Rescued by her Alien Mate

Warriors of the D’tali: Book One

Ava York

Starr Huntress

Contents

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Dojak

Sofia

Sofia

Epilogue: Dojak

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Ambushed with her Alien Mate: Sneak Peek

Rekker

Kazan

Rogue Mate

Sofia

The cargo hold was dark.

An oppressive heat had kept my clothes sticking to my body for the past three days and even when I hid in the shadows by the corner, it was useless to fight it. A series of pens lined the flat metallic walls, much like those you’d encounter in a slaughterhouse, with two women in each of them.

Separating each of the pens was a shimmering force field, making it impossible to escape. There were no locks we could pick, nor any hinges we could burst open, and the force field was as resistant as a concrete wall, even if the only sign that it was there was the occasional flash of color.

“They’re coming our way.”

Fingers dug into my forearm and I looked to the side to see Isabella’s eyes widening, studying our enemy.

I fidgeted with my bracelet. It had been a gift from my nieces and I had worn it the night I was kidnapped. Now it was my only connection back to Earth.

Locks of sweat-darkened hair were plastered to her forehead, and her lips were pressed into a white line of concentration. Her large brown eyes were honed in on something outside our pen and when I followed her gaze, I shuddered.

Despite what should have been growing familiarity, there was something repellent about our captors.

Eight-feet tall but, despite their height, there was nothing elegant about them. Their bodies were compact, hard muscles bulging under their ragged uniforms, and the way they moved spoke of raw power. They had four arms, each slightly longer than a human’s, and their skin was of a deep-blue pigmentation, one that almost made it seem as if they could glow in the dark.

Two of them stopped right outside our pen, their dark eyes turning into slits as they looked at us. Their faces reminded me of angry gorillas, and the slabs of muscle on their shoulders reinforced that idea.

I pushed Isabella back as gently as I could. I had no idea what these two wanted with us, but I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.

Time after time I’d caught her studying them and the energy walls that made our cages, carefully observing everything around us.

If someone was going to get us out of here, it was going to be her.

One of the aliens pulled back his lips into what resembled a smile, then used his elbow to poke the other in the ribs. They clicked their tongues, a guttural sound emerging from their throats, and I had no doubt they were talking about us.

Even though I couldn’t understand what they were saying, they seemed to be amused with how quiet Isabella was. Gritting my teeth, I took one step forward and straightened my back, showing that I wasn’t afraid of them. Of course, I was afraid. I was freaking terrified.

How could I not be?

I still remembered how it had felt to wake up here, my head throbbing with pain. Before that, the last thing I remembered was that I had finished my night shift at the diner and that I had decided to go out for a quick run. Then, I had vague memories of a blinding white light and, next thing I knew, I was being held up inside a pen as if I were some kind of animal.

The aliens began to confer between themselves and, for a moment, it looked like they had forgotten about us.

“The first time I saw those alien creatures, I think my brain froze,” Isabella murmured. “I mean, I always believed there might be intelligent life in the galaxy, but…”

“I know,” I said. “It was like seeing one of those creatures emerge from the shadows shattered my whole worldview in less than a second.”

“I can’t figure out what the tie is,” she continued. “There’s nothing in common among all of us. Location, age, health, not education or background. Were they just near Southern California and we were convenient?”

I had no idea why a group of four-armed aliens had decided to capture an overworked waitress like me, or why a shy bookworm like Isabella had been thrown in this pen, and I wasn’t sure if we’d ever find any answers to all our questions.

We couldn’t understand a word of what the aliens said and, besides, they didn’t seem particularly interested in communicating with us. The only time we interacted with them was when they pushed a few plates of a foul-smelling soup into our pens.

Now, though, it seemed like things were changing.

One of the blue aliens shuffled his feet and grabbed a handheld device from his large belt. He pressed a button on it and part of the force field shimmered weakly for a moment. Then it disappeared. Putting the force field remote back on his belt, the alien pointed at Isabella and barked something.

“They want me to go with them,” Isabella whispered, face pale, walking back until she had her back pressed against the cold wall of the cargo hold. “Oh, God, this isn’t good.”

“Hey, assholes,” someone shouted from one of the other pens, and I recognized that voice as Camilia’s. According to what she had told our ragtag group of captive women, she was a nurse.

She was also one of the kindest women in our group. Instead of wallowing in fear and despair, she had spent the last three days ensuring we all remained healthy, or at least as much as she could from another pen. That didn’t mean that she was soft—in fact, for all her kindness, she seemed pretty tough on the inside. “Leave her alone, you stupid apes!”

The alien that had spoken growled something unintelligible, then strode into our pen. He shoved me to the side, causing me to stumble, and he reached for Isabella.

Before he could grab ahold of her, I sprung up to my feet and stood between him and a terrified Isabella.

“If you want to get to her,” I said, my heart beating at a thousand miles an hour, “you’ll have to go through me.”

I doubted that he had understood me, but that was irrelevant. He glanced back at his friend—or colleague, or whatever these stupid ape-looking aliens were—and shrugged. Then he grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out of the pen. He clicked on the remote again, reactivating the force field, and started leading me toward the chair at the center of the room.

That thing had been there from day one, a monstrosity of unpolished metal, but none of us had figured out a reason why. The aliens didn’t sit on it, and we had never seen them use it for anything. Now, though, I was about to find out why they had put it there.

I felt a ball of anxiety growing in my stomach as I looked at the monstrous chair, one so large that it’d make me look like a toddler if I sat in it, and I immediately tried to dig my heels into the floor.

That didn’t help.

The aliens pushed me forward despite my thrashing and forced me to sit down. Leather straps were fastened around my head, wrists, and ankles, so tight that I couldn’t move an inch.

“Leave her alone, you bastards,” Camilia continued crying out, her voice echoing throughout the cargo hold.

The others joined her in an angry chorus so deafening that a few other aliens appeared in the cargo hold, each of them obviously tasked with scaring the women into shutting the hell up.

I wasn’t sure if they retreated into silence or not, by then the only thing I could hear was the thunderous pounding of my own heartbeat. The two aliens were now opening some sort of metallic briefcase, and even from my position, I could see an electronic dashboard with a jungle of wires inside.

Grabbing some of the wires, which resembled the electrodes you’d find in a neurosurgeon’s exam room, they attached them to my temples. My throat grew dry, panic welling up inside me, but I did my best to remain calm.

The aliens talked for a couple of seconds, then one of them pressed a couple of buttons on the briefcase’s dashboard. Almost immediately, I felt as if someone was driving a nail through the base of my skull. I felt electricity running through my brain, and I gritted my teeth so hard that pain shot up my jaw.

I closed my eyes as my thoughts scattered like birds taking flight and, for a weird and terrifying moment, the way I thought seemed to change. I was no longer thinking in words, but in images. Then, as fast as it had appeared, the electrical current started to dissipate.

I opened my eyes, as tired as if I had just finished an ultra-marathon. My breathing was ragged, and I was feeling dizzy and nauseous. When the aliens removed the straps that were keeping me in place, I didn’t move an inch. I remained glued to the chair, unable to lift a single finger.

“Did you fry her brain, or what?” the taller of the aliens asked, looking at the other with narrowed eyes. “They’re small. Maybe they can’t handle it.”

“She’s fine,” the other replied, waving a hand at me. “She just needs a minute.”

Only then did it dawn on me.

Somehow, I was able to understand them perfectly. I could tell that they weren’t speaking English, my brain was decoding their words and translating them into syllables I could understand. The machine had messed with my brain, no doubt, but it had given me instant-translation powers. Dazed and confused, I finally rose to my feet.

“What is going on here?” I asked the two aliens, and they turned around to face me. They didn’t seem too happy about the fact that I was asking questions. “Who the hell are you? What’s all this about? Let us go right now!”

Before I realized what was happening, a giant blue hand flew toward my face, and the coppery taste of blood flooded my mouth. The alien slapped me so hard that I stumbled back and landed on the chair again, my cheek burning from the impact.

“The first lesson of being a slave,” the alien that had slapped me growled, “is that you only speak when spoken to.”

“Slave?” I repeated, my heart tightening inside my chest.

“What did you think you were?” he asked, leaning into me so that his face was level with mine. He was grinning. “I’m not running a cruise ship here, woman, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Oh, shit.

This was bad.

This was really bad.

Dojak

“I don’t like this,” General Troko said. “I don’t like it one bit.”

Grabbing the monocular from his hands, I brought it up and peered into the lens. In the distance, no more than a two-hour ride away from our current position, we could see the bright glow of a camp. The night was dark and filled with shadows and even though I could see the faint outline of our red moons, they were nothing but two waning crescents. The only true light came from that camp.

“You really think those raiders are soldiers from Aetam in disguise?” I asked the general as he perched atop his numa. Even though the Kingdom of Aetam hadn’t flexed its muscles in a long while, the increasing reports of raiders in the borderlands brought the worries of war to the forefront.

“It’s likely,” he replied. “If nothing else, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Aetam is incentivizing their own troublemakers to come here. It’d be in line with how they operate.”

“Does any of this really matter?” Spurring his mount forward, Lomav stopped beside us. My younger cousin was smaller than I, although he was just as broad-shouldered. He had placed a couple of thick pads on his saddle, and only that way did he seem as tall as Troko or I. “They’re a threat to the realm, to the stability of the kingdom. I say we go there and slaughter ’em all.”

“That’s not how we do things,” I snapped at him.

“Then what’s the plan?” he asked, trying to hide his annoyance. It was there, though. “Should we go there and ask them nicely to return to wherever they came from?”

“No,” I said, and now it was my turn to hide my own annoyance. I was better at it than Lomav, though. “We flank their position and capture them. Once we have them rounded up, we can start asking questions. There’s no need for bloodshed tonight.”

Clicking my boots against the shell of my own numa, I headed down the hill we were on. Our troops were waiting there, thirty full-bodied D’Tali clad in leather armor and ready for action. Only one of them didn’t wear any armor—he had a black cloak on, the hood pulled over his head—but nobody seemed surprised. Even though most soldiers weren’t exactly sure of Vokar’s role, they all knew he was one of the most fearsome soldiers in the entire army.

Dismounting, I waited as Vokar made his way toward me.

“Have you beaten some sense into that little fucker’s head yet?” he asked me, pulling his hood back to reveal a hard expression. He tilted his chin toward Lomav, and his expression broke as an amused smile appeared on his lips. “The idiot has been telling our troops about how he could take the entire camp by himself. I say we let him do it.”

“As tempting as that is, I can’t afford to let my family line disappear,” I said, laying one hand on my sword’s pommel, the same sword my father had wielded in countless battles against the armies of Aetam. “He’s right about one thing, though, the kingdom needs stability.”

“I doubt he’d bring any kind of stability,” Vokar said, jerking his thumb at Lomav. By now, the squat D’Tali noble was talking with a group of three soldiers, swinging his sword around as he retold some bullshit war story he had probably made up. It was embarrassing.

“Anyone have a solution for the kid?” I heard someone say beside me, and I glanced back to see Troko dismounting from his ride. The general clicked his tongue, his eyes set on Lomav as he continued his boasting.

“He’ll learn,” I said, deciding to put an end to this conversation. Neither Troko nor Vokar liked or trusted Lomav, but I still hoped that my young cousin would learn the ways of the D’Tali. He had to.

His enthusiasm would be tempered in time; experience would give him prudence.

“Now, does everyone know what we need to do?”

“I’ve briefed the men,” Troko replied. “They’re ready.”

“Then let’s make it happen.”

Moving as one, we all climbed onto the backs of our respective numas, and the hulking beasts ambled through the vast plain under the cover of night. Two hours later, when we finally closed in on the raiders’ camp, the entire platoon split into four different squads. I led the one tasked with charging the front, and Vokar and Troko were in charge of the flanks. As for Lomav, he was responsible for bringing up the rear and stopping any of the raiders from fleeing.

We moved fast, and we moved hard.

Spurring our numas on, we galloped into the camp and through the empty spaces between the tents, knocking out a lone sentry in the process. The raiders, all of them Aetamians clad in scavenged armor, clambered from their tents, reaching for swords and bows in a panicked frenzy.

Once we were closer, it was impossible to mistake them.

The slightly different skull shape from the D’Tali and the broad, but slightly hunched posture, were easy to spot.

Our people might be cousins, but there had never been a lasting peace between us.

A few arrows whistled past my ears, but soon enough the Aetamians decided against taking us on. As soon as they heard the other squads coming up on their flanks, they turned on their heels and started running into the darkness of the night.

“Herd ’em up,” I cried, urging my men to keep pushing the raiders toward Lomav’s men. Everything was going according to plan. No more than a few seconds later, though, I started hearing the clang of swords, as well as the hollow cries of Aetamians being cut down.

Rushing toward the rear of the camp, I came across Lomav, atop his numa. He wiped the blade of his sword against his cloak and sheathed it. At his feet were the Aetamian, all of them dead.

“They refused to surrender,” he said, horns held high. “They were a risk to us all.”

Dammit.

Once again, he had gone against my direct orders, and now we couldn’t interrogate any of the raiders.

If things kept going this way, I’d have to cut Lomav out of any military operations.

He meant well, I knew, but sometimes he was just a little too loyal.

I ordered him to check the bodies, my tone harsh, then turned on my heel.

“The kid fucked it up, huh?” Troko asked me. He was standing by the entrance of the largest tent, Vokar beside him, and the two watched as the soldiers rummaged through the contents of a large trunk. “That’s too bad. Aside from the usual junk, there’s nothing here that ties these assholes to an officially ordered attack by Aetam.” He shook his head and sighed. “Well, at least we got rid of another group of raiders. I guess that has to count for something.”

“You’re right,” I said.

“About what?”

“About smacking him.” Shaking my head, I looked up at the night sky, a million stars sprinkled on that dark canvas. “I know he’s my cousin, but this shit is starting to get ridiculous.”

“Want me to pay him a visit?” Vokar offered with a grim smile. “I’m pretty sure I can make it clear that love for the kingdom is all well and good, but it doesn’t count if he doesn’t obey his king’s orders.”

I frowned, then shook my head. “Tempting, but unless things change, I need to keep him around.”

“I know you haven’t had any luck yet, but there’s no reason to assume the situation will remain the same.” Laying one hand on my shoulder, Troko looked straight into my eyes. “You’re going to find a mate, Dojak, I’m sure of it.”

“Yeah, right.” I pursed my lips. “How many D’Tali women have I met these past few years? Let’s face it, I’m not going to find a mate anytime soon.”

I hated to face the truth, but it had to be done.

A D’Tali could only procreate with his true mate, and so far, none of the D’Tali women I had met seemed to be the one.

That, of course, was a problem. D’Tali women were rare, which meant there weren’t many I could meet.

My options were becoming extremely limited and if I didn’t produce an heir, Lomav was the next in line for the throne.

“It will happen,” Troko insisted. “Why don’t you ask the Ancestors for a sign? I know you’re not big on tradition, but maybe if you tried it...”

“As if that would happen.” Sighing, I looked up at the sky once more, then lifted both my hands up. “Oh, mighty Ancestors,” I continued, half-frustrated, half-mocking. “If there’s someone out there for me, show me a sign. Guide the way toward my fated mate.”

“Hilarious,” Troko said with a frown. Clearly, he wasn’t happy that I hadn’t taken him seriously.

“See?” I asked. “The Ancestors couldn’t care any less about—”

I was cut short by a deafening, thunderous sound.

Then, no more than a second later, a bright glow took over the sky, pushing the darkness away. With my mouth hanging open, I watched as a fireball cut through the sky, moving so fast that I could barely follow it with my own eyes. It descended until, with a violent thud, it finally crashed behind the hills in the distance.

“What the fuck was that?” Vokar said, sounding just as awed as I.

“That was a sign.” With his hands on his hips, Troko seemed immensely proud of what we had just witnessed.

“I doubt that it’s a sign,” I said, “but if it is, we’re going to find out soon enough.” I gave the two of them a nod and looked toward the hills. “Mount up. It’s time for us to go on a ride.”

Sofia

“Stay strong, Camilia.”

“Do I have a choice?” She didn’t. It was bad enough to have been the first, but I felt pity for all of those who had to listen to the terrible cries of those before them, knowing their time would come.

No amount of comfort would help, and there was precious little on offer. Being able to understand the language of the Skarg—which I now knew to be the name of our captors— was no prize.

Camilia may have been strong, but even she was no match for these massive aliens. She had two good arms, but the monster manhandling her into the chair had four. It was best to save the energy and offer as little resistance as possible.

The brutes clamped her into the chair and fixed the electrodes to her temples. It had happened so many times now, that they had settled into a kind of rote pattern. Or maybe it was the fact that we had stopped struggling as vehemently that was making everything run more smoothly.

“Ready,” the Skarg said after he had locked her into place.

“I don’t want to do this,” Camilia called out to no one in particular.

“You don’t have a choice,” chuckled one of the creatures, despite the fact that she couldn’t understand him. Yet.

The device hummed to life, and Isabella and I gritted our teeth as Camilia writhed in the iron seat, hissing out a long, ugly groan. As tough as she could be, the searing pain of having your brain’s electrical makeup reordered would be enough to bring anyone to their knees. The sound of her agony raised goosebumps across my skin, and laughter from the devils in command.

“Do you have any idea how that thing might work?” I whispered.

“I’ve been watching,” Isabella answered, keeping her gaze fixed on the Skarg’s thick fingers as he fidgeted with the controls, “but it’s impossible to say. The closest I can imagine is that it reorders the comprehension centers, releasing any anchors to individual language.”

“So, you think we could understand anything?”

“It’s the best answer I’ve got.”

Camilia’s screams subsided and she went limp in the chair.

“Get another one,” the beast at the controls grunted, resetting all the dials. Peeling away the diodes, the other Skarg hoisted Camilia onto his shoulder and lumbered back to where she had been penned. It was a horrifying process, but since it had become evident that we were each to be subjected to it, and it came with some benefit, the process of harvesting women had become less violent.

It’s terrible how quickly inevitability can numb one into being a complacent, if not willing, victim. There had been reason to the way we were paired for captivity. Anyone deemed as physically strong had been confined with someone definably weaker. It was an ingenious way to prevent any possibility of escape.

But they’d overlooked other kinds of strength. With every woman the Skargs had worked the device on, Isabella had watched, every movement, every button pushed, every reaction, her expression blank with intense focus.

“Last one,” he called, dumping Camilia’s inert body onto the floor and shepherding out the last of us. “You know,” the ape leered as he passed our cell, “they’re all good looking, for humans. We’re going to get a good price for them.”

“Are you kidding?” The answer came with a bark of horrible laughter. “We’re going to be rich. It’s like I said during the harvest, when you pick the slaves carefully, you always reap the rewards.” They chuckled together as they bound Rebecca in place. The word slave lodged itself in my stomach, and I felt as though I could hear a wince echo out from each of the women.

An unearthly screech tore through the chamber, resounding off the metal walls and piercing my skull. Strobing light streaked out over everything, reducing our captors to flashed images of torment.

“What the hell is that?” the Skarg at the controls snarled in terror.

“The klaxon system has been engaged. We’ve been spotted.”

“Who is it? A security patrol? Or do you think it’s a Truvilian slaving vessel?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know? I can’t see any more than you can.”

“We can’t lose this batch. There’s too much riding on it. If it’s the Truvilians come to loot us…”

“There’s no telling what it is!”

“Well, find out,” the sitting Skarg bellowed. Isabella clung to me again, her eyes wide with terror. Things had been bad, but it felt very possible that they were about to get a whole lot worse.

“Sofia,” she whispered into my ear. “Please tell me you’ve got a plan.”

“The only plan I’ve got right now is that we all survive.” Turning to face her, I caught the full weight of the fear roiling inside her. “There’s not much any of us can do about it from in here.” It was true. We were all helpless. As much as I would have loved to have been able to rise to the occasion and become a leader, I was a prisoner, just like the rest of the women.

With a sudden jerk, the entire ship lurched to one side, groaning with the uneasy sound of straining metal. The sirens and flashing lights cut out, and an eerie dim glow from the emergency system cast dark shadows across everything. Our force field walls sputtered and dimmed, but stayed active.

“We’re hit,” the Skarg in control wailed.

“Shut up, and put her through it. I’ll be back.” Unholstering a nasty looking weapon from his belt, the hulking bastard shoved open the door and disappeared into the darkness. As loud as the siren had been, Rebecca’s scream was louder. It cut through my stomach, and I found myself clutching at Isabella to keep from going to my knees.

But then, in spite of my effort, I was on my knees, my ears ringing. Isabella was sprawled on the floor beside me, and I looked up in a daze to see Rebecca straining in the chair amid a shower of sparks. The world around us lurched again with a greater violence, and I slammed against the metal wall.

“How close?” Our captor burst back through the door, a deep gash across his shoulder, and clung to the side of the horrible chair to maintain his balance.

“Soon,” the other shouted, and I realized that it wasn’t screaming that was deafening us all anymore. It was a deeper, much more terrible sound. While I couldn’t comprehend the immensity of what it might mean, an animal dread bristled through me.

Hot wind came rushing through the open door, blasting over us as a thunderous crack ripped through the air. In an instant, the world fell into a terrible tumble.

We were all going to die.

Whatever force was firing on us had decimated any chance of keeping the ship intact. We were hurtling at an impossible speed, and I knew that some kind of crash was inevitable. Reaching into the chaos, I caught Isabella by the wrist and pulled her to me. It seemed that if we could manage to hang together, we might be able to minimize the danger.

It was an absurd thought, but anything that seemed like a plan was a comfort. We smashed into something, and I realized it was another body. A woman’s hands scrabbled across me until they caught hold of my belt.

Another woman’s grip could only mean one thing. The fields were down.

“Hang on,” I screamed, but it would have been impossible to hear me over the roar drowning out all sense. I could just see Rebecca, bolted to the chair as the rest of us were flung about in the shattering spiral.

Somehow, our cluster collected more bodies, and we clung together amid the madness in one sweating, terrified human mass.

With an unholy crunch, we slammed to the side of the vessel and felt the drag as it tore into the ground. It jerked, and spun again, tearing our knot apart and sending women sprawling amid the detritus clattering through the fuselage. With a horrifying rip, a hunk of metal peeled back, letting a blast of fresh air and blinding dust tear into the fetid darkness.

We ground on for a moment, then the creaking hulk rocked to stillness.

A collective groan wheezed up from all sides, and all I wanted to do was call out to make sure everyone was alive. With relief, I saw one of the other women help Rebecca out of the chair she was strapped to. But I couldn’t. My mouth opened, but there was no breath inside me to push words out. Instead, my head rocked to the side to marvel at the dazzling night sky above me. Light like I thought I would never see again.

Something in the rubble moved. There was a clatter of metal, and the acrid smell of electrical smoke stung my nostrils. From amid the debris, a massive figure rose unsteadily. It was one of the Skarg.

“Yugil? Yugil!” His voice croaked into the silence, until answered by an anguished moan. Picking through the wreckage, the hulking monster pulled his compatriot to standing. “Are you alive?”

“I hope to be.” With a shambling leap, the two apes heaved themselves through the jagged hole torn in the side of the ship, and disappeared into the daylight.

Every part of me ached with the kind of agony you only hear about. But, running a quick inventory, I was relatively certain that no bones were broken. At least none that would hinder me from rising.

Forcing the sweet air into my lungs and using a hand to try to filter out some of the dust, I pushed myself to a seated position, then found my feet. Too quickly. For a hazy, oddly pleasant moment, everything went gray. Then it went completely black.

Dojak

“If that wasn’t a sign,” Troko spoke in a hush beside me as we rode, “what do you suppose it was?”

“I don’t know.” It was the best answer I could offer him. The sight of that flaming ball tearing a jagged path across the darkling sky was irresistible. My numa still felt skittish beneath me as we led the men toward the shattered hulk.

“Cousin.” Lomav was at my shoulder. “We should not be heading toward that…thing.” There was a quaver in his voice that made Troko have to stifle the smile that threatened to creep across his scarred face.

“Are you afraid?”

“Afraid?” Lomav bristled at the accusation. “It’s not fear that makes me long to be slaughtering our enemies instead of riding into what may very well be a trap. Have you ever seen anything like it?”

“No,” I had to confess.

“It all seems terribly convenient that such a thing would appear just as we take sight of a camp. No good is going to come of this, you can mark my words.” His numa snorted as Lomav jerked its head to the side and rode off to the far flank.

“Whether or not he is willing to confess it,” I said, “the men are afraid. You can feel it in the air.”

Troko fell still on his cantering mount and felt the air. It was true. A sheen of unease hung around us as we crossed the dusky countryside.

“And you,” Troko asked, “are you afraid?”

“I can’t afford to be, can I?”

Even under the pale light of our two red moons, the outline of the strange wreckage was clear. Drawing near, we could see smoke trailing up and flames flickering to embers across the scorched hulk. Now that we were upon it, it was evident that this was no living thing, but a massive structure which had fallen from the sky.

A shimmering wave of apprehension swept over the troops as I dismounted and stepped toward its bulk. Was it possible that this was some experiment by the Aetamians? Some warrior vessel of the sky which had failed and come crashing to the ground?

Or was it a trap, as Lomav suggested? Something to draw us close in ambush?

A series of hollow, metallic raps froze me in my tracks. It felt as though the whole of our army drew in its breath at once, steeling for an onslaught. Then, from around the far side of whatever the thing was, a black-hooded figure emerged. With the butt of his dagger, Vokar clanged out another series of blows.

“Well,” he said, putting down his hood, “whatever it is, it’s made of metal.”

“You rode ahead of us?”

“I couldn’t very well wait for you, could I? All of you?” I was irritated at his brashness, but more than a little impressed by his courage and initiative. “Besides,” he went on, “if this proved to be a danger, I would have been able to stop you from getting too close.”

While Vokar may be his own master in a great many things, I felt that there was no way I could doubt his loyalty. He might have been a renegade, but he was my renegade.

“What do we do now?” I turned to find Troko looking at me, the eyes of my entire host filled with the same question. Vokar struck the iron beast again, letting the empty ring reverberate over me.

I stopped, considered. Whatever this was, we couldn’t let the mystery fall to our enemies.

If there were spoils, weapons, treasure, we’d claim it first.

And if it was a new enemy…my hand tightened on my sword. Then we’d destroy it ourselves.

“It’s hollow,” I said. “We try to find a way in.”

Surrounding the perimeter, one of the soldiers drew my attention to a massive, jagged gash in the side. Hoisting myself up, I stood on the hull of the felled dragon and peered inside. Something moved.

“They’re alive,” I called.

“Who is?” came the voice of my cousin, deeply hidden among the throng. As dark as it was, I couldn’t see more than feeble movements, but the figures seemed smaller, more furtive than our Aetamian adversaries. I wasn’t about to give an answer when I couldn’t be certain, any more than I was ready to climb down into that darkness with no sure way out.

“There has to be another way in.”

Troko looked up as I spoke, then turned back to the host. “Search the sides,” he called. “Look for an entrance.”

The air rang out with sword hilts pummeling the sides of the iron leviathan. It was impossible for anyone to know exactly what to look for, but it was clear that the tear I had peered through was not the only means of ingress.

“Dojak!” Leaping down, I ran to the far side of the bulk where a foot soldier was in the midst of prying open a hatch with his sword. Once there was enough of a crack, he and another fellow gripped it firmly and yanked the door back, digging a deep rut in the soil.

Ducking into the darkness with a torch in hand, I saw a huddle of figures against the far wall. More torches came in behind me, and the shadows receded until I could see what appeared to be female mammals of an unknown species. Their eyes were wide with terror, and they clung to each other in a feverish knot.

“Hello,” I called. From amid the tangle, an answer came back, but it was not in a language that I knew. More than the mere growl or groan of most of the lower mammals we knew, these sounds had the clear and distinct structure of speech. The voice was clear and steady.

“My name is Dojak. I am the leader of the kingdom of the D’Tali, in Tahkath.”

More sounds came in reply, but they were no clearer than before.

“Out of my way!” I turned to see Lomav forcing his way through the men to stand next to me, sword drawn. At the sight of him, the females recoiled into each other. “Mammals,” he said. “Of course it would be mammals.” Striding past me and nearly into their midst, he let out a low chuckle. “Trash.”

In an instant, the creatures broke their ranks and scattered in every direction. Some clambered up and through the wound in the side of the vessel, others dashed straight through our number, slipping out in a whistle. Still others careened into portals we hadn’t seen, diving into the night air.

“Spread out,” I cried on impulse. “Round them up!”

Whatever these strange creatures were, something told me that to lose them into the forest would be a crime. Besides, if they fell into the hands of the Aetamians, they would undoubtedly fare far worse than with us.

Diving into the open, I bolted over to my numa and mounted, where I could better survey the scene. The frail figures struggled across the plain, with soldiers in fast pursuit. There could be no doubt that they had some kind of common language, as the females called to each other and responded in their fight for freedom.

“Be careful,” I commanded from my mount. “I will not have them hurt.” My host knew better than to be rough with strangers, and while the women struggled mightily as they were captured, none of them were injured.

Something caught my eye. At the far end of the clearing, next to a tree, Lomav fought to subdue one of the females. She was the source of most of the noise, seemingly calling out orders to the others as we rounded them up. If it hadn’t been so wrong, I would have laughed to see my cousin working so hard to contain a creature much smaller and weaker.

In an instant, she slipped from his grasp and broke free, sprinting across the countryside with her long, slender legs. Kicking my heels into the flanks of my numa, we rode after her in a fast, direct line. She was fast but we were faster, and in a moment, we were upon her.

“Wait!” Not wanting to haul her up onto my ride at full speed, I reigned in and pitched myself down, breaking into a jog. She cast a glance over her shoulder, slowing just enough for me to catch her arm. Gasping, she spun in my grip to face me, and fell stock still.

She was breathless. A mass of dark curls streaked with gold fell about her shoulders, wafting lightly as she panted. Flashing behind the tresses were a pair of amber eyes that bored into mine.

My heart constricted into a tight, hot mass and the heat of it spread through my chest and down to my fingertips. A lightness ran up my spine. With each beat, it seemed as if my heart grew tighter, and I had to fight with myself to keep from holding her too hard. This couldn’t be! Not this feeling.

My vision blurred for an instant, then broke around the edges, fringing everything with a sheen of silver. While it had never happened to me before, I knew exactly what this was. My eyes had turned. It was true.

As the creature stood panting in my hand, the signals my body sent out were all too clear—the tight heart, warm chest, and silver eyes. These could only signify one thing. One impossible thing.

Whatever else this woman was, she was my mate.

Sofia

I froze.

The silver glow in his eyes entranced me, their emanating light drawing me in like a hypnotist’s pendulum. I couldn’t tell what it was about them, but there was something there.

My heart was beating faster now, and it wasn’t because of fear. At the same time, I could feel it tightening inside my chest, an odd but pleasant sensation spreading from there to the rest of my body. Rationally, I knew that I should have been scared—who wouldn’t be scared when facing a tall, lizard-alien?—but I wasn’t.

Instead, I felt at ease.

In fact, I felt more than just at ease.

The more I stared into his eyes, the more my body seemed to warm up to him. I could almost feel a cocktail of hormones cruising through my bloodstream, my nerve endings blooming as if they were anticipating his touch, and it only took a couple more seconds before my nipples started hardening.

