Alien Invasion: A Warrior Prince Romance (The Tourin Legacy - Part 1) Read online

Alien Invasion: A Warrior Prince Romance

  The Tourin Legacy, Book 1

  Immortal Angel

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Alien Invasion

  All rights reserved.

  Published by Fallen Press, Ltd.

  Copyright © 2016

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

  Other works by Immortal Angel

  Angel Warrior: The Complete Series

  Angel Warrior

  Angel Betrayed

  Angel Awakened

  Angel Captured

  Angel Forever

  Alien Rogue Warrior: Serials 1-5

  To Kiss A Warrior

  To Touch A Warrior

  To Protect A Warrior

  To Trust A Warrior

  To Love A Warrior

  Alien Rogue Warrior: Serials 6-10

  To Challenge A Warrior

  To Obey A Warrior (Release date: 8/5/16)

  To Forgive A Warrior (Release date: 8/12/16)

  To Wound A Warrior (Release date: 8/19/16)

  To Save A Warrior (Release date: 8/24/16)

  Alien Invasion: The Complete Series

  Alien Invasion

  Alien Intercourse (Release date: 8/3/16)

  Alien Insertion (Release date: 8/10/16)

  Alien Infiltration (Release date: 8/17/16)

  Alien Exile (Release date: 8/24/16)

  For Robert

  I couldn’t do this without you…and I wouldn’t want to.

  Thank you.

  I wish for you every dream you can dream..and I believe with you all things are possible.

  Immortal Angel

  P.S. – You are already beautiful.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  About the Author

  Preview of Alien Intercourse

  Preview of To Kiss A Warrior

  1

  Ande’ie

  Last night I went to bed in a world of drudgery and boredom. I stared out the casted glass window of the castle over the countryside of Pluria, my country’s greatest ally.

  My life stretched out before me—a never-changing, endless cycle of meetings, diplomacy, and parties with overdressed people who didn’t really care about anything.

  I thought there could be nothing worse than waking up this morning to the same routine. The insanity of doing the same thing every day, but expecting a change.

  As it turns out, I was wrong.

  2

  Ande’ie

  Screams and a great rumbling shake the castle walls, interrupting my slumber. It’s probably just a ground shake.

  I feel as if my head just hit the pillow. Dazed and disheveled, last night’s headache still pounding in my brain, I force myself to cross the room to the armoire. Light from the two moons beams in through the window, illuminating my clothing options in shades of pink and gold.

  I want to wear something simple, but I know better. Late at night, unknown situation outside. I heave a sigh and reach for the black undershirt. Black skirt, metal-reinforced leather corset, arm protectors, boots, belt, short swords.

  It sounds complicated, but this armor is like a second skin. I’ve worn the same style since birth. It’s fitted, perfect. I’m able to get in and out of it in under a minute.

  I run for the turret stairs, hoping the others will take the main steps. Unfortunately, we all had the same idea. We shuffle downward far too slowly, packed like sardines into the tiny spiral stairwell built for no more than two people walking abreast. One of my sheathes clinks against another and I look up to see the ambassador from Luthinia.

  I’m not surprised it’s another government official. Most civilians don’t wear armor these days, especially if they can’t afford metal reinforcements. Leather does nothing against guns and bullets that are rapidly gaining popularity. Even though most civilians don’t have them, swords are still going out of fashion. But we don’t care about fashion, do we, girls? I caress the hilts of my two short swords. They’ve saved my life many times.

  The screaming has stopped briefly, but the feeling of restrained hysteria is in the air. We don’t know yet whether to panic or not. And it’s late and we’re all climbing down ten flights of stairs.

  I can see the exit two flights below when suddenly the sirens stop. Screams split the air, then cut off suddenly. People turn and start pushing us back up the steps. I feel my own sense of fear rise.

  You’re a trained warrior, Ande. Assess. Gather equipment. Take action.

  But to do that, I’m going to need a better view. I join the people beside me and try to push the people above me back up.

  Regret floods me as I’m squashed between the two opposing forces—those coming down and those going up. I should have listened to my father and brought a contingent of guards with me on this trip. But I’d stupidly thought I was safe, telling myself, you’ve been to Pluria at least a hundred times before.

  I finally succeed in getting to the third floor and throw open the door to exit the stairwell. I sprint toward the middle of the floor. I remember a balcony that overlooks the entrance, the front wall of the first few floors of the front of the castle made of glass. It will give me a good view of the entrance and the courtyard just outside.

  The country is at peace, I think, trying not to panic. No enemies, uprisings, not even a strong political conflict in the ten years since the Great War.

  Reaching it, I look down. My heart sinks into my stomach. The scene before my eyes is beyond belief. People dead in the courtyard, more running past, screaming, as huge…metal machines?...run behind them. The machines look almost like metal people, but their legs are weirdly shaped. They run awkwardly, hitting the people with some kind of blue light. Once struck by the beam, the people fall down, twitching and screaming.

  This can’t be real. It can’t be.

  My heartbeat starts to pound in my ears. I blink several times, but the image remains.

  So it’s not just a hallucination. Better get a grip and start thinking before I end up dead, too.

  What are these shiny metal creatures? Where did they come from?

  I see a small craft land in the courtyard amidst the chaos.

