Page 90 of Ren: Warlord Brides
Ren held up a hand in surrender. “I have made my case. My mate’s twin must remain.”
“You tell ’em,” Emmarae whispered, her voice soft enough for only his ears and filled with fury.
Ah, his sweet, sweet mate.
The warlord touched his amputated horn, then nodded, as if he came to a decision. “If the female is to remain, she must be matched.”
“What? No! Gemma will just be sent somewhere else,” Emry protested.
“It is possible her match is here.”
Emmarae huffed. “But we just found her! She was stolen. Taken against her will. They were going to sell her. She needs time to recover from her trauma. I need time!” Wetness appeared in her eyes. “I can’t lose her again.”
Gemma took Emmarae’s hand and squeezed. “It’s okay. What if I pick someone? Can I pick the guy, or does it have to be random?”
A moment elapsed as the warlord considered this. “If a male would volunteer to be your mate, yes.”
Gemmarae lifted a shoulder in that Terran gesture of indifference. “Zalis. I want Zalis.”
The male in question blinked, as if stunned. “Me?”
“Gemma, you don’t have to do this,” Emmarae protested. She clutched her twin sister’s hand. Side by side, the twins were sunlight and moonlight, vibrant gold and cool radiance.
“No, I do, and it’s fine.” Gemmarae pulled away. “I like Zalis.”
“You don’t know him.”
“He’s sweet. Goofy.”
Every warrior stared at Zalis, trying to imagine the hulking male assweetandgoofy. The male ran a hand over his horns in a bashful expression, as if trying to hide from scrutiny.
Huh. Perhaps the male was sweet and goofy.
“This is stress talking. You don’t mean this. She doesn’t mean this,” Emry said to the warlord.
“Emry, enough.” Gemma moved to Zalis’ side. “Those assholes sold me. Sold. Me. Like a piece of meat. I’d be lucky if I ended up in a brothel, but we both know I’d likely end up dead. They sold me to the Suhlik.”
The warlord furrowed his brows. “Suhlik do not purchase females.”
Gemmarae ignored the warlord and continued to speak to her sister. “I know Zalis. I like him. He won’t hurt me, and this way we’ll get to be together.”
“Fine,” Emry ground out, “but if he hurts you or scares you or makes you feel bad, I’ll poison him.”
“Not if I poison him first,” Gemmarae said.
The females gave each other a warm smile at the promise of homicide. Zalis looked alarmed.
His love for Emmarae was vast, containing more sand than the desert and stars in the sky. He could see no beginning or end to his love for his mate. It simply was.
* * *
The day would never end.He wanted only to go to his cabin, crawl into bed with his mate, and remain there forever. And pet his feline. That would also be acceptable.
The females were escorted to Security to be given access to basic ship functions, then Medical for evaluations. The implant given to Gemmarae by the Suhlik would be replaced, for security concerns. Nasty surprises were often bundled together with seemingly harmless items. He feared a micro bomb could have been embedded in the female’s skull.
“I don’t care. Put a new one in, just get it out of me,” Gemmarae demanded.
Emmarae squeezed his hand while the medic extracted the chip. She barely breathed until scans confirmed her sister free of embedded explosives. Finally, she relaxed her grip when the medics implanted Mahdfel tech.
