Alien Protector’s Mate (Latharian Mate Program #4)

Chapter 17

17

J ade drifted lazily through layers of warmth, feeling safe and protected. Since she’d rarely felt either in her life, part of her brain knew she was asleep. But she didn’t care. She was warm, comfortable… she wanted to stay exactly where she was. Especially as, for long blissful moments, she was back in that tiny bed she’d shared with Jared as children, her brother’s arms wrapped around her in a fierce hug.

Her breath caught in her throat. It felt so real. From the musty smell of their shared pillow to the scratchiness of the old blanket and right through to Jared’s hair tickling against her cheek. He’d always been sickly, smaller than her, but she hadn’t cared. He was her twin. Her brother. He was all she had in the world.

Her heart ached with longing as she became more aware, new noises breaking into the sanctuary of her dream, and she tried desperately to hold on to it. To hold on to the memory of Jared’s ragged breathing as he leaned against her in sleep.

She squeezed her eyes shut as the dream faded. She was still warm and comfortable, but the weight of Jared leaning against her was gone.

It had been so long since she’d felt any kind of love or care. The Morgans had seen to that. They’d crushed any spark of joy or self-worth she had in the years after Jared had died. They’d even refused to talk about him, banned her from mentioning his name. In her darkest moments, she’d even wondered if she’d imagined having a brother… if perhaps her memories had been colored by desperation and loneliness.

A deep voice cut through her thoughts, rich and amused. “You look like a little mouse, all burrowed into your nest.”

Her eyes snapped open, her heart leaping into her throat as the events of the past days came crashing back.

Devan Station.

S’aad.

The confrontation with M’lak in the LMP offices.

She bolted upright, sheets tangling around her legs as she gasped, “ Ohmygod , S’aad! M’lak… Did you stop him? He was trying to drag Stacey away!”

S’aad sat in a chair beside the bed. His lips curved into a gentle smile as he inclined his head, the beads in his hair clicking together. “Yes, kelarris , we stopped him. He’s been arrested. He won’t hurt any other females.”

Relief flooded through her, and she sagged back against the pillows. But when she looked at Saad again, he was watching her like a hawk, his expression serious and intent.

“We need to talk, Jay,” he rumbled, sitting forward in his chair. “You have some explaining to do.”

Her throat went dry. She nodded jerkily, dropping her gaze to where she was twisting her hands in her lap. The silence stretched out into long seconds. When she gathered the courage to sneak a glance at him again, she found his gaze was still locked on her.

She resisted the need to squirm, feeling exposed without her baggy clothes… and hyperaware of every curve and bit of softness.

Heat crept up her neck. “I, uh… I guess you know I’m a girl now.”

He leaned back in his chair, folding his muscular arms across his broad chest. “Why did you lie?”

She opened her mouth, but the words wouldn’t come.

“I… the Morgans…” Her voice cracked, and she took a shuddering breath. “They never treated us, me and Jared, that is… like we were people. Just burdens. Inconveniences. They just wanted us for the credits for looking after us.”

He frowned but remained silent, allowing her the space to continue. She stared down at her hands, unable to meet his eyes as she recounted the pathetic-ness that was her life.

“After Jared died, it got worse,” she whispered. “They pulled me out of school, said I was too much trouble. Had me registered as a dependent so I could never leave their care. I was trapped. I couldn’t…”

Her voice broke, and she swallowed hard against the lump in her throat.

He leaned forward again, his elbows resting on his knees. “What happened then, Jay?”

“It’s not Jay,” she admitted. “My name is actually Jade.”

He nodded but remained silent. Her fingers twisted in the sheets, her knuckles white with tension. “Mr. Morgan, he… he took me to the LMP office.”

His shoulders tensed, his eyes narrowing. “You are signed up with the mate program?”

She shook her head. “No! God, no. I mean, not like… not like the other women I saw there.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I wasn’t signed up. I was signed over. Like a package. Like… property. Mr. Morgan sold me.”

The silence that followed her confession was deafening. She risked a glance at him and immediately wished she hadn’t.

His face was a mask of barely contained fury, his jaw clenched and eyes blazing in a total contrast to the usually amiable and pleasant expression he wore. She shrank back, her body tensing in anticipation. Would he blame her?

Seeing her instinctive movement, his expression softened. He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, his large hand engulfing her trembling one.

“No, no, little one,” he murmured. “I’m not angry with you. Never with you. My anger is for your foster father and whatever draanthic in the mate program are allowing this to happen.”

His touch was gentle, soothing. She ducked her head, acutely aware of the blush staining her cheeks.

“You’re… You’re not mad at me?” she asked hesitantly. It wasn’t her fault that Mr. Morgan had taken her to the LMP offices, but experience had taught her that it didn’t matter if it was her fault or not… she usually ended up with the blame. “For deceiving you?”

A small smile tugged at the corners of S’aad’s mouth, hijacking her attention. “No, Jade. I understand why you did it. You were protecting yourself the only way you knew how.”