  Landing? Did they come from… the sky? Or even worse… space?

  The thought makes me shudder. If these metal people are from space they are a lot more advanced than us. Did they only land here—or in my kingdom, too? If they did, how can we fight them?

  I wonder if I should go back up to my room and hope they don’t search the entire castle. But then a swarm of the metal things shoots out the front glass doors and windows, and the windows fall to the ground in an enormous crash of tinkling, shimmering glass.

  Oh, shit. Run? Or hide?

  The metal things stream in through the open glass and I have only seconds to make a decision. My heart pounds in my head, my ears buzz, and my entire body shakes like a leaf in the wind. I’ve battled men, women, even wild animals, b
ut nothing like the enemy I see before me.

  Run. But back up to the room, or out the back doors into the gardens behind? Maybe I can go around the side and use the element of surprise.

  The metal things marching up the stairs make my decision for me. I run on shaking legs to the opposite end of the castle than I came from and turn right, to the servants’ stairs at the back of the building. Thankfully, the stairs are empty. I guess most of the servants have already left.

  I descend as fast as I can, almost tripping between flights in my haste.

  In battle, seconds can mean the difference between life and death.

  I never expected battle here, but thank the gods I made Father train me for it.

  Just inside the door that leads to the gardens behind the castle, I stop, pausing to calm my frantic breaths. I can’t run out heaving if stealth is necessary.

  Where can I go?

  For the first time, I realize I don’t know much about Pluria’s capital city beyond the castle, the stables, the armory and a few close restaurants and shops. And that’s when it hits me! The armory. We need weapons.

  Feeling calmer with a destination and plan of action in mind, I open the door slowly. It creaks and I wince. Nice. Why don’t you just announce it to them?

  The coast is clear, so I exit and sprint down to the end. I turn to the right, running toward the front of the castle and the courtyard. I peek around the corner of the castle and see that the courtyard is still a frenzy of activity, with the metal things shooting at all who emerge. A few warriors are battling them – and losing.

  I run behind the hedges around the courtyard, heading to the armory just past the gates. But just as I round the corner to the entrance, I see one of the metal things standing in front. I guess it must have heard me coming because it looks right at me.

  Fuck it.

  Father always says the best defense is a good offense, so I spring at the metal thing in a high kick, aiming at the weapon, fingers poised to grip its shoulders. I kick the weapon as hard as I can, and to my amazement, it flies out of the thing’s grip and clatters to the dirt. Not so strong then.

  I wrap my legs around it and try to rip off its head.

  Its arms come up and grip my wrists.

  I see a button on the right side of its neck and press it. The head begins to come off, and I rip it as hard as I can. It doesn’t detach how I expect and I quickly realize it’s some type of head covering. I throw it as far as possible before turning back to the being inside.

  Not a metal thing, but an upright, walking… mountain cat. It’s fierce, with sharp fangs and a growling yowl that sends shivers down my spine. Its fetid breath washes over me.

  I don’t have time to reach for my swords, so using two fingers, I jab it as hard as I can in the eyes. It screeches, a horrible sound, then begins to turn and spin. Now or never.

  I jump off and start running down the dusty road, hoping I’ve bought myself a little time.

  No such luck.

  It gives another angry, yowling snarl and hisses at me. It’s after me in a flash, the suit barely slowing it. I sprint away without thinking, and quickly realize I have only a few more steps before I hit the main road.

  If I’m going to die ten thousand miles from home, I’m at least going to take some of these metal cat-monsters with me.

  I unsheathe my swords and prepare for the worst.

  3

  Juordin

  Fuck! An Ardak invasion. Can things get any worse?

  I feel the familiar frisson of anger go down my spine. My string of curses continues as I load the last of my cargo into my shuttle. The screaming is bringing back memories I’ve been trying to forget. I can feel my hands starting to tremble with rage. I clench them into fists.

  I should have known the damn hairballs would hit this planet next.

  I came here myself because it was the next closest planet to the last one they hit. My time is rather limited.

  Good thing I got here tonight. Tomorrow this whole damn planet will be contaminated.

  Making my cargo that much more valuable.

  I feel for these people. But I know the terror they feel tonight at an alien cat invasion is nothing compared to what they will feel tomorrow when the fucking cats release the toxin. They have no idea what’s about to hit them. But I do, and I’m getting the hell out of here before it does. There’s nothing I can do about it, anyway. Or I would have saved my own people.

  The tiny space behind the general store is barely large enough for my shuttle, but I had to make do. The people on this world haven’t invented motorized automobiles yet. Which means they don’t have planes much less space flight, and my invisibility force field doesn’t work on the ground. I don’t want to frighten them too much with tech they haven’t seen before.

  I look back toward the main street one last time. The Ardak landers have a luminescent glow, lighting up the area for miles. A young woman runs past the building, screaming, until one of the overgrown cats hits her from behind with an energy blast. Too late.

  Just as I slam the cargo door shut, I hear a battle cry from the street out front. I haven’t been in battle on this world, but that cry is damn near universal. I turn to see a fierce warrioress sprint down the road in the opposite direction of the last, leaving a trail of dust behind her. She’s chased by a helmetless Ardak, her swords flashing. I jog to the front of the building, just to see what she’ll do.

