by Presley Hall
My soul has recognized yours.
The thing I thought wasn’t true, thought we were just pretending at, is real.
Brooke is my Irisa—my real Irisa. She’s my mate.
20
Brooke
I look up at Zhori, my entire body humming like a live wire.
His thick cock is pressed between my legs, the tip of it nearly inside me, and I arch my hips, trying to pull him closer.
I’ve never felt desire like this in all of my life. It’s like my veins are filled with liquid fire, the room so hot that it’s nearly unbearable, my entire body made of nothing but sensation and need. Everywhere he touches me, pleasure bursts over my skin. I feel hollow inside, needing to be filled. Needing to be filled by him.
But he’s gone still above me, frozen in place. His body is rigid, and as I blink at him in surprise, he whispers something strange.
“My soul has recognized yours,” he murmurs, his silver, glowing eyes never leaving mine. “Gods, Brooke. You’re my mate.”
It takes me a second to realize what he’s trying to say.
The mate bond.
My mouth falls open, my mind struggling to understand what’s going on. I can barely think through the fog of desire. My entire body is crying out for his, filled with a need so intense that I have no words to describe it.
But it’s more than that.
Every part of me feels as if it’s aching for him—my mind, my heart, my very soul—as if I won’t be complete until he takes that final step and sheathes himself inside me, making us one.
The thought crashes over me like a tidal wave, the need intensifying until I feel breathless, until I can barely stand it. Without speaking, I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer as I lean up to kiss him, my hips arching upward as my legs go around his waist. I feel the tip of him push against me, on the verge of entering me, and he groans with a sound that’s almost painful, mingling with my own gasp of pleasure.
“Zhori, please,” I beg, but he pulls back, kneeling between my legs as he looks down at me.
God, he’s beautiful. In the moonlight from the window, he looks like a statue carved from pure bronze, his skin shimmering and rippling with muscle all the way down to the massive cock jutting out from between his thighs.
“What’s wrong?” I swallow, pushing up to rest on my elbows. “Don’t you want me?”
“Oh, by all the gods.” He laughs shortly, running his hand through his hair as he stares down at me. “I want you so deshing much. It’s taking everything in me not to claim you right now.”
“Then do it,” I whisper. “Please, come here.”
“You don’t understand.” His voice is hoarse, and he swallows hard, his hands clenching into fists against his thighs. I’ve never seen a man struggle so hard with his own desires, never seen anyone look at me as hungrily as he is right now.
“Then make me understand,” I whisper. “What is it?”
“You are my mate. I wanted you even before I realized it, but now that I know…” He licks his lips, the muscles in his arms trembling. “If I allow myself to take you now, it will be nearly impossible to let you go. It will only solidify and intensify the feelings between us. And I know that’s not what you want. The mate bond was supposed to be a ruse to keep you safe, nothing more.”
I stare at him, dumbfounded.
He explained all of this to me the first day we met, of course, when he formulated the plan for how to protect me on this dangerous planet. Although I understood the concept of the mate bond, part of me never truly believed it was real.
But I believe in it now.
And strangely, I don’t feel fear or uncertainty as I contemplate Zhori’s words. Instead, all I feel is an overwhelming sense of relief.
Because… now it all makes sense. I didn’t understand before why Zhori has gotten so far under my skin, why I’ve come to care for him so deeply and so fast. I thought I was crazy to be so drawn to him, to crave his body next to mine as we slept, and to dread the idea of him disappearing from my life when we make it back to Kalix.
Now I know I haven’t been crazy.
It’s not just the intense circumstances or my loneliness. It’s because we’re meant to be together. There’s a bond, a fated connection between us, and the thought makes me so happy that I want to burst out laughing.
I don’t laugh though. Instead, I sit up suddenly, my knees falling to either side of Zhori’s as I slide into his lap. I wrap my arms around his neck, gripping the back of his head the way I did in the alley the first time we kissed.
