Mated on the Moon

by Kate Rudolph

  Pleasure built and her fingers and toes tingled, the sensation crawling up her arms and legs, zinging down her spine until she came with a gasp, crying out her mate’s name as he brought her over the edge, her chest heaving and lungs breathing deep to drag in giant gulps of air.

  But Nyco gave no quarter. He quickly stripped himself of his own clothes, barely giving her a chance to admire the strong lines of his muscles and the way he looked like a statue come to life. But the promise in his eyes told her that she would have plenty of time to look later. And one day she would take him up on that offer.

  He loomed over her and captured her lips in a searing kiss while his fingers wreaked havoc on her skin. He pulled back just enough to put a few centimeters between them, but when they spoke, their lips still brushed. “Are you ready for me?” he asked, even as his fingers probed her wet heat, preparing her body to join with his.

  “Yes, absolutely.” She danced on the edge of sensation, an almost painful, pure pleasure that she never wanted to let go.

  He eased himself into her, giving her time to adjust to the stretch and sinking slowly, centimeter by slow centimeter, until he was fully inside of her. Now Ruby was gripping him, unable to let go as he moved, their rhythm in sync as they showed their passion for one another in this ancient way, crossing the boundaries of their home worlds to show just how compatible they were with one another.

  Nyco gave her exactly what she needed, and before long, Ruby was once again shattering under him. Her orgasm seemed to trigger his own, and with a cry he came, spilling deep inside of her and binding them together once more.

  CHAPTER TEN

  WAKING AS HE HAD, TO his mate’s eyes and the feel of her body against his, along with the exchange of pleasure and flesh, went a long way to alleviating the tension that had hung between them since they were reunited. After a second bout of love making, he was pleasantly spent, lying beside his mate and tracing lazy circles along the soft skin of her arm.

  “What are you doing?” she muttered into her pillow, her voice muffled by the fabric. Though they’d both slept through the night, it seemed that his mate needed more time to recover from the hectic day they’d both endured.

  “I like to touch you,” he admitted. “Your skin is so warm and soft.” This time after joining, where he could be with his mate in pure comfort, was an unexpected pleasure. They’d missed out on it the day before due to his secret keeping, but if Nyco had his way, they would not spend many days parted in the future. He knew that Ruby was still uncertain of the path ahead, but he planned to spend every day proving to her that he was her perfect match.

  She turned to face him, her hair falling across her face. She tried to blow it out of the way, but that only made it ruffle against her forehead. She let out a frustrated sound, but before she could reach out to swipe it away, Nyco was tucking the offending strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes softened and she offered him a sweet smile of thanks.

  “So...” She licked her lips and flicked her eyes up and down the parts of his body not covered by the sheet. Though Nyco was sure he’d been spent, if she kept looking at him like that, he could find it in himself to go another round. “We’re mates.” There was a quiet acceptance in her tone that hadn’t been there before, like she was growing to like the idea.

  “We are,” Nyco confirmed. He understood that it might be difficult for a human to come around to the idea that fate had pushed them together as it had, but he was done hiding from her. He would do his best to settle his fears, but he would not lie. That had only led to heartache and sorrow, and he wasn’t willing to risk his mate’s trust, not when he’d already damaged it once before. That she had forgiven him was a miracle that he would not squander.

  “I live on Earth and you... don’t,” she said, and she must have been mentally confronting this problem for some time from the frustrated way she said it. “How do you expect this to work?”

  “I have no obligations elsewhere, if that is your concern.” He’d spent the last weeks completely involved with the Celestial Mates program and before that he’d made an effort to pull back from the jobs he normally took. As he neared thirty, he couldn’t risk anything that would take him past his birthday. Now, if he wanted, he knew there was plenty of work for him to find, but he would not seek it if his mate was uncomfortable with the danger. It was time for a new phase of his life, one where he was dedicated to keeping his woman happy, safe, and protected.

  “That’s not really what I was saying,” Ruby responded. “I don’t know how this relationship works if we’re not even on the same planet most of the time. Some of the time. What do we do?”

  Was that the problem? “I’ll move to Earth. It seems like a nice place. I’ve never had a home like that before.”

  Ruby’s eyes widened, her expression stunned. “Just like that? You’ll move to Earth? But what do you want?” Disbelief tinged her every word.

  “I want you, denya,” it was the simplest thing he’d ever known. “Where we live, what we do? We can figure out the details later. For now you make your home on Earth, so I will make my home there as well. One day I want to show you the universe, but it doesn’t need to be tomorrow. We can take our time, prepare for our lives. Because as long as we’re together, we’ll make it work.”

  “We will?” She reached out a tentative hand and laid it on his chest. “We will.” As she repeated her words, they turned from a question into a statement.

