Athen: Warlord Brides (Warriors of Etlon Book 1)

by Abigail Myst

  Near evening, there was some grumbling and throat clearing on the other side of the door curtain. Her double guard had returned shortly after Athen had left that morning. Upon pulling back the curtain, she found a meal on a tray, of more adequate proportions. This one was also accompanied by a drink in a beautiful glass flask. Odette recognized the chunks floating in it immediately as the sour tofu she’d eaten earlier. She brought the food back into module and immediately took a swig of the flask.

  “Whoo Mama!” It packed a punch better than any hard lemonade she’d ever had. Both sour and filling her brain with a whoosh of happy bubbles, she would have to tell Goru that if he hawked this drink on her planet, he’d be a millionaire inside of a month. The meal itself was interesting but not memorable. There was something akin to mashed potatoes but it was green and the tofu-like substance tasted like chicken but again, lacked any real kind of flavor. With her drink in hand, she stripped and lay down on the bed. She took another swig and then placed it on a little ledge beside the bed.

  There was one thing about Cleveland that Odette missed. Although sex with him had never been super exciting, it was regular, and he always was a gentleman that made her come first.

  Odette closed her eyes. The more time that she spent with Athen, the more her brain seemed to process what it would be like to be his mate. His sure, strong hands stroking her body, reaching to play with her nipples. How it would feel as he entered her hard and demanding as his tongue had been when they had first met.

  Odette needed an orgasm. Shit. She was an adult. She could totally take matters into her own hands. She was already naked on the bed. She had determined that while one could see out of the bug net walls, they were completely opaque on the other side, rather like a two way mirror. You could see out, but no one could see in. There was something liberating about strutting around naked with a view of other warriors. Not that she did much strutting. Modesty was still too ingrained to wander around without at least panties and a bra.

  But now she was in bed with the sheet thrown over her. No one could see her fingers skim her stomach and tickle the patch of fur atop her mound before dipping between her sensitive folds.

  She hadn’t packed a vibrator. Could the replicator make one? And was there a log that could be checked so that every warrior would know that she had taken to tickling her clit while waiting for their commander to come to his senses? Odette began to stroke herself in earnest, building up that steam that would send her over the edge.

  “What are you doing?”

  Odette froze. Athen stood at the end of the bed, his head cocked to one side.

  “Nothing. Go away.”

  “You moaned. You are in pain. What have you done to yourself?”

  “I said go away.”

  “Not until you show me.” That was all the warning he gave before he yanked the sheet off with one sharp pull.

  Her fingers were still right on top of her clit. Her cheeks were pink with more than just embarrassment.

  He froze and drunk in the sight of her with a gaze of a parched man in view of a cool pool of water.

  “Like I said. I’m fine. I’m just… taking care of some business.”

  “I do not understand.”

  “Oh, come one, what’s there to understand. Surely you guys take care of things yourself every once in a while.”

  “What things?”

  Odette rolled her eyes. Apparently she was going to have to be specific. “Oh, on those lonely patrols when it’s just you and dreams of a female. And your cock gets so hard that you think you’ll burst if you don’t relieve the tension. So you take your hand and play with yourself. Stroke that cock until your come splashes out in a hot stream of release. If you say that you’ve never done that, I’ll call you a liar.”

  “I am not a liar.” He stared at her breasts. She reached a hand up and tweaked her nipple for him. It puckered even more tightly than before. She stroked her clit again.

  “Then show me how you pleasure yourself. And I will show you mine,” she said.

  Odette had never pleasured herself for anyone, but the mere thought of performing for Athen had her even creamier than before.

  She expected him to run. She thought when she spread her legs and her pussy lips that Athen would turn tail and run and she would be left there to imagine what he would do to her.

  “You are in need,” Athen said, his voice husky with the breath he couldn’t quite seem to catch.

  “Yes, I was so close until you interrupted my concentration.”

  “Then I will assist you.”

  Without any other warning, he repositioned her, legs hanging off the bed at her knees. His hand cupped her mound, as his finger pressed in, parting her lips until it lay just over her clit.

  “Oh God.” Her back arched involuntarily, seeking more of his touch.

  “It amazes me that with all the variables in the universe, I seem to have a natural instinct on how to pleasure you.”

  She whimpered as his finger made a slow circle around her clit. With another finger, he entered her slowly. She felt herself clutching at that finger, begging for more. The rhythm he set was too slow for her tastes, but nothing would urge him on.

  “You are so wet, so slick.” Perhaps, she could get him to cave after all.

  “The better for you to fuck me. Isn’t that what you want to do?”

  “What I want is irrelevant.”

  “Well, I want an orgasm.”

  “Then I shall supply them.”

  Odette wasn’t ready for him to dip his head down to her center and give her clit a broad lick. Nor was she ready for his second finger to join his first inside of her and for the steady thrusting they provided. She screamed out her orgasm loudly in a noise that startled even her. It didn’t seem to faze Athen, though. He continued to ply his tongue to her clit, circling and thrusting as before. She rode his fingers like and champ and before she had even come down completely from her orgasmic high, her pleasure was mounting again.

