Читать книгу Her Cyborg Warriors - Grace Goodwin - Страница 9

Mikki, The Colony, Transport Two

I awoke naked. Why was I naked? I mean, really? What was the point in that? The hospital gown thing I’d been wearing for the testing wasn’t anything to write home about, but at least it had covered me.

The warden had said my mate would be waiting for me. Well, if I was supposed to be mated to three overly excited women, I’d really missed the memo. They didn’t look like aliens, although I wasn’t sure what alien females looked like, so I guessed them to be from Earth.

They hugged me when I pushed up off the hard floor of the transport pad. They introduced themselves so quickly I had trouble keeping track. Rachel and Lindsey, I heard. Crystal or Christy? Kristin… was the third one? Something like that. At least it appeared I would have some friends out here. Very perky, eager friends. That was good news, because the idea of being claimed by the giant aliens standing around the edges of the room checking me out made me want to curl into a nervous ball, sink to the floor and vomit what little I’d eaten for breakfast all the way across the universe back on Earth.

The alien males were all huge. Epically huge. Like The Mountain on Game Of Thrones but handsome and in better clothes. Seven feet tall with sharp features and oddly colored eyes. Their skin tones varied from gold, brown and copper, like they’d been made of earthen elements and metal. They were, to be honest, hot as hell, but I had no idea which one was mine, and no chance to ask questions because the women surrounding me were talking faster than a gaggle of high school cheerleaders at a pep rally.

“Hi! I’m Rachel. My mate is the governor here, and I work in medical, so anything you need, you just find me. Okay?” Rachel hugged me, even though I was naked, which was weird and sweet and, well, weird. She wore a dark green tunic and pants that looked extremely comfortable, a pair of comfy green shoes, and her dark hair was pulled up in some kind of twist. She wore an odd, copper-colored collar around her neck, but she didn’t seem to mind it, so I assumed it was the fashion around here.

Rachel seemed kind, and her brown eyes held nothing to make me doubt her. Up close, it was obvious she was human. They all were. Thank God.

The next woman had pixie-cut blonde hair and wore armor, like she was a soldier or police officer of some kind. I didn’t think the space gun attached to her hip and thigh was for show. Was she police? Military? She had on one of the strange collars as well, but hers was dark green. I didn’t know how this planet worked yet, but she smiled and yanked a blue blanket from the hands of one of the tall, sexy aliens standing near the edge of the platform. She draped it around me, and I thanked her, tugging the ends of it close in front of me. Obviously Rachel was kind, but this woman was sensible. I’d remember that.

“Welcome to the Twilight Zone. I’m Kristin,” she said. “I figured you might want to cover up.”

“Mikki. Mikki Tanaka. And thanks.” I said, gripping the blanket closed.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

“Hawaii.”

“Awesome.” Kristin raised a brow. “You surf then? Or just love working out? Yeah, sorry, couldn’t mistake all those muscles.”

Definitely some kind of cop. They were the type to size people up. Threat assessment and all that. She wasn’t wrong, but I’d made it easier for her since she’d looked at me bare-assed naked. “Yes to surfing. Two-time world champion, but a long time ago. Now I just do it because I love it. Well… did.”

“North Shore? Oahu?” Her eyes grew wide.

“Yes.”

“Big waves there.”

Again, not wrong. I liked her more every second. “The biggest.”

“Nice.” Her face looked as if I were describing the most delicious bite of chocolate. A mixture of pleasure and envy. “A fellow adrenaline junkie. I worked for the FBI before I came here. Now I run scouting missions with some of the guys.” She tipped her head toward the males in the room.

“Nice,” I repeated. We shared a moment of understanding before the pretty blonde standing behind her interrupted. I actually recognized her from some of the videos I’d watched before deciding that being an Interstellar Bride would probably be better than spending a decade in a prison cell.

“Hi. I’m Lindsey.” Sweet, blonde, gorgeous with a softness about her that made one want to tell her all their secrets. No collar. So there went the fashion accessory theory.

