Captured Boxed Set: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys Who Will Capture Your Heart (114 page)

"If that wasn’t enough, our
combined scent would be enough to let them know," he muttered under his
breath, thinking about how no one could mistake his claim now.

"What scent? Let them know
what?" Riley demanded as she stared in horror as he refastened his pants.

"Riley, the Sarafin are
cat-shifters. We have a very good sense of smell. It is not unusual for males
to be able to smell when other males have had sex with a female," he
explained.

"Are you telling me they can
smell us? Together? What we just did?" she asked, feeling sick to her
stomach.

"Of course," Vox replied,
not understanding why she was so upset.

This would be worse than Todd
Patterson at a high school dance. Then, he and his friends had only thought
about what they would do with her. If what Vox said was true, all the warriors
on board would know exactly what they had been doing in the cleaning closet!
Riley’s face flamed at the thought of all the men staring at her like she was
some kind of two-bit tramp. After all, it wasn’t like she and Vox were married.
That was one of the things she had always sworn would happen before she gave in
to a guy. She looked at her bare finger, and tears formed in her eyes. She had
done it again. She had forgotten about her cardinal rule to remain firm on a
ring and marriage. It was true Vox had promised her forever, but he hadn’t
followed it up with even a suggestion of either. Now, he was talking about her
having babies! It was her worst nightmare coming to life. She was about to
become a single mom just like her mom and her grandma.

Vox frowned when he saw Riley’s
mouth tighten in hurt and determination. "What is wrong? Do you not want
my cub?" he asked, offended by her denial of their compatibility and being
upset that other males would recognize his scent on her.

Riley pushed her hair out of her
eyes where it had fallen and tried to push the loose strands up into her
ponytail. "I want a ring—and marriage as soon as possible! I won’t have
any baby unless we are married."

Vox was not sure what this "marriage"
was, but he knew one thing—she would be having his cub with or without it. He
took a menacing step closer and growled down at her in warning. He would not
tolerate her thinking she would not carry his cub.

"You will carry my cub without
‘marriage.’ You have no choice in the matter; it is already done," he
snapped, waving his hand curtly in front of her face. "If you try to deny
it, I will lock you up."

Riley’s eyes flashed in fury. "Well,
if you want a kid you have to marry me first. If you don’t, you can forget it!
I’ll be the only one claiming her."

"You would try to deny me my
heir?" he hissed out in disbelief. "I am Vox d’Rojah, King of the
Sarafin Warriors and leader of my people," he snarled. "You will not
tell me what to do! I tell you! It is time for you to learn how to be
submissive to me when I give a command!"

"I don’t care if you are the
President of the Universe!" Riley growled back. "I am no one’s
submissive. If you want submissive, go practice bending over and kissing your
own ass in the mirror, because it won’t be me doing it."

"Guall’s balls, Riley,"
Vox swore. "I have never allowed anyone to talk to me that way."

"Well, maybe if they did you
wouldn’t be such a horse’s ass!" she snapped back.

"You will obey me in this, or
I will make you," he vowed.

"You and whose army?" she
snorted back. "I want a ring and marriage or I am totally out of here!"

Vox swore under his breath. He did
not know what this "marriage" was or why she suddenly wanted jewelry,
but he would be damned by the Gods before he gave it to her before she agreed
to have his cub! How dare she say she wouldn’t have his son unless he gave her
marriage! He could understand the ring. Even the females of his world liked
jewelry, but if this "marriage" thing was something from her world,
then she would just have to wait. He would ask Viper to bring it back with him
the next time he talked to him. He would keep it safe, but he wouldn’t tell
Riley about it until he had it in his hand and could force her to agree to his
terms. He wouldn’t hand it over to her until he had her promise to obey him. It
was about time she learned he was the male and she was the female. It was her
place to do as he said!

Vox smiled sharply down at her
furious face. "I have no need for an army. You do not go anywhere unless I
say," he stated coldly.

"We’ll just see about that!"
she replied quickly reaching beside him and slapping her hand on the panel to
open the door.