  Athen didn’t stop until she was limp and her voice was hoarse from crying out. He stood and when she looked at his face, she didn’t see a triumphant warrior. She saw one fighting his own will and very close to losing. He stumbled back.

  “You promised to show me yours,” she said as she slid off the bed after him.

  “I can’t.”

  He didn’t stop her when she ran her fingers along his waistband, circling his stomach with her other hand, leaving trails of peachy green skin changed wherever she touched. She looked up at him, giving him another moment to stop her before Odette grabbed the waistband of his shorts and gave it a yank. His cock sprung out in glorious attention. She wrapped her hands around his shaft and looked up at him again.

  “Show me yours.”

  Odette was not surprised when half a stroke later, ropes of his come shot out of his tip and splashed onto her stomach, her breasts. It was a magnificent cock, she had to admit as she held it there in her hands. It was a dark green that grew lighter at the head. While Cleveland was nothing to sneeze at, this proud Mahdfel warrior put him to shame.

  Athen just stood there for a moment, staring at his seed dripping down her breasts, making a trail of blue slime as it surrendered to gravity. She ran her finger through it and then put it in her mouth. She had heard rumors but had not believed them. It was sweet, nearly like cotton candy, and a bright neon blue.

  She should feel dirty, standing there naked in front of the warrior, covered in his spunk. Instead, she felt liberated and rather exhilarated. If actual sex was anything like this, sign her up. She was all in.

  “You’ve made quite the mess here,” she quipped. Athen led her silently into the bathroom where he turned on the shower. She hadn’t meant for him to clean her up but he stepped in behind her. He took great care in washing her, using the opportunity to explore her nipples, to feel the weight of her breasts in his hands. And hell if she wasn’t getting turned on again.

  Athen must have taken notice be
cause his finger dipped back between her legs. He pulled her tight against him as he brought her to another orgasm and then another. She felt his cock pressing into her again, but when she tried to turn around, he simply used his strength to pull her against him and used his finger to coax her back into spirals of pleasure.

  When she was so spent that she could hardly stand, he carried her back to the bed and covered her with the sheet.

  “Athen. Lay with me.”

  He shook his head and came close to her, so close she thought he would kiss her.

  “Sleep,” he told her then turned and left the module.

  Chapter Nine

  Athen

  He shouldn’t have touched her. He shouldn’t have tasted her. He swore he’d be damned for all eternity to sport a hard on. And he had glowed, damn it. His skin had morphed and he had lost all control like a whelp. A moment in her hands and he had covered her with his seed.

  But oh, how he’d wanted to bury his cock inside her, thrusting until she screamed in pleasure and spasmed around him and fill her belly with his sons.

  How easy it was to keep a vow when there was no temptation and how easily had he folded when she had spread her legs and offered herself to him. For her to leave would be like tearing off a limb. Sure, it would be painful but eventually, it would regrow, as strong, if not stronger than, before.

  But he had seen his brothers’ widows and their loneliness. He had seen what it was like for them, the death of their mate fresh in their eyes, and Athen had sworn that he would not take a mate until the last Suhlik was wiped from the universe.

  Keeping him here away from the front lines was only prolonging the inevitable. Either he or the Suhlik would be left standing alone.

  But her scent followed him around like a cloud. Now it was in his mouth and when she left, it would be in his bed. It bothered him, though, that she had no warrior to protect her at home, not even a Terran male, even though many of the ones he’d seen had been far inferior to the Mahdfel species. No wonder the Suhlik hadn’t pressed. Their world was useful for nothing other than the most basic of supplies.

  Perhaps he should send a pair of warriors with her to watch over her. After all, it was a long journey to the Terran homeworld. She would need an escort. She seemed to have grown attached to Leif and Goru, although it rankled him to allow his warriors contact with her when he could not.

  Athen had a few days to think on it further.

  *****

  Today, he decided to take a break early and clear his head. He’d not gotten much sleep last night, and the distance he planned to put between him and her would be cathartic.

  He exited the HQ module just in time to see Odette crossing the compound with his two warriors trailing after her. She was wearing a backpack and looking very determined. Athen circled around and watched her, right up until the point when one of his warriors put his hand on her. She had been about to walk right into the force fence but that did nothing to quell the angry primal rage that echoed through him.

  His warriors practically melted away with reLeif when they realized it was Athen that was approaching.

  "Well, hello there, Athen," she said as if he hadn't just caught her sneaking out of the compound.

  "What are you doing, woman?"

  "I am going for a walk."

  "No."

  "No?"

  "No."

  If Athen thought that would be the end of it, he was mistaken. She turned and headed straight back to the wall. A hand around her waist was all it took to give him a hard on.

  "You may not go that way."

  "And why not?" She turned in his arms and put her hands on his chest. They traced the line of his tattoo.

  "Because. There is a a force fence that way. And it would probably not do to lose a Terran on my watch."

  "Is that all I am? A Terran? A female? I would have thought differently after last night."

  "Last night was a mistake. It will not happen again. You will leave the moment a ship arrives to carry you."

