Claimed Page 19

“Or nothing,” I remind him, kissing him again as my naked skin meets his and I gasp softly, feeling his hard cock brush against my stomach as he unties his loincloth.

  I glance behind me at the bed, but Tordax has other plans. He picks me up, my legs wrapping around his waist as he carries me toward the pool, which is freshly filled with cool water, the blue mosaic tiles glimmering in the sunlight coming down from the skylight in the ceiling.

  He gently deposits me in the water, sliding down to join me in the pool. We both sigh with pleasure, the cool water a blissful sensation after the dry heat outside. Without a word he reaches for a cloth and the soap next to the pool, dipping them in the water as he begins to gently run the soft cloth over my skin.

  The soap smells of honey and almond, and I shiver as he bathes me, each touch a soft, loving caress as the soap and water wash away the dirt and grime of the last day’s travels. He reaches for the pitcher by the pool, dipping it into the water and turning me as I lean back, the water sluicing over my hair as he lathers it and washes it clean until it hangs, heavy and silky around my face, clinging to my neck.

  “My turn,” I whisper.

  Then I do the same for him. I run my hands over every inch of his body, enjoying the sound of him groaning with pleasure as I scrub him too, the sweet scent of the soap mixing with the smell of his skin. As I wash him clean, I lean forward and press my lips to his neck, breathing him in with each kiss pressed to his damp flesh.

  I reach down, my hand sliding over his abdomen as I find what I’m looking for—the rigid length of his cock lurching up into my palm as he groans. I press my mouth harder against his neck, softly sucking on the flesh there as I begin to stroke him, enjoying the feeling of his hot, hard length in my hand beneath the cool water.

  “Rose.” My name on his lips is like a prayer.

  He turns then, his cock pressing hard against my stomach as he tangles his hands in my wet hair, pulling my mouth against his. I sigh, arching against him as he reaches for my waist, not breaking the kiss as my legs wrap around his hips, and I feel him nudge between my legs, aching to be inside of me.

  I want it too. I rock my hips against him and he reaches between us, the tip of him sliding into me, and he groans as he feels me envelop him, hot and slick with desire.

  His hips thrust forward as he grasps my ass, pulling me down onto him so that he’s buried entirely within me.

  Fuck. I let out a breathy gasp. So deep.

  Tordax’s tongue plunges into my mouth as he holds me there against him, the two of us joined together. And then he steps forward, settling me onto a small ledge in the pool, and he breaks the kiss so that he can look down at me, gripping the side of the pool as he begins to thrust.

  I hold on to him, my hands on his shoulders as my legs tighten around him, and I watch his face, enjoying the expression there as he keeps his eyes fixed on mine. I love watching him as he slides himself into me, seeing the pleasure etched on every line of his face as he struggles to hold himself back, to not let go too soon.

  This man is mine.

  I can hardly believe it as I look at him.

  Here we are, a million miles away from anything I ever knew, and yet I’ve never belonged anywhere so much as I do here with him, on this unknown world, making love in a rented room in a strange city.

  This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life..

  He kisses me again, his lips hungrily devouring mine as he thrusts into me with hard strokes. Pleasure spirals higher inside me as he reaches between us with one hand, his fingers sliding over my aching flesh.

  Every touch of his finger and stroke of his cock within me brings me closer and closer to bliss. I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him tightly against me as I moan softly, my breathing coming faster and faster as I feel it start to overtake me.

  My body trembles with pleasure as he gasps against my mouth, his hand pressed between our bodies.

  And then we both fall over the edge.

  His orgasm overtakes him at the same moment that mine does, a harsh groan spilling from his lips. He throbs within me, his body convulsing and sending the water splashing in waves around us as he pins me down on the ledge, all of his hard, muscled body tightly pressed against mine.

  For a moment, only our harsh breathing and the soft lapping of the water fills the room.

  Neither of us can speak as we slip apart, and he doesn’t let go of me at first, his forehead pressed to mine as we try to catch our breath.

  “I love you,” he whispers, his hand sliding over my cheek. “Always, my Rose. Wherever we are.”

  “And I love you.” My heart flutters in my chest as I stay there in the circle of his arms.

  I never knew I could feel so safe anywhere, so loved or cherished.

  If this is the start of the rest of my life, I can’t think of anything better.

  The next day, Tordax goes off to fight with his men for the first time. I know he can see the fear in my eyes, but I try to push it down. I don’t want him to go out to the arena worried about me.

  “I could come and watch you,” I offer, but he shakes his head.

  “You’re too distracting,” he tells me, and the look that he gives me is evidence of that. I’m dressed in one of the outfits we purchased in the market, and it’s the first time he’s seen me wearing anything other than the ship’s crew gear that I’ve had on for the last month or so. When I slipped the silky red dress on and tied it around my waist, the expression on his face was enough to make me think he was going to pick me up and carry me straight back to bed.

