There’s too much riding on this little meet-and-greet to get anything wrong.

“Fine,” Billie says, then gestures at the males. “Now shoo, so we can get dressed.”

Ayro fixes her with a lascivious look, and she rolls her eyes when he licks his lips.

“Give us privacy,” I grit out.

Lyko is the first to obey, with Nydo bringing up the rear. “Ten minutes until you need to strap in for atmospheric reentry,” he says in a low voice.

His gaze skates across my face, and that familiar warmth dances across my skin. “You are stunning,” he finally says, and with that, he’s gone, leaving me cold in his absence.

“He’s into you,” Billie says, holding up a dress and handing it to Piper. “He wants to take you to pound town.”

“Of course he does,” I say, trying to play it off. My body is one hundred percent not trying to play it off. And I’m not completely sure if I can blame it on the stupid breeding hormones anymore.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

OceanofPDF.com

NYDO

I can’t tear my gaze away from her. What was our morning in space has turned to night on this planet, and she is a flaming star in the darkness.

Leigh. My queen.

She’s stunning in the black fabric, her thick red hair shining in the settlement firelight. The flames play off the gemstone-studded fabric underneath the high-slit skirt. There’s a thick, ropey scar that slides down her spine, but it only serves to heighten the warlike image she presents. Her features are striking and perfect without the traditional female Roth warpaint, but with it?

She is fantastic.

A dream come true.

I cannot wait to have her taste on my lips again, to feel her melt underneath me as she begs me for release.

Leigh’s nervous, though, and her fingers keep flitting to the plas rifle parts she’s strapped in covert places all over her body. The barrel on one thigh, a piece worn around her neck, another strapped to her ankle, and the plas energy barrel tucked away under her breasts.

My lip curls in a half-snarl as I remember the smooth, creamy skin there, the way her flesh felt between my teeth.

Nothing, though, was sweeter than her submission.

My king, she said. Of her own volition.

Roghat, the leader of this outpost and vocal critic of the Overlord, finally appears at the gates to the Roth settlement, and his dark eyes widen visibly as he takes in the three females with us.

His gaze falls on Leigh, and my entire body stiffens as his nostrils flare. Suddenly, I wish I hadn’t insisted on traditional Roth garb. I should have put a cloak around her, hidden her from view.

She is mine.

The air around me crackles, and Roghat tilts his head, as though gauging my worth, judging me, before finally inclining his head… just barely. His shoulder taps are perfunctory, not the demonstration of obeisance they should be.

I bare my teeth.

I should strike him down for that insolence alone.

Leigh’s cool fingers circle my wrist, and when I glance at her, her green eyes are troubled, her pretty mouth in a frown. “Cool your jets,” she hisses.

I blink.

“Calm the fuck down,” she continues. “You look like you’re ready to burn the whole place down. I didn’t put up with all this sludge on my face and you braiding my hair just for you to torch it. Let’s get in, get what we need, and get the fuck out.”

She purses her lips, putting her hands on her hips. My ferocious little queen. My flame.

“Fine,” I say grudgingly, and then, because I can, because she is mine, I tuck her hand into mine and drag her along beside me, smiling to myself at her small noises of irritation.

Lyko and Ayro follow along behind us, Piper and Billie at their sides.

“You must be the human mate we have heard so much about,” Roghat says. He stares at her in open appreciation, and I consider gouging his eyes out with fire and watching them melt.

Then Leigh nudges me, stepping into my side so that I may wrap my arm around her. I take a deep breath, and I inhale… her. It soothes me, the scent of her body, the smell of the perfumed shampoo I rubbed into her hair only hours ago.

She is mine.

Leigh’s small fingers glide over the small of my back, and I attempt to tamp down the urge to throw her over my shoulder and take her back to my quarters on our ship.

“The female is small. Are all human females as small as these three?” Roghat asks. “They look like one good fucking would break them in half.” He sneers.

Leigh draws herself up tall, and I force my rage into a smirk of my own. As much as I want to strike him down, she will handle this peon. That, I am sure of.

“We aren’t overgrown like the Roth, if that’s what you’re asking. But we have our own talents,” Leigh answers, that same imperious tone that she used with the tailor coloring her voice. It’s fucking perfect, and I drape my arm around her, squeezing her hip possessively.

“You certainly behave as though you are mated, though…” He sniffs, and I know he’s testing the air. “Though she does not wear the marks of a queen. Are you sure this… species is capable of breeding with us? It seems… unlikely, despite their fragile charms.”

“Is this how Roth greet their royalty?” Leigh snaps out, and when I glance down at her, her green eyes are bright with fury. Her hand, however, is clammy against the thin black material of my shirt. “With,” she pauses, her fingernails biting into my back, “insolence?”

“I—” Roghat starts, but Leigh holds up her hand.

“If I want to hear an excuse, I’ll let you know. What I want now is to eat and be treated with the respect I deserve, even if your little… settlement looks like something a medieval peasant would live in.” She sniffs. Her leg shakes slightly, and I pull her closer, scenting her fear.

I do not want Roghat to realize she is anything but the stern, self-possessed queen she pretends to be.

“I love it when you act like this,” I half-snarl at her. She blinks up at me in surprise as I tip her head back, pressing a searing kiss across her mouth.

What starts as a way to distract her turns into something else entirely as her arousal scent blossoms around us. Her fingers dig into my back, her mouth opening on a moan.

Gods, she tastes… I growl, and her tongue slides against mine, my own desire making me ache all over for her, my cock hard.

“Brother,” Ayro’s voice sounds amused. “We know of your obsession with the queen, but it is time to move on.”

She bites my lip and, too late, I remember her asking me not to kiss her on the mouth.

It is too bad that her defiant streak only makes me want to do it more.

I force my mouth away from Leigh, but not before I yank the back of her head to my ear.

“Well done, my mate,” I whisper.

The look she gives me is full of fire and fury, and she tosses her head before following me into the archaic-looking village the Roth sect leaders here prefer. A stone wall guards a bevy of houses, though from the looks of it, they are mostly empty.

I try to hide my disappointment.

Our species is dying, withering away under my uncle’s idiocy and warmongering, and for what reason?

Am I truly any better?

As Leigh saunters just ahead of me, her smooth skin tantalizing under the dark fabric of the Roth-style gown she wears, her head held high, I have to believe I am better.

For her, I will be better.

The Roth at the settlement gather close as we walk through the small array of buildings. They watch us with careful, hooded eyes, their heads bowed in the barest of respect. These are the males that would not bend the knee to the Overlord.

They are thin, their cheeks hollowed out and the circles under their eyes darker than they should be. They pound their shoulders in respect, their heads bowed slightly. They look… weak. But they are Roth, and the fight is in their blood.