Marked mates were precious and the brides that were transported to the Touchstone arrived ready to be claimed. Alone. Protected only by protocol and the honor of the men vying for their hands.
But my bed was empty. Had been for years, but each night since I’d returned to Everis and submitted to the testing, the void grew inside me. I was used to being alone. I was damn good at it. A fact that hadn’t bothered me until last night when I had the first dream.
A dream of her. My mate. My marked mate.
My only thought, the only possibility was that she transported here from another world. Yesterday, when my mark came awake. Tingled, heated. She was one of the matched mates from another planet. There was no other explanation.
I’d thought since my mark wasn’t on my palm that it meant I was defective, that there was no match. No one for me. But it had heated, just like I’d heard from every other Everian who’d come in contact with their marked mate. Yes, it was in a remarkably unusual place, but it worked!
She was at the Touchstone. The dreams proved it. I didn’t know her name, but her mind touched mine. I would find her. Seduce her. There would be no mercy in me, not when it came to this. Gods, I’d longed for a mate for years. Fighting the Hive was brutal, and the idea of finding the perfect female, the one, had kept me going. Less than one in a hundred Everian men found their marked mates. Most settled into a comfortable life with a comfortable bride. Not all Everian males felt the fire of their marks come to life. But I’d clung to hope. Had used the slim possibility as reason to stay alive so I would have the chance to find her. To make her mine.
And now the chance was here. She was here on Everis. At the Touchstone.
I would only have thirty days to convince her to agree to my claim. She might be my marked mate, but there was no law nor protocol to prevent her from choosing another man as her mate in that time. Nothing to guarantee she would choose me.
Nothing but my mouth on her pussy making her scream, my cock filling her up. I would have to take her body in all three ways to claim her. I would make her writhe with pleasure, bury her in my scent and my touch until she could think of no other, want no other.
My cock grew hard and I shifted on the bench where I sat next to my fellow Hunter, Bryn.
Normally, Bryn never shut his mouth, always laughing or tormenting one of us. But he sat beside me, strangely silent as we finished our meal of meat and vegetables. Since returning home, we feasted on breet from the north and roasted bird from our native lands. The S-Gen units on the Coalition battleships had provided thousands of options for food, but with so many member planets, programming every delicacy from every world was unreasonable. The engineers in charge of the S-Gen units analyzed the nutritional benefits of common offerings on each world and made sure everyone had enough to keep them healthy. One or two treats was all we’d been allowed. Now, we were home, and my men and I had kept the kitchens busy trying to bring back the simple pleasures of our pasts.
“When do we leave for the Touchstone?” Bryn asked, swirling his dark ale in his glass.
“First light.” We weren’t due there until late in the day, when the official mating presentations would begin, but I could wait no longer. She was there. My mate. I could not risk delaying one moment more. Duty held us here through the night, but tomorrow we would ride. Not that I would waste the darkness, not now that my mind had found hers. I could not wait to return to my chambers, eager for the next dream I might share with my mate.
Bryn nodded and took the remains of his meal to the recycling unit along the wall. Without speaking to another soul, he exited the dining hall and disappeared.
That conversation was over. I frowned at my friend’s odd mood.
Not that I minded. I had a sleeping draught waiting for me in my bedchamber so I could slip easily into slumber. I would hunt her tonight, in my dreams. I would learn her name. Perhaps even see her face.
Conversation flowed around me as Hunters and the other residents of the fortress came and went, eating, laughing, living.
I’d forgotten how to do that. Live. I’d spent too long with the Hive, seeing destruction and chaos. I hoped my mate could snap me out of the darkness that surrounded my heart. Four years of battle. It didn’t sound like much, but I seemed slow to adapt to the more relaxed pace of civilian life. Would I ever be able to hear a shout without looking for danger? The crack of a broken twig without looking for enemies? The whir of the fans haunting me like the steady hum of the battleship’s air system?