Vox grunted as he fell backward out
of the door as it gave way behind him. He landed on his back with a very
furious, very determined white female tiger with blazing blue eyes staring down
at him. She showed her teeth and snarled before she placed her left back paw
squarely on his crotch and pushed down. Vox sucked in a breath hoping she
wouldn’t extend her claws to match the weight of the pressure she was applying.
He understood the warning. He was in a very nerve-wracking position at the
moment, and she was in no mood to negotiate who should be submissive; it wasn’t
going to be her.

"Riley," he bit out with
a grimace of discomfort as he
looked
up into her snarling face. "Don’t you dare."

The huge white tiger snorted before
leaping off him and running down the corridor. Vox let his head drop back to
the floor where he stared up at the ceiling until another face came into his
view. He looked up into the sympathetic eyes of his chief engineer.

"What did you do this time?"
Tor asked as he held out his hand to his friend and leader. "She looked as
pissed as a traline slug," he added, referring to a nasty little creature
on their planet that oozed pus when threatened.

Vox reached up and grabbed Tor’s
hand. "She insisted I give her something called ‘marriage’ and jewelry
when I told her I had given her my cub. She refuses to have my son without the
items."

"So, give them to her,"
Tor said as he watched Vox straighten his shirt and run his hand over the back
of his neck.

"I will once she agrees to
having my cub and submitting to me," Vox replied
with
determination. "She is the most stubborn, hard-headed,
demanding—"

Tor drew in a deep breath and
sighed in envy. "Sexy, beautiful, unusual—"

Vox’s lips curved into a humorous
smile. "—and passionate female I have ever met."

"Then explain to me why you
want to change her?" Tor asked, looking with confusion at his friend.

"Because she will end up
getting herself in trouble, and I might not always be there or have someone
there to protect her," he admitted reluctantly. "I will ask Viper to
bring this marriage thing back to her, and I can give her jewelry once we are
down on the planet. That should calm her for a little while—hopefully."

"What did your father say
about your mating to an unknown species?" Tor asked as they walked back to
the bridge. He had already contacted Lodar who made sure Riley was safely back
in her living quarters.

"I haven’t told them yet,"
Vox admitted. "There is nothing he can do
now
anyway. I have given Riley my cub. I could feel the moment her body
took my son into her womb. She is my queen, and there can be no denying it now."

Tor whistled under his breath. "You
know he was determined for you to fulfill the treaty. He wanted to make sure
there was an alliance with the Valdier that could not be broken."

"There already is," Vox
said with an impatient wave of his hand, dismissing the reason. "A mating
between Zoran’s youngling and mine will ensure that. It is not necessary for me
to also marry a Valdier princess to keep the peace between our people. Besides,
we know most of those involved in starting the war and have dealt with them. Ha’ven,
Creon, and I are continuing our joint effort to eliminate the rest. There is no
possibility of it occurring again. I trust Creon and his brothers as they trust
me and mine."

"Yes well, your father
remembers. He does not forgive or forget as easily what happened to his sister
and her mate," Tor reminded him softly. "He wants to ensure there is
never a chance of it happening again."

Vox scowled as he walked onto the
bridge. "I have said it will not and it will not. I will not discuss it
further."

He watched as Tor nodded before
moving away to finish directing the docking of the huge warship to the Transfer
Station. His mind drifting back to the murder of his father’s sister and her
Valdier mate. He remembered his aunt’s soft smile when she looked at the huge
Valdier warrior the one time he saw him. The warrior had found his aunt injured
after a particularly nasty battle near their
family’s
village toward the end of the war. She had escaped into the lower
mountains after the attack on his
family’s
old mountain village. He and his father later learned the attack
was designed to look like the Valdier had done it. In reality, it had been done
by a group of traitors using the nearby battle as a cover as they tried to
eliminate his family.

