by Marie Harte
Gren said nothing and left with a frustrated frown.
Sernal poured himself a glass of wine and contemplated the operation. With Rorn under arrest, the capture of more than three dozen slavers attributed to his people, and Temis once again safely aboard, he officially declared his mission a success.
So why did the headache creep over him like a soul-sucking vine? He tried to rub the tension from his neck. Perhaps once he had the situation dealt with, he’d take a trip to Aflera. A night with a thraia intrigued him.
The door buzzed, and he checked the small vidfinder by the doorway. Smiling, he admitted Rafe. Thoughts of a long day away from reports and findings sounded like wainu.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Rafe frowned.
“Weren’t you just the other day complaining about our rookies and their reports?”
“Yes, but—”
“Do I have a job for you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Gren limped along towards Temis’ room, not in the mood for anything but a soft, warm bed. Damn, that Ragga had thrown him all over the place. Then he’d had to deal with Rorn, a peacemaker on the verge of a breakdown.
He scowled at the peacemakers he passed, pleased when they shied away from him. Now, if only the blonde peacemaker he’d bonded with would show him some proper respect…
He buzzed at her door, irritated he didn’t have the keycode to enter. She allowed him entry and he immediately sought the large bed in the centre of her room. She stood next to it, her arms crossed and her cheeks flushed. Her eyes narrowed in anger, and she looked more beautiful than ever.
His cock stirred to life, filling him with an energy he shouldn’t have been able to feel. Yet he knew he could heal much faster with the love of a good woman.
He wanted nothing more than to make love with Temis, followed by a restful night’s sleep. But how best to make her come to him?
He decided to ignore her scowl and sank with a loud groan into her bed. Perhaps sympathy would garner some attention? He took a breath and lay back, unable to keep from groaning again.
“Wait just a minute.” Temis leaned over him. “You haven’t seen a medtech, have you?”
“Not now, sura. Please, no more lectures. My skull is splitting apart and my ribs are killing me.” He spoke the truth with just a hint of exaggeration. “I just need some time to rest.” And a warm woman to love.
“What you need is a medtech.” She looked worried. That he thought to sleep here, or for his well-being? She’d erected her mental shields the moment they’d boarded the ship, and he was in no condition to challenge her. With the exception of her stronger emotions, he could read nothing.
“Actually, no. What I need is time for my body to heal itself.” He paused, hoping she wouldn’t be difficult about this. “Would you mind sleeping beside me?”
“Are you sure you don’t need a medtech?”
“I’m Thesha, Temis. My body heals itself, more quickly when I have energy at my disposal.” He eyed her up and down, giving her no doubt as to what he needed.
Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t even sit up on your own. How are you going to make love?”
“In the astral state my physical body is not a burden.” He waited for her understanding, and seeing it, took a chance. Instead of propositioning her, he pulled away. “Never mind. It’s too much to ask of you after such a difficult mission.”
“What?”
She looked irritated, and he couldn’t help wanting to hold her again, to soothe the confusion and longing and desire he felt troubling her.
“Nothing. If you’ll help me sit up, I’ll move to an empty cabin. And if you could trouble one of the females to come to me, I’ll take care of my needs. Peacemaker Toulsa seemed attractive. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt her. She won’t remember a thing.”
Her eyes widened, their smoky grey colour disappearing under the heated purple growing dark. Taking a subtle measure of her emotions, he felt smothered by anxious jealousy.
Gren worked hard to stifle a grin.
Temis had no problem speaking her mind. “Toulsa? That plain-faced, inexperienced rookie?” She paced before the bed, delightfully riled.
“I’m sorry I brought it up. Temis, I should leave. You need to rest—”
She cursed him to silence. “I’m fine!” She flounced onto the bed next to him and immediately closed her eyes. “Toulsa, ha.” He felt her energy trembling with anticipation even as her anger swelled. “Go to sleep,” she grumbled, reaching out to his bruised hand. She held him tenderly, her fingers running along his scar.
Despite his injuries, his cock hardened and his heart raced. Gren took a deep and even breath, looking forward to his dreams.
* * * *
Temis pushed through the darkness of sleep and dreamed of the last place she and Gren had fought while asleep.
She stared around her in bemusement, curious of the memory that caused such a vision. The wide, dirt fighting ring was obviously manmade, the forest surrounding her full and lively. The sweet smell of ripe fruit and flower blossoms carried on a cooling yet comfortable breeze.
To her left sat the inviting pool of blue-green water she recalled from her last visit. She bent and trailed a hand through it, and gasped at the thrill that shot through her.
“It’s kay’en water newly released from the underground springs,” Gren said in a deep voice, coming up behind her. She stared at his handsome reflection in the pool, not sure whether she should feel annoyed or intrigued to find him here. Obviously, he’d tampered with her mind to bring her to this place.
“Explain this.” She straightened and turned to face him. She nearly swallowed her tongue when she found him naked and more than happy to see her.
