His Virgin Bride (Interstellar Brides: The Virgins) (Volume 2)

by Grace Goodwin

  And my mate, my Bryn, the perfect alien looking up at me from between my parted thighs, had been selected from all the other Hunters on the planet by the Sevens? Just how dangerous was he? I knew he was fast, strong, fearless. He walked like a man who knew how to handle himself, someone no one else would dare threaten. I recognized the look, the power. I’d seen it before on Earth, on the rough streets and back alleys. If I were being totally honest, it made my pussy clench with heat. He was dangerous, but so was I. And the hard edges to him only made me want him more.

  But this wasn’t my old neighborhood back in Cleveland. This was outer space. And this stupid mission was the reason he was holding back? What male refused to fuck a wet and willing female? The answer was simple.

  Bryn. And only Bryn. For being ruthless and dangerous, he was too damn honorable.

  “Where are you going?”

  I watched as his jaw clenched and he practically ground his teeth. “Hyperion. The planet is not part of the Coalition. Its population is uncivilized, animalistic and criminal. Its outer moon, Rogue 5, is even worse.”

  “And that’s where you have to go? To Rogue 5?”

  “Yes.”

  I considered. Fine. He could go on his mission, but there was no reason he wouldn’t be coming home to a mate. “How long will you be gone?”

  “I don’t know.” He kissed the inside of my thigh and I squirmed, taking a deep shuddering breath.

  “Why do you have to go?” I wondered how much he could tell me. Did Everis have Top Secret clearance and all that crap, like on Earth? Was he some kind of alien CIA operative where he’d have to wave goodbye, get on an airplane headed for Asia when his wife thought he was going to Tulsa for a business meeting? Was Bryn going to lie to me?

  It seemed strange having a conversation with him between my parted—and bare—thighs, but I had to know. When he nuzzled my clit with his nose, his tongue darting out for a quick taste of my wet heat, my fingernails dug into his shoulders. “Bryn.” His name was a plea. He must have understood because he lowered his head once more, licking and sucking my sensitive nub until my back arched up off the bed. More. God, I needed more. I needed him to fill me up. I was so empty.

  “Has anyone ever done this to you before?” he asked between licks.

  “No,” I gasped. I couldn’t surrender, not yet. He was talking, telling me the truth, but obviously trying to distract me by eating me out. I’d wanted him to do it, but I needed answers and I needed them just as badly as his mouth on me. “What’s so bad about Rogue 5?”

  Bryn rolled slightly to his side, his body resting on one thigh. My other thigh he pushed wide, exposing me completely, moving me so that the folds of my pussy opened, the cool air of the room a stark contrast to the heat of his gaze.

  His hand slid down slowly toward my open core. He wasn’t holding my leg now, but I didn’t shift. I wanted him to reach his destination. I wanted him to touch me.

  His fingers played with the lips of my pussy, running up and down the wet folds, exploring my body as if he were making a map. His middle finger moved over my clit, massaging slowly before dipping low to tease me. Coated in wet heat, he repeated the voyage. Over and over. Teasing. Never fucking me with his fingers...or his tongue. “Bryn!”

  “About four hundred years ago, a coalition ship crashed on Hyperion. The planet sits inside an asteroid belt and there is a quasar on the edge of their star system. It interferes with communication so no one knew they were there. Even the Hive who had attacked them assumed they perished and did not follow.”

  “But they survived?” War. Crash landings. Those aliens obviously survived. But I wasn’t going to. Not unless he stopped teasing me. I tilted my hips in blatant invitation, but he just grinned down at me. Staring into my eyes, he slicked my own juices all over my clit, rubbing it hard, then soft, fast, then slow, making me pant. I tried to shift again, but his weight on my thigh held me pinned to the bed. I couldn’t move enough to impale myself on his roaming fingers. Damn it.

  His grin was worth the suffering. I’d never seen that look on his face before and I froze beneath him as he answered my question. “Yes. There were, by rough estimates, more than a hundred survivors but their ship was too badly damaged to return to space. They stayed on the planet. Took mates from the local population. Over time, they evolved, used the knowledge of their ancestors to build new ships. The descendants returned to space. They built a space station on their moon, Rogue 5. It was named after the five officers that survived the original crash. They are legend on Hyperion, those five. They held everyone together, ensured their survival and the five ruling legions still exist.”

