Ascension Saga, Book 3: Interstellar Brides®: Ascension Saga

by Goodwin, Grace

  I slid my hand lower and cupped his balls. They were swollen and full, as if he’d been saving up just for me. If he thought he had a case of blue balls before, he was about to get a whole new definition of the term.

  “A wild one?” he asked.

  “A woman who’s not interested,” I countered loudly so he finally got the point, tightening my grip on his balls until they were crushed in my fist.

  He curled up as best he could since he was on top of me—and I wasn’t letting go—and roared.

  Right then, the door burst open and the room immediately brightened.

  The consort hovered over me, his head turned toward the commotion. Now I could see him… and Leo, who stood big and brawny in the doorway. Leo took in the two of us in the bed, his gaze narrowed, his breathing making his broad chest rise and fall. His fists were clenched at his sides. And his cock was a thick telephone pole in his pants.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” he shouted. He wasn’t looking at my face, but at my hand on the consort’s balls. No sheet covered us.

  The consort’s face—I could see it now—was red and he was in blatant pain. Good. He was a fairly attractive male, dark hair, a few years older than me. I had to assume that since he had a cock that worked, he’d found his mate. Either she was somewhere else in the castle waiting for him to complete his duty, she had dumped his sorry ass, or she was dead. Which, I had no idea. Nor did I care. This consort needed to learn some manners.

  I twisted and wiggled to his side—still not letting go. “You need to learn to listen.” My voice was soft, but even I could hear the shiver of rage.

  “Please let go!” the consort begged in the high-pitched tone of a thirteen-year-old girl.

  Happily, I released him and he fell to his side in a fetal position. I hopped from the bed and Leo came over in two strides, tugged the sheet from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around me. As for the consort?

  A gagging sound came from behind me. Followed by heaving as the contents of his stomach hit the bed. Asshole. I doubted he’d be servicing any other royal for a while.

  “How dare you touch my mate!” Leo growled.

  I put a hand to his chest, the one that I was familiar with and loved to kiss and stroke, even through the uniform shirt. “He was just doing his job.”

  “You had your hand on his cock,” he countered through gritted teeth.

  I looked up at Leo, saw the anger, the fury there. Dark eyes, flushed skin, tendons in his neck all but bulging, like the veins at his temples. This wasn’t a warrior in battle, but a mate protecting his own.

  “He’s the Royal Consort. Lord Jax sent word to him that I was suffering from Aleran Ardor.” It wasn’t much of an excuse, but maybe it would keep Leo from killing the stupid fool. He was decades younger than Cassander had been. Perhaps even younger than me. If I’d been nineteen or twenty when my Ardor hit, I’d probably prefer him to an older man like Cassander. But being young didn’t excuse not listening to the woman he was in bed with. He wouldn’t live to the ripe old age of forty if he didn’t change his ways.

  “Like that makes a difference to me,” Leo countered. “You had your hand on his cock,” he repeated.

  “Yes, I am well aware of that, and I really want to wash them now. Do you actually believe I’d be interested in someone else?” I asked. I stepped forward and leaned into my mate, breathed him in, because he was mine and I could. His arm came around me and he took a step away from the bed, pulling me with him.

  Leo was breathing hard and eyeing the consort as if trying to figure out how to murder him. Whether it would be a quick neck snap or a dangle off the balcony before tossing him.

  “You had your hand—”

  “Stop saying that. He wouldn’t let me up, so I had to make him think I was interested so I could get a hold of his balls. And not in a pleasant way.”

  “He didn’t let you up?” Leo growled, his entire body tensing to beat the man to death.

  “I can take care of myself,” I countered.

  He looked at me as if that were debatable, but then the consort dry-heaved and I smirked.

  “I grabbed him in self-defense. Leo, after I cup your balls, do you look like that?” I pointed to the consort, who I now felt slightly sorry for. Just slightly.

  He actually looked a little green beneath the profuse sweating. One hand cupped his injured balls as he curled up even tighter into himself. The vomit before him only added to his obvious misery.