  Nyco leaned forward and brushed his lips against her forehead. They had the room for the rest of the day, and he planned to use it well. But after that, it was time for a new adventure on Earth, and a new life together, full of possibility and a hope he had never before dreamed of.

  He couldn’t wait to see where life with his mate took him.

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  About Kate Rudolph

  KATE RUDOLPH IS AN ex-derby girl who lives in Indiana. She loves writing about kick butt heroines and the steamy heroes who love them. She's been devouring romance novels since she was too young to be reading them and had to hide her books so no one would take them away. She couldn't imagine a better job in this world than writing romances and sharing them with her fellow readers.

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  Also by Kate Rudolph

  SCI-FI ROMANCE

  Snowed in with the Alien Beast

  Crashed

  Mated to the Alien

  Ruwen

  Tyral

  Stoan

  Cyborg

  Krayter

  Kayleb

  Detyen Warriors

  Soulless

  Ruthless

  Heartless

  Faultless

  Paranormal Romance

  Marked

  Bear in Mind

  Alpha’s Mercy

  Gemma’s Mate

  The Mate Bundle

  The Alpha Heist

  Entangled with the Thief

  In the Alpha’s Bed

  Find more by Kate Rudolph at www.katerudolph.net

  Preview: Soulless

  CHAPTER ONE

  SIERRA DIDN’T KNOW why she’d agreed to family dinner. Her father sat ramrod straight with a glass of whiskey clenched in one hand and studiously ignored the insignia on the sleeve of her uniform. She ate her peas one by one and only spared him glances when he shifted or sighed. Three years of this shit and she still hadn’t learned.

  “I talked to Commander Mitchell about the training course I told you about. Two years of officer training and then you’ll have a command. Say the word an
d it’s yours.” He wasn’t using his General voice, which Sierra appreciated. But it also made her want to cry. He’d given up ordering her around. How long would it be before he gave up on her all together?

  It was moments like these that she could still smell the stench of the Wastes where she’d spent her first years sticking to her skin. Her father, General Remington Alvarez, had saved her life. And all she was to him was a disappointment.

  “I like my job, Dad.” She forced herself to look up. Even though he was in his mid-sixties, her dad barely had any gray hair and his muscles made her think he could lift a tree if he had to. He’d been stationed behind a desk for more than a decade, but none of the work had made him soft. No, Remington Alvarez was all hard edges and strict rules.

  “The job that means I have to spend every night you’re in the field wondering if you’re safe? The job that I can’t talk about to any of my friends? The one that will steal away your future before you even realize it?” He jerked his glass up to his mouth and threw the whiskey back, hissing as the liquid burned its way down his throat.

  “I wouldn’t be any safer in the fleet,” she felt the need to point out, even as his other statements flayed her alive. “And if it weren’t for the work I did, the fleet would be flying blind.” He made it all sound so sordid, and not a necessary part of any defense apparatus.

  Her father sucked in a deep breath and Sierra had to look away, staring at a still photograph her father had taken at some fancy event with an alien with bright yellow skin and sharp teeth. They’d had this fight a hundred times before and the only sure thing about it was that both of them would be left hurting and resentful by the time the night was over. “I’m—” she cut herself off before the apology could flit across her tongue. That was the problem. She wasn’t sorry.

  “Sneaking behind enemy lines, lying to people. It’s not honor—” he, too, choked on his words.

  Sierra still flinched. It’s not honorable. Yeah, she’d heard that one plenty of times too. This had to end now. If they spoke for any longer, it would lead to more months of silence and shitty tempers.

  She placed her napkin on the table and scooted her chair back. “Thanks for dinner. I’ll give you a call when I get back and we can do this again.” Emotion lodged in her throat and she swallowed it, unwilling to break in front of this man.

  “Back?” her father demanded, throwing his own napkin down. “Where are you going?”

  “A mission. Classified. Dishonorable stuff, you wouldn’t want to hear about it anyway.” Her eyes itched and if she didn’t get out of there in the next minute she’d end up crying. Sierra didn’t cry in front of her father, not ever. That was even worse than dishonor, that was weakness.

  “Erra—” he tried to stop her with her old childhood nickname. Sierra didn’t even pause as she scooped up her jacket from where she’d laid it on the back of his couch. She made her way through the narrow hallway of his quarters and to the front door.

  Something that might have been regret danced in his eyes as he met her at the door. “Be safe,” he finally said, grabbing her in a tight hug and yanking her close. “Come back in one piece, I still need a date to the reception for Ambassador Yormas of Wreet.”

  Sierra squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them again, her eyelashes were wet. Her dad said nothing. “I’ll give you a call,” she promised, not ready to agree to anything when her emotions were so raw.

  He just nodded and let her go.