  “How can they build spaceships and moon bases? You said they were like animals.” I arched my hips up, but it was no good. I could use a little bit of animal right about now. I didn’t care about Bryn’s stupid rules, or the sacred order of taking the three virginities. I wanted him to roll over and bury his cock inside me, balls deep. I wanted to feel him inside me. Taking me rough. Claiming me. I wanted it to hurt so good. This in-between was torture. He was both mine, and he wasn’t. And that was bullshit and completely unfair. I was naked, wet and ready and he still wouldn’t fuck me. Was there a female version of blue balls?

  “They are like animals,” he replied. He chuckled, moved so he could pull my nipple into his mouth. The jolt went straight to my clit and I whimpered, burying my hands in his hair to hold him to me. I wanted answers…but I needed him. “They bite their mates at the juncture of shoulder and neck like primitive beasts, injecting them with a venom that stimulates the females to go into heat.”

  “What?” Bite? Venom? Heat? That was weird, but didn’t sound dangerous. I said so.

  Bryn pinched my clit—not being gentle as he did so—and I moaned. “They are criminals, Katie. Ruthless. Merciless. They are smugglers and thieves, trading in whatever they can get their hands on and follow no laws but their own. They demand absolute loyalty from their soldiers, and a single betrayal gets them killed. Their rulers ascend through murder. To lead, they must take control and eliminate any opposition.”

  “God, Bryn. Are you trying to kill me?” A slick sheen of moisture covered my forehead, my body heated to the boiling point. He sucked my nipple. Hard. Bit the tip just hard enough to make me cry out. His finger continued to work my clit.

  “You’re the one who keeps asking questions.”

  “Stop talking.”

  He chuckled, his lips moving down, down, down. Yes!

  The people on Rogue 5 sounded like the typical motorcycle club or street crew to me. Honor among thieves. Loyalty above all. Step out of line…and you died. They didn’t scare me, I understood them. I grew up with them. My brother died as one. Hell, I was one of them, too. Except for the whole biting thing. What were they, vampires? The idea was insane and I didn’t want to think about that right now. Hell, I didn’t want to think about anything.

  His thumb stroked idly over my skin. “I don’t want to leave you,” he murmured. He took a deep breath, as if he wanted to drown in the scent of my arousal. As if he were being tortured. “I want to stay right here, between your thighs. I never expected…you. I never expected to have a mate. A Marked Mate.”

  His words crushed me, a heavy pain spread through my chest. I couldn’t breathe. “Bryn.”

  “But I can’t claim you, Katie. I must go. I have a duty to my people. And to you.”

  “Let’s have a wild night. Fuck me, claim me. Then go. Do your thing and come back. Me and my eager pussy will be waiting.”

  His eyes darkened at my words. He shook his head. “It’s too big a risk. I can’t claim you. The last two Hunters sent to Rogue 5 did not return.”

  I frowned. “But you’ll come back,” I countered. His jaw clenched and he looked away. I knew. My heart skipped a beat and I reached out, stroked over his dark hair. Felt the silky strands slide through my fingers. “You don’t think you’ll come back. You think this is a suicide mission?”

  He wouldn�
�t look at me. He would not show fear or doubt. I knew him, knew his type, well enough to know that. “There is a possibility. I will not risk you like that. Losing a Marked Mate after the claiming is painful. Soul wrenching. I will not do that to you. Leave you like that.”

  This was why he had pushed me away. Refused me.

  Closing my eyes, I savored the feel of him, the strong slide of his hands along my ribs and waist. I doubted he knew he was touching me so reverently. If he left tomorrow, would I wish I’d denied myself this? No. Not just no, I wanted more. Needed more. Needed as much as he would give me. Because while he fought it, he was mine, for as long as I would have him. If that meant one night—

  “Touch me.” I wanted him. “Bryn, please.” I didn’t care if he would fuck me now or later. Today or tomorrow. Made no difference. He might try to leave me, but he would survive. I would make sure of it. He was mine and I would do whatever I had to do to make sure he could come back to me. That was the only thing that mattered. I’d dreamed of having someone of my own for so long. And now, he was between my thighs and I couldn’t have him. No, I would have him.

