The Commander's Mate Read online

  The Commander’s Mate

  By

  Morganna Williams

  Copyright © 2014 by Stormy Night Publications and Morganna Williams

  Copyright © 2014 by Stormy Night Publications and Morganna Williams

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by Stormy Night Publications and Design, LLC.

  www.StormyNightPublications.com

  Williams, Morganna

  The Commander’s Mate

  Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson

  Images by Jimmy Thomas at RomanceNovelCovers.com, Bigstock/Aikon, and Bigstock/Pellinni

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.

  Prologue

  The Ramelians came to earth to negotiate for women. In exchange for brides for Ramelian warriors, Ramel would extend their vast knowledge on alien warfare to the people of earth.

  The Ramelians had explained the threat of the Gartarian forces headed toward the earth. The Gartarians were working their way systematically through the solar system, stripping planets with exploitable natural resources one by one. Many of the planets were unpopulated, but Gartarian people were like locusts, using up all the resources at each planet before moving on to the next.

  By the calculations of Ramelian intelligence officers, it would take ten earth years for the Gartarians to arrive, but much had to be accomplished beforehand if the earth had any hope of surviving an attack with their population intact.

  Ramel had suffered an attack from a similar foe generations before.

  The leaders of earth were shown recordings of Ramel before they were struck by the Preomoriods and the results of the attacks. Though the men of Ramel were strong warriors and able to easily repel direct attack, Preomoriods didn’t fight openly or face to face until they’d managed to almost decimate a people.

  Their attacks were much more insidious; they leaked contaminants into the water system and soils of Ramel. Something the Ramelians didn’t realize until the damage was done. The chemicals attacked women, primarily affecting the female reproductive organs. The ingested chemicals made a woman’s body either completely sterile or unable to carry any female offspring.

  Though the warriors of Ramel ultimately defeated the Preomoriods completely, the damage was done.

  By the time Ramelian scientists had figured out what the Preomoriods had done, the birthrate of Ramelian children had dropped by 75% and no female child had been born in 20 years. Scientists were able to develop vaccines to prevent the damage, but were unable to reverse the damage caused to Ramelian women.

  Ramelians could no longer be harmed by any known chemicals or drugs and had extremely long lifespans, but they had almost a million Ramelian males with no hope of ever finding a mate. Despite Ramelians’ longevity, without intervention the inability to mate would eventually end Ramel society.

  Ramelians needed mates for their warriors; the people of earth and Ramel were compatible. It didn’t take long for the leaders of earth to recognize the benefit of having such a strong alliance. The alliance was formed: in exchange for the knowledge and the protection of earth citizens, the earth would allow the Ramelians to harvest brides.

  Chapter One

  Grayson Treenan, the high commander of the Ramelian fourth fleet, sighed as he watched the landscape flash by on the computer screen. He was busily scanning the region of the United States, which he’d deemed the best place to house his headquarters.

  Many of Grayson’s men had already found mates, but none of the earth women caught his interest. He’d been at the bride mart only yesterday, where eager young women lined up to become Ramelian brides. None of the giggling young ladies appealed to him. A mate would be nice, but a true bond mate was the dream of every Ramelian male.

  Grayson knew some of his warriors had found their true bond mates on earth. A true bond mate was one woman made by God for just one man; they would be matched in every way, a perfect pair.

  As he scanned the brushy landscape of the East Texas area he planned to make his home, he stopped when he spotted a small woman with flame-colored hair attempting to change the tire of her conveyance. Grayson moved the cameras in closer to the little woman; she was lushly built, her full curves filling out very unflattering garments of grey.

  As he watched, she bent to work on the wheel and the material stretched tautly across her delightfully full backside. Grayson’s heart rate sped up and his loins leapt at the enticing view. He sat straighter in his chair; could it be? He wouldn’t know until he stood face to face with her, but there was a strong possibility this little curvy woman was the one he’d been waiting for.

  The woman cocked her head and turned it sharply to look behind her. Grayson stood up in alarm when he saw the large cat eyeing her from the top of a boulder. He watched in horror as she turned to confront the predator with a large metal tool in her hand. His woman was challenging the mountain lion. With a bellow, Grayson hit the transfer button on his belt; it would take him directly to the quadrant he was studying.

  He prayed he was in time to save his woman from her foolish behavior, behavior she would learn not to repeat or her lovely bottom would pay the price.

  * * *

  Izzy glared at the flat tire, her breath coming in short pants from the exertion of trying to loosen the lug nuts.

  With a determined frown, she positioned the tire iron on the offending lug nut so it was parallel to the ground, then tightly grabbed the top of her car as she climbed on it, giving a light bounce to loosen the nut.

  The lug nut came loose, suddenly pitching her sideways toward the unforgiving pavement, but she managed to catch herself on the car. Muttering under her breath, she bent over to loosen the nut the rest of the way with her fingers.

