Chapter 21
21
B reanna
The ReGen pod opened, and he was there. Above me. Over me. My avenging angel standing guard as I slept. He must have left me for a little while, long enough to shower, because he looked perfect. Sexy. He didn't smell like blood and killing. He smelled like home.
"Hello, mate." I reached for him because I needed to touch his skin, feel him, know he was real. Alive. Not a fever dream. Mine.
He leaned down and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his head and held him to me. He looked so good. No blood on his chin. No rage in his eyes. He looked…happy. Content. Which was exactly the way I was feeling. My neck didn't hurt. Nothing hurt. Now that the antidote had cured me of whatever weird side effect I'd experienced from Mikos's essence, I felt better than I had in years.
"Bree. Let him go. We need to talk."
Whose voice was that? It sounded oddly familiar.
I would have ignored the voice, but Mikos moaned and pulled away from me. I looked down to find I was covered from neck to ankle by a soft, green blanket. Astra colors. I'd never been a huge fan of green, but it was growing on me.
Mikos helped me sit up. I tucked the blanket under my arms and swung my legs over the side of the ReGen pod's bed. A familiar Prillon warrior waited to speak to me. "Sebastion."
He nodded. "I am here to discuss your return to the Coalition Fleet."
Mikos growled, but I put a hand on his arm, and he settled for placing his body between Sebastion and me, partially blocking my view. With a sigh, I leaned to the side so I could see my friend. "I'm not going back."
"That's what I figured." Sebastion activated the small screen imbedded on the forearm of his Coalition armor and raised his arm. "Sign this document."
"What is it?"
He cleared his throat and moved in an arc around Mikos, toward me, as he spoke. "Your resignation. Per Coalition law, any female who is claimed and mated, is no longer eligible to fight in the Fleet. Karter gave you thirty days leave because that is the amount of time allotted for a female to either accept or reject a mate's claim."
"What?" How had I never heard about this rule? Or the time limit? Not like dozens of women were running around fighting in the war. There were a few. And I didn't speak with many Interstellar Brides, either. I knew Chloe and Erica, but they were both so happy with their mates it never occurred to me to ask what would have happened if they weren't. Speaking of Chloe… "What about Commander Phan? Chloe? She's mated to Captain Mills and the Prillon warrior, Dorian, and she still fights."
Sebastion shrugged. "She's I.C. They break every rule there is. You are not. You have a mate now. Mates are sacred, Bree. Protected above all else. Commander Karter knew when you left that he would probably never see you again."
"What? How?"
Mikos turned his head and stared down at me, the I'm-going-to-fuck-your-brains-out look all over his face. The same look he'd had back on Battleship Karter when he'd demanded everyone clear the room. The look that caused Commander Karter to tell him he only had an hour. That look.
"Oh." I sighed. "So, literally, everyone knew but me."
Sebastion shrugged and held out his arm, stepped close enough for me to do a quick read of the words displayed on the small screen.
Short. Simple. To the point. My name and Coalition designation had already been added to the document in the appropriate places. I pressed my thumb to the appropriate place and caught Sebastion's eye as we waited for the scan that verified my identity to be completed. "Thank you."
"My honor to serve, Lady Bree."
Sebastion's armor made a beeping sound, signaling the task was complete. Before I could blink, Mikos stepped between us. I tugged at his arm, ready to apologize to Sebastion for my mate's rude behavior, but Sebastion just laughed.
"Take good care of her."
"She is mine."
As if that answered everything.
For me, it did.
Sebastion left and I was alone with my mate. Naked beneath the thin, green blanket.
Mikos turned to me. Instead of ravishing me, as I expected, he lifted me into his arms and carried me out of the room. "Where are we going?"
"Home."
Home. I loved the sound of that.
He didn't put me down until we were deep inside Astra territory. I discovered my new home was on the third floor of a large, heavily fortified building. "What is this place?"
"Astra Legion headquarters."
"You live here?" It looked more like a fortress than an apartment building. Ion cannons mounted to the walls and rooftops, walls thick as my leg was long framed what I assumed was some kind of reinforced glass.
"We live here."
He carried me past half a dozen guards at the building's entrance, each one bowed their head in respect to my mate as we passed. The elevator ride was smooth, but short. The hallway between the elevator and our door was lined with brightly colored works of art. The carpeting looked thick and luxurious. Mikos's boots didn't make a single sound.
When he opened the door to our home and carried me inside, I gasped. The interior looked like we'd stepped into an advertisement for a luxury hotel. Plush sofas piled high with even softer looking pillows. The carpeting inside was as thick and luxurious as that in the hall. One side of the living room was covered with floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the moon base. From here, the base looked very similar to a human city—except there was no blue sky, no clouds. The domed ceiling that covered the base was beautiful in its own way, the soft pastel colors changing slowly as I watched. "It's beautiful."
"There were times I believed I would never be home again."
