His green eyes were hard and serious. Too serious. “Any threat will be eliminated. It is not up for debate, Violet. You are ours to protect.”
“What if someone just wanted to beat me up? Or punch me in the gut? Kick my shins? People do stupid things all the time.”
Zed’s voice was ice. Emotionless. “Anyone who hurts you dies, Violet. It is our way. The way on Trion, as well.”
The emotional roller coaster was too much, and my knees trembled. Whatever adrenaline rush I’d gotten from talking to my sister was leaving my system. The crash was going to be brutal. Worse, my mental walls were slipping away like sand dunes in a windstorm, leaving me bare. I felt the tears well up in my eyes. Their vow to protect me was crazy. Possessive. Intense.
And I believed them. Their offer of protection made me feel safer than I ever had in my life…and more exposed. Vulnerable. I didn’t understand the war going on inside me.
I glanced over at Warden Egara, whose eyes were brimming with unshed tears. I walked to her on shaky legs and grabbed her in a bear hug. She resisted, at first, but relented, holding me tightly. “They are yours, Violet. Treasure them. Love them. Do not take them for granted.”
I pulled back and looked in her eyes. “You were a bride, weren’t you?”
She nodded, just enough.
“What happened?”
She looked away and stepped out of the hug, once more the prim and proper warden. “The Hive took them both.” She stepped up to the transport control desk. “Your transport window is closing. I suggest you go now.”
“Violet.” Zed said my name, not a question, a demand that I join him on the transport pad.
“I’m coming,” I said, looking back over my shoulder at the warden, wondering what horrible thing had happened to her mates. She’d said mates, not mate, so she’d had more than one. And lost them.
Before I took another step, Calder swept me up into his arms, cradling me against his chest like precious cargo. “You’re not coming yet, mate, but you will. You will come. Over and over again. On my cock, on my mouth, on my fingers,” Calder said, leaning in, his voice low and next to my ear. Hopefully, Warden Egara didn’t hear.
“You will come with us to Viken. Right now.” Axon took my hand as Calder carried me up to the raised platform for transport.
Zed reached across Calder’s chest to take my other hand so I connected all three of us.
“Good luck, Violet,” Warden Egara said. “You are in good hands.” She worked the controls for transport. The room hummed, louder and louder still. Hair rose on my arms. “Your transport will begin in three…two…one.”
7
Calder, Private Quarters, Viken United
Duty didn’t stop because of a new mate, especially since—unlike normal protocols where a mate would arrive on Viken—we’d had to go to Earth to retrieve Violet. While we hadn’t been gone more than twelve hours, we should’ve fucked, claimed and acclimated our bride in that window of time. Left her full of our seed, sated and in the happy throes of seed power.
Instead, we’d gone across the universe. Because of this, I’d been placed back on active duty within an hour of our return. Instead of sinking into Violet’s sweet pussy, I’d had to don my uniform and watch over the queen and our new princess. It was an honor I took seriously, but for the first time, my desire to be elsewhere made me antsy and a touch irritable.
When the queen had immediately begun to ask questions about my new mate, I realized how little I knew about Violet, which only made me frustrated as well, and not just sexually.
I knew Violet cared about her twin; it was obvious from the comm conversation. Her devotion to family—no matter how small it was—made me desire her more, not less, which only proved our match even further. Her protective traits with her sister were blatantly Sector One. I would happily transport her to Trion once a month if that was what she needed to be happy. No longer on Earth, it was simple to do so.
But other than that bond, I knew nothing, and that plagued me.
The queen had tossed questions like ion grenades, one after the other. What was Violet’s favorite food? What kind of music did she like? What did she do for work on Earth? What had she studied? How old was she? Where was she born? Where had she lived?
I’d known the last, and described her apartment and home town as well as I was able. But I’d spent most of my time with the queen feeling ashamed that I’d fucked my mate, made her come, but I’d done so in selfish haste to bind her to me with my seed power and my intense need for her.
