Impressive. It only intrigued me further.
I walked to the table and picked up the nearest cuff. Dark, pewter-colored swirls created a complex design in the heavy gold. Beneath that, so small as to be nearly impossible to see with the naked eye, I saw computer circuitry of some sort. Confused, I lifted my gaze to find both Sarah and Dax watching me.
“I thought these were like wedding rings or something. But they are full of computer circuits. What, exactly, do they do?”
Sarah spoke first. “Once you are both wearing them, they will bind you to the commander. You will not be able to be more than a short distance from him without feeling extreme physical pain.”
“What?” That was totally bogus. “Like a leash?”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “There is no tether, but trust me, you will stay near. If you get too far from his side, it’s like taking a shot from a Taser.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Warlord Dax interrupted me.
“It will be the same for him, Tiffani. The close proximity of our mate can be the only thing that keeps our beast under control. It soothes us to know our mate is nearby. Once you are truly mated and he has overcome the mating fever, you may choose to wear the cuffs or not. But in the beginning, they serve as protection. If you can get them on his wrists, they are the best chance you will have at saving his life.”
Without taking a moment to consider, I lifted the smaller cuff to my wrist and closed it, a sense of finality settling on my shoulders as it sealed itself. There was no seam, making it impossible for me to find a way to remove it.
Too late for second thoughts. I came halfway across the galaxy to save my mate. I wasn’t going to let a pair of cuffs stop me. I locked the second cuff around my opposite wrist and grabbed the larger pair, held them up. “Okay. How do I get these on him?”
Warlord Dax took a deep breath. “Very carefully.”
I nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this. I’m ready.”
Sarah disappeared for a moment and returned with a large hooded cloak. “Here, wear this.”
I slid the heavy burgundy cloak over my shoulders, pulled the two sides together in front of me. She nodded her head vigorously. “Good. Now pull up the hood.”
I pulled the hood forward and it eclipsed my face by nearly six inches.
Warlord Dax touched my shoulder. “Excellent. Keep the cuffs hidden until you are inside. And whatever you do, don’t look at anyone, and don’t remove the cloak until we give you the signal.”
“What’s the signal?”
Sarah was practically dancing with excitement. “Dax has a friend on the inside. He served under the commander as well. He’s going to shut down the surveillance system inside Deek’s cell so you two can be alone.”
“We’re going to stay inside the prison cell?” That had never been one of my thoughts. When Warden Egara mentioned breaking in, I assumed it meant breaking my mate out as well.
Sarah nodded.
“Come. It is time.” Warlord Dax moved swiftly out of the room as I struggled to hold the large cuffs somewhere no one would see them.
Sarah stepped up, took the cuffs from my hands, and showed me where the pockets were, hiding them instantly in the deep folds of the cloak. “Listen, Dax doesn’t feel comfortable talking about this in front of you, but if you want to save Deek, you’re going to have to be willing to do whatever it takes.”
That was the reason I was here. “I came halfway across the galaxy to claim a man on death row. I think I’ve proved I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
Sarah’s hand landed on my shoulder and she peered up at me beneath the hood of my cloak. “Good. Because you’ve got to get these cuffs on him so he can be connected with you, so his beast can sense you and begin to settle. And the only way you’re going to do that is to get really damn close.”
I bit my lip. “Will he hurt me?”
Sarah shook her head. “I don’t know. Under normal circumstances, no way. No Atlan warrior would ever hurt a female. But if he’s in the middle of an attack of mating fever, I don’t know what he’ll do.”
“So, how am I supposed to calm him down?”
Her grin was contagious, and I would have smiled back if I weren’t totally freaking out. “Fuck his brains out. Give yourself to him and let his beast fuck you until he is satisfied, then slam the cuffs on his wrists when he’s not expecting it. Don’t worry, his beast should recognize you as his mate, cuffs or not.”
My eyebrows rose at her words, at the very vivid and carnal task, but Dax yelled at us to hurry. Sarah grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind her.
“And don’t worry, Tiffani. They get big, like the Hulk, but they go back to normal… after.”
