Jordan leaned against the cargo bay wall. “Demetrios managed to board a vessel again. I mean, he didn’t just sprout wings and fly off the planet, right? What’s to say Pheebes didn’t overcome his hang-ups?”
She let out a slow, annoyed breath. “Because my brother didn’t have to cut his dead mother’s body in half in order to free a trapped child. Demetrios was busy attempting to fix a damaged escape POD’s life support system. Pheebes was the one left to comb the ship for survivors. He’s the one who found a young girl wedged in place, alive but unable to be freed because of debris and his mother’s body. Could you ever board a ship again if your last memory on one was of something as horrific as that?”
He shook his head.
“Then please believe me when I defend Pheebes on this matter,” she said. “He’s hurt right now but he is one of the most honorable men you will ever meet. And regardless of what transpired in our past, he will forever be one of my closest friends. A man I trust with my life.”
He nodded, putting his hand out to her. “I get it now. If Pheebes didn’t do it, who did?”
“That is a question that answers can be sought to when we are home. We must move quickly. Suns set is within three hours and we are at least five from the nearest village.” She put her hand out to Jordan and he took it.
Chapter Five
Nina came to, groggy and in intense pain. She tried to move her arms but found them bound to a bed via large iron chains. She snarled and pulled at them, trying and failing to break free. She was in a thin nightdress of sorts, but nothing else. It barely covered her.
The last memory she had was of walking in the jungle, nearing the outskirts of a rival village. Jordan had insisted they stop and explain themselves to the locals. There had been the smallest of stings in her right shoulder before everything around her went blank.
Darts.
They were common among the tribes close to the red sea. The ones who served Stegian.
Jordan?
He wasn’t with her.
She stared around and from what she could tell, she was in a hut of sorts, not a dungeon as she assumed she would be. The others had a thing for dark, damp places and torture.
Another ripple of pain ran through her body as sweat trickled between her breasts. She knew this type of pain. It wasn’t from an injury but rather her cycle kicking into gear. Being chained to a bed would do nothing but intensify the feeling, no doubt driving her mad in the process.
The door to the hut burst open and she expected to find one of the others there, ready and willing to kill her. When she spotted a head of shaggy blond hair and emerald green eyes, she relaxed slightly. “Vasil?”
Jordan took one look at her and shame showed in his gaze. “I’m sorry that I had to chain you.”
“What?” Nina asked, refusing to believe her ears. “You chained me to the bed? Why?”
He offered a sheepish grin. “Because once I told them who we were, they stopped preparing for our deaths and started trying to make amends for shooting us with tranq darts. They thought we were Stegian’s operatives.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But you didn’t wake right away, and the little bit you did come to, you kept trying to throw yourself at their guards—and I don’t mean in a kick-their-asses kind of way.” He met her gaze. “I didn’t think you’d want me to allow you to fuck your way through a village’s army.”
As much as Nina wanted to be angry with Jordan, she couldn’t. He’d kept her from doing something she would have regretted for all eternity. A wave of painful heat rippled through her and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.
Jordan responded instantly, coming to her side and sitting on the edge of the bed. “Baby?”
In pain and temperamental, Nina glared at him. “Unchain me. Now!”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you cannot?”
He shrugged as a smile tugged at the corners of his sexy mouth. “I don’t have the key on me at the moment.”
Snarling, Nina tried to bite him but missed. Jordan laughed and waved a finger back and forth as if scolding her. “Now, that’s not very nice. Is it?”
“I am going to tear your head off and feed it to—”
Jordan grinned. “Wouldn’t you much rather have me ease your pain?” He touched her stomach and she thought she might burst.
“Get your hand off me.”
He did and she instantly regretted making him.
“Okay, suit yourself.” Jordan stood and stared down at her. “I’m not letting you go with mating energy pouring off you. I’m sorry, Nina, but I’ll risk you hating me in order to keep you from doing something you’ll regret.” He paused. “Can you eat? I’ll bring some soup in for you.”
She jerked at the chains. “Free me, now.”
“Nina,” he said, somewhere between a sigh and a whisper. “You know I can’t.”
Pain seized hold of her, leaving her temporarily blinded and unable to draw in air. It passed slowly and she felt something touching her brow. Blinking, she found Jordan leaning over her, wiping her with a cool cloth.
“I…I can…control it, Vasil. Free me.”
She couldn’t and she knew it. Something was wrong. It hadn’t been this strong prior to Jordan kissing and touching her. What had changed?
He tried to wipe her forehead once more but Nina pulled her head away. “No. Do not touch me again. You…you make it burn worse.”
A question formed on his face. “I thought I made it go away.”
“You did,” she bit out between clenched teeth. “But now it is stronger than before. Before, I could control it… I could…” She screamed, needing release but finding none.
The door to the hut opened slowly and a woman entered. Her long dark brown hair hung just past her waist and was braided in various spots, but left free in others. Her skin was olive toned and her eyes a deep, rich chocolate brown. She smiled and offered a tray of food to Jordan. “She must eat.”
“I know but,” Jordan sighed, “she won’t take it from me. I think I pissed her off again. I have a knack for that, you know.”
