EIGHT
Okay…so she’d agreed to stay with him for a whole month.
As he fed her another chunk of meat—which she had to admit was delicious, even though he’d said it was simply “travel rations”—Kate figured that she could do a lot worse than spending a month with an alien who just so happened to like licking her pussy until she screamed.
Definitely could do a lot worse, she thought, flushing, shifting on his lap. Sure, he had strange skin and black horns that stiffened when he was aroused and odd cat-like eyes. But he hadn’t hurt her. He hadn’t forced her to have sex with him. He gave pleasure instead of taking it. He’d said it was “his desire” to take care of her. She couldn’t deny the butterflies that erupted in her stomach at those words, a very human reaction in response to a very alien male.
A month did seem like a long time, but if there was one thing she’d learned in the last day, it was that he was just as stubborn as she was. He wouldn’t take anything less than a month…and so she’d agreed. It was her only chance of getting back home…eventually.
Besides, she could take the time to experience something completely out of this world. Literally. A once in a lifetime opportunity to live on a freaking alien planet. No one on Earth could say they’d done that.
And yes, she had her reservations, like what if his people—she tried to ignore the fact that he’d claimed to be the leader of his race…she’d process that at another time—didn’t accept humans? Had they ever seen a human before? How did they live? What would she do on that planet for a whole month?
And what if a lunar cycle to him was like…ten years her time?
Kate shook her head. One step at a time. She was heading in the right direction. She just needed to stay present and try not to worry about what would come next.
Because the fact of the matter was…she strangely trusted him to protect her. She felt safe with him and completely unthreatened. In her heart, she knew that he wouldn’t let anything harm her, which was a scary thought in itself. She absolutely, one hundred percent, could not become attached to this alien. She’d just booked a one-way ticket back to Earth. If she developed feelings for him, it would only make it harder to leave.
But one thing he’d said left her wary.
“What did you mean live with you as your mate?” she asked, watching his jaw move as he chewed a piece of meat.
“You already agreed to my terms,” he pointed out.
She became even more suspicious. He’d tossed that word around, mate, before. She figured sex was involved, but did it mean something more in his culture?
“Tell me,” she demanded.
He continued to chew, never breaking eye contact. She could tell he didn’t like to be ordered around. She figured that, if what he said was true and he was the leader to his people, he was the one who always did the ordering. For some reason…she found that sexy.
“Please,” she added, unconsciously shifting towards him.
“You will be sharing my sleeping platform, female.”
Kate blinked. “Okay,” she said slowly, drawing the word out.
“We will be mating regularly. Luxirians like to mate at least three times a span.”
“Okay,” she said again. Except this time, her voice sounded a little more breathless. Three times? He needed it three times a day? At least?
She should be appalled, right? She should be running to the door after hearing him say they would be having sex. But she’d already suspected that. In fact, judging by the way her body warmed and his nostrils flared, she guessed that she was more than on board with that.
What is wrong with me? she wondered, cheeks flushing. It was humiliating enough that Vaxa could tell when she was aroused.
“And we will go through the traditional mating ceremony, the ravraxia. We will ask the Fates to bless our union.”
“Wait…what?” she asked, the sound of a record screeching in her head. “That—a ceremony? I’m not marrying you.”
“Marrying?” he asked, something she recognized as a puzzled expression coming over his features.
“Yes! When two people legally bind themselves together, promising to spend their lives together.”
“And this marrying…it is forever?”
She paused. “Well…no. People can get divorced.”
“Divorced?”
“They can separate, leave each other, go about their lives. They can get married again to someone else if they want to.”
He frowned. “Then no. The ravraxia is not this marrying. Your marrying sounds more like Breeding pairs.”
“Umm…”
“Marrying can end,” he said. “Mates are forever if the Fates bless us. We blood bond.”
“Blood bond?”
“Tev,” he said, nodding.
“I’m not blood bonding with you!” she cried, pushing at his chest, trying to get off his lap. She didn’t even know what it meant, but it sounded painful.
“You will,” he informed her, calmly. “You agreed to my terms.”
“Yes, but—but, I didn’t know about the blood! Besides, I’ll be leaving in a month, in case you forgot. You don’t want to blood bond with me. I won’t be here for very long.”
“You will be my mate for a month. My mate,” he said. “If you want me to pay the Krevorags, then you will assimilate into my life. You will become mine fully for one lunar cycle. And I will become yours fully. I will not compromise on this, female.”
She stared at him, feeling an intensity radiating off him like a heat wave. “This is…important to you?” she questioned slowly.
“Tev, Kat,” he said, pressing her closer. His voice was nothing more than a growling rasp and he said, “If you wish to leave me after a cycle, then at least I know I will have had you for a short time.”
