“His body is strong, abnormally strong and fast. He’s stronger than an Atlan in Beast mode. I saw him pull apart the hull of a fighter with his bare hands, shredded the metal like it was paper.” Hunt paused to let me process, but not long enough. “Most of us have one or two places on our bodies scarred by the Hive, like me with my eye and my arm. We have small scars. But Tyran’s entire body is Hive. He has microscopic implants in every muscle and every bone. He was to be careful every moment of every day. And he has to be very careful of you.”
“Why me?”
Hunt laughed then, his amusement genuine. “Because you, mate, are small and fragile and perfect. You’re a flower petal under our boots and as badly as we long to touch you, we are always aware of how easily you might be broken.”
So, I’d been having sex with some kind of Superman who could rip through sheets of metal with his bare hands?
My stomach growled a reminder that I hadn’t eaten in over a day and I shook my head. Whatever. I wanted him. I needed him. I was hungry and mad and I didn’t care what kind of fucked up mental games these warriors were playing with themselves on this planet. He was mine, microscopic parts or not.
“He’s mine. I don’t care what he is. I was matched to the way his is now. You’re both mine, and I’m not giving either of you up.”
“While I remember what happened to me, I don’t let it rule me. I have accepted the change. Some cannot and they kill themselves. Some become aggressive. Others acclimate over time, their anger diminishing as the months pass. Tyran, well, his failure haunts him more than most.”
“Why?” Was that the only word I could speak today?
“He’s a Zakar.”
I opened my mouth to give him the two-year-old’s favorite question one more time, but he cut me off.
“The Zakar family is a very important family on Prillon Prime. They have commanded the Fleet in Sector 17 for more than six hundred years. His cousin, Grigg, was made commander of the battlegroup a few years ago, the youngest commander in over a century.”
The lights were coming on in my mind, slowly. “What does that have to do with Tyran?”
Hunt sighed. “My family is not of the elite class, so I don’t feel the pressure Tyran does. His family is—difficult. Full of warriors who served, who fought for many, many years. Even their women are ruthless and cold. His family cut off all contact when he was taken by the Hive. His lands and wealth were given to his sister. He is dead to them.”
Dead to them? My whole body clenched with pain. “What assholes.”
Hunt held my gaze. “Now you begin to understand. Coalition fighters are captured and contaminated. Should we survive Hive torture, we are sent here to live out our lives. We were denied mates, denied family, our wealth gone. Our homes, gone.”
“But I’m here.”
He stroked my cheek. “Yes. Thank the gods, our new Prime is one of us. He understands and is trying to help. But hope is fragile, Kristin. You are only the second mate to arrive to the Colony even though our warriors began testing nearly six months ago. Your arrival is a miracle. And the fact that you will be a bride of Zakar—here—” He cut himself off as if he didn’t know how to finish that sentence.
“So, Tyran doesn’t want a mate?”
“He wants you so badly it is destroying him. When he is in pain, he just gets… quiet.”
Quiet? Was that what they were calling it these days?
“Don’t you mean highly sexual and extremely dominant?”
Hunt shrugged. “It is one way he copes. He lost control when he was at the mercy of the Hive, so it’s understandable that someone like him would become even more tempered. He preferred to be in control before he was captured, but he needs it even more now. You help with that, giving him an environment where he can wield power.”
“Sex, you mean.”
“Exactly. By submitting, you give back his strength. It’s beautiful to watch.”
“If it’s so beautiful and helpful, why is he not here? Why can’t I feel him? Why did he walk away?” I raised my free hand and touched the collar. “I don’t care about his family. Like I said, they sound like assholes.”
“When he’s working through something in his mind, he works. He hasn’t come back to our quarters. Maybe he regrets what he did with you, how he acted. Maybe he’s just taking time to think. It doesn’t matter, Kristin. He’ll figure things out. I know you’re good for him. For us.”
I wrapped my arms around him and melted into his embrace, the sheet completely forgotten. I looked up at him, my chin resting on his chest. “I’m glad I’m here.”
