by Anna Hackett
“Make me,” she breathed.
He pounded deep, his face hard and intense. He looked down at their connected bodies. “Drak, Sam, I love watching you. I love seeing you take me. I love being joined to you.”
Pleasure was a violent tidal wave washing over her. Her nails bit into his shoulders. “Don’t stop.”
“Never.”
She thrust back against him as much as she could. “Don’t stop.”
“Now, Sam.”
An order she was happy to obey. Her screams echoed off the tiles. Then he spilled inside her with a deep groan, lowered his head and bit that special, sensitive spot on her neck. Sam felt another pulse of pleasure and cried out again.
Galen left her feeling flushed and happy as he headed back to the bedroom to get dressed. She watched that tight, muscled ass of his as he left and sighed. All hers.
She dried her hair and in the mirror, she saw the dark mark on her neck. She smiled. Every time it looked like it was starting to fade, he bit her again. He was possessive, but never made her feel like a possession. She used some of the makeup the women had left for her. She accentuated the golden glow of her skin and did some smoky eyes. Then she turned to the dress Mia had brought for her. It hung on the back of the bathroom door.
Sam hadn’t really looked at it before, and now she gasped. She loved it.
Quickly, she slipped it on. She turned to face the mirror, the skirt sliding around her legs. The dress was red and silver. House of Galen colors.
The silver beaded bodice clung to her torso, giving an almost armor-like effect. Red, silky fabric flowed down to the floor, long slits on either side giving glimpses of her legs.
She walked out of the bathroom and her breath caught in her throat.
Galen turned from contemplating the view out the window. A fierce, possessive look crossed his face.
Sam guessed her face looked the same. Mine. All mine.
He was wearing his trademark black cloak, but there was no black shirt covering his torso. His hard chest and chiseled abs were on display, as were all his tattoos.
“So damn handsome.” She walked toward him.
He closed the distance, his arm circling her. “So drakking beautiful.” He leaned down and nuzzled her neck. “I love seeing you in my colors.”
“Ready to celebrate, my imperator?”
“Yes.” He offered her his arm.
She linked her arm through his and they headed out. They walked through the corridors of the House of Galen, passing several workers, who smiled broadly at them. When he smiled back at them, Sam saw surprised, pleased looks on their faces.
As they neared the training arena, she heard the sound of music and lots of voices.
Then they stepped outside.
Sam smiled. The training arena had been transformed. Lights were strung up everywhere, and in the center of the arena, round lanterns appeared to float in the night sky. Mingling bodies filled the arena and the arched walkways surrounding it. She could see people from all the Houses. Workers moved through the crowd with loaded trays of food and drink.
Galen pulled her forward and the crowd parted. Right in the center, the House of Galen gladiators and their partners stood, smiles on their faces.
They all lifted their glasses to Sam and Galen.
She looked up and saw emotion working over Galen’s face. He was looking at Raiden, who was standing with Harper.
The men shared a look that Sam knew held so much. Her hand tightened on Galen. It was an acknowledgment that Galen’s job was done.
Then Galen’s blue gaze moved over all his gladiators, and the women who’d captured their hearts and enriched their lives.
Nearby, Rillian stood, elegant as ever, with Dayna tucked against his side. Beside them were Zhim and Ryan, Corsair and Neve, and Magnus and Ever, holding their baby Asha.
“Your family,” she murmured.
Galen nodded. Then he looked down at her. “My world.”
Sam threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, right there in front of everyone.
Cheers erupted all around them.
“Okay, enough of that,” Rory called out. “Let’s get this party started.”
Sam found herself pulled away from Galen, and a drink shoved in her hand. She met dozens of people whose names she couldn’t remember.
Finally, she stood with her friends, sipping her drink. She watched a bare-chested Kace walk past with Finley strapped to his torso.
“That man is hot,” Sam said.
Rory sighed. “I know. So is yours.”
Sam followed Rory’s gaze to Galen. He was sitting in a chair that had been set up at the edge of the party. A blue-haired young woman was leaning over him, using some sort of machine to add more tattoos to his body. Apparently, she was Raiden’s tattoo artist.
Galen’s gaze met Sam’s, and she shoved her drink at Rory. That icy gaze glittered with a heat that was all for her. She was addicted and didn’t care. As she walked toward him, she heard Rory laughing.
The tattoo artist smiled. “Almost finished.”
“Thanks, Vessa.” Galen held out a hand to Sam.
She took it and looked down at Galen’s body and gasped.
The new ink graced part of his chest and side. It looked gorgeous on his bronze skin, and her heart squeezed. The tattoo on his chest was her face, set with fierce concentration. There was another image, too, of both of them fighting together inked over his ribs. They had their swords raised. And another tattoo of the two of them that Vessa was just finishing—Sam standing in Galen’s arms, their gazes locked, looking like they were about to kiss.
Her throat went tight. “They’re beautiful, Galen. I love you.”
“All finished.” Vessa stood. “I think I deserve a drink. This is some of my best work.” She gave them a nod and headed toward the drinks table.