Now, Violet was here on Viken. Axon and Zed were watching over her as she slept. I was weary from the transport, but I’d done it before, and not just going to Earth. My body was used to it, as were Axon and Zed. Violet was not. She had been asleep in my arms when we’d arrived and had remained so even after I carried her to Axon’s quarters—not mine since I’d had to work. We’d requested a doctor to ensure the transport had not caused her any harm, but we’d been assured she just needed to sleep it off.
I was grateful to know Violet was safe and protected, cared for and watched over in my absence, not left alone in my quarters on a new planet as would have happened if I were her only mate. But what had the two warriors learned about her while I was on duty? Had they touched her? Brought her pleasure? Made her come? Made her scream their names? I assumed the answer was yes because the seed power would be strong for her with three mates. Triple the intensity.
And now, with my service for the day complete, I slipped on a pair of light pants after my shower. I realized that, perhaps, I would need to reconsider private quarters. To be with Violet as much as possible, I would need to share with Axon and Zed, to know she was just outside the bathing room, not on a different level of the Elite Guard quarters. We could request a large space in the mated quarters instead.
Just knowing Zed had remained in Axon’s quarters with him while I worked—he had no quarters here, but at the far away IQC—I worried they’d made some kind of alliance to try to win Violet for themselves.
Two against one. The odds were not in my favor. But I was a warrior, and part of me relished the challenge.
The other part couldn’t get over the glazed look of pure animal heat in Violet’s eyes in her quarters on Earth when she’d been riding Zed’s cock and I’d played with her ass.
She’d been in the right position to take both of us. I could have slid behind her and filled her ass as Zed fucked her pussy and Axon took her mouth. All three of us at once, a true claiming. Permanent. Forever.
But her body hadn’t been, and still wasn’t, ready for that…yet. Doing so wouldn’t have been fair to her. She’d been in the thrall of our seed power for the first time, her body going up in flames. So passionate and responsive. So giving. She would have allowed us to complete the formal claiming because of her desperate and clawing need, all three of us fucking her at once, but her choices would have been gone. She may have said yes, but it wouldn’t have been with her consent freely given.
That wasn’t right and wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted her for myself. Mother of my children. Curled up warm and safe in my bed every night. I’d never even imagined sharing a female with other warriors.
So why couldn’t I get the image of her between us out of my head? Why was I walking around with a hard cock at the idea of sharing her body with two strangers?
I had to get over there, to Axon’s quarters, at once. Who knew what they were doing to her right now? My cock swelled in my pants at the possibilities and I wanted to join in.
Searching for the shirt I’d tossed aside, I heard a tentative knock on the door, so quiet I almost brushed the sound aside as imagination.
There. I heard it again.
I made my way to the door, opened it. Stopped breathing.
“Violet.”
“Hi.” Her hair was down, a soft glide of silk over her shoulders. Her lips were full and lush, her cheeks high with color, her eyes bright with nerves. She was wearing the tradition
al gown of a Viken bride, not the formal grey, black or brown of the sectors, but a warm red that clung to every curve. The dress fell to her ankles, and the small red slippers on her feet were adorable. Sexy. I wanted to lay her out on my bed, start at her feet and kiss every ounce of clothing off her body before taking her.
This was what I wanted. Violet. All to myself. I stared at her beauty. Stunned.
“Umm, sorry. Should I come back later?”
Axon, who I hadn’t even noticed, growled. Shit, I’d made her doubt.
I blinked, then smiled, held out my hand.
“No. Of course not.” I grabbed her and pulled her body to mine before I could stop myself, lifted her so we were eye to eye. “Stay.”
She grinned and wrapped her arms around my neck. Bliss. Perfection. Everything I’d always wanted. “Okay. I just—you didn’t invite me in.”
I swung her away from the still open door, glanced at Axon.
“Zed transported to IQC to finalize his transfer. He will be back in a few hours, and I must begin my duty to the queen,” Axon said.
He didn’t look happy about it—I understood the feeling—but I only nodded.