He kissed me then, slow and sweet. When he pulled back, I grinned. I felt our shared amusement through the collar. “I’m not sweet, mate. Do not forget this very important fact.”
I grinned. “Our little secret.”
“I want you,” he admitted, his hands running slow, seductive strokes up and down my bare back. “There are no rules against a second taking his mate and giving her pleasure, but you need to bathe and eat. And I want Tyran here with us when I take you again.”
I understood. We were still too new, too raw. We needed to be three together. “Yes. Should we go find him?”
“Let’s get you some clothes from the S-Gen and I will take you on a tour. I have no doubt word will get back to Tyran about where you are.” He looked me over, his eyes lingering in places that made me tingle. “You go take a shower and then we’ll go meet the others.”
“The others?”
He leaned forward until our foreheads met. “Yes. Remember I said you are only the second bride to arrive on the Colony? Meeting you will give many of the other warriors hope. They will see you glowing with happiness, because of our mad fucking abilities.”
I rolled my eyes, playfully punched him in the chest, but it was as hard as the wall behind us. I opened my mouth to debate his point, but found I could not. Yes. I was happy, and it had been because of them. For the first time in a long, long while, I was happy, without a care in the world. I wasn’t worried about some thirteen-year-old girl who’d gone missing, dealing with scared parents, the good-old-boys club or evil criminals. It was just me and my mates. And I knew Tyran was mine. Hunt was mine. They weren’t going anywhere and neither was I. We’d figure it out. “Yes. I am happy.”
He pulled back and looked me over once more, the grin on his face full of mischief. “I guess we’d better make sure you’re wearing blue.”
I blinked slowly, trying to connect the dots. “Why?”
Hunt pulled me along and I followed as he led me to the bathing room. “Because blue is Tyran’s family color. He’d lose his mind if he saw you wearing something else in a room full of unmated warriors.”
Chapter Nine
Kristin
“Something else? Like what?”
Hunt chuckled. “Like Governor Rone’s copper. Or Prime Nial’s dark red.”
I smiled back. “Maybe we should shake up his world a little bit.” I was mad, mad at Tyran for taking me so thoroughly and then walking away. Angry that he’d left me without explanation or a kiss good-bye. I wanted to push his buttons. He needed someone to push him and I was more than happy to do the job. I’d never backed down from a challenge before. I wasn’t about to start now. “I’ve always looked spectacular in red.”
My second swatted my naked bottom as I hurried to the shower. “The only thing red on you is going to be the color of your ass when we’re both done with you.”
Heat flared in my body of them taking control again, which made Hunt growl.
“Not today, mate. No pushing Tyran . He’d have my head. Once your collar is blue, you can have all the fun you desire tormenting your poor, helpless mate.” His gaze darkened as the water turned on, hot and steamy and smelling like heaven with a mix of cleansing agents they’d told me the water contained. “But you’d better be prepared to face the consequences.” He gave me another playful swat.
I stepped under the water with a grin on
my lips. Consequences? Like a sound spanking? Or a bossy alpha male bending me over and filling me up? Or shoving me against the wall, ripping my clothes off and fucking me until I begged for release? Or perhaps ordering my second to hold me captive in his arms while Tyran filled me from behind? Oh, yes. I could live with consequences like that.
I bathed and dressed quickly, standing on the odd S-Gen pad, a smooth black structure in the corner of the living quarters. A bright green light scanned my body and I stepped down when Hunt told me to. To my delight and fascination, I watched as a matching set of pants, tunic and soft soled boots appeared on in the middle of the pad, as if they’d been transported from a store. They fit perfectly, the fabric clinging without being too tight, as if it had been made for me. The tunic had sleeves that fell to just above my elbows, the neckline was cut to highlight and draw attention to my collar, dipping and swirling just below the black ribbon, and the tunic fell to mid-thigh, covering my ass so I didn’t feel like all the junk in my trunk was going to be on display.
