Chapter 6

KAMEER

I stand in the entryway of my temporary quarters aboard the Jansonna , awaiting the delivery of my mate. Impatience gnaws at my insides. I don’t like that I can’t retrieve Mandy myself, however I understand the captain’s desire to keep disturbances on the ship to a minimum.

If I were to show up at Mandy’s quarters on Deck Fifteen, would she put up a fight when I tried to take her? Judging by how boldly she’d announced she wouldn’t mate with a Darrvason, I suspect she might struggle and protest. She’d also seemed pleased that she wasn’t on the list.

How will she react once she realizes she’s being delivered to a Darrvason male’s quarters for the purposes of mating?

How will she react when she learns she’s no longer engaged to the ninety-two-year-old Founder?

Though I’m annoyed by the prospect of her harboring feelings for the elderly man, the information I found in Jansonna’s database indicates the engagement occurred shortly after the alliance between our people was announced. Mandy’s sister, likewise, also entered an engagement to an elderly Founder around the same time, though the sister’s fiancé died in his sleep fourteen days ago.

I suspect both engagements to Founders were arranged, likely by Mandy’s father, to keep his daughters safe. To keep them from having to mate with a Darrvason. What a pity his plan didn’t work out.

I’m not remorseful for what I’m doing. My need for the pretty, golden-haired female is so intense, I would commit a thousand brutal murders just to have her. I would eradicate any soul who stood in my way, no matter the cost.

Though I’ve been stationed on the Jansonna for twenty days and I’ve encountered numerous young human females during this time, Mandy is the only woman who’s incited my desires and caused my ancestral markings to tingle. The only woman who’s made my dual shafts harden and my scrotum vibrate.

I must have her.

At last, the doorbell chimes.

I stride forward and open the door. Mandy stands in a group of uniformed female morality officers, just as the captain promised, and I’m relieved to find her unharmed. A pleased growl rumbles from my chest. It appears she accompanied the officers willingly, though I doubt they revealed my quarters were the destination.

Mandy gasps, her eyes go wide, and she starts backing away. “No, no, no,” she says.

“I’m sorry,” a morality officer whispers. “We had no choice. We were instructed to deliver you to Chief Kameer, your new Darrvason mate. Captain Warren’s orders.”

“Come inside, Mandy.” I step closer and grasp her arm, only for her to push at my chest and attempt escape.

When she draws in a quick breath, as though preparing to scream, I clamp a hand over her mouth and force her inside my quarters.

Without a word to the wide-eyed morality officers who just delivered her to her fate, I close and lock the door, all while keeping a firm hold on my mate as she puts up a valiant struggle.

Having her in my arms feels right. Perfect.

I toss her small, flailing form over my shoulder and stalk to the bedroom. Then I deposit her on the bed and turn to secure the bedroom door as well.

There’s no escape for her.

I intend for us to consummate our union tonight, and it’s my hope that the heartbond will start forming between us soon. The fact that my ancestral markings tingle in her presence makes me think the bond will be quick to form, and the sooner it forms between us, the better.

A heartbond will allow us to sense one another’s emotions and even hear one another’s thoughts. It’s the ultimate intimacy. But aside from intimacy, I believe the bond will help her become more comfortable in my presence. At the moment, she’s trembling and looks utterly terrified, though I cannot fault her for it.

Not wanting any interruptions, I spare a moment to transfer the rest of Captain Warren’s money to his account. There. The deal is done. Mandy officially belongs to me.

“You!” She jumps off the bed and puts as much space between us as possible. I stand in the center of the room, watching her, drinking in the loveliness that is my soon-to-be mate. “Stay away from me!” she says in a voice high with emotion.

“Stay away from you?” I take a few steps closer. “I think not. You’re my mate, Mandy, and I intend to claim you. Tonight.”

“ How? ” She wraps her arms around her center and backs against the wall. “I’m not on the list, and even so, the final two thousand human females aren’t supposed to be given to your people until after we reach planet 58-Zallnanis. How can you legally claim me as your mate? And what the hell does Captain Warren have to do with it? Did he actually order me to be delivered to you?”

Despite her fear and her fervent protestations, the scent of her excitement hits me, a wave of sweet pungency that fills my lungs with every deep breath I take.

Fluxxing delicious.

Slowly, with careful steps, I round the bed and approach my skittish bride. She tries to back into the wall further, but there’s nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. She’ll never escape me. I would chase her to the ends of the known universe and beyond.

I sit on the bed facing her, and she remains glued to the wall. Despite my agonizing need for her, despite my right to claim her as mine at this very moment, I find myself experiencing a spasm of doubt. I don’t want her to despise me, or to fear me. Perhaps a healthy level of fear, the knowledge that she must always obey me or suffer the consequences, but overall, I want her to feel safe in my presence. I want her to believe she can depend upon me.

Fluxx . Am I going about this all wrong?

I give myself a mental shake. There’s no going back. I already paid for her. I already made a deal with the captain. All I can do is forge ahead and hope for the best.

All I can do is pray that the heartbond forms between us quickly and that it’ll help foster understanding and companionship in our mating union.

