Their Zandian Mate (Zandian Masters 9)

Chapter 1

If this was prison, she’d stay forever.

Her cell might very well be the finest in the galaxy. Eslyn curled up on a shimmering spider silk coverlet in shades of teal and turquoise and nursed her infant. Thankfully, she wasn’t in the dungeon in the belly of Prince Zander’s palatial pod, like her mates.

Former mates.

She didn’t claim any of those males, other than as the sires of her young. Stars, she was glad to be out of their hands and safe on the pod. Even if she was a prisoner to her room.

A prisoner living in absolute luxury. Her chamber had a temperature-controlled floating cradle for her infant, complete with a one-way see-through cover that projected images of Zandian nature on the interior walls and played soothing music or simulated her heartbeat. Oh, and it was soundproof, so the squawks of her other children wouldn’t wake Sol, but his cries were piped out so she’d know if he needed anything.

She also had her own washroom with a fully automated wash tube and adjoining sleeping quarters for her other three children, who’d been treated as royal guests.

The door to her chamber beeped a warning and swished open. She lifted her head from a fluffy pillow, an expectant smile on her face. But it wasn’t one of her young, whom the prince had allowed to roam free on the pod while she remained under lockdown. Instead, the huge guard, who terrified the children with his scars and limp, loomed in the doorway.

“Prince Zander wishes to see you now.” His deep voice made him seem even bigger, if that was possible. There’d been a rotation of three guards at her door, each unnerving to her in his own way.

Her heart shot up to her throat. She popped her infant off her nipple, slid off the bed, and slammed straight into a wall of muscle. “Oh!” Make that solid, terrifying, delicious muscle that smelled of pure male.

The warrior had come into her room and now stood beside the bed, as if he’d intended to help her off. He caught her by the nape and steadied her, his other hand cradling the head of her infant. “Forgive me, I only meant to help with the young.”

She stared up at him in surprise, her breath leaving her chest in a whoosh. Their gazes locked. His shone blue-black, much darker than the usual brown-violet of most Zandians. His sheer size and the burn marks on his face and hand intimidated her. Hell, he would intimidate any female. But there was a kindness in his expression, a gentleness in his touch.

Although there was nothing gentle about her reaction to it. Everywhere his palm touched, her skin prickled with heat, zings of electricity sparking beneath his fingers.

Her instinct to breed during her planet’s annual season had been dampened by lack of interest in her partners on Zandia, but it must have kicked into high gear here on Prince Zander’s pod, because the closeness of the male sent her hormones raging. She could practically sense them charging through her veins like a drug.

Her lips parted but no sound came out. She couldn’t seem to formulate any words in response.

“May I?” He gestured toward Sol, her infant. His hand remained at her nape, thumb making tiny circles on her skin. Frissons of heat kicked through her body, concentrating between her legs and further rendering her mute.

She swallowed, bringing her focus to his question with effort. Since she’d arrived, beings had clamored to take charge of her young, the only full-blooded Zandian young alive. They’d left Sol with her, but the other three had been whisked away. Every time they left she feared they wouldn’t return.

Still, she didn’t dare disobey the giant warrior. She offered the baby, which, sadly, caused the warrior to remove his touch from her neck to take him. The care he showed in the task, though, mollified her. He stooped low to match the height of her arms and eased her gurgling young into his rock-solid embrace.

For a moment, she remembered the awe she and her ex-mates had felt after the birth of their eldest, Alyx. But it hadn’t lasted long. And the males had given her no rest at all before they began making their complaints and demands again. Forced to survive in the wilderness of their planet together, they’d grown to hate each other as much as they relied on each other. And she, in particular, had become the focus of the males’ dissatisfaction. Probably because she was easy to knock around.

What would her life have been like if she’d mated an honorable male like this one instead? A warrior and protector? Too bad she’d never know.

Wonder lit the warrior’s dark eyes as he smiled at Sol, who offered a tenuous smile back. “A miracle,” he murmured.

“Yes.” His excitement was the same she’d seen in the warrior Tomis’ face when he’d first seen her young. Before she’d betrayed Tomis’ mate, Talia.

Remembering she’d probably been summoned to hear her fate, a spike of fear shot through her and her hands twitched to snatch the young back. “Were you ordered to take him?”

The warrior’s brows drew together. “Ordered? No. Do you fear I will keep him from you? That will never happen.” He squared his shoulders and the horns on his head stood up as erect as his spine. “I wouldn’t let any being keep you from your young, ever.”

Flutters took off in her chest as she craned her neck back to meet his fierce gaze. Was this male swearing to protect them? “But what if Prince Zander orders it?”

The warrior hesitated, giving her the true answer. He would follow orders, same as every guard here. But he said, “It won’t happen.” He lifted his chin toward the door. “Come, the prince awaits.”

She attempted a clumsy curtsy. She wasn’t used to formalities, although she’d better remember them quick, or she’d risk angering the sovereign. “Yes, Master.”

The warrior shifted Sol into the crook of one elbow and dropped a meaty hand on her shoulder. He propelled her toward the door. If only, she thought she heard him mutter.

“I’m sorry?”

“Call me Granit,” he said.

She managed a small smile. “Granit,” she repeated. “Thank you.”

She ignored the tingles of warmth the warrior inspired. This was no time to think about males. She was headed to see the prince, to hear his determination of her fate. Would he punish her for the part she’d played in Talia’s brief capture? And what would he do with her former mates?

“D-do you know what’s going to happen to me?” she dared ask as Granit led her briskly down the corridor.

“I don’t. But Prince Zander is a fair ruler. I trust he will make a wise decision, as always.”

A knot twisted in her solar plexus. During her incarceration the p