Grace Goodwin - The Virgins - Complete Boxed Set

I’d not thought past the fucking, my cock eager to block all other thoughts from my mind. Perhaps that was my problem on Earth, as well. My cock had led me to Cassie, and danger had followed.

I was not good at coaxing or cajoling and I worried because I’d been forced to use fear—valid fear—to sway her to accompany me. A threat to her life was the only thing that had worked. But then, I’d only known her for one day, and I’d had my mouth on her pussy and my fingers inside her wet heat. Given a few more days, I would have seduced her fully, won her over and carried her off with her full permission.

Thanks to Neron, I didn’t have time to court her or seduce her properly. Another crime he would pay for.

We’d ridden an hour, and I allowed her to keep her thoughts. Surely she had questions for me, but I would wait for her to ask them in her own time. But I had some of my own.

“What of your father?”

She turned in her saddle at my question. Her face was in shadow; the wide-brimmed hat she’d donned for the ride protected her from the bright sun. It was warm and intense, sweat slicking my skin. It was different than Everis where the heat and light came from a great distance; our largest star an old one that shed a constant, gentle warmth on the planet. Our second star was nearer, small but bright. Its wild energies and unpredictable flares caused many of our storms. “My father?”

I nodded. “You spoke of your mother, that she died. What of your father?”

My horse snorted once, swished his tail.

“I never knew my father. He abandoned my mother once she told him about me. My mother would never say much about him, other than he was young and handsome and the son of a wealthy family.”

“Your mother was not wealthy?”

Cassie shook her head. “No. She was their maid. As soon as he discovered she was pregnant, he paid for a train ticket and got rid of us both.”

I ached for the pain I heard in Cassie’s voice, and for the foolish man who’d thrown away such treasures. “And your mother died when you were four?”

“Yes. Pneumonia, the doctor said. But all I remember is she was sad all the time. For years I believed she died of a broken heart.”

“That explains why you don’t know about your mark.”

“You call it a mark.” She sighed and lifted her hand, palm up to inspect the telltale swirls on her skin that marked her as mine. “My entire life, I’ve believed it a simple birthmark. The other day, it began to tingle and feel warm. It became hot, then when you arrived at the boarding house, almost unbearable.”

“Yes, mine as well.”

She smiled then and shook her head, disbelieving. “You must explain this to me then.”

Where to begin? I allowed my horse to take the lead as we moved into rocky terrain near the base of the mountains. We left the rolling hills of the prairie behind and began navigating switchbacks and narrow trails as I led us to where our ship was hidden. The tall grass disappeared, replaced by scraggly bushes and dark pine trees with sharp, pointed spikes for leaves. They were similar to plant life on Everis in many ways. In fact, Earth was very similar, from the smell of the dirt to the puffy white clouds that floated in the skies. But in this, we were very different from humans.

“All Everians are born with the mark, but for most, it remains dormant. While finding a marked mate isn’t unheard of, it is not common. One in a hundred are not so lucky.”

“But your mark is not dormant?” She rubbed her palm up and down her thigh as if it bothered her.

“No. Not since I got here. Not since I found you.”

“But I’m not from your world. I’m not like you.”

“Yes, Cassie, you are. Many thousands of years ago, my people set out to colonize the galaxy. Some of them must have found Earth and settled here.”

“So, what are you saying, Mr. Maddox? That not only are you from another planet, but that I am as well? That’s absurd.”

“It’s the truth.”

“And so what? I’m supposed to fall madly in love with you?”

Divine give me patience. Where was she going with this? “Yes. We are fated to be together.”

“And how, exactly, is that supposed to work out? I take you to bed, Mr. Maddox, and you ride off into the sunset, get on your fancy spaceship and go back to this Everis?”

“No, Cassie. I would never leave without you.”

“Oh, so now I’m supposed to go to another planet with you?”

“Yes. You will accompany me to Everis where you will be introduced into Everian society as a member of my family, an elite.”

She scoffed. “I can’t believe this. I was actually starting to believe you.”

“You will be a high-ranking member of our society, Cassie. And I will be there to teach you everything you need to know, to protect you.” Anger rolled through me at her stubborn denial of the truth.

“I’m an orphan from Philadelphia. Elite? I don’t think so.” She shook her head as she led her horse down the edge of a steep ravine. I had no extra energy to argue with her as my own horse followed.

The horse was skittish, more so than I. He’d handled the previous variations in the land easily, but this drop into this portion of the dry riverbed was steeper than the others, at least ten feet from the grassy flatland into the sandy bottom. With one foot working down the side, the horse stopped, probably questioning his safety, then retreated, then with a surprising burst of speed, all but jumped down the sharp embankment, forcing me from my seat.

I flew through the air and landed hard, my shoulder first, but my side came in contact with a rock, a rather large one by the painful jab of it into my ribs, before I rolled once, twice onto my back.

I lay there staring up the brilliant blue sky, stunned as I tried to catch my breath. My side was on fire and it was agony to breathe. The ground was remarkably soft considering how hard I’d landed. Turning my head, I glanced at the fucking rock that had definitely broken my ribs.

“Maddox!”

Cassie’s voice was shrill and I heard the pounding of her animal’s hooves as she sped toward me. I saw sand kick up and then the hem of her dress before she dropped to her knees beside me, tossing her long hair over her shoulder.

“What happened?” She was breathing as frantically as I was. Her pale gaze roved over me, her hands hovering, shaking.

I didn’t have the breath to explain the obvious.

“Where… where are you hurt?”

“Side. Ribs,” I breathed.

“Can I… can I look?”

I tipped my chin and gritted my teeth.

Fumbling, she undid the buttons of my shirt, spread it open, then gasped when she looked at my torso. “The rock, it’s broken your ribs. The bruise is already forming.” She bit her lip as panic filled her wide eyes. “I can see the break clearly. Oh God.”

She looked up, looked around as if someone were magically going to appear. She had no communication device, no way to summon help. I did, but I didn’t need Thorn or Jace or Flynn to come. It would take hours, days even, depending on where they were hunting. I just needed the ReGen wand.

“I can bind it, but I won’t be able to help you stand, let alone get you on the back of a horse. I can go back to town for help, but—”

“Cassie,” I gritted out.

Her eyes whipped to mine.

“My bag. ReGen wand.”

“What?” she replied.

“Get the ReGen wand from my bag.”

She pushed up off her knees, but still squatted beside me. “I… I don’t know what that is.”

I tilted my chin and shifted, then hissed out the sharp stab of pain. “Metal object, black base with blue at the top. Fits in your hand.”

She nodded and went over to my horse, which had stopped to nibble at a clump of greenery. The reins fell to the ground over his head and he was perfectly content now that I was no longer on his back. I should be mad at the beast for tossing me, but it had been my fault. I had never ridden on an animal’s back before coming to Earth and the errant animal somehow knew that I was unskilled.