Great. I hadn’t slept with a man in five years, and it looked like I was going to be getting back on the proverbial wagon in a jail cell. In space. With a giant alien in beast mode. Why did my nipples tighten at the idea?
Chapter Four
Tiffani, Bundar Prison, Block 4, Cell 11
I pulled the hood closer and lower over my eyes, careful not to reveal the cuffs that felt like thousand-pound weights on my wrists. They were nothing of the sort, but I couldn’t forget about them, or what they meant. We were somewhere called Block 4. I had no idea how many sections of prisoners they kept here; most of the cells we’d passed in a different block had been empty.
But not these.
Naked giants lounged in the cells, and with each of them I walked by, my anger grew. I felt like I was walking by tigers caged at a zoo. The Atlan warriors were all huge, their shoulders just as broad as those of Warlord Dax as I followed him down the sterile, cream-colored corridors. Some were Dax’s size, but others must have been in their beast mode. They were half a foot taller still, their muscles bulging to the point they didn’t look like they could be real. Their bodies were magnificent, rippling muscle so well defined I could trace the outline of each individual tendon and connection with my eyes. They truly looked like gods among men, but their faces? Fierce, predatory eyes, long pointed teeth and their focus on me, as I passed by, so complete that when one growled and rushed the front of his cell, I jumped and lost my balance.
Warlord Dax was there, catching me before I fell and setting me back on my feet. All that separated me from the wild men was some kind of bright force field. It flashed bright blue as the beast man charged at me again. The power of it made him fly backward with a howl of pain where he crouched like an animal, watching me.
I was safe, protected by the invisible barrier. It was better than bars of a prison cell on Earth, stronger.
God, was this what I was about to deal with? Was an Atlan like that who I was supposed to give myself to as a mate? To trust not to hurt me? Oh, shit.
“Is that him?” I whispered.
Dax released me, and I almost wished he hadn’t; the gentle heat of his huge hands helped prevent me panicking. “No.”
Sarah shook her head and rushed to take my hand. I was relieved they were with me. How could I do this? How could I have even thought I could just fuck my mate out of his beast mode? Clearly I’d been delusional about what beast mode meant.
“Shhh,” Sarah replied. “He’s in eleven. Remember.”
Yes, now I did. Dax began walking again and I fell in behind him, Sarah’s arm linked with mine in a show of moral support that I desperately needed. Perhaps she was also holding on to me so I wouldn’t change my mind and run away. My mate was their friend and they didn’t want to see him executed. If I could save him, they would probably drag me kicking and screaming down the long corridor if need be.
“He won’t be like that. He can’t be. I promise,” Sarah vowed.
A shudder raced through my body and I nibbled on my bottom lip. If that was what an Atlan male was like after they lost control of their beast, a wild… thing inside them, suddenly the whole execution thing made a lot more sense. “How do you know? When did you last see him?”
She squeezed my arm as Dax rounded a corner to t
he final cell. “Two days ago. He was talking then, and seemed mostly normal.” She released her arm, gave me a quick hug and sighed. “Fingers crossed, Tiffani. Don’t lose courage. Deek is not only a great commander, but a great warlord. A great Atlan. You’ll get through this.”
I didn’t answer as I followed Dax and caught sight of my mate for the first time.
He was crouched in the center of the room, waiting for us, as if he’d heard us coming. He didn’t growl or snarl, but his dark eyes inspected us with a predator’s interest and I felt my hands begin to shake. Holy shit.
He was beautiful and even bigger than Dax, at least right now. Where the beast who’d just snarled at me moments ago scared the shit out of me, Deek’s beast seemed calmer somehow, his body completely under his control. I could easily imagine him on a battlefield ripping his enemies in half with his bare hands. Throw a kilt and a broadsword across his back and every single woman on Earth would be panting with lust, despite the frightening display of teeth I saw when his eyes shifted to inspect me.
I knew he couldn’t see much, not with the giant cloak practically swallowing me whole, but he didn’t shift his gaze from me as Dax walked up to the force field. He glanced up at the corner nearest us to the imbedded surveillance camera I could just make out. It was small, no bigger than a dime-sized coin back home, but Sarah had told me it could see and hear everything that happened in that cell.