And I kiss him again.
I kiss him as thoroughly as I can, taking advantage of how startled he is to slide my tongue into his mouth, arching my back and moving against him.
Now that I’m not questioning myself or trying to hold anything back, I can admit how much I love being this close to him. I love the silky feeling of his hair tangled in my fingers and the hardness of his muscles against me. I love the strength of his body and the way his cock feels pressed against my stomach.
“You’re wrong,” I whisper breathlessly between kisses. “I didn’t expect this, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want it.”
I tug him back down as I speak, keeping my arms wrapped around his shoulders.
Zhori’s large frame settles over mine, his cock wet with precum as it grazes over my clit, making me moan. But he grips my jaw with one hand, separating our lips and looking down into my eyes as he gazes at me with a fierce expression.
“Are you certain?” he asks roughly. “Brooke, you must be certain.”
“I am,” I gasp. “Yes, Zhori, yes, yes, please, yes.”
I’m openly begging now, but I don’t care. He said if we go through with this, it will be hard for him to let me go—but I already feel that way about him.
“I need you.” I frame his face with my hands, my fingers sliding through his dark hair. “You’re my… my mate.”
Those words seem to snap something inside him. The last fragile thread of his self-control, maybe.
His lips crash down on mine, one hand cradling the back of my head as his hips surge forward. He impales me with one hard thrust, his cock filling me to the brim, and we both groan into each other’s mouths.
I’m his, I think dizzily as I cling to him, so lost in the pleasure of this moment that I can hardly breathe, hardly think. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt, so good that I almost can’t bear it.
He breathes my name against my lips, and I close my eyes, giving myself over to it.
To the bond.
To him.
To us.
21
Zhori
I was prepared to stop, to get out of the bed and put a halt to all of it, the moment I realized the seriousness of what was happening between us. I never intended for Brooke to be my Irisa in truth.
I never thought I would have an Irisa, even once the bonds began to form between Kalixians and Terran women. But the moment the knowledge hit me, everything suddenly made sense.
Brooke is mine.
The feel of her tight, hot channel squeezing around my cock is the most perfect thing I’ve ever experienced. It takes all my restraint to hold myself still inside her, allowing her body a moment to acclimate to the intrusion.
I’m aware of my own size and strength, and I don’t want to hurt her. But she takes me as if we were made to fit together. Her inner walls clench again, and I groan against her lips, the pleasure so intense that it nearly overwhelms me.
I’ve heard of the mating lust. I even explained it to Brooke when we decided that she would pretend to be my mate while we searched for a way off Nierra. But none of the stories adequately captured what it truly feels like.
This is more than just physical desire. As I finally begin to move, drawing out slowly and then thrusting back in, I feel myself claiming her in every sense of the word.
Possessing her.
Giving her not just my body as I take hers, but my mind and heart and soul, every
part of me pouring into her as I take the same in return.
“Fuck, Zhori,” she pants out, her nails scoring my back as her legs wrap around my hips. “It feels so… you feel so…”
“I know.” I shudder, my cock pulsing with the urge to spill inside her. I’m so close to coming. She feels too deshing good, and every single sensation is so intense. “Krax, I know.”
My balls tighten, and I force myself to draw out of her channel entirely. Pulling back from the kiss, I gaze down into her eyes as I hover at her entrance, then watch her face contort with pleasure as I slide slowly back into her, feeling her clench around me all the way.
She gasps and moans, her skin feverish and damp with sweat against mine. I repeat the action a few more times, teasing us both and drawing out our pleasure. But know I won’t be able to last much longer, however much I want to. With every slow thrust, I get closer and closer to losing control.
“Come for me,” I whisper against her lips, my hips beginning to rock faster against hers as I run my fingers through her hair, stroking her face, her breasts, my hand sliding down to her waist. “Gods, Brooke, I’m so close—”
“Me too.”
