Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) (22 page)

That was when her true freak-out
began!

Jumping to her feet, she tried to get around
the table but the huge hunka-burning-love she’d been naked with
made certain the way was blocked. How could he after all they’d
done? At how wonderful their hookup had been.

Or should she say ‘hookups’ since they’d done
the deed magnificently not once but twice in the course of an
hour.

God, she was such a slut!

And, if she believed what they were saying, was
a complete and total ho’ for a man from freaking
outer-space!

“No!” she bellowed, trying a different
trajectory but was stymied in her attempt to exit by Bronsyn’s huge
form. “Get the freak outta my way, dude!”

“You needs listen to us, Rykhan’s Leah,” the
other man said calmly, but his outstretched arms told of his
determination to keep her within the room.

Leah decided to take a different tact. Standing
at her full height, she planted a fist onto each hip and shifted
her weight to one foot. Glaring, she slowly and firmly announced,
“Either move it or lose it, ass-hat. Otherwise my knee has a date
with your family jewels, comprende?”

Bronsyn shot a glance to Rykhan. “I do not
understand her words.”

“All he wants is for you to listen, my Leah.”
Why did Rykhan’s voice seem to coat her insides, providing a
honeyed layer of calm when she was feeling anything but? “We
understand you do not yet know us, that we’ve not built trust
between us. But we are not here to harm you.” His look when their
eyes caught and held was serious as hell.

And just as deep.

“I would never harm you,
Tersa
blay
. Nor will I allow anything or
anyone else to do so. This is my vow.” There was no mistaking
Rykhan’s honesty even if she hadn’t been able to feel his emotions.
From what she was getting, her amazing new boyfriend was being
totally and completely truthful. Even if he was some kind of space
creature. “Feel me, my Leah. Know that I speak in all
sincerity.”

“We both do,” Bronsyn was quick to offer and
Leah took in their words, carefully watching their body language
and expressions. Perhaps she could take a few moments to hear them
out before she grabbed Pam and got gone.

“Fine! But you can’t touch me,” she announced,
again pointing finger at Rykhan. “And you can’t dazzle me with some
kind of Jedi-mind shit, okay?” Bronsyn seemed nonplussed at both
her words and at her finger pointing, which she wished had held a
weapon instead of looking only nicely manicured.

Bronsyn and Rykhan exchanged grunts that Leah
thought meant they were conversing in their own language before
Rykhan turned and gave her a short bow. “We don’t understand all of
what you say but please believe that my commander and I only want
to enlighten you and seek your help in succeeding in our
mission.”

Somewhat mollified, Leah dropped her arms. “But
I can leave at any time I want?”

The men exchanged a long glance before Rykhan’s
gaze came back to her. “You have my word as both a Nillr and as one
of the most loyal of the Protectorate.”

Not having a clue as to what her lover was
pledging on, Leah decided to go with the flow because the man’s
serious expression more than spoke of his commitment to both her
and the truth of what was about to be revealed.

Dropping her butt back onto the seat and the
other men did the same.

“Thank you,” Rykhan murmured and she instantly
lit from within as he once again claimed her hand.

Bronsyn cleared his throat, bringing her eyes
to the older man. “I also thank you, Leah of Phoenix. For allowing
me to tell you of our worlds and our mission while here on your
planet.”

Jay-sus.

These guys were way into their major delusions
of aliens and coming from a galaxy far-far away, if their unsmiling
faces meant anything. Truthfully? If they offered her a Dixie-cup
of Kool-aid, she was completely and totally outta there.

After everyone settled and the noises from the
kitchen resumed, Bronsyn began to speak.

“A comet shot through our solar system,
bisecting our two forward planets from the rest as it trailed
across our skies. But it was the deadly Xion gas of the comet’s
tail that caused all the damage.” Leah caught on to the bleakness
of what was in his eyes. It was if the man didn’t want to tell his
tale but felt he had to. She was still as the man looked away and
swallowed deeply. “The gas only affected our females. Only
infiltrated their lungs, their hearts as it stole them from us.” He
stopped and swallowed again as if to gain control of his
emotions.

“For those us who were planet-side, we could
only watch as whatever sickness the comet had caused consumed our
dear ones.” His eyes determinedly locked on Leah’s. “We had no
antidote to counteract the poison the comet had wrought and no
medicines to give our females ease as they continued to die in our
arms.”

It was hard, but Leah kept silent and just
continued to listen closely to the large, longhaired man Rykhan
called his leader.

He told of the shadow that fell over
both Galaxia and Nutrol that was not only from the horrific grief
of the males left behind but from the smoke of the all the funeral
pyres as they released their beloved mates and female younglings
into
Tsiran’s
ether.

Of the droids sent out to explore the universe
because the Aterians and Casticians, the peoples from the other
planets in the Picari system, had denied the decimated societies
the opportunity to find suitable mates among their
populaces.

It was when Bronsyn spoke of the surprise and
joy when one of the long-range droids had sent back a transmission
of Earth that Leah began to be engaged in his tale. His words
painted such a clear picture that she could almost see the council
chambers as he described it: the silence he and the other members
maintained as the president allowed them to both view and hear
videos plucked from Earth’s internet. Ones from an online dating
websites, where female after female spoke of actively looking and
seeking men to marry and with which to create families. As well as
the wild euphoria and hope that raced through the room as the males
realized they’d found the answers to their prayers.

Because without females, the two planets were
dying, in painfully hopeless and lonely, slow measures.

“How long ago was this?” Leah asked quietly,
amazed to find wetness on her cheeks. She hadn’t known when she’d
begun to cry at Bronsyn’s tale, but she couldn’t deny the horrific
sorrow she was feeling.

