Stevr (The Mating Games Book 5) (4 page)

“We made up some of our lost time.” That he said with a satisfied smile.

“So it would seem. We intend to raise the price on the next set of brides. There are many costs involved in handling the project.”

“Really? Were you aware we have another potential source? The only thing stopping us from dealing with them instead was you were cheaper. That’s sad, I’d gotten used to dealing with you. Now I’ll have to acquaint myself with a new guy.”

Fear rushed over Crumph’s face. “Let’s not be so hasty. Is there no room for negotiation?”

“Let’s be frank, Ambassador. You are already sticking it to us as it is. Earth thinks we have a need that can be manipulated and we gave in to it in order to get a quick start on our family planning. We do have other sources, yours is just the largest. You’ve gotten top dollar and we’re not giving you anymore. At this point, it is take it or leave it.”

Crumph swallowed. Stevr had expected something like this. Earth had been depleting their resources quickly over the last few generations. They needed to reduce their population and they needed the income. If Crumph messed up this deal trying to get more when they were already paying generously, he might not survive it.

“Maybe we could leave the deal in place for next time but consider a small raise since we work so well with you?” Crumph relented.

“We shall see.” Stevr said but it was his greatest wish that they could find mates elsewhere. His skin itched from being around this man. “Until next time.”

“Wait, won’t you have lunch with me?” Crumph asked desperately.

“I must go but thank you anyway.”

“What about a drink to seal the deal?”

“The deal hasn’t changed and I must go.” Crumph’s desperation told Stevr something. As soon as he made it outside the office he got on his com to the ship.

“Someone is about to try to get something or someone on the ship.” He rushed to the dock making it there in moments. His timing was perfect as he saw a human trying to sneak on the ship.

“Hey you!” Stevr yelled catching the human off guard. Moving to block him from the ship, the silly human tried to get around him. “What are you doing?”

“I just want to say goodbye to my sister.”

“It’s too late for that. We are taking off now.”

“You can’t. I have to get on board.”

“If you don’t back off, I’ll have to stun you.” As they had been talking back up appeared from the ship. The man seemed to go crazy and Stevr hit him with his gun. It was on stun since he had no desire to kill anyone not even a potential saboteur. “Search him.”

It was no surprise he was carrying an explosive device. It was small but in the right place it could do some damage. “Just leave him and let’s get out of here before we have more trouble.”

They got onboard as the docking clamps unhooked. The ship pulled away at a higher speed than usual, worried that something else would happen if they didn’t leave quickly. Stevr’s breath came in pants. He felt dizzy, like something unusual had just happened. The female he’d seen earlier came to mind. That was just crazy but he wanted to go to her and sink himself deep inside her. His heart pounded as animal lust came from his demon. It made him wonder, was she his?

His cock was hard as steel making it difficult to walk. He couldn’t function this way. Looking at the male beside him he was amazed they didn’t notice. “I need to make a report. Take charge until I get up there. Also, have someone check on the mother and brothers of Razar’s mate and see that she and Lista are able to talk on the vid conference device.”

“Yes, Stevr.” His crew member hurried to do as he’d been asked. As a junior member he hadn’t had a chance to be in charge yet.

Stevr hurried to his room which was next to his office. The physical problem required relief before he was fit to do anything. Stripping as soon as his door closed, he rushed to the shower. His cock stood at attention, it was a long thick beast. Turning the water on, he stepped under the stream and found some soap to slick the way. Would the human female be slippery like this if he turned her on enough? He just knew she would be and that’s what was on his mind as he stroked his cock.

From base to tip his hand moved faster and faster. The image of the beautiful brunette stuck in his mind as he continued to squeeze his cock as his hand moved up and down. His toed practically curled as he felt his essence pooling ready to spew forth at a moment’s notice. His other hand moved to his balls cupping them which filled him with so much need ropes of shiny white cum splashed against the shower wall. Leaning back against the other wall, he tried to calm his body. Never before had he felt like this or had an explosion of feeling and cum pour out of him. Weakness and dizziness hit him and he steadied himself to exit the shower, dry, and collapse on his bed. It was a couple hours later before he woke.

