“What do yours mean?” Sevan asked, moving closer to her.
“A number of things. These,” she pointed at her upper arm, “are for my status. These announce that I am supposedly wise although the burn on my cheek would likely state otherwise. The ones on my torso are blessings for fertility and pleasure.”
Sevan’s breath caught. “So, the marks are some form of population control, too?”
Lorelei couldn’t help but smile. “Trust an outsider to simplify it for us.”
“So, I’m right?”
Shrugging, Lorelei lifted her tiny vest a bit, revealing even more of her faint markings. “In a way. My markings in particular tell that the gods and spirits of the land will offer the blessing of children when the pairing is with my mate. In short, if they up and decide I found Mr. Right there is no means of population control that will prevent me from conceiving a child.”
He took a step back as though she were contagious. “Oh.”
“Relax. I’m not any different than a full blooded human female. I can’t get pregnant by breathing the same air as you. Coupling is no different for my people than yours. Though we know fairly quickly when we are with child. The marks either disappear or change significantly.”
Something moved over Sevan’s face. His eyes narrowed. “Would anything else make them disappear?”
“I honestly don’t know. It changes with each individual. I’ve seen some people’s fade when they meet their significant other and then completely disappear when they conceive a child. They do return in some fashion, be it a tiny mark on a thigh to a full blown return.”
Lorelei took a moment to laugh softly at Sevan’s facial expression. He appeared so caught up in their discussion that she worried his forehead would remain permanently crinkled. “Don’t quote me on any of this. Like I said, everyone is different. Take me for instance. Six months ago my markings were several shades darker. One morning I woke up to find them faded to what you see before you now.”
“Six months ago?” Sevan asked, his voice cracking slightly.
“I understand that to you they may appear a bit off-putting but to our people they’re not only important but a thing of beauty. In my eyes, it’s odd to not see the markings on you. Here, when a man bears no markings declaring him a Shamenian he is considered the enemy until he proves otherwise.”
“Lorelei, they are anything but off-putting. They’re captivating.” His warm thumb ran over the circular sign for power near her wrist and she felt her magic rise up. Knowing that not all outsiders possessed the same gifts as her people, she tried to pull her arm away, but it was too late. The power within her surged forth.
Images from the reoccurring dreams she had poured forth along with pictures of things that were altogether new. Lorelei’s body jerked with each vivid picture of Sevan thrusting himself into her, his hand cupping the back of her neck as she rode him. Her pussy quaked with need and dampened as her mind shot to images of him nibbling on her breasts, taking each nipple in his mouth and spending equal time teasing them. Her knees went out from under her as yet another image hit her, this one of him buried deep within her, releasing his seed.
Strong arms wrapped around her, keeping her from hitting the floor. She blinked, the visions finally fading away and found herself staring into intense green eyes.
Sevan looked down at her. “What…?”
Lorelei tried to regain her footing, but her inner thighs still twitched as though from the orgasm the vision brought on. “I’m sorry. I think I might be coming down with something.”
“Something that involved us fucking?” Sevan shook his head as though he were trying to absorb all that was going on. “The dreams were real weren’t they? You had them too. Didn’t you?”
Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. The thought of him sharing one of her visions and her dreams was absurd. Not even Christian could do that and he was the greatest Shaman they’d ever had.
Sevan brought his mouth to her neck and let his hot breath move over her skin as he spoke. “Is that really what it feels like to be inside you? I gotta tell you, baby, you are all that I think about. Tell me that I’m not the only one having the dreams.”
Lorelei averted her gaze. “You’re not.”
The feel of his warm lips on her neck made her sigh as her breasts heaved upwards. “What’s happening to me? Is it your doing? Did you invade my head so I’d come here and help you?”
“No,” Lorelei said fast, hurt that Sevan would suggest such a thing. She tried to pull away but he held tight to her. “Let go. None of this was my doing. I would never lure anyone into this situation. Especially not someone that I….”
