Alien Prince's Pregnant Fake Fiancée (Celestial Mates) Read online

  …I’m from Earth? …From Earth?

  My eyes sweep the room, taking in everything that there is to see.

  Giant blue men with horns on their heads.

  I lean a little in order to see out the wall of window leading out to a sweeping balcony, and my jaw falls open.

  Two suns.

  My eyes pivot to the cherub.

  A little, fat floating man…

  I’m not on Earth… Oh fuck! I’m not even on Earth!

  Chapter 6

  Volex

  I make a wild grab for the cherub’s throat, but he manages to flutter just out of reach.

  Well, fine. He can float around the ceiling for as long as he wants, but I’m still going to give him a piece of my mind! “Earth? Where the hell is Earth? Are you telling me that you dug me up some sub-species mate from an undeveloped planet found in the Uncharted Regions?”

  Ivar is doubled over laughing so hard that he doesn’t even appear to be breathing.

  “You did this, didn’t you?” I accuse, advancing on my “dear” brother. “This is some sort of sick joke, and you’re all in on it—even Mother!”

  Ivar shakes his head and waves his hand as if to say no en lieu of trying to speak through his breathless laughter. Glimmering tears streak his face from the corners of his eyes.

  “Sire,” the cherub chimes in, “humans are an advanced and talented species. Once you get to know her—”

  “Get to know her?” I interrupt, taking another swipe at the fat little bald thing hovering in the air. “She’s too dull to even put two words together!”

  For the third time that day, something small and hard barely misses my head. I turn to confront the thrower, ready to fight, but the person who fills my vision is Sirius’s abducted human—and she is suddenly glorious. Standing before me, her stance is wide with one foot forward, her shoulders are back, her nostrils are flared, her hands are balled into tight fists, and her eyes burn with a fiery rage that threatens to melt my heart.

  Her transformation makes me blink, and I take a step back.

  Where did this creature come from? She’s nearly as tall as I am. I take a moment to appreciate how her wrapped blue dress opens in a deep V that gives a hint at the pleasing heft of flesh beneath.

  Her breasts would fill my hands, and for once they are more than what would fill my mouth. Maybe I’ve spoken too hastily. I imagine her long legs wrapped around me as I sink my heavy length into her, and I feel my blood heat. Flaring my nostrils, I suck in the air around me to get her scent, and the impact leaves me staggering on my feet.

  She can’t be my mate. It’s not possible. Her stature is too large, her body too unrefined. They would never accept her at court.

  And yet, I didn’t give a fuck what the court wanted or would accept. I wanted her. Now.

  “Where am I?” the human demands as she reaches for the fire rock I’d retrieved from the bowels of Mt. Verluna. She manages to pick it up with one hand even though the rock’s heft is noteworthy even to me.

  “You’re on Vertar, my lady,” Sirius answers in his squeaky little voice, and I find myself wishing she’d lob the rock at him. I’d gladly do my best to hold the creature in place for her. “It’s a planet in the Xona system.”

  “Planet…” she repeats as her chest heaves with her quick breaths.

  Gods, help me now before I take her up against that wall!

  I have to swallow hard to regain control over my senses, but I make the mistake of taking another deep breath. The effect is instantaneous, causing me to shake with a low growl of want that goes beyond the mental. The blood and vessels of my body cry out for her. I feel as if I’m on fire! My third horn starts to thicken, and I know it’s only a matter of a few minutes before I utterly and completely humiliate myself in front of this mismatched collection of people determined to inhabit my bedroom.

  I look her over with a renewed appraising gaze.

  She doesn’t want me.

  I sense no desire in her gaze. Just anger…and a disgust that reminds me too much of my own mother’s disapproval.

  I turn away. “Sirius, get her out of here. Take her back to where you got her.” I do my best to speak slow so that my anger doesn’t undo any chances at getting this newcomer out of my life.