Stevr was a brave male never fearing anything, but he feared
this
. Partly because he didn’t know what
this
was. You couldn’t control what you didn’t understand. Becoming weak and out of control at the wrong time could be deadly. Maybe he needed to check out the female and see why she was affecting him in this manner? Knowledge was power, wasn’t that a human saying? Moving to his computer, he put in a description of her and ran a search. Only fifteen hundred woman loosely matched the description. Putting the automatic scroll on fast, he watched with supernatural speed as pictures of females flashed by until he saw her. He scrolled back until she was in front of him.

Geena Jerone, twenty eight years old from New York City one of the largest population centers on Earth. No living relatives, she lived alone and worked as a computer analyst. Why would Earth’s government let anyone with such a valuable skill go? That was suspicious as hell especially considering the way she affected him. That female would bear close scrutiny and he was just the male to do it. Some time had passed and Stevr had regained his equilibrium and his strength. It was time to head to the command deck, he had put it off as long as he could.

Walking through the halls, people jumped out of his way. There were many females milling around which he hadn’t expected. For some reason he’d thought most females would be shy and stay in their rooms except for meals. Instead it seemed most of them preferred to check out the crew. None of his crew members seemed to mind. Some were strutting around like the peacocks of Earth Lista spoke of disparagingly. She said it was how the males in her planet acted much of the time. Maybe it was a result of knowing you were desirable to females to the extent that all you had to do was say yes to get one. The effect it had on his males didn’t sit well with him either. He’d always thought under similar circumstances his males would have behaved better.

Chapter 4

Stevr

Geena moved out to the hall drawn there by an irresistible force. Once she was outside her room she saw him. He looked like an alien warrior with his size and his confidence. He strode down the hall expecting everyone to clear out of his way and they did. That included others of his kind, they all deferred to him. It reinforced her idea that he was high in the command structure. Geena felt as if she’d been punched in the gut when their eyes met. His almost glowed gold, they were so beautiful all she could do was stare. What the hell was he?

He looked away first freeing her from the bond that had hooked her eyes on to his. She had no idea what this was between them. It was so far beyond anything she had ever experienced she was clueless. The male acted like he didn’t feel a thing. Was it true or was he hiding because he didn’t understand it either. As he passed right by her, his hand brushed her arm sending a tingling through her. Geena leaned on the wall because her knees went weak.

There was no way he could feel something this strong and not react. It seemed she was in this alone. Another male from the crew moved past her. “Stevr.” He yelled and the big guy stopped to talk to him. Now she had a name for her weakness.

There was no point in standing around mooning over an alien. She was sure some of the females had been headed to the dining room. It was best to get familiar with the ship and to eat something decent. The space station food was awful and they weren’t giving enough food to keep a baby alive. When she had asked for more food she’d been told the aliens would give her all the food and sex she could handle. The males might treat space station occupants badly, but those same occupants felt superior to alien brides. Earth was really fucked up. There had been a time in history where people had been divided by classes but that wasn’t supposed to be the case now. Yet from everything she saw, nothing had changed it had just moved to space.

Why the men of Earth felt superior to Mazlans she couldn’t say. The Mazlans were excellent physical specimens. They had created wealth from their resources and they seemed intelligent. It was her firm belief that the women of the planet needed to wrest control back from the men before they fell into ruin. The level of selfishness they practiced would bring them all to the point there was nothing left for the future. Maybe leaving Earth would be the best thing that ever happened to her after all. She had skills that the Mazlans could use even if she didn’t end up mating. Deep down she knew that she could accept no one but Stevr for a mate.

Before she continued to the dining room she couldn’t help but take one final look as Stevr’s broad shoulders disappeared down the hall with his friend at his side. It was almost as if everyone had stood silent and unmoving until he was gone. Now there was a buzz if conversation and the movement of females walking down the hall. She walked behind them listening as they discussed the Mazlans and Stevr in particular. It shouldn’t surprise her that she wasn’t the only one who had noticed him.

