My only interest was getting her out of this fucking prison uniform and filling her with my cock. She would be pampered and fed. I would bathe her and feed her, protect her and learn all of her secrets. She was mine.
My reaction shocked me. And I was not the warrior she’d been matched to. I could not begin to imagine the depths of Maxim’s response to her. And so, I took my place as his second and let him reach for her.
If he suffered from her nearness, as I did, he most likely would be crawling out of his own skin to touch her, to make contact. Maxim reached for her even as I positioned myself between him and the corridor—and the human guards I could hear running toward our position. It was time to get the fuck out of here.
“Do not fear us. Never fear us.” Maxim’s tone was one I’d never heard before. I’d heard him bellow commands on the battlefield, argue politics at meetings on base, and scream with rage and pain when tortured. I’d heard him laugh and tease fellow soldiers.
I’d never heard him whisper with such blatant longing.
Gods. I was miserable with wanting her. Maxim? I wasn’t sure how he maintained control, how he resisted the urge to throw this small female over his shoulder and take away her choice.
Relief flooded me when Rachel placed her small hand in Maxim’s, her first show of trust, of accepting our claim. I didn’t hesitate, contacting Warden Egara as soon as Maxim had our mate secure. “Contact made. Transport now.”
I could not blame her for her caution. I would have doubted, as Rachel did, if someone came from another planet and broke into a prison to take me away.
I kept my eye on the prison bars, guarding against any potential threat until the transport beacons in our uniforms activated and I felt the strange twisting tug of the transport pull us into the in-between, the darkness where one ceased to exist for those few moments before reemerging on the other side.
When we arrived at the transport center, our mate was stuttering, her legs shaky.
Our little mate seemed to be a force all her own, strong and stubborn and a little wild. But now, seeing her vulnerable, her eyes haunted, her small body weak, every protective instinct I had roared to life. She was small, so much smaller than Maxim or myself. And, technically, we had just kidnapped a human female. The humans’ courts would no doubt not listen to our reasoning. To a human, kidnapping. To me and Maxim, a rescue mission.
And yet, now, standing in the processing center, away from the guards and any chance of being caught a thousand Earth miles away, there were still barricades between me, Maxim and our mate. Not physical bars any longer, but the stubborn spirit of a confused female.
We couldn’t take her to the Colony with us unless she agreed. Voluntarily, and not by coercion. We could pull her from a prison for her safety, but we could not transport her off Earth without consent.
We would have it, for I wasn’t leaving without her. My heart wouldn’t accept anything less and neither would my cock. And I was just her second. Glancing away from Rachel Pierce and at my brother-in-arms, I couldn’t tell what Maxim’s thoughts might be. He gave nothing away, a skill learned in years of battle, forged during torture by the Hive, and put to use as Governor of Base 3.
“Rachel, it is good to see you again,” Warden Egara said, stepping between us and taking her hand.
Maxim growled and she stepped back. She didn’t look afraid, but probably remembered the protocols with Prillon warriors. No one came between a warrior and his mate.
Perhaps it was the transport, but Rachel Pierce’s eyes did not look clear. “Are you all right?” I asked, leaning close as Maxim held her up. I wanted to claim her full lips, to taste her, but now was not the time. Her brown eyes, a shade lighter than Maxim’s, studied my face, moving over my features slowly, as if she were having trouble processing what she was seeing.
For a moment, I worried our appearances would frighten her. We were not human. We did not look like the men she was used to.
Would she deny us?
I pulled back, alarmed at the thought. But Maxim’s gentle hold at her waist did not falter, and she did not push him away. The worry faded from my mind. She’d been matched to Maxim. A matched mate. Even if our appearance unsettled her, all we needed was time. Time to win her over. Touch her. Kiss her. Bring her pleasure.
I didn’t dare touch her now, for while I was to be her second, she was not my mate until the collar was about her neck. I wore one, as did Maxim, but until she did, I feared Maxim may have trouble controlling the mating instinct that must be raging through his blood. Once our mate accepted her collar, we three would be linked, the psychic bond would allow us to learn our mate, to read her emotions and her desires. We wouldn’t be able to read her thoughts, but she would not be able to hide the truth from us. We would know if she was aroused or angry, hurting or confused. The collars would bond us as a family, help us learn how to please our mate, how to make her happy.
How to make her stay.
Maxim moved then, one hand running up and down her back, the other, wrapped around her arm, is if she needed help to stand.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice shaky.
“Warden Egara sent for us,” Maxim said. “You are in danger.”
“What? What are you talking about?” Rachel held up her hand and stepped back. While I knew Maxim could keep her from moving, he allowed her retreat. She wasn’t going anywhere without us ever again.
“May I speak?” Warden Egara asked.
Maxim stepped back and our mate drew in a deep, shuddering breath and rubbed at her temples.
“Please, Warden.” Maxim bowed his head to the female who held one of the most respected titles in the Fleet. No one wanted to offend a Warden, not when their work meant we had a chance at a matched mate. At life after the Hive war.
Warden Egara didn’t hold back, and her voice was brisk. “Rachel, your lawyer received word that someone has sanctioned a hit on you.”