  She darts into and among the screaming horde of people, heading for the Ardak lander. A high, springing kick worthy of any of the high jumpers on my planet knocks the weapon from another feline soldier in front of her.

  A few months ago, I would have joined her. She doesn’t yet realize it’s pointless.

  Her valor is a fearsome thing to behold. Her own people offer no help, crying and screaming as they run heedlessly down the street in all directions.

  She fights her way through the crowd with her two flashing swords, dodging past others who make her battle more difficult in their efforts to flee. She kicks the lander pilot, who tries to grasp her as she springs by him. But Ardaks are notoriously slow with their metal exoskeletons. Slow, but damn near impossible to injure through the suit unless you’re close enough to get the helmet off. Which is one of the main reasons the cowards use the toxin to kill their enemies.

  But the warrioress fights with the fury of three Ou’lin zintars—feral, fierce, jumping, spinning, kicking, punching, even biting the ear of the Ardak that lost its helmet. Her double short swords flash quicker than the eye can follow.

  Unconsciously, my hand goes to the hilt of my sword. Help the female. She’s reached the lander, but three Ardaks have surrounded her. She’s taken care of their weapons, but she can’t pierce their metal exoskeleton armor. It’s only a matter of time before they take her bare-handed.

  Are you really this much of a bastard, Juordin? You will let this woman die right before your eyes? Where is your honor?

  Shit.

  I growl and draw my sword, running forward and springing into the fray. I behead the first Ardak with no helmet, surprising him from behind. His feline yowl is cut off quickly, but not before it raises all the hair on my arms.

  The warrioress glances at me and, for a moment, I catch a glimpse of wide, green eyes. Recognition punches me in the gut with the force of a Saturnian hurricane as I see her up close for the first time.

  My mate.

  Blood rushes through my veins, and the mating marks on my chest start to burn. Disbelief wars with urgency. How is it possible that I found my mate on this barbarian planet? Protect her—get her out of here!

  The need to protect her begins to drive me more than the need to kill the Ardaks. We continue fighting the three cats encased in metal exoskeletons, but I follow her movements more closely now. She’s agile, beautiful. Small, yet lithe and strong. Quick on her feet. Her midnight black hair hangs almost to her waist and swirls around her as she battles.

  Against my w
ill, I take a few moments to admire her. My mate is a little warrioress. She would make any Tuorian warrior a fine wife. I would be happy to take her back to my planet, to claim her as my own, to introduce her to my people.

  Except I have to defeat these bastards first.

  I had thought it impossible to hate them any more than I already do. I was wrong.

  Unseeing, brutal fury courses through my veins.

  I spring onto the second Ardak, pressing the release button on its helmet and beheading it in almost one motion. I jump off him and turn. She’s fighting the last one, but I see two more running down the street toward us.

  Get her out of here.

  I jump between her and the last Ardak, kicking it so hard it falls onto the ground. “Get to my lander in the alley,” I shout over my shoulder, gesturing at it with one arm. I jump onto the Ardak, straddling its chest, to release the helmet and behead it.

  But just then a scream pierces the air, and I know instinctively it’s her.

  I turn just in time to watch her fall. It happens as if in slow motion. Her eyes open wide, her arms flail to the sides, and the force of the energy beam lifts her off her feet. She seems to almost fly for a moment, arcing through the air gracefully backward until she hits the dirt road.

  I leap up from the dead Ardak, reaching her in three steps. I sweep her up into my arms, grabbing her swords, cradling her as carefully as I’m able. I’ve been conditioned since birth to guard my mate’s life more carefully than I guard my own. I’m in the lander in seconds, the little woman across my lap, lifting off to the dismayed yowls of the other Ardaks.

  I set my lander on course to dock with the ship, knowing the Ardak ships won’t be concerned with a tiny lander leaving the atmosphere. In fact, they prefer the people to flee. Fewer dead to burn in the cleanup.

  The lander is usually much faster on liftoff, but it’s loaded down with cargo at the moment. As precious as it is, I wish I had an eject button to get rid of it. Hang on, little one, we’re almost there.

  My hands shake with adrenaline, anger, and terror as I brush the hair back from her face with one hand. Please be all right. There are burn marks on her stomach from the energy blast. I clutch her to my chest. There’s nothing I can do for her here—the healing bunk is on my ship.

  The lander docks automatically, and then I’m through the door, sprinting through the bay with my mate cradled to my chest. The healing bunk is already powered up as I’d intended to use it myself after I’d retrieved my cargo.

  I lay her unconscious body on my healing bunk, straightening her limbs carefully and arranging her hair around her face. The back of my mind is screaming at me not to do this. There’s only one charge left, and if I use it on her, I’ll live a few months less. But she’s my mate. There’s no acceptable alternative.

  As the glass slowly closes over her, sealing her in so the energy can course through her body, I’m struck anew by her beauty. Her lips are as ripe and red as Tuorian berries in season. Her skin is pale and smooth, her physique extremely strong for one her size. And though she is tiny compared to women on Tuorin, her curves are lush and I know they will fill my hands beautifully. When the time comes.

  I press my forehead to the glass of the healing bunk, as if by will alone I can make her survive. I have faith in my healing bunk for most things. But that energy blast was strong.

