Tamed By The Beast (Interstellar Brides Book 7) Read online

  I thought of the other warlords I’d spoken to over the years, the Prillon warriors I saw on the battleships who took a mate. They’d all claim the desire for their mate was not like a fire, was not something that could ever be put out. No, the lust and need was more like a slowly boiling star. It would flare, shoot through the darkness of our battered souls like a storm, then ebb to the continual burn simply waiting to erupt again.

  Tiffani was my world now, and I wanted her to understand that. I needed her to know the depth of my devotion to her already. I slowly shook my head and raised my hand gently to stroke the curve of her cheek.

  When she pressed her face to my palm, I felt satisfaction that rivaled the feeling I had when she screamed my name, her pussy convulsing her pleasure on my cock. “Never, Tiffani. Neither beast nor man. Neither of us will ever get enough of you.”

  She blushed, the pretty pink color staining her cheeks. That I had expected. But I had also expected her to look away, to break the intensity of my gaze as I tried to absorb her essence with my eyes.

  She did neither. Her dark green gaze held mine and the emotion I saw there caught my breath, surged to my cock like a lightning strike and made me instantly hard as iron in her hands.

  “It is my job to soothe you,” she said, her hand tightening around the base of my cock, stroking it with expert skill. “Let me do my job.”

  I growled at her bold behavior. Yes. I would lie here and let her have her way. I was unaccustomed to allowing someone to have control over me, but for Tiffani, I would submit. For now. Her sexual aggression, her desire for me was no less arousing. Yes, if she wanted to take charge, I’d give my body into her care. And so would my beast.

  She worked me with hands and mouth, bringing me to the brink of orgasm just to release me before I could come deep in her throat. She’d tease me with her hands then, her lush lips exploring my body with nibbles and licks meant to push my limits. I realized, as she worked me to a fever pitch and held back time and again that she was testing me, testing my control.

  She was trusting me not to lose it.

  But my beast would not be denied. I couldn’t hold back, couldn’t resist her. She stroked me for a time, my hips bucking up for more. Her grip remained as she lifted a knee and straddled my hips, which opened her up so my cock nestled against her pussy.

  “Your job?” I said, biting my lip to keep from coming. Again. “Fucking my mate is not a job.” I sat up and began kissing along her shoulder. She whimpered.

  “Kissing my mate is not a job.” My mouth met hers and this was not a chaste kiss. It couldn’t be. She’d pushed me too far. It was explosive, my tongue finding hers, moving in and out of her mouth as my cock would her pussy soon enough. I broke the kiss and we were panting hard. Lowering my head, I took a nipple into my mouth, sucked and laved it with my tongue, gently nipped at the tip with my teeth.

  “Making your nipples hard is not a job.”

  I switched to the other nipple and her fingers tangled in my hair. I wanted to incite her passion, push her to the brink of coming before I took her. I wanted her as crazy as me, as wild as my beast.

  I slipped my fingers between her spread thighs, coated them in her wetness, brought them to my mouth and licked them clean.

  “It is not a job to taste your pussy, to make you come.”

  Her heavy lidded eyes flared with heat, then closed at my carnal words as I lifted her hips and then lowered her down onto my cock. She slid down over me like a glove, taking me deep. We both groaned at the pleasure. She was so hot, so wet and tight. I was big, but she took all of me. It was a perfect fit. She was perfect.

  She began to ride me then, her hands on my shoulders for balance and forced the beast to grip her lush hips and watch her face, the glistening of her skin, the way her mouth opened as she cried out when I lifted my hips beneath her, driving deeper than I’d been before. Her head was back, her eyes closed, mouth open as she breathed hard. Her breasts bounced and swayed as she used me for her pleasure, and I couldn’t fucking look away. Didn’t want to stop her.

  This wasn’t gentle lovemaking. This was wild and carnal. Intense and powerful. I helped her to the brink and pushed her over when I slipped a finger over her slick clit and gently brushed the side of it, then over the top where the hood had pulled back.

