Bound by Fate

by Maddie Taylor

  Bending close, he pressed his lips to her forehead, then softly to her cheeks and eyelids, and covering her mouth with his own for a deeper kiss. Her lack of response was disconcerting. Eva’s words propelled him to be more aggressive.

  First, he traced the seam of her lips with his tongue. When they didn’t open eagerly for him to delve inside and she didn’t kiss him in return like he was used to, he sat back and rubbed his hands over his face in frustration.

  A sharp rap sounded. His gaze shot to the door, but it remained closed.

  The tapping repeated then he heard a familiar voice, though it was muffled. “If you want her to come back to you, Beck, shy, tentative touches aren’t going to cut it.”

  He turned and unbelievably saw Lana and Eva standing at the window—one he’d forgotten existed—the drapes wide open.

  He scowled at her. “For a supposed friend, you’re also a damn annoying peeping Tom and an enormous pain in my ass.”

  “You can do this,” she told him, “but you’ve got to go all-in.” She made a graphic gesture with her fist in a pumping motion to demonstrate, as if he needed her to, before Eva shoved her aside.

  “Body fluids,” she insisted. “I’m sorry, Beck, but it’s got to be that, or it will not work. Please, trust me on this.”

  The prima’s eyes were bright with tears. Having been through this, she more than anyone knew how this had to be.

  He nodded in resignation then reached for the control panel on the wall and pressed the button that, with a whirr and whoosh of drapes, closed him and Adria in, and the world—especially a well-meaning Lana—out.

  “Time to get serious,” he whispered.

  After easing her gown from her body, he stripped to the skin and joined her on the bed beneath the sheet. With the utmost care, he moved on top of her, keeping most of his body weight propped on his knees and elbows, afraid he would crush her and make her worse.

  Gazing down at her, he brushed his thumb along the edge of her jaw. “I’m going to do what we did the last time we were together. You enjoyed it. I know because you told me in very colorful terms how much so. I’m using that as my consent, but please, wake up soon, so I don’t feel like such a pervert.”

  Knowing she would have laughed at him, and at Lana’s boldness, and probably the entire situation made it easier, too. He covered her mouth, his tongue sweeping in as he forayed into the fluid exchange Eva and Ellar told him must occur.

  She still didn’t move, but...was that a hint of color in her cheeks?

  Doubling his efforts, he trailed kisses down her throat then blazed a path over her chest to her breast. The nipple wasn’t peaked as it had been with him every time before, but he persevered, first, flicking the toffee-colored areola back and forth with the tip of his tongue then dragging it fully over the tip making it wet.

  Next, he sucked it firmly as he swirled round and round the tip from the inside. He paid the same close attention to her other breast his hands brushing her skin, caressing and warming the globes before moving lower.

  His gaze remained fixed on her face, watching for a response as he spread her thighs and licked up her center. He parted the folds of her sex, flicking and circling her clit, then applied steady suction—a move that made her hips arch off the bed when he’d done it before. Next, he slid lower, dipping and swirling inside her velvety softness, while he added the stimulation of his thumb on her clit. There was moisture, but not what he’d hoped for. Usually during sex, she wept for him, but she wasn’t close to being there.

  This time he opened wide, penetrated deeper, and gave her all the heat and wetness of his mouth. From his place between her thighs, he gazed up her body to her face, still lovely even though pallid and still, as he desperately tried to reach her and willed her to respond. That was when he noticed her nipples were hard, and her chest rose and fell just a tiny bit faster.

  “Adria,” he urged, without lifting his mouth from her. “Come back to me.”

  Spurred on by this small glimmer of a reaction, he tried rubbing the tip of his tongue against the pleasure spot in the front of her channel while strumming his thumb faster on her clit. His efforts were rewarded by a rush of liquid warmth.

  “That’s it. You’re doing great, darlin’. Now, open your eyes.”

