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

by Grace Goodwin

  I loved him wild and rough. I loved this too.

  My mark seared as Bryn’s movements became less consistent, as he lost himself in me, in us. He took us both to the brink and when I felt him thicken deep inside me, I knew he was going to come.

  But it wasn’t until he shouted, “Mine!” that I went with him.

  I was swamped in delicious pleasure, the pain in my palm morphed into exquisite desire as he spilled himself into me, as he made us one.

  All at once, my mark was quieted. It no longer hurt. Nothing hurt. As Bryn lay atop me, catching his breath, our skin clinging together with our sweat, I knew it was done.

  We were mated. He was mine and I was his. There was no going back. No chance to belong to Styx and Blade. No option to return to Earth.

  I was right where I wanted to be. Beneath my mate. Safe. Whole.

  Home.

  Epilogue

  Katie

  Bryn didn’t unlock the door to his quarters until the next day. True to his word, I remained naked all that time until I he allowed me to wear the appropriate dress of an Everian mate. Yes, allowed. I didn’t bother arguing. Why could I? I was his mate and I was proud of it. I was glad to be rid of the Styx uniform, even the Coalition armor. I belonged to Bryn and wore his possession with honor.

  Beneath my clothes, I also wore more intimate signs of his possession. A hickey on my right breast, whisker burn on the inside of my thighs and a dull ache from him claiming my last virginity deep inside. He’d fucked me well and good, not once, but twice, then refused to put anything inside my pussy again until healed.

  That didn’t mean he hadn’t touched me. No, it just meant he’d been more creative about it.

  While he’d accompanied me downstairs to the main dining hall—the staff would move our possessions from our separate quarters into a temporary mated space while we remained at the Touchstone—he’d kissed me, then left me with Lexi and Dani as he went to talk with Von and a few other Hunters.

  Dani hugged me fiercely and I knew Lexi had filled her in on what had happened.

  “You’re all right?” Dani asked. Her eyes were bright, worried. She was so small, like a tiny ballerina, but I knew she had the heart of a lion in that tiny frame. I hugged her tighter.

  Lexi grinned. “She’s fine, but probably sore. And not from Rogue 5, but from Bryn.”

  I pulled back from Dani and rolled my eyes, overflowing with happiness. But the feeling fizzled as Dani dropped her arms. She looked…sad. Where Lexi had lush curves, Dani small and lithe, reminding me of a dancer. The dress she wore draped her elegant figure in a way that made me feel like a clumsy oaf. I felt more comfortable with an ion blaster strapped to my thigh than the frilly thing Bryn wanted me to wear.

  But when he looked at me, his eyes burned. My mark burned. I’d wear anything he wanted to keep him looking at me with so much fire.

  “I have been claimed, yes. Just like you,” I said to Lexi, who blushed. We both looked to Dani, hoping she would tell us there was someone here for her. Our glowing joy was like the sun casting her in shadow. The differences between us starker now than ever. Her eyes held no gladness. No hope. When I’d left her a few days ago, she’d been upset but keeping her chin up. Now? Now her eyes were dead. I knew that feeling. I recognized it too well.

  “You have not dream shared?” I asked, taking her hand. We’d met in the Interstellar Brides Processing Center on Earth. Dani and Lexi my first real friends. Ever. Our hopes had been high for matches, for mates to love us, honorable men that we could love in return. I knew Lexi found that in Von and after the harrowing ordeal, Bryn and I now shared a strong match too.

  But Dani? It was obvious she did not.

  She nodded. “Yes. But—”

  “What?” Lexi said, coming up onto the balls of her feet and barely repressing her need to jump for joy. Her dark hair swung wildly as she urged Dani to keep talking. Details. Back on Earth, when we’d been nervous and scared as hell, we’d promised we’d tell each other everything. “Details, Dani. Details. You promised.”

  “Yes. A couple times,” Dani said, her voice dejected. “I saw him, but he told me to leave him, to find someone else. And now? He’s just not there anymore.”