I heard what he did not say, knew he'd suffered a kind of loneliness I could only imagine. I'd felt alone, but even in my worst moments, I'd had my ReCon team, Henry and Seth and Collins. I had Erica and Chloe on the ship when I needed girl time and counted them both my friends. I'd been surrounded by fighters and Prillon warriors. Atlan Warlords. Nearly five thousand souls, all part of Battlegroup Karter. I'd never really been alone. He'd been drifting in space, the only living soul on his ship, for years. "You're home now."
He turned from the view and looked down at me. "You are my home, mate."
My heart swelled, the pain sharp and relentless behind my sternum. The things this male said to me. "I want you, mate. Inside me. Bite me. I need you."
Mikos growled as he pulled the blanket from my naked body and carried me to our bedroom. I didn't get a good look around because the moment my back settled into the soft mattress, Mikos was on top of me. He shoved my thighs open with his leg and locked his lips on mine.
That fast my pussy was soaking wet, achy, ready for him. His hard cock pressed against my thigh. I shifted my hips, tried to get closer.
"Not yet, mate. You have something that is mine."
Everything I had was his. Everything. "What?"
He licked and nibbled his way down my body until his mouth settled over my clit. "This."
God, yes. That was his, too.
He worked me with his tongue as he pushed two fingers inside my throbbing core. He feasted, teased, used his tongue to rub my clit until my back arched up off the bed and I begged him to finish me, let me come.
"Mine."
His fangs sank into my pussy, the sharp sting immediately replaced by a fire that raced along my sensitive nerves, pushed me over the edge, forced a sob from my lips that sounded like his name. " Mikos."
My entire body felt like a sparkler on the fourth of July, fire and light exploding in every direction.
When my pussy stopped spasming, he kissed his way to my breasts. Sucked each nipple into his mouth in turn, worked them with his talented tongue until I was on the edge again.
"Mate, fuck me. I need you inside me." Why was he taking so long? I ached for him, my body empty. I needed to feel him, connect our bodies. I needed to be closer. Part of him. Whole.
He slipped two fingers into my eager pussy but didn't lift his mouth from my sensitive nipples. I moaned in frustration. "Pleeeease."
He chuckled, the sound one I imagined satisfied males of every species made when they had their woman begging for more. Literally begging. If he didn't shove his cock into me soon, I was going to spontaneously combust.
Mikos moved up my body until his lips hovered over mine. Our gazes locked. Breath mingled. "Say you love me."
"I love you."
"Call me mate."
"Mate. You're my mate."
"Say my name."
"Mikos. Mate. You're my mate." I squirmed beneath him. He held most of his weight on his forearms so he wouldn't crush me. But that wasn't what I wanted right now. I wanted him on top of me, inside me. I wanted his weight. Wanted to feel possessed. Conquered. Taken. "Please."
Oh, how the mighty had fallen. Once upon a time, I'd been too proud to beg, to admit how much I needed someone. With Mikos, I didn't hold back. I had no pride, not when it came to him. No fear. I let go, gave him everything. My body. My heart. My soul.
"Mine." The word sounded like a promise, a vow, as he moved, thrust deep, filled me up. Made me his.
Mikos
My mate's wet pussy wrapped around my cock like a hot fist as I sank balls deep. The taste of her sweet pussy lingered on my tongue. The sound of her soft, feminine voice begging me to take her, fuck her, begging for release, made my cock harden to the point of pain. My mating fist was already swelling inside her, locking her to me, driving me to the edge of control.
"Mikos." She buried her fingers in my hair and pulled, her hips rising to take more of me, to force my hard length deeper. Harder. Faster. Demanding little female, my mate. So fucking impossible to refuse. She owned me. I could deny her nothing.
I would never get enough of her, never let her out of my sight, never allow anyone to harm her. She was mine to protect, to fuck, to care for. The Coalition had no hold on her. Earth had no hold on her. She was Astra Legion, accepted and protected. Family.
I knew the moment she felt my mating fist stretch her inside, lock into place. Her head thrashed from side to side, a gasp escaped her perfect, kissable lips.
I rolled my hips, moved my hand so I could rub and stroke her clit, drive her wild. Nothing pleased me more than watching her lose control, pushing her body to its limits. Beyond them. When she faltered, when her human body tired, I would fill her with my essence and take her again. Fill her with my seed. Plant my child in her womb. I wanted everything with her, everything I'd never allowed myself to dream was possible.
She lifted her legs, wrapped them around my hips, whispered my name like it was a prayer. "Bite me."
Fuck. I wouldn't last if I sank my fangs deep.
Essence flooded my mouth, the now familiar taste going straight to my cock, the eager fucker nearly finished by the mere thought, by anticipation.
So be it. I'd just fuck her again. And again. All night. All day. For the rest of my life.
I leaned over and rubbed the tips of my fangs over the sensitive spot along the curve of her neck, the place that made her shiver. Freeze. Beg.
"Please."
Fuck. I would never tire of hearing that word come out of her mouth.
I gave us both what we wanted. Needed. My bite was slow, gentle, her soft cries too much.
My body exploded, flooded her womb with seed as I pushed my fangs deeper. My essence entered her blood, gifted her with healing, with pleasure, with life. With me.
Mine.
Breanna Parks of Earth was mine.
Forever.