His huge body slammed against her hips and the orgasm began to build. Hard shaft tunneling through soft muscle, wet and aching. He continued to reach a spot, again and again that was building in intensity. He wasn’t even touching her clit, he didn’t need to. She felt the orgasm build down deep.
She threw her head back and screamed as the wave of release tore through her mind and soul. Her core clenched around his plunging shaft. His thrusts continued, uneven. He stilled above her as his cock throbbed and warmth rushed inside. She felt every moment of his release, and it was magical.
He dropped on top of her, panting, and pulled her over to their side, his arms circling her tenderly, protecting her from the gentle rain.
“I love you,” she whispered, as a sigh of contentment left her chest. And her eyes fluttered closed.
Fourteen
The next time Sara woke up, she was on an actual bed. This time there were pillows, sheets and everything. No dirt, or hard metal bunk. No enchanted forest with thunder and lightening. Just the soft sound of her husband’s light growls from behind her and his huge, rough claws roaming over her naked body; his ridged erection already nudging at her wet entrance.
“Mmm,” she sighed, not caring one bit how long this had been going on, only happy that it was actually happening. Because, waking up in a soft bed to an enormous Xylan warrior behind her, making love to her with his monstrous cock was certainly no hardship.
His nose pressed next to her ear and she felt the rise of his powerful chest as he inhaled her scent. “Good morning,” he whispered.
She smiled and reached back to cup his head, pulling him in. He immediately understood her intent and dove in for a searing kiss. Holy gods she loved his kisses. He was the grand master of kissing. His tongue slipped inside the seam of her mouth and she was already moaning against his lips.
And they were both naked, with nothing but thin white sheets to kick aside.
“Please,” she whispered, because the idea of waking up to him thrusting inside of her, instead of being denied his hot length was still a treat she couldn’t live without. She lifted her legs just enough, tilting her backside for easier access. Then he was sliding inside. Hot, long and oh so hard. She gasped as the pleasure hit her like a blast of energy.
His arm went around her and over her waist and delved between her legs, rubbing at that spot where she needed him most. And then his hips began slamming against her as he drilled inside while the tip of his claw worked magic against her clit.
“Oh honey,” she choked. This male was everything. All the things. And he didn’t even know.
Her orgasm was swift and hard, rocking through her like a thunderstorm. She gasped, clenching the sheets in her fist as she rode out the pleasure.
His cock twitched and he let out a hoarse groan as his cum jetted inside.
“Dear gods,” she whispered.
They both lay quiet, and close, their breaths evening out. He pulled out and Sara whimpered at the loss. She turned in his arms, facing him, giant arms surrounding her and her cheek against his amazing pectorals. His chin rested on her head.
“You know, none of this surprises me,” she informed him.
He squeezed her tighter. “It doesn’t?”
“I knew you were the one for me the moment I saw you,” she admitted.
His shoulders shook with mirth. “I was shackled and wearing a prison-issue orange jumpsuit. You didn’t know I was there undercover and you thought I was an actual convict serving a real sentence. And I was a berserker who could have killed you, and you thought I was the male for you?”
She shrugged. “Yes.”
“It is true you felt desire for me, I could smell your physical reactions.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shut out the image of him knowing she desired him the whole time she was trying to talk him into becoming her protector. “You knew I was attracted to you during intake and when we were first in our cell together?”
“Yes,” he nodded against the top of her head. “As did Trax and Rengeli. They can also scent your physical reactions.”
She groaned. “I want the ground to swallow me up.”
“I wasn’t concerned.”
She crooked an eyebrow. “You weren’t?”
“No. Females have this reaction toward me often. I was used to ignoring it.”
“What?” She pulled out of his embrace and sat up. “Hold on, you were used to females you came into contact with desiring you and you ignoring them so it was no big deal to you that I also desired you?”
His lips twitched and his hazel eyes sparkled. “Yes.”
“This isn’t funny Syrin…you’re telling me I was just another female in a long list of females who’d wanted you and you ignored. In fact, I was the colorless human female who was probably going to jeopardize your mission.”
He stared at her, quiet, which was ten times more frustrating.
She pursed her lips and stood up, pulling the sheet around her. “So, even though I fell in love with you the moment I met you,” she said, her voice cracking, “you just thought I was an annoying human. I was nothing to you. Thank you for that, thank you very much.” It wasn’t like this was new. Of course he’d felt that way at the beginning, it had been obvious, but…every feeling she’d ever had her whole life of not being loved, or wanting love and the other person not giving one shit about her, returned tenfold, piercing her heart in the same way it always had, her whole damn life.
For some reason it had been important to her that in this one instance, this one time, it was different and maybe someone had actually cared about her, from the very beginning.
“You fell in love with me the moment we met?” he asked, confusion marking his Xylan features.
She snorted. “Of course, I did. You’re the sexiest male I’ve ever seen, and that includes when you’re fully clothed, and you’re smart and loyal. But you thought I was annoying, one of your groupies,” she huffed, trying to ignore his amazing chest and the way the white sheet barely covered the bulge between his thighs. It wasn’t fair that he was so damn handsome. It was distracting. She started walking toward the restroom. “I can’t believe this.”
