Fighting For Their Mate Read online

  “Whatever you’re going to do, do it now,” Dorian shouted at me as he fired again and again. The beast’s body was singed, visible vapor rising from his shoulder into the air, but he kept walking. The Hive tech had turned a beast into a true monster. Stronger than any living creature I’d ever seen.

  “Trinity, have the tranqs ready.”

  “How many?” she asked.

  “All of them,” I said. I meant to take Angh down, and take him home. “If he doesn’t go down, take him out.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Jack grumbled, but Trinity was already reaching into her gear for the tranquilizers as Jack moved up to cover her.

  I stepped back and grabbed the tranquilizer injections from her just as the beast reached Dorian. He wrapped his hands around Dorian’s neck, lifted him off the ground like the seven-foot Prillon warrior weighed nothing, and threw him against the wall.

  Dorian fell to the floor but was instantly on his feet in a crouch, blood dripping from his head, battle fury glazing his eyes. His battle cry was loud, a clear challenge meant to keep the beast’s attention as I advanced on him from behind.

  The distraction worked as the beast took a step forward to finish what he’d started.

  I slung my rifle to the ground and dropped all my gear. I needed a running start and didn’t want the extra weight. I ignored Jack’s cursing and checked the angle of the injectors in my hand.

  “Now!” Dorian’s order was a boom in the room and I ran as he reached for the beast, used every ounce of strength he possessed to hold Angh in place for precious seconds so I could make my attack.

  Silently, I sprinted forward and jumped on the beast’s back. The moment I made contact, I jammed the injectors into the side of the warlord’s neck.

  With a roar, the beast reached behind him, grabbed me by my armor and threw me so that my back hit the wall next to where Dorian had been moments ago. I slid to the ground in a heap and struggled to right myself, head spinning, the pain like I’d cracked open my skull. The iron scent of blood filled my helmet but I blinked it away as Trinity opened fire to keep the beast off me, shooting as his legs.

  “Hold your fire!” I tried to yell, but the order came out more of a croak. I didn’t need to worry. The beast swayed on his feet, fighting the drugs that flooded his system, but I’d given him enough to take down a large elephant. Even the Atlans weren’t that strong.

  Jack fired once. Twice. Like Trinity, keeping the strikes to the Hive implants on the beast’s legs and shoulders until he toppled, unconscious.

  Trinity lifted her helmet and looked at me, a slight shimmer in her eyes as she stared at the felled Atlan. “Why did you do that, Seth? Why did you have us save him?”

  “Because he’s my friend.” One of the few still alive, if being implanted with Hive technology could be considered living. But at least now he’d have a chance. The docs could remove most of the tech and send him to live on the Colony. He’d never fight again, but at least he’d survive.

  He might hate me for it. I knew that on a gut level. But I’d seen too much death. He’d just have to fucking get over it. Get tested for a mate, like my sister, Sarah, had talked me into last year. In a moment of weakness, full of whiskey and reminiscing about home, I’d given in and let her take me to the testing center for her Christmas present. She was so in love with her matched mate, Warlord Dax, that I simply couldn’t tell her no. She’d risked everything to save my life. Denying her was not an option.

  The testing? Yeah, that had been a huge mistake. First, it had been a year since I’d sat in that stupid chair and still no match. Second, I doubted I’d survive until the end of my tour long enough to get one. And if I did get matched before my service was up, leaving a grieving widow was not something I wanted to do. A pregnant wife? A child? No fucking way. Because if I had a mate, I’d want it all, but that was impossible. That was beyond cruel. I couldn’t be that selfish.

  Sarah didn’t understand. She lived a different life. Warlord Dax had retired once they were mated and the two of them settled into civilian life on Atlan. They were wealthy, living in a massive home with servants and accolades for his time in the Coalition Fleet. They hosted dinner parties and played with their daughter. A different life and not one I could offer any woman.

  Dorian crouched down next to me and I lifted my gaze to meet his. “You are one crazy bastard, Mills.”

  I couldn’t help it, I grinned. It wasn’t the first time Dorian had said those exact words to me, and I doubted it would be the last.

