“Still an arrogant ass, I see.” I taunted him, knowing his honor would keep him in check. I expected no less from Makaed Karter. The perfect son. The perfect warrior. And now, no doubt, the perfect commander. He’d held a very dangerous sector of space against a very aggressive enemy for years. I read the reports, kept up on his battlegroup. I knew exactly who I was dealing with.
And fuck, though I knew he shouldn’t be here, it was good to see a familiar face. A face that knew me, the real me. Not the I.C. asset who lived without any identification, who was considered just shy of rogue. While I’d volunteered for the secretive intelligence gathering group, there was no fucking way I’d have done it if I’d known how… alone I would become. Cut off.
I turned to the control panel and resumed scanning the data, looking for the probe, for the Hive ship. Something. Anything. There had to be something here, some clue. A trail. A hint of what the Hive had hit us with. There had to be.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead, Ronan? You were my brother.”
There was no pain in his voice, but I felt it regardless. I knew the depths of the warrior who spoke to me. But what could I say? I lied to you because I made a huge mistake and joined the I.C.?
No. That would be a lie. I would have done it anyway. The Intelligence Core was the reason the Interstellar Coalition had made great progress in the war with the Hive. That was worth any sacrifice. That was worth the price I had paid. I had told myself that too many times to count. I could not stop believing it now just because we’d lost another battleship, a brilliant, seasoned commander and still had no idea what the fuck kind of weapon had been used against us. Two steps forward, one giant fucking leap backward.
“I did what needed to be done, same as you.”
He grunted at my words but turned and walked away, most likely heading toward the transport room to greet his new bride.
I watched him go, my gut churning with conflicting instincts. Stay. Follow him. Let him go. Claim the female and demand my place as his second.
Nothing was easy. Nothing could be done without fighting someone, whether it was Karter, the I.C. or myself.
A few months ago, my superior officers at Core Command had been sitting around with huge smiles on their faces, congratulating each other and patting themselves on the back. A Nexus unit had been taken down, the first, but not by a member of the Intelligence Core, or by a fleet commander, but by a human cyborg female sent to the Colony, and by her new mate, a brute who, technically, wasn’t even part of the Coalition, a Forsian from Rogue 5, a bastard the size of an Atlan and twice as mean.
How those two had taken down the Nexus was still a matter of debate. The female and her mate had stolen a ship soon after and disappeared, leaving a group of dead Hive Soldiers, a dead Hive Integration Unit, and the body of the Nexus himself rotting in a cave beneath Colony Base 3.
Dissecting the Nexus had earned us a deeper understanding of how their biology was formed. Prior to that, only one other Nexus unit had been killed, again by a human female, Captain Megan Simmons, and her mate, Nyko, an Atlan with a mean streak and a bad attitude. Before the I.C. even knew the captain had been successful in acquiring a neural transmission junction from the spine of the Nexus unit on Latiri 4, the Hive had removed their dead.
We had the Nexus’ helmet, and the disgusting wormlike neural unit—still squirming and searching for brains—somewhere on ice in the vaults at Core Command. Doctor Helion and the rest of the I.C. science teams had spent countless hours trying to understand the Hive physiology, with little luck.
It seemed the Nexus and the rest of the Hive we battled were completely different. The Hive soldiers were biological hijackings, bodies of conquered people they’d taken form other worlds and contaminated with their synthetic technology.
But the Nexus themselves were a different species entirely, something we’d never seen before.
The body from the Colony had given them more information, but still not enough.
And now this.
Two battlegroups destroyed in less than two weeks. At this rate, the Hive would overrun the entire Coalition Fleet in a matter of weeks.
The I.C. was currently hunting for the Forsian and his female. They were the only warriors known to have successfully tracked and killed a Nexus unit. They had answers we needed, but they had vanished, and Governor Maxim of Base 3 claimed not to know much. But then, he was Prillon, with a human mate of his own, and she had been as tight-lipped as her two mates.