He stood up, naked, towering over her with acres of gorgeous royal pigment and epic thighs. “Wait.” His claw was on her shoulder, turning her around.
She clenched her jaw and looked away, tucking the sheet tighter around her breasts. Mad. Embarrassed. Feeling like the most worthless…
“My Be’Ih,” he sighed, and wrapped his enormous arms around her and pulled her in close, his lips pressing against her forehead. His warmth, his scent and her cheek against his chest brought tears to her eyes. Her shoulders loosened and she melted into his embrace. Damn him. “You are human,” he murmured against her hair. “But I didn’t care that you are colorless. Your skin is soft and your pigment is pleasant against mine. You smell like Gardonian flowers and your scent brings me to my knees.”
“That’s lovely, but you didn’t feel any of that until later,” she whispered, “and I don’t know, it embarrasses me that I chased you around and you felt nothing. It hurts. I can’t help it, it makes me feel like I care more for you than you do for me.”
“No,” he said with rough strength. “No, you are wrong.”
“Wrong?”
“The moment I met you, I was obsessed with protecting you and I watched every move you made. And within the first diurnal cycle I had already acclimated to your coloring. And…I’ve always found your scent alluring.”
“But you weren’t attracted to me.”
“No, I wasn’t. Xylans cannot physically be attracted to another being besides their mate. But I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. You were fascinating. And I didn’t mind sharing a bunk with you.”
She couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips. “You didn’t? Could’ve fooled me.”
“I was angry only because it made it more difficult to avoid testing mating compatibility. Remember, I didn’t
know that as my Bride you could tame my berserker. I thought my berserker would kill you. I was trying to save your life by keeping you away.”
She pushed back to look up into his face. His chin tilted down. “You’re saying you liked me, cared for me, before we tested compatibility?” she asked.
“Yes. I usually ignore all females who feel desire for me. You were the only one I was obsessed with.”
“I was?”
He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, and kissed her palm, those sexy fangs peeking out from perfect lips. “If things had been different I would have formally asked the Manager of your line to test mating compatibility because I thought there was the possibility that we were a match.”
“Really?” she croaked. So, so classy.
His hand possessively rested on her hip. He put a finger under her chin, lifting her eyes up to meet his. “Yes. And we will talk about this more, later. For now, we must get ready. There are many others on this ship, waiting for us to come out of our mating confinement in order to implement plans.”
“Many others? Who?”
“Trax and Rengeli. And Joyzal and his Bride, Jacole. Jacole is also human, but from the planet Earth.”
“No way! She’s from the original planet?”
“Yes, you will meet her. But first, there was a confirmation in long range scanners that a prison convoy is following us.”
“Well, shoot, you should’ve said that first. Let’s go then.”
Sara followed Syrin down the halls of his high-tech space ship, her eyes wide. “This is a nice,” she tried to say, still chewing on a mouth full of ration bar.
Syrin grinned down at her and stopped to place a hand over a door panel. He also handed her the coffee cup he’d been holding. She took a sip, swallowing down the last of her breakfast as the doors shooshed open, and stepped into the main heart of the ship. Music was thumping, a strange beat she’d never heard before, but one she immediately liked.
As she entered the Bridge, her eyes swept the consoles and examined all the tell-tale signs of system integration. She recognized the configuration of glowing lights on the panels instantly and gasped. A huge, genuine, goofy smile that was impossible to hide broke across her face. Her eyes scanned the area and she realized quickly that this ship was sleek, pricey and decked out with the best of everything. The absolute best, stuff that was hard to get. All the expensive system technology she’d always wanted to try out, and admired, but couldn’t possibly afford. Basically, she was always hacking her own stuff to bring it up to half the grade this setup was, naturally.
“Computer?” she questioned softly.
“This is the ship’s computer. How may I help you, Sara of One?”
Sara snort-laughed. It already knew her name! And it was speaking to her in New Earth-accented English! It had even turned the music off so she could hear better. Fucking fabulous.
She glanced over at her new husband.
He nodded. “I told it to accept you and to give you the highest security clearance.”
Well then…
If anything, her smile grew even bigger.
“I need overrides from the initial analyst and the logo of this architect,” Sara ordered the computer’s AI as she strode over to the empty seat in front of the analyst station. “Unlock this station for Sara of One and transfer your design plans to me in holographic form.”
“Affirmed.”
She sat down at the chair in front of the console and placed her coffee in the cup holder. An analyst position wasn’t technically necessary on this ship since they had top-of-the-line AI, but everyone knew AI needed oversight. It was reckless to have AI running your…anything…without at least intermittent biological sentient management. And she had to know who the architect of this system was, because she hadn’t noted a signature anywhere yet and…
“Oh shit, she’s the real thing, isn’t she?” a female voice said. “You guys weren’t kidding. We have a real system’s analyst on our team now. Hurray!”
That was when Sara realized there were other beings on the Bridge, too, and she was being rude and ignoring them. Oops.
