Chapter 5

five

. . .

Lottie

Something cold and wet swipes across my face, rudely ripping me from unconsciousness. I wrench away from the attack, only to have my whole body protest with bone-deep aches. What the hell?

A high-pitched yap makes me wince and I peek open one eye to find the damn dog in my face. "Go away," I hiss at it, but it just sits down, tail wagging, tongue hanging out.

A grumble sounds behind me and thick blue arms draw me tighter against a hard body–Thundar.

I hate to admit it, but it feels nice. His big body surrounds me, but he doesn't give off much heat, so it's actually the perfect temperature against my skin. His hair, which seems to have a life of its own, is soft and caressing against my skin, covering me like a makeshift blanket.

Memories of that hair flash through my mind. The way it touched me, gripped me, held me. It seemed to know exactly what would wring the most pleasure out of me and then turned the intensity up to max.

But it wasn't just his hair, it was his… everything. He knew just how to touch me, when to go hard, when to go soft, what would drive me out of my mind with lust. We fucked for what must've been hours. Again and again, with barely any time in between to recover.

Apparently, Aysgarthian males have non-existent refractory periods.

I've never had such good sex in my life. I've never had so much sex in such a short time span either. I'm still wet between my legs from our endless orgasms, and even then, my pussy clenches at the thought of getting his cock inside me again.

That's not normal, right? I shouldn't want him this much, should I?

He abducted me. Plucked me right out of my very normal life and carried me away on this spaceship. I should hate him. I should be afraid of him. I should be fighting him. Not fucking him. Not liking every moment of the fucking so very much.

Jesus. What's wrong with me?

"I can hear you thinking. Do all humans think so loudly?" Thunder's voice is even more gravelly than usual, a soothing rumble against my back.

I scoff. "You can't hear thoughts. Er, unless you're telepathic. Are you telepathic?" I wriggle around in his arms until I'm facing him.

"No," he says with a sleepy smile. "Aysgarthians are not telepathic. Though there are times when that skill would be very useful."

"I can imagine."

He blinks his long, white lashes. They compliment his sapphire eyes so beautifully. Eyes that were so hard and unyielding when he first stalked through the door, but now seem warm and almost affectionate. How is that possible? He doesn't know me any more than I know him. Unless…

"Why me?" I ask. "Of all the planets in the galaxy and all the women on Earth, why did you abduct me?"

A furrow appears in his brow and he shifts to give us a little more breathing room. "Liberate, not abduct."

I roll my eyes. "Liberate. Don't get me started. Whatever. Just answer the question. Why me?"

"Because you are Princess Alexandra."

I freeze. Oh, right, he thinks he abducted Alexandra, the crown princess of the British royal family. Not Lottie, the princess' personal assistant who is heir apparent to… absolutely nothing at all.

I pull away from him, and after a moment's hesitation, he lets me go. Scrambling off the bed, I grab my discarded robe from the floor and pull it back on. The stain on the front reminds me of how easily I put out for Thundar, but there's nothing else in this godforsaken room for me to wear.

The dog sniffs at the spot I just vacated, then promptly cuddles up against Thundar's chest. I don't blame the creature, it's a damn nice place to be. Thundar runs his fingers through the dog's fur a few times before propping himself up on an elbow. He raises one knee, planting the foot on the mattress, making no effort to cover himself. Even soft, his cock is like a freaking snake between his legs.

"Alexandra?"

I grimace. I can't keep letting him call me that, but what will happen if he finds out I'm not actually the princess he wants? Will he have his people kill me? Turn me into a slave? Will they go back for the real Alexandra? No, I can't let that happen either.

"Lottie." My name bursts from my lips before I can stop myself. "Call me Lottie. It's what my family calls me."

"Lottie," he repeats, as if trying the name out for the first time. He nods once. "I like it. It suits you."

Well, thank god for that. But he still hasn't answered my question.

"There are other princesses, you know," I say, bringing us back on topic. "On Earth, I mean. And probably on other planets too."

As if I'm talking about other planets when a few hours ago I didn't know there was life outside Earth. I mean, I didn't know there wasn't life outside Earth, but I couldn't have imagined anything close to this.

His expression darkens into that glower that was so intimidating the first time I saw it. It still makes my heart beat a little harder, but strangely, not with fear. With want and heat and desire. I pull the two sides of my robe a little tighter around myself, shoving my reaction away. We can have more sex later. Right now I want answers.

"Yes, there are. But no one has ever liberated a bride from Earth before. I need a bride with enough standing to impress the royal council. If they don't approve my coronation, the crown will pass to my cousin Dallvor." He sneers at the last part.

"I take it you're not a fan of Cousin Dallvor?"

Thundar huffs. "Dallvor is an antiquated brute."

Look who's talking.

"He would take Aysgoth back to the primal times when we were little more than animals."

I have a hard time imagining how a people could get more primal than the Aysgarthians already are. Thundar's the crown prince and he walks around in a loincloth and eats with his hands. They don't even use napkins! But I keep that to myself. No point in antagonizing the guy when he's already getting worked up about Cousin Dallvor.

Thundar rises from the bed, not even a tiny bit bothered by his dick swinging out in the open. The dog doesn't move, watching Thundar from his spot on the bed.

"Aysgoth has a bit of a… reputation." His hair flies out behind him, channeling his emotions. "We're barbarians by heritage, but that doesn't mean we must act like it. Not all disputes need to be settled by battle. Not all boys need to undergo warrior training. Not all women need to stay in the homestead, tending the children and warming our beds. Even this!" He gestures at me. "Marriage! Liberating brides! It's such an archaic way to structure our society. We'll never evolve as a species if we adhere so rigidly to our rituals."

