Читать книгу Her Rogue Mates - Grace Goodwin - Страница 9

Styx

Our mate looked dazed as Blade caressed her, kissed her skin, her neck, but she didn’t fight my hold. When she’d walked into the bar, the air had left my lungs as if I’d been punched, and my cock grew instantly hard. Now? I couldn’t let her go. I needed her just like this, her arms over her head, her body open and trusting. Exposed. Vulnerable.

She didn’t understand it, this immediate connection. I recognized it where I knew females from Earth did not. Especially one who had not come through the Brides Program. I only knew one Earth female. Katie. She’d been beautiful and wild, just like Harper. But she hadn’t made me wild in return. Eager, yes, but not for her. She belonged to another, an Everian Hunter who would kill to keep her.

I understood that driving need to both possess and protect now that I held Harper in my arms. Harper belonged to me and Blade. There was no question. No doubt. She was mine, and I’d kill anyone who tried to keep her from me, tried to hurt her.

As if she’d been made for me, she instinctively gave me what I needed. Trust. Passion. Her golden hair was like a beacon, her green eyes so expressive I could see into her soul. I saw everything there. Her desire, her fear. She hid nothing, and the animal part of me had already made its decision.

Mine.

There would be no arguing. No resistance. I didn’t want to resist, I wanted her. Her hot, wet pussy welcoming me as I filled her. I wanted to hear her guttural cries of pleasure as we pushed her to her limits, making her come over and over until she lost control. I wanted to hear my name on her lips, not as she’d said it now, but with longing in her voice. Affection. Tenderness. I knew I would never grow tired of her lips, or the flavor of her Earthly whiskey on her tongue. I would have to trade someone for the S-Gen programming to ensure she had the drink available.

I watched her mind whirl and spin, calculating and trying to figure out what we wanted, what we were going to do. She’d come of her own free will into the hallway with me, even if she did not fully understand her desire to be mine. I could see the doubt. She thought us insane—perhaps herself as well—making promises she assumed we had no intention of keeping.

She was wrong.

“You are mine now, Harper.” I lifted my knee to the juncture of her thighs as Blade kissed her, one hand on her breast, the other cupping her rounded ass.

Her soft moan made my cock ache as I watched Blade learn her taste. She kissed him back, all resistance gone. Her slight wrists were so slender and delicate, I held her as I might a baby bird, afraid I’d break her, and every second my mind calculated all possible outcomes.

Blade devoured her, his hunger raging at him, as mine had the moment I’d caught her scent. She shivered, melting for us, submitting to us, and I knew I’d made the right decision when Blade offered something we’d never given another—our bite. Our protection.

Forever.

She was Coalition. Her uniform. The blaster at her side. It was all standard issue for the MedRec teams, the medical technicians and clean-up crews who rushed in after battle to help the warriors who could be saved. I’d been on those killing fields many times myself, not to save lives, but to scavenge weapons. Tech. Things my legion could sell on the black market. We carefully avoided the healing angels like her. We weren’t there to fight, nor to save. We were there out of necessity.

By Coalition standards, my people were criminals. Outcasts. Zenith was a hub for both civilian and military activity, owned by the Coalition, but not a military base. This place existed in the gray area between what would have been a utopian world and reality. Cold, hard reality.

My world.

Blade lifted her gently, moving her so her clit rubbed the hard length of my thigh over and over, rolling her hips with the steady press and release of his firm grip on her ass. She gasped, tearing her mouth from his as he continued to cup and play with her breasts with his free hand, first one, then the other.

She was shaking now, her pale skin flushed pink, her lips swollen and red and ripe. I longed to watch them stretch around my cock as I fucked that sweet mouth, as I claimed every inch of her.

“Wait,” she breathed.

Blade and I both froze, looking at our mate, waiting for her to continue.

“Wait. Stop. I—this is crazy.”

She was not unaffected. The opposite was true. Perhaps her reaction frightened her, was too strong. “It is not crazy to want what we can give you. Many females on our world have hoped for what we offer you.”

“Many females, huh?” She bit her lip and turned her head away from both of us. “I’m no mate, boys. I thought I might have some fun with you.” She glanced at me, then at Blade. “But both of you would be pretty damn hot. We might have some fun, but that’s it.”

“Why?” Strange. She’d been instantly attracted and had ventured into the hallway with me for privacy. Even said she was interested in being with both of us. Now she’d changed her mind? Had we overwhelmed her with talk of forever? I could not lie to her. I intended to keep her, and she needed to accept that fact as quickly as possible. She was mine.

