Mating Fever (Interstellar Brides Book 10)

by Grace Goodwin

  “Stay. Tomorrow, transport.”

  “Yes.” I knew that, too. Protocol was for anyone trapped behind on a mission to make their way to the designated secondary transport location the following morning where an extraction team would be waiting to get Coalition fighters to safety. We just had to stay alive until then.

  “Name.” The beast said the word, not as a question but as a demand, assuming I would answer.

  I didn’t see the point in arguing about it. And he had just saved my life. “Megan. Megan Simmons.” Lifting my arms, I removed my helmet for the first time. My black hair was pulled back in a braid, the coarse curls barely restrained. “You?”

  With one last look toward the cave entrance, he settled down onto his knees and took off his helmet.

  “Nyko.”

  Oh. Hell. No.

  I gasped as Warlord Nyko, the single most aggravating, annoying, arrogant, overbearing, drop-dead-gorgeous, alpha-male-on-steroids collapsed at my feet.

  Chapter Five

  Nyko

  I opened my eyes to the most beautiful female I’d ever seen. She was waving a ReGen wand over my torso and mumbling to herself. I lay as still as possible, just studying her. The Mating Fever diminished somewhat from being unconscious. I could think a little more clearly, probably say more than one or two words at a time. Perhaps that was why I should have recognized her the instant I entered the cave and hadn’t; my beast seemed to have recognized her from her scream alone. She’d worn her battle helmet and her face had been hidden entirely by the protection visor, the dark color doing well to shield her from the bright flare of the ion pistol, and from prying eyes as well.

  Her dark hair had been pulled back somehow, hidden completely. Now, with her helmet beside her on the ground, I saw the silky length was pulled back into a tail, secured at the nape of her neck. It was as dark as mine, but hers held curl and was so thick my fingers twitched to tangle within.

  Her smooth brown skin was perfection, except for the little furrow that marred her brow. She was frowning, those dark eyes a mixture of frustration and disappointment. A sigh escaped her full lips as she sat back on her heels, her uniform pants taut across her fit thighs.

  She was stunning, even marred with dirt from battle, weary from fighting, and her hands stained with black from the odd Nexus 9’s version of blood. Yet she hadn’t seen me awake yet, hadn’t turned her eyes to meet mine. Hadn’t pursed her lips into that determined and tight smile I knew her to give me when she was particularly irritated with me. A seemingly constant state on board the Karter.

  I’d never met a more difficult or recalcitrant female. To say that she didn’t like me was an understatement. She loathed me. For what reason, I did not know. I’d first met her eight months ago on a mission, a successful one. But the minute I’d ripped the head off the Hive in front of her, she’d been angry with me. Was I supposed to have let her fight the enemy herself?

  She was small, tiny even, in comparison to me. Even when I was not in beast mode, she was more than a head shorter. My injuries had pushed the beast back, for now. I was a man once more, capable of a thought beyond killing the creature that had threatened her, and then fucking her until she couldn’t think straight. Sitting beside me, trying to heal me with the ReGen wand, she seemed so small, almost childlike.

  Yet, she was no child. There was no doubt, no question in my mind, or my beast’s heart, that Megan Simmons was all woman. And my beast? He wasn’t injured at all. He was preening and pacing, eager for me to lift my hand and touch Megan. Stroke her, tell her she was mine. The beast was there, but not raging. Perhaps I could think clearly because the danger of battle was over. No Hive were after us. Or perhaps the fever was just tempered for now, ready to return with vengeance once again at an inopportune time, indicative of the Mating Fever taking over. As soon as that happened, I would know I only had a short time to mate. Or die.

  No.

  I wasn’t making Megan mine. Yes, I wanted to fuck her, had admired her body and her sassy mouth even before the Mating Fever began to ride me. She was stunning, brilliant, athletic, fearless and an incredible fighter. And, she had a lush body with curves in all the right places. Curves that I knew would fill my palms perfectly. An ass that would cushion my hips when I fucked her from behind. Breasts lush and firm with pert nipples that would harden under my fingers. A mouth that would be sweet to kiss or decadent wrapped around my cock. A pussy that even now my beast could scent.