A hit was an Earth term for murder. The idea didn’t sit well and I clenched my hands into fists. The would-be murderer was in prison, far from here, but I wanted to go back and track that human down and end their life for even considering harming Rachel.
“A hit? I don’t understand!” She ran her hand over her dark hair and I could see her agitation. I wanted to soothe her, but I knew nothing I did, nor Maxim for that matter, would work. Not yet. Once our collar was about her neck, we’d be able to calm her, to soothe her with our own feelings.
“John called me. The judge denied his petition to keep you isolated,” Warden Egara told her. Her matter-of-fact tone was working on Rachel. While she wasn’t calming down, her anxiety and anger wasn’t escalating either. “You will be moved to the general population in three days.”
“So?” Rachel asked.
“So, whomever framed you for your crimes doesn’t want you to have your day in court. You won’t live to present the evidence at your appeal.”
Rachel’s mouth fell open and she stared at the warden.
“What you uncovered was dangerous to many. Keeping you alive only increases the chance for the truth to come out.”
“I gave the truth to my lawyer.”
The warden nodded. “Yes, he told me. He will continue to work your case, to seek justice, but that struggle would become unnecessary if you were dead.”
Maxim growled and pushed Rachel behind him. Warden Egara held up her hands. “I am not threatening her, just stating facts.”
Rage boiled on a low simmer in my body, but Maxim’s reaction was telling. He was always calm, always in control. He knew, as well as I did, that the warden was no threat to our mate. As I suspected, Rachel’s curves, her nearness, her scent, were pushing Maxim to the edge. I’d never seen him so riled, not even when we were being tortured by the Hive.
“Five grand, Rachel. That’s all it takes. You go into general population and you’ll be dead within a week.”
Rachel pushed against Maxim and moved around him to stand toe to toe with the w
arden. Bless the fire of these Earth women, the warden did not back down.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Go with your mates, Rachel. It’s not safe for you on Earth any longer.”
Chapter Four
Ryston
“I want to talk to my lawyer. Now.”
From the gleam in Rachel’s eyes, I knew she was adamant. We weren’t getting her to transport without the conversation.
“Very well.” The warden turned to an underling who was looking on, gave the signal for the request to be put through.
Rachel paced the transport room as we waited.
“Rachel?” A male voice came through some speakers hidden in the wall.
She looked up, hope alighting her beautiful features. “Hi, John. I was…um, broken out of jail.”
“Yes, I’ve heard. I got a call a few minute ago.” He paused and there was silence in the room. “Warden Egara did the right thing. Going off planet is the only thing guaranteed to keep you alive.”
“But—”
“You will be dead before the week is out. The women who are serving life sentences without parole have nothing to lose. They will kill you and there will be no consequences for them. For you…”
He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.
“This is bullshit. This can’t be happening.” Her voice broke then and tears slipped down her cheeks. I looked to Maxim to go to her, to soothe her, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. Not yet.
“Do you want to die?” Warden Egara asked.
Rachel wiped the tears from her cheeks with the backs of her hands. “Of course not! But I want to be able to decide my own fate!”
“Rachel,” the lawyer’s voice cut through the room. “You do have a choice. You go back to jail and wait for a shiv in the shower, or you go with your mates to a new world and you live.”
“It is your choice,” Warden Egara added.
“Those aren’t the choices I want. I want to go home, to my job, to my fucking cat!”
“That life is gone. I will work on the appeal, on seeing justice done, but you need to take care of yourself. Get the hell out of here,” John insisted.
She spun and faced us, her hair swirling over her shoulders as she moved. “I don’t know you. Either of you.”
Maxim finally spoke up. He put his hand to his broad chest. “You know me, here. The match, it was almost perfect. Our minds need time to catch up. Deep down, you know I will take care of you.”
“This isn’t what I wanted,” she countered, studying our sizes as she crossed her arms over her chest. So brave.
Maxim slowly shook his head. “I am sorry, mate. But I just found you. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t stand by and allow you to risk your life.”
She sighed, turned away. She ran a hand over her face, groaned in frustration. “God. This is unreal.”
“You will die, Rachel,” the lawyer repeated. “Go. Fuck all these bastards. Get the hell out of here. You have a chance at a new life. Live it.”
She shook her head, but the lawyer couldn’t see her. “This isn’t my life,” she repeated.
“It is now.”
Turning on her heel, she faced Warden Egara. “The rules of the Interstellar Brides Program state that I have thirty days to accept my match, correct?”
The warden nodded while my stomach plummeted. I wasn’t familiar enough with the rules of the match to have known this.
“That is correct. You may refuse the match within thirty days, however—” the warden walked over and took Rachel’s hand, “—you have been matched to the Colony, therefore if you reject Maxim and his second, the testing center will match you to another warrior there. You will not come back to Earth.”
“You came back,” Rachel countered. “Surely, other brides have come back.”
The warden’s face smoothed out, hiding all emotion. “Yes, I did. As have two others. Each incident was a very special case, nothing like yours. A woman matched to Trion returned recently, but her mate was believed dead and she was transported in the middle of a battle. She has since returned to Trion with her son. My mates were both killed by the Hive and I accepted reassignment to assist others in finding happiness. Your men are alive and no longer fighting on the front lines. There is peace on the Colony and your match is strong. You may choose to be matched to another, if these two fail to win you over, but you will not return.”