Kate’s lips parted and she swallowed thickly. Those damn butterflies were starting up again in her belly and she found her gaze straying to his lips. What would it be like to kiss him? Did his kind even kiss?
Stop, she said to herself. Don’t go there.
A month would go by in the blink of an eye. What did it matter really, in the grand scheme of things, if she did as he asked? She’d been kidnapped by aliens and forced into this situation…but if she did this for him, then he would help her find her way home. That was what mattered.
At the very least, she could get some amazing sex out of this, right?
“Okay,” she whispered, blowing out a short breath. “I will.”
His features didn’t change at all, but his fingers pressed into her hips just a little bit more. Then, without saying a word, he lifted another piece of food to her lips. His eyes flashed gold again when her tongue brushed his fingers.
Perhaps, she was a sex slave, she mused. Or would be. He was paying for her passage home, but only if she mated with him, completely mated with him, according to his customs. What she hadn’t expected, however, was to want to. Besides the insane attraction between them, she was curious…not only about the sex, but about him, about his way of life. A whole new world had literally just been opened for her.
She’d always told herself that eventually she’d do something crazy and completely unlike her, like quitting her job to travel around the world for a year, or finally moving to a new city in a new state, where she knew no one, to start fresh. But year after year, she stayed in the apartment she’d fought tooth and nail for from her cheating ex-boyfriend and every day, she commuted to her dream job that was seeming less and less like her dream job.
And some how, some way, she’d ended up in the lap of this alien, who was giving her this crazy opportunity. She was freaked out of her effin’ mind. But perhaps a part of her needed to be. She hadn’t felt fear in a long time, because she’d been so secure, so safe. She’d forgotten that sometimes, fear felt good. Fear meant that she alive.
For now, she would do this. For one month, she would experience something she’d never experience again.
Her only rule?
Don’t fall for the big, sexy alien, whose lap you’re currently straddling.
* * *
After breakfast, Kate followed Vaxa out of the dining hall. Her feet were bare against the metal floors of the ship and unbelievably cold. She felt naked, exposed, but she knew that he didn’t have any clothes that would fit her. What she wouldn’t give to have her lavender elephant print pajama bottoms and a nice pair of fluffy slippers right now.
She’d keep his shirt though. It was airy, light, and soft, unlike any material she’d ever felt or seen in her life. The only downfall? She felt like she was constantly aroused in it, like Vaxa’s scent was threaded through the material, a constant stimulation.
They’d eaten the rest of their meal in silence, even though Kate had had a billion questions flitting around in her mind.
Her new motto? Roll with it.
Getting kidnapped by aliens and offered up as a prize in a fight? Roll with it. Being taken as said prize by an alien with mirage-like skin and a wicked, ridged tongue and cock? Roll with it. Being offered a ride home if she spent one month as said alien’s mate?
She’d damn well roll with it.
Kate had a feeling that being as nonchalant as possible would be the best way to process what she was going through. In some ways, she felt like she was in a dream, like nothing was real because nothing made sense anymore. If she got home—no, when she got home—she’d have a proper freak out and probably land herself in some mental hospital, rambling on about being abducted by aliens.
She’d worry about that later, though.
“Where are we going?” Kate asked him, not recognizing the path they were taking. The ship was huge. Massive.
“To train,” he said, pulling her closer. He seemed unable to keep his hands off her, like touching her gave him comfort.
“Train?”
“Tev. We are warriors. We must train. Every span.”
Glancing at his muscles out of the corner of her eye, Kate pictured some gym weight room on steroids. How else would he get those ropey, shifting slabs of muscles?
“Female,” he growled, casting her a side look. His fingers flexed around her waist and she bit her lip, her thighs clenching. Why did he have to have some crazy bloodhound nose?
They reached a steel set of doors and when they swooshed open, Kate saw at least twelve square holes sunk into the floor. No weight equipment in sight. Rather, small fighting arenas. Fighting pits.
Vaxa wound his way around the pits. As they passed every one, Kate glanced down into them and saw that each one housed two of Vaxa’s men engaged in intense, brutal fights, blood and gore and all.
She didn’t know what surprised her more: that their blood was a dark blue color or that this was allowed. She’d never seen fights so vicious. She watched as one alien sunk his claws into his opponents’ shoulder and ripped a bloody chunk of skin off. The opponent didn’t even cry out; he just kept on fighting, retaliating with a claw slash that ripped through muscle and tendon.
Her horror must have shown on her features because Vaxa turned to her, frowning, “What is wrong?”
“This—this is barbaric!” she cried out, her wide eyes glancing down at each and every fight they passed. The fighters didn’t even glance up, so consumed they were in their arenas.
“So are battles,” he answered, her words rolling off his shoulders. “I would rather my men be prepared. Luxirians heal fast.”