Get yourself together, I chided myself, then bit down on my tongue as hard as I could. That seemed to reel in the madness a bit, and a semblance of rationality and common sense returned to my mind. And, with that, the fear returned.

“Get away from me,” I cried out, then pushed both hands against his chest. I hit his leather chest plate but, even despite that barrier, I could feel the hard muscles hiding underneath the armor. This man, whoever—or whatever—he was, was built like a tank. A very handsome tank.

Still seemingly dazed, he merely watched as I ducked under his arm. I dug my heels into the ground, ready to start running once more, but he reacted faster than I could have anticipated. Wrapping his fingers around my wrist, he reeled me back in, and I gasped as I found myself pressed against his chest.

By now that silver glow in his eyes had started to dim, but he stared at me with a confused expression. I was struggling to deal with the fact that we had just come across a whole new group of aliens, but he didn’t seem to be faring any better. He appeared just as surprised by me as I was by him.

I held my breath as I took in the bright blue of his skin, the powerful contour of his body, and reminded myself that this wasn’t a game. Our lives were at stake here, and I couldn’t let my guard down.

“Let me go,” I shouted, hammering my fists against his chest. My pathetic punches were as weak as the gentle pattering of raindrops to him, and this alien guy didn’t even acknowledge the effort I was putting into escaping. He just cleared his throat and caught both my wrists.

“Calm down,” he said, and even though he was speaking a language I had never heard before, I understood him perfectly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Then why are you chasing after us?” I asked, but he didn’t offer a reply. He just tilted his head slightly, as if he was confused by my words, and I quickly realized that he had no idea what I had just said. Somehow, I could understand him, but he couldn’t understand me. “Just my luck.”

“I don’t know what you’re saying.” He grabbed a small piece of rope he had hanging from his belt and tied it around my wrists. I fought against it, but the hold he had on me was simply too strong for me to do anything about it. I had been captured and there was nothing I could do about it. “Just try to relax. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Pulling me up from the ground, he threw me over his shoulder as if I were a sack of potatoes. He carried me back toward the ship’s entrance, and I sighed when I saw that all the women had been captured. They sat cross-legged on the floor, looking up at their captors with a blend of fear and annoyance. Despite that, none of them seemed to be hurt.

“Just stay put,” my own captor said, dropping me fairly gently right beside Isabella.

I huffed as I hit the ground, then wormed my way up to a sitting position. I looked down at my wrists, frowning as I examined the impossibly intricate knot. Finally, I turned my attention to the other women.

“Did they hurt you?” I asked them, and they all shook their heads.

There were twelve of us here, which meant that not a single one had managed to escape. I didn’t know if that was good or bad, but at least we were here together. It’d be hard to survive on an alien planet without knowing anything about it, but I didn’t know if being in the hands of these aliens was a better alternative. In the end, though, there was little we could do about it.

“They seem better than those Skarg assholes,” Isabella whispered, shifting her position so that she was sitting closer to me. “You noticed that they can’t understand a word of what we’re saying?”

“I have,” I replied, nodding.

“I think the translation device needs to be used on both participants of a conversation,” she continued, the excitement in her voice showing. It seemed that nothing got her going like the prospect of solving a hard problem. “It must rearrange your neural pathways so that you can decode other languages but, whatever that device did, it didn’t touch the part of our brain that’s concerned with speech. That’s my guess.”

“Don’t touch me, you asshole,” I heard one of the women cry out, and I spun around to see Camilia trying to move away from one of the aliens. That one was shorter than the others, purple, and his horns seemed brittle instead of dense. He didn’t have the same hardened, regal expression I had seen in the one with the glowing eyes. Instead, his expression was one of arrogance.

“Does anyone know what language these animals are speaking?” the alien asked, grabbing Camilia’s chin and forcing her to look into his eyes. “By the Ancestors, these mammals really are weird. Have you ever seen one of this size?”

“Let go of her, Lomav.” My blue captor appeared behind this Lomav guy and pulled him away from Camilia. “They aren’t animals. They’re women.”

“They’re mammals,” Lomav said, his expression of arrogance changing into one of pure disgust. I liked him less and less with each passing second. “What are you planning to do with them, Dojak?”

Dojak, I thought, remembering the way the glowing silver in his eyes had drawn me in, that’s not a bad name for a leader.

“We’re taking them back to Tahkath,” Dojak said, hand resting his hand on the pommel of his sword, his gaze sweeping across the group of captive women. Once more, I felt a sense of calm and trust.

Even though it was clear that not all of these guys were as morally strong as Dojak—the purple one, Lomav, clearly didn’t care for us—it seemed like we had lucked out.

Sure, we had been tied up and turned into prisoners, but I was starting to like this option better than the alternative. God knew what kind of dangers hid on this planet, after all. These guys seemed like they could handle themselves, and I preferred having them with us than roaming the wilderness alone.

“Alright, get up,” another alien said, this one with blue skin and a scar on his face. He was wearing leather armor, but the pieces seemed to be richer and more polished than what the other soldiers had. I had heard a few others address him as general, so I figured he was one of the group’s head honchos. As the women remained sitting, he glanced back at Dojak. “Are you really sure they can understand us?”

“Not exactly,” Dojak replied, “but I suspect so.” Knowing that we didn’t have any other choice than to do as we were told, I sighed and heaved myself up. That brought a smile to Dojak’s lips. “See?”

“Huh,” the general-guy muttered. He barked a few commands at the other soldiers, and soon enough we were positioned into a single line. Most of the soldiers were mounted on hulking creatures, their hard shells and horns reminiscent of something out of a Jurassic Park movie, and I made sure not to be close to any of them. “Alright, we’re heading out.”

Following the aliens, we climbed out of the crater caused by the Skarg ship, and I held my breath as my gaze swept across the endless plains. I didn’t know where they were taking us, but of one thing I was sure—this was going to be one hell of a walk.

Dojak

The women’s strange nature made me reluctant to double up on the numas, the men oddly distracted by their presence.

So we walked the numas at our visitors’ pace, until after a full day of slow progress, I finally ordered the procession to a halt. It should have taken us less than a day to get to Tahkath, but we were forced to stick to a pace comfortable for the women. They seemed less resilient than us, which we kept in mind.

Most of the men didn’t appear to mind.

In fact, it was just the opposite.

Most of them snuck glances at the women at every opportunity, and one of them even tumbled off his numa while distracted. Every time I passed a group of soldiers, they were locked in hushed conversation about the delicate creatures in our company.

I understood, far too well.

Even though the women looked nothing like a D’Tali female, they were undeniably beautiful. Short but slender, their movements were light and delicate, and there was a pleasant scent about them. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, that meant nothing. We had to remain vigilant.

I knew that most of the soldiers weren’t thinking that far ahead, but I had to consider every possibility in this scenario. These women could be part of an Aetamian plan to sow chaos in our kingdom. After all, the craft they had arrived in had all the trappings of a weapon. I shuddered to think of what someone with such technology could do to us.

But that one I’d held in my arms, whose eyes had caught mine with such passion…

I shoved the thought away and returned to my duties.

We started setting our camp before sunset.

Wanting to keep busy, I helped some of the soldiers establish a perimeter while the others busied themselves with setting up the tents. By the time we returned to the hastily established camp, the shadows grew long around us as an orange glow from the setting sun spilling over the plain.

We gave the women the largest field tent captured from the enemy, and Troko posted two sentries by the entrance. I wasn’t sure if we needed to worry about the women that much, but I felt more comfortable knowing that Troko wasn’t taking any chances.

“What’s the plan?” Appearing beside me, his cloak wrapped tightly around his torso, Lomav was staring right at the tent’s entrance. “I mean, you do have a plan, right?”

“We need to understand who they are and where they came from,” I replied, a shiver running up my spine as I realized this set of instructions was too similar to the ones that had gotten the raiders dead.

Then and there, I decided I wouldn’t put Lomav in charge of anything concerning the women. As far as I was concerned, he didn’t even need to interact with them.

“They’re mammals, that’s what they are,” Lomav said, and he spat to the ground. “Are you seriously going to take them into the city?”

“Do you see a problem with that?”

He said nothing for a moment, and I could almost see the gears turning inside his head. Slowly, his eyes narrowed and the hint of a smile appeared on his lips. I doubted that was a good thing.

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have a few mammals around,” he mused. “They don’t seem that strong, nor do they seem capable of speech, but they appear to be semi-intelligent creatures. Maybe we could use that to our advantage.”

“Use?”

“We should try to sell them,” he said with an air of finality, almost as if he had just made the call. Thankfully, he was in charge of absolutely nothing. “I doubt anyone has ever seen mammals like them around, and they look like they can be useful as slaves.”

“The D’Tali haven’t taken slaves for more than a millennium.” I barely concealed my anger. Had it not been for the fact that he was my cousin, and therefore my responsibility, I would have had him lashed. “I don’t want to hear about such nonsense again,” I growled, and the hard edge in my voice made Lomav look away.

He could be an idiot, but at least he knew when not to push me. “Go check if the sentries are alert. I don’t want any surprises tonight.”

In complete silence, he turned on his heels and marched toward the edge of the camp, but not before throwing me a bitter glance.

For a moment, I wondered if he had seen what had happened between me and the woman. Had Lomav seen my eyes turn silver?

Did he know that the woman was my mate?

Was that even possible?

I raked one hand over my face, trying to push those thoughts away. They served no purpose. Now with a clear head, I walked toward the tent where the women rested. On my way there, I ordered a few soldiers to serve the women some of the stew they had cooked for dinner. I picked up a plate myself and walked inside the tent.

My eyes darted straight to that woman.

Her gaze found mine almost immediately, and my heart started kicking and punching against my ribcage. She sat cross-legged on the floor, locks of her silky hair tumbling over her face.

She was like nothing I’d ever seen before, nothing I’d ever wanted, but right then she looked absolutely beautiful to me.

After facing a thousand battles, nothing had ever made me feel like this. It wasn’t that she made me nervous—she most definitely didn’t—but I felt on the verge of losing all control every time I stood near her.

“Here, this is for you.” I went down on one knee, put the plate down between us and pushed it toward her.

She looked down, hesitant.

I almost thought she would refuse the stew but, once she realized the other women were devouring the food my soldiers had brought them, she quickly took hold of the plate. She said something, no more than two words, and the sound of her voice sent a pleasant shiver up my spine.

“Just who are you?” I asked, my voice nothing but a faint whisper. Still, she looked up, her lips slightly parted. She tried saying something but, once she realized that I couldn’t understand a word, she fell back into silence. “I’m sorry, I can’t understand you. Look, I have no idea where you came from, nor what you are doing here, but I promise you that I’ll keep you and the others safe.” I couldn’t help but throw in a smile. “Just as long as you aren’t spies.”

Time ground to a halt as she returned my smile.

I watch her lips curl up in slow motion, tiny dimples appear on her cheeks, and her bright eyes narrow slightly. The lines on her face deepened gently and, as impossible as that may sound, she looked even more beautiful.

She shook her head as if to reassure me that they weren’t spies.

Somehow, despite every shred of logic, I believed her.

“Finish dinner and try to get some rest,” I told her as I rose to my feet. “We’ll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

I was about to leave when she reached for me, her fingers holding the sleeve of my jacket. When I looked back at her, she had a questioning expression on her face. This time I knew what she wanted to hear.

“We’re heading to Tahkath’s capital city,” I said. “You’ll be safe there.”

Or so I hope, I thought to myself, fully knowing that the Shadow Priests would hate to know that creatures other than the D’Tali had been offered lodgings in the palace. And when they realized these creatures were mammals, then they would surely lose their shit.

“Fuck them,” I muttered under my breath.

Then, I walked out into the night.

Sofia

I sat there and watched him leave, unable to take my eyes off him. Only once he stepped outside, the tent flaps falling behind him, did I realize that I had been staring at him like a maniac.

Again, I felt that irresistible pull, as if there was an invisible string that connected me to him. I couldn’t exactly explain it—I had never experienced anything like it before—but it was there.

And it just couldn’t be right, could it?

“What did he want with you?” Sitting down next to me, Camilia balanced her plate on her right knee. Isabella sat across from her, her eyes burning with curiosity. These two had been watching me ‘talk’ with Dojak, and they wanted to know what was up. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could tell them.

“I know this isn’t ideal,” I said, pointing at our bound wrists. In order for us to eat and sleep, the aliens had freed one of each of our wrists, but at the same time, they had kept the other tied to a long rope that connected to the tent’s main pole. “Still, I don’t think they want to harm us. In their own way, I think they’re looking after us.”

“What about that purple guy? Lomax or something,” Isabella asked me, lowering her voice into a barely audible whisper. Even though, as far as we knew nobody understood us, she still wanted to be careful, and I couldn’t blame her. “He doesn’t look that friendly. I heard him going on and on about how mammals were a lesser species and whatnot.”

“That’s pretty racist,” Camilia said.

“I don’t think that racist is the word, but I know what you mean.” Finishing my stew, my stomach purring happily, I pushed the plate to the side. “I don’t think that all of them think like that, though. If anything, they’re just being cautious when it comes to us. Most of them are nice.”

“Like that general character?” Camilia arched one eyebrow. “You know, the one with the scar. He doesn’t look friendly. At all.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy,” I continued, trying my best to rein in their fears. I wasn’t entirely sure if Camilia feared the general, though. I had seen the way she looked at him, and I couldn’t see any fear in her gaze. What I saw there was...something else. “What do the others think?”

Camilia shrugged. “Riley’s talking about an escape. She was telling the other girls we should just wait until the entire camp is asleep, then find something to cut our ropes and make a run for it.”

Looking over Camilia’s shoulder, I tried to find Riley. She sat on the far side of the tent, the remaining eight women in a circle around her. They spoke in whispers, and there was no doubt in my mind about the subject.

Riley was one of the bravest women in our group. When the Skarg tried to put that translation device on her, it took two of them to hold her down. In spite of a slender build, she was the kind of girl that took no shit from anyone. Right now, though, I didn’t know if that was what we needed.

“Where are you going?” Isabella asked me, watching as I sprang to my feet.

“I’m going to talk to her,” I replied, fidgeting with the bracelet on my right wrist. The thought of my nieces sent another wave of sadness crashing against me. Gritting my teeth, I tried not to think of all that I had left on Earth and focused on the task at hand.

“Sofia, come here,” Riley said as soon as she noticed me. “We were just talking about making an escape. These guys seem to be pretty lax, right?” As she spoke, she showed me her free wrist. “I mean, it’s almost as if they don’t believe we’re going to try. There’s an opportunity here.”

Taking a deep breath, I squeezed myself between two of the women.

“I know where you’re coming from, Riley,” I said, trying to be as understanding as possible. We hadn’t talked much, and the last thing I wanted was to make her an enemy. “I just don’t know if that’s the right way to go about things. We know almost nothing about this planet. Who’s to say we’re not safer with these aliens around?”

She rocked back and forth lightly, lips pursed tight as she seemed to weigh what I had just said. The other women murmured, some of them in agreement. I didn’t want to be a jerk and start acting like some kind of unappointed leader, but I also didn’t want them to make a rash decision. If we were going to do something, we needed to think it through. We needed to be sure.

“Maybe you’re right,” Riley said with a sigh. She ran one hand through her hair, exhaustion showing on her face, and she glanced at the tent’s entrance. As the flaps swayed in the breeze, we saw the silhouettes of the two sentries posted outside. “They haven’t treated us harshly, and I figure it’s better we don’t push our luck.” Turning her attention back to me, she cleared her throat. “I noticed you talking with their leader. What did he want?”

Suddenly, I felt every single one of the women looking at me. I shifted my weight nervously and, once more, I found myself fidgeting with the bracelet on my wrist. I ran my tongue over my lips, wetting them, and only then did I speak up.

“He said that he was going to protect us. We didn’t exactly have a conversation about it, but he seemed genuine.”

“Any idea where they’re taking us?”

“He told me that we are on our way to some kind of capital city. I figure they’re taking us to their home. We should see what that’s like, then we’ll think of something. We should keep our options open—even that of an escape—but I also think that we should be careful. Until we know more, we don’t want to make any mistakes.”

“Agreed, yeah,” Riley said, and I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. She seemed to care about the others just as much as I did and, thankfully, we were in agreement about what our next move should be.

“We should try and get some sleep,” I continued, and all the women nodded enthusiastically. We hadn’t slept for god knew how long and, if they were as exhausted as I felt, then our entire group was completely trashed.

We lay down on the blankets the aliens had given us, and soon enough, deep silence overtook the tent. I heard the girls’ deep breathing and occasional soft snoring, but they all seemed fast asleep. As for me, I remained wide awake. Despite my exhaustion, sleep didn’t come easily.

I tossed and turned for almost half an hour, then merely lay on my back, staring at the sloped top of the tent. Even though I couldn’t see it, I imagined the night sky outside, a million stars I had never heard about strewn across its surface. How far were we from Earth? Would we ever be able to find our way back?

I looked down at my bracelet and ran my thumb over its smooth surface. It was cold to the touch, but the memories it elicited were all warm. Closing my eyes, I saw my nieces running around me in my sister’s tiny backyard, the memory of their laughter enough for a smile to appear on my lips

God, I missed them.

Soon enough, though, these old memories gave away to fresher ones. I recalled the first time I had seen Dojak and the way his eyes had immediately started to glow. I still remembered the warmth I had felt spreading all through my body.

Don’t go there, my inner voice chirped, but it was impossible. Before I even knew that I was doing it, I was already imagining how it’d feel to have Dojak’s hands on my hips, and how it’d feel to brush my lips against his. Just a few days ago, if anyone had told me that I’d be lusting after a tall, blue alien more reptile than human...well, I would’ve just laughed that person out of the room. Now, though, I wasn’t so sure if I’d meet such a statement with laughter.

He's an alien! I scolded myself. This can’t be right!

But maybe I’m the alien here. My mind circled, unable to let it go, unable to stop worrying at it, like a hanging thread from a sweater.

With that one thought, I finally drifted off.

Dojak

The air held a soft breeze as we started out in the early morning, and the sun glowed softly in the sky as it rose above the horizon. We drew closer to Tahkath, the skyline of the oasis city’s towers already appearing as a slight smudge in the far distance.

A perfectly normal homecoming.

But this time, everything was different.

I knew the city was close when the air changed around me, holding the tinge of the cool dampness found in the jungle that stretched beyond the plains. Hopefully we’d arrive by late afternoon, back in the oasis where the desert begins to give way to dense trees and vines.

In the city, comfortable rooms hid behind the walls of tall buildings that lined the narrow stone streets, tall spires overlooking markets of bustling, happy people in every neighborhood. The D’Tali would sell fruit and fresh vegetables from their gardens in those markets, and the streets were always alive with chatter. The heady scent of spices and bouquets of flowers for sale perfumed the streets at all times, making it feel like paradise.

I looked forward to my own bed and a long soak in the bathing pools after this march, not to mention all the excitement with these unknown mammals. The expedition had been incredibly useful though, in more ways than just the discovery of the women and the ship.

And still, I couldn’t stop thinking of the woman.

Not just all of them, or where they’d come from, or what they were.

Just her.

I peered through the crowd of soldiers at my sides to find Lomav. As usual, he was riding beside the women with a scheming look in his eye.

He might be the most loyal supporter in the kingdom, but his obstinacy had been increasingly troublesome lately.

I turned to the guard on my right. “Send someone to ride next to the women and report back on Lomav’s behavior. I don’t want any trouble.”

The guard nodded and motioned to one of the lesser ranking soldiers riding beside him. Without a word, the younger soldier urged his mount to a faster pace and quickly fell in line behind the oblivious Lomav, who was too focused on the women to notice much else around him.

Despite my urge to go back myself, to try to talk to her again, to have her near me, it would be a mistake.

If Lomav was watching, it would confirm any suspicion he had that she was a potential weakness. My cousin was certainly not a master criminal, but he was young and brash and had already shown his dislike of the women. I worried he might do something impulsive, thinking he was in the right. But perhaps I was wrong for assuming the worst—it was a long stretch between voicing his opinions and taking action.

I relaxed and deliberately softened my muscles to let my body move easily with my numa’s movement. The coolness of the day and soothing rhythm of the ride meant that it was almost a surprise when we were finally upon the huge white-clay-brick walls of the city.

Ahead of us stood the main gate. Constructed from dark red wood, ornately carved with protective emblems of the old religion, it was one of the many architectural wonders of Tahkath.

I peered past my guards and caught a glimpse of the beautiful woman who had elicited such an unexpected response in me. She was gazing up at the massive walls that almost seemed to disappear into the sky, her long curly hair sparkling with glints of gold in the sunlight. She wasn’t hard to spot in the crowd with her striking beauty, but her expression of wide-eyed wonder matched many of the others around her.

Would she be happy here?

If she truly was my mate, could she accept Tahkath as her home? Or would she want to return to her home? My lips set firmly, I determined to give her and the other women the best comfort possible. It was the least I could do while we worked to be able to communicate and solve the mystery surrounding this group.

The heavy gates slowly creaked open and we rode along the wide palm-lined street that led up to the palace. It towered over the city, it’s high, graceful turrets gleaming soft white in the sun, contrasting against the dark tile roof. The glass crystals in the sand that was used to make the bricks caught the light and sparkled beautifully.

Guards opened the inner gates and saluted as we rode through to the courtyard. The head servant came down the steps to greet me, bowing low as he said, “Welcome back, Your Majesty, I hope your scouting trip was successful.” His eyes took in the women, but lifelong training kept all emotion from his face.

“Please release these women and make them comfortable in the north tower.” Carefully, I didn’t glance at her to look for a reaction. “Provide them with clothing and anything else they may need, I’m sure they are very hungry and thirsty. However, no one is to leave or enter the tower except under my command. Please post guards at the entrance.”

Lomav, who had moved to my side, overheard and scoffed.

“Dojak, that woman made you weak when she crashed.” His lips pursed as his expression struggled between concern and disgust. “Those women should be thrown in the dungeons, at least until we know who they are and what they want. They could be part of some nefarious scheme mounted by our enemies and, if that’s the case, you have just fallen into the trap.”

I swung off my mount and headed straight into the castle, beckoning Lomav to follow me. He sighed and followed quickly, hurrying to match my longer strides. I headed down the hall, passing the iron lanterns worked to look like blooming vines encasing glowing glass, and my thudding feet were hushed by the soft runners that lined the hall floors, the walls covered with vibrant scenes of old battles and parties woven through the threads.

When we reached the library, I closed the heavy door and stared at Lomav for a second, then headed to my desk and sat down, shuffling through the scrolls that had been laid out for me to look through and sign.

“You are not to interfere with those women in any way. I am speaking as your king, and not as your cousin. If I catch any wind of some scheme or any harm befalls them, there will be a punishment on anyone who is behind it, even if it is you.”

I looked up at Lomav, my eyes glinting like hard steel and my chin jutted out to let him know not to cross me.

Lomav’s mouth dropped slightly before he composed himself. He wasn't used to any sort of rules applying to him. I had been lax with him for far too long.

As my sole heir, he needed to learn the importance of honor and discipline.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he was turning into a difficult pupil.

That dark-haired woman had changed the balance of things, and she had given me a power over Lomav I hadn’t had before.

Right now, there was hope for me, and uncertainty for Lomav.

And I knew that he understood it.

He slammed his hands on the desk and brought his face close to mine.

“If you make that woman your queen, you will be made a fool in front of everyone. There can’t be any mating between D’Tali and a mammal. Two distinct species cannot interbreed. To even think otherwise is ridiculous, Dojak, and goes against all our learning of nature and the commandments from the Shadow Gods.”

“The gods you seem so enamored with don’t have a place in Tahkath anymore,” I snapped. “Or do you want us to go back to sacrificing each other to appease their thirst for blood?”

Lomav growled in rage and frustration.

“You keep the company of fools. They give you nothing but false teachings and simply exist to stroke your ego,” he hissed before whipping around and storming out of the room, leaving me in peace, at least for now. Slowly, I unrolled the scrolls and began to scan them, but my mind wouldn’t clear and focus.

Putting him under house arrest until his temper cooled was an obvious, and tempting, solution.

I was Tahkath’s ruler, that was undeniable, but it didn’t mean I could do as I pleased. There were political ramifications to my actions, and I knew that a silent minority would prefer to have Lomav sitting on the throne. He would be easier to manipulate, after all, and some ruthless nobles wouldn’t mind having an influenceable king in charge of the Tahkath.

But how much of his behavior was the arrogance of a young man, and how much was truly dangerous?

If he was influenced by the priests of the old Shadow Gods, I should lock him up immediately.

And enrage every other secret follower in the city.

I dropped my head back and stared at the ceiling. And none of this got me any further in dealing with the pile of paperwork that seemed to be waiting for me every day.

Lomav wasn’t the only distraction.

The woman’s lovely face kept drifting through my thoughts as I tried to read, her amber eyes flecked with green, almost like the color of the deep pools in the jungle where I would go swimming with my friends as a boy.

The expression that came over her when my eyes flashed kept entering my thoughts. Though nothing had happened to her eyes, it was almost as though she had been affected in the same way. I knew she had felt the same rush of heat and desire flowing through her body. If that was true, it was even more likely that the match was possible, instead of just a random reflex on encountering a new species.

If only I could speak with her.

With a sigh of frustration, I tossed the scroll back on the desk. I needed to work these thoughts out of my system so I could get some work done. Maybe Vokar would be up for some exercise. I headed out of the library and to the courtyard to see if I could find him.

Sofia

“I’ll be damned.”

Standing at the center of the chamber we had been given, I looked around with amazement. The room was massive enough to house a small army, and the curved walls of cut stone had been painted in a brilliant white. Twelve beds rested against the walls, their solid wooden frames intricately engraved. Imposing pillars supported the domed ceiling at regular intervals, the flagstone floor in soft orange hues I had never seen before.

At the end of the room, a heavy-duty wooden door sat beneath a stone arch, opening onto a balcony that overlooked the city of Tahkath. Some of the women were there, taking in the endless alleyways, the cramped streets, and the hundred spires and towers that rose toward the heights. The expression they all shared was dominated by something I could only classify as awe.

“What’s down here?” On the opposite side of the balcony, another arch led to a set of spiral stairs. Taking the initiative, and allowing curiosity to triumph over her fears, Isabella held my hand and led me down.

With Camilia following after us, we quickly found ourselves in a massive bathing area, a large pool at the center. Despite the medieval technology that permeated this place, some kind of archaic plumbing system had been set up here, and a blanket of steam stretched over the clear surface of the pool.

“They’re probably using some kind of braziers under the floors to heat up the water,” Isabella said, dipping her toes into the water. “That’s how the Romans did it, anyway. They look like they have the same level of technology, so I figure they’re using some kind of similar plumbing system.”

“How do you know so much about everything?” Camilia asked her with a laugh. “It was hard enough to get my nursing degree, but you seem like a walking encyclopedia.”

“Before, well, all of this, I’d just started a job as a mechanical engineer. I like figuring out how things work. It’s easier than people,” Isabella replied, her cheeks turning red. Whether that was from embarrassment or the heat, I couldn’t tell. “Look, they have towels here for us.” Walking around the pool, she went toward the small stone benches that lined the wall. “And the benches are heated, maybe by steam?” she wondered.

Across the benches were a row of twelve neatly folded towels and underneath, there seemed to be something else.

“Are those clothes?” I asked.

Before any of them could say anything, I threw one of the towels over my shoulder and grabbed what was underneath it. The moment I pulled on the fabric, the hemline of a long dress fell down to my feet, revealing something that would have Earth’s most famous stylists sick with envy. I knew little about these aliens, but one thing's for sure—they knew style.

Even more than that, I was surprised to see something that had eluded designers for many centuries on Earth.

The dresses that the aliens had given us had...pockets.

“Do you see this?” I said, pointing to the pockets on the dresses. “Can you believe this?”

“Clearly an advanced race,” Isabella said sardonically.

“You can say that again,” I said with a sigh.

“What if they’re just like the Skarg?” Isabella continued, grabbing one of the dresses and looking at it suspiciously. “Sure, these guys seem more refined than those apes, but they might want to turn us into slaves all the same.”

“If that’s the case, they sure treat their slaves pretty damn good,” I said, waving one hand at the pool behind us. The sound of the water lapping at the edges of the pool reminded me of how long it had been since I had taken a shower; I moved toward it and dipped my toes into the water, the warmth climbing up my body. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to take a bath.”

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Isabella asked me as I started getting undressed. “We don’t know if their water is safe, nor do we—”

I stopped hearing her when I took a step forward, my naked body sinking into the warm water. I remained underwater for a couple of seconds, enjoying how the grime and exhaustion from the past few days seemed to be peeling off my body, and only then did I emerge.

“It’s perfectly safe,” I told Isabella, but she didn’t look too convinced. She stared down at the water, lips pursed tightly, and I could tell she was imagining a thousand invisible microbes dancing in every drop of it.

She frowned, and it seemed like she was about to say something, but Camilia was having none of it. Laying one hand on Isabella’s lower back, she gave her a push forward, the sound of her body hitting the water echoing throughout the room.

“Sorry, had to do it,” Camilia said with a laugh, then she removed her clothes and dove in after Isabella.

“Really funny.” Spitting out a mouthful of water, Isabella ran a hand through her hair. Eventually, a smile appeared on her face. She took off her drenched clothes, tossed them towards the heated bench, and leaned back against the pool wall. Camilia and I joined her and, for at least five minutes, none of us said a thing. We just let the warm water strip away all the anxiety from the past few days, the steam feeling as if it was filtering into our minds and smoothing all the edges.

It felt amazing.

“What are we going to do now?” Camilia eventually spoke up, slowly turning her head so that she was facing me.

Why did everyone seem to think I had any answers?

“Do you think these aliens have a plan for us?” Camilia asked.

“D’Tali,” Isabella said.

“What?”

“These aliens are called D’Tali,” she clarified and, as Camilia and I gave her a surprised look, she sat up in the pool. “I’ve been paying attention to them. I’m not entirely certain if that’s the name of their country, or if it’s their species. You know, we’re humans, and they are—”

“Got it,” I said. “Either way, they’re D’Tali.”

“I’ve been thinking,” she continued. “They can’t understand a word of what we’re saying, and I suppose it’d take a long while before they can learn our language. And that’s assuming they’d be interested in that.”

“That’s not good.” I pursed my lips, thinking of what she had just said. “If we can’t have a conversation, we’re going to have a hard time figuring things out.”

“That’s why I think we should get that translation device the Skarg used on us.” Isabella’s voice grew tenser, and she looked at me with a slightly anxious expression. She had probably been thinking of this for quite some time now but was afraid we’d find her idea a dumb one. “I’m not certain how to operate it, but we can try to learn, based on what I observed while we were captured. That’s our best shot. Even if we just manage to use it in a single D’Tali, he could act as our translator.”

“I like that,” I muttered. “Thing is, we’d have to convince them to go back to the ship.”

“You think they’d want to?”

“Maybe,” I replied, my mind already drifting to Dojak.

He seemed level-headed enough, and I definitely had some kind of connection with him. Besides, he appeared to be the leader of these D’Tali guys. If I managed to convince him we needed to go back, this would be a done deal. The problem was that I had no idea how to explain all of this to him.