  “Thanks for saving my life. And what’s left of my crew. How long do we have before my ship explodes?” Dorian asked, wiping his brow.

  I glanced at the countdown in my helmet’s visor. “Two minutes.”

  He grinned back at me. “Plenty of time.”

  Moving in teams, we rushed to the emergency evacuation shuttle, six Prillon warriors carrying the unconscious Atlan between them. The transport rooms would be crawling with Hive and we didn’t have time for another fight.

  Dorian threw himself into the pilot chair and I stood behind him as Trinity took the seat to his right. She was a flyer. I wasn’t.

  The two went through their checks in seconds and my knees buckled for a moment as the shuttle detached from the freighter. The shift caused anyone not strapped in to lose their balance.

  “Clear?” Dorian asked.

  “Clear,” Trinity confirmed, her hands moving over the controls with practiced skill. I was too tired to even try to follow her actions. The shuttle lurched forward as the blast caused by the freighter exploding hit us from the side, throwing me into the control panel behind Dorian.

  Alarms sounded from the wall to my left and Dorian reached back with an irritated flick of his wrist. “Don’t touch anything, Mills.”

  “Shut up and drive,” I grumbled back.

  He chuckled and Trinity’s shoulders relaxed, the tension in the air draining away as we moved farther and farther from the wrecked remains of the Hive occupied freighter.

  When we were back in safe space, within the protection zone offered by Battlegroup Karter’s patrols, Trinity reached for the communication panel. “This is ReCon 3 for the Karter.”

  “Battleship Karter. Status ReCon 3.”

  Trinity looked at Dorian, who sighed. “We lost eight crew and all the cargo on the freighter.”

  “Seven survivors?” She was right, and she knew it. Hell, it wasn’t hard to count that high. I’d been surprised that seven had held out as long as they did.

  When Dorian nodded, she relayed the information to the control deck on the Battleship Karter. No doubt, Commander Karter himself was listening over the communication officer’s shoulders.

  “This is Commander Karter.”

  Hearing his voice had me rolling my eyes. Yup, he was listening.

  “I’d like to know the status of Captain Seth Mills.”

  Trinity looked up at me, shocked. That was a first, Karter asking after a specific member of the crew. I leaned forward and she nodded that I could go ahead and speak. “I’m here, Commander.”

  “Excellent.” There was a shuffling sound and Commander Karter spoke again, but his voice was quiet, as if he was speaking to someone behind him. “Tell Earth to go ahead and initiate transport.”

  “Earth?” I asked.

  “Your matched mate will arrive in a matter of hours, Captain. Congratulations.” The commander sounded pleased, but my heart was like a lead weight in my chest as my body filled with dread. Oh shit. Battling a Hive integrated Atlan hadn’t been as bad as this.

  An Interstellar Bride.

  From Earth.

  “Send her back,” I blurted.

  Dorian turned in his seat and pulled off his helmet, his golden eyes huge with shock. “What the fuck are you talking about, Mills? A bride is a gift.”

  “Not for me.” I looked at the control panel as if I could will the commander to obey me. “Send her back, sir. I can’t accept a bride.”

  “
That is not your choice to make, Captain.” The commander’s voice was hard now, all levity gone at my response to what any Prillon warrior would accept with great joy. “You have been tested and assigned a matched mate. Your bride will have thirty days to accept or reject you. The choice is out of your hands. Your mate has all the power now, Mills. I suggest you get back to the Karter and have your head examined. Dock 3.”

  “Yes, sir.” Dorian responded half a second before the line went dead. He turned to Trinity. “Can you take us in?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Do it.” He stood and grabbed me by the arm and tugged me out of the cockpit area. “Mills, come with me.”

  Chapter 2

  Chloe Phan, Interstellar Bride Processing Center, Miami

  * * *

  Lips roamed over my belly. My bare belly. A soft brushing and then a flick of the tongue. Heat swamped my senses and I felt the rough shock of whiskers as he turned his head, his breath fanning across my sweaty skin.

