Kidnapped By the Alien Prince by Tori Kellett
Chapter Six
Zak wasn’t sure how he got to be so lucky or how it was she was so responsive to him. He was desperate to lay her down on soft covers and sink into her wet heat. She—
“My prince?”
He stiffened at the warning in Voren’s tone as three villagers stepped out onto their path ahead. He recognized every one of them, and he drew Callie into his side protectively. The older one, D’avid, and his son, Theron, both had crude weapons. The younger was barely eight cycles. D’avid was one of the village elders. Zak knew none of them were a threat against the hand-held stunners Voren and H’adaar carried, but that wasn’t the point. The last thing he wanted in front of Callie was violence.
“You promised action,” D’avid ground out. “You promised food and water. It will be the Dry soon, and you won’t be king.” He glanced at Callie. “And all you’re doing is warming your bed when my Am-heer lies cold in hers.” Zak held his hand up when he saw Voren go for his weapon at the insult. If he had been his sire, D’avid would have been gutted.
“She has passed.” It wasn’t a question. D’avid had lost his mate five cycles ago, and his daughter had been sick for a long time. Tears glistened in D’avid’s eyes, and Zak’s heart bled for him. For all his people.
“What’s wrong?” Callie asked softly. “Is it because I’m not Ishtaan?” Zak knew Callie could understand him but not the other way around until D’avid got the chip fitted. There simply hadn’t been the time to supply everyone.
Zak glanced down at Callie’s worried expression. “D’avid lost his mate five cycles ago. His daughter, Am-heer, died of the sickness a few daylights ago.” He didn’t add that Zak had broken his promise to them all.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Callie said. Her voice rang clear in the silence, and D’avid seemed to look at her for the first time. Voren repeated what she had said. “Was Am-heer your only daughter?” Voren translated again.
D’avid nodded, then narrowed his eyes. “You have also lost a child.” They all heard the sharp inhale from Callie.
“There’s no way you could know that.”
Zak glanced down. He didn’t know that. “You lost a child?”
She bit her lip, then cleared her throat. “She was stillborn. Ten years ago.”
“Stillborn?” Zak repeated, and Callie nodded.
“It means she never took a breath. They stopped being able to hear her heartbeat three days before she was due. I knew there was something wrong. She was always so lively. By the time I had gotten to the hospital, there was nothing anyone could do.” And she had been perfect, just not living. They had let her hold her for some time afterward. By the time Gary had turned up a little worse for wear as he had been at a golf tournament, it was all over.
D’avid bowed deeply. Voren had been quietly translating all the time Callie had been speaking, and Callie swallowed and glanced at him again. “How did you know?”
But even though Voren still translated her question, it was Zak that answered. “It is said among my people that those who have suffered a great loss can recognize it in others.” Callie reached out a shaky hand, and D’avid, bending down and putting his knife on the floor, took a cautious step toward her. Voren glanced at him for an order, but Zak waved him to stand down. He stepped up with Callie himself and watched carefully, expecting Callie to touch hands as humans seemed to do, but instead, she drew the old male into a hug.
Even Theron was shocked. Zak took a breath and watched as Callie murmured comfort as tears fell from D’avid’s eyes. That took no translating. He stepped toward Theron. “Have you managed to prepare at all for the Dry?”
Theron bowed his head. “Barely, my prince. Every time we store some food, the king’s assessors take it.”
Zak swore. It was true. His sire insisted on taxing his subjects to the point where they couldn’t feed themselves, and the bully guards he ran were ordered to kill anyone that tried to stop them. “Prince N’ameth is organizing a grain cache tonight. It will need to be divided quickly. I am told Ramdah is the elder who will be controlling distribution.”
Theron nodded. “My sire has been secluded for three daylights. He would not have known.”
“I am sure they will need help.” He glanced at the strapping young man. He was nearly warrior age. “Ishtaan will have need of you soon.”
“My prince,” Theron acknowledged, and they looked up as D’avid and Callie joined them.
“Do you have enough translators for everyone?” Callie asked. Her voice was overbright, and Zak knew she was trying to shake off her grief.