  “Not where? At the Touchstone?”

  “Yes. Or in Feris 5. Or anywhere close enough for our minds to touch. He was scared. Something was happening to him. He tried to block me out, but I’m stubborn.”

  I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “Yes. You are. Which means you can’t give up.”

  She shook her head, her pale blond hair sliding down over her face to hide her expression. “Something’s happened to him. I just know it. Something bad.”

  I frowned. “How can you be so sure?”

  It was Dani’s turn to roll her eyes. “Because the dream…it was—it wasn’t all hot and steamy like Lexi said. There was no sex, no kissing even. It was dark. He was suffering. In pain. He kept trying to kick me out of his head.”

  Shit. Just like when that bitch Astra had Bryn captured and I’d been in his head. I debated. Tell Dani? Or keep it to myself. Maybe I’d discuss it with Bryn first, see if there was anything he and Von could do before I made Dani worry any more than she already was.

  Lexi lifted her gaze to mine and we shared a moment of crystal clear understanding. Obviously, she was thinking along the same lines for she looked over her shoulder at our mates where the stood quietly talking. They watched us closely, as if they were afraid we’d disappear. Or they were ridiculously overprotective. Or both.

  Yes. Bryn would help her. So would Von. They were Hunters. Surely, they could find Dani’s mate.

  “That doesn’t sound right,” I said. I took Dani’s hand and led her to a table in the corner, the table still set and ready for guests to be seated. Waiters would then come around and serve the meal. “Details, girlfriend. Share.”

  Dani took a deep breath and told us about her mate. The facility where he was being held. The cage. The chains. The strange people that streamed in and out of his prison cell bringing him food, or medication, or torture. She could not make sense of it. Did not understand. And he blocked her as soon as he was aware of her presence, trying to force her from his mind. Protect her.

  “Wow,” Lexi said, all excitement leached from her. “What are you going to do?”

  Dani stood, rubbed her palm as if it ached and lifted her chin. “I’m going after him.”

  “What?” I stood, too. “No. It’s not safe. You have no idea what’s going on. You don’t know where he is. Who has him. The danger. Anything.”

  My friend’s eyes narrowed and I saw determination and a touch of anger. “Aren’t you the one who snuck aboard a shuttle to Hyperion, the most notorious gangster outpost in the entire freaking Coalition? No weapon. No plan. Danger everywhere?”

  My mouth fell open. “That was different,” I countered. She was right. I couldn’t call her out on doing something dangerous when I’d done the same thing myself. But I was—well—me. And she was Danielle. A fairy princess. Petite and beautiful and brittle.

  “No, Katie. It was worse. I’m staying on Everis. The planet is at peace. The people are safe.”

  “Not all of them. You heard about Garvos,” I countered.

  “He’s dead. My mate might be too. I have to know. I came all this way, shared dreams with him and lost him? No. I won’t accept that. I want it all. I want what you both have.”

  I glanced at Lexi. She’d remained silent through all of this. She nodded now.

  “We want that for you, too. Let’s get Von and Bryn involved. They’ll help find him.”

  Dani looked from me to Lexi, then over at our mates. “They’re big. They’re Hunters. They’re Elites. They’re like freaking royalty on this planet. They’re practically rock stars here. They’ll draw too much attention.”

  I wrapped my hands around her shoulders and shook her slightly, forced her to look away from our mates and back to us, her friends. “They’ll keep you safe. Th
ey’ll kill to protect you and your mate. You need them. Let them help you.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she looked from me to Lexi for long seconds before she blinked slowly, relaxing in my hold. “Fine. Tell them everything. And have them meet me back here in three hours. If they’re not here, I’m leaving without them.”

  I’d never seen her so adamant. So sure of herself.

  “You’ll be careful?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. But I’m going, too. I have to go pack and get ready. Tell your mates not to try to stop me.” She pulled me in for a hug, then Lexi, before turning on her heel and leaving us staring after her.

