Chapter Fifteen
A shift in the mattress behind her sent Maggie half onto her back. Not ready to emerge from her warm cocoon of dreams, she tried to roll back while snuggling further under the covers and return to the dark-haired, violet-eyed sex god who held her under his seductive spell and was just starting to get to the good stuff. The blanket was stuck, however, and when she tried to yank it higher around her shoulders, it began sliding the other way. Grunting, she tugged harder, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Maggie.”
She stilled. Had her dream man called her name or was she hallucinating? Another odd thing: it was bright in the room. She specifically remembered activating the voice-controlled glass and watching as the magical substance between the panes turned dark and blocked out the afternoon sun before she crawled into bed for a nap.
“Wake up, little one; we need to talk.”
Instantly wide awake at the sound of the familiar deep voice, she twisted to see Roth. He perched on the edge of her bed, his fist denting the mattress by her hip with his backside trapping the covers. She tugged at them again, but he seemed not to notice, staring down at her with a serious expression. Her surprise at his presence in her room turned quickly to dread.
“What now?” she groaned. “Am I to be brought before the council, strung up by my toenails, and whipped in the public square? What is my fate, Commander? Please tell me because this waiting is killing me!”
“Who told you about the square?”
Her mouth fell open as her jaw dropped. “No one. I was joking. You mean you whip people in the public square—for real? Dear heavens.”
“Mm,” was his noncommittal answer then he veered off topic. “You’re pale.”
“Don’t change the subject. Do you really whip people in public?” she closely repeated. A punishment of this magnitude seemed to her like something the omnipotent elder council might order.
“You also have dark smudges under your eyes. Although you were sleeping just now, you haven’t been resting, have you, Maggie?”
In reaction, her hands flew to her face. Fatigue always made the shadows appear. Roth looked as gorgeous as ever, and she looked like a tired hag, her hair was probably sticking up on end. She covered her face, suddenly self-conscious.
“I’ll take no answer as a yes,” she muttered against her palms.
He would have none of her hiding, and with his fingers encircling her wrists, pulled her hands down. But he gave her an answer. “Public floggings are ordered only for the severest of crimes and are reserved mostly for males. There have been a few cases where a female was ordered to the square, for deliberate defiance of the council’s order, I believe. In the case of treason, I would expect exceptions to be made as well.”
“My God! For all your claims of being advanced, it’s like the Dark Ages here.”
Lavender eyes stared back at her a moment. “I take it this was a turbulent time in your people’s history?”
“Yes, where corporal punishments were widely accepted. We have evolved beyond that, thankfully.”
“Mmm…” The hum was a habit she’d noticed, an acknowledgment he heard, but was withholding an answer either way. By itself, it was a neutral response, but the low, husky, incredibly sexy rumble in his throat sent awareness rippling through her, and this sparked her irritation.
“What does ‘mm’ mean?” she snapped.
“That I was thinking. I’d be interested in hearing more about your evolution if crime rates in your society are low, like in ours.”
She didn’t reply—because the opposite was true.
Roth’s lips twitched slightly, which intensified the glare she was sending him.
“We’ve found public punishments to be an excellent deterrent, and highly effective, as are the corporal punishments we discussed before. We believe it is more civilized than housing the guilty in huge prisons, as is some worlds’ practice. It puts a strain on societal resources, makes a good portion of the citizens nonproductive, and divides families. This system of punishment was tried unsuccessfully on Primaria eons ago.” His hands shifted, holding both of hers clasped tightly in his own. “Don’t worry, little captain. I won’t allow you to be subjected to a chastisement in the town square. Any punishment you are assigned will be carried out by my hand in private.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Maggie tried to pull her hand away, but he held firm.
“Why, of course,” he rejoined, clearly surprised by the question.
“It doesn’t.”
“It will. As your mate, it is up to me to decide when and how. Just as it is my duty to keep you from harm—”
“Wait. As your what?”
But he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I would never allow other males to look at you, or one assigned by the council, even a trusted one, to discipline you.” His face tightened as if disturbed by the thought. Before she could respond, he leaned forward and laid a hand on her forehead. After a moment he frowned and flipped it over, running the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “You feel warm. Have you been feverish?”
Maggie tried to ignore his gentle touch and the feelings his seemingly genuine concern stirred, not to mention the explanation of his planet’s convoluted approach to justice. She couldn’t begin to think of that now and focus on what concerned her more. “I need you to go back to the mate comment. What did you mean as your mate it is up to you to decide?”