“I recognize you.”

She grinned. “I was a blogger back home. Now I do special interest pieces and handle PR for the guys here. We send videos and interviews back to Earth trying to get more women to volunteer for the Brides Program.”

“Yeah, I watched some of those. They were really good.”

“Thanks.” She blushed, which was endearing. She seemed too nice to be real, but then I was used to working in a lab with a bunch of nerds who spent most of their free time gaming. Or hanging with radicals, hippies that rarely bathed and environmental activists that were just as comfortable tracking wild animals through the woods as they were sitting across from their mothers at the dinner table. Kind, upstanding citizens weren’t my usual cup of tea.

Since I hadn’t exactly volunteered to leave Hawaii, the ocean, my life, I wasn’t going to tell her that. Admitting I was a convicted felon probably wasn’t the best way to start a friendship. “Nice to meet you. I’m Mikki.”

We grinned at each other for a moment before one of the giants cleared his throat. I had to tip my head back to look at him. Tall, dark and handsome. Serious expression, equally imposing stance. I’d heard that the aliens who lived on The Colony were soldiers who had been captured in the war, survived their imprisonment with the Hive, but had mechanical features added to their bodies like cyborgs out of a science fiction movie. I hadn’t been able to imagine what those integrations would look like. Until now. This guy had a metallic sheen to his skin on his left arm where it peeked out from his sleeve.

“Rachel, perhaps we should allow your new friend to meet her mates.” I looked over Lindsey’s shoulder as Rachel turned toward the giant with a look on her face I envied. Love. Lust. Adoration. All three. She’d come from Earth and was mated to this Incredible Hulk, and clearly she was happy with the match. Maybe this place would be all right after all.

He had on a collar, too. Copper, just like Rachel’s, and I didn’t think that was coincidence. I remembered the dream, the mention of collars, of a connection that was special for the wearers.

“Sorry, Maxim,” she murmured. “You’re right. We were just excited.”

The look he gave her? Damn. If a hot guy looked at me like that, I’d melt into a puddle on the floor and beg him to rock my world.

Rachel went to Maxim’s side, and he wrapped an arm about her waist. The other ladies moved away from me, each going to a different alien male, matching up. I noticed that both males who surrounded Kristin wore dark green collars that matched hers.

So… they liked to match with their mates here? But why didn’t Lindsey have one?

Whatever. Here I was worried about what they were all wearing when I was the one naked. With the crowd that had gathered, I had to assume I was quite the freak show and everyone had come to see what the new girl looked like.

I was plain. Average at best. Always had been. Brown eyes, black hair. I wasn’t fashion model material by any stretch of the imagination. My parents were from Japan, and I was short, just like my mother. My skin was clear, my lips were mocha—nipples as well—not the bright, perky pink that I’d envied on girls in high school. But that was a long time ago. I’d made peace with myself since then, teenage angst be damned. I was strong and fast and fucking fearless. If I could ride a twenty-foot wave, I could handle meeting an alien who was supposed to be my perfect match. Right?

Even if he was seven feet tall.

“Where’s Surnen?” Rachel looked around, confused.

“Who’s Surnen?” I asked.

“He’s your mate, silly.” Lindsay grinned at me like a super-happy Malibu Barbie, which was nice but not helpful. I looked to Kristin for answers, but she shrugged. No help there.

Great. I do a beam-me-up-Scotty, travel halfway across the galaxy, and my perfect man doesn’t even show up to claim me? Wonderful. Perfect end to a perfect day.

“My apologies, my lady. I am Captain Trax, your second. Dr. Surnen has been delayed by his work. He will meet us later.”

“What?” I turned to the alien in question. Trax. Unusual name. He was tall, like all the others, but his skin tone was smooth and rich, like the mahogany desk in my father’s office. His hair shone a dark, rusty-colored brownish-red, and his eyes were glowing amber lined with bronze, like tiger eye gemstones. But they weren’t cold stone. The way they bored into me made me think of a burning sun, a fire so hot my skin tingled. He wore a uniform with camo shapes on it, but instead of the drab army green, his was black and gray and looked to have the same type of armor Kristin was wearing.

