The Breaker's Concubine (17 page)

other’s bodies. She had no idea how much time had passed before her mind began to surface

from its blissed-out daze. His skill in bed had astounded her, and considering she had spent the

last hundred years learning the art of pleasure, that was saying something.

The unwelcome thought of him sharing himself like this with another woman tried to

intrude, and she was surprised by her own savage reaction. Her heart lurched with adrenaline,

and her fingers curled into claws. She would kill anyone who tried to take him from her. He was

hers. A small part of her mind, growing louder by the second, vehemently protested that notion

with a soul-chilling fear. She wanted to ignore it, to bury it beneath an ocean of his love.

Her fists gripped his hair, pulling his mouth toward hers as she gave him a kiss that stirred

his cock against her belly. His hungry rumble of satisfaction soothed her as he broke the kiss and

breathed gently into her face. The scent of his breath calmed her instantly, and she went soft in

his arms.

She closed her eyes so tightly she saw stars and pushed a hand at his chest. This wasn’t

right; she shouldn’t be feeling this way. “Prince—”

“Shhhh,” he whispered and blew another warm breath across her lips. Once again her body

relaxed against him even as her mind raced.

“What did you do to me?” She tried to move away, but he pulled her close, and her heart

surged with joy at his touch.

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In a tone reeking with satisfaction, he said, “I bonded you.”

“You what?”

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Chapter Nine

His hands clamped on her wrists and pinned her to the bed when she tried to move away.

Her mind raced as she struggled to put a meaning to his words. Bonded? What the hell was that?

Pimina had never mentioned anything called bonding. She stared at him in shock while he gave

her a smile filled with such tenderness that it melted her heart even as her mind tried to absorb

the changes to her body. She felt…complete. It would have been an amazing sensation if she

didn’t also feel like she was going crazy. He was inside her, filling her mind and body, his

presence growing stronger with every beat of her heart.

“When men of my race find our mate, we release chemicals in our blood that physically

bond her to us. Our minds, our souls are joined as one. Even now the chemistry of your brain is

changing to better sync with mine, and my body is changing to respond to your desires. You are

my woman now, and I’ll never have another. I’m not physically capable of breeding with another

woman without your consent.” He nuzzled her cheek, and she fought the urge to melt into his

embrace.

His words echoed in her mind as she tried to come to terms with what he’d just told her.

He’d manipulated her, torn down the carefully erected walls around her heart, and made it

impossible for her to deny her feelings. That bastard. “Are you insane? How dare you bond me

against my will!” Deep hurt shone in his eyes before he turned away from her. She immediately

wanted to take back her words and soothe his pain, but her panic and anger wouldn’t let her.

“How dare you hold me against my will.” He sat up on the bed and glowered down at her.

“At least I bonded you because I lo—care about you. The only reason you’re with me is because

it’s your job.”

His words stung, and she scrambled out of bed, pulling her ratty, discarded robe on. “Do

you know what you’ve done? You’ve signed our death warrant! How am I supposed to help you

attract the attention of the empress when the thought of you even looking at another woman

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makes me insane with jealousy?” She didn’t add that she had felt this way even before they

bonded. Right now she wanted to hurt and scare him into seeing reason. If he kept up with this

insane notion of their being together, they would both die.

Her legs shook too much to hold her weight, and she sank to the floor. He made a

distressed noise and slid off the bed, kneeling next to her and stroking her back. Damn him, but

his touch soothed her like a thousand hot baths. Even her terror receded beneath his touch until

she was able to find a small island of calm amid the ocean of her fear.

“It doesn’t have to mean our deaths.” His lips brushed against her cheek, and she turned

away from him. It was the only thing she could do. Her body didn’t want to leave his touch.

“Help me escape. Come with me.”

“I can’t!” Her breath choked in her throat, and she weakly slapped away his hand as he

brushed a tear away. Oh how he tempted her. For a brief moment, she actually considered it, but

quickly realized they would never make it. Layers and layers of security measures kept Kyrimia

safe from invaders and kept her people prisoner. The muscles in her body stiffened as she

considered that new thought. It had never occurred to her to want to leave. Raised on tales from

the regulators about the horrors of the rest of the galaxy, she had been grateful for the defenses

that kept them safe. Now, thanks to Devnar, that illusion had been ripped away as well.

“You can, and you will.” His voice grew hard, and he cupped her chin in his hand, forcing

her to meet his dark gaze. “You will help me escape, and you will come with me.”

“No.” Her voice came out in an agonized whisper that made him flinch. They couldn’t

escape; it was impossible. They would both die or spend the rest of their lives in constant torture

working in the zanthin mines. The only way he was going to survive is if she loved him enough

to let him go.

“Melania, I can’t live without you.” His thumbs brushed away her tears, and she leaned

into his touch. Hating him and wanting him in a mixture of emotions that made her feel like she

was losing her mind. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t—and not because of the bond. I want you for

my woman. I want you to have my children and be my mate.”

A bitter laugh worked out of her throat, and he pulled back. “I’ve been sterilized. I can’t

have children without the empress’s permission.”

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“I know,” he said and pulled her back onto the bed with him. “We’ll find a way to fix it.”

“Idiot, only the empress has the chemicals that are needed to undo the change,” she spat

out and held her heart. Its ache doubled, and she felt an echo of his hurt. She clutched her head

and moaned. “Get out of my mind.”

