17
Marz, The Colony, One Week Later
"Rowan.”My tone carried the gravity of a sacred vow. “Do you accept my claim? Or do you wish to choose another primary male?"
She remained silent. I stopped breathing.
Rowan stood between us in a burgundy gown—my family color proclaiming her to be mine. Her golden hair caught the light like a halo. Her blue eyes shimmered with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. I reached for her hand, feeling the warmth and strength within her slender fingers. On her other side, Vance did the same as I adjusted my throbbing cock.
Around the edges of the room, seven warriors formed a circle—a protective barrier against all enemies. They chanted, sang the ancient songs dedicated to this ceremony, the formal claiming of a mate. The warriors present had fought beside us in battle. They were our chosen family, bound by a loyalty that surpassed blood. They were the males we trusted to protect the only thing that mattered, our mate.
Today we would claim her. Right fucking now.
Assuming she said yes.
Rowan's grip tightened around mine, a silent communication that made my heart swell with pride and satisfaction that I was the one she turned to, the one she needed. The male she loved. She had always been fierce and unyielding, yet there was a tenderness in her this day that could soothe even the most restless soul. My soul.
Vance turned to Rowan, his eyes reflecting the depth of emotion that coursed between us. His voice, steady and filled with reverence, broke the silence. “You need to answer, female. You must speak the words.”
Her gaze flickered between us. For a moment that stretched into eternity, I feared my heart would stop beating as I waited for her answer. Afraid she had changed her mind. She had demanded we claim her early. I’d woken from the ReGen pod to find her pacing, waiting, eager to state her demands. It was not yet time. Her thirty days weren’t up. We still had time to court her, pleasure her, win her heart and?—
"Yes. I accept your claim."
Thank the gods.
When I didn’t recover quickly enough, Vance spoke his vow first. “You are mine, Rowan. I will destroy anything that threatens you, kill anyone foolish enough to harm you, hunt your enemies with my dying breath.”
“I don’t have any enemies.” Her grin was pure mischief. I couldn’t wait to fuck the smile off her face, replace it with gasping, begging, moans of pleasure. I knew our mate, understood that she used daring words and a mouth full of sass to hide her nerves. She would not be nervous for long. Soon, she would be coming all over my cock.
The chanting swelled around us, and I reached for the clasp on Rowen’s shoulder. Her hand settled over mine, stalling. “Don’t you have to say something now, too?”
Did I have a vow to make to my female? Indeed. I stepped forward, trapped her body between mine and my second’s. Breathed her in. Held her gaze as I spoke absolute truth. “I am yours. Everything I have, everything I am. Yours.”
Rowan reached up and loosened the fasteners on her gown. The fabric slipped down her body like a falling curtain to pool at her feet. She was naked, the scent of her arousal like a drug. I took off my ceremonial tunic and pants, threw them aside, forgotten. Behind her, Vance did the same, so we stood together. Naked. Ready.
Vance’s hands came to rest on the curve of her hips and he leaned in close, whispered in her ear. “Are you ready to take us both, mate?”
Desire hit my mind like a drug. Hers. His. My cock strained to reach her, eager to feel the wet heat of her pussy.
I activated her ATD, made sure her body would be ready to take Vance’s cock, reached for her when she gasped in shock. “Already?”
“I have waited decades for you, female. I don’t want to wait another moment.”
She reached for me and I lifted her into my arms, settled her over my cock. Her pussy was tight. Hot. I wouldn’t last long. “Fuck her, Vance. Make her ours forever.”
Rowan
I shouldn’t have been turnedon by the fact that we were being watched.
I shouldn’t have been dripping wet, on the verge of an orgasm before they even got my clothes off.
I definitely shouldn’t have been ready to beg them to fuck me. Claim me. Make us official and forever. If I’d told former Earth me that I was going to basically get married to two aliens after knowing them for less than two weeks, I would have told the future, alien me I was batshit crazy.
Yet, here I was. And everything I had ever wanted was in this room, mine for the taking. A future. A family. Children. A job that mattered, hunting for more of those ancient Hive machines. My sexy, powerful, gorgeous mates. They would never cheat, never leave me, never betray my trust.
Marz shifted his hips, thrust deep. His hands were splayed across my ass and he used his leverage to move me, lift my body and slide me down over his hard length.
“Gods be damned, Vance. Fuck her. Now.”
