by Chloe Joel
It was a risk to leave them cracked as they were, but weighed against the threat of opening them during a chase, she decided it was a smaller risk and left them open.
This time she didn’t just run through the halls. She was carrying weapons, after all! If anyone saw her, they’d ask her what she was doing. She’d get in trouble for sure.
Gorren would revoke all of her privileges, if he didn’t just turn into the monster she was suspecting he really was under all that and just kill her outright for disobeying him. She frowned, her sorrow threatening to completely overtake her. How could she have been so fooled by him?
Shaking her head, she cleared all thought from it. No, now wasn’t the time to be thinking of such things. She needed to focus on the here and now. If she survived the night, there would be time for mourning the lost relationship later.
For now, Abbie was on a mission.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Gorren sat at the dining table. He ate now more out of anger than hunger. How could she grow so upset over such a basic thing? He thought she understood the way things worked here.
After the display of loyalty his brother had shown, surely Gorren owed it to him to give him his space. Just because Gorren chose to marry his woman didn’t mean the entire planet had changed.
Surely she had to know that! She was the exception. She had changed his heart, turned him into this… this…
Gorren looked at the hunk of meat he’d been gnawing at. What was this thing? He dropped the meat onto the plate and chewed in contemplation. This was the most maddening thing he’d ever had to deal with in his life.
He’d just come back from a mission victorious! He and his woman should be celebrating! Not fighting over the rights of this female or that. So his brother had a woman? All of the men of station did! It was tradition!
Was she to expect him to go about the planet now and put an end to it all single-handedly? It was ridiculous!
He slammed a fist down on the table, knocking over cups and shaking utensils. Ridiculous. Angry at having spilled his wine, Gorren snatched up the cup and tipped the pitcher. As the red liquid flowed, his servant raced up to him.
“My lord, there are reports of weapons fire in the east wing.”
Gorren slammed the pitcher down on the table. “Weapons fire? That blasted woman! How did she get to the weapons?”
“The armory is locked, my lord. I saw to it myself! But it’s not…”
When his words died, Gorren jumped to his feet, enraged. “Out with it!”
“Your brother is firing back.”
“Damn it all!” Gorren cried out. Downing the cup of wine, he tossed it to the side and sprinted out of the dining hall. His blood boiling he charged through the halls toward the east wing.
No doubt her fool heart must’ve doubted him. She was going to try and escape again! If the armory was indeed locked, then the only other place she could’ve gotten weapons was the flight deck. Blast it all! He moved through the halls on the way to intercept them on their way to the flight deck.
The sound of gunfire echoed through the corridors. Soon he could hear her shouting to the woman to keep moving. At the junction ahead he saw the woman, barely able to stay upright, moving as quickly as her weak body would take her. She walked her hands along the wall, needing them as much as her feet just to move.
Thinking of Abbie in a condition like that nearly broke him in two. Could they really be considered the same? What if that had been Abbie? What if another man had bought her instead of him?
Suddenly he was seeing the entire process in a new light.
Abbie was backing down the hallway, one rifle over her shoulder, the other pressed up against her chest as she fired. Blue bolts of energy flew past her head and body. One struck a statue decorating the hallway, and the stone exploded to pieces. She shielded her face with her arm and stumbled away out of sight.
“Abbie!” he called out to her. “Abbie!”
That’s when he saw Byreen follow after them, a pistol in each hand, no clothing covering his chest. He must’ve been on his way to the woman’s room to have his pleasure with her and found Abbie freeing her. Byreen had a grin on his face as he fired at them, both pistols bursting with light each time he fired.
Gorren hadn’t anticipated a scene such as this. Unarmed, he knew he had to act or risk Abbie dying. There was no choice.
Gorren gathered his strength into his hands, and jumping into the air, he spun when he landed to gather momentum. Then, as though he was throwing a shot put with two hands, thrust his power outward.
The wave that followed pulled the paintings from the wall, lifted the rug running along the corridor, and turned the walls into nothing but a spider web of cracks.
When the wall of force struck Byreen, it sent the lord off of his feet and crashed him into the wall. Byreen looked at Gorren, and total rage overcame his face.
“You! This is all your doing, isn’t it?”
Gorren stood a good distance away, his power gathered to his hands again for another burst. “It is not, but that is my woman you’re shooting at. I cannot allow this to continue! Stop what you’re doing, now!”
“Hah!” Byreen spun a pistol over his finger and pointed both at Gorren. “You’ve been blinded, dear brother. That female and her foul parts have pulled a veil over your eyes. Let us remove this veil, shall we?”
“Don’t do this,” Gorren asked. “You’re making the biggest mistake of your life, second only when you decided to shoot at the woman I love.”
“Love?” Byreen asked, holding the pistols out to his sides. “Love? You love that thing? Love is not for men such as we. Only power, and death. That is what makes you and I so strong. That is how we took this place. I do believe it is time I ruled alone.”