“Mate, I will see you soon,” he said, eyes on Violet, eyes on the way her arms were about my neck. I preened having her in my hold, knowing it was my turn to be with her, that she was happy for it. She wanted to be with me as I did her.
“Yes, soon,” Violet repeated, looking to Axon and giving him a smile. I wanted them all for me, but I was becoming resolved to share, at least that.
With satisfaction, the door slid closed. We would not be disturbed. And she was here. With me.
Two against one? Ha! I wanted to howl with victory. She was here. With me. Alone.
Content, I held her gently, not rushing her. I knew if I kissed her, even once, I wouldn’t want to stop. “Hello, mate. I am honored to have you in my home.”
“Thanks.” She smiled and twisted her neck so she could look around the room from the vantage point I gave her. Her feet still dangled off the floor, but her face was nearly even with mine. I watched as she took in the traditional brown of my furnishings, the cream color of my bed, the image on the wall of my family: my parents and two brothers, now long dead—my parents to age and my brothers to the war.
I’d been alone in this space so many times that having her here healed something in me I hadn’t realized was so badly broken.
Emotions flooded me and I buried my face in the side of her neck, holding her tightly, thanking the gods that she was mine. For years, I’d held everything back. Kept myself under strict control, refusing to hope. But she was like the key in the lock. That was the miracle of a mate. She was breaking me open and there was no way to stop her.
I didn’t want to. I wanted to share everything with her.
Everything.
“Calder? Are you all right?” Violet’s question was a whisper. Intimate. Between lovers. My heart, already melting inside my chest, felt like it stopped beating. The pain was incredible, but welcome.
“Yes, love. With you here, I am perfect.” Moving one hand to her ass, I lifted her body into close contact with my rock-hard erection. “I want you. But if I kiss you, I won’t be able to stop.”
Her gentle laughter was soothing to my soul, and like a stroke of her hand on my hard length. “Anything you need, mate. You’ve taken such good care of me.”
I had done nothing to earn such words from her. Not yet. Confused, I looked down into her upturned face. “I have done nothing worthy of such gratitude.”
Her smile lit up the room. “You were the one who let me talk to my sister, who forced Warden Egara to do so. I needed that. I really did. I’m so happy now. So much better knowing that she’s okay. I can’t even tell you how much that meant to me.” Tears gathered in her eyes and she lifted her face toward mine. “Kiss me, Calder. Kiss me. Love me. Let me make you happy, too.”
Every honorable intention I’d had evaporated with her words, but I still paused.
“You are well? Rested from transport? Not sore from whatever pleasure Zed and Axon gave you while I was working?”
She shook her head slightly. “They did nothing with me.”
What?
“I slept until thirty minutes ago. Zed was already gone and Axon had me bathe and dress in this pretty gown. But he refused to touch me since he had to go work. He was afraid he’d never leave once he had me naked and in bed.”
She blushed at the last.
As for Axon, I knew the feeling. I was holding off now for the same reason, for once I stripped her of the Viken garb and she was bare to me, I would not be able to stop until she was well sated, well pleasured and my seed filled her. Mouth, pussy, ass, whatever she wanted.
“You have not been tended to since Earth? No reprieve?” I asked, stunned. How had she managed to suppress her need from the seed power for so long? But with her almost feverish, bright cheeks and eyes hazed with desire, she seemed to be at the end of her control.
She shook her head. “No. I ache, Calder. I don’t understand it, but I am so—”
“You need to be fucked, mate?” I asked, my voice now almost a snarl. Knowing I could soothe the ache her mates had put upon her with our seed, I felt powerful. Virile. Violet needed me and I would see to her. It was my job, my right, my privilege.
“Yes,” she whispered and I had her back against the wall, her dress hiked up over her hips, my mouth devouring hers before she could finish that one syllable.
She wasn’t timid, my mate, wrapping her legs around my waist, her hands fisted in my hair, holding me to her, demanding more. Needing it.
