“What?” Airen took a step closer.
“A minor incursion,” Sabin said. “Likely, they were checking the planet’s defenses. They attacked the city of Houston, where Space Corps headquarters is located.”
“The Terrans activated an experimental weapon system,” Malax said.
Sabin nodded. “They destroyed the Kantos ship.”
“The Kantos will try again,” Airen said. “They’re going after the weakest link. They had no luck attacking Eon ships and trying to get our helians. Now, they’ll go after the Terrans.”
Malax nodded, moving to place his hands on Wren’s shoulders. The Terran woman leaned into her mate. “They’ll attack man, woman, and child. They don’t care who they destroy.”
“They’re also testing our alliance,” she mused. “To see just how far the Eon will go to protect the Terrans.”
“We have a call from the king coming in shortly,” Malax said. “We need to discuss our next steps.”
“Good, I—”
The bridge doors opened, and an angry Donovan strode in. His long legs quickly covered the distance between them.
“You’re supposed to be resting in Medical,” he bit out.
She lifted a hand. “Donovan—”
He didn’t wait to hear what she had to say. He yanked her into his arms and kissed her. It didn’t take much for her to melt into him. She kissed him back, hot and hard. She felt the solid thump of his heart under her palm. He was alive, and she was so grateful for that.
“Malax, is there a reason your second commander and the sub-captain are kissing on your bridge?” a deep, authoritative, highly amused voice said.
She froze. Oh, cren.
She pressed her head against Donovan’s chest.
“Who’s that?” he murmured.
“The king of the Eon Empire.”
Female laughter came across the comm line. “I can’t send you anywhere, Lennox.”
They both looked up.
Two faces were on the screen. The left side showed the ruler of the Eon, King Gayel Solann-Eon. The man wore a faint smile on his handsome, rugged face. He had the typical long, brown hair of an Eon warrior, and wore a sleeveless shirt in a rich blue. A gold cord circled one of his muscled biceps.
The second image was of Donovan’s captain, Allie Borden. The blonde Terran wore a crisp Space Corps uniform, and was grinning.
Malax stepped forward. “Actually, they have a very good reason, Gayel. Airen and Donovan are mated.”
“Donovan.” Allie shook her head, surprise on her face. “Congratulations.”
Donovan pulled Airen close to his side. “Thanks.”
King Gayel inclined his head. “Yet another mating. I’m very happy for you both.”
“Thank you, your Majesty,” Airen said.
The king’s smile faded. “Unfortunately, we have less happy news to talk about. And I’m very sorry to hear about your ordeal with the Kantos.”
“Luckily, Donovan and I were together.” She glanced at her mate. “I doubt I would have survived without him.”
“Ditto,” Donovan murmured. “Sir, the Kantos need a stronger warning. They came after Airen and her helian.”
She gripped his arm. “Donovan, there’s more.”
He frowned. “What’s happened?”
It was Allie who answered. “D, the Kantos attacked Earth.”
He cursed. “Casualties?”
“Thankfully, quite small.” The anger in her voice said that even one loss was too many. “It wasn’t a full-scale attack. More like a small strike team that attacked Houston.”
Airen watched a muscle in Donovan’s jaw tick.
“Testing our capabilities,” he said.
All the warriors around them nodded.
“We will not allow the Kantos to destroy Earth,” King Gayel said. “I’ve authorized a small team of Eon warriors to be assigned to Earth.”
Airen’s eyes widened, and Donovan squeezed her hand.
“The plan is for them to work with our defense team,” Allie said. “Help in designing experimental weapons for planetary defense.”
“We need to send our best weapons experts,” Gayel continued. “Malax, I’d like to borrow your security commander.”
Airen glanced at Sabin. His work before the Rengard had included advanced weapons technology.
The warrior straightened and nodded. “I’ll do whatever my king and war commander order.”
“Good,” the king said. “I’m told that you will work with the head of the Terran weapons projects. A Dr. Finley Delgado.”
“Oh,” Wren whispered from nearby.
“What?” Airen asked.
“Let’s just say Dr. Delgado is smarter than me, and is known to be…temperamental. She’s very good at what she does, she just doesn’t play well with others.”
“She?” Airen said.
“Should be interesting,” Donovan murmured.
Suddenly, Airen felt a flash of heat through her entire body. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire. She gripped Donovan’s hand, her legs feeling weak.
He frowned at her. “What’s wrong, Airen?”
She gritted her teeth, drawing in his scent. Just hold it together until the king is finished, Airen.
Wren smiled at Donovan, and Airen growled at the woman. She had her own mate. She didn’t need to smile at Airen’s, or stand so close to him.
Donovan frowned. Acting purely on instinct, Airen reached up and kissed him. She didn’t care about their audience; she needed her mate.
The king coughed, clearly hiding a laugh.
When Airen looked up and blinked, Malax was smiling. “Go.”
Airen grabbed Donovan’s hand and dragged her confused mate off the bridge.
“Airen, what is going on?”
“Mating fever.”
His scowl morphed into a sexy grin. “My cabin or yours?”
