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

“She will be able to make that choice, no matter what?”

“No matter what,” Vos agreed.

“Good.”

“Your opponent did insist on fighting with the traditional Khanavai swords.”

The weapon carried by the Royal Guardsmen. “Of course he did.”

A contract popped up on the viewscreen. “You and your…Natalie”—he smirked at me in a way that might have led to having his head severed from his neck had we been in the same room—“should read over the contract. If you have any questions, contact my secretary, Anthony. When you’re satisfied, you should sign it and send it back.”

I nodded, already scanning the legal language. That was one tradition we had imported from Earth that I did not like at all. In our past, Khanavai warriors sealed binding agreements with a sacred blood oath and then honored those agreements.

Most of the time, anyway.

Fine. Perhaps it was not a bad idea to wrap each other up in these knots of words, binding us to our agreements.

“You should plan to arrive backstage at the stadium at thirteen-hundred hours, Standard Station Time,” Vos continued. “If you need directions, contact Anthony. In fact, if you need anything, contact Anthony. I will speak to you again when the duel is done.”

He logged off, and I checked the chronometer at the top of the comscreen.

Thirteen-hundred. That meant we still had several hours before I had to be anywhere.

Excellent.

I moved back into the bedroom, determined to wake Natalie in the most pleasing way I could imagine.

Backstage at the stadium, I paced back and forth, loosening up my limbs and shaking out my hands.

Not that I wasn’t plenty loose already. I had awoken Natalie with a kiss, and we had spent the next two hours discovering everything possible about each other’s bodies.

She had been especially fascinated by the wavy bumps running along the top and bottom of my cock.

“What are those?” she asked as she ran her fingers over them delicately and I shivered in delight.

“We call them our mating ridges.”

“Human men don’t have these.”

I grinned. “That’s because they don’t have our additional mating penis.”

“Is that what that was?” She wiggled a little, her eyes going dreamy for a moment.

“It is only aroused by our true mate.” I brushed my knuckles against the side of her breast and over her nipple. “You are the only female mine has ever touched.”

“Oh.” Her voice turned small, worried, and the dreaminess dissipated from her gaze, to be replaced by a little frown of worry creasing her forehead. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t. I told you—I’m going to win and you’re going to go home, free and clear of any obligation to the Khanavai.”

My assurances didn’t smooth her frown away, so I moved downward to distract her again—so much so that we were almost late getting to the stadium. Natalie held my hand all the way there, clutching it as if she might never touch me again.

After this is over, she won’t. I shook the thought off and concentrated on the battle ahead. It wasn’t that hard to do. All the way there, viewscreens scattered throughout the station blared advertisements for the upcoming fight—starting with replays of the original challenge Tiziani had made. Every time his voice echoed around us, Natalie cringed.

Then Vos’s face came on the screen, announcing what he called “the biggest fight for dominance in all the history of the Bride Games!”

Natalie had been right. Vos was turning this into a spectacle like nothing I had ever seen. No matter what happened on the stadium floor today, Vos would be the biggest winner of all.

Except Natalie, I reminded myself. That’s all that matters—making sure Natalie wins by getting what she wants more than anything on two worlds. The chance to go home.

I was a Khanavai warrior. It was my job to make my mate happy.

And I would do that job.

When we reached the entrance to the stadium’s backstage, she pulled me around to face her. As she had done before, she wove her arms around my neck and pulled me down to kiss me—a fierce, possessive kiss. Reluctantly, I pulled my lips from hers, resting my forehead against hers.

“Be careful,” she whispered, her sweet breath fanning my face. I inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of her, holding it, inscribing it in my memory. No matter what happened today, I wanted to remember everything about her forever.

She cupped my face in her hands. “Promise me you won’t be hurt.”

“I promise.”

Tears sparkled in her eyes, but she blinked them away and put on a brave smile. “I’ll be in the stands with Drindl and Plofnid,” she reminded me for the third, or maybe fourth, time. “I’ll be cheering for you.”

She held onto my hand as she walked backward away from me, our arms stretching out between us until she couldn’t hold it any longer, and then she turned and, straightening her back, continued resolutely toward the stadium entrance, squaring her shoulders as she went.

Now, backstage, I could hear the crowd in the stadium, their conversation a muted roar. For an instant, I wished Zont were there to send me off with his unique brand of humor, wishing me luck as I headed toward the entrance to stand in the wings and await my introduction.

But Zont was down on Earth, tracking his own bride—another reason this year’s Bride Games were likely to become legendary.

No. All I had was Anthony, Vos’s secretary who had arrived with the contract that Natalie and I had completely forgotten to sign.

When he handed the tablet to me, I saw Natalie’s name scribbled in her native English letters. I made my sign beneath her, the Khanavai letters bold and stark against her flowing writing. Somehow, that seemed fitting.

“Thank you,” Anthony said briskly, turning away. Then he turned back for just a second. “And good luck,” he added before bustling away.

I moved closer to the curtains I would enter the stadium floor through. I caught a glimpse of one of the giant viewscreens