“I thought Zandians didn’t lie.”
He leaned up on an elbow and traced the shell of her ear with his calloused fingertip. A shiver of deep pleasure went through her. Every tiny experience with this male was a first for her. First orgasm. First blow job. First kiss. First cuddle.
In that order.
“I will never lie to you, little female. That’s a promise.” He struck such a serious tone, she actually believed him. “You’re important to our species. Before we found out about your existence, there were no females of breeding age left. Prince Zander had to breed with a human, and other warriors have taken human mates as well.
“So, you see, it’s not for a peasant—a miner’s son who only became a member of the royal guard because he’s one of the few young males alive—to claim you. You are far too important to our entire species. Your body rightfully belongs to the prince, if he wishes to claim you. Or for him to choose how you should be bred. Not for me.”
His words struck her like a javelin through the chest, coated her mouth with the bitter taste of betrayal. She shouldn’t be surprised. She’d known this was the reason he’d been sent for her. But now that they’d become intimate, some piece of her must have hoped the situation was different. The stupid part was that she couldn’t decide which hurt worse—that he believed she was nothing more than a body for breeding, or that he wasn’t even willing to fight to claim her.
She bit her lips and forced herself to remain still, although the instinct to elbow him hard in the ribs and take off running nearly overpowered her. She wouldn’t make it two steps, though. She’d have to wait for a better moment to escape Tomis.
Or somehow prevent him from giving chase.
Chapter Three
Tomis slept little, keeping watch over the beautiful female.
He’d had sexual experiences before—mostly paid with human slaves—but nothing came close to the desire this female provoked. Even after she’d sucked him off, he’d been hard as a rock for her. Sleeping beside her was both an honor and an agony. Her scent had him in knots; her soft skin brought him to the brink of bliss.
She’d stiffened when he’d explained why he couldn’t claim her but he couldn’t puzzle out what had offended her. He’d assured her of her safety. Surely she understood how honored she would be back at the palatial pod.
Hell, he fully expected to have their roles reversed, with him groveling at her feet. For now, though, he thoroughly enjoyed mastering her.
Probably too much. His mind flitted to his mentor, Master Seke. Would the male have his ass over stripping his daughter naked as punishment?
Possibly.
But Seke had trained Tomis and his other pupils with discipline and consequences. Had won their undying allegiance and love as master through methods of humiliation and reward. Wasn’t it from Seke he’d learned mastery?
As the Zandian star peeked over the horizon, lighting the day, he sat up quietly, careful not to disturb his charge. Zandia was still beautiful. He’d studied the planet his whole life, and had memorized every inch of the maps brought back from a recent expedition, but nothing compared to actually being on her again. The Finn had mined the areas heaviest with crystal and, by some stroke of mercy or luck, had left at least half the planet untouched. Though their king resided on Zandia at the moment, he hadn’t claimed the planet to inhabit—they had their own territories. Since they’d hunted down and killed every last Zandian on the planet when they took over, the area now had an eerie feel, as if the planet’s crust bore the memory of the genocide.
Despite that, it was exquisitely beautiful. Peaceful, even. Plant-based lifeforms had thrived during the Zandian absence. Trees hu
ng heavy with fruit; the ground was covered in soft, thick moss sprinkled with tiny white flowers. Caralee flowers, if he remembered right.
He leaned over Talia. She appeared to remain asleep, though not peacefully. A furrow marred her perfect brow. Despite his requirement that she remain naked, he’d draped his shirt over her during the night to keep her warm. He twitched it higher and stood to gather food, in case she did, indeed, require alimentation.
Keeping his tread silent, he explored the area, finding a fue tree with a few ripe fue fruits hanging from it. In the tree, two furry shalpies played together in an adorable mating dance. He stopped to watch. He hadn’t seen animals in the wild since he was a child.
He heard Talia’s footsteps behind him but didn’t turn, pointing silently up to the branch so she, too, could see the sweet animal play.
It would bother him, later, that he didn’t register any danger before the pain exploded in the back of his head and everything went black.
~.~
Please don’t let him be dead.
She’d wanted to knock Tomis out, not kill him. The sound the huge warrior made when crumpling to the ground made her stomach torque almost as much as the crack of marble against his skull had. Considering how little experience she had with physical assault, it was possible she’d killed him.
She hesitated, peering down at his stunning body, cringing at the way his limbs had fallen at an odd angle.
He let out a low groan.
Not dead. Incapacitated. She took off running as fast her bare feet would carry her. She had no idea where to go, but, as far as she was concerned, she could stay on Zandia, live out in the wild on her own. The strength she felt on the planet made her loathe to ever leave it—dangerous enemies or not. And loneliness was nothing new. She may have interacted with a multitude of beings at Thurn’s tavern, but she’d never had a friend. Thun had forbidden her extended contact with any being. Probably because he didn’t want her finding out she wasn’t human, the lout.
She crashed through the brush, not caring where she went, so long as it was far away from the male who wanted to bring her to his prince for breeding. Asshole.