Maid for the Beast

Chapter 2

2

Warlord Braun, Twelfth Floor Hallway

I’d found her. My mate. The beautiful, dark female who’d appeared in my room.

I’d learned from Warlord Wulf that the moment he became aware of Olivia, his beast had chosen and there had been no doubt, no regret, only peace with his choice.

Olivia, his human mate, had laughed and said it was something called magic, a mystical notion that humans believed in. I hadn’t understood either one of them, but now it made sense.

My mate had appeared as if by magic, as if I’d… conjured her from the last shards of hope holding me together.

No, not hope. Discipline. Restraint. I’d kept the beast at bay for years now, the Atlan curse of mating fever a constant fire in my blood. Yet I maintained my ice-cold control at all times. To allow a single act of rebellion by my beast would be to surrender completely.

And that I could not do, for the beast would not submit to me once he was free. He would rend and tear and destroy anything and everything in his way—except her.

Palms flat on the cold elevator doors, I took several deep breaths and fought him back into the pit of hell inside me where I’d kept him chained for too long. Month after painful month he had calmed when I held Caroline’s and Rezzer’s twins. He calmed when any of the children laughed and played nearby. My beast would never rage when an innocent child was about. But even that had begun to lose effect.

The last few months he simply raged within. The mental walls I’d built to keep him under control were thin. Dangerously so.

If I did not find a female to bind to him, he would force me to choose execution. The strength and fighting rage of an Atlan warlord was both gift and curse.

I needed my mate, the mating cuffs around my wrists. And hers. My beast required a female to serve and protect. To pleasure. To anchor both beast and male to this world. Well, not Earth, but with me. And he had chosen.

And yet she’d fled. The maid, our mate, had slipped through our fingers.

Unable to contain the explosion of emotion the beast threw at me, I opened my mouth and roared at the closed door. Just once. The beast wanted her to know, to hear, to answer his claim.

Fuck. I pressed my forehead to the cool metal and tried to calm the f**k down, my beast fighting tooth and nail to rip open the door with our bare hands, jump down the elevator shaft and take her somewhere safe. Somewhere she could learn us. Somewhere quiet and secluded and perfect for making her ours.

Ever since I’d been on Earth surrounded by females I’d immediately known were not mine, the beast’s vexation had grown exponentially worse. I was irritable, frustrated. Annoyed. These twenty-four females who’d been chosen for the Bachelor Beast program were just as Wulf had described. Some arrogant and shallow. Some curious about alien males. Some kind. All truly beautiful.

My beast wanted none of them.

I was pleased to know that through the craziness of an Earth entertainment program, there were human females eager to find a match with a worthy Coalition fighter, even those from The Colony, but it was different when all of them chased me.

They were like Hive interceptors, circling and waiting to strike.

Even now as I stood staring at the closed elevator doors—my mate now gone somewhere else in the hotel—I knew they were lining the long hall. The entire floor was reserved for those participating in the television program.

Behind me the female—Priscilla was her name—lurked. Waiting. I recognized her cloying scent even without turning around.

My beast was highly attuned to our mate already. He had seen the frown on her face, the disapproval in her gaze when the bothersome contestant had touched me. We had upset our mate by allowing that touch, even if for only a moment.

A soft rustle of clothing and I knew Priscilla was moving, ready to try her luck again.

“Do not touch me, female,” I warned. I refused to face her, hoping she’d just disappear.

She gasped but stepped back. “I’m sorry, I was just—”

Her words trailed off, but I did not care to hear them anyway. Her intentions were clear. Seduction. She didn’t understand Atlans. She’d already lost the competition and it hadn’t even started. My beast wanted nothing to do with her. My beast was interested in only one female now.

One.

Mine. Mine. Mine. The beast chanted inside my head and I could not get him to shut the f**k up.

I wanted to rip the metal elevator doors open, but I knew my mate would not be there. I had learned about the lift concept when I arrived. How primitive the machines were on Earth.

My c**k was hard. My beast was pushing to the surface, eager to chase our mate down. Taste her. Touch her. Carry her back to the suite and f**k her. I’d hold her gently against the wall, her legs wrapped around my waist. She was so small I wondered if she’d even be able to cross her ankles at my lower back.

I gripped the base of my c**k and gave it one firm stroke. Yes, she’d be eager. Soft. Lush. Wet. I wouldn’t have to worry about crushing her with those full curves. I’d be cushioned as I took her. As I claimed her as mine.

She would accept my mating cuffs, and I would take her away from this primitive planet. Unlike any of the Earth females on The Colony, she had stunning dark skin, like the deepest of Prillon skin tones. Her hair was as black as the outer reaches of space, so thick and long that I could wrap it around my fist and hold her in place for my kiss.

Fuck! I pumped my c**k once more, but it didn’t ease my need. Nothing would but claiming my mate. I’d been waiting for her my entire life, and now I’d found her.

Three days. I’d been on this backward planet for three days. I’d expected to begin the program immediately, but Chet Bosworth, the annoying little human who was called the host, had gotten some weird human ailment called pink eye and refused to appear on camera until it was gone.

There were no ReGen wands here, so I was told it would take days for Chet to be healed. I’d practically ripped my hair out at the delay. I’d commed Wulf and grumbled. I’d even complained to Governor Maxim and made my dissatisfaction at being volunteered to be the next bachelor beast thoroughly known.