“I’ll talk to him,” I said, already pulling myself out of the pool. Camilia and Isabella turned around, elbows resting on the edge as they gently kicked their legs behind them. They didn’t say it, but I knew they had a thousand questions for me. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out. I’ll make him understand.”

“What about the sentries?” Camilia offered. “Do you think they’re going to let you out of the tower?”

“They won’t need to,” I replied with a grin.

I toweled myself off, then looked at the pile of dirty clothes on the floor. A dress wouldn’t exactly help me escape from the tower, but I wasn’t going to put my dirty clothes back on. Once I squeezed myself inside the fresh clothes the D’Tali had left for us, though, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

The fabric was silky and smooth, and it fell on my curves almost too perfectly. The shoulders were left bare, and only some modest cleavage was on display.

I wondered what D’Tali women were like, what they’d wear.

Or had someone been able to adjust their clothing to fit our different bodies?

Either way, it was a beautiful attire with just the right amount of sexy mixed in. The soft slippers tucked underneath were comfortable, if not particularly sturdy looking.

“You want us to go with you?” Isabella asked, and relief showed on her face once I shook my head.

“No need to,” I said, moving toward the end of the room. I opened the door, revealing another balcony smaller than the one in the sleeping area. With my hands on the stone railing, I looked down; there were more of these balconies all over the tower, so it was only a matter of climbing down from one to the other.

Even though I wasn’t exactly a fan of heights, I swung one leg over the railing. Before I disappeared out of sight, I glanced at the girls and smiled.

“See you in a bit.”

That is, I thought, if I don’t break my neck first.

Dojak

I spread my legs and lowered my center of gravity.

Slowly, I unsheathed my sword and tightened my fingers around its silver grip. The metal felt cold against my skin, but I barely registered it. My attention was solely devoted to the hooded D’Tali in front of me, the two daggers in his hands like sharp fangs.

For almost a minute, neither of us made a move.

I just waited, careful not to jump into a concealed trap, then it happened fast. The sunlight bounced off the blades in his hands and he rushed forward at lighting speed, his forward momentum causing his hood to fall back.

“Too slow,” I cried out, sidestepping Vokar’s attack with a quick shuffle of my feet. Not one to be thrown off balance, he twisted his hips around and slashed at me with one dagger, the blade catching the strap of my vest.

“If this was for real, that dagger would be buried in your heart,” he threw back at me, his tone conversational. Even though we had met each other years ago, during our first apprenticeships in the military, I had never gotten used to his imperturbable demeanor. No matter the situation, nothing rattled or even excited him.

That, of course, made him one of the most lethal assassins in Tahkath. Whenever a mission required stealth and a steady hand, Vokar was the one to get it done. It didn’t even matter if the odds were stacked against him—the only thing he needed was an objective, and he wouldn’t rest until it was accomplished.

To accept defeat wasn’t a part of my makeup, though, and so I swung around and brought my sword up in an arch. We traded blows for almost a minute, but I was finding it harder than usual to slip inside Vokar’s guard. He vanished before I was able to make contact, and whenever I thought I had him, he used his daggers to parry my strike.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked me, pushing out the words as he ducked under one of my blows. “You’re unfocused, Dojak. And nothing gets you killed faster than being unfocused.” As if to hammer down this point, he placed one hand on the ground and brought his right leg up. The sole of his boot landed straight on my stomach, and I had to take a couple of steps back to absorb the impact.

“I’m not unfocused,” I said, but it was a lie. Ever since we had arrived in the city, I hadn’t been able to focus on anything of importance. Whenever I tried to direct my mind to anything, it simply escaped from its leash and went dashing straight to the only thing that mattered—that dark-haired woman.

It was maddening.

I had always prided myself on the fact that I could roll my sleeves up and attend to the task at hand, but now I was finding that impossibly hard to do. My mind was behaving like a toddler, throwing a tantrum whenever I tried to think of something other than that woman. Images of her danced behind my shut eyelids every time I closed my eyes, and the worst thing was that I wanted it to happen.

“It’s that woman, isn’t it?” Vokar asked me, a slight grin appearing on his lips. Before I replied, he rushed toward me so fast I had no time to brace. Lowering his body, he hit me straight in the abdomen with his shoulder.

I stumbled back, gasping, and clenched my jaw. “What are you talking about?”

“Rumor has it that one of the women woke up something in you,” he continued, and this time he didn’t strike. He simply stood there, holding my gaze as he analyzed my reaction to his words. “Don’t bother trying to hide it. I can see it in your face.”

“Shit,” I muttered, raking one hand over my face. “Does everyone know?”

“I don’t know that, but Lomav certainly suspects. You can see it in his eyes.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You know you have options,” he offered, grinning as he held both his daggers up. I merely frowned, and Vokar let out a deep laugh. Sheathing his blades, he walked up to me and slapped my arm. “What are you going to do about it? If that woman’s truly your mate—”

“We don’t know that,” I cut him short, Lomav’s words coming back to haunt me. “A mating bond is supposed to happen between D’Tali. How can it even happen between two different kinds of people?”

“Since when did you become such an expert?” He arched one eyebrow up. “That sounds like bullshit, if you ask me. A mating bond is a mating bond. Sure, we only have records of it happening between D’Tali, but it’s not like we’ve encountered someone from that woman’s species before. We simply don’t know enough to start making assumptions like that.”

“You’re right,” I admitted, slightly disconcerted at how easily he had cut to the point. You could always trust Vokar not to dance around a subject. “Still, this is one complicated situation. We don’t know how the nobles and the populace would react to something like that and, besides, we can’t even communicate with—”

“We can’t communicate,” he interrupted me, “but it seems like that isn’t enough to stop your new friend from trying.” His grin widened as he looked at something over my shoulder and, as I turned around to see what he was looking at, my heart tightened inside my chest.

The woman stood at the edge of the walkway that encircled the courtyard. Her dark hair was tied back in a practical manner, and her eyes were set on mine. The fabric of her flowing green dress glimmered in the sunlight, the hemline dancing softly in the afternoon breeze.

She looked stunning.

Vaulting over the parapet, she smoothed the front of her dress and approached. Her serious expression made her look even more beautiful.

“You’re not supposed to be down here,” I told her, even though I wasn’t sure if she understood me. “How did you manage to sneak past the guards?”

She merely shrugged.

“She’s a talented one, it seems,” Vokar said, his smile an amused one.

Ignoring him, I just held the woman’s gaze.

She said something which I obviously didn’t understand, but that didn’t stop her from trying. Pursing her lips, she started using her hands; she touched her throat first, then brushed her fingers against mine. Whatever she was trying to tell me, it flew straight over my head. The moment her fingers brushed against my skin, it became impossible to focus.

Not knowing if this was a greeting of some sort, I decided to return the gesture. I touched her neck with two of my fingers, and I heard the crack of a whip inside my mind as I experienced the softness of her skin. Unlike mine, filled with hard scales, hers was as smooth and warm as a pillowcase.

Instead of reacting as I had expected, she merely frowned.

That hadn’t been a greeting.

Once more, she tried saying something, pointing to her mouth as she spoke. Then, she pointed at mine. Was she trying to teach me how to speak her language? I tried to repeat some of her words, but my attempts were simply pathetic—her speech felt unnatural, the words like nothing I had encountered before, and it felt like I was trying to force my throat to do something it simply hadn’t been built for.

Deciding to try something else, I held one hand up. She hesitated, her big round eyes set on mine, and waited. Pointing at me, I said my own name as slowly as I could. She repeated it almost immediately. Then, pointing one finger at herself, she said one word which I assumed to be her name.

“Sofia,” I repeated, enjoying the sound that word made when it rolled off my tongue. If this was her name, it was a beautiful one.

Despite the early success, we soon got stuck again. Sofia continued gesticulating, pointing and waving her hands around, but I simply had no idea what she was trying to convey. When I looked at Vokar, he merely shrugged, clearly as confused as I was.

Shaking her head, her lips pressing into a white line, Sofia suddenly spun around and marched out of the courtyard with a hurried step. I stood there, watching her go while feeling completely clueless about what had just happened.

“Any idea what that was about?” Vokar asked, but I didn’t have an answer for him.

“All I know is that she shouldn’t be wandering around,” I said. Then, turning to two guards at the far end of the courtyard, I raised my voice. “Go look for her and take her back to the tower.” As an afterthought, I added, “And be gentle about it. She’s a guest here, not a prisoner.”

I sighed as the guards disappeared out of sight, the thoughts inside my head a scattered mess.

“A guest, huh?” Vokar repeated, that amused smile returning to his lips. “Something tells me that, before this is all over, she’s going to be more than just a guest.”

“I don’t know about that,” I muttered, wiping the sweat off my brow. Sparring with Vokar hadn’t helped me relax my mind, so maybe it was time I tried something else. “I’m going to head down to the baths.”

“Want me to tell the guards to take the woman there, instead of to the tower?” he asked me, clearly having fun. As for me, I wasn’t in the mood for any type of fun. A simple patrol had turned into a situation I had no idea how to deal with, and I wasn’t sure if I liked that. When I told Vokar as much, his reply was quick.

“You might not like the situation,” he said, “but you sure as hell like the woman.”

This time I said nothing.

I couldn’t deny it without being branded a liar.

Sofia

“Damn it.”

I wandered through the maze of stone corridors, stepping into every unlocked room I passed, but I simply couldn’t find what I was looking for. All I needed was a pen and a piece of paper—or, really, a quill and a piece of parchment—but my search was fruitless. I thought that it’d be easier to explain things to Dojak with some visual support, but now I was wondering if I had made the right call.

I had found him easily enough this time around, but who was to say it’d happen again? I could already hear the guards on my heels, the clanging of their metallic armor echoing throughout the corridor, and I was pretty damn sure I wouldn’t be able to escape the tower so easily again.

“Bingo,” I muttered under my breath as I stepped inside a small room. Aside from the desk of ancient wood that had been pushed against the corner, the room was mostly bare. Not that I cared—there was a small bottle of ink on the desk, as well as a few quills and pieces of parchment, and that was all that mattered.

After ensuring the bottle of ink was properly secured with a cork, I stuffed what I needed down the pockets of my dress and waited. No more than ten seconds later, I heard the guards rushing past the room I was in, and only then did I sneak out. Keeping my ears perked, I circled back to the courtyard, and my heart sank almost immediately—there was no sign of Dojak anywhere.

The green D’Tali with the dark cloak remained there though, mercilessly slicing into a life-sized wooden doll with his two daggers. His movements were fluid and terrifying, and I shuddered as I imagined what it’d be like to have him as an enemy. He was slightly leaner than the other D’Tali, but his movements were faster than his body should have allowed for.

He stopped moving once he noticed me standing there; that, in itself, was disconcerting. He had his back turned to me and shouldn’t have noticed that easily. His senses seemed to be more attuned than the rest of the D’Tali. Clearing my throat, I said the only word I knew he’d understand, doing my best to make it sound like a question.

“Dojak?”

He hesitated for a moment, but then a smile spread across his lips. He seemed amused. Using the tip of his dagger, he pointed toward a stone arch on the other side of the courtyard and followed that gesture by making a sharp turn left with his wrist. Down the hallway and turn left; got it.

“Thanks,” I said, then I started walking toward the direction he had pointed. I could already hear the heavy footsteps of the guards coming up behind me, and so I didn’t have time to lose. Hurrying, I ran across the courtyard and into the hallway. Once I got to a bifurcation at the end of it, I chose the left one and kept on going until I found a set of wooden doors. They were tall and heavy, with intricate carvings all around, and for a moment I feared they’d be locked.

They weren’t.

I slid inside the room, trying not to make a noise, and immediately narrowed my eyes as I realized I couldn’t see a thing. The entire room seemed to be covered in a cloud of steam, the temperature inside it almost dizzying, and it took me a couple of seconds before I adjusted to the atmosphere.

I was in a spacious chamber that resembled the tower’s bathing area, except this one was at least three times larger. Heated benches lined the walls and three large pools occupied the center of the room, and it was from them that the steam rose to cover the room. Dojak was sitting in the center pool, his head thrown back and arms draped over the stone lip.

Even though the steam made it hard to see much, I could tell that he was naked. The ropes of muscles on his shoulders and arms made my insides clench and, even though I took a few deep breaths to steady myself, my heart insisted on picking up the pace. The hard contour of his pectorals, the deep grooves and ridges on his abs...it was simply too much perfection.

Knowing that I couldn’t remain there staring, I cleared my throat. His eyes snapped open as he turned his head toward me. He knitted his eyebrows together, clearly not expecting to see me there. For a moment, I thought he was going to call his guards, but he didn’t; instead, he remained sitting, waiting for me to make a move.

Just do what you came here to do, I thought, trying to slap some sense into myself. It was going to be hard to explain my plan with him sitting there completely naked, but I had to try all the same.

Slowly, I walked around the edge of the center pool and toward the spot where he was sitting. Pulling the hem of my dress up, I kicked my shoes off and sat down on the stone lip, allowing my naked feet to touch the water. It was far hotter than I had expected, but I figured that made sense—the D’Tali were a species of sentient reptiles and, as such, they were probably cold-blooded. If their bodies couldn’t produce heat on their own, it figured they’d need some external assistance. But there was so much I didn’t know. Would never know, if I couldn’t make this work.

Still not moving a muscle, Dojak looked at me with a questioning glance. I grabbed the ink, quills, and parchment from inside my pockets and tried to balance it all on top of my knees. Dojak didn’t say a word; he just watched as I dipped the quill into the ink. Once I put the quill to the parchment, though, my drawing skills immediately made me cringe.

My sketching was messy and awkward, and I doubted I’d do a better job at it than I had been doing with my hands. Still, I pressed on, fully knowing that I had to make him understand, one way or the other.

“Damn it,” I muttered, the heat making it harder to concentrate. I could already feel beads of sweat rolling down my forehead, and the fabric of my dress was sticking to my skin. To make matters worse, my eyes were drawn to his naked torso every five seconds or so, which definitely didn’t help when it came to my drawing skills.

Then, I made a breakthrough.

I drew two stick-figures with rapid movements—one with horns and the other with breasts, as cringe-worthy as that may sound—and scribbled a few lines coming out from their mouths, doing my best to represent sound.

Thinking of what I should do next, I drew the ship and a box inside it. I started drawing arrows that connected the box with the sounds, which I hoped signaled that something in the ship had made us capable of understanding the D’Tali, and that’s when Dojak finally moved.

He turned his body around, his eyes honing in on my drawings, and I could almost hear the gears turning inside his head. Closing the distance between us, he tapped one finger against the poorly-drawn ship, and looked up at me.

“Yeah, we need to go back there.” I nodded as I said it, my words dipping into a faint whisper as I locked my eyes on his. Accidentally, my knees brushed against his hard pectorals, and it felt as if thunder and lightning had exploded up my spine. Before, it had been hard to think straight; now, it was almost impossible.

Before I even knew it was happening, the parchment slipped from my fingers. It floated toward the surface of the pool and, acting on instinct, I reached forward to grab it. That threw me off balance and I felt my center of gravity shifting; I slid down from the pool’s lip awkwardly and crashed against the water, my limbs flailing as I tried to find my footing.

“Sofia,” Dojak said, the magnetic pull of his voice enough for me to stop moving. My feet touched the bottom of the pool and I stood, only then realizing that I was no more than a few inches away from him. His hands were firmly planted on my hips, and that’s when I knew he had been the one holding me up.

I opened my mouth to say something, but clamped it shut almost immediately. My heart was hammering hard, kicking and punching against my ribcage, and it felt like a grenade had gone off inside my head. His eyes drew me in as if time had slowed to a crawl.

“Dojak,” I breathed, and for a moment that seemed to stretch forever, neither of us moved. Our bodies pressed together as we heard the gentle sound of the water lapping at the stone. Then, finally surrendering to all that tension, whatever invisible bond existed between us drew us in. My eyes became half-lidded, my lips parted of their own accord, and I pushed myself up to my tiptoes.

Gently, he removed one hand from my hip and placed it on my cheek, his long fingers caressing my skin. He moved his hand around until it was resting on the nape of my neck, his fingers now threaded on my hair, and only then did he start leaning in.

Our lips touched, and it was perfect.

My mind froze, struggling to keep up, as my body overruled it.

I had come here to explain the plan the girls had come up with, not to fall into his arms. Now, though, it seemed inevitable. Whenever I stood close to him, the air crackled with electricity, and I felt something undeniable tugging at my insides. Part of that was lust, there was no use denying it, but there was something else there, as well.

I closed my eyes and surrendered to his kiss, my heart somehow beating even faster as he parted my lips with the tip of his tongue. Our kiss deepened with each passing second, our tongues going from a gentle dance to a wrestling match, and I quickly found my hands resting on his chest.

I didn’t even know when I had reached for him. I traced the chiseled contour of his pectorals, my fingertips navigating over the hard scales that covered his shoulders and torso. God, I wanted him, and I wanted him bad.

It made no sense, and I didn’t care anymore.

Luckily, he seemed to share that sentiment.

Closing the distance between us, he pressed his naked body against mine, and a moan rose up my throat as I felt something very hard and very long pressing against my inner thigh. I’d wondered about how well-endowed Dojak would be, but nothing could have prepared me for this.

Unable to restrain myself, I moved my hand underwater, only stopping when I felt his hard member. Turning my wrist around, I gripped him by the base, all thoughts exploding like firecrackers as I felt just how big he truly was. No human could hold a candle to him, that was for sure.

Dojak seemed as curious about my body as I was about his.

Taking one hand up to my shoulder, he started pushing my dress down. The drenched fabric tried to cling to my skin, but it was useless—he just kept on yanking at my clothes until I was fully naked, the dress floating away from us toward the far end of the pool.

I sucked in a deep breath, the heat rushing into my lungs, and I felt my nipples hardening as the water lapped at them. I sunk onto my heels, hiding my breasts from his sight, but he was having none of it. With one quick movement, he cupped my breasts, the surprisingly smooth palms of his hands pressing down on my nipples.

“Oh, god,” I breathed out, throwing my head back as pleasure rushed through me. Driven by unconscious urges, I gripped him as tightly as I could and started flicking my wrist, my fingers wandering up and down his entire length. That was enough for him to lose all control.

Leaning in, he drove his tongue to the valley between my breasts. He explored my skin for a moment, then hurried to climb the rising curve of my left breast. Once he found my hard little bud, he wrapped his lips around it and sucked it into his mouth, his tongue giving it a merciless but delicious lashing.

Using my free hand, I grabbed one of his horns and pulled him against me, forcing him to crush his mouth against my breast. He offered no resistance. Instead, he upped the ante, allowing one of his hands to shoot down the side of my body, slowing down once his long fingers settled on my hip.

Slowly, he took his time as he brought his fingers over my inner thigh, and I held my breath as he finally flattened the palm of his hand between my legs. My breath caught in my throat even though I was still stroking him, and my entire body felt as if it was melting under his touch.

I wasn’t exactly what one would call an inexperienced girl—although holding down three waitressing jobs certainly didn’t help my dating life—but I had never experienced anything like this. Lust became something more than just an idea or a feeling, and it solidified into something tangible. As crazy as it may sound, I could feel desire swirling inside me, like colorful ribbons dancing in the wind.

“Holy shit,” I breathed out, my pitch climbing into the heights as Dojak draped one thumb over my clit. The moment he pressed down on it, every single one of my nerve endings became electrified, and I could feel them blooming like sunflowers greeting a summer morning. As if knowing exactly what he was doing to me, he kept on massaging my clit while he caressed my aching wetness with two fingers.

He parted my inner lips slowly, taking his time, then slid his two fingers deep inside me with a single, flowing motion, his fingers curling upward into a hook. They slid inside me until they were pressed hard against that hidden trigger, and my head almost exploded then and there.

“How can you be this perfect?” he whispered, more to himself than to me. The fact that he had said it while having no idea if I could understand him...I didn’t know why, but it made me feel even more drawn to him.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” I said, and he just gave me a puzzled look. Still, he didn’t linger on the language barrier between us. Right now, our bodies were doing the talking, and that was all that mattered.

Suddenly, he slid his fingers out, both his hands returning to my waist. Before I could ready myself, he pushed my body up, lifting me as if I weighed nothing. He sat me on the pool’s stone lip and, with both hands on my knees, he spread my legs wide.

Anticipation flooded my mind as he closed in on me, his eyes never leaving mine. A grin tugged at the corner of his lips, then it happened again—that deep silver flashed in his eyes, making them glow, and a pleasant warmth spread all through my body.

I didn’t have the time to process what was happening.

Lowering himself so that only his upper torso was out of the water, he laid his lips against my right knee and started kissing my leg. He made his way toward my inner thigh and I leaned back, tilting my head back as I took one deep breath after another. I knew exactly what was going to happen, and I wanted to prepare myself for it.

It was useless.

The moment his tongue caressed my drenched inner lips, the maddening rush of pleasure that took over me became simply overwhelming. Going straight for the kill, he wrapped his lips around my clit and started massaging it with his tongue. Sudden bolts of ecstasy shot up my spine, and I quickly found myself moaning, the quivering sound of my voice echoing throughout the vast chambers.

It was only a matter of time until my moans turned into screams. Repeating his gesture from before, he slid two fingers inside me and folded them upward; his fingertips pressed hard, and my body felt as if it was on fire.

I couldn’t think straight.

My muscles became as hard as concrete, an overpowering tension settling into my bones, and that swirling lust that inhabited my body transformed into a tidal wave. I could feel it growing and growing, rising on my mind’s horizon until it overtook all of my senses.

I came, and I came hard.

Flames of pleasure licked at every fiber of my being and my muscles started trembling as if I were having a seizure. I pushed my thighs together, trapping him in place, and he groaned against my aching wetness. His voice reverberated through my body, and the most delicious shiver I had ever experienced prickled my skin.

Planting my hands on the stone beside me, I surrendered to the tidal wave of pleasure crashing against my body. For a moment, it even felt as if the connection between my body and soul had been severed, and it was as if I was watching it all happen to a different person.

When all that electric pleasure finally started subsiding, in the aftermath my arms and legs twitched as the last remnants of a powerful orgasm abandoned my system. It was unbelievable.

“I have no idea about who you are, Dojak,” I said, the words escaping between ragged breaths, “but I sure am glad that you’ve found me.”

Dojak

I ran my hands through her hair, carefully soaping it up.

Sofia had her back pressed against my chest and every time I pressed my fingertips against her scalp, she let out a soft moan. The warmth of her skin against mine was more pleasurable than any touch I had ever felt, and I finally realized there could be no room for doubts—despite the fact that we were from different species, this woman was my mate.

That, of course, made it almost impossible for me to remain disciplined. Even now, though there was nothing overtly sexual about what we were doing, I could feel boiling blood rushing down to between my legs.

It took all that I had not to pin her against the side of the pool and ravage her, but I kept reminding myself that I’d have to take this slow.

We couldn’t communicate, which meant that I had no idea of what customs and traditions someone like her would hold, and I didn’t want to screw things up by letting my instincts guide me. Even if I wanted nothing more than to have her, I’d have to keep my urges restrained.

There was a certain irony there. After all, no more than just a few minutes ago, I had had my mouth pressed against the delicious wetness between her legs. The moment I thought of that, I immediately bit down on my tongue, trying to stop my mind from wandering.

I was torturing myself, that much was evident.

I ran my hands over her naked body, soaping it up, and it was taking every ounce of will-power that I had to keep myself in check. Sofia knew it, and I was pretty sure that she was enjoying my struggle immensely. She swayed her hips every now and again, and every time she did, the curves of her backside ‘accidentally’ brushed against my hard length.

“What were you trying to tell me?” I asked her, doing my best to keep my mind occupied. Part of me wanted nothing more than to be careless and surrender to the demands of my body, but I held firm. If Sofia was truly my mate, then I wanted to take my time. I wanted to do it right.

Pulling back from her, I swam toward the far end of the pool where the wet parchment now lay. Her drawings had smeared from the water, but I still remembered them. If I had gotten their meaning right, there was something in the vessel, the one where we had found the women, that could help us communicate with each other.

Holding the parchment in my hands, I turned so that I was facing Sofia. She swam toward me, and it took a very conscious effort not to stare at her naked breasts. The moment I remembered how it had felt to cup them, the softness of her flesh molding itself to my fingers, my cock responded by twitching hard.

Smiling, Sofia tapped her index finger over the box she had drawn inside the ship. Then, she traced the arrow that connected the drawings of sounds coming out from one of the stick figures. She did it one more time and used her finger to trace a line that connected both figures.

Her meaning was clear: there was some sort of device inside the ship that could make us understand each other. It was only a matter of making that trek again, and soon enough we’d be able to dissipate this fog between us. Then and there, I wanted nothing more.

“So, you want us to go back to that ship, huh?” I muttered under my breath, and she responded with an empathic nod. My suspicions were right: as odd as it was, she could understand me perfectly while I had no idea what she was saying. Hopefully, whatever that device was, it would help solve this situation. “Alright, I guess it has to be done.”

She smiled and nodded again.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, already trying to anticipate the ramifications of such an endeavor. Lomav was already struggling to accept the women’s presence inside the palace, and I had no doubt that he was cooking up some harebrained scheme. If he got wind of the fact that I was going back to that ship in order to communicate with the women, who knew what stupid things he would attempt?

The more I thought of it, the more I realized just how out of control he was becoming. He was power-hungry, I could see it in his eyes. Even though there was no guarantee that something would ever happen to me and that, as a consequence, he’d be forced to take the throne, Lomav seemed to accept as a certainty that something like that would happen.

Even though I had never wanted to accept it, I had to open my eyes to the truth: there was a possibility that Lomav actively wanted something to happen to me. He had seen what had happened to me when I first touched Sofia, and his angry reaction to that was a clear-cut sign that he didn’t want me to have an heir.

Even though he pretended that was because Sofia wasn’t a D’Tali, I knew he’d react in the same manner if my mate was of our species.

House arrest was looking better all the time.

It was a shame that I’d need incontrovertible proof of his duplicity to quiet the nobles.

“Go back to the tower,” I instructed Sofia, placing the parchment down and turning to her. “Choose some of the women in your group, and tell them to be ready just before dawn. We’ll be halfway there before the sun gets too high.”

She knitted her eyebrows together, likely confused by my request.

“It’s safer we leave the city without letting everyone know about it,” I explained, and she gave me a quick nod. Without a word, she heaved herself out from the pool, and my fingers twitched as the sudden urge to reel her back in roared through me. I resisted it long enough for her to be out of reach, but my eyes refused to abandon the perfect curves of her naked body.

I took in her delicate figure, engraving each detail of her nakedness in my mind. From her tapered waist to her firm breasts, from her slender legs to the maddening curves of her backside, no detail went unseen.

She fished her dress out from the pool, the water splashing against the flagstone as she wrung it out, then placed it on the heated bench next to the pool.

Two minutes later, the heat had managed to dry out the dress enough to wear, and she squeezed herself inside it; only once she was back inside her clothes did I realize that I had been holding my breath.

With her shoes dangling from her right hand, she padded her way toward the door. Before she left, she looked back at me over her shoulder. The gentle smile on her lips reinforced that she was the one I had been looking for all my life.

“Remember, we’ll meet just before dawn,” I repeated.

She offered me one last smile and, with that, she was gone.

Sofia

Once I left the bathing chamber, the first thing I did was pinch myself. Only once I felt the pain of my fingernails digging into my skin did I accept it: it hadn’t been a dream. What had happened back in that pool...it had been real.

As I navigated through the maze of corridors, doing my best to avoid the guards, even my footsteps felt lighter. It’s such a teenage cliché to say, but I felt as if I was walking on clouds. There was a spring to my step and, even though I couldn’t see it, I knew there had to be a dazed smile on my face. For the first time since I had awoken in that alien ship, I felt happy.

I dragged my teeth over my bottom lip as I remembered the way Dojak had kissed me, and it immediately felt as if every single one of my thoughts had been thrown into a cauldron brimming with boiling water. Tension seized my muscles, and I had to remind myself to keep breathing.

When I finally got to the entrance at the bottom of the tower, the two D’Tali guards stationed there looked at me, slack-jawed.

“How is she here?” one of them asked, looking at the other with narrowed eyes. Knowing I couldn’t explain, I offered them my sweetest smile and ducked past their spears.

Stunned, they let me walk past, and I hurried to the top of the stairs. I pushed the double doors open and stepped inside the sleeping quarters. Only Isabella and Camilia were there, their towels wrapped around their heads. They were sitting on one of the beds, facing each other as they talked.

“Where are the others?” I asked them.

“Downstairs in the pool,” Isabella replied. “How did things go? Did you manage to find Dojak?” The moment I heard the name, I felt that swirling feeling inside me once more, and that must’ve shown on my face.

“Oh, she found him alright,” Camilia said, one eyebrow arched as an amused smile lit up her face. Springing up to her feet, she walked up to me and folded her arms over her chest. “Alright, I want the details. What happened? And how did it happen?”

“Nothing happened,” I said, but I could feel my cheeks burning. It was an obvious lie, and I knew there’d be no fooling these two. Shaking my head, I looked down at my feet and held both my hands up. “Alright, fine. Something happened.”

“And?” Isabella asked, peering over Camilia’s shoulder.

“Well, I, huh, it was good,” I stammered, and by now my cheeks felt as if they were turning into lava. “We didn’t mean for anything to happen, but I just found him while he was taking a bath and—”

“Holy shit,” Camilia said with a laugh, as she reached and fingered my dress. “That explains the wet dress. You didn’t even have time to take it off, huh? You dirty girl.”

“It’s not like that,” I tried to say, but the two of them were already busy giggling like maniacs. “Cut it out, guys. It’s not funny.”

“Hey, we’re not judging,” Camilia continued. “Some of those D’Tali are hot. I never thought I’d say that about reptiles capable of standing on two legs, but there you have it. We’ve landed on a planet filled with hot lizard-people, and it’s only fair that some of us get to enjoy it.”

“What about the plan?” Isabella piped in. “What did he say?”

“It wasn’t easy to make him understand, but—”

“I’m sure you tried really hard to make him see the light,” Camilia cut in.

“Like I was saying,” I continued, trying not to laugh and failing miserably, “it wasn’t easy, but I got him to understand our plan. He agreed with it. We’re going to leave the city at the crack of dawn.”

“What do you mean by we?” Isabella asked, sitting down on the closest bed, watching me closely. “You’re not thinking of going back out there, are you? I mean, this place right here is safe, and god knows what kind of dangers might lie outside the city walls.”

“It’s not just me who’s going back out there,” I said. “You two are also going with me.” Before Isabella had the chance to protest, I sucked in a deep breath and continued. “Look, I’m not going to force you, especially because you do have a point. It’s far safer to remain here. The thing is, I’m not exactly tech-savvy, and I’m going to need you to figure out the translation device. I know what it looks like, but I don’t want to risk leaving something behind just because I didn’t know what it was.”

“What about me?” Camilia asked with a grin. “Want me to tag along because of my quick wit?”

“That, too,” I said, laughing again. “These guys aren’t familiar with human anatomy and—”

“I believe Dojak has been getting acquainted with the fine details of it,” she said.

“Not acquainted enough to know how to treat a wound,” I continued, trying to ignore the way my cheeks were burning up. “Maybe his guys know how to do it, maybe they don’t. I don’t wanna risk it. If something happens, I just think it’s best if you’re around.”

