Soldier Mine (4 page)

“Name me,” the Thresl insisted.

Kres wrapped his arms around himself. If he named the Thresl, it would make it too real. It was the point of no return. It was like naming the stray cat that followed you home. Once it was named, you couldn’t just dump it at the animal shelter.

He wondered, slightly hysterically, if there was a Thresl drop-off shelter to return lost or unwanted shape-shifters.

“I-I can’t.” The sad look in the Thresl’s eyes shook Kres, but he had to stay strong.

“You still hope to leave me.” The Thresl’s resigned tone stabbed Kres with guilt.

“I hope to free you,” Kres corrected. He knew he was battling against the tide but it wasn’t his nature to go down without a fight.

The Thresl laughed. “Thresls aren’t meant to be free. We’re meant to be bonded. There’s no greater shame than to remain in our birth form until death. I am young for my kind and will have high status for my early transformation.”

He looked so proud of himself Kres couldn’t continue his denial. For the Thresl, this was a lifetime milestone to be proud of and celebrated. For Kres, it was a life-changing event—and not a particularly welcome one. Looking over the tall muscular man in his bed, he had to admit there could be worse ways to spend his life than in the presence of a sexy man dedicated to being his.

“Name me!” the Thresl insisted again.

While Kres was thinking about how his life was taking a horribly wrong turn, his new life partner was fixated on his name. Kres wished there was a way to give the Thresl his freedom, but apparently that wish wasn’t shared by the ex-cat. Taking a deep breath, Kres accepted his fate.

Kres cautiously held out his hands. The Thresl gave him a wide smile and wrapped his larger hands around Kres’.

Kres looked at the gorgeous dark-haired man and thought over various names. There were a lot of names that could suit his new companion. Tristan? Litger? Neel? A forgotten memory drifted into his mind.
Perfect
.

“When I was little, my mother used to read to me every night. My favourite story was about a beast that terrorised the local villagers until he met a fair maiden. He fell in love with her and shed his animal skin to stay a human at her side.” Kres could feel a blush heat his cheeks as the Thresl’s smile widened. “I know this isn’t the same situation, but I’ve always liked the name of the hero. His name was Vohne.”

The Thresl released Kres’ hands and slid them into his hair. Using a firm grip, he pulled Kres closer until their mouths met in a slow, demanding kiss. Heat poured through Kres’ body like molten lava, burning him throughout. A moan rolled from his chest, vibrating their lips and adding to the sensation. When he was finally released, he had to blink a bit to focus his vision.

“The situation isn’t that different,” the Thresl said before nipping at Kres’ bottom lip. “I’d be happy to take the name of Vohne.”

A loud banging shook Kres out of his daze.

Someone was at the door.

A low growl rolled from Vohne’s throat. He jumped off the bed into a protective crouch. He quickly straightened, stomped to the door then ripped it open.

It took Kres an inhuman amount of effort to tear his eyes from the Thresl’s tight, naked ass when he heard his name.

“Piers!” Commander Tiller’s voice crackled with command.

He rushed to the door to see the commander’s eyes wide with fear as he took in the enormous man at the door.

“You might want to tell your boyfriend I’m not a threat.”

“Um, that’s not my boyfriend—that’s my Thresl.”

“My name is Vohne. Kres has gifted me with a name.” The Thresl sounded ridiculously proud of that fact.

Tiller shifted his gaze from the huge man to Kres. “Report to my office ASAP.”

With those words, Commander Tiller turned and marched away. Kres grabbed the Thresl by the arm and pulled him back into the room, closing the door behind them. Although soldiers were generally difficult to shock, he didn’t want to get complaints about a naked man hanging out in his doorway. He didn’t need that on his permanent record.

Running a hand through his rumpled hair, he thought through his options.

“I’m going to take a shower, then I’m going to have to go to the commissary and buy you some clothes.”

“I will go with you,” the Thresl announced.

“You can’t go with me. You’re naked.”

Vohne crossed his arms over his chest. “Then you can’t go. I can’t protect you if you go by yourself.”

Kres laughed. “You don’t need to protect me. I’m just going to the store.”

