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Authors: Jocelyn Modo

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Sighing, she acknowledged that her intimate was a perfect
match—at least when it came to the body bond.

In her mind’s eye she saw Lone mount her, thrust into her
ready body, kiss her neck, reach under and caress her breasts. She shuddered at
the image, her body responding to her intimate instinctually, her ass lifting,
offering herself to him.

He crouched over her, surrounding her petite body with his
larger one. She arched her back, needing the feel of his skin against hers, needing
his touch like she needed air.

He kissed her neck, her shoulder. “Do you want this bond,
kitchka
?”
he asked, pressing his cheek to hers and rubbing.

The smell of lemon sugar grew strong, making her mouth
water. And she realized that Lone was marking her with the scent glands in his
cheeks. She inhaled his scent, her breathing ragged, her heart racing, pulsing
in her throat as he kissed her once more before nudging her to give him her
other cheek so he could mark her there as well.

She shuddered and cried out, his scent overwhelming her
senses, bringing her body to a state of pure need. “Please,” she said. “I
want…need.”

“Yes.” He thrust into her. Deep.

“Lone,” she cried out as he stretched her, filled her,
invading her most private space and claiming her as his. The smell of virgin
blood mingled with lemon sugar and her own sweet scent to fill the tiny hotel
room. She had never smelled anything so miraculous in her life—the bonding of
her body with her intimate’s.

 

Lone’s muscles bunched and strained under the intense
pleasure that burned through his body as if it were rocket fuel. Her tight, wet
pussy gripping his cock was better than anything he’d ever experienced or even
imagined.

This is what the intimate bond felt like—pure pleasure
trembling at the precipice of pain—and even though he could hardly stand it,
barely stop himself from thrusting wildly and perhaps hurting Azure, he didn’t
want the contentment blanketing his body—the unpolluted bliss—to ever end.

She shuddered beneath him, her feminine form seeming small
and breakable in the moment. A tide of protectiveness washed over him and he
held himself very still until her body slowly begin to relax.

When her breath slowed, he nuzzled her silky hair aside and
kissed her ear before asking, “Are you okay,
kitchka
?”

She shifted beneath him, just a small movement but big
enough that it allowed him to become fully seated. He closed his eyes to savor
the moment as she replied with a bare whisper, “Y-yes.”

Slowly, gently, he smoothed his hand over her super-soft
skin. She shivered at his touch. Satisfied by her response to him, he cupped
her ass and then slid his fingers to her clit once more. Azure bucked beneath
him, her head coming up off the mattress, her lips parting to release the
sweetest little moans Lone had ever heard.

He smiled—couldn’t help it—and began to thrust in time with
the strokes of his fingers. Who would believe that the best lay of his life—and
he hadn’t even come yet—was with a virgin? Oh sure, the poets went on about the
ecstasy of bonding with your intimate, but Lone had always thought they were
full of shit.

“Gods unseen.” Azure dug her hands into the threadbare
sheets, thrusting back against him.

He took the hint and upped his pace, moving faster, harder,
meeting her quickening thrusts. Panting, growling, Lone felt the final stages
of their bodies bonding, allowing them to be in complete synchronicity as their
thrusts coalesced into a series of shrieks from Azure.

He drew out her climax, teasing her clit as he continued to
thrust until she screamed and collapsed with a whimper.

Taking her hips into his hands, he growled as the primal
part of him demanded he spurt off inside her, filling her with his cum,
claiming her as his.

Rapture ripped through him. He came in long, shuddering waves
of pleasure as his intimate’s hot little body milked him, accepting his seed.

He collapsed on top of her, but instantly remembered his
weight and her small frame and rolled to lie on his back. For what seem like
the longest moment of his life, he waited for Azure to turn her head and look
at him. When she did, her lips still pouted from his kisses, her breath still
came in hard gasps.

But it was her eyes that captured him, made him hard all
over again.

She looked at him as if he was the only thing she could see.
She looked at him as if he was hers.

His heart skipped and thumped loudly.

She snuggled in close to him, her head on his shoulder, her
arm and leg draped over his sweat-slicked body. Oh yes, she was definitely
claiming him as her intimate.

Slowly, as graceful as a ghost, she feathered her fingertips
over his skin, down his body to his cock. Her hand hovered over him and he
could feel her hesitation as if it were his own.

“Please,” he encouraged, “I need your touch.”

