They turned in surprise to find Rynn standing behind them. The warriors that had been crowding the room had retreated to the sides, leaving the floor clear for the man who stood in the center. He looked like a god of vengeance. Blond hair loose around his shoulders, weapons in both hands and the furious expression said he was ready to commit murder.

His eyes latched on to Daaynal and he snarled again, “Get your fucking hands off of her. I don’t care that you’re the emperor himself. She’s mine.”

Jac’s heart leapt into her throat and she lifted a hand to cover her lips. All that power and fury, all to claim her… She hadn’t thought he cared enough, but the rage in his eyes as they latched on to her hand on the emperor’s arm told a completely different story.

Daaynal didn’t move, didn’t let go of her, didn’t step away. Instead he faced down the furious assassin with a level gaze. His voice was dangerous when he replied, “Is that so? Are you prepared to fight all who come for her?”

Rynn’s hands tightened on the blades he held, his knuckles white as he dropped back into what even Jac recognized as a fighting stance.

“I’ll fight you all, every single one of you, and then walk over the corpses to claim my woman. Fight the hordes of the after waste themselves if I have to. She’s mine and I will do whatever I have to claim her.”

The collected warriors gasped at the claim, their faces somewhere between awe and fear. If she had to guess, she’d say he just threatened to fight hell and all its demons for her. A fanciful boast, but one she actually believed. If anyone could take on hell, it would be Rynn.

Daaynal nodded, looking down at Jac.

“Is this male to your liking?” he asked, his voice low. His expression was unreadable, but she caught the glimmer of approval in the backs of his eyes. It seemed that rather than being annoyed at Rynn’s challenge, he was pleased. “Do you accept his claim?”

She pursed her lips, pretending for a moment to be indecisive. “Maybe. But I have some questions first…”

The emperor released her hand, motioning toward Rynn in the center of the room. “Then by all means. Ask your questions. Assure yourself of this male’s worthiness of your hand before you accept his claim.”

She nodded, heart pounding a rapid tattoo against the inside of her rib cage as she walked toward Rynn. His eyes followed her every step of the way, glittering pale orbs that missed nothing. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he’d be able to recall every detail of her appearance if he was asked later on. He could probably tell you how many men were in the room, how they were armed and where they were standing. He probably even had a plan to kill everybody in the room and make it out alive.

That should have scared her. Instead, it merely exhilarated her. That such a dangerous, powerful man… Wanted her.

She came to a stop just before him, close enough that she could feel his body heat beating against her even through the layers of her dress. He was shirtless, sweat glistening on his skin and highlighting the heavily carved muscles of his frame. Muscles she remembered tracing with her tongue, exploring in all the nights of passion they’d shared.

“You wished to question me?” The words were ground out through a clenched jaw and the mask slipped for a moment, letting her see the chaos and longing within. He let her see his control wasn’t as good as he made out.

“Yes.” Her voice was soft but grew in confidence. “I did. You want to claim me… Why? You could have at any point on our journey here, but you didn’t.”

He swallowed, eyes fixed on hers. There might as well not have been anybody else in the room with them, so intent was his focus.

“Because I was a fucking idiot. I wanted you to realize… To know what I am… Who I am… And realize you can do far better than a man who peddles death for a living.”

She nodded, her throat thickening with emotion. He didn’t think he was good enough for her. All this time she thought it was because she wasn’t good enough for him, when he was thinking the same. But she didn’t let him off just yet, instead asking, “And when we were here? When I knew what you did… Who you were?”

He sighed. “Because I was too weak to let you go. Darkness has always been my friend, but it’s also the place I go to be somebody I’m not. The place I go to pretend to be other people, to assume their lives and infiltrate my target. In the darkness I could pretend I was somebody I’m not. I could pretend I was a male that was worthy of you. I could pretend I was a male you could love.”

Tears hit hard and fast, collecting at the corners of her eyes as she looked up at him. She didn’t know what to make of his admissions, things he thought were weaknesses, things he was ashamed of. Warmth spread from the center of her chest, from her heart and soul, to filter into her bloodstream and then around her body. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him, tell him everything would be okay. But not yet. Not just yet.

She blinked, forcing emotion back, and studied him.

“And now?”

His eyes glittered fiercely. “Now I will do anything and everything to prove to you I am the male that you not only need and deserve, but hopefully want. And if I am so very, very lucky, the male that one day you will love.”

She bit her lip, shaking her head. “Uhhhm, that day isn’t going to come.”

“I understand.” The crushing defeat in his eyes almost broke her heart and he looked away. “I will, of course, cede the floor to someone you find more worthy.”

She reached out to touch his arm before he could turn away.

