“Did you drug me?” My words were slurred. Was I drunk? What was in this water? Why did I just want to go to sleep?
My eyelids grew heavy, the edges of my vision blurring as the hum of the equipment lulled me into a drowsy state. Each beat of my heart echoed in my ears, the sound merging with the low thrum of the machinery.
“When you wake, Rowan Cochrane, your body will have been prepared for Prillon Prime’s mating customs and your mate’s requirements. He will be waiting to welcome you.” WardenEgara’s words sank into my consciousness, lingering like an uninvited guest.
The darkness cradled me, drawing me under as if it, too, offered some kind of escape.
Warden Egara’s clipped voice was the last thing I heard above the quiet humming of electrical equipment and lights. “Your processing will begin in three… two…one…”
4
Marz, The Colony
With Vance’s agreement,I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. I was a warrior, a fucking captain, head of security. I’d fought the Hive for years. How was the arrival of one female completely destroying my composure?
“Let’s go.”
We hurried to the transport room, the storm’s constant rumble echoing in the corridors as we made our way through the base. The nanobots inside my body responded to my tension, heightened my senses. The nanotech sent excess energy through my muscles and nerves, made everything sharper and more vivid. The hiss of the transport chamber door opening cut through the noise in my head, and there she was—my bride.
She materialized in a swirl of shimmering light, standing at the center of the transport pad, naked and vulnerable. As I’d expected, she was small, but curved with generous hips and a round ass I couldn’t wait to tease. Her breasts were full globes I wanted to taste. Her skin seemed to glow in the dim light of the room. Pale pink nipples and full, pink lips called to me with thepower of a goddess. She would own me. I would have no power to resist. Her long, golden hair fell over her shoulders in waves, and light blue eyes blinked open as she became aware of her surroundings, her gaze wide with a mix of shock and trepidation.
Fuck, she was beautiful—more lovely than I’d dared imagine.
My heart thudded in my chest as I strode forward, locking my gaze on hers. I reached for a blanket kept in the transport room’s storage compartments for just such occasions and wrapped it around her bare shoulders. “Rowan. I am Marz. Your mate.”
Her gaze met mine, those blue eyes searching my face as if seeking some kind of reassurance. “Marz…” she whispered, her voice soft and breathless, like a prayer. Or panic.
I lifted her in my arms, holding her close as if shielding her from the entire world. Her warmth seeped through the blanket, reminding me that she was real, not some illusion. As I cradled her, Vance stepped forward, his presence a solid, reassuring anchor at my side.
“I’m Vance,” he said with a small smile. “I am your second, Rowan. I apologize for being so ugly.” His voice carried a hint of humor, lightening the weight of the moment.
“You’re gorgeous. You both are.” Rowan’s gaze flicked to him, then back to me, as if trying to make sense of everything at once. “I can’t believe I have two mates.”
I tried not to scowl at my new bride. I failed. “You are mine. I would not claim you without a second. I would never dishonor you in such a manner.” All Prillon warriors chose a second. Prillons died in battle. We accepted this fact. Two warriors always shared a bride, two strong and worthy males, either of whom would protect our mate and children if the other perished in battle. To claim a female alone was to leave her vulnerable. Unprotected. The fact that she would question my ability to protect her made it difficult to keep my voice steady even as her beauty made my pulse race. My cock strained against myuniform, eager to be inside her wet heat. The gods had truly blessed me.
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just, I didn’t really want to be a bride. And then, the testing dream. I always figured I’d just have one guy. You know? Like an Atlan or one of those Hunters.” Her soft admission was like a punch to my gut. Would she be unable to accept two mates? Two males filling her? Bringing her pleasure?
“You do not wish to be a bride?” Fuck. Why was she here? Had she been coerced? Forced?
Was I going to have to send her back? Ten minutes ago, before her arrival, I would have been strong enough to let her go, if she’d asked it of me. I’d tried to send her away. Now? Fuck. She was mine. I couldn’t go back to the barren, tedious existence I’d lived before holding her in my arms. I couldn’t let her go.
The constant battle to control my emotions exploded into a nearly deafening crescendo of possessive rage. I would kill anyone who tried to take her from me.Anyone.
“No. I can’t go back. Anything’s better than twenty years in prison, right? I can take care of myself. I won’t be a burden, I promise. I mean, I don’t expect you guys to fall madly in love with me or anything. My expectations aren’t that high.”
What the fuck was this female rambling about?
She did not expect us to love her?
Adore her? Care for her? Protect her? Pleasure her?
As the storm continued to howl outside, shaking the walls of our fragile sanctuary, I held my bride in my arms and vowed to show her exactly how wrong she was. “You are mine. Do you think so little of me that you do not believe me capable of caring for you properly? Do you wish to reject my claim and travel to Prillon Prime? To be matched to an uncontaminated male?”
She flinched slightly at the harshness of my voice, her body stiffening against me. “No. That’s not… no.” Her wide eyes flicked up to meet mine, and I could see the struggle there—hermind grappling with the suddenness of her arrival, with the fact that she had been transported across the galaxy to a planet of dust and rock, to an unworthy male that she did not want. Her only reason for being here was to avoid prison?
She did not wish to be a bride? Did not expect us to love her? Truly believed we would allow her to be alone, caring for herself, without protection?
Was her mind intact?