“Any chills, dizziness, disorientation?” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken while running his fingers over the pulse at her throat.
She silently started counting to ten. At three, because she obviously wasn’t going to her questions answered until his were satisfied, she blurted out a candid response. “No, yes, and kind of—more like irritability and difficulty focusing, than disorientation—in that order. And, to speed along this Q&A session, I’ve lost my appetite. I think it’s the change in the atmosphere. Or it could be the aftereffects of the appendectomy. Those drugs kicked my ass.”
“It’s the separation sickness. Chills and delirium would have come next if we hadn’t come after you.”
“Like what everyone is saying the Princep went through when Eva left? That makes no sense. Why would I experience that when it’s exclusive to mated couples?”
“You are mated, Maggie. To me.”
Too incredulous over what he was suggesting to reply, she stared at him.
His finger slid lightly along her jaw. “I was stunned, too, nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It appears during our one night together you bonded with me.”
“But we didn’t…you never—”
“Actually, I did.”
When the stroking finger shifted to her mouth and glided over her lower lip, it clicked in her mind, and her jaw dropped. “You mean when I... And you… In my—” She stopped speaking, only to ask a second later. “How is that possible?”
“It seems your human chemistry might make you more susceptible to the transforming effects of our seed. As I said, this is the first time a bonding has ever taken place by a nontraditional breaching.”
She shook her head. “Make it stop. I don’t want to be bonded.”
“That isn’t possible.”
“That’s what you claimed about us mating, before you came down my throat!”
“Maggie, I’m going to have to insist you guard your tongue.”
It was her turn to ignore him. “If you didn’t know it would happen this way, maybe there is a way to reverse it.”
“There isn’t.”
“Find one!” The corners of his mouth turned up when she shouted her demands. “This isn’t funny.”
“No, but your fire amuses me, except for the disrespectful tone. I believe I’ve warned you about it before.” He tugged down the sheet she held clasped to her chest and began undoing the buttons of her gown.
She smacked his hand away. “What are you doing?”
“Undressing you. Now be still, and don’t slap at my hands again.”
Glaring at him, she went for the sheet, pulling it up to her chin. “I can see very well you are undoing my clothes, but I don’t want you to.”
“You will.” He stripped the linen from her hands in one tug and tossed it to the floor, ensuring it wouldn’t be a further barrier.
“Stop saying that,” she fumed, clutching the half-open neck of her gown together. “We’re in the middle of a serious discussion. You can’t simply change gears and decide to jump my bones? Are you insane?”
“You’ve asked me this several times. I can assure you I am quite sane. And this expression, ‘jump your bones’ isn’t exactly my intent. Tasting your skin, sucking on the tips of your breasts, making them stiff and sensitive, and licking the warm, wet, sweet spot between your thighs until you come crying my name is more what I had in mind.”
His hands went back to the buttons, and she smacked them away again, denying the raw hunger his words stirred.
Roth’s gaze came to hers as he leaned forward, intensity coming off him in palpable waves. Thinking she may have pushed too hard, as he drew near, she scooted back but had no place to retreat to in the bed with him looming over her. She fell back on the pillows, which was his objective evidently because he didn’t hesitate in gathering her hands in one of his, pinning them to the mattress above her head, and calmly resuming his task of undoing her buttons with the other.
“Because you amuse me, little captain, doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate disobedience.” His fingers brushed the skin between her breasts as another button gave way. Sucking on her nipples wouldn’t be necessary to make them stiff and sensitive. With the inadvertent caress, they were already hard points straining against the fabric of her gauzy dress—the same one she had on last night when she collapsed in bed. She hadn’t found anything resembling a nightgown im the clothes they brought her; thank goodness she hadn’t gone to sleep bare, or what he intended would have happened already.
“I don’t understand you. The last time we spoke, you were ready to hand me over to your council. Now, suddenly, I’m your mate, and you’re stripping off my clothes.”
“I’m curious about something.”
“Um, okay, but perhaps you could just ask me?”
Amusement flickered in the lavender eyes he tipped up to hers. “This I have to see for myself; besides, doing it myself is more fun.”
“I bet,” she said with a smirk.
“Maggie, be still for a moment then we’ll talk.”
Given in a much gentler tone, it was still an order, but far less irritating. And, since she was undone to her navel, already, it was a bit late to try to get him to stop. He pushed the right half of her gown aside, baring her from breast to hip. His fingertips touched her ribs and began a gentle exploration. The skin there was ultrasensitive, and she hissed as pins and needles swept over her skin.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he murmured.
