Gwen pinched herself. She had to be dreaming. There was no way this could be real, could it? Men who looked like Kash wouldn’t look twice at someone like her, never mind pull her into his arms and kiss her. And holy hotness, the man could kiss. He slanted his mouth across hers in an act of undeniable possession, and she felt the impact all the way down to her toes.

Strong arms held her close, letting her feel the hard planes of his body pressed against her. His lips tasted hers, his beard rough against her skin. She felt a rush of heat that set her blood boiling and made her pussy slick with need. Her head spun like she’d had too much wine and she leaned into Kash, wrapping her arms around his waist to steady herself.

At that moment, a bone-piercing screech erupted around them. He crushed her to him with enough force to make her gasp, and then everything vanished. She drifted in an infinite stretch of nothingness. She started to panic and then remembered Kash’s words. He’d told her she’d never be alone again, that he would be with her. She clung to that promise, trying to imagine that he was still holding her, despite the fact she couldn’t feel her own body. She was part of the void, and it was part of her. The only thing that kept the terror at bay was the memory of Kash’s last words.

The world came back in a rush. Her senses were overwhelmed with input. Light. Sound. Colour. Touch. She sucked in a breath and pressed herself against the solid comfort of Kash’s body. His heart beat hard beneath his ribs, the tempo almost as fast as hers.

“Well, that sucked. Please tell me we don’t have to do that again anytime soon.” She whispered against his lips, then her eyes flew open as she reconsidered her words. “Wait. I mean the teleportation part. Not the kissing. Kissing good. Teleport bad.” Shit. She was babbling again. He was going to think she was an idiot.

Kash chuckled. The low, rumbling sound rolled through her, somehow making her feel better despite the fact he was laughing at her. “You did well. Most first-timers emerge from the transition disoriented and traumatized.”

“You said I wouldn’t be alone, even if it felt like I was.” She leaned her head back to look into his eyes. “I believed you.”

A gleam of gold flashed in Kash’s eyes, dazzling her. Before she could comment, he speared his fingers into her hair and bowed his head, ravishing her mouth with another kiss. Lips slanted across hers in a full-force sensual attack that had her senses reeling all over again. He nipped her lower lip in silent demand, and she opened her mouth to him, inviting him in. His tongue tangled with hers, a low groan of need rising from his throat.

He guided her backwards a few steps until her back was pressed against a cool, smooth surface. He didn’t stop moving until she was pinned in place by his body. The hard line of his cock easily felt against her stomach. His hand left her hair, tracing its way down her shoulder, over her breast, to finally stop at her hip. Without a word, he took hold of her with both hands, lifting her until she was eye to eye with him, her feet dangling far above the floor.

Panic warred with arousal at his quiet display of strength. No one had tried to pick her up since she was a little girl. She was too fat for any man to even try. Now Kash knew exactly how much she weighed. The thought mortified her.

She tore her mouth from his, turning her head to hide her embarrassment. “Stop. Put me down, please.”

He froze. “Did I hurt you?”

“No. You’ll be the one who ends up hurt if you keep trying to hold me up like this. I’m too heavy to lift.”

“Too heavy?” Kash sounded indignant. “I am a soldier of Pyros, not one of the weak males of your species. I could carry you around for several of your days without discomfort.”

“You could? You’d want to do that?” It was getting increasingly hard to think. Her thoughts were muddled, her heart was pounding, and all she wanted to do was throw her arms around Kash’s neck and kiss him again.

He chuckled, and she felt the sound roll through her like the tolling of a church bell. “Look at me, so that you see the truth of my words.”

She turned her head to find him staring at her, his hazel eyes bright with desire and his expression open.

“Having you in my arms is no hardship.”

He was telling the truth.

That made her uncomfortable, as did the way he was staring at her. Men didn’t look at her that way, like she was a triple chocolate sundae and they were coming off a three-day fast. She decided it was time for a distraction. She finally looked around her, taking in the gleaming walls and strangely empty space they were standing in. “So, uh, where are we right now?”

