Chapter 3

Warlord Tazo

The femalefinally ceased her struggles. Pity, I enjoyed the way her round little ass moved and rolled under my palm.

My mate was here. How this miracle occurred, I would never comprehend. One moment I was walking toward the fighting pits to work off my beast’s rage, the next her scent carried to me through the base’s ventilation system.

Faint at first, like a whisper, an elusive promise. When my beast reared his head and insisted we investigate, I’d been inclined to ignore him. Until we got closer and her feminine scent burrowed under my skin like a thousand sharp knives, driving both me and my beast to the very edge of madness.

I would have killed Kai to take her from him. My beast was that certain she belonged to us, our mate. The only female he would ever want, ever kneel before, ever cede control to. Lavender. Her name was a flower on her home world. The knowledge pleased me as she was very beautiful. Small, like the other human females I had come across. I had not seen her body, wrapped as she was in the blanket. Except for her tiny, delicate feet. They were so little, so fragile. Slender. Feminine. Her toenails were painted a bright blue I found enchanting. Her hair was a rich brown streaked with tiny strands of red and gold that glittered under the light. The silken length fell just past her shoulders. Her skin was smooth and fair, her eyes the same brown, lit with intelligence and fire.

She’d argued with an entire room of warriors twice her size. All to protect her sister.

Such devotion and loyalty were also a boon. She would be an excellent mate, a fierce, protective mother. Should she find me worthy and accept my claim, wear my mating cuffs. Allow me to fill her with my seed, bless me with a child.

Fuck. I was not worthy of such a fine female. Yet, I would not give her up. I could not. My beast was hanging on by a thread, eager to fuck her, claim her, put our mating cuffs on her wrists and plant a son or daughter in her womb.

Once the claiming was complete, only then, the mating fever would stop raging through my blood like acid in my veins. When she was truly mine, the red haze of rage would finally leave my mind. I needed her. She would never understand how much. If any male dared try to take her from me now, my beast would not hesitate to kill them, friend or foe. Nothing mattered except protecting and claiming this female.

Mine.

Yes, beast. She is ours.

Fuck now. Claim. Mine.

Calm. She is here. We do not want to frighten her.

My beast grumbled at me but stopped arguing. Lavender had stopped struggling, stopped pounding on my back with her harmless fists, demanding I let her go.

Not going to happen unless she deemed me unworthy. In that event, I would transport to Atlan for the ritual execution of my kind. By law, I had thirty days to woo her, convince her to accept my claim. Thirty days to seduce her, tempt her, pleasure and protect her. For the next thirty days, she was mine. I would not ruin my chance by forcing her to move too quickly, no matter how hard my cock, or how insistent the beast might be. The beast was a creature with basic desires. Fighting. Fucking. Protecting his mate. They were his only pleasures, all he cared about. Now that we’d found her, he would be obsessed. Beyond obsessed, impossible to reason with or control.

I tried to calm the beast, transform back into my normal form to put our mate at ease.

The beast refused to recede. I could not rule him, could not force him to relinquish control of our body. Fuck. This had never happened before.

Mine.

One word and I knew my beast was past the point of no return. He would be uncontrollable until we’d fucked and claimed our mate, until our mating cuffs were on her wrists and our seed marked her with our scent. How the fuck was I supposed to convince this female to allow us to claim her when the beast was so enraged from the fight with Kai, and our cock was so hard for this female, we were in physical pain?

We arrived at my private quarters and I carried her inside. The door slid closed behind us and I stood, frozen. I could not put her down. The beast refused the slightest separation. I could not sit and offer her comfort. The beast’s mating instincts rode us hard with the need to remain standing, ready to fight, even while we claimed our female. I wanted to carry her to the wall, secure her arms above her head and fuck her until she screamed with pleasure.

That was not acceptable. Our mate barely knew us, had just witnessed us fight Warlord Kai and nearly lose control in a killing rage. She must be terrified. Afraid.

What the fuck was I going to do?

“Tazo?” Lavender used her arms to push her torso up, off my back and hold herself upright in my arms. With her hip at my shoulder, I had to look up into her warm, brown eyes.

I met her gaze and prayed for a miracle. I could not let her go. Could not transform back to myself. She was dealing with the beast now and he had just one thing on his mind. One. Gods help us both. “Mate.”

“Can you put me down?”

“No.”

She nibbled at her lower lip and stared into my eyes, clearly considering her options. “Okay. How about holding me in front of you instead of over the shoulder? This is making my ribs hurt.”

