Faultless

by Kate Rudolph

  She pulled her shirt off in one efficient movement, throwing it somewhere across the room and not caring where it landed. Dru watched her with naked lust that made Laurel feel powerful, desired. It curled up deep within her and warmed her up from the inside, and when his ruby red eyes raked over her naked skin, she couldn’t suppress her shiver. He had that power over her, to pin her in place with a look and make her yearn for whatever he would do to her. But he was standing too far away, and they both still had way too many clothes on. Laurel struggled out of her pants, shimmying left and right on the bed and realizing too late that she should have taken them off before she lay down. A laugh burst out of her, that lightness still wrapped around her and giving her a freedom with this man that she’d never thought possible.

  But once she was naked, her laughter died away, making way for something darker, something hotter. Something only Dru could make her feel.

  She crooked a finger at him and he was on her in an instant, crushing her into the bed and trapping her with his hands on either side of her head. With someone else, Laurel might have felt crowded, contained, but Dru made her feel safe, protected. His lips captured hers, conquering her mouth with a searing kiss that imprinted deep on her soul. Their tongues tangled and Laurel loved the strange, alien feel of his kisses. His tongue had ridges on it, nothing extreme, but enough to give her something new to explore. And she was going to explore every bare centimeter of him.

  One of her legs hooked over his hip, pressing her sex against the hard length of his cock. Laurel moaned against him, the sound feral. She needed this, needed him, more than she’d ever understood. Sex had never been a high priority for her before, but with Dru everything was new, was better, was perfect, and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to keep her hands off of him after tonight.

  When he pulled back from her mouth, Laurel laced her fingers through his hair and tried to keep him close, but he flashed her a grin and kissed his way down her body, his tongue doing wicked things to her nipples that had her writhing in place and begging for more. She moved so much that a distant part of her feared she was going to buck off the bed, but then Dru swirled his tongue around and all of her concerns vanished in a haze of pleasure. She couldn’t remember her own name, let alone care whether she fell to the floor, so long as Dru went with her.

  And then he went even lower and Laurel’s mind exploded. She gasped as his tongue delved into her sex, tasting her, feasting on her. Her fingers dug into the sheets beside her as she arched up, the small bit of pain in her knuckles enough to ground her in the moment and only heighten the experience. She gasped and begged and promised him impossible things, delirious at the delicious sensations that Dru cascaded over her. It was too much, and yet she needed more, needed him and the pleasure that only he could bring her. He seemed to read her mind, knowing when to push forward and pull back, knowing when she was about to break and prolonging it until she was a whimpering mess of a woman who would give anything if only he would bring her over that final peak.

  It was almost a surprise when she crested, her sex rippling as pleasure exploded through her, making her cry out her mate’s name as it wrecked her, tearing her apart and stitching her back up anew. Her head lolled back against one of the pillows and she couldn’t think, could only feel as Dru eased her through her orgasm, gentling her with his fingers, stroking her lightly and keeping her close to that edge that she could go back over with almost no effort.

  He placed a kiss on her abdomen and grinned up at her. Laurel was drunk on pleasure, but whatever Dru saw in her smile made his eyes flare red again as he stroked his hard cock once before placing himself at her entrance.

  “I’m going to take you, denya. Make you mine,” he declared.

  “Please,” Laurel begged, the word both breathy and a little slurred. She couldn’t think beyond this moment, didn’t want to, not when everything was so perfect, when for once the world was right and she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

  Dru pushed himself into her slowly, and the stretch was tight. Laurel groaned as he filled her up and when he started to move she found that the pleasure he’d given her before hadn’t ebbed, it had just been waiting to be renewed. They moved together, chasing their release, connected to each other in a way that crossed the bounds of space and time. They’d crossed the galaxy to find one another and in that moment they were one.

  This time she could feel the pleasure building, the almost painful pressure that spurred her on towards release, arching her against her mate and moving her body in time with his. They came together, and an awareness woke within her, reaching out for Dru like a cord stretching from her heart to his. It snapped into place, binding them together and linking their souls in a way that Laurel had never thought possible.

  The denya bond. It had seemed ludicrous when she first learned about it, but now Laurel could feel it deep within her, an undeniable truth that anchored her to the man within her.

  Their eyes locked, and in that moment everything was perfect.

  Now they just had to find a way to save the rest of the world.

  Chapter Fifteen

  DRU AND LAUREL CAME back to the world slowly after a morning of warm kisses and hot embraces. Each time either of them tried to leave the bed, the other tempted them back and it was only the fact that Dru would be called back to training shortly that finally got them into the shower where they got each other dirty once more.

  Dru couldn’t stop kissing his denya. When she smiled at him, when she laughed, when she got that hot look in her eye that went straight to his cock, he leaned in and sealed his lips over hers. He hadn’t realized the denya bond would feel this way, that it would be something so definite, so all-encompassing. He could feel where it was anchored within his soul, a tether reaching out and connecting him to Laurel in a way he never been connected to another person before and never would again. He didn’t understand how anyone could walk away from their denya, not if it felt like this, and there would be nothing that could drag him away from his own mate.