“Yes. Our challenges are time and distribution. We cannot amass the villages in one place, or it will be noticed.”
“How many people are we talking about?”
“On Ishtaan? When I was a young, there were many, many thousands, but we are decimated. I would guess at perhaps ten thousand spread over all the settlements. We didn’t have the population of your world, but we were wealthy as a people.”
Callie nodded and turned as D’avid spoke again. Zak smiled as D’avid offered her the traditional blessing. Light in the Dark, Water in the Dry, and Sun in the Shadow.
Callie smiled and reached for D’avid’s hand again, squeezing gently. Voren translated her thanks, but it really wasn’t necessary. D’avid whispered something to Zak she clearly wasn’t meant to hear, bowed, and walked away.
“What did he say?”
Zak huffed. “That I had better treat you right, or prince or no prince, he would give me some competition.” He had also said Zak had chosen well, and his mulaa would be a great queen, but Zak kept that to himself. Callie was under enough pressure as it was.
They walked on, and he looked at the village, trying to see it through Callie’s eyes. It was tired, old, too quiet. Many daylights ago, even the final meal hours would have been filled with the sound of music and talking, the daylights with the sound of young as they played, still able to be carefree until the wars took that away from his people as well. They had closed off the outer huts. They were barely used, and so families that wanted had moved nearer the center, better for water and food distribution and storage, and for the sick, easier for them to get help.
He knew Brey was about the only one who still lived on her own and a little distance away. He had always been concerned, but she had insisted on it. She had never mated, and by the time it had been needed, she was too old to have a child. She was a good healer though, and he knew Azlaan had learned much from her.
Zak stopped as they got to the end of the dirt track nearer the other side of the forest. Callie looked with interest at the tiny dwelling, and for a moment, Zak nearly changed his mind. How could he bring his queen into something like this? She should be in furs and jewels, warm and safe in the palace, not in a tiny room he had to duck to walk in and then could probably have touched each wall simultaneously with his arms splayed out. But he had nowhere else to take her. Almost fatalistically, he opened the door and stepped back so she could walk inside.
He glanced down as Callie chuckled. Her eyes twinkled, and she stared at him. Then she giggled again, and he looked at her in puzzlement. “What amuses you?”
She waved to the bed. It would be lucky to fit her, and it clearly wasn’t going to be long enough for him. His lips twitched, but then Callie burst out laughing and pressed her fingers to her lips in an effort to be quiet.
He knew a better method, though, and bent and lifted Callie up to him, slamming their mouths together and swallowing her laughter. She wrapped her legs around his middle, and the press of her body on his swollen cock was so perfect, he wanted to rip off her clothes and enter her right then. He gentled the kisses before his mind would no longer be able to form words, until Callie broke away. “Just pull the blankets on the floor if you don’t think Brey will mind.”
“I will have more brought for her tomorrow.” That he could do, and he reluctantly set Callie down, and she turned and tugged the blankets and the pillows free. He stood back and spotted the covered food in the corner that had been left. “Are you hungry?”
Callie glanced up, but she didn’t reply. He groaned and reached for her, bending her back, still secure in his arms, and peppered kisses over her throat and in the enticing vee that led to her breasts, which had to rival her lips as one of his favorite parts of her body. The other favorite part he quickly found with his fingers, and she gasped and leaned into him. “You are way too good at that.”
Satisfaction filled him. That he was capable of bringing his mulaa pleasure was a source of great pride, and he gently laid her down on the blankets. Quickly, he stripped them both and watched as Callie’s eyes widened as she took in his length. She met his eyes. “It’ll never fit.”
“It will fit, my queen,” Zak whispered as he lowered himself and took her in his arms. You are my mulaa and perfect for me in every way.”
“Uh-huh,” Callie replied doubtfully, but Zak simply used his mouth and his fingers to work her up so much that her entrance should be so slick he would slide home. Callie arched as he reached for her other breast and took one nipple firmly between his lips. He slid his fingers in and out of her wet folds and pressed his palm down on top of her mound because she seemed to like it. She pushed back and tried to rub herself over his hand, but he moved away. She was nearly there, trembling with desire, and he was so hard, but he wanted to taste her, send her over the edge at least twice before he took her as his.