The beast complied immediately, shifting her slight frame so we cradled her against our chest. Her sigh of relief was music to my beast’s ears.

“Thanks. That’s much better.”

I stood in silence, holding her for long minutes as she looked around the space. I lived sparsely. There were no mementos from Atlan, no cushions or soft, feminine things on the sofa or chairs. No decorations on the wall. I simply had never cared. I ate. I worked loading transports from the mines. I fought in the pits. I slept. I needed nothing else. Until now. Until her.

“You really think I’m your mate?”

“Mate.”

“How do you know?”

How did the beast choose a female? Smell alone? Surely not. I knew the beast did not choose based on what the female looked like, either. I’d been around thousands of females throughout my life, both on the battleship and back home, on Atlan. None had interested the beast until now. Why? I had no idea, I simply understood. She. Was. Mine.

“Don’t know.” I shook my head in an effort to think more clearly. The beast was not in a thinking mood. “Mine.”

She sighed and snuggled into my arms, rested her head against my shoulder as I continued to stand, unable to let her go, unwilling to force the issue of the claiming. Fuck. I could stand here for days, her slight weight nothing to my beast.

I should have spent more time seducing females in my youth. I was no innocent, but I’d always been more concerned with fighting than fucking. I could kill for her. But speak sweet words of seduction? Soothing words of comfort? No. I was at a loss. My poor beast was far more primitive than I. We were fucked. Hopeless.

“I actually know a lot about you guys, the beasts. They made a TV show about Atlans back on Earth. They called it Bachelor Beast because they based it off a human show where a man dated about twenty women and narrowed it down to the one he wanted to marry.” She cleared her throat and shifted in my arms. “I always thought that show was stupid. The man always cheated, having sex with as many of them as he could get away with. At least, that’s what they made it look like. Guess that could have been editing though.”

What was I supposed to say to my mate about her human show? The idea of courting twenty females at once was abhorrent. I only wanted one. “Want you.”

She sighed like I’d just taken her favorite childhood toy. “You don’t even know me. How could you possibly want to be with me?”

“Mine.”

“You said that.”

“Mine.” Great fucking job beast. Real smooth. Charming.

You’re making us sound like an idiot. Stop. Let me talk to her.

No. Mine. The beast was beyond cooperating, even with me. He would stand here and hold her until he collapsed, she was physically ill, or she gave her consent to be claimed. He was literally stuck, his instincts in charge. He would never force a female, yet he could not let her go.

I was so fucked. What a hopeless situation. What the fuck was I going to do?

Lavender shifted in my arms, her small face pressed to my neck. “You smell good.”

My cock leaped, a drip of pre-cum wetting my pants at her slight encouragement. “Mine. Mate.”

“Tazo, I’m not going to lie. You’re sexy. I like you. But I need to go home and help my sister.” She settled in the cradle of my arms and looked up at me. “Please.”

“Kai protect his mate.” I looked down at her sweet face, my mind blurred as I stared at the soft, plump, pink lips. I wanted to kiss those lips. See them wrapped around my cock. Watch them open on a gasp, or a scream, as I devoured her pussy juices and made her come. “You small. Weak. Kai protect sister. You stay. Safe. Mine.”

I watched, horrified, as her eyes filled with tears. I could not tolerate her pain. I settled her in one arm and lifted the other to gently wipe the tears from her skin, lowered my head to kiss her tears away.

“No tears. Sister safe. Mate safe. No cry.” Had Warlord Kai secured her sister? Probably not, at least not yet. But I knew my fellow warlord. He would not fail, not when his mate’s life was on the line. He would find her and keep her safe. As I had found Lavender and would die before I allowed anything to hurt her.

My kisses traveled from one cheek to the other. I kissed her forehead. The tip of her nose. Her soft skin proved addictive. One taste was not enough. My kisses wandered over her face. Her lips.

Still cradling her in one arm, I used the other to gently tug the blanket and reveal her form. The beast nearly growled at the sight of her full breasts and curved hips. The small, blue garment she wore covered almost nothing. Her shoulders were bare, as were the stop curves of her breasts. The shimmering blue fabric bunched around her hips to reveal long, soft thighs, bare legs. A thin strip of black fabric covered her feminine heat, but the scent of her wet pussy flooded my senses. She was hot and wet, ready for me. She had not been lying when she said she liked me. Thought I was sexy.

The image in the beast’s mind was the only warning I had as he lifted her, rotating her in our arms.

No! She’s not ready for?—

The beast’s lips closed over the mound of black material. His tongue quickly found the edge, burrowed under the thin fabric to lick her sex.

