Casey's Warriors (Bondmates) (10 page)

He made a pained noise and she shook her head, scolding herself for standing back and getting an eyeful when she should be helping him.

“Hold on, I have emergency water in my trunk. Let me get it and we’ll try to rinse some of it off.”

She took his grunt as approval and quickly opened her trunk, pulling out the two gallons of water her father insisted she carry everywhere with her. “Move your hands, I need to pour this over your face.”

She handed him the water and stepped back as he lifted his face and poured it over his skin. When she caught sight of his reddened cheeks and swollen eyes guilt panged through her and she started babbling again. “What were you doing? Why didn’t you say something? I thought you were some kind of psycho that wanted to hurt me.”

“Number,” he growled out as he shook his head, water flying through the air and splattering her. “Can you please pour the water on me?”

She did as he asked, trying to get as much of the pepper spray off his eyelids as possible. “Number?”

“I wanted to attain your number. Without it we would not have dinner.”

“Oh…” she was so shocked that she kept pouring the jug over his face, half drowning him before it emptied. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head again and she tried to resist the urge to run her fingers along his slick chest, to trace each perfectly cut muscle beneath his tanned skin. “It is my fault. I should have realized you would not see me in this light.”

“Are you okay?”

He gave her a bleary blink. “I am fine.”

Dropping the jug she went to touch his face but he grasped her hand. “Do not. You will injure yourself.”

Her guilt tripled and she had to blink back tears. “I’m so, so sorry, Lorn.”

“It is all right, Casey. I have suffered worse.”

Poor guy, his eyes were practically swollen shut and he was trying to comfort her. “You can’t drive home like this. Is there someone I can call to come pick you up?”

He hesitated, then shook his head. “I am alone here.”

“Where’s your car?”

“I ride a motorcycle.”

“There is no way in hell you’re driving home on a bike tonight.” Casey’s mother was an ER nurse and she shuddered at all the stories her mom had told her about treating motorcycle accidents. “If it’s okay with you, I can call a cab or you can come back to my place and take a shower.”

The last part slipped out without her even being aware she meant to say the words. Her treacherous libido must have hijacked her mouth. To her surprise Lorn smiled and quickly stood. He looked down at his soaking pants and shirt wadded in his hand. She hoped the water didn’t ruin the leather of his pants and her inner slut whispered he should probably take them off just to be safe.

“I am afraid I am not fit to ride in your vehicle.”

“Don’t worry about that. I have a bunch of spare grocery bags I can put over the seats.”

After covering the seats with the bags and an emergency blanket she kept in her trunk she gently took his hand, unsure of how well he could see. Just the bit of backdraft she’d gotten from the pepper spray made her own eyes burn like a mother so she couldn’t imagine how painful it was for him. The warmth of his much bigger hand wrapping around hers sent a pleasant rush of sensation bubbling through her, reminding her in the most carnal way possible that it had been far too long since she’d been intimate with a man.

“You have the softest skin,” he said in a rumbling voice her libido loved. “Like the finest
ushan
.”

Flushing, and wondering what the hell
ushan
was, she helped him into his seat before going and retrieving his trench coat, along with her purse and his shirt, before tossing them in the backseat and sliding into the driver’s side. Hopefully the few bags she put down on her seat would keep her from stinking everything up. With an inward groan she realized she must smell hideous to Lorn.

“Sorry about the smell,” she muttered as she turned her car on and pulled out of the lot.

He cleared his throat. “That is not a normal…scent for women here?”

“What? God no. I had to clean out a deep freezer that broke and it was full of rotten shrimp. Totally nasty.”

That scary growl came from Lorn again and she gave him a quick glance before focusing on the road again. “Did you just growl?”

“Yes.”

“Um…why?”

“You should not be doing such menial work. You are a woman.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “You mean women in your country don’t do menial work?”

“No. They are too precious.”

“Are you for real?”

“I am very real. Why do you ask?”

