Page 38 of Viken Command

“That doesn’t mean they’re right for me. I can’t do lies, Leah. I just can’t.”

“Not even if they do it to protect you?”

“No. That’s the same excuse my father used, and it’s bullshit.” I took a deep breath and spoke the truth, the real, solid truth I’d been holding deep inside. “And they didn’t come after me, Leah. Didn’t even try to make it right.”

“I know, honey. And that’s why Warden Egara’s going to have your next best match transported here today, whenever you’re ready. I just have to let her know, and she’ll hit the button. Your new mate and his chosen second and third have been notified, and they’re ready to meet you.”

I frowned. “I thought the women transported to their mates.”

She stood, rolled her shoulders back. “A perk of being the queen. And a perk for you being besties with Queen Leah of Viken. She’ll break bride protocol for me. Let’s head to the transport room, we’ll contact the warden and get you your new mate. Mates.”

Oh God, the idea of a new match, of three new Vikens for me… my palms got damp, and my heart practically beat out of my chest. I had been eager for the first match, but now… I was nervous. I thought of Alarr, Teig and Oran, how perfect they’d been.

But not perfect enough.

Maybe I didn’t need perfect after all. Maybe I just needed good men who would be honest with me. I could live with a lot if I knew I was always respected and told the truth. I could live without Alarr, Oran and Teig. I saw their faces in my mind and wondered if I was lying to myself.

“Let’s go,” I said, standing, smooth

ing down my dress. “You’re right. I’m ready to meet the next round of bachelors. Maybe these three will get the rose.”

Leah laughed as she led me out of the room. She might be the queen of Viken, but she knew her American television shows.

An hour later, Leah and I stood at the base of the transport platform. The hair on my arms rose as vibrations came through the soles of my slippered feet. Warden Egara had responded swiftly to Leah’s second comm call and to my second-best match. She’d even organized his transport—and two other Vikens he’d arranged to claim me with him—directly to Viken United to meet me.

I thought of the bed I’d cried myself to sleep in on the other side of the palace. I’d be in that bed with them later. All three of them and I’d get that claiming Leah had told me had been so incredible.

I licked my lips, suddenly panicking. I was far from eager. I wanted to be claimed by three virile, eager males. Viken males, ‘cause they were definitely my thing. But there were only three I really wanted. Alarr, Teig and Oran. And wasn’t I just a big idiot for needing three Viken liars?

My pussy ached, and my nipples hardened at the thought of what they’d done with me, flashes of our time together exploding inside my head and catching my body on fire.

“Oh shit,” I whispered. Maybe it was the idea of three new matches that were making me all hot and bothered. No. It had to be the Seed Power from Alarr, Teig and Oran that lingered. Was my body craving the males I’d rejected? Or would any alien sperm donor do the trick?

Crude, Whitney. I could hear my grandmother’s voice scolding me, and I had to agree. It was crude and beneath me to think that way. I would not give in. I would keep my dignity no matter how badly this Seed Power was making my pussy ache and my body overheat.

Still. How did this work? Was I just craving Viken cock, or specifically theirs?

When the humming stopped, three hulking males appeared as if by magic on the platform.

“Oh shit,” I whispered again, looking them over. They were big. They were gorgeous. And I had no interest. None. My body was on fire, eager for a lover’s touch, but not theirs.

They looked to me, but quickly saw Leah and bowed low from the waist.

She looked my way. “I shall leave you. They should be bowing to you instead.” She winked and tried to walk out of the transport room before they even rose back to their full heights. She stopped when they moved toward me, and I was glad she hadn’t left me alone with them.

They came down the steps to stand before me. To look at me with interest, eagerness and lust. Big, hulking, hot Vikens each in different uniforms of black, brown, and gray.

All huge, gorgeous, and ready to be mine.

“Greetings, Whitney. I am Kayson, your new mate.” He walked to stand directly before me and bent to one knee like he was about to propose with a three-carat solitaire. Instead, he took my hand and I let him, even though his touch felt… odd. Unfamiliar. It lacked the zing I’d gotten when Alarr’s hand had held mine.

“Hello.” It was all I get out. Hell, I had no idea what to say. Did he know he was second place, the runner up? Did he know everything? Did he know that over the last twenty-four hours, I’d been wild and sweaty and screaming around three other Viken males’ cocks? What was he going to think about that? About me? Jeez, what a mess.

He held my gaze for a moment, his warm amber eyes and golden-brown hair completely different than that of my three mates. The difference helped.

Looking over his shoulder, he held my hand and nodded at the other two to come forward. “These, too, are your mates. Geros and Mal.”

They dropped to one knee as well, keeping their heads bowed.

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