“Why? Because I’m not looking for a mate.” Her gaze darted to mine and I saw the confusion in her eyes, the anxious look as she risked a glance at Blade. “Or two.”

I frowned, wondering why she tormented herself with such resistance. She’d been on the brink of coming—from just riding my thigh. Why had she stopped? Why deny herself such pleasure? I wanted to watch her come, watch her eyes glaze and lose focus. Know I was the reason she lost control. I wanted her to trust me enough to lose that control, craved that intimacy, that secret, passionate part of her.

“You’re scared,” I said, studying her closely. I would share her with Blade, but no one else. Blade was closer than any brother, and I would trust no other to help me keep her safe. “Scared to have two lovers?”

“Um, no. I’ve—never mind. The past doesn’t matter.”

She flushed a bright crimson, her neck and face turning an intriguing shade of pink. Embarrassed? “You’ve taken two lovers before?” I asked.

She nodded and my smile nearly hurt. “Good. Then what are you afraid of?”

“We won’t hurt you,” Blade offered, leaning in close once more, his lips brushing her cheek. “We will take care of you. Protect you. Worship you.”

She shook her head, quivering in my grasp.

“Still afraid? Of us?” Blade asked.

Harper shook her head. “No. Not you. Your fangs? That you’ll bite me? Uh, yeah.” She tugged at my hold on her wrists, and I refused to let her go. Not now, not when she discovered how we would claim her. It would have been so much easier if our mate had come from Rogue 5, but no. We had to find a female who knew nothing about us, about our need to bite our mate as we fucked her in order to claim her. To mark her with our teeth at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. The idea even more daunting with both me and Blade since we would claim her together.

Not all Hyperions would share a mate. There were no laws regarding this. Hell, there weren’t many laws at all on Rogue 5. We did what we wished within our own rules, rules that had to be obeyed.

Rules I made.

Rules I now wanted to break. For her.

Blade breathed her in, his eyes drifting closed in pleasure she could not see as he absorbed her into himself. Memorized her scent, as I had. “We will not bite you here. Now. Not in the back hallway of a canteen.”

“So, you’ll save the vampire act for later. Oh, well, that makes me feel so much better. That solves everything.”

Sarcasm dripped from every word. And what in the name of the gods was a vampire?

“Do not fear the claiming. By the time we sink our fangs into your flesh, you will be begging for it,” Blade whispered into her hair and she shivered, eyes closed, the movement passing through her entire body and into mine. Yes. She wanted us. Needed us. Needed this.

She huffed. “When I finish my time in my MedRec unit, I go back to Earth. You guys are barking up the wrong tree with this mating and biting stuff.”

“It is not our teeth that you fear,” I said. “It’s yourself.”

Her eyes flashed open and her gaze locked on mine. Yes, I saw the flash of vulnerability, the surprise that I could find the truth lurking in her brain. She hid it well, deflected her fears onto our fangs to hide her true concern. She may fear the bite, but she feared her attraction to us more.

“Are you afraid to come?” Blade asked.

When she rolled her eyes, I knew he was nowhere close.

“She’s afraid to come…for us.” She closed her eyes on a soft sigh. Yes, my words were more accurate. “You worry that you’re too responsive? That you want us too much? That you won’t be able to stop?”

She offered a small laugh. “Fine. We’ll skip the whole fang thing for now. How can I be this attracted, this turned on by a male alien I just met in a bar? And his friend? It scares me a little, yes. I don’t even know you. So, this is, by definition, completely insane.”

“You don’t know us…yet.”

Her hips shifted. “I know. It’s just—”

Blade ran a finger down the outside of her arm. “Intense?”

She nodded her head against the wall. “There are two of you. I, um…thought I might want a quickie, some fun to make me forget for a little while before I get called out again, but this? You guys are…intense.”

It was my turn to smile, pleased to hear she felt this…this connection between us just as abruptly and just as deeply. My gaze flicked to Blade’s and we didn’t need to speak. He felt it, too.

“You need to come,” I said, seeing the need, the ache, in every soft curve, in every breath.

She nodded her head.

“We will not fuck you here. I prefer a bed. And privacy.”

“And you naked,” Blade added. His eyes roved over her as did his hand, learning her.

“That, too,” I added. “But you’re needy, so let your mates give you the release you need.”

“You’re not my mates,” she countered, squirming again.