Gorren hadn’t the time to be astounded by the words coming out of his brother’s mouth, because Byreen raised his pistols and fired. Gorren flicked his hands, sending out small bursts of power to deflect the shots.
As he did, he began walking towards Byreen to close the distance. Byreen continued to fire and now walked toward his brother as well. Gorren deflected shot after shot, the bolts striking the walls. Stone cracked, pieces breaking off into flying dust and small shrapnel.
Finally, Byreen tossed the pistols to the side, gathered his power and sent a wall of his own at Gorren. The strength of his force bowed out the stone walls, breaking them with the strain of it.
Gorren threw up his hands, sending his force upwards into the wall to thin it in that area. Then, bracing with a shoulder, he forced his way through it. It was as though he’d been punched in his entire body, but he was alive.
Byreen was suddenly there, throwing a punch at Gorren’s head. Gorren rolled out of the way, tossed up a hand to distract Byreen, and when his brother went to deflect the shot, Gorren sent an actual blast of energy into Byreen’s face sending him back and off of his feet. Gorren followed it up with blast after blast from his hands, keeping his brother off-balance.
Byreen threw open his arms, exploding with power in all directions. The shockwave sent Gorren into the wall with such strength that he collapsed to the floor, nearly unconscious. Byreen soared through the air in a mighty leap, falling with his fist raised, poised and ready to put it through Gorren’s skull.
Gorren rolled onto his back and, gathering every ounce of power he could muster, caught his brother’s fist with his own. His brother’s hand never met Gorren’s, as a small wall of force kept them separated.
Byreen, knelt beside Gorren’s head, pressed down with his fist. His hand and arm began to glow blue with the amount of power he was putting into it.
The moment Gorren lost strength, the power of that fist would explode his face, shattering his skull to pieces. Gorren struggled to fight against Byreen’s superior strength, but knew he was losing. There was only one way out of this. Just as he was about to lose his strength, Gorren tilted the wall of force he used to block Byreen.
The wall became a slant, an
d Byreen’s hand slid right off and crushed into the stone floor. As he did, Gorren sent both hands, filled with power, directly into Byreen’s head that was just inches away.
The power of Gorren’s burst, while not as strong as his brother’s, was met with no resistance. Byreen’s neck snapped under the power of it and his body collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Gorren coughed, blood spilling from his mouth. “Abbie,” he called out, the word weak even when he forced it. “Abbie!”
“Gorren?” he heard her say at the far end of the hall.
He looked up and saw her peeking around the edge. Struggling to his feet, he could barely bring himself to stand. Still, he crawled toward her.
“Abbie, my love, please.”
She dropped the rifles and came running to him. “Gorren,” was all she could say as she looked him over.
It was clear that seeing him injured hurt her. He hated to see her in pain, but there was nothing he could do about his condition.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was wrong not to listen to you. I love you. I will always love you. If that is not enough for you to believe that I would never be one such as him, that I could do to you what he did to her, then I will no longer keep you here.”
“Gorren, I…”
“I was wrong to have kept you here, a prisoner. I will return you and the woman to Earth.”
The strength fled his legs and he pressed himself back against the wall. Abbie came to help him, but he held a hand out to stop her. He couldn’t bear her support now knowing that it would be gone soon.
“You needn’t worry about the pain either of you have suffered. We have the means to wipe your memories. There will be no recollection of this place. It will be as though you never left Earth.”
Abbie, teary eyed, nodded. “All right.”
Gorren nodded in return. This was best for everyone. But if that was so, why it did hurt? The next day they were all at the retrieval station. It housed the equipment necessary to wipe their memories and would transport them to the ship that would take them back to Earth.
Mary, the other Earth woman, went first. She seemed so happy to finally be free of this place that it was almost a shame to him to wipe her memories. Would she not be without the joy she feels now?
Human emotions were still a new thing to him, so he said nothing. After wiping her mind, she drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep. Unconscious, they took her and placed her in the transport vehicle.
“You’re next,” Gorren said to Abbie.
It was a painful thing to say, but he knew that loving her meant letting her go. If that was what it took to make her happy, he would do it.
She nodded, but then looked at the machine, and back to him. “What if I don’t want to go?”
“I thought this was what you wanted?”
She shook her head.
“What do you want?”
“You. I always wanted you.” She ran over to him and held him as though her life depended on it. “
I thought you didn’t want me, that I was nothing but property to you. I wanted to stay before, I always did. It hurt to think that you could make me leave so easily. Now I know that you do love me. Your love for me is more important to you than anything else. I love to just as much. I want to stay. Please Gorren, don’t make me go.”
He stroked her face, unable to believe what he was hearing. “My darling, I release you to do as you will. The choice is your own. I’m through forcing my will upon you.”
“Then I choose to stay. A thousand times I choose to stay.”
“And we will be wed?” he asked hopefully, taking her hands in his own.
