And after the virus decimated our females, it has been many, many years indeed since that happened.

“She is my mate,” I insist, fire sparking to life along my skin. “She simply… does not understand that yet.”

Realization dawns on Lyko’s face, then Ayro’s, their eyes widening. Lyko frowns at me. “You mean to steal her away, like the Suevan gladiator did to his wife.”

“I mean to strike a bargain with the female,” I snarl back. “And any others you wish to bring.”

Lyko blinks at me, clearly unafraid of my temper. He knows better than most that I am all noise.

Mostly.

“What kind of bargain?” Ayro asks slowly.

“They will support our claim to rule the Roth. They will be proof that we can mate with other species. They will help us undermine the Roth Overlord and divert his troops, as the Suevans wish. And in return,” I pause, clearing my throat, preparing it for the lie. “We will tell them we plan to take them back to Earth… when we have accomplished our goals.”

“You would part with your mate? Willingly?” Ayro asks, disbelief etched in his brow.

“He would lie to her,” Lyko says. “Nydo has no intention of parting with the female.” His lip curls slightly. “I assume you think you can convince her to stay? To truly mate you, as a Roth female would?”

I nod once, familiar shame flooding me.

“And the other females? We are to have our pick of the unwed humans?” Lyko asks. “I would take the quiet, yellow-haired one. Piper. She has a sweet countenance.”

“The brown-haired, curvy one,” Ayro says instantly. “Billie, they call her.” He blows out a breath, his gaze avid on my face.

“When do we begin this lie?” Lyko narrows his eyes at me.

“Immediately. Prepare your ship for launch. I will convince and collect the human females, and we will make for the closest space station to gather what we need before beginning our campaign across the Roth settlements.” I stand, my fists on the table.

“You truly believe they will agree to this?” Lyko gestures to the jungle around us, the soaring trees that are so typical of Edrobaz. “You think they will willingly agree to come with us?”

“I do.” With a curt nod, I stride away, brimming with desire to get underway. To have Leigh with me.

I would lie to Leigh about everything to make her my true mate, my queen.

I will be king, and I will have my mate, and I would do anything to secure that outcome.

Anything at all.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TWO

OceanofPDF.com

LEIGH

I squirm, trying to ignore the heat rippling through me. The need that, no matter how often I freaking touch myself, will. Not. Stop. At least it distracts me from the medical instruments all around me. I sweat, reminded far too much of the prison I spent the last several months in, being poked and prodded by the Roth.

I make myself look away from the equipment and out the window.

Dappled sunlight spills through huge windows, the massive zitsu trees climbing towards the asteroid-studded sky overhead.

I suck in a breath, my heart beating like a runaway train.

This isn’t the prison. I’m safe here.

The medical center here on Edrobaz is nothing like the cell the Roth kept me and the remaining members of my crew in. At the mere memory of the Roth, of the time my team and I were kept in that small cell, waiting for the worst, sweat beads on my forehead, slicking down the small of my back.

I splay my palms on the examination table, and they leave steamy impressions on the cool surface.

Carmen, one of the few humans on Sueva and a competent med officer, watches me carefully, the other med officer, Tati, hustling around behind her. Unlike the three of us rescued from the Roth prison, the Earth Federation apparently sold them out as unwitting brides to the Suevans for tech. As such, they’re stuck here, knowing the Federation would ruin their lives if they tried to get back to Earth and tell the truth of what happened to them.

Earth. I want to go back so badly it’s like a physical pain.

“How are the side effects?” Carmen finally asks, looking up from the med scanner in her hand. “Still bothering you?”

“Side effecting,” I try to joke, but it falls flat.

She frowns, and I sigh.

“I am horny all the time, okay? It’s been what, a week and a half since they last dosed us with the fertility drugs, and I am on. Edge. Nothing makes a difference.” I swallow noisily, but honestly, I’m beyond embarrassment. “And by that I mean—"

She holds up a hand, cutting me off. “I get it. And I’m sorry. As far as I can tell, it may take months for that particular side effect to go away. Maybe less, maybe more.” She holds up a clear sheet full of tiny patches. “We do have birth control now, though. The hormones might take the edge off everything the Roth injected you with, and it will definitely keep you from getting pregnant, should you, uh, decide to, um…”

“I’m not having sex with anyone,” I nearly shout at her. Tati looks up from whatever she’s working on, surprise furrowing her brow at my screech. “The last thing I want is to dick around with an alien.” My temper seems to always be at the forefront lately.

All that testosterone they pumped me full of to increase my libido, I guess.

“Understood,” she says calmly, as though she’s often yelled at that alien dick is off the menu.

Hell, maybe she is. Here on Sueva, half the women are shacked up with the aliens they married, and the other half? Well, they live with me and the few of my remaining crew while we try to figure out what the hell we’re going to do next.

I tug on my ponytail, annoyed with myself.

“Any chance you’ve heard back on whether or not the warlords are going to let us get back to Earth?” I’ve been trying so freaking hard to get them to let us take a ship, to go with us, anything to get us back to Earth.

I don’t want to be stuck on this alien jungle hellhole. I don’t want to live out my days here being ogled by muscle-bound lizardmen.

I want to go home.

She shakes her head slowly, her face empathetic. “It’s too dangerous. You haven’t heard? The Roth Overlord is increasing his presence… everywhere. A ship to Earth would get all the wrong kind of attention. The last thing we want is for you to—”

“Get captured again,” I finish for her, my palms in the air in surrender. “Fuck.”

“I mean, there’s plenty of Suevans around here who would probably be willing to—”

“Are you kidding?” Seriously?! No alien dick for this human. Ugh.

I want to go home.

She smiles at me, then huffs a laugh. “Yeah, actually, I was. How are Piper and Billie doing? Are they waiting outside?”

“Yep,” I tell her. “And they haven’t said anything about needing to masturbate ten times a day, but I hope they don’t have it as bad as I do.”

“I’m sorry,” Carmen says, and she sounds like she means it.

I sigh. “It’s okay. I mean, as far as it goes, we got out. I’m not pregnant, no one physically hurt us. I shouldn’t even complain.”

“You’re allowed to feel whatever you feel,” Carmen says softly, going into full therapist mode. I stop just short of rolling my eyes. “You went through something very traumatic. It is going to come out sooner or later, and it would do you some good to talk it out. Feel what you need to feel.”

She hands me a packet of birth control patches and I sigh, taking them. The case clicks open and I count them, trying to collect my thoughts before peeling one off and slapping it on my arm.

Carmen stands there, a patient look on her face, and she seems like the kind of doctor that would actually offer helpful advice if I felt like opening up to her.

But I don’t. I don’t open up to anyone.