  “The armor is too thick,” I said, my voice startling her. “The ReGen wand can’t work through it.”

  She fell back on her perfect ass and her head whipped around to look at me.

  Yes, there were those lips, soft and dark rose, full and ripe. A growl escaped me as I thought of tasting them.

  “If you weren’t so big, I’d be able to take it off.”

  “My size is not something I can control, just as you can’t deny your lush feminine curves.”

  Her mouth fell open at my words. She was stunned, and so was I. Somehow, those words came out. I’d never spoken to her or any female warrior in such a fashion before. But we weren’t in battle now and my beast seemed to be taking over my brain…and my cock.

  She moved to stand, her booted foot bumping into my side as she did so.

  I hissed out a breath and eyed her, knowing she’d done that on purpose. For once, she towered over me and I saw the way the corner of her mouth tipped up. Feisty. I wanted that mouth stuffed full of my cock. I wanted all that fire and heat screaming for me as I pounded into her from behind and made her come over and over again, made her mine.

  By the gods, I was in trouble here. The beast was not content to lurk. He hungered. He needed. And I’d never needed anything, not friend or foe, food or warmth or a female in my bed. Need made me weak. I was a Warlord. I was not weak. I was not mated and I had no intention of making Megan mine, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t want her. Couldn’t let my beast have her.

  I was a warrior, not a martyr, and Megan was beautiful, feisty—would she be this wild naked and aroused? Begging me to touch her, taste her pussy, tame her smart mouth with my cock?

  I pushed up onto my elbows with a wince, then sat up.

  “You’re injured, you idiot. Lie back down.”

  I should have been angry at her gruff tone, but her bossy attitude only piqued my interest, my desire to tame her. Everything about her made me hot, made my skin tight, my beast prowl, my cock ache.

  I glanced at her as I began to tug on my armor to remove it. My beast was not modest. “I need to be healed in case we are attacked. I do not need to lie down like an infant while you tend me.”

  She didn’t respond, only crossed her arms and tapped her foot, a sign of obvious impatience.

  I breathed through the pain as I rid myself of all of my gear, my armor, even my undershirt so I was bare to the waist. As each layer was gone, her foot stopped its steady beat and I could have sworn her breasts strained against the confines of her own armor.

  I waited for her to wave the ReGen wand over my chest and side where I’d been hit by the ion blast from the Hive outside the cave. The armor had done its job; I wasn’t mortally wounded, just bruised with searing red burn marks marring my skin. She didn’t move, only stared at my body.

  My beast paced and preened, pleased to see the obvious attraction in her eyes. Her pink tongue flicked out and wet her lower lip. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the healing wand. Yes, my beast could have her. I inwardly shrugged. What did it matter? I wanted to fuck her. My beast absolutely did. She was unclaimed—she wouldn’t be a fighter otherwise—and nothing or no one kept me from having her.

  I cleared my throat, ready to have her closer. My beast wanted to breathe in her scent and I wanted a chance to see her up close. I shouldn’t push her. I knew it, but she brought out the animal in me in more ways than one. “Are you going to stare at my body? If you like what you see, you are free to touch, Megan.”

  She startled and her chee
ks turned darker, clearly embarrassed at being caught. “No, thank you.”

  I chuckled as she moved to stand beside me again and waved the wand over the reddened flesh with the detachment of a medical technician. Her eyes were locked on to her task. No wandering. None. Not even to blink. She was so small next to me, so soft and curvy and feminine. The scent of her skin filled me, and my beast wanted to howl with pleasure, lick every inch of her skin, drown in her.

  Since she’d most likely shoot me if I tried, I gave in to my second urge, scolding her for risking her life so blatantly.

  “What were you humans thinking, leading those Hive down the ravine like you did? I counted fifteen Hive and five of you. It was suicide.”

