“What garden? I don’t have a garden.”
She peeped up at him and said with a cheeky grin, “You do now.”
He studied her face. “You’re flushed. Did you overexert yourself?”
Lightly, she touched her skin feeling the radiating heat. “No, but your suns’ rays are intense; I think I got burned.”
“There is no think about it, mate. Come.” Whether she wanted to or not wasn’t up for debate because he caught her hand in his and pulled her along—something that was getting to be a habit—through the first floor, up the stairs, into their bedroom, and straight into the bath.
In two tugs, he had her dress over her head. He gave her a little nudge toward the tub as he called the order, “Fill tub, warm.” Trask also stripped and followed her in.
The water filled rapidly, the warmth soothing the ache from her sore body. It was deep, more so than the one on the ship, and, before it was half-full, she started to float. To keep her from drifting away, he pulled her back to his chest and wrapped his long legs around her from behind. He picked up her hand, frowning as he examined the small nicks and scratches on the back, and her destroyed manicure. His hum of concern turned to displeasure when he examined her palm and saw the blister which had popped up at the base of her middle finger from the shovel.
“I’m uncertain I approve of this hobby you’ve decided upon if it will cause so much damage,” he murmured as he pressed a gentle kiss to the irritated, swollen skin.
“Too late, I’ve claimed my little patch out back. The digging is done, so the worst part is over. Besides, I need something to do while you’re gone all day.” She angled her head and looked over her shoulder at him. “Unless you know of an active volcano nearby I could explore.”
“I think not.”
He said nothing else as he focused on her hands. From a wall dispenser, he got a large dollop of creamy soap then with infinite patience worked the rich lather over her abraded flesh. She settled against him, letting him take care of her, pleasantly surprised the light-scented soap cooled rather than stung the raw spots.
In a state of utter relaxation, she felt her eyes grow heavy, her mind easing as much as her body already was from the warm water that, strangely, despite the time they’d been in the tub, never seemed to cool. And his hands, that never seemed to stop touching, lightly stroked her skin and massaged her sore muscles which felt glorious.
“These streaks of black at your temples are new,” he murmured as he combed through her mane of thick hair with his fingers.
She’d noticed them this morning, only a few strands, and different from her natural shade as day and night.
“Do you think it will all turn black?”
“It’s hard to say. Your eyes are a mixture of you and me; perhaps your hair will be the same. I would miss the pale gold, but very much like seeing my mark upon you.”
They fell into a comfortable silence with Trask’s fingers ceaselessly stroking and soothing. She was on the verge of sleep when he whispered low in her ear, “We should get out, beautiful. You’ll be waterlogged as well as sunburned if we linger.”
“Must we? I’m pretty certain this is what heaven is like, and I’m not ready to fall back to Earth—um, I mean—Primaria.”
“Mmm,” he replied half hum, half chuckle before he relented. “Only a few minutes, no more.”
She rolled her head until her cheek lay against his water-slick chest, hearing the steady thump of his heart beneath her ear. It was hard to believe this warm, gentle, nurturing man was the same as the cold, angry one she’d seen outside.
“Your uncle, Aylan, was it? You aren’t close?”
“Quite the opposite. He raised me, along with Kerr after our fathers died. He’s listening to his brother and feeding off his persistent pessimism. Today wasn’t the first time one of them has come to me, and I am out of patience.”
“They want a different mate for you.”
“It is not for them to say. You are my lifemate; my uncles can accept it or deal with the heat of my anger should they mention it again.”
“I’d hate to be the cause of a rift between you.”
“You won’t be, sweet Lana. This will pass as the feverish excitement over the news subsides.”
“What news?”
He hesitated a beat too long for her liking, and the cold knot of dread tightened in her stomach. It was becoming a frequent companion, one that was most unwelcome.
“We learned two of your females are breeding.”
Water splashed over the edges onto the surrounding tile as she flipped over, facing him. “Who?” she demanded to know.
“Vardax and Krager’s mates.”
She shook her head. “That doesn’t help me.”
“The two who now have their mate’s black hair.”
“Thora and Mailynn,” she whispered. “But it’s so soon. How do they know?”
“I asked the same question. Both were in the clinic due to illness, or so they thought. The scans revealed the true cause.”
She rolled onto her back, easing down into the water once more while trying to absorb this startling new development.
“That reminds me. Jarlan has requested you come to the clinic for additional testing.”
She twisted only her head this time when looking up at him. “Why? I’m not ill.”
“He wants to follow each human female closely.”
“For what?”
A flicker of amusement crossed his face. “Don’t your physics live to poke and prod and ask an overabundance of questions?”
“They do.”
“Ours are no different.”
“Is this necessary? I’m not a fan of doctors. I saw enough of them after the accident when I was young.”
His smile faded, and his expression softened with sympathy. He raised a hand to her cheek and traced a warm, wet line along her jaw. “I can only imagine what you endured back then, but this shouldn’t be anywhere near as bad. They need to know as much as they can about your kind. Learning what is normal will help them if something comes up later. They want to be prepared.”