Her first orgasm came as he licked her nub and clutched her gorgeous bottom in his hand. His mind reeled with all the different ways he could take her. All the ways he would show her how vital she was, and not just to his people, but to their prince because as he wrung Callie’s second orgasm out of her and she cried out his name, he knew he was never letting her go.
She was still gasping as he positioned himself and eased inside. Her hot, tight heat robbed him of breath, and he would never know how he stayed still for the endless-seeming moments before she relaxed. He cautiously moved, but it took her clutching his back and thrusting her hips as a demand before he slid in completely. He gasped. It was perfect. She was perfect. He gritted his teeth; close as he was, he was determined she would find her pleasure again before him, and as he bent his head to kiss her, she cried out, her insides tightening all around him, and he found his own release.
He had slept—reluctantly—because he didn’t want to miss a single moment of Callie, but as he had barely rested in the last two full daylights, he knew he needed it. He knew Kaleth was okay. N’ameth had promised to spend the evening with him and make sure he was guarded through the night. Zak tried to spend part of every day with his son, even if it was just a meal, but Kaleth understood his responsibilities.
Callie was not yet awake. She was spread over him as if she had not found the blankets to her liking and decided he was more comfortable. He pressed a kiss to her head, feeling his body stir. He wanted nothing more than to hear her cry out his name once again, but she should rest a few more moments. Although, he reached down and found her swollen and still slick from him. He stroked her with a featherlike touch, and she moaned a little, not truly awake but still inviting him closer. She rocked into his hand as he swirled his thumb around her nub, sliding two fingers in and out of her still slick channel. She tightened around him on a cry and opened her eyes. He very deliberately lifted his hand and sucked both of his wet fingers. Her eyes widened, but her pupils darkened.
“Every bit of you now belongs to me.” The vow was heartfelt. He meant every word.
Callie smiled lazily and rolled away slightly, wincing a little. He frowned. “I injured you?” His heart took up a furious tattoo. What had he been thinking? How could he—
But she essentially silenced his thoughts with a kiss. “It’s normal to be a little sore.” She looked around. “I could do with a bath, but I’m guessing that’s not an option. Can I at least have a wash?”
It took him a moment. “You wish to cleanse?”
She blushed. “I’d love to stay in bed all day, but I think we both have things that need doing.”
He eased her onto her back and rose, preening a little at the way her hungry gaze fell on him. They were a good match. He quickly pulled on his pants and after urging her to rest for a few more moments went outside. Voren and H’adaar greeted him, and he looked to the canvas blowing a little in the breeze. That hadn’t been there last night. One of the villagers stepped out from behind it and bowed to his prince, then hurried away with a bucket. “What are they doing?”
“Preparing a bathing area for the queen,” H’adaar explained.
Zak was stunned. They barely had enough to see them through the Dry and they were filling a container for Callie to bathe in? “I am humbled,” he said finally.
“They have great hopes,” Voren added, as if that explained everything. Zak nodded. As did he; he just prayed they weren’t unfounded. Not that he doubted Callie, but there was only so much she could do.
An older woman stepped from behind the canvas, and Zak smiled. Yareen, that was it. She bowed. “The cleansing area is ready should my queen deem it worthy.”
He grinned. He had a feeling she would deem it very worthy. But when Zak showed Callie what the villagers had done, she went quiet. “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “I know it won’t be what you’re used to.”
Callie looked at him, tears hanging so heavily on those delicate lashes. “It isn’t that. Please never say that. It’s just…” She brought a hand to cover her mouth.
“I can make other arrangements,” he offered desperately.
Callie shook her head and turned to him, her cheeks wet. “You said they would be short of water come your dry season.” He nodded. “They don’t have enough to drink and they still filled me a bath?”
Her incredulity broke on a strangled sob, and Zak pulled her into his arms. It took a minute, but she took a deep breath and stepped back. “I want to learn to speak Ishtaan.”
He smiled and smoothed a stray hair off her face. “And why is that, my Callie?”
“Because I want to be able to thank your wonderful people.”
His heart warmed, and he leaned forward again. “They are your people too, now.”
