by Hayes, Susan
“So why are we still talking?”
“Because I have something important I need to say. I understand why you didn’t tell us about your gift. You were protecting yourself. I don’t have that excuse, but I didn’t tell you my talent either. I’m an empath. Not a very powerful one, but I can pick up on strong emotions. That’s how I know that you’re in love with Deke.”
Her jaw dropped. “I’m what? No, I’m not!” Her denial rang false in her own ears, and she had no doubt Trevar knew it wasn’t true, even if she was only now coming to realize it.
Holy galactic sonic booms. I’m in love.
“Yes, you are. He loves you, too. And yeah, I’m blowing the surprise, but fuck it, we’re running out of time. The thing is, I love you, too. Never planned on it. Never wanted to fall in love with anyone, but I did. And if you think I’m going to let you go back to Earth, or anywhere else without us, you’re crazier than I am.”
Sonja’s heart did a triple back spring in her chest and tears stung at her eyes as she stared at Trevar in amazement. He loved her. It was impossibly improbable, but somehow she’d found her way to the only men in the galaxy who had ever treated her like a person and not an object. They didn’t care about her tattoo, or her money, or her family connections. They cared about her.
“I said this to Deke earlier, but I’m telling you, too. I’m not going anywhere, Trevar Storm. I’m staying right here with the two of you. I love you. Stars help us, I love both of you. I think—no, I know that I’ve been dreaming about you for years. That’s why I knew I could trust you so soon after we met. In my precognitive dreams, I’ve known you both for a long time.”
He stared into her eyes for a long time, his fingers still working at unraveling her braid as the silence stretched out. Finally he wrapped a long tress of her hair around his fingers and gripped it firmly. “Okay then. One thing we need to get clear. You are mine now. Forever. No take backs. No leaving. No lies. Every part of you, from your sweet smile to that delicious pussy, belong to me.”
“And Deke,” she reminded him gently.
In response he wrapped another coil of her hair around his hand and used it to draw her in closer, so that their breath mingled and she was staring into his steel-gray eyes. “Deke, too, but we’re not talking about him right now. Here, in this moment, it’s just the two of us. I want you to remember this, Sonja. I claimed you.”
Trevar held her by the hair as he pressed the marking device to her face, making sure that she didn’t pull away before it was done. The moment she’d said she loved him, he had known what he was going to do. At first, Sonja didn’t seem to understand what he was doing, but as he pulled the device away, her beautiful blue eyes widened and her lips parted in a gasp. His mark now sat by her left eye, the flowing lines of his and Deke’s initials forever ingrained on her skin. A rush of primal feelings hit him as the reality of what he’d done sank in.
She was claimed.
“What the hell did you do to me?” Sonja demanded, her hand coming up to her cheek.
“I claimed you. You’re our chosen, Sonja. Ours to protect, cherish and enjoy for the rest of our lives.” He held up the device so she could see it.
“You…you have a marking device? But how? Is this even a real claiming tattoo? And what the hell were you thinking, marking me without any warning like that!” She pursed her lips and her brows furrowed as she stared at him.
“I didn’t plan on giving you a chance to say no,” he said, but the truth was more complicated than that. If things went badly, then he would shoulder the blame alone. Deke didn’t even know he had claiming rights, and Sonja had never agreed to be claimed.
“If it’s ugly, I’m going to kill you,” she grumbled.
“Give me a little credit. I wouldn’t slap just any old symbol on your face, thank you. I do have to look at it every day for the rest of my life, you know.” He finally gave in to the need to kiss her, cutting off whatever argument or protest she might have been planning. They were past words now. It was done.
He felt her tiny hum of satisfaction buzz across his lips as he kissed her and her mouth opening to his in silent invitation. Not that he needed to be invited. She belonged to him now, and he intended to enjoy laying claim to every inch of her. Her dress rode higher up her thighs as she squirmed again, baring a welcoming expanse of skin. He dropped a hand to her thigh, pushing the fabric even higher. There were a great many things they should be talking about right now, but all he really wanted to do was bury his dick inside her tight heat and stay there forever.
