He thought for a second, trying to place what a rabbit was. Finally, he had a mental image—it was a small Terran rodent-like creature similar to a plains hopper. Rodents were considered vermin. He snarled. “You think I’m a little vermin?”
Nadia collapsed back against the booth and laughed until tears streaked down her face.
“I must be missing something,” he muttered. He used the computer at the table to search for a description of Terran rabbits. The images that came up looked very cute and cuddly, not at all like a rodent and, in fact, were not in the same family at all. He looked up and found Nadia smiling at him with much affection. He touched her mind and found the same emotion, though she still guarded her thoughts. “You liken me to a little cuddly rabbit?”
“Huw, it’s a term of affection that Russian women call the men who are special to them.” She brushed a kiss over his clothed shoulder—the touch, even through his uniform top, had his cock leaking precum. Thank the One, the table hid his lower body.
“You’re special to me. You always have been … since the first day you butted into the conversation between me and Aeron.”
Huw reached for her and pulled her closer to his side. He did not want the smallest distance between them. “I made your life difficult…”
“You made my life hell … but I understand what you were thinking now … and forgive you.” She nestled closer. Her sweet-smelling hair tickled his chin as she laid her head on his shoulder. “Plus, you couldn’t help it. You’re just a man after all.”
Huw groused. “What does that mean?”
Nadia angled her head and kissed his jaw. “It means you’re a stubborn, dominant, alpha-male know-it-all who reacts sometimes instead of thinking.”
And how could he refute her words? He couldn’t—he hadn’t been thinking. Well, he had, but wrongly. “You’re correct. I’m sorry, so very sorry.” He tipped her chin up so he could brush a kiss over her lush lips. “I didn’t recognize what I felt was more than mere lust … not until…”
Nadia pinched his arm. “As I said, typical male.”
“This reminds me of Mel and Wulf.” He rubbed her back.
“What do you mean?” She looked at him confusion in her eyes.
“I need to learn to trust in your strength, your abilities. You want to be a partner.” He stroked her arm, kissed the top of her head. Her blonde hair felt like silk to his lips. He couldn’t stop touching her, kissing her—couldn’t believe he had his heart’s desire finally in his arms. He was truly blessed. So, he’d better not mess up the gift he’d been given.
“When Mel came into our lives, I told Wulf those very things. You would think I would’ve listened to myself, eh?”
“Maybe my plan might not take as long as I’d thought.” Nadia kissed his shoulder again. “Huw, look at me.”
He turned his head and stared into her suddenly serious blue eyes. “What do you need from me, Nadia?” He braced himself for the worst and hoped for the best.
“I need time … space…”
“And what does space entail?” Huw was very much afraid he knew, but prayed he was wrong.
“You in your quarters and me in mine.”
And he’d guessed correctly and hated it. He let out a low moan. “For how long?”
“A week?” Nadia scrunched her nose.
He couldn’t resist—he kissed the tip.
“I was going to ask for a couple of months,” she said, “but I think it wouldn’t work.”
He nodded vigorously and she laughed. “Plus you’re almost at the point I need you to be.
As long as you keep listening to the very sound advice you gave Wulf, we should move right along.”
Huw took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “And during this week … we will do …
what?”
Nadia petted his chest. “Don’t worry, sladkie. We’ll be together every day. Meals, walks on the beach in the simulation room, drinks in the officer’s lounge…”
He cut her off by placing a finger on her lips. “Nadia, I … you … we cannot be without each other sexually for that length of time.” Huw grimaced. “I would lose control again … they’d have to keep me sedated. If I could do this for you, I…”
Nadia kissed his finger and pulled it away from her mouth. She clasped his hand. “I know. We’ll be intimate … as much as you … or I … need. But I’ll sleep alone in my quarters and you, in yours, for a full week. I want the chance…”
He reversed the clasp of their hands and brought hers to his mouth. He kissed her palm, licking the sensitive center. He felt immense satisfaction at her shivering response.
His woman, responsive only to him and no other—forever.