This made perfect sense, although being tested and followed closely made her feel rather like a lab rat. She wasn’t happy about it but understood the need to be ready and have contingencies. Facing forward again, she grumbled, “This Jarlan must have been an Eagle Scout.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a youth program that teaches the merits of being prepared.”
He found this funny and chuckled softly. “You should relay this to Jarlan when you are in his med-bay. He will like being referred to as both youthful and prepared.”
“You aren’t going with me?”
“I thought Adria might accompany you. She is in physic training and knows how things work.” His hand, which had slid to the base of her throat when she turned, moved to her jaw, and tipped her face up to his. “If you're frightened, I will arrange to be free and escort you myself.”
“I said I wasn’t a fan of doctors, not that I was scared.” Gazing up at him, finding his sweet concern sexier than his finger-combed wet hair and spiky lashes, she shook her head. “Although I’d like for you to be with me holding my hand, it isn’t necessary. I’m a big girl.”
“Not from my vantage point.” He dipped his head to kiss the tip of her nose. “From here, you’re small, soft, and precious, my paulova. I’ll accompany you.”
She sighed as his lips moved to her cheek, the featherlight caress and the warmth of his breath sending shivers down her spine. As her body stirred, she forgot the stiffness of her muscles.
“You have to work, Trask. I’ll be fine on my own.”
He dragged her body the length of his until they were face-to-face, her mouth level with his, and her breasts, the nipples in achy hard peaks, pressed flat against his chest. “Are you certain? You are my priority.”
“I’m certain,” she murmured, her gaze dropping to his mouth. This close, all she had to do was pucker
up for a kiss. Instead, she licked her lips.
His voice became husky with his reply. “I’ll arrange an escort and have my sister meet you there.”
“Also, unnecessary. I know where the clinic is.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, big girl, remember?” She wished he would kiss her already and was on the verge of taking charge and doing it herself.
“If you are certain.” His arms flexed, moving her the fraction of an inch needed for their lips to touch. “Are you too sore from toiling in the dirt for me to have you?”
“No.”
“You’d tell me if you were?”
“Probably not.” She smiled, seeing the tiny laugh lines bracketing his eyes when they crinkled in response.
“Straddle my hips.” Without an instant of hesitation, she moved her legs outside his at the same time he lifted her by the waist and brought her down onto him in a long, hot glide. He slipped his hands under her knees then up the backs of her thighs to her ass. With a cheek resting in each palm and her legs draped over his forearms, he stood. Water poured off them in sheets, and, without its buoyancy to support her, gravity forced her down on his cock until he planted full to the hilt in her belly.
Lana linked her hands behind his neck and hung on as he mounted the steps and climbed out of the pool. His back found a nearby wall, and, with his hands clamped onto her backside, he moved her up and down, using only his arm strength to fuck her. With it slowly building in the bath, no, since their last joining, she couldn’t control her outcry of desire. Her breath came in long surrendering moans intermingling with his passion-filled groans.
Abruptly, he spun, and with her back against the wall, drove into her as his mouth, hot and hungry, latched onto her throat. She lasted another minute, no more, before she tightened around him, her arms, legs, and pussy clenching all at once, and she came hard, burying her face in his neck and the wet silk of his hair.
Trask, as usual, lasted longer. He hadn’t been digging in the dirt for hours or using muscles unaccustomed to so much activity. Despite this, with him thrusting inside her, driving hard, he tapped into stores of energy she didn’t know she had and sent her spiraling up to the summit of ecstasy once more. He raised his head and sealed his lips over hers, taking her mouth as thoroughly as he took her body, she came again.
Her mate followed, no more than a blink behind her this time, shooting hot hotly inside her while he growled his release down her throat.
Minutes later, while still semi-hard inside her, he carried her back into the pool. Efficient and quick, he bathed her, setting her limp and jelly-legged on the edge while he washed himself. Afterward, he dried her with a fluffy towel, his hands rubbing briskly all over her as she swayed on unsteady feet. Because she couldn’t have made it if she’d wanted to and would have passed out from exhaustion on the tile where she stood, Trask carried her once again, laying her in the center of the bed.
When he crawled in beside her, he didn’t bother with the thin cover, his body heat and the auto-regulating bed making it unnecessary, and he gathered her close, his arms and legs wrapping around her, which was better than any blanket.
Before she drifted off, in a moment of clarity in her post-coital fog, she came to the realization—whether barbarian or civilized man, lover or captor, lifemate or husband, in her heart, she’d fallen in love with her big, bossy, passionate general. With a sleepy smile on her face, she nestled deeper in his arms, not worrying about tomorrow and what other turmoil it would bring, for tonight nothing else mattered.
ADRIA JOINED THEM FOR the morning meal with the plan to walk with her to the clinic afterward. When Lana set a plate filled with fresh fruit, toast, and fluffy scrambled eggs in front of her, she looked up at her and grinned. “You can’t cook, eh?”
“Anyone can make eggs. Besides, your brother’s kitchen comes equipped with every conceivable modern gadget. All I have to do is press buttons.”
Trask, who’d been too busy wolfing down what was equivalent to three times the portion on his sister’s plate, took his last bite then wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Don’t let her fool you, Adri. She made something called a sand-wich last night; it was delicious.”