“Yes,” she said, grinning. “Now that was a proper proposal.”
He returned her smile and kissed her. After informing the technicians that they won’t be taking Abbie, they completed the transfer and sent off Mary back home to Earth, to her family.
Gorren and Abbie, however, had a wedding to plan.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The wedding took place a week later. Gorren and his servant put everything together. Abbie had input, of course. There was no way she wasn’t going to have a say in her own wedding! But this place had many traditions she was unfamiliar with, so she let Gorren take the lead. He still consulted her frequently, and made sure she felt just as involved in the process as she wanted to be.
The day of the wedding was incredible, better than anything she could’ve dreamed of. Gorren’s own master was there to witness the union. Everything they were doing went against what was law, and tradition, but it was clear Gorren didn’t care.
During the ceremony when it came time for Gorren to claim Abbie as his own, he did it loudly, and with a booming voice so as to remove any doubt that this was his true heart’s desire. Abbie had never been happier.
After the ceremony there was a celebration that lasted two whole days. She couldn’t believe it. Dancing, feasting, games, contests of strength and skill. It was as though she’d married some king from an old story.
As was tradition, she and Gorren weren’t to be around one another the entire celebration. It was for them to greet everyone else that had come and pay their respects to everyone that would join them in this happy time. They were to spend the rest of their lives together, so they owed it to their guests to grant them these two days out of respect.
When the party was over, and Gorren and Abbie had escorted the last of the people out, they were finally alone. Gorren scooped her up into his arms, and she giggled the entire way as he ran down the halls, cackling with laughter as though he’d snatched up some special prize out of a dragon’s teeth.
When they reached the bedroom, he tossed her on the bed and climbed onto it. She looked up at him, her man, and had never been so happy.
“Finally!” he screamed.
“For two days all I’ve wanted was the taste of your mouth and the smell of your flesh under me, but no, I’ve listened to their babbling and blathering on.”
“It really is somewhat excessive,” she said to him, unable to remove the smile from her face.
He dropped to his knees, straddling her and lowered himself to her, a fist on either side of her as he kissed her.
“Ah yes, but traditions must be followed. Otherwise, we’re no different than the rest of the uncivilized beasts that roam this galaxy.”
He winked at her and she laughed as she ran her fingers through his hair.
“How about you stop talking and say hello properly to your new wife.”
He moaned happily and lowered himself to kiss her. It didn’t take long at all before they undressed one another, their naked bodies pressed against one another. For a time all they did was kiss and enjoy the sensation of one another.
The sensual feeling of his hard muscles pressing against the softness of her body was a savory contrast that Abbie just couldn’t get enough of. The wetness dripped from her as her desire grew for him. This man, this strong powerful beast of a man was hers.
She had won his heart, and now she could claim his body just as often as he wanted her own. When he pressed the tip of his penis against her opening, pressing against her, she relished the sensation of knowing that this god of a man desired her.
The tip of him slipped past her wet lips, and her own natural lubrication coated him as he slid inside of her. All at once Abbie’s body was on fire with ecstasy as he drove himself into her.
A strong, powerful rhythm flowed through his body as he moved inside of her. Rocking heavily atop her, grunting his pleasure, he kissed her deeply.
Their tongues intertwined and massaged one another, adding to the sensation of him deep inside of her. He pulled back from the kiss only to place his mouth along her neck, dragging his teeth along the flesh there and squeezing her breasts with his hands.
She was lost to the sensations of his touch even as he began moving faster, and harder against her. Abbie spread open her legs, welcoming him in deeper, as deep as he could go. She hooked her heels back behind
his thighs, pulling him against her with every thrust.
Their pleasure mounted together, and soon all they could both think about was the climax mounting. Abbie called out his name as her orgasm rose up inside of her. The constriction of her muscles as she came brought on his, and Gorren cried out in a deep grunting groan as he finished inside of her.
They moved against one another, very small motions just to relish the enjoyment of the after sex tremors, and he rested against her. They kissed, his strong features smiling at her with all the joy in the world.
Abbie ran her fingers down the side of his face, returning the smile.
She was home.
***
The Warrior's Destined Mate
Chloe Joel
©Copyright 2015 by Chloe Joel
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced
in any way whatsoever, without written permission
from the author, except in case of brief
quotations embodied in critical reviews
and articles.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any
person, living or dead, event or place is purely coincidental.
First edition, 2015
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Chapter 1
Ashley ran through the forest, ignoring the briars as they clawed at her arms. It was only when her sweater snagged on a branch that she was forced to stop. Unable to keep the sobs back, Ashley tore at her sweater trying to free it, but the erratic tugging ended up getting her caught on some of the surrounding bramble.
The thorns broke her skin and scratched her neck. When she heard the sound of two men, Ashley pulled off her sweater, deciding that short term escape was more important than keeping warm. The night was cold, but the idea of being caught nearly froze her.