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  Brax touched me and I trembled. My body was whole again. But my mind? My heart? My soul? I wasn’t so sure about the rest of me. And maybe that’s why this would be all there could ever be between us. Sex. Raw. Hot. No-strings-attached sex.

  Agony blossomed inside my mind like a sudden explosion of fireworks, but I forced it down, back into its cage. This wasn’t the time or the place. I didn’t want to feel those things now. I didn’t want to think about the past, or the future.

  I just wanted to feel and he was doing an excellent job of that. I panted, trying to settle into the heat, the burn, the bite of pain. The sweetest pleasure.

  I didn’t realize my eyes were closed until Brax’s palm came to rest against my cheek, his thumb gently brushing away a single tear that had escaped in defiance of my orders.

  “Are you sure you want to be here, Miranda? While I can see your pussy is dripping in need for me, you are… quiet. We can stop now.” Brax’s voice was gentle, and I knew he meant what he said. This was an agreement for our mutual pleasure, nothing more. I wasn’t about to tell him all my fears. He already knew too much about my past. More than anyone else on this planet. More, even, than Natalie.

  “No, Master. I don’t wish to stop. I need this. I need you.”

  Brax leaned down and kissed me, gently. There was acceptance in the touch, and I knew he would accept my words and not push for answers. Just as I didn’t demand answers from him about where he disappeared to on his missions, when he would return, or if he was fucking someone else. He wasn’t my mate, after all.

  The kiss turned hot and I trembled. Leaning forward, I felt the gems sway. I lifted my arms to his chest, stealing the touch I knew he would deny me later.

  His hands wrapped around my wrists and he lifted my hands above my head, denying me now.

  “Come, Miranda.” Brax didn’t use the term I’d heard other males use with their mates, gara. There was no literal translation into English, so my NPU didn’t substitute anything when they said it. Best I could figure it was something close to love. When I’d asked Roark about the term, he’d said it meant literally a piece of his soul. So romantic, and one more reminder of what Brax and I were to each other. We took care of each other’s physical needs, but we weren’t the same soul.

  Not even close. And that was why I’d never heard that word from his lips.

  Obediently, I rose and followed him to a padded bench that was common in the private quarters of males on Trion. Brax had two benches, one narrow, like a sawhorse, that he could bend me over and then chain my wrists to my ankles, leaving my pussy and ass exposed. The other, a padded swing with places for my back, arms and legs so he could strap me in, suspended in the air, and do with me as he pleased.

  I loved them both.

  Tonight, he led me to the swing, and I fought for patience as he strapped my arms and legs to leather bindings that hung from chains attached to the ceiling. Once I was bound, he nudged my ankles wide, making my pussy open, then lowered me slowly backward until my feet left the ground and I was swinging, face up, in the air. Standing between my open legs, he loomed over me like a sex god and my pussy clenched.

  “Don’t you want to know what else your gifts can do?” he asked, his gaze roaming over me. I knew he could see my clamped nipples, the turgid tips a deep red. My pussy was bare and open to him, crowned by the green gem that tugged on my clit. I knew he could see how wet I was, how my pussy—and even my ass—clenched in eager anticipation. I wondered if he would fuck me there or place a toy in my ass as he took my pussy. I loved it all. Wanted everything at once.

  “Yes, Master. Please.” I already knew what the jewels were capable of. I’d heard talk of the special adornments males of this world placed on their females’ bodies. Things that vibrated and zapped and wreaked havoc on her sanity. He could wreak some serious havoc on me. I was more than ready. It seemed the clamps were only the start.

  If only they were permanent.

  Mine.

  With a grin I’d become all too familiar with, he touched the large ring he wore on his right hand. With a small twist, tiny electric shots blasted through my clit and nipples, followed by a vibration that made my back arch up and my breath catch.

  “Holy shit, what is that?” I gasped. He grinned. I tried to shift my hips, but the swing held me in such a way that I could do nothing but take what he gave me. “I’m going to come, Master.”