“Hunter Von, sir. I have several new incident reports. We need to dispatch Hunters before we leave for the Touchstone.” A junior Hunter spoke from across the table and I nodded to let him know I’d heard. Sleep would wait. My mate would wait, although I put duty before my marked mate for the last time.
Tomorrow, she would be mine.
“I’ll be there in a moment.”
He spun on his heel and walked away, toward the command room. There we would go over the latest batch of assignments, from requests for assistance to investigating crimes, and I would put men to each task.
The fortress guards were the elite Hunters, protectors. It was important work entrusted to a rare few Everian males. We were the strongest, the fastest, the most skilled Hunters. Most were trained soldiers who had served in the Coalition Fleet and assigned to fortresses around the planet. We were vital to maintaining peace and stability on Everis. I took the role as a privilege I’d earned from the years fighting the Hive. I didn’t take it lightly. The role was crucial to the stability and safety of our people.
I knew this. But for the first time, being needed by my people wasn’t enough.
And damn my weak heart for wanting more. But I did. I wanted what I saw, heard, smelled, felt in my dream.
Eager to return to my quarters, I went to the command center and made quick work of assigning men to their tasks. While a strong group would remain to protect the fortress, I’d take my strongest and most loyal Hunters with me to the Touchstone tomorrow morning.
Tonight I would dream.
Done with my duties, I made my way to my private quarters and pulled the sleeping draught I’d bought earlier from the drawer next to my bed. I drank it all down and lay back, eager to see her again. To touch her. Even if it was only a dream. Tomorrow, it would be real.
* * *
Von, Dreamscape
Her long black hair fanned out on the white bed sheets, offering a stark contrast in the moonlight. Sheer white curtains swayed near the open window at the slight breeze. The bedroom was large, with a sofa and table with two chairs for resting, reading, or fucking. Suddenly, I wanted to bend her over that table and fuck her until she begged for release. Then I would position her on the table’s edge so the hard surface struck her clit with each thrust of my cock. The table would rock as I took her, as I made her scream her release. But that rough need would have to wait.
I would take her in the sacred order of the three, one at a time. See her surprise as I awakened her body, her mind, to passion. To claim each of her holes for my own. First, it would be her mouth, opening wide to take me deep, to swallow my seed. Then it would be her ass. That hole would be tight, and the sweet feel of her submission as I took her in this most intimate of ways would only tighten our bond as I made her scream and writhe with pleasure. Lastly, I’d take her pussy, feel her inner walls ripple and grip my cock. I’d watch her eyes blur with arousal, feel her juices coat my cock. I’d fill her then, coat her womb with my seed and claim her officially—and permanently—as mine.
Yes.
The large, central bed draped in white. The recessed lighting provided just enough illumination for me to study my mate’s beautiful face as she slept. She was on her side, her arms bent and her hands tucked beneath her chin in a pose both innocent and enticing, for her arms pressed her lush breasts together and offered a tantalizing bit of cleavage. I recognized her room as one of the suites assigned to new brides at the Touchstone center and I felt some small relief
.
She would be safe there, protected, until tomorrow when I could find her. As long as she didn’t choose another.
My cock rose to attention at the challenge and I longed to join her in that bed, to run my fingers through the shining mass of her black hair and hold her head in place for my kiss as I introduced her to pleasure. She was mine. No other would touched her. None who wished to live. All I needed to do was convince her that I was her marked mate, her destiny. Perfect for her.
I stepped to the edge of the bed and lay down beside her. The scent of fresh spring flowers and warm honey drifted from her flesh. But this was just a dream. My mind would fill in the blanks, convince me that I touched her, held her, tasted her, but it would all be a lie, a trick of my imagination.
Everything physical would be an illusion.
But her words would be real. As would mine.
Lying on my side, I reached over and traced her full lower lip with my thumb. So fucking soft. I couldn’t wait to have that innocent mouth open around my cock.
I traced her curves, from shoulder to hip. Placing my hand on the curve of her waist, I squeezed gently to make her aware of my presence. This remarkable female was mine. My one true mate in the universe. Our minds touched, as only marked mates’ could, and I wanted to explore everything about her. What made her smile? What made her angry? I needed to know the taste of the sweet honey that flowed from her pussy, the flavor of her skin. What sounds would she make as I fucked her? Where did she like to be touched?