As if his words released her, she grazed the head of his
cock with her fingertips and then wrapped her hand around his shaft. She held
him in a firm grip, one that mimicked her hot little pussy, and stroked him.
Slow at first, then faster.

He looked down the curves of her body to her soft hand and
groaned at the sight of his weeping cock.

Now that their bodies were bonded, his need would always
match hers. He would always be ready to please her whenever she wanted him. And
her body would react to his in the same way. Once their hearts and minds bonded
as well, the intimacy between them would know no limitations, no bounds.

But right now their body bond ruled…and would persist to
rule. Closing his eyes with a satisfied grin, he gave himself over to the
stroke of his intimate’s hand, content in the knowledge that for hours more he
would experience the most intense pleasure he had ever known.

His eyes snapped open as Azure’s mouth swallowed the head of
his cock. She sucked and licked, torturing him. Gods unseen, she had no idea
what she was doing to him…but he would show her. He would hear her sighs and
moan and scream again. He would show her every pleasure to be had between
intimates.

* * * * *

Still in a haze of pleasure, Azure stretched, feeling beyond
self-indulgent, feeling wanton, a hedonistic goddess pleased with her god. Lone
was out of bed, bent over, digging through his clothes, attempting to find his
comm to answer a trilling call, and Azure couldn’t help but ogle him.

He had made love to her so many times and in so many
different ways, she should be completely wiped out. Instead energy zinged
through her body.
I’m ready to take on the universe. If Corra were here…
Azure sobered. She’d wasted so much time, time better spent finding Trius and
asking for his help.

How could she have done this? What kind of person forgets
their kin for sex—sex with her intimate, the male she would spend the rest of
her life with, true. But still she had forgotten Corra when she had promised to
find a way to save her.

Gods unseen, she sucked.

Rolling from the bed, she thought about her next move.
Lone’s brother Wharm had promised his help, but she hadn’t heard from him and
it had been hours. A sudden paranoid thought took over her mind, pushing out
all the soft, sweet feelings left over from their lovemaking… What if Lone had
used their bonding, their trinity-of-souls against her? What if he and his
brothers were working for her father?

“Azure?” Naked save the now silent comm in his right hand,
Lone stepped in front of her.

She couldn’t stop her heart from doing a little flip of
approval at the sight of his tight body, his sleek muscles, his smooth, tan
skin.

He tucked two fingers under her chin and tilted her head
back so she met his gaze. “I can sense your confusion, your anger and fear. I
can hear some of your thoughts. Do you really believe I would betray you?”

She blinked up at him, unable to answer. Panic burned
through her brain, turning any rational, reasonable thoughts to ash. She
couldn’t think clearly, couldn’t think past her guilt.

Lone seemed to take her silence as a yes. He jerked away
from her as if he’d been slapped. Without another word, he pulled on his
clothes and stormed out of her room.

The body bond between them made her feel the tightness of
his muscles, the ache in his jaw. Yet she still couldn’t think past her dread.
She curled up in a ball on the bed to cry, but no tears welled. Her eyes
remained dry. Slowly—after many controlled breaths—her mind cleared.

Maybe she didn’t know Lone or his brothers well enough to
trust them, but she knew her father. He would never do business with a dual
blood. There was no way her intimate was working against her. She shook her
head at herself.
What a fool to even consider it.

Guilt swamped Azure for all the pleasure she had found, the
unadulterated soul-shaking love she experienced in Lone’s arms when she should
have been working toward saving Corra from degradation.

Lying there naked and alone, she felt as if she were frozen
in the void of space. Her body was bonded to Lone’s and craved his comfort, his
strong arms around her, his warm breath against the back of her neck. Squeezing
her eyes shut, she pushed her desire away. She rolled from the bed and headed
for the tiny bathroom. Maybe the warmth from the cleanser would soothe her.

She hit the old, rusted On button and closed her eyes as the
cleanser spit soap on her head to foot. Suddenly a cold blast of air hit her.
She opened her eyes on Lone, who stood in the open cleanser doorway, his black
eyes blazing.

“Answer my question.”

“W-what?” She crossed her arms over her breasts, shivering.
“What are you talking about?”

“I asked you a question. Do you believe I betrayed you in
some way?”

Tears burned her eyes but like a coward, she decided to
pretend the foamy soap had bled into her eyes.

