We’d arrive via transport, still wearing coalition body armor, Sarah’s former rank as a captain on full display to the greeting party from the Atlan senate. The gasps and curious gazes had begun immediately, and I knew, even before our message comms began lighting up in the living quarters below, that my bride would be a celebrity here, a unique and intriguing woman who had fought beside her mate, a female warrior. Atlan might never recover.
She clasped the pendant to her chest and spun in a wild circle, laughing. I had never seen her so light and carefree. “I feel like Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.”
I frowned. “I don’t understand what that means, mate.”
She stopped and smiled up at me. “It doesn’t matter. I’m happy. I’ve never felt like this before.”
“Like what?”
“Beautiful. Soft.” She spun again, watching her skirt rise in a flare around her knees. Her hair hung loose, the dark waves falling around her shoulders. “I feel like a princess. And we are living in a castle. Good God, Dax. Are you rich, or what? This place is ridiculous.” Sarah smiled and threw her arms around my neck, lifting her face for a kiss, which I eagerly provided. When she was panting and breathless with need, when I could smell the sweet scent of her arousal, I set her back on her feet and looked down at the woman who was about to become mine in every way.
“Wealth is irrelevant here. I am an Atlan warlord, and you are my mate.”
It was her turn to frown. “I don’t understand.”
I traced her cheekbone with my thumb, simply enjoying her happiness, the carefree light in her eyes I’d never seen before. “Not many Atlans return from the war. Most are executed when they enter berserker mode in battle. Those who control their beasts, those strong enough to return, are rewarded with wealth, land, castles.” I gestured to the massive structure surrounding us. The home was more than we needed, with nearly fifty rooms and a full staff of mated Atlan attendants to see to our every need. I traced her bottom lip, my cock growing harder with each passing second. “I am happy to provide for you, princess.”
She inspected me then, taking in the formal dress of a retired warlord, the tight lines of the jacket that did not hide my massive chest or shoulders, the jacket designed to display the bright mating cuffs that encircled my wrists, that marked me as hers forever. Her smile faded and a dark, sad look stole the joy from her eyes.
“What are we going to do now, Dax? I don’t know what to do if I’m not fighting. I feel worthless, like a bauble placed on the mantel left to collect dust. There are good men out there fighting and dying, and I’m twirling around like an idiot. I don’t know how to be this—” She gestured at her gown and looked back up at me. “I’m not a princess, Dax. I don’t know how to do this, how to be happy when I feel like I should still be fighting. When good men are still out there dying.”
“They fight to give you this life. They fight so others can live full lives, just as you did for others with the coalition, and on Earth. I’ve been gone from Atlan a long time. We’ll just have to figure it out together.”
I yanked my jacket off and tossed it to the floor. My shirt followed. When I was bare chested, when I could feel her against my bare flesh, I pulled her close and settled her ear over my beating heart. “We will not be idle, mate. The senate will ask us to attend many events, acting as ambassadors for those thinking of joining the fleet. We will be interviewed and questioned by many. We will be consulted on matters of policy and war. We will teach others how to survive their coming battles, and we will have children, mate. I want my child growing in your womb. I want a houseful of rowdy boys and sassy girls. I want to have to sneak into the closet to fuck you, back you against the wall, and bury your cries of pleasure with my kiss so the children don’t hear your screams.”
Her shoulders shook as she laughed. “You are so bad, Dax.”
I lowered my hands to her back and unfastened her dress, letting the soft fabric fall to pool at her feet. I knew what she wore beneath, a thin sheet of clinging fabric that would not stop me from spanking her, fucking her, claiming her.
I lifted her then, cradling her in my arms and walked back inside our bedchamber, settling on the side of the bed with her in my lap. She lay quiet and content, her warmth a balm to my senses. Having her here, in our new home, settled me in a way I’d never imagined possible.
And yet, there was still a lesson to teach.
Lifting her head with a finger beneath her chin, I kissed her until she melted, until her arousal soaked the thin dressing gown she wore and her nipples were hard peaks beneath my exploring hands.
