Her Mate's Secret Baby (Interstellar Brides Book 9)

by Grace Goodwin

  I led her to the adjoining rooms and directly to the bathing chamber, stripped her bare. I walked around her, studied every inch of her skin, ensuring the doctor had been thorough, that her wrist was truly healed. I would allow no bruising to remain on her body, no pain. Seeing nothing but lingering blood, I stepped into the shower and pulled her under the warm spray. Using soap and gentle hands to wash away every bit of Loris’ blood, I was gentle, massaging sore muscles, worshiping her.

  My hands were on her breasts, cupping and stroking them, tugging gently on the chain that hung between them, my mark on her, my claim. The gold sparkled in the light and made her look like some kind of mythical goddess, a creature no mere mortal could claim. I looked into her eyes, saw no remnants of her brush with death, nothing but humor and a hint of arousal.

  When the events of the day were washed down the drain, my hands changed from clinical cleaning to soothing, heating touch. I wanted to erase the evil from her body and from her mind.

  I felt Natalie’s laugh beneath my hands more than heard it. “I think I’m clean there.”

  “Yes, I think you are,” I murmured, my hands sliding lower. “And here? Is your pussy clean as well?”

  Had she pulled away, I would have been content to hold her, but she grabbed my wrist and directed my hand to her wet core. “I don’t know, mate. I think it might be dirty. You’d better check.”

  All too eager, I backed her up against the wall of the shower and lowered my lips to her cheek as I slid one finger into her wet pussy. The heat of her body wrapped around my finger like a hot glove and I couldn’t help but remember what that felt like around my cock. “It’s dripping wet. I guess you are a dirty girl.”

  “You like it when I’m dirty,” she countered.

  I did, and the way my cock pulsed and swelled, it liked it, too.

  “I know what you like, what you need, what makes you scream.”

  Her pupils dilated and I knew she was turned on by my words. I didn’t need the little gush of arousal onto my fingers to tell me that.

  “Tonight, you’ll give me everything, gara. Your body, your mind. Your submission. Perhaps another baby. Yes?”

  She licked her lips, nodded.

  “I need to hear you say it.”

  “Yes.”

  “That isn’t enough,” I countered.

  She looked confused for a moment, then remembered. It hadn’t even been two weeks for me since she said it last, but for her, it had been much longer.

  “Master.”

  Fark. I groaned and claimed her mouth, fucking her with my finger, slipping a second inside her just so I could hear the little catch in her breath. That one word on her lips made me insane. Powerful. Dominant. I needed to be in control of her, to know she was with me, under me. Safe. Mine. And yet she had all the power, the ability to take me to my knees.

  And so I broke the kiss and went willingly, lowered myself until I knelt before her on the stone tile, slid my hands down her body to her thighs and nudged them apart.

  I could see her perfect pussy, and my mouth watered to taste it, to burn her essence on my tongue. In my mind.

  Putting my mouth on her, I licked her from dripping entrance to swollen clit. Once. Twice. Her body wilted and she leaned back against the shower wall. With my hands on her hips, I held her up as I took her with my mouth. I wasn’t gentle.

  If I was going to be on my knees before her, I would be ruthless, show her that she was still mine, that her body responded to me. She was sweet and tangy on my tongue, the scent of her so feminine and perfect. My cock pulsed and wept with the need to be deep inside her.

  “Come for me, Natalie, and then we’ll play.”

  I didn’t give her a chance to think as I slid a third finger into her pussy and sucked her clit into my mouth, flicked the sensitive nub with my tongue over and over as my fingers filled her. Fucked her.

  I’d nearly lost her today and that knowledge burned through me as I pressed a little harder, readied her tight pussy for my cock. She was so perfect, so beautiful and ripe. She consumed me and I pushed aside everything but this moment, her body and her surrender.

  I could not be gentle. Why should I? My touch, my words were demands. She would submit. She would give me everything. I needed everything.

  “Come now.” I pulled the orgasm from her. She cried out, the sound of it echoing in the shower, her hands tangling in my hair, fierce and tight, as her pussy clenched and spasmed around my fingers.