I inwardly sighed. She was not from Hyperion or even Rogue 5 on the outer moons. She was from Earth. While Katie had a mark that made her an Everian descendant, it seemed that Harper was a pure Earthling and had no innate understanding of having a mate. Or two. We were not getting anywhere by pushing the mate issue on her now. It was wrong of me to do so, especially when I wanted to see her face when she found her pleasure. We would give her what she needed now and then resolve the “mate” issue later. And the biting. I had no doubt she’d bring that back up, but if she was this responsive just standing in a hallway, by the time we claimed her, she would not be afraid. She’d be completely mindless with need.

“You will come,” I said, lowering my voice and issuing it as a command, not as a question. She would do as I said, even in this.

Her eyes, before now, were a little wild and too focused on what we were doing. She was panicking. But after those three words, her gaze met mine, her pupils dilated so most of the deep green disappeared and she focused. On me.

“Look at me,” I ordered and her gaze locked to mine. Held.

I lowered her arms and shifted so my back was against the wall, spun her about and pulled her in front of me, positioning her back so it pressed to my chest.

Blade watched with a knowing grin on his face, waiting patiently for what I was about to offer him.

Our mate’s sweet, wet pussy.

“What are you—” My mate never finished her question as I tangled my hand in her hair at the base of her neck and angled her chin up until our lips nearly collided. The position left her turned and vulnerable. Open to Blade’s attention.

I lowered my lips to brush hers and whispered. “Blade is going to lower your pants and taste you, Harper. He’s going to suck your clit into his mouth and make you scream.”

Harper panted, her eyes dilated with desire as I tugged on her hair. The slight twinge of pain made her gasp, her heart racing in her chest faster than I’d ever heard, as frantic as she was. “Do you want to come?” I asked.

Blade’s hands settled on her hips, at the waist of her pants, and we waited for her response.

A shudder passed through her, but she held my gaze. “Yes.”

Lips still barely touching hers, I held her still as Blade undid the fastening on the front of her pants, tugged them down so her pussy was exposed. While I had no direct view, Blade did, and I watched as his jaw clenched with need. He licked his lips as if he were salivating to get a taste. We were both on high alert, listening for unwanted company, but I knew this station, knew most of its people. Unless her nosy team members came looking for her, no one would dare interrupt.

Blade dropped to his knees before our mate, who still stood, legs slightly parted, but not enough. She hadn’t given us everything, not yet, was still hanging on to a thread of control.

“Open your legs, Harper,” I commanded.

Blade shook his head. “Not enough. I want her spread wide for me.”

He yanked at one of her boots, tugged it off, then worked her pants down and off one leg. Hooking a hand behind her bare knee, he placed it over his shoulder so she was open and exposed for him. Perfect.

“Don’t move until Blade gives you permission. Do you understand?”

She swallowed, hard, and settled, giving herself over to what we were doing to her. The simple gesture was submission. Trust. It was so sweet. I held her weight so she was wide open, her pussy on display. Open and eager for Blade’s mouth.

Leaning back just a bit, I watched her cheeks flush, heard her breathing change.

Blade slid his hands along her thighs to her pussy lips and spread her open, his body tensing with barely controlled lust. He leaned close, his tongue sliding over her folds just once as a shudder racked his body. “She’s hot and so fucking wet for us, Styx. Dripping.”

He waited for my next command, knew if he touched her before I gave permission, I’d torture him, make them both wait. Harper was mine. Blade was mine. Their pleasure was mine as well. The need to control them both was pure animal instinct, and I didn’t fight it, not when I was in a battle, and not when I held a willing female in my thrall. That Harper was my mate only increased my drive to dominate.

Blade held perfectly still, her wet pussy lips held open and ready for his tongue. His fingers. His cock.

But that I would not allow. Not here.

Her pussy was mine, and I would not take it here, in a hallway. When I fucked her, I would take my time, fill her over and over for hours.

Silence thickened in the hallway like a drug, and I watched her expression change, fascinated by the unfiltered honesty I saw in her eyes. Holding her weight on my thighs, I used my free hand to explore the curve of her breast, her hip.

Unable to deny myself, I dipped lower, to her wet heat, and speared deep, buried two fingers in her wet pussy.

Her moan made my cock throb as I worked her just enough to get her to the edge, but not over. Blade’s gaze followed the movement of my hand, transfixed. He breathed deeply as her scent filled the hallway. Sweet, musky, addictive.