  He watched anxiously, his lips and thumb unceasing, but she still didn’t move, and her lashes didn’t flutter open as he’d hoped.

  “Don’t be shy, she says,” he muttered. “Don’t hold back, they all urged, but, hell and tarnation, how do you arouse an unconscious woman?”

  There was only one thing left he hadn’t tried.

  He sat back on his heels and dropped his hand to his cock. As disturbing as this all was, he figured it must agree because after all he’d done, which would ordinarily bring him to the brink of orgasm, he was barely half erect.

  The half he’d managed was because it was Adria, after all.

  Now, he had the task of making himself hard—manually—and hoping a little precum painted on her lips and pussy would do the trick.

  Without decreasing the stimulation of his thumb on her clit, Beck fisted himself and started pumping. “She needs you, dammit. Get hard,” he muttered in frustration, adding, “Of all the times to have an uncooperative prick.”

  “Beck?”

  He froze at the faint raspy sound then his head snapped up.

  Her eyes were open, now a pale blue, the color drained from them as surely as the bastard who had done this drained the dark from her hair.

  “Adria, thank god.”

  “What? How?” she swallowed, grimacing as though it were painful. “Why are we making love in an exam room?”

  He moved up so he covered her, his hands cupping her beloved face as he explained, “You were sick, close to death. They decided only your mate could bring you back, and it worked.”

  “My mate? But...how? I don’t understand.”

  “Can’t say I do either, but all those times together, somehow, we bonded.”

  “Oh, Beck,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry.”

  His head jerked back. “Why? I love you, Adria.”

  She stared up at him, eyes wide in shock. “You do?”

  He cursed himself for a stubborn fool for not admitting it sooner. “Of course, I do. Would I cook for you, worry about you, play guard for you, if I didn’t? Would I have gotten pissed over your sixth-floor rescue or seriously ticked over your cold shoulder routine, or tried to spank some sense into you if I didn’t care deeply? And I for damn sure wouldn’t have taken your virginity at the risk of being pulverized by your brother, if I didn’t love you. Just as I thought I would die along with you if Juna, Ellar, and Eva’s crazy plan didn’t bring you back to me.”

  The tears pooling in her eyes overflowed.

  “Darlin’, please, don’t cry,” he urged, wiping each drop away with his thumbs and kissing them gone with his lips. “You can’t afford to lose any more fluids.”

  She raised a hand toward his face, but it trembled and fell away. He grabbed it and held it against his cheek. “Conserve your strength. We’ve got our whole lives to talk.”

  “But I need to say this now. In the cave, I had a lot of time to think. Mostly it was about you.” She closed her eyes, sending more tears rolling down her cheeks. “I thought I’d die in that cage without getting to see you and touch you again, and without getting the chance to tell you once more that I love you.”

  Turning his head, he pressed his lips to her palm. “We’ll get see and touch and talk every day, darlin’, because we have our whole lives ahead of us. It’s over, and so is he. Gone in a giant fireball thanks to one of your Primarian battleships.”

  “Thank the Maker. I was terrified.”

  “Do not think of him again. You’re safe with me now.”

  She nodded, but let out a whimper as if even that small movement was agony.

  “I feel awful, Beck. I ache everywhere and am so very tired. I didn’t want to wake, but I heard you callin
g for me and doing, um, other things.”

  “I’ll stop.”

  “No, if it’s like with Eva and Kerr, if you continue, I’ll get stronger.”

  After lying so still for so long, she moved, her hips arching the tiniest bit, nudging her pussy against his cock that lay hard and ready between her thighs. Adria being conscious was all it took for him, evidently.

  “If you think it’s best we continue, we will, but I need you to say it. This hasn’t exactly been how we’ve done things before.”

  “I want you, Beck. It’s like a fire burning inside me, I just don’t have the energy to move and do anything about it.”