“Make your choice, Rachel,” the lawyer said. “You’re an escaped convict now and while I can smooth things over, the longer I take to respond, the worse it will be for you if you decide to go back to prison.”
Rachel’s agitation spiked and she ripped her hand from the warden’s to pace, her hands trembling. I ached to pull her into my arms, but I didn’t dare touch her. It seemed she would shatter with the slightest increase in pressure. And I also knew she would not be happy with what came next. Maxim stood, his face expressionless, as he waited for her decision. But the Prillon collar we’d brought for her hung limply in his palm. That collar would connect our mate to both of us in the most intimate bond possible. Her emotions would become ours. She would become acutely aware of exactly how badly I wanted her. Combined with what I knew Maxim must be feeling, I had no doubt our volatile little mate would be overwhelmed.
Tense silence stretched as Rachel rubbed her hands over her face and neck, through her hair in self-soothing gestures I longed to handle for her. The tenderness welling up within me was both welcome and completely unexpected. I’d been a hard fucking bastard for a long time. I’d believed myself incapable of such soft feelings. But that was the miracle of a mate and I prayed to the gods she would not refuse us.
“Fine. Fine! I’ll go.” She didn’t sound convinced, but that didn’t matter. She’d agreed. Once we had her on the Colony, we could show her how much we wanted her. Needed her. She would discover what it meant to be loved and protected by two ruthless Prillon warriors.
“Good luck, Rachel. I’ll keep the warden updated on this end,” the lawyer said. “But until she files her official report, this conversation never happened.”
“Agreed.” Warden Egara went to a table and picked up a tablet, slid her fingers over the screen, studied it. “Rachel Pierce, per Coalition protocol, I must ask you several questions. You have agreed to the match made by the Interstellar Brides Program testing that was saved to your profile. Is this correct?”
Rachel looked to Maxim, then me, lifting her chin in a gesture of resolve. “Yes, that is correct.”
“Are you now legally married?”
“No.”
“Do you have any offspring?”
“No.”
“Very good. Normally, you would be processed for your matching planet and then transported, however we are dealing with rather unusual circumstances. Your mate and his second are here. Therefore, I now strip you of your Earth citizenship. You are now an official citizen of Prillon Prime and their secondary planet, the Colony. You are now officially a Prillon bride.”
A little sound escaped Rachel’s throat, but she said nothing. Her new reality was upon her. She was officially—legally—ours.
“Thank you, Warden,” Maxim said. “Rachel, I give you my word, we will never harm you. You have nothing to fear from myself or from Ryston. It is our job to protect you, cherish you. Claim you.”
I watched her swallow, then nod, her eyes quite wide.
“You belong to me, to Ryston—” no one in the room could miss the way she was bothered by the word belong, her eyes narrowing to thin slits as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, “—and we must ensure your safety. You can’t transport to the Colony without this.”
He held up the collar, the one that would one day match the one about my neck, and the one about Maxim’s. It was a trinity collar and the circle would only be complete when she had hers about her neck.
She looked at it oddly. “What…what is it for?”
“This will mark you as a Prillon bride and alert all oth
ers that you have been claimed.” His voice was a deep growl, but she didn’t appear to be intimidated. Thank the gods. When Maxim used his commander voice, grown fucking men pissed themselves.
She looked at Warden Egara. “Like a wedding ring?”
The warden lifted a brow and gave a slight nod. “Kind of. As a visible sign that you have mates, yes. But it’s a bit more than that.”
“I don’t understand.” Rachel looked from Maxim’s neck to mine. Her gaze lingered as I answered her question.
“Without the collar, we would be challenged for you. There are very few women on the Colony. We are banished warriors, forgotten. You are the first Interstellar Bride sent to us. Without the collar around your neck, every warrior who sees you will try to claim you for his own.”
“No.” Her denial was instant and vehement.
“I share your sentiment, mate.” Maxim stepped closer and watched as her pulse raced. “You are mine. I will destroy any other who tries to take you from me.”
“I’ll help,” I added, and Rachel’s gaze darted between us, but it was not fear that clouded her vision now, but desire.
Her hand circled her throat in a sweet display of nerves and I wanted to secure her hands behind her back and kiss her, right there. But it was Maxim she addressed. “Caveman much?”
Warden Egara laughed. I did not know what my mate’s question meant, but was saved trying to answer by the warden. “They are intense, Rachel. But I promise you, they’ll treat you like a goddess. It’s in their DNA.” The warden indicated the collar with a lift of her chin. “The collar will connect you to your mates in a way that’s hard to explain. They will be able to sense your emotions, and you will know what they’re feeling when you are near one another.”
Maxim held the collar up and his jaw clenched when her small hand brushed his skin, taking it from his much larger palm. “Fascinating. How does it work?” Her gaze lifted to mine and I was relieved to see curiosity there, not fear.
Surrender To The Cyborgs (Interstellar Brides: The Colony Book 1) Page 4