The woman brushed past Jordan and sat on the edge of the bed. She was either very brave or very stupid. Nina could kill her easily, chained or not.
The woman nodded. “Yes, you could but you won’t. As much as you hate being dependent on another for anything, you need me right now.” She motioned towards Jordan. “That, or you must allow him to assist you. He worries about you. I thought we might have to sedate him again to get him to stop pacing outside your door.”
Jordan rolled his eyes. “She didn’t need to know that, Manna.”
Manna.
Nina committed the woman’s name to memory and stared at her, trying to get a feel for who or what she was.
She smiled and held a cup of something out to Nina. “I am of the Tegmen tribe. You are our guest here. Our apologies for taking you and your friend. As I have explained to him, we thought you both to be others.”
Tegmen tribe? But they were nowhere near the Tegmen village.
Manna nodded. “You were not close but our scouting party was on the hunt for a male and female working for Stegian. They had tracked them and when they happened upon the two of you, they assumed you to be them. They brought you here to our village to stand for questioning. We learned who you are and wished for you to be honored guests. Any Janelle is welcome here, for it is well known you have stood against Stegian and his men many times. So Janelles are guests,” She glanced at Jordan. “As are their mates.”
She reads minds?
“I do,” Manna replied.
Nina opened her mouth to deny being mates with Jordan and Manna put the cup to her lips, forcing her to drink from it. The liquid was sticky and sweet, causing Nina’s face to scrunch. She smacked her lips together. “What is that?”
Manna offered a soft smile. “It is ponutaious juice. Made from the fruit bearing the same name.” She smoothed Nina’s hair back from her face once more. “It
will help ensure the pain from your cycle ceases soon.”
Nina exhaled. “It will? How?”
Manna cast Jordan a nervous look. “By helping with who can impregnate you.” She held the cup out to Nina once more. “You must drink at least three full cups of this and it will trick your body into believing the next man who takes you is your mate.”
Jordan was next to her in an instant, batting the cup away, spilling its contents. “No!”
Something close to amusement flashed in Manna’s eyes. “So, you do not wish her pain to ease?”
“I don’t want her fucking an endless line of men at all, let alone with the promise she’ll conceive a child with any of them.”
“Then perhaps you wish to create life with her,” Manna suggested, playing with fire.
Nina wanted to yell at Jordan for spilling the drink but that wasn’t what came out. “Jordan is right about the drink. I cannot…I won’t…I want…”
“What do you want, Nina?” Manna asked, stepping away from the bed with a sly smile on her face.
Nina’s gaze went to Jordan. “I want you,” she said, her breathing rapid and her body burning. She thumped her head against the bed. “Ah, arr, I want this to end. I want you buried in me, making it go away.”
He undid his pants. Manna inclined her head as she backed out of the hut, leaving Jordan and Nina alone. Jordan’s gaze narrowed and he looked every bit the predator he was capable of being.
The minute he freed his ruddy erection from his pants, Nina gasped. He would never fit in her.
She stopped arching to meet him and started sinking back into the bed as much as she could while chained. Jordan stroked himself as he stood next to her. The hungry look in his eyes scared her.
“J-Jordan?”
His eyes flashed with a multitude of colors, indicating he was on the verge of a shift. The supernatural blood in her body responded instantly, causing her eyes to shift as well. She snarled and cried out as mating pain raced through her body.
He reached and tweaked one of her nipples while still stroking his cock with his other hand. Nina bit her inner cheek, desperate for more. Jordan sniffed the air and growled.
“Dammit, Nina, I know your cunt is wet for me but I can sense your fear. I want to ease this for you, baby. I do. Let me help you while I’m still in something that resembles control here.”
She started to protest but he cut her off, moving around and crawling onto the end of the bed. He spread her legs and kissed his way up her thighs, moving the thin garment she wore up her body, over her breasts. Once centered, he parted her folds and dipped his head, seeming to savor being so close to her core. When his gaze met hers, Nina noticed his eyes were fully shifted.
“Jordan…”
He let out his long tongue and licked a line up her slit, causing Nina to draw in a deep breath. Fire shot through her lower region and Jordan’s tongue seemed to make it burn more. Everywhere he licked lit up instantly. She jerked against the chains, forcing her mound against his face more and more.
A manly chuckle escaped him as he ate at her pussy. “Mmm, damn, woman. You taste so fucking good. So sweet.”
Nina moaned as pressure built deep within her. She needed to break free, to move, to do anything other than lay helpless during Jordan’s sensual assault.
He slid his tongue into her heated core and Nina came up off the bed as much as she could, screaming in ecstasy. Her pussy clenched his tongue, holding it in her for a fraction of a second, and Jordan let out a moan, sounding as if he were in pain.
As he began to grind his hips against her leg, she knew then that he was as horny as her. He rubbed her clit as he continued to lick her, varying between each until Nina’s body gave in, reaching her zenith.
She cried out and stilled, allowing the orgasm to run over her slowly at first, then hard and fast. It quenched the mating pain and for the first time in a long time, she felt like herself again. Well, all except for the fact she had a man who confused her senses between her legs, staring up at her with nothing short of rapture on his handsome face.