  I wanted to pull her into my arms and feel every soft curve of her body, hear her heart beating and know she was fine. I also wanted to shove her to the very back of the cave and protect her until it was time to meet the extraction team for transport. Mostly, I wanted to strip her bare and fuck the prickly attitude away.

  “I’m not dead, so it wasn’t a suicide mission,” she countered.

  She had bigger balls than most of the males from her planet. That she held so little value for her personal safety pissed me off, made my beast snarl.

  “Because you had me watching your back.” She obviously needed a protector. Me.

  She moved the wand with a jerky hand. “Thank you.”

  “Did those words feel like acid pouring from your lips?”

  Her smile was my reward, a sight I’d rarely seen in the cafeteria on board the battleship, and one she’d never granted me. “Yes, as a matter of fact, they did.”

  I admired her honesty, her courage in speaking the truth. But something was going on here, something strange. “Did you get what you required from that blue bastard?” I tilted my head toward her bag and the creature’s helmet where she’d carefully placed them on the ground. Whatever a Nexus 9 was, it seemed Megan was interested in them. And not in a good way. She’d taunted him, drawn him to her. Why? Because of that damn…thing she’d pulled from the back of its head?

  Her eyes flicked in that direction but her hand didn’t move. Instead of responding, she took a step back. “There. You’re healed.”

  Glancing down, I saw there was no more redness marring my skin. I felt no more pain or burning heat from the ion blasts to my chest or shoulder. The armor did an amazing job at shielding from the weapons, but it didn’t remove all effects. Fortunately, the pain was short term and the wand was very effective. My hip still burned from where the blue Hive had shot me, but that was the least of my injuries and could wait. I smelled water, fresh clean water. “There’s water in this cave.”

  “I know. It’s one of the reasons we chose this location.”

  Chose this location? And who the hell are “we”?

  “What were you doing here, Megan?”

  “It’s Captain to you,” she snapped.

  “Not when I just saved your life,” I countered.

  She walked to the helmet and her special bag with the Hive technology sealed inside, picked it up and began to walk away from me. She was hunched over at an odd angle, moving slowly, too slowly. I could smell blood now. Her blood. My beast did not like that. “Where are you going?”

  Her silence was a challenge I was more than willing to accept.

  She walked away from me, deeper into the cave and I gathered our armor and belongings to follow on silent feet. I might be big, but I could still move with stealth. She lifted her hand to her chest and activated a light I’d never seen on a Coalition uniform before.

  Megan Simmons had more secrets than I’d ever imagined, and suddenly I was determined to unravel every single one.

  About a hundred paces in, Megan disappeared around a rock wall and I followed to find her sitting next to a small spring fed by a steady fall of fresh water. She had set aside the helmet and Hive parts, nestled her treasure in a stone nook against the wall. She leaned down and drank freely. I joined her, drinking my fill. The water was neither warm nor cold, more like a glass that had been set out for hours and forgotten.

  With a sigh she settled on the edge of the water and pulled off her boots. Blood dripped from her calf onto the rock floor. She winced, then hissed as she rolled off her sock.

  “You’re injured.”

  “It’s a flea bite.”

  I frowned, upset that some unknown creature had attacked her. “I have never heard of this creature. What is a flea? And why did it bite you?”

  She smiled again, but this time the light of that smile didn’t reach her eyes. “It’s this tiny creature that bites dogs and cats on Earth. It’s really small. You know? It’s just a saying.”

  “A flea is a saying? What does it say?”

  “Never mind. I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.” She reached for the locks that would free her armor at her shoulders, but when she twisted to unclasp them, she gasped. “Damn it.”

  I saw the V between her delicately arched brows and knew her pain-filled expression wasn’t solely caused by me. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. This fearless little female was hurting and trying to hide it from me. She was in pain, from some injury. I just couldn’t see it.

  Mine. The beast chose that moment to push me, to test my control. He wanted out. He wanted this female.

  He simply wanted.

  “I will remove your armor now.”

  She spun about and slapped at my hands. “I’m fine.”

