Spoilers Warning
***This page contains bonus scenes from different books in the Mudden Men series. If you want to avoid spoilers, don’t read scenes from books you haven’t read yet.***
Match Forged – Rex
Rex’s point of view during chapter six of Match Forged.
After Kemp announces that Elizabeth needs to be married, she is whisked away to Lauren’s room to get ready. Rex follows Devon out into the hallway.
“Can we talk?” Rex turned to Devon as soon as they’d left the throne room.
Devon nodded and led him down the hall to his office. “Sit,” he instructed, indicating one of the two couches taking up one corner of the room.
Rex knew better than to take this as an invitation to relax. Though he’d known Devon a long time, he never let himself forget that he was his boss and a Dugal before all else.
“You can’t do this,” Rex said trying to control the anger in his voice. “I promised I’d take her home.”
Devon looked up at him with his nose in the air. He didn’t like people talking back to him. “The peace of the clan is a little more important than keeping your promise.”
“There won’t be any peace if you marry her without a match!”
“She has a match.”
The words felt like a punch to the gut.
Rex had never in his life had to exert as much self-control as when Elizabeth had asked him to kiss her this morning. With her breasts pressed up against his face and her hand caressing his cheek, he’d been fantasizing about much worse than just a kiss. But he’d had to say no. He’d had to protect her. Extramarital relations on Mudden were punished by death, and he wasn’t going to risk her life just for a little fun. Because he knew fun was what she’d had in mind. She’d enjoyed the excitement of being in danger and hiding for her life. That was what Elizabeth wanted—she craved excitement. And he’d have been happy to give it to her under any other circumstances.
She’d been angry and embarrassed afterward, but he’d had to be mean. He’d known he wouldn’t have the willpower to tell her no a second time if she’d asked him again. Still, he’d spent the rest of the time they’d been locked in that room thinking about ways he’d make it up to her the moment they were back on his ship and off the planet. Assuming she’d forgiven him by then.
It’s not like he’d imagined anything serious between them. That was the price he paid for being an unmatched Mudden man, he could never be married without a match. But it was still hard to stomach the thought that she was meant for someone else.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He could barely control the anger boiling to the surface. “Where is he?”
Devon narrowed his eyes, and Rex knew he’d heard the emotion in his voice.
“It’s you.”
The painful pressure in his stomach released, suddenly replaced by violent flutters. All the blood in his body rushed to his ears. “That’s not possible. I haven’t applied to be matched in years.”
“No, but we had your file from five years ago, and you were the only match for one of the doctors on our list, so we reactivated your application.”
His brain struggled to make sense of Devon’s words. “Elizabeth is my match?”
He nodded.
It didn’t make any sense, this wasn’t the way things were done. “Why didn’t you tell me from the start?”
“It is not uncommon for newly married women to be angry for months. I didn’t want to risk marrying her before the birth of the babies, in case she’d be too mad to help Lauren.”
So his plan had been to tell her she wasn’t going back home after she’d saved the lives of his wife and sons. Rex clenched his fist, feeling a sudden urge to punch something—or someone. He’d never been a fan of Devon, but his opinion of him lowered considerably in that moment.
“I didn’t think it would be appropriate to ask you to wait if you’d known she was your match.”
Rex shook his head. “So you sent me to fetch her instead, knowing full well that…” He couldn’t finish that sentence. Not to Devon. What? Knowing that as his match he would inevitably fall for her? Had he? He didn’t want to think about that, not now, in front of him.
Worst of all, he imagined how Elizabeth would feel. Betrayed. The second they tied that string around their wrists, she would think he lied to her. He’d brought her here after all.
She’d already asked him if he’d been planning on kidnapping her. He bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smirking. Like she’d even needed to be kidnapped! He’d only had to dangle the chance of an adventure in front of her and she’d come running.
Seemed like it hadn’t taken them long to figure each other out. He remembered Elizabeth saying she could get anything out of him with a smile. He couldn’t be blamed for that. So few women actually smiled at him, it did tend to take him off guard. And Elizabeth had a particularly nice smile, genuine, and it did things to his insides that he’d up to now chosen to ignore.
Rex suddenly really wanted to get away from Devon and find Elizabeth. But he needed to know one more thing first. “What about my job?”
Devon shrugged. “We’ll find something else for you to do here in the palace.”
That was that then. No more traveling. No more ship. Pressure painfully squeezed on his heart. He’d be stuck on Mudden.
With Elizabeth, he reminded himself. His Elizabeth.
The pounding blood in his ears suddenly made its way south. Elizabeth would be his. His match. In his bed. If she ever forgave him.
“She’ll be mad,” he said mostly to himself.
“She better not hold it against Lauren.”
