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Holly considered herself an expert on men. At least, on how to read them and seduce them. She could tell if a guy was interested in her at a hundred paces, and could tell you how good they’d be in bed after a talking to them for a matter of seconds. Her bounty hunter crew mates jokingly called it her superpower.

  The thought of her crew made her stomach twist into a knot. She’d volunteered as a mate for the Crestek chancellor’s son to save them, but the longer she stayed in the city, the more she questioned her decision. Not that she didn’t want to save her friends, but what had she been thinking to agree to a marriage? She was the last person to ever get married. She didn’t even believe in a relationship that lasted more than a single daytime cycle, much less a lifetime commitment. The concept made her shudder.

  It’s not going to happen, she told herself.

  She knew the other bounty hunters well enough to know they weren’t going to leave her in the alien city. No matter what deal they’d made with the Cresteks, no way would they leave the planet without her, or let her become the wife of a total stranger. She was certain that the captain was already coming up with a plan to break her out. One that probably involved using their shapeshifter, Bexli, as a distraction, and their badass Zevrian security chief, Tori, as the muscle. Not to mention, the Dothveks who’d seemed pretty unhappy to have to let the Cresteks take her in exchange for help defeating the other bounty hunter who’d arrived on the planet primed for a fight.

  Holly peered out the tall windows that ran along one side of the wide room. The planet’s two suns had dipped below the city walls—sending a warm glow over the city’s rooftops—but she couldn’t see over them to know what was going on with Mourad’s attack. It was impossible to enjoy the sunset when she knew her friends might be engaged in a battle for their lives against their bounty hunter rival.

  She gritted her teeth as she thought about the horrid Gorglik who’d marooned them on the planet, then returned in search of the bounty they’d convinced him they didn’t have.

  “Too bad the big buffoon never does his own research,” she muttered to herself. Mourad and his crew of burly bounty hunters had made it a habit to chase her and her crew around the galaxy, attempting to steal their bounties, instead of tracking them down himself.

  He’d made a costly error when he’d assumed that Dr. Max Dryden—a scientist with a huge bounty on their head—was a man. The women had been able to convince him that Max was a member of their all-female crew, and he’d marooned her, along with them, on the sand planet. Apparently, he’d figured out his mistake at some point, because the asshole had shown back up looking for Max, and the only way her crew and the Dothveks could fend him off was by making a deal with the Cresteks for help with the battle. That was where she’d come in, offering to take Max’s place in the Crestek city and become T’Kar’s bride.

  Holly sat down on the stone seat that ran around the sunken fireplace, and held her hands out toward the artificial blue flame. Impulsive decisions when it came to men were not completely out of character for her, but she usually got out of them with relative ease. She was the master at slipping out of bed without making a sound, and had slipped off a planet to avoid an awkward goodbye more than a few times.

  Her friends teased her that she had an ex-lover in every port, which wasn’t entirely untrue. But life on a bounty-hunter ship didn’t exactly lend itself to relationships, and she’d never felt the need to get overlay attached to anyone. She had her crew, and that was enough for her. A crew that was going to come for her and get her out before she had to walk down the aisle, or say “I do”, or any of the other things she’d never planned to do in her lifetime.

  If they could, a little voice reminded her. As far as she knew, they were in the middle of a fight for their lives. She only wished she was with them, instead of locked in a room waiting for her sham wedding ceremony.

  The door opened, and she turned to see T’Kar enter. It didn’t take a mind reader to see he was not pleased. His shoulders were hunched, and his sloped eyebrows were pressed together.

  She wasn’t used to men being unhappy to be with her, and a part of her took it as a personal challenge to make him like her.

  “So,” she said, taking big steps to join him above the fireplace. “Either you’re a playboy who doesn’t like the idea of settling down with one woman, or there’s someone special you’d rather be with.”

  His ember eyes met hers, and her stomach flip-flopped. “You are wrong on both counts.”

  She didn’t sense that he was lying, but she also knew he wasn’t thrilled about the situation. She wondered if he was gay. If that was the case, it would be perfect.

  “I prefer women,” he said, catching her off guard.

  Holly knew the Dothveks were empathic and could sense their clansmen’s emotions, but she also knew that the Cresteks were supposed to have lost that ability generations ago. She eyed the alien in the black cloak. Was he really a Crestek?

  The Dothveks had sent one of their warriors into the city undercover when Max had been taken. Maybe they’d managed to pull another fast one on their enemies.

  “And I am Crestek.”

  Holly crossed her arms over her chest. “You sure? I’m getting some serious vibes off you that make me think you’re hiding something.”

  He flipped his hood back, revealing dark-brown hair brushed back and tucked behind his pointed ears. “Are you empathic?”

  She waggled her eyebrows top and down. “I’m just good at reading men. It’s one of my specialties.”

  He studied her, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You are unlike the other female, Max.”

  “Max.” Holly couldn’t help smiling as she thought of the scientist with the short hair. They’d gotten to know each other as they’d tried to repair their damaged ship, then had truly bonded when the Cresteks had taken them captive and dragged them across the desert. She was fond of the scientist, but she also knew she must seem to be a polar opposite of the shy, insecure woman. “We’re not so different.”

