“The best place to start is to tell you about myself. I was created not born, on a planet too far away from here for Earth’s scientists to spot. The planet I was created on was at war with its neighbors and they could no longer defend themselves. They took a suggestion from their females and created babies that would grow up to become warriors for them.
“We fought for them for centuries, and then one day they were at peace and didn’t need us. We protested being decommissioned and came to your Earth. When the Scientists decided to create us they combed the galaxy for unique and different male DNA that would make us more powerful than any one race. They accomplished that, but they also included Darkness DNA in our make-up. The Darkness is what the galaxies fear the most. It recruits any unusual or unique male into its army by having that male kill his mate.
“If the male refuses to do it then the Darkness does it for him.”
“I can’t be your mate, and you can’t be mine.”
“Why?”
“There are beings looking for me Damon, and eventually they are going to find me when they do they will kill me. There is nothing that you or anyone else can do to stop them.”
“Why are they after you River?”
“I’m unique. I was told that as long as I live the tide will follow the moon. I’m supposed to have something to do with that. There are times when I can picture the bottom of the sea and swimming in the ocean. I’ve never done any of those things.
“I can’t even defend myself because I don’t know what they want from me. All I know is they want me dead.”
“Then I think we will make the perfect mates. Both of us have someone coming after us, and both of us will stay alive for the other one. Perfect.” Damon got up and went to take the defrosted meat out.
“I’m making you spaghetti because it’s quick and easy and I can tell your hungry.”
“Spaghetti?”
“You’ve never had it before?”
She shook her head no and went over to the stove to see what he was doing.
“You’re in for a treat. This is the meat; people make it all different kind of ways but were not doing anything fancy with it. I just want you to enjoy it.”
“How did you learn to cook?” She watched as he pulled out a pan and added the meat along with several spices.
“When we were protecting the planet, we were created on they gave us food when we were young, but when we reached a certain age we were told that we would have to fend for ourselves. Not knowing what to do or how to identify what was edible versus what was poisonous, we learned by trial and error. By that I mean mostly Dante’s trial and error. He ate everything first if it didn’t make him sick or kill him then we ate it.”
She looked at him pain flashed in her eyes as she remembered how she learned to identify what was edible and what wasn’t. Sloan didn’t always throw her raw fish that should be eaten.
“You survived.”
“We all did. We all survived the centuries we lived and fought on that planet. When we eventually came to Earth, we choose to be more than warriors. One of the things we learned to do was cook. Each of us has been certified a chef more than once. I’m also the healer as well as an excellent soldier, warrior, assassin and if I’m looking to have fun, mercenary.”
“Your life was so exciting, and then you met me.” She went and sat back down her chin lowering a little as she refused to meet his eyes.
“My life was boring, and then I met you. My Little Warrior. I think I’ll always see you with that pipe in your hands ready to take on the minions of Darkness.”
“They were trying to hurt you.” Her chin tilted up the sexy little point making him take a deep breath to keep his hands to himself. “The Darkness wants to kill you because it believes that I’m your mate?”
“There’s a little more to it than that. Anyone with Darkness DNA in their bodies lives under a curse. When we meet our mate, The Darkness comes to harvest our souls. That’s how it gets new minions. In order to do that it has to take the one thing we love, our mates. As long as you’re alive I have a reason to resist.” He placed the noodles on and sat down beside her again.
“What do we do next? How do we defeat them?” She looked at him her eyes expanding a little allowing him to fall into her.
Damon took a deep breath to calm himself. He had never felt the need to touch and possess a female like he did with his mate. He wanted to be in her, on her, his scent covering every inch of her. So that everyone who came into contact with her would know she was taken.
“I don’t know. I think we are safe here for a while that will give us both a chance to get to know each other.” He got up and went back to the stove.
She let out a small sigh of relief. He wasn’t going to push her, insist that she commit to something she wasn’t sure about. She wasn’t even sure about him, but her body was reacting to him, wanting him. It had been so long since she had felt a male loving her, touching her. Being with him would be a new sensation one she barely remembered ever having.
Nothing would stop the memories of disgust. Those were there right under the surface waiting for her to scratch them. With them came his picture, the male she hated even when she thought she was in love with him. ‘You’re so thick.’ His voice held such disgust as another thinner female danced for his pleasure.
Her hand went to her head as she began to see black. The memories of the past haunted her and were trying to kill her at the same time. There was a reason she sat in that room as he humiliated her in front of everyone gathered, but she didn’t remember what it was.
“River,” Damon’s voice pulled her out of the past allowing her head to stop hurting. “Spaghetti, I hope you like it.”
He placed the plate in front of her and then got them something to drink. She placed the fork in it and watched the noodles slide off.
“Try this.” He showed her how to twirl the fork and pick up the spaghetti. Then he watched as she took her first bite.