When she was soft and pliant, I flipped her over so her stomach was pressed to my thighs, her head hanging down and her ass lifted in the air for a firm spanking.
“Dax! What are you doing?” She squirmed, but I held her down with one strong hand on her back.
“You lied to me, Sarah. I promised you a spanking. It is long overdue as we were rushed through transport.”
“Dax. No. You can’t be serious about that. I had to—”
My firm hand striking her ass stopped her argument. She cried out, not in pain, but in outrage and I struck her again, harder this time, making my palm sting with the force of my strike. “No, mate. You do not lie to me. Ever. You will speak the truth. You will learn to trust me.”
Smack!
She kicked as I continued, “If you had trusted me, I would have helped you. I could have tended your wound, taken your direction to fly the craft, prepared a med kit for you.” Smack! “Instead, you stole my right, as your mate, to care for you. You endangered yourself, the men we risked our lives to rescue and me. You lied to me.” Smack! “Never lie to me again.”
She pushed at me, but she was small, her arms not long enough to gain purchase on the floor. With a snarl I ripped the transparent fabric from her body, the thin material parting in my hands like paper as I bared her to me and struck again and again.
Silence reigned, broken only by the sound of my firm strikes on her bare ass. She did not cry, argue, or beg for leniency. I struck until her ass was a bright red, until I heard from her what I needed to hear.
“I’m sorry, Dax.” Her voice was a whimper of contrition. “I shouldn’t have lied to you. I should have told you the truth and trusted you to help me. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I honestly didn’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“How much you—care for me.”
With her words, my will to continue her punishment bled from me and I rested my hand over her soft skin, petting her, needing to touch her, to know she was safe and healed and mine as she lay quiet and accepting of my touch. “You are my life, Sarah. You are everything.”
Not wanting to wait for a response to my confession, to be disappointed by her lack of feeling for me, I reached to my right and found the small box exactly where I’d left it on the bed. Holding her in place with my hand spread across her lower back, I removed the sexual device from its resting place and picked up the lubricant I would need to ensure her pleasure. I would make her come until she thought of no other, longed for no other life. Eventually, she would love me. For now, she was here, naked. Mine. It was enough.
“Do not move.” I barely recognized the growl of my voice, realized that the beast would not be denied, not this time. “You are mine.”
“Dax? What are you—”
With a swiftness and precision born of need I worked the lube and the plug into her tight ass; the sight of the control switch sticking out of her bottom actually made me growl.
“Mine.” It was the only word I was capable of speaking at the moment, my head filled with it, with the need to fuck her, claim her, fuck her again. I needed the scent of her pussy coating my cock, I needed her cries of pleasure in my ears, I needed the soft feel of her submissive body beneath my hands and my bonding scent rubbed into her skin.
“I might be yours but why did you stick that thing in my ass?” She squirmed and it only made my cock harder
.
“That thing is to bring you pleasure. Remember, it is my job to punish you, but also to bring you pleasure.”
I pulled her ass cheeks apart, inspecting the placement of the pleasure device as well as the glistening, wet folds of her pink pussy. She was soaking wet; the scent called to the beast in me, a scent I could not ignore.
“I don’t need you to put something… there.”
I gave her one gentle swat to her already pink ass. “Yes, you do. The last time, you loved it. Remember, we are mated and I know what you need. You need this and I will give it to you.” I tapped the base of it once and she gasped. “You will love it.”
In one swift movement, I lifted her hips, rotated her body so her stomach pressed to mine, and brought her pussy to my eager lips. She cried out, her legs flailing for a moment before her knees came to rest on my shoulders, but I ignored the sound, desperate to taste her again, to fuck her core with my tongue.
Invading her body, I welcome the transformation I felt flow through my own. My muscle cells burst and reformed, larger, stronger. My gums receded and I felt the fierce tips of my teeth as I licked her pussy from front to back, hard, swirling the tight tip of my tongue over and around her clit, over and over again until her thighs tightened around my face and she whimpered, pushing against me with shaking hands.
