Grace Goodwin - The Virgins - Complete Boxed Set

She would be mine.

No, she was already mine; I simply needed to find her.

I could not delay.

Lifting my hand to the back of my ear, I activated the communication system imbedded in my skull, the OsteoCon, or O-C. “Commander.”

“Go.” Our leader, Thorn, came through clearly, his deep voice out of place in my head amidst the swaying tall grass of the prairie and the occasional bird singing to the dawn. We’d followed a geographical tracker on Neron’s ship to this planet, four hunters each assigned different prey.

As Neron’s crime had been against my family, he was mine. Thorn hunted for our ruling elite, the Sevens, his target an assassin who murdered one of our top military generals in the Coalition Fleet. Jace and his brother, Flynn, were pure mercenaries, interested only in the bounty bringing back their man would fetch. The brothers were fierce warriors, savage and unruly as they grew up on the secretive Ryntor continent. I didn’t know much about them, but knew they were low-ranking members of their family, with several older brothers. They were unlikely to inherit great wealth or lands and had decided to make their own way in the universe. They claimed they were after the bounty, but I suspected the two brothers hunted for amusement.

Truly there was no way to know for certain, as the bounty on each of our targets’ heads was more than enough to ensure none of us ever need hunt again.

The use of the Sevens’ elite, long-range Warden vessel was another boon I’d never expected. The ship was larger than we needed, designed for a crew of up to twenty. We four had felt like ghosts on a deserted ship as we made the six-day trip through the Coalition’s maze of ship transport stations to Earth. Now our ship was safely hidden in the mountains behind me. The Aurora had shields and advanced weaponry that would ensure my mate’s safety, if I could just get her off this primitive planet and back to the ship.

“This is Maddox.” I sighed, knowing Thorn would not be pleased with my next words. “There’s a problem.”

A pause. I watched the sky turn to gray in the east. Earth’s one star would soon rise.

“Explain.” Thorn was not one for many words when only a few would get the job done.

“I just woke from my fourth dream-share. My mark is on fire, Thorn. My mate is here.”

Another pause. “Your mate is here ?” His surprise came through the unit as clearly as if he were sitting beside me. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.” I imagined the soft feel of the inside of her thigh, the tight fist of her wet core around my cock. Yes, I had dreamed of her. “I can’t take the chance that Neron will find her. I can’t leave her unprotected. I must secure her on board our ship before I can complete this hunt.” But once my mate was safe I would hunt Neron in earnest.

“I have not sensed her,” he responded. He, too, had yet to find his marked mate. In fact, none of us on the ship had, for we would not have left her behind on Everis for such a mission if we had.

“She’s mine.” I nearly snarled at my commander, but his response was laughter.

His next words soothed something dark and possessive that rose within me, growing stronger by the moment. “I must be outside her area of proximity.”

“Good. Stay there.”

He laughed. “Calm yourself, Maddox. I have no wish to be lusting after an unmated female, especially if she is truly yours.” The idea that the big man with his warrior’s strength and fierce features would be attracted to her, solely because she was an unmated female and nearby, made my fists clench. Many women from Everis lusted after Thorn, begging to fill his bed. I did not normally think about him and wonder why the women desired him. He was big, like me, but where my hair was dark, my eyes blue as a glacier, he was the opposite with hair like gold and eyes so dark they seemed to blend into the darkness of space.

“She is mine,” I repeated, driven by mating lust.

“Obviously.” His response was given with a cool head. “You’ve already lost all common sense. Don’t worry. I have my own hunt to keep me busy. Neron isn’t the only fucker to have escaped. Go get your mate and report back once she is secure.”

Relief flooded me. Had Thorn decided to call in Jace and Flynn to help me, I would have been constantly on edge, ready to fight them off to protect her. I was confident in my ability to handle Neron. I knew him. Knew his ways. Unless I found myself in dire need, I preferred to keep my mate away from all other men of Everis. Even Thorn. If I needed their help, they would come immediately, I had no doubt. I simply hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.

“Good. Stay far, far away from her unless I call you,” I replied. It was the only time I would be disrespectful to my commanding officer.

“Understood.” I could hear the amusement in Thorn’s voice, but it turned serious with the next words. “Neron will not be so understanding. Find her quickly, Mad. I don’t have to tell you what he will do if he finds her first.”

My nostrils flared in anger. “No, you do not.” If Neron discovered that the Earth female was my true marked mate, he would hurt her to destroy me, as he had attempted to destroy my family. “He does not know what she is to me.”

“That won’t matter. He’s scum. He’ll hurt her just to hear her scream. Find her and get her back to the ship where we can protect her.”

“I will.” Knowing she was my mate set me at a disadvantage, my mind now hazed with hunger, driven by the need to fuck. If Neron were aware of her, he would search for her with a clear mind and calculating precision. At best, curiosity would drive him. At worst—I couldn’t think about that.

I shared her dreams, her presence a tug on my senses more accurate than the most advanced ship’s navigation system in the universe. She’d be in my arms by nightfall.

I had no idea who she was, but I knew enough. I knew her taste. I knew I needed to feel her beneath me, my cock in her pussy, my seed filling her, marking her and mating her to me forever. She would not be safe until she had been claimed and settled safely aboard our ship.

I’d forgotten Thorn until he spoke. “I will tell Jace and Flynn, but we won’t get near unless you summon us. At least, not until you are mated.”

“I will keep you updated, but I do not believe I will have to chase Neron. Once he feels my mate’s presence, he will come to me.” We all hunted men who were intelligent and cunning, men who had engineered a prison break from the inescapable mines of Everis’s moon. They were the first in three hundred years to escape Incar’s mines, and the ruling Sevens wanted to know how they’d done it. We all suspected they’d had help from the inside, from a traitor, but we needed to catch the prisoners before we would discover the truth.

That was Thorn’s problem, not mine. I just wanted my mate safe and Neron dead, in that order. Apparently, Thorn agreed.

“Just make sure you get to her first. Claim her. Mate her and keep her safe.”

I nodded, although he couldn’t see me. “I intend to. Maddox out.”

Ending communication, I watched the sky turn to pink, the stars of my galaxy disappearing with the colors of Earth’s dawn. The spectacle was beautiful, and not completely unlike a sunrise on Everis, although our sky was a slightly different shade with a bit more purple hue.

I tossed the saddle over the back of my stolen horse, took my time to affix it properly, a task new to me. The horse stepped sideways, annoyed at my bumbling.

“Hush, horse. I’ll be done soon.” Patting the large, intelligent animal on the neck until it settled, I finished securing the saddle and quickly loaded the small amount of gear into the saddlebags and ignored the fact that my hands were shaking.