I’d met Earth females, Captain Megan Simmons among them. They were tough and liked to keep their secrets. If Governor Maxim claimed not to know how the human female—now cyborg—had tracked the Nexus unit, I believed him.
Damn stubborn females. She most likely needed a good spanking and a good fucking, in that order. But to do that, I’d have to get past the Forsian monster who’d claimed her for his own.
Damn near impossible, even if the I.C. knew where to find them.
Still, a tempting prospect. Human females were all softness and curves, usually with a feisty mouth to go with them. Everything I wanted in a female, and I’d admired the few I’d run into.
I wondered if Karter’s mate would have soft, dark skin like Megan, or be a light brown color more like I.C. Commander Chloe Phan? Perhaps she’d be fair and golden like Kira, the bride I’d met on the Colony, mated to the Warlord Anghar, or fair of skin but dark haired like Governor Maxim’s female, Rachel.
I’d spent several weeks on the Colony and my admiration for Earth females had only grown from interest to obsession. I wanted one for myself.
The Hive’s interest in the Colony had been our main focus the last few months, until the Hyrad had been destroyed, and now the Varsten. The Hive had a new weapon, a game-changing, win the war and wipe out the entire Interstellar Coalition, weapon.
I’d been sent here to find out what it was and how it worked, so we could stop it. All I’d done so far was get good warriors killed.
I needed that probe. And I prayed to the gods there was valuable information contained on its database, something we could use to counter or destroy their new weapon.
If not, we were doomed. And so were my old friend and his new bride.
That was not acceptable to me. Knowing his bride would be arriving from Earth made me doubly determined to protect them both. No doubt she would be soft and curvy, sassy and submissive. Perfect. Matched to Makaed Karter, she could be nothing less.
And I would have been his second, the pledge made years ago when we’d been not yet twenty, running the corridors of the battleship, playing at war. Karter and I had been closer than brothers then. We’d longed to attend the Coalition Academy, to test our mettle. Wet behind the ears and so fucking young. We’d both excelled, worked our way up the ranks until we earned our own commands.
And now Karter had a whole fucking battlegroup answering to him. He was known. Very known in the Coalition. Infamous. Then there was me, his best friend. I’d hit captain, then taken a sharp left at I.C., worked my up to commander, and there had been no path back.
My superiors had faked my death and erased my records in case the Hive ever caught me. Obviously, I wasn’t dead, but in the eyes of the Coalition, I’d been lost in a battle five years earlier. Body taken by the Hive, destination unknown. Plausible, since that was what happened to almost every fighter lost on Latiri 4 if they were not lucky enough to be retrieved by one of our own.
No one questioned my death. No one missed me. And so I fought, in my own stealth way, in a way few had. I didn’t exist. I could blend in, become whatever my superiors wanted. Mission after mission. And since I was already dead, they didn’t have to worry if something ever happened to me. I didn’t kid myself. I wasn’t irreplaceable. I was valuable, but that was it.
And now, holy fuck. Now, seeing Karter, those five years were blown. I existed again. Someone knew me. Knew everything important about me. I hadn’t cared for so long, but seeing my friend made the need to… belong,
Years ago, I’d vowed to be his second. I’d been serious then, and I was serious now. Fate had set me on the same ship as Karter at this time. I was meant to be his second, to protect the female we would both love, and I would not take my responsibility lightly.
I would not turn away from this, and I would not allow Kaed Karter to deny me what was mine. Our female. Our mate. He obviously needed someone to knock some sense into that thick skull, and I would not deny my responsibility. I didn’t want to.
Standing, I left the console and made my way to the transport room. There, I walked in with purpose. Injured were lined up awaiting their turn at being sent to a viable ship with a med unit. With ReGen pods to heal them.
Karter turned at my entrance, came around the wounded being tended on the floor. “I thought you’d be off collecting the data from the probe, then off to I.C.”
