She sucked me deep. I nearly lost my balance. This was new, something she had never done before. I snarled and brought my hands down on the back of our new sofa to brace myself. I’d spent more than a little time seated here, holding Willow as she watched one of her strange entertainment vids and laughed. She was allowed to watch until I couldn’t resist touching her, trying to share her happiness, rub some of her joy onto myself.
She increased her pace and moved one of her hands to tease my balls. Fire gathered in my blood; the heat concentrated everywhere she touched me. Licked me. Sucked like she was trying to pull the seed from my balls. Gods, she was fucking relentless. I wouldn’t last long.
“Enough. I will fuck you now.” Yes. That’s what I would do. Lift her off the floor, bend her over the couch and push my hard cock into her wet heat, pump into her until she cried out, make her forget everything until there was only me. Only. Me. A fucking dangerous thing to want, but I couldn’t stop the thought from pounding inside my skull like a drum. No one else would fuck her. Kiss her. Touch her. Hold her. No one. Only me.
I assumed she would obey my command and release me. Instead, she looked up at me, hands firmly wrapped around me, and shook her head. “No. I’m still sore, I haven’t used a ReGen wand yet, and besides—I want to do this. Just relax, Zarren. Feel my touch. Let me make you come.”
What the fu—
She sucked my cock until it bumped the back of her throat and ran her fingernails down my thighs. Before I could recover, she reached behind me, did the same to my sensitive ass.
She worked some kind of sorcery on me because I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but stand still and tremble as she staked her claim. She wouldn’t do this for any other male. Only me. Because she was mine.
I was hers. She fucking owned me. Perfect. Hot. Wet. Mate…
My orgasm hit without warning, hard and fast and so fucking strong I was shaking when she finished with me. She swallowed me down with ferocious greed, her desire to please me clear as a bell ringing through our linked collars. She wanted me like this, under her spell, giving her control and allowing her to take whatever she wanted. It wasn’t just her desire; it was aneed.Desperation. Distraction.
What the fuck was going on here?
I reached down and lifted her into my arms, cradling her to my chest. I held her close and curled my body over and around hers, buried my face just beneath her ear. Kissed her neck. She melted against me, as I had come to expect. And crave.
Tonight, she would tell me what bothered her. If I had time now, I would not relent, but duty called. First and foremost, I would serve the Coalition. I could not put off my meeting not knowing what knowledge or advantage I would gain.
“I have to leave you for a few hours.” I had to go to Transport Station Zenith, a space station near this sector that was well known as a dangerous place, despite being under the Coalition’s control. One of my operatives on Rogue 5 had sent a meeting request. Recruiting one of those fanged bastards was nearly impossible, so I answered when they called—which wasn’t often.
Perhaps he had discovered some information about my prisoner and the Hive base. Mersan had spent the last three days working on the Arcas bastard, and he still hadn’t given us a single, useful word.
All I had to go on was ink on paper. I spent hours poring over the schematics, looking for a clue, any hint as to where the Hive base had been built. Willow had insisted we put the drawings away when I wasn’t looking at them. A break from work, she’d said.
As I generally spent my time holding her, or fucking her, I hadn’t complained.
“Okay. Can you ask one of your guys to come take me to lunch? I’d like to get out of here for a while today. I’m starting to feel cooped up.”
“Of course.” Warlord Razmus or Elite Hunter Kayn were the only two I’d trusted with her safety to this point. I was sure one, or both, would be pleased to have an excuse to do something other than work. I breathed her in, lingering for another stolen moment. She wasn’t heavy. I could stand right here, holding her like this, for hours. “But when I get back, we are going to discuss your habit of removing your mating collar.”
“I’ll think about it.” She wiggled and pushed against my shoulders. With a shocking amount of reluctance, I set her on her feet, picked up her fallen robe and then wrapped her up in it so she wouldn’t get cold. She turned her face away from me, kept her gave averted.
This wasn’t a love match; her pouting should have no effect on me. So why did I want to pull the hair from my head and throw things, violently, around the room? This was a communication issue, nothing more. One that would be dealt with. Tonight.
I scolded her as I retied the ribbon that held the fabric closed, hiding her beautiful, perfectly curved body from me so I wouldn’t be quite as tempted.
“You are mine. It is my duty to care for you. I cannot do that if you are keeping secrets.” Even though I did not love her, I was her mate in every way that mattered. It was my responsibility to ensure she was properly taken care of.
“That’s rich, don’t you think, coming from the king of secrets?”
So sassy. I wanted to kiss that sass right out of her mouth. “My work for the Coalition does not affect what happens between us.” Cold, hard logic could never be argued against.
With a shrug, she walked toward the bedroom. “I’m going to take a shower. We can argue about this when you get home.”
Home. For fucks sake, I had one now. This barren dungeon in which I had imprisoned myself had become a place of comfort, solace, and pleasure. Thanks to the female who was now out of sight.
Argue? There would be no argument. She would tell me what I needed to know, or I would put my mouth to work teasing her pussy. Two could play this game. I would devour her, but not allow her to come, until she told meeverything.
* * *
Willow
I grinned in silence as Kayn escorted me to the small eating area on board the ship. It wasn’t a cafeteria, more like a big dining room with one table and fourteen chairs.