  We looked at the door she went through for a minute, then glanced at each other. “Why do I feel like she’s making a terrible mistake?”

  Lexi hooked her elbow through mine, guided me toward our mates. “Did you think you were making a mistake when you went after Bryn?”

  I looked to my mate, saw him watching my approach. “No.”

  “Then we should let her go.”

  When Bryn reached out a hand, I took it. Palm to palm. Mark to mark.

  Heat flared, but not because of the mark any longer. No, it was because I was in love with my mate. Desired him. Needed him.

  Lexi and I filled them in on the details of Dani’s situation and both men were grim.

  Von most of all. “I should have been told the very first day. The protection of all Interstellar Brides at the Touchstone is my responsibility.”

  Lexi tilted her chin in defiance. “Look, it was Dani’s secret to tell. And now she has. She needs help, not a lecture.”

  “She needs to be tossed over her mate’s knee and spanked for even thinking of taking such a risk,” Bryn insisted.

  His words caused memories to flash in my mind. My pussy grew wet. Hot. Achy. I saw the narrowing of his eyes, the way his jaw clenched. “Need something, mate?” he asked.

  I took a step back, let our hands fall apart. He stepped toward me. I walked backwards toward the room’s exit. Yes, I needed something. Bryn’s cock. Deep inside of me. But I didn’t say it aloud. He must have seen the desire in my eyes.

  He grinned then and took a big step toward me.

  “What about Dani?” I asked.

  He looked over his shoulder at Von. “I need an hour with my mate. Then we’ll meet with the others and organize the Hunt.”

  Von nodded and pulled a protesting Lexi into his arms, her arguments drowned in his kiss. Seemed he had no intention of wasting the next sixty minutes arguing when there were much more…pleasurable pursuits.

  Bryn turned back to me, crouched slightly, arms out. I squealed and backed up one step. Two. Ready to bolt for the sheer thrill of being chased.

  “Come here, mate.”

  “Oh, no! I can walk. You don’t have to carry me!”

  I got three steps before he bent at the waist and tossed me over his shoulder. This time, we were both laughing as he carried me out of the room.

  “Get used to it, mate. You are mine. I will have you any way I want.”

  I put my hands on his lower back, felt the play of his muscles. Smacked him on the ass. “Promise?” I asked.

  He swatted my butt, then held me securely. “Promise.”

  And I settled, letting him carry me wherever he wanted. Because while I was obviously his…he was mine.

  And later, when he came back to me and told me Dani was gone, I wasn’t surprised. She had fooled us. Lied to us. She’d left immediately and disappeared.

  None of the Hunters could figure out how she’d done it. Which was the one thing that made me hope she could handle herself.

  Escaping their notice was almost impossible. To slip away from an entire building filled with Hunters was damn near a miracle.

  I was hopeful. Worried. Scared for my friend.

  But then Bryn wrapped me in his arms, held me close, made me feel the ache of loving him so much it hurt, and I knew Dani had to find her own destiny—just like I’d found mine.

  You met Styx and his Legion on the dangerous Hyperion moon base, Rogue 5. Find out what happens next in Grace Goodwin’s exciting new series: Interstellar Brides: Rogue 5

  HER ROGUE MATES

  Books by Grace Goodwin

  Interstellar Brides Books

  Mastered by Her Mates

  Assigned a Mate

  Mated to the Warriors

  Claimed by Her Mates

  Taken by Her Mates

  Mated to the Beast

  Tamed by the Beast

  Mated to the Vikens

  Her Mate’s Secret Baby

  Mating Fever

  Her Viken Mates

  Interstellar Brides: The Colony

  Surrender to the Cyborgs

  Mated to the Cyborgs

  Cyborg Seduction

  Interstellar Brides: The Virgins

  His Virgin Mate

  His Virgin Bride

  Interstellar Brides: Rogue 5

  Her Rogue Mates

  Other Books

  Their Conquered Bride

  The Alien’s Mate: Cowgirls and Aliens

  Wild Wolf Claiming: Howls Romance

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