I ponder how I might best answer her questions, but in the end, I decide full transparency is best, even if it causes her fright to deepen. I hold her gaze, knowing she will eventually learn the depth of my possessiveness for her and the lengths I’ve gone to in order to secure her as my mate. The heartbond, when it finishes forming, will reveal all truths anyway.

And so, I prepare to speak freely to this human female I can’t claim to know even remotely well. She’s a mystery to me, a total stranger, yet I know she’s destined to be mine. I can feel it in the depths of my soul.

“When I saw you at the salon earlier, Mandy, it took all my willpower not to steal away with you and carry you back to my quarters. Fluxx , I wanted to rut you on the spot.” I inhale deeply and pat the space beside me. “Will you sit next to me while I explain how I managed to legally acquire you?”

“Not a chance in hell.”

I study the strange attire she’s wearing, then realize it must be the clothing she wears to bed. The pants and long-sleeve shirt look soft and comfortable, though I intend to break her of the habit of wearing nightclothes. When she’s next to me under the covers, I want her fully naked. My flesh to her flesh, two bodies entwined as one.

“Suit yourself, pretty human,” I finally say. “However, I won’t allow you to cower against the wall all night.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I’m not cowering.”

“Ah, but you’re trembling, and you’re too scared to come near me.”

She pushes off the wall and scowls, her hands fisted at her sides. “How dare you kidnap me and then mock me for being afraid? How would you feel if a horrid beastly creature four times your size trapped you in a room with him?”

“A horrid beastly creature?” I fight a chuckle as I brush a piece of lint off my shirt. My dual cocks are raging hard from this interplay between us. Fluxx , I want to strip her nightclothes off, bend her over the bed, and drive home between her thighs. “You would do well to remember that this horrid beastly creature is about to become your mate. I highly recommend keeping your insults to a minimum, lest you provoke my wrath.”

She continues glaring, but she doesn’t hurl any further slurs my way. She takes a long, slow breath and blinks rapidly against a sudden sheen of tears that unsettles me more than I would care to admit. “Please tell me how you legally acquired me,” she eventually says in a much more subdued tone.

“As I have already explained, pretty human. I saw you, and I wanted you. My ancestral markings started tingling when I first encountered you,” I say as I touch my chest where the markings rest beneath my shirt, “and while I spoke to you at the salon, I could sense your fear but also your arousal. I could smell the slickness gathering between your thighs, and fluxx how it beckoned me. I knew then that I must have you as mine, so I made a deal with Captain Warren.”

“What kind of a deal?” She clenches her jaw and appears to be holding her breath now, clearly anxious for me to reveal the final details.

“ Officially , you’re a gift to me, a reward from Captain Warren for my service on the Jansonna . Unofficially , I paid for you, Mandy. I bought you. I offered the captain an outrageous sum that he couldn’t refuse. I transmitted the funds to his account, we signed a secret contract, and he promised to have you delivered to my quarters this evening. Now here we are. Just the two of us. Alone at last.”

She pales, backs against the wall, and slides to the floor. Her eyes remain wide with shock. “How can this be legal? I’m not on the list. And you can’t just buy a person. And we haven’t even reached 58-Z yet. The alliance…” Her voice trails off and she lifts a shaking hand to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear.

“Under certain circumstances, human females who aren’t on the lists can be acquired by Darrvason males and kept as mates. The older women, the mothers of the younger females on the lists, for example, who willingly offer themselves to Darrvason engineers so they might live among my people and remain close to their daughters. Also, there are a few other instances that you perhaps don’t know about,” I say, thinking about Officer Brute and even Doctor Zahhn, both of whom acquired their mates through unique avenues. “I read the terms of the alliance carefully and realized there was a loophole. Furthermore, the captain of the Jansonna has legal rights over all citizens of the worldship. Jansonna’s constitution states that for the good of the ship, the captain may sell or trade his subjects at his discretion.”

“This can’t be happening.” She peers up at me, still pale, still trembling. “Please, please let me go. I don’t want to become your mate.”

Slowly, I slide off the bed and join her on the floor. I settle beside her, so close our legs touch. Though her body remains tense, she doesn’t attempt to move away. A look of fearful resignation crosses her face.

I place a hand on her thigh, and a growl builds in my throat as the scent of her excitement heightens in the air. I adore her responses to me, though I suspect she doesn’t yet understand why she’s becoming slick between her thighs.

Is her pussy aching to be filled up? It’s my understanding that a human female only possesses one pussy, unlike Darrvason females who have two, but I rather like the idea of thrusting into her with my hard appendages one after the other, until I’ve spurted inside her with each, filling her with my seed and coating her in my scent.

I smooth my hand down her thigh, then force her legs to part slightly. The aroma of her need becomes so strong I can almost taste it on my tongue. Fluxx , I cannot wait to feast on her pussy. I cannot wait to make her shiver with pleasure.

I reach for her chin and force her to meet my gaze. Her dark brown eyes are flecked with gold. Beautiful. So beautiful.

“I’ll never let you go, pretty human. You belong to me now.”