“No need to explain, gemate lubha. I agree to your week. Be warned, my beautiful one, I will do my best to persuade you to make love with me all over the ship and for as many times as I can convince you. You also have the right to seek me out for your needs—and trust me, gemate, you will have needs.” He had to laugh at her look of consternation. “I’ll endeavor to make your wooing an interesting one.”
Their food arrived. “Eat,” he said. “You’ll need your strength, since I plan to find a place to make love to you as soon as we’re done with our meal and before you return to the lab.” He chuckled at her stunned silence and placed a hand over her marking. It throbbed with heat. “You need me now.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Her cheeks colored a pale rose.
He whispered a kiss over her hair. “I’ll need you every time I see you for the rest of my days. I want to make you scream with pleasure.” Through her uniform trousers, he rubbed her gemate marking gently in a circular motion. “You’ll find we can climax just from stimulating one another’s mark.”
“Oh my God! What are you doing?” Nadia reached for her water and took a deep drink. “Stop it, Huw … for chrissakes … I’m ready to climax … right now, in the middle of the frigging officer’s dining room.”
Huw sensed her orgasm overtaking her. His own climax built in his balls and cock, racing to join her as he shared her ecstasy through their bond. “Nadia, kiss me … now!”
Nadia’s blue eyes were smoky with lust. She angled her face and sought his kiss. As he thrust his tongue into her warm, eager mouth, he applied a deeper pressure with the heel of his hand to the heated, pulsing mark. He swallowed Nadia’s scream of shocked pleasure. Her arms went around his neck and held onto him as if he were a lifeline.
Holding her tightly against his body, he growled into her mouth as her climax triggered his.
Breathing heavily through his nose, he gentled the kiss and manipulation of her mark, bringing her down slowly as convulsive shudders swept over her body. Finally, she collapsed against him. Her fingers idly ruffled the hair lying on the nape of his neck. He swallowed her sigh of complete satisfaction.
Male pride swelled in his chest. He’d given her extreme pleasure and she had accepted it and returned the same. Of course, he now needed to change his trousers, but it was a small price to pay for sharing pleasure with his gemate.
Huw released her lips and brushed soft, loving kisses over her face and hair. “And that, my cwen, is why we cannot be apart for long. Newly bonded couples need frequent intimacy until the bonding has matured.”
“Um, how long will that last?” Nadia gasped out the words as she leaned out of the shelter of his body and reached for her water to take a long drink.
Huw put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back against him. “Varies.” He gently rubbed his cheek over the top of her head as she nestled on his shoulder. “Wulf and Mel are still going through it. My father told me the ‘honeymoon’ period as you Terrans call it lasted him and mother almost ten standard…” He grinned at her shocked squeal.
“Months?” she asked, her voice quavering.
“Years, lubha. It took them ten standard years before they could be away from each other for more than a day or two. And when they weren’t able to touch physically … they
touched mentally … constantly.” He stroked a finger over her forehead. “No more shields. If I cannot sleep next to you, I need to touch your mind to assure myself of your safety. You will do the same with me. We need the touching … it is instinctive.”
“Okay.” She dropped her shields.
Huw hugged her. “Thank you.”
“I’m afraid to ask … but did your father talk about how often, um, we’d need to have…” Nadia blushed and gestured with her hand. “Um, you know.”
“Sex? Yes, he had that talk with all us boys. You’ll be a very happy and satiated woman, Nadia Petrovich-Caradoc, because we’ll have sex two or three times a day when possible.”
At her moan, he laughed. “And I expect that after our honeymoon period fades away, I will still want to make love to you that often. So eat … we haven’t even started for the day. And I want to begin satisfying the list of wants and needs you let slip as we made love.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Nadia took a bite of her eggs and chewed.
“I read your mind, battle-mate. And I enjoyed every single image … especially the one with me behind you, loving you, and your creamy golden ass all rosy pink from my hand.”
Nadia choked and then coughed violently. Huw rubbed her back. “Be careful. With my plans for the day, we don’t have time for you to visit Sick Bay.”