  The hallway outside of his apartment was the same boring gray as the walls inside her father’s quarters. He shared the floor with three other units, but she saw no one as she made her way down the faded carpet to the stairwell beside the elevator. She took the stairs at a fast clip, as if speed were enough to outrun everything on her mind and in her heart. She hated disappointing her father. He’d saved her from a short, hard life of unspeakable cruelty and darkness. She doubted she would have made it to twenty-nine if he hadn’t adopted her. But Sierra had long ago realized that being grateful for her existence didn’t mean she owed her dad her entire future.

  He saw it all for her: officer training, command, rank. Everything he’d doggedly pursued for his entire life. The only life he could conceive of. She’d taken one look at the training manuals and run screaming. Sierra was no stranger to discipline. How could she be when her father was General Remington Alvarez? But if she made that life hers, she’d be extinguishing herself. And as much as she loved her dad, she couldn’t do it.

  He’d give her that derisive laugh of his if he knew she thought that way. How, he’d ask, could she be more true to herself as a spy than as a soldier?

  She didn’t have the answer, but he wouldn’t care to hear it even if she did.

  Her vehicle was located in the parking garage under his building. Sierra scanned the area, noting the android attendant near the entrance and a flickering light near where she’d parked. Awareness prickled at the back of her neck and her muscles loosened, her stride long and confident as she waited for the threat to make itself known.

  A cat darted out from a dark corner and Sierra’s blaster was out, her finger on the trigger before she even registered the movement. When the animal jumped on top of her vehicle, she laughed and put her weapon away. She needed a damn vacation.

  But vacation was the last thing she had to look forward to, not when planetary defense had to come first. Sierra gave the cat a gentle pet and then shooed it on its way before sliding into the car. As soon as she was on the road, her communicator lit up. She engaged the call without video and didn’t bother to glance at the identification to see who was calling. Anyone who had her code wouldn’t call if it wasn’t an emergency.

  “Joyce is calling us in,” her friend and navigator, Mindy Branch said in lieu of a greeting.

  “Right now?” A glance at the clock showed it wasn’t even close to midnight, let alone their 0500 call time.

  “Yeah, Jo’s already on her way.” Mindy sounded about as pleased with that turn of events as Sierra was, but neither voiced their concerns.

  “I’ll be there in an hour.”

  “Got it. Drive safe.” She disengaged and the communication’s display went dim.

  Sierra sent a silent prayer of thanks to anyone who was listening and turned her car around to head to the rendezvous point. She needed to get the fuck off of Earth to remember why it was worth saving in the first place.

  RAZE’S INDICATOR ALERTED him that his required physical exertion period had come to an end. He glanced at the readout on the machine to see that he’d improved his last run time by three seconds and noted the statistics for his file. A quick swipe with the cleaning pad took care of the sweat that had dripped onto the machine, and he used a separate towel to take care of the moisture beading on his forehead and at the base of his neck.

  The material was rough and cheap, but sturdier than anything else the legion had been able to purchase. He dragged it slowly across his skin and nearly couldn’t suppress the shiver that tried to climb up his spine from the almost painful friction. A moment later he pulled the towel away and disposed of it in the laundry chute. He mechanically stripped himself of his clothes and they followed the towel down to where they’d be laundered and returned to the rotation.

  He nodded to Kayde, one of his fellow warriors, as he walked naked to the shower station. The cold water hit his skin with bruising force and this time he couldn’t stop the hiss from the sensation. The water quickly warmed to a sufficient level and he cleaned himself in his allotted time. Another swipe of a different abrasive towel saw him dry, and he barely spared a glance for the marks it had left on his green skin. He pulled on a clean uniform and exited the shower station before the next warrior to finish his training could be delayed.

  Though Raze knew he was scheduled to join his team for the final briefing before their scheduled mission, he consulted his schedule before heading toward the administrative building in case the plan had changed. The legion and its soldiers were sl
aves to their schedules, especially those like him. To eschew routine was to eschew control, and when the soulless lost control, there was only one solution.

  If he could still feel fear, Raze might have felt the shiver in his spine. But just like everything else, those emotions had been taken away from him, given up, two years ago, just before his thirtieth birthday. He couldn’t regret his decision, and he chose not to dwell on it. The legion had saved his life, he owed them his loyalty and his service.

  A quick walk through one of the service tunnels brought him to the administrative building. The entire compound was connected through underground tunnels and elevated walkways so that no soldier or staff member would need to brave the harsh weather of their home moon by walking between buildings outside. The moon was habitable, but the weather extremes made it less than ideal, and for that reason, it had been sitting uninhabited after a failed colonizing attempt six decades before. The legion had bought the rights to the land and had spent years making their own little colony into a fortress.

  No one would be able to do to them what had been done to their ancestors.

  Something that might have once been sorrow clenched in his chest, but Raze paid no attention to it. If he chased the phantom emotion, he could easily find himself out of control and scheduled to be executed within the hour. Punishments were harsh and final for the soulless, but it was the only way to protect the legion.