“Sorry, language barrier. What I mean is I find that hard to believe.”

“Why?”

“Because women have always been the ones to do the dirty work. At least in my house that was true. My dad and brother would make the mess while me, my mom, and sister cleaned it up.”

“Does your father not love your mother?”

“Of course he does. It’s just that over here in the States women are the ones who usually take care of the family. Don’t get me wrong, I know a lot more families where the guy stays home to take care of the kids while the woman works, but for the most part, it’s the woman who changes the diapers, cooks the food, cleans the house, all that stuff.”

“I find that very strange. Is it something you want to do? Something that you find pleasurable?”

“Well, no, but it has to be done.” She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she turned down the gravel road to the small house she was renting from her uncle. “Actually in a way I kind of do. I can take care of myself, clean up after myself, and don’t have to rely on someone else to do it.”

“You enjoy being independent.”

Since he said it like it was a fact, not a question, she nodded. “Immensely. The best day of my life was the day I moved out of my parents’ house and got my own place. God love them, but they are overprotective to the extreme.”

Pulling up to her small two bedroom house with its cheap, white vinyl siding, chipped concrete front porch and window air conditioning units, she was a little apprehensive about him being in her home. It was clean, but the furniture was all second hand and her plates didn’t match. As she turned off the car, she had to laugh at herself for worrying about matching plates, but suddenly, she wanted very badly to make a good impression on Lorn.

Especially after macing him.

Pasting on a bright smile she inwardly winced as she examined his still swollen face. “We’re here.”

Chapter Six

When Casey reappeared after cleansing herself, Lorn let out a silent breath of relief that she no longer smelled like that hideous rotting odor which had covered her natural sweet scent earlier. Dressed now in a pair of soft blue pants and loose white top he sucked in an involuntary breath at the sight of her beautiful, still damp, dark hair falling loose around her shoulders. When she spotted him by the sink a beguiling mixture of happiness and uncertainty filled her expressive face. Then her brows drew down over her
benali
eyes and his heart lurched at her beauty.

Nast was going to love her.

Lorn had traveled through the wormhole earlier in the day and spoke briefly with his blood brother, but Nast was in the middle of getting a new Legion ready for battle which left them precious little time to talk. When he showed him an image of Casey he thought Nast was going to burst with pride and satisfaction. They were too far apart for Lorn to feel his emotions, but Nast’s joy was easy to see in his huge smile. It probably looked identical to Lorn’s. They’d talked briefly about Casey before Nast had to leave, once again making Lorn promise he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his own bond with Casey. Nast had a sense of honor so deep that it was reflected in every facet of his life, even to the point of ripping his own heart out so Lorn could be happy.

As he eyed his little bride and took in her soft beauty and warm scent, he had to choke back a growl. She carried the same natural perfume as in his true dream, and her home was saturated with the aroma of young, healthy female. It was all he could do to keep from grabbing her and burying his face against her soft little belly and rubbing his cheek against her to mark himself as hers. The shadows of the dark hall caressed her full cheeks, and he ached as he examined her lush, petite body. The women of Earth had larger breasts and hips than most women of his galaxy, and he thanked the Lord of Life for his luck. If she had been born in the Bel’Tan galaxy she would have been much sought after by every male that saw her. But she was theirs, made by the Lord of Life to be their mate, and when Lorn met her gaze he caught her confused yet aroused look and noted how her nipples peaked behind the thin fabric of her shirt. How he wanted to take those hard little berries between his lips and suckle her until she was dripping wet for him. He couldn’t wait to see what her sex looked like, to lick her until she was so sensitive that she would climax with one thrust of his cock.

She took another step toward him from the corridor that he assumed led to her sleeping quarters. “Wow, I guess the old wives’ tale about pouring milk over yourself to get rid of pepper spray really works.”