  Oh gods.

  I’ve been waiting thirty-six Tuorian years to find her. The one who will bring light to my world, my other half, my bride. My heart soars with elation.

  But in the next moment I’m awash with fury, regret a bitter taste in my mouth. Of course I would find her now. And on a backwater planet that doesn’t even have planes yet. She’s going to get a surprise when she finds out aliens exist. A big one.

  I want to smile, but I just can’t.

  Sometimes life is so unfair.

  Because as much as I want to enjoy getting to know my mate, to join with her forever, I can’t.

  I have only six months left to be with her.

  4

  Ande’ie

  I wake in a strange glass container. But this glass is too smooth. Clear. Not the glass from Lla’ei. Immediately, my heart begins to pound. What if those cat creatures imprisoned me? My hands go to the glass, pounding as hard as I can, trying to break it.

  I sense movement above my head, and the glass retracts.

  Not waiting for it to retract all the way, I jump out of the case.

  Wait! Wasn’t I hit with one of those blasts? I look down at myself. I seem okay.

  I see two instruments in front of me and grab them from the table on my way to the floor, spinning to face my incarcerator.

  It’s him. The warrior with the stunning purple eyes who helped me fight the cat creatures. He’s tall, obviously of another race. Perhaps one to the East. His long, brown hair with golden highlights falls in waves down his chest and back, and he moves toward me with the masculine grace and fluidity of a trained warrior.

  He’s considerably less dressed than when I last saw him. His white shirt is undone and I can see strange markings on his chest. Brown leather pants disappear into high boots, their design intricate. He wears a long sword, the sheath also leather. Muscles flex in his jaw as his piercing purple eyes pin me with the strength of his gaze. He gestures at the instruments in my hands. “There is no need for those.”

  Something about him draws me and I almost want to drop my guard. But, beautiful as he is, I still don’t know him. “Prove it.”

  He leans against the wall, the corners of his lips quirking upward in a smile. “And just how am I supposed to do that?”

  “Perhaps by taking me home?”

  He inches closer to me, gesturing to the metal instruments. “Is this really how you want to thank me for saving your life?”

  “Is that what I should be thanking you for?” I hold them higher to hold him off. “You’re kidnapping me. I don’t even know where I am.”

  He gestures to the room. “Technically, the word is abduction.”

  “What?”

  He looks like he’s laughing at me. “Never mind. Do you look like you’re a prisoner here?”

  I give the room a cursory glance. “Perhaps not,” I concede. “But I can see that, despite the bunk and the medical instruments, you’re no doctor.”

  A wide smile splits his mouth and he throws back his head and laughs. The deep sound seems to vibrate through me, bringing warmth back to my soul. Then his smile turns mysterious. “I could have left you to the Ardaks.”

  “Ardaks—are those—the cat monsters?”

  “Yes.” He nods in assent.

  Whoever this man is, if he knows who they are, he probably knows information we could use to defeat them. I quickly rise and set down the instruments. “We need to return and tell my father. We have to save the people of Pluria.”

  The warrior shakes his head, his gaze not quite meeting mine. “It isn’t just the people of Pluria who will die. By this time tomorrow, the entire planet will be dying.”

  Shock, then fear radiates through my being. “The entire planet?” That means my kingdom, too! “We have to do something! We have to warn them!”

  “There’s nothing you can do,” he grates out. “If you go back now, you will also be hit with the toxin. Then you will die, just as surely as they will.”

  “Go back? Where are we?”

  “On my spaceship.”

  “Your spaceship?” This day has gone from unbelievable to impossible. For the first time, I look around me. The walls are made of some kind of smooth, white surface I’ve never seen before. The cabinets are a shiny metal. Lights blink off and on in regular patterns on several square, black surfaces.

  Definitely not from Lla’ei. That makes him…an alien.

  I raise the instruments, ready to kill him this time. “Did you come with the cats?”

  “No,” he mutters. “That was just damn bad timing.”

  I narrow my eyes
at him. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Believe what you want. But I didn’t bring them. I guarantee that I hate them more than you do. A lot more.”

  I search his face, but his gaze is direct. There’s no hint of subterfuge. I relax just a bit. “I demand you take me back to Lla’ei, to my people. You can run away as fast as you want to after that.”

  He opens his mouth, then closes it abruptly. His hands curl into fists. “That isn’t going to happen.”

  “I demand it,” I say, lifting my chin.

  He shrugs. “Demand all you like. It still isn’t going to happen.”

  Is he really going to do nothing while my people die? An image of my home, reduced to a smoldering mass of nothing, flashes in my mind. My parents, my younger brother. Will they be fleeing the cat people just as I was?

  “I’ll find a way to help them, with or without you.”

  To my frustration, he shrugs again. “I seriously doubt that.”

  Anger boils through me. I feel my skin heat and my heart pounds in my ears.

  Without thinking, I raise the metal instruments and run at him. He doesn’t go for his sword, but meets me bare-handed. At first I’m trying to cut him, but the truth is, my heart isn’t in it. My movements are too slow and controlled. If I kill him, I may never get back. We wrestle and he knocks the metal weapons from my hands.

