“Please, let me go,” she whispered in a heartfelt plea.
His eyes met hers, his expression softer. “I cannot, galita. You’ve been matched to me. Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“While you slept in med-bay—”
“While I lay knocked unconscious against my will, you mean.”
He frowned at her. “You make it sound so much worse than it is. After the physic inserted the translator device, he drew blood for the testing.”
“I noticed a needle hole in my arm, but I’ve had a few other things on my mind.”
“Like escape.”
Her eyes rolled up in exasperation. She was a captive; did he expect her not to try?
“You have a bad habit of doing that with your lovely green eyes. The gesture is disrespectful and will be added to the mounting list of what we need to work on to make you the perfect mate.”
“You’re insufferable.” She bucked beneath him, trying to throw him off. At least twice her weight, he didn’t budge. “Get off me.”
“I’m rather comfortable up here,” he replied with a grin. “And the view is spectacular.”
She ignored him and got back to the matter at hand. “Does that mean you’re not letting me up?”
“That’s correct.”
Her enraged glare should have made him burst into flames, but it only seemed to amuse him more. And when she blew out an aggravated breath, sending a loose curl sliding across her cheek, his grin widened, making the dimple appear in his cheek.
“I’m glad you find me so entertaining,” she snapped. Not going anywhere, she tried for delays, distraction, anything to give her time to convince him this couldn’t happen. “You were saying something about a match?”
“Yes, our compatibility is rated very high, and, since I caught you, the Princep approved for me to have you as my mate, rather than you having to go into the general pool.”
“The Prin-what? And what kind of pool?”
“Princep, it is what we call our leader. As for the pool, all Primarian adults in search of a mate are entered into a data bank to find their biocellular match.”
“How romantic.” Her snarky comment earned her a frown, but she continued regardless. “Here’s the thing; your Princep has no authority over me,” she declared. “And I don’t give a flying flip about data banks or matches. I demand to be released.”
“You trespassed and were captured, which made you Primarian by right. Therefore, he does indeed have authority over you, as do I, your mate.”
“I didn’t agree to any of this, and I don’t accept your rules of capture.”
“I’m sorry, galita, but your lack of agreement also has no bearing.” He lowered his head, sliding his nose alongside hers in a soft caress. His lips traversed the plane of her cheek and nuzzled into the thick mass of her hair, his warm breath raising goose bumps along her skin.
“What is it you keep calling me?”
“The galita is a native flower on Primaria with petals the same beautiful red as your hair,” he murmured. “And such a vibrant shade. The color pleases me. In all my travels, I’ve never seen its like. My people have dark hair and eyes. Your creamy, fair skin and exotic features are going to cause quite a stir.”
“Does my unwillingness to join with you have no bearing, either?”
Her cool words must have broken through because his head came up. “We will overcome this obstacle. I vow you won’t be unwilling for long.” He lowered his mouth for a kiss, but she angled her face away.
“No,” she gritted out between her teeth. “I don’t want to be your mate, or anyone else’s. I only want to return to my ship and complete my mission.”
Undeterred, his lips trailed along her cheek to her ear, where he caught the lobe lightly between his teeth.
“Your racing heart and labored breathing tell me you are not immune to my touch. Once the breaching is completed, you will crave me more. It is the way with mates.”
“I’ll have none of it, breeching, mating, or you. I demand to be released. My people are in dire need and depending upon us. Can’t you understand that?”
He propped up on his elbows, more serious. “We are also in need. Our race is dying out. Yours is the first compatible species we’ve found after searching for years. You and the others are our salvation, Eryn. I will treat you well, care for and protect you and the children we conceive. You will have a good life with me on Primaria.”
“You aren’t listening to me! I don’t want this.” The volume of her protest at this close range had to make his ears ring.
“I am listening.” He shook his head, likely to dispel the echo. “How could I not? This is already determined. Resign yourself to your new life as my mate.”
Warm and demanding, his lips aligned with hers. Although she resisted, he found entrance and his taste exploded in her mouth—honey-sweet with a hint of spice. Her body, hungry for years without a man, responded with urgent need and, though she willed it not to, bowed up against him.
He deepened the kiss, his tongue exploring. Quiescent at first, mostly from the shock of his arousing kisses, when he stroked his hand up her side, stopping at her upthrust breast and arced a thumb over the beaded tip, the ache became unbearable. She lifted her chest, pressing herself into his palm, relishing his touch after being without for so long.
He groaned, settling over her more fully, as the rigid length of his cock slipped between her thighs. When it did so, she stiffened, a whimpering sound rising from her throat. This was wrong. She had to make him stop somehow.
“If you do this, I will hate you for it.”
He raised his head, gazing down at her with a troubled expression. “Why do you insist on denying what your body so badly wants?” he growled. “We are mates. It is natural for you to desire me.”
“My body doesn’t control me, my brain does. I’m telling you as plainly as I know how; I don’t want this. In your world, does a woman have no say?”
“Of course, she does,” he bit back, the tic in his jaw telling her he was struggling for patience. “You don’t understand, it is different with Primarian mates. There is a bond, a hunger.”