He was some kind of soldier and my other mate was a doctor?

A freaking doctor?

Was God playing more cruel jokes on me? It wasn’t fucking funny. I barely tolerated doctors on Earth, hated half of them. In my experience they were either uptight assholes like my father or were players with a God complex who replaced their women every few months like they were disposable toothbrushes with tits—and the bigger the boobs, the better. Size zero waist with a triple-D bra cup? Sure. Totally normal.

I was small. Short. Small ass. Small boobs. If these aliens wanted more than a B-cup, they were out of luck.

Peeking above the collar of Trax’s shirt, a shiny, silver metal overlaid his skin. No, not just lying on top, it was part of his neck, embedded, as if it wasn’t superficial at all. It reminded me of one of the Terminator movies, and I wondered how far down it went on his body. His face was unblemished, if a rich, dark chocolate treat could be considered normal in an alien, but there was a band of silver around his neck and his left ear was made up of the stuff.

He stepped forward and lifted my hand into his. I expected him to raise it to his lips and kiss it or something, like an old-fashioned movie, but he held my palm flat to his and used his thumb to pet me. Just his thumb, running back and forth in a slow, hypnotic rhythm. His touch was gentle, his skin warm. The color contrast between our bodies was impressive. However, the size of his much larger hand holding mine made me feel like I was in way over my head here. Mine looked almost childlike in his grasp.

It was time to remember who the alien actually was. I was alien to all the males in the room, and they were the aliens to me. It reminded me that no one was truly different once the physical was stripped away. The fact that I was standing on an alien world was proof that all living peoples were the same in wants, needs and desires even though outwardly we varied in size and shape and color.

He gave my fingers a squeeze, bringing me from my thoughts. Shivers raced over my skin, and I pulled the blanket tighter around me as he tilted his head in concern.

“Are you cold, mate?”

He was my mate. My second, he’d said. So, this Surnen guy was the one the testing had said was a ninety-eight percent match? The goddamned doctor? Who wasn’t here?

“You are my second. My other mate is a doctor?”

He nodded. “That is correct, my lady.”

“And he’s not here because…?” I wanted to know how this was going to go down right now. No sense getting attached if he couldn’t show up to the wedding—or whatever this was. The warden had said I had thirty days to take them or leave them, and if my mate didn’t even bother to show up, that sounded like a leave them to me.

Behind me, Kristin chuckled. “Oh, this is going to be good.”

“Okay. Maxim’s right. Let’s give them some privacy.” Rachel put on what I thought of as the mom voice and started herding everyone out a large door that had slid silently open like in Star Trek.

Kristin lingered until I looked up. When our eyes met, she lifted her chin in a silent signal of sisterhood—at least that’s how I took it. Her small action assured me that I was all right. She was with me, although I wasn’t exactly sure why she needed to ensure I knew she had my back. “Surnen can be… difficult,” she said. “If you need me to kick his ass, just say the word.”

Difficult? Oh, this wasn’t good.

“Kristin!” Rachel tugged on her arm, and Kristin allowed the other woman to pull her along with a chuckle.

“I’m not lying,” she said as she went through the doorway.

“Tyran and Hunt might have something to say about whose ass you can touch, and ass kicking qualifies,” Rachel reminded her.

“Not really,” Kristin disagreed. “I don’t take orders well. Not when it’s ass-kicking time.”

“You will touch no one’s ass, mate.” One of the big guys was talking to her, but he didn’t sound mad. He sounded… aroused.

Or maybe I just had sex on the brain. I had mentally prepared myself to be swept off my feet by two aliens and taken immediately to bed to be claimed—as the warden called it.

