“Yes, my lady.”
“Good,” Nial said. “One more thing, Leo. If Lord Jax betrays me, kill him.”
Fuck. The Jax family was extremely wealthy and powerful, and the Prime of Prillon had just given me permission to murder their prodigal son. Who were these humans? And who was going to come looking for them here? On Alera?
Who was irrelevant. They were mine to protect, so I would. “Understood.”
“Thank you. One hour.” The strange buzzing in my head ceased, leaving me with nothing but the quiet songs of the night insects and the pounding of my own pulse in my ears. Three females from Earth, one who needed to be fucked, and soon. Not my usual guard duty, but I was up for the task. I shifted my cock in my uniform pants. No, I wasn’t up for it, but the consort would be.
3
Trinity, Planet Alera, Mytikas City, Transport Room
I staggered on the transport pad as the cold faded from my bones, the pinprick pain of dead limbs coming back to life making me want to curl up in a ball and cry. Glancing at Faith and Destiny, I could tell they were having the same miserable sensations.
“Okay?” I asked.
They nodded, wiggled their arms, rolled their heads in circles to loosen their neck muscles.
The transport room looked just like the one on Earth, but like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, we weren’t in Kansas anymore. Yet the Aleran males in front of us were definitely not Munchkins. They were big. Not Atlan big like the guard on Earth, but they gave lumberjacks a run for their money.
Grim gazes of six Aleran males stared at us.
“Welcome to Alera,” one of them said.
God, Alera. We really were here. I looked behind me. A wall. Yeah, not Earth. There was no going back now since we were light years away. Not time zones, but a galaxy stood between us and the only life we’d ever known. We were in our own sci-fi movie, and I wasn’t Princess Leia. I bit my lip, a little freaked out.
Alera.
It must have been the transport that had muddled my emotions because I was strangely on the verge of tears. What a damn mess. This morning, I was heading off to work and now we were on Alera trying to find our kidnapped mother. And that wasn’t all. Everyone in this room expected me to fuck a stranger tonight. Now. An alien. A male I’d never met and might never see again.
Talk about romantic… not. I wasn’t a virgin, but I didn’t fuck strangers either. I’d never had a one-night stand, never was into casual. No friends with benefits. If my body wasn’t such a screaming mess, I’d send the gigolo—no, consort—on his way and focus on finding my mother.
And this consort? The guy I was supposed to get naked and horizontal with as soon as humanly possible? It was pretty obvious who he was. The other five wore identical uniforms and stood a step behind him. The consort was attractive, muscular, and at least twenty years older than me. He looked like he was about fifty with dark hair and streaks of gray at the temples. He wore a nice suit of some kind. Navy blue. His shoulders were broad and his eyes were kind. That would help. Thank god this whole Ardor thing only happened once. Like losing my virginity with an alien bang. Once the Ardor was over, I could go about my business. Settle down later. I’d be fine. If I survived this without dying of embarrassment.
“Ladies, I am Cassander of the Jax family. It is my pleasure to serve.” The consort bowed low at the waist and swept his arms out to include the guards. “These fine warriors are loyal servants of Jax. We are at your service.”
His voice was deep. Assured. Calm.
Maybe fucking him would be more like a gyno visit. Efficient. Gentle. Fast.
Over.
If I’d met the consort on the street, I would have thought he looked great for his age. He was huge, just like the guards surrounding him, but markedly older. A silver fox, my mother would have said.
The guards however, were younger. Dressed for duty, their dark uniforms fit to every curve and bulge of muscle and… other things. I looked away quickly and found Destiny watching me.
“Too bad you can’t get it on with one of the guards. Holy hotness.”
“Shut up.” As a comeback, it was pathetic. As in second grade pathetic. But it was all I had at the moment.
“Leave her alone. Let’s get Trin’s sexy times done so we can do what we came here to do.” Faith crossed her arms as she stepped down off the transport and walked up to the guard closest to her. “I assume we aren’t expected to stay in this transport station.”
“Of course not. We have secured accommodations for the night. We are to remain on guard until Consort Cassander is no longer needed.” The guard bowed slightly, but more a bow of respect to a lady than respect to a superior. My shoulders relaxed and a bit of the tension left my spine. Good. These guys were here, following orders, but they had absolutely no idea who we were. Prime Nial had kept his word.
I doubted we looked lik
e royalty. Hell, my shirt was on inside out. I had to wonder if Cassander even found me appealing. Would he want to have sex with me? When was the last time I’d shaved my legs?