Conquered Mate: Stargazer Alien Space Cruise Brides #3
Conquered Mate
Stargazer Alien Space Cruise Brides #3
Tasha Black
13th Story Press
Copyright © 2020 by 13th Story Press
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Tasha Black Starter Library
About Conquered Mate
Conquered Mate
1. Rose
2. Rex
3. Rose
4. Rex
5. Rose
6. Rex
7. Rose
8. Rex
9. Rose
10. Rex
11. Rex
12. Rose
13. Rose
14. Rex
15. Rose
16. Rex
17. Rose
18. Rex
19. Rose
20. Rex
21. Rose
22. Rex
23. Rose
24. Rose
25. Rex
Tolstoy (Sample)
1. Anna
2. Leo
Tasha Black Starter Library
About the Author
One Percent Club
Tasha Black Starter Library
Packed with steamy shifters, mischievous magic, billionaire superheroes, and plenty of HEAT, the Tasha Black Starter Library is the perfect way to dive into Tasha's unique brand of Romance with Bite!
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About Conquered Mate
He’s her willing prisoner, but it’s her heart that needs guarding…
Rose Mendez just ended her military career in the Terran army. Now, instead of working on her home planet, where desperate citizens are tormented daily by Cerulean forces, she’s landed her dream job of running the beautiful hydroponic farm on a luxury spacecraft. When the captain pulls her off the farm and puts her on guard duty protecting a Cerulean prisoner, she’s beyond resentful of the big blue warrior she has to babysit.
Rex Tylarr happily left behind his brutal days in the Cerulean army, and has spent years loyally protecting the staff and guests as Head of Security on the Stargazer II. When he has to turn on his own people to protect a VIP guest from a Cerulean uprising onboard, he winds up jailed with the rest of the Ceruleans. For his own safety, the captain of the ship decides to put him under house arrest instead, with a curvy little hydroponic farmer who seems to hate him with a white-hot passion. Rex can’t wondering if he’d have been better off taking his lumps in the cell.
But when dangerous chemicals go missing and strange creatures are spotted prowling in the ship’s forest, Rex and Rose have to put their differences aside to save the ship and its passengers. The trouble is that each new twist of the unfolding mystery binds them closer together and makes it harder to ignore the sizzling attraction that irresistibly tempts these enemies to become lovers.
If you like strong women, hunky aliens, wild adventures, steamy sensual scenes, and happily-ever-afters, then you’ll love the world of Stargazer!
Stargazer Alien Space Cruise Brides:
Crowned Mate
Cosmic Mate
Conquered Mate
Conquered Mate
1
Rose
Rose Mendez strode across the bustling Agro department of the Stargazer II luxury cruiser.
The enormous room was a study in white and green. Marble floors met ivory metal walls that rose up to a vaulted ceiling made of massive glowing solar squares.
And between the floor and ceiling, a forest of fruits and vegetables hung from clear hydroponic pods, an organized tangle of irrigation tubes threading them all together, like the blood vessels of some huge leviathan.
All around her, human and droid workers bustled to fulfill Rose’s orders.
To an untrained observer, it might have seemed chaotic. But Rose had arranged every detail. To her, the room and all its inhabitants were as synchronized as the workings of a magnificent Terran grandfather clock.
“Rose,” one of the new assistants called out. ”DO you have a minute?”
She paused to greet the young Bergalian.
“Yes, Zyrxa?”
“Your message was to get rid of the extra carrots.” Zyrxa’s furry face was a mask of confusion.
These poor newbies took everything literally.
Rose was just glad the kid had stopped to ask instead of dumping their overstock of beautifully ripe carrots. Everyone knew Rose hated waste.
“Call the chef at the Main Dining Room,” Rose explained. “Let him know he can double the carrots in the salads and offer carrot cake on the dessert menu for the next month.”
“Oh,” Zyrxa said, looking relieved. “What if he doesn’t want to?”
“Then shift the call to me,” Rose said grimly.
“Thank you,” Zyrxa cried, dashing off, presumably to do Rose’s bidding.
The produce buyer for the Titanium Dining Room was already inside, poking around the mango trees.
Good, Rose had a plan for that.
She jogged over.
“Danla,” Rose said in a cordial way.
“Hi there,” Danla replied, her three ruby eyes fixed on the small grove of mango trees that were suspended from the ceiling before her. “The mangoes are coming out nicely.”
Rose flushed with pleasure.
She had been working hard to cultivate the little trees.