He smiled, a wicked grin that caused her heart to flutter and her womb to quicken. “This is a fighting ring common to my native world. None but my people, and you, have ever stepped foot here.” He gazed up at the sky and sighed. “Our moons never fail to amaze me with their beauty.” Three full orbs glowed with pale pink light in a blue-grey sky. A few scattered and thinning clouds lined the horizon.
“It’s beautiful,” she agreed, thinking this place suited him. Wild and mysterious and filled with magic. “But why have you brought me here?”
He stared at her in surprise. “I didn’t bring us here. You did.” His voice deepened as he looked over her. “But I have no complaint with this arena or the clothes you choose to wear.”
Bemused, she glanced down to see her peacemaker uniform gone, replaced by a skimpy two-piece silk set that left little to the imagination. A throwback to her ‘slave’ days. Gren’s gaze felt like a caress and her nipples hardened.
He took a step towards her, proud and unashamedly aroused. His skin glowed, not bruised or beaten, but with a preternatural vitality.
She swallowed around the desire building in her.
“What is it you want, sura?” His eyes shone a bright green in the moonlight. “Your body wants mine, but what of your mind, your heart?” he murmured and closed the distance between them.
Temis honestly didn’t know, caught in a desire that fogged her mind and every part of her not attuned to Gren. Like a magnet he drew her, until she needed nothing more than to be one again.
He growled low in his throat and stared deeply into her eyes. “You know what you want, Temis. You have only to accept yourself, then you and I will never be apart.”
Before she could say anything, he kissed her, stealing her very breath. Colours and lights danced beneath her closed lids, and she felt him all the way to her bones. He cupped her buttocks and pulled her closer, so that she felt every nuance of his erection against her belly.
He didn’t stop there. Gren’s mouth left hers and trailed down her throat, marking her with his passion, branding her with his love.
He slid his hands between them and encircled her breasts. Cupping her, pinching her until her nipples stood at attention, so sensitive she wanted
to scream.
“Gren,” she gasped.
“Sura, you are so incredibly loving. So responsive.” He bent to lick the slope of her breast. His tongue trailed over the thin material of her top, the sensation of wet heat and soft silk an arousing friction.
She arched into his mouth, bursting with pleasure when he latched onto her nipples. He bit and drew the taut peak further into his mouth. The suction from his firm lips tortured her with a growing ache between her legs.
“Please, Gren. I need you inside me.”
He continued to kiss and fondle her breasts, then her belly and the thin cloth covering her wet pussy. With slow hands he undressed her, his touch everywhere and not close enough.
After removing her bottoms he rose to his feet. “Is that all? Just inside you? Where? Your pussy? Your mouth? That beautiful ass?” In a sudden move, he picked her up and walked into the pool of water behind her.
Heat infused her body, ribbons of energy mixing with the fevered desire already pulsing through her system.
“Yes,” he groaned and stopped once the water hit him mid-chest. He pushed her against the wall of the pool, a surprisingly smooth, flat surface. “Tell me what you want from me. I’ll give you anything you desire,” he promised and aligned his groin to hers.
She closed her eyes when the head of his shaft pressed against her sensitive folds. He continued to prod until he reached her engorged clit. “I—” She cried out in ecstasy as he thrust deep and hard and stayed there.
“Tell me.” He crammed her full, his thick presence a heady reminder of the strength and power that resided within him.
Then a burst of energy burned through her, a blast of pure heat that triggered an intense orgasm all over him.
She heard him groan her name, but he didn’t move while she released.
Her orgasm continued, growing stronger and stronger until she came to another place, a world full of light that chased away the shadows on Gren’s face.
“I am in you, sura, now and forever. I will never let you go, never let you hurt or want for anything,” he pledged with a tender look of love.
Words failed her as she saw what she’d been trying to deny to herself. The love radiated from him clearly, so bright and pure, she could only bask in its richness.
In this timeless place she saw herself reflected in his thoughts and memories. A strong warrior, a beautiful woman, a caring protector of the innocent who didn’t know how to turn against what she knew was right.
She watched in astonishment as her inner turmoil was laid bare before her. In Gren’s view, the warrior and woman within her were one, each aspect of her personality making the other stronger. He didn’t understand why she fought to subdue her feminine traits, her desires and physical needs.
She tried to process it all and suddenly found herself in his arms again, the water lapping around them in soft whispers. Gren’s cock remained hard inside her, still needing more than she’d given.
She brushed his hair back from his face. “Gren?”
“Please, sura,” he gasped, his control wavering as he shook in her arms. “I need you, all of you.”
“You have all of me.” She squeezed him tight with her inner walls.
He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, so handsome it hurt to look at him.
“Make love to me, Gren. Fill me.” With your heart, your love.
He gave her long, deep thrusts that rekindled the building desire inside her. With each drive she felt closer to him, connected on a level beyond anything she’d ever known.
Energy built, illuminating the pool as the powerful force of belonging surrounded them. Deeper and deeper he moved, his feelings bleeding into her until she felt every touch of her skin on him, every drop of ecstasy growing like a fire inside him.
“I love you, sura,” he rasped and thrust one final time, coming hard.
Temis opened her mouth to respond but was paralysed with feeling, the incredible rapture of love and lust entwining her and Gren together.
