Love Without Boundaries (17 page)

“My friend asked if you were a king,” Leah spoke with a laugh.
 
“But after how Rykhan described you, I know you’re the leader of this group, right?”

The man still looked confused.
 
“Why would she consider me a monarch?”

“Because of your circlet.”
 
Pointing to her forehead and moving her finger from side to side, Leah indicated what she had, at first, considered to be his crown.

Rykhan’s caress on Leah’s knee drew her eyes back to him and she smiled as he gave her a nod of approval.
 
The look combined with the tranquility his touch always brought, made her almost go boneless in her seat.

“Yes, Pamela Swain.
 
I am the mission leader and what you see on my head is my
ihrom
, which signifies my command on this quest.”
 
Even though Bronsyn’s words were very formal, his tone wasn’t.

Enough so that Pam felt free to blurt out, “it still looks like a cool-as-shit crown, though.
 
Does it come off?”

The men who stood behind Bronsyn looked shocked, which attested to the level of respect awarded him as their leader.
 
But Bronsyn only smiled at Leah’s blonde friend.
 
“No.
 
I cannot remove it.”

There were a couple of beats of silence before Pam spoke again.
 
“Bummer, dude.”

Which caused Leah to twist around and shoot an exasperated look at her friend before her eyes traveled to Wyst.
 
But he seemed to find something in the pool too interesting to preclude his participation in the conversation.

“Must be a real bitch to deal with when you wash your hair,” Pam continued on a teasing note and a wide smile.

Bronsyn’s laughter rang out across the huge expansive of the backyard before he finally found voice enough to answer.
 
“You have no idea.”

Rykhan watched as Leah slowly drew into herself even as Pam began to laugh and joke with the other men.
 
From the way his mate’s eyes made their way back to each of their
wahroms
he knew he needed to speak with her in greater detail about it.
 
But the thought of having such a conversation in full view of both his commander and brothers made him uncomfortable.

“Can I give you a tour of the house?”
 
Rykhan thought it would be the easiest way to pull her away from the crowd and get her alone so that he could answer the many questions he saw lingering in her eyes.

“That’d be lovely,” she murmured, placing her palm into the hand he’d extended without thinking.
 
As they moved away, Rykhan was aware the other males immediately snagged the empty chairs in order to sit next to Pam and engage the effervescent female in conversation.
 
Where Leah was quieter and spoke from a thoughtful place inside, her friend didn’t seem to have a filter and just said whatever crossed her mind.

Which, in any other circumstance, might have been momentarily entertaining, if he hadn’t known Leah was the person
Tsiran
had chosen as Rykhan’s one true and legitimate mate.

He walked through the bottom portion of the huge house, pointing out the different rooms downstairs and reciting the names of each, much as the realtor had done before Bronsyn had signed the lease.
 
And Leah seemed appreciative, uttering little murmurs of enjoyment at the furnishings, the decorations that adorned each room.
 

Although she hung back a little when it came time to move upstairs.

“I would very much like for you to see where I sleep,” Rykhan explained, plainly seeing the hesitation in her eyes.
 
But he realized that wasn’t the full truth.
 
Dropping his voice, he used the hold he had on her hand to pull her closer to where he stood at the bottom of the stairs.
 
“Actually, I would really enjoy sharing another kiss with you but do not want to be disturbed.”

And he knew it was the right thing to say when her eyes came to his and a flare of heat appeared in the dark green depths.
 
Without another word between them, they slowly ascended the stairs.
 
Moving quickly to the hallway on the right, Rykhan continued on in silence passing several doors until he stopped next to the one at the end.
 
At his pause, Leah looked up at him in question.

But he had no explanation for his hesitancy in opening the door to his bedroom, only knowing that having her in his private space was going to change things, to shift something between them on such a level he knew he’d never be the same.
 
And with that knowledge, that sureness, he had paused to give her time to decline.

But she didn’t, choosing instead to be the one to open the door to the large room, stepping into it with a confidence that stole his breath away.
 