She moaned into his mouth and his cock twitched in its fabric prison. He wanted her so badly it was a physical ache. Her love for her was a balm to his soul, making him whole.
“I love you, Sonja.”
“I know.” She lifted her head so he could see the desire burning in those glacier-blue eyes and then laughed at his expression. “I don’t need to be an empath to know you love me. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have claimed me. This….it’s real, isn’t it?” She touched the new tattoo with her fingertips.
“It’s real.”
“Show me.”
A wicked idea formed at the back of his mind and he ran with it. “You do as I say, and I’ll show you a whole lot more than your tattoo. Ship, set all view screens in the cockpit to reflective mode.”
And just like that, Sonja found herself sitting in the center of a mirrored hemisphere. She twisted so that her back was to Trevar’s chest, and then gasped as she saw her new reflection staring back at her.
The design was beautiful.
Sonja knew some elites who paid small fortunes to artists to create the perfect tattoo for their chosen. None of them came close to the elegant lines that now adorned her face. Trevar had managed to combine her bondeds’ initials into a complex pattern that accented her natural bone structure. Trevar had been keeping more than one secret from her. Not only was he an empath, he was an artist.
“It’s perfect,” she said, sweeping more of her hair from her cheek so she could see it better.
“I’m glad you like it. I think it looks fucking sexy on you, kitten.”
Trevar lifted her up a few inches, settling her back into his lap so that her legs fell to the outside of his and she was facing straight ahead. The hard ridge of his cock pressed against her ass, and she elicited a low groan when she deliberately wriggled her hips against his groin. “Care to explain why I’m facing away from you? I thought we had things to discuss?”
“We discussed them. I’m an empath. You’re my chosen. End of conversation.” He reached around to cup one of her breasts in his hand, teasing the nipple with the pad of his thumb. “I have something else I’d much rather be doing right now. The rest can wait.”
“I see.”
“Not yet, but you will.” He lifted her hair away from the nape of her neck and began kissing his way down to her shoulder. The delicate touches and the heat of his breath made her shiver. He gave her hardening nub a light pinch and then released it, sliding both hands down her body until he reached the bottom of her dress. Gripping it firmly, he began lifting it higher, baring her legs as she watched their reflections in the glass.
His teeth grazed her skin as he nipped her between kisses, his gray eyes gleaming with lust as he watched over her shoulder, a voyeur to his own enjoyment. Calloused fingers brushed along her inner thighs and he moved his legs further apart, spreading hers at the same time. His movements grew impatient, his nips strong enough to sting as he tugged her dress up past her hips, revealing the blue lace panties he’d bought her earlier.
“You picked out my favorite pair,” he said, his voice rich with approval and husky with desire. He plucked at the silken ties where they were fastened high on her hip, and the scrap of fabric came away with a tug.
“I think I know why they’re you’re favorite…”
He winked at her reflection before drawing the dress up over her head and tossing it onto Deke’s empty chair. “Damn, you are beautiful.�
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The hunger in his gaze was intoxicating, empowering her to grow bolder. Daringly, she licked her lips and palmed her own breasts, toying with her nipples until they stood out in sharp peaks. Trevar groaned and she felt his cock pulse against her backside. He jerked her legs even further apart and slid two fingers into her exposed pussy, rubbing her clitoris in tight little circles as his teeth bit lightly into her shoulder.
“Keep your hands right where they are. I want to watch you play with those pretty breasts while I make you come. You’re mine, Sonja, and I am going to make you scream my name every damned night from now until the day I die.” His voice flowed over her, dark and seductive, sending a fresh wave of cream to soak her pussy as he worked her clit.
“Promise?”