He’d been trying to help me. I’d been bride tested but had not been matched. Now I wanted to kiss the governor because he’d been right. I’d found my mate here on Earth. Because of the ridiculous show. Just like Wulf, she hadn’t been a contestant.

I didn’t even know her name. I didn’t know where she’d gone. Running my hand through my hair, I spun around. My beast was pushing me to find her. She was within the building. I’d search every floor. I was panting, and my fists clenched.

Then I saw the females who stood outside their rooms all along the floor. The hideous multitoned carpet and gold walls made me miss Base 5’s plain design even more.

The females practically gasped in unison as I faced them, my c**k in hand. Their mouths were either hanging open or in broad grins. Their gazes were fixed on my c**k. Every single one of them. Priscilla, who had dared touch me, stepped back.

She was bold, but she was not stupid.

“Hey, big guy, do you need help with that?” another asked. Her blonde hair was long and sleek down her back. She was thin enough that I questioned her nutritional intake while the size of her breasts made me think any child she birthed would not go hungry.

I’d met her before. Ginger or Grace or Gabby. Something with a G.

It was her grating words that had me realizing I was naked. c**k in hand. In the hallway.

Fuck. Me.

I let my c**k go, although it didn’t drop since it was so f*****g hard.

“What, exactly, is a maid?” I asked her.

Her eyes widened as I got closer. She was trying to look me in the eye, but her gaze kept dropping to my body. I wasn’t the least bit modest. She could look her fill for all I cared. She wasn’t touching me, nor would she. The beast would not have it.

“A maid?” she asked with a frown. “Someone who cleans.”

“Why can’t humans clean for themselves?” I asked.

She grinned, then winked at me. “You don’t look dirty to me, but I’d be happy to assist if you need help getting clean.”

Wulf’s new mate, Olivia, rolled her eyes often. So did other human females on The Colony. I was tempted to make the same gesture now. “Why?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Because you’re gorgeous.”

My beast wanted to growl at her and make her run from us. But that wouldn't help either of us, and we needed answers. “Why maids?”

“Why does the hotel have maids?” Two other contestants joined her, and they ogled me as a trio now.

I nodded. I had to find my mate, and if getting the information out of these females was required, I’d do it. No matter how painful it was.

“We’re not at home. This is like a vacation. So someone else gets to do the dirty work,” the blonde said.

The woman beside her—just as beautifully dark-skinned as my mate—nodded, then added, ”Because that’s their job.”

I was not accustomed to someone being a servant to me. That’s what my mate’s employment was, even if the title on Earth was called maid. Servants on Atlan were respected and valued as part of the family. Everyone held positions of work and they were seen as equal, but based on the tone and the entitled dismissal of those who served them, these two females’ answers had me disliking them immensely. It was one thing not to want to claim a female, another entirely not to respect them.

“Did the maid not leave you any towels or something? I’ve got some in my room,” the dark female offered. “You can have anything you’d like in there.”

The double meaning was not lost on me. She made a similar move to Priscilla, her hand drawing dangerously close to my arm.

I stepped away. No female would touch me but my mate.

“No, I have fresh towels in mine,” the blonde countered, raising her hand to set it on my chest.

I flinched back. I would never harm a female, but these three were testing my patience. A well-placed roar, perhaps a solid growl would force them to learn a little respect.

Was this how they treated human males? Like a piece of meat to fight over? As a prize to be won? A thing to conquer rather than a worthy male of honor? Not one of them had asked a single question of me. They knew nothing of my family, the war, or my past.

Perhaps they did not even know my name, for not one had deigned to use it.

If so, it was a wonder every male on the planet had not already volunteered to serve in the Coalition Fleet to escape them.

And yet… the human females I knew, those mated to other warriors, were not like these females. I would assume my mate would be more like Olivia and Caroline rather than the human animal called vultures circling me now.

“Do the maids return on some sort of schedule?” I had yet to see one before my mate’s appearance. The past few days I’d been in interviews and other odd meetings for the program. I’d even had to be fitted for Earth clothing in my size.

They nodded in unison. “Every morning.”

“Um… why are you standing in the hall naked?” the blonde asked.

I looked down at myself, wanted to roll my eyes. Again. I stepped around the females and went to my suite, the door swinging shut behind me. I let out a bellow that rattled the windows.

I had twenty-four females lingering in the hallway outside my room, and yet the one I wanted had fled. But she would return. Tomorrow.

The wait would be agony. I should storm through the hotel and find her. My beast loved that idea. But she’d fled when my beast hadn’t been in charge. If I let him take over, I might scare her off forever.

No, I’d have her come to me. I’d be patient. f**k, I wasn’t sure how I’d do it, but I would. I’d do anything for my mate, including wait. I had already waited years. What were a few more hours?

My beast didn’t like the way I was thinking. In fact, he raged. Paced. Fought to break free and destroy everything and everyone in our way. He needed her. Survival instinct was kicking in, and I had to lean over, hands on my knees, eyes closed until I could think.

Think.

I had to be smart. I could not afford to make a single mistake. My fever would only get worse now that I’d found her and couldn’t claim her. I had to be f*****g patient.

Tomorrow, I promised him. Tomorrow we would find release. Tomorrow we would no longer be alone and the fire burning through our body would stop burning. Hurting.

The maid was mine. She just didn’t know it yet.