Grace Goodwin - Fighting For Their Mate

Dorian threw himself into the pilot chair and I stood behind him as Trinity took the seat to his right. She was a flyer. I wasn’t.

The two went through their checks in seconds and my knees buckled for a moment as the shuttle detached from the freighter. The shift caused anyone not strapped in to lose their balance.

“Clear?” Dorian asked.

“Clear,” Trinity confirmed, her hands moving over the controls with practiced skill. I was too tired to even try to follow her actions. The shuttle lurched forward as the blast caused by the freighter exploding hit us from the side, throwing me into the control panel behind Dorian.

Alarms sounded from the wall to my left and Dorian reached back with an irritated flick of his wrist. “Don’t touch anything, Mills.”

“Shut up and drive,” I grumbled back.

He chuckled and Trinity’s shoulders relaxed, the tension in the air draining away as we moved farther and farther from the wrecked remains of the Hive occupied freighter.

When we were back in safe space, within the protection zone offered by Battlegroup Karter’s patrols, Trinity reached for the communication panel. “This is ReCon 3 for the Karter.”

“Battleship Karter. Status ReCon 3.”

Trinity looked at Dorian, who sighed. “We lost eight crew and all the cargo on the freighter.”

“Seven survivors?” She was right, and she knew it. Hell, it wasn’t hard to count that high. I’d been surprised that seven had held out as long as they did.

When Dorian nodded, she relayed the information to the control deck on the Battleship Karter. No doubt, Commander Karter himself was listening over the communication officer’s shoulders.

“This is Commander Karter.”

Hearing his voice had me rolling my eyes. Yup, he was listening.

“I’d like to know the status of Captain Seth Mills.”

Trinity looked up at me, shocked. That was a first, Karter asking after a specific member of the crew. I leaned forward and she nodded that I could go ahead and speak. “I’m here, Commander.”

“Excellent.” There was a shuffling sound and Commander Karter spoke again, but his voice was quiet, as if he was speaking to someone behind him. “Tell Earth to go ahead and initiate transport.”

“Earth?” I asked.

“Your matched mate will arrive in a matter of hours, Captain. Congratulations.” The commander sounded pleased, but my heart was like a lead weight in my chest as my body filled with dread. Oh shit. Battling a Hive integrated Atlan hadn’t been as bad as this.

An Interstellar Bride.

From Earth.

“Send her back,” I blurted.

Dorian turned in his seat and pulled off his helmet, his golden eyes huge with shock. “What the fuck are you talking about, Mills? A bride is a gift.”

“Not for me.” I looked at the control panel as if I could will the commander to obey me. “Send her back, sir. I can’t accept a bride.”

“That is not your choice to make, Captain.” The commander’s voice was hard now, all levity gone at my response to what any Prillon warrior would accept with great joy. “You have been tested and assigned a matched mate. Your bride will have thirty days to accept or reject you. The choice is out of your hands. Your mate has all the power now, Mills. I suggest you get back to the Karter and have your head examined. Dock 3.”

“Yes, sir.” Dorian responded half a second before the line went dead. He turned to Trinity. “Can you take us in?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do it.” He stood and grabbed me by the arm and tugged me out of the cockpit area. “Mills, come with me.”

Chloe Phan, Interstellar Bride Processing Center, Miami

Lips roamed over my belly. My bare belly. A soft brushing and then a flick of the tongue. Heat swamped my senses and I felt the rough shock of whiskers as he turned his head, his breath fanning across my sweaty skin.

My fingers were tangled in his hair. When had I done that? I didn’t remember sliding them through the silky strands. Tugging. Then again, I didn’t remember a guy being on his knees before me, learning my taste, my feel.

“I can smell your desire.”

My scent. Holy shit, his hands cupped my bare bottom and pulled me in so his mouth could go…there.

“Oh!” I cried. My vocabulary was gone. Why? Because he had a very skilled tongue.

“Step nice and wide for me, mate. I want access to this pussy of mine.”

The growl was rough. Deep. Etched with sharp arousal.

Unlike guys I’d been with in the past who hadn’t found my clit with a headlamp and a compass, he found it with laser precision, flicking over the swollen flesh ever so lightly. Just the slightest slide on the left, across the top and back and my head fell back in surrender.

I was wet. Eager. Empty.

Maybe he was a mind reader as well as a pussy-whisperer because a hand slid up the inside of my thigh and unerringly found my center, circled my entrance then slid two fingers inside.

“You’re so tight,” he growled.

I tangled my fingers in his hair, pulled him back into place. “Don’t stop.”

Yeah, that was me. Begging.

I felt him smile against my most sensitive flesh.

“She likes this.”

I did. I liked it a whole heck of a lot, but I wasn’t sure why he was speaking to me in third-person.

“I can see that.”

A voice came from just over my shoulder as hands came around to cup my breasts. Hands not belonging to the guy eating me out. I knew this because his hands were still on my butt.

These new hands were big, tanned, with a smattering of dark hair on the backs. I could feel a hint of callouses on the palms as they lifted and learned the weight of my breasts.

“Yes.” I arched my back. I’d never been with two guys before, but this felt right. Somehow, I knew they were mine. And not just one hot night after hitting the bar kind of mine. But mine. As in forever.

The thought made me cry out and I heard their soft laughter.

“Yes, mate?” The man’s voice was at my ear. Gentle, but deep. Resonant with a hint of need and quite a bit of power. His hands mimicked that; his touch gentle, but the way his fingers were rolling and teasing my nipples, he liked control. Liked to dominate me, even with the slightest of motions.

And it worked. Yeah, my nipples were sensitive, always had been, but this guy knew exactly what he was doing.

Both of them did.

They quickly brought me to the brink of orgasm and they hadn’t done much. But then, I didn’t seem to be in control of my body. Or my mouth as I begged them to hurry, to take me. As I called them mate and told them I loved them.

And I did. The feeling welled up inside me like an explosion, so fierce and desperate I nearly choked on it.

Which made no sense, because they weren’t mine. I couldn’t even see their faces. And I hadn’t had a date in…well, a while. And never with two…

“Two males are better than one, don’t you think?” The man behind me spread his hand over my chest, holding me down as his partner pushed me harder, one finger sliding into my sensitive bottom as he fucked me with his fingers and sucked my clit like his personal toy.

Had the man behind me not been holding me down, I would have bucked and crawled away. Their attention was too much. Too intense. “I can’t take it.”

“Yes, you can.” He pinched my nipple, hard, just as the edge of orgasm had been about to rush through me. How he knew, I wasn’t certain, but I could feel his quiet attention. His need. His deep pleasure at seeing me submit to them both.