  Her fingernails dug into my shoulders as she screamed. I felt her inner walls clench down on my cock, trying to pull it in deeper. Her juices coated me completely in welcome and I used the wetness to slide in and out in a faster rhythm, drawing her orgasm out, pushing her to another. Her scent taunted the beast and I knew he would demand to taste her again soon. I would never get enough of the flavor of her arousal on my tongue, sweet like honey, yet wild and dark, appeasing my beast.

  The wildness just beneath the surface, the beast growled, and I took over, holding her in place as I began to fuck up into her.

  “Fuck,” I murmured. She was tight, so tight she squeezed me like a vise. I was mindlessly taking her. Fucking her. Rutting like a wild animal.

  She whimpered and I froze for a heartbeat in time, afraid I had hurt her. Her soft body yielded so perfectly in my arms that I had begun to lose control, to take her as I wanted. To fuck her hard, forcing her body to stretch, to accommodate my large cock.

  “Don’t stop!” She tugged at my hair, her hips wiggling in protest.

  “I’ll never fucking stop,” I growled. Her eyes opened even as I thrust into her again and again. “You’re mine. So fucking beautiful.”

  Her emerald eyes met mine. I saw the passion and desire in them, the need to come again building like storm clouds before the lightning.

  “Mine. Mine. Mine,” I rumbled with each penetrating stroke. She was my mate. I knew it. My beast knew it. The scent of her, the feel of her, the taste of her. Even the sounds of her coming. It all soothed the beast and made it howl in happiness.

  As for me, the man, I needed to come. My balls had emptied onto my belly just minutes ago, but there was more seed for her. There always would be. And so I nipped at the juncture of her neck and shoulder and moved my hands to cup her bottom, to open her pussy wider. I thrust as I used my hands on her ass to pull her forward and down, onto my cock.

  “Come again, love. Come all over my cock,” I whispered in her ear, my voice deliberately gentle as my cock was not.

  Perhaps it was the command of my words. Perhaps it was the fact that I was accepting her as my mate. Perhaps it was that I held her ass in my hands, that I held her in place, forcing her to surrender to my will.

  Whatever the cause, her inner walls rippled and pulled me deeper. Her orgasm shook her body, but she did not scream. She offered no sound as I came deep inside her, filling her with my seed. I marked her, coated her with my essence.

  Our orgasms put us in sync, connecting us, binding us just as the cuffs did.

  She was mine. I was hers. And the beast, it was sated once more.

  Chapter Eight

  Deek

  “How long do we have to stay?” I leaned in and whispered in Tiffani’s ear. Of course, my beast detected her womanly scent and I couldn’t help but kiss the side of her neck. “I won’t last long with you in that dress.”

  “We’ve only been here thirty minutes,” she countered, turning her head so she looked right at me, but I could see the happiness in her gaze. My compliment had pleased her.

  I’d have to compliment her often.

  Her green eyes were enhanced by some coloring she had added to her face. Her dress matched the color of her eyes perfectly. When she’d come out of our bedroom in her dress I’d almost come in my pants. My beast had wanted to jump on her and fuck her right in the doorway.

  In fact, we’d be in bed this moment, naked and sated if she hadn’t put up her hand and threatened me with death if I messed up her up-do. I had no idea what she was talking about until she pointed to the elaborate design of her thick brown hair. It was piled atop her head in a way that had taken her and Sarah more than an hou
r. I had no complaints, for it perfectly framed the sensual roundness of her face and made her eyes look as if they were much larger.

  She looked like a fantasy. No woman this beautiful could be real.

  But she was real. And she was fucking mine. Forever. I was the luckiest bastard in the universe.

  She smiled at me and took my hand in her much smaller one. The small act made something tight loosen in my chest. Thank the gods, neither of us had any shame where our connection was concerned. That slight movement, her fingers entwined with mine, was as much a public claiming as the cuffs around her wrists. But she was claiming me. Standing beside me in a room full of strangers and declaring me her own.

  I was a warlord and a commander. I’d been in so many battles they blurred in my mind, became a constantly running stream of agony, rage, terror and death. That had been my life. Until her.

