The Princess and her Bounty Hunter: Alien Romance (Fated to the Alien: The Psychic Matchmaker Book 2) (10 page)

“Well, cousins will have to do.”

“I can see me and your mom as we were so many years ago.” Kilma smiled. “If only she had never left Rilan, we would have brought you up side by side.”

Tiana felt the familiar wave of sadness at Kilma’s words. She always said the same thing, always the same regrets. “I know, Aunt Kilma. But if she hadn’t left, I would never have been born.”

“She would have found herself a nice boy from her home planet and settled down and had you all the same.”

Tiana had tried several times to persuade her aunt that she would only be who she was if the King of Kalisov was her father. She never accepted it, and Tiana had given up repeating the same argument over and over. Now she simply smiled, kissed her aunt and then said, “It’s only because my mom left that I was able to help Larka. Which brings us back to the problem of where you two are going to live.”

“We live here,” Kilma said with a frown. “I know you have offered us sanctuary on your planet, but your father will never allow it.”

“Then we need to change his mind. This all happened because of me, and they will use you both against me if you are left here unprotected.”

“Come inside. Then we’ll talk.” They went inside and Kilma put the kettle on to boil, setting out tea things on the table. “I know it’s not as fancy as that palace of yours.”

“And you know it’s never mattered to me.” Tiana looked around the small wooden cabin. It wasn’t much, filled with the barest of furniture. A dresser filled with chipped plates, with a vase of wild flowers sat on it, which brought color to the otherwise drab room. Two wooden chairs, and a soft sofa, with straw sticking out where it had been restuffed, were placed in front of the fireplace, in which a fire always burned. Over the fire the kettle for water had been set to boil, and a cauldron filled with a strong-smelling herbs simmered alongside it.

The table, which was always scrubbed clean, held a variety of herbs that Kilma had been preparing. She was the local herbalist, or healer, or witch, depending on whom you spoke to. Although Tiana had never seen her use any powers, she wasn’t convinced things like that even existed, so she settled for her aunt being a wise woman who could cure most things with a strong tonic, brewed specially for what ailed a person.

“Can you make a tonic for me? Well, for someone I know,” Tiana asked.

“For Mak?” Larka asked.

“Yes, for Mak. It seems the least we can do for him.”

“And who is this Mak?” Kilma asked, her voice filled with curiosity.

“The man who helped rescue Larka, and brought us here.”

“Tiana likes him, and he likes Tiana,” Larka said in an exaggerated whisper, still clinging close to her mom.

“Yes, because when he takes me back to my father, he will get a large bounty.” She raised her eyebrows at Kilma’s questioning look. “He’s a bounty hunter. I gave him my mom’s jewelry so he would help me. So don’t look at me as if he did it for any other reason. The Virdian will do anything for money.”

“Then why do you want to help him? If you paid him, then his injuries are just collateral damage from him doing his job.” Kilma smiled at Larka and winked. “Or does he think there’s more to it?”

Larka nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but Tiana cut her off. “I don’t know what he’s thinking. My father has no doubt already got my future, including my husband, all mapped out for me. I don’t need it complicated by a bounty hunter in tight pants.”

“Tight pants, is it?” Kilma laughed. “Come on, tell me what ails him and I’ll brew him a potion, you can take it back to his ship, with my compliments. I am thankful he saved my daughter. You may have paid him, but I did not.”

“You make the potion, I’ll make the tea,” Tiana said, deciding she really did not want to talk about her feelings for Mak anymore. “Then I’ll take it back to him, while you pack.”

“So soon?” Kilma asked. “Surely we have time.”

Tiana shook her head. “A ship is already on its way here. Mak’s ship, Stellia, jumped to warp, which is why we beat them to it. It’s not safe.”

“Then I’d better get this tonic made,” Kilma said, her hands shaking as she spooned herbs into a pan and set it to boil.

***

An hour later, Tiana was heading back to the ship. Stellia had set herself down about a mile from the small inlet where Kilma lived. The small village consisted of a group of about twenty houses, which were scattered along the headland, looking down on the River
Yellit
, about two miles from where it reached the great sea.