  “Yes,” the human says, finally finding a voice that makes sense. “I have to get back now! I have a test tomorrow and I can’t miss it. I’ve worked too hard and sacrificed too much to blow it all now. My entire future depends on how well I do on that test!”

  Every sentence is emphasized by the jerk of her fist in the air, making her body shimmy and those great swells on her chest shake. A sweat breaks out on my brow, and I have to adjust the leg of my pants to ease the painful binding of my growing swell.

  “I want her out now!” I growl at Sirius. “She’s not good enough. She’s not the right quality of woman. Take her and go before you make an embarrassment of us all!”

  From the corner of my eye, I see the human’s mouth drop open followed by a tight squeak as her eyes lock on me.

  “Not the right quality of woman? I’ll tell you what quality of woman I am! I worked my way up from nothing! I paved the way for my life, my success, and I’ll be damned if some little low life like you some freak with a fucked-up horn like yours—”

  I take the opportunity of the human’s tirade to make another grab for the cherub, but he flits out of reach again, moving much faster than I imagined possible. His shiny little eyes dart back and forth between me and her several times, and I am sure that she and I are of the same mind. We would pull his tiny wings right out of his back if we could get our hands on him.

  “All matches are final!” Sirius quips with a sense of urgency that has me wondering if he can read minds. In the next instant, he’s gone—vanishing in mid-air—with the sound of a miniaturized thunder clap.

  “Oh, that’s too good,” Ivar sighs, wiping the sides of his eyes to dry his laughter tears.

  “You have to help me,” I demand.

  “Brother, I don’t have to do anything,” Ivar says, standing up and straightening his shirt with the slide of his hand.

  “This was your idea,” I hiss. “She’s here because of you!”

  Ivar puts his hand on my shoulder. “Volex, this is where you always get things wrong. She’s here because of you. I recommended the agency, you agreed, and she is your celestial mate. This is all you, brother.” Grinning from ear to ear, he gives me a hearty pat on the arm and saunters out of the room with a quick, parting bow to the human on his way out the door.

  As soon as he’s gone, I return my gaze to the woman, but the sight of her rage makes me take a step back.

  “You! You did this to me! You have to fix it! You have to send me back! I have a life! There’s no one there to keep my life going without me! I’ll lose everything I’ve worked for. Send me back!”

  God, she’s beautiful. Despite myself, I find myself in awe of her every time I look at her. Her dark honey cheeks and cocoalua eyes are positively glowing. And that body. If my horn is indecent, those curves should be illegal.

  I curl my left hand into a fist. It doesn’t matter. She’s not my measure. She wouldn’t survive here, and she’d drag me down with her. But try telling that to my body. Even standing an arm’s length away, I can feel her heat and it takes all my effort not to find out how it would feel to press my lips to hers.

  “I’ll get you back home,” I promise though I have no idea of how I will keep that promise. “I will do everything I can—and I do mean everything.”

  She crosses her arms under her breasts. “How?”

  “We’ll find your world, and then send you back. I have that ability.”

  “You do?”

  She looks skeptical, and her lack of faith in me hurts far more than it has any right to.

  “Yes, of course,” I tell her.

  She still doesn’t look convinced.

  “Look, I want you gone just as much as you want to go
,” I tell her.

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  Oh, believe it. “Just trust me,” I whisper.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m all you’ve got.”

  “That’s really depressing…but also true.” She sighs. “Okay, when do we start?”

  I step towards her. “Right now.”

  Chapter 7

  Volex

  My large hand wraps itself around her small wrist and tightens even as my lips hover, open, above hers. Then, closing my eyes and steeling my resolve, I step away and pull her along behind me. She leans back, digging in her heels to try to stop me as her free hand tries to escape my clasped fingers, but it doesn’t do any good.

  “Wait! What are you doing?”

  “What I said I would,” I answer sourly over my shoulder while not daring to actually look at her. I am only so strong, and to taunt myself with her presence is quickly becoming beyond cruel. “I’m going to send you home.”