  I blinked, coming out of my thoughts to find her watching me with a tender smile on her lips. I saw acceptance in her gaze. Desire. Perhaps… did I dare hope? Love? Regardless, the look was a blatant invitation and had me shifting my cock in my pants and counting the minutes until we could leave the party so I could strip her bare and sink into her.

  A mated Atlan couple approached. Carvax was their name, if I remembered correctly. I shook the warrior’s hand and introduced him to Tiffani, who was in turn introduced to his mate. It took all of two minutes, but when they turned away, my fake smile dropped.

  “I hate these things. It was one reason I went into war and not politics.”

  “But I thought you wanted to… show me off.” An impish smile had me wanting to spank her ass. “Those were your exact words.”

  “I changed my mind. I want you all to myself.”

  Her delighted laughter pleased me, as did the way her hand squeezed mine. “You are such a caveman.”

  I did not know what a caveman was, but she smiled as she said it, so it was a good thing. “That dress does the showing off all by itself.”

  She glanced down at her cleavage, which was too visible in her dress. “Double F in my skinny clothes.”

  “What does that mean? I don’t understand. And I do not want a skinny mate. I like you the way you are.” Unable to resist, I turned her and pulled her into my arms. Lowering my mouth to her ear, I whispered, so none of the other guests would hear. “I like you soft and round. I like to sink into your body as I bury my cock in your pussy. I like the way your breasts shift when I fuck you. I like to watch your ass sway as I spank you with one hand and fuck you with the other.”

  Her breathing changed and I smelled her body’s response, the wet heat that flooded her pussy at my words.

  “Behave, Deek.” Her voice was filled with laughter.

  “I told you, this damn party is going to take too long. I want you naked.” I lowered my hands to her hips and pulled her closer, so she could not miss the hard welcome of my erection.

  “Sarah’s dress is more revealing than this,” she countered.

  “Sarah’s cleavage is Dax’s problem,” I grumbled. “Resisting you is mine.”

  “I don’t want you to resist.”

  My beast growled at the blatant seduction in her words. My mate was temptation in physical form. When was this fucking party going to be over?

  “Commander Deek.” A man cleared his throat and I reluctantly released my mate so we could both turn and greet the next who had come to congratulate us.

  I tensed as I recognized Engel Steen and Tia. She was dressed in much the same manner as Tiffani, her dress a dark red and her large breasts on ample display. And yet, the beast could have been looking at a Hive soldier for all the interest it displayed in the other woman.

  I shook hands with the older Atlan warlord. He was dressed in loose-fitting black and gold, his tunic and flowing pants fitting for a man of his stature, the same civilian garb I would now be expected to wear. Atlans were ever ready to fight, or defend our mates from a male in the throes of mating fever. I’d worn battle armor for so long, I felt naked in the dark gray and deep green clothing Sarah had ordered made for me so Tiffani and I would “match.”

  I’d thought the idea absurd at the time, but allowed the women to please themselves. I had no care for my clothing. But now, I rather enjoyed knowing that with one glance, all would know my mate was with me. Mine.

  Tia cleared her throat and looked at me expectantly, tilting her head at my mate and raising her eyebrows as if I were the biggest idiot on the planet. Perhaps I was. But even as I conceded to her wishes, I was relieved to have her treat me like an annoying older brother once more, and not a potential mate.

  “Tiffani, may I introduce my cousins. This is Engel Steen. He serves on the Atlan council and is in charge of all interplanetary trade.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Tiffani held out her hand in an odd Earth custom Sarah and Tiffani had tried to explain to me. I had informed her that mated males do not enjoy watching another touch their mate. If Atlans “shook hands,” as those of Earth did, warriors would get hurt.

  As I expected, Engel simply stared for a moment before bowing at the waist to offer his respect, as was our custom. “My lady, it is an honor.”

  She grinned up at me in a flash, but I saw the defeated resignation in her eyes. I had won this argument.

  Tiffani smiled at Engel and lowered her arm. “Thank you.”

  “This is his daughter, Tia.”