  “I have enough for both of us.” He reached between them and aligned himself before gliding inside. The wetness he’d inspired allowed him to sink in fully. “I love you, Adria,” he whispered as she surrounded him with heat.

  Rather than bringing her comfort, joy, or filling her with desire, his declaration made her weep. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear you say those words,” she exclaimed brokenly.

  “More the fool am I for not telling you sooner,” he whispered as he drew back and planted deep. “I won’t make that mistake again, but can you do something for me?”

  “Anything,” she professed through her tears.

  “Please, stop crying. Making love to you while you were unconscious was hard, but while you’re sobbing... If its healing you’re after, you’ll not get it that way. You’re breaking my heart and deflating something vital.”

  She blinked then huffed a small laugh.

  He bent his lips and tasted her smile, the one he’d been ready to sell his soul to see only minutes ago. “We can discuss this in depth later, once you’re well, and once I don’t have your tight, incredibly hot pussy surrounding me. Okay?”

  “Yeah,” she breathed.

  Slowly, he eased out then surged home again, and it had never been so sweet.

  “Beck?”

  He paused again, gazing down at her while supported on his forearms.

  “Maes eternium,” she whispered.

  His translator instantly told him “mine forever,” which was true for them now, but he suspected it had a deeper meaning. He didn’t have to wait for an explanation.

  “A Primarian male will say the traditional vow when he breaches his female the first time, but we’re not very usual.” Then, as though it had just occurred to her, she declared, “By the Maker, we weren’t even tested!”

  “Which means fate brought us together, not science. Now, before I lose control or my hard-on, either of which is a real possibility after the past few days, tell me what maes eternium means other than the words. My gut tells me it’s important.”

  “It’s a traditional vow made between mates, but it’s also real, Beck. Primarians mate for life.”

  “Which means you are mine for life, right?”

  “Yes, I hope that’s all right.”

  “Darlin’, that makes me happier than...” Several Texas colloquialisms came to mind, none of which were appropriate or romantic. Instead, he gazed into her eyes and made his own solemn vow. “Mine forever suits me fine, Adria of Valkerr, soon-to-be Adria Kincaid.”

  Her eyes flew wide. “You want me for your wife? But you said never again.”

  He dropped his head until his forehead rested against her. “Curse me and my mouth for its stupidity. We’re mates. That’s already established. But I’m human, and a citizen of this colony, and I serve on the council. We’re a people of laws and traditions and religious beliefs. One thing that fits in all three categories is marriage. So, yes, I want you as my wife. We are the first human male/Primarian female fated mates, and we’ll also be the first married ones. Another tradition is a proposal down on one knee, but that will also have to wait for later because I’m not leaving you or this bed right now. You feel too good, and, in about a minute, I’ll lose the ability to speak rationally.”

  She raised her hand to his cheek, gazing up at him with a warmth in her eyes he knew, without a doubt, had nothing to do with their joining. “You’ll be mine forever in both worlds, then, Beck.”

  He turned his head and, with his lips against her palm, said the words he intended to start each day with for the rest of their lives, “As you will be mine, my darlin’ bride-to-be. Maes eternium.”

  “I sure do like the sound of that, husband-to-be.”

  There was nothing left to be said thereafter, only a lot of moaning, slapping of skin, grasping fingers, and a doctor-prescribed exchange of body fluids.

  IN THE AFTERMATH, AS she dozed in his arms, the warmth of his body transferring to hers and replacing the bone-deep chill that had possessed her for entirely too long, he dipped his head to kiss the top of hers. Then he closed his eyes, content to hold her for a while, even though he knew outside, others were anxiously waiting for news.

  “Beck?”

  “I thought you were asleep.”

  “Almost, then I thought of something. I might have been dreaming, but did you say we were fated mates?”

  “Indeed I did. The mate’s mark on your neck proclaims it to the world—two worlds, for that matter. How it happened is beyond me so don’t ask.” His arms tightened, snuggling her even closer. “What do you think?”

