Page 5 of Royal Mate

5

P aige, Insuri Planetary Defense, Station Alpha, Transport Room

How could so much have changed in just a day? I’d been demanding to go home, back to Earth, from the moment I’d arrived on this strange planet. Yet now that I had remained for a day and was about to leave Addan–yes, Addan, the guy who fucked me without me knowing his name–behind, part of me wanted to stay. A huge part. I felt like I was being torn in two over a man I’d just met the day before. Which was insane.

I was smarter than that. Right? True love, fated mates, the idea of a “soul mate” was the stuff of fairy tales, not reality. My parents taught me that. Every loser I’d dated since I’d turned seventeen had reaffirmed the truth. Dating was a game to most men, a competition to see how many women they could stick their dicks into. They didn’t stay around, and they didn’t want anything other than sex.

A few rounds of Pound Town and I was turning into a romantic? That would be stupid. And I did try not to live up to my mother’s expectation of me. If she’d told me once, she’d told me a thousand times, Never make life decisions because of a man.

Did an alien count? One with a huge cock, talented mouth and who happened to smell like heaven?

“Are you ready?” Addan’s deep voice was brisk and matter-of-fact. Considering he’d had his cock buried balls deep in me less than an hour ago, the abrupt change in his demeanor made me want to cry. Stupid.

“Yes.” No. Hell, no. Why was I so upset at the idea of leaving him? Sex? Was it just about the sex? Because Addan was incredible. Dominant. Sexy. Everything I’d ever thought I wanted in a man, I’d found in an alien general on a planet I wasn’t even supposed to be on.

He’d told me that Insuri wasn’t part of the Coalition and Earth brides weren’t matched here. Except somehow, I’d arrived.

After the night we shared in his quarters, if he’d asked me to stay, God help me, I probably would have said yes. But he hadn’t. Instead, he’d insisted it was his duty to service a female in need. Like he would service any female who hid beneath his desk, whether he wanted to or not. He even told me the males on Insuri were trained, like going to Driver’s Ed, as soon as they came of age, in multiple ways to pleasure a female, should they require attention. He probably didn’t even like me all that much. He was just doing his duty. His fucking job.

He claimed all unmated men on the planet believed it was an honor and responsibility to give pleasure to any female who needed a few good orgasms. So, basically, he couldn’t turn me down? When I’d lost my mind under his desk and jumped him like a rabbit in heat, he serviced me out of obligation? That was depressing as hell. Made me feel dirty. There was no other word for it. I couldn’t claim he’d used me, not after the way I’d begged for it.

I wanted a little connection, even though I was the horny slut who’d jumped him first. It was so confusing! He gave me exactly what I wanted, and now I was upset about it because he wasn’t begging me to stay? I’d grabbed his cock. I was the one who told him to fuck me. I was the one who’d woken up after round one, straddled his lap and fucked him without even asking.

What ridiculous kind of planet was this anyway? The orgasms were great. My pussy was so sore and swollen that the tenderness between my legs was a distraction as I walked up the stairs onto the transport pad. Totally my fault because I literally couldn’t keep my hands off him. It was like I was an addict, and he was my personal drug of choice. Over the past day, if he was close enough to touch, I was touching. My reaction didn’t make any sense, but as I was only here for a short time, I didn’t fight my compulsive need to keep touching him.

Turned out I was an undersexed, super-horny wench. Who knew?

Addan turned to the male behind the controls, the guard I recognized who had not tried to kill me. “Initiate transport to Earth.”

“Yes, General.”

Addan’s bright blue gaze locked onto mine. It took every bit of self-control I possessed to force myself to stare blandly back at him and not burst into tears.

What the hell was wrong with me? Why was I so upset after an epic one-night stand? Wasn’t the point of them to never see the person again? Since I was on my way back to Earth, I knew that was exactly what was going to happen.

Energy gathered around me, and I knew if I hadn’t braided my hair, I’d have a dark red halo floating around my head like a mermaid in water. Crackling electricity raced over my skin.

I bit my tongue to keep myself from blurting out anything embarrassing. We’d said our goodbyes before we left his quarters.

Addan didn’t have a wife, or a mate, or whatever they called their significant other on this planet. I knew that. He’d told me himself. I didn’t know his age. I hadn’t asked. It took me all of a minute in his arms to realize the more I knew about him, the harder it would be to leave. So I didn’t ask questions. A night of pleasure was all this would ever be. I wasn’t his. He hadn’t pounded his chest and said mine, or turned into a beast, or put a mating collar around my neck like a Prillon warrior would have. No Atlan bracelets, either. He’d said nothing about claiming me or keeping me. He’d just fucked my brains out, made me come until I’d lost count of the number of orgasms, and turned my body into a sweaty, satisfied mess. Then he’d fed me, bathed me with his own hands, and started the whole process over again.

I wouldn’t walk right for a week.

Now he stood like a soldier at ease, his legs shoulder width apart and his hands clasped behind his back as he waited for me to disappear from his life forever. Sex was just an obligation to him. A duty. A service unmated males performed for any female in need. I wasn’t anything special to him. I really needed to remember that.

A burning sensation gathered behind my eyes, and I realized I was about to start crying. Shit. I needed this transport thing to hurry up.

“General, sir, there appears to be a problem,” the guard said.

Addan turned away from me and the air left my lungs in a whoosh. I couldn’t breathe properly when he looked at me like he wanted me naked. “Explain.”

“I don’t know why, but the transport has been blocked.”

“What?” The word blurted from my lips before I had a chance to think. “Why?”