  Holding my wrists above my head, he throws one of his strong legs over mine. The adrenaline coursing through me, the vulnerability of being overpowered, and the closeness of his face and his body to my own is disconcerting. I find myself out of breath, and it isn’t from the tussle. I’ve rarely been so close to another, except in battle.

  And they usually died before they could kiss me.

  Before they could kiss me? What are you thinking, Ande’ie? There’s an invasion going on and enormous metal cat monsters are trying to take over your planet! Get your mind on your duty to your people!

  I struggle against him, trying to fight off my attraction. “If you have a spaceship, where are you from?” I demand angrily. For all I know, he brought those cat things with him.

  “Tuorin,” he answers calmly.

  “So you’re an alien.” I spat the words in a most undignified manner. Father trained you better than this. If he is an alien, maybe his people can help you.

  That’s when I realize that in contrast to my rage, he’s calm, patient. As if he has all the time in the world. I can see empathy in his eyes, and it angers me again.

  “Are all the people from your planet cowards?”

  He doesn’t react, which only angers me further.

  “Surely if you have your own spaceship, you have the technology to help us.” My last words come out a little desperate.

  His gaze meets mine. “I know the pain you’re experiencing, but getting us both killed won’t save your people.”

  Even though that might be true, he should know that I’m not going to simply sit around and watch my family and friends die.

  No matter what I have to do—or who I have to go through—to get home to my people.

  5

  Juordin

  Having my mate partially beneath me, her lithe body squirming against mine, is almost too much to bear. I focus on my breath, relying on my training to overcome my need.

  The sound of her begging to go back to her people tears at my heart.

  You can’t take her back to her planet. She will only suffer, just as you did. Nightmares that will never go away. The running. The screaming. The swirling red cloud that engulfs everything in a haze.

  I want to talk to her, but she’s not thinking rationally. Just as you didn’t. No one can think rationally when their people are being exterminated.

  And despite my efforts, I can feel the mating marks on my chest, and even the ones on my stomach, are starting to throb.

  Even worse, the tattoo on my shoulder that monitors the progression of the toxin is starting to stab at me in warning. It was already twinging before I went planetside on Lla’ei. I’ve gone too long without the healing bunk already...and used the last of its charge to save my mate.

  I’ll have to wait until I get back to the space station for another charge.

  “Please, stop fighting me.” My voice sounds harsher than I intend it to, the stress on my body too much.

  Of course, she headbutts me, making me see stars for a moment.

  “Take me home!” she demands, the fire in her eyes burning through me.

  I grit my teeth. “Such a fighter. A little warrioress.”

  “I’m not a little warrioress! I’m a warrior!”

  She’s even going to fight me on her title.

  Kiss her. Give her something else to think about.

  “Taking you back would be a death sentence.” I force her hands to the floor again.

  Finally, she stops struggling, giving me a second to relax. “Why?”

  “Because in the next few hours, the Ardaks are going to release a toxin in the city centers. Eventually, it will permeate the atmosphere. Once hit with the toxin, it only takes about a year for all the people to die.”

  “We have to stop it!”

  “There’s nothing you can do! Believe me!”

  She stops abruptly. “Why not? How do you know?”

  “How do you think?” Slowly, I release her wrists, knowing our fight is over. At least for now. To my surprise, she brings her hands down, resting them lightly on her stomach.

  Some of the anger goes out of her eyes. “It happened to your planet.” I swallow and nod. Even now I can’t speak about it. Grief for my people overrides even the pain of the toxin for a moment. What she doesn’t know about the toxin—what I’m not telling her—is that it’s not a quick death. It’s slow, painful, debilitating. Until one day, the body simply refuses to work.

  And there’s only one way to slow it. Endorphins. Our doctors found quickly that the devastating effects of the toxin could be staved off for about a year if we dosed on endorphins regularly. Either through getting a dose from our healing bunks, or by mating.

  I look down at her enticing green eyes. Mating sounds pretty damn good right now. I shift as my cock hardens, then gasp as a sharp stab of pain slices through my leg. You need to heal. The toxin is spreading.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  I look at her for long moments. Is my pain really so obvious? “I’m injured,” I finally admit.

  Her gaze runs over my body, pressed against her side, my leg still thrown over hers. She seems to study me, until finally reaching out to touch the mating marks on my stomach.

  I clench my muscles. Having her touch the marks is almost too much.

  She draws back. “Where are you hurt?”

  Touch me again. Put those little hands on my body.

  I growl. If she touches my mating marks again, I won’t be able to hold back.

  “It doesn’t matter. I need to get back to the station so I can use it on myself.”

  “Station?”

  “The space station where the rest of my people are.”

  Her eyes widen. “You’re kidding right?”

  I frown. “About what?”

  She bits her lip. “About there being a station…in space. That’s real?”

  I hold back my laugh, remembering too late how lacking in technology her people are. All of this must feel like a bad dream more than reality to her. “Yes, it is a place where my people go to meet and trade.”

  Her fingers curl into the fabric of my shirt. “That’s impossible. We’d know if there was a space station.”

  Now, I do laugh. “How? You’d spot it through your telescopes?” I’m grinning, despite the pain that lingers in my chest. “And it is actually quite a distance from here.”

  She’s gone a little pale. “How far?”