He followed and only remembered at the last moment to close and lock the door behind him.

Rykhan followed her gaze as it settled on the different furnishings, trying to see it through her eyes.
 
A king-sized bed, covered in a teal and brown comforter and dotted with a myriad of pillows took up most of the space.
 
It was bracketed by two small chests, each with a gold lamp that was topped with a teal-colored shade.
 
There was a desk and chair seated underneath the largest window, with two doors on its right.
 
One that went to a large walk-in closet and the other that contained the cleansing unit.

“You could almost fit the whole of my place in just this room,” she said into the quiet area as she ran a hand over the top of his larger communication device.
 
She glanced out the window that looked over a portion of the large backyard and the small house that Bronsyn had appropriated
as his own
.

Rykhan stepped up behind her and swept her dark, chestnut layered hair to the side, exposing her sweetly vulnerable neck.
 
Pressing his lips against the pulse-point he could see was beating an erratic
rhythm,
he wrapped his arms around her small waist from behind.
 
The feel of her against his chest, the aroma of her lightly fragranced skin had his tailpor lengthening.
 
He moved his lips, sliding them over her skin and felt her tremble.

“I need to kiss you again,” he urged, nipping and sipping at the flesh exposed.
 
Skin so sensitive that he could feel how his movements made her shudder.

“Isn’t that what you’re already doing?” she breathed as she shifted, dropping her head back onto his shoulder.

But Rykhan wasn’t going to be deterred from his goal.
 
“I want to be in your mouth in the way we were kissing last night.”

“Liked that, did you?”
 
Her throaty question caused his tailpor to flex and he couldn’t help pressing it into the rounded flesh of her bottom.

“Yes,” he growled, impatiently turning her body until they were chest to chest.
 
“I dreamed of it and you.”

“I know,” she responded with a sultry smile as she dragged her fathomless green eyes up his. “You said so in your text this morning.”

That was all the invitation he needed before his mouth crashed into hers, already opening in order to plunder, to seduce her in the only way he knew how.

But he soon recognized that she, in the little responses she gave, was the one who was performing the seduction with nothing more than almost inaudible sighs and wiggles as if to get closer to him.
 
The way her tongue tangled against his, sliding and twirling as it moved, set off a reaction that he couldn’t seem to control.

Stepping, leading her without ever disconnecting his mouth from hers, they were soon next to the bed.
 
When they next came up for air, Leah glanced over her shoulder before a small, shy smile appeared on her swollen lips.

“While I’m on the pill and it’s been a couple of years,” she started.
 
“I’m guessing a guy like you probably has some condoms put away for a happy, unexpected occasion.”

Rykhan was aware of what a condom was since there was so much talk of how males needed to use them on the internet of Earth.
 
There were even vids on how to put on one in a special website, but since Rykhan had never had sex and had absolutely no intention in preventing pregnancy, he’d only given the instructions a passing glance.
 
“I do not.”

Leah seemed startled and then crestfallen by his confession.
 
“No glove, no love, big guy,” she announced with true regret evident in her voice.
 
Luckily he’d heard that distinctive American saying expressed on another vid and knew he needed to assure his mate of his sexual history.

“There have been no other females,” he said firmly, dropping his forehead to hers.
 
“I’ve never joined with anyone else, my Leah.”

And when she straightened in shock, he found the need to tighten his arms around her.
 
“But you…I mean, a man who looks like you do…”

Rykhan shook his head, the skin of their foreheads rubbing together with his move.
 
It was important for her to understand that she was his
one
, the only one that he could ever be with.
 
“I have been waiting for you all my life.”

She pulled back as far as his arms would permit her to move.
 
“That’s crazy!
 
Are you trying to tell me that you’re a virgin, for Christ’s sake?”

He was surprised at her tone, amazed that she seemed almost stunned at the thought that he’d waited.
 
Had postponed being with anyone until he’d found what he’d always wanted.
 
While other men’s needs had been strong enough to urge them into a male/male pairing even to joining, it hadn’t been that way for him.
 
