Salvaging Abby (Marks Mercenaries Book 4)

by N. J. Walters

  “Damn, now I can’t hate him.” Vaden’s dry tone made her laugh.

  “You know you love him,” she teased.

  “Let’s not push it,” he warned. “Your brothers love you.”

  “I know. They looked all these years.” That still astonished her.

  “Are you sorry?” Vaden picked up the jar of buttons and shook it lightly.

  “For what?”

  “Marrying me.”

  “I didn’t know I’d married you,” she reminded him.

  “Are you sorry?” he repeated, replacing the jar to its original position.

  “How can I be?” Vaden had offered her the one thing she’d always wanted—love and a home. She hadn’t understood then that home could be a person and not a place.

  He stalked away and sat on the edge of the bed. She went to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I love you, Vaden. I would have preferred to know I was marrying you, but considering everything else, I’ll let that go.”

  When he didn’t smile or even crack a grin, she leaned down until their lips were almost touching. “I love you. I choose you. And, yes, I’ll marry you, even if you are a damn prince.”

  This time one corner of his mouth did rise. “I know it’s a hardship, but I have faith you can handle anything that comes your way. I’ll be beside you all the way.”

  “We have to live on Gravas, don’t we?” It wasn’t like the prince of an entire world could decide to live somewhere else.

  “We do, but your family will always be welcome. That alone will open opportunities for them, especially with their connection to Astoferus Incorporated. And before you even ask, I don’t care about Angelina or the financial benefits being aligned with her company might bring my planet. We are already wealthy and more technologically advanced than the Alliance. The only reason I would even considering opening up markets is because of your brothers, and it will only happen if my father believes it is in the best interest of our people.”

  Could she do this? Leave the family she’d lost years ago when she’d only just found them? Her only other option was losing Vaden. Her brothers would be a part of her life, but they had women and lives of their own.

  To leave Vaden would be like digging out her own heart. “I’m sorry I refused to go with you earlier. I know you were ordered to go by the king. I didn’t mean to put you in the position to have to choose between your king, your honor, and me. I love you, but they’re my brothers, my family.”

  Vaden sighed. “Family is everything to a Gravasian, yet I wanted you to come with me, to claim me as family over your brothers. I am not proud of that.”

  He pulled her down onto his lap so she was facing him. “You’ll stay with me.”

  “I love you, Vaden. So, yes, I’ll stay.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Vaden released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He had the world in his arms. For a short time, he’d feared he might actually lose her. Not that he would have allowed that to happen. He’d planned to love her so well and often that she would never want to be apart from him.

  He needed her.

  “You are my heart,” he reminded her. Her hair smelled of smoke and sweat, and her flightsuit was dirty and torn in places. He wasn’t much better, but his battlesuit had held up well, as it was designed to do.

  He went to kiss her, but she shook her head and leaned back. “Not until I get clean. I can’t stand myself any longer.”

  She kept her arms and legs wrapped around him as he stood and found the bathing chamber. In short order, he had her stripped naked and in the gel cleansing unit. He would have joined her, but there simply wasn’t enough room for them both. When she stepped out, she was naked and practically glowing.

  He reached for her, but she danced just out of reach. “Hurry,” she told him, dashing back to the bedroom.

  Vaden broke speed records removing his battlesuit and getting clean. He paused only to grab his blaster, placing it on the small ledge built into the wall beside the bed.

  “Expecting an invasion?” she asked. She was propped up on her side with one arm bent and her head resting on her hand. The blankets were pulled to her waist, leaving her breasts bare.

  “I’m launching an invasion,” he warned as he dove under the covers beside her.

  Abby’s laughter lightened his heart. He knew his parents wanted him to be happy, but as the youngest son he had expected to marry for some alliance with another influential family on Gravas, to improve the bloodlines, or to marry an outsider as talks of trade alliances had surfaced.

  Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined someone like Abby. He rolled so she was on her back with him looming over her. The bed was small, but he didn’t mind. It meant she was always close.

  “Hello, wife.”

  Her eyes widened at the term, but she smiled. “Hello, husband.”

  His chest puffed out and his dick hardened when she called him that. “I will protect and care for you,” he promised. “You will see your family as often as you like.” Her happiness was important to him, and he wanted her to know it.

  “Thank you.” Simple but heartfelt words.

  He’d had enough talking, enough of family, enough danger to last him a while. What he wanted was a month to love his woman and to get to know her better. That started now.

  He kissed her, pushing his tongue into her mouth so he could taste her sweetness. She returned the caress with equal fervor. Their tongues tangled, their breath mingling as the passion between them would be denied no longer.

  Vaden propped his weight on one bent arm and let his free hand slide down until he was cupping her breast. Her moan, the way her nipple tightened at his touch, and her fingers dug into his shoulders, pushed him over the edge.