The clothes were, as Hunt insisted, the same dark midnight blue of his and Tyran’s collars, but I really didn’t mind. I liked knowing they wanted to shout to the world that I was theirs.
I was just pulling on the second boot when some kind of speaker next to the door exploded with sound.
“Captain Hunt! We need you now! There’s been an attack!”
I slammed my foot in the boot and stood as someone pounded on the door. Hunt waved his hand over the control panel and the door slid away to reveal four armed warriors in full armor, like Tyran had worn the day before. “Captain, the governor commands you and Lady Zakar to meet him in command. Now.”
“Is Lady Rone there?” I blurted, before Hunt could stop me. I assumed that I was Lady Zakar. Another change I’d have to get used to.
The warrior looked at me, his eyes drinking me in now that he had permission. He was staring, but not in a creepy way. More like fascination, or awe. Like I was a ghost or an angel about to disappear. “Yes, my lady.”
Hunt turned to me and I could see the order forming on his face. He was turning from gentle mate to hardened leader before my eyes. I shook my head, knowing what he was thinking. “Nope. No way, Hunt. I’m going. I was in law enforcement on Earth. I’m going, and I want one of those guns.” I motioned to the four guards, each of whom carried a full sized rifle of some sort. The warriors were all like my mates, Prillon, their skin ranging from dark gold to a dark brown, nearly the color of black coffee. They were huge and intimidating as hell. I really, really wanted that gun.
Holding out his hand to me, he relented. “I don’t have time to argue and the governor wants you there. Stay close.” He frowned. “But no gun.”
Satisfied, for the moment, I took his hand. But I eyed the thigh holsters on two of the warriors as we walked behind them down the hall. There were smaller, silver space guns of some kind strapped to their legs. They couldn’t be that much different than my standard issue Beretta. Before the day was over, one of them was going to be mine.
* * *
Tyran, Base 3, Command Room
Seeing my mate so happy meeting Lady Rone was the only thing keeping me from ripping the heads off of every male in the room as if I were an Atlan beast. I felt Kristin’s relief at meeting someone else from Earth, at not being the only female. I would remember this moment when we were too much for her. Two Prillon warrior mates would be a difficult transition even for a Prillon female. But one from Earth, where I knew the men were much smaller? I’d fought beside human warriors. They were brave and fierce, and at least a head shorter than either Hunt or myself.
Hunt and I had to be much more than Kristin probably expected.
But she’d done well with us, between us, taking our cocks and staking a claim of her own. Thank the gods for the collars. They’d allowed us all to push through questions that, because of the strip about our necks, need not be answered. I didn’t have to wonder if I was making my mate happy at any given moment. What others would be forced to guess, were, for us, givens. Add to that the testing match and I felt confident where Kristin was concerned. I watched her every move, the smallest change in her body or her expression. My obsession combined with the knowledge I gained about her emotions and needs through the collars fed my confidence in her, in our match.
What I was not so calm about was me.
I was a threat to anyone who stepped near her. I would rather kill myself than hurt my mate, and I’d used every ounce of my control to keep my strength at bay when we were together. I’d been rough and commanding, but I had been gentle. I’d come back from my time with the Hive as less Prillon and perhaps more beast. I didn’t know my own strength and I had a hair trigger control. I’d been deliberate in guarding my emotions, always remaining on the periphery, watching, following Hunt’s lead these last three years.
Hunt led. I kept myself in check. It was a system that had been working perfectly.
Until now. Now, I was hanging on by the thinnest of threads, one leer or pleasant smile by one of the warriors and I was going to turn into a berserker. She looked so beautiful in my colors. I was proud to see her in the dark blue, even if my family, those who the color honored, did not care about me any longer. Hunt, Kristin and I would make our own family, just as soon as her collar matched ours.
