Surprise Mates: Interstellar Brides® Program: Book 21 Page 6

  Oh, they’d had that kind of wild, unhurried, all night fuck-fest before they had wild little toddlers running around, but now it was my turn.

  Mine.

  My pussy practically grinned with glee.

  And ached because being with Prillons meant two cocks. Two voracious lovers. Lovers who had stamina that had me rethinking my half-hearted workout routine.

  I blinked, realized they were staring at me. Waiting. I set my cup down. “Sorry. Zoned out for a minute.”

  “I bet. Obviously those two fucked the brains right out of you,” Rachel added, waggling her eyebrows. She took a drink of juice from a tall, fluted glass, then wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. She tried, I could tell she did, but the gut-busting laughter followed almost immediately. She was mated to two Prillon warriors herself. I had no doubt that of all the ladies here, those with Prillon mates would know exactly what kind of loving I’d had last night. All night.

  I sighed, let it out, thought of all the ways Sam and Nik had taken me.

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  Rachel squealed, then stifled it when she looked to Jori. Caroline grinned and Lindsey silently clapped like a cheerleader.

  A servant brought over another pot of coffee, set it on the round table between us, then left as silently as he’d arrived. We were outside on a terrace several floors up. The sun was blocked by an arbor covered in vines with lush leaves and lavender flowers. It was a warm day, and the yoga pants and T-shirt I wore—God bless the S-Gen machine to make comfy casual clothes—weren’t breakfast-at-the-palace worthy, but the girls had dragged me from bed first, then out of my room, and this was the best I had been able to pull off. No makeup, hair in a sloppy bun. We were in the guest quarters, which had its own terrace and dining room. The Colony ladies had gathered here instead of going to the formal dining room for brunch. Since Rachel and Jessica were so close, Jessica had joined us.

  I’d been intimidated by her until she’d giggled and wiggled her eyebrows at me with the rest of them. Then I remembered the most important thing about her: she was mated to two Prillon warriors as well. The collar around her neck, Rachel’s and Kristin’s too, reminded me that they had permanent mates.

  What would I do with two males like Nik and Sam if I had them every day? Every night?

  Good God. I’d never walk right again.

  Hand shaking, I set my cup down on the table and tried to compose myself. I knew my redhead’s complexion was giving away just as much, if not more, than my guilty expression. I thought of some of the things I’d said last night. Things I’d asked them to do to me.

  Jeez. I’d been totally out of control.

  Leaning back, I tried to look much more innocent than I was feeling, suddenly reluctant to kiss and tell. What I’d shared with Nik and Sam felt… special, somehow. I knew it wasn’t. Knew I was fooling myself. But even if it wasn’t special or true love or matched mating, it was personal. Very, very personal.

  We sat at a round table. The chairs had fancy cushions colored a dark, Deston family red. They matched the collar around Queen Jessica’s neck exactly. The entire palace, and this space, would be in some fancy Earth interior design magazine. It made my one-bedroom living quarters on The Colony seem drab and plain. I felt as if we were at some fancy hotel with statues and flowers and ornately decorated walls and ceilings. The tables were inlaid in something that looked like marble in geometric designs that must have taken months to create. I had the feeling they had been handcrafted, not ordered on the S-Gen machines. Lush draperies and carpets, all decorated with splashes of the royal red, filled every room that was designed for comfort. The other rooms? The grand hallways? The ballroom we’d been in last night? The floors glittered like marble with a rainbow of colors I had to assume represented all the major families of Prillon Prime. Red. Green. Multiple shades of blue. Bronze. Copper. Gold.

  I was walking through a fantasy land surrounded by guards. Governor’s mates. Queens and kings—like the rulers of Viken, who we’d passed in the corridor.

  And little old me. Somehow my sex life had become the topic of utmost importance.

  “Shouldn’t we be talking about queen business? Or the war? Or something important?” I asked.

  Queen Jessica smiled. “Not on my birthday.”

  Rachel shook her head. “Your birthday was yesterday.”