“Gee, he’s so big. I wonder if he’s that big everywhere. You think if I make him and offer he’d take it?”

“Sandy you damn ho. Leave the poor guy alone. I think he might be in charge and he’s got plenty to do without banging you.”

“You’re just jealous because you think he would.”

The other female snorted. “Only if he had you tested for diseases first.”

“Didn’t you say she was your sister?” A third female asked.

“Doesn’t make her less of a slut.” A fourth one contributed.

“They’re always like this.” A woman whispered from where she stood behind her. “I’m not sure if they love each other enough to talk plainly or hate each other.”

Geena could see how a person might be confused. “I can’t believe they are sisters.”

“I know! They have the same coloring but they are so mean to each other. My name is Karen. Earth’s government picked me to come.”

“Yeah. Me too. I’m Geena by the way. They decided they wanted to hit the number the Mazlans ordered and they wanted to pick who to get rid of. I’m not sure who made the choices though.”

“I heard it was the ambassador’s assistant who is also his nephew. I’ve gotten to know some of these females and there are doctors, lawyers, mechanics, and a rocket scientist. Someone is going to be in trouble if Earth’s government finds out. What do you do?”

“Computer systems analyst. What about you?”

“I’m the rocket scientist.”

They both broke out laughing drawing the attention of everyone nearby. “Yup, there’s going to be some trouble down the line. So many educated females being sent away is bound to catch someone’s attention.” They continued into the dining room where an incredible aroma assailed their noses.

“Damn something smells good.” Karen’s stomach rumbled then Geena’s answered.

“I’m so hungry I could pass out.” Maybe that was what her problem was.

The dining hall was set up like an all you could eat buffet with fried chicken, meatloaf, baked fish, a variety of vegetables, noodles, rice, and desserts. After being deprived for three days on the space station while the brides were all gathered, Geena’s mouth watered and she filled her plate. Once finished she moved to a table to sit with Karen right behind her. Maybe she did need to have at least one friend among the other brides. She felt lonely and this was estimated to be a two week trip. Karen was smart, pretty, helpful, and friendly. It felt nice to have a friend after her work and lack of family had isolated her in the past.

It was nice to sit down, eat exceptional food, and talk to someone who had things to say. Besides, she was also gathering information. “I heard the Mazlans were buying all the latest tech for their ships, factories, and even homes. Word has it they are drowning in credits.” Karen whispered as if this was a secret. It wasn’t since this had been on the news, in magazines, and discussed on the streets.

“Really? I hadn’t heard.”

Karen’s head swiveled towards her. “Where have you been living? Under a rock?”

“I was in a study group.” Karen would understand that. Study groups were a big thing right now as Earth tried to balance its skewed ratio between the sexes.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Tell me about it. I’m just thankful to be out of there.” It was true too. Normally she was too valuable to send away for research but they were afraid she wouldn’t come back after this mission. They had every reason to worry about that but they knew she would do what was needed for a successful conclusion to the mission because she was too anal to fail.

They finished their meal but the talk had slowed. The mention of study groups had reminded them of all that was wrong on Earth. A large percentage of women never made it out alive. She knew she was lucky that they needed her. Female lives weren’t valued because there were so many but that might not always be the case. At the rate they killed and sold them, add in a few that escaped, in a decade they might be forced to rethink the value of females. Geena hated Earth’s government and she hated the president more than anyone. Corrupt, selfish, and stupid, he ruled like a king of old with no concern for his people.

Until they changed things at the top nothing would change anywhere. It made her wonder why she had even agreed to help them. It wasn’t as if she liked any of the men in charge. Even though her immediate supervisor had been a woman, she’d been hard to like as well even though she’d tried. Once they were done eating, Geena and Karen headed their separate ways. It was time to explore and there was a huge ship to look at. It was best, she decided, to start at the bottom and work her way up. It wasn’t hard to find a lift so she opened the doors, they didn’t appear to be restricted, and pushed the lowest button. Her stomach was left several floors above, or at least seemed to be, when she hit the indicated level. Taking a deep calming breath prevented her from losing her dinner.