by KD Jones
“The Goddess disagrees because she has blessed you with the one true mate, a part of your soul.”
“I’m too old.”
“I believe the Prime Leader’s mother has found her bond mate and she is older than you.”
“I don’t know how to be a mate any longer.”
“You will learn.”
“She deserves better than me.”
“Then learn to be the male she deserves. What you have been gifted is rare and precious. Do not throw it away because of past pain or fear. Now, I have work to do, so if you don’t mind…” The medic pointed to the door.
LemAN stood and walked to the door, still stunned but less confused than before. He knew inside that what he felt for Teagan was stronger than anything he had felt for anyone else. That had scared him. He wasn’t sure he was deserving of a true bond mate, but JonAH was right—a true bond mate was a rare and precious thing. How could he turn his back on such a gift?
He wasn’t sure if he was ready for a new chapter in his life. What if she didn’t feel the bond mate pull as he did? Would she turn her back on him? He, more than anyone else, knew how short life could be. His LoraLI used to say, “Take chances in life, otherwise you’re not truly living.”
LemAN missed LoraLI and still mourned the loss of the son he would never get to see grow up. If things were reversed, he would want LoraLI to be happy and if the Goddess granted her a true bond mate, he would tell her to not let it go. LoraLI would tell him the same. He needed to get his mind around all this and talk to Teagan. They had a lot of things to work out but the idea of having Teagan in his life on a permanent basis was starting to appeal to him.
His comm link went off. “This is Commander LemAN.”
“Sir, we’re approaching the first location.”
“I’m on my way.” He would have to postpone his talk for now.
Chapter 7
Later that evening
Commander LemAN was tired and ready for a shower and some rest. He opened the door to his quarters and walked into a dark room.
“Lights on.” Nothing happened. “Lights!” Still nothing. He stumbled over a chair that was not where he had left it. What in Kitana?
Then he heard giggling. He groaned with frustration. “Teagan, what have you done to my environmental program?”
The giggling came from somewhere close. He followed the rapid breathing and saw small movement in the corner. There, under his dining table. He lifted the table and looked down in part frustration and part humor at the tiny female.
“What are you doing, Teagan?”
“Testing your senses.”
“You’re a communications expert, not a medic, and I’m not some experiment.” He leaned down to help her stand. The moment their hands met he felt sparks travel throughout his whole body. The female was driving him crazy because he had not been able to get her out of his mind the entire time they were apart.
“I’m bored. There’s nothing to do on this bucket of metal.”
“Bucket of—Goddess, give me strength.” He closed his eyes and prayed, something he had begun to do a lot more of since encountering the tiny human from Earth. If she wasn’t tearing apart equipment on his ship to see how it worked, she was teasing his warriors and forcing him to place her in his own quarters to ensure her safety from unwanted attention. It was for her own good.
“I need something to do. I have ADHD—I told you about that. I have all this energy and require something I can put my focus on to channel it.”
He immediately had images in his mind of ways she could channel her energy, all of which had them naked. Yes…naked and him buried deep inside her.
“I will find something for you to do.” His voice had taken on a deep undertone.
She stepped toward him and licked her lips. He tracked the motion and his body responded.
Teagan smiled up at him mischievously. “I bet you could come up with activities that would leave us both drained and satisfied.”
Her voice was husky and he inhaled her scent. Desire was coursing through her and he could almost taste it. Normally in the past he would tell himself to stay strong and keep her at a distance. Now, after finally letting himself think on what it meant to be gifted a bond mate, he was tired of fighting his emotions. He just needed to maintain enough control so that they could discuss things between them.
She reached out and ran her hands up and down his chest. Her touch was his breaking point. He couldn’t take it anymore. He growled and pulled her up his body, kissing her like a conquering warrior should with his prize. Goddess help them both, he had to have her.
*****
Teagan was prepared for LemAN’s usual denial or pushing away of her clear advances. So she was taken off guard when pulled her into his arms and kissed her like a man starved. She felt hungry, too, as she gave in to the feelings that had been bottled up inside her. She responded with the passion she had always felt for him.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her breasts against him. Every moment in his arms while he wasn’t pulling away gave her more and more opportunity. She nibbled on his lower lip.
“The clothes need to come off,” he growled as he tugged her overalls off. Then came her T-shirt. All she had on was a pair of white panties.
Blinking, she eased back to look at him. “Why do you do that? Growl?”
“We Katierans growl when we feel strong emotions like anger or…”
“Passion?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say and it wasn’t really hitting high on her must-know-more list as he nibbled on her neck. She heard a ripping which must have been her panties but she didn’t care about that. She was lost in the building desire. “Oh yeah.”
“I have thought about you and what I would love to do to you the entire time that I’ve been gone,” he whispered against her skin.
“Really? What kind of things?”