“I’m sorry.” Sorrow layered his words, but the grief coming off him eased. “You will have

to learn how to manage our bond. Once you’re trained in how to block me, it will get better. I’ll

do my best to not overwhelm you with my feelings.”

“I hate you,” she said in a dull voice. “You’ve destroyed my life.” It killed her heart to say

that, but she had to stop this before it went too far. A bitter laugh escaped her as she clutched her

head and realized they had already gone way beyond the point of no return.

Silence stretched between them, and he gathered his clothes. The rustle of fabric over skin

sounded loud to her ears, and she wallowed in her misery. His sadness receded, replaced with a

sense of purpose and strength.

“Melania, you have to pull yourself together.”

“Why?” she said in a dull voice. “We’re dead.”

Muttering an oath, he took her shoulders in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “We are

not dead. We are only dead if you give up on me.”

Oh how his words stung. She had never given up on anyone, ever. As a breaker, she had

been given the most damaged hearts and bodies and, through sheer willpower, had managed to

heal them. It was time to remember who she was and what she had to do. She held his gaze while

pressing on her bracelet and said, “The maid will take you back to your room.”

He sighed and stroked her face. “If we were on my planet, we would be celebrating our

bonding with a party you could not imagine. My family would all be there, eager to welcome

you into our home and our lives.” Homesickness, love, and contentment radiated from him, and

she could only stare as he continued. “They would love you, my sister and mother especially.

Think about it, Melania. Think about all the things you could have if you were only brave

enough to try.”

A chime sounded at the door, and he stepped back. “Secure my wrists.”

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She averted her eyes and listened to the metallic
snick
as his cuffs snapped together. She

stood and said, “Attend.” The sight of him falling to his knees before her felt wrong. She should

be the one kneeling.

Rebellious thoughts filled her head, and she struggled for control as she strode over to the

door and opened it. Salina stood on the other side, and her lips thinned into an angry line as she

took in Melania’s tearstained face. “Mistress, how may I be of service?”

Guilt radiated from Devnar, and she glanced over her shoulder. It was odd to be able to

read his every emotion without having to search for the clues in his face. “Take him back to his

rooms and see that he is fed. Tomorrow we are going to the Golden Arena.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” he said in a soft voice and stood. With his eyes lowered like a

proper novice, he stood next to Salina and waited patiently.

“Good night, Novice.” His longing for a kiss moved through her, and she actually took a

step toward him before her mind kicked in. Gritting her teeth, she gave Salina a smile that did

nothing to soothe the other woman’s worry. She slammed the control panel next to the door and

shut it in their faces. Sorrow and fear churned in her stomach as she leaned back against the wall

and slumped to the floor.

What was she going to do?

* * *

embarrassment. Naked except for a jeweled silver collar and his ever-present wrist cuffs, he

followed Melania on a glittering leash, the black marble floors shot with streaks of bronze cold

beneath his bare feet. He kept his gaze locked on her lithe back and tried to ignore the

speculative looks and whispers that followed in their wake.

Melania’s tension rolled through him, mixing with his own until he didn’t know where his

nervousness ended and hers began. He had to get control of himself for her sake. If they kept

feeding each other’s fear, it could quickly snowball out of control and render them both useless.

He took a controlled breath and eased his muscles. Pulling back from his bond was one of the

hardest things he’d ever done, but he closed off his side of the connection as much as he could.

Big emotions would still leak through, but it should give her some sense of privacy.

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Pausing, Melania tugged at the leash, and he stopped next to her. All his efforts to speak

with her had been met with silence. When he continued to try to reason with her, she had

threatened to gag him. That didn’t stop the complex rush of feelings coming from her. With her

refusal to speak, she had given him time to assess and get comfortable with their bond. Fear and

determination were her primary emotions, but beneath was the ever-present glow of her love for

him. Though he was sure she would deny it with everything she had, he knew she loved him.

The bonded men he knew always bragged about what it was like to make love to a bond

mate, saying it was the ultimate pleasure. Devnar had doubted them at the time, but now he knew

it was true. Just the idea of feeling her emotions as she orgasmed around his cock had him hard

and throbbing. He would know exactly what she wanted and how to pull the most pleasure from

her body and mind. Last night she had been a wild little thing in bed, undone by his commands

and restraints. Dominating her had excited him as much as it had excited her, and he couldn’t

wait to see what else he could get his reluctant little concubine to do. As he had thought about

their time together last night, her lips had softened, and he caught her peeking at him out of the

corner of her eye.

Despite her apparent indifference, he could still smell her desire for him. Even if she was

determined to punish herself, her body didn’t want him to go. Unconsciously, she turned her

small frame toward his. His body wanted nothing more than to take her into a dark alley and

plunge into her silken heat. Fortunately his mind recognized the danger that would put his mate

in and allowed him to control his base urges.

The fact that she radiated fear like she was in danger made him even more edgy, and he

had to strain to control his temper. Every man who stepped near her was viewed as a potential

challenge. He leaned closer and took in a deep breath of her scent, seeking to calm himself with

the knowledge that she smelled clean and healthy. The wash of her hormones did the trick, and

his instincts mellowed out enough to allow him to work on keeping his emotions shielded from

her.