“You’re right. I don’t understand, but it doesn’t matter, because I don’t want this.”
He lowered his head to her shoulder, his body tense above her. He didn’t move for what seemed like forever while she waited, holding her breath. The entire time hoping he had enough decency ingrained somewhere within him that he wouldn’t force her to do something so intimate when she was unwilling.
“Fine,” he said gruffly, freeing her hands and rolling to his back. Then he covered his eyes with his brawny forearm, lying quiet and motionless, except for the steady rise and fall of his chest.
She inched away, shifting onto a hip while watching him. “What are you doing?” she asked when he didn’t move after several long silent moments.
“Calming my body, using the control you imply I don’t have.”
“You mean you’re not going to—?”
“No, the breaching can wait.”
The abrupt change surprised her, so did his sudden movement as he turned onto his side, came up on an elbow, and leaned over her.
“Although you might not think so, I do understand how difficult this is for you. We struggled with the decision ourselves. In the past few years, while our search continued, our situation grew desperate. We agreed to do anything necessary. However, I draw the line at a forced mating.”
“Thank God,” she murmured.
His hand came up to her cheek, frowning when she stiffened and drew back. “Don’t give thanks too soon. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to try to win you over. I am not above seduction, and I am told I can be charming.”
“Hmph,” she snorted. “Don’t think you’ll be charming the pants off me, warrior.”
His lips kicked up in a grin as his gaze slid down her body to her legs. “Not to worry, on P
rimaria, our women wear dresses.”
She rolled her eyes again, this time making him smile. “It’s an expression.”
“Ah…” He grinned. “We dress our mates the way we do for a reason. Easy access.”
She aimed a scowl his way when his amusement continued, settling into a deep, velvety, libido-stirring chuckle.
“Let’s try to get some sleep. Neither of us got much last night.”
“You’re sleeping here?” she squawked, pulling up the covers.
“It is my bed.”
She nodded while scooting toward the edge. “I’ll go to the couch in the other room.”
His arm snaked out and wrapped around her waist, hauling her back. He didn’t stop until they lay chest to chest, his striking face an inch above her own.
“I’ve given in and delayed the breaching, galita, even though my body screams to take you, to spread your thighs and drive into you, filling you with my life essence which will make you mine forever. But my brain also operates independently of my body, specifically, my cock. I have told it to stand down because our mate bonding should start out with you eager and willing, not resentful and afraid. I won’t give in on this, however.” He paused, his compelling gaze holding her riveted, his magnetism so potent she couldn’t have looked away if she tried, and his determination to have what he wanted—her for his mate—so resolute it caused her heart to flutter in her chest.
As if he felt it, his face softened ever so slightly. “You will be my mate in the end, little rebel, so you better start getting used to the idea. And you’ll do so while lying in my arms every night.”
Although his declaration made her want to breathe fire, the passion with which he spoke sent rivers of urgency coursing through her.
Let go, a voice in the back of her mind whispered. You’ve won the battle, if not the war. And you’re safe from a breaching tonight. It helped convince her to stand down for now.
“If this were a negotiation between warring parties, you could claim victory, little one.” His long finger came up and smoothed over her furrowed brow. “Take pride in that, although know it won’t always be this way with me.”
“My aching behind is convinced already.”
He grinned, his masculine beauty captivating her. She broke free of the spell when his hand slid to her chest and began to ease down her zipper. Her own shot up and wrapped around his wrist; it didn’t stop him.
“What are you doing?”
“Undressing you.”
“I thought you said…”
“I did. I am a warrior and always keep my word, but you can’t sleep in your clothes. Besides, I plan for you to become accustomed to me, hearing my voice, feeling my touch, and my kisses.” His demonstrated this by gliding his lips over her cheek. “Sleeping next to you this way will be nothing short of torture, but the skin-to-skin contact will speed things along.” He pulled the tight suit over her shoulders. “I won’t do more than hold you tonight. In the morning, I’ll find you something more appropriate to wear.”
She swallowed as he continued to tug the material down. When it hung up in back, he leaned over her, and his chest brushed against her already-hard nipples. “Why must I lose my clothes if we’re not going to, um…?”
“I explained the benefits of skin on skin. Weren’t you listening?”
“I’m finding I’m, uh, a little distracted.”
“And I’m finding this suit entirely too difficult to get off. Roll over.”
Without waiting, he flipped her onto her stomach. His chest pinned her upper half as his long arms pulled the remaining fabric down to her ankles. Bold and brash most of the time, becoming the opposite during intimacy annoyed her. Trusting his word—because what other choice did she have?—Eryn buried her heated face in her pillow. Knowing he once again saw her curvy behind bare as the day she was born brought the fire in her cheeks to the level of a super nova.
“There is another reason we sleep naked. The bed will adjust to our body temperatures,” he explained. “You have to be bare skinned for the sensors to work properly.”
“I’m comfortable enough, so I’ll take my clothes back, thank you.”
He chuckled at her muffled response. “You’ll get used to sleeping next to me in all your lovely, creamy white, unclothed skin. Kick off your boots,” he ordered softly.
