Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3) (14 page)

“Thanks.”

He wished he could just gather her into his arms, cuddle her close and enjoy the moment, but he had to be honest with her. “You must know, if you choose to be enhanced, you will never be able to return to Earth, even if we do not become bondmates.”

She sat up fast and stared at him. “Never return to Earth? Why?”

“The wormhole between our worlds is unstable. Once it closes, which could be at any time, it will probably never open again. We cannot risk being on the Earth side when that happens.”

“But-why can’t we just stay on Earth?”

“Because I am needed on Kadothia.”

“Yeah-well I’m needed on Earth.”

“Paige, I am the Commander of the
entire
Kadothian military force and the knowledge I have about running an army is invaluable.”

“All of it?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re like…the head of all the military for the whole planet of Kadothia.”

“Yes.”

She slumped back against the pillows, her hair a dark brown cloud around her face. “Holy crap. How many?”

“How many what?”

“How many men are in the military?”

“Close to a billion, give or take.”

For a long moment she was silent. “A billion?”

“A billion. And that is not including our allies, mercenary guilds, and support operations.” He rubbed her hip, unable to fight the need to comfort her even as he forced himself to tell her the unpleasant truth of being his bondmate. “
Alyah
, I cannot abandon them. Every day I will have to take time away from you to do my duties for the Kadothian Empire. It tears me apart inside to even think of parting from you, but I have no choice. If these were anything but life and death situations I would not leave your side, but I cannot allow good men to die by my inactions. I will be officially retiring as Supreme Commander after we bond, but I will still be serving the Empire. It is my duty.”

He’d failed to do his duty once, and that decision had led to the fight that had torn Rell and Tren apart.

A shiver ripped up his spine as he thought of how Rell had begged him to stay an extra day at their hidden cottage on Kadothia. How he’d given into his lover’s pleadings, understanding his blood brother’s need to strengthen the bond between them so he could fight his inner beast. Rell was older than Tren by almost a hundred years and had more brushes with the madness than Tren. In order to help his brother, he’d stayed that day—and had missed a frantic distress call that resulted in over two hundred good men losing their lives.

All because Trenzent had skipped out on his duties in favor of his own selfish needs.

Never again.

“Holy shit, you’re amazing,” Paige said as she covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes wide and unseeing

Her reaction baffled him. “Pardon me?”

Instead of being angry that he’d just announced he’d be leaving her home alone most of the day, she covered her face with her hands and moaned, “What are you doing with me?”

“I do not understand.”

“I’m a college student who barely has her shit together! I rarely leave my house, avoid parties like they’re ground zero for the zombie apocalypse, and I’m afraid of everything.”

Irritated, he grasped her chin in his hand and turned her to face him. “You are unbelievably strong.”

She jerked her chin away from his grasp, an angry pout pursing out her swollen lips. “Don’t patronize me.”

“I do not understand that word, patronize.”

“It means don’t talk down to me because I’m just a dumb girl.”

“You believe I would think less of you because of your gender?”

“Uh-yeah.”

“Paige, Kadothia is a Matriarchal society. We are ruled by our women.”

“Really?”

“Yes. A Matriarch’s husbands rule at her side, supporting her in every way.”

He leaned forward and brushed his lips over her forehead, breathing in the scent of her hair. Odd, humans seemed to carry more of their hormonal scent in their hair than Kadothians did. Taking another breath, he shivered when her small lips caressed his neck. When she licked him his cock twitched between them and when she bit him he growled.

“Why am I so attracted to you?” She looked up at him with wide eyes, her pupils dilated with lust. “I mean, you’re amazingly handsome, but I lose myself around you and turn into this sex crazed maniac. You smell so good, taste so good, and when you touch me I soak my panties.”

He couldn’t help the laugh that burst from him, a rich and deep sound he hadn’t heard from himself in years. Before he met Paige he thought the tales of bondmates healing their husbands’ psychic wounds was a myth, a pretty lie told by the servants of the Lord of Life to pacify the Warriors. But now he had proof of the Lord of Life’s healing in the form of his true laughter, something he thought he’d lost the endless day the Hive had held him captive and tortured him.

A terrible memory of his jaw being ripped out by a machine while a Hive member stood nearby tore from his mind, leaving behind the burning pain of having an infection removed.

“Tren?” Paige clung to him, the soft fur between them rubbing against his skin. “What’s wrong? Why are you in so much pain. Why am I able to
feel
your pain?”

Sensing her great stress and confusion, her emotions were a volatile mix he had to isolate himself from, he stroked her arm. “You are my bondmate.”

“What does that even mean!”

He pulled her into his arms, holding her close. “It means I am nothing without you.”

“Oh, thanks, that totally clears it up.” She thumped his shoulder. “Talk.”

Frustrated, he tried to think of a way to explain this to someone who hadn’t been raised in his culture. “Many, many years ago there was a civil war on Kadothia.”

“What?”

“I am trying to explain.” She settled in his arms, but turned so she was facing him with an expectant expression. “During the Kadothian civil war a biological virus was released that almost destroyed my entire race. The virus changed our women, attacked the emotional centers of their brains until they were no longer able to feel love, empathy, or compassion. Instead they were mindless killing machines that only took pleasure from causing pain in others. Imagine if you will every female you have ever known suddenly becoming a sadistic killer. Woman, child, crone-they all fell to the virus until there were no women left on Kadothia that were not a complete and total danger to everyone around them. If left alone, these women would torture infants to feed their need for others’ pain.”