His chin glistened with the fruits of his labor and a sly smile spread over his lips. “Feeling better?”
She wanted to yell, say something snide, do anything to save face, but that wasn’t what happened. Nina did something she hadn’t prepared for—she let her guard down. “Yes,” she whispered, tears coming to her eyes. “Thank you.”
Something she couldn’t read passed over Jordan’s face. She thought he’d move up and over her before sinking his cock into her. He didn’t.
Jordan moved off the bed, slow and stiff. He took hold of the sheet and laid it over her body, no longer meeting her gaze.
Nina watched as Jordan dressed, refusing to look at her or comment on what had just transpired between them. She stiffened as the reality of it sank in.
He doesn’t want me. He took pity on me. I’m pathetic. I threw myself at a man who doesn’t know what the hell he wants.
The intense need to mate returned with a vengeance and she exhaled, trying to breathe through it. She wondered how exactly she’d behaved when she’d been brought in and how much of it Jordan had borne witness to.
Shame washed over her and she averted her gaze.
He left the hut and a few minutes later Manna appeared, concern on her face. She wisely refrained from comment as she approached Nina. She leaned over her, undoing the chains before handing her a bundle of clothing.
“Here. Take these. You ripped yours off when you were brought in.”
Nina nodded, looking past Manna towards the door. She wanted to ask where Jordan had gone but couldn’t seem to bring herself to do so.
Manna touched her forearm lightly. “It will work out in the end, Nina. I promise.”
“What will work out?” she asked, playing stupid.
Manna didn’t answer. She stood and smoothed down the front of her long skirt. “There is a basin in the corner with fresh water and if you come to my home, there is a bath there.”
“Thank you.”
Chapter Six
Jordan dove into the bathing pool. The water was warmer than his body wanted or needed at the moment but it would work. The burning desire to take Nina, claim her and make her his own was still all consuming. It had taken everything in him to walk away from her. When he’d seen the tears in her eyes, something inside him broke.
She didn’t want him. She’d only accepted him because of the mating pull, nothing more.
She’s a bitch. Be happy she saved you from yourself or you’d be stuck with her the rest of your life.
As the words played through his mind, Jordan knew they were a lie. Nina was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman, and so much more. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself, she was intelligent and sexy as hell.
Go back and admit you were an ass. Tell her how you really feel. Tell her she’s all you ever think about.
He broke through the surface of the water to find Manna sitting near the edge. Her dark gaze was centered on him. Jordan was thankful he hadn’t come all the way out of the water because he was nude, and while he wasn’t exactly shy about it, he wasn’t an exhibitionist either.
Manna let out a long breath, not seeming fazed in the least by the knowledge he was naked.
Wonderful, no woman wants me.
“Your mate has agreed to join me for dinner.” She glanced behind her. “Can I speak frankly?”
“Uh, Nina isn’t my mate, and yes, you can.”
Manna chuckled as if she didn’t believe his announcement that Nina wasn’t his mate. Part of Jordan didn’t believe it either but he kept that to himself. “Nina’s a brave woman. A warrior. I can sense it in her. I also sense something else.”
Jordan walked closer to the water’s edge, careful to keep his lower half covered. “What do you mean you sense something?”
“I am Head Priestess here and have the ability to know certain things. As you already know, I can read thoughts with ease.”
/> Jordan let out a long, shaky breath. “And what do you know about Nina?”
“Aside from the fact she is your mate?”
He licked his lower lip and glanced away, refusing to answer.
Manna laughed. “You’ll stop denying it soon enough. That isn’t what concerns me, Jordan.”
“What does?”
“I believe Nina has a mission in mind. A final mission, so to speak. One she will not return from.”
He put a hand up. “I know. I heard about how she doesn’t plan on coming back to the planet if she can’t find her brother.”
Manna shifted awkwardly. “I do not mean returning in the same way you do, Jordan. I mean, I’m not sure she will live through whatever her mission is. Her body already eats away at her from the inside out. This side of her that she has denied for so long will be what kills her.”
His chest tightened and for a split second he thought for sure he’d felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.
Nina dead.
No.
He refused to accept the warning. He shook his head and backed up, fighting for breath. “No. You’re wrong.”
Manna stood slowly, and the very fact she didn’t argue told Jordan she wasn’t wrong in what she’d sensed. Lorelei, his brother’s mate, was a priestess as well, and she tended to foresee events at random. Jordan knew better than to question Manna’s abilities—and he also knew he wasn’t about to let Nina out of his sight. While he couldn’t stop her from going off-planet, he could stop her from doing anything foolish.
He locked gazes with Manna. “Where is my mate…erm…I mean Nina?”
Manna suppressed a smile and pointed towards the path leading to the village. “She is still within my home.” She bent, grabbed his discarded pants and threw them at him before walking off, leaving him to dwell on his slip of the tongue.
Jordan: Paranormal Shifter Fated Mate Galactic SciFi Military Romance (Interstellar Alphas Book 3) Page 5