Choosing Riley: Sarafin Warriors Book 1 (28 page)

“I haven’t told them yet,” Vox admitted.
“There is nothing he can do now anyway. I have given Riley my cub.
I could feel the moment her body took my son into her womb. She is
my queen and there can be no denying it now.”

Tor whistled under his breath. “You know he
was determined for you to fulfill the treaty. He wanted to make
sure there was an alliance with the Valdier that could not be
broken.”

“There already is,” Vox said with an
impatient wave of his hand, dismissing the reason. “A mating
between Zoran’s youngling and mine will ensure that. It is not
necessary for me to also marry a Valdier Princess to keep the peace
between our people. Besides, we know most of those involved in
starting the war and have dealt with them. Ha’ven, Creon, and I are
continuing our joint effort to eliminate the rest. There is no
possibility of it occurring again. I trust Creon and his brothers
as they trust me and mine.”

“Yes well, your father remembers. He does not
forgive or forget as easily what happened to his sister and her
mate,” Tor reminded him softly. “He wants to ensure there is never
a chance of it happening again.”

Vox scowled as he walked onto the bridge. “I
have said it will not and it will not. I will not discuss it
further.”

He watched as Tor nodded before moving away
to finish directing the docking of the huge warship to the Transfer
Station. His mind drifting back to the murder of his father’s
sister and her Valdier mate. He remembered his aunt’s soft smile
when she looked at the huge Valdier warrior the one time he saw
him. The warrior had found his aunt injured after a particularly
nasty battle near their family’s village towards the end of the
war. She had escaped into the lower mountains after the attack on
his family’s old mountain village. He and his father later learned
the attack was designed to look like the Valdier had done it. In
reality, it had been done by a group of traitors using the nearby
battle as a cover as they tried to eliminate his family.

His aunt had fallen in love with the warrior
name Trevon as he cared for her. Trevon had hidden her in a
mountain cave high in the meadows away from the village. Vox
remembered his aunt being beautiful and innocent to the vicious
ways of war. Vox had no doubt that the warrior loved his aunt just
as much. They had been murdered while he had been away trying to
discover who was behind instigating the war between his people, the
Curizan and the Valdier. Witnesses who were brought before his
father to answer for the murders swore the warrior begged them with
his dying breath to spare his aunt. They swore the warrior had
never harmed any of the villagers. The blame lay with the small
group of men who fed rumors and prejudices by the traitors in the
village. A small group of villagers were horrified by his aunt’s
behavior in accepting a Valdier as her mate. They had tied her to a
stake and slit her throat in front of his great parents, telling
them their daughter’s death was the penalty for her accepting a
Valdier as her mate. The warrior, unable to save his mate, had been
beside himself with grief. The villagers had struck out at the
warrior. Wounded, the warrior had disappeared into the mountains.
It was said on some nights it was still possible to hear his
dragon’s roar of grief and see the shadow of the dragon warrior
searching for his mate.

His great parents were forced to watch
helplessly as their daughter and her mate were taken from them.
When his father returned from the village after the investigation,
he had sworn that never again would this happen. He had forged a
treaty with the Valdier King binding their two species together in
peace by promising his first male great child to the Valdier’s
first female great child. Vox was to mate with a Valdier princess
as well. His father had chosen this path to seal their commitment
to the Royal House of Valdier. Now, Vox had broken the treaty by
mating with Riley.

All Riley could think about was getting back
to their living quarters and hiding. How dare he think it okay that
every male on board the ship knew what they were doing? It was none
of their damn business. The only consolation she had was that
hopefully he hadn’t made a bet with his friends as to who could bed
the fat girl. A low mewing of pain sounded from her throat as she
neared their living quarters.

Mate gives us baby
, her cat hissed
quietly to her.
Mates not give baby if they did not want
us.

He said he won’t marry me,
Riley cried
out in fury.
Well, fine! If Grandma Pearl can raise me and
Tina
then
I know I can do it. Who needs the big jerk
anyway? I don’t! I am Riley St. Claire from Denver and I’m going
home and raising my baby! I know Tina will help me, she has always
loved kids.