It took him a moment to drag his thoughts from her body and realize that she was talking about his appearance. He’d actually used a chemical neutralizer, but she couldn’t know about any of those things. Not until he had his first kiss and buried himself up to his balls in her hot body. More than a little eager to get on with things so he could claim his bride he gave her his best charming smile, the one that made the pleasure servants sigh with delight.

“Yes, thank you.”

She moved across the room toward him, and he was mesmerized by the sensual rhythm of her walk, how it made her breasts sway slightly. When she was almost to him she paused and looked up at him with an apprehensive expression. There was a fragility about her he wasn’t used to, and he worried for a moment about injuring her during their coupling. She was so petite she barely came up to his chest while standing before him barefoot, but the teasing scent of her juices dampening the intriguing folds of her sex had his cock rapidly filling with blood. With a hesitant hand she reached towards his face then paused. Realizing their height difference he lowered his head so she could touch him.

Her fingertips trembled slightly as she stroked his cheek and his soul rejoiced when her energy washed over him. Without a doubt, she was the one meant to be their Matriarch. He wanted to howl with victory, take her repeatedly until his seed took root in her womb, and bound her to him forever. Immense relief filled him that he wouldn’t have to watch his friends fall to the madness, that he and Nast could finally fill their home with the light and love of their
alyah
.

Casey was worthy of every bit of pain and sacrifice it had taken to give her a home worthy of her. This beautiful female was the one he’d been searching for, the only woman in the universe the Lord of Life had created for him and Nast. If they’d been a normal bonding couple they would be celebrating finding each other and by tonight he’d be enjoying the first stage of the courting rights with her, but because of her naturally impenetrable psychic shielding he couldn’t get any read on her emotions other than what he could interpret from her body language and her scent.

Her delicious, mouthwatering scent and abundant nectar.

Nast, with his love of tasting a woman’s need, was going to lose his mind when he met their Casey. A fierce arousal filled him as Lorn thought about all the ways they could pleasure her, of all the ways they would bind her to them with their love and give her a satisfaction so great she would never want to leave them.

But first he had to win her kiss.

Slow
, he cautioned himself,
treat her like a skittish bufonti
.

In a way, she reminded him of the soft and timid little creature from his world with her petite stature and her shy, hesitant behavior. He certainly wanted to cuddle and pet her until she purred for him.

Lord of Life, she smelled so
good
.

She smelled like his.

The faint thump of her heartbeat increased as she examined his face, trying to keep her expression impassive, but failing miserably. He could easily read both her passion and her uncertainty. When her hand cupped his cheek he couldn’t help a sigh of relief, her energy calming him as no other’s could. This is what he had been searching for and not found in any of the potential brides he’d met during previous Reapings—the soul-deep recognition of his true mate.

“Well, you look like you’ve recovered,” she murmured in a husky voice then cleared her throat. “I’m afraid I don’t have any shirts that will fit you.”

When her gaze strayed down his face to his exposed chest her arousal deepened, making him desperate to seduce her. Throttling back his lust was difficult, but he had to take things slowly with his little Earth woman. Mary, Matriarch of the Scout who had spoken before the council, had lectured the Warriors going to Earth on how to seduce human women. She’d urged them to take things as slow as they could, not to rush it for fear of scaring away their bride. If they proclaimed their undying love for a woman the moment they met her, an Earth female would consider them mentally deficient, no matter how true it was.

“You have the softest skin,” he said in a voice barely above a growl.

She blinked up at him and her scent cooled a touch. “Um, thanks.”

With that, she stepped away from him, and he tried to figure out why complimenting her would repulse rather than attract. Did the women of this planet not enjoy hearing how they affected a man? Did they not want their mate to appreciate them? He needed to get her mind back on her attraction to him.

Gently clasping her hand he pulled it down his cheek, over his neck, and to his chest, letting it rest over the heart that now belonged to her. “See, my skin is much tougher than yours.”

She stared at where her small hand rested above his heart and he looked down as well, enjoying the contrast of her creamy skin against his own dark bronze tone. “Do you get spray tanned?”