  The medallion, the key to the vault hung low, just above her abdomen where my son had grown and her body curved with a softness I ached to touch, ached to fill with a baby once again. But I could no longer look at the medallion as a gift to her. It had become a curse, had placed her in danger.

  Standing, I lifted the medallion gently, holding it in the palm of my hand. “I will remove this, mate.”

  Her hand wrapped around my wrist and she stilled. Her chest rose and fell rapidly from her release, but the pleasure faded from her blue eyes. “What?”

  Shaking my head, I lowered my forehead until it touched hers. “I will remove it. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, gara.”

  I kissed her softly, gently, regret in every cell of my body. I’d placed her in danger for my own selfish whim, my desire to follow tradition, to mark her, to make sure every fucking idiot male on this planet knew she was mine.

  But being mine placed her at risk. The gold that adorned her made her a target, and that was no longer acceptable. I kissed her, over and over. “I’m sorry. Never again, gara.”

  Her body stiffened, her lips no longer soft and pliant beneath mine, but hard and defiant until, finally, she turned her head away. Her grip on my wrist tightened and her hand shook. “Why? You don’t want me anymore? You don’t want to mark me? Are you sending us back?”

  “Back?”

  “To Earth.” She looked at me, tears gathering in her eyes, and behind those tears, hurt and rage. “I won’t leave Noah. You can’t have him. I’ll die before I leave my son.”

  Confusion froze me in place. Hot water poured over us both as her words seeped through the haze of desire clouding my brain. “Natalie, you are mine. You are not going anywhere. I forbid you to leave my side.”

  Her chin lifted and she looked up at me with defiance in every line of her body. “You told me this chain, this adornment, was how Trion men marked their mates. This was your claim, that it would protect me from claims by other men.”

  “It is tradition.” I rolled the gold chain loosely between my fingers. I would not place her in danger for my own selfish ends. I could stare at my emblem hanging from her perfect nipples for hours, but my pleasure faded when I thought of Commander Loris, and the others in the holding cells, the men who had allies, friends who would continue to target my mate. “I will remove this curse from your body.”

  “No.”

  Her refusal stopped me cold and I lifted my head to meet her gaze. “You do not give me orders, mate.”

  She stepped forward, pushing her body into mine, driving me to the edge of my control when I needed it most. “No. You can’t have it back. It’s mine.”

  I turned off the water and carried her to the bedroom. There, where I’d ordered it placed the day I’d submitted to the Interstellar Brides Program’s testing, was the traditional claiming bench, warm and ready before the fire.

  I carried her to stand beside the bench and set her on her feet before me, kissing her over and over as she stood stiff in my arms, her naked body pressed to mine. My cock wept with pre-cum where it was locked between us as I trailed kisses along her jaw and shoulder.

  “I claimed you at the Mirana oasis, but never properly, as is custom on Trion.”

  “Apparently, you don’t plan on claiming me at all.”

  My growl was pure male instinct at her sass. She was pushing me, testing me. The logical part of my mind recognized the need behind her challenge. I had failed her as a master, as a mate. I had not conquered her, convinced her that I was
strong enough to protect her and our son. No, I’d left her for over a year, been injured and then nearly lost her again upon our return to Trion.

  Instinct and logic warred within my body until my chest felt as if it would tear in two. My mate had been through much, had suffered much. Logic told me to go gently, to soothe and comfort her, but instinct roared through me like a wild beast, demanding I restrain her, spread her open and tie her to the bench as I should have that first night, fuck her senseless, fuck her until she screamed my name and nothing else.

  My cock jumped at the idea and I lifted my hand to her cheek, stared into the fiery defiance in her eyes. Gods, she was beautiful when she raged, my strong, rebellious mate. From this moment on, she was mine to protect, mine to master. Mine.

  Sinking my hands into her hair, I gripped the base of her neck and held her in place for my kiss. My lips were soft, gentle, the last touch of patience I contained in the kiss. Her lips were hard beneath my softness, unyielding and angry.