Shifting to do so, she saw his eyes cut an unhurried path down her spine, over the swells of her bottom, and beyond.
Mildly affronted, she cleared her throat. He simply grinned. “You can’t fault me for looking when faced with such temptation.”
She grunted. Then, while tugging the covers up to her chin, she shoved her boots over the side, letting them fall with a thunk onto the floor. Reclining stiffly onto her pillow, she faced away from him, teetering on the edge of the bed.
“Night light on,” he murmured. The room dimmed leaving only a few foot lights as he settled in behind her, his arm curving around her. With his face resting against her hair, she contemplated his confident, larger-than-life personality. It held a certain appeal, and he could pour on the charm, as he’d claimed. Under other circumstances, she would have given in to this handsome, sexy, dominant man, something, if what he said was true, her fellow captives had done already, falling under the spell of Primarian seduction. Yet when she didn’t and made her objections clear, he had been patient.
She tried to stifle a yawn, and the prolonged, stuttering indrawn breath that went with it. He was right about one thing, she needed sleep, especially if she planned to stay sharp and battle wits with this man.
Just as her eyes began to shut, they flew wide when his arm pulled her closer, and he molded against her, his chest to her back, hips to rounded cheeks, and he bent his long legs to better conform to hers. She tensed, her spine rigid.
“Relax, little rebel. I’m just going to hold you. I’ll enjoy having your softness and curves in my arms, and your delightful heart-shaped bottom snuggled up to me while I sleep.”
“I doubt if I will.”
“Try.” He dropped a light kiss on her shoulder. “After hunting for days, the excitement over finding compatible mates, and all this day has wrought, I am exhausted.”
She snorted, his day had been nothing compared to hers. His arms flexed in reaction, but he let it pass. He’d given her a lot of leeway considering she’d tested him today. But he had motive while trying to win her over. His true nature as a dominant, alpha male badass would come to the surface in the end, she had no doubt.
Before it happened, she needed a plan—an out, for good—or those same traits she found annoying might overpower her and seduce her to his will. Given time, she felt sure she would melt under the force of his influence, so she’d have to act fast.
When the heaviness of sleep claimed him, his breath in her ear slowed, and his muscles eased, yet the strong arm wrapped around her middle didn’t give an inch. Strangely, she took comfort in his strength, the security of his big body, and his protectiveness. The last, something she hadn’t had since she was twelve. Knowing he slept, she relaxed into him, taking advantage of what he offered, if only for tonight. As she began to drift off, she wondered if the others, chosen specifically for deep space because they had no one and wouldn’t be missed, felt this, too.
* * *
From above, Eryn watched the couple entwined in the bed, feeling drained from the emotional scene. The events occurred like she remembered, except instead of lying clasped in Ram’s embrace, when he’d rolled off her, they had laid stiffly alongside one another, with her curled in a tight ball on the edge.
Why had it changed? Was it wishful thinking, or had dream-Eryn taken her whispered words of advice? She hadn’t spoken aloud, when she urged her to “let go” but had heard the words the same way she’d heard all of Eryn’s other thoughts.
Could it be possible she changed the dream? And if so, had she altered the past?
She pondered the meaning of the odd experience, cursing the unfairness of it all.
If she hadn’t joined the landing party, or, if she’d met Ram later, perhaps after the treaty had been signed, they might be happy now, like Maggie and Roth, Kerr and Eva, and so many others. But things never seemed to take an easy path for her.
Saddened over the ill-fated course her life kept taking, she felt tired, zapped of energy. Eyes heavy with fatigue, the couple in the bed faded into her past as she drifted back into the untroubled darkness.
13
His mood grayer than the weather, Ram stared out the window at the steady rain, exhausted from days without sleep and keeping constant watch for a change or a spark of hope that didn’t come. What if it never came and she remained forever lost to them?
He rubbed his hands over his face, blowing air out through his dry lips. Dwelling on dire thoughts helped no one.
He turned from the grim view to the even-grimmer scene in the hospital room behind him. Cluttered with machines, nurses and doctors streaming in and out, the space became claustrophobic, the walls closing in, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her.
Different from the vibrant woman he remembered standing toe-to-toe with him, arguing her rights, which included her freedom and that of every woman on her ship, to see her brought low like this tore at his heart.
Eryn exuded passion for life, her career, her mission, and her people. He couldn’t forget her fiery response to his touch. How her cheeks flushed with color, her eyes darkened, or the breathy sounds of pleasure she made in her throat. And although she fought hard to deny it, with little more than a touch, he could spark the flames of her desire like a wildfire.
She was stubborn, too, more than trying his patience with her denials. His water use tripled during their time together from the number of cold showers he’d taken to keep his need under control.
Now, lying so still, the spark had been extinguished, just like the color that had faded from her skin and lips. He would give anything to have the sharp-tongued, strong-willed, rebellious Eryn back, to see the mischief in her beautiful green eyes and the sparkle of vibrancy that had once surrounded her.
His Rebellious Mate (Primarian Mates Book 3) Page 16