Chapter 5

Warlord Tazo

“Warlord Tazo,we have news of your mate’s sister.” Governor Maxim’s voice echoed through the bedroom. Lavender shifted in her sleep, her bare arm coming to rest lower on my torso, dangerously close to my cock.

“Go ahead, governor.”

“Warlord Kai found her surrounded by Hive. He eliminated the threat and is being assisted by a human team. There is some sort of delay in recovering the images. However, you can assure your mate they should arrive safely on The Colony by the end of the day.”

“Thank you.” The comm went silent and I looked down at my beautiful mate to find her staring up at me with drowsy brown eyes. She’d been sleeping for hours, dark circles of exhaustion remained under eyes. I’d carried her from the bath and held her in our bed, watched over her, as nightmares invaded her mind and clawed their way to the surface. Twice she’d woken with a scream, thrashing. Crying.

I stroked her back and assured her she was safe with me, calmed her until she went back to sleep.

If I could, I would kill the Hive Soldiers who had tormented her a hundred times over.

Gaze solemn, thoughtful, she watched me. “He found her.”

“Yes.”

“And she’s okay?”

“Yes. Her mate will not allow anything, or anyone, to hurt her.”

Our gazes locked and I felt as if she were staring into my soul, stripping me bare, as if she could see through me without effort. As my mate, perhaps she could.

“Just as I will not allow anything, or anyone, to hurt you.” I held my breath as I awaited her judgment. Would she believe me? Trust me? Trust Warlord Kai to keep her sister safe? She said she knew about Atlans and our beasts. But did she truly understand just how far we would go to protect our females? I doubted anyone who was not ravaged by mating fever could comprehend the depths of a beast’s devotion to his mate. My need to care for Lavender went beyond instinct, beyond logic, to the core of my existence. Now that I held her in my arms, I could no longer exist without her. When she perished, I would follow her to the next life. I had neither the will, nor desire, to exist without her.

Acutely aware of her hand where it rested on my abdomen beneath the cool sheet, I sucked in a breath when she moved. Was she unaware of my arousal? My need for her? Was she teasing me, her fingertips a delicate, whisper-light touch so close to my hard cock? I’d been hard and aching for hours, her naked body pressed to mine. The feminine scent of her delicate skin and silken hair filling my mind with erotic images of all the ways I would take her.

The beast had his turn to claim her, taste her, fuck her. I had yet to claim her for myself.

She moved again, positioned her thigh on top of mine, the soft skin made deliberate contact with my hard length. A barely-there smile curved her pink lips as she ran her wandering hand over my stomach to my chest and back in a seductive motion that held me captive. As long as she touched me thus, I would stay bound, under her spell. Hers to command. Hers to soothe. Simply, hers.

Deep within, my beast rested. Content for the first time in memory. My mate had well and truly tamed him.

“Do you think to seduce me, mate?”

“Do I need to?”

My laughter was a shock to both of us. “I have been hard and eager to take you for hours.” I lifted a hand and gently smoothed a wayward strand of hair from her eyes. “I will always want you, mate. Every moment we are together.”

“You’re really intense. You know that?”

“Is that a good thing? Or a bad one?” I traced her bottom lip with my finger. I wanted to kiss her. Everywhere. Feast on her wet heat, feel her fingers frantically tugging at my hair as I drove her to the edge. I would tease her, push her to her limits, make her so sensitive, so aroused, that the first thrust of my cock would make her explode in my arms.

“I don’t know yet. I still don’t understand why you chose me.”

“The beast chose you.”

“So, do you agree with him? What if the beast likes a woman but the man doesn’t? Then what happens?” The worry I saw in her rounded eyes and tight lips made me want to kiss her. But my female was not asking for seduction, she was asking for truth, a truth I was more than willing to provide.

“We act as though the beast is separate from us. We go to battle and the beast fights, the beast kills. In truth, we are the same male, the same heart, the same soul. We are one being with two forms, each meant to serve a distinct purpose.”

“If the beast is for battle and killing, what is your purpose?”

“The beast fights to protect our people. He kills to eliminate threats, not for sport. He exists to protect. That is the core of his creation. A beast without a home, a family, a people he cherishes, is lost, without purpose.” As my mate’s hand continued to wander over my chest, and her thigh remained pressed against my achy cock, I decided turnabout was fair play. As she stroked my flesh, I caressed hers, from thigh over her buttock to the small of her back, the dip of her waist, the underside of her breast. The journey proved pleasant, so I repeated it.

“Okay, so the beast—” She gasped as I cupped her breast, ran my thumb over her taut nipple. “—protects. What is your purpose?”

I abandoned her breast to cup her soft, round bottom. Gods, touching her was perfection. Pure bliss. Nothing I’d ever experienced had been so soft. So warm. “I make sure the beast is exactly where he is supposed to be, when he needs to be there. I hold him in check when the killing becomes too much, when the battle rage threatens to consume him. The beast is an ancient, primitive part of us, one we would not have survived without. But he is also ruled by instincts as ancient and primal as he.”

She arched her back, the mound between her legs rubbing against my hip as she rubbed the soft skin of her inner thigh over my cock. “So, he’s the heart and you’re the head? His conscience?”

That didn’t feel right. “No.” Gods her breasts were divine. “I am logic. He is emotion. I am thought. He is instinct. I am ice. He is fire. I am the organs. He is the armor. But we are one body. One soul. We have but one heart, mate, and we have given it to you.”