“Fuck yes, I promise,” he vowed, his hand moving faster now, building up an exquisite friction across the delicate bundle of nerves. A rush of pleasure hit her and she moaned, her eyes closing and her head falling back against his shoulder. He pressed harder and Sonja felt an orgasm begin to bloom inside her, growing with every stroke of his fingers.
“Open your eyes and watch, kitten. This is your first orgasm as a claimed woman. I want you to remember it. Fuck knows, I will.”
“When did you get this pushy?”
“The second I saw my mark on your skin. Get used to it.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at that, and he responded by growling low in his throat and moving his hand faster. Every stroke ended with his fingertips just breaching her channel, teasing her until she found herself arching her hips in greedy thrusts. The more she watched the two of them, the wilder she became. Finally her orgasm hit and as her inner walls flexed and pulsed. Trevar drove his digits in deeply, triggering an even stronger release.
“Trevar!” she cried, her voice filling the small room.
“And that’s the first day’s promise kept,” he whispered, his breath tickling her ear. They stayed like that for a moment, a look of pure male satisfaction on his face as he stared at their entwined reflections.
Sonja touched her fingers to the mark he’d put on her face, then reached back to touch his shoulder. “I want to see my mark here. This claiming goes both ways.”
His smile softened, and his eyes nearly glowed with pleasure at her statement. “I would be honored to wear your mark. You’re sure?”
She understood what he was asking her. While every claimed scroll was tattooed, not every bonded unit chose to take the additional step of marking the men. It was a declaration of commitment and of love, two things that did not come with many arranged bondings or non-consensual claimings. “I am very sure. I left home because I wanted to find somewhere I mattered. Where I was more than this damned mark on my face. As it turned out, it wasn’t somewhere I was looking for. It was someone. Two someones, in fact.”
“You will always matter to me, Sonja. Never doubt it.”
He closed his legs and carefully helped her untangle her limbs from his before coaxing her to stand up. He rose behind her, and she watched as he stripped out of his uniform, baring every sculpted inch of his body for her perusal. Every time she saw him, the thrill was the same. Her head knew that he was nearly twice her age, but her heart didn’t care. They were going to have a long, happy life together. She didn’t have to use her gift to know how it would be, because she simply would not accept any other outcome.
He undressed her next, unzipping her dress before lifting it up over her head and letting it drop on top of the pile of clothes on the cockpit floor. Only when they were both naked did he turn her around to face him, dipping his head to brush a slow, lingering kiss across her lips.
“I love you,” he murmured, and her heart sang with joy at the words.
“And I love you, so much. Make love to me, Trevar. Claim me again.”
He growled and kissed her again, drawing her down with him as he sank back into his chair. Somehow they found a way to fit together, her thighs straddling his and her hands gripping the back of the chair. His cock was ramrod hard and pressed against her wet folds, inches from where they both needed him to be. His kisses grew hotter and more insistent, his tongue sweeping into her mouth to tangle with hers as he caressed her everywhere his hands could reach. There was a fierce intensity to his lovemaking, as though every touch and whisper was forging a bond between them, one that would be strong enough to withstand whatever trials came their way.
“I’ll never let you go, Sonja. No one is going to take you from us.”
Trevar felt as though there was a star’s worth of raw energy surging through his veins. He was burning with need, his dick hard enough to drill through the hull plating, and every time he looked at the new tattoo on his chosen’s face, he wanted to shout in triumph. She was his, and she loved him. It was like the color had faded out of his world a bit at a time, and he hadn’t even noticed until Sonja had waltzed into their lives and brought a rainbow of glorious hues with her.
He never wanted to lose this feeling again.
Reaching between them, he positioned himself at the entrance to her sweet cunt, never once breaking their kiss. She moved with him, raising up and then lowering herself back down slowly so that his cock slid into her wet heat an inch at a time. He didn’t breathe again until he was all the way inside her. He groped blindly for the chair controls, looking for the one that reclined the seat back. When he found it, he pushed the toggle too hard and half a second later found himself staring at the cockpit ceiling with a pair of startled blue eyes blinking down at him.