  “About two of your light-years.” I don’t want to further frighten her, but I can’t help it. “We’re about to go through a wormhole.”

  I see it hit her
all at once. I’m not just taking her off her planet; I’m taking her far from all she’s known. Far from the people she still thinks she can save. Her brows lower, and her hands curl into fists. “What is a light year?”

  Oh. Right. “It’s how far light can travel in one year.”

  “How far light can travel? Two light-years?” she shrieks. Suddenly, she’s bucking and kicking, trying to throw my legs off her.

  She’s fighting a lot harder than she was before.

  “Stop,” I growl.

  Then, I slid on top of her, pinning her beneath me. She thrashes, every part of her body pressed against mine. I grasp her hands, once more restraining them above her head.

  I know she’s angry. I should feel bad for her. I should be thinking of anything except the breasts that are bouncing with her every movement. But every part of me is aware of her. As she thrashes, her womanhood brushes over and over against my erection, and my head spins with need.

  Mate with her. You need it.

  No! I can’t take her like this. The tattoo on my shoulder throbs with need, the mating marks burn, my cock throbs. I’m not sure I could be gentle, woo her, and take her as a warrior should the first time with his mate. In fact, I know I couldn’t. The moment I release my mental hold on my body, it will take her hard and fast. Already it makes demands, calling to me.

  I shake my head, trying to clear the traitorous thoughts from my mind, though my body shakes with need.

  She isn’t calming.

  I can’t stop her.

  Fierce warrioress.

  For long moments, my need to protect her battles with my need to take her.

  But I’m past the point of no return.

  With a groan, I sink down over her and cover her mouth with mine.

  6

  Ande’ie

  Why are you kissing your kidnapper, Ande’ie?

  The voice in the back of my mind doesn’t sound happy. Not happy at all.

  But then, even that thought flees my mind, and I’m left with no thoughts at all. I can feel my body responding to him. My lips part, inviting him in.

  His tongue sweeps inside, forceful, demanding. His scent is rich, manly. He kisses like he fights, his tongue thrusts and parries with mine as his hands slip down the inside of my arms, teasing the sensitive skin.

  I feel paralyzed with pleasure as he parts my legs even farther, making room for himself between them. He grinds against me in an erotic action that has me arcing off the floor into him, crying out against his mouth.

  Why is this so hot?

  I have every reason not to trust him, but that doesn’t matter when he grinds against me again.

  “Scream for me, little warrioress,” he growls. “I want to hear my name on your lips.”

  His name?

  Shock washes over me like the cold waters of the Lla’ei river. I don’t even know his name.

  “Stop.” I push against his chest.

  He tries to kiss me again, his open mouth reaching for mine.

  I push harder. “Stop.”

  He growls and his purple eyes meet mine. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” he says with chagrin.

  “Why?” But even as I ask the question, I’m afraid I already know. A burning has begun in my blood, my skin has become more sensitive.

  He brings a hand down to run it up my stomach, between my breasts, to splay it over my collarbone. Shivers of pleasure rock through me, quivering my breasts erotically. He slips a finger under the leather of my corset and brushes over the tender nipples. “Do you feel that?”

  I try to answer, but a long moan comes out instead. I try to collect my thoughts. “It’s unbearable. What have you done to me?”

  “Only what you’ve done to me.” He takes my mouth in another kiss.

  Why is it affecting me like this? I can feel the pulsing in my nipples now, wetness growing between my legs. I scissor them, trying to stop the powerful sensations. I can feel my muscles contracting, begging for him to enter.

  He doesn’t answer, but leans down and kisses my neck. His tongue drives me crazy, shivers run up and down my spine, and my body begins to shake. His fingers come up to entwine with mine by my face.

  What is this? I ask myself, even as my head spins. I’ve been aroused before, but it was nothing like this. Is it an alien thing?

  I groan. Do I care?

  He rises onto his elbows, kissing me tenderly. But the burning in my blood has me wrapping my legs around him, trying to pull him closer.

  He rolls over so that I’m on top, straddling his waist. My skirt rides up and my hands go to the laces in the front of my leather corset, opening it as quickly as I can. His hands run up my thighs and around to cup the curves of my ass possessively. The minute the corset is undone, his hands leave my ass to smooth up over my stomach, under the cotton of my undershirt, to cup my breasts skin to skin. I arch my back, sinking further into the sensation.

  He sits up and pulls my undershirt off over my head, sliding an arm around my back to bring my nipple to his waiting mouth. My hands thread through my hair at the incredible pleasure of his lips on my breasts.

  He slides me off his lap and stands, sweeping me up into his arms. My lips go to his neck. I can’t even speak, my body is on fire.

  He exits the room, and we enter another room across the hall. A large, rather luxurious bed awaits. He tosses me on it gently and tears his shirt off over his head, revealing bronzed skin and hardened muscle. The body of a warrior. There are black, swirling marks across his chest and stomach. They look raw and powerful. But I don’t have time to worry about them. I rise on my knees and reach for the fastenings of his pants. I want to see more.

  He helps me remove his pants and his fingers go to my skirt, sliding it and my panties off in one motion. My hands are itching to explore his pulsing length, but I need him inside me more.

  It’s me who’s on him this time, pushing him back onto the bed, sliding over him and covering him with my body. I position myself over him, and his groan is almost a cry as I slide down onto his hardened length.