Kristin Webster of Earth brought out the best in me. And the worst. She was light, even her hair and skin were like the suns in the sky. She wore her hair shorter than Rachel, but I found I preferred it and the unobstructed access to the delicate skin of her neck. Even now, I could not stop staring at the long line of her throat, the soft curve of her jaw. I wanted to kiss her there, over and over, for hours. Her smile alone made my heart clench. Knowing what was beneath the tunic? Well, that was what kept me hard and made me a jealous, possessive lunatic. Which didn’t bode well for the lifespans of the others in the room should they hurt her.
Which they wouldn’t. It didn’t mean I had to like the men ogling her, wanting her.
She was mine.
As if she sensed my internal chaos—she probably did—she glanced my way, held my gaze and smiled with a feminine curve of her lips that spoke of a shared secrets. Desire. Promises made. Yes, she was mine.
And so I clenched my hands into fists and leaned against the wall, listening. I needed to keep several yards away from her, from the others. If I was going to murder some warriors, I didn’t want to do it with the governor and his mate in the room.
But if Hunt’s second-in-command didn’t stop eyeing Kristin—
“How many have gone missing?” Maxim asked.
That distracted me from the other warriors’ annoying fascination with my mate.
“One more today. That makes five in two months.”
“So, it’s only my men? All new warriors to the Colony?” Hunt asked. He was in his element. This was where he was in control, in command. While Maxim was the governor of Base 3, Hunt was in charge of all the new arrivals. He cared for their transition, for their futures. With some just disappearing as if they’d been transported away, this was his problem. His men.
He might be my second in the bedroom when we took Kristin, he was the primary here. When he gave commands, even I followed them. And so I listened to the latest updates on the odd happenings, and kept an eye on Kristin. Even with the governor’s personal guards about, she was still mine to protect.
“Yes, and we don’t know why or what’s happening to them,” the governor’s second, Ryston, answered.
“That can’t be a coincidence,” Hunt said, crossing his arms over his chest. While we were in the command room, no one sat. Everyone was too tense after discovering a now-obvious pattern. Something was fucking wrong here on the Colony and we had to start putting the puzzle pieces together. “Captain Perro hasn’t been here a week.”
Lady Rone remained quiet, listening until now. “Find Krael and you’ll find your missing men.”
The governor looked at his mate. “We don’t
know that yet.”
“I do,” she muttered, and I felt a flair of humor from Kristin. She found Lady Rone’s comments amusing for some reason. I had no idea why that would be the case.
“Perro was assigned to Section 9 with the other new arrivals. We’ve had three disappearances from that section in as many weeks.” Hunt seemed unaffected, as always, but I knew the truth now that we were linked to each other and our mate through the collars. He was just as edgy as I, his mind clouded with lust. I had no idea how he continued to form coherent sentences, but he did. “We should start the search there.”
“I want to go with you,” Kristin said. Her voice held none of the wariness of being a new arrival on the planet. She was in command of herself and I felt her confidence as well through the collar.
“No,” Hunt and I said at the same time, but while his voice was level and controlled, mine was like a barked command. Several heads turned my way. It was the first thing I’d said since I entered the room.
“I was an FBI investigator on Earth. I worked in human trafficking.” She turned to argue her point to the governor, but her efforts were wasted. I was not going to let her go out chasing Hive, and neither was Hunt. “I searched for people who were kidnapped and sold into slavery. While I doubt that is what happened to your warriors, I do know how to search for them.”
Hunt shook his head where he stood beside her, his arms crossed over his chest. “Absolutely not. You don’t know the planet or the way these warriors think. Nor are you familiar with our enemy. If there are traitors working for the Hive on this planet, they’ll be extremely dangerous. And they won’t think or act like those from Earth.”
“You were in the FBI?” Lady Rone asked Kristin.
Our mate nodded. “I trained at Quantico, but I worked all over, wherever a case took me. I dealt with Columbian drug dealers, bankers from Hong Kong, Mexican cartel leaders, even the Russian Mafia. I find people. People who are in trouble, taken against their will. It’s what I do. I can be helpful here.”
Mated To The Cyborgs (Interstellar Brides: The Colony Book 2) Page 8