Tamed by the Beast(15)

I glanced at Sarah, the question Dax had asked Deek a moment ago finally registering through the fog of lust and fear in my brain. “What others did he refuse?”

She rolled her eyes. “A ton of women have been in here, throwing themselves at him. When they go beast mode, Atlan woman willing to take them as a mate are paraded through here like models on a runway. If any of the men react, the women are put in the cell to try to claim them as mates.”

I turned back to watch Deek, his hands flexing into fists against the wall over and over, as if he was fighting for control. “Does it work?”

“Sometimes. But not for the commander. He’s refused at least twenty females, including his betrothed.”

“His what?” Had I heard that right? His betrothed? Anger and jealousy stirred as I inspected my mate. He was mine, not some betrothed. All that beastly hotness was fucking mine.

Sarah waved her hands in an apologetic gesture. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t matter?” I asked, my eyes wide. “He has a betrothed and it doesn’t matter?”

Sarah swiped her hand through the air. “A mate trumps a betrothed, Tiffani. If an Atlan doesn’t find his true mate, he can marry someone else and hope the beast will accept them, which they usually do, as long as he’s not in mating fever. Tia is his ‘fallback’ woman. At least that’s how I think of it. But Deek won’t need a fallback because you’re his mate. He’s yours.”

“The force field will be down for three seconds, Tiffani. When I give the command, you must enter his cell completely and without delay,” Dax instructed.

Warlord Dax moved to the far side of the cell’s wall and placed his palm on a small scanner in the corridor.

I nodded, numb. This was about to happen. I was about to be locked inside that cell with a beast who could barely speak. It was the stupid betrothed female, the jealousy of her, that had me ready to claim my mate. No one would take Deek from me. No stupid Atlan woman was going to fuck this up for me. No betrothed.

A strange humming sound filled the air, then a silence made profound by its absence.

“Now!” Warlord Dax barked the order at me and my body jolted forward of its own accord, my legs moving me over the thin demarcation in the floor and into Deek’s cell. The buzzing resumed and I turned to look over my shoulder at Sarah, whose dark eyes were filled with hope and sympathy. “Good luck, Tiff. The security camera will be down until the guards change shift.”

“When is that?” I asked. I knew I was going to have to have sex with a complete stranger who was nowhere close to human, but I sure as hell didn’t need an audience.

Warlord Dax wrapped his arm around Sarah’s waist. “You’ve got five hours, Tiffani Wilson of Earth. Please, help him if you can.”

What he meant to say was, Fuck the warrior until you can’t walk right for a week, but be sure to soothe his beast. Oh, and if the commander loses control, he might accidentally kill you. Sorry about that.

I licked my dry lips. “I will.”

My only two allies on this strange new world turned and walked away. My heart moved upward and into my throat, making it difficult to swallow. I watched until they were gone, my eyes burning with unshed tears as adrenaline, fear, anticipation, desire, hope and dread all coalesced into a tornado of emotion behind my eyes.

And then I heard him. My mate behind me.

Tensing, I turned to see him moving toward me like a hunter, slowly, carefully, controlled so I wouldn’t bolt. With a sigh, I decided either I could be scared to death, or I could trust what Warden Egara told me. If he was mine, he would know. He would listen to me. He wouldn’t hurt me. He wouldn’t wrap those gigantic hands around my neck and snap me like a twig. Nope.

I reached into the pockets of my cloak and pulled his matching cuffs from within. Assured by the heavy gold bands in my palm, I undid the clasp at my throat and let the heavy garment drop to my feet.

Deek stilled, frozen in place as I stepped away from the fallen cover; my Atlan dress wrapped my breasts in a tight golden crisscross, which put the large orbs on perfect display. The V-neck style showed a lot of skin, and his breathing hitched as he inspected me, his hungry gaze raking over every inch of my body, from my slippered feet to the top of my head. But when his gaze reached the cuffs on my wrists and the matching ones in my palm, he roared, rushing me.

Before I could blink, I was backed against the wall, his large body pressing me close and holding me in place. “Cuffs. Mate.”

A rush of exhilaration shot through me when he recognized the cuffs, understood the significance of them. When he leaned down and ran his tongue along my neck, my collarbone, between my cleavage, like he was feasting on my body, I sighed, relieved and very, very aroused. Up close, he was even bigger than I’d imagined. I wasn’t a short woman and was never considered small. I felt dwarfed by him, feminine. Even his cock was big. God, his hard cock was like an iron branding the skin of my stomach.