Okay. He's upset. His voice is raised, his hands are waving through the air, and his hair is a freaking tornado around his head.

But he's so very fucking hot right now.

A big, muscular, manly man ranting about progress, equal rights, and social justice? My pussy is dripping. I clamp my legs together as a shudder runs through me. A little whimper escapes my throat.

Thundar's head snaps around and his gaze immediately heats as he takes me in. "You're aroused."

His head cocks as if this is confounding. "But all I've been doing is…" He stands up straighter, like he's putting two and two together. "You agree with what I've said. You find it… attractive?"

I gulp. "Maybe." The word comes out too husky to be convincing.

A slow, knowing smile spreads across Thundar's face. "Only maybe? Are you certain?"

"No," I admit, giving in to the desire coursing through me.

He comes to me, crowding into my personal space, and runs the back of his hand down my cheek. I lean into the touch, wanting his hands all over me again, wanting his hair to cover my skin.

A strange sound at the far side of the room makes me jump. The dog springs to all fours and growls at it too. But it's just the service hatch where food gets passed to us. Thundar gives me another devastating smile before turning toward the hatch.

"Come, let's see what provisions they've prepared for us this time."

My stomach rumbles in anticipation. If it's anything like the fruit they gave us yesterday, I'd eat the whole damn tray myself.

Thundar brings the food to the bed, setting it between us. He scoops up the dog and drops him to the floor, then takes one of the smaller bowls and sets it down in front of him. The dog happily starts chowing down on whatever passes for dog food for these aliens.

I'm really going to have to give the damn thing a name.

The rest of the food tray is filled with more of the red berries and the dragon fruit, plus two plates of what looks like roasted chicken and root vegetables.

"Phalanx and moon-grown legumes. We need all the nutrition to keep up our strength." He picks up a leg of phalanx and hands it to me.

With no utensils in sight, I take it and carefully bite into the meat. Flavor bursts on my tongue, fragrant and rich. It kind of tastes like chicken, but like, the best chicken I've ever tasted in my life. I take another bite, then another. When there's nothing left but bone, I drop it on the plate and grab another.

Thundar chuckles as he watches me eat.

"What?" I say around a mouthful of food. "I'm hungry."

"No. Nothing." He takes a short pause, his intense gaze sending shivers down my spine but he seems to remember himself and smiles. "By all means. Satiate yourself. If it's not enough, I'll ask for more." He takes his own leg of phalanx and nibbles on it much more sedately than I do.

I'm not sure what's gotten into me. I'm hungry, sure, who wouldn't be after all that sex? But I'm not usually this ravenous, so famished that I'm tearing into the food like a, like a… a barbarian.

I pause, lips wrapped around my third leg of phalanx. Carefully, I take a bite, chew thoroughly, and swallow. Then I take a small sip of the sweet brown liquid that Thundar calls mylk.

"There's…" Shoot, how do I ask this without sounding accusing? Wait, why do I care if I sound accusing at all? "There isn't anything in this, is there?"

Thundar cocks an eyebrow. "In what?"

"The food. There aren't any drugs or anything in it, right?"

Thundar glances down at the tray, then back up at me. "There are spices to enhance the flavor."

Right. Of course. Spices are normal. I'm just being paranoid. Who says barbarians can't have a sophisticated palate?

"And of course the aphrodisiacs."

I stare at him. "The what?"

"The aphrodisiacs," he says, completely nonchalantly. Like fucking aphrodisiacs are a normal fucking spice to be added to fucking food.

Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick. I drop the leg onto the tray as my stomach lurches.

"They put aphrodisiacs in the food?!" I shout, jumping to my feet.

"Naturally. How else could we drak for such an extended period of time without rest?"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Thundar stands and approaches me, obviously clueless about why I'm upset. "No, I can assure you, I am not kidding."

"You've just been going on and on about equal rights and foregoing traditions, and you think it's okay to fucking drug me?" I poke my finger at his very muscular, very chiseled chest. "How is that progress? How is that informed consent? Huh? Tell me."

Thundar looks genuinely stumped. How can he not see the problem with this? For all his flowery words about wanting to improve his planet, he's just like any other politician, all talk.

"I told you we were in the intimacy interlude," he says, as if that's any explanation.

I throw my hands in the air. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Aphrodisiacs are needed to maintain stamina. Are you telling me that humans can drak for half a sun rotation without any supplementary assistance?"

"Of course not!" I shout in his face.

"Then what's the problem?" He shouts back.

The dog starts barking at the top of its tiny little lungs.

"Because I didn't know I was being fed ‘supplementary assistance'!" I make air quotes with my fingers and add a snarky note to those last two words.

"Well, now you do!"

"Shut up!" I yell at the dog at the same time Thundar yells, "Be quiet!"

Both panting, we stare at each other, barely an inch apart. My heart hammers in my chest, blood rushing through my veins. Heat spreads through me and my clit throbs, all tender and swollen.

It's the aphrodisiacs. It's not real. I don't really want him as much as my body seems to think.

But god, he's so wide and he smells so good. His hair ghosts over my skin, making me tingle all over. His eyes burn bright, searing through me and making my pussy clench.

I don't want him. I don't. Except I really fucking want him.

So I slam my mouth over his and I take him.