Her eyes fluttered, then opened wide, her gasp sweet as her heartbeat raced beneath her ribs.
“You came back.” Her sexy whisper made my cock ache and my hand seemed to have a mind of its own, tracing her curves from shoulder to hip and back. Over and over. I made sure to brush the side of her breast where I knew her mark must be hiding beneath the cream-colored nightgown. The shimmering fabric clung to every curve. It was beautiful, but I longed to rip it from her body. I needed to see her. Feel her. Claim her.
“Of course I returned. You’re mine.”
She shivered, but didn’t look away. “This is just a dream. You’re not real.”
Holding her gaze, I lowered my hand to her breast, cupped the soft weight. Gently squeezed the hardened pebble in a tender reprimand. “I am very real.”
Chapter Four
Von
Reaching around her slight frame, I pulled her toward me until her hips met mine. Her gasp assured me she felt what I wanted her to feel, needed her to feel, my hard cock ready and eager to claim her. Her eyelids lowered slowly, her body melting into me as her eyes darkened with passion.
Gods, she was perfect. So innocent, yet so sensual. She had admitted to me last night, in our first dream meeting, that she was virgin, unclaimed. Waking her to her body’s passionate nature was going to be a true pleasure. I couldn’t wait to claim her in the traditional way, mouth, then ass, and finally, when she accepted my claim, I would fill her sweet pussy with my cum and fill her womb with my child. I wanted her heavy and full with my seed, her body ripe and sensitive. I had longed for, hoped for a mate and children, but never considered I’d be lucky enough to have this happen to me. For so many years I’d been focused on duty and honor, on survival. But now? Seeing her dark eyes and shining black hair, I wanted her. I wanted everything.
“Look at me.” I tested her then, needing to know her true nature. Would she welcome the commanding tone of my voice? Or defy me?
She gasped, biting her lip and her hips jerked against mine. But her eyes opened, and her dark gaze held mine. What I saw there nearly made me come. Desire. Trust. Need.
My little mate was as affected as I. Thank the gods.
I knew, if I could reach between her legs and feel her pussy, she’d be wet with welcome. She longed for my dominance, my need to command. Knowing she would surrender so sweetly made me fight back a growl.
“Tell me your name, little one.”
She shook her head, denying me this one simple thing. Leaning forward, I pulled her lips into my mouth, nibbling, kissing, then biting gently in reprimand. “I am Von. Tell me your name.”
This wasn’t real. Gods, I knew it wasn’t real, but once I tasted her I couldn’t stop. I kissed my way from her lips to her chin, her neck. Lower. She arched her back, her hips pressed to mine as she angled her head to the side in welcome, giving me better access.
“Von.” My name was a breathy sigh from her lips and my entire body reacted like she’d just stroked my cock.
I kissed her neck, licking and sucking and tasting. Working my way to her ear, I asked again, “What’s your name?”
Her silence both aroused and enticed me. I did not want a pliant, biddable mate. I wanted a woman with fire, a mate who would be fierce and protective of her children. One who would scratch and claw at the world and yet submit so sweetly in bed.
Rolling her beneath me, I took her mouth. I kissed her. Claimed her. Rubbing my cock in the vee of her legs, our clothing and her innocent mind kept me from filling her with my cock. I rubbed my hard length against her core, and her mind allowed the contact, not completely overwhelmed or shocked.
When I lowered my hand to her hip, reaching for the hem of her gown so I could sink my fingers into her hot, wet pussy, I met resistance, an invisible barrier I could not pass.
Inwardly, I groaned. I could not touch her. Not yet. I could not take her farther in a dream than she knew in reality. And no other man had ever touched her sweet center, ever tasted her wet heat or heard her cry out with pleasure. The thought turned me nearly feral, the protective instincts of the Hunter I was rising like the tides to swallow me whole.