He was back. Furious. But standing before her tall and
strong and…hers?

“Answer me.” The demand in his voice made her snap.

“No!” she shouted in his face. “I don’t think you betrayed
me. I was overwhelmed. Confused. Worried. But I know you aren’t working against
me.”

She trembled with her emotions. Tears streamed down her
face.

“Good.” He grabbed her, pulled her out of the cleanser and
against his solid frame where she literally cried on his shoulder. Wrapping his
arms around her, he said, “Wharm told me what you told him. About your father,
your cousin, you.”

She continued to cry, a storm of tears bursting out of
her—she was safe in his arms, safe enough to break down. He shushed her,
rubbing her back in big and small circles.

“I have to get her away from him. He’s horrible,” she sobbed
against his chest. “I just want us both to be safe. To be free. Happy.”

“And you will,” he replied with a soft, soothing voice. “You
will.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to swallow her
tears. Lone was being unbelievably sweet and understanding. He didn’t deserve
an intimate on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Hell, he would never want to
link their spirits and hearts now to finalize the bonding of their
trinity-of-beings. And who could blame him? Her spirit and heart were breaking,
and he deserved an intimate who was whole.

Chapter Four

 

Lone cursed the gods seen and unseen for letting his
intimate be hurt and in fear. He would not allow it to continue. She may not
have bonded completely with him yet, but Azure was his responsibility now, and
he would see to it that she was safe, happy and free from her father. If that
meant traveling into Vitca territory and rescuing her cousin, so be it.

But first things first.

He could feel hunger riding her body hard as if she hadn’t
eaten in days. Smoothing her hair to the side, he kissed her cheek. “Why don’t
you finish your cleansing while I order room service?”

She took a shaky breath and backed out of his arms. Her face
was blotchy and her eyes red from crying, but she seemed to collect herself as
he watched—her eyes drying out, her chin lifting ever so slightly, her
trembling ceasing, leaving a strong, capable female before Lone once more.

“This section of rooms doesn’t receive room service,” she
said, her gaze not quite meeting his.

He felt the tension in her body as if it were his own.
Before he decided how to address it without upsetting her further, she stepped
into the cleanser and started a new cycle as the door automatically closed
behind her.

Vitca were a proud race who believed in honor. His intimate
must be used to having plenty of credits. Otherwise the crappy hotel room and
the inability to buy food would not mortify her so.

He left the bathroom to scoop up her shoes and clothes and
place them in a launderer. It was then that he realized she had no luggage, no
change of clothes, no purse even. She had left her father’s house with only the
clothes on her back and a few credits in her pocket to get here, which,
apparently, hadn’t even been enough to feed herself.

His heart swelled at the knowledge that his intimate had
such courage, such loyalty to those she loved. Her cousin was lucky to have a
place in Azure’s heart. It was where Lone wanted to be.

“Where are my clothes?” Azure stepped just inside the room,
a thin towel tucked beneath her arms, water from the rinse cycle beading her
hair and pale skin.

“In the launderer. Should be done in—” The machine beeped
twice, signaling completion.

Azure pulled her shoes and neatly folded clothing out of the
small compartment in the wall and stepped into the bathroom once more. Lone
smiled at the burning blush of her skin he felt from her through their body
bond. He had explored every inch of her, knew every line, every curve—hell,
their bodies were even bonded—yet she refused to dress in front of him.

After a few minutes, the bathroom door whooshed open and
Azure stepped out dressed in plain, nondescript but well-made clothing. He
hadn’t noticed them before, too intent on getting past them to her flesh
beneath, but now he realized she must have selected the pale-gray top and
pitch-black pants so she would fade into a crowd. Not that she ever could. His
intimate was far too beautiful to go unnoticed.

“Let’s go find something to eat,” he said, offering her his
hand. When she hesitated, he tacked on, “We can discuss the rescue of your
cousin.”

She met his gaze, hers going wide and watery. “You’ll help
me?”

“Yes.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You are my
intimate. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

With a smile, she pulled him down and kissed him. “I’m sorry
I suspected you.”

“I understand. You’ve only bonded with my body, not my
spirit or heart. But you should know that they are yours as well.” He led her
out of her tiny hotel room, up to his floor, the aria floor where music, food
and alcohol were everywhere for the taking…if you roomed there.