  A soft growl came from behind her, Izzy looked over her shoulder and froze at the sight of the mountain lion. Uh oh; the books she’d read said it was best to make yourself as big as possible and make a lot of noise so the animal wouldn’t think you were easy prey.

  Izzy snatched up her tire iron and spun to face the large cat, yelling loudly and aggressively while brandishing the tire iron threateningly at it. The cat laid its ears back and yowled at her response. Good, it felt threatened. “Git out of here! Haaaaa!”

  Izzy had barely taken two steps toward the cat when something that felt like an iron band wrapped around her waist and she was pulled back tight against a solid torso. An electrical zapping sound filled the air and something popped loudly and clapped off the rock just below the cat, sending her scurrying for safety away from the threat.

  Izzy found herself spun around to look up at the biggest man she’d ever seen. He was huge! The man had to be seven-and-a-half feet tall, towering over her own five-foot-three.

  “What do you do here, woman?” the man asked with a growl, still holding her firmly by one arm.

  Izzy gasped; why did he look irritated with her? “I was changing my tire. Uh… could you let go of my arm?”

  Though his hold was gentle, his grip was like iron.

  “Calm yourself, woman. I mean you no harm. You should not be out here alone so late. It is unsafe, the cat could have harmed you. You take foolish chances with yourself.”

  Izzy glared fiercely. “I didn’t leave the house tonight and think, oh, a flat tire and a mountain lion would be fun, you big jerk! Let me go!”

  The man seemed to be trying not to smile at her. “What is your name, woman?”

&n
bsp; “I said let me go!” Izzy said, squirming furiously. He had about two seconds before she started kicking him right where it counted.

  “Woman, I will have your name,” he spoke sternly and gave her a little shake as if to emphasize his demand.

  Izzy pulled back her foot and planted it as hard as she could right between his legs, using his hold on her arms as leverage for the kick.

  The man groaned low and loud, releasing her to cup the affected area as he sank to his knees. He glared at Izzy, still unable to speak but emitting a deep growl at her.

  Izzy blinked at the promise of retribution in his eyes, taking a step back as she realized how alone she was on this dark country road. Now she was alone with an enraged man who was the biggest guy she’d ever seen; he was still taller than she on his knees. When he growled at her, she knew it was time to get out of Dodge.

  Izzy took off running into the ditch, heading straight for the cornfield. Maybe she could find a farmer that would be willing to give her shelter.

  “Woman, do not run from me!” the man bellowed after her.

  The anger in his voice just spurred her on to run faster. He was going to kill her if he caught her!

  As Izzy ran through the cornstalks, she cursed her temper. It had always been a problem for her and now it was going to get her killed. She shouldn’t have kicked him. The sound of something large tearing through the corn made her freeze and drop to her knees. She would have to hide.

  Izzy carefully crawled backwards and to the side a little in an effort to get behind him, then she crouched, making herself as small as possible. He came to a stop a few feet from her; Izzy held her breath, afraid to give away her location.

  * * *

  “Woman, hiding from me is not a good choice. Come to me now and I will be lenient with you,” Grayson said firmly. He knew she was just behind him to the left; he could smell her fear and hear the frantic beat of her heart.

  This was not the best beginning to their mating, but perhaps it wasn’t a bad thing for her to learn immediately there were consequences to her actions. Grayson stayed still, wanting her to come to him. As he waited, he contemplated his little woman.

  Her curly red hair was piled on top of her head with sticks in a haphazard fashion, and the eyes that glared so fiercely into his own were the deep green of winter wheat. She was very small in stature, but the abundant curves of her body were impossible to hide even in the ugly, baggy clothes she wore. The minute he’d spun her to face him, he’d felt a jolt in his chest. She was indeed his true bond mate.

  “Come out now!” he barked in a tone the soldiers of his command would have responded to instantly. From his little mate he heard a delicate snort.

  Grayson again tried not to smile; he was well pleased with his little mate’s feisty nature. They would make fine children together.

  * * *

  Izzy snorted at the command. Was he kidding? No way! She was staying put; surely he’d give up soon and go away. She yelped when firm hands pulled her from her hiding place and she was tossed over a broad shoulder. The shock of being picked up alone was enough to stun her into silence; sure, he was a big guy, but she was way too heavy to be tossed around like a Barbie even for a big man and this fella wasn’t even winded.

  Then she realized she appeared to be meekly accepting her fate and that was unacceptable.

  “No! Let me go!” Izzy pounded her fist against his broad back and was rewarded with a sharp stinging swat to her bottom. “Oww!”

  “Enough of your nonsense, young woman! I will have your name and I will have it now!” the giant practically roared at her.

  Izzy crossed her arms over her chest, raising herself a little higher from her position over his shoulder. “Fine, my name is Izzy and I really resent your behavior. I demand you put me down!”

  “Little mate, you should not be so anxious to be removed from my shoulder. When I put you down, it will be across my knee to deal with your foolhardy actions and you will wish you had obeyed to begin with,” he said with a certainty that made her very nervous.