He’d never found arousal in the thought of being with another male even if it was sure to have caused a break in the abject loneliness that had surrounded him throughout the years.

“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying,
mica tisha
,” he answered on a sigh.
 
He tried to bring her back into his embrace but Leah sank to the edge of the bed, slipping out of his arms.

Feeling her astonishment, he turned and sat down next to her.
 
He knew she needed quiet in order to think but he couldn’t understand her distress at his confession.
 
Hoping to re-establish their connection, Rykhan reached for Leah’s hand.
 
And while she didn’t actually respond, she didn’t pull away and he took heart.

“Why me?” she whispered after more than a few moments.
 
“Why did you
chose
me?”

He closed his eyes at her plaintive tone and wondered how much information to give her.
 
Bronsyn had warned them of human’s predilection to attack anything not understood but he hoped Leah wasn’t of that sort.
 
So he answered as honestly as he knew how.
 
“I believe we were destined to find one another.”

“Destined?” she breathed, turning her beautiful face towards him.
 
The look in her eyes spoke of both hope and disbelief.

“Fated might be a better word though it means the same,” he countered with a nod.
 
“All I know is that you are the woman I want to be with for the rest of my days.”

He watched her eyes widen and heard her take in a deep breath that she held for more than a few heartbeats.
 
“But you don’t
know
me, Rykhan.
 
Not really.
 
We haven’t been seeing each other all that long.”

Raising his farthest hand, he placed it gently in the middle of her chest.
 
“I know your heart, my Leah.
 
And for the moment, that is all I need to know.”

*.*.*.*.*

Leah felt as if she had slipped into some kind of alternate dimension, one where the hottest of guys actually said he’d been waiting for her all his life and she was the only woman he could consider having sex with.

But that couldn’t be true, could it?
 
Men like Rykhan didn’t look at her twice in real life.
 
Nor did they continue to ask her out, kiss her until her panties went up in flames and then revealed her that he bore the same metal bracelet that she did.
 
That just didn’t happen in the real world!

When she’d received the email with the list of men from the speed-dating event that had requested to see her again, she’d seen Rykhan’s name but had immediately discounted it as some sort of data-entry goof.
 
Even though she’d recognized it straight away.
 
She’d never met a Rykhan before but his name, face and smile had stuck in her head for a long time afterwards.
 
She’d known as soon as he’d sat down at her table that he was way out of her league.

Then he’d called that same afternoon and left a voicemail, which she’d promptly returned, and they’d gone for coffee which had led to more dates.
 
Outings which had been fun but hadn’t moved in the same direction or at the same pace as the ones she was used to.

‘What if he didn’t know how to date?’
her mind questioned as she gazed at the hand he had placed on her chest.
 
‘What if his country has different rules for courtship?’

And on the heels of those questions, Leah felt like she was attempting to justify her desire to get the man of her fantasies naked and moaning.

Did she believe him when he admitted to being a virgin?
 
Sure, in light of how he was so hesitant to touch
her
, of how she’d had to ask for a kiss.
 
But when looking at him, it was hard to believe.
 
With his face and body, most of her friends would be dropping their panties first and asking questions later.

“Can I kiss you again?” she heard him whisper, as the hand he’d placed on her breastbone moved to her furthest shoulder and turned her towards him.
 
She didn’t say a word, almost couldn’t with all the thoughts running through her mind but simply pressed her mouth against his.
 
And as they twisted their heads to better align their lips, Leah felt the band on her arm begin to pulse and heat although that time, and at that particular moment, it didn’t hurt in the least.
 
In fact, it seemed to add to her body’s sensations, increasing her desire in some fashion she didn’t understand.

Soon her back was on the mattress and Rykhan was leaning over her, his chest pressing and moving over hers.
 
Making her nipples throb in the confines of her bra while she heard her own moan escape in response to the molten lava his kiss had created deep inside.

Which was to say nothing of her heartbeat that had taken up residence between her legs.
 
Such an insistent pulse that her hips were making small movements in cadence to its beat.