Taken by Her Mates

by Grace Goodwin

  I couldn’t think about my crazy reactions to a man who was part machine. I ached for him desperately. This need, this craving, reminded me of the lust I experienced while I was high on C-bomb and I never wanted to be addicted to anything, not even a man.

  Or did I? Was this how it felt to have a mate, addicted to them? Always wanting their touch, craving their attention? If so, I wasn’t sure I liked it.

  “The creatures you encountered were Hive scouts,” he said, breaking into my thoughts. “I do not know why they were here.”

  I’d forgotten my question.

  “The Hive?” I asked. “The alien race that forced Earth into the coalition?”

  I’d read everything I could get my hands on, by any means necessary—be they legal or not—about the Hive. For the most part, the people of Earth knew what they were told. An alien race was poised to attack and the Interstellar Coalition of Planets had stepped in and offered our planet protection in exchange for soldiers and brides. The coalition didn’t care where the recruits came from, only that the quota was met. The aliens didn’t care that Earth’s leaders chose to send convicted criminals, like me, as brides. In addition to coalition protection, Earth’s leaders were well pleased to be rid of the worst dregs of society.

  Since I’d been rejected by my mate, clearly the aliens had adopted higher standards these days. A thief they’d accept. A killer? No problem. But me? No. It baffled my mind and hurt deeper than any combat wound I’d ever received.

  “Why would the Hive be here?” The sharp tone of my voice was partly from the lingering sting of rejection. “Even if they did all… that to you.” I waved my hand in his general direction. “They haven’t done anything to us here on Earth.”

  Earth was sending brides, and soldiers, as promised to the coalition in trade for remaining safe from the Hive. If the alien military wasn’t doing their job and keeping the Hive away from us, the people of Earth needed to know about it.

  I lifted the neck strap up over my head and set my precious camera, and the evidence it contained, on the floorboard between my feet. I figured I was pushing his buttons, but I didn’t much care. I’d just been shot by a dear friend and chased by one of those things. The Hive scout—whatever that meant—had wanted me taken to something called the core. Why?

  “You ask a lot of questions, mate.”

  “I’m not your mate,” I countered. “Just answer the question.”

  He growled at me! Actually growled, his eyes gleaming as he lifted one hand from the steering wheel and shoved it down the front of his pants. He stroked his cock, once, twice, three times, before freeing his hand and reaching for me.

  Eww! What the hell?

  I scrambled to get away from his huge hand, but there was nowhere to go in the tiny car and he was huge. He grabbed my bare forearm and I felt a hint of wetness slide over my skin. Gross! What the hell was he doing?

  I tugged, trying to resist this pervert’s touch, but his grip was like a vise. A gentle one, but he wasn’t going to let go. For some ridiculous reason, he was preventing me from wiping his pre-cum off my skin. For that’s what it was, it had to be.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I shouted.

  “Sharing my essence with my mate.”

  “Are you crazy or just completely perverted? Yeah, the kiss was great and all, but most guys don’t jerk off in front of a woman they don’t know. So I’ll ask again. What. The. Hell?”

  Instead of answering, he grinned at me. The look he offered scared me more than anything else I’d seen that day. It was a look of absolute and total possession. “Making sure you know who you belong to.”

  Chapter Six

  Jessica

  “I—”

  I was poised to tell him off, because really, that was the most arrogant, domineering, bossy thing I’d ever heard, and I’d been in the military. What gave him the right to talk to me that way? What the hell gave him the right to touch me like that? He’d jerked off and—while he’d proven that he found me desirable—touched me with his pre-cum. It was gross, and creepy, and definitely perverted and—

  The wet feeling on my arm changed to a buzzing heat that seemed to invade my bloodstream and go straight to my core. My nipples hardened and my pussy clenched, suddenly desperate for something to fill it. Desire raced through my body like a hit of C-bomb and I licked my lips, panting before I realized that I’d been staring at his mouth for several seconds. I ached, everywhere. For him. Only him. The tight feel of his grip, which only moments before felt restrictive and confining, now felt… secure.