“You might be,” she bit out wryly, “but can you tell me what you’re looking for first?”
“I’ll do better; I’ll show you.”
In a blink, he released her, plucked her from the bed with his big hands around her waist, and was halfway across the apartment to the bathroom. She squeaked in alarm, clinging to his shoulders as he carried her, several feet above the floor. Once inside, he set her down and in one quick motion, stripped her gown off her shoulders, and let it fall to her feet.
“I think you’ve been in space too long, Commander. You’ve obviously lost it. Let me call one of your physics.”
“Hush, mate,” he whispered as he pulled his tunic over his head. Like she suspected, and fantasized about frequently, Roth was all muscle. His shoulders seemed a mile wide, and his chest appeared molded in smooth bronze, like a work of art. Magnificent. She couldn’t tear her gaze away. At the same time her mouth went dry, a surge of wetness dampened her tingling pussy.
He raised his right arm over his head and angled his body sideways. As she watched the play of rippling muscle across his pecs with his movements, it took a moment before she saw the tattoo emblazoned on his side. No, they called it a marking.
Unable to stop herself, she reached out and touched the curls and swirls of the design lightly with her fingertips, marveling how closely it resembled the tribal tattoos popular at home. Shades of blue, black, and a light purple, the same color as his eyes, ran along his ribs and down his flank to his hip. He turned, and she saw that it curled around to his back. It was detailed, precisely symmetrical, and utterly beautiful.
Roth stepped behind her and with her right hand in his, raised her arm high in the air.
“Look, Maggie,” he urged softly.
When her head came up, and he angled his to the mirror, she glanced that way and nearly choked. Identical to his own, the marking was replicated to scale on her body. Starting at the underside of her breast, it, too, ran down her side, and along her ribs, spread slightly inward toward her abdomen, and down to her hip.
“How?” she murmured in awe, gliding the tips of her fingers over the same curves and twists as were on him. How had she not noticed it before? Further, how had he known the marking was there?
“The med-tech who cleared you brought it to Jarlan’s attention,” Roth supplied before she could ask.
“But that was days ago,” she breathed while gaping at the colors too brilliant to have been missed. It was true, since being recaptured and waiting for her sentence to be carried out, she’d been depressed, only going through the motions. Had she been wearing blinders?
“We are fated mates; this is your proof.”
“Impossible, we haven’t had sex.”
He chuckled. “I disagree.”
“You know what I mean.”
“You took my seed into your body, Maggie. How doesn’t matter with your species, evidently.”
His hands spanned her as he turned her to face him, and he fell to his knees, his fingers following the path of her own.
“The contrast of the vivid colors with your fair skin is stunning, the pattern more dramatic along your lovely curves.”
He bent his head and began tracing over the design with his lips. Warm and soft, his breath on her skin sent chill bumps racing over her trunk and down her spine. Her nipples became even more pronounced, and the wetness increased between her thighs. She swayed on her feet as the arousal he was building combined with the long days of wanting him, and the endless nights of erotic dreams starring him, culminated in an overwhelming need to have him take her.
Roth’s mouth opened on her belly, adding his tongue as he traced the pattern upward to where it curled over her ribs beneath her breast. Her head fell back, sending her long hair which had come loose from its knot while she’d slept, cascading over her bare bottom. Her fingers curled into his shoulders, hanging on as her spine arched like a taut bow, thrusting her breasts forward in an open invitation to his hungry lips.
Immediately, they closed around a stiff nipple, and he sucked, his tongue flicking and swirling around the tip from inside. Without easing up, his fingers splayed wide over her backside, and he palmed her cheeks. Roth lifted her as he rose to his feet then he was moving, carrying her quickly, in a reverse path of minutes ago, back to her bed.
The mattress and rumpled covers were beneath her the next instant.
“I’ve dreamed of you,” he rasped as he lowered himself over her. “Day and night my thoughts have been consumed by you, and the moment when I would have you, all of you.”
“I’ve dreamed the same dreams. Please, don’t make me wait any longer.” Brazenly, she opened her legs and wrapped them around his hips. With no hints of teasing or further delays, the broad head of his cock nudged her entrance and pressed inward.
As he sank into her, his impressive size stretched her, stimulating every nerve ending—most she didn’t know she had—as he slid in deep. It was more delicious than in her wildest dreams.
When he began to move, she had a moment of unease as she realized he was also bigger than her dreams. Inhaling and blowing out slowly, Maggie forced herself to relax, accepting all of him because she wanted him to fill every square inch of intimate space.
