Her Mate and Master (Zandian Masters 6)

She was one part relieved by his insistence, one part annoyed. He didn’t own her. She wasn’t the prize he got to carry back to his precious prince. She folded her arms over her chest. “I thought I had a choice?”

Tomis startled, shooting her a disconcerted look. “Once we’re off-planet. I’m not leaving you here.”

Sankro’s lips stretched into a thin grin. “So you’re not mated, then?”

She suddenly hated Tomis for not wishing to mate her.

Tomis scowled, the low growl issuing from his throat again. “We are mated.”

She arched a brow. Oh, sure. How convenient for him to call them mated when other males took an interest in her but not wish to claim her for himself.

“Doesn’t look like the female agrees,” one of the other males—Banf, if she remembered right—said. He turned his narrow brown eyes on her. “Do you?”

She folded her arms over her chest, torn between keeping the other males at a distance and setting Tomis straight. “Tomis has other plans for me,” she said stiffly. “But he promised I can choose my own destiny when the time comes.”

“Well, choose it now,” Sankro said, spreading his hands. “Stay here with us. Three males to serve two females. You’ll be treated like a queen.”

She bit her lip to keep from pointing out that their domicile lacked the luxury a queen might expect.

“You can’t stay here,” Tomis interceded, bringing his fist down on the table hard enough to make the bowl of fruit jump. “None of you can. The planet will be at war soon, and we must get the females and young away to safety before it begins.”

It occurred to her that Tomis’ backup plan had been simply to wait until the war started, which would leave her here during it, but she kept her mouth shut.

Again, their hosts exchanged glances she couldn’t decipher.

“We’ll take our chances,” Sankro said. “We’ve survived this long without detection. We know how to stay underground and off their radar.”

Tomis scowled. “Your young are the only Zandian children alive in the galaxy. I cannot, in good conscience, leave them in what could become a war zone.”

Sankro stood and planted both fists on the table, leaning forward into Tomis’ space. “Are you threatening to take my young?”

“No. I wish to take all of you. To safety. To ensure the females and young are not killed when the battles begin.”

Sankro scoffed. “There will be no battles on this side of the planet. The Finn are not here. They are concentrated near the capital, where the crystal is easier to mine. We will take our chances. Talia, you’re invited to stay, if you like.”

She forced a smile. “Thank you, I will consider your offer,” she promised, only to goad Tomis.

“Stay the night here. Both of you. We’ve never had company. It will be nice for the young to see other Zandians,” Eslyn offered.

“We cannot,” Tomis said, but she touched his arm. Maybe, if they stayed, they could convince the group to leave with them.

“Let’s stay, Tomis. I could use the rest.”

Tomis rubbed the back of his neck, his mouth pulling down at the corners.

“Please?” She gave him her best pleading eyes, remembering the power her begging had over him back at the waterfall.

It worked. He gave a weary sigh and nodded. “As you wish.”

He was far more formal with her in front of the others. He didn’t call her starshine or baby. Just as he’d renounce all claim on her when he brought her to his prince.

Damn him.

She stood from the bench, directing her attention to the oldest young. “I think I’d like to go for a walk. Would you like to show me around the area?”

All the young scrambled for the door, talking over each other so that she couldn’t understand any of them. The older female took her hand and tugged her along. She laughed and followed, her wary warrior trailing behind, as if one of the young might harm her.

Let him serve, then. Let him protect her, and take her from Zandia to safety. She wasn’t going to go to his prince, though. She wasn’t the only female of breeding age anymore. There was Eslyn. And her two female young would someday bear young of their own. The entire future of the species no longer rode on Talia’s shoulders.