When Adamon said nothing more, Cindra pointed at the boarding house, its dusty wooden frame appearing beat up and indistinct in the square. “You can find lodging on the second floor of that building. The town store is on the first level.”
“The store?” asked one of the other men, drawing her gaze to his crystalline blue eyes.
“Yes.” For some reason his attention made her blush. “I work there in the mornings.”
Oh hell, why had she felt compelled to volunteer that particular piece of information? Adamon’s hot gaze on her seemed to ask the same thing.
Unable to help herself, she asked, “Forgive me if I’m being presumptuous, but it’s obvious you aren’t from Keulot. May I ask what your home world is?”
The man who’d identified himself as Bannor grinned at her, seeming pleased with her question. “We hail from Spygia. I am the leader of our pod.”
She sucked in her breath at his admission. Spygia. She couldn’t recall ever meeting a Spygian before, but she’d learned a bit about their race when she’d lived in Chivea, before her race had been killed off. Spygians had traded with Chiveans, but her overprotective father had always hidden her away whenever one had visited the castle.
With everything that had happened in the past few years, though, her memory had gone hazy. What was it that she’d learned about Spygians?
Oh yes, that’s right!
First off, Spygians typically wore nothing other than loincloths, which was probably why she’d had such a difficult time placing them. The thought of these virile men in nothing more than a tiny piece of cloth made her go hot in ways she didn’t dare contemplate.
Also, Spygian women had died off in a plague several years before. As a result, the men now sought their mates among other races. And if she remembered correctly, Spygians were a sexual species, deriving strength and energy from mating.
Fighting back a blush, she forced her mind from that particular thought.
“Welcome to Keulot, gentlemen. I think you’ll find it peaceful here.”
Bannor grinned at her. “Thank you, Cindra.” He turned and pointed to his companions, one by one. “May I introduce the members of my pod, Devan, Stefon and Tempos.”
Nodding at them, she murmured, “Pleased to meet you.”
Adamon muttered out a stilted welcome, then tugged on her arm. “If you’ll excuse us, we need to return to
our
home.”
Blushing at Adamon’s not-so-subtle message to the Spygians, Cindra allowed herself to be led away. Adamon said nothing as they started down the path to his family farm, just a few minutes’ walk from the square, but his frown spoke volumes.
“You shouldn’t be so friendly with strangers,” he finally said. “They might come to unwelcome conclusions.”
She bristled at the implication that she’d behaved inappropriately with the Spygians. She’d only been trying to be friendly. But then she thought of all he and his parents had done for her, of the way they’d taken her in without question. They’d given her a family, after she’d lost the only one she’d ever known.
Her ire melted away and she squeezed Adamon’s hand tighter. “You’re right. I’ll remember not to be so friendly next time.”
He relaxed into a smile, a soft dimple marring his cheek. “Good.”
* * * * *
Bannor and his brethren watched Adamon walk out of the square with
their
woman. From the barely muffled growls escaping the men, they were just as unhappy about it as he was.
“What are we doing?” Stefon rumbled. “We should go after them. Take our mate.”
The primitive beast within him agreed with Stefon, but Bannor forced himself to remain calm. “We cannot. You heard him say it. They are engaged. If we stole her from him, she would hate us.”
“So what do you suggest?” Tempos asked with barely restrained fury. “Should we give up? Leave her to him?”
“No.” They could
never
do that. “But think for a moment. The woman is Chivean. Her entire race has been decimated. What tragedies must she have suffered just to get here? Do we really wish to add to them by forcing her from her beau?”
Beside him, Devan clenched his fists. “So what do we do?”
“We remain here in town,” he said decisively. “Sway her to us, one by one. Make her see that a life with us is far preferable to remaining in this town with a Keulot.”
Even if every moment was pure and utter torture. From the very second he’d spotted her, his rod had been painfully stiff, making him all too aware the woman who was meant to be theirs was nearby. Oh, how he longed to stride after her, to tear that ugly garment from her luscious body and lose himself in her. Bannor knew his brethren felt the same.
Now that they’d found her, the urge to mate was strong within them. But when a Spygian mated, he did it for life. They had to woo their mate gently, to make her see that they were the only ones for her.
“So you’re saying we seduce her?” Stefon asked, his voice a tad more restrained.
“Exactly,” Bannor said. “We’ll approach her separately at first, build her comfort level. And then, when she grows suitably intrigued,” and there was no doubt in his mind she would, “we will show her what it’s like to be with us all.”
Then
she would be theirs, helpless to resist them. As they were her.
The next morning Cindra found herself unusually eager to start the day. She tried not to think about why.
After awaking early and bathing in the women’s area of the stream, she hurried off to work, where she proceeded to pass another boring few hours.
How different my life is now than it was two years ago.
She’d been the daughter of the Chivean king, a spoiled princess of the most royal blood. Her every moment had been attended by maids-in-waiting and bodyguards. She hadn’t even been allowed to bathe alone.
Now she was the fiancée of a poor Keulot farmer, as well as a shop maid. Her father would have been horrified, of course, but she’d learned to take her happiness where she could find it.
What about the Spygian men,
some little part of her prodded.
No, they were dangerous. She couldn’t think of them. No matter that the memory of their images made her breasts go hard and her thighs wet. Spygians were space travelers and therefore much more likely to run into Malucons than she was here, in this small, rustic town.
The bell above the doorway rattled as the door opened, and Cindra glanced up toward her newest customer. Her chest tightened when she saw who it was.
Bannor.