“That you let sample every inch of your body? That you let fuck you so many ways that I lost count? Is that it, Lorelei?”
“Stop it.” She pushed lightly on him, not wanting to harm him in any way but hating his accusations. Knowing it was for the best, Lorelei focused on putting a wall between them, hardening herself to him so she could send Sevan on his way and not die of a broken heart. Finding out he was real only to have to send him away already ripped at her gut. Letting him love her in the flesh would kill her. “Get away from me. They were just dreams. They meant nothing. I need to see to it my people are safe. Go back to your own kind, fix your ship and leave.”
“Don’t,” he whispered, brushing his lips over her neck. “I’m not sure what to think. My ship, which has passed every inspection with flying colors, suddenly has more problems than I can count when we’re passing by your planet. I radio for assistance only to find the woman who has invaded my dreams staring back at me. Now, I’m told that I might be used by some madman to hurt her. This is too much for any one person to absorb. Don’t pull away from me just because I questioned it aloud. I need to understand what’s going on.”
Lorelei shook her head slightly, still needing to put distance between them. “How can I give you answers to things I don’t even understand? All I know is that he believes your vessel contains our mates or potential mates.” She glanced towards the gray wall not wanting to reveal it all to him but finding it hard to leave important pieces of information out. “Stegian believes you are my mate. He made sure to leak that to me when he was scanning the facility to pinpoint our location. That means he will either attack you to draw me out or use you to attack me.”
Sevan snorted. “I won’t hurt you.” He didn’t go into detail on the subject of her being his mate and that scared her. Did he not mean his vows? Did he want to take his claim back? He was human, so he could. And why would the fates give her a human mate? Why not a supernatural to match her strength and speed?
Lorelei closed her eyes and thought hard about all of the human customs, words and phrases she’d been taught of as a child. “Umm, he thinks you’re my soul mate. I can’t change that and trust me, Sevan. If he decides to use you to hurt me there will be nothing you can do to stop him.”
“What? Some insane guy believes there is this one perfect person for everyone and that I’m yours?” Disbelief laced his voice, causing Lorelei’s heart to feel heavy. “That’s it. I’m heading back to my ship. This is a little too convenient for my taste. You show up out of the blue. Invade my dreams. Let me claim you and make me fall in love with you. Whatever game you’re playing ends here, baby.”
He loves me? He really does?
Lorelei took a moment to collect herself knowing she had to send Sevan away for his own good. “Wonderful, go. I’m almost sorry that you aren’t here to loot us. At least then I’d have started out with low expectations.”
“I’m out of here,” he said, turning to head in the other direction.
Something howled loudly, signifying just how close it truly was to them. The compound walls were thick. That meant it was just outside of it. The second Sevan stopped dead in his tracks, Lorelei’s body tensed. “Go. You’re sick of my game and I’m sick of you. I’m glad the nightmares of you have ended.” It was harsh and a lie but she needed him to go for his own
safety.
Sevan glanced back over his shoulder at her, his eyes betraying his words. He was worried and her powers allowed her to sense that his concern was for her. As heartwarming as that was, he couldn’t be allowed to stay.
Aiming her weapon directly at him, Lorelei drew in a deep breath as she stared down the barrel. “Captain, you are to report back to your vessel immediately. I hereby revoke your status of honorable guest. You are no longer permitted to roam freely. Do as I say or….”
“Or what? You’ll shoot me in the back?” he asked, his voice low, his eyes still locked on her. “Is that what you do to someone you’ve spent how many nights with? Is that what you do to a man you allowed to take you as his wife, even if it was only a dream? Is that how you return affection, Lorelei? The second we meet in the flesh you threaten to shoot me?”
Closing her eyes, Lorelei thought of all the nights they’d spent together. The memory of Sevan declaring his love for her, claiming her, had plagued her for two weeks straight. Every second of not being with him had chipped away at her heart. Now, as she held a weapon on him, shame filled her. She couldn’t shoot him. Raising her weapon high, she let off the trigger and sighed. “Sevan.”