  The corner of Leo’s mouth tipped up, but that was it.

  “Why was he in your bed to begin with?” he asked.

  I shrugged, tugging the sheet closer about me. “I told you. He said Lord Jax contacted him about my Ardor. As the royal consort, I guess he wanted to help. It’s his job, I assume, to satisfy the royal women.”

  “Are you telling me because he came to your bed, you think he was simply doing his job, mate? No male can look at you and not want you.” He pushed me behind him and took a step toward the bed. “Touch her again and I’ll kill you, consort. Your bullshit excuse is not going to work with me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Leo, I took care of him all on my own. See?”

  He stared at the guy, although he didn’t look the least bit sympathetic.

  “How did you get in here, consort?” Leo called.

  The younger man didn’t answer, only lifted his arm and pointed. We turned to look at a door which was slightly open in one wall. Neither of us had noticed the hidden door before. There was no handle or any indication that it was there. Leo stormed over to it, pushed it inward and stuck his head into the dark space.

  “Secret passage,” he said when he came back to me, hooking me into his side. “How many are there?”

  “All over,” the consort groaned. “So I can service the females at their convenience.”

  That explained a lot. Leo had been guarding my bedroom door, all the while there were other ways to access me. So much for keeping me safe. The assassin could have slipped in at any time and finished me off if he knew of the secret passageways’ existence, which was certainly possible. I shivered at that thought.

  “This is why I didn’t want to pretend to be just a guard. Things like this happen and you are unprotected. Mate, you were naked with a male on top of you.”

  “I do see your point of view,” I offered, knowing he was right in this. “Perhaps it’s time to adjust the plan.”

  “The plan changed when that fucker climbed in your bed.” Leo eyed me heatedly as he pointed at the moaning consort.

  I nodded. “All right, mate.” At my agreement, some of the tension faded from my mate’s shoulders and I realized just how difficult it had been for him to pretend I was nothing more than a job to him. To stand at my side while I pretended he meant nothing to me. But he’d done it because I’d asked him to. Because he’d trusted my judgment.

  Maybe it was time for me to trust his. Maybe I should tell him about the plan. About what my sisters and I had agreed upon. Either he was mine, or he wasn’t. And every cell in my body said he was. Mine. Mine. Mine. It was like a chant on a microscopic level.

  “Do any of the secret passages lead to the guard quarters?” Leo asked the consort.

  All he could do was nod, then throw up some more.

  I cringed. Now I did feel sorry for him. What if I’d neutered him?

  Then again, he should have listened.

  “Know this, consort” Leo began, his voice loud and very clear. “Share this with all who will listen. Princess Trinity is my mate. The only cock she’ll touch, the only balls she’ll fondle, are mine. Having yours practically ripped off will be nothing compared to what I’ll do if someone even breathes near her again.”

  The guy fell back onto the pillows and just lifted his hand by way of response.

  Leo took my hand and tugged me toward the hidden doorway, then pulled me into the darkness.

  This time, surrounded once again in pitch black, I knew I was with the one person I could tr
ust, the one person I wanted close to me while I was naked.

  2

  Leo

  “I’m sorry, Leo. I should have listened to you back on the Karter.” Trinity’s soft admission soothed me as I closed and locked the door to my quarters. I knew for a fact there were no secret passageways in or out of this room. There was no exit or entrance other than the thick door I’d just bolted. And the bolt was heavy. Meant to withstand an assault. A last resort should the guards’ quarters ever be attacked.

  Or the next cock-swollen consort who decided he needed to seduce the future queen.

  “I know.” I had no doubt the consort was told by Lord Jax to attend to the new princess. But I also knew that many consorts conspired to seduce the matron of his household. Many held more power than all but the head of the house, herself. Rulers were female here, and being welcome in a wealthy patron’s bed was not without additional rewards for the right male. Getting Her Royal Highness, Princess Trinity, to accept him into her bed? It would have been a major boon for the fucking bastard.

