Claimed by the Warrior (9 page)

Then without another word, he stripped his tunic off and tossed it to the side. She could feel him watching her face but she was mesmerized by the hard planes and ridges of his chest and torso. It was truly as if the male had been carved from the mountain. She didn’t think she’d ever tire of looking at him.

The thought made her pause, gave her a jolt of panic, but she shoved it away for now. She wasn’t worried about the future, or anything else, but simply enjoying herself right now. He hadn’t let her go down on him last night or early this morning and she planned to change that right now.

“You like what you see?” There was a trace of vulnerability in his tone that surprised her.

The male should never doubt it. “You know I do.” Any sane woman would love to look at and touch him for hours upon hours. The thought of another female touching him made something unexpectedly dark flare inside her. “Now the pants.”

His jaw tightened ever so slightly and she couldn’t tell if her giving the orders seriously bothered him. But he stripped his trousers off in a few fluid movements. Luminet males could be so utterly masculine and to order a male like Con around had to go against all his primal instincts. She liked that he was doing this for her.

Fighting a smile, she pointed at the bed. When he hesitated, she dropped her own towel. The shades along the expanse of windows in his room had automatically pulled back at a certain time this morning so they had plenty of natural light streaming in. Cool air rushed over her body, making her nipples tighten into hard buds as much as the way his gaze did.

His eyes flared in that deliciously sexy way. Combined with a raw hunger she felt emanating off him all the way to her core, she was close to combusting from his gaze alone.

When he turned and strode across the room, she let out a groan. It was impossible not to be affected by the sight of all that masculine power. His legs were massive, the muscles tightening and flexing as he moved.

“Do human males let their females boss them around?” he asked as he stretched out on the oversized bed. Pale green sheets rustled underneath him.

She lifted her shoulders as she started for him. She’d felt so powerful ordering him to do what she wanted but as he tracked her every move, she knew that he had all the power. “If you mean in the bedroom, I guess so. I think all relationships are probably different.” Her few, frantic couplings with a male from her planet didn’t exactly count as a relationship. The only sex she’d had, had been when her world had been in chaos with a male she’d genuinely liked. It wasn’t as if she’d loved him, but she’d really wanted to experience sex before she died. And she’d been so sure she would die. To be here now, to have a second chance, seemed like a miracle. She enjoyed her life on the mainland, but something had been missing. Or maybe just someone.

Con didn’t respond as she climbed up the bed. She crawled up his body, only stopping to straddle his hips. His erection curved upward, thick and proud. It should be proud, she thought, her inner walls automatically tightening at the thought of him filling her again.

Watching him, she crossed her arms under her breasts, enjoying the way he stared at them. “Does it bother you to take orders in the bedroom?”

“It is…different.” The last word was said with barely concealed disgust.

“Well, I was ordering you around because I wanted to take your cock in my mouth.”

His hips rolled up at her words, the only true sign he was affected by her bold statement. She wasn’t even sure where this boldness had come from, but with Con she felt free to do anything she wanted. He made her feel safe in a way she didn’t completely understand.

When he didn’t respond, just remained in place, his body as rigid as the mountain, she didn’t bother fighting a grin as she shimmied down his body.

Grasping the thick base of his erection in her hand, she looked up to see his eyes had that dark, heated glaze to them. His fingers gripped the sheet beneath him so tightly his knuckles were white. Oh yeah, he didn’t mind taking
this
order from her one bit.

As she took him in her mouth, he let out the sexiest moan she’d ever heard. It was unrestrained and primal, just like Con. Everything about him had a dangerous edge that she found impossibly sexy.

It was impossible to take him fully so she started stroking him with her hand as she drew him in her mouth. Each time he groaned, she grew even wetter between her legs. Hearing him so uncontrolled was too hot for words.

“Leilani.” He said her name like a prayer, his fingers sliding through her still damp hair. When he gripped tight, the pressure too much for her to move down on his erection without pain, she released him and looked up. He couldn’t possibly want her to stop.

Before she could decipher his expression, she found herself flipped around on her knees and Con sliding into her with one hard thrust. She gasped at the intrusion, her body stretching to accommodate his size. He held her close, his body enveloping hers from behind as he remained buried deep inside her.

“I want to come inside you,” he murmured as he slid her thick hair over one shoulder. It brushed against her face, touching the bed. He dropped kisses along her bared shoulder until he reached her earlobe and bit down. “Mine,” he murmured, before thrusting hard again.

She shuddered at both his words and the feel of his mouth on her. In this position he felt deeper and she loved it, something he knew from the past few hours.

When his hand slid down her stomach and lower, lower, until he found her clit, she forgot about everything else except the way their bodies fit perfectly together and the way she was starting to fall for this frustratingly sexy male who hadn’t been part of her plan at all.

* * *

Con tried to control himself but his gaze strayed to where Leilani stood talking to a mated Luminet female. Though it wasn’t typical, he’d invited her to another job site today. Unlike the residential site on the outer layer of the mountain, this one was deeper with no windows. They had holograms that created windows with varying background images, but in the newest wing of their Samio it was an unnecessary luxury they rarely utilized. His warriors were here to train and stay strong, nothing more.

“How does Cyn feel about her?” Tole asked.

The male was originally from another sector but he’d moved to the mountain region with his brother, Aindreas, decades ago. Not as broad-shouldered as Con and his brother, these two males were lean, muscular and deadly. Two of Con’s most trusted warriors, he had asked the brothers to the Samio job site today for a specific reason—to bring their mate as company for Leilani.