  She fell silent, and it dragged out until he began to get concerned.

  Then, in a slow drawl similar to his own, she declared, “Well, if that don’t beat all.”

  It started out as a low rumble then grew to a chuckle, but when it built and rolled from his chest, it had become a full-blown laugh he had no doubt could be heard clear down the hall to where everyone waited. But he didn’t try to contain it or the feeling welling up inside him he could only describe as pure, unadulterated joy.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sometime later, after helping her bathe and get into one of the gowns Lana had brought for her, Beck stretched out beside her in bed. It was a tight squeeze with his broad shoulders, but he put his arm around her, hauled her close until she was hugging his body neck to knees, and made it work. She would have thought it nothing more than a loving gesture from a man wanting to be close to his mate if he hadn’t spoiled it by smiling. A happy one, yes, but also brimming with self-satisfaction.

  Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “That’s a particularly devilish grin.”

  He shrugged it off but couldn’t contain his amusement and chuckled.

  “What’s funny?”

  “The general is going to freak out when he gets a look at you, and I’ll have a front row seat.”

  Her hand rose to her hair that he’d patiently combed free of tangles, partly because she was still weak, and the half hour it took to work the snags free would have worn her out further. The other part because the change that had taken place fascinated him. For Adria, when he carried her to the bathroom to take care of her needs, the glimpse she’d gotten in the mirror, had been beyond shocking.

  She’d raised a trembling hand to her parted lips, and, unable to look away, whispered, “Oh, Beck.”

  Her eyes, no longer an exotic mix of blue and green some called aqua, turquoise, or teal depending on the light, were now a pale blue like his. More shocking was her hair.

  “It was white as snow not an hour ago,” Beck murmured, as he took in the changes with her. “Each time we joined more color returned.”

  It was shiny, the hue vibrant like before, but it wasn’t dark like midnight with glimmers of blue he admired so, and loved to run his hands through, and idly coil around a finger when they were close like this. With the transformation, it was a rich golden-brown like Beck’s.

  She’d stared at her reflection, leaning forward to take in her pale-blue eyes and twisting from side to side with her hair bunched in a fist on top of her head, trying to take in the vivid blue and gold on the back of her neck. And, she would still be doing it, except he got worried she’d have a setback and insisted she return to bed.

  Now, with her safe in his arms, he marveled over how his touch had the power
to bring her back from oblivion and, at the same time, made her one with him, body, heart, and soul. It was indeed a miraculous thing, but also almost too much to comprehend.

  “Your brother said the mark is not familial.”

  “It isn’t. My father’s marking was on his thigh, as is Trask’s.”

  “Then where does yours come from?”

  “Perhaps from my grandfather. His is on his neck and upper back, as was the case for Kerr’s father, Kerr, and his son, Kellan. Valkerr’s other sons all had similar markings but in different colors and locations.” Her hand slipped to the back of her neck. “Why it appeared on me once mated to a human, I couldn’t say.”

  “Hmm,” he hummed pensively. “That seems to be the answer of the day.”

  Her voice lowered to a whisper when she repeated for the tenth time in the last hour, “Do you hate it?”

  “It’s a part of you, darlin’. How could I?”

  “With the new mark, and the change in my hair and eyes, I must look like a stranger.”

  He cupped her face in his big hands and kissed her gently. “You are as beautiful as always, and the same woman inside no matter your appearance, only now you seem...human.” The grin returned, this time, accompanied by a devilish chuckle. “Yeah, your brother will absolutely freak out.”

  He’d told her of Trask’s reaction when he found out what they had become to one another. They hadn’t had a label for it then, and, from the wicked gleam in his eyes, she was convinced Beck had glossed over what had actually happened, for her sake.

  “Don’t judge him too harshly. He’s taken care of me practically since birth. Handing me over to another will be an adjustment, but he’ll come around.”

  This sobered him. “When? He’s still jealous over my friendship with Lana.”