“You’re it for me, Sam.” Galen stood and pulled her close, holding her just like the image that was etched on his skin. “Your body, your hair, your eyes. Your scent, your taste.” His hands slid down her body. “Your strength.” He rested his palms over her belly. “One day this might swell with our child. Every day, I will stand proudly by your side. One day, we’ll grow old, and even when my hair is all gray, I will still be here, your heart, your shield, yours.”
Emotion burst through Sam, and tears pricked her eyes. “When I look at you, Galen, I see strength, honor, and courage. When I look at you, I see the rest of my life.”
Raiden
Raiden smiled as he watched Galen and Sam, lost in each other. He recognized the look on his friend’s face. Love.
Turning his head, Raiden glanced across the crowd to find his own woman. His gaze found Harper instantly, drawn to her. His warrior, his gladiator, his heart. Inside, he felt the deepest contentment, something he hadn’t felt since he was a child. She’d helped fill the holes inside him.
Harper turned, and when she saw him watching her, a smile lit her face. Her dress left one toned shoulder bare, and he saw the ink on her skin. His mark. He had matching tattoos on his own skin, all dedicated to the Earth woman he loved.
But that ink was nowhere as indelible as the mark she’d left on his heart.
Thorin
Thorin listened to Regan’s giggle. She was laughing at something Rory had said and was pressed firmly against his side.
The sound of her laugh and the feel of her warmed his insides. She was his heart. She’d accepted him completely as he was, all of him.
His sweet Earth girl.
That such a small thing—her head barely reached his shoulder—could bring him to his knees should have worried him. But it didn’t. He was grateful every day to have Regan in his life.
She looked up at him, her eyes luminous. No, she didn’t just accept him, she gloried in loving him. He slid his big hand around her hip and splayed his fingers over her belly. They’d discovered today that he’d planted a child inside her.
Emotions worked through him—a blend
of exhilaration, fear, and excitement. She smiled. They hadn’t shared their secret with anyone, yet. It was theirs for a little while longer before they shared it with their friends and family.
A child made in love.
A child Thorin would protect with his life.
A child who would be the best of both of them.
Kace
Kace listened to his wife roar with laughter. Rory did everything at one hundred percent. Her work, her friendships, being a mother, and loving him. She threw herself into life with a lust and gusto he never tired of watching.
He stroked her shining red hair, and she turned and blew him a kiss. As she went back to talking to her friends, Kace looked down at the baby snuggled to his chest.
Kace’s son looked up at him—sweet, precious, and innocent. Finley had his mother’s green eyes, but Kace also saw himself in the shape of his child’s face and his sturdy, little body.
Once, Kace had only believed himself a weapon, incapable of much else. But Rory had changed that. One bold woman from Earth had given Kace everything. She loved him fiercely, and she’d taught him how to love her back.
“We are very lucky, little man.”
Finley gurgled and gave his father a gummy grin.
Lore
Lore watched as his wife moved through the crowd. She was so beautiful and elegant, his dushla.
Madeline’s gown was a slender column of midnight blue that accented her slim curves. It had been one of Lore’s proudest moments when he’d taken this woman as his. They’d shared their joining ceremony over the comm line to Earth with her son.
“You’d love her, Yelena,” he whispered to the sister he’d lost so long ago.
Lore saw Madeline was checking in with the House of Galen workers, ensuring the party was running smoothly. Always working. Only he could coax her into letting loose. Only he knew how deeply she really cared and loved.
And only he got to see that hidden fire of hers that was only for him.
Lore set his drink down and smiled. Time to coax his wife into a dark corner for some stolen kisses.
Blaine
Blaine ran his hands up Saff’s long, sleek body. He fused his mouth with hers, swallowing her moan.
God, he would never get enough of this woman. His woman.
She undulated against him. “Need you inside me, Earth man.”
They were in an empty corridor inside the House of Galen, hidden in the shadows. He’d backed her up against the wall, one of her long legs hitched over his hip.
Saff’s hand fumbled at the fastenings of his trousers.
From nearby, he heard the noise of the party. “Someone might—”
“Doesn’t matter.” She bit down on his lip, drawing blood.
Blaine’s control slipped, and he pushed her higher until her long legs wrapped around his hips. He didn’t have to push the short hem of her sexy, little dress far to bare her to him.
“God, I love you.” She was his strength, his heart, his partner in every sense of the word.
Her face softened. “Love you too, Earth-man.”
Blaine hated what the Thraxians had done—destroying Fortuna and the lives of so many—but what’s done was done, and he knew in his heart that he wouldn’t change a thing. He was supposed to have Saff in his life. He was a better man with his fierce gladiator by his side.
She nipped his ear. “Now hurry.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Nero
Nero found his woman in Medical. No surprise. “Winter, there’s a party going on.”
She spun, her gold-colored skirts flaring out around her. Pretty as ever, and as always, his body reacted to the sight of her.
Her dark hair was down, his favorite style, and her bi-colored eyes were always fascinating. He even liked the vision device at her temple—it was a part of her now too. He could look at her all day.
“I know, I know.” She held up a hand. “I just had to check on a patient.”