  He almost did. But he’s due to meet his men, and the look in his eyes is regretful when he kisses me one more time, his palm on my cheek as his thumb strokes over my cheekbone.

  “Just come back,” I whisper, capturing his face in my hands to kiss him again and again. “Be safe, please.”

  “I will, my Irisa.” His voice is strong and full of conviction as he looks down at me. “I have everything to live for now. I’ll come back safe and sound. And then…”

  His eyes sweep over me, settling on the thin strip of cleavage that shows in the drape of the fabric over my chest. Heat flares within me at the promise in his voice.

  I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him one last time, trying to pour every bit of love and desire that I have for him into the connection of our lips so that he can carry it with him into the arena. He grasps my waist, pulling me against him, and I can feel his breath quicken, feel him growing hard against my thigh as his hands slide down to the curve of my ass.

  “Krax,” he whispers, his voice hoarse. “If I don’t go now…”

  I moan softly against his lips, knowing I shouldn’t egg him on like this. But I can’t help it. The feeling of him hard against me, the grip of his hands on me… I want him to take me back to bed now.

  “We don’t need money,” I mumble. “Or a ship. We can just stay here. Stay in bed forever.”

  He laughs, pulling away. “But I promised to show you Kalix, love, and I always keep my vows. I’ll see you soon, my Irisa.” He grins at me, his gaze raking over me once more before he turns to leave.

  “I love you,” I call after him, and he repeats the words back to me before the door shuts behind him.

  Chewing my lip, I sit on the edge of the bed, my heart in my throat as I hear his footsteps recede down the hall. I know this is something that I have to get used to, but I didn’t realize how hard it would be.

  The idea of him fighting is terrifying, although I know that the intent of the matches in the fight rings isn’t to kill. People come to bet on the victor, and although they want a good show, they don’t come to witness a death match.

  But still. He could be injured…

  I shake the thought away. I’ve seen Tordax fight; no one is his equal. And while he’s gone, I have things I need to do.

  It’s short work to find Osynth in the small medical lab that he’s set up in one of our rented rooms. He turns to look at me as I enter, his kin
d eyes widening as he sees me.

  “Are you all right, Rose?” He cocks his head, a concerned expression crossing his face. “Are you feeling ill?”

  “Not ill, exactly,” I say, pressing my lips together. “I need a test.”

  He frowns. “A test?”

  “For…” My breath catches in my throat as I try to say it. “For pregnancy.”

  Osynth’s entire face lights up. “You think you’re pregnant?” His voice is reverent as he says it, and I realize all over again what this will mean for the Kalixians if it’s true.

  “I don’t know,” I whisper. “But I think it’s possible. I’ve been queasy more often than usual lately, and I… I just feel different.”

  “How long since you bled?”

  “I’m over a week late.” I bite my lower lip.

  “Well, there’s only one way to find out.” He gestures toward the chair near his desk. “I’ll take a blood sample.”

  Ugh. I hate needles. But I’m willing to bear the slight prick of pain for the answers I crave. I look away as he inserts it into my arm, thinking of Tordax, imagining the expression on his face if it’s true.

  My fears about being a mother haven’t gone away, but if there is a future where Tordax and I have a child… I want to have that future.

  It’s only a matter of minutes before the test results come back. Osynth turns to me, the expression on his face telling me all I need to know.

  “I didn’t think it was possible,” he murmurs. “But it’s true. You’re with child.”

  My heart feels as if it might burst out of my chest. My jaw drops as I look down at the result he holds in his hand, and tears spring to my eyes. “A baby,” I whisper, and Osynth nods.

  “You’re a little over three weeks pregnant.”

  I can feel the nerves, the worry fluttering in my stomach, but above it all is excitement. Joy.

  When Tordax comes back, I’ll be able to give him the news he wants most. He’ll know that his people will live on, that he’ll be a father, all because of the accident of fate that brought us together.

  It overwhelms me, and I sink back into the chair, my eyes closing briefly as happy tears slide down my face.

  I never could’ve imagined I would end up crossing a galaxy to find everything I ever wanted.

  But I did.

  I have.

  And now I can give a part of that gift back to Tordax.

  Epilogue

  Harper

  God, this place stinks.

  I wrinkle my nose as I walk through the marketplace, my stride swift and purposeful.

  That’s not strictly true, of course. Not everything here stinks. Some of the food stands smell delectable, the spices and savory scents wafting through the air enough to make my mouth water.

  I shake my head to banish that thought. I don’t want to think anything good about this place, anything positive. I don’t belong here, any more than I belonged on that alien spaceship, or on the planet the Kalixians were taking us to before we crash landed here.

  I belong back on earth, in my home. In the life I had before this ridiculous nightmare started.