  After she’d pulled on her clothes, Laurel sank down onto the couch with a sigh. “I should probably talk to Jules today. She’s bound to be upset about how we left things last night.”

  Dru joined his mate and clasped their hands together. It was probably wise for them to stay away from the bed if they were ever going to get out of the room, but he did spare the bed one last longing glance as he remembered everything he’d done with his mate there. Though sitting on the couch gave him ideas that he had to quickly clamp down on to concentrate on the conversation. “Are you upset about that?”

  Laurel grinned. “Do I look upset?”

  Despite the shower her hair was still a bit mussed and her skin practically glowed. “You look sated.” And Dru knew he practically radiated satisfaction.

  “You saw to that.” She leaned in and kissed him, pressing up close, their bodies melding together as if they’d been doing this for years. Dru wrapped his free arm around her, but before they could go any farther, Laurel pulled back with a look of regret in her eye. “Still, she’s my sister and she came all this way. I can’t really ignore her. I mean, she did think I was dead for months.”

  “And she should be glad to have you back, but her concern can’t trump your safety.” He hadn’t liked the way Jules treated Laurel, as if she should bow to her sister’s wishes at the expense of her own, just to satisfy their family’s desires. That family had been through a great trial in losing Laurel, but Laurel had been through something even worse, and she was the one who needed to decide what she would do about that. And that didn’t even take into account the Oscavian threat.

  “Huh?” Laurel’s eyebrows shot up at his mention of safety.

  “We need to move you to a secure location. If the Oscavians are after you, staying in this hotel isn’t safe.” He could justify staying there for the night—after all, he’d been by her side the entire time and Ferys was guarding the door—but a hotel in the middle of the city
would never be secure.

  And Laurel understood that. “I was planning to go back to the suite. I thought...” Suddenly she seemed caught on the edge of shyness and playfulness as she bit her lip.

  “What?” Dru traced circles on his mate’s wrist and delighted in watching her shiver under his touch.

  “Well, my bed is big enough for two.”

  As if anything could have stopped him from kissing her at that offer. Her lips were soft and tasted so sweet. But this time it was Dru who pulled back. This was a matter that they needed to settle now, before he had to report for duty. His mate’s safety was more important than anything, even their pleasure.

  “I think it would be best if you temporarily moved onto the SDA base. It will be much more difficult for the Oscavians to breach.” Between the personnel walking around at all hours and the tight security, he doubted the Oscavians would be able to get within three kilometers of the base. There would be no safer place for Laurel on the entire planet.

  But his mate frowned. “I’m tired of it.”

  “Of what?” His heart seized in his chest as he feared she was already tiring of him, but that doubt couldn’t gather strength when she still held his hand and looked at him like he could offer her the universe.

  Laurel let out a long breath, her shoulders deflating. “Of being held in secure locations. I just want things to be normal again. What the hell is it about me that makes me some great prize?”

  His soul ached for his mate, wanting to give her the freedom she so desired. Even though she wouldn’t be held captive at the SDA base, he could understand why it would feel like more of what she’d already endured. “This isn’t forever. We’ll catch Varrow soon, I’m certain of it.” He would use every resource, exhaust every avenue of investigation to make sure that happened.

  “Or that Yormas guy will attack and we’ll all die fiery deaths.” If she meant it as a joke, it fell flat.

  “Hey, stop that.” They wouldn’t surrender to despair, not when they’d only just found one another.

  “I was really hoping reality would wait a few more hours to crash down around me. I wanted to enjoy the afterglow a bit.” She leaned against his shoulder, but every line of her posture exuded exhaustion. It had been a long year for his mate and it still wasn’t over.

  Dru kissed her again, keeping it gentle, like he could take her pain into himself and leave her whole.

  “We’re going to stop Yormas,” he promised. Even if he had his own doubts, he would not show them to her, not when she needed his strength. “We came to Earth because it’s our best shot at winning, don’t give up on this yet.”

  “Do you really think we can survive this?”

  “I’m counting on it. We have a whole life to live together, and I won’t be cheated out of it.” He’d been close to the edge of death, sure that nothing in the galaxy could save him if he refused to surrender his soul. And in Laurel he’d found a miracle, an amazing survivor who had given herself to him, joining their lives together despite all of their differences.

  She pressed her lips against his cheek, saying in actions what she couldn’t say in words. Their future wouldn’t be stolen from them. They were in this together.

  “Now let’s get ready. We can get you situated when I go in for training.” Dru leaned forward to stand up, but Laurel’s next words had him falling back in surprise. Apparently she didn’t agree with his decision.

  “I really do want to talk to Jules,” she insisted. “Especially if I’m about to go on lockdown. How about you come get me this afternoon? There’s still that guard on the door, right?” She cast a glance at the door to the hotel room as if she could see the Detyen guard standing on the other side.

