Ral's Woman Read online

  “I’m okay,” her voice broke. “You got to me in time.”

  Ral dropped the blade on the bed as he reached for her. Ariel didn’t flinch as Ral reached for her with both bloody hands. He gently lifted her up into his arms and held her tightly against his bloody chest. He buried his face in her throat. He was still breathing hard and shaking with fury.

  Ariel didn’t hesitate. She threw her arms around his neck to hold on to him for dear life. Ral had saved her again. He’d killed for her again. They had survived and they were both together.

  Chapter Ten

  Ral refused to put her down, refused to leave her side. Ariel didn’t mind at all. They sat on the couch with Ariel firmly on his lap. Ral’s arms were around her, holding her tight. After a shower, they were both clean with wet hair and fresh clothing. The dead men had been removed from Ral’s home. She’d been lucky. Besides some bruises, she’d just sprained her ankle. Nothing was broken.

  The uniformed Zorn police force had come and gone. Ahhu had arrived to treat injuries. Erra was bruised but fine. She’d run for help but Ral had gotten home before the neighbors could rush to Ariel’s rescue. The conis had been moved into the living room. The bedroom was bloodstained and off limits until it could be cleaned up.

  “I don’t understand why they would dare,” Erra said softly. “You are Argis Ral.” Erra held ice to the large bump on the side of her forehead. “It was death for them if they harmed Ariel or not.”

  Ral eased his hold on Ariel and gripped her jaw gently. He turned her face so they could stare into each other’s eyes. “I know why this happened. I know you will be angry. I am enraged. When we took the tests at medical we were monitored without our knowledge. Someone with access to that monitoring released them to the population to watch on the conis. We were seen by many.”

  Ariel blinked. She was horrified as his words set in. The blood drained from her face and she felt a little dizzy. Her heart almost stopped. She stared into his eyes and saw his rage reflected there. He nodded at her grimly.

  “Many males probably viewed the monitoring of us. I think that is why they dared come after you. They saw how it is between us.”

  “Oh God,” she breathed. “I’m in a porn video on the internet with you.”

  He frowned. “I…”

  “I know. You don’t understand but I do. What we did anyone can see on the conis, right? Us naked and doing what we did together at medical?”

  “I had it removed from the archive.”

  “But once it’s on the conis it is out there. You can’t stop it from being seen.”

  He frowned. “That is not true. Once it is removed from the archive it is gone from the conis.”

  “Can’t someone store it and watch it later or put it back on the conis?”

  “Our conis isn’t like that. It has to be in the archive to view it on a conis.”

  Relief hit her. “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. That is why I was late. I was told about it and had it taken care of. All monitoring of us was destroyed. It makes me burn with rage to think of the males who saw you naked. They saw what I see when I touch you. That is mine alone. I want to kill every male who looked at your beautiful body being touched by me.”

  She shut her eyes. She opened them after taking a deep breath. “So why did they attack? I don’t understand.”

  “You are very responsive to my touch and you are different from our women. You make males very hard, Ariel. Very hard and very stupid if they think they can touch you and come after you. I will make them very dead if they try again. I kept you home out of fear that you would attract males with your looks. I was afraid they might scare you by approaching you to talk to you but I never thought anyone would dare come after you like this. You are mine.”

  The front door opened suddenly. Ariel gasped as she was moved from Ral’s lap so fast that the world spun as he leapt to his feet to snarl at whoever walked into his home. He moved between Ariel and the front door to protect her. She could see Ral’s tense body.

  His large frame slowly relaxed and he sat down. He reached for Ariel, lifting her back onto his lap. She stared in shock at their company. She felt instant anxiety. Six men entered the room. Ariel recognized the three brothers and Hyvin Berrr. The other two men were strangers but they were dressed like guards with weapons strapped to their hips. The front door shut firmly when the last male entered the room.

  “What do you want?” Ral glared at his father. “I am furious with you. You ordered those tests. Only you could order us monitored without consent. This is your fault.”

  Hyvin Berrr lowered his head slightly. His eyes, much like Ral’s, locked onto his son’s raging glare “I did not know someone would steal the monitoring to put it on the conis for all to see. That was not my intention. You are slated to take my place one day to lead Zorn. I needed to make sure you were not bewitched. I wanted her tested. I wanted to see how she was controlling you.”

  Ral snarled. “You put her in danger.”

  The man lowered his eyes, glancing at the floor and then back up. “I know. I have no excuse. I apologize. I know she is not bewitching you. I saw the monitoring and the test results state there is no chemical control.”

  “Shit,” Ariel sighed. “Great. Did anyone not see us have sex?”

  “I did not,” Erra said in a very soft tone.

  Ariel shot her a grateful look. “Thank you.”

  “We all saw it,” Argernon said with a growl. He shot his father a cold look. “We did not realize what we were to watch or I would have walked out of that meeting. He called us all in to evaluate what he called a threat.”

  All of the color drained from Ariel’s face. “Great.” She glanced at Ral. “I guess everyone in your family has seen us having sex now.”

  He growled and glared at his brothers and his father. “I am enraged.”

  “I do not blame you,” Hyvin Berrr said quietly. “I never thought it would hit the population for viewing. I am very apologetic, Ral. It was not my intention to endanger either of you in any way. It was not my intention that this happened. It was to be a private family matter. We viewed the monitoring and realized what was between the two of you was not her controlling you.”

  One of the brothers snorted. “She could control me if she—”

  Argernon shot out a fist and him hard in the mouth. He growled. “That is your brother’s bound woman. Respect her now.”

  The slightly younger brother winced and slapped his hand over his now-bleeding split lip. He nodded and lowered his eyes. He said nothing. Argernon sighed. He eyed Ral.

  “What Father is saying is that he doesn’t know how to make this right. Not only has he caused you problems with your bound and with other males wanting her—”

  “Desperately,” the younger brother said around his hand.

  Argernon snarled. “Keep talking if you want to lose some teeth.” His eyes went back to Ral. “Father has really made a mess of things. Unfortunately, that monitoring was viewed by many males. It has caused widespread trouble. We need your help. We need you to set aside your rage because there is serious trouble brewing with our people.”

  Ral tensed. Emotions filtered across his face. Ariel saw his mouth press into a tight line. He looked pissed as he shot his father a glare before giving his brother his full attention.

  “What is the problem?”

  Argernon hesitated. His eyes flickered to Ariel and then back to Ral. “They want one of her. Some demand we allow them to go to her planet to find women to bound with.”

  Ariel knew she wasn’t the only one shocked by Argernon’s statement. She heard Ral hiss as his body tensed. He relaxed a second later shaking his head no.

  “Tell them we are not into slavery. What they want is wrong. We do not go to other planets to steal women. We have a good population of women right here. Our males do outnumber our females but it is not an issue.”

  “We tried.” It was the brother who hadn’t spoken yet. “They