“Was it all a lie, Lorelei?” His green eyes stayed locked on her. “I have to know.”
“No,” she said, shocked by her own admission.
A wolfish grin appeared on his face. It faded away quickly as another howl filled the air. Sevan moved to her quickly and pulled her behind him. “Stay close.”
The thought of Sevan going up against an enemy such as the one waiting for them made her smile. “Excuse me, Captain, but I think it’s you who had better stay close to me.”
Lorelei didn’t wait for his comeback. Putting the code in to open the exterior door, she shook her head. The door opened. Sevan tried to push in front of her, but she held her weapon out towards him and arched a brow. “Want to see if your charm works two times in a row? I should warn you that I have no problem setting my weapon to knock you out rather than watch you kill yourself by running head first into a situation you have not been briefed on.”
He froze.
Smart man.
She handed the weapon to him butt first and nodded. Shaking his head no, he touched his own sidearm. It was a cute thought, but unless he was packing ammunition with liquid silver nitrate in it, he might as well walk out unarmed. Her people had spent years synthesizing it for protective purposes since it had first arrived with the humans long ago. Lorelei thrust her weapon into his hand. He tried to hand it back to her. She growled. He smiled. Instantly, she caught the scent of a lion shifter as Sevan touched her arm lightly. It wasn’t exuding a smell indicating dominance and danger it was more of a sexual calling.
Confused, Lorelei’s brow furrowed as she stared at Sevan. A slow lazy smile remained plastered to his handsome face. “Something the matter?”
Placing her finger to her lips to indicate the need for silence, Lorelei shook her head no and pulled her pant leg up. Sevan gave her a suggestive look and glanced downward. When he caught sight of her backup weapon, he nodded his head and squeezed her arm gently. Tiny shockwaves of desire radiated from beneath his fingertips and Lorelei had to concentrate hard on listening to their surroundings. Something was close and if she didn’t stop ogling the outsider, they’d be too dead to act on their mutual feelings.
Another howl sounded and Sevan attempted to push past her. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him back to her and nodded in the direction of the nearest line of black bark trees. The yellow leaves that draped down provided enough coverage to make it difficult to see very far beyond the first couple of rows. A shadowy figure moved around and Lorelei knew what it was. She could only guess how many of them had actually come to test the strength of their safeguards.
“There has been a breach in section twelve,” Christian said over the intercom.
Sevan leaned down and moved in close to her. “Where’s section twelve?”
Putting her mouth against his ear, she noticed how tiny flecks of white ran through his otherwise jet sandy blond. “You’re standing in it.”
Sensing the presence of something evil before she saw it, Lorelei grabbed her backup weapon from her ankle and spun around fast. She let off two shots. A large brown blur appeared out of nowhere and crashed down just outside of the doorway.
“It’s a wolf!” Sevan shouted. He pulled on her shoulders as she headed towards the large creature. “It’s the biggest damn wolf I’ve ever seen. My gods, it’s as big as me.”
It was Lorelei’s turn to give him a suggestive look and she did. His gaze met hers briefly, before she concentrated on the bulge in the front of his pants. Licking her lips, she brushed her hair out of her face and turned her attention back to the creature on the ground. The fact that it didn’t shift into human form told her that it was a hybrid--one of Stegian’s new breeds of fighting ‘machines’.
* * * *
“Devi!” someone shouted.
Sevan spun around quickly with the weapon that Lorelei had equipped him with drawn. He centered it on the two men running towards Lorelei. Their eyes were wide as they caught a look at the scene before them.
“Are you hurt?” one asked, as they slowed their pace.
Lorelei stepped in front of him and put her hand out towards the wolf on the ground. The men stopped instantly. “Please inform the Chieftain that the threat has been eliminated. I’ll need you both to stand watch here for any more. I’m not sensing any, but Stegian’s tricks have gotten to us before.” The way her voice trailed off at the end left Sevan wondering who this Stegian was and why the hell he had mutant wolves attacking his woman.