  I stood, towering over her once again. I was no longer weak and sprawled on the ground. She may have used the wand when I was in pain, but I was healed. Strong. She needed to know who was in charge, and it was definitely me.

  “My beast knows you are hurt. If you fight me, he will come out to play. Is that what you want?” Gods, why did I want her to challenge me again, to say yes?

  “You are a pain in the ass.”

  I’d give her pain on her perfect ass when I spanked her for fighting me all the time. If she were mine…

  But she wasn’t mine. Not mine. I made those two words a chant in my mind, a chant to drown out the beast. “I will not stand here and watch you bleed to death, human.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not going to die,” she countered.

  I crossed my arms over my chest, eyed her intently, waited. It had the desired effect, making her squirm beneath the scrutiny. When she was well, I wanted to make her squirm from something else.

  “You have a choice, Megan Simmons. Either allow me to heal you with the ReGen wand like a reasonable, intelligent female, or I will strip you bare, heal you with the wand, and then spank your ass until it burns for taking such poor care of yourself.”

  Her mouth fell open and I saw a row of straight white teeth. Her eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  Oh, I’d dare. I’d spank that round backside of hers and like it. “Try me. See what happens,” I replied.

  Knowing she was safe and knowing she’d be learning to accept the fact that a warrior would watch out for her, would care for her, were two definite reasons I’d be just fine with the action.

  The idea of her over my lap, naked and pinned in place while I showed her who was in charge made my beast growl with lust. He wanted to dominate her, seduce her, earn her trust and complete surrender.

  By the gods, this female was going to be a lot of work for her future mate. So why was my beast so enraged with the thought? Megan Simmons wasn’t meant for me. I would have a bride coming soon, as soon as I completed the testing. Any day now, I’d walk into the medical station and submit to the process. Soon after, a soft, sweet, docile female would arrive to soothe my fire with acceptance and gentleness.

  I tried to hold on to that thought, the fantasy I’d been carrying for weeks now. But Megan intruded, taking over my mind as she often had these last months. Yes, the idea of watching that lovely caramel-colored skin brighten with my handprint made me go rock hard. Harder.

  A sound, something like a growl, rumbled from her chest. �
��Fine,” she snapped, holding out her hand with her ReGen wand in it.

  I took it from her, intentionally brushing my fingers over her palm. My beast practically howled in happiness. Her skin was soft, but dirty. Scratches and cuts marred her small hand from climbing up the jagged rock face.

  Her head was tilted down, her eyes focused on where I’d touched her, and she didn’t move after I pressed the button to turn on the wand, waved the blue light over her hand and watched as the cuts healed. I took her other hand, held it between us and healed that one, too.

  Touching her was like an ion pulse to my cock. Swift, fiery and explosive. And that was just holding her hand. She gasped and I knew it wasn’t from pain. Tugging her hand free, she leaned back, away from me. The beast didn’t like it.

  “I’m not done,” I told her. “You have other injuries.”

  “I’m fine,” she replied, holding out her hand for the wand, but facing the water. She wouldn’t look at me.

  That was not a problem since I could stare at her lush lips and curves.

  “You are injured, Captain. Why fight me on this? Why insist on doing this to yourself?”

  “I’m not weak.” She opened and closed her fingers, in a gesture I assumed meant she was waiting for me to give her the wand. Not a chance.

  “I would never imply that you are.” I dropped to my knees beside her, every move slow and deliberate. I was seeing something here, learning something about the way her mind worked. Perhaps constant bickering didn’t work. Perhaps… “You are fierce, female. The strongest woman I’ve ever known.” It was the truth. I’d seen other women warriors fight, but none like she did, with a reckless courage that I both dreaded and admired. Perhaps it was time to admire her more, for she hadn’t yet snapped back at me.

  I heard her sigh.

  “Me and Beyoncé.”

  She leaned her head back until it would go no farther and looked up at me with her dark brown eyes gone soft, warm. Inviting.

  Yes, admiration seemed to have a much better effect than threats.