  Even for the royal consort, Trinity was more than just a job. She always would be. And that was why she needed me. I didn’t care if she wore a crown or a sack. She was mine, and I was in love with her. She’d transported across the galaxy to save her mother and fight for her planet. She’d survived an assassin’s attack, the Ardor, and made it to the citadel. She’d held her head high, walked into her mother’s palace, and faced her cousins who most likely wanted her dead. And she’d done it all without raising her voice or losing her head. She was fearless, strong, in a quiet way. A rock, not the storm.

  The labyrinth of dark passageways behind the walls of the main rooms did lead to the guard sleeping area, just as the consort had said. I hadn’t doubted his word, since he knew I was ready to rip off his already bruised balls and shove them down his throat.

  When I turned my head and glanced at her, I realized I’d never seen anything so beautiful. My mate with just a sheet wrapped around her, a hand at her breasts holding the ample fabric closed. Her pale shoulders were bare, her blonde hair long and tangled. She looked fuckable, and worried. Her straight teeth bit down into her plump lower lip and her chin was down. Not the regal bearing she usually had. Only with me did she show her true feelings. A princess. And she’s just apologized to the poor son of a soldier.

  “Are you mad at me?” Her eyes were round, worried. I’d dragged her the length of the palace wearing nothing but a sheet.

  Worse, I’d made her doubt my devotion. My anger at seeing her naked with another male had made her seek to comfort me. It was my job to fix this, to make her happy and whole. She should never doubt my feelings for her. She was my mate. A miracle, if I were being honest with myself. More precious and perfect than I deserved. I had blood on my hands. A lot of blood. Years of war and killing had stained them permanently in my mind.

  But she allowed me to touch her anyway, with these scarred, bloody hands. I was the monster guarding the gate, a trained killer, but I was her monster. I served Mytikas. I served the citadel and Queen Celene. But above all, I served Trinity now.

  “Mad? Yes. But mate, not with you.”

  She sighed and offered me a small smile.

  “I admit, I want to go back and rip that consort’s head from his body. Clearly you are irresistible to all males on Alera, and not just me.”

  She laughed at that. “He was just doing his job.”

  “You are not a job.” I tugged my shirt, lifted it up and over my head. I would not pretend to be the guard sleeping at the door. No. We would now sleep. Together. Where we should have been all fucking along. “Please explain to me why you had your hand on his balls.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to forget that, are you?”

  I arched a brow as I settled my hands on my hips. “Would you like to find me naked and in bed with a woman with my fingers buried in her pussy?”

  Her lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. I had no interest in another female, she had to know that, especially since she’d brought about my awakening. My cock was hers. She ruled it.

  “You have a point.” She spun on her bare foot, glanced around the room, picked up a glass of water and took a drink. “Destiny said—”

  “Ah, I can’t wait to hear this one,” I murmured, thinking of the fearless and half-mad female. I’d never met a female more aggressive. If Trinity was solid and steady as a rock, Destiny was the storm that raged against it.

  Trinity rolled her eyes again. “Destiny said that when fighting someone, or in self-defense, sometimes you have to recognize you won’t be able to get out of a situation.”

  She went to the bed and sat on the edge. This room wasn’t opulent like her chambers, but the bed was large. Large, but simple. Basic. Plain. I didn’t give a shit if it were a cave as long as Trinity was with me.

  “That is true,” I offered. I’d fought enemies before, hand to hand and in more firefights than I could remember.

  “So if you can’t get out of a situation, you need to get into it,” she finished.

  I saw red and rage simmered. “Are you telling me the consort was forcing himself on you?” My voice was little more than a whisper, but one word from my female would send me back to end him.

  Her blue eyes widened. “He wasn’t forcing me. He was just surprised I wasn’t… eager. I decided, instead of fighting him to try to get out from underneath him, I’d get into it. To let him think I’d stopped resisting. So, I pretended to check out the goods.”

  I didn’t exactly understand check out the goods but I had a mental picture of what that meant. Pretend to like his cock and balls so she could get a hold of them and squeeze them like little berries.