“That day isn’t going to come, Rynn,” she said softly. “Because it’s already here. I love you. I have since the moment I met you, wearing that bloody stupid unicorn cartoon t-shirt and pretending to know how to drive a car you knew nothing about. I’m surprised you didn’t crash us!”

He looked up, hope written across his features.

“You… You love me?” he gasped. A second later she was in his arms, the delicate silk of her dress crushed against his half naked form and her feet dangling off the floor. “Goddesses be praised. I had not… I thought…”

He seemed to struggle for words, so she took matters into her own hands, cupping his face and planting a kiss on his lips. He growled in the back of his throat, quickly taking over, his tongue sweeping past her lips to plunder the depth of her mouth in a kiss that was almost X-rated. The crowded room around them broke into cheers and congratulations.

Breaking away he looked down at her, a smile curving his lips. “I am the luckiest male alive,” he declared, his gaze still locked on hers. “Not only has the most beautiful female in existence agreed to be my mate, but she loves me. If she loves me even half as much as I love her, I am indeed, the luckiest male alive.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Say it again.”

“What? That I am the luckiest man alive?” he teased, slowly letting her feet touch the ground.

“No, you oaf!” She smacked his arm. “The other part. The part where you said…”

“Oh, the part where I said I love you? Okay…” He caught her hand, lifting it so he could place a kiss across her knuckles. “I love you, Jacqueline Wright. Will you be mine? My mate? My wife? My everything?”

Her smile was as broad as his. “I will. For now and forever.”

“My quarters, such as they are…” Rynn said, opening the door for Jac to step through.

They’d finally managed to escape the crowds and congratulations in the ball room purely by dint of Rynn growling at anyone who came anywhere near his new mate. The ceremony to bind them had been short and sweet, conducted right there in the throne room by Daaynal himself.

As weddings went, it was simple, but Jac didn’t care. She hadn’t wanted to wait a moment longer to call Rynn her own. She’d have married or mated him in a bin bag if she’d had to, on the rubbish dumps of any of the ghetto colonies.

“Wait, hold on.” Rynn stopped her as she made to walk through the door, a frown on his handsome face. “There’s a human thing Kenna told me about.”

Without warning, he bent down and scooped her up into his arms, and then walked through the door. She got a brief glimpse of his living quarters, filled with heavy wooden furniture in a style she didn’t recognize, before he carried her right through into the bedroom.

“Carrying the bride over the threshold,” she realized, her arms wrapped around his neck. She wasn’t worried about him dropping her—Rynn was the strongest man she’d ever met—but reveled in the feeling of being close to him. Of being allowed to touch him. He was her husband… she could touch him any time she wanted.

“That’s just through the door, you know? Not right into the bedroom…” she teased him lightly.

He just shrugged as he stopped in front of the bed, his eyes warm with amusement and something else. As he looked at her, that amusement faded, replaced by a darkness that made her shiver.

“The bedroom seems just the right place to be at the moment,” he murmured, bending his head to capture her lips.

She opened for him immediately, parting her lips so he could plunder within. He did. The soft swipe of his tongue seeking hers was slow and leisurely but no less determined. He kissed her thoroughly, like a man determined to imprint everything about her on his memory forever.

She clung to him, one hand wrapped around the back of his neck while she stroked his jaw, his neck… his chest with the other. He growled at her attentions and deepened the kiss, demanding her response. Heat rolled through her body in response, a need that demanded to be met and one only he could.

By the time he lifted his head, her breathing was ragged and she wasn’t sure she remembered her own name.

“Wow,” she whispered, captivated by his gorgeous eyes. “Who knew alien warriors could kiss so damn well?”

His arms tightened about her, eyes flashing dangerously.

“I’d better be the only alien warrior you’re kissing to find that out. Unless you want the palace littered with corpses…”

She laughed, secretly thrilled by his display of possessiveness, even if it had been late in coming. “Well… we are married, so it would be unfair of me to go kissing other men. But…” she lifted her eyebrow suggestively. “On Earth we have another tradition about marriage.”

“Oh?” he asked. “What’s that?”

“Well… there’s this old thing about a marriage not being official until it’s consummated…”

His reply was a swift, wicked grin. “Oh, I don’t think we need to worry about that at all.”

He let go of her legs and slid her down the front of his body. She bit her lip, smothering a small moan. She felt every… every inch of his big, heavily muscled body as his lips sought hers again, including the thick, hard bar of his cock where it strained against the confinement of his pants.

“Let me help you with that,” she broke away enough to murmur against his lips. She slid her hand between them and caressed him through the leather. Groaning, he closed his eyes and dropped his head back as his cock jerked against her touch. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple working in the strong column of his throat.

Taking that as permission, she laced her fingers through the fastenings. Undoing them with shaking fingers, she released him. His cock sprang free, filling her hand with its thick, hard length. He groaned again when she wrapped her small hand around him and stroked from root to tip.