“Greetings, Commander.”
“Dax.” The beast moved then, uncurling from his crouch and stretching to his full height. He stepped forward, approaching, until the two warriors stood facing one another on opposite sides of the force field. A mixture of awe and nervousness had me take a step back. He towered over Dax by nearly a full head, standing close to eight feet tall. He was naked, too, his massive chest and thighs making me practically drool. His huge cock was on display, fully erect and ready.
Oh, God. That was ready for me. I was his mate and that was supposed to go in me! The thought caused my pussy to clench and the beast froze in place, sniffing the air as if he could smell my desire. Could he?
Dax drew a breath, as if to speak, but my mate cut him off and turned to look at me. I felt stripped naked and inspected, despite the heavy cloak.
“Who?” The word seemed to be a struggle for him, but he took a step sideways in his cell, shifting closer to me. The nearer he moved, the more my heart raced. I froze in place like a deer in headlights, my pussy soaking wet with those rough words. The sound of his voice made my nerves tingle and my breasts feel heavy. God, he was hot. Huge. Monster scary. So strong he could break me in half. And it turned me on. I wanted him more than anyone else before. It was instantaneous and heady.
And I was supposed to give myself to him, a complete stranger. Right now. And try to force the cuffs on his wrists when he wasn’t looking. I felt like a six-week-old kitten contemplating taking on a fully grown tiger. No freaking way I was winning this one.
Sarah’s hand came to rest on my shoulder and she leaned forward. I startled at the touch and took a deep breath, knowing I had to calm down in order to do this.
“Trust me. He’s already interested. See how he’s watching you. He’s your match. He’s yours, Tiffani. And you are his. His beast will know it, perhaps already does, even if he doesn’t. You can do this.”
I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I chanted the words in my head, drowning out all other thoughts as I forced myself to calm down. I ignored his size and simply looked at his body, which was magnificent. His cock was long and thick—bigger than any I’d seen before—a dark plum color with a large, flared head. A thick vein bulged along the length. I imagined it straining to reach me, to fill me. I imagined that colossal body lifting me like a toy and shoving me up against the wall, fucking my brains out, making me come. This creature was mine. By Earth law, Atlan law, and whatever crazy advanced science they used at the matching center to make sure we would be compatible. He was mine, and I wasn’t going to let them kill him because I was too scared to let him take me now.
I can do this.
Deek took another step and I lifted my head and shoulders to look up at him. His gaze had softened from those of a hunter about to kill to something far more interesting but no less intense.
Lifting my hands, I glanced to Warlord Dax for permission. He glanced at the surveillance camera, which was now blinking with a strange yellow light, and turned back to me with a nod. “Go ahead, Tiffani. The system is down.”
“Tiffani.” Deek’s voice was rough and deep, reminding me of the garbled sound of a voice coming through a bass speaker.
I lowered my hood and turned my face up to my mate. “Hello, Deek.”
He didn’t answer with words, but a low, rumbling growl filled the space, the sound so loud it reverberated through my chest like a dance beat at a raging club. He stared and I could not break eye contact, no matter how much I wanted to look away. I felt hypnotized.
When we simply stared at one another, my heart about to pound itself right out of my ribcage, Dax stepped forward. “Do you want us to let her in, Commander? You’ve refused all the others.”
In response to Dax’s question, my mate backed away from the force field and my heart sank. Damn. He was big and scary as hell, but he didn’t want me after all. Even raging with fever and execution looming, he refused.
When he was all the way at the back of the cell, next to a large bed, he turned and placed his hands flat above his head on the cell wall. I turned to Dax. “What is he doing?”
Dax’s smile was genuine, and I relaxed. “He must face the back of his cell with his arms on the wall before I can lower the force field. It’s protocol, to protect the guards and visitors.” Dax’s smile faded and he glanced from Deek’s muscled frame back to me. “Be careful, Tiffani. He’s not human. He won’t want to hurt you, I know him, but be gentle with him.”
“Gentle?” Was he fucking kidding me? Me? Be gentle?
