Page 15 of Taming the Alien Outlaw (Brides of the Bohnari #2)

Olivia

Hot breath and a wet object run across my face. My eyes jerk open and I swipe my forearm across my cheek where Mak has licked me. She hovers over my head and whines.

“Do you need to go outside?” I throw back the blankets and slide my feet into the soft leather slippers I bought in the market one day. We’ve had to request certain things from the shop owners since everything is sized to fit Bohnari—males mostly—and not even the female clothing fits.

I walk with Mak to the lift. Sunlight filters through the tinted windows lining the opposite wall warming the air slightly. The fragrant trees that sit in large pots in the atrium sway slightly with the artificial air that circulates.

We reach the ground floor where Cadence and Molly sit in their usual spots doing their usual thing; reading a book and working on some puzzle.

They glance up and away before they jerk their heads back up and stare at Mak.

She’s intimidating for sure. The guards at the entrance open the door for us and they do a double take as well since they aren’t the same ones from last night.

Mak takes her time sniffing around. I’m sure the scents are new to her since I doubt she’s spent much, if any, time in the city.

While she does her thing, I scan the area, pausing at the copse of trees where Janik allegedly hid last night.

It’s not far from where the guards are in full view so I walk over.

There’s nothing to indicate anyone was here.

Did he leave before Horek found him? God, is he even now sitting in some prison somewhere?

The guy’s an outlaw. A criminal who kidnapped me.

He should be in jail. Except a wave a panic strikes me that he was detained.

A wet nose nudges my hand. Mak sniffs the ground and whines, pawing lightly at a spot. I crouch down. There are several dried patches of…something. Upon closer inspection, it reminds me of blood. Is it Janik’s? Why else would Mak be so attracted to it? My stomach lurches at the thought.

“Come on, girl, let’s go back inside.”

She and I head back to the dormitory and up to my apartment.

This time we don’t attract as much attention.

I glance at the clock. There’s still a couple hours—or rather the Bohnari equivalent—until lunch, which means I have some extra time before Quinn comes knocking on my door.

Because she will. We’ve been friends nearly our entire lives.

To my knowledge, neither of us has secrets from the other.

We’re as close as two sisters could be. Yet, for some unknown reason, I’m hesitant to talk about Janik.

Maybe because if I do, that will make it real.

I comm down to the kitchen and order food for Mak. It’s an indulgence I never would have expected to enjoy, but having our own personal chef available at all times of the day to cook whatever we want is something I’m happy to get used to.

The data pad I’d been reading a book on still lies where I left it before heading to Quinn’s mating ceremony.

Once again, Mak makes herself comfortable on the sofa and I take my normal spot.

When I read the same paragraph three times, I set the thing aside.

My concentration is off and I’d rather not have to re-read the whole thing.

My comm buzzes and a message comes across that the meal I ordered is ready.

Glad for the distraction, I glance at Mak who barely opens one eye.

“Stay. I’ll be right back.”

She closes it again and I hurry to the kitchen to pick up my order. The phinnek doesn’t move when I return.

“Lazy wolf.”

She snort breathes but that’s her only reaction.

“I guess you’re not hungry, then.”

Finally, I have Mak’s attention. Food is a great motivator. She jumps down and comes into the kitchen where I stand with the tray. I put the entire platter on the ground and let her feast.

My stomach rumbles. I guess I’m hungrier than I thought, which isn’t surprising since the last meal I ate was last night and it’s nearly lunch time.

On cue, there’s a knock on the door. I open it to Quinn on the other side.

“How’d you sleep?” She strolls past me without a care.

“Better than I expected.”

“Good.” She pivots. “I was really worried.”

My heart nearly breaks at the crack in her voice. “Everything’s okay. I’m okay.”

“When Lorik stumbled into the banquet room battered and bruised saying you’d been taken, all I could think about was that I couldn’t lose you, too.”

“Oh, babe, you’re not going to lose me.” I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight. My anger at Janik returns for causing Quinn this much worry and pain. We both shed a few tears. Mak has no idea what to make of us, because she head butts me in the side and whines.

“Ah, you poor thing. Is our crying upsetting you?”

Quinn wipes her eyes with a little laugh. “Only you would baby talk to a massive animal that looks like she’d rip our heads off in a single bite.”

I scratch Mak’s ear. “This sweet phinnek baby wouldn’t hurt us, would you? No, you wouldn’t.”

“Janik’s sweet phinnek baby.” She emphasizes the Bohnari’s name.

“She’d argue he belongs to her more than she does him.”

Quinn cocks her head. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Would you make the same argument?” If she’d asked it any other way but softly—gently—and with great care I might have been able to laugh her off. But because Quinn knows me so well, she did it in a way I couldn’t refuse.

I sag against the counter and she comes over to stand next to me with her head on my shoulder.

“All I’ve ever wanted was for a man to take one look at me and fall in love.

For him to gaze into my eyes and for me to know—without any second-guessing—he’s head over heels.