“Oops,” he gave her a lopsided grin.
“Please tell me you can fly this ship better than you can operate that chair.”
There are a great many things I can do well, kitten, but my second greatest talent is as a pilot.”
Her eyes glittered with barely repressed laughter as she leaned down to kiss him. Her hair fell around them in a curtain of dark silk, blocking out the world as she flexed her inner walls around his cock and asked him slyly, “So what’s your greatest talent?”
“Allow me to demonstrate.” He set his hands on her hips and lifted her a few inches in the air, holding her there despite her attempts to pull herself back down onto his cock. Her lower lip popped out in a playful pout and he nipped at it as he drove himself upward until he could go no deeper. When he lowered his hips he brought her down with him, the two of them locked together. She rolled her hips and began to ride him, slowly at first, but gradually increasing her pace as the fire between them grew. All the while he watched her face, the sight of her tattoo adding fuel to the flames already raging inside him.
She lifted her lips from his to smile at him and then whispered something he never imagined he’d hear. “You have my permission to read me, Trevar. All of it. Every emotion. I want you to know how you make me feel.”
With a faint nod, he dropped the walls that he kept around his mind and was instantly caught up in a tempest of emotions. There was worry, and even fear, but above all else Sonja’s heart was full of love and happiness. It echoed everything that was in his own heart, binding them together on a level he had never known.
Sonja watched his face as he took in her emotions, saw the way it affected him and felt the way his body responded. He lifted his head and kissed her hard, his body surging up in a thrust that lifted clear of the chair and left her with nothing to hang onto but him. Overcome by love and need, the two of them made love in a frenzied dance of give and take, both of them lost to everything but each other and the pleasure of the moment.
In the end, it was Trevar who lost control first, groaning her name as he emptied himself into her womb. As he drove himself into her last time it was enough to send her hurtling into her own release, and she soared high enough to reach out and touch the stars. When she returned to her senses it was to find herself slumped over him, skin to skin and with the salty sting of tears in her eyes.
“That was awe inspiring.” he murmured, brushing a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
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��That, was us.”
She let herself drift in a contented fog, but shortly her wrist unit buzzed. When she didn’t answer, another buzz sounded, this one from Trevar’s unit, which was buried in the pile of clothes on the floor right along with hers. Finally, Deke’s voice came over the cockpit comms.
“Sorry to interrupt, but dinner’s ready. Get dressed and get down here or it’s going to get cold.”
Trevar cocked a brow at her. “Shall we go tell Deke he got hitched while he was cooking dinner? The expression on his face is going to be priceless.”
It took a moment for his comment to sink in. “Wait. What? Deke doesn’t know?”
“Fuck, no. He has no idea I ever qualified to claim a chosen. Your new decoration is going to be a hell of a shock for him.”
“You’re going to be a handful, you know that, right?”
“So are you, kitten. So are you.”
***
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Deke was putting the last platter of food down on the counter when the two of them walked through the door. Trevar came in first, wearing a shit-eating grin that told him that the older man was up to something. Judging how big the grin was, Deke reckoned they were in a great deal of trouble. It didn’t matter that they were currently alone in the middle of an interstellar jump. Trevar Storm had a talent for finding mischief anytime and anywhere.
“What have you—fuck me. Is that what I think it is?” Deke’s thoughts slammed into each other at light speed, mangling each other beyond recognition in the process. Sonja, eyes glowing, clothing askew and hair tousled, was standing beside Trevar with a dazzling smile and a new tattoo on her face.
“There is no way a fake tattoo is going to fool anyone for very long,” he said, as at least one train of thought managed to work itself out of the wreckage inside his head. Even as he said it, Deke suspected that the mark wasn’t a counterfeit. He just couldn’t fathom how the fuck Trevar could have gotten his hands on a marking device. However it happened, it couldn’t have been legal. There was no way the Alliance would give him one on purpose.