Sarah jumped excitedly. “Quick, let her in!”
I glanced at Sarah, the question Dax had asked Deek a moment ago finally registering through the fog of lust and fear in my brain. “What others did he refuse?”
She rolled her eyes. “A ton of women have been in here, throwing themselves at him. When they go beast mode, Atlan woman willing to take them as a mate are paraded through here like models on a runway. If any of the men react, the women are put in the cell to try to claim them as mates.”
I turned back to watch Deek, his hands flexing into fists against the wall over and over, as if he was fighting for control. “Does it work?”
“Sometimes. But not for the commander. He’s refused at least twenty females, including his betrothed.”
“His what?” Had I heard that right? His betrothed? Anger and jealousy stirred as I inspected my mate. He was mine, not some betrothed. All that beastly hotness was fucking mine.
Sarah waved her hands in an apologetic gesture. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’t matter?” I asked, my eyes wide. “He has a betrothed and it doesn’t matter?”
Sarah swiped her hand through the air. “A mate trumps a betrothed, Tiffani. If an Atlan doesn’t find his true mate, he can marry someone else and hope the beast will accept them, which they usually do, as long as he’s not in mating fever. Tia is his ‘fallback’ woman. At least that’s how I think of it. But Deek won’t need a fallback because you’re his mate. He’s yours.”
“The force field will be down for three seconds, Tiffani. When I give the command, you must enter his cell completely and without delay,” Dax instructed.
Warlord Dax moved to the far side of the cell’s wall and placed his palm on a small scanner in the corridor.
I nodded, numb. This was about to happen. I was about to be locked inside that cell with a beast who could barely speak. It was the stupid betrothed female, the jealousy of her, that had me ready to claim my mate. No one would take Deek from me. No stupid Atlan woman was going to fuck this up for me. No
betrothed.
A strange humming sound filled the air, then a silence made profound by its absence.
“Now!” Warlord Dax barked the order at me and my body jolted forward of its own accord, my legs moving me over the thin demarcation in the floor and into Deek’s cell. The buzzing resumed and I turned to look over my shoulder at Sarah, whose dark eyes were filled with hope and sympathy. “Good luck, Tiff. The security camera will be down until the guards change shift.”
“When is that?” I asked. I knew I was going to have to have sex with a complete stranger who was nowhere close to human, but I sure as hell didn’t need an audience.
Warlord Dax wrapped his arm around Sarah’s waist. “You’ve got five hours, Tiffani Wilson of Earth. Please, help him if you can.”
What he meant to say was, Fuck the warrior until you can’t walk right for a week, but be sure to soothe his beast. Oh, and if the commander loses control, he might accidentally kill you. Sorry about that.
I licked my dry lips. “I will.”
My only two allies on this strange new world turned and walked away. My heart moved upward and into my throat, making it difficult to swallow. I watched until they were gone, my eyes burning with unshed tears as adrenaline, fear, anticipation, desire, hope and dread all coalesced into a tornado of emotion behind my eyes.
And then I heard him. My mate behind me.
Tensing, I turned to see him moving toward me like a hunter, slowly, carefully, controlled so I wouldn’t bolt. With a sigh, I decided either I could be scared to death, or I could trust what Warden Egara told me. If he was mine, he would know. He would listen to me. He wouldn’t hurt me. He wouldn’t wrap those gigantic hands around my neck and snap me like a twig. Nope.
I reached into the pockets of my cloak and pulled his matching cuffs from within. Assured by the heavy gold bands in my palm, I undid the clasp at my throat and let the heavy garment drop to my feet.
Deek stilled, frozen in place as I stepped away from the fallen cover; my Atlan dress wrapped my breasts in a tight golden crisscross, which put the large orbs on perfect display. The V-neck style showed a lot of skin, and his breathing hitched as he inspected me, his hungry gaze raking over every inch of my body, from my slippered feet to the top of my head. But when his gaze reached the cuffs on my wrists and the matching ones in my palm, he roared, rushing me.
Tamed By The Beast (Interstellar Brides Book 7) Page 4