Page 2 of Taming the Alien Outlaw
I grin madly. “You can thank me later. Look, I’ll take a guard with me and be right back.”
Before anyone can argue—because they will—I wave and take off. Just outside the room is one of the guards I’ve been friendly with.
“Would you mind running back to the dormitory with me, please? I need to grab Quinn and Horek’s wedding gift that I forgot.”
“Of course,” Lorik replies.
We head through the corridor and turn a corner that leads down another long, empty hallway. I walk beside him, but let him navigate, because I’ve only been inside the palace twice and I’ll get us lost.
“It was a beautiful ceremony, don’t you think?” I fill the silence, because I’m one of those people that has to.
“Yes, it was,” Lorik replies. “The commander and his heart’s fire’s mating brings hope to our people.”
A fact none of us can forget. We—fine,I—might be hoping for love, but the whole reason we’re here is because the Bohnari need women, not only to wed, but to be born. Now that Quinn and Horek are married, they get to start on making those babies. Not that they haven’t already.
We arrive at the lift that will take us down to the base of the mountain and step inside. The doors close behind us, and Lorik presses a button. It’s a smooth ride without any jerky starting or stopping motion.
“There’s going to be a few more mating ceremonies soon.”
“But yours will not be one of them.” It’s not a question.
I wince at the way Lorik watches me. With that crestfallen expression of someone who knows they don’t stand a chance.
“Every Bohnari I’ve met so far has been incredibly nice, and any woman would be lucky to have them as a mate.” God, could I sound any more like a bad cliché? I might as well just say, “it’s not you, it’s me.”
“Nice sounds…boring.” He points out, and he isn’t wrong. “It does not say the female is swept away with passion or that the male’s mating fever burns out of control without causing madness.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.” I wish I felt something more than friendship for Lorik.
Quinn explained the whole mating fever thing to Devon, Lindsey, and me. How every Bohnari male is afflicted with it, but they’ve been able to dampen the effects by inhaling some ground-up plant that can only be found on a neighboring planet.
Except, it’s not the best solution, even if it’s currently the only one available. Even to the rebels. That’s where us humans come in. The Bohnari need to find mates or the mating fever burns so hot and without ceasing, that it essentially causes them to become figurative beasts who only want to destroy and kill.Or fuck.
There are rare occasions that a Bohnari will find his heart’s fire, which is what happened with Horek and Quinn. He doesn’t have to inhale the plant powder anymore, and while the mating fever still burns through him, Quinn is able to keep the murderous and uncontrolled rage contained. It’s what they consider fated mates. Most males are happy enough to find a female to sate the fever completely without her being his heart’s fire. It’s sort of what happens in a human marriage anyway, isn’t it? The insatiable need mellows out?
The streets are mostly quiet, since nearly the entire city is at the palace for the wedding feast. I guess Lorik’s decided I’m not worth conversing with anymore, since it’s only his friendship I’m interested in. While I understand his disappointment, it hurts a little.
Guards continue to patrol, because there’s still the threat of the rebels that hide within the rainforest outside the city limits. The damn image of a smirking Bohnari tries to wiggle its way out of the mental compartment I locked it in.
He’s the reason the Bohnari male died in the explosion the night of the first welcome banquet. I recall the shocked disbelief onJanik’s face that day in the city center when Quinn and I ran across him. As if he’d had no idea someone had been killed. I’ll give him credit for being a great actor.
A noise down a nearby alley jerks my head in that direction, and Lorik stiffens. We both stop and I strain my ears for…any other sounds. Except there’s nothing. In fact, it’s way too quiet. He snags my arm and drags me forward.
“Come, Olivia. We must hurry.”
Lorik doesn’t have to tell me twice. I pick up my pace, while he comms another guard. Before he can get a word out, though, a massive, cloaked figure charges out of the darkness and tackles him with a predatory growl. The two roll along the ground, trading blows. A second figure steps out of the shadows, and I back away but trip over the curb and land on my ass.
“Fucking hell.” The pain ricochets through me and I have to catch my breath.
The other cloaked being joins in the fight against Lorik. I scramble to my feet, and although I know I’m far out-muscled, my rage against injustice surges, and my rash, unthinking impulse takes over. I rush forward and jump on the back of the first guy, wrapping my arms around his neck and legs around his waist. All while screaming obscenities in his ear. Lorik and the other person continue fighting, although the former is struggling.
“Get the fuck off him you overgrown shit-stain.” I tighten my hold on his neck and he whirls around, taking me with him. “You think you’re a tough guy ganging up on someone? You’re nothing but a pussy.”
A person with far more self-preservation would have run to try and find a guard, but not me. I’ve never been one to back down from bullies. Even those who are obviously male and who could, no doubt, kill me with a single blow. Except this guy’s not hurting me. Hell, he’s not even trying.
The next thing I know, he’s somehow managed to untangle my limbs at the same time he divests himself of his cloak and binds me with it. I look up and meet the far too familiar eyes of a male I keep trying to forget. Son of a bitch. For a second, I swear there’s a flash of light—similar to a match being struck—that bursts in their copper depths, but it’s gone so quickly I had to have imagined it.
Rationality hits, and I open my mouth to scream, but the sound doesn’t reach anywhere, because Janik’s lips cover mine. He swallows down my cry, and I freeze at the powerful sensation that explodes between us. He deepens the kiss and slides his slick tongue along the length of mine. God, he tastes good. A grunt of pain from the two males still fighting brings me to my senses.