His aunt had fallen in love with
the warrior named Trevon as he cared for her. Trevon had hidden her in a
mountain cave high in the meadows away from the village. Vox remembered his
aunt being beautiful and innocent to the vicious ways of war. Vox had no doubt
that the warrior loved his aunt just as much. They had been murdered while he
had been away trying to discover who was behind instigating the war between his
people, the Curizan and the Valdier. Witnesses who were brought before his
father to answer for the murders swore the warrior begged them with his dying
breath to spare his aunt. They swore the warrior had never harmed any of the
villagers. The blame lay with the small group of men who fed rumors and
prejudices by the traitors in the village. A small group of villagers were
horrified by his aunt’s behavior in accepting a Valdier as her mate. They had
tied her to a stake and slit her throat in front of his great parents, telling
them their daughter’s death was the penalty for her accepting a Valdier as her
mate. The warrior, unable to save his mate, had been beside himself with grief.
The villagers had struck out at the warrior. Wounded, the warrior had
disappeared into the mountains. It was said on some nights it was still
possible to hear his dragon’s roar of grief and see the shadow of the dragon
warrior searching for his mate.

His great parents were forced to
watch helplessly as their daughter and her mate were taken from them. When his
father returned from the village after the investigation, he had sworn that
never again would this happen. He had forged a treaty with the Valdier king,
binding their two species together in peace by promising his first male great
child to the Valdier’s first female great child. Vox was to mate with a Valdier
princess as well. His father had chosen this path to seal their commitment to
the Royal House of Valdier. Now, Vox had broken the treaty by mating with
Riley.

Chapter
20

All Riley could think about was
getting back to their living quarters and hiding. How dare he think it okay
that every male on board the ship knew what they were doing? It was none of
their damn business. The only consolation she had was that hopefully he hadn’t
made a bet with his friends as to who could bed the fat girl. A low mewing of
pain sounded from her throat as she neared their living quarters.

Mate gives us baby
, her cat hissed quietly to her.
Mates not give baby if they do
not want us.

He said he won’t marry me,
Riley cried out in fury.
Well, fine! If Grandma Pearl can raise
me and Tina,
then
I know
I can do it. Who needs the big jerk anyway? I don’t! I am Riley St. Claire from
Denver, and I’m going home and raising my baby! I know Tina will help me; she
has always loved kids.

You Riley St. Claire of Sarafin
now,
her cat hissed back in irritation.
That our
home now.

Oh no, it’s not! Not if that big
doofus doesn’t marry me. And if you argue with me about it I’ll cage your horny
ass and drop it off at the pound as soon as I get home!
Riley replied to her cat as she shifted back into her two-legged
form.

She walked straight to the
bathroom, tearing off her camisole and boxers as she went. Stepping into the
shower, she gave the request for it to turn on as hot as she could stand it.
She scrubbed at her skin until it glowed a soft peach. She would be
double-damned if she was going to let this make a difference. Sure, she loved
the big lummox, but he needed to treat her with respect! That meant he needed
to get down on his gosh-damn knees and propose. Hell, he could even add in a
nice romantic dinner with wine and roses. She was worth it. She would love his
ass like no other girl could, and she would never two-time on him like some of
the girls she knew back home. She would have worshipped his sorry, hairy ass if
he’d treated her right, but there was no way in hell that she would ever be
submissive! The name Riley and submissive just didn’t go together.

Stepping out of the shower, she
quickly dried herself and walked over to her huge pink suitcase. Lodar said
they would be leaving for the planet soon. She needed to wear something that
would make Vox regret not thinking she was good enough to marry. She wanted to
go for that right look of
Mrs.
Prima Donna/Kiss-My-Royal-Ass/You-totally-fucked-up-this-time.
She bit her lip as she pulled out one combination after another before settling
on a bright, multicolored, flowing, flowered skirt that floated around her
making her feel feminine and delicate, matched with a white off-the-shoulder
peasant blouse. She finished it off with a pair of deadly, four-inch-high pink
heels. In this bad-boy outfit she not only looked like a million bucks, but she
was almost as tall as Vox! She quickly added a touch of makeup and dried her
hair until it fell in silky, wild curls down her back. Stepping back, she
looked at her reflection critically.

"Damn! I clean up pretty good,
even if I say so myself," she murmured with a grin. "Let’s see what
that pissy-ass tomcat thinks of me now! Who needs him! I’ll show him what he is
missing and then some. He’ll be crawling on his furry belly back to me before
he knows what is happening," she added before blowing a mischievous kiss
to her reflection.