Her taste exploded on our tongue.

“Tazo!” Lavender gasped, her breath coming in short, desperate panting sounds as I tore the slight barrier with my teeth and exposed her sweet pussy. I dove my tongue deep, suckled her delicate flesh. Flicked the sensitive nub and rubbed it in turn before sucking it into my mouth.

By the gods, nothing had ever tasted so perfect, so sweet.

“Tazo.” My mate’s voice changed as I pleasured her. I feared, for one moment, she would ask me to stop. I would, should that be what she demanded of me. I was well and truly hers now. Would never get her taste out of my mind. Would do anything to protect her, pleasure her, keep her safe and happy.

The fear died the moment she burrowed her hands into my hair and arched her back, driving her hips toward my mouth. I steadied her, one hand under her neck and shoulders, the other lifting her hips, holding her in place to be devoured by hungry lips and tongue.

Fuck. Yes. She was with me. Willing. As eager as I.

I worked her clit with my mouth, my sucking a pulsing, steady rhythm designed to drive her over the edge.

I worked her until she came, thrust my tongue deep inside her pussy as her inner walls spasmed and danced. She cried out, the sound spurring me to movement. I carried her to the wall and pressed her back to it. The moment I had a free hand, I reached for the mating cuffs in their hidden compartment and placed them on her wrists.

With her mating cuffs secure, I lifted her arms over her head and locked them in place with the hooks designed for just this purpose.

“What are you doing?” Arms over her head, breasts thrust out, her nipples were tempting peaks under the thin, blue material. I quite liked the seductive garment, deemed I would ask her to wear one whenever we were alone in our quarters. Although, she would need to create a new one with the S-Gen machine.

I supported her weight with one forearm. Lifting my free hand to her breasts, I slipped my fingertips under the fabric and ripped the blue material to expose her breasts.

“Ah!” She kicked and squirmed, her cheeks, neck and the tops of her breasts flushed a deep rose from her orgasm. Her breasts rose and fell in quick bursts as she gasped for air. “You ruined my nightie!”

“Make new one.” My beast chuckled, a sound I had not heard in years, if ever, as he locked one mating cuff on our arm, switched his hold, and locked the second in place.

The moment the latch closed, and the cuffs’ energy fields connected to our nervous system, a sense of relief nearly brought me—him—to our knees. Gods. Fuck. This was what we needed, had been waiting for. Our mate’s feminine taste on our tongue, her claim on our wrists, the mating cuffs linking us to her until death.

Now to fill her. Fuck her. Complete the claiming. Mark her with our seed and our scent.

“How? I don’t?—”

My lips closed over one exposed nipple, effectively cutting her off. Her protest morphed into a soft moan of pleasure. I took that as encouragement and switched my attentions to her opposite nipple as I slipped the stretched, black garment down her legs and off her body. Her pussy was exposed. Mine now. Mine. She was mine.

I yanked my pants down to free my cock. The moment my cock was free, I placed one palm on her leg, worked my way up the softest, smoothest skin I’d ever fucking felt in my life, to the wet core of her. Slipped two fingers deep as I flicked her nipple with my tongue.

“Tazo.” My name was a moan of pleasure on her lips. My beast preened, pleased at her response, her fiery nature, the passion she did not try to hide. She was perfect. A fucking perfect, soft, submissive, beautiful female. Her taste was an addiction. Her soft cries of pleasure, a drumbeat lighting my entire being on fire.

I picked up the pace, fucked her with my fingers, spread her pussy open so she would be ready to take me. She bucked and gasped, moaned as I feasted on her breasts and taught her body the pleasure she would know at my hand. I worked her until her body surrendered to desire, until her scream of release made my cock jump and my beast growl.

“Claim you. Now. Mine.”

When she did not respond, I lifted my lips from her smooth flesh and looked into her eyes, forced myself into perfect stillness as beast and man waited to hear our fate.

Accepted. Mated. Worthy.

Denied. Unworthy. Alone.

Should she deny me now, I would walk away and transport immediately to the executioner’s cell on Atlan. Now that I had tasted such paradise, I could not survive without her. The mating fever was too strong, too dangerous. I would not be able to control the beast, or his pain, for the thirty days I had to woo her. I was too far gone. Unstable. The Hive integrations that gave me unnatural strength, even for a beast, also enhanced my need for action, violence, battle. I would have no choice but to leave her at once. How I’d held the beast at bay for this long I could not comprehend.

This delicate, fragile female literally held our life in her hands.