Lacey's Warriors (Bondmates #6) - Ann Mayburn Page 0,14

his forehead onto Chel’s shoulder, letting his wounded soul soak up the love his brother easily offered through their bond. “I know you smelled her arousal, as did I, but do you think she found us attractive as well? You know more about the tastes of Earth women than I do, thanks to your bond with Lady Casey. Do they become easily aroused?”

Laughing softly, Chel nudged him in the direction of the cleaning chambers attached to the second-mate’s room. He felt bad that he’d forced his second-mate to bunk with the rest of the men, but space was at a premium on the small, sleek ship. It was built for speed and had been modified for comfort. If he had known they were going to host their alyah on it, he would have brought his most luxurious cruiser, but that wasn’t what the Lord of Life had in mind.

As Gwarnon removed his disguise and washed up, Chel leaned against the wall with his head tipped back, his unfocused gaze on the ceiling. “From what I can tell, Earth women tend to find physically fit and healthy men attractive. Like most breeding species, they are driven by the biological impulse to look for the strongest mate to father their children. Other than that, it is difficult to say. Once, another Earth Matriarch was visiting Lady Casey and they were having ‘girl talk.’”

“What is that?” Gwarnon asked as he ran the special brush through his hair, removing the white dye.

“Female gossip.” Chel looked at him with a grin. “It is very informative, especially when the Matriarchs forget how good a Kadothian male can hear. I was on guard duty for Lady Casey that day, and I overheard much of their conversation.”

“Well,” Gwarnon looked up from undoing the fastenings on his tight red pants, “what did they say?”

Looking a little mystified, Chel said, “Much of it, I didn’t understand. They referred to Kadothian men as ‘eye candy’ and to the other Matriarch’s bondmates as DILFS.”

Gwarnon briefly closed his eyes as the cleansing powder coated his body, then was blown away by an intense wind. His black and bright blue streaked hair was a wild mass before another wind smoothed it out. Blinking a couple times, Gwarnon strode past Chel to their clothing. Now that the NevShoo knew who he really was, there was no point in dressing the part of a flamboyant smuggler.

A pang of worry hit him as he considered some of the possible repercussions of their involvement. Without a doubt, word would eventually reach Kadothia that two of their Warriors were involved in the Baladium—something strictly forbidden. It could get them, and Lacey, banished to exile on an isolated island on Kadothia, their Territory and people lost to them forever.

Chel got a sweet juice drink from the tiny kitchen area and sipped it before saying, “Are we going to tell the men?”

Gwarnon paused in the act of braiding his hair, relinquishing the task to Chel as he said, “I wish we had more time to court her in private, but I’m afraid the men would soon figure out what is happening. Plus, you know as well as I do, we have some of the best fighters in the Universe on our team, all personally trained by Lord Rell himself. We should tell them and ask for their help training Lacey. It will give them a chance to get to know each other. When our Matriarch begins building her court, she’ll need loyal men at her side. None are more loyal than the men on this ship.”

Chel blew out a slow breath. “How long do you think we have before someone lets something slip and the High Congress finds out?”

“I believe we’ll have at least a few days. The Baladium’s security is spectacular, the terms of the contest requires it.”

Chel handed Gwarnon the remaining half of his glass of juice, and he downed it quickly before saying, “We need to contact Lord Rell and Commander Trenzent to update them with the situation.”

Not looking forward to the conversation ahead, Gwarnon went to look for something more bracing than juice. “This should be fun.”

Chapter 3

Chel

Closing his eyes and praying, Chel asked the Lord of Life to give him patience and keep him from throttling both his alyah and his blood brother.

They were arguing, again, instead of doing the training Lacey so desperately needed.

Gwarnon, Chel, and two members of their crew, Orushel and Maoru, sat on a bench behind Chel at the edge of the