“Oh lady…” His groan was low and guttural. “That feels so good.”

She smiled, twisting her hand to slide it down his shaft again. This time when she stroked up, she swept her finger over the broad head. A bead of pre-cum welled up, slickening the movement, and his cock jerked. Crowding forward to lay a kiss on his chest, she did it again, working his shaft in long strokes.

“Harder,” he begged, his bigger hand covering hers, moving it in a far rougher action than she’d been using. “I won’t break and… fuck me, that feels good.”

She carried on, loving the sounds of pleasure and groans that spilled from his throat. She did that to him, held him in her thrall and subject to her slightest touch and movement. Pulling away, she looked down… and then started to sink to her knees.

“Oh no, fuck no—” He caught her before she could complete the movement, hauling her up against him and stealing a quick, hard kiss. “I mean fuck yes, but not now. If you…” He swallowed, obviously having trouble with the idea. “If you do that, this will be the quickest… I’ll fucking explode.”

“You know, not many men would turn that down,” she admitted, her ability to breathe compromised by his kiss.

His expression turned sly. “Oh, I’m not turning it down. I fully intend to come back around to that thought another time. But right now? I have a mate to claim and a marriage to… what did you call it? Consummate?”

“Yeah, consummate,” she replied, breath catching in her throat in anticipation when his hands lifted to the clips on her dress. Her own stilled and fell away from his cock as, with two sharp snaps, the fabric that swathed her body fell away, leaving her naked beneath.

His expression tightened, sheer lust flowing over his features as he looked down at her. Where before she’d been insecure, thinking he only wanted her under cover of darkness, now she knew better. Throwing her shoulders back, she arched her spine and let him look his fill. She wasn’t skinny, but she had curves, and from the look on his face, he really liked the curves.

“Perfect…” he breathed. “Get on the bed. Now.”

The harshness in his order warred with the look in his eyes, and she hurried to do his bidding. In her own way, of course. Stepping back, she felt the side of the bed brush the back of her leg and slowly, as sensuously as she could, she slid backward onto it. He watched her every movement like a hawk as she lay back, knees together and back arched to display herself to the best advantage for him.

“Beautiful.” His hands made short work of his pants, the leather ruthlessly shoved down over his hips, and he walked out of his boots toward her.

Looming over her at the side of the bed for a moment, he wrapped a big hand around his cock, stroking himself as he looked down at her. A little devil on her shoulder made her run her hands through her hair, piling it up on top of her head as she twisted, rolling onto her side to look at him coyly over her shoulder.

With a muttered expletive, he reached out in a lightning move and wrapped a big hand around her ankle. A squeak escaped her as he yanked her toward him over the silken bedcovers until her thighs were forced to part either side of his.

“Now that is hot,” he murmured, reaching down to stroke his fingers between her pussy lips. They came away slick and wet, the evidence of her need for him glinting in the soft lighting of the room. A growl in the back of his throat, he licked his fingers clean, and she shuddered, a fresh wave of liquid heat flooding her pussy.

He smiled, the expression tight and feral before bending over her on the bed and planting a hand either side of her head. Her eyes widened as the broad head of his cock pressed against her. She hadn’t realized before but the bed was exactly the right height for him to take her while standing.

“Oh lord, yes…” She couldn’t help the small whimper, lifting her hands to wrap around his wrists either side of her head. She braced herself as he pushed against her. His gaze riveted to hers, he pressed harder until, slowly, her body gave around him.

She gasped, sucking in a breath as he slipped into her, breaching her body a half inch. He was so big she moaned, heat and need driving her hard. She pushed against him, needing more, and his groan joined hers as he slid in another inch. She ignored the stretching burn to wrap her legs around the back of his hips, urging him on. He pulled back only to slide in again, and again, sliding deeper each time until he was buried to the hilt deep within her.

“I will never get used to this.” He paused to brush her hair back from her neck. “Being with you, being inside you… is like coming home. You are my home, Lady Jac. My home, my mate and my life. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered, reaching up to kiss him softly. “Who would have thought my perfect man would be an alien from another planet?”

“A sex god alien from another planet, I’ll have you know,” he retorted, rocking his hips against her and making her gasp in pleasure.

She grinned against his lips. “Oh now that’s a claim and a half… I think you’re going to need to prove that one, handsome.”

He pulled back, winking at her. “Oh, I intend to. Before the end of the night, the entire palace will know my name.”

Then he surged back inside her, filling her in one hard and fast movement that made her cry out in pleasure. He didn’t stop there, adding stroke after stroke, caress after caress as he worshipped her body with his own.

And as he’d promised, before the night was through, the entire palace did know Rynn’s name.