Roth’s mouth covered hers, and his tongue slipped inside, searching and savoring, while his cock did the same below. Smoldering hot and exquisitely pleasurable, she became lost in his kisses, the driving pace of his body, and the power of his possession.
She slid her hands up his smooth back, feeling the bunching of his firm muscles beneath her palms. As her climax built, she enveloped him tighter. Her fingers curled around his shoulders, and she crossed her ankles at his lower back. While teetering on the brink of an incredible release, she hung on, knowing when it came it would be cataclysmic.
As if sensing her imminent surrender, he slipped a hand beneath her hips, lifting her as he drove into her harder. Then he sealed his lips over hers and absorbed her cries of bliss.
“Maes eternium,” he murmured in a husky groan as he surged into her, spilling himself inside with one final thrust.
A fire engulfed Maggie from within, as heat spread from her center down to her toes, and swept up to the top of her head. She bowed off the bed as the burn licked up her side where she’d been marked. “Roth,” she cried in a panic.
“Shh, purrada,” he crooned, gathering her close. “It is the intensity of the breaching and will pass in a moment.”
She gasped for breath, holding on to him desperately as she rode out the culmination of their fiery passion and the scalding heat on her skin.
Still joined as one, they lay wrapped around each other as their damp skin cooled and the thudding of their hearts subsided to a normal pace. After several long, edgy moments, the scorching discomfort eased, as he assured her it would.
“Why didn’t this happen before, or when the marking appeared?”
“I don’t know. And neither does our best physic.” He raised his head, bathing her in the lavender warmth of his sated gaze. “As similar as we are, there are still differences we need to learn more about.”
“That’s not very comforting, as you look to us to repopulate your world.”
Dipping his head, he pressed a slow, drugging kiss to her lips, sending new spirals of longing coursing through her. “Jarlan can be trusted, have no fear. He will figure this out.”
Without withdrawing, he rolled them to their sides. Pillowing her head with his arm, he slid his other hand lightly down her warm flank to her thigh, where he hitched her leg up and hooked it over his hip. Aligned along the length of him, he flexed his arms, drawing her closer until her face pressed into his neck, and he rested his chin on top of her head. She felt surrounded and intimately connected with him, and it felt wonderful.
“The burning has subsided?” he asked while lightly stroking her side.
“Mm-hm, mostly.” Her drowsy, muffled reply was all she had the energy for.
“Sleep, then, little one.”
A multitude of questions swirled in her head, but her body, already attuned to him, obeyed. It started gradually going lax, although her mind wasn’t quite ready. He seemed to sense her disquiet, and his arms tightened. The hand on her marking swept up her back. His fingers gently combed through her hair, something that always had the power to curl her toes and this time, make her purr like a kitten.
His head angled down so that his lips brushed her ear. “Settle your mind, Maggie. We’ll talk more about our future on the other side of your dreams.”
The temptation to switch off fully for the first time in days, with him there holding her, enveloping her in his warmth and strength, was too good to let pass. She finally let go, enjoying the lethargy and surprising sense of contentment that invaded every muscle fiber and calmed every nerve, until soon her mind followed, and she drifted off.
***
The hum of voices roused her from the deepness of sleep. Bits and pieces pierced the lingering fog of her dreams until one rising in volume penetrated.
“Why are you here?” it demanded to know.
“How is that your concern, warrior?” Roth’s reply came low and unhurried but carried an unmistakable underlying tenor of steel.
“I served as Maggie’s escort often before this recent incident and have developed a fondness for her. Naturally, I’m concerned to find you have spent the night when she is expected to be mated.”
She rolled onto her back; her eyes squinched tight. It was Kanei, although not the one she’d come to know. With her, he’d always been soft-spoken, his manner soothing and gentle. She’d never heard him angry, or this agitated before.
“Also, not your concern,” Roth told him. “And lower your voice. If she still sleeps, I’d like it to continue. She hasn’t had much of it lately.”
“How would you know?”
“I’m not going to stand naked in her doorway, arguing with you, Kanei. What is your business here?”
She sat up, her eyes popping open. Did he say naked?
Her head twisted toward the door. And indeed, Roth was standing there without a stitch on. His powerful upper body tapered to lean hips, which topped long, sinewy legs, and in between a firm, perfectly sculpted ass. Her mouth wasn’t the only part of her that grew wet at her first sight of him gloriously bare.