Chapter 22
Five Hours Later
Nadia entered Sick Bay on a run and immediately sought out Lia.
Lia looked up from her computer monitor and smiled. “Nadia! How are you?” The doctor’s smile faded as her gaze zeroed in on Nadia’s face. “What’s wrong?”
God, did she look that bad? She glanced at her reflection in the glass window that overlooked the treatment area of the medical facility from Lia’s office. Yeah, she looked that bad—pale and exhausted … and with good cause. The cause’s name was Huw “Sex Machine” Caradoc.
“Hide me! Quickly!” Nadia checked over her shoulder. “Huw’s hunting for me. I can’t … just can’t…” She pressed a hand over her pulsing mark, her need increasing as Huw came closer and closer. She groaned low in her throat and felt her face flush red.
“The man is a freaking sex maniac!”
Nadia collapsed into the visitor’s chair next to Lia’s desk. The doctor stared pointedly at Nadia’s hand and chuckled. “Don’t laugh, Lia. It’s not funny. I can’t get any work done. I’m exhausted. Sore—And still so horny I’m about to scream.”
Lia swiped at the tears of her laughter with the back of her hand. “Nadia … I hate to ask, but how many…?”
Nadia shuddered. “Five times since breakfast and that doesn’t count the orgasm he gave me while we had breakfast.” Her voice increased in volume as she gestured wildly with her free hand. “In the Officer’s Dining Room, Lia! He made me climax in public just from manipulating my mark. If he continues at this pace, I’m not sure I’ll survive.”
She turned pleading eyes to her friend. “Do you have any energy bars? I’m starved.”
Lia opened a drawer and handed her a protein bar. “Here. Eat. Now, tell me about the sex … does he initiate every, um, meeting?”
“Yes. I sense he’s trying to accelerate the week of courting I’d asked for, so I’ll move in with him sooner.” Nadia gobbled the bar in three bites, chewing and swallowing as if she hadn’t eaten for days instead of an hour ago at lunch. After which, Huw had taken her in a maintenance closet over the back of a workbench. Her ass still burned from the slaps he’d given it before he plowed her pussy from behind. It had been the second time that day for rear entry.
“I love your ass, lubha, ” he’d whispered into her ear as she came screaming into the hand he’d held over her mouth. After his climax, he’d tenderly wiped away their combined fluids from her sex and thighs with a soft cleaning cloth and then kissed every single inch of the heated skin on her bottom, soothing what he’d reddened.
She groaned at the memory of his words and actions. Dammit! She wanted him to take her again, and soon—in just that way. She was a sick, sick, sick person to want him again. Yet, though she desired the sexual intimacy, she couldn’t do it. Physically. Could.
Not. Do. It. She was sore, and her sex felt raw.
Huw nudged at her mentally and she rebuffed him. “Go. Away. Work. I’m tired.”
“Nadia … cwen … lubha … I love you. Let’s take a nap.”
“I need a nap … but we’d do it again. You can’t help yourself, and neither can I … I can’t handle more sex right now.”
“I promise to hold you. Just cuddling. On my honor … I need your skin next to mine.
I have to have your scent on me, surrounding me. Stay with Lia. I’ll be there soon.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. Huw … gemat … I love you. But if you try to put your cock in me again … I’ll punch your lights out. I swear it.”
Huw’s low rumble of amusement sent shivers over her skin, making her even hotter.
“I promise … just a nap.”
“Lia, I’ve had more sex today than I’ve had in the last three years! I hurt.” Nadia leaned over the desk. “He’s coming for me. Please tell me this isn’t how it’s supposed to be. How did you and Joen survive this? And is it still going on?”
Her friend smiled, a dreamy look in her eyes. “Joen and I had sex several times a day and still do, but we’re always mentally touching. The mind link seems to fulfill a basic need of the Prime male.” Lia lowered her voice. “Are you blocking him mentally? I knew you were when he was being an asshole.”
“Not any more. Are you telling me this nonstop sex is because I kept him out of my head for the last couple of weeks? That he’s making up for lost time?” Lia nodded.