I shook my head, clenching my fists as a wounded fighter was carried up to the transport pad, then disappeared. The vibrations of the transport buzzed beneath my feet, but I was so used to the electrical current in the air, the hairs on my body no longer stood on end.
“I await our mate,” I said plainly.
Karter’s dark eyes widened and he set his hands on his hips. It might have been five years since I’d seen him last, but I knew him well. Remembered the intensity, his focus. “Our mate?”
“You asked me to be your second and I accepted, Kaed. Vows were made. Do you deny it?”
“That was before you died.”
I paused. “Have you chosen another as your second?” I asked. The strange sensation of… hurt swelled in my chest.
“Fuck you, Ronan.”
I knew it. Even with me dead, he’d been too damn stubborn to break his oath to me. “I’m your second, Commander. And since your weak-willed second in command allowed you to set foot on this ship, you clearly need me to help you protect our female.”
“She’s not mine. I was tested years ago. I don’t have time for a mate. My life is not suited for a female. Fuck, look where we are! This ship is barely holding together. One small meteor bouncing off the exterior shields and it might crumple. Blown to bits by an unknown Hive weapon.” He raised his arm indicating the others around us. Injured. Proof of how evil the Hive could be. “And she’s coming here. Why would the Brides Program match an innocent, from Earth, to be mine? This is my life.”
His words rang true. He was a battlegroup commander. Important. Valuable. And always in the thick of danger.
“We will not remain on this ship. She will be safe on Battleship Karter.”
“Will she? Varsten is dead and he knew this… weapon was aiming right for him. You said Battlegroup Hyrad was blown to bits last week. The entire battlegroup. Thousands are dying and yet I have a mate arriving in the thick of it.”
“We will protect her.”
He tried to smile, but it looked more a sneer. “And you? Her second? A member of the I.C. so stealthy you don’t even exist. How can you be her second; how will you protect her, if you aren’t here, if you exist only as a ghost? A dead man?”
I reached down, cupped my cock. “I assure you, I am very much alive. I am a commander, Kaed, equal in rank to you. And she will not doubt that when we claim her.”
“We are a danger to her.”
Thank fuck he’d used the word we. “We do not know why she comes. Her reasons for being a bride. Is she fleeing danger on Earth? Was a male harming her? Does she seek protection from two males? She needs what only you can give her if she was matched to you.”
Slowly, he shook his head, let his hands fall to his sides. The hum of the transport picked up again, and I glanced up as another wounded fighter disappeared. Within a second, he’d be with the med techs on Battleship Karter, getting the help he needed.
“We aren’t safe. We are a danger to her. And with you off on missions, she will not have two mates to satisfy her. Protect her. How can you say you’ll be her second if you won’t be there to keep her safe if something happens to me? And it will. It is only a matter of time.”
I stepped closer, set my hand on his shoulder, looked my friend in the eye in a way I hadn’t done in a half a decade. “She is coming here. She is yours. You will solve this like you solve all problems.”
He stepped back. “Exactly. A problem. What female wants to be a mate who is considered a problem?”
“Commander,” the transport tech called. “Your mate is arriving next. We have paused transporting the injured for her arrival.”
Kaed gave me a knowing look. A mate complicated everything. Delayed the remaining injured from getting the help they needed. It wasn’t her fault. She had no control of being sent from Earth. It was the Interstellar Brides Program that sent mates when matched.
“I want her. I vowed to be your second and I will not renege on that. It may have been five years since we’ve seen each other last, but my honor has not changed. Nor has yours.”
The vibration began again. This time, we turned to look at the platform. It was empty and before our eyes, she appeared. Sprawled across the metal surface, she looked like one of the injured, except for no blood. Unconscious.
And, as I had dreamed, very soft. Curved. And very, very naked.
Before my eyes, Karter’s spine straightened. His chest puffed out and his gaze darkened. He was on the platform in two steps, I right behind.
Kaed seemed as stunned as I, staring at our female. She was tall, much taller than Commander Phan. The I.C. commander was small, compact with dark hair nearly black and a tight, compact body.
