C2 2

Captain Leoron Turaya, Planet Alera, Outskirts of the Capital City of Mytikas

The sky was black but for the stars as I stood watch on the outermost tower protecting the capital. No moonlight tonight, the darkness feeling like an omen.

“It’s late, Captain. The watch is mine now.” Gadiel was young, barely out of training, but he stood at attention ready to assume my position on watch. His gaze was full of honor and excitement, a look I well-remembered seeing in the mirror. That was before I joined the Coalition Fleet and spent nearly a decade fighting a horror worse than any I could have imagined. I’d seen the Hive, knew what they would do if they ever reached the peaceful planets within the protective arms of the Interstellar Coalition’s Fleet of battleships.

After ten years, my father had called me home. I could continue to serve on Alera, he argued. I would have fought for ten more, but my parents still hoped I would awaken to a woman’s Ardor, that I would choose a mate—or my cock would—and give them grandchildren to spoil.

I’d met countless women in my lifetime, all across the galaxy, and nothing had stirred within me. My body remained mine alone. And to be perfectly honest, I did not hold much interest in changing that. To be so obsessed with a single female? I’d seen mighty Aleran warriors fall, become nothing more than besotted fools. All because their cocks rose—finally—for The One. To be led around by the balls by a female was not what I desired. To be driven by something other than the honor to defend my planet? No, thank you.

I would remain a soldier, a guard, a fighter for life. An Aleran bachelor. Unaffected by the whims of a female.

“Sir?” Gadiel shifted uncomfortably, and I realized I had been staring into the distance, at nothing. No. Not nothing. The spire. That damn queen’s spire and how it glowed bright, the only thing illuminating the darkness.

“Very well,” I replied, turning to him. “May the light keep you.”

“And you as well.”

I nodded in acceptance of his words and left him to attend his duties. The city was at peace, at the moment. The last incursion by an outlying family had ended in bloodshed just weeks before. The tenuous peace would not last. The royal bloodline was weak, with no living members strong enough to carry one of the gifts. Ever since the queen’s disappearance over two decades ago, the capital had been under consistent attack by one grasping family after another. These families believed their wealth and armies would grant them the loyalty of the people.

They were wrong. So long as the queen’s spire burned bright, the royal guard would defend her throne so that one day she might return to reclaim her place among her people. I had lost hope, for I barely remembered a time before she disappeared, but I would fight until the light of the spire died. When that happened, I would fight for the people in my city, choose a family to rule I found worthy. The battles would be bloody, but currently three families held the wealth and power to potentially ascend to the throne. The day the light of the spire went out would be the first day of a very long, very brutal war.

The tower stairs were dark, but I had no trouble seeing my way as I paced through the shadows. There was no need to count the twisting steps, for I’d been this way hundreds of times since my return from space, from the Hive wars.

It seemed my entire life would be dedicated to battle and blood.

So be it. Gods, I was a broody fucker. I needed an Aleran ale, an hour with the hottest setting on my shower tube and my bed. In that order.

Exiting the base of the watchtower, I slowed my pace, in no hurry to return to my quarters. Below me, surrounded by the twisting alleyways and dense tapestry of stone homes, the royal citadel glowed in the center of the city. The strange tower had been there longer than our people had kept records, built by an ancient race of space explorers who left our primitive planet with two gifts—the citadel itself and those who carried their alien bloodline.

The citadel was both a beacon of hope to all of Alera and a bitter reminder that our people had been abandoned when I was a child. I barely remembered the day the king was found dead, the queen missing. My father, now a retired captain of the city guard, still clung to his faith that the royal bloodline lived on, that his beloved queen would return to free us from the chaos of endless civil conflict.

The light shined, so Queen Celene was alive.

But where?

And why had she yet to return?

The younger generation had given up hope. War was coming, no matter how valiantly the clerics fought to keep the peace. I wanted no part in it. The rich fools would fight over something they could never hold. There would be no ascension ceremony, no new queen, not while the light of the spire shined over Mytikas. Queen Celene’s city.

As if the thought had garnered the attention of Fate herself, the NPU implanted behind my ear buzzed with an incoming message.

“Prime Nial of Prillon Prime.” The voice ringing in my ear was clipped and professional, not asking permission to send the communication through so much as warning me that the comm was coming.

I stilled. “Prime Nial?”

The night was not cold, but a shiver of dread raced over my skin as I waited for the most powerful male in the galaxy to talk to me. Gods, why was he calling me? Now?

Prime Nial ruled not just Prillon Prime, but the entire Interstellar Coalition and its fleet of warships. The Coalition military, made up of at least two hundred fifty planets, was his to command in our war with the Hive.

Epic responsibility and power, and he was wishing to speak with me.

I owed him a life debt. My blood turned to ice in my veins. What was so wrong that he would need to call in that mark? What did he need, a man with so much power? How could he need the assistance of a lowly soldier? I was nothing more than a pawn on Alera. In the grand scheme, I was as small as an insect.

“Prime Nial? This is Captain Leoron Turaya. How may I assist you?” My voice cut through the night.