  “You are mine, mate. And I warned you about defying your master.”

  “You’re not my master. Not anymore.” Her breath came in hard pants against my lips. “You don’t want me, fine. Let me go. I’ll cut the damn chain off myself with a pair of wire cutters when I get home.”

  “You are home.” Holding her still, I kissed her hard, thrust my tongue into her mouth, forced her to yield. With a whimper, she let me in and I claimed her mouth as my own, left her no room to retreat, nowhere to hide from me.

  Done with the kiss, I lifted my head, still holding her exactly where I needed her to be. “You’re mine, Natalie.” I spun her around to face the bench, pushed forward until her hips met the pads and stood with my cock pressed to her ass. Kicking her feet wide, I bent over, covering her back with my much larger frame. “You’re mine, mate. And after tonight, you’ll never doubt me again.”

  * * *

  Natalie

  He stood behind me, his cock like a branding iron pressed in the crease of my bottom. Roark’s fist was in my hair, pressing me slowly, gently, but inexorably forward until I leaned over the bench, my breasts swaying below me, the chain dangling low, nearly brushing the floor.

  He kicked my legs wide, opening me to him, to whatever he wanted to do to me. “You’re mine, mate. And after tonight, you’ll never doubt me again.”

  I recognized this bench from my fantasy in the brides processing center. I knew my ankles would be tied, my wrists as well. I would be restrained and vulnerable. Weak. Completely under his control.

  My pussy clenched, wetness coating my thighs even as fear reared its ugly head. Behind me was the man who wanted to remove his mark from my body. He wanted his gold, the symbol of his house, and the medallion, the only things that marked me as his, removed.

  As much as my body longed for him, my heart literally ached with each beat. And my mind? The little girl who’d been left at boarding school like luggage, left alone at Christmas and abandoned to give birth and raise a son alone? She was in charge right now, and she didn’t believe a word coming out of Roark’s mouth.

  “You’ll walk away, Roark. Fine. Do it. Fuck me now and cut off your stupid chain in the morning.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Natalie

  God, it was stupid, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. I needed to push him, to make him hurt the way he was hurting me.

  With a growl he held me down with one huge hand on the small of my back as he leaned over and secured my ankles to the base of the bench. That done, he walked around me and lowered my wrists into the leather restraints that were attached by slightly longer chains. I could move. I could lift my body until my back was horizontal to the floor, but no farther.

  I expected him to walk behind me and stuff me with his cock. Instead, a sharp sting landed on my bare bottom.

  Smack!

  Smack!

  Smack!

  Fire spread through my body and I bucked and fought the restraints as he spanked me harder and faster.

  “Who do you belong to?”

  “Fuck you.”

  The spanking stopped and I bit my lip, fighting back tears. Had he given up so easily, then? Walked away, as I’d known he would, as everyone always did?

  I felt something hard and small press against my bottom. When a strange wet warmth invaded my body there, I jerked. Slowly, very slowly, he pressed one finger into the forbidden area of my body, working past the tight ring of muscle. When he breeched me, I arched my back and cried out as he filled me, fucked me there with first one finger, then two. Legs spread wide, my pussy was empty and heavy, my breasts so engorged, so needy that they actually hurt.

  Fingers buried in my body, his other hand landed on my bottom with a hard, sharp strike.

  “You are mine. This ass is mine. Your pussy is mine. That little boy in the other room is mine. Your body is mine, gara. To fuck. To pleasure. To punish when you forget who you belong to.” He carefully fucked my ass with his fingers as he spoke, pulling back and pushing forward, working me open in a way I’d never known before. I fought the heat that spread like wildfire through my blood at his words and his dominant touch. “Say you’re mine. Call me master.”

  I shook my head, denying him, denying both of us. No. I would not make it that easy for him. I’d been so happy to see him on Earth, I’d welcomed him with open arms, ignored more than a year of pain, longing, hurt. That pain came roaring back now, refusing to be denied. “It’s not that easy, Roark.”

