Page 23 of Possessive Alien Mate

“I missed you,” she said, peering up at him from under her thick eyelashes.

“I missed you, too, my Tyra.” He kissed her cheek again. “Whatever you made for dinner smells delicious, and I am famished.”

“Thanks. I don’t have much experience cooking, but I did bring one of my mother’s old cookbooks with me and I replicated the ingredients, then made the meal by hand.” She sat down when he pulled her chair out for her, and he couldn’t resist kissing the top of her head. Gods, he wanted to kiss her all over right now, but he didn’t want to interrupt the meal she’d obviously worked so hard to prepare, so he moved to his seat across from her.

“Um, Rem?” she asked, her expression falling slightly.

“Yes?”

“I hate to spoil the good mood, but I must know,” she said. “Has he been taken care of yet? My uncle, that is.”

“Yes. He’s currently in jail. I spoke directly with the enforcers who dragged him away from his bar.” He reached across the table to take Tyra’s hand, squeezing it gently as he held her gaze, praying this news pleased her.

“Thank you,” she said, her visage all at once brightening. “Now, let’s eat.”

“What is this called?” he asked, staring at the dish.

“Lasagna. Since you liked the spaghetti I replicated the other day, I thought you might enjoy this as well. Oh! I forgot the garlic bread and salad!” She jumped from her seat and hurried back to the kitchen, only to return moments later holding the dishes she’d forgotten.

Rem took a bite of the lasagna and couldn’t suppress a moan. It was similar to the spaghetti, though the noodles were long and flat and there was a delicious cheese filling that mingled with the tomato sauce. There was also a different kind of cheese on top of the whole thing, though it was melty and gooey. He took another bite and met Tyra’s eyes.

“Lasagna is my new favorite Earth food,” he declared. “Tyra, this is wonderful. Thank you for preparing such a delicious meal.”

“You really like it? My, um, uncle always said I was a lousy cook.”

Rem repressed a growl at the mention of the relative who had tormented her so, the very uncle who was now facing a lifetime in prison. “I love it,” he said, “and I think you are a wonderful cook.”

She grinned. “Try the garlic bread. And the salad. I made the dressing from scratch, too.”

He tried both and was pleasantly surprised. Vegetables weren’t always his favorite food, but the dressing she’d used on the salad was tasty and the garlic bread was unlike any bread he’d tried before. “You must make this entire meal again soon,” he said. “It’s amazing.” His cheeks started to hurt and it took him a second to realize it was because he was smiling so much.

“I’m so glad you like it.” She beamed at him as she reached for a slice of garlic bread. “My dad actually used to make this when I was a kid. He always told me it was my mother’s secret recipe.”

He liked hearing her speak about her parents. He liked it when she shared information about her life on Earth, as it made him feel closer to her. She had seemed guarded about her past when she’d first arrived on Mars, but she had started opening up to him recently and he treasured their interactions when she did so. It suddenly occurred to him that perhaps he ought to open up to her. He thought about his one dark secret. Would Tyra wish to know about Bethamma?

He mulled this thought while they told each other about their days. She’d spent the day reading, talking to several friends from Zone 15 via the video comm, gazing out the windows at the landscape, which she claimed she couldn’t get enough of, and figuring out what to prepare for dinner. He told her about his guard duties, and he also explained the recent change of Martian leadership to her, telling her of King Vaath’s treacherous father and how the new king had banished his father from the Martian Empire after discovering he’d aided the anti-Earther movement.

“Anti-Earther movement?” she asked. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“We have rounded up all the members of the organization and believe they are no longer a threat. The leaders have been put to the death or banished, and those who held lesser positions are currently imprisoned. We take the safety of females on our planet very seriously, human females and Marttiaxoxalian females alike.”

“Well,” she said, “I’m glad the anti-Earthers no longer pose any danger. That’s sad they didn’t agree with Marttiaxoxalian-human mating unions. The way I see it, such unions benefit both your people and mine, though I’ll admit not all the human women aboard the spacecraft that brought us to Mars were happy to leave Earth. Many of them had fallen upon difficult circumstances and felt they had no other choice. I felt sorry for some of them, though I tried to convince them traveling here to become a Martian’s bride was a good thing, a brand-new beginning.”

“From what I have observed of Marttiaxoxalian-human mating unions, most of them are happy. Many of my fellow guards have taken human females as mates. The king is encouraging it, in fact.” He considered telling her that the king had ordered him to take Tyra as his mate, but he quickly decided against it. He didn’t want her to think that he hadn’t wanted her. It no longer mattered what he used to desire, because, by the Gods, he wanted her now, and he would destroy anyone who came between him and his beloved mate.

She belonged to him. Forever.

Chapter 19

Once she was ready for bed, Tyra found Rem on the balcony off their bedroom. He had a blanket waiting and wrapped her in it the moment she stepped outside. Tonight was warmer than usual though, and she didn’t mind the cool evenings, as the days were warm and humid and even a cold night on Mars likely wouldn’t compare to the brutal winters of Zone 15.

“There’s a meteor shower tonight. Look,” he said, his lips grazing her ear as he spoke, sending a delightful shudder through her.

She lifted her gaze to the sky and gasped. She’d rarely glimpsed the stars while on Earth, so seeing a clear night on Mars with meteors streaking across the sky was a sight to behold. “It’s amazing,” she said.

They stood on the balcony, watching the falling stars as the noise of nighttime insects swelled around them. Hours might’ve passed, Tyra wasn’t sure, but she was content to remain wrapped in the blanket in her mate’s strong arms as she basked in the ethereal beauty of the Martian night.

Once the meteor shower ended, Rem swept her up into his arms and carried her back inside, his dark gaze glimmering with heat as he stared down at her. Warmth abruptly pulsed in her womanly core when he placed her upon the bed and hovered over her, stroking her hair and occasionally uttering something to her in his native tongue.

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