  Strangely, I could smell him, the scent oddly woodsy, making me want to crawl into his lap and lick him all over. I wanted his cock in my mouth. I wanted…

  I glanced down at the very distinctive bulge in his pants, because I wanted it so damn bad. I clenched my core with ridiculously eager anticipation of his cock filling me.

  “What the hell have you done to me? Are you trying to drug me? Using C-bomb to get a girl isn’t the way to go.”

  His gaze raked over me before he released his hold, placing both hands back on the steering wheel.

  “I don’t know what C-bomb is,” he replied.

  “You don’t know what… then why do I feel…?”

  He ignored my question as we pulled into the bride processing center parking lot. The first time I’d arrived, I had entered through the volunteer entrance, in handcuffs and had not seen the front entry. It was a nondescript building and the parking lot was deserted.

  The second the car rolled to a stop, I was unbuckled with my door open, ready to bolt.

  I made it three shaky steps before I was lifted from the ground. “No! Put me down!”

  I wriggled in his hold, but he was all hard, solid muscle. And some metal bits.

  “You are injured. I will tend your wounds, mate. Then I will finish your lesson.”

  Lesson? What lesson? My head was screaming at me to argue with him, to force him to set me on my own two feet, but my body had other ideas. Strangely enough, the scent of his skin, so close to me, was a lure I couldn’t seem to ignore. I didn’t want to be put down and that meant what? That I’d hit my head? That I was losing so much blood that I was delirious?

  That I was going insane?

  My body was shaking, the three steps I’d taken revealing that I was indeed much weaker than I had suspected.

  Nial carried me to the front doors of the processing center and pressed the call button on the building’s exterior. We were buzzed in immediately, as if the warden had been awaiting our arrival.

  As soon as the doors closed behind us I gave in to my craving, pressing my nose to the heated skin of Nial’s neck and drowning in the heat and dark musk of his body. I whimpered and closed my eyes at his heavenly scent. It was an excellent way to distract me from the pain that seemed to grow worse by the second.

  I opened my eyes when I heard hurried steps. The warden came up to us wearing jeans and a blouse instead of her usual coalition uniform. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and I frowned, realizing she wasn’t much older than I.

  “You’re very pretty.”

  Where had that come from? Was I drunk now, too?

  She flushed, obviously pleased with my comments, her eyes darting up to Nial’s face, then quickly away, as if she were uncomfortable in his presence. Maybe she was. Maybe she wanted him for herself. I couldn’t blame the woman. If she felt half as… eager for him as I did, she probably wanted to climb up into his arms, too.

  “Thank you, Jessica.” She glanced over my body, from head to toe, but I’d been shot in the back so I knew there wouldn’t be much for her to see except blood on my clothes. She looked to Nial. “Is she hurt badly?”

  “Yes. I do not yet know the extent of her injuries, but while her mouth offers irritable and defiant words, she is weak and going into shock. Do you have a ReGen unit here?”

  I wondered what that was, but couldn’t seem to muster the strength to ask.

  “No. I have
a small ReGen wand, but not a complete submersion unit. Follow me.” She turned on her heel and took off at a slow jog, Nial’s long legs easily keeping pace as she led us to one of the exam rooms I’d seen during my processing. The warden pointed to a long exam table. “Lay her there. We will need to remove her clothing.”

  What? No.

  Nial set me down as if I were made of porcelain. Which was sweet, until he lifted both hands to the collar of my black shirt and ripped it in half, tugging it down my arms and dropping it to the floor like it was a worthless rag.

  “Hey!”

  I lifted my arms to cover myself, but he wasn’t looking at me as he had when I’d run into him on the street. There was no heat in his gaze now, only clinical precision.