  I watched as he fought an internal battle, but he groaned and cupped my bottom, lowered his head.

  “Bryn,” I cried as he found my clit with his tongue.

  Slowly, so slowly I thought I might die, he slid a finger inside me, working the sensitive spot there as he sucked and flicked my clit with his lips and tongue.

  My hands dropped to my breasts and I tugged on my nipples, envisioned his mouth on me there.

  With a groan, he moved lower and shoved both legs up and wide. He invaded my pussy with his tongue, fucking me with his mouth as his thumb worked my clit.

  In. Out. Wet heat. His warm skin pressed to my inner thighs. His smell, uniquely his, filled my head until I was drunk on it, on him. My palm was on fire, the mark so hot I clenched my hand in the sheets to try to cool it.

  Nothing worked as he drove his tongue in and out of me in a faster and faster rhythm.

  Everything exploded. The world fogged and I closed my eyes on a silent scream, my entire body vibrating like a plucked guitar string as an orgasm roared through me.

  When I regained my senses, I looked down to find him watching me, his gaze intent and focused. “You’ll do that again.” I heard the dominant tone, saw the wicked intent in his gaze.

  I didn’t have time to argue as his sensual attack renewed with more vigor. He didn’t give me time to rest, his mouth suckling my clit hard and fast, working it into his mouth, swirling the tip of his tongue over the sensitive tip.

  It was too much. I shoved my feet into the bed to push away from the overwhelming sensation, but he was ruthless now, a man possessed.

  There was no escape as he claimed my surrender. His hands were rough, the hard thrust of his tongue, demanding. There was no gentleness, but I didn’t want it. I’d freed a monster and the more dominant he became, the more my body melted in submission. His growl had me fighting for air and I thrashed on the bed as he held my thighs down, pinned me in place for his tongue’s invasion.

  I was riding the razor’s edge, fighting the orgasm, holding onto the moment, fighting to hang on to it, to him, to this.

  “Come, Katie. Give me what I want.”

  What did he want? I didn’t understand and I was too out of my mind to think it through. Confused, desperate, I shook my head. It was all I had. All I could do.

  He rose onto his knees, towering over me like a conqueror as he slid two fingers inside my pussy. His thumb rested over my clit. Unmoving. Taunting me with his control, his complete dominance.

  This was what I’d never found in a man on Earth. The control, the power. The ability to know exactly what I needed. It was no wonder because there was no question we were Marked Mates. He knew me.

  “Come. Now.”

  His gaze locked with mine and it was like he’d detonated a fuse. My body responded, an orgasm roaring through me as my cries filled his room, echoing off the walls, taunting me with my helplessness. My need.

  For him.

  I lost control and came back to myself as he held me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me close. Safe. No words were said. None were needed. We were at an impasse and the pleasure he gave me was all he was willing to give. As I drifted in the haze, I knew one thing for certain.

  Bryn was mine. He wasn’t leaving me to go hunt some stupid criminal on another world. He wasn’t leaving me at all.

  Chapter Two

  Bryn, Hyperion Asteroid Belt

  The old Fleet cargo shuttle shuddered and swayed under me as I maneuvered around the nearest asteroid. There were only a handful of safe paths through the belt, and they were all watched by the legions that ran Rogue 5. As soon as my ship emerged on the other side, they’d know I was coming.

  But they had no idea who I was or what I wanted. The junker ship I’d acquired was typical for a smuggler. The cargo hold full of Atlan wine was meant to be a diversion for the crates of modified ion blasters hidden beneath. The weapons were five years old, salvaged from a battlefield and looked the worse for wear. But they worked, and the Sevens wanted Garvos dead more than they worried about putting a few dozen old blasters in the hands of rogue elements who had access to much worse.

  The blasters would barely get me landing access. They weren’t worth much, but they were enough. Just enough to throw off suspicion. At least, that was my plan.