She stepped out of the bathroom and
quickly packed all of her things back into her suitcase before picking up her
oversized purse and grabbing the handle of her suitcase. She walked over to the
door and stepped out with a toss of her head at Lodar whose eyes widened in
appreciation as he skimmed her lush figure.

"Gods, Riley," Lodar
muttered under his breath. "You are going to cause Vox to have a stroke.
You know you shouldn’t pull his tail the way you do, don’t you?"

Riley grinned, showing off the
dimples in her cheeks which drew another groan from Lodar. "You like?"
she asked as she twirled around on her heels and giggled as she heard
additional groans from Cross who had come looking for Lodar.

"Riley, how about running away
with me?" Cross asked with a lascivious smirk. "My world is just as
beautiful as Sarafin, and dragons are known to be better lovers."

Riley’s husky laugh drew more men
down the corridor to see what was going on. She walked by Lodar, handing him
the handle of her suitcase with a wink as she threaded her arm around Cross’s
thick forearm. She brushed her hair over her shoulder, revealing the pale peach
shoulder that had been hidden by the mass of curls.

"Let’s go, boys!" Riley
called out as she pulled on Cross, directing him to the lift. "I have a
planet to visit, a king to show what he is missing out on, and plans for
escaping back to my world to make. Who wants to join me?"

Chuckles
filled the corridor along with a loud purring of male appreciation for the
sinful sway to Riley’s hips as she walked in her impossible heels. Lodar looked
at the back of the Valdier warrior who was grinning as he listened to some tale
Riley was sharing with him. He shook his head and actually felt sorry for his
friend and leader. He was going to have his hands full with his little alien
mate. Riley on a mission was not only scary but a truly beautiful thing—as long
as she didn’t blow anything up.

* * *

Vox’s fist clenched and
unclenched as he fought the urge to kill the Valdier warrior who was casting
him sympathetic looks as they stood next to the transporter platform. When
Riley had shown up at the departure tube with
at
least twenty warriors following behind her, he had been furious. He
wasn’t furious by the sight of twenty of his best warriors glued to her every
word. He wasn’t even furious
with
the way she clung to Cross, though he figured that would come
later. No, he was furious at the ease with which she looked through him as if
he didn’t even exist.

He calmed a little when he realized
it was a ruse. He could smell her hurt and see the slight tremor in her hand
when she reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. He knew the other
males could smell her hurt as well and were being very protective of her. When
she raised her eyebrow at him, as if daring him to say or do anything about her
white-knuckled grip on Cross’s arm, he had to force himself to take a deep
breath. He needed to be very careful in how he handled her. She was just
stubborn enough to do something crazy—like try to kidnap another warrior to
take her home. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he remembered her
standing in the corridor not too long ago. She had been so proud of herself
when she thought she had Nahuel captured.

"My lord, we are ready,"
the warrior at the controls to the
transporter
platform called out.

Vox nodded and stepped up onto the
platform. Cross lead Riley up onto the platform and gently peeled her fingers
off his arm. He murmured something quietly to her before he stepped over to the
other square marking the platform positions. Lodar handed the handle to Riley’s
suitcase to another warrior who would make sure it was transported down on one
of the supply shuttles and delivered to the palace later.

"My suitcase," Riley said,
taking a step forward with a worried bite to her lower lip as her eyes remained
glued to the huge pink case. "It has all my worldly possessions in it."

Vox turned and looked into Riley’s
huge blue eyes and felt the familiar sense of falling into them. "It will
be delivered safely to our rooms at the palace. I promise nothing will happen
to it," he reassured her quietly.

"But…" Riley dragged her
eyes away from Vox’s dark, tawny eyes for a moment to glance at her suitcase
before she looked back at him.

"I promise nothing will happen
to it. We must go," he replied. "We are expected, and others need to
depart as well."

"Will this thing put all my
parts back in the right place?" Riley whispered under her breath,
forgetting for a moment that a Sarafin warrior’s hearing could easily pick up
what she was saying.

