Page 22 of Kazzon's Human Bride
“What is it you’re worried I might possibly do?” She held no power in New Leesburg. She wasn’t an Enforcer or an elected Leader. She was a regular citizen who worked in a bakery. Well, except for the fact that she was also a Tarrkuan bride, though that special status didn’t give her any power. Quite the opposite—it meant she was destined to become the wife of a Tarrkuan male. Even if she tried to escape that fate, apparently.
“I am not certain,” he said after a pause. “But I know you didn’t wish to go to Tarrkua and marry one of my kind. And, given that you attempted to switch lives with another human female, I cannot say that I trust you yet.”
She swallowed hard. “I’m not going to try to hide from you, if that’s what you’re worried about. Or try to get the Leaders to save me. Even if I approached one of them for help, I doubt it would do me any good since I should’ve already left Earth—they’d probably be angry with me for breaking the treaty between our worlds.”
New Leesburg was an enclosed settlement. There was nowhere she could run, nowhere she could hide. And if she approached the Leaders and asked for help, they’d likely summon Enforcers to detain her, just until they could hand her back over to Kazzon. After all, they were already married.
He released her hair and guided her onto her back. She rested on the covers beneath him, praying he hadn’t seen black mist around her face just now. She didn’t have plans to escape Kazzon, but that didn’t mean she was happy about being forced to become his wife—even if he sometimes caused her heart to flutter and made her see stars in bed. But if some crazy opportunity to escape him arose, she honestly didn’t know whether or not she would take it.
The truth was, she’d never asked for this life. No Tarrkuan bride asked for this life. They were all victims of a treaty made long ago between two desperate worlds, one in need of fertile females and the other in need of fuel.
Unconsciously, she placed her hand on her stomach, wondering just how long it would be until Kazzon got her pregnant.
While these thoughts sped through her mind, he stared down at her, his dark eyes as intense as ever. She wished she could roll over and hide her face, but he’d straddled her when he turned her onto her back. She couldn’t move unless he got off her.
He brought his hand to her face and gently caressed her cheek, his warm fingers sending tingles throughout her body. She peered at him, unable to look away, mesmerized by his huge alien eyes even though she longed to hide from him. It was still rather unnerving, knowing she would never be able to lie to him about anything. Even little white lies were off limits.
“If you ever try to leave me, little human, I will hunt you down.” Despite his threatening words, his tone remained quiet and gentle, a soft rumble that settled over her.
Unable to reply, she simply nodded her understanding. Of course he would hunt her down. She suspected any Tarrkuan male would hunt his runaway bride down.
A shiver rushed through her when she considered what would happen to herifshe ever ran away and he caught her. She didn’t want to think about it and soon pushed such thoughts aside.
This is my life now, she told herself.I need to make the best of it.
But she held no illusions that it would be easy.
Chapter 16
Worry glintedin Caylee’s stark blue eyes, and Kazzon pushed away the sudden guilt that fell over him. He hadn’t meant to be harsh as he threatened her, but he needed her to understand that she was his wife and his people mated for life.
With the marriage blessing bestowed and their mating union consummated, there was no way out for her, even though she hadn’t wanted to become a Tarrkuan bride in the first place.
Her friends and family wouldn’t be able to help her, neither would her dome-city’s Leaders or Enforcers. He wanted to allow her time to say goodbye to those she cared about, but he didn’t want her asking for help and causing a disruption inside New Leesburg. He didn’t want her cultivating an anti-Tarrkuan sentiment, particularly when he was attempting to get the dome-city’s Leaders to agree to the new treaty.
Turning the TEC600 off remained an option, but it was still his last resort, and now that he’d married a human female from New Leesburg—a woman who had friends and family in this dome-city—he didn’t wish to harm those she cared about.
How strange, this tenderness he was starting to feel for Caylee. Sometimes when he looked at her, his chest tightened and he had trouble breathing. Other times, warmth flowed through him.
He couldn’t claim to understand it, but he knew one thing for certain—he was grateful the Allocators had agreed to assign Caylee as his wife.
Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers, and he pushed her thighs apart and settled himself between her legs, desperate to be inside her again. She sighed softly and melted into him, and he felt some of the worry draining from her. This pleased him.
He wanted her to respect him and not attempt anything foolish—like trying to escape their union—but he also wanted her to feel safe with him.
Above all, he was her protector.
As he pushed inside her tightness, he thought of the moment he’d first seen her. When she’d been seated on a bench outside the bakery, flushed and beautiful, with her golden locks in disarray and smudges of white staining her apron. Something about her had called to him and he considered himself fortunate that he’d caught her in the streets past curfew.
And there was something deeply satisfying about capturing one’s bride.
Holding Caylee’s gaze, he began to pump in and out of her again, but this time he took her a bit slower, savoring each deep thrust as the passion between them built. He didn’t surrender to the waves of pleasure sweeping over him until she’d found her release first, but once she cried out and he felt her insides contract around his cock, he erupted into her with a fierce roar.
In the aftermath of their joining, he withdrew from her and proceeded to gather her in his arms. He still planned to take her at least once more before sleep, but the aching need to hold her suddenly gripped him. An unusual sense of peace filled him as she nestled her blonde head against his chest. Her rapid exhales tickled his chest, though they eventually became steadier as she recovered from their exertions. She was so tiny in his arms, the urge to protect her always rose inside him.
“Where exactly on Tarrkua do you live,Xerr?” she asked after a long pause, shifting to peer up at him, an inquisitive expression taking over her features. If he wasn’t careful, her wide blue eyes might swallow his soul.
“I live outside the capital city of Ashorr,” he replied. “My home overlooks the Struvvan Lake.”
