Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) (23 page)

“You are magnificent,” he said on a sigh and
she raised her eyes to look up at him. “The way you challenged
Bronsyn and the whole mission was nothing short of amazing. You
brought up points no one else has even dared to
address.”

Her cheeks heated with his warm praise.
“Somebody had to be the voice of reason. Even if it was just
me.”

He closed the tiny distance between them and
enveloped her in his arms. “I’m so glad it was you, my Leah. So
very glad it was you.”

Chapter
Fifteen

Leah was quiet on the drive back, caught up in
the churning of her own thoughts as she tried to process all she’d
learned and experienced through the day. Even Pam seemed subdued
and wasn’t driving as if she was going to win the Indianapolis 500
on nothing more than a suburban freeway. Leah was more than
thankful since she didn’t think she could take anymore hair-raising
surprises for awhile. She’d experienced enough in the last
twenty-four hours, what with the appearance of her armband that was
a smaller but perfect replica of Rykhan’s, the unbelievable sex
they’d shared and then Bronsyn’s confession and admission that the
warriors were actually aliens who needed her help.

Although she had to admit, some parts of what
she’d gone through had been better than others.

Like when Rykhan had pulled her away
from the crowd after their dinner of delivered pizza and had done
nothing more than hold her closely against his chest. It had only
seemed natural that her fingers had sought out the hard metal of
his
wahrom
as
she’d pressed her face into his neck, just as his hand had found
hers. If his reaction was any indication, the caresses she gave his
own metal caused just as much of a response in him as she felt when
he stroked hers. It had even gotten to the point of pressing his
hard manhood into her hipbone, clearly indicating he was more than
amenable to going back to his room.

Maybe it was because of his behavior she
believed him about never seeing a real, live girl until they
arrived on Earth.

On the other hand, she’d gotten just
as aroused, had been tempted to do it again when he caressed
her
wahrom
as
well. Just the memory of their combined orgasm when their arm
jewelry collided, had Leah turning to the passenger window to hide
both her blush and her smile.

Both Rykhan and Bronsyn had not hidden their
disappointment when she’d repeatedly denied her destiny was a done
deal, that Rykhan was her ‘true and legitimate mate’. Leah had
tried to explain it, had cited that while she wasn’t against
marriage in any way, shape or form, there was no way in hell that
she was getting legally tied to a man she’d only recently met. In
retrospect, she was glad she’d objected early on because the more
she found out about their plans, about how they were to meet women
who might be willing to join with the warriors, she’d realized how
little they actually knew about the fairer sex. At least those on
her planet.

Was there a difference between the Picari
females and Earth women? In Leah’s opinion, the answers she’d
received to her questions had been sadly lacking. Especially in the
areas of career opportunities and outside interests for those of
the feminine persuasion on either Galaxia or Nutrol. That was, once
she got over the shock the warriors actually expected their brides
to blithely climb aboard their star-cruiser and relocate some place
no one had ever heard of!

“Ridiculous!” she muttered, not realizing she
had spoken aloud.

“Naw, I think it’s just flat-out sad,” Pam
answered with a sigh. “I mean, imagine coming all this way and
trying find your other half using the stupidest of all human stupid
stuff like speed-dating or find-your-soul-mate-dot-com in order to
find a partner.”

Leah’s eyes flew to her friend. “They told
you?”

“Oh hell, yeah. When you were all getting all
up-tight and personal with Bronsie and Ryk in the den, the boys
took me out to the back garden and laid it all out.” She sighed
again and didn’t speak for a time. Leah however, rode the edges of
incredulity since she’d somehow believed that she was the only one
privy to that knowledge. “It had to have been the most depressing
thing I think I’ve ever heard.”

They continued for a few more miles, each
seemingly caught up in what they’d heard earlier.

“So you gonna do it?” Pam finally asked,
glancing to Leah before training her eyes back to the roadway.
“Help them out, I mean. Because I can pretty much figure your
answer to the whole ‘pair with us’ speech was a big old ‘hell to
the no’ like mine was. Since I’m guessing to ‘pair’ means to be
engaged in some kind of, like, holy wedlock or some
shit.”

