Page 8 of Bound to the Beast (Interstellar Brides Program: The Beasts #9)

K rystal

Had someone sent him to kill us? Take us back to Everis? “Are you a bounty hunter?” Please say no. Please, please, please say no.

“No.”

Thank god. “Then why are you here?”

He lifted his hand and just barely touched the skin of my cheek with his fingertips. “Because I can’t stay away. I feared that claiming you would mean ignoring my mission, my duty?—”

“What mission?” I interrupted. My fantasy Viking said mission like he wasn’t here for Brody. Maybe he didn’t know about Brody’s past, or his dead parents, or the literal fortune my nephew would inherit if he ever went back to Everis.

Don’t be stupid. Of course he knows. How the fuck else did he end up in your backyard? He had to be watching us. Spying on us. And all I had done since he invaded our home was say his name and fantasize about riding him like a wild cowgirl.

Fucking idiot. I was lucky we both weren’t dead already.

No more drinking. Ever.

I shoved at his side, trying to free myself from the cage his arms formed around me where I sat on the edge of the countertop.

Tried even harder to ignore the heat of his skin under my hands.

Failed at both. “Move. Let me go.” I might as well have been trying to shove a granite boulder.

“There are laws against stalking, you know.”

“Not stalking. Protecting. I am watching over you. My beast demands it.” He sounded sincere.

Did I dare believe him? I wasn’t dead yet.

That was a point in his favor. And god knew he could snap me in half without even trying.

If he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it already.

Right? Unless he needed me alive to help control Brody.

“Why are you watching over us?” As far as I knew, we had no friends in the Coalition. No one on Everis had offered to help us. All they wanted was control. Over me. Over Brody.

Over Brody’s birthright, his bloodline, his future.

Iven took his sweet time drawing air into his lungs before responding. “I came to Grays Harbor to find someone. To protect him.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. “Did you find whoever you’re looking for?”

“I did, the moment I saw the Hokiax.”

“The what?”

“The great Everian hunting cat you were petting earlier. They are famous for their intelligence, loyalty, and ability to communicate with their keepers.” He grinned, as if pleased. “An excellent choice for the boy. The Hokiax?—”

“His name is Alexander the Great.”

“Alexander, the Great Hokiax, will protect your home while you are away. Ensure the boy’s safety at night while you both sleep and alert you to any intruders.”

I swallowed, hard, remembering the failed assassination attempt a few weeks ago. I’d only woken because the damn cat was howling like a bloodhound on a wild boar hunt. The cat had saved our lives at least once already. “I love that cat.”

“The cat is an asset. But I am here now.”

I shook my head, staring into eyes that couldn’t possibly be as sincere, as interested, as possessive, as I thought they were.

None of this made sense. “I don’t understand.

You’re Atlan, not Everian. Why are you here?

Will the Everians give you Brody’s money?

His titles, or whatever the hell he has?

Did someone hire you to find us?” I swallowed over the massive lump of terror building in my throat.

We’d survived the last attack by running, not fighting.

Brody was asleep down the hall. I was facing one of the most feared—and revered—fighters in the entire Coalition Fleet.

There would be no running from an Atlan Warlord. No escape. “Please don’t hurt Brody.”

A low, angry growl emanated from him and I jumped.

“Never. I would never hurt a child.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I came here to protect you, and the boy. A noblewoman from Everis came to Earth and recruited me when you went into hiding. She believes more assassins will come for you and your nephew.”

“They will.” Staring into Iven’s eyes felt like drowning. “Who recruited you? What’s her name?”

“Lady Radu.”

I searched my memories of Everis, but as most of them centered around my sister’s memorial service and coping with the idea of taking over as Brody’s guardian, I came up empty handed. “I don’t know who she is.”

“She is irrelevant. I am here now. I will protect you both. I have no interest in Brody’s fortune. I am very rich. Atlan Warlords are gifted vast wealth and estates if they are fortunate enough to survive the war.”

Shit. He’d done it. Unleashed one of my worst, most uncontrollable traits… curiosity. Never could keep my mouth shut, even when I was a child. “You fought in the war?”

“Of course.”

I lifted trembling fingertips to trace one of the silver lines on his shoulder. “And these?”

“Remnants of my time with the Hive Integration Units. I spent several months as a prisoner.” A shudder passed through his entire body.

I withdrew my touch, but he took hold of my wrist and pressed my small hand right back to his skin.

I’d be a fucking liar if I said I resisted.

I should have. He admitted he had a mate.

I shouldn’t want him. Shouldn’t be fantasizing about him still.