When she was shaking, her head loose in my hold, I stopped, removed my fingers, licked them. Gods, she tasted so good.

“Styx.” My name on her lips was a sound I would never forget, her cheeks flushed, her body trembling on the edge of release. “Please.”

“Blade will taste you now, but you will not come without permission. Do you understand? You will look at me, keep your eyes open. But do not come.”

“I can’t—”

Blade’s mouth locked onto her clit and she bucked in my arms, her words forgotten.

“Fuck her with your fingers, Blade. Feel how tight and hot she is. But don’t let her come.”

His grin was wild, filled with eagerness, and I knew he would not argue.

I studied her expression, learning every nuance and flicker of emotion as Blade worked her clit with his mouth, her hips rocked forward and back, her lush ass rested on top of my hard thighs.

So perfect. So responsive. So submissive.

Her gaze was locked onto mine, but her eyes were unfocused, unseeing, lost in what Blade was doing to her body.

He started and stopped, teasing her as I’d ordered him to do. She knew, her body pliant and soft in my arms. Blade worked her until the dazed look was replaced by frantic need, until she tugged against the hand I still held buried in her hair hard enough to make her eyes water, one word falling from her lips over and over.

“Please, please, please.” The chant was quiet, desperate, not really words but though a constant plea.

“Look at me.” My voice was hard, commanding, and her gaze cleared long enough for me to make sure she knew who held her, who controlled her body now, who she belonged to.

“You’re mine, Harper. Say it.”

“Yes.”

With a smile I knew was more animal than man, I lifted my free hand and wrapped it around her neck.

As I suspected, her eyelids fluttered and closed, her entire body responding to the dominance in my touch, melting. Satisfied at last, I leaned down and brushed her ear with my lips.

“Come, Harper. Come now.”

The command set her off like an ion blast, and I kissed her to bury the scream as Blade conquered her pussy, fucked her with his fingers, sucked her clit, made her buck and whimper and lose all sense of herself.

He made her come again and again, until she shook in my arms, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I kissed them away as Blade brought her down slowly, gently. His kisses no longer rough or demanding, but gentle. Soft. Full of tenderness, meant to soothe rather than arouse.

“Harper?” I released her hair to cup her cheek in my hand. She was so small, so delicate. The sight of her surrender one I would never grow tired of.

Her chin tipped up, her mouth fell open just as her eyes closed. “Yes,” she breathed, her muscles lax as I held her and Blade’s hands roamed her legs and hips in slow, gentle motions meant to calm our wild mate.

“You’re beautiful,” I murmured, unwilling to move from my position along the wall, unable to give her up. The press of my cock against her lower back was almost painful, my balls drawn up tight and ready to flood her with my seed. But not here, in a bed and then I would—

A beeping came from her wrist, and I glanced down, noticed the lighted band about her wrist was no longer a light blue, but red.

“Gods, no. Her wrist unit is signaling,” Blade said, his worried gaze lifting to mine, a question there. We knew what the wrist unit was for, what it meant for our mate. Were we really going to allow Harper to go off on another mission? Alone? Unprotected? Especially now that we’d seen her come, knew the level of trust she put in us? The rage building behind his eyes one I recognized. He was not pleased with the idea.

Neither was I.

But Harper was not part of Styx legion. She was human, and a Coalition officer. We weren’t here to start a war with the Coalition Fleet. And our little mate might be submissive right now, may have her well-satisfied pussy on display for us, but if we tried to stop her from doing her duty? I had a feeling Harper’s sweetness was conditional, her trust temporary. For her, this thing between us—what had she called it—a quickie?

Harper was completely still except for her deep breaths, the rise and fall of her lush breasts. I loved seeing her like this, so blissed out with pleasure she didn’t even recognize her wrist unit was summoning her.

She didn’t process Blade’s words until I shook my head at him and lifted my chin toward her clothes in a silent command to put her boot and pants back on.

He lowered her leg from his shoulder. The motion brought her back to herself as I released my grip on her neck and face, lowered my hands carefully to her sides to support her as Blade got her dressed. “Harper,” I breathed.

This time, when the beeps came from her wrist unit, they were louder and she came back to herself. I watched her rein in her thoughts, her feelings, watched the transformation from satisfied lover to efficient Coalition crew in the space of a few heartbeats.

Her control made my cock jump, and I fought to keep my fangs from bursting from my mouth. I wanted to bite her. Mark her. Scent her. Claim her. Now. Right fucking now.

