The Demon Master's Wife (Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE) (14 page)

“Do not joke again of dying. You will survive. I saw it just moments ago and I am almost never wrong. Go in peace and focus on
living
,” Dorian admonished.

Ania nodded with a smile, opened the door, and walked out.

Chapter 11

Gwen’s body was drenched with sweat and her mind was clouded in a fog of tiredness too large to ignore. Yet she had only one resounding thought echoing through her over and over.

Zade.

Every cell in her was screaming for her to go to him, be with him, bond with him. Fighting the urge was the hardest trial of restraint Gwen had ever taken on. When Zade walked into the training room shortly after her admission to herself, the inevitability of his presence there sent a ripple of rightness through her.

Normally Gwen didn’t believe in the existence of divine will or destiny, but if she had believed it in, the male occupying the same space with her at last would have been some damn convincing proof. Zade seemed electrical to her as she watched him walk in, and she definitely needed to use him to charge her batteries.

Wary of his intentions, Gwen noticed him veering to punch buttons on the wall panel before he walked to where she stood on the training mat. His now even closer proximity triggered more need, clouding her vision and her judgment with a furious haze of longing that made Gwen angry with both of them.

She swirled her fighting stick in a defensive maneuver to keep Zade away while she glared.

“The longing you have will not go away on its own,” Dorian informed Gwen, watching her darkening glare for signs of intent to attack him.

He could feel her anger, could feel her resistance—but under those her body was calling him—loudly in fact. Too late Dorian realized he should have sought her out earlier. Now she was angry and guarded in her reactions, which triggered an answering anger in him.

And his control was slipping too. Ania’s blocks were just about gone.

“Very sneaky of you to lock us in here, Zade. I don’t have my weapon to stun you, but I will stop you any way I can. If you come any nearer, I’m not going to hold back. You will just get hurt again if you try anything,” Gwen promised roughly.

“It is a risk I must take. You need my help, Gwen Shenu Jet. The Siren’s call is not typical bonding lust. It is a serious mating madness, and we are both caught in its grip,” Dorian said, still not moving, hoping he could reason with her.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how much I hate feeling like I have to do anything with you at all. I don’t deserve this fight. This is all your fault,” Gwen accused, the words hissing through tightly gritted teeth.

“I deeply regret my actions and agree it wasn’t fair to claim you without explaining my motivations first. But I cannot undo the past. I can only attend to your needs to relieve us both,” Dorian said, circling her slowly. “My mother is sending organics from my home planet which will help you shed the worst of the urges once you ingest them. Until they get here, you’re going to have to accept my help in other ways.”

“No—I don’t want your help—not in any way. I don’t want to constantly feel your energy inside me either,” Gwen said, letting her resentment show completely. “Nothing I do banishes it. Desire for you is an unsolvable problem that I keep dwelling on over and freaking over, Zade. I will find my own way to survive this. I
always
find a way.”

“Not without me you won’t—not this time, Gwen. At best, what I am offering is itself only a temporary reprieve until the Rylen supplies arrive. Either you can take my help gracefully or I will force you to take it. Our suffering is affecting everyone on the Liberator,” Dorian said.

“Ask me if I care,” Gwen demanded.

“That’s a very bad attitude, Commander Jet. You studied vibrational addictions at the academy. You well know that left unaddressed they can lead to mental problems, especially in volatile creatures like Earthlings,” Dorian told her, grinning at her fury. “I can’t let you kill a crew member on the Liberator just because you’re sexually frustrated. Nor will I see you drugged and confined to quarters when the matter can be resolved without those extreme measures.”

“I know what sexual frustration feels like, Zade. This is a hell of a lot more complex than that. But okay, let’s say I let you
help
me,” Gwen said, sarcasm dripping off the polite term they were using to describe him satisfying the insane urge she was feeling. “What happens
after
I bond with you? I’ll tell you what, you’ll talk Synar into quarantining me in your room as your sex toy while you step right into my role as first mate. I read about this shit. Siren males aren’t affected nearly as badly as the females they choose.”

Dorian swore and studied the walls for a moment trying to calm down from his reaction to her insult. He told himself Gwen was just being more unreasonable than usual because of her longing for him. It appeased the mating male in him, but it didn’t offer him any real option other than engaging in the fight he could tell was coming.

“Shades of Kellnor, I wish I had sought you out earlier today,” Dorian said harshly. “I underestimated you again. You are seriously in error if you think what I want from you has anything to do with your role on this blasted ship. This is about your role in my life and mine in yours. Now come kiss me and we’ll both feel much better. We might even be able to talk rationally afterwards.”

“No,” Gwen said viciously. “I kiss who I want to kiss, not who I have to kiss. I will not kiss you.”

“Gwen, I would lay my life down to save yours. I will have a simple kiss even if I have to incapacitate you like all the other times,” Dorian said, watching fury leap into her eyes.
Shades of Kellnor—I didn’t mean to tell her about the other times. Now what?

“What other times?” Gwen demanded, her voice rising as an angry flush took over. She watched Zade cringe at her demand and knew he wasn’t making it up.

Since he’d already spoken the truth to her, there was no way he could take it back, Dorian decided. Sighing, he braced himself to receive her fury.

“The other times I kissed you were when Ania and I rendered you unconscious. I did only the minimum necessary to give us both temporary peace,” Dorian said. “I am sparing your pride no more.”

“You’re lying,” Gwen said fiercely. “I don’t believe Ania helped you seduce me.”

“It was not seduction, nor was it bonding in any real sense. What we did was for the good of all, especially you, my stubborn one. Those weren’t just dreams of being with me,” Dorian replied. “They were real. You taste amazing, by the way. And yes, I can be a controlling bastard when it’s for a good enough reason. It is a relief to finally admit that to you. Now let us reach an accord and meet our needs like rational creatures.”