He was taken. Capital T. Atlans, and their beasts, didn’t mess around when it came to claiming their women.

His gaze dropped to my lips. Lingered. “I had given up. Requested removal to Atlan for execution. By the gods, that would have been a horrible mistake.”

“Why would you do that? You’re wearing mating cuffs. You have a mate.” I knew all about mating fever, knew that Warlords who didn’t find their mates turned into crazed killing machines.

He closed the distance between his forearms and my hips. The touch along my outer thighs was barely there, but it might as well have been a punch to my system. My breath came in short gasps as I desperately attempted to pull air into my overheated lungs.

Iven knelt on the kitchen tile. He seemed oblivious to the hard floor as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to my chest. Unsure what to do, I combed my fingers through his hair as his hands clenched and unclenched, making giant fists.

The warm, fuzzy feeling I had from the alcohol faded rapidly as I tried to adapt to the bizarre reality kneeling before me.

He was acting so strangely. If he was only here on a mission to protect Brody, why was he acting like he wanted me to touch him?

Like he wanted me . But, if he truly believed I was his mate, wouldn’t he have done something about it the moment we first met days ago?

Wouldn’t his badass beast have come raging to the surface and swept me off my feet in a wild, passionate assault no sane human woman could resist?

No beast. No caveman-style sex. Which was proof he was already mated to someone else.

If I was his mate, his beast would have gone—well, beast mode—and fucked me up against the wall in that school.

Or he would have dragged me into a supply closet and taken me against the door, like Warlord Wulf did to that make-up artist, Olivia, on live television no less.

If a beast wanted its mate, there was no stopping him. Right?

“Iven, I don’t know what you’re doing. What do you want?”

“I found you.” He lifted his face and his eyes seemed to glow for a moment. His body went rigid, as if he was fighting himself. “You’re mine. My mate.”

He said it. Holy shit.

I couldn’t look away from the primal, possessive heat I saw in his eyes.

I was trapped like a deer in headlights.

Frozen. Helpless. I knew I was in trouble, but I couldn’t move.

Didn’t want to move. What I wanted was dangerous.

Foolish. Came from my lonely pussy making demands without a lick of common sense.

Can I get a lick on that clit?

Down girl!

He sniffed the air as if he could smell what his nearness was doing to me. I was wet and ready. More than ready, squirming.

“Mine.” His voice had dropped an octave, the deep timbre making my body go up in flames. This wasn’t just the Rumchatta. This was instinct. Biology. Need.

“I don’t trust aliens. I don’t like aliens.” Was that breathy, barely there, sensual whisper coming from me? Were those my hands buried in his hair? Wrapped around his neck? Touching his lips? Petting him? Pulling him closer?

When did that happen? Fuck. I was totally out of control.

Didn’t care. I’d been afraid for weeks. Running scared. Anxious. Barely sleeping. Worried. Paranoid. Exhausted. I was so fucking tired. Tired of not sleeping. Tired of nightmares. Tired of feeling hunted. Vulnerable. Alone.

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. This had to be a dream.

No gorgeous Atlan Warlord would magically show up in my back yard to claim me as his mate and offer his protection.

Utter fantasy nonsense. But hell, even if I was dreaming, dead asleep, I didn’t want to wake up.

Being with Iven right now felt good. Better than good.

“You are mine. My mate. No one will ever hurt you again.” Iven shuddered as he shoved the hem of my dress back up to bunch at my hips.

Heavy hands rested on top of my bare thighs.

His very naughty thumbs stroked the sensitive skin of my inner thighs as his gaze locked with mine.

Wet heat flooded my pussy and his nostrils flared as if he could smell my desire.

He was shaking, as if fighting for control.

Even on his knees, his face was so close all I had to do to kiss him was lean forward… just…a… little… bit.

He reached down to his side with one hand and my thigh felt bereft. Cold.

Seconds later, his hand reappeared with matching mating cuffs. Smaller.

Were those for me?

“What is your real name?” It wasn’t a question. It was a demand for information.

“Krystal.”

“You have only one name? Unusual, for a human.”

“Uh, Hinkley. Krystal Rose Hinkley. From Vermont.” Quite sure adding the last bit made me sound like a bumbling fool.

He lifted the small mating cuffs and locked the first one in place on my wrist. “Krystal Rose Hinkley of Vermont, I claim you as my mate. I claim Brody as my son. You are mine.”

The moment the second cuff was around my wrist, he shoved my dress to my waist and pulled my hips to the very edge of the counter.

With a growl that made my pulse leap, he wedged his shoulders between my knees, yanked my black lace panties out of his way, and plunged his tongue into my pussy like he owned me.