Nero gripped her arm. “Party. Now.”
She huffed out a breath. “Bossy.”
But she followed him as they exited Medical. “I never thought I’d see the day when Nero Krahn was in a hurry to get back to a party.”
Nero leaned down and swept her into his arms, holding her tight against his chest. She gasped, a smile on her lips, and slid her arm across his shoulders.
He brushed his lips against hers. “I’d be happy to find something else for us to do.”
Smiling, she cupped his jaw. “There’s the barbarian gladiator I know and love.”
Love. It pounded through Nero, all for this small woman from a distant planet called Earth.
“Your barbarian.” Always.
“Yes, you are.” She pressed her mouth to his.
Vek
Vek hunched his shoulders. The lights of the party were too bright. There was too much noise and too many people.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time celebrating the end of Zaabha and the Thraxians. He looked over at his Mia. She was swaying her hips to the music and sipping her drink.
As always, shocked pleasure ran through him. She was his, and every day he was amazed by her. He watched the lights glint off her golden hair.
Vek wanted to scoop up his mate and slip off to the rooftop garden. He’d stalk her through the trees and love her under the moonlight. His Mia. She was like a song to his soul. She’d given him his freedom and given him her love. She’d made him the man that he was today.
It didn’t matter that her skin was pink and his was blue, that she was from Earth and he didn’t even remember his planet, they were a perfect match.
She spotted him looking at her and came over to him, a soft smile on her face. Vek knew many people hesitated to even get close to him. But without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him.
“Want to sneak off?” There was a glint in her eye.
His gut churned. Ever since Rory had given birth, Mia had decided she wanted babies. Even knowing that Vek’s species gave birth to multiple younglings at once hadn’t deterred her. But Vek was big and Mia was so small, and it made him nervous. He’d never let any harm come to her.
But as his mate smiled at him, Vek knew he was doomed, because whatever his Mia wanted, he’d move the entire planet to give it to her.
Chapter Seventeen
Zhim
Zhim tossed back his drink, savoring the burn. His gaze was locked on Ryan.
Did her dress have to be so drakking short?
She was talking with Dayna, waving her arms as she spoke. The tiny black dress—the same color as her hair—was covered in shimmering beads and left most of her slim legs bare.
He was itching to know what she had on under the dress. She’d teased him about it before they’d left their penthouse to come to the party.
A surprise for you to uncover later, info-boy. Well, Zhim hated surprises.
Enough. He strode over and spun her into his arms. She gasped and he pressed a hard kiss to her mouth.
“Well, hello there, info-boy.” She grinned at him, narrowly avoiding spilling her drink.
“You’re driving me crazy.”
She smiled. “That is my goal in life.”
He growled, which only made her smile widen.
“Want to dance?” she asked.
“Not vertically.”
Her eyelashes fluttered, and the heart she’d brought back to life clenched in his chest. Drak, he loved her. He wondered how he’d ever survived without Ryan in his life. She challenged him, met him toe-to-toe, and made him laugh.
She went up on her toes, fiddling with his long hair. “Luckily for you, I’ve made a new list.”
He stiffened, heat shooting through him. Ryan enjoyed making lists of all the things she wanted to try.
Her lips brushed his ear. “I added lots of new sex positions that I want to test out.”
Zhim grabbed her drink and set it down on the table. “No more drinks. I want you sober when I fuck you.�
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Ryan tipped her head back and laughed. “Deal.”
Corsair
Corsair kept one arm wrapped around Neve. They both watched her sister coo at her baby.
“She’s happy,” Neve said.
Corsair heard the happiness in his woman’s voice. He knew how much she loved her sister. How much she’d risked for Ever.
“She is.” He paused. “Do you want one?”
“One what?” Neve frowned, then her head jerked, her pale-green eyes going wide. “A baby?”
Corsair hid his smile at her panic and stroked her dark, curly hair. “Yes.”
“Ahh…one day, I guess. But not now.” Her arm tightened on him. “I’m happy with just me and my man.”
He was as well. He could picture a child they’d make together—dark hair and pale-green eyes. There was no doubt in his heart that Neve would be a fierce, protective, and loving mother. One day.
Across the crowd, he saw his two best friends, Mersi and Bren. Mersi had cleaned up well. He was so used to seeing her in her desert gear that the pretty purple dress was a surprise. She was smiling at a lean, bare-chested gladiator from the House of Davon. She laughed and the gladiator smiled. He was clearly flirting with her. Bren stood nearby, scowling at them.
A second later, Bren strode across the space, grabbed Mersi’s arm, and yanked her away.
Uh-oh. Corsair had always known this trouble would come to a head eventually. Neve pressed a hand to his chest and he lost sight of his friends. He blew out a breath. They had to work it out themselves.
He looked down into Neve’s gorgeous face. “Do you want to dance?”
She shot him a slightly horrified look. “No.”
“Want to make out?”
Her eyes flashed. “Now you’re talking, my desert rogue.”
Corsair pulled her closer, breathing deep and drawing in the scent of her. It moved through him, and he felt the same sense of peace and completion he did when he watched the sun rise over the desert dunes.