  Jessica snorted. “My birthday this year lasts four days. If you argue with me, I’ll have Nial and Ander throw you in the dungeon.”

  “Do you actually have a dungeon?” Rachel asked, eyes wide.

  Jessica looked confused. “I don’t know, actually. Maybe we should all take a field trip after brunch and find out. That would make all the guys happy.”

  A round of nervous laughter followed her announcement, but I wasn’t excited about the prospect. I had enough craziness going on while I was here. I didn’t need to go looking for any more trouble than I was already in. And my heart told me I was in a lot.

  Rachel, of course, noticed my lack of enthusiasm. “Okay, woman. Spill. You got sexed up last night. We all know you did. So what’s the problem? Why don’t you look happy about it?”

  I picked at a piece of bread, something like a croissant but with fruit inside. “I expected to be… dominated. Ordered about. Taken.”

  All of them frowned at my words. “I’ve never met either of them, but they seemed like perfectly normal, powerful and bossy Prillons to me,” Lindsey said.

  Caroline nodded.

  “I met Niklas once. He came to The Colony for a meeting with Maxim and the other governors of the planet.” Rachel waved her hand. “It was way before you showed up. He seemed nice. Diplomatic. Hot, but it seems like every alien is hot.”

  Everyone agreed. I couldn’t deny it, but I thought Nik and Sam were the hottest of them all. So did my pussy. I shifted in my chair.

  “It was a fun night. I’ll never forget it. I definitely got what I came for.”

  The girls stared at me, then giggled.

  Yeah, I’d definitely gotten what I’d come for. Double the cocks, double the hands, double the mouths. There had to be some mathematical formula tied to those numbers and the total orgasms I’d had.

  “They left though. I mean, I’d made it very clear it was just while I was here, this… fling. But I didn’t expect to wake up alone, you know? I guess when I said it was a one-night stand, they took me literally.”

  “They didn’t want to leave you. They had to.” We all turned at Jessica’s words. She shifted in her chair and settled back with her arms crossed. “We just said we didn’t want to talk about war, but our mates never stop fighting, do they?”

  Rachel sighed. “No, they don’t.”

  “From the hickey I see on your neck, they weren’t fighting the Hive last night,” Rachel said, using her fork to point at the queen’s neck.

  Jessica blushed and absently ran her fingers over her dark red collar. “Fine, I got a little sidetracked with Nial this morning after Ander left.” She looked to me. “So… Ambassador Niklas and Captain Sambor. I saw you leave the party with them last night.”

  It was my turn to flush hotly. “I’m so sorry. I know that it was your party and all, but—”

  She set her hand on my wrist. “Girlfriend, those two are fine. F.I.N.E. I don’t blame you for ducking out. The way those guys danced to the Electric Slide, it was good timing. They might have gotten hurt, and then what would have happened?”

  “No dick for Lucky Lucy,” Caroline singsonged.

  I put my hands over my face.

  “I didn’t mean to make you upset,” Jessica said, her words soft. “Lindsey told me about your plan.”

  I gave Lindsey a death glare. Really? She’d told the freaking queen of Prillon Prime that I was on the prowl and wanted to find some hot, single warriors to hook up with?

  “I also heard how protective Warlord Wulf is over you,” she added. “So I totally get it. And you picked two hotties to have a good time with.”

  �
��Thanks. They were… good.”

  She smiled and arched a brow like a wicked queen, not the sweet one she seemed to be. “Just good?”

  They were all staring at me now. Waiting. Damn it. There went my redheaded complexion again. I was probably the color of a ripe tomato.

  “Okay. Fine. They were incredible. Rocked my world. Three times. No, four.”

  “If you can’t remember, then they were doing it right!” Rachel added.

  “Yes. They were doing it right. And then they left.” I brought it up because I was still bothered by the fact that I’d fallen asleep nestled between two of the hottest warriors ever to have existed. I’d been warm, safe, sated and happier than in the past few months. Probably years. And then? Nothing. Which was exactly what I’d told them I wanted. It was what I’d wanted when I transported here. I had a family on The Colony. Olivia and Wulf and the kids. I loved Tanner and Emma like they were my own. Olivia was a sister in every way that counted. I couldn’t leave them. Could I?

