by Mary Auclair
“Of course. If we were right and Minister Knut knows we’re coming, then I’ll put her right into his hands by attacking the Aveyn moon.”
Tailan and Marmack’s serious frowns answered him. They knew he was right. Still, it didn’t solve their problem.
“We’re not turning back.” Kamal smirked when Marmack and Tailan lifted surprised brows at him. “We’ll keep our course to Aveyn but we won’t attack. We’ll send a signal to Prime Councilor Aav herself. She won’t stand for Minister Knut’s betrayal. Her justice will be quicker than anything we could imagine, and far more likely to save the humans.”
“Knut’s warriors aren’t loyal to him, they’re only picking up their swords for the money.” Marmack nodded in approval. “They’ll surrender in the face of Prime Councilor Aav’s forces. They’ll know it’s the only chance they’ll have of walking away with their heads on their shoulders. There won’t even be a fight. We’ll only stay in orbit around Aveyn to prevent Minister Knut from escaping.”
“Aliena won’t be too happy about that.” Tailan frowned, apparently not convinced by his plan. “There’s a risk Knut will harm—or kill—the humans as soon as Prime Councilor Aav’s forces enter Aveyn’s orbit, if only out of spite.”
“There’s also a risk we’ll be killed as soon as we land,” Kamal answered, even though everyone present knew it. “There’s a risk her uncle is already dead, the humans scattered to the far corners of the Ring, every woman and youngling sold for some rich bastard’s amusement. Aliena knows this.”
“Then let’s hope she won’t see it that way.”
Kamal turned away and left, as Tailan’s words circled in the back of his mind.
She was a constant source of fascination, each tiny movement causing him to stare in awe. Kamal stayed right behind her, just a few paces away. Close enough to touch. As soon as the thought formulated, his hand reached, fingers outstretched toward her, intent on grabbing her and pulling her closer.
Get a grip. You’re an Eok warrior, not a lovesick youngster.
Kamal shook his head. Three days had passed since Aliena had become his bloodmate, and he was still under the spell of the Mating Lust, making him crave the physical union every time she was close to him. Her body was an addiction, and the relentless presence of the Mating Venom didn’t help things. It tortured him, that constant drip of the intoxicating compound, days after the sealing of the bloodmating. It should have abated by now, like it did for his brother Karian after his own bloodmating.
Already, he had taken her two times today, and the urge to take her again was almost overwhelming.
“We will reach the orbit of Aveyn by tomorrow morning.” Kamal spoke as his eyes trailed down Aliena’s back. “Prime Councilor Aav’s forces are only a day behind us. She just sent confirmation.”
“So everything is going according to plan.” Aliena turned her head and met his stare. There was worry in her eyes, worry and a hope that nearly broke his heart. Because she might have her hopes crushed in the end, and her pain would tear him apart at the seams. He could withstand anything, he’d proven it time and time again. Anything but her pain. “When will Knut surrender?”
“That, I cannot say.” He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. No use in worrying about what he could not control. “But I can tell you it is the best option. The only option where Minister Knut doesn’t have the upper hand.”
“I wish we could fight.”
“I wish we could too.” Kamal shook his head. There was so much they didn’t know, so much they couldn’t control. For over ten years, from the day he’d left his post with the Eok armies, he’d kept a tight leash on every aspect of his life, but on this day, he was reduced to waiting for the help of another. He wasn’t used to feeling this way, but since he met Aliena, his life seemed to be spiraling out of control. And he cherished her for it more than he wanted to admit.
“It doesn’t make it easier to stand in the back and wait,” she said.
Aliena chewed on her lip nervously. She had accepted his plan surprisingly easily once she’d had the chance of speaking with her cousin Rose, and taken the measure of Minister Knut’s cruelty and cunning. She knew Prime Councilor Aav was her best chance at rescuing her uncle after Wyol and Sheegar’s treachery.
