Page 17 of Bound By the Alien King

Aster’s father answered instead. “Herold’s right. By law, Aster’s ineligible to marry any except the man who ruined her. Release her immediately or face the arrows of the colony and the wrath of the Night Mother herself.”

Nightborn warriors’ weapons rattled as they drew them in his defense. Damir held up his free hand to still their blades. “Her ruin is mine. I was the first to untie her ribbons,” he said, letting his voice ring out so all could hear. At the murmurs of disbelief that circulated around them, he added, “She spent a whole night in my arms, not just ten minutes.”

Even Aster gasped.

“Is this true, darling?” a woman in a flowery gown asked, fanning herself vigorously even though the evening was cool. “Did he see them?”

“Yes, Mother.” Aster nodded and pressed closer to him, blushing. “The night of my absence. He can tell you their colors.”

The ribbons were burned in his brain. Crisscrossed and knotted over her enticing flesh, demanding his full attention as he untied them. Wrapped around her wrists, not to stop her, but to stop him. He would never forget. Damir leaned to Aster’s mother and whispered in her cupped ear, “Nightborn blue with crescents of silver.”

“Well then, it is so. The betrothal to Herold was invalid,” she said quietly, a line of worry creasing her otherwise smooth forehead as she took in the sight of Aster in Damir’s arms. The match might not be what she dreamed for her daughter, but surely she could see that Aster did not object.

“I will care for her as she deserves,” he promised. “I know her worth and will not squander it.”

The council of lords, including Aster’s father, drew together again, their jaws as tight as their circle as they talked it over in low voices. They finally raised their heads.

“We can see no other way around it. The king has chosen his bride. The treaty is fulfilled.”

The crowd of gathered humans and nightmaids with their children exploded in shouts and cheers. Aster’s mother sobbed her congratulations, and Herold gaped at both of them from over his shoulder as his livid father marched him out of the plaza, shouting to Salaan about wanton women and lying lords.

Aster looked up at him. “Are you sure?” she asked. Her words were drowned out by the crowd, but he could read the shape of her mouth. He kissed her in answer, felt her pulse through the thin skin of her lips.

“As sure as I am of the twins in the sky. I made a promise to use all my power to take you away from harm. I’m fulfilling it sooner than I expected, but this way, I get to keep you for myself, which is all I wanted.”

When he raised his head, her father, Lord Bowen was before him, tight-lipped and grave.

“I suppose this must be done properly. I need your ribbons, child.”

To Damir’s surprise, Aster produced them, wound into a tight ball, from the small bag hanging at her wrist. She handed them to her father, who in turn offered them to Damir.

“Do you bind this woman to you for all time, in sight of the Night Mother?” Lord Bowen asked.

“Yes.”

Aster held out her hands, her eyes deep pools, and he realized what was required. What he had already done on the night they spent together. Carefully, he wrapped her wrists in ribbons, around and around and then in figure eights until their lengths were consumed. He tied the ends tight, tied her to him forever.

“Manna bless you and Corek sustain you,” her father said grimly. “Salaan knows you’ll need it.”

“Kiss me,” Aster begged, and Damir covered them both in his wings.

Chapter 10

The brides of Corek had not prepared a chamber, as they had not expected a marriage to be consummated tonight, so Aster and Damir stood and waited while the nuns hurriedly lit candles and freshened the linens and left them with water and wine.

He moved to unbind her wrists, but Aster shook her head, her heart thumping. “They’re to stay that way until…after,” she said, suddenly shy, as though he hadn’t seen her splayed out in the cave, begging for him. As though he hadn’t tasted her blood, hadn’t satisfied and seeded her.

“This is after,“ he said. “I already bound you the night we met. You were mine from that moment. I could not admit it because I did not see how it could be, but the Night Mother was our witness. Her wisdom is as wide as the sea and as deep as the sky.”

With one swift slice of his claws, her ribbons were cut and fell to the floor in dozens of lengths. He dragged the same claw down the front of her gown, severing all the laces so the bodice burst open. Unconstrained, her chest heaved as the ties of her skirts went next.

“Forgive me for my haste,” Damir murmured as he unwrapped her layer-by-layer, leaving her in her shift. “Your wound is still fresh, and I mean to heal you.”

“You’re going to bite me?” she asked breathlessly, thrilling at the thought. He kneeled before her to remove her shoes and stockings.

“No bite this time, my greedy bride. Unless you wish to be deflowered every time we make love, you must heal without it tonight. Plus, I want you lucid so you’ll obey me and keep your hands to your”—he broke off with a groan as she gripped his shoulders to keep steady—“to yourself unless I say you can touch me.”

“May I touch you, then?” she asked cheekily, as he severed her garters and ripped her stockings down her legs.