“Well, hell…” Nadia shook her head and snorted with disgust, mostly at herself. “I guess I need to give in on the moving-in thing, then, huh?”
Lia’s gaze was filled with compassion and understanding. “Yeah, sweetie. I think at the very least you need to allow him to be with you physically as often as he can, even if it’s only sleeping next to each other. By doing so, Huw might be able to cut back on the number of sexual interludes during the day. Your presence in his quarters, your scent on his clothing and his bed, will comfort him and help depress the sexual urgency. It’s a marking of territory and possession instinct.”
“Okay, that makes sense. With my sleeping next to him all night, he’ll get the reinforcement his genetics needs.” Nadia sighed and tears welled in her eyes. “Look at me! I’m an emotional mess. I never cry, and all I want to do now is cry.”
“That’s okay. Huw needs to see he’s hurting you.” Lia patted Nadia’s arm. “Trust me, he’ll bend over backward to make it up to you.”
“He promised me just a nap this go-round.” She sensed Huw gently touching her mind. His reaction was instantaneous, and his sorrow swamped her.
“Huw? Why are you sad?” God, she hated his unhappiness almost as much as she hated her own.
“You’re crying. I don’t like it.”
Huw was near; she could sense him. And she didn’t run. Speaking to Lia had centered her and shown her the overwhelming emotions were normal—and that Huw felt them also. It helped knowing this was mutual—he needed her as much as she needed him—and he wouldn’t shut her out again. Because underlying her panic had been the fear Huw would take away his love and affection—and she wouldn’t be able to survive such isolation again.
Huw strode into Sick Bay and hugged her from behind. “I will always be with you, always be what you need, lubha.” He nuzzled the pulse beating rapidly in her neck.
“Wherever … whenever you need me.”
His words rang with sincerity and truth. With both sides of the mental connection wide open, she understood he’d cut off his arm before he hurt her.
Nadia patted the arm holding her. “I’ll still cry from time to time. I’m female and hormones dictate crying when hurt or sad. You can’t fix everything.”
“I can try.” Huw kissed the tip of her ear. “Hello, Lia. Thank you for speaking with my gemate. How are you and Joen doing? I understand that you and Joen are also marked and battle-mates.”
Lia’s smile lit up her face. “Joen and I are very happy. We’d like to invite you both to join us for drinks and dinner in the Officer’s Lounge. We can compare notes about the intensity of being a newly mated couple. Since we’re going through this at the same time and as the first Prime/non-Prime matings, Kerr has asked me to note what the stages appear to be. We want to educate the Prime males who find non-Prime mates about how the process differs from the traditional Prime mating.”
Nadia looked up at Huw, who watched her intently, even as his mind soothed her erratic emotions. “I’d like to do that, Huw. We could help since we haven’t had the smoothest of matings. I expect there’ll be variations in the process, depending on the male and female involved.”
Huw frowned and kissed the tip of her nose. “The roughness of this bonding was my entire fault. You, my cwen, have been wonderful from the start.”
“It’s in the past, sladkie. We move on from this point.” Nadia swept a finger over his lower lip, and he sucked it into his mouth. She inhaled sharply at how the smallest touch made her pussy throb. “What does cwen mean? You’ve called me that several times today.”
Huw released the finger he suckled and smiled. “It has no direct equivalent in Standard, but means something very similar to ‘wife’ or ‘my woman.’”
“Well, thanks for that definition, Huw,” Lia said. “Joen just smiled and wouldn’t tell me.” The doctor straightened and stood up. “Before you leave Sick Bay, I need to record your markings for the Prime database. Kerr had sent messages to your com units, but I guess you both have been too busy to check.”
Huw snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, we’ve been very busy. So much so I haven’t provided the appropriate aftercare for my mate’s physical well-being.”
He massaged the tense muscles at the base of Nadia’s neck. Gentle, healing warmth permeated her body from head to toe. The rawness in her sex melted away.
Prime Selection Page 26