“I, ah…” Leah started. “I can’t believe I asked
them why, if the need was so great, they didn’t just do a snatch
and grab to obtain women to mate and replenish their worlds
with.”

“I know, right?” Pam’s blonde curls bounced in
the light coming from the dashboard as she nodded her
agreement.

“Bronsyn said, and I believe I’m quoting him
almost verbatim,” Leah started before lowering her voice in a weak
imitation of the leader of the wickedly handsome warriors. “We are
protectors, not thieves.”

The laughter that rang out between the two
women bounced off every surface of the car’s interior.

“Honest to god, though, I don’t have any
worries about those guys finding women. Because any woman with a
pulse is gonna have wet panties when just one of those men drop
trou’.”

“You’ve seen them naked?” Leah’s voice squeaked
in the upper registers and was a stark contrast to how she’d spoken
earlier.

“Yeah,” Pam offered with a shrug as she leaned
an elbow against the edge of the doorframe. “There at the end when
we were getting ready to leave. Ty, Shawn, and Gere were doing a
Magic Mike at the edge of the pool. And let me tell you sister, my
corneas still hurt. Whew! Those hunks are hotter than
hot!”

Leah smiled when her bestie turned towards her
with a huge grin and waggling eyebrows.

“Since they don’t have any hair below their
cheekbones it was a complete and total ‘yowsa’ moment for this
girl, to be sure! All those muscles were…” Releasing a long, heavy
sigh, Pam let her voice trail off as if there were just too many
adjectives available to just choose one.

Leah found her mind rushing to the time when
Rykhan had paused with his knee on the bed after removing his
clothes. She had been so caught up in her own emotions that she
hadn’t taken notice of anything other than the desire that’d shone
clearly in his eyes. As her mind reviewed each and every inch of
Rykhan’s skin as it slowly made an appearance, she found her thighs
pressing together with just the memory.

She caught Pam’s smirk before hearing, “makes a
girl want to do a bit of grooming herself, you know?”

Another thought intruded, strong enough that
Leah felt she needed to say it out loud. “Do you think they’re all
virgins?”

There was a shrug and another sigh before Pam
spoke again. “According to Brent, some of the fellas on their
planets are mated to other males. As for our set of guys? None has
taken that little turn in the road. Nope, our boys have been truly
and scientifically proven to be straight.”

Leah envisioned a scene from one of the many
sci-fi and fantasy movies she indulged in, imagining a plethora of
wires and electrodes connected to machines and the specific, nether
parts of the warriors. “How do you think they did that?”

“I dunno and I wasn’t about to ask,” came the
response into the quiet space. “The guys didn’t get into detail
about it.”

The silence came up and claimed them again but
Leah didn’t mind in the least. Her head was spinning with
everything, even though it felt amazing to have Pam in the
know.

Knowing exactly what her friend meant about it
being too personal a question to broach, Leah nodded. “But here’s
what I don’t get. How can men with such awesome bods eat so much
and still stay in shape? I mean ordering ten extra large pizzas for
only the nine people is completely crazy, right?”

Pam’s eyes rounded. “And when I helped clean
up, all the boxes were empty. Every single one.” She glanced across
the console. “Have you ever seen Ryk eat so much
before?”

Thinking back over their dating history, Leah
slowly nodded. “Yeah, I have, but just once when he took me to
Sunday brunch. He initially ordered just a regular plate from their
brunch selections along with a couple of sides but by the time he
sat back smiling and dabbing at his mouth, he’d ordered and eaten
every damn thing they had on the brunch menu!” She turned her head
to the window before she spoke again. “I got a glance at the check
before he settled it. It was over a hundred and ten
dollars.”

Pam’s soft whistle more than communicated her
awe. “Shit! A day’s salary spent on nothing more than a meal?” Pam
twisted her face towards her friend. “Where do you think they’re
getting all their money, though? I mean, those boys are living
large but do any of them have actual jobs or anything?”