She turned her chair around to see five sets of eyes staring at her. The first two were Trax and Rengeli, who she was so happy to see alive again she squeaked with joy and immediately sprinted off her chair and ran to give them big hugs. They both looked confused at first when she put her arms around each of them, not understanding her strange human custom, but Sara hugged them each anyway because dammit, they were alive and out of that terrifying prison and she was giddy with relief.
Someone growled. Sara turned to see her husband, watching her touch his two friends, his features a dark thundercloud. She walked over and placed a hand in his claw and put a soothing palm on his chest, over his two beating hearts. She looked into his reddened eyes and stood on her tip toes to give him a light kiss. “You’re fine,” she whispered. “I’m right here.”
“You two are so cute together, I can’t handle the cute,” a voice said.
Sara finally noticed the other members of their party—a tall human female with a wide smile and sparkling black eyes, and another huge Xylan male who was lighter-skinned than her husband.
The woman stepped forward. “Hi, I’m Jacole,” she said in unusually accented English. “And this is my husband, Joyzal. We’re both Bounty Hunters and we’re so happy to meet you. And as you can tell I’m human, but I’m not from New Earth, I’m from the original planet.”
Sara was totally star struck, like meeting a celebrity. “You’re…you’re,” she gushed.
“I am.” Jacole smiled.
Tears sprung up on Sara’s eyes, tears that she simply could not contain. She kept gaping at this beautiful woman, looking at her from head to toe. So exactly the same as the humans on New Earth, but her gestures, the sound of her voice, were so different. And those differences were fascinating. As far as she knew, no had ever met a human from the original planet. Sometimes Sara wondered if they really existed, or were just a tall tale.
“I’m Sara…Sara Smith.”
“I know. Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time to talk later. I heard you’re going to become part of the Guild too, right? Which is perfect, because then we can chat about everything. I’ve got so many questions. I can’t even tell you how happy I’ll be to have another woman around. There are entirely too many male Bounty Hunters and not enough females.”
“The Guild?” Sara asked. She looked up at her husband. “What Guild? I’m part of a Guild? How did that happen?”
“I decided we needed a system’s analyst on our team. So now you’re a member of our team.”
“You can do that? Just decide?”
He grinned. “I can.”
“How is that possible? Don’t you have to ask someone in charge? Your boss?”
Jacole threw her head back and laughed.
Sara looked at her, puzzled, and noted that everyone else was either chuckling too or had a smile on their face, including Syrin.
“Girl, you didn’t know your mate is the President of the Bounty Hunter Guild?” Jacole asked. “What, you just found out right now?”
President of the Bounty Hunter Guild? Sara looked up at her husband who wasn’t in prison orange anymore, and was now wearing a black uniform that had some kind of silver insignia on it that she hadn’t been able to figure out and had no time to ask…holy gods. Her eyes widened. She’d shared her cell with the male who was the leader of all the Bounty Hunters? And she’d been a thief and she’d admitted it to him.
“Yes,” Sara said softly, her cheeks heating with embarrassment. “I just found out right now.” Although, so many things were making sense now, pieces of the Syrin puzzle clicking together.
Syrin didn’t say anything, didn’t respond to this announcement, just pulled her in close and buried his nose into her hair and inhaled. Which, somehow made her feel better.
“Hey, don’t worry,” Jacole said. “Shocking things happen when
you’re married to a Xylan. I understand. It was a shock to me when I found out, for instance, that my mother-in-law wasn’t my husband’s biological mother. He didn’t tell me. I had to find out while he was fighting with another Hunter. It’s a long story, but believe me, shocking. These Xylan are good at keeping secrets, aren’t they?”
Sara pursed her lips. “Yes, they are.”
“Syrin was voted in after the whole debacle where the old Guild tried to take the brain of Rayzor of One’s Bride as an object for scientific study in order to learn more about humans,” Rengeli explained.
“And this…”—Trax swept his arm out—“this is the entire new Hunter Guild, right here on this Bridge.”
“Welcome,” Joyzal rumbled.
Sara looked around and realized she felt comfortable with this group. She was standing on the Bridge with Syrin holding her hand in his claw, and he was gently rubbing circles on her wrist. The other Xylan, Joyzal, stood next to his own Bride, Jacole, a human straight from Earth, the original planet. And Trax and Rengeli, both of whom were now treating her like one of the gang, rather than an albatross around their necks.
“This is your new family,” Syrin said.
Sara swallowed against the lump in her throat. Growing up she’d had the worst family ever. Not once feeling loved and instead feeling like an annoyance, a burden, and then something to be used and abused. Then during the last year she’d grown to like the crew she’d worked with, she’d liked them as much as she’d trusted the network of women who’d helped her escape from New Earth. But she’d lost all of those people, which was still a knife to her heart. And she’d been alone all over again.
But here, in this moment, she felt that she’d gained a whole new life, a kinship with a new group of people. She glanced over at her husband and met his hungry gaze… And a new love.
“Alert,” the computer announced. “Incoming message from prison convoy.”
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