Bondmate (8 page)

“Not
that I can ascertain.”

“Avanelle,
are you well?” Bynton sounded very agitated.

She
swallowed and looked at Mateen in silent inquiry. He dipped his head at the
device, one eyebrow raised slightly.

“I
am well. Are you?”

“Now
that I know you’re safe, I’m ready to kill yet more of these stinking
Xyrans
. It was a refreshing little dustup.” There was a
cheerful lilt to his voice in stark contrast to the dreadful actions around
them. Hearing his voice weakened her muscles, and she sank even further into
Mateen’s embrace. They’d come back for her.

Without
another word, Mateen turned and walked past some smoking rubble, carrying her
as if she weighed no more than a packet of protein supplement. She could hear
the crackle of a large fire nearby and caught glimpses of people shuffling away
from them, but the majority of her attention was caught up in the man holding
her, and in wondering about his bondmate.

“Where
are you taking me?” She ventured a soft question, all her uncertainty roiling
within.

“Where you belong.”
With that, he
clamped his jaw into a tight angle, and she knew he wasn’t going to speak any
further. Perhaps punishment was in order. She shivered at the thought. These
men could break her in half with little effort.

Mateen
rounded a corner to another clearing and suddenly roared out. Avanelle
shuddered in his arms with fright, and he immediately bent his head down to peer
at her, a faint wrinkle between his eyebrows.
“Apologies for
startling you.
People were touching our craft.”

For
a long second she stared into his eyes, scanning for any sign of how he felt
about her, what might be her fate, but all she saw was intelligent concern.
With a little sigh, she gave up the last of her resistance and allowed her head
to drop against his shoulder.

“What
will happen to them?”

“Unknown.
We cannot interfere.” He dipped his chin and looked away, a ferocious scowl
twisting his features.

“Away,
or suffer the consequences!” he bellowed out then quickly carried her onto a
small craft. It had an open cockpit with an enclosed rear space. He carried her
there, stowing her on a padded bench.
 
Rumbling that she should stay, he returned to the cockpit. She could see
his large form through a clear panel as he pressed at some controls. The craft
bobbled, and then Bynton was aboard, one arm reaching out to embrace Mateen
even as his face turned toward her. In a bound, he’d entered her area, peering
at her with a frown. She leaned back, fear returning with a cold grip on her
heart.

****

As
soon as he’d heard Mateen’s assurance that Avanelle was secure,
Bynton’s
bloodlust had morphed into a heady brew of
anticipation and desire, and he could barely concentrate on anything other than
returning to the hover as quickly as possible. Her breathy little assurance
that she was unharmed had thrilled him, and when she’d inquired after his
health, he’d wanted to roar in triumph. Their bond held even though she’d run.

Mateen’s
expression was one of relief and satisfaction when he’d boarded their craft,
and his bondmate had immediately set the controls for takeoff.
Enough of this wretched place.
They were taking the only
thing of value from it now and never returning. He entered the shielded cabin
to see Avanelle reclining on the bench, her eyes wide with apprehension as she
stared at him. She’d been through so much that he was determined to set her
mind at ease immediately.

Her
clothes were wet and covered in grime, and her feet encased in sodden socks
that looked familiar. There was a daub of
Xyran
ink
on her shirt, and he itched to remove the stain of their intended slavery from
her. She shivered convulsively, and he realized she needed to warm up and
receive a physical assessment before all else. He punched in a temperature
increase for the cabin,
then
knelt before her to pull
off her clothing. Her hands caught ineffectively at his as he removed the
ruined socks. He noticed blackening
Xyran
blood on
the heavy knit, and his heart sank.

“Were
you bitten?” He looked over her slim feet with concern, but other than them
being cold and dirty, saw no marks. “How did that blood come to be there? Did
you encounter one of them?”

“I
kicked one, the head of one, when it was dead,” she whispered, and he caught
her gaze with his own. A fighting spirit lived within her, and his staff
hardened at the thought. She was a worthy mate indeed.