“Not to my knowledge, but I’m sure we’ll find
out.” Leah frowned, coming up with and then discarding various ways
the aliens could be making their bank--none of it even close to the
realm of legal.

Quiet reigned as Pam’s SUV ate the miles on the
101 West.

Pam was the one that broke the stillness first.
“Still and all, I don’t mind being on their payroll and helping
them to fulfill their quest. But I can’t, and just damn well do
not, see myself moving in. I mean, they’re gorgeous as all get-out
but, geez! Living with a whole stable of studs? Uh-uh. That not my
particular cup of tea.” She briefly shifted her eyes from the road
to her friend in the passenger seat. “What about you?”

Leah hesitated over her response. “Bronsyn and
Rykhan seemed to think the unexpected and surprising bling on my
arm somehow means that I’m automatically Rykhan’s one and only true
love.”

“Seriously?” As the vehicle sharply
swerved, Leah grabbed for the passenger strap for the first time
since she’d gotten in the car. Pam’s eyes were darting between both
her passenger and the road which more than spoke of her friend’s
distress. “Neither Wyst or Ryk said anything like that when Wyst
showed me his
wahrom
. Something, I might add, that is the exact color of my
totally amazing eyes.”

Leah swallowed and tried to put her spinning
thoughts into some kind of objective order. “Then maybe it has
something to do with the design.”

Leah’s gaze remained on her friend until a
blaring horn signaled Pam’s SUV had drifted too far into the right
lane.

“Yeah, well. Just because his
symbol, that the
wahrom
thingy, is almost a complete replica of Granny’s
pendant doesn’t mean shit in my opinion. I mean, who the eff
considers themselves bound to an alien, even of the beautiful
behemoth variety? Just because of some kind of symbol?” Pam didn’t
sound as positive as Leah wanted, needed her to be. “But even Wyst
seemed relieved when I turned his proposal down. Seriously, though.
No girl likes to think of an arranged marriage even if the one
doing the organizing is a god.”

Leah had to give her friend props at her
thought processes. So holding up a fist, she aimed it towards her
shorter and blonde-haired counterpart, while muttering, “I hear ya,
darlin’.”

After their fists met and Pam had pulled onto
Leah’s street, the effusive woman turned to her companion. “You
gotta admit, these are some exciting times though,
right?

“Maybe a little more exciting than I’d
anticipated,” Leah offered on a mumble as she released the
seatbelt. “Whatever happened to just putting myself ‘out there’ as
a girl some guy just wanted to date and maybe have sex
with?”

Pam’s laughter though stilled her hand and she
looked at the woman who was more, so very much more, than a friend.
“So tell me, Leah. How fast are you turning in your
resignation?”

With a rueful grin, Pam’s passenger muttered,
“Who said shit about submitting a form to the DMV? All a person has
to do is not show for three days without a medical excuse and
they’re a goner.”

Pam shot her fist into the air, head down and
lips clenched as she pumped it again and again. “That’s my girl!”
the blonde-haired woman cried while Leah extradited herself from
the car.

“So what time should I pick you up tomorrow,
Pam?”

“Is eight too early for a person without a
job?” “At least it’s better than the six that Bronsyn suggested.”
Tilting back her head, Pam laughed before adding, “That man as a
freaking lot to learn about Earth girls.”

There was no other way to respond but with a
fervent and heartfelt, “you know it. And we’re just the ones to
teach him.”

Slamming the door with a giggle, Pam’s car took
off before Leah turned her eyes to the night sky. Wrapping her arms
around herself, she wondered which direction the Picari system was,
even though the lights of Phoenix didn’t allow her to see many
stars.

Could it be true? That the armband that had
grown overnight while she’d slept foretold of her destiny, her one
true and perfect match? According to both Bronsyn and Rykhan, she
only had a little more than five months to decide since their
star-cruiser could only sustain a holding pattern on the dark side
of the moon for that long.