The guard’s hands moved over the control panel, and he glanced down, reading something. “Incoming message from the Coalition, high level security code, General. I can’t access the message.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Addan frowned and strode over to the control panel. He spoke a series of code words and numbers. When he finished, one of the blank monitors activated. I didn’t recognize the alien male whose face appeared, other than the fact that he was a Prillon warrior, which made sense, as the entire Coalition Fleet was under the command of Prime Nial, the ruler of Prillon Prime. As far as I knew, all their battleship commanders were Prillon as well.

“What is the meaning of this?” General Addan moved out from behind the control panel and stood facing the oversized head and shoulders of the very attractive Prillon who filled the entire screen. I’d seen a handful of Prillons at the processing center, although most of the security force there was made up of Atlans, like Stohn, or the more human looking races from Viken, Trion and Everis. I’d seen enough aliens to recognize a Prillon warrior. Although, this one looked a bit off. More human than he should have.

Did they have hybrids?

Of course they did. Interstellar brides from other planets were matched to Prillon warriors all the time. They would have babies, right? Babies who grew up to look like this very attractive alien. He had the light copper colored skin of a Prillon, but his hair was dark brown, almost black. And his eyes? Warm. Brown. Human. They looked strange and didn’t quite match the rest of him.

“I am Commander Zeus. I oversee this sector of space, including enforcing the terms of our agreement with the Queen of Insuri. Whom do I address?”

“I am General Addan Natosi, head of Insuri Planetary Defense. I serve Queen Alienor. Why are you blocking transport of this human female? She asked to be returned to her home planet. Why do you interfere with the lady’s request?” If I’d thought Addan’s tone businesslike before, the crisp, demanding voice I heard sent a shiver down my spine. With me, he’d practically purred, whispering all the ways he was going to make me come. This was a side of him I’d not seen. Commanding. Dangerous. Moreso even than when he’d dressed down those soldiers the day before for shooting at me. My sore pussy pulsed to attention, wet heat soaking my freshly laundered panties.

I’d put my Trus-T-Kleen uniform back on for the trip home, beige pants, hot pink t-shirt and all. Addan’s staff had cleaned everything. Even my old white tennis shoes looked brand new.

The Prillon commander’s gaze left Addan and landed on me. “Your Highness, my apologies for any confusion. Our transport system scanned you when you left Earth and entered your biological signature into the system. As stated in the Insuri Accords, a decades old treaty between Insuri and the Interstellar Coalition of Planets, no Insuri citizen of royal blood is allowed to leave the planet without explicit permission of the queen herself.”

“I’m not from here,” I explained. “I’m human. From Earth. There’s been some kind of mistake.”

Commander Zeus’s scowl could have flash frozen an ocean as he looked away, obviously reading something on a screen we could not see. “There has been no mistake, Your Highness. You are Princess Edelene Merrienne Peigi of Insuri. Our DNA scan indicates you are a direct descendant, in fact, the daughter of Queen Madallaine Edelene Peigi, and you are the rightful ruler of Insuri. You are betrothed to Prince Martainn Ailbeart Seppani and are to be wed in three days’ time, on your twenty-sixth birthing day.”

I blinked. Then again. “I’m WHAT?!” I walked forward as if I could shake some sense into the Prillon through the screen. “No. My name is Paige Spencer. I’m from Miami, Florida, in the United States, on planet Earth.”

Commander Zeus tilted his head, the pity I saw in his eyes more disturbing than if he’d yelled at me. “Apologies, Your Highness, but that is not correct.” He turned his gaze to Addan. “General, I leave this matter in your capable hands. Transport is denied.”

Addan cleared his throat, studying me in a whole new way. “Very well. If I may ask a favor, Commander?”

“Yes?”

“Her Royal Highness must have been transported off planet on The Day of Steel and Blood, when her mother was murdered. As you know, the infant princess was said to have died with her. You have access to records I do not. Please ask your Intelligence Core to investigate how the princess was taken, and by whom? I would very much like to know how she arrived on Earth with no protection or knowledge of her true identity.”

The Commander’s narrow gaze drifted from Addan to me and back again. “I will inquire.”

“Thank you.”

The screen went blank.

I reached my hand out as if I could grab hold of the Prillon. “No. Wait! Come back.” My heart skipped a beat then raced in a panic of anxiety and dread. I’d just been dismissed by a Prillon battle commander. The commanders of their battleships were their highest-ranking officials, except Prime Nial himself. No way was the leader of more than two hundred and fifty planets, and a massive, interstellar military operation during an active war, going to worry about a little orphan girl from Earth.

I was screwed. There would be no arguing, no calling back and asking to speak to someone over Commander Zeus’s head. I’d been left behind by the Coalition. Abandoned. A pawn. A chess piece. No, not even that. Less. Completely disposable and already forgotten.

Again. Just as my birth parents had done when they gave me up in a closed adoption. Just like my adopted parents when they used me to get at each other during their divorce, and during every holiday after. I’d been a weapon to be wielded by one or the other, used to inflict maximum emotional—or financial—pain on their former spouse.

The Coalition was not going to allow me to go home. They thought I was royal? As if! I’d cleaned more toilets than any princess in the history of princesses. And betrothed? To some stranger I’d never met? Getting married in six freaking days? On my birthday?

No. No. And hell no. This couldn’t be happening. I was supposed to be home, eating overpriced chocolate cherry cake. This was all wrong.

“What just happened?” I asked. “Why does the Coalition think I’m a princess? I’m not. I promise you, I’m not. Get him back.”

I turned to find Addan and the guard both on one knee, heads bowed low like I really was royalty.

Oh, shit.