  No.

  So why was I so upset? I woke up alone in bed every day. Usually it didn’t bother me. In fact, I wasn’t much for sharing the covers. And I kicked, or so I’d been told by an old boyfriend years ago. But he’d been a bit of an asshole, so maybe my subconscious had been acting out its dark fantasies when I was asleep.

  I blinked, realized I’d been staring into space again as Jessica leaned forward. “Like I said, they didn’t leave because they were done with you. Ander said he was headed to another meeting with the IC commander and Ambassador Niklas. Since Sambor is his guard, no doubt he is with them.”

  I set my fork down, my appetite gone. “Are they in danger? Why aren’t you worried if one of your mates is meeting with the Intelligence Core? Those guys are serious business.” In fact, one of the top guys, a doctor named Helion, had recently tangled with Mikki and her two Prillon mates.

  Mikki was sitting next to Lindsey across the table, and I shrugged my apology. “Sorry to bring up the IC. I know you aren’t a big fan.”

  Mikki shrugged right back. She’d been quiet until now, her perma-smile in place and her long, sleek black hair looking too perfect for morning brunch. I wanted to get my hands on it and style it, but the simple cut suited her. She had been a world-class surfer on Earth, and the surfer attitude hadn’t disappeared once she’d arrived on The Colony. In fact, she seemed even more relaxed. But then she’d found her place in this world, teaching swimming and diving lessons at the Coalition Fleet’s academy. When she was on The Colony, she was helping her mate, Dr. Surnen, catalog and explore new species and plants from oceans on other worlds. She was useful.

  I was just… me. Nothing special, really. I cut hair sometimes, and occasionally helped with makeup. Most of the time I helped Olivia with Tanner and Emma. So not sexy. Or exciting. Boring, really. Why would a high Prillon lord who was one of the Prime’s top ambassadors want to tie himself to me when he could hop in that testing chair and get a perfectly matched female from any world in the Coalition? Not attach himself for life to a random, horny woman who’d practically tripped and fallen into his arms doing a country line dance.

  Sheesh. I was a mess.

  Jessica squeezed my arm, apparently misreading my distress. “Ander will be fine. So will your two guys. Besides, all three of them have reason to fight hard and get back here.”

  When I frowned, she added, “You. Niklas and Sambor aren’t going to let you go.”

  Well, she was wrong there. “Yes, they will. I’m not an Interstellar Bride. And I leave in less than two days. I told them from the beginning. I’m game for another night of fun, but then I’m going home. And this time the fun can’t start until after the ball’s over.” I didn’t want to offend her by ducking out of all the birthday party events.

  Rachel and Jessica exchanged looks. So did Mikki and Kristin. Caroline just stared at me with a growing smile on her face.

  “No way, girlfriend,” Caroline said. “No way.”

  “What? What am I missing?”

  “When Jessica said they’re not going to let you go, she means they’re going to keep you. Make you theirs,” Rachel clarified. “Put a collar on your neck.”

  “Claim you,” Linsdey added.

  My mouth fell open, my heart pounded in my chest and my hand flew to my bare neck, massaging the soft—and very unclaimed—skin. “No way. I’m just an unmated hairdresser.”

  Jessica turned as a woman came to join us. I recognized her only because she’d had the three Viken hotties trailing behind when I’d first seen her yesterday, and because she had red hair like me. It was Leah, queen of Viken. Three mates! Yet she was alone.

  Jessica stood and hugged her, then made introductions. I was thankful I wasn’t the only one who was new to her. She wore the traditional Viken dress, but her red hair was long down her back and she had no makeup on her face, not that she needed any. She was beautiful.

  “We were talking about Lucy’s new Prillon hotties.”

  Leah looked to me. “You’re mated to Prillons?” Her gaze dropped to my neck, and she frowned in obvious confusion.

  “Unmated,” I replied, as I took a sip of my water. “That’s me.”

