Princess for the Alien Commander by Tammy Walsh

Ikmale

My honor guardtook point and spread out wide to ensure we wouldn’t stumble upon any of the king’s soldiers.

The cloak of darkness was a powerful ally when you utilized it properly.

I hung at the back of the column riding Veiun beside Sofia’s female.

My stomach still churned at the idea of putting her in harm’s way, but the truth was, we weren’t going to be able to negotiate our way through the secret passageway system without her.

She’d once said she couldn’t make diagrams of the passageways and relied more on a sense of touch than anything else.

I wished it wasn’t the case, but we needed her.

We hadn’t shared a word since starting on our journey.

The main contingent of my army remained back in our territory, fully armed and ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

If we were successful in capturing the king, we would open the city’s gates and let the kauah in.

We would take over peacefully and transition into new leadership.

No more tyranny at the hands of King Brant.

No more wealth-destroying taxes.

Just peace and prosperity for everyone.

I only hoped we wouldn’t have to shed too much blood in the pursuit of peace.

“How’s your head now?” I asked.

Her face was still swollen and sore and might have only been a birthmark in the silvery moonlight.

Sofia’s hand unconsciously moved to her cheek.

“A little sore, but it’s fine.”

We continued in silence once more.

“You didn’t need to take this risk,” I said, finally giving voice to my concerns.

“You’re my husband. If I can prevent you from coming to any harm, I’ll do it. It’s every wife’s prerogative.”

“But you don’t need to come with us. Maybe if you tried, you could draw maps for us.”

Sofia shook her head.

“If I drew one line wrong, you might end up wandering around down there for days, maybe longer. It’s better I go with you.”

I reached over and squeezed her hand.

She turned her fingers toward me and interlocked them with mine.

I glanced at my men who focused on keeping a lookout for any enemies waiting to ambush us.

I leaned over and pressed my lips to hers.

Our okmath continued on straight as I ran a hand through her long smooth hair.

Being so close made me want to be honest and open with her.

“I was terrified when the dras took you,” I said. “After I promised you would never get hurt.”

Her hand gripped my wrist as if for support.

“I was scared too. Not because of what might happen to me but because I might never see you again.”

I ran my fingers over the unblemished half of her face and the luscious lips that I wanted to give myself to and never return from.

We pressed our foreheads together.

“You rescued me,” Sofia said. “Maybe this is my way of rescuing you back.”

I smiled and kissed her nose.

“My love, you have rescued me, and it happened long ago.”

We kissed long and deep and hard, our bodies as entwined as they could be while riding separate saddles.

“Commander?”

We parted slowly.

I was no longer afraid to be seen in the arms of my human female.

“We’ve come to the palace’s outer wall on the western side,” Bena said.

I nodded to him and turned to Sofia.

“Looks like your time has arrived.”

Sofia leaned in close and squeezed my leg.

“That’s what I hoped a moment ago.”

She gave me a sly wink and headed toward the bank of trees that straddled either side of a small waterfall.

Bena pulled up alongside me.

“Sir, if I may?”

I rolled my eyes at my friend.

“How many times have I told you? You don’t need to call me ‘sir.’”

He took no notice of what I said and leaned in close.

He looked a little nervous about what he was about to say next.

“Sir—”

I sighed.

“—how much do we really know about the young princess?”

“I’m discovering more every day,” I said, excited to know there was always another layer to pull back and learn about my wife.

It made my mouth salivate to think of the unexplored terrain beneath her clothes…

“Can we trust her?” Bena said abruptly.

My attention snapped to him, taken unaware by his sudden question.

“What?”

“I mean no disrespect, sir, but she is the daughter of the king. If she’s anything like him she would betray us in a heartbeat—”

“She is nothing like her father!” I spat, my voice louder than I intended.

Bena didn’t back down beneath my glare.

It was his job to ask questions no one else would voice.

Still, it was difficult to listen to a question like that and not explode.

I took a deep breath and curbed my anger.

I peered over at Sofia who appraised the waterfall and ran her hands over the damp stones beneath it.

I had once thought the same way as Bena, after all.

I couldn’t blame him.

I’d been blinded by her relationship with her father at one point.

But after getting to know the real her, I was certain she was good, honorable, and just—the exact opposite of her traitorous father.

I placed a hand on Bena’s shoulder.

