time he'd been alone with Manda's mom in more than four years. And he already knew what was coming.

  "She's why you left." It wasn't a question.

  At least they weren't ignoring it. "Yes." He braced for an accusation, for something. But Lilah just handed him another plate to dry off. Deke did and set it aside.

  "She was young," she said.

  "She was." Agreeing with her statements. That was a good strategy. He was sure Manda would do the same.

  He hoped that Manda never heard this conversation.

  "So were you."

  Deke nearly dropped the towel in his hand. "Not that young."

  "I'm not saying I would have approved or that you should have done anything." She turned and glared at him, as if imagining what he could have done. "But a choice that impulsive could only be made by a young man."

  He wanted to defend himself, but what could he say to that? "I was wrong."

  "Does she know that?"

  Did she know her daughter? "Manda crossed half the galaxy to find me. Believe me, she knows."

  "Good." She finished the final dish and handed it over to him. Deke waited for the rest, but whatever was said seemed to satisfy Lilah.

  He wasn't going to push for more.

  They met Jake and Manda in the living room and the evening went on. Now Deke understood a bit of his mate's dread. No matter how well the conversation went with her mother, he could feel the awkwardness in the air. He counted the minutes until it was polite to leave, and then he grabbed Manda's hand and they were out the door.

  "What was that about?" she asked after they waved her parents goodbye and were on the path back to his brothers' house.

  "You're right."

  "I know. I'm right about everything. And don't you forget it." She leaned in close and kissed his cheek. "But what, specifically, am I right about now?"

  "That you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Thanks for coming to find me." He would never stop being grateful for that, or happy about it. If there was ever any challenge, he knew he could face it if he was at his denya's side.

  "Always," she promised. "Now let's get home. I want you in bed."

  Deke picked up the pace. He would always follow his mate's command.

  ***

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  ***

  Explore more of the Detyen World with Soulless.

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  What's Next: Soulless

  Can a man without emotions find his mate?

  There's nothing left in Raze. No love, no hate, nothing but the duty that he owes his people. But when he meets a fascinating and tough human woman on a barren planet something deep inside comes back to life and for the first time in years he yearns for more.

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  When a mission for the Sol Intelligence Agency gets out of hand, Sierra will need to use every skill she has and work with a mysterious alien warrior who awakens an unquenchable desire within her. He's cold and forbidding, but when he looks at her there's a fire in his eyes that opens up a whole world of possibilities.

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  The chemistry between Raze and Sierra is too hot to ignore, even if it should be impossible for a mate bond to form between them. They'll need to fight pirates, their people, and fate itself to be together. But it may already be too late for the soulless warrior and the woman he aches to claim.

  The Detyen Warriors series brings you kick butt heroines, alpha alien heroes, fated mates, and relationships strong enough
to span the galaxy!

  Explore the Detyen Universe with Soulless.

  Available in ebook, audio, and print!

  ALSO BY KATE RUDOLPH

  Looking for more?

  Kate Rudolph has a heart pounding collection or paranormal and sci-fi romance stories for you! Bundles, bears, audiobooks, aliens, and more. Check out your options in the list below. You can find out all you need to know at www.katerudolph.net.

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