“Leo? Can you hear me?” The Prime’s voice was deeper than I remembered, and the faint sound of a female in the background drifted to me across the vast expanse of space.

“Tell him to hurry. I don’t trust those people,” she said. Didn’t trust who? What was going on?

“Yes, sir. What can I do for you?” How the hell was he placing a direct call to my NPU? The neural processing unit was standard issue for everyone in the Coalition Fleet, and most diplomats from the individual planets chose to have them inserted as well. Universal translators, they made communication across all the races easy, but I’d had no idea the Fleet could transmit directly to me from halfway across the galaxy. From the ground to a ship? Yes. But from Prillon Prime into my skull?

“I have a very important, extremely delicate task for you, Leo. Are you alone?”

I spun in a slow circle, checking my surroundings. I was on the side of a mountain in the middle of the night at the base of a watchtower. Every sane person on this side of the planet was asleep right now. Besides Gadiel far above me, but he was too distant to overhear. “Yes, Prime Nial. I am completely alone. How may I be of service?”

He cleared his throat and I clenched my teeth. I knew Nial well from my fighting days. He’d saved my life, and I’d sworn to answer his call if he needed me. “Don’t call me Prime, Leo.”

I couldn’t help the way the corner of my mouth tipped up. He might be Prime, but he always said he was just a Prillon warrior saving the Coalition from the Hive, just like any other.

“Fine, Nial ,” I replied, ensuring deference could still be heard. “I have not forgotten the life debt I owe. Ask for anything. It will be yours.”

His sigh made my head hurt. “I am transporting three women to Mytikas within the hour. I’m sending you the location of the specific transport station now.”

The coordinates were recited in my ear by the transport computer and I recognized the location. “That’s on the opposite side of the city.”

“Can you arrive in time?”

I looked out over the quiet city streets. Mytikas was a sprawling metropolis that filled the valley between two mountain ranges. “Yes. It will be close, but I can be there in an hour.” I’d need to run down the mountain and break a few laws when I reached my EMV, but the vehicle was fast. I’d make it.

“Thank the gods.” I could hear the relief in his voice.

“He can get there? They’re going to need help. And I don’t like the idea of them transporting to a strange planet without someone there we trust.” The woman’s voice was louder now, and soft, but not tender. Hers was a voice accustomed to giving orders.

“Yes, love,” Nial said. “Leo will be able to meet them.” That tone was one I’d never heard from him before, and I almost didn’t recognize his voice. He sounded… gentle. Which, when I thought of the giant Prillon warrior, was not a word I had ever associated with him before.

“Thank god,” the female continued. “Especially with Trinity’s little problem.”

“Congratulations on your mating, Nial,” I said. He’d called her love, which let me know exactly who the new Prime was talking to. Lady Jessica Deston, his mate. I assumed his second was nearby. And what problem?

“Thank you,” he replied. “How did you hear the news? Alera is far from Prillon Prime.”

I laughed, the sound bursting out of me. “Everyone in the galaxy heard about it, you lucky bastard. If you didn’t want everyone to know, you and Ander shouldn’t have claimed the beautiful lady in the fighting arena during a live, interplanetary broadcast.” I’d watched the entire event of the two Prillon males claiming their female. Sacred and erotic, there was no doubt Jessica belonged to Nial and Ander. I was happy for my friend, but had felt nothing as I watched the ceremony. The female he’d been matched to via the Interstellar Brides Program, a woman from Earth, was striking, and very responsive to her mates as they’d claimed her. I’d been pleased that Nial had found happiness, but my body remained as it had always been, dormant.

While a Prillon was connected to his mate and his second by collars that shared feelings, emotions and even sensations, an Aleran male had no such connection. Finding a mate was not easy, especially when an awakening only occurred for The One. And only for her. My cock would not rise until she was before me. Oh, I could feel a shadow of desire, stroke my length in anticipation of sinking into my mate’s tight pussy, but there would be no completion, no satisfaction, until I was buried deep between her thighs. Only then would I come for the first time.

I knew how to fuck a female—in theory—I just hadn’t done it yet. Besides witnessing other claiming ceremonies like Prime Nial’s, all males on Alera had attended classes for such things. For while it might take decades for our cocks to awaken to The One, it was crucial we could satisfy our female when the time came. Once a cock was awakened, it would rule a male, drive him to fuck his mate hard and often. Failing to bring a mate her pleasure was a great dishonor, and every male’s greatest fear.

Until my body awakened, I was solely a vessel for work, not pleasure.

“Yes,” Nial replied. “Well, how could I resist?” His own laughter made me smile, his obvious happiness with his mate coming through loud and clear. Being Prillon, he wouldn’t have had a dormant cock like an unmated Aleran male, but I had no doubt the first sight of his matched mate had made his cock rise and, most likely, had yet to go down.

“Not to distract, Nial, but who is Trinity? And what problem?”

“Yes. That.” He cleared his throat. “As I said, I am sending three women to Alera. They are to be protected with your life. Do you understand? Every resource you can bring to bear, every friend, every weapon and loyalty you owe me is to be given to these females from Earth. They must be guarded at all costs.”

