Katieran Prime (8 page)

“Give it up girl. Your rich boyfriend has spoken.” Jaxon said as she started to walk out of the bedroom.

“He’s NOT my boyfriend!” Cassie yelled at her retreating back. She sighed. Did everyone think she and Ren had something going on? She was sure Erica would be livid at the thought. What did he see in that vulture anyway?

Later that evening Ren sat at the Evening Meal prepared in his own suite, barely listening to the woman sitting across from him, Erica. She seemed to talk non-stop. About everything … and about nothing at all. He wondered for the hundredth time what he ever saw in her.

The female would run her fingers over his hand. No matter how many times he moved away, she kept doing it. It just felt wrong, having another female touch him. His mate was in the suite next door, and he wasn’t with her, touching her, kissing her, making love to her for the first time.

Having had enough, Ren ignored Erica’s wondering fingers as he told her, “Miss Rowe, I must tell you that I will not be mating with you.”

“Are you not feeling well? I could call for a medic.” Erica remained clueless to Ren’s meaning.

“I am feeling healthy. It is that … I wish to mate with another.” Ren hoped that was a bit clearer for the female. He was slowly losing patience and wanted her gone already.

Erica’s too bright smile dropped. Her eyes shone sharp and cold. “Who else have you been seeing? I bet it’s that Senator Dugan’s cousin. She has been asking all kinds of questions about you. I won’t stand for it Ren! I am the best match for you.” Erica went on and on about how perfect she was for him.

Ren had enough.  “Hear me female, I don’t want you!” Was that too harsh? Should he apologize? That’s when the dishes and silverware started flying his way.

“Stop laughing!” Ren yelled at his brothers as they both sat sprawled on the only furniture that was left undamaged by Erica’s tirade. To say he was embarrassed was putting it mildly. He had ended up having to call for assistance from security, who escorted the screaming and physically abusive female from his suite. He, also, requested she be moved to the lower levels and have a security detail keep watch over her until she calmed down.

Ren reached up to remove some kind of leafy food from his hair, which caused his brothers to continue to laugh. Ren gave up trying to clean and plopped down onto a wobbly chair. “I don’t understand what I did to deserve this … reaction.”

Kyd looked at his younger brother and smiled. “Well, I would recommend when you are breaking it off with a female, that you refrain from mentioning that you will be mating another female.”

Ren gave the Katierans' version of flipping the bird. “You are not helping matters Kyd. Besides … Erica was never my female, we were never intimate.”

Syd lifted a bent fork in the air, “This is why I keep to my books and my research.”

“Well, look at it this way. Now you can focus completely on winning over your mate with no other distractions.” Kyd said encouragingly. 

“It shouldn’t be too difficult. Once I explain our bond mate, she will be accepting of me. Everything here on out should be smooth.” Ren stated confidently. And that’s when the chair he sat in suddenly crashed to the floor.

The first night in the new suite was like a slumber party.  After SandELa and AriELa said their good nights, the human women got dressed in their pajamas and watched several movies on their viewer screen. Dr. Morris … or Kat as she liked her friends to call her, turned out to be an easy person to hang with.  She had the same sarcastic humor that she and Jaxon shared. Cassie only thought about Ren five times before she headed off to bed.

The next morning Ren left his suite in a hurry. He walked briskly towards Cassie’s suite. He wanted to catch Cassie before she left for the Morning Meal.  He was anxious to get to the mating. The dreams he has had of her were getting more and more real, but leaving him unsatisfied when he wakes. He needed to hold and kiss her.

TarAK was standing guard outside of the suite. The two men stood face to face staring each other down. Neither of them noticed the door to the suite open and the three females came out. They walked around the two men posing as statues with teeth.  The men didn’t move at all until the door of the lift started closing.

Jaxon broke the silence, “TarAK blinked, so I guess your boyfriend won.”

“He’s NOT my boy …” the door closed on Cassie’s words.

Both men looked at the lift feeling foolish. Ren addressed the other man as they both approached the lift. “Cassie is my mate. Back off.”

Not to be deterred, TarAK responded, “She doesn’t seem to know that.”

Ren didn’t look at TarAK as the lift descended. “She will know soon.”