Their bickering faded as the door slid closed behind them, sealing me inside, naked under a blanket and speaking with a complete stranger who wasn’t even my mate. He seemed… gentle. A gentle giant, although I wasn’t going to tell him that.

What was I supposed to do now? Go with him? The warden had mentioned this thing about two mates with Prillons, but what did it mean when the guy you were matched to didn’t bother to show up?

I turned back to Trax, who still held my hand, his touch so light that I’d nearly forgotten he still held on to me. “The doctor is too busy to meet me. What now?”

He dropped to one knee before me and bent his head. My mouth fell open.

Was he proposing?

“I apologize for Surnen’s absence. Please understand when I say I am yours, my lady. Your mate. I will serve and protect you, die to keep you safe. Sacrifice all to make you happy. As a Prillon bride, I ask you now to accept my mating collar. This will connect you to your mates, but will not take on my family color until you formally accept our claim. The collar will keep you safe and inform all the warriors and fighters here on The Colony that you are ours and under our protection.”

“I thought you said you were my second.”

Trax offered the slightest of shrugs. “As Surnen is not here to be your primary mate, I have petitioned the Prime to grant me that right.”

What was he talking about? What right?

Trax pulled something from his uniform and held it out. It was the collar he spoke about, and it was identical to the ones I’d seen around Rachel’s and Kristin’s necks. But this one was black, metallic, but… not. It was made of some unidentifiable metal. I had no idea how it stayed about one’s neck as there was no clasp, but it was an alien thing, so I took it from his hand to have a closer look.

“It’s like a wedding ring, but around the neck?”

He looked up, frowned. “I do not know about this ring you speak of, but it is an outward sign that you belong to your mates. Does this… marriage ring form a bond between mates on Earth? Does it form a psychic connection and link your emotions?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“How do your males keep their mates happy if they cannot share emotions?”

“They don’t.” That was a bit rude to all men on Earth, and I heard the bitterness in my voice. Space aliens had no idea what beach bums and surfers considered a relationship. “Well, some of them do. But it’s not easy. They have to work at it.” My father was a case in point. Very traditional. A surgeon. My mother put up with his stern attitude and alpha-male bullshit and had for more than thirty years. I didn’t understand their bond, but I was grateful for it. Their relationship wasn’t perfect, but it was solid. I’d never been one of those kids who worried about dealing with a divorce.

“Prepare yourself, mate. You may be surprised by the power of the bond we will share.”

“All right.” As surprises went, I doubted it could compete with transporting to an alien planet and giving myself to a complete stranger or two. Not just a normal stranger, but an alien. Did they even have all the same equipment?

“How do I put it on?”

“First you must accept our claim and grant us thirty days to win your heart.”

“You say ‘our,’ but I haven’t met both of you. The doctor was my primary mate, but now he’s not?”

“As I said, he is not here, and I have filed a formal claim to be your primary male. He shall be my second.”

Ooookaaay. I hadn’t even met my match, so it was pretty hard to agree to anything. First, second, it didn’t matter.

The warden had said I could leave, and I trusted her word. She was too serious about this whole process to lie to me. She’d been human. Rachel, Kristin and Lindsey seemed happy here. I really had nothing to lose. And this guy? He wasn’t so bad.

Besides, I really wanted to get out of this room and maybe get some clothes on. I’d expected to be met by my mate and claimed by a big alien hunk who was so hot for me he couldn’t wait to kiss me and tell me exactly how perfect and beautiful I was. Instead I’d been met by practically everyone on the base except my mate.

Although I couldn’t do Trax a disservice. He’d been here. He was here, kneeling before me with a collar. He didn’t know anything about me and had said that he was mine, not the other way around. I was being claimed by a big alien. He was definitely sexy as hell. I had to give him that.

“I accept your claim, Trax. You’ve got your thirty days.” I wasn’t going to say the other guy’s name. It started with an S? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that the other alien, my mate, was working. I’d heard that line my entire life from my father. Always too busy for his wife and daughter. Always more important things to do. Always busy trying to save the world.