With his arm raised and propped on the half-open door, Roth was blocking her view of Kanei. He was also preventing their unexpected morning visitor from seeing inside or entering. And because of his stance, Maggie could see the beauty of his marking. The sight sent a tingle of remembrance running lightly over her side, where only hours earlier, he had traced the same indelible imprint with his hands and soft kisses, the sensation like electrically charged fingers along her skin.
“I’ve come because the council has summoned her,” Kanei was saying, startling her out of her lecherous stupor. “They are demanding Maggie appear before them on charges of treason.”
“Tell the council I shall see to her charges and penalties.”
“You don’t have that right, Commander, but I intend to request she and I be screened for a match. I will also demand a reprieve until it can be determined. As her mate, I can intercede with the council.”
“You’re too late.”
“No, before the guards arrive, I will explain and get her to understand her compliance is needed for me to—”
“I spent the night here, Kanei.”
“Since you’re standing in her doorway naked, I am aware of that,” he answered, his voice tight. “But I want her enough to put it aside.”
Roth’s voice crackled with as much tension as the warrior’s when he replied, “There will be no putting aside what happened here.”
“She will forget you.”
“You misunderstand. When I said you were too late, it’s because I have already claimed her.”
There was a long pause, during which the emotion emanating from the doorway bounced around the room like charged ions.
“You’ve already claimed her,” Kanei repeated this slowly as if trying to make the words penetrate his disbelief. “Why would you do this when you swore you never would? That you didn’t want a mate, considering your position.”
“You know these things are often out of our control, my friend.”
Another pause. “I was planning to have us tested,” he repeated.
“If that is so, you should have done it before now. Still, nothing would have come of it. My profile is in the system.”
“You don’t know…”
“I do. She bears my mark.” There was a loud bang and the sound of something, no, many somethings, hitting the floor. “I understand your disappointment, but Maggie wasn’t meant for you,” Roth said quietly.
“Disappointment does not describe what I feel,” he growled. “Wait, you say she is already marked?”
“Yes.”
“Then you…”
“Yes, there was an immediate attraction that often occurs between mates when they first meet.”
“But that would have been aboard the ship, the first time.”
“This is so.”
“That means you took her before you the testing. And after that, you let her go. Are you insane?”
“I’m getting very tired of having my sanity questioned,” Roth grumbled. “It is an unusual circumstance, one that we don’t understand yet.”
“I demand an explanation. How does a warrior abandon his new mate? What about the hunger? Or her symptoms. I’ve heard some of the Earth women are having a difficult time. How she must have suffered. Faex!” he burst out suddenly. “If you are fated, she could have died! You do not deserve her.”
Abruptly, Roth shoved through the half-open door, moving so quickly it bounced back, as if spring-loaded, remaining ajar when it finally stopped shuddering. Maggie leaned forward, going up on her hands and knees, trying to peer through the narrow gap.
She couldn’t see them, but the bangs, thuds, and grunting sounds of a scuffle were unmistakable.
In a blink, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and had the sheet wrapped around her, ready to stop whatever was going on.
“Stand down, warrior,” Roth barked, the force of his seething reply taking her off guard and freezing her in place. “I am accountable to no one for my actions except my Maker, the Princep, and the council, in that order. Since I respect you, have served with you, and know your ill-chosen words come from the care you have for my mate, I will explain. We don’t understand all about their kind yet, but they experience things differently than our females do. I didn’t have to claim her fully for the transformation to occur and did not breach her until last night. For a bond to take place before I did, and for her to transform so easily, tells me she was truly fated for me. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“But how is this possible?” The anger was gone, replaced by understandable bewilderment.
“We don’t know.” She let out the breath she’d been holding, hearing the tension had also left Roth’s voice. The last thing she needed with treason hanging over her head was an alpha-male pissing contest to occur over her virtue. “It is something Jarlan and his team will be considering,” he continued, “for it completely changes how we interact with these females.”
“Indeed.”
“Maggie was truly not meant for you, Kanei. But I have faith that your destined mate is still out there, waiting to be found.”
She didn’t hear anything else and crawled into bed, facing the wall, needing a moment to digest all she had heard. When he returned, Roth didn’t allow her any reprieve.
“I know you are awake, little one. No one could have slept through that uproar.” The bed shifted as he sat on the edge by her hip. She rolled slightly, looking up at him.
“I heard more than an uproar. Is he all right?”
“Yes, the wall in the corridor will need repair, however. He has formed an attachment to you.”
“I know. He was very nice to me. I like him, too.”
His eyes flashed darkly, and his jaw tightened.
“Like a big brother, Roth,” she clarified.
“He didn’t have brotherly intentions. He is also five years younger than you, Maggie.”