Paige had stilled and was watching him with big eyes. “That’s horrible.”

“It was. My ancestors managed to defeat the women, who became known as the Hive, but some of them managed to make it off Kadothia and establish their own planet on the other side of the Bel’Tan galaxy. Left without Kadothian women, the remaining men soon found themselves falling to something we call ‘the madness’. If a Kadothian male does not find the woman he was meant to bond with he will eventually go insane, reverting to an animalistic form that has no rational thought. Once the madness is complete, they are lost to us and must be sent to a prison moon to live out the rest of their years as a beast.”

“But if there were no women, what did you do?”

“Our scientists managed to find a way for us to mate with women from other planets. With the right woman, our blood will change them, start a series of chemical and hormonal reactions that allows their minds to bond with ours. It will only work with the woman meant by the Lord of Life to be our bondmate, that one female in hundreds of billions. The sickness you experienced back at your home on Earth? That illness was a result of our blood exchange during our kiss, of your body changing.”

“You gave me your blood?”

“Yes.” He could feel her mind racing and tried to sooth her. “And you converted it.”

“You said I’m changing? How?”

“Your mind is changing enough to allow a psychic bond to form between us. No-changing is not the right word, your brain is waking up. Dormant parts that were asleep are now being awakened.” He smiled as she stared at him, her lush mouth rounded into a small o. “Earth women are unique in that you have very little psychic abilities on your own, but you have mental shields that are impossible for anyone to breech. You only let your bondmates form a full link, no one else can get through to your thoughts. This is unheard of in the Bel’Tan galaxy. In addition to your impenetrable natural shielding, you have powers that we have not seen on Kadothia since the ancient days before the civil war and the Great Sorrow took our women from us.”

“Powers? What kind of powers?”

“Different types of psychic abilities from teleportation, to foreseeing the future, to talking with animals and transforming things on a molecular basis. Every Earth woman so far is different in how she adapts to the awakening, and it takes a long time for some Matriarch’s powers to show themselves, while others happen almost instantly.”

She held up her hand, staring at it as if waiting for something to happen. “How will I know what my powers are?”

He grasped her hand in his own as he ordered the computer to slowly lower the lights, and begin a soothing aromatherapy. “Once we are bonded I can take you to a Reader on Kadothia. They specialize in recognizing psychic talents in others.”

Paige looked at their joined hands, rubbing her small thumb on his darker skin. “Being bonded, is it like being married?”

“Yes, but different. Unlike your Earth marriages we will never divorce. I will never cheat on you, hurt you, or abandon you and I will always honor your presence in my life.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“How? I mean, people don’t just fall in love like this, that only happens in fairy tales.”

“Paige, I was born to love you.” He willed her to see the truth of his words.

“I want to believe that, but Tren, it sounds too good to be true.”

“Feel my soul and you will know it is true.”

“Feel your soul?”

“Yes, as I said, the bond is growing between us. Eventually you will be able to read my emotions at will, to know that I am not lying to you.”

She blinked at him. “That’s kind of scary.”

“Why?”

“Well, I kind of like having my private thoughts remain private.”

“Just because we can read each other all the time does not mean we will. The bond between a man and his Matriarch is like a room with two doors. One door leads to your soul, one door leads to your mind, and we must both open our doors and enter the room in order to meet. Though I will admit, I have heard that once the bond is established we will spend a great deal of our time while we mate with the bond wide open so we can feel each other’s emotions.”

“I think I already feel that.” She flushed. “When we’re…enjoying the moment I had this strangest sensation of a hard, driving lust teasing at my mind.”

“A Kadothian male’s passion is different than a woman’s. We are more driven to conquer our mate with pleasure. To care for her needs in all things, in all ways. It is what makes us happy, what makes me happy.”

“Once again, sounds too good to be true.”

He cuddled her closer as she yawned, curving his body around hers. To his surprise she tugged his thigh over her hip so he was laying partially atop her, his body comfortable as he sank into her warmth. His aroused member pressed into her lush buttocks, but she merely wiggled, then yawned. He could feel the exhaustion nipping at her and knew she needed to rest more than he did, but he couldn’t resist the urge to forge their connection deeper before she slept. Her mind was in a relaxed state at the moment that would make it easier to touch her thoughts.

“Paige, would you like me to open my side of the bond with you, and help you open yours?”

“Sure,” she mumbled, rearranging his arm to her liking before snuggling into her pillow.

“Close your eyes and just drift. Do not focus on anything other than my voice.”

“I like your voice,” she murmured with a small smile. “It’s all growly like a bear.”

He lowered his shields slowly and reached out through their strong bond, sending out a soft touch to her mind. Instantly emotions filled him, but no thoughts. Some bondmates could communicate in their heads, while others had to rely on crystal implants to speak mind to mind. He didn’t need words for what he was feeling from her. Peace, profound contentment, and a love so generous and all-encompassing that he could scarcely understand it. He thought he knew what love was before this moment, but he had no idea.

“Happy thoughts,” she whispered and a wave of joyful calm surged from her side of the bond and bathed his soul in a golden light.

Some of the darkness clinging to him melted away and he cradled her close, clinging to the wispy fragments of her thoughts as she fell into her dreams.

Once she was slumbering he mentally relayed with the ships computer and checked his messages, pausing in a mixture of sorrow and fury when he found one from Rell.

He would have ignored it, but the man had coded it with their own secret key that marked it as extremely urgent.