  My fingers were tangled in his hair. When had I done that? I didn’t remember sliding them through the silky strands. Tugging. Then again, I didn’t remember a guy being on his knees before me, learning my taste, my feel.

  “I can smell your desire.”

  My scent. Holy shit, his hands cupped my bare bottom and pulled me in so his mouth could go…there.

  “Oh!” I cried. My vocabulary was gone. Why? Because he had a very skilled tongue.

  “Step nice and wide for me, mate. I want access to this pussy of mine.”

  The growl was rough. Deep. Etched with sharp arousal.

  Unlike guys I’d been with in the past who hadn’t found my clit with a headlamp and a compass, he found it with laser precision, flicking over the swollen flesh ever so lightly. Just the slightest slide on the left, across the top and back and my head fell back in surrender.

  I was wet. Eager. Empty.

  Maybe he was a mind reader as well as a pussy-whisperer because a hand slid up the inside of my thigh and unerringly found my center, circled my entrance then slid two fingers inside.

  “You’re so tight,” he growled.

  I tangled my fingers in his hair, pulled him back into place. “Don’t stop.”

  Yeah, that was me. Begging.

  I felt him smile against my most sensitive flesh.

  “She likes this.”

  I did. I liked it a whole heck of a lot, but I wasn’t sure why he was speaking to me in third-person.

  “I can see that.”

  A voice came from just over my shoulder as hands came around to cup my breasts. Hands not belonging to the guy eating me out. I knew this because his hands were still on my butt.

  These new hands were big, tanned, with a smattering of dark hair on the backs. I could feel a hint of callouses on the palms as they lifted and learned the weight of my breasts.

  “Yes.” I arched my back. I’d never been with two guys before, but this felt right. Somehow, I knew they were mine. And not just one hot night after hitting the bar kind of mine. But mine. As in forever.

  The thought made me cry out and I heard their soft laughter.

  “Yes, mate?” The man’s voice was at my ear. Gentle, but deep. Resonant with a hint of need and quite a bit of power. His hands mimicked that; his touch gentle, but the way his fingers were rolling and teasing my nipples, he liked control. Liked to dominate me, even with the slightest of motions.

  And it worked. Yeah, my nipples were sensitive, always had been, but this guy knew exactly what he was doing.

  Both of them did.

  They quickly brought me to the brink of orgasm and they hadn’t done much. But then, I didn’t seem to be in control of my body. Or my mouth as I begged them to hurry, to take me. As I called them mate and told them I loved them.

  And I did. The feeling welled up inside me like an explosion, so fierce and desperate I nearly choked on it.

  Which made no sense, because they weren’t mine. I couldn’t even see their faces. And I hadn’t had a date in…well, a while. And never with two…

  “Two males are better than one, don’t you think?” The man behind me spread his hand over my chest, holding me down as his partner pushed me harder, one finger sliding into my sensitive bottom as he fucked me with his fingers and sucked my clit like his personal toy.

  Had the man behind me not been holding me down, I would have bucked and crawled away. Their attention was too much. Too intense. “I can’t take it.”

  “Yes, you can.” He pinched my nipple, hard, just as the edge of orgasm had been about to rush through me. How he knew, I wasn’t certain, but I could feel his quiet attention. His need. His deep pleasure at seeing me submit to them both.

  It was like we were connected.

  And the man between my legs? I felt his emotions somehow. Knew he was determined to make me writhe. Scream.

  Beg.

  Oh, God. I was in soooo much trouble here. I should be freaking out. But this body, this strange woman’s body, succumbed to the bliss. Welcomed it. Was familiar with their particular brand of sensual play. She was coiled tighter than I’d ever been, the anticipation in her mind impossible to resist. She knew her orgasm was going to make her body explode, her toes curl, her mind float away. And she wanted it.

  Which made me want it. So damned bad.

  Which made no sense, because I had no idea where I was, but I felt safe and cherished and protected by two strangers. But they weren’t strangers to this body I was in, to her. They were hers. Her mates.

  The man behind me fanned the swirl of my ear with his hot breath, his tongue following. “Two mates.”