  Turning my back on her, I head for the door to my bedroom suit and bellow, “Ivar!”

  Just outside my suite I spot him, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. His expression is so smug it takes all my restraint not to add the impression of my boot print upon it. But I doubt even brotherly love could persuade him to help me if I did that.

  “How do we fix this?” I ask.

  “That depends on your plans.”

  “My plans?” I ask incredulously. “Shouldn’t that be obvious? We need to send her home right now.”

  He raises his eyebrows knowingly. “Are you sure you want to do that, brother?”

  No, I’m not sure. In fact, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to. Ever since I saw her, all I’ve wanted to do is throw her down on my bed and…oh God, my pants are so tight I’m afraid my horn will burst right through them!

  “Yes, I’m sure,” I tell him as smoothly as I can.

  Ivar shrugs. “Well, let’s head to the royal voyage chamber and search the star systems.”

  I sigh. I could have thought of that. Still, I’m glad for his company. The wiggling human in my arms is making little noises of complaint that are truly testing my resolve. I’m not so much of a degenerate that I’d rip apart her silky, blue dress and bang her right in front of my brother.

  Probably.

  Her plump ass brushes against my third horn. I suck in an agonizing breath.

  Shit. We need to get to the royal voyage chamber quickly.

  It doesn’t matter how much my body calls for this human’s. She’s too brash. She’s too large. She’s everything the ladies of the court are not. Parading this magnificent creature in front of mother would lead to my ruin and hers—for if mother finds my horn unsightly, what will she say about this…this…

  I look down at the human’s wrathful gaze. As her pouty lips spew venomous insults, all I can think about is how much I want to claim them with a kiss. That’s kinda fucked up, isn’t it?

  “Let me go!” Her demand sounds like a threat.

  I drop her. She stumbles forward, and as she does that silky fabric dances dangerously close that perfect, voluptuous ass. She regains her balance and glares at me over her shoulder. “What the hell was that?”

  “What the hell was what? You asked me to let go, and I did.”

  “Yeah, I meant set me down. I’m not a rock!”

  But I’m as hard as one. I grit my jaw. “I did not let you go out of fear or concern for your mental wellbeing.” I did it for my own—a man shouldn’t want to kiss a woman who so obviously wants to kill him. “I let you go because I wanted to. I just didn’t feel like carrying you anymore.” Actually, I was enjoying it too much. “If you can’t keep up, I will be forced to carry you again.”

  She raises her eyebrows. “Is that a challenge?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t worry,” she continues, sauntering towards me. “There isn’t a force in the universe that can make me get back into your arms.”

  Oh no she didn’t! My nostrils flare as I stand up straight to my full height. A thrill of pleasure ripples through me as her eyes widen and her breath catches in her throat.

  “Now that seems like a challenge.” I raise my hand as if to touch her cheek. Her eyelashes flutter with anticipation.

  “I bet,” I continue in a whisper, “that the force in this universe that will get you back into my arms is your own desire.”

  Her eyes fly open and zero in on mine like a xolverine about to strike. And I want her to strike. I want this sexual energy buzzing around us to combust. To feel that precious ass in my grip as I throw her up against the wall and—

  “Uh, you guys? I’m still here,” Ivar says.

  We both turn, startled, to find that he is indeed still here.

  “Are we still going to find her homeworld? Or do you two want some time to—”

  “Yes! We’re going!” the woman yells like it’s a battle cry.

  I nod briskly, not quite trusting myself to speak.

  “Well, good,” Ivar says, clapping his hands together. “Let’s not waste any more time.”

  Ivar and I set off down the hall with long strides. To my surprise, the human falls into pace beside us. But with such long legs, I guess it would be easy. In fact, with legs that long, so many things would be easy…

  Alright, all this time spent alone with my own thoughts is dangerous. I need a distraction.

  “So, human,” I begin. “What is your name?”

