Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) (21 page)

More than one gasp resounded around the room
and Pam realized she might have overstepped her bounds with her
latest suggestion. Weren’t there religions who demanded their
converts not cut their hair?

“I like the Gere name,” and Pam saw the
warrior’s dark eyes turn to her when he spoke. “And I will
consider…” the man swallowed both hard and deep before finishing.
“…cutting my locks if it helps me to secure a mate.”

Bronsyn stood and began to step his way over
and around the feet and legs of the men who surrounded him,
blocking Pam’s view. She sat forward and leaned in order to capture
the eyes of Sean. “It’s something you might give some thought to as
well. In fact, all of you might want to consider getting your hair
styled. And some new threads wouldn’t go amiss either.”

At the blank looks of every man in the room,
Pam rolled her eyes. “Guess I need to come with a translator,
huh?”

“It would help, beautiful pixie,” came the
rumbling rejoinder from the large man sitting behind
her.

Chapter
Fourteen

As the noise level increased with all the
various conversations that sprung up at Pam’s suggestions, Rykhan
turned to see Bronsyn moving to where he and his Leah sat. “I need
a conference,” his commander murmured.

Rykhan nodded and leaned towards Leah. “I’ll be
right back.

However, Bronsyn corrected him. “No, with both
of you.”

A slight frown creased Leah’s face
as her eyes flicked between the two men. While Rykhan did not want
to upset her or cause any additional stress, when the leader of
their quest asked for a meeting, who was he to refuse? To include
Leah in the proceedings put a different spin on whatever was about
to happen. But then again, she did wear his
wahrom
.

His Leah was obviously a female
who
Tsiran
, in his
infinite wisdom and goodness, had marked as one of their
own.

Rykhan motioned for Leah to follow Bronsyn as
the older male led them to a room tucked away and behind the
kitchen that was simply furnished with a couple of club chairs and
a long leather couch set on either side of a coffee table. The main
feature of the room was the large window that overlooked three of
the five different patios as well as the pool area.

Along their
Mycalyte
connection, a sharp fission
of uneasiness move through his mate as she lowered herself to the
couch although he did not know why she was distressed.

Without conscious thought, Rykhan seated
himself close enough for the side of their bodies to touch. Taking
her closest hand in his and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles, he
immediately sensed her heartbeat steadying as she
calmed.

Although he had heard tales of the tie between
true and legitimate mates, Rykhan had discounted it as nothing more
than religious parables on how to treat females. Nevertheless, he
was quickly learning that the priests had spoken truly. Bronsyn’s
eyes seemed to miss nothing as he settled into one of the large
chairs opposite the young couple and propped his bare feet on the
edge of the coffee table.

“I do not know how much my men have told you
about our situation,” Rykhan’s mission commander started, rubbing
his chin as his blue eyes, the color denoting the Galaxi tribe he
came from, holding Leah’s gaze.

“Not much,” she replied, shifting to look at
Rykhan before turning her face back to Bronsyn. “Just that you and
your group are new to the States and only recently got
here.”

Bronsyn nodded and Rykhan again discerned a
spike of discomfort from Leah. He thought the small smile her lips
maintained was forced. His concerns were verified when her
heartbeat escalated at Bronsyn’s next question.

“Did they mention where we are
from?”

“A country called Galaxia?” She stuttered
through her answer, her accent charming as her mouth moved over the
unfamiliar name of their planet.

Bronsyn’s look seemed to become more intense,
more direct. “And where do you believe that is?”

Rykhan took in the tilt of her head, her long
hair sweeping along her shoulders, as she seemed to struggle to
remember what Rykhan had told her when they first met. However, her
unease had morphed into a full body tremble. “I guess it’s one of
the new countries that came out of the old U.S.S.R.”

Rykhan twisted in place so that he could use
his unengaged hand to stroke lightly on her jean-clad thigh.
According to legend, the more contact made on the large muscle
groups, the better in calming one’s mate. Once again, Rykhan could
sense the tranquility as it settled into his Leah just at the feel
of his touch.

However, he instantly realized that
he had gone too far as his armband began to heat and his
tailpor
immediately
lengthened. As if responding to the echo of his physical desire,
Leah released his handhold in order to stroke her own
wahrom
.

“I think you know that isn’t the truth.”
Bronsyn’s voice was a low growl within the confines of the small
room and helped take Rykhan’s mind off of its determined path of
getting Leah alone and naked once again..

Leah nodded and took a deep breath. “Yes, I
suspected it anyway.”

The leader of the warriors dropped his feet to
the floor as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees,
never lowering his gaze. It was a position the other man used well
and one Rykhan had learned as well. It was a posture typically only
used to intimidate a foe, and found Rykhan frowning at its use in
their present setting.

Rykhan’s Leah pressed herself back into the
cushions to maintain a distance between her and the
commander.

As far as Rykhan was concerned, Bronsyn’s next
words did not help in calming his mate. Although he still did not
understand where Bronsyn was going with all his questions. “In all
of our planning and preparation for this mission, no one, not a
member of our councils or even our most respected scientists
foresaw you, Leah of Phoenix. No. You are something that we, in
even our wildest dreams, could not have anticipated.”

“I don’t…” her eyes swung between the two men
as she raised a trembling hand to her mouth. Rykhan pressed his
female deeply into his side, somehow knowing she was on the verge
of crying or screaming since her stress was so great. “I don’t
understand.”