This woman was mine. I had thought to act honorably, to give her a choice. But now, seeing her, tasting her, touching her mind, I knew I would move the heavens themselves to keep her. Nothing would stop me from seducing her, from earning her love.
Her skin was softer than a newborn babe’s. Her sighs music to my warrior’s heart. She wasn’t fighting me, she was simply innocent, her mind unable to fabricate lies of passion.
I kissed her again, until her body trembled with need, the air racing in and out of her lungs in uncontrolled bursts.
“Your name, mate?”
“I’m not your mate.”
“By the Divine, you are mine. My marked mate.” I grabbed her hands and held them above her head, pinning her as I lowered my mouth to the side of her right breast. Her mark would be there. I knew this for a fact as mine was in the same location on the side of my ribs. She was mine. I nuzzled the swell of her breast with my nose, my mouth, my chin, rubbing two days of stubble over her sensitive flesh before kissing and biting through her silken gown. “You have a birthmark, mate. Right here.”
She gasped and fought me, but I held her hands in place and she quickly melted, her head thrashing side to side on the pillow.
I kissed that mark, pulled her gown away with my teeth so I could kiss her bare breast. The moment my lips made contact with her naked skin, she moaned. A firestorm of need arced between us as I kissed and suckled her birthmark, the sacred and magical mark that linked us. That made her mine. Proof. I saw it. Felt it.
“I’m coming for you, mate. Wait for me. Do not choose another.”
I moved to suck her nipple into my mouth and her hips bucked, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Warrior Treva said there would be eighty males to choose from tomorrow. He said I may choose any man I want.”
Flicking my tongue over her nipple until she cried out, I lifted my head at last and kissed her again before answering. “Yes. By law, you may choose any man at the Touchstone. But we both know you won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because they won’t give you what you need.”
Her pulse raced and I lowered my head to kiss her at the base of her throat.
“What do I need?”
“My hand twisted in your hair as I fuck that sweet mouth. My long, hard tongue working your clit, filling your virgin pussy until yo
u wrap your legs around my shoulders and demand I never stop. Until I claim all that is mine. Until you claim me in return.”
She was panting now, but there was more. So much more. I tilted my hips, rubbing her clit with my hard length through our clothes as she whimpered beneath me. I lowered my head so my warm lips would brush her ear as I finished.
“You need me to stretch your ass, take you hard and fast as I fill your pussy with my fingers, making you come again. And again. You need my cock buried balls deep in your pussy, fucking you bare, filling you with my seed over and over as you scream, begging for release.”
“Oh my god.”
She bucked beneath me, her eyes clouded with mindless lust. For me.
It was time to go. I wanted more, but could not give it to her. I’d done enough, made her as eager and hot as I was. She was aroused by me. Desired me. She might see other males, but I would be the one she longed for. I’d just ensured that.
“You’re mine, mate. Wait for me. I will find you.”
* * *
Alexis, Planet Everis, The Touchstone
“As you know, today is the meeting of males and mates here at the Touchstone.” The woman we knew as Officiate Treva stood in front of us, the group of twelve women who had been matched through the brides program and transported to Everis.
The female looked completely human, but she moved with an almost beautiful efficiency that made me watch her more closely than I normally would. All of the Everians I’d met looked human, but there was something about them, something that screamed more. Officiate Treva looked like she was a decade older than Katie, Dani and myself and had a confident bearing the rest of us lacked. Her hair was a dark auburn and hung in a smooth fall to the tops of her shoulders. Her eyes were a warm amber, the color of whiskey and she was the same height as Katie, just above average on Earth. Her uniform was dark navy blue, the marks of her rank on her arm and color in bright silver. I did not know the politics or rankings of people here, but she and the other Officiates were high in the pecking order. I hadn’t seen a single Everian argue with her, man or woman. Her bearing and confidence made me feel even more unsure, like a child trying to play in the grown-ups’ sandbox. The way Katie and Dani were fidgeting, they must be feeling the same.
His Virgin Bride (Interstellar Brides: The Virgins Book 1) Page 3