“Count me in, fearless leader,” she said while doing a mock salute, then turned to Isabella. “Hey, don’t look so worried. A trek through the plains with some hot aliens? We should be fighting each other to see who’s out the door first.”

“If you say so,” Isabella muttered, and we could tell she wasn’t exactly happy about the prospect of leaving the city. I was about to reformulate my plan and tell her to stay back, when she gave herself a reassuring nod. “Alright, we can do this.”

“We sure can.”

“What about the others?” I asked them both. “Do you think they’ll be okay with this?”

“I figure Riley will be crazy enough to join us,” Camilia replied. “Most of the others, though, will be happy to remain here. Everyone’s pretty exhausted as it is, and they’re ready to sleep for an entire week.”

“Alright,” I said. “Let’s tell ’em then.”

Together, the three of us marched down the stairs leading into the bathing area. The room was still filled with a fine cloud of steam, but this time it wasn’t silent. The quick chatter of the nine women there bounced off the walls, and there was a bright liveliness to it. The first one to spot me was Riley, who was sprawled on one of the benches, a towel wrapped around her waist.

She sat up and looked at me.

“Any news?” she asked me eagerly. “The girls told me you went to talk with that Dojak guy.”

“Yeah, I have news,” I replied, and unconsciously reached for the bracelet on my wrist, turning it around over and over again. Public speaking wasn’t something I had ever been good at. Seeing all the hope and fear as I talked to the women was disconcerting. No one had ever placed this much faith in my words before. Seeing them hang on every single one of my words as if I knew what I was doing was nerve-wracking. It didn’t help that our lives could depend on what I was about to tell them.

Still, I pushed through and laid the plan out.

Every single one of the women agreed with it but, like Camilia had predicted, only Riley volunteered to accompany us. Unlike the others, the fact that we were on a strange planet while surrounded by aliens didn’t make her anxious—instead, it seemed to energize her.

“Alright, it seems like we’re set,” I said, clapping my hands together. “Try to get some rest. We’ll be up before dawn.”

I had no idea about the others, but for me, rest didn’t come easily that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, the memories of what had happened in that pool with Dojak bubbled up to the surface, and I remained blissfully awake for most of the night. I tossed and turned, and it took a couple of hours before exhaustion gripped me enough to pull me under.

Even then, my dreams were all of Dojak.

Dojak

“Are you sure about this?” Standing beside the city’s gates, two members of the night guard flanking him, Troko pierced me with his gaze. He had spent the night before trying to convince me to take more soldiers with me, and it seemed like he wanted to try and argue his point one last time. “The borderlands are teeming with raiders, Dojak, and there’s a chance that—”

“If we come across any raiders,” I said, laying my hand on my sword’s pommel, “I’ll be ready for them.” That didn’t seem to ease his mind. He merely sighed and shook his head.

“At least you’re taking Vokar with you,” he said, tilting his chin toward the assassin. Perched atop his numa, Vokar’s face was obscured by the shadows from his hood. But still, I knew that he was scanning his surroundings, totally alert and aware of everything that was going on.

“I don’t think I had a choice in that,” I admitted with a shrug. Even though the assassins were under the royal command, Vokar was the kind of guy that always did whatever he wanted to. He had my trust to do so and, more often than not, that worked to the kingdom’s advantage. “I’ll see you in a day or two, general.” I clasped Troko’s forearm in a warrior’s salute.

Grabbing the saddle on my own ride, I heaved myself onto the numa’s back. The creature grunted, stomping one of its rear legs onto the ground, but it quieted down once I held the reins. A few yards in front of me, Sofia and three other women were struggling with their own mounts. They were holding onto the reins too tightly, squeezing the saddle between their thighs, and they looked terrified of falling. The numas responded to that by rocking back and forth, clearly amused with the awkward creatures sitting on their backs.

Gods, it would have been so much easier to pull her onto my numa, hold her through the ride…

And risk being distracted for the entire journey.

“You have to relax,” I said, pulling up beside Sofia. She looked at me, a single lock of her hair escaping from her ponytail, and gave me a curt nod. The tension in her shoulders eased up and I watched as her body went slightly limp. The numa let out a soft grunt, then it quieted. “See? It’s not that hard.”

She smiled at me and I quickly looked away from her. A trek through the plains was a dangerous proposition, and I needed to keep my head on my shoulders, that meant I couldn’t afford to let her distract me. Spurring my mount, I rode to the front, where Vokar was already waiting for me.

“Our mission is a simple one,” I told the ten D’Tali soldiers flanking the women. “We are to return to the vessel that fell from the skies, and we are to retrieve something from inside it. The trek shouldn’t be too hard and, with some luck, we might arrive there before nightfall. Still, keep your eyes peeled—the borderlands are a dangerous place these days.”

Without saying a word, I turned the numa around and set off down the road. A few minutes later, when I looked back at the city walls, I saw a tiny figure watching us over the city gate’s parapet. I assumed that to be Troko but, for a moment, its silhouette seemed far too small to belong to the general.

Not willing to let anything distract me, I just focused on the road ahead.

Soon enough, the sun started rising on the horizon, its pink glow pushing away the darkness, and I could feel the air warming up around us. My scales welcomed the warmth, and I stretched my back, eager to have the sun beat down on me.

We rode the entire morning without seeing anything but peasants. After we put some distance between us and the city, only the odd merchant crossed paths with us. I wasn’t wearing any of my royal regalia and so, even though the odd procession of mammals and reptiles raised a few eyebrows, no one seemed to notice the king himself had left the comfort of the city walls.

I was starting to believe the trek would be uneventful, when Vokar came up to me. He pulled his hood back, his eyes narrowed into two slits, and pointed toward the horizon.

“See that?” he asked me, and it took a few seconds before I could see a barely noticeable cloud of dust rising there. “Someone’s coming this way, and they’re moving fast.”

“How many?”

He paused to evaluate what he was seeing. “A small platoon, I’d say. No more than two squads.”

“You think these could be Aetamian soldiers?” I knew there was no way for him to know, but I needed to voice my own concerns. It was becoming a common occurrence to see Aetamian incursions in the borderlands, but for them to come this far into our territory? Now that was worrying.

“No way to know,” he replied, “but we better prepare for it.” He looked around him, taking no more than five seconds total, then pointed toward a giant boulder that jutted out from the flatlands. “That’s the only decent position we have for miles. We better seize the high ground before those assholes think of the same thing.”

I gave him a quick nod and he relayed my commands to the rest of the troops. There were five soldiers on each of the women’s flanks and, once we picked up the speed, they only needed to remain beside them to guide their numas. We moved toward the boulder at a full trot, and soon enough the flatlands turned into a slope. By then, the almost invisible cloud of dust had turned into a dozen silhouettes of what seemed like raiders.

They didn’t have a banner, which told me they weren’t here in any official capacity, but that didn’t matter much. The Kingdom of Aetam was known for its guerrilla tactics, and employing raiders was part of their strategic arsenal.

In that respect, it made sense for the group coming our way to have hailed from Aetam. What didn’t make sense was the fact that they were this deep in our territory. There was absolutely nothing of interest in these parts, especially at this time of the year.

Had there been a large market in the city, with merchant caravans trudging the roads that snaked out toward the borders, then a raiding party would make sense.

Now this…this didn’t make any sense at all.

“The fuckers are firing at us,” Vokar said, his tone as calm as always.

Narrowing my eyes, I watched as a group of arrows was shot up into the sky. “Shields out, protect the women!” I ordered, doing the exact same. Arrow tips slammed against the shields and I clenched my jaw.

Looking down from the boulder, I watched as the raiders spurred their own numas on, urging them to go faster and faster. Once they were under the boulder’s shadow, they kept on hammering us with arrows, shooting them upward. Most of them bounced off the rock, but a few had to be stopped by our shields.

“Take cover! Sofia,” I called over my shoulder, trusting and hoping she’d understand. “Stay behind the numa.”

“We’ll have to go down there,” Vokar said, calmly dismounting from his numa. He was the only one amongst us who hadn’t bothered with a shield. “Prepare to follow, and please take care.”

Without saying another word, he walked up to the tip of the boulder and jumped down.

“You crazy bastard,” I muttered under my breath, then jumped from my ride and followed him. “Cover us,” I ordered the nearest bowmen, and dove into the fray.

Jumping down from the boulder, sword in my hand, I landed on the back of a tall Aetamian. I dispatched him by slamming the pommel down on his skull, then ran to Vokar’s side. Four of the riders were already dead at our feet, their throats slit by the assassin’s daggers.

“You take the ones on the right,” I said. “I’ll take the ones on the left.”

“Fair deal.”

One deep breath and off we went, swinging our blades with such fury that I knew the Ancestors would be looking down at us with pride. It took us less than a minute to dispatch the rest of the poorly-equipped Aetamians, and that without any of us having suffered a single scratch.

“What the…?” Vokar muttered under his breath, his eyes narrowing as he looked at something over my shoulder. I spun around, and the moment I saw what he was looking at, my heart sank to my stomach.

Lying down between an outcropping of rocks, a brown blanket camouflaging his body, was a single Aetamian. He held a crossbow, its metal glint giving his position away.

But the asshole wasn’t pointing it at me. Instead, he had his sights on the group on top of the boulder.

Straight at a curly mass of hair, peeking over the back of a numa.

Sofia.

“Sofia,” I cried out, my voice ringing out across the plains. “Get down!”

As if on cue, the bastard let loose his first shot, and I watched with horror as the bolt zoomed past Sofia’s face, close enough that I knew she would’ve felt the air shifting around her. Before he could fire another bolt, I felt a sudden wave of anger wash over me and I ran toward the sharpshooter as fast as I could.

He spun around once he realized I was coming his way, but it was already too late for him. I swung my leg back and kicked him straight in the jaw hard enough to shatter his teeth. He rolled to the side, clutching his bloodied mouth, and I finished him off by putting my blade through his torso.

Usually, I would’ve let him live so that I could extract some information, but this time it had been impossible to remain calm.

This bastard had targeted Sofia and, for that, he deserved to die.

“Alright, get it together,” I heard Vokar say beside me, and I forced myself to take a deep breath once I felt his hand on my shoulder. “You good?”

“I’m good.”

“Well, this guy clearly isn’t,” he continued, kneeling down beside the body. “This shit doesn’t make any sense, does it? Why would a group of raiders be in this area? And why would they even be thinking of attacking a fully-armored group like us? There’s something fishy going on.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, “these guys knew exactly where to find us.”

“You think someone tipped them off?”

“Barely anyone knows we're making our way back to the ship, and I took every precaution for this ride to remain secret. But yeah, I think that’s exactly what happened. There’s a traitor in our midst.”

Vokar smiled slowly, the light in his eyes slightly unsettling. “Once you figure out who the bastard is,” he whispered, “just say the word.”

Sofia

Dojak leaped on his numa and, in a split second, we were off again in a cloud of dust, leaving the bodies of the crossbow sniper and the other raiders behind. It took a while for the shocked haze to clear from my mind, even though I automatically spurred my numa on with the rest of the group.

Gradually, the pace of my heart slowed as the rhythms of my fast-moving mount started to soothe and bring reality and awareness back to me. How had those men known that we would be here? They were dressed differently from the D’Tali that we had encountered so far, but it was impossible that anyone outside of Dojak’s close circle knew we were heading out, much less anyone from another city.

I shivered as the feeling of the swoosh of the bolt tearing past my face intruded on my thoughts. Dojak had saved my life just now, and I hadn’t even realized I was in danger. If not for Dojak, I’d be dead.

I couldn't thank him now, as we rushed over the dirt to the crash site, hooves pounding underneath us, but made a mental note to do it later. Hopefully, after we had figured out the translator, I would be able to do it with more than drawings and hand gestures.

The blazing sun that caused sweat to trickle down my back was giving way to a velvet navy sky dotted with stars, and the cool relief of dusk soothed my sunburnt skin. We had paused briefly for a meal but had been riding all day. In the distance, the hulking ship we had arrived in stuck out from the scenery like a sore thumb.

The light was fading quickly, and the D`Tali began to light torches made from twisted reeds from the scrubby bushes surrounding the crash site. One of the soldiers came up to me and offered one of the torches in his hand.

I began to poke around the rubble, peering into the dark depths of the open door of the ship. I felt torn between heading in to explore the mysterious rooms that the ship contained to uncover the mysteries of the people who had kidnapped us and staying put. The darkness through the door seemed to almost pulse ominously.

I felt movement at my side and looked to see Isabella and Camilia, Dojak and Vokar slightly behind them. “I guess we have to go in and find the holding place where we were kept.” I tried to keep my voice brave. Isabella didn’t say anything, just nodded, chin high.

“It shouldn’t take too long. Besides, it could be really interesting. Most people go their whole lives without getting a chance to explore an alien spaceship,” Camilia said brightly.

“Lucky us,” I said bitterly before raising my torch and heading inside.

Once we passed the threshold, the ominous feeling subsided and I soon was amazed at the strange and seemingly endless rooms, full of things that I had never seen before. There were sleeping berths full of beds set into the wall like honeycombs, and a push of a button beside one of the beds still caused the glass door to open with a hiss.

“It’s like a coffin,” Isabella commented, shuddering.

“Yeah, I guess so, but also very efficient. You could fit a whole army in here,” I marveled.

“I think that was the point,” Camilia said with a grim edge to her voice.

“Yeah, I guess so. Maybe we should move on,” I conceded.

Some of the rooms seemed to have nothing in them but panels of buttons; others, though, were more of the honeycomb sleeping quarters, while the rest seemed to be for cooking or dining. All of them were quite drab and sterile, and quite a few of them had the remnants of the beings that had held us captive.

Slowly, we made our way further and further down into the belly of the ship until we came to the hold where we had been kept. It was the biggest room in the ship so far. There, in the corner, was the machine that had made us capable of understanding any language.

“We did it!” Isabella shrieked with relief and happiness.

Dojak and Vokar came into view, speaking to each other in hushed, serious tones as they carefully examined various debris and machines scattered around the room. They seemed fascinated with it all. They noticed us as they walked up, but didn’t stop talking.

“Do you think she would know how to work any of this?” Dojak asked Vokar.

“I’m not sure,” he replied with a shrug. “But there’s a lot of interesting stuff here. I wonder if we’d be able to use some of it as weaponry.”

Dojak motioned me over and pointed to a strange box. Antennas and wires poked out of it, and there was a complex control panel over the front face. Dojak had a questioning look, but I just shook my head. The only thing I had a hope of knowing how to work was the translator device. I had no idea what any of this other stuff was for, or how to make it work.

I grabbed Dojak’s arm and pulled him along to the place where the translation machine stood. By the time we arrived at it, everyone else had gathered around Isabella, who was putting together the few random pieces she had found around it into the appropriate spots.

I went to stand beside her. “Do you think you can make it work?”

Her nose crinkled a little as her brow furrowed, thinking things through before she answered.

“Yes, with a little fiddling and experimentation. I think I’ve found all the pieces, they were all surrounding it and they match all the connections.” She had apparently forgotten all about the fear she had been battling when she was presented with a puzzle to solve. “I’m not sure, but this looks like the power source. They must have been compartmentalized for some reason. It’s really fascinating.”

“How long do you think it will take?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager and put pressure on Isabella. There was so much that I wanted to say to Dojak. It was frustrating being able to understand him speak, but not able to reply; in a way, that was even more frustrating than not being able to understand each other.

“We can try for a bit while the men set up the camp, but I’m not really sure how long it will take,” she said. “I haven’t looked over it enough to even begin trying to get it to work, but I hope it will be fairly intuitive once I get a better look at it.”

“Let’s take it back to the camp, then we can work on it until the tents are set up and the food is ready,” I suggested, then waved to Dojak.

I pointed to the metallic case containing the machine, and pointed to the door. He nodded and snapped his fingers at a few of the men who stood nearby, and one of them picked the case up and started walking toward the entrance of the ship.

It was slow going.

The ship was a bit like a maze, and we made a few wrong turns trying to find the exit. Eventually, though, the glimpse of twinkling stars through the entrance beckoned to us, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief and picked up speed.

As we stepped out of the ship, an intense ache in all my muscles seemed to hit at once. I tried not to limp or slouch, wanting to hide the pain that ricocheted through my feet with every step, but the fatigue was overwhelming.

Apparently numa riding was harder on the body than I’d realized. The anticipation of going back to the ship we’d been held prisoner in, combined with the terror of the attack, had pushed my body’s aches and pains out of my mind.

But now the glow of the camp was a welcome sight. The soldiers that had stayed back with the mounts had set up the tents, with torches flickering cheerily around the camp and a big bonfire in the middle. Riley was there, near a tall D’Tali that seemed busy with a large pan. Whatever was being cooked, it smelled delicious.

Isabella, seemingly full of energy again, fluttered around the soldier carrying the translation machine, instructing him to put it in a spot a little bit away from the fire where she could work on it until it was time for rest.

Slowly, I went over to help her and Camilia as they pressed the various buttons and flicked the switches, trying to find the one that turned it on. I simply couldn’t contain my excitement. As soon as we managed to get the damn thing to work, I’d finally be able to have a conversation.

To be honest, my desire to speak to him went beyond telling him where we were from, or how we had arrived here. I wanted to know everything I could about this man, the one who made my body rush with crackling lust every time I looked at his rugged, handsome face.

And I wanted to know why and how this could be happening.

This wasn’t normal. Maybe it wasn’t right.

But until we got the damn machine working, I wasn’t getting any answers.

I held my breath as I thought of those hard muscles under my fingertips, right when he brought me to climax in the bath, and flicked another switch.

Dojak

“Not the results you were expecting, huh?”

We were standing in the shadows, and a cool breeze swept across the plains. The tents had been pitched near an outcropping of rocks, and the four women were all huddled around the metallic box we had scavenged from the ship.

So far, it didn’t seem like it was doing what they’d hoped for.

What Sofia had hoped for, giving us a way to talk, to communicate with something other than our bodies.

Although that had glories of its own.

“I thought it’d be easier than this, I’ll admit,” I replied, giving Vokar a nod of agreement. He was sitting on a small flat rock, pushing his blades against a whetstone. His movements were repetitive, almost hypnotic, and I assumed he found comfort in that routine. It was something that kept him grounded...and battle-ready. “We’ll have to give them time. They’ll figure it out.”

“I hope they do,” he said, and I noticed the way his gaze flew across the camp and straight toward the women. He was looking at one of them in particular, and I could tell there was something on his mind. As if he could read my mind, he held up one closed fist. “Don’t even go there.”

“Why?” I asked with a laugh. “Don’t you have feelings?”

“No,” he replied, sheathing his newly sharpened blades. “I have daggers instead.”

That was typical of him. Even though we had been friends for ages, he had never been the kind of guy to share what was on his mind. Whenever he was struggling with something, he dealt with it by himself.

“I want a perimeter set up,” I continued, deciding to change the subject. “I don’t want any more surprises. If another group of raiders shows up, then I want to know about it before they—”

“Well ahead of you,” he cut in. “I’ve already instructed the men to set up a perimeter and patrol in shifts. No one’s going to sneak up on us, you can count on that. Now, why don’t you go and get some rest? I noticed you burning the midnight oil last night.”

“I was dealing with bureaucratic bullshit.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. I had spent most of the previous night holed up in my administrative chambers, going through a mountain of work, but that wasn’t because I needed to do it. I just couldn’t get any sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, my mind drifted straight toward Sofia. “But you’re right. I should try and get some rest.”

Leaving him to his sharpening duties, I turned around and headed toward the tent at the center of the small camp. There wasn’t a cot inside of it—I only had one carried during protracted military campaigns—and the only thing inside it was a crumpled sleeping bag. Without even bothering to take off my clothes, I lay down on top of it and folded my hands behind my head.

Outside, I could hear the men moving away from the camp as they started their first patrol of the perimeter. Some of them wouldn’t return for an hour or two, as they’d choose a concealed location somewhere in the vicinity and set a watch from there. Part of me wanted to join them, as I craved the distraction, but I knew that right now it wasn’t that important for me to get distracted. More than anything, I needed the rest.

I was starting to drift off when I heard gentle footsteps outside, and my right hand instinctively shot to the side, right to where I had placed my sword. My fingers had just brushed against the leather scabbard when the tent flaps were pushed aside. A delicate figure stood by the entrance, its silhouette backlit by the campfire, and it took little to no time before I recognized who that silhouette belonged to.

Sofia.

“Dojak,” she whispered softly, closing the flaps behind her.

“Sofia.” It was frustrating that the only word I could understand was my own name, but at least she could comprehend what I told her. A one-way conversation wasn’t exactly ideal, but it was better than nothing. “What are you doing here? Any progress with that device of yours?”

She shook her head, a few stray locks whipping around her shoulders. I nodded. The look on her face told me the rest: whatever that device was, it’d take some time before it could be used. Even then, there were no guarantees.

“Do you need anything?” I continued, only then realizing that I was whispering. My tone was usually loud and firm, but I couldn’t stop myself from behaving as if I were sitting next to a fabled creature, one that I didn’t want to frighten by being too loud.

Once again, she shook her head.

Before I could continue with my one-way questions, Sofia made a gesture that made it seem as if she were holding a crossbow. She fired an invisible bolt at me, then spun around and pretended she had been the target. Using her two fingers as if they were the bolt, she slid them past her right cheek, her eyes widening with fake surprise.

“That guy with the crossbow?” I asked. “You’re worried about that?”

She shook her head, then placed one hand over her heart. Slowly, she bowed her head and smiled. It took me more than a second, but I eventually figured it out—Sofia was thanking me for saving her life.

Sitting up on the sleeping bag, I returned her smile. I reached for her and laid one hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” I told her, but I still appreciated the fact she had come here to do it. She gave me a nod, as if to tell me that she needed to thank me for it all the same, then laid her hand on top of mine.

The moment I felt her fingers brushing against my skin, my whole body went rigid. My lungs forgot how to work properly, and my breathing became heavy and slow. Even my heart seemed to react to her touch, fluttering inside my chest like a little bird trapped inside a room with no windows.

I looked into her eyes and, not for the first time that day, I thought of how much I needed her. My body craved her touch, my mind was desperate for a connection, and every fiber of my being seemed to be drawn toward her.

Once my eyes fell to her red lips, I remembered the way they had tasted—just as I remembered the way every inch of her body had tasted—and this time I couldn’t control myself. I felt myself stiffening, the gods of lust pumping adrenaline into my veins.

“I don’t know if you feel the same,” I started to say, my voice never becoming anything other than a whisper, “but I want you, Sofia. I want you like I’ve never wanted anyone before.” She returned my gaze without saying a word, her expression an unreadable one. Unable to stop the words from coming, I continued. “I wish I could understand you. Maybe then I would know how you feel. I thought this device of yours would solve that, but it seems like we won’t be able to communicate anytime soon, and that—”

She silenced me, gently placing one finger over my mouth. My breath caught in my throat. Never looking away from me, she inched herself forward, her lips parting in slow motion. I didn’t move an inch as she closed in on me, but I didn’t need to.

She came all the way, her eyelids fluttering as she brushed her lips against my own. Closing my eyes, I placed one hand on the nape of her neck, threading my fingers into her hair, and returned her kiss. This time, though, I wasn’t the one taking the initiative. She held the reins, and she didn’t seem afraid to use them.

Placing one hand on my chest right over my racing heart, she pushed me back until I was lying down on the sleeping bag. She followed me, her breasts trapped between our bodies as we kissed, and I allowed my hands to wander to her backside. I dug my fingers into her flesh as we pressed our bodies together, and the lust inside me became wild and untamable.

I had believed that I needed to take things slowly, that a connection between a D’Tali and someone like Sofia would take time to forge, but none of that mattered right now. The way we held each other told me that the connection between us was already there, and that was all that I needed to know.

This time there’d be no stopping us.

Sofia

When I first stepped inside his tent, I had only one intention.

Of course, it didn’t take long before I surrendered to his magnetic presence, my body desperately craving his. I didn’t even know how it had happened—all I knew was that I was looking into his eyes and, the next thing I knew, I was crushing my mouth against his.

Still kissing him, our tongues locked in a mellow dance, I started undoing the straps of his leather vest. I pulled it over his head and hooked my thumbs under the hem of his shirt, and soon enough he was lying underneath me half-naked, the chiseled muscles of his torso demanding all of my attention.

Straddling him, I sat up and ran my fingers over his muscles, enjoying their hard edges. There was a small scar on his collarbone and, even though a few scales were keeping it covered, I still noticed it. I traced its contour with my thumb, then looked up at him.

“Arrow wound,” he said, and there wasn’t a hint of pride or sorrow in his voice. He was completely casual about it, almost as if being shot with an arrow was something you just had to accept as part of life.

Looking up at me, a smile on his lips, he helped me out of my shirt and riding skirt before taking off my bra, my nipples hardening as Dojak brushed his thumbs over them. I arched my back and closed my eyes, instinctively pushing my body forward with a thrusting motion.

I ground myself against him, my heart pumping hard as I felt his hard member growing in size, and I became so wet that it was hard to think straight. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was unbuckling his belt and pulling it free from its loops. I tugged his pants down as he kicked off his boots, and I only stopped once I had freed his erection, his naked body there for the taking.

I took a moment to appreciate just how perfect he was and dragged my teeth across my bottom lip, then anticipation overwhelmed me. Even though this was the second time I’d seen him like this, right now was much better than before. After all, back in the bath, the water had made it hard to truly see him. Now, though, his mouthwatering body was right in front of me, each line and groove of his muscles in plain sight.

“I want you,” I said, and that was because I needed to hear myself say it. I didn’t care that he couldn’t understand me. In fact, the only thing I cared about was that I had bided my time, and now it was time to give in. Whatever my body wanted, I wasn’t going to fight it, not anymore.

Moving my hand down his chest, I only stopped once I found an immovable barrier. Without a moment’s hesitation, I wrapped my fingers around his hard member, moving up and down his entire length. Scooting down his body, I closed my eyes and leaned forward, my lips parting of their own accord.

I took my time, doing it slowly and tenderly.

I first reached for his flesh with the tip of my tongue, and only after a couple of seconds did I roll my lips down his long inches. I continued until I felt him pressed against the back of my throat, and I held my position there for a moment.

When he grabbed my hair, I started bobbing my head, my mouth exploring every inch of his hard cock. I began slowly, then picked up the pace, devouring him as if I needed to do it in order to survive. My hand remained tightly wrapped around the base of his cock as I stroked him, my fingers and mouth working in unison.

“That feels so good,” he muttered, his voice hoarse with desire.

That only made me go even harder, and soon his cock started throbbing against my tongue, weighing it down. I half expected him to explode then and there, and I was more than ready for it. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to have him spill his seed inside my mouth.

He had other plans.

He gently placed one hand on my forehead and pushed me back, right until his cock popped out of my mouth with a wet sound. He moved fast, grabbing my wrists and driving his hips up as he rolled us to the side, forcing me to lie down on the sleeping bag with him on top of me.

His mouth went straight to my breasts, his tongue dancing around my right nipple, and I arched my back as a quivering moan escaped from between my lips. He didn’t linger on my breasts, though. Both his hands shot down to my waist, and he got rid of my leggings with a frenzied movement. Once I was down to nothing but my thong, he grabbed at the elastic band and pulled the scrap of fabric down my legs in one smooth motion.

I exhaled sharply as the cool air inside the tent lapped at my wetness, and that turned into a moan as he pressed his hand between my legs. This time he didn’t bother with teasing me, nor did he seem willing to be patient.

His thumb went straight to my clit while his two fingers slid inside me in a single fluid motion. He turned his wrist around a couple of times, stretching me wide, then he looked straight into my eyes. He didn’t move or speak, but I read the question on his face well enough.

“Yes,” I breathed out. “Take me.”

And so he did.

Placing his hands on the backs of my knees, he dragged me toward him. Without looking away from me, he angled his cock down until its tip was pressed against my inner lips, and time seemed to halt.

One thrust, and he was in.

His large cock slid inside at lightning speed, straining against my inner walls, and it took all that I had not to scream. I could feel pleasure turning into sound inside my throat, but I didn’t want the entire camp to know what was happening here.

Needing to keep my mind occupied, I dug my fingernails into his flesh hard enough to draw blood, but he didn’t even seem to register it. He just kept on rocking his hips, offering me every single one of his inches as he was thrusting.

“Harder,” I whispered into his ear, hoping that my tone would convey that word’s meaning. “Harder.” Using my body as an aid, I laced my legs around his waist and pulled him. He took my meaning well enough, and he started pistoning into me so hard that it felt as if my brain was melting inside my skull.

My nerve endings were popping like firecrackers, and blue flames of lust were lapping at my body from the inside out. My eyes rolled back, so much so that I could no longer see anything, and I was so out of it that I wouldn’t have been able to remember my own name had anyone asked me.

“You’re so tight,” he whispered, resting his forehead against mine. “You are perfect.”

I had no idea whether to blame his words or the way he was moving, but something pushed me over the edge. A column of fire shot up my spine, turning into a fireball as it reached my brain, and I felt every single thought I had turn to ash. My inner walls tightened into a vise around his hard cock, and his ferocious throbs told me he was as close to the end as I was.

We came together, our bodies and minds in perfect sync.

I arched my back so much I thought that my spine would snap, my whole body buzzing with electric pleasure, and I had to cover my own mouth as I moaned. I felt the warmth of his seed spilling inside me with each throb of his cock, and neither of us moved a muscle as it happened. We just basked in the glory of the moment, lust and pleasure wrapped around us like a tight, warm blanket.

When we finally came to our senses—whether that happened ten seconds or ten minutes later, I couldn’t tell—Dojak rolled off me and sprawled on the sleeping bag. We lay there in complete silence, just trying to catch our breaths, and it was absolutely perfect.

For once, we didn’t need to try and communicate. Our bodies had done the job well enough, and now all we had to do was enjoy the closeness.

Outside, the campfire threw up dancing shadows, which cast themselves against the canvas of the tent. Dojak’s breathing grew deeper and steadier and, once I turned to look at him, I found his eyes half-lidded. He looked exhausted, but the expression on his face was blissful.

For a moment, I considered spending the night in his tent. But every doubt, every fear I’d been pushing back before I entered the tent overwhelmed me.

All the other women in our group, huddled inside that tower in the palace as they waited for our return.

Isabella, Camilia, and Riley, waiting for me, working frantically to make the translation device work.

Everyone that was counting on me to find a solution to the mess we were in.

Me. A waitress.

No matter what anyone else thought, I wasn’t any sort of leader.

Could I really allow myself to get distracted?

Was this anything more than just lust, or fear, driving me to take comfort wherever I could?

Worst of all, could I really allow Dojak to cloud my judgment? Even though he seemed like he had a good heart, what did I really know about the D’Tali?

Close to nothing.

And so, even though it pained me, I slipped out of the tent under the cover of the night. Even if my body and soul demanded it, my mind knew I had to be careful. There was a lot on the line, and I needed to keep my head clear.

Before I left the tent, I shot Dojak one last glance.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, careful not to wake him. “For now, it’s best we keep some distance.” And with that, I blended in with the shadows and returned to my tent.

Dojak

“What the hell is going on?”