“She has to choose you.” He reminded Ren.

“She will.”  Ren replied, but he felt a small bit of doubt inside of him.  Would she accept him? Accept their mate bond? He prayed to the Goddess KatieRI that she would.

Chapter 7

Ren found Cassie and the other two women seated at a corner table close to a window in the meal room. He stood there a moment just admiring her. She looked his way and gave him a shy smile. It made his breath catch. He was about to approach her but was stopped by his brother Kyd.

They were in public so Ren addressed him formally, “Prime Commander KydEL. Is there something you wanted?”

“We need to meet with the security teams to go over the security coverage during the negotiations with the Kiljorns.” Kyd told him.

Ren frowned, “But that’s a few weeks from now. Couldn’t we do this at another time?” He looked back over at Cassie and was not pleased to see that TarAK was now sitting right beside her.

Kyd followed the direction in which Ren was looking and frowned himself when he caught sight of the human female, Jaxon. “We will be meeting daily leading up to the negotiations in order to plan for every contingency.” He added, “She is not going anywhere. You can eat the Midday Meal with her later.”

Ren sighed and nodded his head. “You need to take TarAK off her security detail.”

Kyd smiled, “Not without a good reason. And before you say anything, his being attracted to your female is not a good enough reason.”

“Fine. Let’s go.” Ren muttered as he turned and walked back out without having his Morning Meal or getting that time in with Cassie that he wanted. He was determined to finish early and seek her out later.

Cassie was disappointed when she saw Ren leave the meal room. She had hoped he would sit with her.

Jaxon sat down with a plop putting her plate of food on the table. “Did you hear the latest news about your boyfriend and that tart, Erica?”

“He’s not my … wait, what news?” Cassie leaned forward to hear a little better.

“Well, it seems Miss I’m-better-than-everyone-else got dumped the other night.” Jaxon watched her friend’s reaction to the news.

“Really?” Cassie couldn’t keep the excitement from her voice.

“Yep. Kicked her phony silicone implanted, bottle blond ass to the curb. In fact, I heard he had to have security remove her from his suite because she lost her shit.” Jaxon smiled as she started stuffing her face full of food.

Cassie stared longingly at the doorway hoping Ren would return. But he didn’t.

After Morning Meal, Cassie went with Jaxon to watch the female military team train. The training was being held outside on the pure white sandy beach next to the beautiful emerald green ocean. The water was so clear you could see all the way to the sandy floor below. Cassie wondered if the water would be cool or warm. With there being two Suns, she bet the water would be warm.

TarAK had found a chair for her and placed it where she would have the best view. He sat next to her and gave her a warm, sexy smile, flashing his dimples. The man was perfect for her. He was great looking, great body, sexy, sweet, thoughtful, and the best part, he was into her. It was obvious for anyone to see. If she gave him the slightest sign that she returned his interest, they would be “mated” before the Suns went down. But he wasn’t the man she dreamed of when she went to sleep at night.

Cassie focused on watching the training going on. The six Earth women were all athletic built but much shorter than the Katieran women. Cassie was amazed at how good Jaxon was. She could really hold her own with the large men around her.  Cassie wasn’t familiar with all the holds and stances demonstrated. However, she did recognize the pose Jaxon jokingly displayed.

Good ole’ Crane pose from the 1984 classic Earth movie Karate Kid. It wasn’t the pose itself that had Cassie burst out loud with laughter. It was Jaxon’s bad imitation of Mr. Miyagi saying ‘Wax on … wax off. Wax on … wax off”.  The other human women on Jaxon’s team all started laughing as well. The humor was lost on the Katierans who stood there looking perplexed. This made the situation even funnier for Cassie.

All laughter stopped abruptly when a loud roaring man came bounding down to the training area. Commander KydEL looked ready to destroy something, anything. Cassie even moved her chair back a little just in case …

“What in Kitana is going on here?” He demanded of the training leader, who looked like he was about to faint.

Cassie sucked in a breath and quietly prayed, “Please don’t Jax … stay where you are.”

Jaxon boldly stepped up behind the commander and tapped him on his right shoulder.

