Entered in the Alien Bride Lottery by Margo Collins (easy readers txt) 📕

with a wicked gleam in his eye—one that I was certain did not bode well for me. As the blue alien opened his mouth to say something, I shot to my feet, my eating utensils clattering onto the plate in front of me.

“This has been a lovely luncheon,” I said, brushing my white pants free of creases. “I understand I will see you both later today.”

Dammit. Don’t remind them about what games come next.

Cav flashed that mischievous grin of his—the same one he’d given me in the hallway earlier. One that said he knew what I was doing, and I amused him.

Banana-Man just looked confused.

I really need to figure out his name before I see him again.

“The pleasure has been all mine,” Cav said, executing a perfect bow. If not for his bright blue skin and enormous size, he could have passed for a gentleman in one of those historical dramas my mother had loved to watch when I was younger.

Banana-Man scowled and finally stood, as well, copying Cav. “Yes,” he said shortly. “A pleasure.”

I turned and opened the door behind me, sliding out into the hallway and shutting the door. I leaned my head against the doorframe and breathed in deeply.

It had not been my most graceful exit ever. But at least I had cut the lunch date short. They couldn’t make me stay, right?

I headed down the hallway back toward where Plofnid and Drindl had been, hoping I would find them soon.

Everything on this station was filmed, right? Surely someone would let them know to come get me.

After all, I had a spanking ceremony to prepare for.

Chapter Twelve

Cav

She will be mine.

Tiziani had obviously bored Natalie with his overly specific details about his job as a guardsman. Her reaction to me had been very different, particularly when I discussed mating. She was interested in me, no matter how often she proclaimed that returning to her planet was her true goal.

I was halfway there.

All I had to do was coax her to me.

By that afternoon, I was convinced that I could win her before the day ended.

Plofnid and Drindl had invited me to join them in the green room for their viewing of the spanking ceremony. I knew that was a good sign. The handlers always ended up having quite a bit of sway with the judges and the brides. Inviting me to join them signaled Drindl’s and Plofnid’s approval of me as a mate for Natalie.

Assuming, of course, it wasn’t part of the program planning to have them invite me. I certainly wouldn’t put it past Vos and his team to create drama where little existed.

As I walked into the room, my heart pounded. Tiziani and I had drawn lots, and he had won the chance to be the first to participate in the spanking ceremony with Natalie. Just the thought of him touching her firm, round ass sent shivers of rage racing through my body.

He never should have matched with her. Even if they were physically compatible—which I didn’t actually believe—they were obviously not intellectually compatible. He had no sense of humor, whereas Natalie, despite her obvious anxiety about participating in the Bride Games, was overflowing with humor.

She was absolutely perfect.

And I did not want any other male touching her.

By the time I moved to join Plofnid and Drindl on an overly soft seating arrangement, my jaw ached from clenching it.

Drindl took one look at me and patted my hand gently. “All will be well, warrior Cav. You’ll see.”

I certainly hoped she was right.

I glanced around at the other groups sitting on the too-soft furnishing—mostly handlers, but a few warriors here and there.

The name “green room” had always confused me, as it was not green at all. In fact, the walls were boring and white, designed to focus everyone’s attention on the viewscreens that took up most of the wall space.

Everything in here was recorded. For that matter, practically everything in the entire station was. The humans who watched the Bride Games back on Earth were under the illusion that it was a live show. But an entire army of technical workers combed through video images to put together the most appealing entertainment they could think of. Because of that, there was actually about a two-hour delay between filming—the strange word humans used for creating visual images digitally—and broadcasting the games back to Earth.

I only knew those specifics because one of the warriors who had gone through primary training with me had been obsessed with human entertainment, including the Bride Games. Not for the reason most Khanavai were interested—the hope of one day participating and being awarded a mate—but because the technical details fascinated him.

Here in the green room, though, we were watching the games in real time. To get through all the games, they often had to be filmed simultaneously, so there were sometimes up to five different games running simultaneously—even though back on Earth, the humans would view them sequentially.

And they were watched just as eagerly on Khanav Prime, as well as the various Khanavai outposts, I had to admit. I had spent many years catching portions of the games in between shifts aboard various ships I had been assigned to during my military tenure.

Now, however, the last thing I wanted to do was watch my bride manhandled by a terminally boring guardsman.

“Oh! There she is!” Drindl sang out, pointing at the viewscreen that opened directly across from us.

Plofnid sat straight up, its legs stretching out in front of it barely reaching the edge of the cushion. It twirled its nose-braid around one finger nervously. “How do you think Natalie is going to react to this?”

Drindl shrugged. “I’m not certain.” She turned to me. “Did you watch any of the earlier spanking ceremonies?”

I shook my head briefly, focused intently on the screen displaying Natalie walking into a room not unlike this one, but with barren walls instead of viewscreens and a single chair in the center of the room, slightly raised on a dais as