  Things would probably be okay if Laurel stayed the morning, Dru trusted Ferys. But wariness nipped at his consciousness and he really didn’t want to let his mate go. He couldn’t tell if it was some premonition or just the demands of their newly sealed bond, but he didn’t want to spend any time separated from his mate. “It would be more secure if we went together.”

  Laurel wasn’t giving up. “There is also a team of cops watching the building in case the Oscavians come back. Yes, it’s not as secure as a military base, but I think I’ll be fine for a few hours. I need to talk to Jules and set some things straight.” Her stare was hard, as if she were ready to argue for the rest of the day if that was what it took.

  Dru wasn’t going to make her do that, not when she was right. The place wasn’t as secure as the SDA base, but between Ferys and the police downstairs she was unlikely to run into much trouble, especially if she stayed within the hotel until he came back. “Very well, but you don’t go anywhere without Ferys.”

  Laurel smiled and kissed him. “I won’t. I promise.”

  Leaving her there was the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life, even harder than surviving the torture at Brakley Varrow’s hands. Dru kept looking for anything that could be a threat to his mate, but the streets were calm and there were no Oscavians in sight. He checked his communicator every few minutes until he got to the base, but Laurel didn’t contact him, and since she’d said she had plenty to do before he made it back, he chose to believe it was a good sign. If she finished up speaking with her sister and settled things before it was time to leave, she’d have less trouble staying at the SDA base until things were resolved.

  Whether that was true or wishful thinking, Dru wasn’t sure, but now that the decision had been made to leave his mate at the hotel for the morning, he had to live with it. Despite the fact that they’d barely been able to part for all of their kissing and clutching, Dru actually arrived at the base earlier than he’d intended. It gave him the perfect opportunity to speak to Sandon about arranging quarters for him and Laurel, but when he walked into the building that the Detyens were using as their base of operations a pall seemed to hang heavy over everything.

  Dru’s thoughts immediately went to Laurel and his concern ratcheted up, thinking that something had happened to her. But that thought was quickly dashed. While he knew the base would care if something happened to a warrior’s denya, there was no way that dread would hang so heavily in the air. Dru walked down the halls for several moments, but he couldn’t find anyone to ask what was going on. Everyone was clustered into closed off groups, their backs turned on any newcomers as they discussed whatever development had sent sick anticipation through the base.

  Finally Dru saw Kayde and felt no compunction about breaking into the conversation he was having with Raze and Dryce.

  “What’s going on?” he asked. He’d never considered Kayde a friend before, but since the evacuation of HQ they’d become closer, and Dru would be proud to be one of the man’s confidantes, just as Kayde was his.

  Kayde’s expression was almost as blank as when he’d been soulless. And when he spoke, Dru understood why. “Warships. Our scouts have picked them up within range of the solar system. Oscavian and Wreetan.”

  “I thought Earth was attempting diplomacy.” He was sure he’d heard something about it the day before. Had things fallen apart so quickly?

  Kayde shook his head. “Both the Oscavian Empire and Wreet are disavowing all knowledge. It’s Yormas and Varrow, they’re three days out, maybe four. And then we’ll be under attack.”

  Dru understood the dread. The Detyens had just been forced to destroy their home base to keep Varrow’s warships from taking any useful information. They’d known that they’d be followed, but everyone had been hoping for more time. Despite that, a sense of purpose suffused Dru. War was coming and there was nothing they could do to stop it, but that meant that the threat to his mate was coming to a head. And once Yormas of Wreet and Brakley Varrow showed their faces, Dru was going to destroy them for thinking they could touch Laurel and live.

  He would do anything to defend his mate, and this time that meant saving the world. Bring it on.

  LAUREL WAS A JUMBLE of emotions as she stood alone in her hotel room after Dru left her. Happiness bub
bled all around, but it was tempered by her dread of what Brakley Varrow wanted to do to her and her apprehension of what Jules would say when they finally got a chance to talk later. She really wished that happiness was the only thing she was feeling. Happiness and sexual satisfaction, two things that had seemed impossible even a few weeks ago. But with Dru anything was possible, she was coming to believe that. And though she was freaking terrified of what Varrow was trying to do to her, she trusted Dru when he said he would protect her. If anyone could do it, it was him.

  Laurel picked up her communicator and was just about to call Jules and invite her down to the room for their long-awaited discussion, but the rumpled bed that she spotted out the corner of her eye gave her pause. Jules had seemed ready to do something foolish to Dru, to try and harm him in some way, and Laurel didn’t want to deal with her sister’s judgment about her new relationship. Maybe it would be better if she went to her sister and left the reminders of Dru in this room.

  Ferys, the Detyen guard, tried to shoo her back into her room when she opened the door, and he wasn’t pleased when she announced that they were going to her sister’s room. But she insisted; after all, Jules was staying in the same hotel, only three floors up, and it wasn’t like anyone was going to stop them inside these hallways. Ferys finally relented and the two of them made their way to Jules’ room.

  After Laurel knocked on the door, Ferys told her he would wait outside and accompany her back to her room when she was ready. Jules didn’t look happy to see her, but she didn’t stop her from coming inside.