“Doesn’t matter,” I replied. “She’ll choose one of us from the group. The regent wouldn’t go through all of this if he wasn’t sure of the match.”
“This is for our benefit. I agree with Tor,” Lev commented. “It matters not who stands with the others as long as we take her away from here together. No one else touches her.”
“Agreed.”
Chapter Three
Leah
My eyes blinked open as if I’d just taken a nap. Just seeing a ceiling made of dark paneled wood was enough to nudge my brain into realizing that I was no longer in the processing center. It was quiet, no hum of the air conditioning, no machines. The air was warm and humid. A rustle had me turning my head. I seemed to be resting on a hard table and an old man sat in a high-backed chair at its edge. Using my hand on the wood, I pushed myself up to sitting. I wore a green dress, simple in design, yet long. It covered my legs to my ankles, yet my feet were bare. It had long sleeves but a low-cut bodice. It wasn’t overly revealing, but I was fairly large so I always had cleavage. The dress was odd, old-fashioned in style, something a woman would have worn a hundred years earlier.
The man sat so still, so patiently. He had gray hair and a beard, the deep grooves of old age lined his face. His attire was similar to mine, simple and unadorned, but gray. “Are you… are you the man who is my match?” I asked. I cleared my throat, my voice sounding scratchy. Had they sent me to such an old man? He had to be eighty, if he was a day.
He smiled then, the creases at the corners of his eyes becoming deeper. “I am not. I am Regent Bard. Your match is just out that door.” I looked in the direction he pointed. “When you are ready, we can go to him.”
“I am on Viken, right?” The room was large, yet sparse. The floor was of similar wood to the ceiling, the walls white. There were windows on the long ends of the room, but the only thing I could see beyond them was greenery. I didn’t feel like I was off-planet, or that I’d traveled halfway across the galaxy. I felt like I was in an ancient building looking out at an old growth forest near the sea. I could smell damp and salt, heavy and thick, saturating the air as only a large body of water could.
It wasn’t like the sci-fi movies on TV. He didn’t wear silver. He didn’t have a third arm. He didn’t even look the least bit green. He looked normal. Old, but normal.
“Yes. Welcome to Viken, my lady. What is your name?”
“Leah.” I didn’t mean to be rude, but my match was nearby. I just had to tell this man I was ready and he would take me to him. Was I ready? Would I ever be? The good news was that I wasn’t on Earth. My fiancé couldn’t reach me here and no one could send me back.
However, the idea of going off-planet and being fucked and claimed by a complete stranger had seemed sound, but the reality, actually being here was a little scary. I knew nothing about the planet Viken or what Vikens looked like. What did my match look like? I’d never even considered the possibility of his age or his appearance. I hadn’t wanted a mate, not really. I’d simply wanted to escape the vile man who wanted to treat me like chattel on Earth. But now, now I was… nervous.
Regardless, I was here on another planet and I couldn’t escape my destiny. So I took a deep breath and said, “I’m ready.”
He stood slowly and held out a hand, helping me down from the table. My long dress fell to my ankles, the material heavy. I followed him to the door. As I walked, I felt a slight tugging on my clit. Odd. I paused mid-step at the zing that coursed through me, shrugged it off. When I took another two steps and I felt it again, I knew something wasn’t right.
I blushed, for I couldn’t tell this old man that there was something wrong with my clit, nor could I pull up the long length of my dress to investigate, no matter how curious I was. Heat washed over me, not from embarrassment, but from newfound desire, and I licked my lips. I wanted to reach down and touch myself, but that wasn’t appropriate. Was this new sensation because I was on Viken? I had to worry about it later, so I bit down on my lip and passed through the door he held open.
The connecting room was equally large, but with no table. Only a few chairs lined the walls. The room wasn’t my focus, but the men lined up before me. They were all tall and muscular, quite large. In fact, very large. It seemed Viken men appeared to be almost exactly like Earth men, but impressively bigger. All of them stared at me with interest and curiosity. I had to remember that they probably hadn’t seen a woman from Earth before. We were equally intrigued.
The old man now stood beside me and lifted his chin in the direction of the line of men. “Your match was successful; however, on Viken, proof of the connection is required.”
I turned my head and looked down at him. “Connection?”
“A natural bond between a matched pair.” When I continued to frown, he explained. “Just walk past all of the men and tell me which one is your match.”
“Just… just walk past them and I’ll know?” I glanced at the men. They gave nothing away, only avid curiosity. There were at least ten men in all, all in their prime. Some were more handsome than others, some stared at me like I was a curiosity and some like they wanted to devour me where I stood. One man in particular watched me as if he could see the flutter of my pulse racing in my neck, as if he counted the rapid rise and fall of my panicked breathing. I met his gaze and quickly looked away, frightened and feeling like a fawn being stalked by a panther.
The men all wore similar clothing and it seemed there were two kinds of warriors: barbarians in furs and leathers and scholars in robes. Both types of men carried weapons strapped to their backs: swords, bows, and spears. For an advanced race, an alien race, they appeared to be rather primitive in the ways they made war.
I felt like I’d stepped off Earth and into an episode of my favorite Viking television show. If the men had grown beards, they would have looked like medieval warriors from ancient Earth.
How would I know which of these men was mine? What if I chose the wrong man by mistake? “Is this a trick? Are you planning to send me back to Earth if I choose the wrong warrior?”
Panic flared at the idea of ending up back on Earth. Warden Egara would shake her head in disgust and I’d be kicked out of the processing center. I’d be alone, penniless and lost, and I had no doubt that my fiancé would find me and punish me for running away. Perhaps this time he would not stay his hand. Perhaps he would just strangle me and be done with it.
“I am not trying to deceive you.” The older gentleman’s words startled me from my musings as he gave a casual shrug. “As to knowing your match, you will have no doubt. His body and his soul will call to yours. Do not be afraid. Trust in your match.”
I didn’t seem to have much of a choice. I started at the left side of the line, moved to stand before the first man and gave him a timid smile. I ignored my tingling clit. It had nothing to do with this man, and I wondered if the transport here had somehow put my body off kilter.
Focus. I had to focus on the task at hand. The first man had blond hair, similar age to me, rugged-looking despite the bow strapped to his back and the long black robe covering his body. He smiled at me, his eyes alight with male interest, but I felt nothing unusual. I moved on to the second man. He was slightly shorter, but heavier and more muscular. He had long hair as pale as snow and was wearing the more primitive leather and furs. A sword was slung over his back, reminding me of a Viking invader of old. He did not smile at me. He did not even look me in the eye. He undressed me with his eyes, his gaze focused on the hard nipples clearly visible beneath my soft green gown. I gave him the same cursory glance and still… nothing. I worked my way down the line until there were only a few men to go, worried that none of the men were my match. Was this a trick? Would the regent be disappointed or upset if I didn’t recognize the match?
I stepped before the next man and looked up at him nervously. This was the man who had watched me earlier, who had studied me from across the room as if I already belonged to him. I halted, turning to face him and looked up. Way up. He was taller than the others, broader across the shoulders. He was rugged, wearing the Viking-style clothing and a sword across his back. His chest and arms were massive, his hands looked large enough that one of them could completely wrap around my neck. His thighs were thick as tree trunks and he exuded strength and authority.
But it wasn’t his physique that had my heart skipping a beat, but the look in his dark eyes. They didn’t just look at me, but stared into me, into my soul. My nipples tightened and my pussy clenched at the very sight of him. I gasped at my body’s reaction as wet heat flooded my pussy. His nostrils flared and his jaw clenched. I could even pick up his clean scent, spicy and woodsy. Was he smelling me, too?