Conversation flowed around me as Hunters and the other residents of the fortress came and went, eating, laughing, living.
I’d forgotten how to do that. Live. I’d spent too long with the Hive, seeing destruction and chaos. I hoped my mate could snap me out of the darkness that surrounded my heart. Four years of battle. It didn’t sound like much, but I seemed slow to adapt to the more relaxed pace of civilian life. Would I ever be able to hear a shout without looking for danger? The crack of a broken twig without looking for enemies? The whir of the fans haunting me like the steady hum of the battleship’s air system?
“Hunter Von, sir. I have several new incident reports. We need to dispatch Hunters before we leave for the Touchstone.” A junior Hunter spoke from across the table and I nodded to let him know I’d heard. Sleep would wait. My mate would wait, although I put duty before my marked mate for the last time.
Tomorrow, she would be mine.
“I’ll be there in a moment.”
He spun on his heel and walked away, toward the command room. There we would go over the latest batch of assignments, from requests for assistance to investigating crimes, and I would put men to each task.
The fortress guards were the elite Hunters, protectors. It was important work entrusted to a rare few Everian males. We were the strongest, the fastest, the most skilled Hunters. Most were trained soldiers who had served in the Coalition Fleet and assigned to fortresses around the planet. We were vital to maintaining peace and stability on Everis. I took the role as a privilege I’d earned from the years fighting the Hive. I didn’t take it lightly. The role was crucial to the stability and safety of our people.
I knew this. But for the first time, being needed by my people wasn’t enough.
And damn my weak heart for wanting more. But I did. I wanted what I saw, heard, smelled, felt in my dream.
Eager to return to my quarters, I went to the command center and made quick work of assigning men to their tasks. While a strong group would remain to protect the fortress, I’d take my strongest and most loyal Hunters with me to the Touchstone tomorrow morning.
Tonight I would dream.
Done with my duties, I made my way to my private quarters and pulled the sleeping draught I’d bought earlier from the drawer next to my bed. I drank it all down and lay back, eager to see her again. To touch her. Even if it was only a dream. Tomorrow, it would be real.
* * *
Von, Dreamscape
Her long black hair fanned out on the white bed sheets, offering a stark contrast in the moonlight. Sheer white curtains swayed near the open window at the slight breeze. The bedroom was large, with a sofa and table with two chairs for resting, reading, or fucking. Suddenly, I wanted to bend her over that table and fuck her until she begged for release. Then I would position her on the table’s edge so the hard surface struck her clit with each thrust of my cock. The table would rock as I took her, as I made her scream her release. But that rough need would have to wait.
I would take her in the sacred order of the three, one at a time. See her surprise as I awakened her body, her mind, to passion. To claim each of her holes for my own. First, it would be her mouth, opening wide to take me deep, to swallow my seed. Then it would be her ass. That hole would be tight, and the sweet feel of her submission as I took her in this most intimate of ways would only tighten our bond as I made her scream and writhe with pleasure. Lastly, I’d take her pussy, feel her inner walls ripple and grip my cock. I’d watch her eyes blur with arousal, feel her juices coat my cock. I’d fill her then, coat her womb with my seed and claim her officially—and permanently—as mine.
Yes.
The large, central bed draped in white. The recessed lighting provided just enough illumination for me to study my mate’s beautiful face as she slept. She was on her side, her arms bent and her hands tucked beneath her chin in a pose both innocent and enticing, for her arms pressed her lush breasts together and offered a tantalizing bit of cleavage. I recognized her room as one of the suites assigned to new brides at the Touchstone center and I felt some small relief.
She would be safe there, protected, until tomorrow when I could find her. As long as she didn’t choose another.
My cock rose to attention at the challenge and I longed to join her in that bed, to run my fingers through the shining mass of her black hair and hold her head in place for my kiss as I introduced her to pleasure. She was mine. No other would touched her. None who wished to live. All I needed to do was convince her that I was her marked mate, her destiny. Perfect for her.
I stepped to the edge of the bed and lay down beside her. The scent of fresh spring flowers and warm honey drifted from her flesh. But this was just a dream. My mind would fill in the blanks, convince me that I touched her, held her, tasted her, but it would all be a lie, a trick of my imagination.