I slid my palm up her soft thigh, thrilled to find she wore nothing beneath the dress. Axon was a wise man, ensuring after her bath she was bare and her pussy easily accessible. I cupped her ass, played with the entrance I most wanted.
Her back arched off the wall, pressing her bottom into me. “Yes. Do it. Take me there. I want it to be you.”
With a groan at words I’d longed to hear from a mate, I carried her to the table in my small eating area. I never used it for more than reading or work, choosing to take all my meals in the communal cafeteria. It was the closest first horizontal surface I could find and within easy access of the drawer that contained the lubricant I would need to slide into her tight passage and ensure her pleasure.
When I set her on her feet to grab the bottle, she shocked me by toeing off her slippers and stripping the gown off over her head and tossing it onto the floor. She was naked, every perfect inch of her on display. From the eager eyes, vivid smile, tight nipples, dark curls between her thighs and the slick hint of her pussy between her parted legs, she was stunning.
“Where do you want me? Here?” Her grin was wicked as she turned away from me and bent over to lay down on the table. Her ass was presented to me like a gift, her breasts pressed flat to the hard surface. Her hair spilled half down her back and onto the table like a waterfall of silk. And her body curved like a goddess, the round lobes of her ass toward me, feet on the floor.
My cock throbbed, pre-cum seeping from the tip.
My voice was barely more than a growl. “Spread those legs, mate. I want to see that wet pussy.”
She complied at once, eager, widening her stance, placing the pink lips of her glistening pussy on display below her virgin ass.
This was the dream. A caring, beautiful, submissive mate. I ran my hand up and down her spine, over her hips, traced her curves. Unable to resist another moment, I slid two fingers inside her wet heat, savored her soft moan of pleasure. Reaching out, I pressed the button to make the window by the table transparent. The view was of the palace grounds, lush and green, verdant mountains in the distance. But people were about and while no one paid one specific window on the building housing the guards any attention, it was possible for someone to see her.
The idea excited me, pleased me. “Look out, see everyone going about their day. They just have to look this way to see you, to see how b
eautiful you are.”
She whimpered, but didn’t move, made no attempt to cover herself. In fact, I felt her drip all over my fingers.
The ring for the door interrupted me, a voice following. “Calder, it is Axon. Give me entry.”
Violet pushed up onto her hands, her breasts lifting from the table as she looked toward the closed door. With a hand on her back, I kept her in place. “Do not move, mate. Show Axon how needy you are, how you’re letting anyone in Viken United see you.”
I sounded like Zed, dominant in tone, but it pleased me to show off my mate. For everyone to see how wet I made her pussy, how needy she was for my cock. How I would pleasure her. They’d hear her screams and know she was well taken care of.
I crossed to the door, opened it.
Axon came in, but didn’t spare me a glance, his eyes only on Violet. “Fuck,” he hissed, palming his cock. “I couldn’t make it to my post. Violet comes first.” Walking over to her, he slid his hand in her hair, brushed it back from her face. “I see you are in need. Is Calder taking good care of you?”
She nodded, leaned into his touch.
“Sit over there and watch, Axon. See your mate take my cock in her ass for the first time. Watch how she comes.”
Axon’s eyes flared with heat, not because I was to fuck her, but that our mate was about to be fucked. I might be from Sector One and like to watch and be watched, but Axon was not shy about fucking. If our mate was to be satisfied, he’d step back and allow it. At least from me and Zed. I knew none of us would allow another to even think such dirty thoughts about our mate.
Axon grabbed the chair that was tucked beneath the table, stepped back into the main room and sat down with a clear view. His legs were stretched out in front of him and his hand was on his cock, rubbing it through his pants. Eyes were focused directly on Violet’s pussy.
“You’re wet for him, for being watched, aren’t you, mate?” he asked.
“Yes, please, Calder,” she whimpered.
“She begs so sweetly, doesn’t she, Axon?” I asked, thrilled to share her beauty with him.
Claimed By The Vikens Page 8