Lone walked up to a scrolling wall and tapped it, providing
his print so that he could access his account. He quickly added her as a guest
to his room so Azure could enjoy everything the aria floor had to offer. She
was silent beside him, but he could feel her gratitude, her admiration for him.
She humbled him.

He had done nothing but hold her while she cried and offered
to help her. She was his intimate. Everything he had was hers even if she never
accepted him completely.

A petite Vitca soprano dressed in a gown made of smart
material, which rippled with colors to accompany the wearer’s mood, stepped up
onto one of many long, narrow stages and began to sing
A Song to the Moons
.
Her voice seemed to captivate Azure. She swayed to the lovely aria, her gaze
fixed on the singer.

“You like music?” he asked.

“Love. All kinds.”

“Good,” he said, squeezing her hand. “It’s my life’s work.”

She turned to him, interest in her eyes. “You’re a
musician?”

He led her to a bountiful buffet table, brimming with both
Vitca and Nashete delicacies. “Amateur musician. Professional musical
instrument dealer.”

An elderly Nashete couple in front of them ran their gazes
over Lone and Azure then sniffed loudly, a distasteful look on their frowning
faces.

Azure dropped his hand. She’d abandoned him. He turned to
reassure her but laughed instead. His sweet, little Vitca intimate was giving
the Nashete couple a very rude hand sign. She met his gaze and arched an
eyebrow at him.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, smiling.

“I—” He lost his breath as a fiery lick of his intimate’s
spirit connected with his. Her strength, her character, her fortitude blew
through him like a ghost of her possessing him.
Holy shit.
He had been
prepared to wait months, even years for the spirit bond. But somehow, some way,
the joining of spirits had already begun.

“No.” She dropped her plate of food on the buffet table as
she stumbled away from him, a look of horror on her face. “No.”

He took a calming breath and reached out for her to take his
hand once more. If they could share the body bond they had already created it
should help both of them to accept the spirit bonding too.

Azure looked at his hand as if he held out a clawed paw.

“No,” she said again, then turned and ran from him off
through the crowd.

Lone gritted his teeth as her emotional pain tore through
him, ripping at him from the inside out. She was more than afraid. She was
terrified. The spirit bond meant they would be emotionally tied for life. And
despite the body bond, his intimate, apparently, was not ready for that sort of
commitment.

He set his plate aside and followed her. She might be okay
with living the rest of her life celibate, now that they were both unable to
become physically intimate with anyone else, but Lone was the furthest thing
from okay.

Damned if he was going to spend the rest of his life
impotent. He hesitated. As soon as he had the thought a worse one came—living
the rest of his life without Azure.

He was sick at the thought. If he had eaten, he would have
vomited.

He stalked his intimate through the dense crowd, fighting
back her fear and his anger.

 

Azure rushed through the crowd without direction. All she
could think was that she needed to be as far away from Lone as she could before
the spirit bond solidified, binding them together. Forever.

She wanted to be free. Not tied to a male she didn’t know or
love. Then again, she had spent her entire girlhood dreaming of finding her
intimate, bonding with him, living happily in a beautiful home with loving
children.

She shook her head. That had been the dream of a child. Her
dream as an adult was to be free. Before she’d met Lone, she feared becoming
her mother, being enslaved to a male who was not her intimate. But now she
feared being bonded to a male who was her intimate.

Gods unseen, she couldn’t think straight because of the
hormonal change that came with adulthood. She couldn’t think past her fear for
Corra, her fear of her father who must be in pursuit of her, her fear of being
tied to someone she barely knew.

“Found you,” a gravelly male voice said as he grabbed and
pulled her against him.

Her body, bonded to Lone, rejected being held by another
male. Her heart slammed against her chest, her hands fisted. Remembering her
brief training in self-defense, she collapsed against him, throwing her
attacker off balance so she could break free. She spun around to face him,
brought her knee up to rack him. Hard.

He made a high wheezing sound as he doubled over and
collapsed to his knees on the floor.

She turned to run but another male was at her back, his arm
snaking around her waist, trapping her. She struggled against his grip but only
accomplished hurting herself.

“Wharm.” That one word carried a world of threat. “Release
my intimate. Now.”

Immediately she was free. She stumbled away, turning to see
that her second captor had been Lone’s brother.

“We were only trying to catch her for you,” Wharm said
indignantly.

“You and Kana frightened her half to death. Hurt her,” he
said, looking at the male still kneeling on the floor.