Not our female. She was tall with golden hair that curled at the ends and lush curves that would fill my hands. Large, full breasts with pink nipples, round, curved ass and full, soft thighs. Her stomach curved in a delightful softness I could not wait to fill with our seed and watch grow. She was lush. Soft.
Perfect.
My cock thought so as well, swelling to painful hardness in my pants.
Karter still hadn’t moved, his dark hands a stark contrast to her fair flesh where he wrapped his arms around her.
“Commander, we need to clear the pad.” The transport tech spoke softly, but the reprimand was there. We were staring, wasting time, delaying the transport of the injured.
“She’s mine,” Karter murmured as he lifted her easily into his arms and carried her down the steps, out of the way of the line of injured.
“Ours,” I added when I stroked her silky hair back from her sleeping face. I was no longer dead. I was now a second in a Prillon life match. I now had a mate. I was alive and had a new mission.
Her.
Chapter 6
Erica
“She’s mine.”
I heard a deep voice growl those words. It was as if I were in another testing dream, floating, not quite sleeping… hovering. I was laid out, not in the dentist chair from the processing center, but as if in a bed. It was the hardest bed I’d ever felt. Cold, too. More like a floor.
“Ours.” A different voice, but no less gruff.
I felt large hands on me, lifting me to a somewhat upright position.
I couldn’t see—I wasn’t fully awake—but I could hear. A variety of sounds came to me. The two men weren’t alone. I heard other voices, but farther away. All clear, urgent. Banging of metal, as if a hammer hitting a car. Bursts of air, like truck brakes being released.
Soft fabric was pushed over my head. Warm and the scent of… of something I didn’t recognize. Dark. Appealing. I took a deep breath and blinked, saw flashes of light. Color.
Blinked again.
Hands were on me, moving mine, slipping my arms into sleeves of a dark shirt. The hands were tanned, corded tendons, thick veins. The size of dinner plates.
“Commander, the next transport sequence has been accepted. Please move clear of the transport pad.”
I was lifted easily—too easily for a woman of my size—and I was moving, down a few steps, then lowered into someone’s lap.
I lifted my head. Blinked once more. A man—no, not a man, an alien—was kneeling before me. I had to tilt my chin back to look at his face. It hadn’t felt as if I’d been transported off Earth, but just looking at him, I knew.
I wasn’t on Earth any longer. He was looking at me, his gaze roving over every inch of me. Intent, focused, sharp.
The eyes were dark, like chocolate, the same color as his hair. But his skin had the most amazing tan, as if he lived in Florida and spent all his time outdoors. He looked like a man from Earth, but… more. Bigger, like super-sized. With him kneeling, I couldn’t tell how tall he was, but his shoulders were broad and I had to wonder if they’d fill a doorway. Muscles bulged beneath his black shirt. He was… hot. God, like seriously, incredibly gorgeous. And all of his attention was focused squarely on me.
“Mate, are you well?”
The voice was like rocks tumbling down a stream. Deep. Mesmerizing. He continued to study me as I remained silent, but realized he was waiting. While he seemed patient, tension vibrated from him. I sensed anger, frustration and other things I didn’t understand.
“Yes, I’m fine.” I looked down, saw I’d been covered in a similar black shirt as his, and yet the one I wore had definitely seen better days. But a few rips and… oh God, what looked suspiciously like blood… was better than remaining naked in front of total strangers.
The arms about me tightened, then began to rove over me. My arms, my shoulders, the back of my neck, then back down. I was sitting in someone’s lap, not his, felt the warmth of the second person where I was pressed against him. My shoulder in his hard chest—where his heartbeat was steady—and lower, my hip pressing into his… oh shit.
Was that his cock? It felt like the proverbial pipe in his pants. Thick, long, hard.
“You transported a long way,” the voice by my ear murmured. Oh, this other voice was deep, delicious. “No headaches, nausea…”
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