“Delicious things.” He let her go so that he could remove his clothes. She couldn’t look away. Every inch he bared made her lick her lips. LemAN was a truly beautiful man. They both stood naked before each other and she shivered with need as he looked her over with lust and desire in his eyes. She felt her body tingle all over.
Teagan gasped when his hands cupped her breasts. He made his way down until he could kiss her nipples. She was always self-conscious about her body not being curvy enough but the way he looked at her and touched her made her feel special and beautiful. She groaned in pleasure when he sucked a tight tip into his hot mouth.
“LemAN.” His name was more of a fervent demand. She needed him, needed him to give her relief from the growing ache she felt inside.
His fingers continued to play havoc with her breasts as his lips trailed down farther and farther, over her stomach and belly button, down to the thin strip of hair covering her mound. LemAN finally let go of her breasts despite her protests as he gently gripped her thighs and opened them to make room for his wide shoulders.
She curled her fingers around his hair, needing to hold on to something as his magical fingers opened her pussy lips for his hungry mouth. No man had ever made her quite like this. Hot, excited, scared, and at the same time adventurous.
LemAN stroked her with his tongue while rubbing his thumb over her clit. This was so much more than anything she had experienced in the past. There was no fighting the fire that raced through her entire body and made her pulse with need. She arched her body when he pinched her clit again and she called out with a hard orgasm.
“Yes, God, yes!”
She trembled from the aftereffects as he kissed his way back up her body. She was floating on a wave of bliss.
“Open your eyes, Teagan.”
She did so and looked into LemAN’s strange and exotic eyes. His gold pupils seemed to glow outward. Teagan couldn’t look away. She felt the tip of his cock as it breached her lower lips. He was so big she feared he might not fit.
*****
LemAN felt
like he was being squeezed to death by her tight passage, and he didn’t care. The pain was bittersweet and beyond amazing. His biggest problem was that he had to fight to control himself enough not to release too soon. The moment he touched her and tasted her sweetness, he knew he would never be the same.
Perched over her, their bodies touching as he moved inside, was the most connected he had felt to another being in a long, long time. He kissed her as he pounded inside, over and over. Her heat enveloped him, squeezing him.
“Harder,” Teagan whispered.
“Yes, harder.” He shifted to a different angle and lifted her legs higher up. The new position allowed him to hit her G-spot with every stroke. An electrical current raced through his veins, down his spine to his cock. He wanted nothing more than to pour his seed into her and claim her as his, but they were not at that point yet.
“Goddess!” Pulling out of her at the last minute, his seed shot out, coating his and her stomachs.
“Yes!” Teagan came at the same time.
He had no strength except to roll them to their sides. Their breathing was slowly starting to come back to a normal pace. He should take this moment to let her know that he didn’t take what happened between them lightly. That he planned to get to know her, woo her, and after an adequate amount of time he hoped she would accept him as her mate. A rumbling sound next to him had him looking down. Then he burst into laughter. Teagan had fallen asleep and, evidently, she suffered the ailment called snoring.
He pulled her body closer to his and held her protectively as he kissed her forehead. “What in Kitana am I to do with you, little one?”
As he began to succumb to sleep, he did something he hadn’t done in a long time. “Goddess KatieRI, I know I haven’t talked to you in a while. I’ve been angry, then hurt, and then I just had to find a way to live without LoraLI. I don’t know what I did to deserve a second chance, but I swear on my honor I will do everything to prove my worth.” He pulled one of the sheets to clean them off then used the other sheet to cover them. Sighing with contentment, he finally allowed sleep to claim him.
Chapter 8
The next morning
“What changed?” Teagan asked as she lay on her stomach, enjoying the aftermath of their latest round of lovemaking. LemAN had reached for her multiple times throughout the night and she responded each time quite eagerly. She turned her head to the side to look at him and noticed changes in him. He seemed younger, with fewer worry lines and a ready smile. Good God, he was gorgeous.
“What do you mean?” LemAN asked as he trailed his fingers lightly up and down her spine. He loved touching her, claiming that her skin was soft and delicate. She had been called many things in her life but never delicate.
“You had been pushing me away for weeks now. Why are you suddenly on board the Teagan train?”
“I don’t know what a train is.”
“It’s a form of transportation that takes people from place to place, but that’s not what I mean. I mean that you didn’t seem to want me despite your body’s reaction.”
“I was hesitant because of the promise I made to myself years ago to not get involved with anyone else.”
“That’s not fair to you and I couldn’t imagine that your previous mate would want you to live a lonely life.”
“You’re right. It’s taken a long time for me to realize that and when I met you, I was taken off guard.”
“Oh, so you’re saying that I was so sexy and hard to resist?”
He snorted. “You were more irritating and hard to ignore.”
She slapped his arm. “I can’t believe you said that!”
Chuckling, he pulled her struggling body to the edge of the bed. “You have been persistent, always there, and absolutely hard to forget. How could I not give in?”