He tore his gaze from Leilani, though it was difficult when all he kept envisioning was her stretched out under him, crying out his name in ecstasy. “My brother likes her,” Con said. Cyn actually hadn’t said much about Leilani one way or another, but he didn’t dislike her. Con was just glad his brother didn’t have ideas about mating with her. That was his only concern. Leilani was
his
.

“That is good. My Azily is pleased we invited her to meet Leilani this morning. Do you plan to mate her soon?”

“We are…we have not spoken of mating. I just wanted to give her some female companionship while she is here.” He wanted to know what she thought of mating but had not broached the subject and likely wouldn’t any time soon. Maybe not at all. He didn’t know what he had to offer her that she didn’t already have on the mainland. Because of his people, she was stuck here for a moon cycle.

Tole’s dark eyes narrowed while Aindreas’s brow furrowed in confusion. If a warrior was interested in a female he typically made his intention to mate known as early as possible. In the case of Leilani, things were very different. He had no clue what she wanted from him and he feared her rejection too much to ask. It wasn’t as if he could ask her to give up her life to move to his sector. The mainland had more for females and she had a job she likely wouldn’t give up for him.

After an awkward silence, Tole cleared his throat. “It appears our mate is taken with her. I hope she moves here. The females need more companionship.”

Con nodded, his gaze straying back to Leilani as if he had no control of himself. It was frustrating. She’d worn body-hugging pants again today. They molded to her, outlining her sleek curves. Instead of fur, she’d worn a simple tunic adorned with bright blue jewels around the neck and at the end of the slightly flared sleeves. He’d insisted she bring a coat though in case she got cold. “I agree.” For the most part. It wasn’t as if females were desperate to visit and he could not force them. No female would come here knowing she might be held captive for a moon cycle.

“Azily mentioned that it might not be a bad idea to update our Ducereco law—meaning eliminate it.” This time it was Aindreas who spoke. Normally Tole did all the talking for them.

“That would be a big change.” Con wasn’t certain of his stance on lifting the law. He could call a tribunal meeting with all his captains and take a vote but there was no guarantee it would do any good.

Both men nodded and Con’s gaze strayed to Leilani again. The differences between the two females were vivid. Where Azily was tall and strong, Leilani seemed so petite and soft. Though he knew that to be an illusion. The female was a force of nature when she wanted to be. Azily’s long blonde hair had been pulled back into multiple braids, the pale color a sharp contrast to her darker skin. That was the only similarity between the two females; they both had bronze, flawless skin.

“Perhaps it is time for a change. Our males deserve mates.” Tole’s voice was thoughtful.

That much was true. He looked back at the brothers. “What is the incentive for coming here? What if we eliminate the law and nothing changes?” Con knew that was his own fear speaking but it was a valid question. They did not have the luxuries of the mainland so he did not know the incentive for females to come here. It could be demoralizing for his warriors.

Tole shrugged. “Our males are the incentive.”

The male was about fifteen solar cycles older than Con and someone he went to for advice, so he respected his opinion. “I will take this into consideration.”

Both males nodded. Aindreas continued. “What is happening with Einar?”

“He’s leaving this evening.”

“I heard he tried to gain entrance to secure databases after you revoked all his access.”

“He did. All electronics have been taken from him. I’ve apprised a high-ranking officer from the mainland about his status here. The male is looking into an off-world post for him.” Because no one else wanted him now and Con would not pass him off to someone else knowing he caused trouble wherever he went. Discord among the ranks was unacceptable.

“Good.” Tole’s lips pulled into a thin line. “None of the mated females liked him.”

This was news to Con. “Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?”

“It was a small matter, nothing our leader needed to worry about.” Tole straightened, his speech growing more formal as he spoke captain to leader instead of friend to friend.

“Did he do something?”

“Nothing overt. The females simply did not like the way he spoke to them or looked at them. Being an asshole is not a crime so we did not inform you.”

“I would like to be informed if there is a similar situation in the future.” Females were to be protected, always. The concept was an important part of their culture.

“Of course.” Tole cleared his throat and looked at his brother, who nodded slightly before he focused on Con again. “We would like to invite you, Cyn and Leilani to dinner. Our mate gave us the signal that she enjoys your future mate and wants to have her over.”

Con’s first instinct was to say that Leilani wasn’t his future mate but he couldn’t force the words out. He didn’t want to. He also realized that the two males assumed if he mated Leilani that Cyn would as well. Con would be breaking tradition by taking a mate by himself but he couldn’t bring himself to care. As leader he knew he should set a better example but he would not share Leilani. Even the thought of doing so brought up violent, primal urges.

Taking control of his emotions, he asked, “You have a signal?” That seemed curious, but he had little experience with females. Maybe it was a common practice.

Both males got a similar look of affection on their faces. Tole spoke. “Yes. She told us if she liked your female we should ask you to an evening meal this week. Touching her earlobe is the signal.”

“We probably weren’t supposed to tell you though,” Aindreas added.

“I will not say anything. But…” Con debated whether he should say anything. He had not made his intentions known to anyone about his desire for Leilani but apparently others already knew how he felt. They probably assumed that because of the affection he’d shown her, he intended to mate with her. So they naturally assumed that his brother would join their mating as well. “If we do mate, it will just be Leilani and myself.”

Admitting that aloud was jarring. He was opening himself up to public humiliation. If his warriors knew he wished to claim her, but she subsequently rejected him, it would be difficult to face. But he would take that risk.

Surprise flickered in both their eyes, but they masked it quickly. “Noted.”

“Spread the word that she is spoken for.” As leader he would not do it himself. He knew many males still wanted the chance to speak to her, the chance to court her, but he would not allow it. It would go over better with his warriors if others let it be known.