We
hurt
her
?” Kana said, disbelief lacing his
shaky voice. “She damn near castrated me.”

Wharm chuckled. “That’s what you get for underestimating
her. Did you really think Lone’s intimate would be some wilting flower?”

Kana used the wall for leverage as he stood, still panting,
his face red and blotchy. “I didn’t think she’d perform sex reassignment
surgery on me.”

“Oh please. You’ve always been a bit of a girl anyway,
Kana.”

“Fuck you,” Kana growled.

Lone sighed. “Azure, I believe you have already met my
brother Wharm.”

She gave a nod of acknowledgement, keeping her lips firmly
pressed together to prevent laughter from spilling out. She was suddenly giddy.
Hell, maybe she was losing her mind. She couldn’t stand still—shifting, moving,
feeling uncomfortable where she was.

“This is my youngest brother Kanaen, but we call just call
him Kana.”

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance,” Azure said,
falling back on her manners to keep her steady even as she shifted again,
stepped to the side.

“Yeah, well I’m not,” the youngest brother mumbled.

“Kana,” both Lone and Wharm rebuked him.

“What?” He cupped himself. “Can you really blame me?”

“No, not at all,” Azure said, taking another small step and
finally feeling comfortable where she was. “Can you really blame me?”

Kana tilted his head to the side and studied her, then moved
his gaze right next to her. “Guess not,” he said. “It’s obvious you two have
body bonded.”

She glanced next to her only to find that she was standing a
mere inch away from Lone. With a gasp, she stepped away. She really was losing
it. Running away only to inch toward the male she ran from, needing to be near
him even if she didn’t want to.

She wished she had time to allow her hormones and emotions to
settle long enough for her to wrap her mind around the situation and come to
some decision.

“Our bodies have bonded,” Lone said, “and our spirits have
begun to bond as well.”

Every muscle in her body tightened, her heart quickened.

“Kitchka.
” Lone cupped her face in his large, warm
hands and captured her gaze. “What do you fear?”

“You’re a good male, but I don’t want to be enslaved to you.
I want to be free to…grow and learn and see things I’ve never seen. I want to
be me.”

He released her, stepped back, glowering at her. “You think
I’ll hold you back, shackle you to my side, force you to be who I want you to
be?”

“Won’t you?”

“Of course not.” He looked appalled. “You fear the spirit
bond but if it was completed, you’d know that I would never treat you as
anything other than my equal, my partner in life.”

Even without a completed spirit bond, she could feel the
absolute truth in his words. Lone was nothing like her father. Or Oquin, the
man her father meant to give her to as a gift, a thing, property. Lone was
nothing like any male she’d had the displeasure of meeting. He had a sense of
decency, fairness and kindness that every male in her small circle of life
lacked.

Her spirit bond lashed out, knocking the air from her lungs,
weakening her knees. Everything inside her reached for her intimate. Lone
gasped as their spirits connected again. This second time was stronger, more
intense then the first. Her body bond with Lone flared to life.

Lone pulled her against him and gave her a scorching kiss,
one that zipped down to her toes, curling them, one that made her instantly wet
and ready for him. His erection pressed against her stomach and she moaned into
his mouth.

Wharm cleared his throat.

Kana said, “Right. Um, I’m outta here. You coming, Wharm?”

Mortified, Azure jerked out of Lone’s arms. Blood rushed to
her face as Kana quickly walked away. What was she thinking? Public displays of
affection were for lowborn and whores.

“Hey.” Lone took her hand and placed it over his heart.
“There is nothing shameful about expressing our feelings for each other.”

“Now is not the time or place,” she said in hushed tone. She
tugged at his hand and he let her go.

“We are recently bonded in body. Our feelings are intense.
New. No one can blame us for acting on them, Azure.”

“Your brothers—”

“Are idiots.” He smiled over her shoulder. “No offense,
Wharm.”

Blushing like crazy, she met Wharm’s gaze.

“None taken,” Wharm said, studying Azure. “But don’t lump me
with Kana. No, I don’t have an intimate. And I have no idea what it feels like
to be you. But I do know how lucky my brother is. How much I wish I could take
his place. How stupid he was to resist the bond, even for a moment. Vitca or
no.”

She turned on Lone. “Is that why you rejected me at first?
Because I’m Vitca?”

Wharm interjected. “Because of Bracid.”

“Shut up, Wharm.”

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