“Good morning,” she said, drawing her gaze down to the counter.
“Morning,” his deep, sexy voice rumbled. To her shock, rather than perusing the store, he strode straight to her. “I find myself in need of sustenance. What do you recommend?”
“I…” She straightened to full height, trying not to meet his eyes. Pointing toward the wicker baskets in front of the counter, she said, “The fruits and vegetables are very good. They are fresh-picked.”
“From your farm?”
His question startled her into meeting his gaze. “How did you know we live on a farm?”
His silver eyes sparkled as he broke into a charming grin. “Small town.”
“Oh.” How right he was.
“So…” She squirmed in her spot. “What brings you here?”
“My pod members and I are here to collect our mate.”
Our
mate, he’d said. Her gaze met his. Suddenly she remembered something else she’d once learned about Spygians. They tended to mate in groups. In pods, as they called it. Which meant…Bannor and his three pod mates were going to share the same woman.
Oh gods
. She bit her lip to hold back the lush moan that longed to escape. Her nipples hardened into tight beads and liquid rushed between her thighs. Why did the thought of those four wondrous men with one woman practically electrify her with desire?
“Is…is she close by?” she managed to choke out.
His grin widened and he leaned forward on the countertop, invading her personal space with an ease that sucked all the breath from her lungs. “Very.”
“
Oh.
” She shifted in her spot, resisting the urge to fan her face. When had it gotten so hot in here?
“Spygian mates are predestined, you know,” he continued in a low, silky tone. His hand crept onto the counter, inches from where hers rested lightly on the edge, and she watched with bated breath. His fingers were so strong, so long and artistic. Nothing like Adamon’s rough, farmworker hands. What would it be like to feel them against her skin? The buds of her breasts?
Between her legs?
Oh heavens, why was she feeling this way? She couldn’t recall ever feeling so…so tight, so needy. Certainly not with Adamon. All she felt when she was in his arms was comfort. A sense of home.
So don’t ruin that
, she reminded herself. No matter how tempting this Spygian might be.
The doorbell suddenly clanged again and she drew back with a degree of alarm that probably looked suspect, when she thought further of it. Glancing toward the door, she saw that it was Amra, one of the townspeople. Forcing a smile to her face, she murmured, “Good morning.”
“Yes, it is,” Amra snapped with her usual grumpy demeanor. She speared Bannor with a suspicious glance, but he pretended not to notice it. Snatching up an array of fruits and vegetables, he placed them onto the counter.
“I’ll take these.”
“Very good.” Trying her best to look collected and calm, rather than the raging mass of nerves she currently felt like, she grabbed a sack and concentrated on filling it. The sooner this Spygian was out of her store and out of her life, the better off she’d be.
* * * * *
Later that night, after taking her evening bath, Cindra bid Adamon good night, stealing a few chaste kisses while his parents pretended not to notice, and went off to her bedroom. She tried in vain to sleep, but it eluded her. Her skin felt hot and tight in the long cotton nightgown she wore, and her legs were unaccountably restless.
Opening her eyes, she blinked at the dark. How different this small, Spartan bedroom was from her luxurious princess quarters back in Chivea. Her opulent four-poster bed had given way to a narrow, hard bed, and instead of silk coverings she now had to make do it with serviceable cotton. But it was something, more than she’d had when she’d landed here, and the Nashors had been so kind to offer her a room in their house. When they’d witnessed the growing feelings between her and their only son, they’d given their approval for them to marry.
You have a good life, Cindra.
So why did she feel as if she wanted something else? Something…
more
?
Sighing, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep. A cool breeze blew in from the open second-story window, caressing her heated flesh with twilight. There was no electricity on Keulot, but thankfully it wasn’t as hot on this world as it had been on hers. She wouldn’t have survived a night in Chivea without air-conditioning.
Lost in her thought, she didn’t hear the creaking of the wooden floorboard until it sounded right beside her. Cindra’s eyes flew open…just as a hand closed over her mouth. She tried to jerk up, but a rigid wall of flesh held her in place. She let out a scream, but the sound was so muffled that she knew no one else would have heard it.
Opening her eyes, she blinked until the figure above her came into view.
Bannor.
He’d tied his long, black hair back behind his neck, but otherwise he looked just as tall and formidable, just as
delicious
, as he had this morning.
She tried to struggle against his grip, but he only said, “Shush. Shush, beloved. I’m not here to hurt you. I promise.”
When he did nothing to harm her, just held her gently, she slowly stopped her struggle.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said, the flash of his silver eyes assuring her he meant it. “I but wanted to speak, and you are a difficult woman to catch alone.”
She sort of knew what he meant. Once she’d left the store, Adamon had trailed her the remainder of the day, as if he feared she’d run off the moment he wasn’t paying attention.
“I won’t let you come to any harm, I vow it,” he continued. “Do you promise not to scream?”
She thought about it for a moment. He truly did seem contrite, and if his intent was harm, wouldn’t he have done it by now? Well, she could always agree then scream later, if she wanted to. Right now, she truly wanted to hear what he had to say.
Nodding slowly, she forced her breath to regulate as he drew his hand from her face.
“What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?” she whispered harshly.
A slow smile lit his features as he sat back. “Ah, so the kitten
does
have claws.”
Flushing, she scooted backward until she sat against the wooden headboard. “You didn’t answer my question. How’d you get in here, anyway?”
He shrugged, the movement making his white shirt go tight against his broad shoulders. Her mouth went dry and she tore her gaze from his body to his face.