Ram’s hunger lasted two weeks. During that time, he was voracious, coming to find her with a volunteer in tow often during the day. He also arranged for someone to watch Cierra in the evenings. At night, he would pop out of bed to retrieve her for the middle of the night feeding, laying her in Eryn’s arms then lying on his side with his head propped on his hand, watching her nurse. A good girl for her doting daddy, she fell back to sleep at the breast, not waking most nights when Ram returned her to her crib. He’d return within seconds, as hungry as if he hadn’t had her in weeks, instead of hours, and would feast on her body until she came, at least twice, sometimes more. Afterward, she fell into an exhausted, sated slumber while held tight in her temporarily satisfied mate’s arms.

She figured there must be a bit of hunger on the female side in the mating equation because when he reached for her, no matter when, where, or what time of day, she was ready.

In the morning, he would wake her with slow caresses, making her wet and eager. Sometimes during the day, while he attended to some issue of the moment, she would venture out on the ship to visit with Lana or Juna or the mates en route to Primaria to be matched. Every time, he would find her, like he had a lock on her position or a sixth-sense ability to track her down. He’d grab her by the hand and lead her away, leaving the volunteer he’d recruited to babysit looking after them with an indulgent smile as he took her back to their quarters for round three or four by this time of day.

She had asked Juna and Ellar why this occurred now and not after the breaching months before. The two had no answers but insisted on details, which made Eryn blush and merely amused Ram. And they took notes, copious amounts, on what they were willing to share, in an effort to keep track of any facts, and what they referred to as peculiarities, in the new human-Primarian mating process.

After his hunger faded, they settled into what he called a normal routine, still shocking to Eryn because it meant sex two or three times a day, sometimes four.

“What do they feed these warriors?” she inquired one morning as she collapsed next to Lana in the large dining room.

“What do you mean?”

“He never gets tired.”

She shot her a sad smile. “It was the same with Trask. Don’t complain. He obviously wants you very much.”

“I’m sorry.” Regretting revealing any intimacies between her and Ram upon seeing her friend’s eyes wet with unshed tears. “This must bring up bitter memories for you. If it makes you so sad, I can’t help but ask, why did you end things with the general?”

She shook her head. “I had my reasons.”

“If it wasn’t all the sex, and with you moping endlessly like a lovesick schoolgirl—”

“I’m not moping.”

“You are. It’s plain as day that you miss the big man, so something isn’t adding up here.”

Lana’s jaw lifted, her eyes narrowing as she replied stiffly, “Remember how I pestered you to tell Ram about the baby and how annoying it was?”

Eryn nodded having a good idea where she was going with this.

“I feel the same way when you badger me about Trask.”

“Yes, but as irritating as you were, you turned out to be right.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” When Lana surged to her feet, prepared to stalk off, Eryn grabbed her hand.

“Wait, don’t leave. I’m sorry. I won’t mention it again…today.”

“Eryn!”

“Okay, okay, I won’t mention it ever.”

“Right.” Her eye roll was so exaggerated her irises almost disappeared behind her eyelids.

“I’ll prove it. Let’s change the subject. Tell me about plans for New Earth. I’ve been out of the loop with my stay in the hospital and having Cierra.”

“And having sex night and day for the past several weeks,” Lana added.

“There’s that, too.” She grinned. “But I want to know what we can expect when we arrive.”

“A mess. I hear construction is practically at a standstill because the rainy season has arrived.”

“Great.”

“Why don’t you go on to Primaria with the mates until the city is further along?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“I’m a fugitive. One of the elders told Ram the council wants me to appear before them on a slew of charges. I’m covered from extradition on New Earth. But if I step foot on Primarian soil…”

“You can’t ever go there?”

“Not until they find the real culprit behind the mine explosion. I guess some of the people and the elders are out for blood. Mine.”

“Kerr wouldn’t allow it. Besides, didn’t Eva take a punishment on behalf of the crew?”