She bit her lip, unable to quite believe his easy acceptance. She had to still be asleep. Things were never this easy.

“But I thought… I mean, I wondered if maybe you were, um, into men?” The words tumbled out in an awkward rush. “You kissed me when you thought I was a boy, so I thought… does it make you mad that I’m actually a woman? I guess it changes things. Right?”

S’aad chuckled, the sound a low rumble that she felt as it vibrated through her very bones. Before she could react, he pulled her into his arms, enveloping her in warmth and the spicy scent of his skin.

“ Kelarris ,” he murmured, his breath tickling her ear. “I’d kiss you whether you were male or female. I’m interested in you, the person you are.”

Her breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding so loudly she was sure he must be able to hear it.

“Really?” she whispered, hardly daring to believe her ears.

He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes, his look intense and sincere.

“Really,” he confirmed. “You’re brave, Jade. Clever. Compassionate. Those are the qualities that matter to me.”

Tears prickled the backs of her eyes.

“I don’t… I don’t know how to do this,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve never… I mean, the Morgans never let me…”

His large hand cupped her cheek, his thumb gently wiping away the tear that had escaped to streak down her cheek.

“We’ll figure it out together,” he promised. “There’s no rush, kelarris . We have time. That’s if?—”

He broke off, and she looked up at him, allowing herself to relax against his larger, harder body. He held her so gently that she was still half sure this was a dream, but she didn’t care. If this was a dream, she’d happily never wake up.

“That’s if, what?” she prompted as he lifted a big hand to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

“That’s if you’ll let me court you,” he murmured, pinning her with his gaze.

She nodded, watching as he leaned down until her eyes crossed.

“Good,” he murmured against her lips. “Because I’m going to kiss you again.”

Her breath caught in the back of her throat as he claimed her lips. It was soft and tender, as though he was scared of hurting her. Breaking her. Spellbound, she froze, marveling at the feeling of his lips moving against hers. He moved to pull back, and that shattered the moment. With a gasp, she pressed forward to kiss him, parting her lips in invitation.

He froze for a second, and she thought he was going to pull back. But then he growled and drove a big hand into her hair. It was her only warning before he drove his tongue past her lips.

It wasn’t a kiss. It was a claiming, and she whimpered as she clung to him, fisting her hands in the leather of his jacket as she kissed him back. Heat swept through her, burning through her veins as she pressed closer. Needing to touch him. Be closer to him.

He broke the kiss with a gasp and rested his forehead against hers. His big body shuddered as he admitted in a rough voice, “We can’t do this. Not here, not yet. You only just came out of surgery.”

She bit her lip, watching him as he eased her back down to lie against the pillows. Leaning over her, he smiled as he smoothed her hair back from her face. “Rest, kelarris , so I can take you home quicker.”

S’aad paced the length of his quarters, long strides eating up the distance between the walls.

“I’m telling you, Z’yan, the woman we have here is Jade Ashton,” he insisted, his voice low with frustration. He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know who these Morgans have, but it’s not Jade.”

The security chief’s gravelly voice crackled over the comm. “Are you certain? We should report it, and there will be consequences for meddling in human matters.”

His gaze drifted to the viewscreen, the feed locked on to Earth below the station. Somewhere on its surface were the people who had hurt his Jade.

“I’m sure. Jade told me everything about her life, about how the Morgans treated her and her brother.” His fists clenched at his sides, anger simmering just beneath the surface. “It was barbaric. No one should endure such cruelty.”

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax.

“There’s more,” S’aad continued, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “Jade said she was entered into the system as a ‘package’ rather than a mate potential. I think someone in the LMP offices is trafficking women instead of signing them up. I want it investigated, Z’yan. Thoroughly.”

A heavy silence fell over the comm, broken only by the soft beep of an incoming message on S’aad’s personal device. He glanced at it. It was a message from Maax.

“I’m going to have to go,” he said to Z’yan. “Let me know what you find.”

“Absolutely.”

Z’yan cut the comm, leaving S’aad free to open the message from Maax. It was a vague message about identifiers in the code that he was tracking down. There were no more details than that, and he was about to open a comm channel to Maax to ask him what the hells he was going on about when the door to Jade’s bedroom slid open with a soft hiss. He turned, the words dying in his throat as the universe ground to a halt.

Jade stepped out of her room, no longer disguised as a boy but dressed as the woman she was. The Latharian gown he had chosen for her flowed like liquid starlight over her curves, the soft fabric clinging in all the right places. Her golden hair, finally freed from the ratty cap she’d been wearing since he met her, cascaded over delicate shoulders in gentle waves.

He stood, utterly transfixed, his mouth suddenly dry. His comm unit chirped at him, reminding him that he’d opening a channel but hadn’t specified a recipient, but the sound came from lightyears away. All he could focus on was her, his beautiful little mate… on the way she moved as she walked toward him.

His eyes traced the soft curve of her neck, following the elegant line down to her collarbone, exposed by the neckline of the gown. It hugged her waist, accentuating the feminine swell of her hips, and his fingers twitched at his sides, aching to explore those curves, to feel the warmth of her skin beneath the silky fabric.