That he’ll never stop loving me, because I’m his entire world.

” I laugh with a hint of self-deprecation.

“Deep down I knew it was nothing more than a fairytale, because that’s not how real life works. ”

“Is that how Janik looks at you?” Quinn asks.

“And not just because I’m a female to fuck and sate his mating fever either.

” It wasn’t the fact that I had been able to center him when the fever hit.

Or how my touch had soothed him during the worst of it.

“He looks at me like I’m his salvation. Like he’s a dying male and I’m his only sustenance. ”

Quinn lifts her head and waits until I meet her gaze. “He looks at you like Horek looks at me.”

I sigh heavily. “Fucking hell.”

“You’re his heart’s fire…aren’t you?”

“This is just the kind of luck I have. Come to an alien planet as part of a bridal lottery and wind up the fated mate of a damn criminal jackass whose arrogance is maddening.”

Quinn makes a noise. Then another. Then she’s laughing like she’s lost her mind and tears stream down her face.

“It’s not funny.” I playfully push her away, my own giggle escaping.

“It…is…so…funny,” she says between gasping breaths.

My laughter joins hers because she has such an infectious one I can’t help it. Mak stares at us like we’ve both gone bonkers.

“Oh, Liv. What are you going to do?” Quinn asks when we both finally stop.

I shrug. “Hell if I know. I don’t even know if he got away last night.”

“What do you mean?”

Oh, did I leave out that part? “He was hiding somewhere outside the dorm when Horek walked me back here from the palace. Mak either saw or smelled him. Your mate confirmed it.”

Quinn takes my hand and drags me over to the sofa. Not wanting to be left out, the phinnek joins us making it a tight squeeze with all three of us.

“Okay, let’s go over everything again from the time Lorik got his ass kicked and Janik hadn’t been able to resist the mating call.”

I shudder. “God, please don’t call it that.”

She nudges my leg. “Spill.”

So I do. This time, I leave nothing out. Well, nothing but the fact Alik is Janik’s brother. That isn’t my secret to share.

“Damn,” Quinn breathes out. “That’s so hot.”

I snort. “You would think it’s hot for a man to threaten to kill other men for doing nothing more but breathing the same air as her.”

She nods like a maniac. “Yes I do and you can’t tell me you don’t think the exact same way. How could you not nearly swoon over a man who is so obsessed with you, he dares another man to so much as look at you? A man who goes feral for his woman? Instantly wet.”

“Quinn, babe, you know I love you, but that is a visual I didn’t need.”

“Too bad.”

“Fine.” I huff. “Yes, maybe it’s a little hot.”

“A lot. It’s sexy as hell,” she says matter of factly.

“God, you’re insufferable when you’re right.”

She grins widely. “You still love me, though.”

“Of course I do.”

“So,” she says after a minute. “I can ask Horek if Janik’s in custody or not.”

“Do you mind?”

Quinn side-eyes me and types something out on the newly acquired comm on her wrist. Must be courtesy of her mate. Barely a second passes when she gets a ping.

“Ugh, annoying male,” she grumbles.

I slide to the edge of the cushion. “What?”

“No.”

Huh? “No, what?”

“That’s it. Just, no. I asked him if he detained Janik last night and he just typed back two letters. No expounding. Just n.o.”

Ugh is right. “Did he see him at all? Talk to him? Anything?”

She’s already typing into her wrist comm. “Hold, please.”

I wait impatiently for a response. This one takes longer. Such a man. Does Horek not understand the visceral need some women have for immediacy when we want to know something?

“He says yes and yes and then Janik left with a large enough supply of kanet powder to last him at least several moon cycles.”

I sink back into the cushion. “Oh.”

That means Janik doesn’t really need me then if he has that much of the drug to keep the mating fever contained.

Why would he when he’s finally gotten one of the things he’s been demanding.

Why would he even care about me easing his fever when he can simply snort the powder?

At least now he doesn’t have to deal with my smart ass mouth. It always gets me in trouble.

“Whatever you’re thinking, you need to stop.

” Quinn breaks me out of my spiraling thoughts.

“He risked getting arrested by coming into the city to try and find you when you disappeared from the camp. He was probably going mad with worry since you said someone snuck you out. If you’re his heart’s fire, I’m honestly surprised he didn’t destroy everything in his path searching for you.

The animalistic instincts the males are prey to when they think their mate is in danger are more than you could ever imagine.

The fact that Preska is still standing borders on a miracle.

Well, damn, when Quinn puts it that way, it is kind of hot. I guess I didn’t really think about how Janik would react finding me gone. At least not beyond being possibly annoyed or even disappointed that he may have a spy working within his ranks. What would he say if he knew it was Bannik?

But suspecting I’m his heart’s fire and then him discovering I appeared to have escaped, I can’t believe he maintained enough control to not only follow me into the city, but wait patiently—or at least, somewhat patiently—while I was interviewed by the prince. His brother.