When she could finally move again, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. She’d never known a more giving lover and knew she never would. In Gren, she’d found something precious and rare, a man of strength, character and integrity. He had a power that could have made him a rich, powerful man, yet instead he worked with the peacemakers to save innocent lives.
“Gren.” His name escaped as a wobbly thread of sound. “I just need to tell you—”
“Later, sura,” he slurred and his hands tightened around her hips. “I’m sorry, but I can’t—” He groaned and thrust deep inside her, his shaft iron hard. Instead of sharing his ecstasy, this time she observed from a distance, gently cradling him as he lost control.
She felt him come inside her again, felt him shudder as he continued to strain against the waves of bliss overpowering him. When his body lit like Eyran crystal, she shared in his light, clearly able to see for the first time.
* * * *
When Gren opened his eyes, he saw Temis.
“Your outer wounds have healed.” She sat on the bed next to him. With a callused hand she stroked his shoulder, singeing him with desire. “How do you feel?”
He stared at her, in awe of what they had shared in her dream. “My body has healed, if that’s what you’re asking.” He wanted desperately to know that the dream was real, that she had meant all the things she’d felt and said. But he needed to hear her say it. Never had he felt so vulnerable with another.
Her lips curled in a familiar smile that made him want to pull her to him and never let go. He frowned, irritated at the sentimental nonsense running about in his head. Damn, but the woman had him in knots.
Her grin widened.
“What?” he barked, wanting to make her tell him the truth of her feelings. His Theshan power screamed to be used, and he had to wrestle the energy into place. What he wanted from Temis could not be forced.
“Why don’t you just ask me?” She leant over him, her lips just inches from his, and brushed his mouth in invitation.
He closed his eyes, unwilling to surrender to temptation until he heard the truth.
“Ask you what?” he said hoarsely.
She chuckled, a sensual sound that rent his control to shreds. Without another thought, he lowered his trousers enough to free his cock, then pulled her on top of him. He reached into her trousers and shoved his finger inside her, excited to find her so wet.
She moaned and squirmed on top of him. “Wait,” she breathed and shed her trousers in a flash. Then she straddled him and lowered herself over him.
They moved in unison to the song only their bodies and hearts could hear, and as she crested into climax, she cried out her love. He joined her, revelling in the feeling of oneness, of utter peace, and waited for clarity to reclaim them both.
“You can’t take it back,” he rasped, trying to catch his breath.
“I don’t want to.” She wore an expression he’d never seen before. All woman, Temis watched him with love fresh in her deep violet gaze. “I love you, Gren. I’m not sure what it means, but I know I’m lost without you by my side.”
He smiled. Temis would never be anywhere but right next to him, equally possessive and stubborn, an infuriating woman that drew him like no other.
“I’ve got some thoughts on the future, Temis. But being together will demand certain sacrifices, on both our parts.”
“I figured as much. I take it you won’t ever consider working for Sernal or with the peacemakers?” When he shook his head, she sighed. “I didn’t think so.” She scooted out of bed to clean up and dress.
He watched her and wanted her again. “You only know of me as a mercenary and opportunist, but that’s not exactly true.” He climbed out of bed and hopped into and out of the lav in a flash. Once clean, he quickly dressed.
Temis stood in the middle of the room and stared at him.
“Temis?”
“You’re Thesha, not a simple mercenary. What else you a
re, exactly, I have no idea.”
“I’m a guardian, a protector of an ancient race. And as my mate, you have one of two choices.” He closed the space between them. “You can either retire to my homeworld, where I’ll visit as often as I can between missions, or—”
“Or I can travel with you, assisting you in your ‘missions’,” she answered tartly.
He grinned and kissed her. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
She looked surprised.
“It’s true, love. I would have been stunned if you’d agreed to staying put on Ak’rea. No one but the Thesha know of its existence, and once there, you would not be permitted to leave, not for a very long time.
“I want you with me on this journey through life. Following my orders, obeying my every command…”
She poked him in the chest and growled, “Over my dead body.”
“Never that, sura.” He enfolded her in a massive hug. “You please me, woman, you truly do. From now on, we’ll be as one, together.”
“That I can agree with. But you know, I have no problems with you obeying my orders, because technically, on this job, I outrank you.”
“And I’ll happily obey.” He stroked her back. “I would give my life for you, Temis.”
Her eyes filled. “I’m not crying.”
“I know.” He wiped a tear from her eye.
“Warriors don’t cry.” Her glassy eyes crinkled as she smiled. “But we do prove the most loyal of wives. And speaking of which, you owe me a wedding ceremony.”
“I would be honoured.” He dragged her to the door. “I’ll fetch Sernal.”
“No, no.” She pulled free of his grip. “I’m from Zeyr, and we do things a little differently there. You have to meet my family. If they don’t approve of you, I’m afraid we’ll never be married.”
By her sly smile, he figured he’d best be careful when dealing with her family. “We’re heading there as soon as you pack. Sernal okayed a week’s leave. You can tell him now or after that you’re leaving the peacemakers. But I warn you, I’m not planning on spending the first few days of my mated life in Chula fighting with you.”