  "If you say so. So. There must be a door, or at least a hole in this fence somewhere."

  "You are not to leave the compound."

  "Athen," she said with a breathy sigh that indicated she was tired of this conversation. He was having a hard time breathing normally with her finger still tracing his tattoo. "I thought we covered this last night. I promised not to go anywhere or do anything dangerous, and you promised you would not lock me in your little module."

  "Outside the force fence is dangerous."

  "So you don't trust your warriors?"

  "Of course I do."

  "Well, what harm could happen to me while in the capable hands of two of them? After all, they'd die to protect me, as you've told me before. To not let me leave the fence with them is a sign that you don't trust them."

  "I—" She wasn't playing fair. He took a step back, but the memory of her taste clouded his judgement. Damn the woman.

  "Fine. The two of us will go for a walk then,” she said. “That is, unless you don't trust yourself with me."

  "Of course I trust myself.” He took a deep breath and shook his head. This woman was being ridiculous. "There is no reason for you to go outside the camp."

  "Of course there is. I need samples."

  "Samples." Why was he feeling like he'd missed an entire conversation somewhere along the way.

  "Yes. We both agreed that the Suhliks must die, right?"

  "Of course, but what does that—"

  "I plan to do my part for the war effort. Before he died, my father was working on a few projects that will help the Mahdfel defeat the evil Suhlik. I plan to finish his work. After all, I can't just sit here and be a useless waste of resources, can I?"

  "No." Wait. There was something wrong with her argument somewhere, but for the life of him, Athen couldn't figure out where.

  "Then lead the way. We only need to head out, oh a few minutes away from camp. We'll practically be within hollering distance. That is of course, unless you want to do some hollering and want a bit more distance."

  "That, I have already stated—"

  "Yeah. Won't happen. But I can be a bit stubborn if you haven't noticed. And now that I've seen your cock, I want to see how well it fits in my mouth."

  Athen just stared at her for a moment, the image of her kneeling before him, pressing onto his cock, lips wrapped around his shaft. It was nearly too much. Nearly. Nearly.

  "So. Where's the hole?” she asked.

  “Hole?”

  “You know, in the wall?"

  "It's this way," he answered.

  Athen led her toward the back of his cabin to his secret exit. It wouldn't do to have his entire clan know that he was taking her on a long walk out in the jungle. For one, it would reinforce the idea that she was allowed to do anything she wanted. Secondly, he didn't want them to be full of knowing looks as he took her back through the camp. Already they had heard her screams of pleasure and seemed to assume that he had claimed her as a mate.

  No, he had yet to do that. Not that he planned to. He definitely planned not to.

  Athen gathered her into his arms and stepped through the double layers with skill that was by now, muscle memory. It would also prevent her from going out on her own if he wasn't with her. Of course, if they got into any trouble, he'd have to find a way back to camp and in through the regular door instead.

  The jungle was thick but he'd created a rather well worn path toward his still. Athen didn't know why, but suddenly he wanted to show it to her, to let her sample the work that he'd been toiling so carefully over for the past year. It would be nice to finally share it with someone.

  Even so, she couldn't see the path. He had to lead her and despite only being a short trip on his own, it took them nearly an hour because the Terran kept stopping and picking up more of her plant samples.

  He knew she had already sampled the main fruit, but he took special care in pointing out anything else that was edible. She didn't seem
interested in those. Instead, her eyes lit up when he warned her to stay away from a particular nasty devil that would have probably tried to swallow her whole if given the least bit of a chance. She demanded two samples of that one. A leaf from the bottom and a bit of its digestive juices. He shook his head, but found a smaller sapling and hacked it to pieces so that it would be safe for her to take as much as she liked.

  She looked confused when they reached the small clearing where he had placed his cool cellar. She recognized that it was not a natural occurrence.

  "I didn't realize we were headed somewhere."

  "Yes. Sit over there and don't touch anything."

  She rolled her eyes but sat dutifully next to the tree trunk he'd pointed to. Good. He lifted the blind and got to work, rotating the bottles under it. The barrels were probably not due for it, but he decided to work with it anyway. He uncorked his favorite one and pulled a flask from his belt. He always carried an empty one for this purpose. It was difficult to march out with a cup, and the process of folding one of the big tropical plants into a vessel was cumbersome and could possibly have an effect on the precious liquid inside. He had discovered that particular fact when a happy accident had led to him finding one of the last hints of flavor missing from his current profile. Now, he placed a leaf from that particular plant in every barrel.

  He handed her the flask. She looked dubious. Athen sat down beside her and took a sip himself, lifting her hand, still wrapped around the flask, their fingers intertwining.

  It was warm and sweet and heady, all at the same time. Very much like this female when he put his tongue to her. He shifted the flask to her lips and she took a sip.

  He was in very dangerous territory. Like many of the Sangrin traditions, the Mahdfel stole the old ways from each other, borrowing, mixing customs from one world or the other, sometimes not sure which homeworld it had actually derived from. This, the practice of drinking from a common cup, of providing refreshment for one another, was enough to be considered married on many planets. It was an image burned into his brain, flickering a warning, but one he could not resist.