“I meant in size.” With the sheet still wrapped around her, she scooted up and leaned against the pillows. “I tried to tell him nothing could happen between the two of us, but he wouldn’t listen. That’s a common trait among your males.”
He watched her for a moment, his facial features easing. “I can understand his disappointment. You are a prize worth claiming.”
She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, and the tension broke when he laughed. “That is one of those sexist remarks as well, I suppose.”
“You’re quick.”
“And you’re beautiful, all warm and mussed after being claimed quite thoroughly and repeatedly last night.”
“You’re also extremely arrogant.”
A teasing smile slid easily across his lips. “So you’ve told me a time or two. Yet I heard no complaints as I made your body shudder or when you were calling my name and groaning the two times you found completion with my mouth and the other two times with my—”
She reached out and covered his lips with her fingers to stop him from saying anything further. “I know, Roth. I was there.”
“Indeed, you were, thank the Maker.” His huskily uttered words tickled. Before she could pull her hand away, he clasped her wrist and eased it away, at the same time, leaning in to drop a soft kiss on her mouth.
When his lips moved down her neck, and lightly across the round tops of her breasts where they peeped above the sheet, Maggie decided not to point out that he was wrong; she’d come five times. He forgot the one he’d given her with his fingers. Despite each orgasm being phenomenal, leaving her limp and like she couldn’t possibly come again for at least another week, she felt the desire begin to stir within her once more.
Roth had other plans, unfortunately, and stood. Moving to the foot of the bed he bent to retrieve his clothes. Doubting he was the type of man not to finish what he started, Kanei’s visit and the purpose behind it came rushing back. And while she tried to refocus, knowing what lay ahead of her should make her heart race and her body sweat, they were both doing so for an entirely different reason—naked Roth.
The sight of him bare in the wake of five mind-blowing climaxes still left her giddy with lust.
Lying back, she bit her lip, hoping once he was dressed her intelligence would return.
She could have increased her chances of a rebounding IQ by closing her eyes, but she didn’t. Instead, Maggie watched as he stepped into his pants, admiring the way the fabric molded over his amazing ass, and how the fit became tighter as he fastened them, outlining his lean waist and powerfully, sculpted thighs. She swallowed, barely stifling a hungry moan.
Her wish for a semblance of basic intellect went right out the window. How was she supposed to focus when he looked nearly as good in his form-fitting uniform trousers as he did naked?
“Um,” she began, croaking a bit like a frog. Pausing, she cleared her throat and tried again. “I overheard Kanei say the council wanted to see me.”
“No longer,” he stated as he sat on the edge of the bed and bent to put on his boots. “Once he shares the news of our mating, they will be no further need to.”
It didn’t occur to her to ask why because she was watching the play of muscles across his back and trying to ignore the tickle of wetness building in her pussy. The hunger they kept talking about between mates was hitting her full force.
She tried to contain it when he stood, but the show he was putting on didn’t lose its appeal when he presented the chiseled perfection of his chest, at least for the few seconds it took to put on his shirt. It dawned on her he was now fully dressed while she was still naked, except for the thin sheet, and why did that make the wanting racing through her body all the worse?
As he strode across the room toward the door, she blurted out the obvious. “Are you leaving?”
“Yes.”
Short, not so sweet, and with no explanation. A sudden pang gripped her heart; it was the same as last time. Except when he stopped at the door, and it slid open, she saw clothes, not the corridor she feared.
“And you’re coming with me,” he added as he perused her closet’s contents.
“I am?” she managed, relief making her voice shake. She moistened her suddenly dry lips, puzzling over her visceral reaction and how she had become attached so quickly.
He turned, concern in his lavender gaze. “Maggie, what’s wrong? You’re holding your side. Does your marking still burn?”
She looked down to where her hand, fingers splayed wide, curled around the colorful design on her skin. “A little,” she murmured, but it was more like a tingling sensation.
Understanding lit his gaze. “You thought I was leaving you.”
She didn’t know what to say, not knowing how he had deduced her feelings so accurately, and embarrassed for being so needy. He moved forward and sat by her side, his hand sliding over hers, weaving their fingers together as he reassured her gently.
“You’re my mate now, Maggie. Didn’t you hear when I said, maes eternium?” Leaning in, he came nose to nose with her when she looked up at him. “It means mine forever. Those aren’t merely symbolic words to a Primarian male. It is a vow of mind, body, and spirit, one I would die to keep before I broke it.”
