Page 22 of Taming the Alien Outlaw (Brides of the Bohnari #2)

Janik

The endless nothingness is the worst punishment a person can suffer. My only relief from it has been when food is delivered or when Horek checks in during his visits with Alik, who’s still under the throes of the mating fever.

My greatest shock, however, has been the queen’s presence. I’ve only seen her twice in the time I’ve been here, but the first time the door to my cell opened and she stood on the other side, I’d been taken aback.

“Olivia asked me to keep an eye on you and make sure you were well,” she said the first visit.

“Considering the circumstances, I’m a bit surprised you agreed.”

“Alik might be the face of royal rule, but that doesn’t mean I’m not fully aware of all that goes on here. I’m also a fair judge of character.”

The queen hadn’t remained after her remark, so I’d been left pondering her words. What did she see when she looked at me?

To break up the endless silence that is almost worse than the darkness, I hum the notes of the song that has been with me for as long as I can remember.

My voice is loud to my ears after being locked up in here for so long.

Although the exact length of time is unknown.

Based on the number of times I’ve been fed, I suspect I’ve been here for three days.

It feels like a lifetime. My only solace has been news that Olivia is well.

I will suffer anything so long as she is protected.

The scraping sound of the lock being disengaged sounds, and I cease humming. The door opens and I blink against the blinding light that always accompanies it. I give myself a moment to adjust to the brightness before turning my attention to the threshold.

As if I conjured her with my thoughts, the very female I would have given anything to see walks into my cell. Certain Olivia is merely a figment of my imagination, I remain silent. If I don’t speak, I can’t disturb the vision of her.

“Are you just going to stand there staring?” The imaginary Olivia asks.

I blink, expecting her to disappear, but she’s still there.

“You’re real?”

“Last time I checked.”

To my great embarrassment, I nearly crumble at the sight of her. She jumps forward as if to catch me should I fall, and although I maintain my balance, I let her if only to feel her against me.

She wraps her arms around my waist and I hold her tightly, breathing in her clean, fresh scent. I press my lips to the top of her head and savor every tick that I’m allowed with her.

“I should have come sooner,” she says.

“You’re here now and that’s all the matters.” I stroke her hair, enjoying the softness of each strand as it threads through my fingers.

“Mak is well?”

Olivia nods against my chest. “She misses you terribly, but she’s doing okay. I left her with Quinn. Thought it might be too hard to see you and then have to leave you again. I didn’t want to do that to her or you.”

My mate has a soft heart. I draw slightly back. Not enough to release her, but enough that I can stare down at her and meet her gaze.

“Thank you. For everything.”

Olivia huffs out a short burst of sound. “I’m not sure what you’re thanking me for. I haven’t done anything.”

I brush back the few strands of hair stuck to her brow. “You’ve done far more than you realize.”

Does Olivia know what she is to me? It’s a question that has been rattling around inside my head since Horek explained things.

Unable to help myself, I lower my head and touch my lips to hers.

She sighs against my mouth and opens for me.

I deepen the kiss and dip my tongue inside, tentatively searching for hers.

She rubs her own alongside mine and for the first time, we truly taste each other.

I take my time, savoring Olivia’s divine flavor, committing it to memory, because I don’t know when I’ll experience this pleasure again.

My fingers grip the lush curve of her hips.

She moans softly and I capture the sound, storing it within my memory so that I might bring it back out when the silence of my cell becomes too much.

She moves closer, the plump mounds of her chest pressing hard against the firmness of mine. The musky odor I’ve only scented once before fills my nose. I grin against Olivia’s lips, smug in the knowledge that I’m the one coaxing that fragrance from her. The fragrance of arousal.

The heat of her cunt burns my flesh through the fabric of my pants and an answering heat travels through my veins, singeing my insides in a way that would have terrified me before learning Olivia’s my heart’s fire. Knowing the fire burns for her is a soothing balm to my worried soul.

Her small hands wind their way through my hair and her fingertips brush against the base of my horns. A groan of pure pleasure rumbles up out of my chest and a shudder races along my spine. My hardened cock jerks with need, and I thrust helplessly against her.

“Are your horns sensitive?” Olivia murmurs against my mouth.

“Gods, yes.” The confession falls from my lips before I can stop it. I should know better than to offer my mate a way to torture me when I feel her smile.

“So, it feels good when I do this?” She lightly scrapes her nails up my horns and I nearly soak my trou with come.

“You are a deliciously evil female.” The words are harsh between my clenched teeth. “But unless you wish me to tear the clothes from your body and empty my seed inside your pretty cunt until your belly swells with it, you’ll cease tormenting me.”

The scent of Olivia’s desire grows stronger and it is she who shudders and whose legs nearly give way. I back her up against the wall and press my aching cock into the cradle of her thighs. Damp heat from her core sears into me.

“Does that excite you, my mate? The thought of my seed filling you up until you’re so full of it that it leaks out of you, coating your inner thighs so that any male who smells you knows you’re mine?” I nibble Olivia’s jaw and she tilts her head to give me greater access.

“Yes,” she breathes out and rubs herself harder against the hard bar of my aching cock.

“I can’t wait to lay you on my bed, spread out in front of me, so I can watch my seed try to escape only to use my fingers to push it back inside you where it belongs.”

“Fuck me.”

“Yes, I will. My mate will be fucked good and hard.” I nip her ear and tighten my hold when her knees tremble. “You want that, don’t you?”

Olivia must not be able to form words because all she can do is nod.

“I’ll do it again and again until you beg me to stop. Only I won’t. Not until my seed has taken root.”