She was so beautiful. The most beautiful female he’d ever seen. Her features were delicate and otherworldly. He was fascinated by all the little details he’d never noticed before… the way her eyelashes fluttered when she blinked and the small dimples at the corners of her mouth as she gave him a nervous smile.

Her eyes met his, and he saw a flicker of uncertainty in them. She raised a hand to her cheek, her voice soft and hesitant. “Do I… do I have something on my face?”

In a heartbeat, he crossed the room in long strides. He towered over her, trying to be gentle as he cupped her face in his large hands. Her skin was so soft it almost derailed him for a moment.

“No,” he rumbled in a deep voice. “You’re perfect, absolutely perfect.”

A blush crept up her cheeks as she looked down. His heart swelled, and he’d never been more grateful for anything that he’d heeded Vaarn’s advice and gotten her pretty things for when she came out of the medical bay.

“This dress,” she whispered, her fingers brushing the silky fabric. “I’ve never had anything this nice. It makes me feel like a princess.”

His heart ached at the wonder in her voice, and he realized that, given what she’d told him about her past, since her brother’s passing, she’d never felt loved. He would spend the rest of his days making that up to her and showing her just how precious she was.

Clearing his throat, he offered her his arm. “Are you ready for our date, my lady?”

She hesitated for a moment, her eyes searching his face.

“Is this… is this what you really want?” she asked hesitantly. “Am I what you really want?”

The question hung in the air between them. Without a word, he pulled her into his arms, one hand sliding into her hair to cradle the back of her head as he bent his head and claimed her lips.

He poured every ounce of his desire, his admiration, his growing feelings for her into that single moment. A rumble sounded in the center of his chest as heat rolled through him, and he fought the urge to scoop her up into his arms and stride into his bedchamber with her.

He fought it down, but he couldn’t stop touching her. A large hand spread out across her lower back as he drew her closer. Her breath caught in her throat as her soft curves melded against the hard planes of his body, a sound he swallowed with his kiss. The warmth of her skin seeped through the thin fabric of her dress, igniting a fire in his veins as he held himself rigid with iron control, allowing himself just this one kiss.

Her small hands found their way to his chest, her fingers curling around the edges of his jacket as if to anchor herself. She responded to his kiss tentatively, her lips parting slightly to grant him deeper access.

He couldn’t help it. Despite his determination that this would be one kiss so he didn’t push or scare her, he took full advantage of what she offered. His tongue explored the warm cavern of her mouth… tasting, teasing, claiming.

Tilting his head, he deepened the kiss further, male triumph roaring through him at the soft little moan that escaped her throat. The sound sent a jolt of desire through his body, and he had to summon every ounce of his self-control not to take things further.

His hand tangled in her silky hair, marveling at its softness. He traced the delicate curve of her ear with his thumb, feeling her shiver in response. Every touch, every sensation was seared into his memory, precious moments he would cherish forever.

When he pulled back, both their breathing was ragged.

“Does that answer your question?” he asked, his voice husky with desire.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide, lips swollen from his kiss slightly parted. The sight sent a jolt of heat through him, right down to his cock. He growled low in his throat, the sound rumbling in his chest.

“You need to stop looking at me like that,” he warned, “or we won’t be leaving these quarters.”

She blinked, confusion and a hint of disappointment flashing across her face.

“We… we don’t have to go out,” she offered hesitantly, but he saw the disappointment there. “We can go on a date another time.”

He chuckled softly, the sound rich and warm. Despite all her fire, she was so innocent.

“That’s not what I meant, kelarris,” he said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “We need to get out of here or I’ll claim you before the courtship period is over.”

“Oh?” Her brows creased slightly before her eyes widened, realization in their dark depths. “ Oh!”

“Oh, indeed,” he said softly, offering her his arm again. “Come on, my love. Stop tempting me and let me court you properly, as you deserve.”

She slipped her hand onto his arm, and with a gentle tug, he guided her toward the door. As they stepped out into the corridor, he couldn’t help sliding a sideways glance at her. The soft lighting of the ship’s passageways caught the golden highlights in her hair, creating a halo that made her look almost ethereal. Perhaps the Lathar had encountered humanity before, and that’s where their stories of angels had come from.

“You truly are breathtaking,” he murmured, his voice pitched so that only she could hear. “I hope you know that, Jade. Not just because of this dress or how you look right now but because of who you are. Your strength, your resilience, your kindness… those are the things that make you truly beautiful.”

She ducked her head, a shy smile playing on her lips.

“I’m not used to… to this,” she admitted softly. “To feeling beautiful. To having anyone look at me and see me.”

His heart clenched at her words. Stopping in the middle of the corridor, he turned her to face him fully. Gently tilting her chin up with his finger, he met her gaze.

“Then I will make it my mission to ensure you never doubt your worth again,” he promised solemnly. “You deserve to be seen, Jade. To be cherished. And I intend to do just that, for the rest of our lives.”