“I have a proposal for you,” Rose said.
“I’m listening,” Danla told her.
“I would be willing to triple your mango share for the week,” Rose said. “In exchange for three cold storage containers.”
“We can’t get more of those until we get to port,” Danla said dismissively.
“We’ll be at port soon,” Rose told her. “And you can collect your produce daily in the interim if you want.”
That would be a pain in the ass. Danla was known for being very particular. Sometimes it felt like she had far more than three eyes looking for faults with the fruits and vegetables. It was much easier for Rose to have her weekly containers pre-filled and waiting.
“Why do you want them?” Danla asked, looking tempted but wary.
“We have a surplus,” Rose said.
“So eject it,” Danla shrugged.
“I’m going to trade the best of it on Sheldrahk for seedlings,” Rose said, practically hugging herself with the joy of it.
“What kind of seedlings?” Danla asked.
“Apple,” Rose said.
“Like… from the Terran fairy tales?” Danla asked.
“Yes,” Rose said with a grin.
“Where the hell are you going to put apple trees in here?” Danla asked, gesturing at the crowded airspace above.
“Oh, I have a plan for that,” Rose told her.
“I’ll bet you do,” Danla said, shaking her head.
“Apple trees on the Stargazer II,” a deep masculine voice said from behind her. “Incredible.”
Rose spun around to find Leo, one of the ship’s founders and co-captains, smiling down at her.
“My wife sent me to find you,” he said. “Can you come with me for a few minutes, please?”
“Sure,” Rose said. What choice did she have? When Anna Nilsson called, you answered. “Danla, we’ll finish this conversation later, okay?”
&nb
sp; “By all means,” Danla said. “I’m looking forward to choosing my produce daily.”
Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She reminded herself it would be well worth dealing with Danla to bring apples onboard.
And it sounded like she’d just made herself a deal.
“You’re working very hard,” Leo said politely as they headed out of Agro and into the corridor that led to the main deck.
“I enjoy my work,” Rose told him honestly. “Thank you for making a place for me here.”
“We seem to have nearly doubled production since you arrived,” Leo said.
“Well, the old irrigation system wasn’t as efficient,” Rose told him.
“The engineers told me that system was the latest tech,” Leo said.
“It was,” Rose agreed. “But they made some changes in the new line that ended up being a big step back in a lot of ways. The older valves are much better, and easier to service. We traded our new stuff for older equipment and had credits left over for seedlings. Now we’re running more efficiently, and we have more stock.”
“Incredible,” Leo said again. “We’re very lucky to have you onboard.”
Rose grinned as the blood rushed to her cheeks. Back on Terra-4 praise at work was a rare experience.
“Here’s the thing though,” Leo said carefully. “I’m told we’re far outproducing what we need already, with more surplus on the way.”
“But that’s a good thing,” Rose told him, surprised at his intimation of displeasure. “We can trade our surplus for other things we want.”
“But, Rose, you don’t need to do that,” Leo said gently.
She bit her lip.
He was trying hard not offend her by just coming out and saying that she wasn’t in some backwater outer ring settlement anymore, and she didn’t need to struggle for every scrap.
She knew she didn’t have to do any of the things she was doing to make the Agro department run above and beyond. But how could she not want Agro to run as productively as possible?
Back on Terra-4 there was never enough food.
Rose remembered so many hungry nights, and the struggle to make things grow when there wasn’t enough light or water.
Now she had the opportunity to actually produce a surplus and enrich the ship’s stores.
It felt almost criminal not to squeeze every nutrient from the amazing facility she was running.
“Besides, Anna needs your help with something else,” Leo went on. “We’re hoping you can take a temporary break from Agro to assist with this project.”
“What kind of project?” Rose asked, trying not to wince.
She hated to have to walk away from Agro for any amount of time when she finally had things running so nicely.
“She’ll explain everything,” Leo said. “But it’s military.”
Rose nodded.
If it was relying on her military background, there wasn’t much danger of her really being pulled off Agro.
Rose had finished her tour of duty in the Terran military right before her best friend Juno’s husband sent a PostHaste to bring her aboard the Stargazer II.
She’d had the requisite combat training but had spent most of her service time in Agro.
Whatever Anna wanted, if it was military, there was someone else more qualified onboard to take care of it.
2
Rex
Rex Tylarr stood in the back corner of the holding cell and watched as the guard headed out to the foyer to change shifts.