I marched out of the royal chambers, frowning as the loud clamor in the courtyard kept getting louder. I had been trying to focus on the paperwork concerning the export of grain—typical but essential bureaucratic bullshit—but the loud voices were making that impossible.

I turned my eyes toward the first D’Tali guard I found, and he straightened his back and gave me a quick salute, bringing his closed fist to his heart. He was a gray D’Tali, his skin of a pale complexion, but he was red-faced enough to look like a ripe tomato.

“What is going on here, soldier?” I asked him, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable. “C’mon, spit it out.”

“It’s, uh, the women,” he finally said, looking back over his shoulder at the courtyard. I followed his gaze to see an unlikely scene. At least six of the women were in the courtyard, arguing with a couple of D’Tali soldiers, and small pieces of fabric were littering the ground. Once I walked past the guard, I narrowed my eyes and saw that those pieces of fabric were women’s undergarments, much like those I had peeled off Sofia’s body a couple of weeks ago.

Two of the women were picking up the pieces of underwear from the ground, and the others were busy snatching the few pieces some of the guards had in their hands. I had absolutely no idea what was happening, and I wasn’t exactly sure if I wanted to know. Still, I couldn’t tolerate such a chaotic scene.

“Everybody shut up,” I roared, and that seemed enough for everyone to quiet down. All heads—D’Tali and human—turned in my direction. For a moment there, you could have heard a pin drop. “Anybody care to explain what’s happening here?”

“It was the wind, Your Majesty,” one the soldiers replied in an apologetic tone, clutching his spear so firmly that his knuckles were turning white.

“The wind?”

“Yes, the wind,” he repeated, then waved one hand at the clouds drifting up above. He pointed at the tower in the northeast corner, where the women’s accommodations were. “Apparently, the woman hung some of their clothes to dry, but the wind just snatched them off and…” Still waving his hand around, he pointed at the scattered clothing on the ground. “Most of the men were curious, as they had never seen such tiny clothes, and they started picking them up.”

“I see,” I muttered, and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Clearly, the women hadn’t been too happy to come down here and find all these D’Tali soldiers rummaging through their most intimate clothes. The language barrier had made it impossible for the men to understand them, and it probably only took a couple of minutes before things escalated into a full-blown argument.

I heard one of the women cry out, yanking at one end of a bra, a D’Tali soldier clutching the other end.

“Soldier,” I barked, and the man let go of the bra so fast that the woman stumbled back. “Those clothes belong to the women, and they are intimate pieces. Have some dignity, by your Ancestors’ sake.”

Shaking my head, I turned on my heels and marched back into the chambers, where at least seven scribes awaited me. Once I sat back down on my chair, though, I found it hard to return to work. Again, I pinched the bridge of my nose, then dismissed the scribes. They carried all their scrolls with them, and I ordered one of the servants to fetch me a flagon of ale.

“You’ve seen what happened in the courtyard?” I heard someone say from the door, and I raised my eyes to see Troko standing there. Sighing, the general stepped inside the room and closed the door behind him. “Things are starting to get hectic around here.”

“It’s been hectic for the past two weeks, Troko,” I said. “Unless the women figure out what to do with that device, situations like the one that we’ve just witnessed...well, they’re just going to keep on happening. The women can understand us, sure, but most of the time we have no idea what they want. It’s almost impossible to avoid misunderstandings from taking place.”

“You’d think most soldiers would be smart enough not to start grabbing at woman’s underwear.” Laughing, he sat on the chair opposite mine and poured some ale into a tankard. “Although, I’ll have to admit, those tiny pieces of clothing were curious little things.”

“Yeah, I would be careful not to let any of the women hear you,” I threw back. “They tend to go from polite to furious faster than I can snap my fingers.”

“Is that what happened with Sofia?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing, really.” He shrugged. “I’ve just noticed that the two of you have been keeping each other at arm’s length. Is something going on?”

“No, there’s nothing going on,” I replied, and the truth of it felt like someone had just stabbed me. Leaning back on the chair, I sighed. “That’s the problem, I suppose. You know what happened the first time I touched her, don’t you?”

“Almost everyone does, Dojak,” he said, his tone relaxed. “Lomav isn’t exactly the kind of guy that keeps his mouth shut. Half the court is already whispering about the woman that might become their queen.”

“Just great,” I muttered. “Well, if you really want to know, things were going great between us. Despite everything, the connection we have is real. Since we retrieved that damned device, though, she has been avoiding me. Since then, I can count the times I’ve seen her on the fingers of one hand.”

“That doesn’t sound promising.”

“No, not at all.”

“Well, I suggest you figure it out,” Troko said, and this time his tone became more serious. “Some of the nobles are becoming restless. While most have gotten used to having the women around, the uncertainty about everything that might happen is causing some friction. If the women can’t get their machine to work, then we’ll have to figure something out.”

“Trust me, Troko,” I said, raking one hand over my face. “I know that better than everyone.”

* * *

Two more weeks passed, and the situation remained the same.

A few nobles came to court to ask about the women and, although none of them mentioned the fact that Sofia was my mate, I knew that the question was on their minds. They wanted to know if I was going to produce an heir, and what the implications of that would be for them.

By then, the entire city was aware that we had found all these females of a different species, and that they were living inside the palace. Surprisingly, the populace didn’t seem to care about it. Just as long as I kept the kingdom safe, and just as long as I ensured that nobody would be mistreated under my rule, the people were fine with my choices. They trusted me.

As for the women, they were getting restless.

The first few weeks, they had been happy to remain inside the tower, but they were now getting tired of being cooped up there. I had granted them the privilege of going outside the tower during daylight as long as they remained inside the palace, and that seemed to help. Still, I knew the situation wasn’t tenable.

I looked down at the dozens of parchments lining my desk and sighed. Before all this happened, I had been able to plow through paperwork even faster than my father in his heyday, but lately I couldn’t focus. This situation was on my mind every waking hour, but what was truly messing with my focus was Sofia.

I simply couldn’t understand why she was avoiding me. We had shared a few intimate moments, and she had seemed more than willing to surrender herself to me. Why had she turned cold all of a sudden? Could this be part of her species’ traditions? Or was she merely giving me the cold shoulder because of some perceived slight?

“I need a damn drink,” I said, pushing the parchments back and eyeing one of the servants. Bowing his head, he turned to leave the room. The moment he opened the door, though, Sofia burst into the chamber. Her hair was disheveled, and she had rings of exhaustion around her eyes, but there was one hell of a smile on her lips.

“Sofia? Did something happen?”

Saying nothing, she motioned for me to get up. As I rose, she crossed the room and grabbed my arm. I didn’t protest as she dragged me out, leading me through the maze of hallways until we found ourselves in the courtyard. I was stunned by her sudden appearance.

“What’s going on, Sofia? I don’t unders—”

That’s when I saw it.

All of the women were gathered in the courtyard, circling a massive wooden chair. Leather straps had been installed on the chair’s legs and armrests, making the whole thing look like some kind of torture device. To the side of it was a three-legged stool and the metallic box we had recovered from the crash was balanced on top of it.

“Is it working?” I asked her, and my eyes widened as she gave me an empathic nod. After weeks of waiting, could this really be happening? Would I finally be able to talk with Sofia? “Let’s do it then.”

I was already on my way toward the chair, ready to let the women strap me to it, when Vokar appeared from behind a stone pillar. He stepped right in front of me, his face relaxed but serious.

“I don’t think so,” he said, and the corner of his lips twitched slightly. “You have no idea how that thing works, or even if it’s dangerous. Just imagine what would happen if our honorable king got his brains fried? How would we explain that?”

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked him, letting impatience get the best of me. I didn’t want to debate this, I wanted to do it. “This is our chance to understand them, to figure out what’s going on. We have to use this opportunity.”

“I know that,” he said, and a smile spread across his lips. “That’s why I’m going first.”

Sofia

I watched as Isabella strapped the green D’Tali to the chair, carefully placing the leather straps around his wrists and ankles. Camilia helped her by fastening a belt around the D’Tali’s forehead, ensuring he wouldn’t be able to move a muscle no matter what happened.

I gave Dojak a confident smile but, truth be told, I was a nervous wreck.

Isabella seemed confident that she had figured out the inner workings of the translation device, but we had no idea if it would work on the D’Tali as it had on us.

For all we knew, that damn thing could fry their brains and kill them.

What would become of us if that happened?

More likely than not, the D’Tali would have us executed as witches or something equally ridiculous. That wasn’t a fate I wanted to consider, so I focused on what Isabella was doing. Carefully, she opened the briefcase and started connecting the diodes to Vokar’s temples, her movements slow but deliberate.

“Take as long as you need,” I told her. “We want to get this right.”

“It’s going to be fine,” she said, then threw me an uncharacteristically confident smile.

Huh.

If Isabella was sure this was going to work, then I had no reason to doubt her.

Probably.

I snuck a furtive glance at Dojak.

He was looking at Vokar with an apprehensive expression. His jaw was clenched, and his fingernails were digging into the palms of his hands. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one worried about what was about to happen.

“Alright,” Isabella announced, standing behind the briefcase. “Everyone, stand back.” She flicked a couple of switches and the dashboard lit up. Her fingers moved fast over the controls, then there was a buzzing sound as a fierce electrical current shot out from the case and into Vokar’s temples.

His whole body tensed up for a moment, his jaw clenched so tightly I could almost hear his teeth grinding, then it was all over. The tension disappeared from his shoulders and jaw, and he seemed to relax.

Clearing my throat, I took one step forward.

“My name is Sofia,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “You’re Vokar, right?”

“Sofia,” he muttered, his narrowed eyes focusing on mine. For a terrifying moment, I thought he was just throwing back at me the only word that he knew—my name. Luckily, that wasn’t true. “Yes, you are right. My name is Vokar.” His eyes widened as he spoke, and he looked past my shoulder at Dojak. “Holy fuck, this works.”

“You can understand me?” I asked, even though I already knew what the answer would be.

“I do,” Vokar replied as I helped Isabella remove the straps. “I can’t believe it.” He massaged his wrists once he was out of the chair, then gave Dojak a nod. “It hurts like a bitch at first, but the damn thing works. I think it’s safe for you to do it.”

Dojak couldn’t get in the chair fast enough.

Once we had put the straps on him, he glanced at Isabella and told her to start. With my heart beating at a thousand miles an hour, I watched as he went through the same process as Vokar, and I knelt in front of him once it was done. He opened his eyes, looked at me, and smiled.

“Hello, Dojak,” I whispered.

“Hello, Sofia. Nice to meet you.”

We didn’t have much time to exchange pleasantries. Soon there was a long line of D’Tali in the courtyard, all of them eager to hop onto the magic chair and have their minds expanded. Troko, Dojak’s loyal general, was the third to go, and he reacted with the same amazement as the other two.

No more than two hours later, the courtyard was filled with chatter, D’Tali and human voices blending into an enthusiastic chorus. The women seemed happy that they could finally make themselves understood, and the D’Tali were ecstatic about the fact that they could finally introduce themselves.

I shared the sentiment, but I still kept a healthy distance from Dojak.

He was busy introducing himself to each of the women personally, all while trying to keep some semblance of order on the long line of D’Tali. With each passing second, more and more of them appeared, all of them wanting to have their brains scrambled by Isabella.

People I’d never seen before in the castle were flocking to the courtyard. Before long, I’d bet she was going to need some assistants to run the device if she was going to get any sleep.

Still, the fact that I was keeping some distance had nothing to do with Dojak being busy. I simply wasn’t sure of what was going through his mind. I had tried to keep away from him for the past month and, since I couldn’t exactly explain why I had been doing it, I was afraid he’d be angry at me. Or, even worse than that, I was afraid he’d be hurt.

In the end, he was the one who approached me.

I was chatting with Isabella, helping her connect the diodes to another D’Tali, when I felt a slight tap on my shoulder. Once I turned around, I came face to face with Dojak, his smart eyes immediately locking on mine.

“I know that you are busy,” he started to say, waving one hand at Isabella and the translation machine, “and I don’t mean to interrupt. I was just wondering, though, if you’d like to join me for dinner tonight. There’s a lot we need to talk about.”

“I, huh, well.” Clearing my throat, I smacked myself mentally and did my best to regain some composure. “That sounds lovely,” I said, respectfully bowing my head. Then, for good measure, I added, “Your Majesty.”

He smiled.

“That’s fine in front of others,” he said, then it was his turn to bow his head. “But if it’s only the two of us, Dojak is more than enough.” With that, he turned around and walked out of the courtyard. I stood there for a full minute, watching him go, his royal cloak dancing in the breeze as he turned a corner.

“Did I hear it right?” Camilia whispered, appearing beside me with a sneaky look on her face. “Are you going on a date tonight? Remember to wear matching undies.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Of course not,” she grinned.

“Besides, it’s not like I have a lot of options,” I muttered. “Soon enough it’s going to be granny pants or nothing.”

Dojak

I hadn’t felt this nervous in a long time.

Sitting behind the long table in my private chambers, I drummed my fingers against its polished surface. I kept my eyes locked on the door, expecting to see Sofia waltzing in any second, but it seemed like she was taking her time.

Not wanting to be as nervous as a hatchling, I grabbed the flagon of wine and poured some of it into a crystal goblet. I downed the whole thing with a single huge swallow, then did it again for good measure. Even though the Aetamians had been a thorn on my side ever since I first sat on the throne, there was no denying it—their wine was the best on the whole continent.

When I heard the double doors open, I looked up to see a servant there, his back straight as he faced me. He saluted me, fist to chest, and bowed his head.

“Your Majesty, I announce to you Sofia, of House Avery.” With that, he stepped aside and let Sofia walk into the room. The moment I laid eyes on her, it took all that I had not to let my jaw hang open.

She wore a dress of emerald green, one that drew out the color of the flecks in her eyes. The fabric was silky, long and loose, and it complimented her curves in a way I thought only my hands would be capable of. Her hair, usually tied back, was now flowing down to her back, curly locks of it caressing her bare shoulders. Even though I had gifted her the dress, I hadn’t been prepared for its impact.

She didn’t look like a woman.

She looked like a goddess.

“Sofia,” I said, then sprang to my feet.

As the servant left and closed the doors, I walked around the table and pulled up a chair for her. With a polite smile, she slid onto her seat with the kind of elegance one would expect from a queen. That surprised me. I had only seen Sofia in strenuous situations and, even though I knew to expect good things from her, I’d had no idea that the mantle of royalty would look so good on her. “You look absolutely…”

I couldn’t even finish that sentence.

It was hard putting into words just how good she looked.

“Thank you,” she said, her smile kind and warm. The coldness of the past few weeks seemed to have melted away, and I took that as a good omen. She looked at the table, which was packed with all kinds of dishes and delicacies, and arched one eyebrow up. “Is all this for us? I’m not a hungry hippo, you know?”

“I have no idea what a hippo is,” I said, not exactly sure on how to interact with her. I had spent the past month pining for a way to understand her and, now that I could, I was ironically feeling uncomfortable with it. “But yes, this is all for us.”

“Alright,” she muttered, and reached for a fork. She stopped right before her fingers touched it, and looked up at me. “Is there some kind of protocol I have to obey or something? Before all of this, I’d never dined with a king before.”

“No, no protocol,” I said with a laugh. “Just be yourself.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Even though dinner had started awkwardly, the Aetamian wine seemed to help. Thirty minutes—and two glasses of wine—later we were talking freely, and I was listening with awe as she told me her story: her life back on the planet she called Earth, the spacefaring Skarg, and the crash inside the borders of our kingdom. It was a lot for me to digest.

“Space, huh?” I leaned back in my chair, tempted to look out the window and stare at the dark skies above the palace. “So there’s more to the stars than we assumed. I think there’s a lot the D’Tali can learn from you, Sofia.”

“Not from me,” she hurried to say. “There are far more intelligent women in our group. Isabella, for one. She’s as smart as anyone could be. Remember, she was the one who figured out the translation device.”

“I’ll be sure to have some of my men consult with her.” Smiling, I poured some more wine into both our glasses. “The D’Tali aren’t as religious as we were a hundred years ago, but our science sure needs an update. The things you told me about...the possibilities are endless.”

“I think everyone in our group will be able to help. Fair warning, though—back on Earth, most science eventually turns into a weapon. I don’t know how things are with you guys, but humans are pretty damn committed to their own destruction.”

“You’re an interesting species,” I said, even though what I truly found fascinating was Sofia. I wanted to hear more stories about her life, the endless nieces she couldn’t stop talking about, and her dreams and ambitions. I wanted to know everything there was to know about her.

“The D’Tali are interesting, too,” she continued. “In a way, you resemble some human cultures, too. I think some people back on Earth still worship their ancestors.”

“We don’t exactly worship them. We believe it’s our duty to honor their memory, and that they’re watching us from the afterlife. Besides, there’s more to it than just the Ancestors. A lot of us still praise the Old Gods, although a few of them are better forgotten.”

“There’s a lot to unpack in that sentence.”

“Definitely,” I said, then took a deep breath and smiled. “But I don’t want to talk about science or religion, Sofia. I want to talk about us.”

“Us?” she repeated, and I noticed her cheeks reddening. She shifted in her seat, looking awkward, but her eyes never abandoned mine.

“There’s a connection between us, and I know that you can feel it,” I continued, watching every expression of hers with as much attention as I could. “But that confuses me. Things were going great, weren’t they? Why did you distance yourself from me?”

“I had to.” She looked away from me, grabbed her crystal goblet, and took a sip. Once she had given herself an encouraging nod, she continued. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Dojak. It’s just that...these women are counting on me, and we couldn’t exactly communicate with you. Even though I felt that you were good, I couldn’t—”

“You couldn’t know it for sure,” I finished.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” Reaching out, I laid my hand on top of hers. “That was the right call. A leader needs to put her people first. Everything else comes after.” I meant what I was saying but, truth be told, Sofia was starting to become my number one priority. No matter what I told myself, my subconscious insisted on making her the most important thing in my life.

“I’m not a leader.”

“I don’t think you have a choice,” I said. “The women have made you their leader, and you are leading them. Sometimes, the best we can do is accept the role we’ve been given, and do the best we can with it.”

“Is that how it was with you?”

“In a way,” I admitted. “I never wanted to become king when I was younger. Still, I knew that once my father passed, I’d have to sit on the throne. Someone needed to get the job done. So, that’s exactly what I did.”

“You make being king sound like a terrible thing.”

I laughed.

“Well, it has its perks.” I waved at the table, dozens of dishes littering it. “For the most part, though, it’s just a giant headache. Paperwork, annoying noblemen, boring ceremonies.” I shrugged. “Still, this is my duty, and I’ll fulfill it as best I can.”

She looked at me with an expression that I couldn’t quite decipher.

I didn’t know if it was puzzlement, respect, or some sort of pride. Still, I liked what I was seeing. The way her eyes shone kindness, the gentle tilting of her mouth, and the way she occasionally fidgeted with the bracelet on her wrist, everything about her was endearing.

“Listen, I—”

“Listen, I—”

We spoke at the same time. Instead of finishing our sentences, we burst out laughing and what little tension there was in the room dissipated. We felt at ease with each other, and that showed.

“Do you know why my eyes turned silver the first time I saw you?” I asked her, my heart picking up the pace. She shook her head, reminding me of when I couldn’t understand her. I smiled. “The D’Tali are different, Sofia. I’m sure you have noticed it, but there are very few D’Tali women in the palace. The same is true for the city. Whenever a woman has a child—and the D’Tali love children— it’s very rare that the child will be a female.”

“That sounds tough.”

“It is,” I agreed. “There’s more to it, though. For a D’Tali to have a relationship, it has to happen with his one true mate. Most D’Tali never find theirs. As a king, I have the privilege of having women present themselves to me on a daily basis, and trust me when I tell you that they come from all corners of the kingdom. They all want to be the queen.”

“A true ladies’ man,” she said with a laugh.

“Not exactly. See, I have never felt the mating bond with any of them.”

“Never?”

“The only time I have experienced it, you were there,” I breathed out those words, and it suddenly felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders. At last, she finally knew the truth of what there was between us. “I don’t know how to go from here, but you are my mate, Sofia.”

“I’m your mate,” she repeated, her mouth falling open. She blinked once, and twice, and I could tell she was struggling to process what I had just told her.

“We don’t have to act on it,” I continued, “nor will I force you to do anything that—”

“Oh, shut up,” she cut me short. “Just kiss me already.”

First, I was surprised.

Then I did as I was told.

Sofia

It was too much for me to process.

The only thing I was sure about was that I wanted him to kiss me. Of course, a kiss was no more than the first step on the inevitable path of lust, but it was a path I didn’t mind losing myself in. In fact, I wanted it.

Moaning against his lips, I rose from my seat and went to his lap. Our kiss deepened as he pulled me in, his right arm laced around my waist, and I felt myself melting into his embrace. Even though I was on an alien planet, god knew how many light years away from Earth, I felt safe in his arms. Maybe that was what it was like to have a mate.

No, don’t even go there, Sofia, don’t think about it, I told myself, knowing I’d just get lost if I went down that rabbit hole. Right now, all the answers I needed were in this kiss. It felt right to have his mouth against mine, and it felt right to have his hands wandering all over my body. Those were the only things that mattered—as for the rest, I’d deal with it later.

“I want you,” I told him, resting my forehead against his as I looked into his eyes. This was the first time I was saying those words while knowing that he understood them, and the brightness in his eyes told me that he enjoyed hearing them just as much as I enjoyed saying them.

“Not as much as I want you.” Springing to his feet, the rest of the dinner now forgotten, he carried me in his arms toward the far end of his chamber. He lay me down on the soft mattress, and I bit on the corner of my lip as he climbed on after me. Without waiting for me to do anything, he pulled his shirt over his head. When I found his eyes again, there were flames of lust dancing there, and in a fraction of a second, I became as wet as I had ever been.

Most women know what it’s like to be at the receiving end of a man’s lust, but what I experienced then was unlike anything else. The desire was etched deep in his face, and I could almost hear his body screaming for mine. More than our bodies, even our souls seemed to be dancing, and I wanted nothing more than to let them keep on dancing till the end of the world.

In the end, though, I wasn’t acting on feelings of love.

The wild lust that was swirling inside me took over, and what bubbled up to the surface was a blend of my most wicked and savage instincts. I wanted him to take me over, to ravage me in a way only he could, and I wanted it to happen now.

Blissfully, we seemed to be on the same wavelength.

Instead of taking my dress off, he tore it off me, ripping it to shreds. Part of me felt sad that such a beautiful gift was now ruined, but my wicked side was enjoying it as much as it possibly could. In fact, more than just enjoying it, it desperately wanted more.

“Don’t hold back,” I said, throwing one arm around Dojak and pulling him into me. “I’m right here, and I’m yours.”

He responded by crushing his mouth against mine, his tongue wrestling with my own, and my heart almost stopped as I felt his cock harden. As unbelievable as it may sound, it was harder than I had ever felt it, the intensity of the moment propelling his excitement into new heights.

Moving like a wildcat, I tore his remaining clothes off his body, and I only stopped once he was completely naked. He returned the favor by unclasping my bra, the cups draping over my breasts, then he removed it and pushed my thong down my legs.

I took a deep breath as I felt his naked skin against mine, and grabbed his hard member by the root. Angling it down, I pushed its tip against my wetness, brushing it over the length of my drenched inner lips.

Something came over me then and, instead of allowing him in, I decided to change gears. Pushing him off me, I forced him to lie down on the mattress and climbed on top of his body, my knees on either side of his thighs. Leaning forward, a wicked grin spreading across my lips, I dug my fingernails into his pectorals.

We held each other’s gaze for a moment, the electricity in the air crackling around us, and I grabbed his hard length once more. Pressing it against my drenched folds, I pushed myself off the mattress a couple of inches so I could position him against my entrance.

With my mouth open wide, I started easing myself down, my soul boiling as his thickness stretched me wide. I took my time as I lowered my body, allowing one inch of his hardness at a time. When all of his cock was buried deep inside me, I threw my head back and closed my eyes, all my thoughts ricocheting inside my skull.

At that moment, I simply couldn’t think straight.

It didn’t matter—then and there, thought was irrelevant.

I let instinct steer my body into a tender rhythm as I started rocking my hips. His hands shot up to my ass, his large fingers cupping my cheeks, and I picked up the pace until I was riding like a furious Valkyrie, pushing my body to its absolute limits.

I kept on going until a lone bead of sweat rolled down my forehead, my hair already plastered to my cheeks, but I didn’t let that stop me. I fought past the exhaustion that was taking over my muscles, and I doubled my efforts.

“So fucking good,” Dojak growled, his hands now cupping my breasts. He held them firmly, trapping my nipples between his fingers, and I couldn’t stop myself from moaning as he pinched them. A sharp stab of pain filtered into my body, but it turned into pleasure right before it got to my brain.

Not one to merely lie there, it didn’t take long before Dojak took charge. Keeping one hand on my breast, he moved the other down the side of my body until his palm was planted on my hip. Then, he pressed down until I was completely still, and my whole body trembled as I felt every single inch of his hard cock throbbing inside me.

He gritted his teeth, the madness of lust etched deep in his face as that silver glow flashed across his eyes once more. Without saying a word, he started thrusting upward so hard that I had to lean forward just so I wouldn’t be thrown off the bed.

His movements were fast and merciless. Each time he thrust, it felt as if a large dose of ecstasy was being injected into my bloodstream, my mind spinning so fast that my thoughts became incomprehensible blurs of color and light.

“I think I’m going to—”

“Don’t think,” he cut me short, his voice firm and steady. “Just let it happen.”

Closing my eyes, I obeyed.

My whole body became as tense as an arrow ready to fly, unfathomable tension pooling inside my muscles. Deep inside my mind, I heard the rumbling of thunder, while my thoughts sizzled like oil in a hot pan.

He thrust one final time, so hard that I almost thought he was going to split me in half, and that did it for me. Pleasure shot up my spine like a rocket, and a flash of blinding light exploded behind my clenched eyelids. I could feel my inner walls tightening around his cock so suddenly that I surprised myself, and my whole body trembled as the warmth of his seed filled me up.

Threading his fingers into my hair, he pulled me to lean into him and kissed me. I savored his lips as we came, our bodies finally blending into an inseparable unity, and the connection between us suddenly became so real that I wouldn’t have been too surprised to open my eyes and see us tethered to each other.

It was absolute perfection.

I rolled to the side and, breathing so hard that my lungs felt as if they were about to pop, I raked one hand over my face.

“That was—”

“Amazing,” he finished saying. “It really was.”

Wordlessly, I turned to the side and draped one arm over his chest. For a man that had spent a month unable to understand anything I said, he sure was good at finishing my sentences for me. Then again, why did that surprise me?

He was my mate, after all.

Dojak

“Carriages that move by themselves?”

“Not exactly by themselves,” Sofia said with a soft giggle. “They have an engine, which is a sort of machine, and that’s what makes them move. It’s not exactly magic, you know? I’m just not the best person to explain how cars work.”

“And these car things,” I continued, “they can go anywhere?”

“Not everywhere. We have roads for them, much like you guys have. Except ours stretch for thousands of miles, and sometimes they’re even wider than most buildings. In the cities, especially during the morning, you can see thousands and thousands of cars occupying the roads, and there are so many of them that it’s almost impossible to move.”

“Incredible.”

“You really think so?” Sitting up, she pulled the bedsheet against her naked breasts. “I’ll be honest; our cities have nothing on Tahkath.” She waved at the balcony on the other side of the room, the curtains gently swaying in the night’s breeze. Outside, the darkness was cut by the few fires burning atop the sentry towers, which seemed like ghostly candles flickering in the distance.

“I’m glad that you like it here,” I said, gently brushing my fingers up her leg. She looked down at me and smiled, her disheveled hair somehow making her look even more beautiful. I returned her smile, taking in every detail of her face, and that’s when it hit me.

I was truly, madly, in love.

It wasn’t just the tie from the bond, but everything about this woman.

Her spark, her determination to do the right thing by her people.

Her caution and worries, her insistence on finding a way forward despite her fears.

Her laughter, the way her eyes went distant when she was thinking, as if she could see the solution somewhere in an invisible realm.

Everything she did drew me tighter to her.

I wasn’t even sure if that had anything to do with our mating bond, and I honestly didn’t care.

I needed this woman in my life.

I needed her more than I needed air to breathe.

I sat up and turned to her.

“Sofia, I—”

Before I could say anything of importance, loud cries started coming from outside the room. I heard the metallic clanging of swords, the whistling of arrows, and the heavy footsteps of anxious soldiers. Before I knew it, I was already out of the bed and in the process of getting dressed.

“What’s going on?” Sofia asked me, her tender expression now fraught with anxiety.

“I have no idea,” I replied as I put my shirt on. Grabbing my sword, I strapped the scabbard to my waist and unsheathed it, the blade reflecting the glow of the room’s candlelight. The last thing I wanted to do was leave Sofia, but it had to be done. “By the sound of it, someone’s attacking the palace.”

“Is there something I can do?” she asked, and I was sure she’d jump out of bed and follow me if I told her to do so. Of course, that was the last thing I wanted. I wouldn’t put her in harm’s way. “I want to help, Dojak.”

“I know.” Walking around the bed, I laid a kiss on her forehead. “Right now, though, I need you to stay here. Lock the door behind me once I leave, and don’t let anyone in.” I was already halfway across the room when I froze in my tracks. Reaching down to my belt, I unclipped the dagger I had there and tossed it to Sofia. “Anyone gets through these doors, you give ’em hell.”

I gave her one last smile and slipped out of the room.

Outside, guards were running up and down the corridor, their frantic cries making the scene even more confusing than it should be. I grabbed the first guard that I could, holding him by the arm, and his eyes widened once he realized it was me.

“What in the world is going on?”

“We’re under attack, Your Majesty,” he said, doing his best to sound as if he was on top of things. It was evident, though, that nobody was on top of anything. Whatever was going on, it had my soldiers running around like shambling sand lizards. “We don’t know where they came from.”

“And who exactly are they?”

“We don’t know,” he replied. “They’re everywhere, though. Groups of men scaled the southwest walls, and some others came in through the northwest side. They took some of the sentries out, and now they’re scattered all over the palace.”

“Fuck,” I growled. “Back to your post, soldier.”

Tightening my fingers around my sword’s grip, I ran toward the southwest walls as fast as I could. I heard fighting in the distance, but it took me almost five minutes before I found one of the invaders. He was wearing light armor that left his joints exposed, and his face was hidden behind a mask.

I came across him in a dark hallway, not a single soldier around us, and I could almost sense the grin he had under his mask. Unsheathing his sword, he lowered his center of gravity and prepared to rush at me. Before he could do so, I noticed the glint of a blade right behind his neck.

Next thing I knew, the masked invader was down on his knees, clutching at his sliced open throat as blood trickled down his neck.

“Fucking bastards,” Vokar growled, kicking the masked man down as he wiped his dagger against his cloak. He had appeared out of nowhere, silent and unseen, and had dispatched the enemy before he could lunge at me.

“What is going on, Vokar?”

“Beats me,” he said with a shrug. Kneeling beside the man he had just killed, he removed his mask, the hard features of an Aetamian on full display. “Yeah, it figures. It seems like these assholes have graduated from raiding the countryside to attacking the palace.”

“Is the city under attack?”

