Page 31 of Kenan's Mate
“When I looked upon you lying on the floor, the noise of the battle faded and I only saw you, something deep and primal inside me calling out to approach your petite form. Even before I turned you over and glimpsed your beauty, I felt tight in my chest thinking you might perish if I didn’t get you medical help soon.”
He grasps my hands and holds them to his chest. The coldness is long gone from his eyes. Instead, his gaze vibrates warmth, and the tension from moments ago is already melting away.
“I sensed you were meant to be my mate, Laylah. I raged inside at the thought of another male claiming you, and when I picked you up in my arms, so small and light, yet clinging to life like the stubborn girl you are, my heart felt full for the first time since…since Ellonia’s passing.”
My pulse quickens and I swallow hard, so overwhelmed by his confession that I can’t form a single word. Relief swarms my heart. He could’ve kept his reasons for taking me a secret, even Heggal couldn’t have shown me such a vision. But he’s professed and painted an intimate moment I had no hope of discovering on my own.
He has literally laid his heart bare before mine.
When he leans down to capture my lips, I don’t resist. His tongue delves into my mouth and he kisses me hard, possessively. I clutch onto him and kiss him back with the same sweeping force. I need him now, desperately crave a physical connection to seal the remaining fissures between us.
Pulling at his waistband, I try to remove his pants. When I fail to work the clasp open, I settle for pushing his shirt off. His muscles ripple with the movements of undressing, and he breaks the kiss long enough to strip his pants, boots, and tight underwear off.
I ache to feel his hugeness inside me, claiming me, making me his.
He doesn’t make me wait long. After carrying me to the bed, he spreads my legs and sinks deep into my pussy. I cry out in ecstasy when he starts thrusting in and out, holding my hips as he fucks me fast and hard. The sounds of primal mating fill the room, along with the scent of my growing arousal.
Part of me wants to believe Kenan will never truly hurt me. Part of me thinks he’ll never give me anything worse than a belt whipping, despite his threats otherwise. I sense the goodness in him and the turmoil of having the full ancestral memory of one race battling against the faint senses of another. It must be hell for him at times, and maybe I have a full-blown case of Stockholm Syndrome, but I’m so thankful he’s the male who carried me off theStargazer, rather than a full blooded Kleaxian.
He claims me in a rough frenzy.
He’s never pounded into me so hard, but I welcome each quick thrust because it’s him—the very alien who threatened to kill a doctor if he didn’t save my life—and in this moment of dark truths, we need each other.
We climax at the same time, our lust detonating like a supernova on the edge of the galaxy. I moan as the wave of pleasure lifts me higher and higher, beyond the stars, and he emits his loud, Kleaxian growl that makes the air vibrate around us as his seed fills me up. He pulls out slowly and gathers me in his arms, and his gentle embrace calms thewhat ifsfrom racing through my mind.
Right now, in this endless moment, I’m safe in his arms.
His eyes glow with affection. I love it when he stares at me in this fashion, with pure tenderness in his otherworldly gaze. In times like this, I can pretend he’ll never hurt me.
Someone knocks, probably Heggal trying to deliver our breakfast, but Kenan orders him away.
I relish the blissful aftermath of our joining, but, as my strength returns, so do my worries about Kenan’s threats of severe punishment. He basically professed his love for me, but how can I ever love him in return when I must also fear his wrath?
The images of the beaten Kleaxian females haunt me when I close my eyes, and I still can’t fathom how they willingly display their markings in public.
Kenan sits up and urges me to get dressed again. I select a new, dry dress and meet him at the door. He’s wearing his trademark black pants and black shirt with cut-off sleeves. He told me once that’s how his soldiers dress, and those in the town wearing all black were his warriors, trained and ready to fight or keep order should the need arise, though he claimed there would be no fighting or trouble in the foreseeable future, now that the human males have been vanquished. Heggal had basically told me the same thing, on my first morning on Tallia.
We venture to the dining room, where a small spread awaits us on the table. The servants are nowhere to be seen, and we help ourselves to the prepared breakfast dishes. Kenan even allows me to take a sip from his steaming mug. Though it smells a bit like coffee, it’s a thousand times more bitter and doesn’t taste like anything I care to put in my mouth again.
He laughs as I gulp down two glasses of water to abate the awful taste. “Perhaps, the next time you’re naughty, I’ll make you drink a mug ofghea.”
I wrinkle my nose. “I think I’d prefer a spanking.” The moment I admit it, my face heats. The last time he threatened to spank me, when I’d been about to hurl water in his face, the warning had made everything below my waist achy and hot. But I know the curious excitement from a threat is likely different from actually enduring a spanking.
The rest of the day passes pleasantly enough. Kenan takes a hovercraft to a town in the foothills for several hours, and, in his absence, I walk the wide perimeter of his estate, within the barriers of the force field on the stone paths that connect the various patios, of course, and have a few interesting conversations with Heggal.
I decide he must be the bravest of the servants because none of the others attempt to speak with me through their telepathic touch, and most won’t even look me in the eye. By now, I’ve said hello and told them all my name, several times, but none have dared to respond.
Though I’m glad for Heggal’s company, I worry what will happen if Kenan discovers we’ve spoken. Heggal remains adamant I never tell my mate of our conversations, but what if he walks into a room when the servant is touching my arm and surmises what we’re about?
It’s a risk Heggal’s willing to take, or he wouldn’t have touched me in the first place, but I hope if Kenan ever discovers us talking, he won’t actually send Heggal away to work on another mountain. Just as I would be devastated if Joanna stopped visiting every other morning, as she has taken to habit, I would be heartbroken if I never saw Heggal again.
When Kenan returns from town, he carries a huge box off the hovercraft. I meet him on the patio and greet him with a kiss after he places the box down. He gathers me in his arms and kisses my forehead. A soft sigh leaves me and I breathe against his chest.
“What’s in the box?”
“A present for you, little human.”
I step back and eye the massive box, excitement building in my chest.
