Cyborg Seduction(29)
Holy shit. And they were calling this guy? About me? “Why are you contacting him? Why would he care about me? I’m just a woman from Earth.”
Kiel nuzzled my neck, just below my ear, and I melted into him. God, he was so damn irresistible. The mark on my hand was on fire, so hot I rubbed the wicked flesh over my thigh to try to get it to stop burning. “Because you’re mine. Rachel is here from Earth because she was matched through the Interstellar Brides program. Kristin, too. Yet you came through…less legal channels. It matters not to me, only that you are here and that you are mine now.”
I sighed, and I knew the sound was pitiful and sad. “I can’t stay, Kiel.”
He growled softly, his hands wrapping beneath me to cup my ass. “You can, mate. You’re mine and I’m not letting you go. The Prime will petition Earth for an exception.”
“An exception?”
His lips were hot against my neck. “He makes the rules. He can change them. No one can doubt we are matched mates. That stands above any laws, any rules from any planet.”
Oh, shit. He was saying because I had the mark on my hand, because we dream shared, because I wanted him with an obsession that made my heart pound, that rules would be bent and broken so I could remain with him. I couldn’t let this happen. I had to go home. “I’m not your mate.”
“You are.” He lifted me, my back sliding along the wall as he positioned my clit over the hard, thick bulge of his cock through his uniform. My gasp of surprise turned into a moan of need as my pussy flooded with wet heat and my breasts grew heavy. I dropped my forehead to his shoulder, clung to him with a desperation I did not recognize in myself. Why? Why did I have to react to him like this? Why couldn’t I have the hots for an Earth man? Surely there had to be one guy on that planet who would make me feel this way.
“What if I say no? I read that Interstellar Brides have thirty days to decide. Don’t I get thirty days? Won’t this prime guy say I have thirty days, too?”
“Yes, mate. Most likely.” Kiel stilled, his back stiffening as he settled me on my feet and stepped away. His gaze was dark and brooding, hurt. But I couldn’t let that affect me.
With Wyatt’s future on the line, I didn’t dare do anything but exactly what I’d promised. I’d return to Earth with the truth. I’d give the people who hired me raw data, interviews and video. How they decided to spin it was up to them. If they wanted photos of frightening aliens on a prison planet, that’s what I’ve give them.
No one was going to hurt my baby. No one.
“Shall we begin the tour?” I asked.
Kiel scowled at me, but silently led the way.
Chapter Six
Kiel
My mate decided that the best way to discover the truth was to do interviews with the warriors living on the Colony. To get information from those that lived here. It seemed reasonable, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care that a planet halfway across the galaxy learned the truth about us. I had no opinion, as the only thing I cared about was keeping her with me. It was my job as her mate to keep her safe and happy. Nothing more. Maxim and Prime Nial could deal with Earth.
Maxim had agreed to petition the Prime to allow an exception to be made for Lindsey. Thank the gods, because I could not give her up. Every instinct, every cell in my body was utterly and completely hers. Just the thought of being separated from her in less than a day made me angry.
“Let’s set up the camera and mic over there.” Lindsey pointed to the end of a dining hall table in the main meal room. While each person’s quarters had a food unit, it was recommended—and observed—that everyone ate together. Since we all came from being held captive by the Hive, it was important for everyone to bond, to create a new bond, a new family of sorts.
The space was bright with light from the two suns shining through the wall of windows. It was a welcoming spot, intended to pull people together, to see their new world in all its rugged beauty through the glass.
I didn’t have as difficult a time as some did, trying to assimilate. But then, I understood the promise, how family and community worked. Hunters from Everis weren’t the best trackers because we didn’t understand how people worked, how they thought and felt, what they wanted.
No, we were the best because we did understand, and used the very emotional need for connection or recognition to good use. Even now, a handful of warriors lingered in the large room, clearly off duty at the moment, playing a game of chance with cards and numbered stones. Two were Prillon warriors I recognized, Captains Marz and Trax. An Atlan sat opposite them, Warlord Rezzer, whom I would owe a lifelong debt for protecting my mate in the fighting pits until I could arrive. Holding her own amongst the warriors, and the final player, was another human female. Kristin. She was small, but opposite my mate in every other way.