by Mina Carter
He nodded to her bare inner arm, the skin clear of ink that would mark children she’d had. Each warrior was expected to birth or sire three children each of their regenerations to continue the species and Kelis had yet to find a man she wanted to have kids by. One thing she did know, Deln was never ever going to be that man.
Imperceptibly, she altered her centre of balance. “And if I don’t?”
Deln’s grin grew broader. “Then I’ll make you.”
Before the end of the sentence, he launched himself at her. Reacting on instinct, she wheeled and lashed out with her good arm, keeping her injured one tucked in at her side. Fighting while injured was nothing new to her, but she’d never faced off against a warrior that had trained with her day in and day out for months, then tried to use that against her. She was older, wiser and a hell of a lot more experienced, but within minutes, exhaustion from healing the wound across her back began to pull at her. Her reactions slowed.
He grinned, knowing she couldn’t hold him off for long and redoubled his efforts, hammering at her defences. He got one through, a heavy jab that rocked her backwards and she stumbled, knowing it was all over.
“What the FUCK do you think you’re doing?” A loud voice sliced through the air, stopping Deln in his tracks. When they both turned to look, Buchanan strode down the hallway toward them, murder in his eyes, with her father in his wake looking equally pissed off.
“This is Wildcat business, fleetie. Now fuck off,” Deln growled, turning back to Kelis.
But Buchanan obviously wasn’t prepared to leave it there. Within a heartbeat, he was between Kelis and her attacker, snarling. “Get the hell away from my woman.”
“Your woman?”
Three voices carolled, the three Saragosians all turning to look at the tall human.
Deln curled his lip back. “Yeah, right. Since when did she become your woman? You’re just human.”
“A question I’d really like the answer to as well.”
Kelis sighed, staying propped up against the wall where she’d fallen, as her father joined the fray. Deln slid a sideways glance at Aerynn and his chest puffed out, apparently thinking he had the support of the warlord. But instead, her father fixed Buchanan with a hard look.
“Last night. All night.” Kelis’ cheeks burned at that. Shit, was he going to go into detail as well? Lady, shoot her now. “And I’m not letting go of what’s mine. She’ll have my name across her hips before long.”
Shhiiiiiit. Kelis’ head snapped up at that, her eyes widening. He knew what that meant, she knew he knew what that meant. And he’d just said it in front of her father.
“Is that so?” Aerynn nodded and it seemed like a moment of understanding passed between the two men.
“It is,” Buchanan growled, levelling a look on Deln. “I call challenge.”
The younger Saragosian laughed, his gaze shifting uneasily between the two older men as though he knew he was missing something but wasn’t sure what it was. “My lord…he’s human. You can’t expect me to—”
“Challenge issued.” Aerynn stepped back and folded his arms. “Accept or cede, Deln.”
Deln snapped his mouth shut and nodded, his expression grim as he turned toward Buchanan, who was stripping out of his jacket and shirt. He held them out to Kelis and winked at her as she looked at him dumbfounded.
She struggled to her feet. Deln would make mincemeat out of him.
“Vann, move a muscle and I’ll have your father stun you where you stand,” Buchanan growled at her. “I got this.”
She couldn’t help flicking a glance at her father opposite. His set expression told her that, yes, he would do exactly that if she tried to help Buchanan in any way. He’d called challenge, which meant he had to see it through. Although, if Deln thought he was winning anything other than an ass kicking from her when he was done with Gabe, he was out of his tiny little mind. All she needed was some painkillers and she’d make him sorry he’d ever been born.
“You think you can win this, human?” Deln sneered, dancing around Buchanan and flexing his muscles in an attempt to intimidate him.
Buchanan didn’t reply. Instead, he watched the circling Wildcat, his fists up to guard his face. Kelis held her breath as she saw Deln set up to start moving in. It was a move she’d taught him that would lead to a hook to the face, and a—
Before Deln could land a punch, Buchanan moved. Stepping into the younger man’s space, he slid under his guard and unleashed a close quarters barrage of punches, elbow strikes and knee hits that left both Kelis and her father with stunned looks on their faces. Within seconds, Deln was reduced to a bloody and groaning mass on the floor.
Buchanan looked down at him, sniffed, and wiped the blood from his nose that was a result of the one blow the Wildcat had managed to land. He squatted down and grabbed Deln’s hair, making the groaning youngster look up at him. One of Deln’s eyes was already swollen shut and the other struggled to focus.