Roth sealed his vow with a kiss of smothering intensity, leaving her breathless by the time he raised his head moments later. “Are we clear on this, mate?”
Incapable of words, she hummed a throaty, “mm, hm,” as her mouth followed his, seeking more. He accommodated her with another touch of his lips, this one feather-light.
“You need to get dressed, purrada. We’ve got a full day ahead of us.”
As reality came flooding back, she grimaced. “The council.”
“What?”
“Aren’t I to appear before the council? Kanei said they demanded to see me.”
“You heard him, but not my response?”
She had, but with all the banging and grunting that followed, she’d gotten distracted.
“I’m not taking you to the council, Maggie. We’re going home.”
“Can you make that decision?”
“Do you remember me telling you the male has authority as the head of the family?”
She nodded.
“I am your family now. I decide what happens to you.”
“What if they don’t agree?”
“They take it up with me, not you.”
“Why have a council if each male is in charge?”
“You want to face them?”
“No!” she practically shouted. The thought of a bunch of angry Primarian men having dominion over her made her shudder. One was certainly enough.
He evidently found her reaction amusing and chuckled.
“I find this all very confusing and not the least bit funny, Roth.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
She doubted she would, but kept it to herself.
“Have I mentioned how much I like hearing you say my name? Not commander, or
Rothke, but calling me Roth, as my friends and those close to me do.”
After another kiss, one passion filled and much too brief for Maggie’s liking, he went back to the closet. Taking a flowing sapphire dress from its hook, he draped it over his arm and disappeared into the bathroom.
With him out of sight, her brain seemed to switch on again. “You have a residence here in the city?”
“Yes,” was his muted reply over the sound of running water, “although I’m aboard ship more often than not.”
As was she. Or she used to be.
On Earth, she kept a small apartment, but she’d never considered it more than a place to catch up on sleep between missions and store her stuff while away. For the past eight years, a ship had been her home. She supposed that would change now. She’d be stuck here, while he went about his space fleet business. How unfair and boring. Inadvertently, a sad sigh escaped her.
“You’re not interested in seeing your new home?”
Her head came up. Lost in thought, she hadn’t heard him return, yet there he stood, with a hairbrush and a wet washcloth in one hand. When the sheet dipped down her front, she clutched at it. Looking down, she saw he held a fistful of linen in his free hand and was steadily pulling it from her grasp.
“Roth, wait,” she protested, tugging in the opposite direction, but he was too strong, and she flushed furiously as inch by slow inch it slipped from her body, revealing more bare skin. When a nipple popped free and the marking along her side, she fought to hold onto what she had left, grabbing on with both hands.
He kept up the tension while asking, “Is this going to be an everyday occurrence, this wrestling you like to do with the bed sheets?”
“If you keep trying to pull them off when I’m naked, yes. Don’t your women wear nightgowns or robes? No one brought me any.”
“No need. You’ll sleep naked in my bed, mate.” With a sharp pull from him, the last corner slipped from her grasp. “Something else you’ll get used to.”
Taking a seat on the bed by her hip, he parted her thighs and began to wash between her legs.
“I can do that,” she protested, the intimate act causing embarrassed heat to flood her cheeks.
“I know you can, but it’s a male’s duty to care for his mate in all ways, which is something I expect to find thoroughly enjoyable.” A slight smile lifted one corner of his mouth, and his stunning eyes glimmered with a teasing light. Her heart melted, yet again.
He was gentle and as thorough as he promised. By the time he was done, she was hoping he would come back to bed and drive inside her, or use that gorgeous mouth, but he tossed the cloth aside and pulled her to her feet.
“Roth…” she protested. It became muffled in the fabric when he lowered the dress over her head. After she emerged, he dropped a kiss on her nose.
“We can bathe together, later. I think you will appreciate the roomy facilities a home compared to the cramped bathing chamber aboard your ship.”
Her stomach growled suddenly and quite loudly.
“Sounds like the first order of business is getting you fed. Kanei said you haven’t been eating.”
“I had other things on my mind besides food.”
“You can put those worries aside now that we’re mated, purrada. Turn, and I’ll brush your hair.”
Without waiting, his hands curved around her hips and he moved her, so she faced away from him. He began running the soft-bristled brush through her hair, his other hand following behind each stroke, and he knew to hold it between her scalp and a tangle when he worked one free. It had been an eternity since someone had done this simple act for her, and never a man.
She relaxed into the soothing sensations, and the knowledge this powerful man’s attention was focused solely on her.
“Your hair is downy soft, and the color is glorious. I prefer it this way, in loose waves down your back, rather than in that tight knot at the back of your head.”
