“I’m not worried.” I lied like my life depended on it, because somehow this fling had turned serious on me, and the males I’d taken to my bed weren’t even here. How had this happened? And what the hell was I going to do now?
6
Niklas, Prillon Prime, The Palace
I worried Ander would notice or care that I hadn’t been the most… diplomatic with Helion, not that he never deserved such poor treatment. The Prillon was an asshole, and my job was to be nice to assholes. Dr. Helion, despite his well-earned reputation for being difficult to deal with, was invaluable to the entire Coalition. No one could do what he did and remain unaffected.
The male needed a mate more than anyone I knew. However, I had no idea if there existed a Prillon male insane enough to be his second. Gods help them if the day ever arrived when Helion took the Interstellar Brides Program matching test. Gods help all three of them.
That was assuming there was a female out there, somewhere in this universe, tough enough—or insane enough—to put up with that male. On more than one occasion, I had seriously doubted even the Brides Program could find a match for him.
Watching him argue with Vice Admiral Niobe had made me bite back a smile more than once.
That female was not to be fucked with. The Elite Hunter standing at her back—Quinn, her mate—didn’t bother holding his amusement in check. But watching the fire burning behind Helion’s gaze, I decided there was, indeed, a perfect female out there for him. I’d place odds that the female in question would be from Earth.
These human females were a force to be reckoned with. Including mine.
Lucy. I could not wait to return to her, place my collar around her neck and make my intentions known.
I’d enjoyed being taken by her, claimed by her last night. Although I doubted Lucy realized that’s what she’d been doing.
But I knew. So had Sambor. We’d accepted her claim with every touch. She was ours now.
Thank fuck Ander grew tired of the meeting as well. We weren’t getting anywhere. Helion had yet to have a breakthrough with the Nexus unit. It had been months with no progress. There would be no resolution today.
“Gwendolyn Fernandez is the only one left who might be able to communicate with that thing,” Helion said. “With her own time with the Hive, her integrations…”
“We know about her,” Niobe said. “But she’s rogue. No one has seen her in months. She’s a ghost.”
Ander sighed. “She was on The Colony. Friends with my mate and the other females from Earth. I asked the queen to try to make contact through her network of human females.”
Niobe looked at Ander with wide eyes. “You did what?”
“It is my mate’s birthing day celebrations. The females from The Colony are all at the palace.”
“Yes, we will be at the ball tomorrow night,” Niobe said, flicking a glance at her mate.
“I should be with her now, not here.” He all but glared at Helion. “If getting to Gwen through the ladies is all we need, then we can end this meeting now. I would prefer to avoid Jessica’s wrath.”
Niobe laughed as her mate muttered, “I can imagine.”
Ander wrapped his knuckles on the desk. “Helion, I asked Jessica and Lady Rone to contact Gwen. We have a meeting set for tomorrow in Sector 437 if she accepts. Until then, we’re done here.” He didn’t wait for an answer, just nodded at the guards and left the room, leaving Dr. Helion stuttering in shock.
“Lord Ander! Wait one moment. I need more details.”
“Tomorrow, Helion.” Ander didn’t even look back.
“You going to the royal ball?” I asked, looking at Dr. Helion.
“I have work to do.” With that, he took off after Ander. The sight made me smile. He would have no luck whatsoever. None.
Sambor and I nodded to the others, then followed him out.
I’d been distracted during the meeting with Helion, thinking of Lucy. Everything about her, especially the unsure smile that had spread across her face when I’d bumped into her on the dance floor. That one, small curve of her lips and I’d been done for.
I’d been ready to toss her over my shoulder and carry her back to my quarters near the palace. Then she’d propositioned me. Us. An unmated Earth female had boldly requested Sambor and myself give her orgasms.
As if that had ever been in question. Then she’d led us back to her room by tugging on invisible chains like we were submissive Trion females. We’d proven for hours that we were far from female and had exactly what she needed to be satisfied. Over and over again.