“This is good.” She took another bite and smiled at him when she realized he was staring. She stopped how much more would she be able to eat before she got sick.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been getting sick when I eat.”
“I added a mineral to your food that your body needs it will help to supplement the mints my brother gave you.”
She shook her head and gave him a smile as she cautiously took another bite.
He took a bite of his food and watched her as she ate. She frowned and touched her head before giving it a shake and eating more. He wanted to know what made his mate so weary. Patience he told himself. The healer and the warrior understood the concept. The male simply wanted his mate in his arms.
Chapter Eleven
She gave him a shy smile as they sat on the couch. Together they cleaned the kitchen, Aran and Rena never let her help when she stayed with them, so it was her first time. Doing something small with him made her feel good.
Now they were watching vids. He picked out one he thought she would like it was a romance, but it also gave her a feel of how the Earth was different from the one she used to know.
“Why would he pick Jan over Eve?” The male had walked away from the thinner female to pick the thicker female. No one she knew would have done that. Her body bent over as her eyes went dark and her head throbbed.
“River!” He was already lying her down and running his scanner over her.
“When I try to remember my past, my head starts to hurt, and a black film covers my eyes.”
“There’s increased pressure in the arteries and veins in your head. Stop trying to remember. Your captors have placed a mental trigger within you, every time you think of your past your body tries to shut down. Relax it will come back to you by finding ways around the trigger.”
“I’ll try, I don’t like not knowing my past. Who would you have picked if that were you?”
“Truth?”
“Yes.”
“I would
have picked the thinner female.”
She felt despair at his words. The smile on her face didn’t change, but her eyes clouded, and she refused to care if he didn’t like her size. This was who she was, and she would never be able to change it.
“There’s a reason I would have picked her. If I were the male in the vid, I would have realized she was my mate. She made him happy. He loved her and wanted to be with her. The only reason he picked the other female was that he was trying to be a rebel by not conforming to what he thought society wanted from him. I’m not the male in the vid so it doesn’t matter who I would pick unless we’re talking about you. Any day every day I would pick you.”
“You can’t know that.”
“Why? You already make me smile. You’re strong and brave, let’s not forget beautiful.”
“Your brother, your friends they all have beautiful women, you should have one too.”
“My brother and my friends all have women who love them, and I agree I should have one too.”
“You’re not disgusted when you look at me? You don’t want a thinner female to dance for you?”
“I want you to be healthy no matter the size of your body. A thin body is not always a healthy one. Right now, you’re still starving no matter how much you eat. So, we will feed you until your body catches up with your stomach.”
She took out a round red mint and popped it into her mouth. “Dante gave me these, and they taste great.”
“Make sure you eat them. Once I know you're stabilized, and your body won’t collapse on you, then you can be any size you want as long as it’s healthy. Would you dance for me?”
She stood slowly her mind working on the thought of being whatever she wanted. It was unique to think that she didn’t have to live up to anyone else’s standards. Even when she was a captive, she was living up to their standards. She kept herself quiet when Sloan or his friends came to visit her. She didn’t move too much for fear of drawing attention to herself, and she learned not to give away the fact that Sloan’s voice hurt her. It was a life that she thought she would always live. Now Damon was telling her she had options, she could be whoever she wanted to be.
“I never danced for a male before.”
“I’ll love it.”
She believed him. There were so many ways he could have hurt her, destroyed her self-confidence. He could have tried to make her into what he wanted. Instead, he was giving her what she wanted. Music from a time forgotten ran through her head, and she moved swaying softly at first as if she were one of the plants on the bottom of the ocean. She began to gyrate her body allowing her hips and her chest to shake. Her legs moved in an intricate pattern while Damon's eyes grew bright as he watched her and his mouth curved into a smile.
She came to a stop in front of him smoothly dropping to the floor with her head bowed and her body held in a tempting position.
“Rise, you have pleased me with your dance. I wish to be able to please you with my actions and how I care for you.”
She stood as he took her into his arms. There were tears in the corner of her eyes. Those words were important to her, she didn’t remember why, but she knew no male had ever said them to her before today.
He carried her to his room.
“This is my room, my sanctuary within my sanctuary. There are several bedrooms, and you can choose any room you want, but I would like you to choose this one.”
“How can you not have a female?”
“I gave her up before I met you. I gave the female before her up and the one before that. None of them held my attention. They were all beautiful, some were thick some were smaller, but none of them were you.”
“What happens if I sleep here?” Her tongue came out to moisten her lips, and her eyes looked anywhere except at him.
“What I hope will happen is that you will allow me to touch you, feel you, love you. You can also just sleep.”
“Will you want to look at my body?”
His lips curved into a smile as those wonderful eyes went from black to blue.
“I would like that.”
“Bathroom?”
He pointed to a door, and she escaped through it.