“That doesn’t matter,” she protested. “This is…this is just…”
She was at a loss for words. But she shouldn’t be surprised. She’d seen the scars along Vaxa’s skin, his back, and even though she hadn’t asked him how he got them…she now knew.
Vaxa stopped at the pit that ran along the back wall. It was the largest pit of them all and she saw that another alien male was already down inside, warming up. The alien looked to be the same height and build as Vaxa. He was bare-chested and just as muscled. But one of his black horns was chipped and a large scar ran down his cheek. His hair was a light brown, not black like Vaxa’s.
“Lihvan,” Vaxa said to her. “He is one of my war generals.”
From down below, Lihvan inclined his head to her, eyes taking her in with a curiosity that she’d already encountered. “Lavrix’an. It is nice to see your face this time.”
His English was more heavily accented than Vaxa’s and Kirov’s. Her brows furrowed, not taking his meaning…until it hit her. He must’ve seen her when Vaxa had had her slung over his shoulder yesterday. Her cheeks flamed and she pinched the hem of her borrowed shirt, wondering if she could get it to cover even more of her skin.
“Lihvan,” Vaxa said, a warning tone in his voice.
“My apologies, lavrix’an. I meant no disrespect.”
Kate cleared her throat, nodding. In the background, she heard grunts, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, a sickening crunch.
“Can’t you take me back to your room?” she asked quietly.
Vaxa frowned at her. “I want you here with me. I will be distracted otherwise.”
“I don’t want to watch you fight again,” she admitted. “It…unsettles me.”
Vaxa studied her for a brief moment but then shook his head. “We have an agreement, female.”
“What does that have to do with this?”
“You said you will integrate into Luxirian life,” he said. “We are a warrior race. We fight to bring peace to our galaxy. This is a part of that. As my mate, you will accept this.” Before she could show her outrage, he leaned close and growled softly, “Luxirian females enjoy watching males fight.”
“Then go find a Lucks-ur-ree-an female,” she hissed back. Unbelievably, she felt a flicker of possessiveness, of jealousy.
Vaxa stepped back, peeling his shirt from his body and dropping it to the metal floor. Kate tried to not let her gaze roam…but it was hard. Dammit, it was hard.
“Watch,” he purred. “We will see how wet your cunt is afterwards.”
Her mouth dropped, her hands trembling at her sides. She felt a flair of anger as she watched him jump five feet down into the pit effortlessly. What alarmed her was the way her heart stammered in her chest, the way her belly clenched. In anticipation? She didn’t know.
Frozen, she stood next to the pit as they began. At first they circled each other, sizing one another up, waiting for an opportunity to strike. But when the fight began, it began.
Luxirians fought dirty, she realized as she watched, wide-eyed. Vaxa growled, muscles rippling, lashing out with enough power that would probably kill her if she ever got in the way. Lihvan took a hit, his chest contracting. She heard something break, but it didn’t stop him. He slashed at Vaxa with his sharp, black claws, catching him on his side, drawing dark blue blood.
It went on and on. She was transported back to that scorching hot arena with the two suns where she’d first seen him. She remembered the way that he dispatched of his opponent, quickly, efficiently. He was lethal, deadly. All Luxirians were, it seemed, as she watched Lihvan dish out just as much as he took.
It was never ending. Kate didn’t know how long she stood there, but she found that she couldn’t keep her eyes off Vaxa. She felt breathless, weakened. His body started to gleam with sweat. His eyes held laser focus and they were drilled into Lihvan. If anything, his muscles seemed to grow, becoming even more defined.
Kate let out a whimper.
It was a small sound, but she inhaled sharply when Vaxa’s gaze suddenly zeroed in on her, his pupils contracting. She saw a wildness, a darkness that she realized she needed.
Because he was distracted, Livhan got a brutal hit in and Vaxa’s head jerked to the side. Kate saw the blood running from his split lip and he growled, catching Lihvan’s fists with his palm. “Kravix, Livhan,” he rasped in his language, pushing his war general away.
Already, Vaxa’s gaze was back on her and he jumped, catching the edge of the pit before pulling all seven feet of him back to her level.
He was dripping in sweat. Blood ran from his lip and his side. His leather-like pants were torn just above his thigh and his long, dark, beautiful hair was mussed.
Oh my God.
Vaxa inhaled deeply, breaths coming fast, and Kate just knew that he smelled her intense arousal. He’d been right. Kate’s mind might have protested against how barbaric the fights were…but her body had responded to his brutality, his power, his strength.
“Come, female,” Vaxa growled, grabbing her arms a little roughly before sweeping her up into his arms. Kate didn’t mind.
Gone was her gentle alien.
In his place, there was a male who looked like he wanted to devour her.