  His plans to leisurely seduce her went up in flames. He had to have her. Waiting was impossible. He needed the physical connection.

  He worked his way down her body, stroking and licking and kissing a torrid path until he wedged his shoulders between her spread thighs.

  “Vaden. Vaden. Vaden.” She chanted his name over and over as he delved between her legs, tasting her essence, driving his tongue into her hot sheath, sucking her clit.

  She thumped her feet against the mattress, tugged on his hair, and left nail marks on his shoulders. “More,” she demanded.

  He pushed one thick finger inside and almost came when her sheath rippled around it. “I need you,” he told her, his words stark.

  “Then take me.” She opened her arms to him, accepting all that he was. He surged up and into her, driving his cock deep. He ground his teeth together to keep from coming when her inner muscles clamped down on his erection. Nothing had ever felt as good as being joined with Abby.

  He rocked his hips forward and back, driving deep and hard with each thrust. Abby wrapped her legs around his waist and clung to him. She peppered his face and jaw and shoulders with kisses, finally biting down on his skin.

  He roared as he came, flooding her with his essence. She cried out, her entire body clenching around him. His balls pulled up hard as he continued to come. His last thought before he collapsed on top of her was that if anyone came through their door, he’d be powerless to stop them.

  Content in a way he’d never been, he managed to move to her side, pulling her against him. She snuggled close and yawned. “Sleep,” he told her. “I have you.”

  A short time later, soft puffs of her breath against his chest told him she’d drifted off. He closed his eyes and basked in the satisfaction of having Abby in his arms.

  ****

  “Tell me about your life and your family?”

  After another round of sex when she’d woken from her nap, she was curled up against his chest while he ran his hand up and down her back. They had to get up soon. Her brothers’ patience would only last so long.

  “I am the youngest son.” He ran his fingers up her neck, making her shiver with desire. The man knew how to get her hot while barely even
trying. “I had the military career that is expected of all Gravasian males.”

  “I’m surprised you weren’t protected since you’re royalty.”

  Vaden snorted at her suggestion. “As prince even more is expected of me. How can men follow my father if he will not put his sons in harm’s way? I have served since I was sixteen.”

  “Was it hard?” Her life had been very difficult. None of it had been her choice. They had that in common. He hadn’t chosen to be born a prince, but his life had been defined by it.

  “It was what I expected.”

  Which told her exactly nothing. Or maybe it told her everything. “What will you do now? Will you stay in the military?” She wasn’t sure she liked the idea of him being off on some spaceship for long times without her to look after his best interests.

  “I will be expected to transfer to planetary protection now that I’m married. I’ve spent my career taking on the longer, more dangerous missions. No one will expect that to continue. My main job will be to make my wife happy and possibly have children.”

  She’d been expecting that and wasn’t sure what she thought about it. “I’m not sure I’m ready.” This was too important a topic to lie.

  “There is no rush. My eldest brother, Roman, who will likely be my father’s successor, is already wed with a half dozen children, four of whom are boys.”

  “And the others?” She was very curious about his family. If his brothers were like him, it was a wonder the women of the galaxies hadn’t stormed Gravas demanding to have a chance to win their hearts.

  “Marcus is a commander in the Gravasian military. Spear is an assassin.”

  She shivered, knowing full well the reputation of assassins from his world. They were the best in the galaxies. Ruthless, relentless, they never stopped until a job was done. It was a death sentence. If one was after you, it was only a matter of time.

  “Ivar is the one closest in age to me. He is currently on a long-range scouting mission.”

  “I thought your people stayed close to home.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “That is what we allow people to believe. I am telling you our secrets.”

  “They’re safe with me.”

  “I know,” he whispered as he nuzzled her ear. She didn’t think she’d be ready to have sex anytime soon after her last orgasm, but having him stroke her was getting her worked up again.

  “We explore uninhabited planets, sometime extracting minerals or other materials needed, sometimes discovering new things.”

  She turned in his arms so she was facing him. “Where will we live?” She hadn’t thought that far ahead.

  “I have my own set of rooms in the palace.” He said it so nonchalantly while all she could think about was how she didn’t belong in such a place.

  “What will your mother think?” That’s what she was most worried about. The woman would play a huge role in her life in the years ahead.

  “She will adore you,” Vaden insisted.

  Abby wasn’t so sure, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it now. Whatever happened, she’d deal with it.

  Someone pounded on their door. At the same time, the communications device on her desk beeped.

  “Your brothers held off longer than I thought they would.” Vaden rolled out of bed and strolled to the door.

  “You’re naked,” she reminded him.

  “I know.” He hit the panel, and the door slid open. Abby covered her mouth and tried not to laugh at the expression on Flynn’s face. When her brother glanced toward the bed, she made sure the blanket covered her.