“For the escape, stealing the Odyssey, which was ours and is ridiculous, and for treason against Kerr. But they didn’t charge her for the explosion. This is a separate special charge just for me.”

“Does that mean you and Ram are going to live on New Earth permanently? What about his position as Master Warrior? Doesn’t he have troops to train, wars to wage, those kinds of things?”

“They aren’t at war, Lana.”

“Whatever. You know what I mean.”

“If I’m not cleared, he plans to step down. He says there’s plenty to do to get the colony up and running.”

“He’s going from a military mastermind to a construction foreman?” She made it sound ludicrous, which it was.

Eryn dropped her head on her folded arms. “Please. I feel guilty enough as it is. He’s put up with so much crap from me already.”

“Like what? You never told me about the terrible thing you did.”

“And I never will.”

She shrugged. “I guess the important thing is Ram has forgiven you and he loves you and Cierra.”

“I guess.” She sat up and stared down at her plate. When she had arrived, she’d been starving, especially upon seeing Earth fare instead of the rainbow-colored oddities the Primarians usually served and called food. She heaped her plate with French toast dusted with powdered sugar and loaded them with butter and maple syrup, her favorite. Now she couldn’t bring herself to take a bite. She pushed back her plate.

“You don’t sound very enthusiastic. What else is wrong?”

“Nothing. You’re right, Ram has forgiven me and he loves Cierra. We’re fine.”

“Uh, Eryn. You left something important out. Don’t you think he loves you, too?”

She looked away. “I didn’t say he doesn’t.”

“You also didn’t say he does. Aren’t you the one he’s been fucking seven times a day for two weeks?”

“That’s sex, Lana. And Primarian physiology with their crazy mating practices.”

“He hasn’t said it? Maybe it’s not their way.”

“No. Roth says it to Maggie all the time, and Kerr is head over heels in love with Eva.”

“Yes, and they both had strife and tons of drama. I was an observer for Eva and Kerr’s rocky beginning, and you saw what went on with Roth and Maggie. They seemed doomed for failure, but overcame their obstacles. So, you and Ram can, too.”

Her gaze fell to her hands, twisting anxiously in her skirt and forced herself to stop. “I think warriors, above everything else, have a commitment to duty.”

“Both Kerr and Roth are warriors, but they fell in love, too.”

“My situation is different.” Eryn shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Perhaps, except I can’t make that call because you haven’t told me what happened.”

“Let’s drop it.”

“I’m not the one who keeps bringing it up but gives zero details,” Lana shot back.

Eryn studied her smug expression for a moment. “You know, you’ve changed. Before all of this, you were sweet, bubbly, and fun. Absolutely annoying.”

“What am I now?”

“Reserved, observant, and right all the time, just like Ram, which makes it more annoying.”

Lana shrugged then popped her last bite of muffin into her mouth. “You want the perky cheerleader back? Not gonna happen.”

“Because you’re depressed, you miss Trask, and you know you’re supposed to be with him.”

“Once the big bad security chief. Since being mated and becoming a mother, you want everyone else to have the same. Look who’s calling who annoying?”

“Me. I’m also right. You haven’t been the same since you left him.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I can’t make that call because you haven’t told me what happened.”

“Using my own words against me isn’t going to get me to, either,” Lana snapped.

“So, we’re at a stalemate. What do we do with that?”

“I don’t know, Eryn.” After her odd response, she got up, cleared her place, and wandered toward the door. “I’m restless. Let’s go work out.”

Although an abrupt subject change, and convinced Lana was hiding something as equally explosive as her own secret, exercise sounded like the perfect way to clear her head and perhaps coax more information out of her stubborn friend.

---

On a ship with two hundred women, soon-to-be mates and future mothers, Eryn had no problem finding a sitter while she sparred with Lana. In fact, Marion, from one of her classes stepped up right away. But she didn’t take her far, settling on the perimeter of the large gym to watch, as she told her daughter, “Baby girl needs to learn right off what a badass her mama is.”