You Riley St. Claire of Sarafin now,
her cat hissed back in irritation.
That our home now.

Oh no it’s not! Not if that big doofus
doesn’t marry me. And if you argue with me about it I’ll cage your
horny ass and drop it off at the pound as soon as I get home!
Riley replied to her cat as she shifted back into her two-legged
form.

She walked straight to the bathroom, tearing
off her camisole and boxers as she went. Stepping into the shower,
she gave the request for it to turn on as hot as she could stand
it. She scrubbed at her skin until it glowed a soft peach. She
would be double-damned if she was going to let this make a
difference. Sure, she loved the big lummox but he needed to treat
her with respect! That meant he needed to get down on his gosh-damn
knees and propose. Hell, he could even add in a nice romantic
dinner with wine and roses. She was worth it. She would love his
ass like no other girl could and she would never two-time on him
like some of the girls she knew back home. She would have
worshipped his sorry, hairy ass if he treated her right; but there
was no way in hell that she would ever be submissive! The name
Riley and submissive just didn’t go together.

Stepping out of the shower, she quickly dried
herself and walked over to her huge pink suitcase. Lodar said they
would be leaving for the planet soon. She needed to wear something
that would make Vox regret not thinking she was good enough to
marry. She wanted to go for that right look of MRS.
Prima-Doña/Kiss-My-Royal-Ass/You-totally-fucked-up-this-time. She
bit her lip as she pulled out one combination after another before
settling on bright, multi-colored flowing flowered skirt that
floated around her making her feel feminine and delicate matched
with a white, off the shoulder peasant blouse. She finished it off
with a pair of deadly, four inch high pink heels. In this bad boy
outfit she not only looked like a million bucks but she was almost
as tall Vox! She quickly added a touch of makeup and dried her hair
until it fell in silky, wild curls down her back. Stepping back,
she looked at her reflection critically.

“Damn! I clean up pretty good even if I say
so myself,” she murmured with a grin. “Let’s see what that
pissy-ass tomcat thinks of me now! Who needs him! I’ll show him
what he is missing and then some. He’ll be crawling on his furry
belly back to me before he knows what is happening,” she added
before blowing a mischievous kiss to her reflection.

She stepped out of the bathroom, quickly
packed all of her things back into her suitcase before picking up
her oversized purse and grabbing the handle of her suitcase. She
walked over to the door and stepped out with a toss of her head at
Lodar whose eyes widened in appreciation as he skimmed her lush
figure.

“Gods Riley,” Lodar muttered under his
breath. “You are going to cause Vox to have a stroke. You know you
shouldn’t pull his tail the way you do, don’t you?”

Riley grinned, showing off the dimples in her
cheeks which drew another groan from Lodar. “You like?” She asked
as she twirled around on her heels and giggled as she heard
additional groans from Cross who had come looking for Lodar.

“Riley, how about running away with me?”
Cross asked with a lascivious smirk. “My world is just as beautiful
as Sarafin and dragons are known to be better lovers.”

Riley’s husky laugh drew more men down the
corridor to see what was going on. She walked by Lodar, handing him
the handle of her suitcase with a wink as she threaded her arm
around Cross’ thick forearm. She brushed her hair over her
shoulder, revealing the pale peach shoulder that had been hidden by
the mass of curls.

“Let’s go boys!” Riley called out as she
pulled on Cross, directing him to the lift. “I have a planet to
visit, a King to show what he is missing out on, and plans for
escaping back to my world to make. Who wants to join me?”

Chuckles filled the corridor along with a
loud purring of male appreciation for the sinful sway to Riley’s
hips as she walked in her impossible heels. Lodar looked at the
back of the Valdier warrior who was grinning as he listened to some
tale Riley was sharing with him. He shook his head and actually
felt sorry for his friend and leader. He was going to have his
hands full with his little alien mate. Riley on a mission was not
only scary but a truly beautiful thing as long as she didn’t blow
anything up.

