Free Warrior Invasion: A Science Fiction Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 10) by Lisa Lace Page A

yet welcoming at the same time.
    He longed to do what Arkhan described, to use his power and take what he had desired ever since he took her from the Earth ship. He wanted to feel himself sink into her soft warmth flesh. Troxeo fought to keep his spine straight. If he bent down to get nose-to-nose with his cousin, it would only confirm that Arkhan had succeeded in getting under Troxeo’s skin. He was still captain of this ship, and Katie was still his prisoner.
    “All I can say, Arkhan, is that you had better keep your hands off her. I am the one who will decide her fate. Not you, not Chixo, and not even Katie herself.”
    Arkhan calmly got to his feet. He was chest-to-chest with his cousin for only a moment as he pushed past him to the door of the bridge. “Suit yourself, Trox. Just out of curiosity, how long do you think you can protect her once we reach Oretoz? How long do you think it will take the other men to forget she’s from Earth and focus on the reality that she isn’t as strong as one of our women? We are men who are strengthened by denying ourselves. We are forged by our urges and always in control. It doesn’t mean we’re perfect.”
    The door slid shut at Arkhan’s back, and Troxeo slumped into his chair once again. Women had never affected him like this before. They had never made him question himself or his morals. It had never bothered him if a woman on Oretoz had been with another man before or after they had spent their time with him. That was how things worked, even if the other man was his cousin.
    Katie was different. More than different. Special. He wanted to land on his home planet, dump the rest of his crew, and take the human away to a safe place of their own.
    But he was a soldier, and he had orders.

Chapter Thirteen
    T he deep blue orb of Oretoz loomed ahead in the main viewing screen of Troxeo’s ship. He had only been away for a short time, but he felt relief wash over him at the idea of returning home. When he was on Oretoz, he knew what his duty was. He didn’t have to question his identity, who he was supposed to be, or what he should be feeling. Home was a place where things were straightforward.
    On Oretoz, he hoped the last few peculiar days of his life would be over and forgotten, and his regular life would resume. There were no humans here, and his interaction with one particular human would be over.
    Troxeo adjusted the ship’s computer, shifting the guidance systems to manual control. The ship was capable of landing itself by autopilot, but sometimes he liked to do things the old-fashioned way. He savored the click of the cool buttons under his fingertips and the smooth motion of the acceleration lever as he wrapped his hand around it, pulling it toward himself.
    He liked being in control.
    The ship quickly burned through the atmospheric barrier, allowing the great city of Metzan to coalesce before him. The capital city of the entire planet, Metzan was a bustling metropolis that seemed to grow every day. Troxeo guided his ship to the Oretoz Capital Fortress in the center of the city. From above it looked enormous, but one could only truly appreciate the unusual size of the building from the ground. Troxeo had stood at the foot of the Fortress many times, staring up at it, soaring into the slate-blue sky, glimmering and slick like glass.
    The bottom of the ship gently touched the ground, and Troxeo decelerated the engines, guiding the ship onto its landing pad. He shut down the dashboard with a flick of his finger and turned to Arkhan in the seat next to him. “I’ll get the prisoner.”
    “Are you sure?” his cousin asked. “I’m happy to do it if you like.”
    “No, thank you.” Troxeo bit off his words through tight lips. The mission was his, and he wasn’t about to let Arkhan take credit for it by being the person to escort the human into headquarters. Nothing could change whose name was on the mission documentation, but the image of Arkhan leading the first