Sucking her clit into my mouth, I growled then, low and deep. Loud. So loud that I knew the vibrations of it could probably be felt down the long corridor, and the reverberations would strike her clit like a sonar blast, forcing her over the edge.
Sarah’s whimpered cries pleased me as her pussy pulsed with her release. I shoved my tongue deep, riding out the storm of her orgasm, stroking the inner walls of her body hard and fast, drawing out her pleasure.
When it was over, I stood, swinging her body up and around in my arms in a circle, until I had her mouth beneath mine, her breasts crushed to my chest, her tight, wet pussy inches from my huge cock.
She drew back with a shudder and looked me over, from the bulging size of my shoulders to the elongated features I knew now marked my face. I expected fear, shock, repulsion. But her eyes simply widened and she fought for breath. “Holy shit, you’re hot, Dax.”
“When this night is through, you will be mine. We will be bonded, mated, joined. The fever will be gone and all that will remain is you and me. You’ll be mine forever, Sarah. I will never let you go.”
Her eyes flared at my possessive words and I watched as a shiver raced over her body. I shook with the need to let my beast free. Perhaps she sensed it, for she lifted her chin in challenge.
“Make me yours, Dax. You’re still holding back.”
Sweat dripped from my brow onto her breast and I leaned down to lick her dry, to trace its path between her cleavage before working my way back up to her neck. I nibbled there, holding her perfectly still in my arms as she squirmed to get closer.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I admitted. “I don’t know what the beast will do.” It was on a short leash, tugging and yanking to be set free, ready to fuck hard.
“You’ll never hurt me.” She leaned her head back, giving me—no, giving my beast the gift of her exposed neck, her trust.
I shook my head and squeezed my eyes closed. Spanking was one thing, but I’d never given my beast free rein before. “You can’t be sure.”
“Dax,” she whispered, then waited for me to open my eyes. “I can be sure. You won’t hurt me. Your beast, it won’t hurt me either. We’re mated, remember? You might know that I really like a plug in my ass.”
Her cheeks flushed bright pink at her admittance.
“But I know that you would never hurt me.” She swallowed, licked her lips, then continued. “I want it. I want you. I want both of you. Let him out, Dax. I want to meet your beast.”
That was the last of my control. With those words, I snapped, the beast breaking free and I roared. My cock throbbed and pulsed, thickening even more, ready to fill her. I felt my muscles shift again, my body enlarging with agonizing pain. Sharp teeth pricked my lower lip and I could feel my hands shifting curve and angle so I could grip her better, hold her still as I took her. There would be no escape for her.
“Dax.” Trembling fingers traced the harsh angles of my face, but the beast did not smell fear, which was a blessing. I was beyond the point where I could offer comfort or ease her doubts. My beast was in full command now, and he only had one answer for everything.
“Mine.”
She wiggled in my arms, reaching up to kiss me. “Yes. I’m yours.”
The beast growled, but liked her answer, like the soft press of her lips to mine. I walked forward without speaking another word, taking her to a padded wall where I knew I could take her the way I wanted to without hurting her. The beast always fucked standing, never laid down, never let down his guard. It was the Atlan way and the room was prepared for it. “Mine.”
“Yes.” Her back hit the wall and I pulled her ass cheeks wider, spreading her wet pussy open wide above the head of my cock.
“Mine.” I impaled her against the wall in one hard, fast thrust. She was so hot, so wet, so fucking tight I nearly exploded, the plug in her ass rubbing the base of my cock with each stroke. My existence narrowed to her: her eyes, her scent, her soft cries and softer skin. The wet pussy waiting to take my seed. “Mine.”
“Oh, God.” Her words did not please my beast. I was her only god now.