Rex heard the threat in Devon’s voice loud and clear, and only his desire for self-preservation saved Devon from getting punched in the face. Even now all Devon cared about was himself. “She’ll help Lauren.” He didn’t doubt Elizabeth would keep her promise, even when Devon didn’t keep his. She wouldn’t let Lauren die.
“You should go get ready,” Devon continued, inclining his head toward the door. “We’ll do the ceremony as soon as the main room is ready.”
Match Found – Griff
Griff’s point of view before the start of Match Found.
It is the day that the men of Glaerus find out who in the village has been matched.
It was that time of year again.
Griff, along with the other young and single men of the village, made his way to the council building. Some men walked in silence with their shoulders hunched over, others made jokes and slapped each other on the back. Nodding to every villager he passed, Griff kept a casual smile on his face, but no one came to slap him on the back. Most people avoided eye contact and smiled sadly as they waved back at him.
Of all the men marching to the council building, Griff was the oldest. Most of the unmatched men his age had stopped applying years ago. The chances of finding a match after the age of thirty-five were extremely low, but that wasn’t going to stop Griff from showing up.
He wasn’t stupid. He knew the odds were against him. He didn’t allow himself to hope, yet he still made the trip. He wanted to show his support, even if he remained unmatched—especially because he was unmatched.
Celyn was causing unrest with the older unmatched men of the village, and the best way to defeat them was to show his support for a system he did not believe in himself. He would follow the traditions, support the council, and shake the hands of the few who would have their greatest wish fulfilled tonight. It was the proper thing to do, better than hiding and complaining. He just wished they would all stop looking at him with pity.
He entered the room but stayed in the back. The youngest men crowded the benches at the front and chatted in excited voices. Griff remembered those days when he hadn’t really cared about being matched. Back then, the choosing had been just another occasion to get off work and hang out with his friends. Of course, anyone who got matched that young always got bragging rights, but at that age, being chosen was more of a game than an overwhelming desire.
The rest of the room was divided into smaller groups of similarly aged men. The thirty-year-olds sat quietly and alone, as always. At that age, being chosen became a necessity. It was now or never. It became an all-consuming thought, as if nothing else could give their lives meaning. Even though Griff had some good friends in that group, he left them to their solitude. He knew from experience that it could take all your strength just to keep your composure when under such extreme stress.
The council walked onto the stage, dressed in their multicolored robes. Griff shook his head. He hated those robes. They looked ridiculous. Andras, his best friend, was third in line. He looked hot and uncomfortable in the stuffy formal garment. Griff waved, and Andras nodded back.
Andras had been matched fifteen years ago, only two years after turning of age, which had allowed him to gain some respect among the clan and helped him to get his spot on the council. There was no rule that council members had to be matched, but it always helped. Griff didn’t begrudge him his success though. Andras had a friendly personality and a no-nonsense attitude that made him a perfect candidate for the council. Griff had found other ways to help out.
He didn’t feel like sitting, so he found a spot in the back to lean against the wall. He watched as Eurion Badder, the Council leader, placed three folders side by side on the table in front of him. Three folders for three men. A respectable number for their small village.
No one knew anything more at this point. Even the council members were not allowed to open the folders before the ceremony. Extreme precautions were taken to avoid any favoritism. The chosen were chosen based on their match, and no other criteria mattered. Whether you were the beloved head of the council or the lowliest criminal, everyone was equal when it came to the matching.
The council members took their seats and the ceremony began. Eurion made his speech. It was the same speech every year, and Griff had stopped listening years ago. Instead, he stared at the folders on the table and dared himself not to hope, not to imagine what might lay inside. He might try to deny it, but in the end, he was the same at thirty-six as he’d been at thirty. A nervous fool. He resisted the urge to wipe his sweaty palms on his legs. He was here to show his support. He had no business hoping for himself.
When the speech was over, Andras rose from his chair and approached the table. He opened the first folder.
“The first chosen is Cadwell,” he spoke, raising his voice unnecessarily as everyone in the room appeared to have stopped breathing simultaneously.
The room filled with polite applause. Cadwell stood up with a smile of relief on his face and went to sit on one of the three chairs placed next to the table. Griff joined in the applause. Cadwell was a good man, and he deserved to be chosen. Moreover, this was his eleventh choosing, so he was fully ready for a match.
Andras went to the second folder.
“The second chosen,” he said, opening the folder, “is Iwan.”
A loud cheer came from the group of young men in the front, and Iwan rose to take his place next to Cadwell. Griff applauded a little less enthusiastically for Iwan. The lad was still young and thought a little too well of himself. He could probably have benefited from a few years of waiting, but the choosing was not a reward for being a good man. If Iwan was chosen, it meant his match was found, and nothing else mattered.
Andras waited for the cheering to die down and made his way back to the table.
“The third and last chosen is…”
He opened the folder but remained silent. He looked frozen in shock. Then he looked up and straight into Griff’s eyes.