Rykhan moved his farthest hand to the inside of
her elbow before sliding it up, underneath the sleeve of her
clothing to her armband. He could feel its metallic pulses and knew
it was beating and warming at their skin-on-skin contact. As his
fingers skimmed over its surface, he was aware his Leah experienced
another wave of sexual desire so powerful it stole her breath away,
much as the stroke had affected him. Rykhan only hoped she felt it
as if his fingers had stroked her directly in her secret, womanly
places instead of simply on the metal surrounding her
bicep.

“Please be at peace,
mica
tisha
,” he murmured with his head
pressed to the side her face.

She turned to look at Rykhan and he saw her
beautiful dark green eyes were almost wild, attesting to all he was
experiencing through their connection. “He’s scaring me,
baby.”

When his hand moved back to the skin of her
inner elbow, Rykhan sensed when the feelings eased and she was
again able to breathe without hitches, even if it was only to do so
in panted breaths.

“You’re talking about the metal thingy on my
arm, aren’t you?” She did not curb the sharpness of her tone or the
trembling of her voice. “The bicep bracelet Rykhan calls my ‘mark
of a warrior’.” As both men nodded, Leah began to shake her head in
the negative. “That can’t be true though, because God knows I’m
about as far from a warrior a person can get!”

“Yet there is no denying the
gift
Tsiran
has
bestowed on you,
mica
tisha
,” Rykhan murmured as he leaned
forward in order to fully watch her face. Leah’s entire body
stilled at his words and she raised her chin. He could not tell if
his words made her angry, alarmed, or simply agitated. However, he
would have bet money that she was no longer feeling any measure of
the peace they had previously shared.

“I don’t freaking know any ‘See ran’
or what that ‘
mica
whatever’ name you keep calling me is!” she snapped both
fiercely and firmly as she shared her glare between the men.
Pulling away from his embrace, she shifted her weight until they
were no longer touching. Even with the distance between them,
Rykhan could still perceive her anxiety.

“Don’t the people of Earth believe in the one
true god and his mate?” Bronsyn’s voice sounded
incredulous.

“Some do, some don’t,” Leah mumbled through
tight lips, holding her arms across her chest. Rykhan felt the
constant change in subjects had unsettled her to the point her
nerves were jangling. “Are you saying that’s your word for
God?”

“Yes. And
mica
tisha
simply means ‘my own’ in English,” Rykhan explained as
serenely as he could. He even included another caress of her arm
while he spoke. When she did not pull away from his touch, Rykhan
slid closer. He somehow sensed she needed him to help maintain
equilibrium.

She looked Rykhan dead in the eyes. “There is
no way in hell you guys are serious! You!” she shouted, pointing a
beautiful finger at Rykhan’s face. “Stop claiming I’m yours! We
haven’t even known each other a full month, for hell’s sake! You
can’t honestly believe the shit you’re spouting!”

Rykhan did not need their connection to
understand his Leah was refuting what was between them in order to
find her center. “Listen, mister. You’re extremely hot and really
sweet but just because we sport the same arm jewelry and have
amazing chemistry between the sheets doesn’t mean we are fated to
be together or anything!”

“Oh but it does!” Bronsyn’s bellow was loud, as
strident as Leah’s had been in the small room, and at such a volume
that the background noises in the kitchen immediately ceased. “That
is exactly what it indicates! And the fact that you, as a human
female, bear the identical mark of one of Picari’s elite
Protectorate only proves that you are Rykhan’s one true and
legitimate mate.”

*.*.*.*.*

Leah’s head spun and she tried to pull out one
thought in which to argue such a ridiculous statement but there
were so many swirling that she floundered. That was until she
latched onto two words that Bronsyn had said. Words the other
warriors also used frequently.

Two measly words that brought ice to her veins
and wide, shocked eyes back to the older man.

Human.

And female.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, unblinkingly as she
stared at the longhaired man before turning once again to Rykhan.
Her mind was providing other items to the list, preparing an
argument so wild that she caught her breath.

But she couldn’t believe it, couldn’t wrap her
head around the crazy idea that they were…that the warriors she’d
been interacting and laughing with were…

“Aliens,” she murmured on a stricken whisper.
Neither man moved a muscle or spoke a word to correct her. So she
tried more in the hopes they would jump in and immediately set her
straight. “Extraterrestrials. Spacemen. Creatures from another
planet.”

“I don’t know if I would call us ‘creatures’
since our species are humanoid and so similar to your own, but the
rest of what you spoke is correct.” Bronsyn sat back in his chair
and glanced at Rykhan, giving the man seated next to her a level
albeit unfathomable look.

Since Leah was beginning to hyperventilate
though, she could pretty much figure that Bronsyn wondered at her
reaction to his calmly uttered words. Her head turned so she could
look into Rykhan’s beautiful Caribbean-colored eyes. She knew most
of his emotions were visible in the depths of his blue-green orbs
but she couldn’t find hint of a lie there.

Honest to god, she was willing to pay every
dime in her bank account for him to announce, ‘just kidding!’ Even
a good old-fashioned yelp of, ‘psyche!’ would’ve been perfect in
that moment.

However, the large warrior who’d given her his
virginity calmly sat next to her, unmoving and without
speaking.

“I gotta go!” she announced as she tried to
find her feet, but Rykhan wrapped her body in his arms and brought
his mouth to her ear. “You must calm yourself, my Leah. There is
much more, so very much more you need to know,” he whispered and
she wasn’t sure if it was the contact between them or how very
fervent he sounded that caused her to stop. “We need your
help.”

“My help?” She knew her voice was in the
squeaky range, but it only reflected the insane situation she found
herself.

“You are
Tsiran’s
choice for helping us in our
quest, my Leah,” Rykhan replied firmly. “And the
wahrom
he has allowed you
to wear is testament of it.”