  I saw Tiffani stiffen at the mention of Tia, but I doubted anyone else would notice but me. She had a broad smile on her face. Tia held her hand out to my mate, whose smile turned genuine as she accepted the gesture.

  “It’s an honor to meet you, Tiffani. I am so glad you are here.” She blushed, just a bit, but I knew Tiffani had seen the color rise in her cheeks when my mate’s back stiffened and her smile turned forced once more.

  “Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Tia withdrew her hand. She stood nearly a head taller than my mate, her dark eyes round with worry as she fussed with her long dark hair, throwing it back over her shoulders as if she had nothing better to do. When Tia took a deep breath, I braced for the worst.

  “Your dress is lovely,” Tia offered, and I sighed with relief.

  My mate’s smile softened and became real. “Thank you. Yours is pretty, too.”

  “Since we are family now, you will have to let me show you about. While Deek is a good guide, I’m sure you’d like a female’s perspective.” Tia’s dark eyes were sincere. “I’d really like us to be friends.”

  “I’d like that.” Tiffani glanced up at me. “I heard that you offered to mate Deek to save him.”

  Tia looked apprehensive and feared answering. I didn’t blame her, for it was common knowledge that Atlan mates, male and female, were quite possessive. I gave Tiffani’s hand a squeeze to somehow tell her not to kill my distant cousin if she was envious.

  “Yes,” Tia admitted finally. “And I guess you’ve probably heard that Commander Deek and I were betrothed when we were five.”

  Tiffani looked to me in surprise, but I simply wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, under my arm, as Tia continued.

  “I want you to know, I do love Deek. He’s like a brother to me. We grew up together. But neither of us ever truly wanted to be mated, Tiffani. His beast didn’t want me either. We both knew it early on. I want you to know that. When I visited him, offering myself, it was because I couldn’t let him die without trying to save him. I just couldn’t.”

  Tiffani, so stiff in my arms, relaxed, stepping forward to embrace Tia. “Thank you for trying. I understand. And I’m grateful. It’s good to know that Deek has family that loves him so much.”

  Tiffani stepped back when Engel cleared his throat. “Yes, Deek. I am greatly relieved to know that you are well and truly mated. We were all so worried for you.”

  “Thank you, cousin.” I’d never thought of Tia’s offer as a sacrifice, as an act of love for a brother. But now, thanks to Tiffani, I understood, and the la
st of my anger with her faded. Her father, however, was another matter entirely. What lay between us would not be polite conversation at this party.

  I looked at the woman who’d been willing to sacrifice her own chance for a true mating, her happiness, to save my life. “Thank you, Tia. I am honored.”

  Tia looked up at her father, nudging him with her elbow.

  “Quite right,” he said. “It would have been a shame to have a commander such as yourself succumb to the mating fever. It would have been a tragic waste.”

  Tia and Tiffani continued to chat about exploring the market, going shopping, and female things as I stared at Engel. Yes, he would think it a waste. A waste should I have succumbed to fever instead of maintaining my position as commander in the Coalition Fleet, I thought dryly. Tiffani frowned slightly, taking my hand as if she sensed my anger. I liked it very much and so did my beast. Such a simple gesture, and yet her touch soothed my irritation as nothing else could.

  Engel might be my mother’s cousin, but he was also an Atlan council member who had been in power for far too long. I’d been asked for favors in the past, used for my position in the Fleet by others seeking to gain, but never offered a bribe by my own family. Until Engel.

  Trading Coalition weapons with primitive planets was illegal. Engel knew this. Every first-year recruit at every level of Fleet operations knew that we didn’t give ion blasters to savages. And yet Engel had wanted to do just that. I’d caught him on the Battleship Brekk during his visit with two crates full of blasters being loaded onto a freighter that was scheduled to deliver medical aid to a war-torn region of Xerima.

  The Xerimian people were barbarians. Nearly our size, their warriors constantly battled for females and territory. The strongest took the spoils. Their planet was protected by the Coalition Fleet, but they had not been granted the rights or privileges of being a member planet. Not yet.

  I’d taken the weapons and turned him in to command. But Engel had friends in very high places, and he’d been released and on his way within hours of his arrest.