  “No, you will not.” His stern order was followed by a swat to my inner thigh, just hard enough to pull me back from the edge. “You will not come until I give you permission.”

  Moaning, I obeyed, fighting the surge of unexpected heat flowing through my veins.

  For him, I would hold on, knowing that in the end, my restraint would be worth it.

  Brax bent over me, his dark eyes lingering on the jewels dangling from my nipples. He ran his finger along the inner folds of my pussy and gently tugged on the jewel there.

  I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped.

  “You will look beautiful one day, Miranda, when your mate adorns you properly.” His fingertips traced a line from one breast to the other. “A chain will be here.” He ran his finger down to my clit as I fought the swing to get closer to him. “And here, shining like a beacon against your skin. No one will doubt you are truly claimed.”

  He spread my pussy lips apart and placed his huge cock at the edge of my core. The swing was the exact height to allow him to slide right into me. “I’m going to take you now. You will not come until I am deep inside you.”

  He thrust forward, slowly, drawing out my pleasure. One more tap to the ring—which was the smallest remote control I’d ever seen—and another strike of lightning went through my body.

  His cock bottomed out inside me, stretching me fully, filling me completely. Making me whole. Then, as I’d come to expect, he reached beneath me and slid two large fingers inside my ass, stretching me as he thrust with his cock. I was full, the sting of pain, the invasion of every part of me making me cry out. I lost it, the orgasm rushing through me like every cell in my body went into spasm.

  This bliss, this pleasure he could give me, was like a drug. I was addicted, and I wasn’t sure how I could resist another hit. But I would. I would have to because I didn’t belong to him.

  And as much as I had hoped otherwise, the words he’d just spoken made my body burn but my heart break. I didn’t belong to him. And he didn’t belong to me.

  2

  Doctor Valck Brax

  * * *

  Miranda was so beautiful, lost to the world as I fucked her through the first spasms of orgasm. She was so hot, so tight and the way her pussy rippled around me as she came would be my undoing. My release would be quick this first time, my balls too full, but it wouldn’t be the last. I would take her often this night, and this would be the first of many orgasms. It had to be enough to hold us both over for a few weeks, until I returned from duty once again.

  But the sight of her now would keep me warm on long, cold nights, give me a vision to recall when I gripped my cock and found relief while I was gone. The layered dressing gown she wore looked like a gift-wrapped bow made of prisms. And inside that gift, a warm, wet female all too eager to ride my cock. With the gems and clamps peeking out from between the folds… fark, I wanted to come again.

  Those jewels, the dark green color, lay perfectly against her skin. I’d chosen them carefully, chastising myself for a fool even as I imagined adorning her in truth. Claiming her for my own. Seeing them on her responsive body, watching my cock slide in and out of her wet pussy as she gasped and begged for more, made me realize that I was lost. I was hers. There would be no fighting it, not any longer.

  The problem was that she didn’t want me. She didn’t want a mate at all. She’d been poorly treated and no longer trusted a mate to care for her. I had been careful, very, very careful not to push her too hard outside of the bedroom. Within, she was mine. She bent to my will and offered her submissive body for my pleas
ure. But beyond my bedchamber? She was defiant. Quiet. Closed off. Even here, she cried and would not reveal her pain to me.

  If I pushed, she would run, just as she’d run from her first mate.

  She’d left him behind, on Earth, so desperate to get away that she’d traveled across the galaxy to a new planet.

  To me.

  And I didn’t want to lose her as that fool had.

  Miranda had come to me months ago, told me of her trouble finding physical pleasure, of her former mate’s lack of skill in the art of satisfying his female. The imbecile. She had blamed herself for his deficiency, but I knew the truth of it. Her mate had been lazy. Selfish. He had not treasured, nor valued her enough to learn what made her happy. To make her writhe and scream and shudder at his every touch.

  I had more than made up for his idiocy and enjoyed every moment. Now, with my cock buried deep and her soft skin on display, I mourned both the fact that Miranda did not want me, and the fact that I could not take a mate. My job was too dangerous, and I refused to place a female in the position of being alone for weeks at a time.

