Berrr's Vow (2 page)

She knew she looked dwarfed in it as she shoved her hands in the armholes and wrapped the material around her torso to cover up her bra and panties. Her hands were lost in the long arms and the shirt fell almost to her knees, covering her the way a really baggy dress would. She inhaled his masculine scent coming from the shirt, a wonderful combination of something musky and woodsy. It was a great smell, she admitted while she stood perfectly still to stare at the broad back of the shirt owner.

“Hyvin Berrr,” the male repeated. “I am not bound and would request to offer for her. I would be a good provider and protector. I know what needs to be done to keep a human female and I am willing to do what it takes to have her.”

“No,” another alien growled suddenly as he moved forward. “I have been in service longer. If the woman is free I want to
bound
her.”

Another one of the uniformed aliens stalked from the left. “I have been in service the longest. I want her if she isn’t claimed.”

Growls sounded in the room. In shock Shanna glanced around her, noticing that every male in uniform stared at her, some of them moving closer, their bright or dark gazes—depending on the alien—raked over her body, their sexual interest in her very apparent.

“Hyvin.”
An alien in the far corner of the room moved forward as he shoved a few other males out of his way. “I wish to claim the human as well to
bound
with.”

“Enough,” Hyvin Berrr growled.

“She’s unclaimed and needs to be bound,” one of the men growled back. “It will be fair if we fight for her. We are all worthy of the responsibility of a bound. I urge a challenge, winner takes her.”

“Agreed,” more than one male voice growled.

Fear hit Shanna.
They are going to fight for me? Is this a joke?
Her gaze darted around the room at the alien males again. None of them were smiling so it sank in that they were totally ready to come to blows for real to win her.

“Please, no,” she said softly.

The guy in front of her had said she was safe with him. Without thinking, she moved closer to his big backside, almost bumping into him when more of the alien males crowded closer. She lifted her arm and pressed her palm to his lower back. Immediately his hotter body temperature surprised her as they touched skin to skin.

Hyvin Berrr’s head whipped around to stare down at her over his shoulder. He inhaled, his nostrils flared and a soft growl came from his throat. He looked forward to glare at the men around him.

“Back away from the human. Inhale her fear. She is from another planet and was not willingly brought to Zorn to find a bound. I will sort this out and then make my decision over what her future holds.”

Shanna realized quickly that statement wasn’t going over well with all the males in uniform. Unhappy growls and snarls sounded around the room and while some backed off, not all of them did. At least twelve males started to remove their shirts. Heart pounding, Shanna moved even closer to the man in front of her. He was the biggest alien in the room and as she inched forward until she was almost pressed against him, she hoped he’d be able to keep control of his guys. He was obviously in charge since he had the power to issue instant laws just as he’d done with Gohl over human slavery.

“I said,” Hyvin Berrr snarled, “there will be no challenging. She is not a willing female ready to
bound
to one of you. Disperse immediately.”

Peeking around the broad back she hid behind, Shanna saw the ones in shirts take a stand against the ones without them. There was a split among the aliens on who was listening to the big guy in front of her. Some pushing started between the shirtless and the fully uniformed men that escalated quickly into a brawl.

“Mine,” a shirtless alien with black eyes snarled as he tried to step around Hyvin Berrr.

Hyvin Berrr moved fast and threw a punch that sent the male flying backward into other fighting men. Shanna could only gasp as her protector spun around in the blink of an eye to wrap a large arm around her waist, hoisting her off her feet in an instant, and slammed her smaller body against his chest when he started to run with her. Snarls, growls and loud sounds of flesh hitting flesh filled her ears.

Shanna didn’t fight when she was smashed against a broad, bare, hot chest as the man who held her moved fast, charging toward the back of the building. He paused, coming to a jerking halt. He shifted his hold on her to lift one of his legs and smashed his heel into a closed door. It crashed open loudly. Cool, fresh air hit her as the alien carried her outside.

He walked quickly down an alleyway with two large buildings on either side of them. A look upward revealed the alien sky to be a pale red with darker red clouds, similar to a beautiful Earth sunset. She tore her gaze from the sight to stare at the face inches from her own. He watched where he walked, not looking at her, leaving her able to study his features closely.

