Bonded Read online

  His eyes narrowed, as if by hearing the very word he was almost powerless to resist doing just that. But when he spoke, what he said was, “You are not a common whore, but our mate. The ritual. We cannot dispense with it.”

  Ah, that was right. How could she forget about the Spygian mating ritual? She didn’t know much about it, other than that all pod members were to be present. The thought of what it might possibly entail sent a shiver of lust raging through her body. She almost wished she truly was his mate…

  Forcing herself to stand straight and strong, she looked him in the eye. “I’m afraid we have a problem then, for I cannot promise anything more than a night of bliss.”

  She barely had time to see his face fall in clear disappointment before the leaves crackled and Valeron appeared in the clearing, his arms full of dead branches. Reading the tension in the air, he stopped cold, his gaze going from her to Neichon and back again.

  Finally he moved toward the center of the clearing and dropped the branches to the ground. “We’ll probably need another batch.”

  “It’s already growing dark.” Neichon’s gaze lifted upward, to where the pink and purple fingers of dusk already crept across the sky. “I’ll get some more wood and check for sight of the Malucons while I’m at it.”

  As Inara watched him leave the clearing, she fought the unaccountable feeling that she’d just let something magical go. That was a ridiculous notion. She had her own destiny, and it was not to be bonded to a pod of barbarians. No matter how sexy, delicious, and utterly fuckable those barbarians might be.

  Inara turned and let out a sigh as she lowered herself back to the ground on the perimeter of the pile of sticks Valeron was gathering. She planted her feet on the ground and curled her arms over her legs once more.

  “Don’t mind him,” Valeron said easily, his gaze focused on the pile. “He hasn’t had a woman in a while. Makes him testy.”

  “So you Spygians do have sex with other women? Besides mates, I mean.” She’d been beginning to wonder if Neichon was a virgin, he was wound so tight.

  Valeron nodded. “Yes. But only until we take our mate. We had an Enduvean mistress for a period of time, but found it largely unsatisfying so we gave her up.”

  She could understand that. As a sexual species, Spygians thrived off sex, but not just any sex. Rather, they had to be life mated to gain the strength and speed of their species, as it only came once a deep emotional bond had been formed. Enduveans wouldn’t make proper mates for Spygians since they couldn’t reproduce with them. But even worse, they were a cold, emotionless lot who valued nothing more than material spoils. The women who chose sex as their profession did it only for the money, and though she’d only known Neichon and Valeron a short time, she could already tell that wouldn’t do it for them. They would want passion. Desire.

  Yum. Just thinking about it made her want to jump one or both of them.

  Inara contented herself with watching Valeron start the fire. He hunched over the pile, showcasing his thick, muscular legs. And that back. So tanned, so athletic. Then his arms…

  Oh gods, she was so horny. Her encounter with Neichon had left her hot and bothered. On fire for his touch.

  She waited until Valeron had started the fire and turned back to her, a charming grin on his perfectly formed face, before asking the question that had haunted her since she’d first met the two men.

  “Why do you and Neichon believe I’m your mate?”

  One of his brows lifted and he rose. She watched with bated breath as he stalked toward her, his powerful limbs flexing with every movement, and took a seat beside her.

  Finally he spoke, his gaze direct on her face. “Neichon was led here by his Spygian homing instinct. That is how we know you are our mate.”

  Ah yes. She remembered hearing something about this homing instinct. “So the leader of a pod has the ability to find his mate, as if she’s some sort of beacon?”

  He nodded. “In a way, yes. It is a feeling. A desire. Call it compatibility, or fate, or what have you. It led us to you.”

  Well, she didn’t know how she could argue that. Still, she refused to accept that she could be anyone’s mate.

  “But you need a ritual to determine whether someone is your mate, right? So this homing beacon could make a mistake.”

  His lips pursed, as if her comment had disappointed him. “It’s more like a formality. A custom amongst our people. I don’t personally know of anyone who has performed the ritual and discovered the woman was not their mate.”