  “She had a fling with two Prillon warriors last night,” Caroline clarified.

  “Answer this, oh Queen of Viken,” Jessica began, sounding all formal, although by the look on her face, she was amused. “A gorgeous redhead rocks two Prillons’ worlds last night. What are her chances of going back to The Colony?”

  “Alone? Or for a visit with a collar around her neck?” Leah asked.

  “Alone,” Jessica, Lindsey, Rachel and Caroline all said at the same time.

  “No chance.” Leah hadn’t even taken a second to think about her answer. Not. One. Second. And there was no hint of laughter in her gaze. No joking. No hope that she was having a bit of fun at my expense.

  “What?” I asked, stunned. Then I realized who I was talking to. “Sorry. I’m not sure if I should call you Your Majesty or what.”

  The queen cocked her head to the side. “If you call me that, I’ll be really pissed. I’m Leah to my friends, and that includes you.” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “Besides, we redheads have to stick together. I think you might be the only other ginger in twenty sectors. Even up in a bun like that, the curls are perfect. What do you use?”

  “Lucy’s a stylist,” Rachel said. “Did everyone’s hair and makeup last night for the party.”

  I rolled my eyes, plucked a wayward curl. “You wouldn’t know it by looking at me now.”

  Leah pursed her lips. “If you’re styling everyone for the ball tomorrow night, I want in. I wonder if the kings would like me with a nose ring.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. Leah was cool, and she did have crazy red hair like mine, although hers was sleek and styled and my curls were messy and tangled as if a guy had gripped it while he took me from behind. Which had happened. The fact that she wanted hair advice proved she was just being nice.

  “Those Prillons are going to want to keep you.” Leah said, going back to her original statement.

  The others nodded. Jessica, God help me, gave me a death glare. The queen of Prillon Prime was glaring at me like I’d done something wrong. “Prillon warriors, especially those two, don’t fuck around, Lucy. They don’t. If they took you to bed, I’d say there is a ninety-nine percent chance one or both of them had already decided to keep you before you left the party last night.”

  “What?” No. No way. “I tripped and fell during the line dance.”

  “Let me guess, one of them caught you before you even hit the floor.” Rachel’s smile seemed to be contagious, because everyone at the table was smiling but me.

  “Yes.”

  “Which one caught you?” Jessica asked, as she oh-so-innocently popped a piece of fruit into her mouth.

  “Nik.”

  “Oh, so it’s Nik already, is it? Not Lord Niklas? Or Ambassador Niklas? Or even his full name? It’s Nik?”

&n
bsp; “I…” I had no answer. It did seem a bit informal.

  Jessica kept at me. “Let me guess—you call Captain Sambor, one of the most decorated warriors on Prillon Prime and one of the most skilled assassins Nial has, just plain old Sam?”

  “Sam’s an assassin? I thought he was Nik’s bodyguard?”

  Queen Jessica raised a brow like I was a five-year-old who hadn’t done her homework. “Lord Niklas Lorvar has been serving as an ambassador for more than a decade. His cousin is a battlegroup commander. His family is ancient and highly respected. He does not mess around with every female that crosses his path. And Captain Sambor Treval? He’s adored by every Prillon warrior in the fleet. He’s practically a legend. He’s feared by our enemies. He’s taken down Rogue 5 leaders, smugglers, illegal weapons dealers and more Hive than I can count. The list of awards and military skills certifications after his name in the files is so long I stopped reading. He’s not just Ambassador Niklas’s bodyguard. He’s Niklas’s weapon. They’ve got the good cop–bad cop thing down to an art form. They’re not playthings, Lucy.”

  Great. Now I’d pissed off the queen of the planet. And this was not Las Vegas. Seemed what happened here might not stay here after all. And somehow I was the player? The jerk? The heartless asshole? Me? Back home I wouldn’t even squish a spider. I’d catch them and set them loose outside.

  Shit. I was in deep trouble. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I don't even know why they’d be interested in me then. A fling, sure. But forever? I do hair for a living.”