Lana smiled at him, trying to suppress a giggle over his compliment, that really wasn’t, but failed. “I don’t think a sandwich counts as cooking.”
He aimed a smile her way hot enough to melt her from the inside out then shocked a gasp out of his sister when he winked. “It tasted good, which is what’s important.” He stood and polished off the last of his awful black tea.
Pungent, bitter, without a granule of added sugar, she didn’t know how he stomached the vile stuff. Coffee was her drug of choice, and she’d been devastated to learn nothing came close to it in their world. After three years without a caramel latte or a mochaccino with a drizzle of chocolate on top—heck, she’d even take it black, which was better than nothing—she craved it as much as sex. Her eyes shot to Trask, on his way to the sanitizer with his cup. They naturally migrated to his firm butt in his snug black uniform pants, and she reconsidered; maybe, her coffee cravings were only half that of sex.
A throat clearing caught her attention. Adria, who'd apparently noticed where her eyes and thoughts had strayed, sat grinning at her over the rim of her cup. Being caught ogling her brother sent an unwelcome rush of heat to her cheeks.
“I’ll be home late; it’s training day.” Trask speaking near her ear made Lana jerk in surprise. “Sorry, mate,” he murmured more softly, his hands on her shoulders turning her toward him. “You’re still flushed,” he observed with a frown and traced a fingertip across her cheekbone. “Your sunburn couldn’t have gotten worse overnight. Are you sick? It’s fortunate you’re seeing the physic today. He can treat whatever this is early.”
“It’s too much Primarian sun, Trask. I’m fine.”
“Adri, ask Jarlan if there is something he can give her for that while you are there.”
“There is a cream that would help. I’ll suggest it.”
He nodded, though his concerned expression lingered when his eyes shifted from his sister, back to her. “I’ll assign Ram or Lothar to oversee the exercises today and will go with you.”
“Aren’t they newly mated, too?”
“Yes, but I planned to attend. They can survive the same separation I intended for myself.”
“It’s not necessary.”
“As your mate, what’s necessary is for me to say.”
She rolled her eyes—mercy sakes he could be arrogant. Her fingers rounded his wrists. Well, they were big, and she didn’t reach all the way, but she came close. She stood on tiptoe and lowered her voice, conscious of the fact Adria was taking this in. “Remember what we talked about last night, General? I didn’t regress to a ten-year-old child since then, and, last I heard, a sunburn isn’t fatal.”
One black brow arched sharply. “It sounds like you’re the one in need of reminding, mate. That didn’t sound at all respectful. And I don’t care for the way you cast your eyes at the ceiling when you’re impatient either. Perhaps a refresher lesson is due?”
Uh-oh. It would seem she’d crossed the line past assertive and stepped on his dominant toes. Time for damage control.
“I, uh, didn’t mean—”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Adria move in behind him. While shaking her head rapidly, she mouthed something Lana couldn’t make out.
“Leave us, sister,” Trask ordered. “Lana doesn’t need your help learning how to appease me.”
The girl looked at her, made a face then said very deliberately, “I’m sorry.” She also batted her long lashes before she did as she was told. “I’ll go wait in the next room.”
Lana watched her go.
“She’s about as subtle as a proton cannon,” he muttered, without taking his disapproving gaze from her face.
“Maybe, but I’m sure she meant well. She was trying to get me to apologize, which I was going to do, anyway.” S
he moved a hand to his chest and tipped her eyes to his. “I didn’t intend to be disrespectful, Trask, I’m just used to making decisions for myself. I’m sorry for my sarcastic tone. And rolling my eyes is a bad habit I’ve had since I was a kid. I’m sorry for that, too.”
He curled his fingers around hers, and a half smile crossed his face. “I was right. You didn’t need Adria’s help at all.”
“I’m not just apologizing to manipulate; I wouldn’t do that. I mean it.”
“I know, paulova, which is why I said you didn’t need her help.” He raised her fingers to his lips. “Stay with my well-meaning, sister, so you don’t get lost.”
“I will, but Trask?”
“Mm?” His hummed response tickled because he had flipped her hand over to kiss her palm.
Entranced watching his sexy mouth work its magic, she almost forgot what she planned to ask. “Exactly what did you mean by a refresher lesson?”
Warm eyes, more blue than green in the morning light, framed by long silky black lashes which were really unjustified on a man, tipped up to hers, before he caught her lips in a hard, quick kiss.
“I’ve got to go.”
“You’re not going to answer?”
With her hand in his, he walked to the door.
“Trask! No fair.”
“Adria!” he called down the hall.
“I’m here,” she said, stepping out of one of the seldom used front rooms.
“Jarlan is expecting my mate this morning. If you can’t get away to escort her home, buzz my transmitter and I’ll send a warrior.” He squeezed her hand. “This isn’t up for debate, Lana. You don’t know the city yet.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
With his hand cupping her cheek, he bent and kissed her, slow and soft and beautiful. He only raised his head a small fraction before he gave this answer against her lips. “No, but I’m getting to know you, and you were thinking it.”
She had to laugh because he was right. His half grin turned into a full smile, and a moment later he was gone.
Defying the General Page 12