  But I could not walk away from my duty. The things I did in service to Councilor Roark were important to keep our people safe and protected.

  I was torn in half every time I was with Miranda. Wanting to stay with her, adorn her permanently, make her mine. And yet, I wanted to keep her apart. Separate. Safely away from my job and the constant danger I faced. She’d come to me first, offering her body. In all this time, she had not asked me to belong to her. To make her mine permanently. She had not made any demands, either. She simply reveled in the pleasure I provided, as did I.

  I could not dwell on this now, my cock buried deep, her inner walls gripping and practically milking the cum from my balls. A good lover did not think of anything but the sweet bliss of a female’s body at a time like this. I was an attentive lover, and I would prove that to her.

  I let the swing do the work. Putting my hands on the chains that affixed it to the ceiling, I pushed. She slipped off my cock until only the tip remained opening her up, then I let go, allowing gravity to slide her back onto me. Again and again did she swing off, then onto my cock until her breathing was erratic. Sweat glistened on her skin. Her pussy juices coated my balls. A flush crept over her adorned breasts. She was being such a good girl holding off her second orgasm. Waiting. Waiting.

  “Come now,” I growled, unable to hold off my own pleasure any longer. It sizzled down my spine, burst from me in spurts of thick cum that filled her. She screamed and came with me, taking everything I gave her with unleashed passion, with the most giving heart, the most willing body.

  I held my legs locked, trying to stop myself from crumpling to the floor. She could kill me with pleasure alone, but I had to care for her, see to her needs before my own, remove her from the swing and carry her back to bed. I would gently remove the clamps and kiss the places that had been so beautifully tortured. Then I would lick her clit until she came again.

  Long minutes later, job complete, I settled her against me, her taste on my tongue, her juices coating my cock. Fark.

  Miranda was wrapped in my arms, replete. Exhausted. Covered in the sweaty, sated haze of sex.

  I loved the way she curled against me. Trusted me to hold her. A small smile turned up the corner of her full lips, and it made me smile, too. I was… happy. Content. The feeling was usually as fleeting as an orgasm, but the contentment I felt with her had extended to include this… snuggle time, as she’d called it.

  I could not keep her with me any more than I could hold on to the feelings she pulled from my body. And so circumstances forced me to break the mood. Usually, I was in the city for several days after a mission, free time I would spend with my cock buried deep in Miranda, making her come until she couldn’t speak.

  Not this time. I was back in the city tonight only, for duty called. “I must leave in the morning.”

  She tensed, her body going rigid in surprise as if she were suddenly uncomfortable, but she did not lift her head from my chest. “So soon?”

  “Councilor Roark is sending me to deal with a problem in the south.”

  She relaxed in my arms once again, and I pulled the soft sheet up to cover us both, not wanting her tender skin to get cold. “Do you think you will ever be done with these missions, Brax? Ever settle down and take a mate?”

  It was my turn to go still. What was she asking? Was she asking me to be hers? She’d asked if I would ever take a mate, not take her as a mate. My heart skipped a beat, then raced with excitement I had not expected to feel. A longing for something I’d never wanted before. “Are you… are you asking me to be yours, Miranda? Your mate? To retire from field duty?”

  She turned her head, glanced up at me. “What? No. I would never ask you to do that. I wouldn’t want to put any pressure on you.”

  That quickly, my excitement faded to disappointment. Perhaps I had not pleasured her well enough. Perhaps she simply didn’t want me to be hers forever. She’d come to me with one goal, to know if her body was broken, to know if she could experience pleasure. Perhaps all she’d ever wanted from me was an answer to that question. Oh, I’d answered it all right. If she had any doubts of her passionate nature, how beautiful and incredible she was when she was in the throes of it, how hot I became knowing I was the one to make her that way… I’d spank her ass until she couldn’t sit for a week.

  “I will continue to serve as long as Roark needs me.” I kept my voice even, pushing all emotion down. Away.