“You’re right to ask the question, my friend. And here’s my response: Sofia’s as trustworthy as I am, as much as you are. And know this: She’s lived a tough life and the fact she wasn’t raised by her father can only be a good thing. Trust me, my friend. She will help us, not betray us.”

Bena nodded but my words of comfort didn’t have the effect I had hoped they would.

“Here!” Sofia yelled softly. “I found it! It’s over here!”

We rode over to see she was pointing at the waterfall.

“The entrance is on the other side of the waterfall!” she said. “Once we get through, we’ll be in the tunnel that’ll link us with the rest of the passageway system.”

I smiled and gently rubbed her back.

“Good work.”

I turned to Bena.

“Prepare the men. We’re heading into the palace to take the king hostage. With any luck, we won’t meet any resistance. But stand ready to fight to the death if we do.”

Sofia tookpoint and I followed immediately after.

I was desperate to reach out and grab that tight ass of hers but I controlled myself, knowing just how much she needed to focus on negotiating the tunnels.

She turned one way and then another before backing up on herself twice and continuing on again.

Just when I was beginning to think we were never going to get out of that place, she paused and looked back over her shoulder at me, and nodded.

She leaned forward and whispered in my ear.

“Here. This leads to the king’s apartment.”

I turned back to my men and in the small pool of light cast by the torch, made a hand motion that signaled to Bena that we were to prepare for an attack.

He passed it on down the line.

Sofia shifted out of the way and gave me instructions on where to pull and push to open the doorway.

“Well?” she said. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

“Not until you head back down the tunnel.”

She screwed up her face.

“I want to make sure you get inside!”

“You’ve told me how. Do you think I’m too stupid to open a door?”

“What? No!”

“Then head back down the passageway as you promised.”

She scowled at me and pursed her lips.

She might have been trying to force me to change my mind and let her join us but it only made her look cuter.

Finally, her expression relaxed and she nodded her head.

“Okay. Fine. Go do your kauah warrior-thing.”

“I ordered a soldier to remain behind at the passageway entrance and escort you back to the castle. I know you have a… history of not following orders.”

She twisted her mouth as if I’d forestalled her plan.

“Remember, I did all the hard work already in getting you here—”

I pressed myself against her and buried my tongue in her mouth.

She accepted it and opened herself up to me.

Her hands explored my chest and abs as I groped a handful of her ass and massaged her breasts.

If things went wrong and this was the last time I would get to see her, I wanted it to be memorable.

She cupped my balls through my pants and stroked my length.

As I drew back from her, she took my tongue in her mouth and sucked on it sensuously.

This woman is going to drive me crazy!

“Get out of here,” I said huskily.

If she stayed any longer, I was going to take her right here and now—and to hell with my men watching!

Bena had averted his eyes and didn’t see Sofia as she approached.

I smacked her on the ass and she looked back at me with her smoky eyes.

“There’s plenty more where that came from,” she said before her voice and confidence cracked. “Just make sure to come back to me.”

“I will,” I said.

I promise.

I couldn’t say the words out loud for fear I might be unable to keep them.

She smiled before she headed back down the tunnel in the direction we’d come.

I didn’t remove my eyes from her until she’d melted into the darkness.

I was sad to see her go but pleased she would be safe soon.

The doorway beckoned.

I turned to it and did as Sofia had instructed.

The wall ground open as it slipped open.

With any luck, the king would be fast asleep in bed and we could take him without any resistance at all.

Already I could see the lights in the room were out.

If Sofia was right, we could end this bitter stand-off without shedding a single drop of blood.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness.

The moonlight spilled through the large windows and highlighted the edges of the tables and chairs in the room.

I crossed the open space with my hands held out before me in case I accidentally knocked a piece of furniture over.

We’d entered via the front room’s fireplace and I hustled across it into the next room.

The layout was the same, if larger than the room he’d built to be my prison.

In the bed lay two lumps picked out by a shaft of moonlight that sprayed from between an inch parting in the curtains.

I rounded the bed and my men joined me.

The others turned their eyes toward each entrance in case of an impending attack.

I glanced at Bena, who shared a look with the others.

I nodded and we unsheathed our weapons.

I reached for the bedspread, seized it in a single fist, and yanked it off the slumbering figures.

Bena switched on the lights, bathing the room in warm golden light.

And the sleeping figures—

The figures…

They were not the king and his most recent whore.

They weren’t even real people.

I poked at the pillows and realized what I was looking at.

“It’s a trap…”

It was the second time I’d fallen for the king’s plans.

And that was when everything went haywire.