“Then
you’ve been blooded. We should have retrieved it and marked your cheeks with
gore as your badge of honor. I can go back and take their chest studs as jewels
for you.
Not very fine examples.
Mat and I have much
finer in our coffers to give you upon our return to Alpha.” He was only
half-joking about the blood, but Avanelle’s already pale face whitened further
and she lay back with a cry. Too late he remembered she’d fled them in fear at
their trophies.

“Are
you going to beat me?” Her question filled him with astonishment, and he
stopped tugging at the filthy pants she wore.

“Why
would we harm you?”

“Because I ran.”

“It
matters not. Mateen told me you returned at his call. You won’t run again.” He
was sure to his toes even if she was struggling with the link they had forged.
With careful attention, he knew he and his bondmate would be able to overcome
the last of her fear and caution.
Sooner than they’d planned
if he had any influence in the business.
He was on fire to claim her. As
he removed her wet and filthy garments and exposed her glowing skin in the warm
and now humid cabin, it took all his control to not bury his face against her
flesh. Her scent filled the air, both that of her skin and of her growing
arousal.

“What
were they?”

“
Xyrans
.
Our mortal enemies.
Depraved raiders here
to capture women and children for the markets.”
He rattled off the bare
facts as he looked over her skin for sign of injury. All he found were some
fresh bruises on her legs and some scratches on her feet. Any pain she felt was
too much.

With
a growl he turned to the storage bin and pulled out some cleansing cloths,
which he applied to her body with vigor. Her skin flushed pink as he worked,
and he stole glances at her face. She wasn’t struggling against his movements
any longer, sitting up when he indicated, allowing him access to her inner
thighs and the undersides of her breasts with little catches in her breathing.
Her eyes darkened, and she licked her lips.

“Did
you kill many of them?”

“We
killed them all. Your fellow humans will have bodies decorated with gems and a
broken ship to salvage if they care to.”

“Why
did you…” She trailed off and blinked a few times as her eyes swam with tears.
At that moment, Mateen entered the cabin and shut the hatch quickly behind him
so as not to reduce the warmth of the small room. Avanelle stared at his
bondmate, her chin quivering as she weakly moved her arms to cover her breasts
and tiny mound. Bynton wanted to gently fasten his teeth against her wrists and
ever so carefully lift her slender limbs away from the prizes he sought to
taste, allow his
tesak
to prick her skin and draw her
blood to his.

“Is
she well?”

“No
damage to report.”

Mateen
grunted and stared down at her, his shifting armor creaking. He reached for a
cleansing pad and swiped at the cut on his face. His nostrils flared, and
Bynton knew he was picking up on Avanelle’s potent scent. Her body was calling
to them. “I placed us in stationary hover a thousand meters up. We won’t be
interrupted.”

And
Avanelle couldn’t
escape,
Bynton wanted to add but
stayed quiet. His bondmate was clearly ready for serious conversation, and it
was past time for Avanelle to take them.

“Avanelle.
You are ours.”
Mateen spoke the formal words in a low tone, and Bynton settled back on his
heels, the solemnity of the moment centering him.

“Avanelle,
we are yours,” he said, completing the ancient call to bonding. Now the primal
rituals could take place with complete sincerity. His heart swelled with love.
Love for his bondmate, and love for this woman who completed their home. He’d
fight to the death for either of them.

With
a sigh, Mateen sank down to kneel at his side, his hand coming to grip his
shoulder firmly. They’d spoken of this moment many times in the quiet evenings
as they waited for battle in the morning, and he knew both of them had harbored
doubts it would ever come to pass. They gave each other a look. His
bondmate’s
gaze was hot, and Bynton knew his own burned
equally.

“Will
you accept our pledge?”

