Page 18 of Bonded Queen: to the Alien Warlord Triad

The Mating Rage. That the alien species goes mad with desire to breed their Fated Mate, or any woman that smells like a potential match. That the scent of a virgin is particularly intoxicating to the brutish alien species. That women from all over the known universe flock to the Aurelian home planet of Colossus to join the harems of the species, craving the protection, harsh discipline, and power of a triad.

“We defended ourselves. Aurelians are all bastards, but even these ones have a warped sense of honor. Just keep quiet, don’t piss him off, and we’ll find a way out.”

I want to ask Kat if she really thinks we’ll be able to escape…

But I don’t want to make her lie as the massive alien steps through the doors to the room.

5

Rachel

Istep back instinctively as he comes through the doors. He has to come in sideways, his frame is so massive. Brianna’s room feels smaller than when she was screaming and pacing in a tantrum.

The Aurelian is bigger than I imagined, now that he’s here in the flesh. His robe clings to his body. He’s sweating from the exertion of battle, and there’s a stink of sweat and man that wafts from him that should assault my nostrils, but strangely, instead of being offensive, it smells…right.

His black robe is opened to show his huge, broad chest. He’s got a hairy chest, black and grey curled hairs matted from the sweat, slick against the slabs of muscle. His black beard is finely braided, held together with clasps that are ivory white, clasps I fear are made of bone. He has a massive, strong jaw, a shaved head covered in thick black stubble, and cold grey eyes. When I saw him, he had black hair to his shoulders and his beard was shorter. He’s handsome, yes, in a terrifying way, pure power built for fighting…

And breeding.

He looks like he could pin me to the wall with a single finger. He stares at me, licking my lips, and I remember him. I can’t lie to myself.

I know him, and he knows me.

He’s the man from my vision. It was real. That hallucination that made me feel insane was a vision of the future.

“What is your name?” He growls out the words with a strange accent. I’m too scared to speak, wanting to pull my eyes down but trapped in his icy gray gaze. From far away, I could pretend he just looks like a big human, but up close, his alienness is unmistakable. It’s in the way his eyes seem to bore through me, glowing with their own energy. The marble, stone hue of his skin, the alien brand on his chest. What man could do that? Put hot iron against his skin until it changed him forever? Go up against a thousand slavering Scorp and come out unscathed?

“I’m Kat. Are the other women safe?” Kat’s words come like I’m hearing them in a dream. The only thing that’s real is the man in front of me. He doesn’t register Kat’s words. He just stares at me and steps forward, his hand rising like he can’t believe I’m real, as if I am a mirage that will disappear the moment he touches me.

“Your name! Give it to me, now,” he growls out, an order that sends a frisson up and down my body. As he moves, his thighs flex. The black robes of the Fanatics are made for combat, stopping above the knee, and they barely cover his shoulders, showing off his huge biceps. There’s a vein that runs down his arm, and he growls, clenching his fist and making blood flow through his artery.

As he steps towards me, his robes open a little more, and I get a glimpse of his sweaty, carved abs. His body is perfection, beastly and massive, and I know how easily he could grab me and pin me down in this tower, taking me as his prize. The thought affects me in a way I’m not ready for, heat flushing to my cheeks. After nearly dying to Scorp, every emotion is heightened, and there’s this dark, insistent need growing in me, this need I felt the first night after I saw the vision in the first place.

That night, I writhed and contorted in my bed, keeping silent so I wouldn’t wake up the brat, but it was impossible to stop the moans escaping my mouth as I touched myself, imagining those three beasts of men devouring me with their tongues and lips, their fingers all over my body, staring at me with the pure ownership I felt emanating from their beings.

I’m too petrified to move. Even Kat is off balance, silent beside me, and I’ve never seen her off-balance before.

“I’m Rachel,” I manage, my voice barely more than a whisper. His eyes light up, as if I have given him a precious gift.

His nostrils flare. I’ve heard that Aurelians can taste your scent, and while I know he’ll smell my fear and anxiety, I know he can taste something else, something I can’t hide.

I look down, my cheeks flushing a deeper shade of red.

“Rachel. It suits you. Rachel,” he says again, tasting my name on his tongue.

Kat clears her throat. “We protected ourselves. By your laws, you saved the others, but we can go free.”

He tears his eyes from me, his lips curling back as he stares down Kat. He wasn’t expecting her to dare oppose him.

“I just cleared a hundred Scorp that would be feasting on your remains now if I wasn’t for us. She belongs to me.”

Kat glances over at me, then back to him. His eyes widen, and his hand goes towards his belt, where the hilt of the Orb-Blade rests, just waiting to be activating. It’s as if I can sense the bloodlust coming from that waiting blade, urging him on to cut her down for defying him.

“It’s true, we had rifles,” I say, to get his attention back to me.

“To the garden. Now.” He barks out the order. I lick my lips, but I’m too scared to move, and Kat doesn’t budge.

“Now!” He yells the order. It booms in the little room, and my feet move before I can process, as if he commanded my limbs directly without consulting my brain. I step forward, just waiting for him to reach out and grab me, but he moves ever so slightly to the side, so I brush past his body, shivering in fear and anticipation.

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