  There, that’s a good beginning! In fact, if my initial instinct hadn’t been to throw her out the window, asking her name would’ve been the first thing I’d done.

  There’s silence beside me.

  “Um…human?” I ask, chancing a look at her.

  She isn’t looking at me. Her eyes are on literally everything else and her expression is one of wonder as she takes in our surroundings.

  “Are you alright, human?” I ask.

  Instead of answering, she races over to a wall and stands in front of it, her gaze darting over every inch of it as she looks it up and down.

  She really is a dullard—either that or insane. What the hell? It’s just a wall.

  Instead of yanking her back into pace with us, I tap into a well of patience I’ve never had for anyone before. When you are a son of the high Queen, company is easy to find. Why bother with difficult? Why bother with different? Yet, I find myself doing just that with this baffling human.

  Clasping my hands behind my back, I stare at the wall, doing my best to glean what it is that she finds so fascinating.

  I clear my throat in preparation to actually speak to her for the sake of conversation. It’s an odd feeling to search for words that will give me the chance to connect, and I find myself nervous. After all, to her I am not the son of a queen, I’m just some strange man on a planet she’s never heard of before.

  “Do they not have walls where you come from?” I try to picture an alternative and my mind flashes to elaborate cave systems.

  “Not like this,” she says, lifting her hand to brush over the tips of the illuminants. “What is this?”

  My mind trips on how to answer her. It’s as if she has asked me what my thumb is. How do you answer the sublimely mundane? “It’s, um, grass,” I answer as she brushes her fingers over the tips of the glowing blades that grow out of the wall. “Well, except for that bit over there. That’s moss,” I say, pointing at a patch of soft felt that is at once a dusty white before shifting to show all of the colors of our six moons.

  “It’s so beautiful. Everything is so beautiful!” she exclaims, turning in a circle. She looks so deliriously excited that, for a moment, I’m afraid she’ll burst into song. Thank god she doesn’t!

  “Your architecture seamlessly incorporates your natural habitat,” she says. “Instead of suppressing it or simply building over top of it, you’ve included the natural elements of your world in the way you design your surroundings.”

  “Oh…” I turn around in a cir
cle just as she did in an attempt to see the wall as she does. “Your world does it differently?”

  “Yeah,” she snorts. “Well, we’re trying to change, or at least some of us are.” She releases a heavy sigh. “This is all just so beautiful.”

  “You’re beautiful.” The words leave my mouth before I realize they’d even been on my tongue.

  She looks up at me slowly, as if trying to discern whether or not I’m having fun at her expense. There’s something innocent about it. I wonder if she isn’t often told she’s beautiful; then, I wonder how the hell that could be true.

  I step forward and my lips part. I don’t know what I want to say—whether I am even trying to say anything or if my body is operating purely on instinct. All I know is that when her eyes widen, the rest of the world fades away.

  Fuck tradition. Fuck decorum. Fuck my uncertainty. I want to push my finger between her lips. To plunge my tongue between them. To feel then wrapped around my—

  “Uh, guys? I’m still here.”

  She jumps with a squeak. I merely glare. Goddamnit Ivar! Why the fuck is my brother watching us? What the hell gave him the idea that he could—

  “We could, you know, do this some other time. Maybe the two of you should get to know each other—I mean, it’s obviously what you want to do.”

  “I can’t!” The woman next to me jolts back to life. “I need to take that test.”

  I’m suddenly very jealous of this test, even though I know I don’t have the right. This woman isn’t mine, and she never would be.

  I run a hand along the ridge of my horn. “Right. I want this taken care of before mother finds out.”

  “Mother?” the human asks. “Is that code for something?”

  “It’s code for mother,” Ivar tells her.

  The human’s frown deepens.

  “My mother wants me to pick out a wife tonight,” I begin. “She’s the, um…” Queen of my country, and the orchestrator of my downfall. “Well, let’s just say she’s important.”