*.*.*

Vox’s fist clenched and unclenched as he
fought the urge to kill the Valdier warrior who was casting him
sympathetic looks as they stood next to the transporter platform.
When Riley had shown up at the departure tube with at least twenty
warriors following behind her he had been furious. He wasn’t
furious by the sight of twenty of his best warriors glued to her
every word. He wasn’t even furious with the way she clung to Cross,
though he figured that would come later. No, he was furious at the
ease with which she looked through him as if he didn’t even
exist.

He calmed a little when he realized it was a
ruse. He could see the slight tremor in her hand when she reached
up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and smell her hurt. He
knew the other males could smell her hurt as well and were being
very protective of her. When she raised her eyebrow at him, as if
daring him to say or do anything about her white-knuckled grip on
Cross’ arm, he had to force himself to take a deep breath. He
needed to be very careful with how he handled her. She was just
stubborn enough to do something crazy – like try to kidnap another
warrior to take her home. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth
as he remembered her standing in the corridor not too long ago. She
had been so proud of herself when she thought she had Nahuel
captured.

“My lord, we are ready,” the warrior at the
controls to the transporter platform called out.

Vox nodded and stepped up onto the platform.
Cross lead Riley up onto the platform and gently peeled her fingers
off his arm. He murmured something quietly to her before he stepped
over to the other square marking the platform positions. Lodar
handed the handle to Riley’s suitcase to another warrior who would
make sure it was transported down on one of the supply shuttles and
delivered to the palace later.

“My suitcase,” Riley said taking a step
forward with a worried bite to her lower lip as her eyes remained
glued to the huge pink case. “It has all my worldly possessions in
it.”

Vox turned and looked into Riley’s huge blue
eyes and felt the familiar sense of falling into them. “It will be
delivered safely to our rooms at the palace. I promise nothing will
happen to it,” he reassured her quietly.

“But….” Riley dragged her eyes away from
Vox’s dark, tawny eyes for a moment to glance at her suitcase
before she looked back at him.

“I promise nothing will happen to it. We must
go,” he replied. “We are expected and others need to depart as
well.”

“Will this thing put all my parts back in the
right place?” Riley whispered under her breath, forgetting for a
moment that a Sarafin warrior’s hearing could easily pick up what
she was saying.

Chuckles were covered as coughs as the
warriors heard her fearful question. “Yes, my little warrior,” Vox
replied with an amused look in his eyes before they turned dark
with desire as his eyes ran over her form again. “Everything will
be exactly where it should be.”

“Including,” Riley’s throat worked up and
down even as her hand went protectively to her stomach. “Including
our baby,” she whispered.

Vox’s eyes softened as he reached out and
touched her cheek. “I would never allow anything to hurt either one
of you, my mate. We will talk later about this ‘marriage’ you feel
you must have and the jewelry that you want,” he promised
huskily.

Riley’s eyes brightened until they were
shining like the blessed crystals that sometimes washed up on the
shores from their oceans. Vox cursed that he had been so stubborn
earlier for not trying to understand how important these items were
to his mate. He would definitely notify Viper this afternoon about
returning with a ‘marriage’ for his mate. If something so small put
such a wondrous look in her eyes he would never deny her anything
she requested.

Lodar clearing his throat reminding Vox he
was standing in the middle of the transporter room with dozens of
warriors looking at him with goofy grins on their faces. He felt a
heated flush rise up into his cheeks before he turned and nodded
tersely to the warrior to begin transport.

*.*.*

Two hours later, Riley realized she didn’t
know what to expect when they left the
Shifter
. So far, the
only things she had experienced were the trader’s ship, the mining
asteroid, the old freighter, and the warships. She definitely
didn’t expect to see a lush world of such incredible beauty that
she could only imagine that this must be what heaven looked
like.

Tall, dark rose-colored peaks rose above
thick forests. The tops of the massive trees were covered with
shimmering mists of white. Dozens of small flying vehicles rose and
sank among the tops of the temples. In the distance she could see
great cliffs rising out of an ocean of royal blue. Waterfalls
tumbled down the ragged cliff rocks, falling in sheets of white
down the edges until it disappeared into the rocks at the water’s
edge.