Kamal understood how she felt. Standing on the sidelines while his little brother Karian disappeared had been torture. Well, not that he’d stayed away from the search, really. He had taken every opportunity to investigate any leads as to his brother’s location. He simply wasn’t one to give up, and neither was Aliena.
His admiration for her was only made greater by that.
She turned her back to him, foraging through the few items of clothing she owned. Those that fit her from Tailan’s clothing, since he’d ruined the insulating clothes she was wearing the day of the bloodmating. This morning, she was wearing a pair of black pants that molded to her shapely legs like a second skin, right up to the plump curve of her ass. It was intended as underwear for extremely cold weather, such as they encountered on some of the planets they dealt on, but on Aliena they looked more like an invitation for his hands to run over her female curves. Covering her torso was a white sleeveless top, also intended as underwear, molded to her breasts and the soft curves of her waist and abdomen.
As he looked on, the Mating Venom started to drip anew in his mouth, and he flicked his tongue over the tip of his fang. Fire spread in his body, a lust that could not be denied, only fulfilled to completion.
A low growl grew in his throat, and Aliena turned startled eyes to him.
“Are you growling at me, or is it just your stomach that’s happy to see me?” She lifted one brow, her dark eyes shining with humor. “Surely you’re not hungry again.”
A grin lifted the corners of her full lips, and a twinkle glittered in her eyes. She was taunting him. His seed stem pulsed and grew hard inside the confines of his pants. He hungered for her, and now, there was nothing in the world that would make him hold back.
“I’m starving.” Kamal took a step closer, then wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in. “And you know exactly what I’m craving.”
“Aren’t you greedy?” Her smile turned sensual, and her eyes gleamed with a wicked intent.
“You are very naughty, teasing me like that.” When she pressed her hips to his already hard seed stem, he grunted, then buried his nose in her neck, inhaling her sweet female scent. “In fact, you’re being so bad that I might just carry out that threat of shackling you to the bed.”
Aliena pulled back from him and her eyes grew wider, her sexy smile disappearing. He wasn’t sure why he’d said that, but with the idea now strongly vivid in his mind, he couldn’t think of anything else.
They stared at each other for long seconds, then he bent down, picking her up in his arms. He walked fast toward the bed, his body filled with the fury of the Mating Lust, his mouth already full of the taste of the Mating Venom. He kissed her, his fangs dripping steadily with the Mating Venom, mixing it with her saliva. It would make her as crazed with lust as he was. Just as he wanted her.
He carefully put her down on the bed. Her large eyes stayed on him, so dark and deep, glazed with desire.
“Take off your clothes,” Kamal ordered. “I want to see you naked.”
Keeping her dark velvet gaze on him, Aliena reached for her pants, pushing them down her rounded hips, then kicking them away. Her pheromones invaded his nostrils, female and aroused. His body responded immediately, his seed stem aching and hard, pulsing with need.
He would not take her gently this time. It wasn’t a time for gentleness. This was a time for flesh pounding on flesh, for life proclaiming itself in all its fierce refusal to bow down.
“The top, too.” He heard his voice in the confines of the room. Hoarse and harsh, like an animal’s.
Soon, Aliena was lying on the bed, her body spread like an offering for the Midnight God, her round breasts heaving up and down as she breathed fast, the ni
pples perking up, dark brown and hard. Her shapely legs shook lightly, and in between, the soft cover of curls hid her sex, that place in her body where her smell was stronger, making him crazed.
He wanted that skin on him, under him.
Kamal made quick work of sending his own clothes to the ground, then stood at the base of the bed. He studied her, panting, so vulnerable, his seed stem nearly burst.
“Spread your legs for me.”
Aliena watched him silently, then obeyed with a deliberately slow speed. As she parted her legs, the pink, glistening folds of her sex were exposed and her aroma filled the room.
Kamal’s hands twitched, and he found he couldn’t look away from her completely exposed body. Long seconds passed, and her naked skin was covered in goosebumps from being bared, but she didn’t speak.