“We are in the airlock of the shuttle I used to get here. The teleportation device is only good for short distances.” Kash gave her a quick kiss and shifted his hold, cradling her in his arms. “And speaking of the shuttle, I should be flying us out of here. I’m not actually authorized to be on the surface.”

“You’re not supposed to be here? Why not? Your friends are.”

They exited the airlock through a door that simply appeared in the wall with a wave of Kash’s hand, entering an equally featureless corridor. White walls, pale orange floors, and nothing else but a few discreet keypads set flush with the walls.

“Joran is the crown prince of Pyros, and Vadir is one of the richest, most influential males on my world, and many others besides. Only the elite have been granted permission to undertake this mission.”

Gwen stared at him, perplexed. “But, you’re perfect. I mean, look at you. Any woman would be thrilled to have you as their match. And who made those stupid rules, anyway? I get why I was rejected, but you?”

“Who rejected you?” He ignored everything but the last thing she’d said.

“Star-Crossed. This interstellar matchmaking service your people cooked up. I applied, too. Lisa and Maggie got accepted, but they didn’t want me. And you didn’t answer my other questions.”

His arms tightened around her. “You ask questions in bunches. How do you even keep track of the answers?”

“That wasn’t an answer. That was another question.”

His lips curved into a brief smile. “It was.”

When he didn’t say anything more, she rolled her eyes at him, which made him smile again. She liked it when he did that. She got the feeling Kash didn’t smile that often. “So, who decided you couldn’t claim a mate or a match or whatever?”

They entered a small cockpit area, with two seats and a console full of monitors and panels marked in a language she’d never seen before. He set her down in one of the chairs, taking the time to fit her with a kind of safety harness before taking the other seat. His fingers flew over the console, activating lights and monitors.

The idea that they were leaving Earth was more than she could deal with, so she trained all her attention on Kash. His words. His actions. The low rumble of his voice. She’d never been turned on by a man’s voice before. Not until she’d met him.

Everything about him made her hot. She was a reclusive bookworm who had been known to stammer and flee a room if a man so much as asked her name. Yet, she’d walked out of her house with a smoking hot alien who kissed like a god and told her she was tiny. Either she was losing her mind, or the universe had stopped making sense. Either way, she wasn’t in a rush to go back to the way things had been.

“King Janus, the ruler of my planet, was the one who decided who would be selected for matching with human females.”

She snorted. “Well, that explains why his son made the list.”

“Prince Joran made the list because no prince can ascend to the throne until they are mated, thus ensuring that the family line will continue. Joran’s true mate was not on Pyros. The need to find the one female destined for him is the reason we are all here.”

“Wait. You’re telling me that Maggie is the prince’s true mate? How can you tell? And how is that even possible?”

“You are asking your questions in bunches again. I will answer as best I can once we have left the surface. Would you like to watch our ascent?”

“Could I?”

He looked at her askance, his fingers keying in another set of commands. “I would not have offered if it wasn’t possible.”

The front wall of the cockpit was suddenly filled with lights. The city of Vancouver was stretched out beneath them, glittering like a thousand stars nestled together. The lights ended abruptly at the coastline, and beyond that was nothing but the pitch-black water of the Pacific Ocean.

“It looks so beautiful. I had no idea.” She leaned toward the image, trying to memorize every detail.

“Neither did I.” Kash wasn’t looking at the monitor, though. He was staring straight at her.

He could have left the shuttle’s onboard computer to handle the flight back to the Firebrand. Normally, Kash would have done exactly that, but there was nothing normal about this trip. He needed to stay busy, with his mind on the flight and his hands on the console. If he didn’t, then he’d have Gwen in his arms again before they arrived. After a lifetime of discipline and focus, the Gods had presented him with a temptation he couldn’t resist. Gwen.

By the Flames of the First One, she was lovely. He tore his gaze away from her, locking his eyes on the controls.