The land was fertile, and hay meadows ran down to the banks of the river, in which the herbs Kilma harvested grew. The peace and quiet of the open countryside appealed to Tiana. Here there were no rules of court to uphold; the people were free to do as they wanted, as long as they did not break the laws by stealing from, or hurting, other people.

A simple life. Or at least it had been. Tiana looked back to the small cabin where Larka had lived her whole life, sheltered from the world. It was about to come to an end. They all knew it as they sat around drinking tea, while Kilma stirred the simmering herbs to make a tonic for Mak. But they didn’t speak of it. Those words could wait, the future put off for an hour or so more.

When she left them, they had begun to pack, a sadness settling over the small cabin, and Tiana knew it was the right thing to do, leaving them alone to say goodbye to their old life.

Weaving her way through the trees, she caught her first glimpse of Stellia’s hull, and her heart beat a little faster. Mak consumed more of her thoughts than was appropriate, and Kilma’s words as she pressed the tonic bottle into Tiana’s hand had not helped to rid her of them.

“Don’t waste this opportunity. We are all forced to do what we would rather not. I know from experience, just as your mom knew. She went to your father for love, even though she knew it would kill her in the end. But you have the chance to choose a small piece of happiness, right now, with this Mak.”

“But it will be so brief, so fleeting,” Tiana had answered.

“The smallest, brightest flames often burn for the briefest of moments.”

“And then they are gone.”

“But at least they existed, and are remembered by those who see them. Take this opportunity, make the most of it.”

As Stellia opened the ramp for her, that was what she intended to do.

“Mak.” A voice came to him, and he fought to surface from the sleep that had claimed him. But it was persistent, as was the hand on his arm, shaking him.

“What?” he murmured in response. His body ached to move, and that included his eyelids, and his eyes, and every part of him, even the hairs on his head.

“Are you awake?” It was Tiana. That made him feel a little better, knowing she had come back to check on him when she could have stayed with Larka and her family.

“I am now.” He opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but she placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him. “Has the Maraki ship arrived?”

“No.”

He relaxed back down, relieved he didn’t have to force his poor aching body into action. “Then why are you here? Or did you think I might die on you?”

She laughed softly. “I think it would take more than a scatter gun to take you out, but I’m thinking you feel like shit.”

“You would be right.” He closed his eyes briefly, hoping that when he opened them again he might be able to focus on her face. There was something about her that he wanted to lie here and stare at all night, and for once it wasn’t in a sexual kind of way. Instead, he found she soothed him: her smile, her voice, her touch, everything about her made him feel light and happy.

“I took Larka home, and her mom made this for you. To say thank you for bringing her daughter back home.”

One eye opened, and he made out the shape of her nose and her smile. Damn, how he wanted to kiss those lips. “What is it?”

“A pick-me-up. She’s an herbalist.”

“Is she? The last time someone made me anything with herbs, it was to try to knock me out, not pick me up.”

“You obviously have an effect on people.”

“I do.” He sat up, and took the small bottle from her. “Is it safe?”

“Want me to drink some first so you know we’re not trying to kill you? Because of course, with the Maraki due to arrive here in the next day or so, killing you is the most sensible thing to do.”

“You sound like Stellia. Have you been taking lessons?”

“No. But that should be my next point. If I hurt you in any way, Stellia wouldn’t let me leave the ship alive.”

“True.” He lifted his hand, first sniffing the bottle, and then opening his mouth and swallowing it down. He figured that no matter what was in it, he could not feel any worse than he already did. “Damn, that tastes disgusting.”

“All the best medicines do.” She took the bottle from him and placed it down on the table next to the bunk. “It should only take a few minutes to work.”

He closed his eyes and relaxed, wondering if he was imagining the sense of deep relaxation that crept over him. “That feels better already.”

“Good.” He flinched as her fingers touched his face. She stopped, about to withdraw her hand.

“I like it.” He opened one eye. “Works nearly as well as the tonic.”