The commander whipped around ready to tear the arm off the person idiot enough to interrupt him when he was disciplining his men. “Who the …” but he stopped himself before he said what he was going to say when he saw that it was that irritating female, Jaxon. What kind of name was that for a female anyway?

“Captain Malone, I would advise you to get back into formation with the rest of your team.” Kyd didn’t try to disguise his annoyance.

“Commander, I’m the one to blame for the break in training, not Lieutenant BalEN here. So, if you’re going to go off on someone, it should be me.” Jaxon showed no fear as she confronted the huge hulking man.

“I appreciate you wanting to take responsibility. It may be the first time in your life you have done so.” He said to her snidely.

“I resent that!” Jaxon yelled back.

“I’m not done talking yet.  I only approved of the Lieutenant using 10 of our males to play with your team. There are at least 25 males here instead.” Kyd emphasized his point by waving his hand back and forth at the surrounding onlookers.

“What do you mean by
play
?” Jaxon asked with tightness in her voice, her body going into a ready stance.

“Uh oh. He shouldn’t have said that.” Cassie said. She moved her chair forward to get a better view.

TarAK also moved forward with a curious look on his face. “Said what?” He asked.

“Shh... I don’t want to miss anything.” Cassie hushed him.

Kyd saw the fire coming from Jaxon’s eyes but it only turned him on more. “Yes … play. Females are smaller and delicate. They cannot train as males do.”

“Take it back.” Jaxon stated in a low calm voice. 

Kyd was seriously turned on. He stood his ground, “No.”

“Then show me …” Jaxon moved out into the center of the training circle. “Take me down.”

Kyd gave her a smug smile as he looked her up and down, “I would love to take you.”

Ooh. Cassie just loved the way the Katierans said things.

Ren had chosen that moment to seek out Cassie. He came up to her and sat down beside her chair. “What’s going on?”

“Shhhhh!” Both Cassie and TarAK responded without looking at him.

Jaxon and Kyd stood facing one another as they moved parallel around and back and forth. Kyd made an attempt to lunge at Jaxon but she, being smaller, was able to easily slide out of his way. Feeling a bit foolish in front of his men, Kyd decided to show the female what a Katieran warrior could do. But every move that Kyd made was countered. The crowd started to grow larger.

Damn it, Kyd had to admit it to himself; the female knew how to fight. She had thrown in a few weird kicks and punches that he knew would leave a bruise. She truly was a thing of beauty to watch. With her fancy twirls and jumping from her back right back to her feet. Very ... flexible. This made him wonder how flexible she would be without her clothes on. Kyd became so enthralled with his sexual fantasy that he missed the next kick that swept his legs out from under him and landing him flat on his back.

Jaxon wasted no time. She jumped onto Kyd’s stomach, with her legs on either side of his waist. The shock on the stupid man’s face was priceless as he realized she had pulled a dagger from her leg strap and now had it under his chin.

“Do you take it back … NOW?” She asked and pressed the tip of the blade into his skin, not enough to puncture, only enough to feel.

Damn female! But he gave her a sexy smile before saying, “Lieutenant, continue with the training another 2 hours. And treat them just as you would one of our males.”

Well, that was probably the closest Jaxon was going to get to an apology. Then she thought about another 2 hours of training and wasn’t sure if she had won or lost this thing.

“That was … interesting.” Ren said. He wondered if all human females could fight like the captain. He hoped not. He didn’t want his mate doing anything so dangerous.

Cassie turned to look at Ren, “He shouldn’t have made fun of us women. Jaxon takes that stuff seriously.” She stood and felt the tightness of her limbs from sitting still for too long. “I think I am going to go for a short walk along the beach to stretch my legs.”

Ren jumped up, “I shall escort you.” He looked at TarAK who was not pleased, “TarAK, I relieve you of your duties for the rest of the afternoon.”  TarAK responded with a curt nod and headed off in the opposite direction.

Ren led Cassie further down the white sandy shoreline. He felt a little nervous. This would be the first time they were alone together since that one time on board the transport ship. He admired the way the rays of the two Suns reflected gold and red strands in Cassie’s long red hair that hung down her back in a long, thick braid. Her eyes were a lighter green than the surrounding water, and just as lovely. Why did he take so long in realizing how perfect she was for him?