“I did not sleep in the command room last night.” Apparently Niklas felt the need to remind me of where we’d spent the last few hours. Not that I could forget. I could still taste Lucy on my tongue, scent her on my skin.
I thought of the sated, naked female and the warm bed we’d left to stand here and bicker. “Only because she propositioned you. Us.” I paused, worried. “Lucy is not our mate,” I reminded him. “At least if she were ours, if collars were about our necks, everyone would know she belonged to us. What if she leaves the planet while we attend this meeting with Dr. Helion?”
Niklas frowned. “Yes, I thought of that. However, there are more events planned for the birthing day festivities. Lucy will not leave for The Colony before the queen’s
celebrations are over. She has already insisted we accompany her to the royal ball.”
“True. And she must please the queen,” I replied, somewhat appeased but not completely. The festivities were planned to continue for two more days. Still, that didn’t give us much time to woo her. Even if she stayed.
Niklas arched a brow. “The queen is her friend. She won’t leave early. Lucy is loyal. We know that from her dedication to the Atlan Wulf and his family.”
“Loyal. Trusted with a Warlord’s family. And she’s a screamer,” I added, although I lowered my voice so only Niklas could hear. “When her pussy clenches as she comes…” I didn’t finish that sentence, for I had to shift my cock in my pants. If I said more, I might just come in them. I was that aroused by the Earth female. “What if she meets another warrior while we are away? Chooses another for one of her Earth customs, this one-night stand? There are many honorable warriors among the palace guards.”
Niklas growled, his hands curled into fists and his eyes became dark and menacing, as if we were heading into battle. Exactly the reaction I had hoped for.
“We are in agreement?” I asked. “We are keeping her?”
“She is ours.”
I smiled then, relieved. “Then why are we in transport on our way to Dr. Helion? I can think of more pleasing things to do with the time.”
“Duty calls.”
I hated that answer. I had to hope, now that he’d agreed to make Lucy ours, that he would soon bend to less work and more pleasure.
“You wish to make her your mate,” I said, ensuring I understood him correctly, although a diplomat never misspoke. “Despite the fact that we do not know her well? That dozens of other females would line up and beg to be your mate, Lord Niklas? Favorite of Prime Nial. Best friend of the most feared Prillon assassin in the universe?”
Niklas looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Perhaps I had. Lucy consumed me, every thought, every moment. “Most feared? What of Ander?”
The giant he spoke of had just entered the transport room, so I made my voice loud enough to carry. “Lord Ander? No one’s afraid of him. He’s too pretty.”
The scarred warrior scoffed at me and clapped me on the back. Hard. “I am beautiful. It is true. My mate tells me every time she screams her pleasure on my cock.”
The mate he referred to was our queen, so I wisely agreed. “Exactly.” I turned back to Niklas. “He’s too pretty. No one’s afraid of him. They’re all terrified of me.”
Niklas actually smiled, the first one I’d seen on his too serious face in months. “Agreed. You are terrifying. As to Lucy, we know enough. She will be ours.”
I sighed, relieved by his words. She’d propositioned us unexpectedly. After that, we’d been too occupied to talk, to strategize how we would proceed with her. “What is your plan?”
A Prillon like Niklas always had a plan, especially after a night like we’d had, when he’d allowed the lovely Lucy to be the aggressor. It was so unlike the dominant male Niklas was, but it appeared he’d been… amused by her boldness. It had certainly gotten my cock hard. More than once.
“She had her fun last night. It’s my turn to take charge next. To let her know what it will be like to be claimed by Prillon warriors.”
The image of Lucy, with hair the color of a sunset over a Trion desert, submitting to Niklas, of the two of us fucking her together, collars about our necks, made me puff up with pride. The thought of our cocks buried deep in her pussy and ass as the color of our collars changed from black to dark blue while we claimed her officially, made my heart race. Made me… hope. A mate had not been what I expected to find at a palace party.
Never would I dread such an event again.
“You will collect the collars before we return to the palace?” I asked. He had to claim them from his residence. He hadn’t expected to find a mate at the palace either.
Lord Ander moved to the front of the line to mount the platform. He turned to look back at us. “You two done mooning over that female? We have work to do.”
I checked my ion pistol on my thigh and followed Niklas onto the transport platform. When Ander’s personal guard did not follow, I looked to him for confirmation. “No personal guard?”
Ander shook his head. “No. Dr. Helion has called in an entire squadron of guards.”
“Why?” Niklas asked.
“There was an incident involving the Nexus unit last night.”