Scandalous Heroes Box Set (185 page)

“Are you ready to board?” Krysteena walked over to him.

He always enjoyed watching the way she walked. She moved with such confidence and the sway of her round hips showcased her sensuality. His body heated and began to flame with memories of the evening before and the time they had spent together pleasing each other.

“Yes, more than.”

“Figured as much.” There was something in her tone and expression since she had met with the queen. When she joined Pryde and him for first meal there were lines of concern etched in her features. At first he had been concerned that maybe she had requested their joining to be over. However, she had informed him of time of flight, so now he was stumped. He had hoped that as her mate she would have opened up to him.

But if she didn’t want that, he would give her the space. He himself had things he was carrying he wasn’t inclined to share. So let her have her secrets.

He followed her to the oblong pod. There wasn’t a door of any sort that he could see. He wasn’t sure of the vessel that had been used to abduct and transport him because he had been in some sort of spell or stasis mode from the instant he left Kitcy.

Krysteena stepped to the small vessel and placed her hand on the side of it and closed her eyes. As if sensing her will, there was a popping sound as if something was disengaging, then all of a sudden a side panel lowered and became steps that led inside.

Once he entered behind Krysteena he became confused at seeing the interior. “How does this fly with no controls?”

She stood in the center of the pod where there was a circle in the middle of the floor and a large square pillow. “I am the controls.”

“Excuse me?” He didn’t comprehend what she meant at all. On Kitcy all of their off planet vehicles had two command chairs and a million buttons, gadgets and gauges that would allow them to navigate destinations, steer and communicate with the control center.

“All pods and vessels on Argona are commanded by majji energy. It is also the same ability that will open the shield around the planet so we can leave. Your presence on board will assist with direct connection to our destination.”

To say he was flummoxed was an understatement. The magic of their planet was something new to him. It awed and unnerved him a little. On Kitcy they believed in science and those things that were tangible. He didn’t recall anything about his abduction from his home or his flight to Argona. One moment he had been walking along the mountains of his planet getting his mind in order for his mating ceremony the next day, then he was standing before a sorcerer queen.

“Come and sit with me.” She laid her hand on the inside wall beside the doorway and it lifted and closed silently. Crossing the room she sat on the large pad in the middle of the pod, folding her legs before her. She glanced at him.

Still not sure what exactly she needed from him, he approached her. He thought about how the males and females were settled together during his and Krysteena’s joining ceremony and moved on instinct. Folding his body behind hers, he sat there and awaited more instructions.

Scooting back until she was positioned in the opening of his parted thighs, she said, “Wrap your arms around my waist.”

“Like this?” He slipped his arms under her arms and encircled her body, pulling her back against him a little closer until her back was pressed against his chest.

She caressed the back of his hand as hers covered his. Glancing over her shoulder, she held his gaze. They sat like that for a long moment. “Yes, perfect. Now the only thing I need you to do is think about going home. Every aspect of your planet. Can you do that for me?”

If she would have asked him a moment ago if he could sit and solely concentrate on his home planet he would have easily said yes. However, staring into the beautiful face of his mate and holding her in his arms it was hard for him to want to picture anything but the two of them locked in an embrace, loving each other to pleasures end. But, he knew that it was important for him to push past his emotions and desire for Krysteena and focus on getting home. Kitcy.

“I can do it, sweet Krys.”

She only gave a small frown at her nickname. “Then let us begin.” Facing forward again, she took a deep breath.

He could feel the expanding of her stomach then its slow contraction as she exhaled. Unsure completely of what he was supposed to do, he matched his breathing to hers. Almost instantly the pod began to vibrate beneath them. He aimed his thoughts stronger toward Kitcy. His heart began to pound as the vessel lifted and he could feel them start to soar higher and higher.

Being connected in such an intimate way with Krysteena he couldn’t think about what he hoped would happen once they arrived on his planet. He wasn’t sure what she could pick up on.

Soon enough he would be home and that was plenty to cause joy to spread warmth through his body and his cat to roar inside of him.

~YH~

“Commander of foreign craft, please state your purpose for entering Kitcy atmosphere.” The voice from the Kitcy command center boomed through the interior of the pod.

“I mean your people no harm. I arrive in peace with one of your warriors aboard.” Krysteena responded, her eyes still closed as she held the pod hovered over the planet.

“Is the warrior wounded?”

“No, he is not,” Krysteena responded.

“Then let the warrior verify himself.”

Krysteena glanced over her shoulder at the man whose warmth and strength had surrounded her for the entire flight between their planets. It had been hard at times to maintain the high level of meditation and concentration it took to control the pod. A few times her mind had wandered to the feel of Rymingten’s hands and wanted them to move from covering her stomach up toward her breasts or down between her thighs.

Leaning closer to her, he brushed a light kiss over her cheek. “Hello, Krandal, it is I Rymingten.”

“Rym…my ears must be deceiving me. We have searched the entire galaxy for you.” The man rambled on with a combination of bewilderment and excitement.

“I’m sure you have. Congratulations on your promotion to lead air security.” Rymingten’s deep voice caressed her ears as he spoke to the male who must have been someone he was very familiar with.

“Many thanks. We have so much to catch up on. You’re clear to land.”

Once the Kitcy male had disconnected, she asked, “A comrade of yours I assume.”

“Correct. Krandal and I have been friends since we were in primary lessons together. When I left,” he paused, the eyes that were bright a moment before as he spoke with someone from his planet clouded for a moment. “Krandal had just begun his entry training in the air security department.”

“What were you doing?”

“As the King’s youngest son I was automatically in the Kitcy guard. There has never been an heir to the throne that wasn’t a part of the planet enforcers.”