* * *
Sabin
Sabin Solann-Ath sat at the desk in the conference room off the bridge.
He was interested to see Earth, and had already packed for his assignment. Weaponry was his area of expertise. If he could help take down the Kantos and protect Earth, it was his duty as an Eon warrior.
Sabin had given a lot in service to his Empire. He was a warrior to the bone. A honed weapon. He liked order, and he liked challenges.
He didn’t think Earth would provide much in the way of a challenge, but at least he could help.
He waited for the call to connect to Earth. He was to make contact with the Terran scientist in charge of the weapons project, Dr. Finley Delgado.
The call connected to show an empty room.
He frowned. “Hello?” He’d made the call exactly at the assigned time.
Someone walked past the camera and sat. “What do you want?”
Sabin blinked at the sharp, female voice. He hadn’t realized the scientist was a woman.
A beautiful woman.
She was tall, with curves, and long, blonde-brown hair pinned up at the back of her head. She had a regal-looking face, with high cheekbones. And brown eyes that looked annoyed.
“I am Security Commander Sabin Solann-Ath of the Eon warship, the Rengard. Are you Dr. Delgado?”
She tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear with a quick flick of her wrist. “Yes. And I’m busy. I have an important project that needs my attention. I don’t have time for an intergalactic chitchat.”
The clipped voice told Sabin that this woman was not very patient.
He dragged in a breath, trying to find his own patience. “I’ve been assigned to assist you. I—”
Dr. Delgado leaned forward and actually looked at him. Or rather his arms.
She frowned. “I don’t see what use I have for a brawny alien warrior.”
Sabin sucked in a breath. She was insulting him?
She waved a slim hand. It was stained with something. Old-fashioned ink, maybe. “The Kantos could attack at any minute and I have to be r
eady. I have to stop them.” It was the first time he’d heard any sort of emotion in her voice.
“And I’ll be helping you do that, Dr. Delgado.”
Her nose wrinkled. “I don’t need help.”
“You want all the glory for yourself, so you ignore others who could help you?” He detested people who worked for fame and glory, instead of honor and integrity.
Her brown eyes widened. “What? No. I want to be left alone to concentrate, Commander Brawn.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. Infuriating female. But warrior that he was, he noted the way her gaze snagged on his crossed arms. “My name is Security Commander Sabin Solann-Ath.”
The scientist blinked and shook her head. “I don’t need your help.”
“Well, you’re getting it. I’ll arrive in three days.”
Dr. Delgado huffed and touched something. The screen went blank.
She’d ended the call.
Sabin ground his teeth together. He liked and respected the Terrans he’d met so far. It appeared Dr. Finley Delgado wouldn’t be earning his respect anytime soon, but he would still carry out his duty.
* * *
Jesus.
Donovan’s body arched up, and he blindly grabbed Airen’s hips.
She was riding him, hard, her face flushed and her hair loose and tangled.
“Donovan,” she moaned.
He felt that she was close and thumbed her clit. “Get there, sexy girl. Let me see you come.”
Her hips moved faster and she moaned again. With another thrust of her hips, she splintered apart, her body clenching on his cock.
God, he never got tired of watching her find her pleasure. Her husky cries were music to his ears.
Her climax triggered his own. He sat up and spun her flat on her back. He thrust back inside her, pistoning into her tight body.
She cried out, her legs clamping onto him, heels digging into his ass.
Donovan groaned, pumping inside her. His release was a roar of sound and sensation.
Spent, he rolled off her, dropping beside her on the bed.
The bed—no, the entire cabin—was a mess. They hadn’t constrained their love-making to the bed. He’d had her in the shower, against the wall, on the desk, on the floor, on the chair.
He was tired, but he felt awesome. He guessed two days straight of sex would do that.
Airen shifted and pressed in close.
“Well, mating fever rocks,” he said, finally.
She laughed.
He loved that sound. “So, are you going to make room for my stuff in your closet?”
She raised her head, an unreadable look in her black-green eyes.
He cupped her cheek. “I’m moving in, Airen. I love you, and you love me. That’s what people who love each other do.”
She licked her lips, and he instantly felt that small move in his cock.
“You are so damn beautiful,” he whispered.
But she pulled away and sat up, a serious look on her face.
Donovan frowned.
“We come from different worlds, Donovan,” she said carefully. “We’re both dedicated to our careers.”
“Uh-huh.” He sat up as well.
“I’m Eon, you’re with Space Corps—”
He tumbled her under him. After all the loving, after everything they’d shared, she still doubted him.
No, not him. Every single event in her life had left her wary of truly opening up and trusting her heart. He knew that.
“Airen—”
“You’re amazing, Donovan. I know you probably want to captain your own ship one day, and you’d be a brilliant captain. I don’t know how we can be together and make this work.”
He cupped both her cheeks. “Listen to me. We took on pirates, criminals, genetically engineered creatures, Kantos…if we can do all that, we can sort out anything.”
“I don’t want you to compromise, and one day, wake up resenting us—”
“Anything. Together.”
He saw the flare of hope in her black-green eyes. She wanted to believe.