He was a handsome guy for an alien. He had a lot of human-like features except his cheek bones were more pronounced and his nose wider and flatter than a human man’s would be. Full lips hid sharp teeth, she knew, even though his lips were pressed firmly together in a grimace. He turned a corner and came to a stop, twisting his head to look behind them. He took a deep breath, his chest crushed against her own where he held her tightly against him, and his arm around her waist locked her in place still. Slowly his head turned back and his amazingly bright blue gaze met hers.

“You are safe now. They do not follow.”

She was speechless as she just stared into his eyes. They were the brightest color she’d ever seen that weren’t fake contacts. Working in a bar, she’d seen a hell of a lot of those in her ten years as a bartender, especially at Halloween or on Goth nights when some of the freakier clientele would dress up as vampires or werewolves. She instantly knew he wasn’t wearing contacts or makeup and that everything she was seeing was a hundred percent real. He was really an alien from another planet.

He stiffened, his body going rigid against hers when he broke their locked gazes to look over his shoulder again. A deep, scary growl made his chest vibrate against her smashed breasts as he spun around, putting her body firmly against the wall behind them, nearly crushing her between it and him. When she saw movement over his shoulder, her attention flew there, seeing three uniformed alien males rushing toward them.

“We are here to assist you, Hyvin Berrr. The males are still fighting and will not listen to reason. I have called for transport to take you and the female away.”

Another growl sounded from Hyvin Berrr. He looked seriously pissed as he jerked his head in acknowledgement. “Go try to break it up and remind them that the winner doesn’t get the human. I’d dislike having to kill one of them if they won’t listen.”

The three men instantly followed his orders and walked out of sight the way they had come. Slowly, the man who gripped Shanna turned his head, putting their faces inches apart since he held her high against his body, her feet dangling a good foot from the alley floor. Their gazes locked again.

“I am in total control so do not feel fear. You need to calm yourself.”

Shanna arched her eyebrows. “You’re in control? Is that what you call having to run away from your own men? They are yours, right? You’re in charge of the uniformed guys?”

He frowned, his body shifted against her own firmly pinned tight to the wall and his large frame, and Shanna’s eyes widened. She could feel him all down the front of her body since if she got any closer she’d be a part of him. With them pressed hip to hip she couldn’t miss the feel of a definite large, hard object pressed against the vee of her thighs. The guy had a massive hard-on or he carried a weapon in the front of his pants. She guessed it wasn’t a nightstick.

“Your scent of fear is very arousing,” his deep timbered voice was deceptively soft for such a rumbling tone. “Now that you are no longer there to tease them with your scent they will calm after they fight. I was referring to my own body I am in control of.”

Shanna couldn’t help it. She moved her legs, rubbing against the hard press of the guy firmly tucked against her thighs. “You call that control?”

Blue eyes narrowed. “If I wasn’t, I’d be inside you right now.” His gaze was searching as he stared into her eyes. “I never realized why human women were so appealing until now. Your scent is driving me to my limit of control.” A soft growl came from him, making his chest vibrate against hers once more. His free hand suddenly reached up to cup her cheek, pushing her blonde hair back to reveal the side of her face and neck. His fingers held her hair away. “Your skin looks so soft that I am curious what it would be like to touch where I wish. Don’t be alarmed. I will stay in control and not mount you.”

Heart pounding, Shanna just stared at him and swallowed hard. She had to admit he was attractive and with his hot, bared chest revealing a fine masculine body she could even admit she was sexually drawn to him. The fact that he was turned-
on,
pressed tight against her thighs, also made her realize he was big all over.

He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, and then lowered his face, turning it enough to allow his nose to brush her neck. He took another deep breath as his nose softly teased the skin from her shoulder up to just under her ear. He growled again and adjusted his hips. He pressed that unmistakable bulge tighter against her thighs and pushed himself right into the space there under her pelvic bone. He wiggled a little tighter, moving his hips, and rubbed that firm bulge right against her clit.