  “Oh,” she said, her voice small. She preoccupied herself with staring at the flames building in the fire. Anything to avoid looking in Valeron’s eyes.

  “You can feel it too,” Valeron said, his voice thick and gravelly. “You don’t realize it but you can.”

  That startled her into meeting his gaze. “What do you mean?”

  He leaned closer, his full lips parting. “The strangely compelling desire. The urge to mate.”

  “I…” She broke off, mesmerized by the gleam in his lust-darkened gaze. By the sheen of moisture on his lips as he wet them.

  “You want to, don’t you, Inara?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, powerless to avoid responding.

  “Just as I thought.”

  She had a mere moment to see the glimmer of satisfaction in his face before he moved toward her, crushing his lips to hers. Moaning, she straightened and leaned in to his kiss. Her body, already singing with desire from Neichon’s earlier caresses, grew moist and heated.

  As if he sensed just how turned-on she was, Valeron’s hand closed over her arm, urging her back toward the ground. She went with it and he followed her, his body right beside hers and his mouth fused to hers. His rock-hard erection pressed against her hip, making her buck with need. He broke away to take a good look at her.

  “So ready,” he whispered, his turquoise eyes shimmering with desire.

  “Yes,” she moaned.

  Lips curving, he tugged her tank top under her arms, baring her breasts. His long, silky hair brushed against the distended tips and she let out a gasp, arching her body upward.

  “Lovely.” Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, he lowered his lips to her breasts, taking turns sucking and laving at each hardened tip. When she bit her lip against a cry and tried to caress the ridge of his shaft over his loincloth, he moved her hand away.

  “No,” she protested, but instead of heeding her, he undid the buttons holding her breeches closed, then slid his hand inside. His fingers crept down to the very center of her sharp need, sliding with slippery slickness along her bare mound.

  She let out a soft cry. “Yes.”

  “So wet,” he gasped.

  “Don’t stop.” She was so turned-on, so excited, that she was almost there.

  Making a little noise in the back of his throat, he lowered his mouth to one breast, sucking the tip and lightly tugging on it with his teeth. At the same time, two of his fingers slid deep into her wet heat, finding little resistance. She was far too turned-on.

  “Mm,” he groaned. “Your cunt is so moist. You like this, don’t you?”

  When she said nothing, just bit down on her lip, he withdrew his fingers only to plunge them back in harder, driving her hips down into the ground. She cried out and arched her back.

  “Yes, like that!”

  Groaning, he worked his fingers in and out, fucking her fiercely with them while he sucked hard on one breast and cupped the other one in his remaining hand.

  “Yes,” she gasped when his teeth grazed her nipple. She didn’t know how he realized she liked it rough, but she certainly wasn’t complaining.

  With a gruff sound of excitement, he slid a third finger inside her. The intense pressure combined with his furious thrusts was enough to send her over the edge. She cried out as a blinding orgasm consumed her, driving through her body with breathtaking ferocity. “Oh gods, yes.”

  Sliding his fingers out, Valeron rose onto his knees and lift
ed his loincloth, giving her a tantalizing view of his hard, thick cock. Closing his fingers around it, he jerked once, twice, face distorting in pleasure. He bit back a yell as a thick stream of come spurted onto her stomach and breasts. Still moaning from the aftershocks of her climax, she rubbed the liquid into her body, then lifted a few drops to her lips.

  “Mmm.” He tasted delicious. Like the honey his skin was colored after.

  Muscles relaxing, Valeron fell forward onto her with a soft chuckle. “By severn, I didn’t mean for things to go this far.”

  “Hmm.” Feeling content and loose, she closed her arms over his back, caressing his silky skin. “Is that against your mating ritual or something?”

  “No, only sex,” he said, his lips against her ear. “But I’d hoped to hold back until you agreed to be our mate. Give you something to look forward to.”

  “Believe me, you have given me something to look forward to,” she said dryly. “I might give just about anything for a repeat performance like that one.”