She understood for a moment her naivety in selecting Rymingten as her mate. A male that was being trained in the highest level of battle could have embarrassed her greatly in the arena. He had already been a tough opponent, but she now comprehended that he may have been restraining his skills greatly while they battled. She wasn’t sure if she should be angry or honored that he had allowed her to best him.

“Do you think it is time to set this pod down?”

Licking her lips, she realized that she had been lost in her own thoughts for a while. “Yes. Of course. The queen promised you a visit with your people and a visit you shall have.” Facing forward once again, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She tapped into Rymingten’s thoughts and images to bring the craft down in an area he’d shown her.

Soon they were disentangled from each other and they were rising to their feet.

She watched as Rymingten stretched out the cramps of his body, unfamiliar with sitting in such a position for such a long span of time. Even though telepathy transporter travel was a lot faster, it still could wear on a body the first few times.

“Are you all right?” She stepped to the side and raised her hand prepared to open the door, hesitating while she waited for his response.

“Perfect.”

Nodding, she rested her hand on the wall and visualized the pod opening. It did, smooth and soundless.

She was the first to look out and gasped at the lush fields and the impressive landscape of the mammoth hills before her. When she had been there to select Rymingten and her cargo vessel was orbiting the planet, it never landed or came within distance of their air team picking up their location. An incantation had brought Rymingten to her and placed him in a deep sleep for travel.

The coolness of the planet blew around her, different from Argona’s heat. It wasn’t cold enough to cause her to shiver, but jarring just the same.

“A sight to behold.” Rymingten’s heat greeted her as he spoke.

“Your planet is beautiful. We don’t have hills as massive as you have here, as well you know.”

“Mountains. That is what they are. My cat has always enjoyed running along them. They have been there even before the buildings the first generation erected.”

“That is how I feel toward our forests and rivers. We must always respect them because they provided our early generations with shelter and food.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder, a physical connection that spoke volumes of their similar intellectual observations.

“Time is of the essence, we should not waste it with my sightseeing. Later perhaps you will have time to provide me with a tour of the planet.”

“I will make the time,” he confirmed.

They left the pod and went down the short ramp.

He stopped and took several breaths, as if the need to fill his lungs with Kitcy air was the most important thing. She allowed him this time.

Soon he was leading her along a path dotted with large azure-colored trees with some sort of mandarin-hued fruit hanging from them.

“What are those? Are they edible?”

“Yes. Very much so.” Stepping toward a low-hanging branch, he reached up and plucked a plump fruit off. He moved toward her and peeled back the outer hull causing juice to run down the side and over his fingers. “Egnarine. It is extremely sweet but there is a spice to it as well. It helps keep the blood and body warm when we are not in our cat form.” He offered it to her. “As warm as your planet is, Kitcy has to be cold for you…eat some.”

Taking it, she cradled the egnarine before biting into it. It was juicy and sticky sweet. After their journey she didn’t realize just how ravenous she was until she’d devoured the fruit and he was handing her another. The edges of her lips and tongue tingled with the spiciness of the fruit, but not enough to make her stop eating it. “It is very good.”

“When I was younger, my friends and I would skip our lessons and come here to the fields and just lay out in the grass and eat egnarine. All of us would journey home ill from over consumption and in great trouble. However, it did not stop us for long before once again we were laid out here.”

“Well, I don’t want to meet your people ill, so it is probably best that I stop at two.”

“Oh, it would at least take you eating about sixteen of them, Krys, for that to happen.”

Shocked she couldn’t stop her chin from dropping.

“What can I say, we have deep appetites on Kitcy.” He chuckled.

It was a sound she realized she had never heard coming from him. He was always so serious around her. Except when he was playful while they were on Earth together, but that didn’t truly count because neither of them had been in their true form or element.

“I like the sound of your laugh.”

Moving closer to her, he caressed her cheek. “Since we are mated for life, I will try to give you more smiles than frowns in the future.”

“I appreciate it. I know things have not been easy for you.” She didn’t want to tell him that even now her mother was researching and speaking to the counsel about a way they could be unjoined. If it wasn’t for the odd situation of her hair when she and Rymingten pleasured each other it would be a done deal.

She started back on the path.

“Krys, I need to talk to you about something before we reach the city.”

Halting, she faced him again and noticed the seriousness in his expression. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t protect you here.”

“Why do I need protection? Will your King order an attack on me for my abduction of you?”

Shaking he head, he said, “I’m sure my father is not all too pleased, but he will want more answers than vengeance.”

“Then who will I need safety from?” She folded her arms beneath her breasts and widened her stance. “I am Argona, a female sorcerer who can defend herself.”

“In a battle you are tough, but this is something altogether different. And it will not just be a single opponent but many.”

Many
? She wasn’t understanding what he was trying to convey to her. “For what reason?”

“Like your planet is low on males, Kitcy has an extremely low female population. This is the reason at the birth of every female she is bid on and bonded to a male with all haste. The moment she reaches maturity her mating ceremony is accomplished.”

“What does this have to do with me? I’m not an available female. I’m your mate.”

He moved in closer. “However, no male will be able to decipher this, but from our words.”

“Isn’t that enough?” Nerves were beginning to flutter in her stomach. There was something about this conversation she wasn’t caring for, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“No. Not for Kitcy cats. They go by scents. If a female smells available, she is available for any male to claim.”

Another step brought him close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his chest against the back of her arms.

The urge to step back tightened her core, but she remained in her position. “What are you saying? If this is some ploy to get me to stay with the pod while you roam free around your planet, probably never to return…I’m not doing it.”

“Take off the collar.”

She now understood what he was getting at. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You placed it there. You have the power to remove it.”