Eryn smiled, hoping she did her proud.

After gearing up and doing some warming up, she and Lana faced off. Both trained in mixed martial arts, they kicked, punched, and wrestled using all four corners of the mat to do so. Soon, they had an audience. Many of the women, most of whom had seen this on the base or in competitions at home, and also the warriors who’d occupied the gym doing training drills when they got there.

Lana had skills, though she didn’t have the speed or agility Eryn had, even rusty. And inches shorter, she didn’t have the reach. And she had glaring weaknesses. It didn’t take long for Eryn to have her on the defensive then, with precision kicks and elbow strikes, she went in for the kill, throwing her to the mat on her back.

The women cheered, and a few of the warriors nodded in approval, most chuckling, some laughing out right.

Eryn gave Lana a hand up. “They think this is funny. Let’s give them a show.”

Her partner, though winded, nodded, still game for more.

She walked over to the wall and eyed the weapons available for use.

“Staff or sword?” she called to Lana.

“You will not use swords,” one of the warriors, a big scowling bear of a man called to her.

“Are they forbidden?” Eryn asked.

“To females, yes.”

Hands on her hips, she glared at him. “Since when?”

“Since now. It is staffs or you can continue hand-to-hand. No swords while I am here as a witness. I will not earn your mate’s wrath when you lose an ear or get sliced open.”

“Whatever,” Eryn muttered and selected two of the sticks, much longer than the ones she usually trained with. Considering they’d been made for giants, she understood why. Still, they’d have to adjust since No Neck, the training warden, had taken swords off the table.

She tossed one to Lana.

“Aikido Jo kata to start,” Eryn advised. “You let me know when you’re ready.”

Lana nodded, having caught her breath. Standing about ten feet apart, she let out a shout. “Ai-yah!”

As mirror images, they got down to it, beginning with a one-handed spin in front of their bodies, progressing to a side reverse then a series of more advanced spins behind the back, around the waist, and ending with a complex series over the head. Each focused on the form. Eryn remained aware of everything around her and knew everyone in the room had stopped to watch.

Warmed up with joints fluid, Lana gave another shout and took the offensive. The clash of the wooden sticks echoed in the high-ceilinged room as she advanced and Eryn blocked. They exchanged strikes while moving back and forth, and circling one another; the initial salvos an exercise in patience, used for sizing up an opponent, as much as watching for an opening.

Like in wrestling, Lana didn’t have the degree of skill Eryn did. Smaller and a fraction slower, she had to rely on a well-thought-out strategy or the element of surprise to take the advantage. Today, she tried an early, aggressive assault to get the upper hand. Eryn didn’t fall into her trap, staying on defense, waiting, while her friend tired herself out from a barrage of kicks and offensive strikes. When she became winded, and her technique lost the precision it had in the beginning, Eryn attacked.

Rushing forward, she forced Lana to back away with repeated overhand strikes until, in a surprise upward swing, Eryn knocked it out of her hands. It soared through the air and landed with a clatter well out of reach behind her. A collective gasp rose from the onlookers as Eryn ended it with a death blow—a sharp upward stab to Lana’s throat. Of course, she stopped short of making contact.

Lana stood down, moving back a few feet, and bowed in concession. She grumbled between gulps of air. “I don’t know why I continue to spar with you when you always kick my ass.”

“Because you need to spar with a higher skill level to improve your own,” she replied, mirroring Lana’s bow out of respect.

“An entertaining distraction, Ram’s mate. Now, if you would clear the mat, the warriors can get back to serious training.”

A few soft masculine chuckles coincided with the collective gasp that rose from the women.

Eryn faced her critic with her staff in the ready position. “Want to give me a go, warrior?”

This spurred outright laughter amongst the men. The man was big. He didn’t have Ram’s height, perhaps a few inches shorter, but his shoulders were as broad, his chest massive, and in the skin-tight shorts they wore to train and nothing else, Eryn could see every single bulging muscle.