“Not that I know of,” he replied. “It seems like everything’s peaceful out there. These guys must have slipped into the city via the merchant’s gate during the day, and they used the shadows to scale the walls. My guess is that they’re here for you.”

“Then let’s give ’em what they want,” I said, giving Vokar a nod.

Together, we rushed down the hallway, following the sound of all the fighting. Working in tandem, we dispatched three more masked Aetamians.

When the third of them hit the ground, Vokar used his dagger to cut up the man’s sleeve. On his forearm was a tattoo of a snake coiled around an arrow, the mark of an Aetamian assassin. It seemed like Vokar had been right—this wasn’t a full-blown assault on the kingdom, but a hit on me.

“There are more comin’ down the courtyard,” I heard one of the soldiers shout, and both Vokar and I headed straight into the fray. When we got to the courtyard, there were six assassins there, and they were cutting through the guards easily.

“Alright, you know how it goes,” I told Vokar. “You get the ones on the right, and I—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

With that, we rushed forward, the moonlight reflected on our clear blades. Using my sword to parry the assassin’s blows, their strikes like those of a poisonous viper, I forced myself to control my breathing. I needed to remain calm and in control, as these weren’t raiders that I was facing. No, these were highly-trained soldiers, and they would exploit every flaw in my form. One wrong move and I’d be put down.

Thankfully, years of training with Vokar had left me ready for such an encounter, and it only took me a couple of minutes to dispatch my three opponents. I kicked one in the chest, sending him back, then twisted my torso and beheaded the one to my left. Without skipping a beat, I brought my blade around and pushed it into the chest of the Aetamian to my right.

The one I had kicked grabbed a dagger from his belt, his teeth gritted, and he was about to jump on me when I heard a bolt whistling past my ear. A fraction of a second later and the Aetamian was sprawled on the ground, a bolt jutting out from an eye socket. I turned around to find Vokar standing amongst the bodies of his dead opponents, one of the assassins’ crossbows in his hands.

“Seems like I’ve saved your life again,” he said with a cocky grin. “You gotta step up your game, Your Majesty.”

“Always the humble one,” I threw back at him, wiping the sweat off my brow. I wiped my bloodied blade against the cloak of one of the assassins, and sheathed it. I knelt beside the dead assassins and sighed. “Well, this is an act of war. These Aetamian assholes have crossed the line this time.”

“Maybe,” Vokar merely said.

“Maybe?” I repeated, arching one eyebrow. “They’ve sent assassins into the palace, Vokar. If that isn’t an act of war, I don’t know what is.”

“It’s not so simple,” he continued, then he cut through the shirt of one of the assassins to reveal the snake tattoo. Using the tip of his dagger, he tapped it against the ink. “Most people think that Aetamian assassins receive this mark once they’ve finished their training, but that’s not exactly true. They only get marked up when they’re banished from their order. I mean, if you’re training a guy to infiltrate and blend in with the enemy, you sure as hell don’t want to put a giant mark on his arm that gives him away, right?”

“Then what’s the meaning of this?” I waved at the bodies strewn across the courtyard. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m not trying to say anything.” He shrugged. “I just don’t think we should jump to conclusions. These guys are probably mercenaries and, although there’s a chance that the Kingdom of Aetam put them up to this, there’s also a chance that they were hired by a third party.”

“You’re trying to tell me that someone other than the Aetamians wants me dead?”

“Maybe this wasn’t about you,” he muttered.

That’s when it hit me.

“Fuck,” I breathed out, jumping to my feet so fast that my knees popped. “Sofia.”

Sofia

I paced the length of Dojak’s chambers, not knowing what to do.

Outside, the sound of fighting seemed to have calmed down, but every time I perked my ears and listened attentively, I could still hear the shouts of the D’Tali guards. Even though I didn’t know if attacks like this were a common occurrence in Tahkath, something told me that this was unusual.

Still, there was absolutely nothing I could do but wait.

Turning my bracelet around, I tried to keep the anxiety at bay by thinking of my nieces. It didn’t help. To think of life back on Earth did nothing but remind me of how everything was different here. I had no cell phone I could use to reach Isabella or Camilia, and there was no TV which I could turn on to let me know what was happening.

Until this was all over, I would remain in the dark.

For a moment, I thought of opening the door and trying to figure it out by myself, but I quickly decided against it. There was no upside to my curiosity, and I’d probably just get in the way. Even if I hated it, I had to be patient.

I sat on the edge of the bed and ran one hand through my hair, breathing in deeply. A cool breeze was slipping past the drawn curtains, the night chill filtering into the room, and so I grabbed my half-ripped dress and got inside of it. I’d be warmer if I remained under the blankets, but I was so anxious that I couldn’t remain on the bed without tossing and turning like a maniac.

Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from outside.

At first, I thought that the sound had come from the hallway outside the room, but I quickly realized it had come from the balcony. Springing up to my feet, I walked toward it and pushed the curtains aside.

Outside, two full moons bathed the city in a pale glow. Here and there fires atop sentry towers flickered timidly, but the shadows of the night blanketed the entire city, the moonlight doing little to pierce that veil. Even though I knew they were there, I could only make out the faint contours of the endless towers and spires.

Still with no idea where that sound had come from, I walked toward the stone parapet. That’s when I saw it. Lodged on the cut stone was a grappling hook, a thick rope at the end of it. The claw-like mechanism had made a few dents in the stone, and the taut rope indicated there was something on the other end of it.

With my heart beating hard, I peered over the ledge to see a masked figure climbing up the side of the wall. Dark clothes allowed him to blend in with the shadows, but I still noticed the straight sword that was strapped to his back. The masked assailant—whoever he was—stopped when he noticed me looking at him.

“Oh, shit,” I muttered, and that’s when he started climbing up at double the pace. Panicking, I tried to dislodge the grappling hook. It was impossible. Its metallic claws pressed hard into the stone, the weight of the masked man keeping it firmly rooted in place.

Knowing I had to do something, I went back into the room and started looking for a knife I could use. If I couldn’t get rid of the grappling hook, maybe I’d be able to cut through the rope. Remembering the dagger Dojak had given me, I retrieved it from the bed and rushed outside.

I was too late.

The moment I pressed the blade against the rope, the masked man was already at the top. He grabbed me by the wrist and, twisting it, forced me to let go of the dagger. It clattered to the edge of the parapet, just out of reach.

Pressing one foot against the parapet, I tried to push myself away from the man, but he used my motion to vault over the parapet and onto the balcony. He was tall—almost as tall as Dojak—with a warrior’s build. His hands were gloved, and two sheathed daggers nestled against his waist in the dark belt he wore.

“Let go of me,” I cried out, clenching my free hand into a closed fist. I hammered it down on his chest, but he didn’t move a single inch. In fact, I didn’t think the man even registered my pathetic punch. He just cocked one arm back and slapped me so hard that stars exploded behind my eyelids.

I spun around like a drunk and stumbled inside the room, bringing the curtains down as I fell to the floor. Almost casually, the man strolled into the room and looked around. When he returned his attention to me, he grabbed the curtains and tore them into long ribbons which he used to bind my wrists and ankles. Then, without saying a word, he threw me over his shoulder and stepped back out onto the balcony.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” I cried out, struggling to believe he’d attempt to climb down the wall with me on his back. What were the odds I’d avoid plummeting to my death? I was pretty sure the walls of the palace were far higher than what I’d be comfortable with. Still, my protests didn’t deter the man. He just grunted something I couldn’t quite understand, his mask muffling the sound of his voice, then used a piece of rope to tether me to his belt.

A wave of nausea washed over me as we swung over the parapet. Desperately, I stretched out my bound hands, the tips of my fingers barely able to grab the hilt of Dojak’s dagger.

But then it was too late, and we were over the side.

I had never been a fan of heights, and that feeling was amplified by the fact that there wasn’t exactly a cutting-edge hospital in the city. If I stabbed him now, we’d fall.

And if I fell, there’d be no ambulance to haul me to safety, nor kindhearted doctors that would prescribe me X-rays and a healthy dose of painkillers. No, I’d just fall, break both my legs, and die a very painful death.

“Stop moving,” the man growled at me, his voice deep and guttural. Even though I wasn’t exactly familiar with all the races on this planet, I immediately recognized the sound of that voice. It was what I had heard on the plains back when we had fought against the raiders.

Dojak had called them Aetamians, and even though I was still a newbie when it came to the geopolitics of this place, these guys weren’t good news. I had no idea why I was being kidnapped, but I was pretty damn sure that I was in trouble.

I only realized that I had been holding my breath when the man’s feet hit the ground. I couldn’t get the knife twisted into my grip securely enough to strike, so I sucked in a deep breath as he started running toward the walls that separated the palace from the city itself, and started screaming as loud as I could.

It didn’t do much.

Moving fast, the man stuffed a piece of cloth inside my mouth, forcing me to shut up. Without missing a step, he climbed up a ladder someone had set up against the wall, then we were out in the city. We navigated through narrow alleyways and sloping streets, always in the cover of the shadows, and I waited to see the monstrous city gates appear in front of us.

I never got to see them.

It made sense, of course. Instead of using the front entrance, the Aetamian took me to an empty alley and dropped me on the cobblestones as an afterthought. I groaned as I hit the ground, then rolled to my back to see what he was doing.

He had his back turned to me, one of his knees on the ground, in the process of heaving something up from the ground. Wrists bound, I tried turning the blade, hoping to bring it down between his shoulder blades, but he was too fast.

Only once he turned around did I realize that he was holding a heavy iron grate that had been hidden under a square of now overturned cobblestones. The foul smell of the sewers wafted into the alleyway, and my stomach lurched as I realized the path we’d take out of the city.

Dragging me across the alley, the Aetamian then slipped into the hole in the ground. Once he had his feet secured on the ladder affixed to the side of the sewer, he pulled me in after him, and the stench became so nauseating that I almost threw up.

Just great, I thought. Way to ruin my night, asshole.

I kept my eyes closed as we made our way through the maze of damp tunnels, the sound of water trickling in the distance blending with that of the Aetamian’s footsteps, and an hour or so later we emerged somewhere outside the city walls. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was, but I could see nothing but thick vegetation.

“Almost there,” the Aetamian grunted, cutting a path through the waist-high weeds and thorn bushes. We ended up in a small clearing, where a tall, hooded man waited for us. Around the hooded man stood eight more Aetamians, but none of those wore a mask.

I gasped as the cloth was removed from my mouth.

“What do you want with me?” I asked, focusing my attention on the hooded figure, assuming that he wouldn’t understand me. His demeanor, not to mention the fact that he stood at the front of the group, told me that he had to be these assholes’ leader. “I’m no one important, you idiots.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said, clearly understanding my language, and raised his hands to remove the hood.

Once it fell back, my jaw slackened as I recognized Lomav.

“Unfortunately, Sofia, you’re very important.” As he spoke, he grabbed a dagger from his belt. “Don’t worry, though, I’m going to fix that soon enough.”

Dojak

I burst into the room like a boulder thrown by a catapult.

The doors flung open so fast that the handles broke as they hit the walls, but I couldn’t care less. I swept the room with my gaze, my heart beating at a thousand miles an hour, and I was immediately hit by a sinking feeling.

There was no sign of Sofia anywhere.

Her dress, discarded by the side of the bed when I left, had disappeared. The curtains had been torn into shreds and to the side, there was an overturned chair. Gritting my teeth, I headed onto the balcony, hoping for a miracle, but there was none to be found.

“Motherfuckers,” I growled, the fury that welled up inside me unlike anything I had ever felt. Turning around, I kicked the overturned chair so hard that it exploded into a thousand splinters. I unsheathed my sword by instinct, almost as if I was ready to cut down every single Aetamian I could find, and that’s when Vokar appeared in the doorway.

“Well, shit,” he muttered, looking around the room with that cold expression of his. Troko appeared behind him, forehead creased. He was donning his polished battle armor, which he had probably gotten out of its rack the moment he heard the guards sounding the alarm.

“Tell the guards to keep the city gates closed,” I said, my words dripping venom. “Even when morning comes, they are to remain shut. No one’s leaving the city until Sofia’s found.”

Troko was already turning on his heels, ready to relay my commands, when Vokar stopped him. He reached for the general and laid a hand on his shoulder, his calm demeanor never wavering.

“I don’t think that’s going to help matters,” he merely said. “These guys might not belong to the Aetamian Assassins Order anymore, but they have all the training. They’re not leaving through the front gates. In fact, it’s likely they’re already on their way out.”

I gritted my teeth so hard that pain shot up my jaw.

Sheathing my sword, I tried to remain calm, reminding myself that I needed to keep a cool head. It was almost impossible. I was good at facing insurmountable odds while never losing my composure, but this was different. Sofia was in danger, and I had no fucking idea what to do about it.

“Then what the fuck am I supposed to do?” I cried through gritted teeth, locking my eyes on Vokar’s. While most of my soldiers would shrink in size while facing my fury, Vokar merely took a couple of steps toward me, his tone soothing and casual.

“First, you need to get your shit together,” he said. “We’ve cut our way through a couple of them already, but these aren’t grunts. These guys are skilled and if you let anger get in the way, they’re going to turn you into minced meat.”

“Great. What else?”

“There’s an old sewer system that leads out of the city,” he continued. “Not everyone knows about it—and that includes our own assassins—but I’ve been using it ever since I finished my training. Had I been the one to mount an operation like this, an assault straight into the heart of Tahkath, I would’ve made sure to have an escape route like that.”

“If no one knows about those sewers, then how the hell are these guys using them?” I asked him, even though I didn’t give a damn about his answer. I just didn’t want to go chasing shadows into the sewers, only to figure out later that the Aetamians hadn’t escaped through there.

“Only a few people know about the sewers,” he continued, completely unfazed by my tone. “The parchments with the schematics are still in the old archives, so it isn’t that unlikely for someone to have come across them. There is a guard that’s stationed there, but if they subdued him, then that vulnerability is left open to exploit.”

“Any other secret routes you know about?” By now I was already feeling more in control of the situation. I could still feel that roiling anger inside me, but I had put a tight leash on it. Vokar was right—if I wanted to save Sofia, I needed to get my shit together.

“There are a few drainage points alongside the eastern wall,” he said, “but those are vulnerable access points. I don’t think any assassin worth his salt would use them, but I’ve already dispatched a few men there just in case.”

“Good.” I walked back onto the balcony and looked down at the parapet, where the indentations caused by a grappling hook were easy to spot. I peered down at the shadows, imagining one of those assassins making the climb up the face of the wall, and I gritted my teeth once more. “Gather a few men. We’re going after these assholes.”

“I already have a full regiment ready to scour the city outskirts,” Troko started to say. “If there’s someone out there, my guys are going to—”

“No,” I cut him short. “We’re never going to find them if we just throw soldiers at the problem. I need a small tracking party, no more than five men.”

“I know just the men,” Troko said, and he spun on his heels and went out of the room, his footsteps echoing throughout the hallway.

“I’m going with you,” Vokar stated in a dispassionate manner, almost as if he was commenting on the weather. “If these assholes have used the tunnels, you’re going to need a guide. There are hundreds of turnings down there. It’s easy to get lost.”

“Then let’s get going.”

We had only just stepped outside the room when Troko returned, five tall but slender D’Tali trailing after him. They all wore a light-leather armor, the kind favored by scouts and hunters, but they looked as menacing as most elite warriors.

“These are the best trackers that I have, and they have Krilik as their leader, who’s one of my best men,” Troko said, and the five D’Tali stepped forward, ready to obey my commands. “I’m going to ramp up security until you’re back, Your Majesty,” he continued, using my formal title because we were in the presence of others. If that hadn’t been the case, we had built enough trust between us for our first names to suffice.

“Very well, general,” I said. “Until I’m back, you’re in charge.” Then, for good measure, I threw in a smile and clasped his forearm. “Try not to burn the city down while I’m gone.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Sofia

“Politics are a complicated business.” Leading the way up a narrow trail, Lomav waved his dagger around as he talked. With every step he was breathing harder and harder, long pauses between phrases. Unlike the Aetamian soldiers that followed us, he didn’t seem that well-trained, but appeared determined to prove he was right about whatever this was.

“I know nothing about your politics,” I told him, doing my best not to irritate him. If there was any chance I could get out of this mess by playing it safe, then that’s what I was going to do. It wasn’t easy, though—the more I listened to his endless rambling, the more I wanted to kick him in the nuts.

“You don’t need to know about it to be in it,” he replied, grinning as he glanced back at me. When he looked back, a low-hanging branch snapped up and hit him in the face. He muttered a string of obscenities, but that wasn’t enough for him to shut up. “In fact, Sofia of House Avery, you’re one of the most important pieces on the board right now.”

“I’m not Sofia of House Avery,” I said, although most of the servants back at the palace insisted on calling me that. “Avery’s part of my name. It’s my surname.”

“Then that means you’re of House Avery, you uncultured mammal,” he said, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

“What do you mean I’m one of the most—?”

“You’re pretty damn stupid, aren’t you?” he cut me short. “I know all about the mating bond you have with Dojak. I figured it out the moment he laid eyes on you for the first time.”

“Is that what this is about? Look, I’m not interested in becoming Tahkath’s queen or anything of the sort. If you think that I’m here because of that, you can let me go now, because I can assure you that—”

“I don’t give a shit about you becoming Dojak’s queen,” he said, turning left and leading our procession into a part of the vegetation where the trail was almost fully covered with weeds. “What I’m worried about is that you might give Dojak an heir. Can you imagine it? A half-breed sitting on the throne?”

“Screw you,” I snapped, offended at the way he spoke about my future child. It was ridiculous—I wasn’t even pregnant, I didn’t even know if it was possible, and I sure as hell wasn’t thinking about having a child—but if that bastard thought that he could insult my unborn, unlikely children like that, then he was in for a surprise. “You really do have an inferiority complex, don’t you, Lomav? You’re shorter than the others, probably weaker, too, and you’ve been envious of Dojak all your life. You can’t stand it, can you?”

He slapped me so fast that I didn’t even see it coming. My ears started ringing from the impact, and I felt the coppery taste of blood in my mouth. But I didn’t move an inch. I kept my feet firmly rooted on the ground, and I held his gaze without blinking. To make him understand that I wouldn’t let him break me, I threw in a smile.

“And now you’re beating women,” I said. “Way to prove my point.”

“Shut the fuck up,” he growled, unsheathing his dagger and pushing the cold blade against my throat. “One more word and you won’t live to see the end of this trail.”

Using his free hand to grab my wrist, he pushed me forward. The dagger slid away from my throat and he pressed its sharp tip against my lower back, forcing me to walk in front of the group. It took us thirty minutes to get to our destination, and I couldn’t help but be filled with awe once I saw it.

The almost invisible trail led into a clearing, tall ruins marking its limits and stopping the vegetation from covering it all. The moonlight shone through the canopy of bent trees, filtering past a thousand leaves and branches, and it illuminated tall columns that stood softly glowing in the light. There were engravings on those columns, depictions of various religious scenes and ceremonies. The buildings that had been supported by the columns, though, had already crumbled. Of them, only scattered slabs of cut stone remained, most of them covered with a thick layer of moss.

“It’s a shame, isn’t it?” Lomav asked, a hint of reverence in his voice. “We D’Tali can’t stop talking about our Ancestors, but we’ve turned our back on the Old Gods, the ones the Ancestors we look up to worshipped.” He strode forward as he spoke, brushing his fingers against the engravings in one of the columns. “Some of us, though, haven’t forgotten about the old ways.”

“Nice speech,” one of the Aetamians said, clapping his hands in a mocking way. “The Old Gods are interesting and all, but I hope you’re not forgetting about our arrangement.”

“No, I haven’t forgotten our arrangement,” Lomav snapped, his teeth gritted. “You’ll have what I promised you.”

“What have you done?” I whispered. “Have you betrayed your own kingdom?”

“I haven’t betrayed anything,” he spat out. “I’m fighting for my own kingdom. I’m stopping it all from going to shit. Dojak is unfit to rule. All his talk of mercy and diplomacy makes us look like weaklings, not to mention that his rule would end with a half-breed on the throne. I won’t have that.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, that means I had to enter into an agreement with Aetam. In exchange for their help, I’ll make their kingdom a few concessions once I’m sitting on the throne.”

“You’re insane. Do you really think Dojak will let you sit on the throne?”

“He won’t have a choice, will he?” he grinned. “If he’s dead, he won’t be able to object to that. I knew it’d be hard to get him inside the palace, so I had to come up with something else. The raiders failed at getting him, so I had to—”

“The raiders, the ones that attacked us on the plains...you sent them.”

“Of course I did. But they failed.” Waving one hand at the Aetamians surrounding us, he smiled. “These men won’t fail, though. Once Dojak steps out of the palace, desperate to find you, they’re going to finish him.”

“Is that what you’re doing here? Using me as bait?”

“Not exactly,” he shrugged. “I mean, I’m using you as bait, but you’re not going to be live bait. It’s time the D’Tali let the Old Gods back in, and there’s nothing better than an offering to appease them.”

Pushing me forward, he shoved me across the ruins until I stood before a crumbled well, the stone parapet nothing but rubble. My feet were no more than a few inches away from the edge, and I peered down to see endless darkness eager to devour anything thrown into it.

“This is crazy,” I said as I stepped back. My heart rate shot up, my mind struggling to accept the fact that I was going to become a human sacrifice. “If you think I’m going to jump into this stupid well…”

I trailed off and, letting anger overwhelm me, I swung my closed fists at Lomav. He sidestepped my attack, then his right hand grabbed my neck. His fingers tightened around my throat so hard that it became almost impossible to breathe.

“You don’t have to jump,” he said. “I just have to throw you in.”

He stepped toward the stone lip of the well, lifting me up so that my feet dangled over the darkness below. I closed my eyes, pins and needles all through my struggling lungs, and I realized this was it: the end of the road.

I thought of my nieces, and of how I’d never see their faces or hear their bright laughter again. I thought of my sisters, who would never know what happened to me. Above all, I thought of Dojak.

I clawed at Lomav’s forearm, my legs thrashing as I tried to put my feet on solid ground, but it was useless. I was going to be thrown down into this sacrificial pit, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

My body went limp then, and I accepted it.

I was going to die here and—

My train of thought was suddenly derailed by a whistling sound, and my eyes snapped open just in time to see an arrow cutting across the clearing. It found its resting spot in an Aetamian neck, the man it had hit crumpling down as his hands clutched at the arrow.

“Put her down, Lomav,” a deep voice thundered through the clearing, and my heart skipped a beat. “Now.”

Dojak was here.

Dojak

Well, that got his fucking attention.

“Dojak,” Lomav snarled. It was a dangerous gambit, firing on them when he had her dangling over the pit, but it was our only choice. And now, if he wanted any bargaining power at all, he was going to have to keep her alive.

Every eye in the sacrificial clearing was turned to see me standing on a crumbling stone tablet, engraved with the abandoned legacy of the Old Gods. Aetamians. Of course. I had heard enough of his speech to understand the depths of his treachery, but it was something else to see it with my own eyes.

“Another,” I called through the stillness, and with a deft eye, Krilik loosed an arrow that sailed in a clean line across the center of the clearing. It whizzed past Sofia’s nose and lodged in the eye of the Aetamian mercenary flanking Lomav’s shoulder. He flinched, and the brute howled as he staggered forward.

Jostling Lomav’s shoulder in his agony, his foot caught the crumbling edge of the well, and we listened as his screams echoed down the full length of the fall. Cowering back at the horror of it, Lomav was clutching Sofia close to him now, well clear of the danger of dropping her.

“Kill them,” he shrieked. A scrabble of mercenaries launched themselves toward Krilik and me, bent on carnage. Two of my trackers crashed out of the brush behind them, and a true melee started.

One of his guards stepped in front of Lomav and Sofia with his sword drawn, ready to defend their business partner at any price. I was determined to make sure he paid it. Seizing one of the thick vines trailing across the ruins, I gave it a quick tug to test its strength before trusting it with my full weight.

Drawing my sword, I leapt down from my roost and sailed through the air as the taut vine groaned under the strain. The guard was astounded, and I landed my feet square in the center of his chest, sending him crashing back toward the lip of the pit. Clawing at the broken, mossy stones to keep from tumbling after his fallen comrade, he skidded to a halt.

“Don’t just lie there, you bastard! Kill him!” Lomav still clung to Sofia, barking commands and flashing his teeth at what must have felt like certain victory.

The Aetamian struggled to his knees, just in time to catch my swinging blade across his own. Lurching upright, he launched an attack, and the sound of our ringing steel joined the chorus of blades clanging across the ruins. With a mighty swing, our swords locked high, and the brute forced me back until I was pinned against one of the ancient stones.

“Dojak, look out,” Sofia cried, and Lomav snarled and dragged her further away from the fighting. Her warning reached me just as the guard reeled back to send a crashing blow down on my skull. As I ducked at the last moment, it grated the stone where my neck had been, sending a shower of sparks into the darkness.

Tucked low as I was, I managed to force my sword upward, sinking it under the ribs of my adversary. It stuck there, and he stumbled back, dropping his own steel and clutching at the blade stealing his life. Snatching his sword up, I spun to find another enemy charging up behind me.

These fuckers must have been trained by Lomav specially if they were content striking an enemy in the back. I caught his blade and struck back with everything I had. A wild blow glanced across my shoulder, sending a white flash of pain sizzling through my body. Determined to keep my wits, I kept my sword up as he wound up for another swing.

Suddenly, his arms locked wide, his eyes went glassy and a throaty groan crackled out of him. Tipping forward, he fell dead at my feet, one of Krilik’s arrows lodged firmly between his shoulder blades.

“In the back?”

The bowman just shrugged at my admonition. “Give as good as you get, Your Majesty.” He had a point.

It suddenly dawned on me that the ringing of steel in the air had stopped. All of my men were standing and all of the mercenaries were crumpled in the dust. At last, I turned to see Lomav cowering behind the shield of Sofia. There was only so far that little gambit was going to take him.

“You know,” I said, letting the Aetamian blade drop onto the mossy stones, “I should have suspected you from the beginning.” Placing my heel on the body of the fallen soldier, I wrenched my own sword out of the corpse. “If you yield now, cousin, there’s a very high chance I’ll let you live.”

“Really?” I expected submissiveness, but was met instead with a derisive laugh. “You’ll let me live, Dojak? Oh,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “thank you!”

“Shall I take him, my liege?” Over my shoulder, Krilik had an arrow at the ready, the string of his bow already vibrating with the tension of a sure kill.

“No,” I raised my hand to still him. “We can’t risk her.”

“No, you certainly can’t,” Lomav mocked me from his coward’s place behind her.

“Do it, Dojak! Take him.” Sofia’s eyes were on fire, but Lomav clamped his hand across her throat, and the look of pain on her face pulled me up short.

“Shut up, you bitch. He wouldn’t dare.” By now, I was standing just across the pit from them. Lomav had his back to one of the pillars, and his face was filled with wild desperation.

“Give her to me, cousin. You can’t win this.” It was true. In a few short steps, I could have pulled her away from him, and the whole terrible ordeal would be behind us.

“Is that what you think, cousin?” He spat the last word at me, dripping with contempt. “Well then.” His hand slithered out from behind her back, and a gleaming dagger pressed against the creamy skin of her throat. “Maybe I can change your mind.” Everything inside me ran cold.

“What do you want?” My voice quavered in spite of my determination to stay calm, and my hands were up, instructing the trackers to hold off.

“You’re pretty fucking dumb, you know that, Dojak? I think I’ve made it perfectly clear what I want. The throne.”

“I can’t do that.”

“In that case,” the point of that blade made a maddening dimple in the skin just below her jaw, “the Old Gods will get their first taste of blood in generations.”

“Stop!” My breath was shallow, and my heart knocked at my ribs. “What do you need to let her live?” The point of that terrible dagger left its home at her neck and swung in my direction.

“You,” he declared as he returned the dagger’s tip to Sofia’s throat.

“Rip him into shreds!” Sofia’s words tore into me, and I looked at her as if with fresh eyes.

She believed in me.

And somehow, I’d make sure to never let her down.

But for now, all I could see was the print his wicked blade was making on her perfect skin. There was no choice.

I turned to look at the trackers who had come with me, each one spring-loaded for attack. In their midst, Vokar stood, shaking his head lightly.

“Don’t do this, Your Majesty.” His voice was pitched just above a whisper, and he used my title as a weapon to beat me away from my determination. “To leave your kingdom with that monster is a crime. You can’t.”

“What’s that, Vokar?” Lomav’s voice sang out from behind me. “I can’t hear you. Speak up.”

“I said it would be a crime to leave the kingdom in the hands of a weak, petty, small, ignorant, limp-dicked coward like yourself.”

“Is that a fact?” Lomav’s blood was up. He was an open wound to insults, and Vokar had just poured in all the salt and vinegar he could find. “In that case…”

Sofia clenched her eyes shut as Lomav’s arm shot up, tense with the desire to sink his glistening blade into her throat. It was too much. Everything my friend had said was right, but the sight of her at the point of death was more than I could take.

“HOLD!” The cry echoed through the ruins and off into the darkness. Everyone froze. Even Lomav quailed a bit under the command of born majesty.

“Alright,” I said. “I’m yours.”

“No!” Sofia shouted.

“Are you fucking insane?” Vokar roared.

“I don’t have a choice,” I hissed back at him. “I wish I did, but I don’t.”

Also, for all his natural iciness, Vokar was a lousy actor when he was angry.

“That’s right,” Lomav sneered. “You don’t. Now, give me your word that these assholes won’t kill me.”

“You have my word,” I said.

“You don’t,” Vokar snarled.

“You have my word!” I overruled him, and Vokar turned his back and strode into the shadows.

“Perfect.” That greasy fucker with his knife at her throat was smiling now. “Drop your sword and come to me. Slowly.”

I looked at Sofia. Her eyes were shining with tears.

I hated that she thought this was the last way I would ever see her.

That she thought I would ever leave her.

But right now, this was the only way.

Sofia

What the hell was he doing?

“Do it,” Lomav commanded over my shoulder. “Now.” With that last word, he pressed the point of his dagger more firmly against my throat, and I felt the tiny prick of it breaking the skin. While I couldn’t tell if it was a trickle of blood or sweat, something warm beaded down the line of my neck.

“What is this?” he asked as his hands went down my body and found my dagger. “A blade?”

I squirmed as he chuckled, took it off my waist, and threw it to the ground.

“Maybe I should search more?” he asked lecherously. “Your call, Dojak.”

“Alright!” The fire in Dojak’s eyes was evident, but he was forcing his body to be submissive. Stretching his arms out on either side, he let his sword fall, and it landed with a gritty thunk in the dirt. Lomav’s chest vibrated against my back in a low chuckle.

“I always knew you were a coward.”

“I’m not the one hiding behind a woman,” Dojak spat back at him.

“Careful the way you speak to me,” Lomav taunted. “Maybe I’ll kill her and you after.”

“We both know you’d have to kill me first.” A shudder ran through Lomav’s whole body, and I wondered if Dojak could see it. Compensating, Lomav clutched me tighter and stepped back.

“Why don’t you just step away from your sword, cousin?” Dojak did as he was told. Everything in me wanted to scream out to him not to do this.

To fight, to keep fighting until there was nothing left.