  He didn’t respond to my protest but pulled off my shoes and dropped them to the floor with two loud thunks. Placing his hands on either side of my cargo pants, he ripped them in half down the crotch with seemingly zero effort, like tearing tissue paper. He pressed his hand to the center of my chest, forcing me to lie back before moving to my feet. As I pushed up onto my elbows, he deftly tugged the two halves of my pants off my body leaving me bare but for the pale pink bra and bikini panties that were covered with tiny black polka dots and trimmed with black lace. Not usual for a recon uniform, but being the only female among almost all males, lacy and frilly underthings were my sole interest in vanity. Since no man was interested in my exterior—my prickly attitude, bossiness, and tomboyish ways—the lingerie was just for me.

  Nial’s gaze devoured me as I lay back on the cold table so I could cross my arms over my breasts in an instinctive movement that instantly made me feel too weak, too vulnerable. This was not me. I didn’t cower to any man.

  Slowly, I lowered my arms and lifted my chin. I was lying on my back on the exam table and could feel the sticky wet slide of my blood under my shoulder and thigh. I stared at him until he once more lifted his gaze to meet mine, a challenge in my eyes. Go ahead and look, I thought. Doesn’t mean I’ll let you touch me.

  “What do we have here?” Warden Egara stepped between us and I breathed a sigh of relief at being released from the intensity of Nial’s gaze. I focused one hundred percent of my attention on the warden. It was much safer to completely ignore the giant alien looming over me like an overly protective, dominant alpha male, like I needed one of those in my life. I spoke to the warden.

  “Twelve-gauge shotgun. My old boss was shooting the Hive scouts, but some of the buckshot must have ricocheted. I caught at least one in the shoulder, one in the thigh. If I have more, I didn’t feel them.” I tried to roll and found moving hurt exponentially more after every moment I remained still, as if I were becoming frozen and stiff. I winced, hissed at the pain and slumped back.

  I still had the muscles that had helped me scale walls and carry heavy gear across the desert. I worked hard to keep in shape and I was grateful. If I hadn’t been running faithfully since my military discharge, that Hive scout would have run me down.

  “And I’m sorry about your car.”

  She frowned. “What about my car?”

  “I bled all over the seat.”

  “Oh. Hush. I don’t care about that.”

  The warden tugged on my bicep, her other hand at my hip and I tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle the moan of pain as she helped me roll onto my side. She was smaller than I by several inches and her arms and shoulders were thinner as well, more delicate and feminine.

  Nial was there instantly, his large hands lifting me off the wounds and settling me so she could see where I’d been injured.

  I was grumpy and bleeding, but I wasn’t a total bitch. The weird reaction—the instant arousal—I’d had in the car, had faded, but with his hands on me, it returned. Just the simple placement of his palms on my skin felt hot. I savored his strength, which was odd and confusing, because I relied solely on myself. I didn’t want to need anyone else’s help, their strength. I needed to be strong enough on my own.

  “Thanks,” the warden said as she rolled a tray of medical supplies beside her. She turned to face Nial, who still held me up so she could clean and bandage my wounds. I didn’t want to see what she was doing.

  “This is going to hurt.” Her words were the only warning I received before a long, pointed metal object began to dig around in my flesh. Tweezers of some kind?

  “Just make it fast.” I winced and reached for the edge of the table. I needed something to hold onto, something to ground me in reality as she dug around in my flesh.

  A warm hand completely enveloped mine, wrapping around my shaking palm and squeezing. Nial. I held on for dear life as she dug around like she was trying to tenderize a steak, not remove shrapnel.

  “Don’t you have something to numb it? Lidocaine or—” She stabbed deep and I sucked in air through clenched teeth. “—whiskey?”

  “I can’t. I’m sorry.” Her voice was calm and sincere as she continued to poke and prod. “Those medications will interfere with the ReGen wand.”