“I might be human, I might not have been born with the physical and regenerative advantages that you were, but just think about this,” he said in a low, dangerous voice. “Your planet went to war for seven hundred years. That’s it. In all your history, seven hundred years of war. You want to know how long humans have been killing each other? Millenia, sunshine. We’ve been killing each other for thousands and thousands of years. And guess what? We’re damn fucking good at it. Now come near my wife again and I will kill you, understand me?”
“Your wife?”
Kelis fixed Buchanan with a look as he dropped the younger warrior’s head and left him groaning on the ground to stand.
His gaze was level on hers as he stalked toward her. Stalked, not walked, and the look in his eyes made her catch her breath. He came to a stop just in front of her, so close that she could feel the heat of his body beating against hers. A splash of Deln’s blood decorated the front of his shoulder. It shouldn’t have been sexy, but it was.
“My wife.” His tone and expression were firm, as though daring her to argue. “Do you have a problem with that?”
It was a question, a statement and a challenge all rolled into one. But not a physical challenge like the one Deln had tried to foist on her. He was giving her a choice, right there in the corridor in front of her father, the one man in existence whose advice she’d actually listen to. And he was silent.
The choice was hers alone.
Reaching out, she touched his shoulder and brushed away the smear of blood. It was a tiny, but possessive little move.
“Why?”
He barked a laugh, and the corners of his eyes creased with laughter lines. “Why? Because you’re the most intelligent, and toughest woman I’ve ever met. You tie me up in knots and I can’t stop thinking about you. When I thought…when you were hit…”
He didn’t complete the sentence, instead reaching out to drag her into his arms. Without needing to be told, she nestled against him and tucked into his embrace as a shudder ran through his larger body.
“I realised I didn’t want to lose you,” he murmured softly into her hair. “But it wasn’t until I saw that asshole beating on you that I realised I didn’t want to lose you because I love you.”
She tilted her head back to look him in the eyes and saw down into his soul. The truth of his words was searing, and a warm feeling spread out from the centre of her chest—a little tug that told her this was right. Love. This was what love felt like, she realised, and her breath caught.
“I love you too. I was so scared when I woke up and you weren’t there. I thought they’d gotten to you when I was out.”
There, the truth her heart had been trying to tell her was out. She loved him, from the bottom of her heart. The little tug she’d been feeling was her soul telling her that he was the one. He was her bond mate. She’d never thought she’d be lucky enough to have one. Or that he’d be human. But she didn’t care what species he was.
He was hers. All hers.
“So,” he r
eached out and tilted her chin up. “I’m going to ask again…do you have a problem with that?”
“No, no problem.” Her voice caught on the words, so breathy and soft she wasn’t sure at first it was hers. But it had to be. “On one condition…”
“Oh? What’s that?”
Her hand spread out over his chest, over the solid muscles there. “My name goes here.”
“Of course. Whatever you want.” His smile curved against her lips as he claimed them.
The kiss was softer and sweeter than any he’d given her so far. A promise and a claim all in one. She sighed, the sound lost under his lips, and leaned into him. Breaking the kiss, he scooped her up into his arms and turned to face her father.
Aerynn watched them both, his arms folded across his chest. Deln appeared to be unconscious at his feet.
“Do I need to ask permission or something?” Gabe asked, his voice low.
Kelis held her breath as she waited for her father’s answer. Generally warriors didn’t ask permission to get married, but she was the daughter of a warlord. The usual rules didn’t apply.
“No, it’s her choice. But know one thing…” Bending over, he hauled Deln up and hoisted him over one broad shoulder without a flicker of effort showing across his face. “You hurt her and I will hunt you down and show you exactly what a battle-hardened warrior can do. Your species might be good at killing each other, but you’ve learned that over millennia. I learned it all in one lifetime and I’m not just good at it, I’m fucking gifted. You hear me?”
“Loud and clear.” Gabe held her closer. “But, no offence, I’m a little more worried about your daughter than you.”
Aerynn’s face split into a broad grin. “Clever man. Just remember she’s one of a set of twins…and she’s the nice one.”
Turning, he walked off down the corridor with his burden, whistling a jaunty tune. Kelis smiled and shook her head. Given the stunt Deln had just pulled, she wouldn’t like to be him when he woke up.
“So…” She traced a finger over Gabe’s bare shoulder. “What happens now?”
“Now…” He began to walk. “I take you home and make you mine. Forever.”
The End
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Mina Carter is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of romance in many genres. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter and a bossy cat.
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