Stolen by Starlight (Warrior Kings of Alioth #1)

by Sara Ivy Hill

This heat has all of us testy. The heat, and the fact that this might be the last time we see each other. We’re about to be sold.

It’s easy to see what Irrans are feeling by the color of their skin. Our skin never lies, not without years of practice and training to master our emotions.

I cannot speak for all my brothers—my impossible, feuding brothers. They will never agree on anything. Until one of us is emperor, there will be no peace between us.

I am not my father. I do not want to fuck away my feelings. I want to fight.

I smell her. My mate. My fated queen.

Today, I’ll show her my skill. Today, I’ll kill for her. Today, I’ll make her mine.

Because, somehow, I know this alien, the one in the hood who is staring at me like I’m a snack, is going to save me. He’s going to fight for me. And he’s going to win.

Wow, I’m a total space slut.

But here I am, looking at the toned ass of the hottest guy, not on Earth, but in the entire known universe,

This is a fight he can’t win. If he loses, he’ll lose me. And if he wins, he’ll lose me, too. Because I cannot belong to someone who would kill a child.

I kneel and rub a handful of dust on my face to signal my forfeit. A coward’s mouth always tastes of earth, my father’s ghost shames me.

No option remains but to stand my ground and fight for my honor. Fight for my life.

Why am I concerned with honor in this cranac of gamblers and thieves? The only honor is defending my queen—even if it means stealing her.

Except, instead of rattling my skull, this rattles my soul. And apparently, I keep my soul mostly in my pussy.

Does she know what I know, that we are destined to rule this planet together, or is she simply overtaken by its beauty, as I am with hers?

When she is introduced as Irra’s fated queen, her attentions will be divided. There will be many obligations and events, and I know her love for our people will rival her love for me. But until then...she is mine alone.

Here I am, probably an alien sex slave for the rest of my life, and I’m kinda into it. This is some Stockholm Syndrome or some crazy alien pheromones or something. Gross.

I trust him when I should fear him. I want him when I should fear him. And right now, I am curious when I should fear him.

He’s ruthless but kind. He’s a seven-foot-tall, chiseled warrior who can hold me captive with one hand, but he kneeled to a child’s sword. He stole me, but instead of locking me up like the Frathiks did, he brought me to a beautiful garden.

He changes color when he’s feeling something, I realize. The light cream color that tinged his features must mean embarrassment. How human.

“Jara Lothan, King of Irra, first son of Chanísh, Emperor of the Five Planets, may Alioth smile on him and us all.”

Does her pink mean the same as mine? Does she desire me as much as I desire her?

The first fated queen our planet has seen since Alioth ignited my grandparents’ bond.

Nor will I put her at the mercy of the priests before she knows the true extent of her power. She speaks for the goddess, not them.

Of all the gestures to be universal—the eye-roll.

I’ve never seen a king who looks like Lothan before, either. No crown, naked, turning every color of the rainbow. I’m not in Kansas anymore, am I?

I can’t succumb to selfish sensation. Not when my sister is still in danger.

My little queen is greedy. She knows what she deserves.

“More?” I ask. Our one shared word makes my heart race. I may not survive a whole vocabulary.

“An Alara is a queen, but more than that. She is the manifestation of the star goddess on our planet, fated to rule the Irrans and bring her blessings to us. Alioth has chosen you to rule alongside me, Ada.”

Turn down the dial, space slut.

“Alioth has chosen, whether you like it or not. It isn’t a request. You will stay here and rule Irra beside me. The goddess decrees it, and her teeth are sharp.”

“I thought you freed me, but you didn’t, did you? You just took me because you think your goddess told you to, and now you’re telling me that for the rest of my life, I have to stay here and do what you say. That sure sounds like slavery to me.”

If my little jaunt across the universe has taught me anything, it’s that there are no good guys. There are no pure motivations. Everyone wants something, even me.

There, he had no concubines, no pleasures except his unobstructed and ever-present view of the star goddess. There, he did little but pray. There, he died, still without her favor. And now Alioth tortures me in his stead.

“O Alioth, light of my humble heart, who brings us life and takes it. Smile upon your servant. Illuminate my path and leave the rest in shadow, so I may follow where you guide me.”

I scrape the dust from the floor and rub it on my face. All I can do is forfeit to her mercy.

A bribe. My whole life, my home, in exchange for my father’s power. A power I’m not even sure I want.

“I submit to you that I, Jara Lothan, King of Irra, son of Chanísh, Emperor of the Five Planets, have found my Alara. The goddess smiles on our line again.”

This is it. This is how I’m going to die, my head catching on fire from some mystical spicy alien crown.

Old men are not afraid to die.

Her best fairytale was about our dad. She told us he was a prince from a faraway kingdom who had to leave our family because otherwise he’d be banished by the king. She said it didn’t matter if we didn’t have official recognition; we’d always be royalty, and we should be treated as such, even if it was a secret.

Nobody knew we should be treasured. The secret died with Mom. It was devastation on top of devastation, our mom and our hidden identities wiped out in one twist of fate.

I’ll never have love like that, the love of true partners. I lost my chance when I lost my planet.

My Alara is no tool to manipulate. She’s no piece of flesh. She’s a queen in her heart.

My father conspired with temple priests to deny Irra its goddess-given fated queen. He took the throne when it was rightfully his brother’s. He declared war on the Frathiks—not because they kidnapped Oljin, but because they helped Oljin and his queen escape. And then my father destroyed a whole world to cover up his lies.

I can picture a happy life with Lothan. He’s a good king, but he’s more than that—he’s a good person. He’s kind and fair. A badass fighter who’s saved me more than once. And he’s sexy as hell.

“Please,” I beg her, though kings do not beg. In this moment, I’m no king. “Lie to me, Alara. Lie to me so I can prove it to you.”

“If I claim you, I will never let you go. And I cannot bind you to me unless you feel the truth in your heart.”

Lothan drops to his knees and kisses the hem of my sveli. Raising his eyes to meet my gaze, he chokes out, “Forgive me, Alara, but you are the center of mine. Crown or not, queen or not, Irra or Elsewhere, you will always rule me.”