  “Of course.” She snuggled in and turned her head, placing a kiss on my chest. A kiss that caused my heart to ache with a pain I’d never felt before. “I would never ask you to give up anything for me. That wasn’t the deal we made.”

  No, it was not, but I had believed—no, hoped. I had hoped that when my fighting days were done I would make her mine. Claim her. Fill her with children and adorn her with gold and jewels, as a proper mate should. I’d lied when I told her the jewels that had decorated her lush body so beautifully were a gift for her.

  They were a gift for me. I had needed to see her wearing something that marked her as mine, even if it was a lie. Even if they weren’t permanent. Yet.

  Earth females were a mystery. I’d only met Natalie, Roark’s mate, and that had not helped me with my understanding of their minds when it came to choosing mates.

  But Roark and Natalie had been matched through the Interstellar Brides Program. Perhaps that was why they seemed to move in and out of each other’s space seamlessly, as if they were one person. One soul.

  I would never ask you to give up anything for me.

  Never.

  That was a gods damned long time.

  Ignoring the ache spreading in my chest, I stroked her shoulder and placed a kiss on top of her head. “I must head south in the morning. I will be gone several weeks. I wanted you to know.”

  “Okay.”

  I knew that meant she understood and was not upset I would be leaving. That Earth slang I had picked up from her and Natalie over the two years since their initial arrival providing me the comprehension I required. But that one word of simple agreement also hurt.

  My lips lingered in her hair, the dark softness a soothing balm against my skin. I could stay here, holding her, forever. But that was not to be my fate. I had to leave in the morning, a rise in illegal weapons trade on the southern coast required my attention. Roark had asked me to take care of it himself.

  People were dying in the smaller cities, victims of territorial wars between smugglers’ factions. It had to be stopped.

  A soldier would be easily identified and killed if he tried to enter the smugglers’ camp.

  But a doctor? I’d be recruited. Taken to the inner circle. Trusted to treat their mates and children, heal their wounds.

  They wouldn’t see me as a threat until it was too late.

  It seemed no one expected much of me. Not the smugglers. And not the female who had fallen asleep in my arms.
My chest was wet beneath her eyes, a sign of more tears.

  Even in that, I was not trusted. Miranda was hurting, yet she didn’t trust me with her truths. Her hurts. Only with her body. All I was to her was… okay.

  When I returned from my next mission, I would do everything in my power to convince her that okay wasn’t enough. I wanted her to be mine. I wanted to hear a yes from her lips, not only when I brought her to orgasm, but when I asked her to be my mate, my partner in bed and out. And if that meant I had to tie her down and give her a thousand orgasms, break barriers down until she was a sobbing, sweaty, exhausted mess and that one word would be uttered again and again, I would.

  She was mine. She simply did not know it yet.

  3

  Miranda, Personal Quarters, Xalia City, Five Weeks Later

  * * *

  “Okay, girlfriend, I brought the wine.”

  Natalie held up a bottle of pale liquid and walked past me into my quarters. I’d sent her a comms message and she had appeared—thankfully not empty-handed—in less than an hour. With a newborn, a toddler and a very attentive mate, I was impressed she’d torn herself away so quickly.

  The door to my quarters silently slid closed behind her, and I followed her into my small kitchen area. Thank god for BFFs, even on Trion. I couldn’t even imagine if I’d remained on Earth without her. Here, even on a planet we were growing accustomed to, we’d needed each other. Of course, she had hottie Roark. And little Noah, who wasn’t so dang little anymore, not with Roark’s genes in him. And then baby Talia. I grinned, thinking about how much trouble Roark was going to be in soon enough. She was only five weeks old and that little girl had her daddy wrapped around her little finger, just like her mama.

  “The bottle’s a little different than on Earth, but the wine tastes the same,” Natalie continued, reaching for glasses and setting them on the counter. She was a mother of two, and she still looked amazing. She was everything I was not… tall. Blonde. Gorgeous.