My father loved me in his own way. I knew he did, even though he and Mom hadn’t had my back when I’d gotten arrested. Yeah, that had burned. Still did. Before that, though, it would have been nice to have been placed first in line for his attention without feeling petty and small about it. I knew he saved lives. What was a school play or surfing competition compared to doing surgery on someone who would die without help? Hadn’t he known I’d been helping others, too. Whales weren’t human, though. To him, it didn’t count.

“You honor me, female,” he vowed, then stood to his towering height. The smile on his face told me he was pleased. “I will protect you and see to your happiness. You have my word.”

So formal. Would he be like that when we were…

No. I couldn’t go there. Not yet. The huge bulging of a rock-hard cock was clearly visible behind his uniform pants. I couldn’t miss it with his height and my shortness. My eye level was practically right there. He was hot for me. He wasn’t denying it. He wasn’t trying to hide it.

He was proud of it.

This hunk was all mine. But only one of them? Why was I disappointed? I’d never even thought about being with two men before taking that stupid bride matching test. The dream had been insane, and it had made me come harder than I ever had in real life. The experience made me realize that being between two men was something that made me hot. Especially if one of them was Trax. I had a gorgeous male pledging to be mine forever, and I was bummed out?

Stupid. Clearly I was being an idiot. Daddy issues be damned. Maybe the transport had scrambled my emotions. If I said it had been a long day, that was an understatement. There weren’t that many women who woke up in a prison cell, were driven to the Bride Processing Center, tested and transported light-years away to be handed off to an alien who basically owned her. And all before dinner.

“So, um… what do I do? Just put it around my neck?” I asked, lifting the collar up between us.

“I am happy to assist.” Trax moved behind me. Just like in some kind of romantic movie, I held onto the blanket with one hand and lifted my long black hair off my shoulders with the other to give him access.

“You are so beautiful, mate.” Those gentle fingers traced a path from shoulder to neck and back again, and my pussy clenched with heat. God, he was lethal all by himself, and he’d only touched me with his fingertips. Maybe this would be okay after all.

If Rachel, Lindsey and Kristin thought Trax was an asshole, I doubted they’d have left me with him.

He reached around, and I felt a slight tingle in my skin as the dark collar touched my neck.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the transport room door slide open. “Do not dare, Trax. I am here and she is mine.”

The voice was deep and demanding, seemingly used to giving orders and being obeyed. Trax froze momentarily, then leaned close to whisper in my ear. “Your primary male has appeared. I have taunted the beast, mate. Do not fear. Now we shall both enjoy his fury.”

I didn’t know what he meant, but I stared, wide-eyed as the large alien male came to stand before me. Like Trax, he was tall. Like Trax, he had angular features and was drop-dead gorgeous. That was where the similarities ended. He wore a dark gray cape, the color of pressed steel, with bare feet showing beneath the hem. What I could see of him was golden from head to toe, like a lion. Golden hair, golden skin, eyes a pale gold. He was handsome in a shocking way. Ruthless but not cold. Commanding but not fierce. This guy’s hair and eyes were the color of gold glitter, but he wasn’t sparkling. He was… fascinating.

“I am Surnen, your mate. I apologize for my lack of presence at your arrival, but I admit, you were a surprise. Not unwanted, certainly. I have been waiting years for you.”

His gaze raked over me, although swathed as I was in the blanket, I knew he couldn’t see much. Not like Trax, who’d already seen me naked.

“I am honored to be yours,” he continued. “You come to me bare, whole and perfect, without any adornments. As is traditional Prillon custom, I come to you the same way.” The robe about his shoulders reminded me of a cape from a vampire movie, the fabric looked heavy, formal and covered him from neck to ankles.

He bowed his head and allowed the covering to fall in a pool at his feet.

I gasped.

Surnen was naked. Completely bare-assed naked. His cock was as golden as the rest of him… and very happy to see me.