A red haze descended over her vision and Gwen rushed Zade, her stick raised at the last minute because she intended to break it over his head.

Sighing, Dorian grabbed the fighting stick, flipped Gwen up and into the air with the momentum, effectively landing her flat on the mat several feet in front of him.

He calmly walked the few steps to where Gwen fought for breath. He looked down at her and smiled.

“Warriors are so much trouble to mate, which is probably why I never wanted one before. Why couldn’t you have been a sweet medic or even an engineer?” he mused.

Dorian was shocked to find his foot yanked hard out from under him. Being a giant male, he hit the mat hard because he had not been prepared to fall. Instead of making him angry, it brought a resigned smile to his face and tightness to his gut.

Gwen Jet was not going to be an easy mate, but by the creators—she was definitely going to be an exciting one. His life force was rushing erratically at the very thought of subduing her.

“If you insist on being conquered, I can do that,” Dorian said from his prone position, turning his head to smile at her.

“Oh no,” Gwen said, getting quickly to her feet. “I get my ass kicked regularly by a short blonde who looks more innocent than a sweet medic. She said you were even better than her. I know I can’t win against you in a fair fight. That leaves me very little choice.”

“Maybe you’re smarter than I thought, Commander Jet,” Dorian said calmly, trying to see past his lust to what she was planning. “Ania is being modest. No one fights like she does. That female is practically invincible. She’s trained thousands of warriors like me.”

He climbed to his feet and faced Gwen again.

“Thanks to that workout you have ignited my lust for you even further. My body is now on fire with the need to share itself with you. I think I will pleasure you until you pass out in my arms and then I will carry you naked down the hallway to my room like a prize. If you kiss me willingly, I will consent to carry you clothed.”

“Ha! You braggart. Unconscious men can’t carry anyone,” Gwen said fiercely, “and I’ve been practicing, Zade. There’s also this little Earthling trait called
motivation
, which I have lots of where you’re concerned. Stay the hell away from me.”

Dorian laughed, struggling to rein in the amusement when he saw it angered her more. His body was as taut now as the metal beams of the ship. He would have to be careful not to hurt her.

“Very well, mate—I am resigned to our physical struggle. Show me your training then,” he said, walking toward her, blood pounding in him for the fight as he advanced. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so invigorated. She might frustrate him for the next century, but by the creators, Gwen Jet always made him feel alive.

“So tell me—are we always going to have to settle our arguments by physically fighting?” Dorian asked.

“Only when my stunner is out of reach,” Gwen replied, rolling and using the fighting stick to flip away when he lunged for her. “You’re going to have to do a lot better than that, Zade.”

“Out of respect for you as my mate, I am limiting myself. I can speak a word into the air and do what I want to you while you watch helpless to stop me,” Dorian said sharply “But I have controlled you enough. I insist you concede that you need me as well. I want you to do what is necessary to take care of yourself. I’m not even asking you to take care of me, though one day I will not let you go until that has occurred as well. Now kiss me,
mate
.”

“When Helios freezes,” Gwen yelled, moving backwards when he advanced again. “And I am not your damn mate.”

“Now I’m offended. I’m going to make you beg me to kiss you,” Dorian bragged, eyes burning with determination as they looked at her. “You smell like my mate should smell. Your energy bears my signature now, and I intend to claim every inch of you. Enough of this fighting, Gwen. Surrender yourself to what is between us.”

“Not happening,” Gwen exclaimed, running for the door as fast as her legs could take her.

She didn’t remember Zade had locked it until she was yanking on the handle in vain.

“Fucking hell,” Gwen said, screaming in uncontrolled anger.

Then she felt a very angry Zade grip her from behind.

She struggled but could not break his hold.

Then to her shock, Zade lifted and literally threw her whole body up into the air, spinning her only to catch her closely to him as she fell back down. The ability to breathe was totally lost when she realized she was plastered against the door of the training room with a fully aroused Siren male insistently pressing between her long legs. Gwen shivered with desire for the warrior wanting to mate her, even as her anger over it continued to fuel her attempts to break his hold.

With his legs bracing hers to keep them apart and one hand pushing on her chest to keep her in place, Dorian slowly pulled his shirt over his head, letting her hips slide to his knees. He finally removed the hand from her chest to wrap both hands around her and push his upper body into hers. Siren’s call pheromones tended to work quickly, but he was no longer sure if they would be enough to subdue Gwen.

When she stilled and her breaths became deep, his body tightened in excitement once more. Even the tiny cessation of struggle made him want to hold and comfort her, right after he pleasured them both a few hundred times.

“Punish me later if you must, but kiss me first before I do worse to you. I want you so badly and my control is waning. I’m begging you to do this for both of us,” Dorian pleaded hoarsely, burying his nose in her neck. “Please Gwen. You smell—you smell so magnificent. I must have at least that to survive. Kiss me and you will feel relieved. I swear by the creators.”

Gwen couldn’t move because of Dorian, couldn’t escape the clamoring inside her relishing in the feel of him pressed against her. All she wanted was what he wanted, but she wasn’t giving in without him knowing that it damn well wasn’t her choice to do so.

“Bloody hell, Zade. I ought to have you locked in the brig. How do you do this to me?” Gwen demanded, tugging his face to hers by yanking on a handful of his hair.

“I could ask you the same question,” Dorian whispered, doing nothing to break the grip his fierce warrior mate had on him. “You can hurt me if you like. I won’t stop you so long as you kiss me.”

“Damn you,” Gwen whispered back, turning his head until his lips were inches from hers.