My mind raced. Women from Earth? Coming to Alera? With Prime Nial’s personal protection?

“It will be my honor,” I told him. “I give you my word. But I don’t understand. Who are they? And why are females from Earth coming here?”

Earth was a primitive planet, not yet a full member of the Interstellar Coalition. They were probationary members, and wouldn’t have been contacted for another century, at least, if not for the Hive threat so close to them. I had not even heard of an Earth female being matched through the Interstellar Brides Program to a male from Alera.

Nial’s mate must have been listening, because she answered my question. “They’re from Earth, Leo, which means they’re mine. My people. They need to be protected. Okay?”

I answered in her strange Earth slang. “Okay. I give you my word as well. I will protect them with my life.”

“Thank god.” There she went again, thanking a male deity while all in divinity knew the creator was feminine. Strange creatures, Earthlings. “Now, about Trin’s problem, she’s got some kind of mating fever, like an Atlan, but not exactly. She almost killed some poor guy back home, sucked him dry, you know?”

What the fuck was this female talking about? How did a small, soft, gentle female suck a man to death? Did Jessica mean this Trinity female sucked an Earth male’s cock too hard? Were Earth males so weak that they’d die from something I’d heard was extremely pleasurable? Was this Earth female too good at the task? I palmed my cock through my pants, wondering what it would feel like to have a hot, wet mouth taking me deep.

“No. I do not,” I answered, for I was completely confused. My cock didn’t stir at the thought, but I was curious.

Nial interrupted. “Trinity’s got Aleran Ardor. Don’t ask me to explain how a female from Earth has this condition, because I’m not able. The human males don’t have enough energy to sate her body’s growing lust without dying, so I’ve asked Lord Jax to send a few guards as well as a—what did he call it?“

“A consort,” his mate answered. “Someone she can have hot sex with so she can calm down. He better be really good, Nial. This consort better have the moves of a Chippendale dancer and the cock of a stallion because I can’t just hand her over like a prize to some freakshow alien who’s not worthy.”

My brows raised in shock. I had no idea what a Chippendale was, nor whether a stallion had a big cock or not. I had to assume it was large. Mine was, running down my thigh, snug in my uniform pants. And that wasn’t even hard. Would an Earth female require more to be satisfied? Their soldiers in the ReCon teams were not overly large. Perhaps their females’ anatomy was strange, made to accommodate extremely well-endowed males.

But no. I had seen Earth members of ReCon in the cleansing units—and for the most part—been less than impressed with the sizes of their cocks. Alerans were much, much larger.

The use of a consort was not an uncommon practice. Older males who had lost a mate did not lose their physical ability to lay with females of our species. In young, wealthy families in particular, when a female’s Ardor began, and she did not want to interview males for a mate, she would utilize the services of a consort.

They were not cheap, yet I had heard the females were well-satisfied. In fact, the consort’s value to the royal families was so high that widowed males often petitioned one of the noble houses for comfort and protection in exchange for their services.

Consorts were rare. Expensive. And not normally on formal standby for alien females to fuck on demand.

Who were these three females?

“Leo? You there?”

“Yes.”

“Can you get to the transport center? Lord Thordis Jax is sending the consort and five of his personal guards to meet them. Their arrival is to be kept a secret. No one can know who they are or where they came from.”

While I knew they came from Earth, I had no idea who they were. It would be an easy task to fulfill. “Understood. Does Lord Jax know you have contacted me?”

Nial laughed again, and if I’d been close enough, I would have punched him in the shoulder as I’d done in years past. “Of course not. I know him, but I don’t know his family. I don’t know his guards. I don’t trust them, not the way I do you. I don’t trust anyone fully in this, no one but you. Keep the women safe. Make sure Trinity gets her Ardor under control, and then help the females do whatever they need to do on Alera. Help them. No questions.”

“I give you my word.”

“Keep them alive.”

“Is someone trying to kill them?”

“Yes. And I do not want them to be found. That is all you need to know.”

Strange. But I was a soldier, well-used to taking orders. I was not going to argue or ask questions, especially not with the leader of the galaxy asking me for a personal favor. “I’ll be at the transport center in an hour.”

“Hey, Leo?” Jessica’s voice had changed, gone deeper, sultry. “When you run into them, they won’t trust you, so we’re using Trinity’s favorite food as a code word. Strawberry ice-cream. Got it? You say that and she’ll know I sent you.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Good,” Nial said. “One more thing, Leo. If Lord Jax betrays me, kill him.”

Fuck. The Jax family was extremely wealthy and powerful, and the Prime of Prillon had just given me permission to murder their prodigal son. Who were these humans? And who was going to come looking for them here? On Alera?

Who was irrelevant. They were mine to protect, so I would. “Understood.”

“Thank you. One hour.” The strange buzzing in my head ceased, leaving me with nothing but the quiet songs of the night insects and the pounding of my own pulse in my ears. Three females from Earth, one who needed to be fucked, and soon. Not my usual guard duty, but I was up for the task. I shifted my cock in my uniform pants. No, I wasn’t up for it, but the consort would be.