Griff’s heart stopped beating. For a split second, he forgot how to breathe, forgot how to even form thoughts.
“Griff,” Andras finally said, a huge smile spreading across his face.
Blood pounding in his ears, Griff wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly, but everyone was turning toward him, so Andras must’ve called his name. Somehow his legs remembered how to walk, and his body led him to the third chair with no help from his brain.
The rest of the ceremony was a blur. Eurion made another speech. Afterward, the council and the unmatched men were allowed to come up to the newly chosen to shake their hands and congratulate them. Griff tried to be polite—hoped he was polite—but his heart was still pumping too much blood to his brain to allow any clear thoughts to form.
It wasn’t until everyone had left, and the chosen were the only non-council members remaining, that Griff began to regain his normal brain functions.
He’d been chosen. Inside that folder on the table was the name and picture of his match. Suddenly, opening that folder became the most important thing in his life, but Eurion was not done talking.
“Your matches are already on their way and will arrive in Mudden in a week,” he explained.
Griff would have a week to prepare his new home. He would have a home. Only the matched had private homes, while the unmatched shared communal housing. But even that thought couldn’t hold his attention, and his gaze returned to the folder on the table.
Andras must’ve caught him looking. “There is no point in delaying any further,” he said. “Here is all the information you will need to know about your chosen before they arrive.”
He picked up the three folders and handed Griff his first with a wink.
Griff took the folder onto his lap, took a deep breath, and opened it.
Kay.
Match Foiled – Altair
Altair’s point of view at the end of chapter 11 of Match Foiled.
Altair tied Nova to a chair after confronting her about her hidden identity. He then left, telling her that he was going to report her.
Altair stormed out, hurrying down the street and getting angrier with every step.
Not Meghan. Not his match.
She’d lied to him. He’d been so happy these past weeks. Although they hadn’t been physical, they’d spent a lot of time talking, sharing, and getting to know each other. He thought she was finally falling for him, and he patiently waited for the day when she would be ready to be his wife.
He’d been an absolute fool!
If he kept a brisk pace, he would be at his office in five minutes. There, he could write a letter to his grandfather explaining what had happened and be back before Meghan—Nova—managed to untie herself. Then he would follow her and see where she went. Hopefully, she would lead him straight to her accomplices.
He dreaded writing that letter. He would be the joke of the family once again. But he had to. It would be the only way to fix what she’d done and bring the real Meghan to Mudden.
His real match was still out there somewhere. His second chance at happiness.
Why did that thought not fill him with excitement? Why was dread the only emotion he’d felt when looking at her picture?
Because he didn’t want someone else. He didn’t care about words on a piece of paper. He wanted the woman who’d been driving him mad for the past months. He wanted the one who smiled suggestively at him whenever she wanted something from him, thinking he was too stupid to figure her out. He wanted the one who moaned with desire, which she tried so hard to deny, whenever he touched her. He wanted the woman with fire in her eyes that made his blood drum with passion. She had the power to make him feel alive, and it was a feeling he was slowly getting addicted to.
What would happen to her when his grandfather found out the truth? Would he have her killed? The sudden pain in his chest shocked him with its intensity.
She would be taken away from him.
No!
Nova or Meghan, match or not, in the end, it didn’t matter. The string had been tied around their hands. He’d said the word “forever” while looking into her eyes.
She was his wife. And more than that, he wanted her to be his wife.
“Nova,” he said the word out loud, getting used to the feel of it in his mouth.
Nova, Nova, Nova, he thought, trying to imprint the name in his head. He’d spent a lot of time thinking of her as Meghan, but Meghan was a stranger who happened to score well on a test. Nova was his wife, and he didn’t want to accidentally use the wrong name ever again.
His Nova.
Altair had never thought of himself as a possessive person before. He’d never possessed anything of his own in his life, always moving from place to place wherever he was needed by his family. But Nova made him feel differently. She made him crave. The way she constantly challenged him made him want to prove himself to her. He needed to make her see that she was his. The deceit hadn’t made those feelings diminish in any way. If anything, it’d made them stronger.
Altair didn’t know what he was going to do, but there was one thing he was absolutely certain of. Nova was his, and he wasn’t going to let her go.
He turned around, making his way back to the house, and hid behind a bush with a view of the front door.
He didn’t have to wait long. Of course not. He would never make the mistake of underestimating her again.
Nova stepped out, looking both ways, and set off down the street.
She wore a plain dress and walked briskly away from him. The sight of her filled his mind with one overpowering thought.
Mine.
Match Forced – Price
Price’s Point of view during chapter nine of Match Forced.
Price is aboard the Star Companion, discussing with Elizabeth and Rex what they will do when they arrive on Mudden.
Price couldn’t get Thalia out of his head. A lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours, yet his brain couldn’t focus on anything but replaying what they’d done in her apartment two nights ago.