  “Four hands.” His palms gave my swollen breasts a careful squeeze as his partner worked my pussy and my ass with one hand. His other was laid across my abdomen, holding me down. Trapping me between the two powerful warriors. A finger curled inside me, hitting a spot that had me shifting my hips. The hand on my abdomen firmly held me in place.

  “Two mouths.” I angled my head to the side as his lips slid down my neck, lighting a fiery wake. Instead of the tongue flicking over my clit, a mouth, hot and wet, settled over me, licked, suctioned slightly like he was kissing me there. Worshipping my body. The sudden gentleness, the feeling of being loved, washed through my mind like the most powerful aphrodisiac and I coiled even tighter. Desperate for them. Both of them. “Oh my god!”

  “Two cocks.”

  I felt the hard prod of one against my lower back. Thick and long. I felt a smear of wetness and I knew pre-cum oozed from the tip. He was as needy as I was.

  “My balls ache with a need for me to sink into you.”

  The guy before me swiped his flattened tongue from where his finger was deep inside me and up and over my clit. “You’ll feel how big I am. How hard you’ve made me. How crammed full you’ll be.”

  I licked my lips as I clenched down on his finger. It wasn’t enough. I wanted that cock. I wanted the one that prodded at my back. I wanted them both. I wanted to be stuffed so full I’d never be able to forget them. I wanted to be dominated. And I wanted to be the woman who gave them pleasure. Who took their cum, the woman they cherished, would die to protect. Theirs.

  This was crazy. Insane! I was dreaming—it had to be a dream—about two men. I’d never been with two men, let alone one guy who made me this hot. This needy.

  I’d had sex before, I wasn’t a prude. But it had only released pent-up energy. A way to destress. I’d had a high-pressure job for years and sometimes a girl just needed to get off and her hand or vibrator just wouldn’t do.

  A big cock was what was needed.

  While I’d had a few big cocks, none had the skill of these two. And we hadn’t even gotten to the penis-in-vagina part.

  “But first, you’ll come.”

  “I want you now,” I ordered, knowing they’d deny me. Knowing they’d increase their attention, their sensual torment. I gasped as they continued their attentions.

  “You’re our mate. It is our job, our privilege,
to pleasure you,” the one behind me murmured, then pinched my nipples.

  I gasped and the man between my legs growled. “Do that again. She just dripped all over my hand.”

  “Don’t stop,” I begged again when he stopped licking my pussy to speak.

  My nipples were pinched again, but nothing more was said. In seconds, I was brought to climax and I screamed. My body shook and I had no idea where I was. They completely destroyed me until the only thing I knew was them. They were real. Hot. Surrounding me. Keeping me sane as I came back to myself.

  My blood thickened, my skin bloomed with sweat, my ears tingled. Lights even danced before my eyes. That was one hell of an orgasm.

  “We’re not done, mate.” The one who’d ruthlessly played my clit moved back and the one behind me shifted, pulling me up so that my bare back pressed to the hot skin on his chest. His solid, muscled, huge chest. He pulled me back and suddenly I was pressed to his lap, my soft thighs brushing the rock-hard length of his, his knees bent enough so that I felt the flared crown of his cock slide over my slick and sensitive folds from behind. I felt the solidness of his body, the heat from his skin. He was so much bigger than me and I knew that he could hurt me easily. But that was not his intention. His goal was to fuck me, to make me feel good. Mission accomplished, but not finished. “That was just to warm you up. To get you all wet and swollen, ready for our big cocks.”

  The tip slid in an inch, settled. God, he was big. I clenched and squeezed around him, adjusting to being stretched open.

  “More?” he asked.

  “More,” I breathed, wiggling my hips, but the hold on my waist kept me from moving, from lowering myself onto his hard length like I wanted to. I wanted him deep. Stretching me. Fucking me like a wild thing. Out of control.

  “Bossy, isn’t she?” the one who’d licked my pussy said. He’d stood, but I still couldn’t see his face. Dreams were strange, blocking out the features of the man who’d eaten me out, but didn’t hide his naked body, his lean torso, the big cock that thrust toward me, eager to be inside. But I already had a cock in me, sliding in, retreating, going even deeper.