Kamal tore his gaze from her sex, then stared back into her dark, aroused eyes.
“Reach for the bed posts.” As Aliena obeyed, again, she spread her arms completely. Her breasts were just like he’d pictured them, hard nipples and soft flesh, inviting his touch. “Don’t move.”
Kamal turned fast, foraging into the drawers for two of his belts. He quickly found what he was looking for and turned back to her, then used the soft, worn leather to tie each of her wrists to the metal poles at the two top corners of his bed.
“Does this hurt you?” He looked down at her face as she silently shook her head in negation. “Tell me immediately if it starts to hurt. Or if you want me to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop.” Her voice was small and shaky but her eyes were steady.
He pulled back, his gaze running down the length of her body. This female was his, in every way that counted. His bloodmate, the center of his universe and, right now, the most alluring female in the Ring and beyond.
His hand flattened over the supple skin of her stomach. The contact sent a rush of energy through him and he jumped over her, taking his rightful place between her legs. His eyes locked on the female sex in front of him. She was glistening and pink, already ready for him.
He didn’t wait to do what he wanted most. His lips closed over her sex and the intoxicating taste of her juices invaded his mouth. His tongue slid up and down her folds, then circled that sensitive little bundle of nerves that was the source of her pleasure. The Mating Venom made her responsive, and in a matter of seconds she was squirming, pulling against the restraints holding her arms.
“Don’t move.” He didn’t bother softening his tone, speaking just a thread away from her flesh.
Aliena shuddered under his breath. “Don’t stop. Please.”
The pleading in her voice pleased him. He wanted her filled to the brim with lust, with a want for him that bordered on pain. He wanted her enslaved by her need for him, just as he was a slave for his need of her.
He did not make her wait. He kissed and sucked her little nub, circling it with his tongue before nipping it gently. He reached with his index finger, pushing it inside her core.
It didn’t take long. Soon, Aliena’s scream rose in the room as her back arched and her core clenched around his finger, trying to suck him deeper. He continued his assault on her sensitive flesh until she quieted.
He drew his hands up her hips and let them slide over her full, round breasts. As he rose, he let his tongue caress the silk of her skin, the taste of her pleasure-induced sweat making him crazed with lust. Under his touch, Aliena squealed and pulled on her restraints.
He lifted his head, looking up her naked, offered body to her throat.
Following blind animal instinct, Kamal struck, as fast as the beast inside. His jaw closed around her neck, his fangs dripping with Venom, then squeezed, just a little. Aliena stopped moving, her entire body rigid under his domination. He could smell her arousal, wetness spreading anew in those exquisite folds between her legs.
He moved so his seed stem was pressed to her entrance, savoring the moment just before the possession. His tongue lapped at her pulse, fast and erratic under the strength of her lust and fear.
Under him.
Still holding her neck between his jaws, he pushed inside her. He wasn’t slow, or tender, but harsh and deep. Aliena moaned, the sound a tortured one of fear and pleasure.
He did not pause.
Kamal pulled back entirely, then slammed again, as deep and hard as his instinct told him to. He kept going, hard and fast. Soon, Aliena’s breathing was fast and shallow as her tight channel squeezed around his seed stem. Pleasure was building inside her again and she moved under his punishing blows, prey to her own inescapable climax.
His own release came like a back-handed blow, wiping his mind clear of thoughts. He impaled himself inside her as his seed spilled and she screamed his name, over and over.
Finally, she quieted as his body recovered from the most powerful orgasm he’d ever experienced.
Only when Aliena went limp under him did he open his jaws. As he pulled back from her, the shock of seeing bright red blood made him blink.
“I hurt you!” He reached for the belts and quickly undid the restraints on Aliena’s wrists. “Let me heal you.”
As soon as her wrists were free, Aliena pulled back and sat on the bed. She reached for her neck and pulled back lightly stained fingertips.
“Only a scratch.” Her eyes met his. She smiled, then lifted a brow. “That was different.”