At every eight-hour shift change, there was a brief interval that left Rex alone with his cellmates for a few minutes. He wouldn’t have stood for that kind of oversight when he was head of security, but that time was behind him.
He braced himself, feet shoulder width apart, calling on years of training in the Cerulean army to calm his nerves and amp up his senses.
The only trouble was that his Cerulean cellmates all had the same training.
The first one rushed him, a huge brute with a feather tattoo. His fists were like hammers, and he was fast to be so big, but Rex had learned after the first few times that he telegraphed his attacks.
Rex held on until the last pre-tooth-shattering moment and then ducked his head, causing the punch to hit the crown of his head and doing more damage to the attacker’s fist than to Rex.
A knee came at his groin next and he managed to block it.
But the third hit glanced off his rib cage, practically knocking the breath out of him.
Pain blossomed, sending stars in front of his eyes.
And two more guys were already headed his way.
He managed to get the big guy in a choke-hold and held him up in front of himself like a shield as he struggled wildly, every movement an agony to Rex.
He could kill the man with no more than a harsh twist, but that wasn’t really an option for Rex. He tried hard not to do much damage to any of them, it would only make things worse.
He felt the lure of the battle rage calling to him, willing him to use his innate power to defeat his foes. But he knew his attackers were holding themselves in check as well. If any one of them decided to amplify in this small cell, it would be a disaster. No, they weren’t going for a kill. They wanted to make him suffer.
He was holding them off, but Rex felt himself wearing down.
“Fucking traitor,” the smaller of his two assailants muttered.
Rex had been the only Cerulean onboard not to rise against Ambassador Scott during the assassination attempt.
As a matter of fact, Rex had tackled her enemy to the ground when he pulled a blaster on her.
And the only thanks he got was being jailed with the rest of the Ceruleans.
Now his countrymen wanted to hurt him with even more passion than they had wanted to kill her.
So far, they had settled for beatings, but they would tire of that soon enough.
Rex was friendless, and his days were numbered.
But he wasn’t giving up.
The little guy was advancing on him, flanked by the other one.
When the smaller man took a swing at Rex’s jaw, he blocked it.
But the other guy got him in the eye, opening up a nasty cut from the day before.
Hot blood gushed down his cheek.
“Hey, what’s going on in here?” a familiar voice called out.
He released the big guy and all three of his attackers scrambled to blend into the rest of the group.
The security guard stepped up to the bars, a concerned look on his young face.
When Rex had been head of security, he had trained this particular guard, Jensen Wayne.
“Boss, are you okay?” Jensen asked, his voice quavering slightly.
“Fine, Jensen,” Rex replied. “And I’m not your boss anymore.”
“You’re bleeding,” Jensen pointed out.
“Yeah,” Rex grunted.
“What happened?” Jensen asked.
He looked back at his attackers before answering.
“I fell,” Rex said. “Hit my head on the bars.”
There were snickers from the crowd of Cerulean prisoners.
It figured that they laughed at his loyalty. But he wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of tattling like a schoolboy.
“Boss, if you just say the word, I can get you put in solitary,” Jensen whispered. “Nobody wants them to hurt you. Ambassador Scott asks about you every day.”
But the last thing Rex wanted was special treatment.
He had treated Terrans like beings with as many rights as anyone else in the system - shown them respect and dignity as individuals.
But when the shit hit the fan, they had shown him that they saw him as no more than one more member of his race - defined only by his blue skin and muscular form.
He wanted no favors from them.
“I said I fell,” he hissed. “And I’m not your boss.”
Jensen’s face fell and he stepped back against the wall.
He sent it all back without looking at it.
He didn’t regret saving her. But there was no point clinging to a connection with Terrans.
He leaned back against the wall, babying the bruised rib a little and trying to ignore the furious stares of his cellmates.
He’d gotten off relatively easy at this shift change.
He would rest up and be ready to face them again at the next one.
He was sure they would be ready to face him, too.
His injuries were beginning to add up. Sooner or later they were going to get the best of him.
“Not today,” he muttered to himself. “Not today.”
3
Rose
Rose followed Leo to a platform and held her breath when they stepped on.
“Lower deck,” he said, placing his palm on the sensor.
She had just a fraction of a second to wonder why they would be going to the lower deck.
Then the platform dropped, and she was mercifully too afraid to scream as her stomach threatened to exit her body through her mouth.
After what felt like a lifetime of falling, the platform stopped abruptly.
Rose held back a gasp of relief.
“Takes some getting used to, huh?” Leo asked.