She speaks breathlessly, and her words alone nearly push me over the edge. My cock throbs, aching for release, and I try to hold back for a few more seconds, kissing her wildly as I thrust into her.
I change the angle of my hips slightly, and her mouth falls open, her muscles trembling as her hands grip my shoulders.
“Zhori!”
She cries out, her head falling back as her channel tightens around me. Her nails dig into my skin as she arches and writhes beneath me. My own climax hits in a rush, and I surge forward as my cock throbs and pulses, spilling my hot seed inside her.
In the aftermath of our pleasure, I slump over her body. Not wanting to crush her, I pull out and roll to one side with a groan, drawing her into my arms as I press my lips to her hair. Both of us are gasping for breath, and she burrows into my embrace as I keep her as close to me as I possibly can.
I know the lust will return soon. That I’ll want her as desperately as I did a few minutes ago. But in this moment, all I feel is a sense of perfect, complete rightness, the knowledge that I’ve at last arrived exactly where I should be.
“Are you all right?” I murmur softly, and she nods.
We’re silent for a while, and then she rolls onto her back, dragging her bottom lip between her teeth. “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course,” I tell her. “Anything.”
“It was… kind of a relief when you told me about the bond,” she admits. “I’ve been feeling things for you—real feelings—for days. No, longer than that, if I’m being honest. Since all the way back when I woke up in that pod… or maybe even before then, when you picked me up out of the snow. I was barely conscious, and it’s all a blur, but I remember feeling so safe.”
Her blue eyes shine, a beautiful contrast to her flushed cheeks, and she grins a little.
“It’s been building for a long time, that’s all I’m saying. And I didn’t know why. It felt so strange to feel something so strongly for someone I barely knew. I told myself it was just the intensity of the situation we were in, but now I know it was something else. It was the mate bond—and I’m glad. I’m glad to know why I feel the way I do about you. I’m happy it’s real and not pretend.”
I drop my head, kissing her forehead and her hair before looking down at her. I can feel the hunger for her awakening again, the slow throb of lust beginning to pulse through my blood as I stroke my hand over her waist, needing to touch her.
“I felt the same.” I give her a wry smile, chuckling. “I thought it was just physical attraction at first—you’re so very beautiful, and I was drawn to you from the beginning. Then I thought perhaps I was getting a little too lost in the role of playing your mate, that I was beginning to believe my own ruse. And I didn’t want to take advantage of someone I came here to rescue. You were depending on me to keep you safe, after all, not to spend all my time lusting after you.”
She laughs softly, and I take a deep breath, feeling her cuddle closer to me. My cock reacts to that, swelling into half-hardness as a throb of pleasure pulses through my veins.
“But I wanted you so badly,” I continue. “If I hadn’t been so focused on other things, so intent on denying it, I would have recognized the mate bond sooner. I was overcome with desire for you—it grew and grew until I had to force myself not to think about it.”
She smiles at that, her eyes twinkling wickedly as she wiggles against me, clearly pleased that I’m becoming aroused again.
“The thought of you mating with someone else once we got free of Nierra made my heart ache in a way that I’ve never felt before,” I tell her plainly. “I didn’t know why I felt that way. But now I do. It’s because you are mine, and I am yours. It just took me far too long to realize it.”
Brooke reaches up to glide her fingers through my hair, resting her head back against the pillow.
“I never had anyone I was close to after my grandmother died,” she says softly. “I tried to date a little, once I’d had a chance to grieve her death. I thought maybe I needed someone to be close to. And there was someone—a guy who I thought really cared for me. He said he understood how I felt, and he pretended to be there for me. I believed him, completely.”
“What happened?” I ask, seeing pain flare in her eyes. I never want anything to hurt her, as long as I’m alive.