She huffed. “Well, excuse me for being a pain in your ass.” She was still on her stomach and tried to get up but he moved behind her and placed his hand in the middle of her back.
“I love your sense of humor, your kindness, the way you look at things, trying to figure out how to make them better. Also, I absolutely love your ass.” He cupped the cheeks in question with both hands, squeezing them together.
His words eased her feelings. “I love everything about you, too.”
The next thing she felt was his cock pressing into her. “Again?”
“I have a high sex drive.”
“No kidding. LemAN…”
His chest pressed against her back as he entered her. She had so far found about five positions she loved and this was one of them. She could feel him deeper and harder inside her and there was an element of naughty surprise because she couldn’t fully see what he was doing. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her and she had to give him complete and utter trust. In doing that, she found herself freer somehow to experience raw pleasure.
“More.”
“I will give you more. I want to give you all of me.”
“I want that.”
He pounded against her and she pressed her ass up to meet his thrusts. She wasn’t going to last long. How did he do this to her every time? Just one touch or one kiss and he lit her up.
They both came at the same time but he pulled out, shooting his seed on the bedspread. Each time they made love, he didn’t come inside her. From the culture classes she had learned that males would unofficially mate a female by claiming her with his seed first. Sometimes they held mating ceremonies but not always. She wasn’t sure what to make of him not claiming her or at least asking if he could. Maybe it was too early for that. She could understand him wanting to take time and let them get to know each other better. It was going to take time for him to fully open up to her. She just needed to be more patient with him.
He reached for the edge of the sheet and wiped her up then turned her onto her back. She looked into his eyes and saw something there, a tenderness. Was that love?
“You made it impossible for me to ignore you.” He caressed her cheek with his fingers.
“I’m glad you finally came to your senses.”
He snorted and was about to reply when his comm link went off. Sighing, he reached across her to the small nightstand. He put it up to his ear.
“This is Commander LemAN.”
“Commander, we are approaching the third location. Our sensors have picked up turbo exhaust particles.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He ended communications and pulled himself to a sitting position.
“I have to go.”
“Okay. Should I stay or go back to my place?”
“I want you to stay here because it’s safer.” He smiled when her stomach growled. “Perhaps you should go get something to eat then come back here.”
“I’ll go to my quarters, shower, and change. Then I’ll go to the meal room for food and come back.”
“I’ll have a warrior escort you.”
“Is that necessary?”
“It will ease my mind that you’re protected.”
She couldn’t deny him when he was only being protective of her. It was kind of nice to have someone think of her for once. “Okay.”
He kissed her, lingering as long as possible before standing up to grab clothes. “Get some rest and I’ll have a warrior come and wait for you outside.”
She lay on her side and watched him as he got dressed. She didn’t try to cover up. After he’d worshipped every inch of her last night, she felt more confident about her looks. He paused at the door, eyes filled with desire as he looked at her.
“You are a temptation, my Teagan.”
“No more than you are to me, my LemAN.”
He left and she rolled onto her back and stretched. She ached in all the right places and some places she didn’t know she could ache. She wanted to talk to him about their relationship, about where he saw them going. She felt anxious to tell him how she felt. What if the reason he hadn’t claimed her with his seed was that he didn’t feel as strongly? She would be devastated if he
walked away, because she had fallen in love with him.
Deeply and honestly she loved him and everything about him. She loved his stern look when she would take something apart. She loved his voice when he said her name or pretty much said anything because he had a sexy voice. She loved how stern but fair he was with his warriors and how compassionate he had been when they were helping the Balar people after they were attacked. He was everything she could ever want in a mate. What did she have to offer him?
She was nerdy and sometimes got so consumed with taking things apart to see how they worked that she never really worked on her people skills. She had few women friends, because they were always interested in makeup, shopping, or men. She was a tomboy at heart and it made life pretty lonely.
It was times like these that she wished she had a friend to talk to. Sighing, she reached for LemAN’s pillow and pulled it to her head. She inhaled his scent and groaned from need. His scent could do such strange things to her. Snuggling the pillow to her, she allowed herself to finally fall asleep.
*****
LemAN walked onto the command bridge and tried to ignore the strange looks he was getting. “Report!”
His second commander, BorIS, answered him. “We’ve picked up the trail and it looks like the Morin transport was hit heavily. They’re losing fuel. It’s a matter of time before their ship is dead. It will slowly lose life support. Should we attack them now or wait it out?”
His first instinct was to attack. These were Morins, the enemy who almost killed off his people. The Morins caused the mutations in their people and ultimately affected their females’ ability to reproduce. In a way, they were to blame for what happened to his LoraLI.
He could almost hear Teagan’s voice asking, “Why was the other Morin transport attacking them?” It was too strange a coincidence. He needed answers.
“No. Hail the transport.”
“Excuse me, Commander? You want us to hail the Morin transport?” one of the lieutenants asked in shock.
LemAN narrowed his eyes. “Did you not hear my order the first time?”