He sat in the cockpit of the Star Companion with Rex and Elizabeth. The two were discussing their meeting with Fartech, but Price’s thoughts kept going back to Thalia lying under him.
Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t had sex in over a year. Or maybe it was more than that. He liked Thalia. A lot. He liked looking at her, he liked talking to her, he liked making her blush or roll her eyes, and he definitely liked making her laugh. She laughed so rarely that it always felt like a special treat she reserved just for him.
Price hadn’t felt like this in a long time. Maybe never. In the past, when he’d gotten involved with a woman, he’d always had to lie about who he was and what he did. For the first time, he’d been able to just be himself with a woman, and he was getting addicted to the experience. Whether it’d been the lies or the women themselves, he’d never felt that connection before Thalia.
And now, he wanted more.
But Thalia would be married to someone else the moment they reached Mudden, and she’d made it pretty clear she wasn’t interested in seeing him on the way there either. He couldn’t blame her. What would be the point when nothing could come of their relationship. Besides, anyone could see that she was too anxious about rescuing her sister to be thinking about men.
Price sighed.
He could help her find her sister and hope that she would be more interested in dating once she was back home and her sister was safe. Of course, that was assuming that her sister could be rescued. From what Elizabeth had told him about Kay, she was happily married and was an active member of the local rebel group. She might not want to leave. She might even convince Thalia to stay. Then Thalia would remain married to some stranger. Not a real match but a real husband nonetheless.
“In a way, Thalia going to Glaerus would be a good thing for us,” Elizabeth said. The mention of Thalia’s name cut through Price’s thoughts. “She could contact the rebel groups in Glaerus and Baedden and tell them about our situation.”
“If her new husband allowed it,” Rex said.
Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest. “I get to pick her husband.”
“What if you don’t recognize any of the names on the list of matched men?” Rex asked.
Maybe Elizabeth could be convinced to hide Thalia on their ship and not marry her at all.
“Besides,” Price said, trying to keep his voice as disinterested as possible, “you’d have an extra woman on the Ark ship to get rid of,”
“That’s true,” Rex said. “The Ark is already full and on its way to Mudden. If we marry Thalia to a matched man, we’ll have to remove the woman who was matched to him.”
Elizabeth sighed. “It’s never this hard when we’re the ones in charge of the recruiting,” she said.
Price’s head filled with images of the future. He saw himself helping Thalia find her sister and Thalia, overcome with gratitude, throwing herself into his arms. But the plan was risky because Thalia would not be on Mudden legally, and her life would be in danger if she were ever found out.
“Or,” Elizabeth said. “Lily will be creating a brand new profile for Melanie, maybe she could do the same for Thalia. She could marry her to any unmatched man of our choosing. Maybe someone already in Glaerus.”
Or to me.
Price’s heart beat against his ribs. He struggled to keep his face completely blank.
“That might look suspicious when they discover the two women know each other,” he said, his mouth going dry.
Elizabeth shrugged. “If they’re smart, they’ll pretend they’ve never met before.”
Price bit the inside of his cheek. “I could take her to Glaerus.”
“That’s the beauty of this plan, Price, you wouldn’t need to,” Elizabeth said, completely oblivious to his internal turmoil.
Rex narrowed his eyes as he looked at him. “You want to marry her?”
Price’s cheeks warmed as he nodded, not trusting his voice.
“Price!” Elizabeth sounded outraged.
“It’s not that crazy,” he said. “You have to marry her to someone. She already knows me. Isn’t that better than marrying her to a complete stranger? Besides, you can trust me to take care of her.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “And what’s in it for you?”
Price swallowed. He wanted to keep Thalia by his side at all cost, but the look Elizabeth was giving him made him feel ashamed, and he wasn’t entirely sure why.
“Nothing. I just want to help her.”
“You’re in love with her.” Rex had a small knowing smile on his face.
Price’s heart pounded even harder. He didn’t want to talk about that with them. The only person he was interested in having this conversation with was Thalia, and she wasn’t ready for it.
“And if I were, it would only give me more of a reason to protect her.”
Elizabeth gave him a long searching look. “You are doing this to help us with the rebellion, right?” Price nodded vehemently, hopeful that Elizabeth might allow this after all. “Even if she somehow manages to leave Mudden, you will stay and help?”
“Yes,” Price said, knowing it was a lie.
Every cell in his body told him that if Thalia left Mudden, he would go with her. But too much was at stake to be squeamish about lying to Elizabeth. Although seeing the look that passed between her and Rex, he guessed they didn’t really believe him anyway.
“Fine,” she said. “You’ll have to tell her.”
Price smiled for the first time since the start of the conversation.
He went back to the kitchen and sat down on his couch, trying to get up the nerve to talk to Thalia.
He pulled up his comm interface to send her a message.
Hungry?