She turned her head slightly to press a kiss to my arm, which currently served as her pillow. “I don’t understand why your beast chose me. You are so much more than I am. I’m no one. Nothing special. I’m a vet tech going to night school because I can’t afford college. I live in a shitty apartment with my sister and we barely scrape by. I’m not a model. I’m not that pretty. I’m not a genius or rich or beautiful. I’m no one. I just don’t understand. Why me?”

“I shall ask him.” I slipped my hand between our bodies and pressed into her sex. She was wet, her pussy lips swollen, ready. I slipped one finger inside, held back a growl of satisfaction when her eyes dilated, her back arched. Gods, she was wrong. She was beautiful beyond imagining. Beyond words.

Beast? You heard her. Why did you choose her?

I’d exposed him to hundreds, thousands of females. He’d rejected them all. Why this female? I wanted to know as much as she did, not because I disapproved of his choice, but because I needed to understand how he’d known this female was meant to be ours.

Deep within, my beast shrugged. Typical. This time, however, rather than be irritated with my beast’s attitude, I found him amusing. A smile teased the corners of my mouth and my mate noticed immediately.

“What? What did he say?”

The concern I saw in my mate’s eyes was very real. She hesitated to trust, to give her heart into my keeping. How could I make her understand?

Without warning, I rolled her beneath me and settled my hips between her open thighs. My hard cock probed the sensitive flesh of her pussy, the hot, wet heat of her nearly making my eyes roll back into my head with pleasure. She ran her hands up my chest, over my neck, ended her exploration burying her fingers in my hair. She tugged, pulling my lips to hers.

I obliged, shifting my much longer frame lower so I could claim the kiss she offered. Only an idiot would deny her, and I was no fool.

My beast snorted at the thought but didn’t intervene. This was my time, my turn to taste, explore and claim our mate.

I kissed her. Hard. Soft. Explored her taste. Braced on my forearms so I would not crush her, I left her gasping for air and worked my way down from her lips to her throat. Throat to breasts where I took my time sucking and nuzzling her breasts. The smooth, tender skin of her abdomen was like silk under my tongue. The curve of her inner thigh, softer still.

I closed my mouth over her pussy and had to fight off the beast when she cried out, her soft mewling sounds driving me on. I pulled the small, sensitive bundle of nerves against my tongue and stroked with a steady rhythm until she lost control, the rush of wet pussy juices a full assault on my razor-thin control.

Wasting no time, I kissed my way back up her body and reclaimed her lips. “You are wrong, mate. You are so beautiful it hurts to look upon you. You are courageous, facing down three Hive Soldiers.” While she slept, I watched the uploaded records from Warlord Kai’s helmet comms. She’d looked so small and vulnerable in her living quarters, I’d nearly woken her just to make sure she was all right.

She blinked up at me, clearly struggling to process my words as my cock nudged her core. I did not stop. I could not deny her the words, the truth of my feelings. “You arrived on a strange planet and did not falter in the face of three strange Prillon warriors. You fought to protect your sister. You are loyal and passionate. You work caring for injured animals, which means you are also compassionate and kind.”

I shifted my hips, pleased when she wrapped her legs around my thighs and used the leverage to tilt her body, take my cock deeper. We both moaned at the intimate contact. She was so hot, so tight, her pussy like a fist around my hard length.

“Your hair is rich, warm, with hints of spun gold and red fire. Your skin is softer than the delicate petals of a flower. Your eyes see into my soul and offer me salvation. You are perfect, Lavender. You are not no one. You are everything a female should be. My beast chose you. He will kneel before no other. Want no other. Serve no other. We are yours, mate. Until death separates us, we belong to you.”

Staring down into her dazed expression, I held her gaze until disbelief transformed to surrender. “Okay.” Her hand cupped my cheek and I leaned into the gentle touch, my heart and soul—my beast—content. At peace. “I believe you. I’ll stay. I’ll be your mate. I guess we can figure the rest out later.”

Her words released something dark and desperate inside me. Years of pain and torment surged to the surface and lost their power, faded with her acceptance.

Good mate.My beast was filled with pride at the absolute perfection of his choice.

I could not disagree. She was fucking perfect.

Her hand left my face. I did not mourn the loss long as her wicked palms found my hips. My ass. “I want you, mate. Are you going to move?”

Mate.Her use of the word made my heart pound. I held my body perfectly still, cock buried deep, the lack of motion both pleasure and pain. I wanted to thrust hard and fast, bring her to the edge of release, then slow my pace, slide in and out of her body with deliberate calm. I wanted to drive her mad with desire, bring her so much pleasure she would never doubt my devotion to her, my need for her.

This was love, more intense and demanding than anything I’d experienced in my life. Thought I would not speak it, not yet. My mate had barely accepted my desire for her. Such a strong, emotional declaration might frighten her, push her away. She was not ready to believe it.

We would grow closer in time, the mating cuffs on her wrists a constant and public declaration of my dedication and need for her. Eventually, she would understand and accept love. For now, I didn’t want her thinking, questioning, or wondering about her future. I didn’t want her ruminating on her past, reliving the terror of the Hive attack.

Right now, I wanted her to feel. Me. Deep inside her. Surrounding her. My taste on her lips, my seed in her womb, my scent on her flesh.

I pulled back, my cock on the very edge. Pressed forward, the swollen walls of her pussy hot and tight around me. She clung to me, breasts heaving, head thrown back as I moved. Hard. Fast. Slow. Deep. I fucked her until she begged, until her fingernails scratched in desperation at my back. Only then did I allow her to come, her cries of release forcing me to follow her.

My seed pumped into her body, marked her. Scented her. Claimed her. My mating cuffs reflected the soft light in my bedchamber. Her skin shimmered with moisture, flushed pink with arousal.

I’d never seen anything so beautiful.