Grace Goodwin - The Colony Boxed Set 1

The voices became louder. I could hear others down the line of cells calling out to them. From walking past, there were four cells between mine and the main door, and two after.

“No. No. No.” It sounded as if they were playing Duck, Duck, Goose.

When the big men walked up to my bars, they stilled. Their eyes were on me, roving over every single inch. I felt it, their gazes, as if there weren’t bars between us and their hands were on me.

“She is the one,” the taller man said to the other. They held guns in their hands, guns unlike anything I’d ever seen. Smaller than a tiny pistol, they were very shiny metal and no competition for the rifles strapped over some of the prison guards’ shoulders.

To call the other man short would have been humorous, for they were large. Very, very large. The shorter one was easily a few inches over six feet. They were like lumberjacks and Highlanders combined. They weren’t wearing plaid, but form-fitting armor of some kind that made them look like gladiators wearing armor molded to define every muscle. The strange black armor was mottled with browns and greens, almost like military camouflage but more like the swirls found in decorative marble.

One had dark, deep coppery brown hair and dark skin, the other was golden and light, his hair and skin both a pale yellow. And Terminator parts. But I wouldn't consider them now. The dark one had eyes like milk chocolate, the light one’s eyes were amber. But neither was human. The angular lines of their cheekbones and oddly shaped eyes made them look just strange enough to make my heart race in panic. But their massive frames and muscular bodies made my pussy cry out in welcome. I knew those features, those huge hands. This was the race of alien warrior I’d seen in my dream at the Brides Processing center. And thanks to the warden and her brain games, all I could think about as they approached was the size of their cocks…and what it might feel like to be sandwiched between them.

My body reacted viscerally. Yes, they were handsome. Yes, they met every single one of my checkboxes for what I considered to be a hot guy. Times two. My palms were damp and my heart literally skipped a beat, but I felt a connection as if there were a thread between us. It was more than just the processing center dream, it was instinctive. Deeper.

I felt like I knew them.

“Rachel Pierce of Earth. I am Maxim and this is Ryston. We are your mates from the planet Prillon Prime.”

Oh. My. God. They were mine? My mates from the match.

I couldn’t move. My feet felt as if they were anchored into the concrete just like my bed and the stool.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered. I craned my neck, twisting in an attempt to look past them, knowing the guards would be coming. How had they gotten past security?

“We are claiming you,” the dark one said. “We are taking you with us. Now.”

“Taking me…you can’t be serious.” I looked at the bars and knew it wasn’t going to happen. The guards were not going to release me to go with these guys. No way. And I couldn’t decide if that made me happy or strangely disappointed.

“Transport.”

Transport? This was insane. Was I becoming delusional and hallucinating now that I’d been alone for so long? Was I dreaming again?

They seemed confident in their words. They didn’t look for the guards nor seem to worry that they would encounter them anytime soon.

“But, I said I wasn’t ready. I don’t want to be a bride. I… I refused the match.” Looking at these two had me wondering why I’d done so. If these were my mates, perhaps being sent off-planet wasn’t such a bad idea.

No. No! I had my name to clear, my life here on Earth. I wanted a choice, and this didn’t feel like one.

But neither was prison. That wasn’t my choice either.

“We will discuss this back at the transport center.” It was the dark one that spoke, Maxim. Only him. The other, the golden one named Ryston, remained stoic beside him. While it seemed he was not the leader, I didn’t doubt that he was a commanding figure all on his own.

“Transport center?” I was a scientist. I had two advanced degrees, and yet I was reduced to simple questions.

“Your life is in danger and we will not allow your innocent notions of justice to cost you your life. We are taking you with us for your own protection.”

I laughed then. “That’s noble of you, but you’re forgetting one thing.” I pointed to the bars that kept us separated. “I’m a prisoner here. They’re not going to let you take me.”

“You think ionized steel can keep us from you?”

“Well, yes,” I countered.

The dark one, Maxim, stepped up to the bars, took one in each hand and grinned at me as he pulled them apart like they were no more substantial than pieces of aluminum foil.

I stumbled back, bumped into the metal edge of the bed and sank down.

When the other, his second, joined his efforts, the bars were pulled apart within seconds, just like in a Superman movie.

If I had time to think about it, I’d find the action hotter than hell. But the odd sound of the steel bending wasn’t the only thing I heard. The buzzer at the end of the block indicated the entry door to the cellblock was opening. Another sound, one I hadn’t heard before, yet very obviously an alarm, blared. I winced at the loud noise, but was mesmerized by the men.

Maxim stepped through the opening they made followed by Ryston. The cell was small to begin with, but with them inside, looming over me, I felt like we were standing inside a thimble. I backed into the corner, afraid. It was one thing to have sexy fantasies about them, it was another to have them break into a jail cell to kidnap me and take me to another planet.

“Do not fear us. Never fear us,” Maxim said, reaching his hand out and grabbing my arm. His hold was gentle, yet he pulled me to stand on the mattress before him with ease.

“Contact made. Transport now,” Ryston said as the hurried sound of boots hitting concrete sped toward the cell. He spoke into some kind of unit on his wrist. The last thing I thought of, before a hum filled the space, my hair rose on my forearms again and the shouting of guards was heard over the shrill alarm, was that I’d been mated to two men from Star Trek .

Captain Ryston Rayall

This Earth female was our bride? It had been hard to move when we’d stopped at her prison cell. I’d asked Maxim how we’d know which female was ours within the cellblock. I’d quickly counted six cells when we transported in. It would have been easier to transport directly into our mate’s cell, but Warden Egara didn’t know which one held our female. So, instead of transporting into the wrong space, we’d walked along the hallway and found her by gut instinct alone.

Yet standing before us, wide eyed and clearly attracted to her mates, just as we were affected by her, she was afraid of us. Her eyes widened and her pulse raced at the base of her neck. The thin orange material she wore did nothing to disguise her sweet, feminine scent, nor the unmistakable scent of her arousal.

The bars between us, the humans who would keep her from us, the stubborn pride that our mate held onto like a shield, none of that would be allowed to keep her from us.

Apparently, Maxim felt the same for he wrapped his hands around the steel bars and pulled. I moved immediately to assist, eager to reach our female. The bars were no match for our enhanced cyborg strength. For once the Hive implants in our bodies were put to good use. Prillon warriors were known for their strength, but with Hive enhancements in every major muscle group, we were monsters, stronger even than an Atlan warrior in Beast mode.