“Do you love me?” he demanded.
She dragged in a shaky breath.
“Be brave,” he said. “Trust me.”
“Yes. I love you so much, Donovan.”
He kissed her, taking his time to nibble on her lips. “We’ll sort it all out. For now, we’re both on the Rengard. And what I want is my beautiful, competent, sexy warrior-mate by my side. Always. I’m right where I want to be, Airen.”
She trembled. “I love you.”
“I know. I claimed you, my warrior. I hunted you down and claimed you, fair and square. You were naked, I fought off rabid criminals…”
She rolled her eyes. “I think I fought off more criminals.”
“Nothing you can do can change the fact that you’re mine, Airen Kann-Felis, just as I’m yours.”
“And we can take on anything together,” she whispered.
“Hell, yeah. We come up against any problem, any enemy, more Kantos, I’m sending you in to fight.” He nipped her lips. “I love watching my warrior kick ass. And I love your ass, and your legs, and your—”
Laughing, she kissed him. “I think I get it.”
“That,” he whispered. “That laugh. I’m going to spend the rest of our lives making you laugh, Airen. Making you feel loved.”
Then he kissed his mate, and set about loving her all over again.
* * *
I hope you enjoyed Airen and Donovan’s story!
Eon Warriors continues with Storm of Eon starring Security Commander Sabin Solann-Ath and Dr. Finley Delgado. Coming in 2021.
For more action-packed romance, read on for a preview of the first chapter of Gladiator, the first book in my best-selling Galactic Gladiators series.
Don’t miss out! For updates about new releases, action romance info, free books, and other fun stuff, sign up for my VIP mailing list and get your free box set containing three action-packed romances.
Visit here to get started: www.annahackett.com
Preview: Gladiator
Fighting for love, honor, and freedom on the galaxy’s lawless outer rim…
When Earth space marine Harper Adams finds herself abducted by alien slavers off a space station, her life turns into a battle for survival. Dumped into an arena on a desert planet on the outer rim, she finds herself face to face with a big, tattooed alien gladiator…the champion of the Kor Magna Arena.
* * *
Just another day at the office.
Harper Adams pulled herself along the outside of the space station module. She could hear her quiet breathing inside her spacesuit, and she easily pulled her weightless body along the slick, white surface of the module. She stopped to check a security panel, ensuring all the systems were running smoothly.
Check. Same as it had been yesterday, and the day before that. But Harper never ever let herself forget that they were six hundred million kilometers away from Earth. That meant they were dependent only on themselves. She tapped some buttons on the security panel before closing the reinforced plastic cover. She liked to dot all her Is and cross all her Ts. She never left anything to chance.
She grabbed the handholds and started pulling herself up over the cylindrical pod to check the panels on the other side. Glancing back behind herself, she caught a beautiful view of the planet below.
Harper stopped and made herself take it all in. The orange, white, and cream bands of Jupiter could take your breath away. Today, she could even see the famous superstorm of the Great Red Spot. She’d been on the Fortuna Research Station for almost eighteen months. That meant, despite the amazing view, she really didn’t see it anymore.
She turned her head and looked down the length of the space station. At the end was the giant circular donut that housed the main living quarters and offices. The main ring rotated to provide artificial gravity for the residents. Lying off the center of the ring was the long cylinder of the research facility,
and off that cylinder were several modules that housed various scientific labs and storage. At the far end of the station was the docking area for the supply ships that came from Earth every few months.
“Lieutenant Adams? Have you finished those checks?”
Harper heard the calm voice of her fellow space marine and boss, Captain Samantha Santos, through the comm system in her helmet.
“Almost done,” Harper answered.
“Take a good look at the botany module. The computer’s showing some strange energy spikes, but the scientists in there said everything looks fine. Must be a system malfunction.”
Which meant the geek squad engineers were going to have to come in and do some maintenance. “On it.”
Harper swung her body around, and went feet-first down the other side of the module. She knew the rest of the security team—all made up of United Nations Space Marines—would be running similar checks on the other modules across the station. They had a great team to ensure the safety of the hundreds of scientists aboard the station. There was also a dedicated team of engineers that kept the guts of the station running.
She passed a large, solid window into the module, and could see various scientists floating around benches filled with all kinds of plants. They all wore matching gray jumpsuits accented with bright-blue at the collars, that indicated science team. There was a vast mix of scientists and disciplines aboard—biologists, botanists, chemists, astronomers, physicists, medical experts, and the list went on. All of them were conducting experiments, and some were searching for alien life beyond the edge of the solar system. It seemed like every other week, more probes were being sent out to hunt for radio signals or collect samples.
Since humans had perfected large solar sails as a way to safely and quickly propel spacecraft, getting around the solar system had become a lot easier. With radiation pressure exerted by sunlight onto the mirrored sails, they could travel from Earth to Fortuna Station orbiting Jupiter in just a few months. And many of the scientists aboard the station were looking beyond the solar system, planning manned expeditions farther and farther away. Harper wasn’t sure they were quite ready for that.
Claim of Eon: Eon Warriors #6 Page 16