My woman? The thought of that made him smile. She would be his, of that he was sure.
“As you wish, Devi,” they said in unison, bowing their heads slightly.
Devi?
Lorelei took him by the arm and the men gasped. He tried to jerk away, afraid that he’d somehow violated something sacred to them but Lorelei yanked him to her.
Damn, she’s strong.
In an instant, she had his face cupped in her hands and was pulling his lips towards hers. Hearing the men’s shocked responses, he tried to stop her, but he was too late. Her full lips met his and the world around him was lost. The only feeling left was that of Lorelei’s lush body pressed tightly to his. His cock throbbed and his body ached to toss her to the ground and ravish her. When she raked her nails lightly down his back, he groaned in her mouth.
She pulled back slowly, leaving his lips tingling. He dared a sideways glance at the men who’d arrived and found them with one knee on the ground and their heads bent. He looked at Lorelei and she smiled down at the men.
“You shall act as my witnesses.”
“Yes, Devi,” They answered, rising slowly to their feet. They looked at him and for a second Sevan almost checked to see if he’d sprouted markings as well.
Lorelei bit at his lower lip, leaving his cock twitching and his body aching to find release in her. Bending down to meet her head on, Sevan gave into the urge to pick her up. Being face to face with her only made his hunger grow. Now, the need to fuck her actually bordered on painful. “I need to be in you.”
Pulling back slightly, Lorelei pushed on his chest and dropped to her feet. She glanced at the men before them and smiled. “Bear witness that this man is not my mate.”
An uncontrollable urge to peel his shirt off hit him. It was so spontaneous that Sevan gave into it without a fight. He pulled his black shirt over his head and turned his backs to the men, hoping to get Lorelei to speak with him alone. The men gasped.
Lorelei’s smile faded. “What is it?”
Sevan noticed her markings fading before his eyes to the point they were almost gone and his breath hitched. “Lorelei?”
“What?”
“Say you were to find that mate of yours and things were to happen, you know, progress further.”
Lorelei cast a wary look at him. “You mea
n we fuck?”
“Yeah, that will do. Say you were to find him and be intimate with him. How long would it take for your markings to fade?”
“I don’t know. I’ve seen them fade instantly on women who simply stand next to their mates. I imagine they would….” She stopped suddenly and looked down at herself. Her blue eyes widened. “No. You can’t be him.”
Slightly offended, Sevan raked his hot gaze over her tight body. “Why not?”
“Because you’re human and … and, well I don’t know why but there is no way that you are my mate. Stegian and gods who brought us into the same dream plane are all mad.”
“Hold on,” Sevan said, putting his hand up. “What do you mean dream plane? Are you telling me that,” he stared at her stomach and watched as the circular markings there began to regain their color quickly, “Lorelei, what does that mean?”
She followed his gaze and covered her mouth fast. Shaking her head, she tried to run past him. Not wanting to let her out of his sight, Sevan grabbed her arm and pulled her to him being careful not to harm her. “No. You will stay here and answer my questions.”
“No. You don’t understand. I have to get to Christian.” Lorelei’s blue eyes stayed glued to her stomach.
“Why?”
One of the men stood quickly and came to her. He stared at her stomach in awe. “Devi, the legends are true.”
“What legends?”
The men looked at Sevan with nothing short of wonder in his eyes. “The legends that speak of the powerful ones being given great signs when the time came for them to reproduce the next line of leaders.” He pointed at Lorelei’s stomach. “The symbols stand for fertility. When brought out as they are now, it means that now is the time that she is most fertile. Her body thirsts for the seed of her mate.”
Sevan let the man’s words sink in. “Why in the hell are you trying to get to Christian?”
She looked at him like he was insane. Since the thought that she might be had crossed his mind, he let it go. “Captain….”
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