  His hands roam over every inch of my back and my curves as I move on him, seeking relief for the fire in my veins. I move faster and faster, his hands urging me along as he covers one of my nipples with his mouth. He nips, sucks, and runs his tongue over the skin and peaks of my breasts. I can’t stand it.

  He rolls so that he’s on top once more. He moves lower kissing my neck and then my chest. For one second, I think I know where he’s going and an image of his hot mouth between my legs has me arching. But then, he surprises me. Sliding his arms beneath my legs, he rises to kiss my mouth once more. With my legs over the crooks of his elbows, I’m spread wide, trembling and waiting. I raise my pelvis and he enters me more deeply than I’d been taken before. It’s exactly what I need. He starts a smooth rocking motion, the angle allowing him to slide against my G-spot and my pulsing nub with every motion.

  I wrap my arms around him and sink my fingers into the skin of his shoulders, holding on for dear life as pleasure begins to explode inside my brain. I burst into shudders as I reach the peak, crying out into his neck, expecting him to slow.

  But he doesn’t, instead shifting slightly so he hits me at another angle, giving me a momentary break until the fire starts building again. He growls when I explode the second time, convulsing around him, a wail leaving my lips.

  He pauses for a second, kissing me again. “This time is for me,” he says when he’s finished, and his devilish body starts to move again. But even though he said this time was for him, he readjusts, I realize I’m going to come again.

  We explode together and I see stars behind my eyes. Our bodies are glistening, our breaths mingling as we cuddle together on the bed.

  I lick my lips, barely able to move. “I never knew it could be like this.”

  “It usually isn’t.”

  “Why is it so different with you?”

  “Because I’m a Tuorian. And because…you
’re my mate.”

  7

  Ande’ie

  Opening my eyes, it takes me a minute to remember where I am. What I’ve done. Sitting up, I draw my knees to my chest. The man I’d slept with is nowhere to be found. No, I correct myself, not a man. An alien. Whom I’ve slept with.

  And what had he called me? His mate? Is that the alien equivalent of a girlfriend? Does he honestly think one sexual encounter makes me his? That’s not how it works on my planet, big guy.

  Good grief. Now that my mind is back, I realize I don’t even know who this man is. What he does. Or do aliens even do anything other than fly around and kidnap women?

  But the worst part of all is that I can already feel myself burning for him again.

  I rise from the bed, searching for the various pieces of my armor that have been scattered across the floor. The undershirt and corset are missing, and my face flames when I realize they are still in the other room.

  If it had been up to you, you would have done it on the floor in there. At least one of us kept our sanity. The thought brings a wave of embarrassment with it. He had more sense than I did.

  I dress as much as I can, then leave his quarters to cross the hall into the other room. I find my clothing and don it without delay.

  Now, to find that alien. I walk down the hall to the end, and the doors open automatically. I see him sitting at some type of wall filled with clear glass and black squares. Lights blink and flash on the squares, but as I step forward, it’s what lies above them that makes my knees feel weak.

  We really are in space.

  Enormous, swirling clouds of colored dust and light fill the view out the windows before me. There must be hundreds, no, thousands of stars. The vastness is beyond my imagination. I suddenly realize how small my planet is.

  And it’s the only thing I’ve ever known.

  As he turns to me, I realize how ignorant I must seem to him.

  “I knew it wouldn’t be long before you joined me.” His eyes meet mine and the weakness in my knees intensifies. I put my hand against the wall to steady myself. I’m not used to physical desire, not like this. I don’t know how I’m supposed to keep my mind on the task at hand.

  He gestures out the viewscreen. “There’s the wormhole.”

  My eyes follow his gesture and I peer out the viewscreen. Not too far away is an enormous, swirling blackness that seems to suck the light from the universe inside.

  For some reason, I have the feeling that if I go in there, I’ll never be back. I hurry across the room and put my hand on his shoulder. “Please.” I don’t even care if I’m begging. “Please let me go back and help my people. It’s my duty to care for them.”

  “Why would it possibly be your responsibility to help a whole planet of people?” he asks harshly, his eyes searching mine. “I know you must have some friends and family, but that isn’t enough to risk your life uselessly. You can’t save them.”

  I don’t know if admitting this is a good idea, but that wormhole is getting closer every second. “Because I’m the princess of Leitar. It isn’t the whole planet, but it’s the largest kingdom. And I love it with all my heart. My people depend on me.”

  He stares for a moment. “You can’t be serious.”

  I hold his gaze. “I am.”

  He looks away and mutters under his breath. “Of course you are. The irony of it isn’t lost on me.”

  I don’t understand him, but I don’t care. I need to get back home. “Please,” I beg him again. “You were on my planet for cargo. Our kingdom is the richest on Lla’ei. We can pay you in gold. Silver. Jewels.”

  His face darkens for a moment. “You really think that’s what I want?”

  I shrug. “It might not be all you want, but it’s probably all we have to offer.”

  “So…” He leans back in his chair. “Your plan is to go back there, get exposed to the toxin yourself, and be there to hold your people’s hands while they die. Is that it?”

  “If that’s all I can do, then yes. But regardless, it should be my choice. Not yours.”