  T’Kar assessed her bright clothes that dipped low to show her cleavage. “You like to be noticed. She did not.”

  Holly shrugged. “What can I say? I like men. When you’re an engineer, everyone expects you to be butch and act like a guy. I decided to go against what everyone expected of me. It makes life more fun.”

  “And fun is important to you?”

  “Don’t you like to have fun?”

  “I’m expected to take my father’s place as chancellor. Fun is not something I think about often.”

  “Too bad.” Holly twisted her hips as she approached him. “Maybe what you need is a little fun. Maybe we can have some fun together.”

  “You think me taking you as a mate is about pleasure?”

  She pressed a hand to his chest, the hard bulk of his muscles surprising her. “It could be. If we’re in this together, why not have a little fun?”

  His hand closed over hers, but his grip was tight. “I am expected to take you as a mate and impregnate you quickly so you can give birth to my heir. Do you still think that sounds like fun?”

  Four

  T’Kar held her small hand underneath his, enjoying the feel of her soft skin, even as she stiffened. She jerked her hand away from him and staggered back.

  “Impregnate? Excuse me? No one said anything about getting me knocked up.”

  He almost smiled at her naïveté. “What did you think you were needed for?”

  Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she didn’t reply. He suspected the reality of the situation was hitting her.

  “Do not worry,” he said, watching her gaze dart around the room. “I have no intention of forcing myself on you.”

  Her shoulders relaxed slightly. “So, we’re not going to…?”

  “Not now,” he said, taking long steps to the windows and staring out at the fading light. “Not before the bonding ceremony.”

  “He wasn’t serious about that, was he?” she asked. “He can’t expect m
e to get married two seconds after I agree to it.”

  T’Kar gave a mirthless laugh, but didn’t turn. “You do not know my father.”

  “Listen,” Holly said. “It’s nothing personal, but I can’t marry you. I can’t marry anyone. It’s just not in the cards for me.”

  T’Kar spun around. Maybe his father was right about these offworlder females. “Then why did you agree to be my mate?”

  She threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t know. To save Max. To prevent a huge fight where people would have died. I thought I was doing something honorable, but I also thought we’d hang out for a while before we had to go through with it.”

  “Hang out for a while?”

  She dragged a hand through her fiery hair. “Yeah, you know, get to know each other. Go through some sort of courtship. That sort of thing. No one said it would be a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am arrangement. And no one mentioned having to get pregnant. I definitely wouldn’t have agreed to that.”

  “You do not wish to procreate?”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Okay, now you’re making me sound like a romantic, and that’s hard to do. Who says procreate? And for your information, no, I don’t plan on having kids.”

  He looked at her. He didn’t sense any deception from her, although he did see that she was irritated. “I thought all females wanted to reproduce.”

  She tapped one toe on the stone floor. “There’s a lot about women you don’t know, buddy.”

  Although he had not originally wanted to take a mate, he was starting to feel offended that she was so opposed to the idea. And that she clearly wanted no part of having his offspring. “Do you find me unattractive?”

  “What?”

  “You do not wish to be my mate,” he said, striding toward her and dropping the cloak from his shoulders. “There must be a reason. Do you find me unattractive?”

  “Me not wanting to get knocked up by a total stranger has nothing to do with how good-looking you are.” Her gaze traveled from his face to the form-fitting tunic he wore over loose pants, and she let out a small sigh.

  He watched as her pupils dilated, the green in her eyes overtaken by the darker center.

  “Is that a tattoo?” Her voice was soft, and he realized she could see the top of his dark markings peeking out from under the neckline of his tunic.

  He pulled the garment over his head and walked over so that he stood right in front of her. Her mouth dropped open.

  “Fuck,” she whispered. “Who knew you were hiding all this under all that black fabric?”

  T’Kar glanced down at his own chest. The dark markings covered most of his chest, like a semicircular breastplate that stretched over his shoulders. He knew it was common among the Dothveks to have markings on their arms or chest—he’d read about the importance of their tribal markings in forbidden texts—but it was uncommon for Cresteks to mark themselves. He didn’t know why he was showing this female, when even those who had known him all his life had no idea.

  She raised a hand as if to touch him, then hesitated.

  “It’s okay,” he told her. He wanted her to touch them. He wanted someone to see them, to know this part of him. To know there was more to him than duty.

  Her fingertips grazed his skin as she feathered them across his chest. “Your skin is hard, but still soft. Like velvet.”

  He tilted his head. “Velvet?”

  “A human fabric,” she said, tracing her fingers along the edge of his markings. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “And you are human? Like Max?”

  Holly took her hand back and stepped away, clearing her throat. “Yep. We’re both human, but I don’t know if Max was born on Earth or not. I wasn’t. Not many humans are, anymore. There’s not much left to the planet, so most people who can, leave.”

  T’Kar couldn’t imagine being able to leave his planet. He’d barely gone beyond the city walls and he’d never crossed the sands, as much as he was drawn to them.