  He laughed, his relaxed body heavy but still comfortable lying over her like that. Like her own personal blanket.

  “I might hold you to that,” he finally murmured.

  She smiled, but sobered as her sanity began to return. Yes, that had been amazing, and it had left her no doubt that Valeron would be an amazing lover. Neichon too, indubitably. But she still wasn’t willing to become their mate. She had her own mission to uphold.

  And she didn’t want to endanger such fine men.

  It just wasn’t meant to be.

  * * * * *

  Outside the clearing, standing in the full dark, Neichon listened to the sounds Inara made as Valeron brought their mate to pleasure. He gritted his teeth against the irrational burst of jealousy he felt at the thought he couldn’t be the first one to make her come. There was no reason to be jealous. He knew Valeron would not penetrate her, would not break the ritual. Once they were bonded with her, they would each be able to feel what another pod member felt as he gave their mate pleasure, for it was the way of things. But for now, it was all he could do to stay away.

  He wanted her too much. He feared he would lose control.

  Inara’s keening cry indicated she’d reached her climax. A moment later, Neichon heard Valeron yell out. His pulse hammering in his throat, he raced far enough away from the clearing that Inara wouldn’t be able to hear him.

  With a tortured groan, he lifted the fabric of his loincloth and freed the arousal he’d been sporting since the moment he saw his mate. Closing his fist around it, he gave his swollen cock several pumps. How he longed to be buried inside Inara, to tear off her breaches and ram his aching cock inside her to the hilt. Over and over again, until they both cried out their pleasure.

  Within a matter of seconds, he came hard, his semen spurting from his body in a long arc.

  Soon, he promised himself. Gods willing, soon they would return to the ship and have Inara as their mate. Then he and his pod members would take turns fucking her senseless, showing her how much true pleasure a Spygian could give.

  He could barely wait.

  Chapter Four

  Inara woke from a long, sated slumber. The best she’d had in months, if not years. Sleep was normally something she did grudgingly, and only once exhaustion had claimed her. She would find a nook to crawl in, or if she was in her jet, slump over at the controls, and sleep as little as possible to regenerate her fatigued body. Today she didn’t feel that same pressing urge to awaken, to once again stand her guard. It took her a few moments to remember why.

  The Spygians.

  And then she felt the heat of the man spooned behind her, his arm slung over her waist as if he offered his protection even in sleep.

  Not to mention the rock-solid body nestled in at her front.

  Her eyes shot open. Blinking several times, she made out the figure of the man sleeping right in front of her.

  Neichon.

  At some point after she’d fallen asleep in Valeron’s arms, he’d crept into the clearing and lay down at her front, facing her. His top knee was bent toward her, and his hand had reached out to close over hers.

  Ah, that explained why she’d felt so warm and cozy, even though a stiff chill bit the air.

  Despite her vow to keep her heart hardened to these men, she couldn’t help but melt a little inside. They made her feel safe. Secure. Just their body postures left her no doubt they’d do whatever necessary to protect her. Give their own lives, if necessary.

  Which was why she had to let them go.

  Disappointment unfurling in the pit of her stomach, Inara slunk out from under Valeron’s grasp and scooted closer to the fire. Though her internal clock told her it was daylight, it was still early enough that little light penetrated their canopied clearing. She used the remaining embers to see as she righted her disheveled clothing.

  Did Neichon know what she and Valeron had done after he’d left? Would he be upset? She couldn’t imagine that he would be, given his intent to share her with Valeron.

  Part of her was frustrated that, while she’d learned a lot about the Spygian people as part of her education, she ultimately knew so little about their mating processes. Yet she’d never expected she would have to know such a thing.

  You are not their mate, Inara. Don’t even think of it.

  Stifling a growl, she rose to her feet and tiptoed out of the clearing. She gave a moment’s thought to simply slipping away and leaving the Spygians behind. Things would be much easier that way. But it wouldn’t be right. The men had been protective of her the past day. The least she could do was give them a ride back to their ship once she fixed her jet.

