"You shared your fever with me the first night we met?"
"Yes."
"That's why I get so hot and then so cold. Then after you make love—I mean have sex with me I feel better?"
"Yes. You carry my fever now but the bonding isn't complete until I put my bands on you."
"What does that have to do with it? They're just ornamental right? Like jewelry?"
"No. They're a living entity and they carry my DNA. When I put them on you the first time they take a sample of your DNA and then divide. I leave the narrower band on you and replace the larger one on my arm. Doing this completes the bond and only I can remove the bands from you and even then only one at a time."
"What's the difference between having the bands on my ankles or my arms?"
"Ankle bands are used for law breakers."
She glared at him. "You made it look like I was a lawbreaker."
"You were and still are as far as I'm concerned. You should have presented yourself to me instead of using my sons to help you hide."
"I wasn't willing to take the chance of telling the wrong person."
"So you used my sons. They claimed you and you used them. How do you justify that?"
Shame for involving Dane and Dev in this mess filled her. "I'm sorry. I care very much for Dane and Dev and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt them."
"They cried when they found out you'd been arrested."
Knowing that made tears fill her eyes and flow down her face. She wiped them away. "I have no excuse or way to justify that."
"No, you don't. You don't know what it means for a warrior, even a little warrior, to claim a female. They don't understand it completely at their age but it's not something that's done lightly."
"If it's so serious then how'd you accidentally claim me?"
"I haven't claimed you."
"I don’t understand. You've given me your fever and now you're giving me your armbands. What more is there to do?"
"The claiming happens when a warrior wants the female he chooses for his bondmate. I didn't choose you so I haven't claimed you."
"Does that mean we're not really stuck with each other?"
"No, I'm stuck with you."
"That goes both ways. I'm stuck with you too."
"Be happy we're not executing you for spying. Now come here."
"Why?"
"So, I can put the bands on you."
"You don't have to sound so annoyed, Commander. This isn't my idea." She stood and moved toward him. Thorn rose, grasped her left hand then squeezed the band on his arm and slid it over their clasped hands and onto her upper arm. After a few seconds it separated and he slid the wider part back onto his arm. He did the same thing to her right arm then stepped back away from her.
Daria smoothed her finger over the red stones and platinum symbols on the golden band. "What do the symbols mean?"
"The colors indicate that you're from Kadia, this province. The red stone is my family's symbol. Sit down, Daria."
"No. I'm going back to the dining room. In case you haven't noticed I didn't finish eating." She turned and stepped away, heading for the door.
"If you take one more step, I'll beat your bottom so hard you won't sit for a month."
She spun around. "You just try it and I'll make you very sorry, Commander."
"Sit down. I haven't finished speaking to you."
"Well, I'm done speaking to you." Daria walked towards the door.
"Do you want to know why you really won't be allowed to return to Earth?"
She jerked to a stop. Turning, she returned to the chair and sat down.
He laughed. "I thought you wouldn't be able to walk away from this." She mumbled a curse and he frowned. "No more of that. Zarronian females don't curse."
"Then it’s a good thing I'm not Zarronian."
"You are now." He pointed to the bands on her arms.
"I already know. You don't want the people of Earth to know about your mating fever and your need for compatible females. Right?"
"You're very clever."
"I was good at my job which reminds me. When I was at the transfer station on Earth I saw some females being escorted away and put on a shuttle. Were they rejected because they weren't compatible?"
"No, by the time the females get to that step in the process we know they're compatible but those females were rejected because of undesirable qualities."
"Like what?"
"If a female was found to be leaving her own children behind she would be rejected. Others were rejected if they lied during processing."
"How would you know if they lied?"
Thorn smiled. "We have our ways. We'll talk about it another time."
"Okay, but I have another question. You said you only reproduce one time but when you orgasm you ejaculate."
"We only impregnate a female once. All other ejaculate is semen without sperm."
"And you always have sons."
"Yes, we always have sons."
"Then maybe I'm not pregnant and it's just your fever making me sick." Daria struggled to make sense of everything. "So if your mate—."
"Bondmate," Thorn corrected her. "We bond with a mate and that makes you a bondmate."
"So, if you're bondmate dies you can bond again?"
"It's complicated and depends on a lot of factors." Thorn frowned. "That's another long story but we're bonded because your DNA is a match for my mating level." Before she could ask about that he said, "I'll have one of our doctors explain that to you."
"But if you can bond more than once then isn't it possible you could reproduce more than once?"
"No. That has never happened. If you're pregnant the baby is not mine."
Upset with his response she rose from the chair. "I think I'll go finish dinner now."
"Daria?"
"Yes?" she asked, as she rounded the chair.
"You understand that the bonding is for life?"
"Yes, so what are we going to do about that?"
"We'll live in separate homes and see each other as needed."
"You mean we'll have sex when the fever gets out of control?"
"Yes."
"But that's almost every cycle."
"In some cases when a couple is separated by distance the fever decreases and they can control it with ZL3 and meditation."
"So that's why you challenged me? You were trying to teach me to control the fever?"
