Captured By her Alien Mate by Ava York

Riley

Iwas lost the second his lips touched mine.

My eyelids fluttered lazily, my heart started beating faster, and a warm feeling spread all over my body. Slowly, I brought both my hands up and placed them over his chest, my fingers right above his beating heart. I didn’t know how or why this was happening, but I knew that it felt right.

This was meant to be.

Gently, I parted his lips with the tip of my tongue, allowing our kiss to deepen. I moaned softly as his hands settled on my hips, and I offered no resistance as he pushed me back onto the mattress. He followed after me, the mattress shifting under our weight, and I held my breath as I watched his muscles rippling under his dark robe.

“You’re beautiful,” he said in a low whisper, his words brimming with desire. Inexplicably, the desire in his voice made me want him even more. Of course, it wasn’t just about his voice either. There was something in his gaze that drew me toward him, something ethereal and…

Holy shit,I thought, suddenly realizing what was happening. His eyes are glowing. Almost immediately, I remembered what Isabella and the others had said about their own mates—the first time they had been together, the D’Tali’s eyes had shone like precious gems. According to D’Tali biology and culture, something like that meant that a mating bond had been uncovered.

Was that what was happening now? Was Kator my mate? Had we been brought together by fate? Those thoughts spilled into my mind like a tidal wave, crashing against my desire and unleashing chaos everywhere. There was no doubt about it—I wanted Kator as much as I had ever wanted anyone... but I simply couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that we were mates. It was just too much for me to process. To find my mate among the D’Tali would have been one thing, but to find him here...

“Is something wrong?” he said, the light in his eyes slowly dimming. I bit on the corner of my bottom lip, trying to rearrange my thoughts, and then looked away from him. He rolled to the side and sat on the edge of the bed, but his eyes never left mine. I could feel his gaze boring into me, just as I could feel him on edge as he waited for me to say something.

When I didn’t speak, he rolled to the side and raked one hand over his face. His eyebrows were knitted together, and I could tell he was trying to peer into my mind. Eventually, I found the courage to speak up.

“Don’t get me wrong,” I started, suddenly realizing just how hard it was to speak my mind. My body needed his, and that in a desperate way, but I just couldn’t go through with it. Not yet, at least. “It’s just that... I barely know who you are. What you’re about. Your goals, your passions. Your hates.” What a person hated often said more about them than what they loved.

He stilled. “My hates? That’s easy, and it’s the same as my goals and passions.” Kator gave me an inscrutable look.

I couldn’t read it, or him. “Who are you?” I whispered. There was something more to this man, some deep river of emotion in him that I sensed beneath the surface.

“I’m a son,” he said finally. “I am my mother’s last hope for justice, so she can find peace.”

He said justice, I heard vengeance. I watched him carefully and knew better than to tell him that justice was for the living—the dead didn’t care. They already had their peace. Knew better than to tell him stories of cops I’d known who’d been consumed by a search for justice. Sometimes… sometimes it was better to walk away.

Kator wasn’t one of those who would walk away. I knew it in my gut. “I’ve been where you are,” I said finally. “I understand. Kator… there has to be more, though. Purpose, pleasure.”

He lifted a brow, and I blushed. I’d walked right into that one. “Not—I mean—”

“I know what you mean.”

“I’m sorry,” I said in a softer voice.

I wasn’t exactly sure of what reaction I’d get from him, but I sure as hell wasn’t expecting the one I got. Instead of getting mad or frustrated, Kator simply looked away from me and smiled. Slowly, he let out a heavy sigh and rose to his feet. He didn’t say a word as he collected his discarded robe and shirt.

“Don’t worry,” he finally said, tucking the corner of his cloak over one shoulder. “I understand that.”

He gave me a nod and then, without a word more, turned on his heels and started walking toward the door. I watched, my heart still beating at a thousand miles per hour.

He hesitated and looked back at me over his shoulder, sadness on his face. “It’s funny, Riley, but you’re not alone in this. I am my mother’s son, but beyond that… I also don’t know who I am.”

With that, he was gone.

I sat there on the bed, wordlessly, and stared at the shut door for a long time. I replayed what had just happened in my mind a million times and, even when I tried to sleep, I still found myself gripped by that maddening lust.

His last words demanded my attention. Why had he said he didn’t know who he was? What secrets was he hiding? Even though I barely knew him, I sensed the shadows inside him. Kator was a man of many secrets, and something tied all those secrets together.

Sadness.

Rage.

I couldn’t tell how I knew that, but I knew it.

Was it because we were mates? Was that why I had been able to peer past his outer shell and capture that glimpse of who he was? It was possible. In the end, though, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that I was aching to learn more about Kator. I had no idea what he was, nor what he was hiding from the world…

But I wanted to be the one unveiling it all.