His Virgin Mate(12)

Officiate Treva, however, had shared that she had been tested and matched after her service fighting the Hive was complete. She looked happy. In her Everian uniform she looked crisp and curt, however she was quite relaxed. If she’d had some stranger in a dream show up two nights in a row and tell her all the dark and dirty things he wanted to do to her, maybe she wouldn’t look so cool and in control. But, no. If the Officiate was mated, her man wouldn’t talk or tease, he’d just do it all.

I shifted on my seat at the thought. Von. That was his name. And he said the naughtiest things to me. For once in my life, I wasn’t offended by a man’s horny rambling. This time, I wanted to hear more. No, this time I wanted to do everything.

I’d seen other Everian soldiers—was that what they were called?—walking about, serving as guards and protectors for us, but they had all been overly serious. Like the Secret Service guarding the president. Always on duty, watchful. No one said we were in danger from anything other than overeager Everian males. Maybe they just didn’t tell us everything. Or maybe, we were a lot more valuable here than I thought.

Were we Interstellar Brides really wanted that badly? I glanced at Katie, who was biting her lip. We’d transported to Everis together, waking up on beds near one another in the medical unit. Naked and covered only in a sheet, the doctors had waved odd wands over us, performing weird tests to make sure we came through in one piece. Once satisfied, they handed out pretty flowing gowns for us to wear and we were all dressed and shown to our suites. There were four suites occupied at the moment. Three brides per apartment. Katie, Dani and I had asked to be put together, in honor of our pact, so now the three of us shared. That had been two days ago.

Since then, the three of us had become closer, true BFFs, going everywhere together, learning everything about each other’s lives on Earth. We weren’t able to leave the building, but we were free to roam about. The place was huge, reminding me of a mountain lodge with guest suites, conference rooms and full service, five-star restaurants. It had been amazing. Just us girls—and the guards who never actually spoke to us. Although one of them, a big, handsome man in one of the blue uniforms, had been watching me constantly. He was obviously well-respected, one of the officers or whatever, but he wasn’t the man I wanted.

He wasn’t Von.

None of the eighty potential mates had arrived until this morning. Once the other men started to show up, we’d figured out that the dark navy uniforms were the Everian version of officers while the brown uniforms were worn by everyone else. They were all military like, with protocols and ranks. The complete control of the Officiates, the sense of order helped me fight off my nerves.

Over the last few hours, I’d looked for those blue uniforms, glad to see them ever watchful and somewhere close. I’d never been stared at so much in my life. Ogled. Katie and Dani agreed that we felt like fresh meat. Most just nodded in passing, returned a smile if it was offered. None pushed or tried to talk to us. Apparently, that was not yet allowed.

But that one man, the blond in blue, stared a lot. And not at all three of us, but at me. At first, I’d been nervous. But now, I wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t hiding his interest, or pretending indifference. No, he wasn’t even pretending to be polite. He stared like he could take off my clothes with just his eyes. Like he knew something about me that I did not.

And unlike the way Von made me feel in my dream, this man made my skin go cold and my hands shake. And not in a good way. He was powerful. Big. Strong. And he looked at me like I was his prey.





Chapter Five

Lexi



He was handsome enough. Pale hair, equally light eyes, strong jaw, commanding presence. I was flattered, at first, because it was rare that I made any guy look twice. This one? He looked more than that. His attention became a little disconcerting because his gaze was dark, almost intimidating. I felt no warmth in it. He wasn’t the one I shared dreams with. I knew it deep down. I should feel flattered he paid me any attention, but I didn’t like it. He made me unsettled. My BFFs, too, for every time he came near us, we hustled the other way.

We were all unsettled. All twelve of us. We could talk about what was happening until we were blue in the face, but until the official launch of the events, our first actual meeting with the men, we could only guess how everything worked.

Fortunately, Officiate Treva was giving us something like an orientation first. Dani gave me a look. I knew what she was thinking. Why didn’t she do this two days ago?

It hadn’t just been the unknown that had worried us, but the sleeplessness. The first night, I’d tossed and turned, riddled with the same dream over and over again, like a really hot broken record. A man in bed beside me, asking me questions, whispering to me, kissing me. Touching me. I didn’t say anything to the others about it because I’d thought it had just been me, remembering the testing dream back on Earth.