“Mine!” The beast thrust harder, his growl fierce and unyielding as I buried my cock as deeply in her pussy as I could go. Holding her in place with my body, I lifted her arms over her head and attached the cuffs to the magnetic locks in place above her. She tried to lower her arms, then gasped as I lifted her legs and plunged into her again and again, lifting her hips higher on the wall with each thrust.
I did not relent through her first orgasm, fucking her harder and faster as she moaned and whimpered before me. I could do this for hours, and would, until my beast was satisfied. I fucked her hard, her knees draped over my elbows so I could hold her legs open, wide open. With each thrust of my cock her breasts jiggled and danced just for me. Her eyes drifted closed, the strained lines of ecstasy creased her face as she came again, as her pussy clamped down on my cock like a vise. The sight was mesmerizing and I knew I would kill to protect her. My loyalty belonged to her alone, not king or country, not to any planet or family line. I belonged to her. Only Sarah. “Mine.”
Sarah cried out her pleasure once again as my beast roared with joy. It was going to be a long night and Sarah was going to love every minute of it. We would be truly connected now, soul deep. Nature took over and started the bonding process, the scent of my bonding pheromones filled the air around us and I pulled her head close to my skin, ensuring she breathed in my scent, marking her flesh, scenting her, making her mine at last. The beast growled in agreement as she nipped at my chest.
Chapter Eleven
Sarah
With my arms locked above my head, a giant I barely recognized taking me with my back against the wall, the strong scent of musk and man invaded my senses until I was drunk on the smell of his lust, his flesh. He pulled my head close to his chest and I rubbed my cheek there, eager to revel in the call of my mate. He smelled better than any cologne I’d ever imagined. He smelled fierce and dominant, safe and mine. I nipped at his chest, hard enough to appease my own need to mark him, to claim him as he claimed me. And holy shit, was he claiming me!
When I heard the growl I knew he was mine. Knew. The fact that he held out this long was proof of his strength, even over his hidden beast, but no longer. He was mine. His beast was mine.
Yes, beast. That word had once scared the crap out of me, for hello? A beast? When the growl practically shook an orgasm right out of me, I knew it had been unleashed.
He thrust into me and I thrilled at the taking, the thick shaft that filled me, the inhuman strength that held me shackled for his claiming as he thrust again and again, deeper and deeper until
I felt like he’d climbed inside my soul, until I knew I’d never get him out.
I had wondered what this moment would bring. Would he be like a rabid dog, foaming at the mouth? Would he be like those animal shifters I’d read about in romance books? Would he be crazed and hurt me?
He ground his pelvis against my clit and I moaned in need. No. He would never hurt me. The knowledge bloomed in my chest even as he held my legs open and plunged into my core, deep and hard, rubbing his skin against mine, rubbing his scent all over me. He was bigger like this, his muscles nearly bursting from his skin. He seemed unreal, like a comic book hero with bulging muscles and sharply defined features, as if his face had been stretched as well. His teeth appeared longer, and pure predator, capable of ripping out my throat as easily as he tasted me there now, his lips and tongue exploring me instead, making me shiver.
This side of him simply made him more virile, more male, more Dax than ever before. The way he was looking at me, I knew he wanted me. While his beast may want my body, I could still see hints of Dax, too, and he wanted me. We’d fucked, no, we’d made love before, we’d shown each other how much we needed each other by touch, by feel, by pleasure, but always he’d held himself in check, hidden this side of his nature from me. But no more. Now I would get the best of both sides of Dax. His cautious, gentle side and… this, his wild side, too.
Dax still had control and while he’d linked my cuffs to the wall above my head, and I was truly at his mercy, he did not harm me even when the beast took over and he filled me completely. He sped up his pace and I cried out, arching my hips at the feel of him. He swelled within me, even bigger than before. So thick and hot, a beast that had invaded my body without mercy or apology. I shifted my hips to take him all. He wasn’t hurting me, but I had to bite my lip to keep the cry locked in my throat as I adjusted to the additional stretching, the erotic burn of his conquest, the pain of his tight fists on my tender bottom driving me higher, hotter, wilder.
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