"Yes, but you failed."
"Maybe you just suck at being a teacher."
Thorn frowned. "What does that mean? Suck?"
"It means you're no good at it…really no good."
He grinned. "We both know that's not true. You just can't resist me."
Daria glared at him still unable to take in all he was telling her. "Will being away from each other work for us, Commander?"
"I'm not sure."
"What if it doesn't work?"
"According to our scientists it won't work at our level of mating but we can try it."
"It better work because I'm not going to bed with you again. Ever." Daria moved to the door.
"Yes, you will. When your fever builds you'll welcome me with open arms."
"Do me a favor, Commander," she said as she opened the door, "Hold your breath until that happens." Before he could say anything she was out the door and running up the stairs.
Thorn went back to the dining room, sat down and resumed eating his dinner.
Dev sat forward, glared at him and asked, "Did you kill Daria?"
Thorn hid his grin, then answered, seriously, "No, Dev. I didn't even hurt her."
Dev smiled then leaned over and whispered to Dane.
Dane nodded, then asked if they could be excused. Thorn gave his permission even though he knew they were going to her. He watched as they left the room, side by side, a perfectly matched pair. Just like him and Soren.
"Where's Daria," Eirik asked.
"She went to her bed chamber."
; "What did you say to her?" Valan asked.
"Now, Father, you know a warrior never discusses his bondmate with another warrior," Thorn said, enjoying the look of consternation on his father's face.
"She isn't really your bondmate," Valan said.
"She is as long as she wears my bands and as long as she wears them I'm in charge of her and you'll stay out of it."
"Very well. If that's the way you want it," Valan said.
"That's the way I want it."
# # #
The night was hot and moonless, the house dark and quiet, when Thorn snuck into Daria's room. As carefully as possible, he lowered himself onto the bed beside her. She lay curled on her side, one hand lying on the pillow, the other curled beneath her cheek.
He eased her onto her back. Gently, he clasped her hands in his, until they were palm to palm, their fingers interwoven. Straddling her, he drew her hands over her head then leaned down and nibbled on her lips. When he felt her sleepy response, he tightened his grip on her hands, anticipating the moment she'd wake up. He deepened the kiss when she opened to him and gently explored her mouth while a blue mist formed around them.
Daria opened her eyes and smiled. "I knew you couldn't stay away."
"Only doing my duty as your bondmate," he said, then kissed her.
Her screech of outrage was muffled by his mouth.
Thorn lifted his mouth from hers and watched her intently to see what she would do.
"Don't put yourself out, Commander. I'm fine." She ran her hand over his back. "It feels like you're the one losing control of the fever."
"It's better if we don't let the fever grow out of control before we come together. Waiting will only increase our need for each other."
She lowered her eyes. Just being with him and talking about it increased her need for him. It also increased the appearance of the blue mist. She waved her hand and watched as the mist swirled around it. "Does this ever go away?"
"No, but others won't see it as long as we share sex frequently." He rolled away from her. "I've told my father about your baby. He's probably told my mother by now."
"Well, aren't you just a chatty Cathy!"
"What does that mean?"
She laughed. "It's old Earth slang. It means you talk too much." She understood why he believed the baby wasn't his but he was in for a huge surprise if her child looked as much like him as Dane and Dev did. Thinking of them made her wonder is she'd have twin sons.
"There's something else I would have told you earlier but you left the den before I could."
"What?" She knew she wasn't going to like whatever he had to tell her.
"Do you remember when you were so sick on the Invincible?"
Surprised, she looked at him. So, he had come to check on her and had seen that she was ill. "Yes, I remember. I had the flu."
"No, it wasn't the flu. It was the fever. That's what happens when it blazes out of control."
Daria remembered how sick she'd been. So sick that she'd thought she was dying.
"On the Invincible you got sick because I wasn't able to come to you as soon as I should have."
"Because of the explosion?" she asked, understanding finally what had happened.
Thorn nodded, his expression serious. "You were dying when I found you."
She shivered and he pulled her against him and held her. He combed his fingers through her hair as he felt her soft breath on his chest.
"Is that going to happen again?"
"No. I'll make sure it doesn't. I think the only reason it didn't happen sooner was because I came to you every night. We could try every other night but someone might notice your fever."
Disgruntled, she pushed him away. "What about your fever? Won't they notice it?"
Thorn shook his head. "I can control mine better than you can control yours."
"So, I need you more than you need me!" She rose from the bed and began pacing the room. "That's not fair. It's your stupid fever."
Thorn smiled. She marched back and forth in front of him, naked, her hair flying out around her every time she turned. She planted her hands on her slender waist and drew her shoulders back, causing her perfectly rounded breasts to thrust forward. Reaching out, he snagged her arm and pulled her down onto his lap. She struggled.
"Be still. I'm not going to hurt you." He slid his hands into her hair and tipped her face up to his. He held her like that until she raised her eyes to his. "I promise you that I will never again hurt you the way I did on the Invincible."
"Thorn?"