“I don’t spar with females,” he retorted, shaking his head that she would dare ask.

“Afraid I might best you in front of you friends?” Eryn taunted. She routinely sparred with men, although the last time had been months ago, and he’d been a normal-sized Earth man.

“It wouldn’t be a fair fight,” one of the others called. “Aside from being a small female, your mate would break him in two if he hurt you. It would be his disadvantage.”

She rolled her eyes then twisted from side to side and leaned forward and back, making an exaggerated point of looking around. “Ram isn’t here, and he won’t find out unless someone tattles to him. Or perhaps, you’d like to clear the mat for us women to do some serious training.”

“I suppose I can take time to teach a small lesson.”

Planting one end of her staff on the ground by her instep, she held an arm out and curled her fingers, daring the warrior to come forth. The others around him saw the overt challenge and backed off. Lana tossed him her staff and headgear, the latter he tossed aside.

“You are toast,” she murmured and left the mat.

“See,” the warrior countered, “your friend also finds your challenge foolish.”

“I was speaking to you warrior,” Lana informed him with a laugh. “She was only toying with me.”

Not waiting any longer, Eryn kicked up her staff and took the offensive, rushing forward with a jab toward his groin he barely had time to block.

“You’ll not find a mate if she unmans you, Rollin,” one of his cohorts called out, while the others laughed.

Before he could react, Eryn spun around and caught him in the flank with a solid blow.

“Gonna stand there and take it, big guy? Or are you going to fight this small female who plans to beat your ass.”

She thought she heard a rumble, low in his chest—a signal for her to retreat. She did and avoided his return swing with a foot to spare.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, warrior. You may have size and brute strength, but I’m quick on my feet and agile.”

He broadcast his next move, swinging for her head. With exceptional reflexes, Eryn ducked, and the staff whooshed by, close enough for the wind to ruffle her hair. A murmur rushed through the crowd, the observers knowing if the blow had connected, it would have been over, with her on the way to medical. Although a near miss, she wasn’t worried, having faced more skilled opponents before—though never one as big and strong.

Without skipping a beat, Eryn rolled and, with him still in the middle of his backswing, came up under his outstretched arms. She aimed for his groin and didn’t hold back, connecting soundly between his spread thighs with the length of her staff.

Rollin grunted then doubled over. A sympathetic groan rose from the men.

Retreating again, Eryn was well out of the way, up in a defensive stance again, ready for his response. He didn’t have one. The fight ended with the big guy falling to his knees, both hands cupping his injury.

“The first rule of martial arts, warrior. Never underestimate a smaller opponent.” Feeling cocky, and raring to go, she grinned at the male spectators and asked, “Who’s next? I’m just getting my second wind.”

No one answered, their focus on whatever they stared at behind her.

“Mate. I remember a similar situation with a dagger.”

The breath left her chest with a whoosh. Because Ram had witnessed her little challenge, yes, but mainly because she thought the incident he referred to with Gailen and the dagger only a dream. She glanced over her shoulder, finding his golden gaze boring into her.

“Ram.” She turned toward him.

“Do you remember what I told you after that?”

He’d demanded she respect his men and not embarrass them, no matter how young and foolish they may be. Rollin fell into the second category. Respect evidently extended to not kicking their asses, as well.

“He insulted my skills,” she explained. “Further, he accepted my challenge, fair and square.” With her arms spread wide, she eyed the large gymnasium. “This is the training facility, is it not?”

Ignoring her remarks, Ram looked over at the warrior who had staggered to his feet when his superior entered, although not able to stand fully erect yet. Eryn smothered a smirk when she thought what else wouldn’t be erect, at least not until he iced his boys down for a good long while.

He crossed to his man and, gripping his throat, pulled him up to his toes then proceeded to ream him out about swinging a staff at his mate.

“I have safety gear on, Ram,” she called out, coming to the big, obnoxious guy’s defense. The mottled redness of his face made her feel kind of sorry for him.