  Plus three heads, and pairs of hands, are better than one.

  Her poor spacejet would likely need all the help it could get.

  She remembered a nearby tree with some fruit hanging high in its branches, so she headed that way. Sure enough, there it was. Enough fruit to last her and the Spygians the day hung about twelve feet up. Climbing the thick branches, she drew her dagger from its holster at her right thigh and used it to slice through the thick vines holding the fruit, letting them drop one by one to the ground.

  While I’m up here…

  After snagging a branch higher up in the tree, she climbed about ten more feet, until she could scan the horizon.

  Nothing.

  Turning her head, she surveyed the other side.

  Gods. Her heart thumped against her rib cage as she made out the unmistakable sight of the Malucon shuttle, squat and ugly like the species of people who’d built it. But thankfully it was miles away, and it appeared to be heading in the opposite direction.

  “At least there’s that,” Inara muttered. It wasn’t as if she’d truly expected the Malucons to give up and leave this planet anyway. No, once they’d caught sight of her, it was over. Their search would be ongoing…until they caught her.

  After making her way back down the tree, Inara collected the fruit, using the bottom of her tank top to hold it all. If only she had a sack or something, but she’d had no time to grab anything when she’d been forced to evacuate her spacejet.

  Weighed down by her awkward burden, she headed back to the clearing. The men were both awake when she strode into it, and they were clearly agitated. Neichon stomped out the embers while Valeron paced the ground, his booted feet crushing the grass.

  Neichon heard her enter and whirled around. The look of stark relief on his face would have been heartbreaking, had she not already decided to steel her heart against these men.

  “Where were you?” Neichon ground out, stalking toward her. “We were worried sick.”

  She lifted a brow and dropped all but one of the fruits at his feet. “Breakfast is served, boys.”

  The two men stared at her dumbly, as if they were surprised a woman could fend for herself or something. Scoffing, she lifted the fruit in her hand to her lips and took a bite. The sweet yet tangy juice dribbled down her throat, and she swallowed it with
a hum of enjoyment.

  When Valeron stiffened, his gaze drawn to her lips, she couldn’t help but recall the night before. The delicious taste of his juices on her lips. Her body grew moist with excitement, ripe with need.

  Oh heavens, if she was going to be stuck with these two for at least another day, as she estimated, she hoped she at least got some more sexual satisfaction out of the deal. Who knew when she’d again have the opportunity, and probably never with men as stunning as these.

  Neichon reached up and brushed a drop of juice from her lips. Mesmerized, she watched him draw his finger in between his lips and suck. Suddenly it seemed like a crime she and Neichon had done nothing more than kiss the night before. She could certainly think of a few things she’d like to suck.

  As if he sensed her train of thought, Neichon’s lips twisted into a grin. He bent and picked up two of the fruits, taking a nibble from one. “Come,” he said, lifting a brow. “We’ve much walking to do.” With that, he strode from the clearing.

  Her mind fogged with sexual need, Inara watched as Valeron stalked toward her and then bent down to pick up several fruits. Rising, he winked and gave her a quick peck on the forehead before following Neichon out.

  Operating on autopilot, she bent to snatch a second piece of fruit. Her thighs quivered with desire, almost sending her tumbling to the ground. Scowling, Inara straightened and started after the Spygians.

  She could already tell. It was going to be a long day.

  * * * * *

  By the time the sun started to lower in the sky, Inara and the Spygians had trekked for miles, and her feet ached from the journey. They’d spoken along the way, and she’d learned much about Neichon and Valeron. That they’d been friends growing up. That Neichon carried a tune very well, and Valeron liked to tend the indoor garden on their ship.

  The pain they’d felt when their mothers and sisters had succumbed to the plague that had taken all the women of their planet.

  All in all, she’d discovered that she truly liked them. If things had been different…well, if that had been the case, it probably wouldn’t have taken much convincing for her to join their pod. But there was no use in dwelling on things that could never be.