  That fact doesn’t stop me from being amazed at the circumstances that led me here, of course. No one could be completely unfazed by this. A month ago, I had no idea that aliens existed, or that other habitable planets were plentiful throughout the universe. I’ve traveled farther than I ever could’ve dreamed and seen things that have left me awestruck… all because of that goddamned abduction.

  If I hadn’t been snatched from earth, I never would’ve known about all of this.

  But that doesn’t change the fact that I want to go home.

  Some of the other women seem happy enough to tag along with the barbarians who rescued us from the Orkun, even to go back to their planet. I’ve heard whispers among the ladies, especially after it became clear that Rose was fucking the Kalixians’ leader, that they were hoping some of the warriors might want them too.

  I suppose it’s understandable. Most of these women came from shitty situations on earth, and these men can certainly protect them. And they’re not hard on the eyes either.

  And after what Rose told us about our government leaders’ arrangement with the Orkun, how they essentially sold us as sex slaves, I can’t blame anyone for losing a little faith in the human race.

  But that betrayal is exactly why I want to go back.

  I want to find out who did this, who had the gall to fuck me over, to betray me and sell me to an alien race that wanted to do horrible things to me. I’ve lost everything—my job as a CEO, my friends, everything I had, everything I built for myself on earth. I worked hard for everything I had, and someone has taken it away from me.

  Fuck, no. I won’t stand for that. Whatever ass-wipe in the government dared to sanction this bullshit, they won’t get away with it. I intend to see to that. I won’t let this happen to anyone else.

  I’m so lost in my thoughts that I’ve tuned out everything around me, but as I turn a corner, I’m startled out of my mental diatribe by a strong hand on my elbow.

  My heart jumps. I whirl around as the hand tightens and see Malav standing in front of me, his brow creased in a heavy frown.

  Shit.

  This isn’t my first run-in with this particular warrior. He and I clashed many times on the ship, usually over my being somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be and insisting that he couldn’t tell me what to do. His response was always that as the second-in-command to Tordax, he most certainly could.

  But he’s not in charge of me. I’m not part of his Alpha Force, and I’m not about to be ordered around by an alien. I thought I made that clear, but apparently not.

  “You shouldn’t be wandering the streets alone,” he tells me in that deep, strangely accented voice. It’s a good accent, one that sends shivers down my spine whenever he speaks, although I’m good at ignoring it. At pretending I don’t feel it. “It’s not safe,” he continues. “Come back with me.”

  He tugs at my elbow and starts walking me back down the road the way I came, toward the rented apartments where we’re all living while the men fight to earn money for a ship.

  “Hey! Let me go!” I snap, trying to wriggle free, but there’s no chance of that. He ignores me, marching me back in the direction of the apartments, and I can’t get out of his hold. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

  He doesn’t say anything to that either. He’s apparently gotten used to this particular song and dance, and his apathy is more infuriating than fighting with him was. At least then, I got a rise out of him. It was more satisfying than I admitted to myself at the time.

  Something about seeing the stoic and unflappable warrior come apart a little—spying a few cracks in his dominant, powerful facade—gave me a little thrill I could never quite explain.

  I wonder if he ever pulls the stick out of his ass.

  My low chuckle turns into a yelp as I stumble and nearly fall against him. He catches me with ease and sets me back on my feet as if I weigh nothing at all. As if he could pick up ten of me with no effort.

  I can smell the salt on his skin, the warm, masculine scent of him. He’s very close to me, his body almost brushing against mine, and I feel a thrill run over my skin at his closeness. He’s not quite as big as Tordax, but he’s close, and he has the same lack of modesty that all the warriors do, walking around in nothing but a loincloth most of the time. His skin is a deep, gleaming bronze, and for a brief second, I wonder what it would feel like to be pressed up against it…

  Fuck, Harper. Get a grip.

  Pushing that thought forcefully out of my head, I follow alongside him, griping at him the entire way despite the fact that he’s still ignoring me.

  I don’t want any part of the Kalixian and human love fest that Rose and Tordax have been caught up in for weeks now. They can’t keep their hands or eyes or anything else off of each other. Malav might be one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen, and he might smell amazing, but
I tell myself firmly not to think about it. Not to be distracted.

  I’m not going to let myself get attached to anyone the way Rose has. I can’t, because I’m not staying here. And I’m not going to Kalix.

  It doesn’t matter if Malav drags me back to the dwelling we’re all staying in on the outskirts of Monri. I’ll just head out again after dark.

  Because I’ve got a mission to complete.

  I’m going to steal a ship.

  And I’m going back home.

  ***

  Thank you for reading!

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  Also by Presley Hall

  Fated Mates of the Kalixian Warriors Series

  Claimed - Book 1

  Stolen - Book 2

  Rescued - Book 3

  Bound - Book 4

  Broken - Book 5

  NOTE: Each book in this series can be read as a standalone, but for maximum enjoyment, it’s recommended that you read the series in order.