“My grandmother left me an inheritance, a little bit of money that she wanted me to use to move to Nashville and try to make a go of my singing career. She made me promise that I would. But this guy, Noah…” Brooke takes a deep, shuddering breath, and I can see that she’s holding back tears. “He managed to steal most of it from me. And then he just skipped town—totally disappeared. His number was disconnected, and no one had any idea where he’d gone. I had no way of finding him.”
“That’s horrible.” I stare down at her, my jaw clenching. “That man had no honor. He was not worthy of you.”
I’ve seen plenty of terrible things in my life, during the years that we were at war with the Orkun. But for someone to pretend to love another person and betray them so completely—it’s one of the worst things I can imagine.
“I just… froze after that,” she says quietly. “Between that betrayal, the fact that the money was gone and I couldn’t get it back, and still grieving the loss of my grandma, I just slowly gave up. I told myself that I couldn’t even seem to sing in front of people anymore anyway, so what did it matter? I’d cherished those dreams for so long, but they seemed pointless. I told myself I’d leave town eventually, once I saved up enough money again, once I managed to sing in front of people again, once I felt like I actually had a chance.”
She shakes her head, looking toward the window. “But I don’t think I ever would have, really,” she admits in a low voice. “I let myself get stuck. I couldn’t get out of there.” She turns in my arms, gazing up at me as she runs her fingers through my hair, then over my cheek and jaw, gently caressing my lips with the tips of her fingers. “But now I don’t feel stuck anymore. For the first time in years…” She exhales softly, her eyes shining up at me. “I feel free.”
I kiss her again, savoring the warmth of her mouth against mine. The urgent, feverish passion of earlier was incredible, but I also like being able to kiss her at my leisure, without fighting the feelings that it arouses in me. I can enjoy it, fully and entirely, without guilt or reservation.
“I know what you mean,” I murmur when we break apart. “Except I didn’t feel stuck. I felt adrift.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nearly everyone on Kalix has lost their family, or some part of their family. But I lost mine even before that. My parents died of illness when I was very young, and I was an orphan until I was apprenticed to the Alpha Force.”
Brooke’s brows pull together. “What do you mean, everyone on Kalix has lost th
eir family? What happened?”
I sigh. I’ve told her much of my history, and many things about Kalix. But she doesn’t know this part of it yet.
“You know that we revolted against the Orkun when we were captives on their ship, and that’s how we saved the Terran women who live on Kalix now. But I haven’t told you about how we came to be their captives, or our history with the Orkun.” I pause, taking a deep breath. “For many years, the Orkun were one of the most feared species in the universe. They would invade other planets, wiping out civilizations and depleting the planet of its resources before moving on. They tried to attack Kalix, but we held them off for as long as we could. Then, about sixteen years ago, they developed a viral weapon that they used against our people. It killed nearly every Kalixian woman, leaving only a few of our eldest females still alive.”
“What?” Brooke gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. “That’s horrible!”
“My family was already dead by then, and I was apprenticed to the Alpha Force. But within days, almost all of our females had died. We had always relied on the mate bond to choose our partners, and we believed that we could only mate with other Kalixians. No Kalixian had ever done otherwise. And so—”
“—so your people thought that you would never be able to reproduce again.” The full understanding of the horror of what the Orkun did to us shows plainly in Brooke’s face. “Until you found the other women like me.”
I nod. “The first mate bond between our commander and one of your people could have been a fluke. But then it kept happening. For years, we fought with only one goal in mind—to eradicate the Orkun before the last of us died out. But then the mate bonds continued, and more than that, the human women began to become pregnant as well. Now our people have a future, thanks to yours.”
“That’s incredible.” Brooke lets out a slow breath. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like, though—growing up like that.”
“That’s what I mean when I say I felt adrift.” I drop my head, pressing a kiss to the place where her neck and shoulder meet. The scent and feel of her skin beneath my lips soothes me, and I inhale deeply. “I grew up with my fellow warriors as my family. After the Orkun genocide, we all became each other’s family—there was nothing else left and no hope for anything more.”