Confusion and fear took hold of him and Kamal pulled her into his lap, lifting her chin to inspect the wounds. His fangs had broken her skin, not deeply but still, blood trickled down her throat where his bite had taken hold. She chuckled and tried to push his hands down but he didn’t relent.
“I promise you, it will never happen again.” He spoke with force, and frowned as she grabbed his hands between her small fingers.
“And what if I want it to happen again?” Her smile turned sexy and her stare hypnotized him.
“Why would you want me to hurt you?”
“But you didn’t!” Aliena scoffed, shaking her head like she couldn’t believe what he was telling her. “Well, not a lot. It was hot and sexy, and I loved it. There’s nothing wrong with doing things a little differently, you know? If I didn’t want this, I would have told you.”
He stared at her for long seconds, wondering how the Midnight God had given him such a wonderful female for bloodmate. Then he pulled her into him and kissed her, long and deep.
Tonight, she was safe in his arms. Tomorrow, their entire destiny was going to unfold on the ground of Aveyn.
Chapter 14
Aliena
She savored her few last minutes alone, walking towards the command center where Kamal, Marmack and Tailan were waiting for her. Nervousness was making her nauseous and she paused, bracing herself against the steel walls.
The last few days had been lost in a fog of lust and worry. What little time she didn’t spend having sex with Kamal, she’d slept away, too exhausted to even formulate a thought. It was a mating lust, a desire for each other’s body that was supposed to seal their union. Make them inseparable from one another. It worked. She wanted him and the pleasure his body brought so much that she wasn’t sure where her own body ended and where he began.
Somehow, it had changed after the amazing sex they’d had last night; she had been able to think clearly for the first time since the day of the mating.
The bloodmating.
The consequences were still boggling her mind. Kamal had saved her life by taking her as mate, she had no doubt about it. The crew would have found a way to carry out their justice on her, even more so because she had been a clandestine passenger. Kamal had saved her, truly and surely.
Then why do I feel so sad?
As much as she wanted to deny it, all she felt when she reflected on how lucky she was to be still alive thanks to Kamal’s claim was a subdued sort of sadness. She should be grateful, should at least be relieved, but she wasn’t.
What she did feel, she didn’t want to contemplate. Moreover,
she was scared to recognize the feelings for what they were. Accepting her lust for Kamal was easy, accepting that she might feel more was terrifying in a way she could not face.
She knew he desired her, had done so even before being forced to claim her as mate, but somehow, it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.
Steeling herself against the anxiety that was eating at her one bite at a time, Aliena straightened and resumed walking. Whatever happened between Kamal and her had to come second behind her mission to rescue Markus and the other humans still in Minister Knut’s clutches.
Where is everybody?
As she made her way through the maze of steel hallways, uneasiness furrowed inside her chest. With around twenty crew members, the hallways of the Mellark were rarely deserted.
They must be just as terrified as I am.
The thought didn’t make her feel any better as she finally made her way to the command center. She pressed her palm against the device, as Kamal had showed her. Within a few seconds, the ship’s central computer read her biometrics. The door slid up, revealing the dizzying view of Aveyn. It was a small moon revolving around a giant gas planet owned by the Avonie nation, but even a small moon was a breathtaking spectacle. The planet was almost completely green from a distance, with only a handful of large bodies of water, more like lakes than Earth’s oceans.
This was where her uncle was being kept, along with the other humans who hadn’t been left behind like garbage by Minister Knut.
Feelings rose inside her as she looked at the treacherous beauty of the planet until she tore her eyes away from the glowing emerald orb. She stared at a panel of blinking lights and screens.
Then at Kamal.
His back was turned to her and he was bent down over the large desk in the middle of the room, absorbed in whatever documents he was reading. Her stomach flipped at the sight of him, of his masculine silhouette, clad in the black synthetic leather. He was perfection made male.
“Where are Marmack and Tailan?”