  He’s quiet for long seconds. I don’t interrupt him because I can tell he’s really thinking about it.

  He rubs his forehead with his hand. “If there is one thing I understand, it’s duty. Even if there is no logic to it. Even if I don’t want this for you. So be it.”

  To my relief, he starts pressing buttons on the console that slows the ship and turns us around.

  “How long will it take to get back?”

  “As long as it took us to get here. About thirty-six Lla’eian hours.”

  “We’ve been gone that long?” It’s hard for me to believe. Will there be anything left?

  He nods slowly. “But if I’m going to take you back, you have to know what you’re going to find. I’ll tell you what I know on the way.”

  8

  Juordin

  It’s the hardest decision of my life to turn the Helios around and not enter the wormhole. Leaving the chance to see my people again, leaving my chance to charge the healing bunk.

  But she’s right, I can’t make this decision for her. She will hate me for it. And you made the same decision as she did, not so long ago.

  I take one last look at the wormhole. Honestly, it might be for the best. When the Ardaks invaded, my rage at our helplessness had been…extreme. I watched the first wave of victims die, mostly the elderly and children, while our doctors worked tirelessly, trying to find a cure. I led our warriors in battle, holding off the Ardaks and rescuing as many as we could. We brought them to the space station before we realized the Ardaks had sent only a small invasion party to distribute the toxin. They were just going to wait until we died out on our own before coming to cleanse and inhabit the planet. But I enjoyed killing every last one of them.

  The moment the fight was over and our fates were clear, my father came to me in my chambers on the station, taking a seat on the bunk beside me.

  “Juordin, I have a job for you.”

  I looked over at him. “More killing? Please tell me you’ve found a way to exterminate those damn cats as they’ve exterminated us.”

  He examined his hands sadly. “No, son. And I think you’ve had enough of killing.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but he silenced me with a glance.

  “I have a different job for you. One where you can do good rather than sit around here with the rest of us.” Waiting to die. He didn’t say it, but I finished the sentence bitterly for him in my mind.

  I wanted to refuse. Wanted to crawl beneath the bunk and howl until my last moment approached. Or go out and kill more cats. But I looked into my father’s eyes, and knew I couldn’t. I saw his fear. Not fear of death, or fear for his people. Fear for me. His only son.

  I couldn’t let him down.

  I stood and rolled my shoulders back, and he stood with me.

  Man-to-man.

  Father to son.

  King to prince.

  “How can I be of service, Father?” I would do my duty till the end. I would make him proud.

  I remember the hint of moisture in his eyes. There was so much we didn’t say that day. But we didn’t have to say it. And he’d been right. Gathering supplies for our survivors had given me purpose, allowed me to be of some small service to my people in the time I have left.

  “Thank you,” my mate says, bringing me back to the present.

  The princess comes and sits in the seat beside me.

  “What’s your name?” she asks.

  I almost laugh. We’ve been through an Ardak invasion, just had the best sex I’ve ever experienced, and we don’t know each other’s names. “Juordin.”

  “Juordin,” she repeats.

  Her accent is funny, but I like it.

  “I’m Ande’ie. But you can call me Ande.” She observes the bridge. “This…space…ship is huge for one person.” She tests the word.

  I nod. “It was built for four. But there just aren’t that man
y of my people left.”

  “The Ardaks?”

  I swallow my rage. She has to know what we’re going back to. “The Ardaks are insidious. Horrifying. It would be better if they wanted slaves. Or women. Or children. Anything except an empty planet.” I look into her eyes and I see unshed tears. They won’t remain that way for long. “My planet wasn’t given an opportunity to fight back. They released the toxin, and a year from now, all ten billion of us will be gone. Although the weakest—elderly, children, and those who have less stamina—have already died from the initial infection, and many of the others in the battles that followed.”

  She gasped when I said the number, and now her hands cover her mouth, tears slipping down her cheeks.

  “Your people don’t have space flight yet, princess. My people have spaceships, and healing bunks. We’ve cured cancer, aging, and almost all other diseases. We tried everything. Please believe me when I say there’s no way you can conquer this toxin.”

  She raises her chin. “Then I will go back and take this toxin with them.”

  I evade her gaze. “Unfortunately, that opportunity has passed. You’ve been gone long enough that the toxin will be inert. So you will live while the rest perish.”

  She screams then. It’s loud, and shrill, and heartbreaking.

  I wasn’t expecting it, but I should have been.

  Her hands claw at her hair in grief.

  It takes all of my strength not to reach for her. Not to try to cuddle her as if she’s a child.

  The Ardaks aren’t going to go away.

  She’s a warrior. A princess.

  As I am a prince.

  It is for us to bear these things, to stand upright when the rest of the world would bend.

  I reach for her hand, and she takes it, gripping it tightly.

  We sit there in silence, holding hands and staring out the viewscreen. It will be a long thirty-six hours until we get back to Lla’ei.

  9

  Ande’ie

  I hardly believe what Juordin has told me. Everyone on my planet is going to die.

  I can see his grief, and his anger.

  But though he might believe I’m simply going back to comfort them while they die, in my heart, I know there is more I can do.

  I’m going to help my people. And then we’re going to help his people.

  And I have only thirty-six hours to come up with a plan.