Dojak’s arms were up in surrender, but his deadly glare stayed fixed on my captor as he stepped away from his weapon. I couldn’t believe it. This warrior, this king was willing to give it all up, sacrifice himself and the well-being of his realm, all for me. While I was deeply moved by the gesture, there was no way I was going to let it happen.

If I was willing to sacrifice myself for Dojak, this was the moment to prove it.

“I have waited for this moment for a long time,” Lomav gloated over my shoulder.

“So have I,” I snarled back at him. With a decisive snap of my leg, I brought my heel down on the bridge of his foot as hard as I could. There was a small crunch, and he howled in agony.

Dojak’s grin made my heart sing as he closed the distance between us.

I leaned forward and slammed an elbow into Lomav’s ribs with all the force I had. There were only two ways the dagger at my throat could go. One would have been pretty nasty for me, but to my relief, his grip slackened.

Thrusting his hand away from me, I dug my nails into the arm still wrapped around my waist and fought to twist myself free.

“Sofia!” Dojak called my name, but I was locked in a small spiral with the treacherous bastard struggling to cling to his only chance at survival. Limping in a circle, his arm was straining against my grip to bring the dagger back down into me.

I could see the keen edge vibrating with his effort, and the whiteness of my own knuckles locked on his wrist. His breath rasped past my ear, and I wished I could turn my head far enough to tear a bite out of him. As we scrambled, I found myself unable to get the footing to land another solid kick.

Then a broad blue hand wrapped around the hilt of Lomav’s blade and wrenched it free. The danger sailed away into the night with a careless toss of Dojak’s arm, and I could feel all the air go out of the hateful, craven slug who clutched me. Free of the danger, I brought my right hand down and sank those nails into his arm along with the rest.

In a moment of surrender, his body went slack and I was able to twist myself free. There was a moment when we were face to face, and I smiled to myself at the look of surprise and pain mingled on Lomav’s smarmy face. He stank of defeat.

“Are you alright?” Dojak kept his firm grip on his worthless cousin’s wrist, but all of his attention fastened on me. I gave him a breathless nod, and a look of pure elation settled over his face. But that elation was interrupted.

The blissful look vanished in a wince as Lomav launched a fist into Dojak’s ribs. Scowling, he turned just in time to catch another rapid punch in the stomach. It seemed that the traitor wasn’t going down without more of a fight.

Or, at least, that’s what he believed.

Dojak had the upper hand. Literally. He still held Lomav’s wrist tightly, and used it to lift the little weasel almost entirely off the ground, landing a crushing blow with the other fist right in the center of his purple chest. I swear I could hear the ribs crack.

A hateful wheeze broke from Lomav as every ounce of breath he had rushed out of him at once, and he withered in Dojak’s hands. With a vicious wrench, the king tugged Lomav’s arms behind his back.

“Get his belt.” At my lover’s command, my hands found Lomav’s buckle and I set about freeing him of it.

“So,” those weary, beady, bloodshot eyes trailed up to meet me, “you finally get to take off my belt, huh?”

That earned a slap you could have heard back within the walls of the castle. Even Dojak looked surprised. After that, Lomav fell blessedly silent and I snaked off his belt and passed it over his shoulder.

The prisoner winced again as Dojak roughly bound his wrists and forced him to his knees. Well, not really forced. The little shit didn’t have much fight left in him.

“Are you hurt?” Stepping away from his cousin, Dojak came to me and I fell into his arms.

“No.”

He ran a hand down my throat in what felt like a loving gesture but was really an examination of the damage done.

“You’re bleeding!” There was a faint trace of blood on his fingers, but I could have told him the wound was superficial.

“It’s alright.” I took his hand and put it on my cheek instead. Even if the wound had been worse, none of it would have mattered now that I was in his arms again. His hand caressed my face, and I looked deeply into his eyes.

“I can promise you, Sofia, nothing like that will ever happen to you again. If I have to sit at your door into the small hours of the night. If I have to…”

“Dojak?”

“Yes?”

“Shut up and kiss me.” He did. And it was one of the good ones.

A shriek went up behind us, and our lips broke apart so quickly, I gasped for air. Turning as one, we saw Lomav on his feet. An arrow was quivering in the soil mere inches in front of his toes.

He spun and took a halting step in another direction, only to have another arrow foil his plans. He turned again, and was answered with another shot. If he kept on like this, he would shortly find himself with a tiny cage around his knees.

“Going somewhere?” A tall figure in leather armor stepped out of the shadows. All the creep could do was whimper in reply.

“He’s not taking another step. I guarantee it.” Another lean creature came forward to join.

“The little shit doesn’t have the guts,” came a call from somewhere out in the darkness. I turned to Dojak to see a faint smile playing across his face.

“How many did you bring with you?”

“Oh,” he let a chuckle break free. “Five.”

“Only five?” Lomav let out a wail at the indignity of it and sank back to his knees. It must have been a sore humiliation to have his ceremony brought to heel by such a paltry number.

“I think it was more than enough,” Dojak said.

“What do we do with him?” one of the soldiers asked.

“We take him back. He has a lot to answer for. And don’t hurt him.” Dojak looked back at me. “Well. Not any more than he already is.”

A round of snickering laughter sputtered out from around Lomav, and it dawned on me how rare it was that any of these men would be bested in combat by a female. And a mammal at that.

“Pick him up,” Dojak said. “Keep a keen eye out in case there are any more of his assholes hiding in the woods for you.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Our friend with the bow stepped into the light. His quiver was almost empty, and it was clear we had nothing left to fear out there in the dark. Not that I could have worried at the side of my big, strong love.

“Well done, Krilik. Get him out of here.” Among them, the soldiers lugged Lomav to his spindly feet, then turned a questioning eye on the two of us. “We’ll be right behind you,” Dojak said. “I have some things here I want to survey.”

A chorus of ‘Yes, Your Majesty’ went up, and they retreated into the shadows, dragging their unhappy quarry. Once they were gone, I turned back to Dojak.

“Why did you send them ahead? What is there here to survey?”

“Oh,” he let out a small laugh, “something very important.” Those toned arms pulled me to him again, and his lips pressed mine as if he was looking for some kind of answer. Lingering together in the dark, I like to think he found it.

Dojak

Somewhere on our journey through the night, Sofia noticed the wounds I had amassed during the fight. None of them were grievous, but she had sighed over each one as if I might drop on the spot. Never having had anyone make a fuss over my battle wounds before, I was embarrassed and delighted at the same time.

Thank goodness I had sent the trackers ahead, or no doubt they would have enjoyed a hearty laugh at my expense. The last thing I needed was for word of it to get around Tahkath.

When we made it back within the city walls, it felt as though there were eyes on every side. Not that there were many people to be seen, but I could feel the peering eyes from every window. Only when we had closed the door on my chambers behind us was I able to breathe easy.

“Take off your shirt.” It seemed Sofia had a very different kind of breath in mind. Feeling decidedly rakish, I tugged my shirt over my head, and hissed through my teeth as some dried blood pulled at a wound on my shoulder.

“Fuck,” I swore under my breath. Sofia pulled up close to me, her cool, delicate hands resting gingerly on my skin. Gazing at the blood, her face became a mask of worry.

“This is a nasty gash.”

“It’s a cut, at worst,” I said. “Not worth the worry.” My mind was still on other pastimes, but her focus led me to realize she had never had anything in her head beyond ministering to me. A deep corner of me softened under the attention of a born caretaker.

“Sit down,” she said softly. Pulling a stool under me near the window, I watched in the candlelight as she filled a basin with water and brought it close. “Here.” She set it gently in my lap, and dampened a cloth. As gently as if I were an infant, she began to wash the blood away from my chest and arms.

Sofia had seen me without my shirt before, more than once, but it was as if she was seeing each of my well-earned scars for the first time. Those subtle fingers traced faint lines across the history of my victories and sorrows, even as she was rendering her attentions to the newest chapters carved across my body.

“What was this one?” She grazed a long line just below my collarbone, while at the same time pressing the stinging cloth onto my shoulder.

“Trying to distract me while you work?” I cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Maybe a little.” She wrung out the darkened water, refreshed her cloth, and set back to cleaning. “But I have other ways to distract you if I really want to.”

“I know it.” With a hint of a smile, I let my hand drift across the upper regions of her outer thigh. She clucked out a tight laugh and clamped harder onto my shoulder.

“Calm down,” she said, batting my hand away. “Later.” The word hung in the air between us, ripe with gentle promise. An easy breath passed between us, and she asked again. “How did you get it?”

“I was young. My father believed in raising a strong son to be a capable leader. He told my swordmaster not to hold back, and he didn’t.”

“And did it work?” I looked up at her, and her hand rested on my heart. “Did it make you stronger?”

Her amber eyes were soft in the flickering light, and her hand warmed the center of my chest. After all the fear of losing her, the security of that moment became something that I knew I never wanted to risk slipping away.

“I thought it had. Leading this kingdom has required so much from me, and I don’t boast when I say I’ve met nearly every test. But…”

“But?” This was the moment.

“There was no way I would have been strong enough to survive without you.” Sofia’s breath caught in her throat, and those tender lips trembled ever so slightly. “You are the one I was fated to be with, Sofia. I love you.”

Before the words were even past my lips, her mouth was on mine, drinking them out. The scratches across my body were forgotten, and she held my face as she told me her love with silent lips. I shifted to make room for her on my lap, and the basin of water clattered to the floor, spilling in an arc around my feet.

“Shit!”

“Oh, shut up.” Her kiss stopped me from getting up. Stopped me from dealing with the mess. Stopped me from breathing. Just stopped me.

“So,” I said when she let me speak again, “you love me too, then?”

“You are so stupid sometimes.” I would say she repeated the kiss, but there was something ever changing, ever fresh about the way we found each other. There could never be any doubt.

“Dojak,” she whispered, “I knew. Even before you could understand me – that’s why I wanted you to understand me so badly. When you rode up behind me on that first day, and I saw you for the first time, I think I knew even then.”

“So?”

“Jesus,” she rolled her eyes with that curious human oath, “yes, Dojak. I love you.” Those last words broke forth in pure, beautiful simplicity. There was so much I wanted to say, but only the old words would do.

“Sofia.” My mouth was dry, and the formality of the words felt incredibly daunting. “Here, in the sight of all the Ancestors, I ask of you that you share your life with mine. That you bond your mind, your body, and your soul to a shared journey, and I offer you myself in return. All I have and all I will be.”

Nothing.

I was met with a funny smile under her slightly furrowed brows. A small laugh fell out of me for my presumption. Of course she didn’t know our ways.

“Dojak,” her voice was quiet, “are you asking me to marry you?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you and me. Together. In every way. Only us.” Her words were halting, cautious, but they spoke directly to my heart.

“Yes!” I was perhaps more emphatic than I had intended, but there was something guarded in her nature that made me wary. There was a terrible pause as she searched my face. Then, with a whoop like she had just vanquished an enemy, she flung her arms around my neck and clung to me like she was drowning.

“Yes!” Hers was every bit as emphatic. “I will share my life, and ancestors, and whatever the hell the rest of it was you said. Yes, Dojak, I will marry you!”

My heart erupted and I clung to her as we both dissolved into laughter. It felt like the only appropriate response to the relief I felt, and I was certain she was feeling it, too. I could read her now. I probably always could, since that first moment, but there was so much second guessing until she told me for certain in that moment.

Laughter gave way to the only other appropriate response, and we smothered each other with kisses. Not the wild, desperate kisses that led to heated passion – that would come. This moment was the connecting of mates. Of bonding between equals and sharing the oath we were about to embark upon together.

“Oh, Dojak.” Those fascinating eyes sparkled into mine. It may have been the candles burning around the chamber, but I liked to flatter myself that it was something else. Something incandescent within her had been unlocked.

“When,” she asked. “When is the ceremony to be?”

For another moment I was confused, then had to remind myself that there was no way she could know how things worked among us. There was so much yet for her to learn, but I was warmed that she would learn it all at my side.

“Now.” The simplicity of it seemed to catch her off guard.

“Now?”

“When else?” Taking her hand, we flung open the door and charged down the hallway. All the anxiety I had felt over prying eyes as we had made our way to my room had melted away as we dashed away from it. Peeling forth into the courtyard, I made straight for the bell rope at the far end.

All it took was one hard pull, and faces appeared in the dark windows. When Troko poked out, his scarred face was already split with a broad, knowing smile.

“So. It’s time then, is it?”

“It is.” I wanted to say more, but I knew I could trust him with the rest.

“You son of a bitch,” he laughed. “Alright, everyone.” He spoke to the whole of Tahkath now. “Those of degree meet in the courtyard. We have a bonding!”

A flurry of noise went up as each of the windows found itself abandoned in a scuttle, and for a precious moment, Sofia and I were left in secluded silence. Or maybe it just felt that way. In all truth, I barely noticed as the nearest ones filtered into the yard around us.

There was only one thing I could hear, one thing I could see. And, given the way those pure eyes of hers were fixed on mine, I suspect she was every bit as lost as I was.

Sofia

I didn’t know how long we stood there waiting for the party to assemble. It might have been an hour, but it could easily have also been a matter of minutes.

Less than a minute.

All I could see was a pair of silvering eyes sparkling from a face that I knew every line of.

“Your Majesty?” It was perhaps the first time I had heard a woman’s voice among their race. We turned to see someone that I presumed to be quite old. Her horns were yellowed with age, and her face was deeply creased with the kind of lines that come with wisdom.

“Kalethe.” Dojak met her with a very light bow, his right hand held with a palm parallel just a few inches from his chest. Trying not to appear too hasty or clumsy, I copied his gesture, only feeling a little awkward. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Dojak to see when he would rise.

We held our positions, and I listened as her feet scraped lightly across the ground, pulling up in front of me. A couple of dry, strong fingers cupped under my chin, and she softly guided me to stand.

“She is very beautiful.”

“She is.” Dojak held his place, and my cheeks warmed at the ceremonious, almost factual nature of the compliment. As lightly as her fingers had come, they glided away from my face. I watched as she used the same care to raise Dojak, keeping her hand in place until it was well above her own shoulder.

“Is she strong?”

“She is.”

“Is she kind?”

“She is.”

“Can she lead?”

“She can.”

Kalethe nodded lightly, and I could see that everyone who had arrived in the courtyard was standing in a reverent silence. She turned those crystal eyes back to study me a moment, then looked back up to Dojak. The lines around her mouth deepened as she offered a knowing smile.

“Then she will be yours. And you will be hers.”

My heart fluttered inside me, and I tingled to the tips of my fingers. It felt strangely like I had passed a test of some kind. Everyone who had been so still seemed to move at once. Kalethe released Dojak’s chin and stepped lightly into the center of the courtyard, looking up as if to align herself with the stars.

Satisfied, she held out her hands to us. Keeping a keen watch on Dojak out of the corner of my eye, we stepped together until we stood on either side of the old woman. The others formed a circle around us. Almost imperceptibly, the whole assembly registered a low hum.

I recognized a scattering of familiar faces, Troko and Vokar among them. Suddenly, I could pick their voices out of the rumble, and smiled.

Surrounded by those reptilian faces, I was cheered to see that many of the human women had been brought out as well. Some looked confused, some even a little fearful, but as soon as they registered what was happening, every one sent me a smile.

A pang struck my heart. My nieces weren’t here. Would never know what happened to me. But they’d be fine, healthy and loved on their world.

Just as I was loved here.

“Bring the waters,” Kalethe said. Spaces opened in the perimeter, and two elderly males appeared, coming from opposite directions. Each was clad in a long, gray garment that dusted the ground as they walked, and each carried a small wooden bowl in their cupped hands.

When they stood beside us, Kalethe dipped her hands in one of the bowls and wiped the water down Dojak’s face.

“I wash away all that you have been. In this moment, you are new.” She then handed the bowl to Dojak and he put it to his lips, sipping lightly, then spilling the rest on the ground. For a moment, Kalethe seemed to study the pattern the water had made, then took the second bowl and wiped water down my face.

“I wash away all that you have been. In this moment, you are new.” The crazy thing was, I felt new. Lighter, somehow. The water was sweet, almost fragrant with some kind of herb. It was tempting to take more than a sip, but I knew to spill it at our feet.

Again, Kalethe studied the puddle between our feet, then placed a hand on each of our shoulders.

“Now.”

Dojak took my hands, and folded them right over left, then placed them against the center of his chest. Then, with his hands left over right, he placed them over my heart in turn. Placing his feet directly in front of mine, he nudged them closer until our toes were touching. Then, leaning forward, he offered me his forehead.

I froze. What was I supposed to do? Kiss it? Everything seemed so perfect, almost magical, it seemed a shame to break it in my ignorance.

After a moment, he looked up. He must have seen the panic mixed with pure bewilderment on my face, because a small laugh fell from him. It raised a gentle, knowing echo from those on every side, and I felt my cheeks flush again.

“Place your forehead against mine,” he said. “We need to be connected at the three points.”

This time, when he bowed his head, I met it and felt oddly whole. His heart beat under my hands, and I knew he could feel the solid thump of my own. Energy seemed to flow through us in a perfect, connected circle.

“By those who came before,” he spoke quietly, “by all who are, and by those who have yet to be, I ask that you bind your life to mine. That our journey will be a shared one. That your joy shall be my joy, your pain shall be my pain, and the wealth of your heart shall be the riches of mine.”

Another silence.

“Child,” Kalethe placed that feather light hand between my shoulder blades. “Say that you will.”

“I will.”

A barely contained murmur of approval scattered around the circle like the beginning of a spring rain. Then, as if she could feel me at a loss, Kalethe guided me to repeat the phrases. Each one flew out from my core, reaching for Dojak. I knew he would take me, but there was a new kind of need inside me.

Even as I said the words, I thought of my family, of my life back on Earth. There was so much about it that I yearned for, but nothing could compare to the purity of this. If anything, I ached that they couldn’t be there to share all this with me.

“I will.” Dojak’s voice was soft, but strong. Kalethe’s fingers found our chins again, and guided our lips together. We held the kiss until long after her hands had slipped away, and laughter clattered around us.

When I opened my eyes again, the old woman was gone. For an electrifying second, I wondered if she had ever been there at all. A pair of fresh bowls appeared in our hands, and the beaming faces of Troko and Vokar burst in upon us.

“Let me be the one to give you the first drink.” Troko clacked a third bowl against ours, and I took a solid gulp of some rich, warming liquid. Whatever it was, it was clear that this could get me very dangerously drunk.

Tipping my chin down, I saw the two friends with their heads so far back that the golden liquor ran down their cheeks and onto their chests. When Dojak had drained his, he met me with a wide smile and shining eyes. Vokar slapped him on the shoulder, and Dojak winced under the blow over the fresh wound, but it still couldn’t dampen his spirits.

“And now,” he said, taking my hand, “we dance.”

Dance almost wasn’t the word for it. The entire courtyard exploded in a chaos of celebration. I got the sense that weddings, or whatever this was, weren’t exactly a common occurrence.

That startlingly strong liquor poured on every side, and I did my best to taste each bowl before passing it off to some grateful recipient.

From out of the throng, Isabella appeared. “Can I borrow her a second?”

Dojak kissed my hand and loosed it, ready to be swallowed up by the press of people determined to toast his good fortune.

Before we had even made it to the perimeter of the celebration, Isabella wrapped me up in an embrace that nearly cracked my ribs. Quite a feat for someone so slight.

“So, you’re happy about this, right?” Camilia was near at hand, the crooked corner of a wary smile aimed at me.

Isabella turned me loose and spun on our friend. “Of course she is! Aren’t you?” She was so heated that I felt oddly calm by comparison, considering that it was my wedding. She turned back to me, her forehead wrinkled with worry. “Aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I said. “It’s hard to say exactly how much, but I may be happier—no—more at one with myself than I have ever been.”

“Good,” Camilia said, that curious curve still tugging at her mouth. “I’m glad.”

She raised a bowl to me, and took a sip. I took it from her and pledged her back. Then, Isabella snatched it up and polished off the rest. Clearly, she was on her way to a big night.

“Sofia?” Dojak appeared at my side again and ran his fingers down the length of my arm. “What do you say we get out of here?”

“Uh-oh.” Camilia flashed that enigmatic look at me and waved a light goodbye before tugging Isabella off to find her next drink.

Looking back into Dojak’s face, it was evident that I was on my way to a big night of my own.

Sofia

We slipped inside Dojak’s chambers in silence, the candlelight casting our shadows against the wall. The curtains—which had been replaced after my encounter with the Aetamian mercenary—swayed gently in the breeze, the small gap between them revealing a starry night sky.

“Is this real?” I whispered, turning so that I was facing him. I laid my hands on his chest, feeling his heartbeat under my palms. “Please, tell me that this is real.”

“It’s real,” he replied, placing his right hand on the nape of my neck. He threaded his fingers into my hair, then pulled me into him. “This is as real as it gets, Sofia.”

Slowly, he leaned in and brushed his lips against mine, his gentle touch so tender. I went on tiptoes so that I could better return his kiss, and started undoing the buttons on his vest. I pushed the fabric down his shoulders, revealing his hard muscles and the fresh wounds from the battle, and melted into his embrace.

“I love you,” I whispered against his lips, “I love you so damn much.”

“What a coincidence,” he said with a gentle laugh, pulling away from me and resting his forehead on mine. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind my right ear and brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. “I love you too, Sofia, and I always will.”

I let a smile spread across my lips.

“Then why don’t you prove it?” I asked, allowing a teasing tone into my voice. I snuck a glance at the bed, and it took him no time before he got the hint. Sweeping me into his arms, he carried me toward the bed.

“I’m happy to prove it,” he said, putting me down on the soft mattress. “I’m going to prove it as many times as you need me to.”

“I might take you up on that.”

“Then it’s a good thing we have all night.”

His hands ran up the sides of my body, his long fingers settling on my shoulders. Grabbing at the straps of my gown, he peeled them down my arms and the rising curves of my breasts came into view. My eyelids fluttered as he laid tender kisses on my neck, his lips tracing a downward path toward my breasts, and I let out a quivering little moan as he bit down through the fabric of the gown and pushed it further down.

My nipples hardened as they were set free, and Dojak was quick to imprison them again. Cupping my right breast, my flesh molding to his fingers, he brought his mouth down on my nipple and sucked it into his mouth. His tongue danced around it for a moment, applying just the right amount of pressure, and a scorching heat settled right between my legs.

Picking up on that, Dojak placed his free hand between my legs and pressed down, pinning me against the mattress as he massaged my aching wetness. That scorching heat turned into a thunderstorm, one that drove me mad with lust, and I immediately got busy with his belt.

I pulled it out and pushed his pants down until his hard member sprang free, its length never failing to impress me. My fingers wrapped tight around his flesh as I started stroking him.

“You’re so damn hard,” I said, my voice dipping into a quivering moan. My strokes became faster and faster, and Dojak responded with a low groan, the pressure of his hand on my wetness intensifying. He knelt between my legs and tore the gown off my body, leaving me naked and exposed underneath him. And, God, how I loved to be naked and exposed whenever we were together.

Using my elbows to prop myself up, I went on the offensive and leaned into him. I opened my mouth wide and brought it down on his hard cock, closing my eyes as I rolled my lips down his entire length. I only stopped once my lips were pressed against the skin at the base.

I held my position there for a couple of seconds, then started bobbing my head, my hair swaying each time I moved. With my hand tightly wrapped around his cock, I stroked him at the same rhythm I devoured him, and it didn’t take long before I felt him throb inside my mouth.

Growling, his movements brimming with lust, he pushed me back onto the mattress. He followed, mashing my breasts between our torsos, and angled his cock down to press the tip against my wetness. He held my gaze as he eased himself inside me one inch at a time.

My eyelids fluttered closed as he slid inside me, his thickness stretching me wide, and my nerve endings felt as if they were on fire. I struggled to process the pleasure rushing through me, loving every second. Had I died and gone to heaven, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t have been as good as what I was experiencing then.

“You feel so good,” he breathed out, slowly moving his hips until they finally settled into a rhythm. I locked my legs around his waist, feeling the coming-and-going motion of his body, and arched my back as ecstasy shot up my spine.

Using my legs to spur him on, I made him thrust harder and harder, and it got to the point where I simply couldn’t resist it anymore. The pressure inside me became too much to handle, and I felt like a dam on the verge of bursting. I hissed through my gritted teeth, my muscles tensing up with anticipation, and that’s when I came undone.

I bunched up the sheets in my hands as I came, pleasure exploding inside me. It felt like small detonations were going off under every inch of skin, each one more powerful than the last. I shut my eyes and felt adrift in an ocean of ecstasy, my soul brimming with happiness.

Dojak, though, wasn’t quite done.

He pulled back, my body trembling as his length slipped past my inner lips, both his hands on my waist. With one quick movement, he flipped me onto my stomach, then pulled my ass up. Knowing what he wanted, I immediately went on all fours, moving my backside from side to side in an inviting manner.

He responded to the invitation eagerly.

Closing the distance between us, he pushed his cock past my inner thighs, the head against my drenched folds. His fingers dug into my hips, then thrust so hard that I almost tipped forward.

He went hard right from the start, his movements forceful and merciless. His thighs slapped my ass cheeks over and over again, the sound of flesh on flesh echoing throughout the room, and I loved every second of it.

Reaching forward, he ran his fingers through my hair and yanked. I tipped my head back and, driven mad by lust, started matching each of his thrusts. Every time he rocked his hips, I mimicked his motion, crashing myself against him as hard as I possibly could.

“I’m going to—”

“Don’t say it,” I cut him short, remembering what he had told me a few nights ago, “just let it happen.”

Much like before, he obeyed without question.

He thrust one final time, his thighs slapping against my flesh, and my vision blacked for a moment as I felt his cock throb inside me. A fraction of a second later, and he was spilling his seed into me, its surging warmth sending pleasurable shivers up my body.

I came just as hard as he did, my inner walls tightening so much that I was surprised I wasn’t hurting him. Tiny spasms made each and every one of my muscles tremble, and I finally broke away from him and collapsed on top of the mattress, my body nothing but a quivering mess.

Breathing hard, my lungs struggling to get air in, I rolled to my back. Dojak sprawled on the bed beside me, and I nestled myself against his body, feeling the rapid beating of his heart. Without saying a word, I laced my fingers in his.

“You know,” he whispered, his voice filling the silence that now occupied the room, “you’re going to make a great queen, Sofia.”

“How do you know that?” I asked with a laugh. “Did my sexy bedroom moves give it away?”

“Well,” he said, gently stroking my cheek, “a good queen should have a sense of humor, and it definitely helps if she’s able to keep the king in a good mood.” Leaning into me, he kissed my forehead. “But no, Sofia. You’re going to make a great queen because you’re a great woman. You are everything Tahkath needs and, more than that, you are everything I need.”

“You have a way with words, Your Majesty,” I whispered in a teasing tone, moving my hand down his naked torso.

“You don’t have to—”

“I know that,” I cut in. “But I like the sound of it.” I kept moving my hand down until I found something hard. “So, Your Majesty, do you feel up for another round? I’m an insatiable bride.” He was more than up for it.

And so, that night, I finally learned how it felt to be loved.

That night, I learned what happiness meant.

Epilogue: Dojak

“The King has spoken!” The guards slammed their staffs against the flagstones, the sound of it echoing throughout the throne room. “The Queen has spoken!”

I glanced at Sofia, who was sitting on the throne that had been put up beside mine. It seemed just like yesterday that we had said our vows, but six months had passed. Like Sofia enjoyed saying, ‘time flies when you’re having fun’.

I sat back and listened as Sofia spoke to the emissary in his own tongue.

After our own adventures and difficulties, it had become apparent that much of the conflict between my kingdom and the neighboring tribes could be solved with better communication.

The translation device we had salvaged from the ship had helped smooth out a lot of wrinkles there. Our ambassadors had thought they’d learned each dialect, but even though our cities were not that far apart, the culture in them was very different, resulting in too many misunderstandings and hard feelings.

Since Sofia and the women had gotten the machine working, relationships between us and our neighbors had improved considerably, although the situation with the Aetamians remained fraught.

The emissary bowed low, agreeing to Sofia’s offer of grain in exchange for allowing our ships safe harbor in the bay near their city.

“That is the perfect solution, Your Majesty.” Bowing low, the emissary offered us an honest smile. “I will take this offer back to the king and he will let you know his decision, but I am sure he will agree.”

“Let him know that we would be happy to host His Majesty for a hunt in the cool season if he wishes. There is a good selection of game that wanders close to our city during that time.” I leaned back in my throne, my arms draped over the golden armrests. The emissary seemed surprised.

In truth, it had been Sofia’s idea to invite the neighboring rulers for more relaxed events. To build rapport, she had argued. It was something that had never been done by the D’Tali, but it seemed to be working well.

“Of course, Your Majesty, I will extend your invitation.” The emissary bowed once more before leaving the throne room, his mission accomplished.

“See?” I whispered. “I told you you’d make a wonderful queen.” I planted a soft kiss on her lips, then motioned to the sentry at the door to let the next supplicant into the room.

The afternoon passed slowly, but the work which was normally routine and dull was made enjoyable by Sofia. She seemed happy to see every person who came before us, genuinely caring about their welfare and wanting to make the lives of the D’Tali better.

The people had come to love her so much that they didn’t even speak to me first anymore. I took a great amount of pride in her caring nature as she sat beside me, and the problems she solved in new and interesting ways. She had often said that she learned so much from me, but the truth was that I also had learned a great deal from her.

When the sun started sinking in the sky, flooding the throne room with soft shades of pink and orange, I stood up and gathered Sofia in my arms.

“You know, we have christened many rooms in the palace, but the throne room remains unexplored,” I said mischievously.

Sofia laughed and playfully tried to break free. “You are in a mood. I don’t think I could stand listening to the sad stories that come to us, knowing I had let you bend me over your throne.”

“But, then again, it would be something fun to reminisce on. At least while Yovar drones on and on about all the calculations and statistics of the week.” It was a solid counter, or so I hoped.

“That’s very true,” she said, her bright laugh echoing throughout the room. “I just don’t think I’m ready to risk public opinion like that yet. What if we are caught?”

“Easy enough.” I flashed her my best smile. “I will tell them that, with a queen this beautiful, anyone who can’t understand why I might want to make love to her in the throne room must be crazy. I think the people would get it.”

“You sure know how to put forward an argument,” she said, and she was about to melt into my embrace when a page entered the room.

“Dinner is served, Your Majesties.”

I took Sofia’s hand in mine to lead her to the dining hall, but she hesitated.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you hungry?’ I asked her as we meandered down the hallway, the delicious smell of roasting meat wafting in the air. Her cheeks tinged a slight pink.

“I haven’t really had too much of an appetite lately,” she muttered. “I was just waiting for the right moment to tell you.”

“Why would you wait for the right moment to tell me that?” I asked, confused. “Do you need to see a doctor?”

“Eventually I will,” she paused. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked down at her feet. There was a moment of silence and, once she looked back into my eyes, there was an anxious smile on her face. “Dojak, I’m pregnant.”

“You’re…”

I couldn’t even say it.

After all these months, not knowing if this was even possible, it was finally happening.

I swept her up in my arms, swinging her around.

“I can’t believe it!” I set her down and knelt, wrapping my arms around her and laying my cheek on her stomach as I marveled at the life growing inside her, just beyond my smile.