She shudders once more. I’ve never given much thought to having a mate or young, but now the image won’t leave me. Nor will this urge to fuck my mate until she’s swollen with my kit.

I wrestle with my control, because I will not take Olivia the first time in a dark prison cell. Slowly, I draw myself away from her, although it pains me to do so. I kiss her softly once more and put greater space in between us.

Her eyelids flutter and I adjust my aching cock, although it doesn’t help. Finally, her bright eyes open fully and she licks her swollen lips. Olivia wears a dazed look, but it clears until she appears to come back to the present. Even in the shadows, the darkening of her cheeks is evident.

“You called me your mate,” she says.

“That’s what you are, is it not? My heart’s fire?”

She shakes herself out of her aroused stupor. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

I stroke her cheek. “Because I didn’t know such a thing existed. My mother never spoke of it.”

“Then how did you know?” A crease appears between her brows.

“Horek.”

Olivia bites her bottom lip and darts a glance away from me before returning to meet my stare. “Are you unhappy about it?”

I widen my eyes. “How could I be unhappy with having such a beautiful, smart, stubborn mate who will always challenge me and drive me mad, but who will also never bore me or let me get away with being an asshole?”

She laughs and I revel in the sound. “You better believe I’m not going to let you be an asshole. I’ve had enough of those to last me a lifetime.”

Yes, I recall her mentioning a former mate who treated her badly.

“I will do my best to not be an asshole toward you, and I will never lay the blame for my behavior at your feet. I vow this to the gods.”

Olivia lays her hands on my chest. “Thank you.”

“You are most welcome.” I cock my head. “Did you know you were my mate?”

“I only suspected. We don’t have such a thing as mates on Earth.

The only reason I even wondered if that’s what I was to you was because of how you responded to my nearness when the mating fever struck you that morning.

Because Quinn is Horek’s heart’s fire, I know she’s able to keep away the rage normally experienced when it strikes. ”

“I’m glad it’s you.” From everything I’ve seen, Olivia is perfect for me in every way.

She smiles. “I am, too.”

My heart feels lighter than it ever has hearing her say that. Knowing she’s my mate means I can survive anything. Even this place.

Approaching footsteps drag my focus from Olivia. I draw her behind me so I can protect her from whatever potential threat might be coming.

“Time is up, I’m afraid, Olivia.”

I recognize the commander’s voice and relax, but only slightly.

“Um, I sort of got distracted so I haven’t told him yet,” she calls out.

Horek’s heavy sigh reaches us before he stops at the threshold of my cell. I glance at Olivia over my shoulder.

“Tell me what?”

She shifts her weight on her feet with a guilty wince. “I came to get you out of here.”

I glance between her and the commander. “What do you mean?”

“Olivia received a holographic communication earlier from your mother stating that if she didn’t get you released then more destruction would occur and more people killed.”

She dares?

“You seem surprised by this announcement,” Horek notes. “Is this not part of whatever scheme you and your rebels have come up with if you are caught? You did say you had plans in place were this to occur.”

I shake my head. “Causing the deaths of our fellow Bohnari has never been part of my plans, no matter what. I have no wish to be the reason our people die. Not even for the throne.”

The commander glances at Olivia who’s moved to my side and threads her fingers with mine.

“I believe him,” she tells Horek.

He arches a brow. “You do not think your objectivity is clouded by the fact you’re his mate?”

“Not at all. Because no matter my feelings, I would never be okay with looking the other way if someone I cared about was the reason innocent people were murdered. I couldn’t live with myself.”

I bring Olivia’s hand up to my mouth and press a kiss to her knuckles. “You honor me with your trust, and I swear to all the gods, I will not break it.”

Horek mumbles something under his breath about mates, but I don’t catch it. “If we’re going to get you out of here, then we need to go now.”

“I’m ready.”

The commander nods and pivots. “Come, then.”

Together, Olivia and I follow him down the hallway.

Roars of fury echo from another cell, and I flinch with each one knowing they come from Alik.

We ascend staircase after staircase and the air grows warmer.

Various sounds assault me the higher we go.

My eyes have adjusted well to the lights that grow brighter as we climb.

At last, Horek opens a door and we enter a new part of the palace.

The atmosphere is solemn and heavy. Grief permeates the air in a way it hadn’t when I arrived here so many days ago. Before everything began to…crumble.

A melody reaches my ears, and I pause mid-step, searching for its source.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia asks in a hushed whisper.

Leading her away from the path we were on and instead in the direction of the sound, I follow where it guides me.

“Janik.” Horek growls my name, but I don’t stop walking.

Olivia says my name as well, but my entire focus is finding where that familiar song comes from.

We pass several rooms until I come to a stop outside an open set of doors.

Within the room is the queen. She sits in a chair with a curved base that allows it to rock back and forth while she sings a song I’ve hummed countless times for as long as I can remember.

She must sense our presence because her eyes open and she fixes her stare upon us. Upon me . She continues singing while I add my own voice, humming the music in complete harmony with her until the song is over.

“What is that?” My voice is rough. The question? A plea.

“It’s something I used to sing to my sons when they were still too young to walk.”

Sons ?

“I didn’t realize you had more than one.”

Queen Veroneek smiles, but it’s with heartbreaking sadness. “I don’t any longer.”

My feet draw me closer as if they are in control of my entire body. “What happened to the other?”

“He died.” Her voice catches on a sob.

“What was his name?”

“Barrik.”

Barrik .

My head aches and I grip it tightly, giving it a little shake to try and clear the pain away. A soft hand caresses my cheek and I open my eyes to stare into the queen’s. Ones the exact color of mine.