“For which incident?” Bronsyn asked kindly,
seemingly moved by Leah’s unspoken emotions.

“Both, I guess.” She wiped her face with her
hands before scouring her palms on her jeans. Rykhan was still
close but didn’t make a move to touch her.

Bronsyn’s eyes dropped to the floor.
“We lost our cherished females over twenty-five
yons
ago.”

He paused and Leah wondered how such a simple
silence could sound both regretful and yet respectful.

“And the transmission?”

“Eighteen
merts
. Our scientists and experts in
galactic travel had the
Searcher
built in a little over a
yon
,” Rykhan supplied. “It took us
six
merts
to
travel here.”

Leah shifted so she could see his
face. “I’m guessing a
yon
is a year and a
mert
is a month in my
language?”

“Yes,
mica
tisha
,
although the timing is a little different but not enough to
mention.”

She didn’t take her eyes off Rykhan as she
wondered how to ask her next question. When she opened her mouth to
speak, Leah felt a tenderness well within her that she knew
tempered her tone. “How long has it been since you’ve seen a woman,
then?”

Rykhan closed his eyes and when they opened,
the deep pain she saw evidenced there struck her hard. “I have no
memory of one except through holographs and vids.”

“My mate was one of the first to succumb,”
Bronsyn added quietly. “First my Maryll and then my youngling,
Syra.”

She seemed to have no control over the hand
that moved to cup Rykhan’s cheek, nor the sweet thrill she received
when he again closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her
palm.

It was Leah’s turn to swallow deeply at the
emotion she easily read in the small move. “And you expect me to
contribute?”

Rykhan lifted a hand and waved
towards her arm jewelry. “Do you have a choice,
mica
tisha
?”

She couldn’t believe how fast her tender
feelings morphed into rage.

“Shit, yeah, I do!” she exclaimed and then
decided what she’d blurted wasn’t emphatic enough. “And oh, hell to
the yeah, I do.” Leah tried valiantly to corral her thoughts in
order to answer his challenge. “Human women have free-will and
independence that we aren’t afraid to use! We are not brood-sows,
only available for your kind of guys to attach to and thrust out a
release that might or might not result in a baby. And no matching
piece of jewelry gives anyone the right to ‘claim’ her. That’s not
how it works on my planet, dickwads.”

At their incredulous looks, Leah took her
objections down a notch, in an effort to help the two men to
understand her ‘human’ point of view. “Earth girls aren’t defined
in terms of being a reproduction factory! We have just as much
right to lead a fulfilling life as anyone else, which may or may
not include children. In fact, most women I know just want to meet
a nice guy, buy a home and do the whole suburbia thingy, ya
know?”

The men shared another confused look and Leah
tried to come up with a better explanation. “Look. I’m so sorry for
your loss. It sounds as if it was a horrible time for you—for your
entire planet. But I don’t see how only six men can be expected to
reproduce enough in order to repopulate your worlds.” Bronsyn
lifted an eyebrow as if that thought had never occurred to him. “Or
are you going to do the whole multiple wives thing? Because if
that’s your plan, I gotta tell you, it’s against the law here in
the States.”

“Multiple wives?” Rykhan jerked his
head back and stiffened his shoulders. “We only take one mate and
that union lasts until one of the pair dies as instructed by
Tsiran’s
edicts.”

“Well, that’s good to know.” Leah pressed her
fingers to her mouth. “Still though, you’ve got to understand what
you’re up against. You want families and there are women who have
that same desire as well. However, they are not gonna just come out
of the woodwork and immediately give their ‘I do’s’ before popping
out a couple of puppies! That’s not how it all works.”

Another thought intruded.

“Didn’t you say you’re only here for six
months?” At Bronsyn’s nod, Leah slowly shook her head. “Honest to
god, I hope you’re prepared to be disappointed. The only kind of
women who would be willing to get married and pregnant in six
months are not the sort of women I think you’d want. And that’s
even if you didn’t intend to take them to your Galaxia.”

Bronsyn reduced all of Leah’s objections into
one question. “You think our mission is impossible?”

She nodded firmly while murmuring,
“Yep.”

“Is it because of the timeline or due to
Earth’s culture?” Rykhan voice was soft but Leah thought it was
only because he was trying to process her words.

“Both, baby,” she replied. “Maybe not Earth’s
culture but here in Phoenix, not very many people meet, fall in
love, then marry in only six months. Geesh! That’s not even enough
time plan a wedding!”

Silence descended and Leah kept to herself as
the two men thought. She hoped they understood and didn’t blame her
for poking holes in the goals of their mission.

But if she didn’t tell them, who
would?

“You have given us much to consider,” Bronsyn
announced, rising to his feet. “Thank you for listening and I ask
that you keep all you have learned today just between us. Our
studies have shown your species doesn’t react well to things they
don’t understand.”

That was putting it a little too mildly, but
Leah got what he was saying. “I won’t betray your trust,
sir.”

He smiled and reached for the
doorknob but stopped to turn back. “Would you mind if I took a
photo of your
wahrom
? While my leaders have heard the legends of how females can
grow them, none of them have ever seen one.”

“Can I get back to you on that?” It wasn’t as
if Leah was camera-shy or anything but if some dudes on a world
far-far away needed a picture of her to believe it then count her
out. God, it was just like that doctor at the Urgent Care who
wanted to do a paper on her metal ‘growth’.

“Certainly,” the commander replied smoothly
before he left the room.

She stood and fussed with her top and jeans. It
felt like she’d been in the small room for hours! Rykhan also
gained his feet and moved close until there was but a hands breadth
of space between them.