“It’s regulation,” she said with a shrug. “And the color is nothing special—dishwater blonde.”
“Nonsense. It’s a stunning mix of yellows and golds and shimmers under the light. I hope it doesn’t change.”
She angled her head, taking in his dark head and the long thick mass of glossy hair that hung around his shoulders. The color was perfect on him, but she didn’t think the sable brown would go well with her pale skin. “If it was going to, wouldn’t it have done so by now?”
“Your transformation is too unique to predict. You were marked without knowing, mated without a true breaching; we’ll have to wait and see if you take on more of my traits. The Prima’s hair has not changed, and she and Kerr are fated mates.”
“As is Mailynn and her warrior. I thought it was rare.”
“Among our people, less than 1 percent of all pairings are fated. With Earth females, we have had three already and are only a third of the way through the testing.”
“For it to be more prevalent among different species is surprising.”
“Yes. We never expected to find more highly compatibility females than our kind. The best we hoped for was to be able to breed.”
“Is that why the purists are so opposed to us?”
His face tightened, and she almost regretted bringing it up.
“We must wait for the full investigation to answer all our questions, but to act against the best interests of your own people is senseless, and a true act of treason.”
“Do you know who set the fire in the mine?”
“Not yet. We are still trying to determine exactly how widespread this faction is. But we will.” He glanced around searchingly. “We’ll talk more once I get you home. Where are your shoes?”
“I think they got kicked under the bed,” she murmured, feeling conflicted at the mention of home.
As he crouched to retrieve them, he glanced up, and asked, “Are you still feeling ill?”
Her hand swept up her side. “No, the burning is gone, and my head isn’t swimming any longer.”
When he cupped her ankle and slipped a soft, comfortable ballet flat on her foot, he smiled. “Good. After we join several times, the symptoms should subside completely.” He slid on the other shoe then rose to his full height and looked down at her. His fingers touched hers, and she had the urge to jump back, or run. “If you’re feeling better, purrada, why do you look so troubled?”
“Because this is all so strange. A month ago, I was analyzing star charts and atmospheric readings as we searched for a new planet to call home, not talking about mates and unbelievable transformations.”
“A month ago, I couldn’t have imagined myself mated with a female from an unknown solar system on the far reaches of the galaxy.”
“Nor I. My focus was on saving my people.”
“As was mine,” he countered.
Her gaze shifted away. Though worlds apart, they had similar purposes.
His people had found their solution, in part. Consequently, she was safe, embarking on a new life, while the people of Earth at even more risk with a research ship out of their arsenal, still struggled to survive as resources ran short. It wasn’t right.
“You are worried about your home.”
“Yes, how could I not be?”
A frown marred his handsome face, his straight, dark brows knitting together. “Let me give it some thought.”
“What is there to think about? Your people are saved while mine don’t even know their odds of surviving have taken a serious hit.”
“Three hundred females won’t be our salvation. The number represents only a tiny blip on our population growth charts.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“That perhaps we can work at joint, rather than crossed purposes.”
She blinked in surprise that his thoughts were so aligned with her own.
“You’d do that?”
“Certainly. I was recently told that the way to make a mate happy is to give her what she wants.”
Maggie was reminded of the old Earth adage: happy wife, happy life. For, in essence, even though they hadn’t spoken vows or had a ceremony, by mating for life she had become the commander’s wife.
“Something funny, mate?”
She hadn’t realized she’d been smiling until he pointed it out. “Not funny, but strange. Tell me why this sudden turnaround. A few days ago, it was your way or no way.”
He took her hand and led her out into the corridor. “It’s still that way. The difference is I’m not chasing you across the galaxy while my friend and leader fight for his life. Not to mention being frustrated from wanting.”
Roth stopped suddenly and tugged her into him. His arms slid tightly around her waist, and he lifted her up on her toes. His mouth came down and slanted hungrily over hers, his tongue demanding a response, not caring that they stood in the hallway where others chuckled or whispered as they passed. As always, she was breathing hard and clinging to him when he raised his head.
“Lesson learned, little captain,” he said with a grin. “You can also make your mate more agreeable by giving him what he wants, and often.”
With his hand still clasping hers, fingers now entwined, he started moving them along the hallway once again. When her brain resumed functioning, she assimilated all he had said and replied shakily. “That’s terribly chauvinistic.”
Twisting his head, he frowned down at her, yet didn’t slow as he commented, “That word does not translate.”
Maggie shook her head. “Why am I not surprised?”