Ram didn’t release him, not until after he leaned in and spoke quietly in the warrior’s ear. Rollin nodded, refraining from clutching his throat and didn’t so much as cough as he met the Master Warrior’s gaze straight on.

“Staff.” The abrupt order sounded sharp in the room. Someone tossed Ram the weapon Rollin had dropped when he went down. Then he stepped onto the mat and faced her. “Let’s see how you fare against me, little rebel.”

The tense moment having passed, Eryn grinned. She couldn’t help it. He might wipe the floor with her, but, even so, this would be fun.

Like with Rollin, she moved in fast and hard with a series of cross strikes. Ram deflected them easily. She followed up the initial flurry with a combination spin move, ending in a downward smash and an upward punch to the belly—two of her most effective moves—both blocked, as well. Although he didn’t take the part of the aggressor, she could sense the constrained strength in his defense.

Eryn retreated, to reassess her options. This should have put him immediately on offense, yet it didn’t. As they resumed ready positions, circling slowly while eyeing one another, it dawned on her, like she had with Lana, he was toying with her.

“What other moves do you have, little one? I’m curious. However, I can’t stay all day. I have things to do.”

She recognized the ploy, having used it on Rollin. But she wouldn’t allow him to provoke her, determined to keep her cool. Continuing with her plan to strike first and fast, she rushed forward in a series of side-to-side strikes, ending with the same hook which had effectively disarmed Lana. Again, she had to retreat when Ram met every action with a defensive reaction.

“You’re quicker than I expected for someone your size,” she noted, breathing fast, and wiping the sweat from her brow.

“Never underestimate a larger opponent.” For the first time, he pressed forward, trading blows as he moved in close enough to whisper in her ear. “Or one who very soon is going to have your bottom bared and over his knee.”

Alarmed, she glanced around to see who might have heard.

“I wouldn’t humiliate you in front of the others and would appreciate the same consideration for my men.”

And there was the lesson behind this exercise. She should have known. She scowled up into his face, still very near. Did he have to be so good at everything, and right all the time? It really was irritating.

“Give up?” he murmured.

“I suppose,” she replied.

Groans of disappointment from the women filled the training room as she moved back, lowering her weapon, as if in surrender. He relaxed his stance and his hold on his staff, in response just as she’d planned.

She preferred fighting clean but didn’t mind going dirty when the situation warranted. In a roundhouse kick that took him by surprise, she knocked the staff clear out of his hands.

He growled. “You little cheat!”

She spun again, on the opposite foot, and caught him at the back of his knees.

And as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Ram, one of the biggest of them all, fell with a jarring thud louder than Rollin’s, onto his knees. Eryn didn’t stop there, however, and came up behind him, bracing the staff at his throat, firmly but without force enough to injure, of course. She had to live with the man, who had no trouble bending her over his knee when he wanted.

“Now who gives up?” she asked sweetly in his ear.

“You seem recovered from your injuries and Cierra’s birth, mate.”

“Certainly. I’m fit and hearty, and I bested you, Master Warrior. Admit it.”

“Just checking to be sure,” he murmured.

The next instant, he flipped her ass over end and, with a dip of his shoulder, took them both to the mat. Ram took the top spot, naturally, caging her body with his own. She blinked up at him, taken aback by her big mate’s fluid, acrobatic move.

“I like you in this position, galita. It gives me ideas.”

After two weeks of seeing Ram in a near-constant state of arousal, she recognized the glint in his eye. “I thought the hunger phase had passed.”

“It has, but it doesn’t mean I stop wanting you. Mussed, flushed, and glistening with a sheen of sweat as you are, I find myself ravenous again.”

He released the chin strap and removed her headgear then hopped up to his feet. As his men whistled and cheered, the women jeered and booed, lamenting her loss on behalf of all womankind. Ram paid them no heed and, without a mind to her dignity, slung her over his shoulder, as he had numerous times in the past two weeks. Then, he clapped a splayed hand onto her butt with a good deal more zing than she thought necessary.

