Ginny

GINNY

I don't want to accept Asteron's apology, but with the two-tailed cat purring around my neck, its soft fur tickling my ears, and with it being the first time I've even held something which could be described as a pet, I don't exactly want to storm off.

Perhaps he deserves the benefit of the doubt. He did bring me to his beautiful place which I think he's also just gifted me—I was seething too much to pay any attention.

Perhaps I will get the truth this time. But if that's the case, he needs to know about me. I hold up a hand as he takes a breath.

"I'm not royalty, not even close to it. My parents and sister died when the sister ship to the one I was on suffered a catastrophic engine failure and imploded shortly after everyone boarded. I got separated from them in the crowds leaving our country and planet, and I ended up on the wrong ship," I say in almost one breath. "I've been surviving by doing one of the worst jobs on the Britannia . Right up until I caught my boss selling all our supplies to the Habosu. Luckily, rather than have me killed, he gave me a ticket to the Starlight Bride Lottery and here I am."

I run my hand through the silky fur of the gerecat and close my eyes, hating the tears which prick at my eyelids because crying isn't going to help anything.

"The Habosu?" Asteron growls. "You were being threatened by the Habosu?"

I open my eyes. Asteron looks like he's grown in size and bulk. His horns dip, snout pressed to his chest.

"Not specifically, although I'm pretty sure my boss would have given me to them if he could, but they're taking supplies from our ship, and most of us didn't have enough to eat as it was. They need to be stopped."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Asteron growls.

My stomach clenches in the face of his obvious ire.

"There's plenty of things you haven't told me either," I retort, but I don't feel angry, not anymore. "Things which apparently put me in danger."

Asteron shakes his head slowly. I do my best to keep my breathing even, concentrating on the purring cat around my shoulders.

"I have been blinded by my love for you, my mate," he says.

My heart stops.

"Love?" I stumble over the word. "I thought I was just for breeding. I didn't think you liked me much."

Instantly, Asteron has me in his arms.

"You are my fate, . I don't know how Starlight Brides did it, but they found me my fated mate. You. Of course I love you. How could I not?"

"It's been a nova-week, Asteron. You can't love me." I squirm in his arms, but the cat around my shoulders continues to purr and refuses to leave.

"I can and I do. This is how fate is, and I will never deny it, not after what happened to my mother…"

His voice trails off, as if he's told me too much.

"Go on," I urge him, glaring up at his pensive face.

"She found her fated mate. It wasn't my father. She was promised to him, and she kept her promise," he says dully. "She was never happy, and my father knew it. He hated her for it. He hated fate because it did not touch him."

The pain in his voice jars me. I didn't expect any of this. If I thought things were complicated before, I have an alien minotaur husband who is devoted to fate and who is an orphan, just like me.

"What happened?" My voice is a whisper.

"She died. He did not, not for a long time." Asteron meets my gaze. His eyes are hard. "And when he did, he left a planet in turmoil. Warring clans, clans which do not want a monarchy anymore, species like the Habosu which have been given free reign to exploit our natural resources. So much danger, to me, to you. To Xnos as an entity."

If I thought leaving Britannia would solve my imminent death problem, it seems I might have been premature. If I thought there was any possibility I could assist my fellows on Britannia , that idea is also rapidly fading.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

"So, why find a bride?" I say, attempting to keep my voice even but wondering why Asteron wanted to bring anyone else into this situation, even if it did mean I didn't die.

"Marriage and young are evidence of a strong monarch. It would show the clans I was serious about leading them." Asteron sighs. "But to find my fated one…it was something I never expected."

His lips brush mine. I don't want to react. I don't want to want him in the visceral way my body reacts to him.

"You have made the stars align, my queen. You have brought all my thoughts together, and I know I have to rule this planet in order to ensure your safety," he murmurs. "And that of the young you will carry for me."

I tip my head back to allow him access to my neck as the cat slips from me and stalks away, tails lashing. Asteron's tongue laps over my skin and I know I'm gone.

"What about the humans on Britannia ? If the Habosu are allowed to continue to exploit their resources, millions will starve."

"I'll see to it, little queen. But first I need to breed you because I want you plump and round, ready to burst, by the time we return to my palace, and it means we need to get you filled with Xnosson seed," he murmurs over my skin.

I should be protesting, I should be telling him we have a million other things to be doing, but the way his cock presses into me through his clothing and mine, the way my legs are already wet with the slick from my pussy, means we're not going anywhere or doing anything until both of us are satisfied.

"Take me to your stall." I nibble on Asteron's shoulder. "And fill me up."