She smiled, and he was glad his eyes were coming into focus; he would have hated to miss the way her full lips turned up at the corners and her eyes sparkled with life. She was beautiful, even for a princess. He chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Her fingers trailed down his face, a fingertip tracing his top lip, and he pursed them, kissing it lightly. It was her turn to flinch.

“I won’t bite,” he said, mustering the strength to sit up. His body no longer ached, and the sense of every nerve ending being on fire was beginning to fade.

She leaned forward, and pressed her lips to his. Mak responded, kissing her back, wanting her to know how much he liked her, wanted her. And then she nipped his bottom lip, which made him less relaxed in certain parts of his body. He groaned in frustration, he really did not think he was up to having sex right now. The potion was good, but not that good. He doubted he had the stamina to take her as she deserved to be taken. And he wanted to make a really good first impression.

“Tiana,” he said, kissing her once more, his tongue stroking her lower lip and then asking for, no, demanding, access to her mouth.

“Hmmm,” she murmured in response.

“Tiana, we need to talk.” He pulled back, looking into her eyes, searching for the truth of her feelings towards him. Was this lust, or something else, something deeper?

“And it can’t wait until later?” she asked, her left hand cupping his cheek, while her right hand moved lower, a lot lower, to stroke his cock. “I think we have more
pressing
things to think about. If you have your strength back.”

The pressing thing was her hand squeezing him, until he thought he would explode right then. Now, that would be a good way to prove his prowess in the bedroom. “We
have
to talk.”

“Don’t you want me?” she asked, her mouth covering his ear, her teeth nipping the lobe, while her breath tickled his skin.

“Did you drink a potion too?” he asked, his sense of doing the right thing slipping away with each movement of her body and word from her mouth.

She giggled. “No. This is all me. Aren’t I allowed to show you how much I appreciate your help? Before you take me back to my father, aren’t I allowed to experience wanting something for me, not for anyone else? He’s probably going to marry me off to some old Maraki trader, and I’d like my first time to be with someone of my choosing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

His resolve disappeared and he grabbed her roughly, turning their bodies so their positions were opposite, with him on top and her firmly underneath him. Pressing his lips to her neck, he worked his way down, until he grazed her hard nipples through her clothes.

“Damn, I want to see you naked.”

He sat up, and began to undo her shirt, the potion making him feel better by the minute. When he met Kilma, he was going to kiss her, and promise to take her wherever she wanted to go. If it wasn’t for her, he would be flat on his back, with no energy, instead of unveiling Tiana’s beautiful breasts.

He sighed. They were beautiful, her skin pale and soft, encased in a silk bra, which was about to be unclasped and discarded along with her shirt.

“Damn, you are amazing,” he said, his hands caressing her skin, fingers tweaking her nipples until they were hard buds, just ripe for sucking into his mouth.

“Do you say that to all your women?” she asked, her hand covering his cock, which was painfully hard in his pants. Her touch was like magic, just the right combination of squeezing, and stroking.

“I don’t have that many women,” he admitted, lifting his head from where he had been nursing on her breasts. “I want a wife. My biological clock is ticking. I want an heir, I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl, but I want a child.”

“To teach them everything you know.”

“Not everything,” he said seductively, undoing her pants, and then moving down her body, taking them with him, until she was naked before him. Placing his hands on her knees, he spread her legs wide enough for him to nestle his broad shoulders between them. “Some things have to be learned by experience and experimentation.”

His mouth covered her clit, his tongue flicking over it, making her writhe beneath him. Using his strong hands, he held her in place, even when she fisted his hair and tried to drag him away from her sensitive bud. The moans coming from her mouth told him she liked it, but couldn’t handle the intense pleasure his mouth was giving her.

Dipping his head lower, he plunged his tongue in and out of her sex, bringing her close to her orgasm, and then switching back to torture her clit, sending her over the edge. She screamed, calling out his name and filling the air with words of profanity a princess would never learn in court.

“I should wash your mouth out,” he said as he kissed his way up her body, giving her time to collect her senses before he guided himself into her slick, wet sex.