Chuckles were covered as coughs as
the warriors heard her fearful question. "Yes, my little warrior,"
Vox replied with an amused look in his eyes before they turned dark with desire
as his eyes ran over her form again. "Everything will be exactly where it
should be."

"Including—" Riley’s
throat worked up and down even as her hand went protectively to her stomach. "Including
our baby?" she whispered.

Vox’s eyes softened as he reached
out and touched her cheek. "I would never allow anything to hurt either
one of you, my mate. We will talk later about this ‘marriage’ you feel you must
have and the jewelry that you want," he promised huskily.

Riley’s eyes brightened until they
were shining like the blessed crystals that sometimes washed up on the shores
from their oceans. Vox cursed that he had been so stubborn earlier for not
trying to understand how important these items were to his mate. He would
definitely notify Viper this afternoon about returning with a "marriage"
for his mate. If something so small put such a wondrous look in her eyes, he
would never deny her anything she requested.

Lodar
clearing his throat reminding Vox he was standing in the middle of the
transporter room with dozens of warriors looking at him with goofy grins on
their faces. He felt a heated flush rise up into his cheeks before he turned
and nodded tersely to the warrior to begin transport.

* * *

Two hours later, Riley realized
she didn’t know what to expect when they left the
Shifter
. So far, the
only things she had experienced were the trader’s ship, the mining asteroid,
the old freighter, and the warships. She definitely didn’t expect to see a lush
world of such incredible beauty that she could only imagine that this must be
what heaven looked like.

Tall, dark rose-colored peaks rose
above thick forests. The tops of the massive trees were covered
with
shimmering mists of white. Dozens of
small flying vehicles rose and sank among the tops of the temples. In the
distance she could see great cliffs rising out of an ocean of royal blue.
Waterfalls tumbled down the ragged cliff rocks, falling in sheets of white down
the edges until it disappeared into the rocks at the water’s edge.

Riley stood on the balcony of the
palace gazing out over the alien world. She giggled as she watched a group of
children, some in the shape of miniature tigers, leopards, and other cat forms,
running across an open garden far below her. She gasped as a pair of strong
arms circled her around the waist and pulled her back against a hard, muscled body.

"I love the feel of you in my
arms," Vox said quietly, rubbing his chin against her hair. A deep purring
began vibrating his chest. "I love everything about you."

Riley turned in his arms with a
disbelieving giggle. "Including my temper and smart mouth?"

Vox grinned down at her with warm
eyes. He brushed his lips against her softer, plumper ones. "Especially
your smart mouth," he whispered huskily. "You will make my men think
I am turning into a kitten. I stop thinking when I am around you," he
groaned as he rubbed against her letting her feel how aroused he was.

A shuddered rippled through her
before she studied his face carefully. "Did you mean it earlier?"
Riley asked serious, hushed tone. "That you would talk about us getting
married?"

"I would give you anything you
asked for," he admitted before capturing her lips with his.

He meant what he said. He did lose
all sense of thought when he was around her. Everything about her drove him
crazy, from her scent, to the touch of her skin, to the sound of her voice when
she was muttering under her breath or giving him hell. He wanted it all. Every
fiery, passionate part of her.

He broke away with a frustrated
growl when he heard the pounding on the outer door to their living quarters.
The insistent sound could only mean his family—namely his father—had discovered
his mating. A wave of protectiveness washed through him as he stared down at
his mate’s flushed face.

Guall’s balls!
He snarled silently as he reluctantly pulled back when the pounding
grew more persistent.
All I want is for everyone to leave me alone with my
mate for a few months. Is that too much to ask for?
he wondered in
frustration as Riley pulled away to go answer the door.

You and me both,
his cat hissed back pacing.
I want to run and chase. I want to
capture my mate.

Shut up,
Vox groaned in frustration.
This is difficult enough without you
picturing how you want to mount her.

Mates have sexy tails,
his cat purred.

Vox’s eyes focused on Riley’s
swaying hips as she walked across the room. Those damn shoes of hers were
staying on when he fucked her! He wanted her to wear them and nothing else but
the jewels he would drape on her. His eyes brightened as he thought of one
particular set of blue crystals he wanted her to wear.