The sensation had shock tearing through Shanna. She tried to grab at his shoulders but her hands were trapped in the material of the sleeves of his shirt so while she was able to grip him, it wasn’t skin to skin. His shoulders were so broad her hands barely curved around the thickness of them. He suddenly licked her right under her ear and Shanna gasped at the gesture. His hot, wet tongue was a little raspy in texture. He opened his mouth, kissing her there, letting sharp teeth gently scrape her throat to give her the most erotic sensation she’d ever experienced. Goosebumps instantly sprang up across her skin as his teeth, lips and tongue explored her throat.

He growled deeper, shifting his hips again, definitely rubbing against her clit as he rolled his hips enough to make Shanna bite back a moan at the pleasurable sensations of him rubbing against her nub and his mouth working on her throat. It had to be adrenaline but she suddenly was really turned-on. She gripped him tighter and her breathing quickened as he continued his slow hip-rolling movement that was definitely making her aware of him as a sexual male being
who
was playing hell with her libido. If he kept doing it she knew she was going to come.

Sound penetrated her mind a second before the guy pinning her jerked his talented mouth from her neck. He snarled, nearly dropped her in his haste to get free, and put her on her feet before he released her completely. Shanna found herself still pinned between the big alien guy and the wall but now he wasn’t holding her up and she faced his broad golden back. Her knees were shaky and she was shocked at the sexual encounter they’d just shared.

“I claim her,” a man panted. “I won the challenge, Hyvin Berrr. Please hand over my woman.”

A terrifying snarl erupted from Hyvin Berrr. “She’s not your woman. I did not agree to a challenge and therefore there is no winner.”

The other male snarled back in response. “Mine.”

The man in front of Shanna snarled deeper, louder, his entire huge body going taut, muscles seeming to swell up as Shanna stared up at his backside.

“Mine,” Hyvin Berrr practically roared.

Shock hit the other alien’s features as he took a step backward but then the shock turned into a frown quickly, his lips curving downward. He shook his black head, his dark eyes narrowing.

“You can’t claim her, Hyvin Berrr. You are already bound.”

The man in front of Shanna seemed to stop breathing as his chest froze all movement and then his shoulders sagged. He took a deep breath, sighing loudly. “Take her,” he said softly. “You must
bound
to her and if you treat her bad I will kill you.” He moved suddenly away from her.

Shocked, Shanna watched the new bare-chested alien approach her. “Mine,” he softly rasped, reaching for her.

“Don’t touch me!” Shanna moved on unsteady feet toward Hyvin Berrr.

The male frowned. “I won’t harm you. I am going to take you home with me where I will care for you, protect you and make sure you are always happy.”

Her confused gaze flew to Hyvin Berrr, only to find his incredible blue eyes locked on her. She was shocked to see sadness looking back at her, and being a bartender had made her almost an expert on reading expressions and eye language. The fierce alien man she stared at looked depressed and defeated for some reason.

“I don’t want to go with him.” Her voice shook slightly.

Beautiful bright blue eyes blinked. “I’m sorry but you are now a citizen of Zorn who can never be returned to Earth. We’re a warrior race with very aggressive, dominating males and all women need a man’s protection to survive here. Oval is a good, honorable warrior who will lay down his life for you, little human. I saved you from slavery and abuse but I can’t save you from needing a warrior to protect you. This is for the best.”

Shanna saw movement out of the corner of her eye, realizing the other alien was inching toward her again. She resisted tearing her gaze from the big alien whose shirt she still wore, the male who had been kissing her neck less than a minute before, and let his words sink in.

Shanna Williams had grown up rough with two alcoholic parents, bouncing from foster homes in her teens after the courts had deemed she was better off in the system than at home. She hadn’t been but no one had asked her what she thought. As an adult she had sworn that no one would tell her where to live, with whom, ever again.

A hand gripped her arm, wrapping gently around her shirt-covered forearm. It jerked Shanna’s gaze from Hyvin Berrr to narrow dangerously on the big guy in front of her. He wasn’t round as the name Oval implied but his name probably meant something else entirely on this red-sky alien planet. She glared into a pair of seriously dark brown eyes that almost bordered on being pure black.