I was in serious trouble here. This Atlan said I was his mate and, unlike with Warlord Kai, my body was all too eager to agree.
“Where are you taking me?”
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.”