But I was not a Hyperion animal; I was a man. I was Styx, a legion of names tattooed into my flesh with the weight of the lives I was responsible for protecting.

I could not bring the entire Coalition down on the legion by kidnapping this female. She was mine. I would not leave Zenith station without her, but I would have to find another way.

“Shit. Latiri 4 again.” She pulled away from me and slammed her foot into the boot Blade had begun to work on with an adeptness I knew came from months of training. She was completely focused now, controlled, without fear or panic at the mission ahead of her. Knowing she’d given up that precious control to us just moments ago made something deep in my chest ache. She was fierce now, beautiful and fierce and able to push her pleasure aside for duty with a cold efficiency I couldn’t help but admire.

My mate could more than survive the law of the legions. Perhaps she could thrive there. With me.

With us.

Blade removed his hand from her body and stepped back when she shoved him away. I was next, dismissed with a gentle pat on the shoulder, as if I were a pet.

I tried not to take her dismissal personally, but vowed to make her pay for the lack of respect later.

She would never dismiss me again. Never forget who she belonged to. Once she was mine, there would be no doubt, no walking away.

But now wasn’t the time to revel in this knowledge, or to do anything about it. She was being summoned to another post-battle deployment. She had a job to do. And unless I were willing to sacrifice lives by starting a conflict with the Coalition, I had no choice but to let her go.

A fierce wave of protectiveness washed over me, swamping me with a sensation of…panic? While I knew her role on Zenith, the danger she faced hadn’t affected me until now, until we’d tasted her, held her, saw her come. Now, I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and return to Rogue 5 where she would be safe. Not only from my enemies, but from her own job.

But no. We had no claim on her. Yet. If I took her now, not only would she resist, but I’d be breaking about a dozen laws of the Interstellar Coalition Fleet. They left me alone because I steered clear of their notice.

Kidnapping a member of one of the MedRec units, and a female member at that, would earn me the attention of thousands of warriors intent on saving her.

The Prillons, the Atlans, the Trions and even the humans, were protective of their women. If I tried to take her against her will, I’d have a small army of ships barreling down on Rogue 5 within days.

No. She had to come willingly. Now was not the time. She was our mate because of who she was, of what she was. A healer. Fearless. Brave. We had to let her go. It would kill me to do so, but the beeping wrist unit wasn’t just a notice for her to deploy, but for us to accept her departure.

She gasped, stiffened when she returned fully to herself. “Shit. I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, lifting her wrist. “I…I have to go.”

Blade stood to his full height. He stepped back, allowed her passage.

She glanced at me, then Blade. “This has been…fun. Thanks for—you know.”

Blade nodded, remaining silent. His hands were clenched at his sides, as if he was holding himself back from grabbing her, from keeping her from going. He felt the loss as keenly as I, and she was still with us.

I couldn’t speak now, couldn’t tell her we would be awaiting her return, that when she came back healthy and whole, we would continue where we left off, that it would be my turn to be on my knees for her, to taste her—and not just licking her flavor from my fingers. There was no time. She was needed immediately.

She offered a quick nod, then dashed down the hall in a quick sprint.

She may have gotten away this time, but we could use the time she was working to learn more about her role, how much longer she was required to serve the fleet. And how to get her out of that particular duty without starting a war I couldn’t win. I glanced at Blade, knew his thoughts.

He shifted his cock in his pants. If he was as hard as me, nothing was going to ease the discomfort except our mate’s eager pussy.

“If she’s officially mated, she can no longer go into combat zones.”

“We are not part of the Coalition Fleet. We can’t claim a mate.”

“Bullshit,” Blade argued. “That bastard at the Intelligence Core offered us a lot of perks we’ve never taken advantage of. Including being processed for an Interstellar Bride.”

Blade was right, but I didn’t want to call the Prillon bastard, Doctor Mersan. He was a spy, his heart as black and merciless as the cold of deep space. “What if we submit to that process and we aren’t matched to her?”

Running his hands through his long silver hair, Blade snarled. “You’re right. She won’t be in the The Colony database anyway. She’s in MedRec. We’d be matched to someone else. Fuck.”

“Exactly. And I don’t want Doctor Mersan to know about her. She’ll give him too much leverage over us.”

Blade slammed his palm flat against the wall in frustration. “How much longer? How long does the Coalition own her?”

“I don’t know.” But I intended to find out. And the moment we could take her without endangering the rest of the legion, she’d be safe on Rogue 5, and in my bed.