“You should have told me earlier,” I scolded her. “You have been working too many hours in the throne room.”

“I’m fine, Dojak. I might be pregnant, but I’m not an invalid,” she laughed, the sound of her laughter enough for my heart to melt.

“Still, I need to call Kalethe and have her look after you,” I said.

She relented. “Okay, I guess I can submit to a little bit of coddling.”

“It won’t be that bad,” I reassured her. “When a D’Tali woman is pregnant, there is a lot of pampering involved. There are herbal baths and massages with oil scented with certain trees from the jungle and tempting morsels to help you get your appetite back.” Slowly, I rose to my feet, my heart still beating fast. “Let’s go to the dining hall, you need to eat to keep up your strength. If there isn’t anything there you want to eat, we can have the chef make you some soup.”

I took her arm and led her into the big dining hall, where the residents and royal staff were milling around, piling their plates high and sitting at the tables, chatting and laughing.

Troko was sitting at the head table, sipping wine from a giant goblet as he looked over at the table where the human women tended to sit together, and I caught a glimpse of Vokar, restlessly patrolling the perimeter of the room.

I took my place beside Troko, and soon a heaping plate was set before me. Catching the sleeve of the steward as he put my plate down, I lowered my voice. “Could you please get a bowl of light soup for the queen?”

Troko looked over at Sofia and I watched the calculations happen behind his eyes.

“Congratulations, Dojak. I hope the child is healthy.”

“Do you have powers of divination? You’re supposed to be a general, not a priest.” I grinned. “Trust me, I will do everything in my power to make sure the child is healthy and strong.”

“Sofia will be a good mother,” he said. “She is very affectionate, and seems to be equipped with good common sense. You are very lucky to have found such a woman as your mate.”

“I thank the Ancestors every day,” I said.

Troko’s gaze left mine and drifted over to the women, resting on one in particular time and time again. There was a weighted silence in the air as I sensed he wanted to speak, but I could tell he wasn’t quite sure of how to go about it. I quietly ate my dinner as I waited for him to put the words together.

“Say,” he started, trying to sound casual as he sipped his wine, “if you wanted to speak to a human woman, how would you go about it?”

I smiled knowingly.

“Well, you should find out about her interests, and try to strike up a conversation. Just something to nudge that door open, you know? Maybe Sofia could help.”

Troko made his characteristic noise of agreement that sounded somewhere between a grunt and a growl.

“I don’t know. It’s probably foolishness anyway.”

“Well, let me know if you change your mind,” I said with a lilt to my voice, which was the closest I dared come to teasing Troko. Perhaps another romance was on the horizon, and no one deserved it more than my dear friend.

But my general would have to fight that battle on his own.

The server soon returned with a steaming bowl to set before Sofia, slivers of vegetables floating in a cloudy, fragrant broth.

“Is there anything else you want?” I asked her softly. My Sofia. My miracle.

Our child was still a mystery, but together, we’d give it the brightest future.

The smile that lit her face was like the sun spread over her features. “I have a new life and a new future when I thought I’d lost everything. A new family.” And she twined her fingers with mine, making my heart race, just as it did every time we touched.

“I think things are pretty perfect.”

Kissing her fingertips, I matched her smile with my own. “So do I.”

* * *

I hope you had fun with the warriors of the D’tali!

Next up, things are only getting hotter!

I've devoted my life to healing. So why does this alien warrior's touch make my pulse race?

General Trokol is a huge, scarred D'tali warrior. Every time he comes into my makeshift infirmary, my thoughts scatter and my body betrays me.

Now a mission has gone terribly wrong and we're on the run for our lives -- and any resistance I ever dreamed I had is dangerously weakened. And surrendering to him is the only option...

Ambushed with her Alien Mate is the second book of the Warriors of the D'Tali science fiction romance series. Each book contains a complete HEA for our couple, and lots of steamy SFR fun!

Read on for a sneak peek, or click here to get Ambushed with her Alien Mate on Amazon now!

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Ambushed with her Alien Mate: Sneak Peek

Chapter 1

Camilia

“Bandage, please.”

Without even looking to the side, I opened my hand and felt the rough fabric of a bandage against my fingers. I eyed the green D’Tali in front of me, his reptilian eyes betraying his distrust of my methods, and smiled.

“Trust me,” I said, “you’re in good hands.”

Slowly, I covered the gash in his forearm with a paste I had created, and then wrapped up the cut with the bandage as best as I could. He watched me work without saying a word, but his distrust slowly gave way to wonder. I shuddered as I thought about the kind of care these guys were receiving before we got here.

“Alright, you’re good to go,” I patted the D’Tali soldier on the arm and sent him on his way. He thanked me with the typical grunt of a soldier, and then rose to his feet and marched out of the infirmary. “That’s the last one, right?”

I spun around to face Sofia, who stood beside a table littered with everything from improvised gauzes to the medical concoctions I had created from native herbs. The sleeves of her long gown had been rolled up and, even though she looked like she was ready to get down to the business, there was still a regal air about her.

That didn’t surprise me.

She was a Queen, after all.

Not that she allowed her status to stop her from coming down here to help.

It had taken me a while to get used to it, but I was slowly starting to accept this new way of life. Every time I thought of it, I couldn’t help but wonder about how much my life had changed. A few months ago I was just another nurse up in the sticks, trying to make a living on the West Coast, and now here I was...God knew how many light-years away from home. All things considered, though, this wasn’t a bad place to be in.

If anything, it beat the alternative.

I still remembered how terrifying it had been to regain consciousness after I had been snatched off the streets. I woke up in a dark cargo hold, surrounded by women and monstrous aliens hell-bent on turning us all into slaves, but luck had been on our side. Their ship was attacked and we crash-landed here, on this planet stuck in the Dark Ages.

Thankfully, the D’Tali were good enough hosts.

After initially struggling to talk with each other—which we resolved after using the technology in our original captor’s ship—things were now going as smoothly as they could possibly go. So much that Sofia had even managed to claim King Dojak’s heart. Again, that didn’t surprise me. She was a true leader, and I figured that Dojak simply couldn’t resist that.

After peeking out the door, Sofia gave me a nod.

“That was the last one,” she confirmed, and then closed the door behind her. She blew a stray lock of brown hair away from her face and sunk into a wooden stool. “There’s more of them coming every day. I don’t know how you’re going to keep up, Camilia.”

I stretched my back lazily, my muscles relishing the movement. After almost six hours of looking after wounded soldiers, my whole body felt like a tightly wound coil. Sofia was right—if more D’Tali kept on showing up here, I would need to figure something out. After all, there was only so much I could do.

“You’ll have to start teaching more of them,” Isabella said, raising her head from her improvised workstation. The former engineering student had pushed an old wooden desk against the corner of the infirmary, and the tabletop was littered with small handheld devices. They looked like something between a tablet and a pager, small dials on the side of the plastic case. “That’s how I’d do it.”

“Not a bad idea,” Sofia agreed. “Especially since these skirmishes on the border have become a daily occurrence.” She pursed her lips and looked down at her feet. I could almost see the gears turning inside her head. “You know, I thought we were getting somewhere with the peace talks, but—”

“Those Aetamian assholes are not easy to negotiate with,” I cut in, and then looked up at her and smiled. “You and Dojak are going to figure something out, though. I’m sure of that.” Not wanting to press Sofia for details about the never-ending negotiations with the belligerent kingdom on our doorstep, I turned to Isabella. “How’s that going? Have you managed to make any progress? Vokar has been helping you out, hasn’t he?”

“He has,” she replied in a hurry, but made it a point to talk about something other than the D’Tali assassin. Even though I had never expected for someone as quiet and shy as Isabella to get friendly with an actual elite assassin, the two seemed to get along pretty well. At least when it came to their shared interest in technology.

“We haven’t made much progress, though,” she continued, her attention now back on the small handheld devices. “I’ve already figured out how to turn these things on, but I can’t establish a stable frequency between them. I can only establish a link to the crash site, where the ship is, but that’s just useless.”

After getting the translator device out of the shipwreck, a few D’Tali soldiers under Vokar’s supervision had gone back with Isabella to see if there was anything else in there that we could use. These communication devices had been part of the looting, but it seemed like there was a long way to go before we understood all this alien tech.

It was ironic.

Our ragtag group of women had been kidnapped by aliens far more technologically advanced than humans were, but then we crashed on this planet stuck in the Medieval Ages. As it was, we had gone from baffled humans to experts in technological progress.

Even I, with nothing but my nurse skills, had become one of the most sought after healers in the city.

Sure, I had learned a lot from them, especially when it came to the specifics of D’Tali anatomy and the traditional herbal pastes they used as medicine. They had no concept of sterilization techniques, though, and that’s where I came in. After instituting a ‘clean-hands’ throughout the castle, disease rates had started plummeting right away.

The differences between humans and D’Tali was significant but, according to my observations, the nutritional needs were pretty similar. That allowed me to detect vitamin insufficiencies in the soldiers, and improve their recovery times and survival rates significantly. I wasn’t a super qualified doctor, but it seemed that what little knowledge I had was helping the D’Tali become healthier.

That was a good thing—the D’Tali had been extremely kind toward us, and every woman in our group wanted to repay them. The way I saw it, I was just doing my part.

Suddenly, our attention was drawn toward the door.

Someone knocked three times, the rhythm of it steady and militaristic, and then the door swung back to reveal a tall, red-skinned D’Tali. I tensed up as Dojak’s right-hand, General Trokol, strolled into the room. His expression was a serious one, and the deep scar that slashed across his right eye did little to make him seem friendly and approachable.

“General,” Sofia chirped happily, clearly not intimidated by one of the most revered soldiers in the kingdom. “Did you come to check on your soldiers?”

“My Queen,” Trokol said, his tone solemn as he lowered his head. He cleared his throat, looked around the room until his eyes met mine, and we promptly looked away from each other. I still didn’t know how to act whenever he was in the room. He was nothing but kind and polite, sure, but he was also intimidating as hell. Scary, even. “That’s the reason for my visit, yes, but I see that they’ve all received the care they needed. I can’t thank you enough.”

There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Sophia elbowed me in the ribs. I straightened my back, doing it so fast that I almost fell out from my seat, and then looked straight at the General.

“Yes, I... I did my best,” I stammered, feeling my cheeks boiling as I withstood the General’s burning gaze. Jesus, why did I have to sound like such a babbling idiot whenever this guy was in the room? “None of them had any major wounds, and they’ll be on active duty after a day or two.”

That seemed to please Trokol.

He bowed his head at me, not a hint of a smile on his face, but I still noticed the easing of his features. That was something. After all, the General wasn’t what you’d call laidback, his stone-faced expression a clear-cut indicator of how serious he was about everything.

“Thank you for your assistance, Lady Camilia,” he said, bowing his head at me. Before I could say anything, he clicked his heels together and marched out of the room. Only when did he disappear out of sight did I realize I had been holding my breath.

“Lady Camilia?” Sofia snorted, an amused smile taking over her face. “Seems to me the General is extra polite whenever he has to address Lady Camilia. Any idea why that is?”

“He’s polite to everyone,” I protested, blushing so much that my head must’ve looked like a ripe tomato. “Now, please, can you help me clean this up?” I waved one hand at the mess littering my workstation, dirty bandages everywhere. In truth, I just wanted to change the conversation. “I need to get ready for tomorrow and—”

“We are at your service,” Isabella chirped, smiling as she looked up from the communicator devices. Even though she was the quiet one of the group, she got more talkative whenever it was just me and Sophia around. Maybe that was why she had set up shop here, instead of taking a room for herself. Now, it seemed like she had joined the let’s-tease-Camilia bandwagon.

“Seriously?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest. “You too?”

She bowed her head, smirking.

“Evidently, Lady Camilia.”

Chapter 2

Trokol

“Damnit.”

I leaned against the stone wall in the hallway, maybe twenty paces down from the door. It had taken me the better part of the afternoon to come up with a reason to visit the infirmary, and when I arrived, those two other women were there.

It would have been bad enough had it only been Isabella, the shy one, but our Queen was there. Sofia has a set of eyes that seemed to be able to divine any secrets of our kind. And I wasn’t even sure what secrets I might have worth delving into. In truth, anything I felt was a secret to myself as well.

Scrubbing my hands across my face, I snuffed out as much of the memory as I could. Speaking to women had never been my strength. I never had much occasion to seek their company. The best of me had always been in the field, offering my service against the Aetamians. Anything else seemed like a waste of my time.

Ever since I came of age, unless I was able to flank something, or wear it on my sword, I had precious little interest in it. Even at my earliest of manhood, the Ancestors had marked me as a man of combat. Softer things were not of my element.

“Shit.”

Looking up into the torch on the wall, I sighed as I considered the flame. Our King Dojak, who was as much of a poet as he was a warrior, might have said that it was an emblem for Sofia’s hair. Or, even further, that it mirrored the tempest of her nature. To me, it was just a tool to raze the homes of our enemies.

There was very little poetry in me for a woman like Camilia. Not that she had much time for flowery language. She was tough, practical and pragmatic. Perhaps that was why I had found myself going out of my way to cross paths with her. And now, this awkward, stammering encounter.

Grinding the points of my knuckles into my eyes, I tried to grind the humiliation of it out. I had been bested in combat, and even that couldn’t touch the writhing sickness I felt at seeing her. It wasn’t even that I wanted anything more than to talk to her.

To get to know her.

The D’Tali people had precious few women, and their almost mystical status made it difficult to approach them, even for common discourse. How was one to learn how to speak to a woman? And yet, the courtship of Dojak and Sofia had been like something out of legend. How could one come by it so easily?

“What’s eating you up, Trokol?” I started, and turned to see Vokar slinking out of the darkness a few doorways down.

“By the… How long have you been hiding over there?”

“Long enough to hear you swear,” he grinned. “Twice.”

“I’m going to have to put weights in your shoes so I can hear you coming.” Vokar kept to the half-light and chuckled at me.

“Lot of good that would do. I’d just go barefoot. So,” he leaned on the wall opposite me and folded his arms across his chest. “What could be driving our stoic general to swearing?”

“Nothing.” I made to leave, but he put a playful foot on my stomach and pushed me back to the wall.

“Oh, really?” He wore that crooked grin that always came when he had a mouthful of intelligence that he was meting out in parcels. The more you wanted, the longer he made you wait.

“Really. I was…” If only I could come up with some failing skirmish to cling to, but I hadn’t ridden into the field in weeks. Not since the great wedding. While my soldiers kept on fighting raiders and Aetamian border patrols, I was stuck behind a desk, doing my best to coordinate between all the deployed units and squads.

“You were just with the women.” Without meaning to, I looked away, betraying any mysteries I may have been holding back. “Why don’t you just ask Camilia to take a walk with you?”

“A walk?” His arrow hit right in my gut, and I sprang off the wall to stalk down the hallway. Vokar ambled beside me at an easy pace.

“What else is there? You’re not one for swimming. And, as tough as she is, I doubt she’s one to hop onto a numa to join a raid.”

“Nothing was ever accomplished on a walk.”

“We’re walking now.” Damnit. He was right. I pulled up short and itched all over. It was bad enough to be punishing myself for my insufficiencies, but now I had someone goading me into conversation over them.

“I’m not one for pleasant conversation.”

“Neither is she,” Vokar smirked. Right again. “Perhaps the next time she goes out into the fields to gather herbs, you could accompany her. Carry the basket.”

“Carry her basket?” The image of me trailing behind a woman with a basket full of flowers made me squirm even worse.

“Why not?” He reached out to squeeze my bicep, “No doubt you can carry far more than her slender arms could manage.”

“Don’t you talk about her slender arms,” I snarled with a sudden flare of temper. Jealousy was a feeling I was unused to, and the flash of it startled me as much as my friend. He put his hands up in mock surrender and stepped back.

“Take it easy,” he said. “I will do what I can to keep the fair Camilia out of my mouth.” The innuendo of it rankled me again, and I stepped further down the hall.

“Good.”

“If only I could say the same for the rest of the men.” That froze me in place again. Bad enough that our finest spy was able to pry into my secrets, but was I really that open?

“Is it spoken of?” I half turned to face him.

“Maybe.” He broke into a broad smile, and I scrubbed my calloused hands over my face again. Harder this time. Maybe if I opened up one of my scars, the blood on my face would bring me back to myself. My real self. “I don’t know what the others are saying, but if I know what’s going on…then I can only assume that others have started talking about it.”

He was trying to rile me up, and it was working.

“Rumors,” I snorted.

“You’re doing an awful lot of pawing at yourself if these are mere rumors. You’ve never let idle talk fuck you up before. If it’s all bullshit, then why are you so angry?”

Was I? Looking down, I realized that my hands were balled into tight fists. After so many ears priding myself on being inscrutable, every facet of me was giving information away.

“What I need is a fight. It’s what we all need. Too much time sitting still is making me soft. We’ve grown weak with celebration and laziness, while the Aetamians are in continual practice.”

“True. I’ve seen them.”

“As have I,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose as I remembered the countless reports stacked on my desk. “It looks like they’re preparing for something. I just wonder what that is.”

Vokar just shrugged and kicked his way up the hallway to me.

“The same thing they are always preparing for.”

I snuffed heavily through my nostrils at the truth of it. In my bed at night, when I should be devising strategies, an entirely different kind of thought had crowded our enemies out. Too much of this was keeping me away from my true cause. My purpose was to lead men and kill, not drink, sleep and seek private talk with ladies.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter. You’ll have plenty of time to spend with your favorite healer soon enough.”

“What does that mean?” There was a dangerous edge under his playful tone, and I bristled that my friend was always speaking two things at the same time. Everything he said sounded like a riddle – even when he was asking for a drink. You couldn’t pour an honest beer without feeling as though you were being taken for a ride.

“I don’t mean anything,” he shrugged again.

“If you keep doing that, you’ll wear your shoulders out.”

“The only way I’ll wear my shoulders out is under a woman’s thighs,” he said. The image of it inflamed me and made me run cold at the same time. “The real question is, why are you wasting your time talking to me? You have bigger things in hand.”

“Do I?” As always, he had the advantage of me.

“I should think so. Dojak wants to see you in his chambers immediately.”

“He does?”

“Of course,” he pulled a smug, frowning smile. “That’s why I was sent to find you.”

Clapping a hand on his shoulder in thanks – and maybe a touch of aggravation – I set off down the corridor toward the King’s quarters. Vokar began to whistle and head off down the hall in the opposite direction.

“Perhaps I’ll stop by the infirmary and see if I can get something to help me sleep,” he lilted as he went. “The nights are so long lately…”

What is it about having friends that makes you want to throttle them? There are very few men that I hold close, and nearly every one of them has the power to prod me into fury with the slightest provocation.

I gave two brisk raps on the wooden door, and was invited in. By contrast to the passageways in the stronghold, Dojak’s chambers were bathed in a warm, amber glow. He was leaned over his table, in deep conversation over some documents. Nelkar, one of his sagest councilors, was with him.

“Ah, Trokol. What took you so long?”

“You sent Vokar.”

“Ah,” he smiled. “I did. Never the shortest path. You know Mox Nelkar.”

“I do.” I gave the aged D’Tali a small bow, and he waved me off with his usual mix of good humor and grumbling.

“What can I do for you, Dojak?”

“I have a mission for you.” Without another word, he plucked up one of the letters from the table.

With a half-smile, he strode over and placed it in my waiting hands. It only took a brief glance to get the idea. “I think you might enjoy it.”

“By the Ancestors,” I whispered. “You can’t be serious?”

Chapter 03

Camilia

I was exhausted.

Now that the day was over and I was looking forward to heading back to the tower, the one our group now called home, and taking a long hot bath. The water so scalding in the tower’s bathing area that I came out looking as pink as a newborn every day. I smiled as I imagined the thick, heavy robe, I would put on after that. It trapped the heat, easing all my sore muscles and my tired soul.

The D’Tali warriors were patched up as best I could make them. They didn’t complain much, as it wasn’t in their nature. All in all, this had been a good day’s work, and they seemed to appreciate my efforts. Maybe, in the future, I could start getting some assistance. Sofia had far more important things to do than be a nurse’s assistant and, besides, it was high time some of these D’Tali learned the basics of good, responsible medicine.

“Let’s hope tomorrow you don’t have as many patients,” Sofia said, hands on her hips as she took in our surroundings. The infirmary was now clean and tidy, all evidence of a hard day’s work now disposed of.

“Maybe,” I replied. “As long as they stop doing stupid things like getting taken by surprise.”

“I agree,” she said, leading the way out of the infirmary. On the hallway outside, most of the soldiers we had treated still seemed to be milling around. Sofia turned to them and raised her voice, her tone playful but kind. “If any of you feel further pain, or it seems like your injuries are worsening, don’t be so, you know, D’Tali. Just come and ask Camilia for aid. Is that understood?”

There were nods and grunts of agreement, but some of the hardened warriors even smiled.  Still, I doubted they would as they were told. They were proud, every single one of them.

“A full afternoon,” Sofia said.

I shook my head wearily.

“No doubt,” I said. “I just want to get back to the tower and get inside the pool. I really need to take a warm—”

At that moment, I was cut off by a D’Tali soldier walking in with a formal, stomping march. “I seek the Healer Camilia!” he said, far too loudly, his voice echoing throughout the hallway.

I looked over at Sofia, arching one eyebrow, and she merely shrugged.

“That’s me,” I said. “What can I do for you?”

“My lady healer, King Dojak has requested your presence in the royal chambers!” He barked out, his posture so composed he almost seemed like a statue.

“Solider, feel free to modulate your volume, if you please,” Sofia said, a hint of a smile on her lips. The D’tali snapped his head in a small bow.

“Yes, my Queen!” He barked out, his tone even louder than before. “Of course, my Queen!” He probably had no idea what the word ‘modulate’ meant.

“Does the King need me now?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “He seeks an audience immediately.”

I sighed. Exhausted as I was, the last thing I wanted was to be pulled into something political. Still, it couldn’t be helped. If the King requested your presence, it was your duty to do as you were told. And that applied whether you were a D’Tali or a human.

“Very well. Tell him I will be there shortly.”

“I will do.” He bowed deeply and, before marching off, bowed his head at Sofia. “My Queen!” Once he was gone, I turned to Sofia. If anyone knew what this was about, it had to be her.

“Okay.” I said. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t ask me,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders. “I’ve been with you all day. But if Dojak has summoned you like this, then I can only assume it’s important.” She waved one hand at the hallway leading into the royal chamber. “Your King awaits you.”

I rolled my eyes at her.

“You can be a bit too much sometimes.”

Sofia nodded her head slowly up and down.

“Uh-huh,” she said with a grin. “I know.”

I shook my head, gave Sofia and Isabella a parting nod, and then headed to the royal chambers. My boot heels clicked loudly on the polished stone hallway of the palace. As I always did, I marveled at the architecture and skill required to create such a thing. Despite their primitive grasp on technology, architecture was something the D’Tali seemed to have mastered. It really was remarkable.

Once I came upon the royal chambers, a guard ushered me in. Candelabras stood through the space, little spheres of light that kept the shadows at bay. As I approached the throne, I was surprised to see Trokol standing there, right next to Dojak.

I could see a hint of surprise in Trokol’s eyes, but he hid it well. I, on the other hand, was doing a terrible job at hiding my discomfort.

“Camilia!” Dojak boomed, his charisma filling the space. I could see why he was such a well-loved King…and why Sofia had mated with him. “Thank you again for taking such excellent care of my soldiers. You are an incredible aid and asset for the D’Tali.”

I bowed slightly.

“My king,” I said.

“I believe you know Trokol, do you not?”

He knew that I did, but I let it go. For the moment.

“Yes, I do.”

“Excellent,” he continued, leaning slightly forward as a smile crept to his lips. “Because the two of you are to be envoys for a diplomatic mission. You’re going to Aetam.”

I blinked, not understanding.

“My lord?”

“You would agree, would you not,” he said, “that this bloody and pointless conflict with the Aetam needs to stop?”

“Without question. I’d rather not spend my time sewing back together D’Tali soldiers.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He nodded. “That is why I am happy to report that we have an opportunity to negotiate a truce with Aetam.”

I was shocked. I knew that Dojak had been trying to broker a peace for weeks now, but it had always seemed like a pipedream.

“That’s amazing,” I muttered. “Congratulations!”

“Congratulations to us all, Camilia,” he continued, his tone warm and polite. “But this peace is tentative, we should bear that in mind.”

“Of course.,” I said. “Such things are delicate.”

“That they are.” Shifting in his throne, he gave Trokol a look I couldn’t quite understand. “How familiar are you with the Aetam king?” he asked me.

I shook my head.

“Only vaguely,” I said. “I know he’s on the older side.”

Dojak laughed and Trokol smirked.

“‘The older side’ is one way to put it. King Mofat makes fossils look young and vital. But, having said that, he’s still shrewd and a skilled negotiator,” Drojak said.

“I see,” I said, have no idea where this was going.

“He’s also a father and, from what I understand, the sun rises and sets on her for him.” He made a slight pause, and then his expression became more stately and grave. “As it turns out, King Mofat’s daughter has taken ill in some way. And it’s fairly serious.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said.

“As are we. So, in the spirit of peace, I offered him our assistance.” He made a slight pause, his gaze bearing down on me. “If you accept it, I am sending you to Moffat’s palace to see what can be done for his daughter.”

I was stunned. I’d never done anything remotely like that before. Besides, I was just a nurse, not a surgeon with an ambulatory hospital. There was only so much I could do.

And from what I’d understood, although the D’tali and the Aetam were closely related, there were differences. What if that wasn’t just in their appearance, but something deeper in their anatomy?

“That, huh... well, I’ve never done anything like that before. Do they not have their own healers among the Aetam?”

“None so skilled as you, Camilia.  I understand your knowledge of our anatomy is limited, but the Aetamian healers haven’t been able to produce any results. Your unique perspective might be what she needs.

As it is, I doubt the Aetamians are aware of the sterilization techniques you use, as well as what you call basic care methods.” He smiled warmly, made a slight pause, and only then did he continue. “We’ve brokered a temporary truce, and the convoy you’ll be a part has been granted safe passage. Should you manage to help Mofat’s daughter regain her health, then peace between our two kingdoms becomes a very real possibility.”

My head was spinning.

Travel in Aetam territory? I just wasn’t sure I was up to it. The last time I had met these guys, they were ambushing us in the desert, too damn eager to put their arrows through us. Even though I wanted peace, it was hard to be excited about having to pay them a visit.

“I’m honored in your confidence, but are you sure I’m the one for this?”

“I am.” Dojak nodded. “I understand your concerns, believe me, but Trokol here will be accompanying you. He will make sure that you are safe. We don’t want to send in a whole squad of warriors, of course, as that would be too aggressive a gesture. Still, a small number of experienced warriors will be part of this diplomatic convoy.”

I looked at Trokol, but the hardened General remained impassive. Still, I thought I detected the vaguest, tiniest hint of a smile on his lips. Being alone with him wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen, I thought.

Suddenly, Dojak stepped down off the raised dais of his throne and approached me. Standing in front of me, he reached out a hand and put it on my shoulder. “Camilia, you hold the future of our people in your hands,” he said. “And I’ve never known a steadier pair. I have every faith in your ability.”

I bowed deeply.

“You humble me,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

He waved it off.

“If all goes well, we all will be thanking you.” He turned to Trokol and gave him a smirk. “And Trokol. Just try to keep your focus on the mission.” He offered me one last smile, his fingers gently squeezing my shoulder, and then marched out of the room, his long cloak whipping behind him.

Trokol sighed and shook his head.

“What did he mean by that?” I said, following Dojak with my gaze. Trokol stepped down to meet on the floor. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“I’m not entirely sure,” he said, but I didn’t know if I believed him. As he grew closer to me, there was an undeniable charge in the air. I could feel it right away.

“So,” I continued, working hard to be oh-so-casual, “we will be working together.”

“Yes,” Trokol said simply.

“And traveling together.”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll be...protecting me.”

“Well,” he said, clearing his throat once again, “that’s part of my role, yes. I’ve also been assigned to the convoy so that I may be part of any peace conversations that may arise. But don’t worry. My priority is to make sure you’re safe.”

I didn’t know what it was, but there was something about his tone that sent a shiver up my spine. And it was a pleasant shiver. I stepped back away from him and took him in, the full view. Despite the scars, despite his ever-serious appearance…he actually looked good.

“Let me ask you something,” I said, pausing.

“Please do.”

“Do you get the sense that the king and queen are maybe having a little fun at our expense?”

He gave me an amused look, some emotion finally showing on his face.

“I’m not sure they’re ‘having fun’ as you put it. But I’m certain they’re doing a little matchmaking at the very least.”

“Yes,” I said. “I think that’s pretty accurate.”

We stood there, looking at each other.

A little awkward, a little intrigued, a little unsure.

“Well,” I finally said, “if anything, this is going to be an adventure.”

“An adventure,” he repeated and then, miraculously, a smile dawned on his lips. “Yes, I believe so. And, as far as I’m concerned, it’ll be a safe adventure. This I promise you —no matter what happens, I’ll make sure that nothing happens to you.”

Intimidating as he was, it was hard not to believe him.

With him around, I’d be safe.

Click to get Ambushed now!

Rekker

Rekker wasn't expecting to be matched.

On the eve of being sent to retrieve a mysterious artifact, he's sent something just as enigmatic.

A human woman, lush and curved.

His mate.

Even worse, she wants nothing to do with him.

His blood burns for her, but the need to make her happy overrides everything.

He'll find a way to set her free, even if it means he'll be alone. Forever.

But when danger comes from an unexpected source, they're thrown together. And when his mate turns to him, he'll protect her.

Keep her.

Claim her.

Lila Kanes never wanted any thing but a quiet life on her family farm. She certainly didn't want to be claimed by a massive alien mate.

Thrown into the stars, she'll do whatever it takes to find a way home.

Back to Earth.

Back to her family.

She couldn't possibly want to stay with the hot, horned alien with the amazing body, who made her feel like the most precious thing in the universe, could she?

Right?

Rekker is the first book of the Warriors of Vaznik, a stand alone series in the Warlord Brides universe. There's no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA for each couple!

Click here to keep reading Rekker, book one of the Vaznik Warrior Mates!

Kazan

An alien warrior resolved to return to battle. A woman determined to get back to her life.

They'll fight the match, but can they fight fate?

A mate is the last thing on my mind.

Especially one as sassy as the human female they say is my match.

Even if her lush curves call for my touch, and her fiery spirit is equal to my own.

I will endure the thirty days demanded by the Protocol.

But with every look, every word, I can feel us bound closer together.

Will I be able to leave her, even for her own safety?

Kazan is the first book of the Jorkan Protocol Mates. Spend the night with this perfect steamy, funny science fiction romance escape. There's no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA for each alien warrior and his mate! Hot, steamy alien yumminess!

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Rogue Mate

Science fiction romance is the destination of the Rogue Star…. Hop on board!

Our rescuers are a group of pirates. Or smugglers. They're not exactly answering questions, either.

More importantly, they're giant, golden skinned aliens...

And their rogue of a captain seems very interested in the little human commander.

Me.

Rogue Mate is the first in the Rogue Star science fiction alien romance series. Click now to start the adventure!

Copyright © 2020 by Ava York

All rights reserved. These books or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.