She jerked at the warmth spreading across her backside. “Ram! Put me down.”

“To the victor goes the spoils. Isn’t that how your Earth saying goes? Lana,” he called while heading for the door, “you’ll see to Cierra?”

“Certainly.”

“We all will,” an amused Marion call.

“Traitors!” she cried. More laughter followed them into the hall where, instead of turning right toward their quarters, he went left.

“You’re going the wrong way.”

He didn’t say a word, stopping in front of a door several yards down the hall. After he entered, he reached up and pressed his palm to the sensor, locking them in. Next, he let her slide down his front. Once on her feet, she looked around and saw he’d brought her to a supply closet.

“You’re joking.”

His answer, spinning her around until she faced away from him.

“Arms up, hands flat against the wall,” he ordered then stripped her snug, clingy workout pants down to her ankles. The cool air on her behind told her he’d snagged her panties along with them. “I should redden your backside for taunting one of my men, but I want you, now.”

Using his boot, he separated her feet as far as they would go with her pants hobbling her ankles. The next instant, he surged up inside her, filling and stretching her so she quivered at the delicious sensation.

With his cock planted deep so she could feel him low in her belly, he caught the hem of her top and stripped it off, too.

His hands slid up, cupping and molding her breasts, his thumbs sweeping over her nipples, flicking them with the edge of his nail. Her head fell back on a groan; it felt so damn good.

“Please move,” she said in a husky plea.

He did, driving into her, dragging his mouth along the side of her throat.

“Sweet mercy,” she murmured. With only a few quick strokes, he’d brought her to the edge of climax. “Ram…”

“Hold out for a bit, mate. I want to feel you gripping me tight as we come together.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“Try real hard, Eryn.” He plunged deep and stayed embedded again. One hand left her breast and slid down her belly, delving between her already-slick pussy lips to find her clit.

“That’s not helping, Ram.”

He lapped and sucked at her throat while he circled and stroked the center point of her pleasure. Not forgetting, the hand at her breast pinched and rolled her nipple.

“And neither is that,” she cried out.

“Seeing you sparring made me rock-hard. How can one woman be beautiful, soft, nurturing, and maternal, and, at the same time, as you earthlings say, a badass?”

“Ram, please, I can’t stand it. Fuck me hard and let me come.”

“With pleasure,” he growled. “First, give me your mouth.”

She angled her head around, and he claimed her lips, his tongue plunging inside at the same time his cock started driving deep. The small room echoed with the sounds of slapping skin and the wetness of their ardent kisses. After several intense minutes, with a pinch of her clit and a firm tug on her nipple, he thrust hard, sending them both hurtling over the brink, their combined cry of release echoing loud in the small room.

“I’ve changed my mind,” she told him when she could speak again. “There’s a lot to be said for slow and easy.”

“Complaints already? After a few short weeks?”

“Not at all,” she panted, leaning heavily against the wall. “Will it always be this…”

“Turbulent?” he suggested against her ear.

“Mm…” That summed it up perfectly.

“Unrestrained?”

“Yes.” Even better.

“Passionate?”

“God yes, all of those!”

He chuckled. “The mating bond ensures it will stay this way until we are both old, gray, and too feeble to do it hard and fast. I mean to get as much turbulent, unrestrained, and passionate in before we get there.”

She laughed, nuzzling her cheek against his hair where his head had fallen forward against her shoulder.

Her body humming with endorphins produced by both the sparring and the incredible sex, she surprised herself when her uninhibited tongue whispered, “I love you, Ram.”

His answer was a firm squeeze from his strong arms. Nothing else. The next moment he withdrew from her.

“Lucky for me I chose a supply closet with towels.” His voice sounded husky, and he passed her one to clean herself up as if she hadn’t just laid her heart bare.

She accepted the towel with shaky hands, not from the release he’d given her, but from the heartache.