  “It’s not too late to send him into space,” Flynn reminded her.

  “Yes, it is,” she told him.

  He sighed and shoved a bundle at Vaden. “I only have one eye, and now I’m fucking blind in that one after seeing you naked. Get dressed and come to the mess hall. The women have put together a meal to celebrate.” He stepped back and the door shut.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” she told Vaden. “No, scratch that. I can definitely believe it. What do you have there?”

  He brought the clothes over so she could pick through them. She gave silent thanks to whoever had sent along undergarments and figured it had to be one of the women who’d sent them.

  They didn’t dawdle, and it wasn’t long before they were clean and dressed and standing in the doorway of the dining area. Everyone was there. A banner with “Welcome Home” had been mounted on the wall.

  “Thank you.” What else was there to say? She’d gone salvaging what she thought was a wreck in the sky, and instead she’d fallen in love and been brought back home to her family.

  Vaden’s hand was splayed across her lower back. His presence and unwavering support allowed her to take a step forward with a smile on her face. “Thank you for never stopping your search for me. Thank you for loving me.” She addressed the women next. “I’m glad my brothers have found someone to share their lives with. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”

  As they all came forward to talk, she noticed Flynn standing back watching them all. He seemed apart. Alone.

  “Are you well?” Vaden leaned down and whispered in her ear.

  She turned and went up on her toes and kissed him, drawing groans from her brothers and laughter from the women. “I’ve never been better.”

  The End

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  BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER

  RESCUING RORY

  Marks Mercenaries, 1

  N.J. Walters

  Copyright © 2019

  Chapter One

  “This is going to be a major clusterfuck. There’s no quiet way to do this.”

  Even though his brother’s thoughts echoed his own, Kal Marks didn’t spare Garth so much as a glance. No, his gaze locked solidly on the woman currently dancing in one of the gilded cages that hung from the ceiling here in the largest club on the pleasure ship Exos. The flashing blue spotlight made her smooth white skin look the same color, giving her an exotic appearance.

  Her long, blonde hair hung down her chest, covering her breasts, much to the dismay of the customers around her, and the skimpy thong barely covered her mound as she dipped and swayed to the pounding music. If anything, the tiny strip of cloth accentuated her nakedness, which was no doubt its purpose. She didn’t look at any of the patrons, keeping her eyes trained on the far wall.

  “Are you listening to me?” Garth asked, practically yelling to be heard over the noise. Impatience tinged his voice.

  Kal forced himself to turn away and focus on his brother. “I hear you, but we don’t have a choice.” They had to talk to the woman, the dancing vision.

  “You sure the information is good?”

  Now that was a question, wasn’t it? Digger wasn’t exactly known for his honesty, but he traded in information, and he knew the Marks brothers were always buying when it came to intel on the whereabouts of their missing sister. He also knew better than to lie to them.

  “Digger is too scared of Flynn to risk feeding us bad info,” Kal pointed out. Flynn was the oldest of the four brothers, massively tall and mean as a snake. It was well known throughout the Alliance galaxies that the only people Flynn cared about were his brothers.

  Cross one of the Marks brothers and you crossed them all.

  “I still don’t like it,” Garth muttered.

  “Noted.” Kal let his gaze drift over the room, observing the positions of all the guards. There were quite a few of them, as things could get rowdy on the Exos. In fact, Kal was counting on just that.

  The music pumping through the sound system was low and rhythmic.
That, combined with the mostly naked women dancing around them, was designed to get men in the mood so they’d pay the money to visit the back rooms where women waited to service them. This far out in space the floating pleasure ship contained the only women many of these men would see for months.

  Kal looked at his brother and noted his scowl. Garth’s thoughts mirrored his own. What if their sister were aboard a ship like this? Most of the women weren’t here by choice. Usually the brothers would never set foot on a ship like the Exos, but when it came to intel about their sister, they’d go straight into the bowels of hell itself.

  “She’s got the tattoo Digger told us about.” Garth studied the dancer now, his gaze tracing the long length of her legs. Kal was filled with the sudden urge to punch his brother in the face.

  He rolled his shoulders and forced himself to lean back in his chair and act as if he were enjoying the show. And it wasn’t much of an act. The woman wasn’t really dancing, more sensually undulating to a rhythm far different from the music filling the room. He caught his breath when her hair slid to the side, exposing one perfectly shaped plump breast for a split second before her hair covered it again.

  Kal’s dick sprang to life, and he shifted to get more comfortable. No doubt about it, she was beautiful. There was something almost … innocent about her. Yeah, that was it. Impossible considering where she was. No one aboard this floating pleasure barge was innocent. Even if they started out that way, it didn’t last for long.