  The legions on Rogue 5 would never believe a smuggler would risk approaching their moon with nothing more than wine to trade. Nor would they believe me to be a true smuggler if I kept my real cargo in the open. As I refused to deal in biologicals or slaves, the old blasters were my only option.

  The Seven agreed.

  Get in. Find Garvos, the bastard who’d killed Councilor Hervan and his mate. Dispense justice. Get out.

  Easy. It should be so easy. But two previous Hunters failed to return. They’d either been captured or killed. Knowing the men in question, I believed them to be dead. Neither would have gone down without a fight. Both were excellent Hunters. Tough. Smart. Efficient. And they hadn’t come home.

  I should have been worrying about the hows and whys of it, but all I could think about was dark hair and blue eyes, the strangled sounds of pleasure in Katie’s throat as her hot mouth swallowed my aching cock. And later, her screams as I took her with my mouth. The scent of her wet pussy as she buried her fingers in my hair and said my name. Over and over.

  My name. She was mine. My Marked Mate. A gift so rare that to find her was as close to a miracle as I’d ever get in my miserable existence. And I’d had to deny her. Leave her unclaimed. Make sure that, should I fail to return, she could learn to love another. My mark pulsed as if mad at me for even thinking such a thought.

  Marked Mates, once bonded, rarely survived the death of their mate. Not because of anything physical, but because losing their other half was often the death of their own soul. The surviving mate simply lost the will to live, fading away like ghosts of their former selves.

  Had I known Katie existed, perhaps the Seven would not have asked this of me. But we’d already lost two Hunters tracking Garvos, good men. Excellent trackers. Skilled. Men I’d trained. And they were gone. Vanished without a trace.

  I couldn’t turn down the council Prime when he’d asked this of me. Rogue 5 was a lawless den filled with violent, aggressive criminals. To enter their space as a smuggler not affiliated with one of their five legions was dangerous. To do so connected with the Interstellar Coalition? Suicide.

  Which led me back to Katie and the war going on between my heart and my head. Instinct demanded I turn this ship around and return to her. My mark agreed. Honor demanded otherwise. Justice for the murdered councilor and his family.

  The bastard had even killed the councilor’s sons, boys of eight and ten.

  Justice was in my blood. It was the reason our race existed. To serve. To defend. To protect. But as much as I tried to make peace with my mission, m
y sacred duty to my people, for the first time in my life I was torn in two.

  By the divine, I’d never done anything as difficult as walking away from her, leaving her warm body draped with soft sheets and moonlight in my bed. The fact that she’d slipped onto the unmated males’ floor in just her nightgown made her bold—and definitely mine.

  I’d never thought twice about a mission before. Never. If there was a criminal to hunt, I honed my innate skills and tracked him. Brought him to justice, if it was in Feris 5 or halfway across the galaxy. I’d never once been tired of the job, never once wished someone else would be sent in my place.

  Until now.

  Until her.

  I gripped the steering column, my knuckles white. Black space filled my view. There was nothing between the asteroid belt and Hyperion. The space was empty and black, like my heart.

  “Shuttle 584, state your business.” The cold voice of a Rogue 5 scout came through the shuttle’s communications link. I knew if I gave the wrong answer, I’d be blasted into a million tiny particles to drift in space forever. But thanks to our informant, I had what I needed…a name.

  “This is shuttle 584. I am here to trade with Trace of Styx.”

  “You are not listed in the registry.” The words were mechanical, calculating, as if a machine ran the blasters on that scout ship, rather than a man.

  “There is no registry.” The magic words that would gain me entrance into Styx controlled space on the planet’s moon. Those four words were where my outside help ended. Once I landed safely in their bay, I’d be on my own, dependent upon my own wits to get me deeper into the den of thieves to track Garvos, capture him if possible, execute him if not, and get off this rock alive.

  I held my breath as the silence stretched, waiting. Ready to fight my way out. My shuttle looked harmless, but the council and I had added a few modifications before take-off, including a hidden transport room, engines three times the speed a shuttle like this usually could manage, and more than enough firepower to destroy the scout vessel. But that wouldn’t get me what I wanted—inside.