  His palm landed on my ass and I startled forward. He followed me, pressing his fingers deep. “You’re mine. Say it.”

  “Just let me go.” The words were more sob than demand, spoken by a scared little girl who’d never been chosen first, who’d never been loved the way she should have been, the way I would love Noah.

  “Never.” His fingers disappeared from me and he walked to a drawer near his massive bed. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he lifted something from the drawer, slid a large ring onto one of his fingers and returned to me. He held the item where I could see it, two spheres about the size of golf balls connected by a wire. “Do you know what these are?”

  I knew, I remembered from the dream, but I shook my head and he walked behind me, pressing the first one at the opening of my bottom where his fingers had already prepared me. “These are stimspheres, gara. I can control them with the ring I just placed on my finger.” He pushed first one, then the second inside me, filling me up as they popped past my inner muscle and began to vibrate deep inside my body. In the dream they were in my pussy, not my ass. But this, it was dark and carnal and, god, it felt so good. “They will make you come, mate, as many times as I want you to.”

  I yanked on the restraints that held my arms. The golden chain hanging from my breasts swung and pulled on my nipples and I bit back a groan of need. I would not give in so easily.

  The stimspheres sparked, or fired, or whatever the hell they did, shooting sensation through every nerve ending in my body, traveling straight to my clit. The shock made me gasp as I rocked forward onto the bench, my knees collapsing.

  “Who am I?”

  “An asshole.”

  The stimspheres fired again, stronger this time, and I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped my lips as my pussy clenched around empty space. I wanted his cock inside me, filling me, stretching me. I needed.

  “Who am I?”

  I couldn’t speak, so I simply shook my head. His hand landed on my ass with a sharp sting, once, twice. The head of his huge cock slid to my core. He slipped just the tip inside me as the stimspheres fired in my backside again.

  In an agony of need, I tried to shift back, to force my body onto his hard length, but the cuffs linked to my wrists prevented me from moving far enough to take him, to force him to fuck me. “Roark!”

  “That’s not my name, mate. Not when you are bent over and ripe for fucking. Who am I?”

  Smack!

  Smack!

  Smack!

  The spanking
was whiplike, sharp and fast, and my entire body shivered as the sensation spread through me like lightning overcharging my nervous system.

  I shuddered as he bent low over me, the tip of his cock just inside my body. His right hand traced the curve of my waist before dipping low, to my breasts, where he wrapped the thin chain around his fingers and tugged gently in a rhythm that made my breasts ache. I needed his mouth, his hands. More. I needed more.

  “Who am I?”

  “Just fuck me. Fuck me so I can cut off this stupid chain and go home.”

  “You are home.”

  Trapped by the chain pulling on my breasts, I could not shift position, not a single inch. His cock teased my entrance, denying me the one thing I needed. Him. Fucking me. Hard and fast. Making me scream. Making me come.

  “Who am I?”

  The word master was right there, on the tip of my tongue, but I would not give it to him. Not when he wanted to remove his chain, his mark, from my body. It was like giving a girl an engagement ring—no, a wedding ring—and then asking for the ring back. “No.”

  “So beautiful, mate. So stubborn.” He whispered the words in my ear and I shuddered as he pressed forward inch by agonizing inch, his body covering mine, his cock stretching me open, filling me up. With the stimspheres still inside my body, I was full, so fucking full.

  I dropped my head as he filled me, needing it. Needing him more than I wanted to admit. I was in love with the idiot, and he wanted to remove his mark from my body.

  He pushed deep, until his balls hit my thighs and the tip of his cock pressed against my womb.

  “I’m going to fill you with my seed, mate. I want to see you round with another child, a girl this time, with your blue eyes and fiery spirit.”

  Biting my lip at the picture he painted, I closed my eyes and fought back the tears. “I’m keeping the chain, Roark.”

  He stilled above me. “Why would you do that, Natalie? It’s done nothing but cause you pain. My mark, the medallion, they’ve done nothing but place you in danger.”

  I processed his words and all the defiance drained from my muscles. “That’s why you want to remove it?”