  “Why on earth should I have obeyed a strange man?” she asked incredulously. “Actually I’m not sure why I would obey any man.”

  “You will learn to obey me, little mate. This I promise you.”

  He set her down next to her small car. Izzy looked up at him nervously, wild curls hanging down around her face and down her back; she’d lost the chopsticks holding it up between her run through the corn and being manhandled by the Neanderthal. Then she zoned in on his wording and a kernel of dread filled her as she realized the import of one little word. Mate.

  At that word, everything clicked into place. It also explained his strangely old-fashioned way of speaking. She’d heard that the Ramelian speech was very formal. Izzy remembered the notice being posted on all the news stations about an agreement with the planet Ramel about providing security for the earth in exchange for brides for their warriors. It was expected any single woman chosen by the warriors would go as a willing sacrifice for their world. Izzy hadn’t paid much attention because it never occurred to her she would be chosen. She stared up at him in shock. No way could she pair with this man, big as he was. If everything was to scale, he would kill her trying to mate with her.

  “No way, José!” she said, backing slowly away. “I’m not going to be some brood mare for you! Go away! Besides, I’m way too old to be a mate! My childbearing years are long past!”

  “You will be able to bear children for many years to come, this I know. Do not make the mistake of running from me a second time, little fire, my patience with you is wearing thin,” he said firmly.

  “I won’t be some alien breeder! I won’t! I have feelings and life plans that don’t include you or any of your buddies. And it would never work, you’d kill me if you tried to… to… well, that,” Izzy finished lamely, suddenly feeling like she might pass out. She would be able to bear children for many years to come? She’d just had her fortieth birthday; there was no way his words were possible.

  “Of course you won’t be a breeder. You will be my mate, my wife. A position of great honor in my society. I am Grayson Treenan, the high commander of the Ramelian fleet.”

  “I don’t care who you are! I have a life and I learned a long time ago I don’t need a man to complete me. I have a job I love and have no intention of quitting. I won’t be mated to some barbarian who doesn’t care anything about me and expects me to spit out babies for the rest of my life!”

  “It isn’t at all the way you are portraying things. Mates are very precious to us. Not everyone gets the opportunity to have one. The women in our culture have died out and without women, our society will end. I will care for you, we will be a bonded pair and while I expect obedience, I would never harm you. I will protect you always. Your other fear will be shown for nothing soon enough; you will know nothing but pleasure in my bed,” he explained earnestly. “I will need your ID card. This is what we agreed to turn in to your government to keep track of the women we’ve taken to mate.”

  “No!” Izzy yelled defiantly. “I won’t be your mate!” She couldn’t believe this was happening to her of all people. Men didn’t find her attractive; in fact she generally felt invisible to attractive males. Unless of course they came to the library and needed her help to research something.

  The man sighed before simply tossing her over his shoulder once again. “You have been my mate since the moment I saw you alone and unprotected. If the men of your culture are so foolish as to send their daughters out alone without escort, they leave them open to being claimed.”

  Izzy struggled over his shoulder, only to be stilled by two sharp swats to her upturned bottom. She could hardly believe he’d swatted her bottom again like she was a naughty child! “I hate you!”

  “You may think it now, but it will not always be thus,” the commander said matter-of-factly before bending to retrieve her purse from the car. It took only a moment to remove her license from her wallet. “Isabell
a Marie Benton. You have a lovely name, Isabella.”

  “My name is Izzy!” she shrieked.

  He jostled her gently on his shoulder as he would a fractious child. “Shhh, little fire. Everything will be fine. Your fears are ungrounded. You will see this soon.”

  Since nothing she said made any difference, Izzy decided she wouldn’t speak to the odious man anymore. She suddenly realized that when the alien took her to his planet, there wouldn’t be anyone left on earth to miss her, except maybe her friend Madge. Her parents had been gone for years and she’d just lost her aunt last week.

  If she hadn’t needed to check her aunt’s house and secure it until a realtor could look at it, Izzy wouldn’t have been on this dark country road to begin with and she wouldn’t have been captured by a giant alien determined to turn her into his little alien wifey.

  “Where is your father that he would allow his unmarried daughter to travel alone?”

  Izzy ignored the question, still unwilling to speak to the monster.

  “Isabella?” The warning tone was accompanied by the palm of his hand being placed threateningly on her bottom.

  “He’s dead!” she yelled, not willing to risk another of those stinging swats.

  Suddenly she was brought down from his shoulder and cradled in his arms so he could look down into her face. “The rest of your family?”

  The tenderness in his eyes brought tears she thought long cried out to the surface. “Gone. They’re all gone,” she whispered softly.

  Grayson cuddled her tightly to him, kissing her softly on the forehead as if she were already precious to him. “You are no longer alone, Isabella. You never will be again.”

  It frightened Isabella how comforted she felt by his arms and words. She suddenly felt blanketed in safety and well-being. This man was dangerous.