  I had no idea what a ReGen wand was, and I didn’t particularly care. But I started counting in my head, slowly, to a hundred. This wasn’t my first time on the table, and this wasn’t the worst wound I’d had to deal with. It hurt like a bitch, but survivable. The scars on my body were proof enough that I knew this from experience. Still, all those scars, those flaws, were one more reason I never felt comfortable naked around a man…

  I opened my eyes then, curious to see Nial’s reaction to the scars on my back and hip. As expected, I watched his gaze travel from one pink patch of scar tissue to the next. I expected to see curiosity, or disgust. Not rage.

  “Who injured you, mate?” His gaze returned to mine, his jaw clenched. The veins in his neck and temples bulged in response to his emotions. “Tell me now, and I will kill him.”

  I laughed, then gasped as the warden, who had pulled the first piece of metal from my shoulder, dug in with vigor in the back of my thigh.

  “You seem to want to kill a lot of things,” I replied through gritted teeth.

  “I would destroy entire civilizations to protect you.”

  Okay, whoa. He was getting a little intense for my taste. “There’s no one to kill. It was a roadside IED in Iraq.”

  He traced a three-inch line on my thigh with a finger and I shivered. “What is an IED, mate? I do not understand. Why did it attack you?”

  I held my breath as the warden pulled the second piece of buckshot from my leg, then placed the tweezers back on the cart. Short of air, but relieved that the digging portion of today’s medical procedure was over, my answer was barely more than a whisper. “It’s called an Improvised Explosive Device. That—” I nodded at the line down the front of my thigh, “—was caused by a four-inch nail.”

  “Why were you attacked?”

  I shrugged the best I could. “In a war, Nial, shit blows up. People die.” Like the private who’d been standing next to me when we tripped that IED three years ago. He’d taken the brunt of the strike and died in my arms.

  “Women do not fight in war.”

  Now I rolled my eyes. “Earth women do.”

  “Then it is good that I will take you off this planet. Your men are idiots.”

  How could I argue with that?

  The warden had stepped away, but she returned with a small wand that looked like my television remote control with a glowing blue coil extending from the top. She held it above the wound in my thigh and I sighed as it felt like light was entering my body, warm and comforting and perfect. I felt no more pain there, and looked down to discover my skin, though still covered in blood, was now completely closed.

  “Oh, my God. That’s amazing.”

  She smiled and moved to my shoulder, the relief almost instant. “Do you forgive me for not injecting you with anesthetic?”

  “Yes.” The word was a groan as I stopped hurting. I laid my head down on the table with a deep sigh. God, that felt good.

  I should have let go of Nial’s hand then
, but I wasn’t ready. Not yet. I just wanted to float for a minute and not think about the cartel, Clyde, or the Hive things hunting me. I just wanted to feel good and indulge in the warm strength of Nial’s touch. Besides being free of pain, his touch felt… comforting.

  But I never was good at getting what I wanted and my mind, freed of the distraction of being shot, kicked back into high gear. I had things to do. My short respite was over.

  I had to get the latest batch of photos to my contacts on the police force and in the media. I had to finish what I’d started. Clyde’s death would be discovered soon. I wanted to make sure the media frenzy wasn’t wasted.

  “I need to get my camera.” I tried to sit up, but the room spun and my hand held tight to Nial’s as I used him to keep from falling off the table.

  “The strange black box that hung from your neck?” Nial asked.

  “Yes.” I tried to sit up again but a large hand settled on my chest at the base of my neck, holding me down. I lifted both hands to shove Nial’s hot palm off my sensitive skin, but he didn’t budge and I ended up holding onto him instead.

  Frustrated, I looked up into his completely impassive face. The strength and confidence I saw in his expression made me shiver as I was forced to plead with him for permission to get up. “I left it in the car. I have to get it. It’s important.”

  He looked down at me and the warmth was back in his gaze. Perhaps because I wasn’t fighting him anymore, but clinging to him. “I will have Ander bring it inside when he arrives.”

  Ander. My second, whatever the hell that was. I’d forgotten about him.

  “When will that be?” I shook my head and shoved at Nial’s hand again. “I need it. Someone could steal it. I have to get it now.”

  “You will not leave the safety of this building, mate. You need to rest for transport.”