She
sniffed, and a few tears ran down her cheeks. He hoped it was emotion of the
moment that prompted them. “I … I do. I don’t understand what’s happening
between us, but there’s something there, something I can’t ignore. It pulls at
me like a magnet.”

Bynton
smiled broadly. It was well and truly set then. Through the trials that might
await them on Alpha, their bond would survive.

“Open
your legs to us. We wish to see your beauty.” Mateen’s gruff request surprised
him, but no doubt his bondmate was as aroused as he. With a shiver, she moved
on the bench, sitting up before she spread her knees slowly apart. As she
revealed her
quonum
, the little brown curls modestly
parting to reveal pink lips already wet for them,
Bynton’s
staff throbbed, pressing hard enough against his armor to cause him pain.

“Do
you wish a kiss?”

Avanelle
nodded slowly, her hands sliding down to cup her knees as she drew them further
apart. Two sets of lips, which would he taste first?

Mateen
leaned up and forward, pressing his mouth to hers with a soft brush of his
lips. She jumped, and his bondmate dropped his hand to her inner thigh, pulling
her wide open in a clear invitation.

Bynton
needed no
further encouragement, shuffling close to approach her fragrant center. Before
indulging in an act he’d fantasized about for years, he looked up to see Mateen
licking Avanelle’s lips then drawing back to stare in her eyes before she
strained up to capture his mouth again. The air around them seemed to shimmer.

Inhaling
her richly scented welcome, Bynton carefully moved his mouth against her. Soft,
wet, warm flesh moved under his tongue as her body shook hard. He looked up to
gauge her reaction to find both she and his bondmate staring down at him, both
with half-lidded gazes. Satisfied with their interest, he returned to her
lushness. Her flavor was delicious, and the more he touched her, the more of
her sweet, wet pleasure covered his tongue and chin. Remembering the
instructions he’d studied with such intensity he often had to self-pleasure
after a session, he explored her thoroughly. He soon found the tight nub he’d
been seeking. Every stroke of his tongue resulted in a soft cry from Avanelle.
Her body moved suddenly, and he looked up to find Mateen had grasped her in his
arms as she threw her head back and squirmed on the seat, her bare legs flexing
around
Bynton’s
shoulders. Mateen nodded at him to
continue and pressed his nose into her unbound hair, murmuring something
unintelligible in her ear as one of his big hands squeezed her breast, the pink
dinap
peeking from between his thick fingers.

Returning
to his caresses, Bynton lapped at her, not ceasing his steady rhythm as she
thrashed and called out to him, then Mateen. He tried to match his pace to the
strokes she’d used on his staff the previous day, and just remembering how
she’d pleasured him, how intense his hot release in her hand had been, made him
growl against her feminine flesh. With an itching ache, his
tesak
emerged, and he carefully kept them from scraping her most sensitive tissues. His
erection throbbed in counterpoint, all the lust of battle combined with his joy
at their new bond desperate for an outlet. But then Avanelle convulsed against
him, crying out, her body shuddering as her heels drove into his back. She
would have arched off the bench if Mateen hadn’t been there to hold her steady.
Quake after quake wracked her until she finally collapsed into a limp tangle,
sprawled against his bondmate as her legs slowly slid from his shoulders. She
was beautiful, flushed and naked against the hard darkness of their body armor.

Mateen
rumbled and closed his eyes as he shifted, probably moving to relieve pressure
on his staff just as Bynton had to do.

“Have we
convinced her, do you think?”

Chapter Five

Mateen
had held her as Bynton piloted the craft back to their ship, stowing it inside
the larger vehicle. He carried her, wrapped in a thin, soft blanket, from the
hold into the living quarters as Bynton declared he’d secure the ship and scan
for any approaching
Xyrans
. After gently depositing
her on the bed,
their
bed, she now
realized, he stripped off his armor and hung it inside a clear bin where it was
soon joined by
Bynton’s
. As soon as he closed the
container, it filled with steam, no doubt to clean away the stains of battle.