The memory of how she’d felt nestled in his arms was branded in his mind forever. So was the moment that the Spark had arced between them, announcing to the universe that she was the one he’d given up hope of ever finding. Why did the Gods have to bring her into his life now? He couldn’t claim her. He had a mission to fulfill. Lives to protect. And above all that, he was not one of the males selected for matches. To claim her would mean defying a royal command.

“Kash?”

Gwen’s soft voice wrapped around him like a physical caress, sending all the blood rushing straight to his cock. As his dick strained against the tight confines of his pants, he wondered why any human male would wear such clothes. He couldn’t move, fight, or even react to a female without discomfort. Were they intended to emasculate the males as some form of punishment? He shifted in his chair like a bored recruit, but it didn’t help.

“Is it okay if I talk, or am I distracting you?”

“You’re not distracting me,” he lied.

“You said you’d answer my questions about true mates once we were in the air.” She gestured to the view. “We’re not on Earth anymore.”

He glanced over to her. She had turned her chair to face him, her curiosity overcoming her interest in the fast receding lights of her home. Once again, he was struck by her strength and courage. Even granting that her judgment had likely been compromised by the Scorching, she was still accepting all that he’d told her without panic or fear. Maybe these humans weren’t so primitive after all.

“As I understand it, humans can choose to bond and create younglings with anyone they chose. It’s different for my people. We cannot procreate with anyone but our true mate. When we find them, we are drawn together and form a bond that lasts for the rest of our lives. It’s also the only way for a Pyrosian to unlock their power over flame.”

“One person? That’s it? Out of an entire world, you all have to find the one person that’s your match? How is that even possible? What happens if you never find each other?”

He smiled as she hit him with another barrage of questions, even though the answers to her queries were nothing to smile about. “In the past, we had great gatherings. All those who sought their mate would attend, meeting with as many others as they could, hoping to find the one they were destined for. Now, we have databases that can determine likely matches. Once the pair are both adults, that information is sent to them, and they can meet. If the match is true, then they are together for the rest of their lives.”

“Sort of like how Star-Crossed works?” she asked, then frowned, her dark eyes turning stormy. “Or is it exactly how it works? Did you build a database of Earth girls?”

If she was smart enough to make that leap in logic, there was no point in compounding matters by denying the truth. “We did.”

“And then your king sent his son and a handpicked selection of Pyrosian elites to come here and claim human women? Do they even get a say? Will I ever get to see my friends again?”

“We are not barbarians. Any female who was matched has the right to refuse. And yes, I will do my best to ensure that you see your friends again. I give you my word.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because my people are dying out. Every generation there are fewer females born, and more males live their lives without finding their mate. We had to find another species to reproduce with. Against all odds, we found one. Humans.

“We believed that these pairings would be something less than a true match, but close enough to allow reproduction. In at least two cases, however, the matches have been perfect. Your friends aren’t answering you because they are in the thrall of what we call the Scorching. It is the mating fever that begins when a matched pair first touch.”

Her shoulders drooped. “So, odds are good they’ll be leaving with their true mates when this is done? And since I don’t have a match, I can’t go with them. I’m glad they get the right to choose, though. That’s good. Lisa always wanted to travel. I guess she’s going to get to see more than she ever dreamed of. New planets and everything. And they’ll be heroes. Helping to save your planet.”

“The males they were destined for will give them good lives. Your friend, Maggie, will be a queen one day.”

Gwen winced. “Oh man, that’s right. She’s really not going to love that idea. She always tried to stay out of the spotlight and live quietly. You’re sure they’re a true match?”

“I’m certain. They experienced the Spark.”

Gwen’s eyes rounded. “You mean, like the blue spark-thing that happened when we touched?”

Flames and fury. He shouldn’t have mentioned the damned Spark.

When he didn’t answer her, she stiffened and turned to face forward again. “It was that Spark thing you’re talking about, wasn’t it? But I was rejected from the program, so it must be a glitch. According to your database, I’m not good enough to be your true mate.”