“You don’t go anywhere I don’t go.” His tone was so definite, Kres knew he wasn’t going to get out of it. Maybe in time the creature would become less possessive.

“I’m going to take a shower. We will discuss this when I’m done.”

Vohne took a step to follow, but Kres pointed at the bed. “Stay. If anyone jumps out to attack me under the hot water spray, I’ll give a shout.”

Fuming, Kres stomped to the bathroom, making sure to slam the door when he entered. He quickly felt foolish. In an unfamiliar environment, the Thresl was just sticking with what he knew—protect his human above all other things. Strange none of the other Thresls appeared as protective of their matches as Vohne was of him.

Still thinking over his odd relationship, Kres turned on the water and sighed beneath the hot stream. Slowly his muscles relaxed until his stress rinsed down the drain.

Maybe he could call someone and have some clothes delivered. Pleased with the new plan, Kres finished up his shower and pulled open the curtain.

“Ahhh!” Clutching his chest, he glared at the large man who had invaded the bathing space. “You scared me.”

Vohne looked at him with concern. “You are injured?” He reached for Kres, who stepped back from his touch. “You are afraid of me?”

“I’m afraid of anyone who appears in the bathroom while I’m washing. I wasn’t expecting you.”

Vohne looked Kres up and down. A wide smile crossed his face. “You should expect others if you are going to walk around wet and naked. You are very pleasing to the eyes. I am honoured to call you mine.”

“I-I… Never mind.”

He didn’t have it in him to tell Vohne that he didn’t belong to the shifter. They both knew there was a bond between them. He just wasn’t sure what that meant in the long term.

“It is a waste to wrap clothes around you. The only reason I will allow it is because I’ve observed that your kind doesn’t walk around naked due to your fragile skins.”

“You have a fragile skin now also,” Kres reminded him.

He got an indecent smile in return. “Maybe we should see what happens when you rub the two of us together.”

A knock at the outer door had them both turning.

Kres wrapped a towel around his hips. “There sure is a lot of traffic this early in the morning.”

Before he could reach the main living area, Vohne raced past him and ripped open the door.

A messenger stood there holding out a package. “The commander said you might need this.”

Kres shoved Vohne to the side, pushing his way past him. “I’ll take that. Tell the commander thank you.”

The messenger looked Kres up and down in appreciation. “Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.”

Vohne let out a growl and yanked Kres back into the room. “Get your own human.” With a snarl, he slammed the door in the messenger’s face.

“Nice.” Kres folded his arms and glared at the Thresl. “If you’re going to pretend to be human, you have to learn to have better manners.”

Vohne narrowed his golden eyes. “Why would I want to do that?”

“So people don’t give in to the urge to shoot you with their side arms.”

“Not that.” Vohne waved a hand as if swatting away a pesky fly. “Why would I want to pretend to be human? I am a Thresl. I am not human and never will be. Despite my form, I will always be a beast inside.” The creature gave Kres a toothy smile. “Don’t worry so much about what other people think.”

With that sage advice, the creature walked past Kres into the bathroom, leaving the door open behind him.

“I am in so much trouble,” Kres groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. Forcing his eyes away from the bathroom, he finished dressing, making sure his uniform was tidy and his boots had a nice shine. He was certain that by the end of the day he’d need as many extra points as he could get with his commander. The stress he’d lost in the shower came back with a vengeance. Grumbling about naked, sexy Thresls, Kres opened the package the messenger had brought, pulled out the clothes, and laid them out for the man-cat to find when he got out of the shower.

* * * *

Commander Tiller sat behind his desk as he regarded them with his cool grey eyes. His beautiful Thresl, Muir, gave them a nod as they entered. Kres nodded back. Vohne gave a low growl. Muir tilted her head in acknowledgement of his alpha status.

Kres resisted the urge to roll his eyes since Tiller was watching him, but it was close. It would take some time to get used to the pecking order of Thresls. They appeared to take it seriously if Muir’s behaviour was any indication.

“Please be seated,” Tiller indicated the chairs set before his desk.

Kres settled in the chair on the left. He wasn’t surprised when Vohne stood behind him instead of taking a seat. Sitting would be too laid back for the Thresl. After all, how was he going to protect Kres from all those imaginary dangers if he relaxed enough to sit down?