He planted a soft kiss on her cheek, "I promise." He planted a soft kiss on her temple. "I promise." He planted soft kisses on every part of her face, giving her his promise after each gentle kiss.
She tipped her head back as he kissed a path to her throat and shivered with pleasure when she felt him lick then softly blow on the sensitive spot just beneath her ear. His lips traveled back to hers, then nibbled and licked until she opened her mouth for him. His tongue slid across hers encouraging her to join in the kiss.
She slid her fingers over his head, into his hair and held him as she returned his kisses, teasingly dueling with him. Thorn groaned, then twisted and laid her on the bed. She felt his hands on her breasts, his fingers teasingly circling her nipples as they hardened. She arched, pushing her breasts higher, needing him to touch her.
Thorn kissed a path down her throat to her breasts. He nuzzled and kissed the sides, making her shiver before he took one rosy tip into his mouth and licked it. She moaned and he sucked on it again before he replaced his lips with his fingers and moved to her other breast.
She tightened her fingers in his hair and her nails scraped his scalp. He groaned with pleasure so she did it again. "Is your head really sensitive?"
"Yes, touch me there." He kissed a path to her belly and licked a circle around her navel. She shivered and moved restlessly beneath him. He kissed the tops of her thighs then planted kisses down her legs to her toes. She squirmed when he kissed the tattoo on her toe then tickled it with his tongue. He retraced his path to the inside of her thighs. Daria clenched her hands in his hair as he pushed her legs farther apart and stroked his tongue over her pussy. She jerked on his hair trying to move him away. He eased his arms beneath her legs then pulled her hands away and entwined his fingers with hers.
"Thorn?"
"Shhh, it's okay. Let me taste you." He kissed the inside of her thighs before he slid his tongue through the swollen lips and into her.
Daria trembled and moaned with pleasure. Heat rose from her body, shimmering on the air until she shivered with cold. "Oh, Thorn, yes, please." Helplessly, she raised her hips as the pleasure increased.
Thorn freed one of her hands and covered her mouth, muffling her keening wail of release. When her tremors of pleasure slowed, he moved over her, holding his weight above her. He gazed down at her then lowered himself to his elbows, slid his hands into her hair and brushed her temples with his thumbs until her eyes opened. Only then did he ease into her, groaning with pleasure when she lifted her hips and accepted him.
Daria brushed his lips with hers as he sank into her. She wrapped her long slender legs around his waist and met his slow thrusts. Thorn's head fell to her shoulder as his hands cupped her head. His breath was hot on her neck as he placed open-mouthed kisses on her throat. He thrust deeper then slowly drew back. She held onto him, tightening around him and trying to keep him inside her.
"Now, please, now." She gripped his buttocks and arched against him.
He nipped her earlobe. "Not yet, little wolfen. Not yet."
His muscles rippled with tension when she stroked her hands over his back and tightened her legs around him. He groaned into her neck and began rocking against her, drawing a gasp of pleasure from her lips.
She burned for him, lost in his fire as he crushed her in his embrace. He thrust into her, deeply, until the flames rushed through her, consuming her. She chanted his name as he groaned and quaked with pleasure.
<
br /> He remained over her, sheltering her with his body as he nuzzled her neck. Gradually, their breathing returned to normal and their heartbeats slowed. He held her until he heard her soft sigh as she drifted into sleep then waited a few moments longer before he eased away from her and silently rose from the bed. He covered her with the sheet, stood at the end of the bed and watched her sleep. The armbands on her arms glinted in the light that came through the window. With a last glance, he left her.
Chapter Ten
The next morning as soon as Daria woke up and rolled over she was ill again. She rushed to the bathing chamber then sat on the edge of the tub until the nausea and dizziness passed. After a quick shower she combed the tangles from her hair then wandered into the bedroom and picked up the white gown. She pulled it on, smoothed it into place over her hips and left the room.
Dane and Dev greeted her when she entered the dining room. They hugged her waist and she stroked her hands over their hair.
Eagerly, Dane said, "We're going with Grandfather to the Council Building."
"You are?" Daria asked, putting as much excitement in her voice as she could muster this early in the morning.
"Yes," Dev said. "We get to watch the Council but we have to be quiet or Grandfather said he'll feed us to a wolfen."
"Surely not!" Daria laughed and knelt down to hug them.
They leaned against her, sliding their little arms over her shoulders and hiding their faces in her hair. Daria rubbed circles on their backs. She looked up and saw Thorn watching them, his face expressionless. Giving them each a gentle hug, she released them. "You guys better get going. You don't want to keep your Grandfather waiting."
They released her and ran for the front door yelling a loud farewell. Daria hurried to a chair and sat down. She smiled at Lia as one of the women who'd served their dinner the previous night entered the room and set a food tray and a glass of juice on the table in front of her.
Lia smiled. "After we finish breakfast we'll go to the marketplace."
"No, Mother. Daria is not going to the marketplace. There are too many people there and I won't be able to protect her." Thorn's voice sounded final.
Thorn's Bondmate (Zarronian Warriors Book 2) Page 15