You’re not ready for this River. Tell him no. No sleeping together, no touching and absolutely no looking at your body. She met her eyes in the mirror and pulled off the shirt. Underneath it was a bra that captured her small breast. She took it off and cupped herself.
Feelings of not being enough flooded her memory. She hated that she always felt like she needed to be someone else to measure up. She tried to reach for why she felt that way then stopped as she felt her brain about to shut down on her. It didn’t matter she was different now and her actions should show it.
She stepped into the shower and thought about all she had experienced so far. Her mind focused on Rena and Aran, and then on Amber and Alexei. Hatred had been all she had known for so long that when she saw love, it felt strange, made her skin crawl at first. The longer she was there, the more she liked who she was. That was when she started to wonder if there was a chance for love in her life. Every time she thought of love she thought of Damon. Could she love him? Could he love her? She didn’t want to be his mate she wanted to be loved.
Grabbing a towel, she stepped out the shower and dried off. When she walked into the room, Damon was sitting in a chair off to the side. He was wearing a loose pair of pants without a shirt or shoes. Her eyes took him in. His hair was beautiful it was so red she was sure she could find him in the Dark. His black streaks were marvelous, and the fact that they moved in his hair made her stomach rumble it was so sexy. His eyes that went from the lightest blue to black and back again would forever hold her attention. Then there was his body.
It had been a long time, but she remembered males and their bodies and she’d never seen one like his. Her hands wanted to caress him. His muscles were long and lean while being thick enough to make others jealous when he walked down the street.
“Mine,” she growled out, unaware that she said it out loud.
“Yours,” he responded as he stood up and walked over to her.
“River?”
He was asking her if she made her decision. What did she want to do? I want to run and hide, you’re a seriously sexy male. That’s what I want to do. What she did was drop the towel and step back so he could see her. She wasn’t a runner, and she wasn’t a hider, and she wasn’t about to start now. His eyes swept her taking her in. Then she threw herself at him, and he caught her, spinning her around to make her laugh. She might not be mate material, but she was sure she was lover material.
He laid her down on the bed sitting on the side looking at her. She was so thick that he couldn’t believe his eyes as her softness called to him. His hand shook a little as he placed it against her cheek.
“What if…”
He lowered his head to kiss her. Lips moving over hers until she opened letting him in. Her soft sigh of pleasure encouraged him. He licked her tongue before sucking on it. Her cries of pleasure were a little louder as his hand roamed over the side of her body sweeping over her breast.
She nipped his bottom lip when he pulled back making him smile. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him backward until he was sitting, and she was sitting facing him.
“I love to look at your chest.” Her fingers began tracing the muscles.
She leaned over and kissed him at the bottom of his throat placing a small bite there before she began to explore his chest.
“You’re hot, I like that. It feels like I’ve been cold forever but every time you're close to me I warm up. It’s like your body was heated to the perfect temperature just for me.”
She leaned into his chest and licked his nipple as his hands ran up her back and played with her hair. He took her hair and rubbed it against her shoulder making her smile and give a sexy sound as she watched his eyes change color.
Her tongue licked his chest making his hand tighten in her hair before she sucked on
e of his nipples into her mouth.
“My mate likes to play.” His voice was rough, and she felt her body respond. Sensations that she had almost forgotten were waking up. There was a wetness that was beginning to trickle between her legs.
The more she played with him, the thicker his erection became as it pressed against his pants.
“I have a secret to tell you.” Her body was pressed against him her small breast rubbing against his chest. A shiver was working its way through his body.
“Tell me your secret, River.”
She bit his shoulder before she licked it. Be smart, don’t tell him, but he needed to know because there was a time when feeling this way was frowned upon. She couldn’t remember the time.
“I’m possessive. I like to keep what is mine.” She whispered it in his ear. Her voice dipped with shame, but it needed to be said.
“I think you lived in a time long before I came to your Earth. I have a confession to make. You think you’re going to run, but I’m going to chase you no matter how long it takes. When I make love to you tonight I’ll never let you go.”
Her laugh was caught in her throat, but it was still there. “Don’t they call that stalking?”
He pulled on her earlobe and gave a sexy growl making her wetter as her nipples tightened.
“You know that word. Yes, they call that stalking, but it wouldn’t be between us. If you run River, it’s because you’re playing cat and mouse daring me to catch you. I will catch you.” He growled in her ear.
She moved closer to him trying to rub herself against him.
“Catch me, Damon,” she whispered as he lifted her up and placed her on his body.
Chapter Twelve
She snuggled against him rubbing her pussy over his cock.
“You’re driving me crazy.” He rolled her over until he was able to catch her legs under his. She pouted until he leaned down and took one brown tipped nipple into his mouth.
Damon: The A'rouk Brothers: A BBW Paranornal Page 7