  He picked up his tunic and slipped it over his head. “You live on a ship that flies through space, correct?”

  She took a breath. “That’s right. We never stay any place more than a few days.”

  “And you do not miss having a home?”

  “The ship is my home, and the crew is my family. It doesn’t matter where we happen to be.” She rubbed her arms as if she were suddenly chilled. “We’ve been through a lot together, and we always have each other’s backs. I know those women will never let me down, no matter what.”

  He felt a stab of guilt that he was the reason she was separated from the friends she considered family. He’d never felt a closeness like the one she described, not even with his own father. His friends in the separatist movement were more like colleagues who all had a similar goal, but he would not miss them. No, he’d never experienced a family like the one she had.

  “How do females from different planets come together like this?” he asked.

  She grinned. “Our captain, Danica, has a talent for finding people. She seems to know you can do something before you do, and she has so much faith in you that you don’t have any choice but to live up to what she thinks of you.”

  “Is that what happened with you?”

  Holly walked toward the window and looked out through the dusk. “I was already working with my father as an engineer. He’d trained me, but the outpost we lived on didn’t need two of us. When Danica arrived in her banged-up, old ship looking for an engineer, my father told her about me. I was her second hire, after Caro, our pilot. The rest is history.”

  “You left your father to join her crew?” T’Kar asked. He had a hard time imagining a Crestek or Dothvek father ever letting a daughter out of their sight, much less sending one away to be a bounty hunter.

  Holly shrugged. “It was a good opportunity, and he didn’t need me.”

  T’Kar noticed a flicker of something dark beneath her eyes and sensed something painful, but he did not pry. His own father caused him pain, so it was not surprising that someone else’s father would do the same.

  “You wish to return to your crew, even though you do not have a ship to work on?” he asked.

  “Fuck, yeah, I do. Just because we don’t have a ship now, doesn’t mean we aren’t going to get one.” She shook a finger at him. “Never underestimate the bounty hunter babes.”

  “And you believe these babes will come get you?”

  “Without a doubt,” Holly said. “We never leave a woman behind. It’s just a matter of time before they come for me.”

  “What would you say if I told you that I could help you join them sooner?” T’Kar asked, watching her face light up then her eyes narrow.

  “You mean help me escape? Why would you do that?”

  T’Kar rocked back on his heels. “Let us say I do not like to do my father’s bidding, or force anyone else to.”

  Holly nibbled the corner of her bottom lip. He knew it was a nervous habit, but staring at her plump lips made all the blood in his body rush south.

  “Okay,” she said, “so how do we get out?”

  T’Kar walked to the door, pulling a long, beige cloak from a hook. “There is a tunnel at the back of the city.”

  “That’s where you came out with Max and Kush?”

  He nodded, beckoning for her to join him at the door. “Once we are outside the walls, we should be able to disappear in the mountain range.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait until dark or something?”

  “There is no time to wait. At least now my father’s staff is distracted by our wedding preparations.”

  Holly let him drape the cloak over her shoulders. “I still don’t get why you’re doing this. Won’t you get in trouble?”

  He took a long breath. “I do not plan to return.”

  Her mouth fell open at his admission, but before she could say anything, the door swung open, and a cluster of Cresteks swept into the room, the largest one draped in purple robes and clapping his hands as a pair of
females fluttered over to Holly.

  “Hey, what the fuck?” Holly swatted at the females as they linked arms with her and started to bustle her out of the room.

  T’Kar stepped forward. “Where are you taking her?”

  The rotund Crestek in purple placed a beefy hand on his chest. “She is being taken to be prepared for the bonding.” He gave T’Kar an oily smile. “Don’t worry. We will not damage your pretty little mate.”

  Holly gave him a desperate look over her shoulder as she was dragged away. He couldn’t stop her without causing a scene and alerting his father, but he hated seeing her being taken. Especially when they’d been so close to leaving.

  He cursed himself under his breath. Now they would have to wait, and unless he was very bold, now they would have to go through with the ceremony.

  Five

  Holly heard the voices as if they were coming from a great distance. Or maybe she was in a cave. Or underwater, since they sounded so distorted.

  “She’s coming to,” one of the voices said.

  Holly blinked a few times, then opened her eyes wide to try to get a better look in the dimly lit room. She was lying in a bed of some kind, with a blanket folded neatly across her chest. There were no overhead lights, but pillars at the edges of the room that appeared to glow, giving the space a golden hue.

  A Crestek woman stood next to her, peering down and smiling. “She appears to be alert and undamaged.”

  The round man dressed up like a giant grape walked up to stand next to the woman. “That’s a relief. The chancellor would have been most displeased.”

  “What are you talking about?” Holly asked, startled that her words sounded slurred. “What did you do to me?”

  The purple man patted her hand with his cold one. “We merely sedated you to make the ceremony prep easier.”

  Holly’s head felt heavy, and her tongue thick. “What kind of crazy-ass wedding planner are you? No one gets sedated to get ready.”

  The man smiled tightly. “We had much to do, and you were less than agreeable.”