  “I’m sorry you had to see that. I am.” She stood, tucked the length of sheet into itself at her breasts so it remained closed and came over to me, put her hand on my bare chest. I went instantly rock hard. Just her scent, her touch and I was done. No wonder the consort was so eager to taste her. She was so fucking alluring just breathing.

  “The only balls I want to touch are yours. The only cock I want to stroke is yours.”

  Her hands were on my uniform pants, opening them.

  “You stroked his cock?” I growled. Balls were one thing, but his cock?

  “Shh,” she replied soothingly, then she gripped my length.

  She was trying to distract me, and it was working. I groaned, all thought of the consort, of Alera, of anything but Trinity was gone.

  Her hand was on me. Stroking me, her thumb sliding over my slit, catching the pre-cum that slipped from me. I couldn’t help it.

  Thank fuck, her hand was on my cock. Mine.

  Fuck, yes.

  I reached up, tugged the sheet from her, let it fall to the floor at our feet. She was gloriously naked and all mine.

  “You can work the cum from my balls, mate,” I said, glancing down at her, staring at every perfect, bare inch of her. “But it’s going in your pussy. You have ten seconds to play.”

  She glanced up at me, a sly smile on her lips as her hand continued to expertly move up and down my length. She might be a princess and rule a fucking planet, but right now, she ruled my cock. And she reveled in that power.

  “No more,” I said as I grabbed her by the waist, scooped her up and tossed her on the bed. I stood in just my pants and boots, my cock out, hard and long and aiming right for her. And if a bead of pre-cum just dropped to the floor, I wasn’t paying much attention. “We talked about this, mate.” I angled my head toward the locked door. “You’re in charge out there. In here, you’re mine.”

  She bent her knees, spread them wide so I could see every glorious inch of her pussy. Oh, fuck. The power of that sweet pussy.

  Determined, I grabbed an ankle and tugged her across the soft bed toward me, which made her laugh. And then she gasped, when I flipped her onto her belly. The gasp turned to a moan when I hooked an arm about her waist and pulled her back so she was on her hands and knees.

 
; She looked over her shoulder at me with a mixture of surprise and arousal.

  When my hand came down on her upturned ass, a bright pink replica instantly appearing, she gasped, then wiggled her hips.

  “That’s for being naked and in bed with another male.”

  I pushed my pants lower on my hips and crawled up behind her. Spanked her again. “That’s for touching another man’s cock and balls.”

  I lined up my cock at her entrance and slid in with one long, hard thrust. “And that, mate, is your reward for being such a good girl. Using your brain.” I fucked her as I talked, gripped her hip. She felt so good. Wet, tight. Hot. How had I lived without this? Without her? “Being so smart, so beautiful. Perfect. Fuck, this pussy is perfect.”

  Her hands clenched the bedding as she pushed back into my thrusts, taking me as deep as I could go. She was panting, crying out, clenching me. This was going to be fast. Hard. Intense.

  I leaned over her, covering her body with mine. Skin on skin. I wanted her to feel me. Smell like me. Surrender. Give me everything.

  I lowered one hand to the bed to brace my weight and used the other to wrap beneath her, looking for her center, the swollen clit I knew begged for attention.

  She arched beneath me when I found it, her soft cries making my cock jump where it was buried deeply inside her. I stroked her without mercy, sliding in and out of her wet heat in a slow grind I knew would make her scream. I wanted to feel the walls of her pussy shudder and clench my cock in hot waves. “Come for me, mate. Come all over my cock. Remember, who rules you.”

  She did come then, a scream ripping from her as her inner walls spasmed, milked me, pulled me in deeper, all but begging for my cum.

  I couldn’t hold back, the hot sizzle of need too great. The hottest burst of pleasure dissolved my bones, temporarily blinded me. My balls tightened and then emptied, filling her with spurt after spurt of my seed.

  When it was over, my body shook. I couldn’t hold myself up any longer and to keep from falling on her, I scooped Trinity into my hold as I fell to my side, tucking her in against my chest, my cock still deep inside her.