“The Gods make the matches, not a computer.” He didn’t know what else to say. When he glanced over at Gwen, she was so still and quiet she might have been carved from stone. Shoulders rigid, hands clasped tightly in front of her, her eyes locked on the viewscreen directly ahead.

Seeing her like that and knowing he was the cause of her distress made him physically ache. He wasn’t worthy of a mate. He was too scarred and battle-hardened to be a good match for any female. Especially not one as amazing as Gwen. There had to be a way to undo this so she would be free to find someone else. Someone who would treasure her and always put her needs first. She deserved that, and he couldn’t give it to her. He had to put his duty to the crown first. Always.

The silence between them continued for the rest of the journey. The only words spoken were from the ship’s computer, and the only sound was the rhythmic drumming of his fingers on the edge of the console.

Once they docked, he unfastened his harness and turned to assist Gwen with hers, only to discover she had managed to undo herself and was already out of her chair and backed into a corner of the cockpit.

“Now what happens?” Her words were clipped, her hands still clenched in front of her. It wasn’t until he looked carefully that he saw that she held them that way to hide their trembling. She was afraid. Whatever trust she’d had in him was gone.

“Now, we leave the ship. First, we’ll go to the airlock again, and stay in there a few minutes during decontamination. Then I’m taking you to medical to have your burns attended to.”

“You’re going to fix my hand?”

“You are injured. We can heal that in a matter of seconds. Why would I not do that for you?”

“Because I’m a problem you need to deal with, not a guest. I realize that, now. I was stupid not to see it before. I’m a risk. You didn’t come to tell me about Maggie and Lisa out of the goodness of your heart. You weren’t supposed to come to the planet at all. You said so yourself. You had to come because I know too much and I was about to call the police about my missing friends.” Her brow furrowed. “Did you do something to my phone? Is that why I couldn’t call anyone the last time I tried?”

“Yes, we blocked your communications. I’ll explain the rest once we’re in the airlock.”

He exited the cockpit and let her fall in behind him. He wanted to touch her, to take her hand, but he didn’t. It would only accelerate the Scorching.

They re-entered the empty space of the airlock, he activated the decontamination program, and turned to face Gwen. “You are more than a problem to be dealt with, Gwen Hudson. You are a guest on this ship, not a prisoner. No harm will come to you, I swear. I should warn you, that while most of the crew have been giving rudimentary training in your language, not all of them will be fluent. There may be miscommunications.”

“So, that’s not some nifty translator device you’re using to speak with me? You actually learned English? How long did that take? And what’s with the blue lights?”

“The light is part of the decontamination process. And yes, I learned your language. We were all given cognitive augmentation containing information on language and customs. The uploads were done while I slept.” He’d take her rapid-fire questions over unhappy silence any time. At least they were talking again.

“You learned English in your sleep?” she sighed. “I wish we had that tech. I could take a nap, wake up, and be able to read books in a new language. I can speak and read a little French, but most of what I know comes from reading the French side of my box of Corn Flakes.”

The airlock lights strobed green, and the outer door opened, revealing the open space of the shuttle deck.

“Medical is this way. Follow me.”

A few uniformed crewmen worked on the vessels, and all of them turned to stare as Gwen stepped into view. She was the first human they’d seen in the flesh, and all of them were curious.

Gwen hunched her shoulders and dropped her gaze to the floor. “Why are they staring?”

Kash raised his voice and added a booming tone of authority to his words. “They’re staring because they’ve forgotten their manners. Get back to your duties, or your next mission assignments will be guarding grain shipments to the Qualla mining colonies against paka infestations.” He then repeated the entire statement in Pyrosian, and by the time he was done, there wasn’t an idle crew member in sight.

Good. No one stares at my mate but me.

He banished the errant thought and headed for the medical bay. He needed to be thinking clearly, and that wasn’t going to happen while he was in the thrall of the Scorching. It was time to put an end to this madness before it consumed him completely.