“Piers, I’m not going to tiptoe around the problem. Your Thresl is dangerous. I’ve never seen one transform that quickly before. The faster they transform, the more powerful the Thresl.” His cool eyes looked Vohne over from head to toe. “I’ve also never seen one so big. There are a lot of people who are going to want your Thresl.”

“B-but I thought now that we were bonded we had to stay together?” He didn’t want to sound like a whiny child, but he was just now getting used to the idea of having this large creature follow him around.

“That’s why they will try to grab you, too. Your Thresl will do anything if they have you under their control.”

Kres took a deep breath. “Won’t Vohne just kill them?”

Tiller gave him a disapproving look. “You really don’t know much about the Thresl, do you?”

“What he doesn’t know I can teach him,” Vohne growled behind him.

The commander looked them both over. Sighing, he reached into his desk and pulled out a thick book. He slammed it onto his desk. “Take this and look it over. It should tell you everything you need to know about bonding with a Thresl, but don’t think just because you’re bonded no one can use him.”

Kres frowned. “What would they use him for?”

Tiller looked Vohne up and down. “Yours they would use as an assassin. Thresls are excellent killers, especially if they’re trying to get their mate back. Even if they don’t have you, the promise of reuniting the two of you will keep him under their control for a while.

“It is your job to protect him as much as he protects you. I’m putting the pair of you on a special training task force. You will have limited contact with other people until your bond is secure. The stronger the bond, the better you’ll be able to sense each other if you get separated. Understand?”

“I thought we were already bonded,” Kres said.

Tiller smiled. “Read the book. It’ll explain everything. Dismissed.”

Kres picked up the heavy volume, more than certain the complicated question of his feelings for the man-cat wouldn’t be answered inside.

Kres took the Thresl to the cafeteria. He couldn’t help looking at everyone he passed with suspicion. It disturbed him to learn that someone could still try to steal his Thresl or kidnap him to control Vohne. Possessiveness sat oddly in his chest when he looked at the man-cat. He still wasn’t quite sure what to do with the creature, but he certainly didn’t want anyone else taking him either.

“It will be all right.” Vohne rubbed a reassuring hand down Kres’ back.

He almost dropped the book.

“Um, thanks. I…I just thought once you were bonded, you were safe from poachers. I mean, I’m sorry you didn’t get to your destination, but I don’t want you stolen either.”

Vohne gave him a wide smile, exposing all of his extra sharp teeth. “I’m hoping someone tries. Then they can learn the Thresl truth.”

“What’s that?” Kres was positive there was more going on in this conversation than appeared on the surface, and he was almost as certain he didn’t want to learn what it was.

“Kres!” Zander ran up to him like he was his new best friend. Vohne gave an unfriendly growl.

“Hi, Zander.” He saw Zander’s Thresl plodding behind him. The animal was caramel-coloured and several shades lighter than Vohne had been in that form. He gave a friendly smile to the creature, but its eyes were focused on Vohne. The creature tilted its head submissively. With a satisfied nod, Vohne turned his attention to Zander.

“Wow, I heard your Thresl converted early, but shit, he’s big.”

The awe in Zander’s voice made Kres laugh. He liked Zander and hoped they could become friends.

“Hey, did you hear what happened with Brice?”

Kres leant forward as the other man lowered his voice. “He was arrested and thrown in the brig. He tried to steal back that Thresl he’d bought even after the commander said they weren’t a match.”

A chill went down Kres’ spine. Brice reminded him a lot of Barley. Maybe there was a law—if your name started with a B, you had to be a total asshole. Kres quickly reviewed the people he knew whose name started with B and decided it was just a fluke.

“How did he get caught?”

“The Thresl bit him. When he started screaming, the MPs came and discovered he was trying to steal the Thresl. It’s a felony, but his rich father will probably get him off.”

“Probably.” Kres bitterly reflected from his own experience that that was usually the case.

“What’s the next step in your training?” Zander asked, regarding the pair.

“We’re supposed to bond.” He waved his book at Zander. “The commander gave me this to review.”

“Huh.” Zander looked at the book curiously. “I wonder if there are diagrams.”