"Only what Captain Trist ordered."
I didn't believe that for a second. Trist followed the rules. Rav didn't. He'd only follow Trist's orders if I were out of commission, such as being-
Shit. Such as being half dead and unconscious in a ReGen pod.
"Conrav?"
I said his full name. I never said his full name.
"You were dying."
"Rav!" I snapped, making the techs jump.
"She's beautiful, Grigg," he said, his voice almost … wistful? "So soft." He stepped close to me, lowered his voice so only I could hear. "So many fucking curves. God, her pussy is pink. And her ass. Fuck, I've been ready to take her since the moment she transported. Wait until you see-"
A soft, feminine moan sounded from the other side of one of the private medical exam rooms, the sound going straight to my aching cock. My eyes widened, for I recognized that sound deep inside me. I'd heard it in my dreams. I'd come not long ago while aching to hear that sound.
Rav grinned like a child on his birthing day about to open the largest present. "She's coming awake."
Despite my irritation with Rav and Trist's interference, I was intrigued and followed a step behind the doctor as he entered the smaller exam room. "She's mine?"
"Yes. Matched per the Interstellar Bride Program's formal processing protocols. The match was almost one hundred percent. She's perfect for you in every way."
I was fucking tired of the Coalition dictating every tiny detail of my life and wasn't sure this would be any different. There were so many protocols, all of them impeccable. As leader, I was fucking sick of protocol. That's why I had promoted Trist to my second-in-command. He loved that shit.
"Look, cousin, I know you're excited, but I doubt-"
I saw her then, my mate, my bride, and I stopped dead. Rav grinned and walked past me, gathering his medical equipment for something.
"What's all that for?" I asked, my voice filled with awe.
"For her exam and testing. I had to wait until she was awake, and for you to be present."
She was stunning. Thick dark hair lay in dark curls over the thin pillow. Her skin was not golden or yellow like a Prillon female's, but a softer, deeper shade of dark cream. She lay on her back on the exam table.
"She transported here?"
Rav shook his head. "To the transporter room, but she was transferred here."
"Like this?" I saw red, for she was gloriously naked and she was mine. "Who saw her like this?"
Rav's eager expression-that of being her second mate-shifted to the clinical face of a doctor.
"I was there for her arrival. I wrapped her directly in the sheet that's beneath her."
I saw the white covering that hung over the edges of the table.
"No one has seen her like this, but me."
I glanced behind me, the door firmly closed.
"That's right, Rav. No one sees her like this. Ever," I growled the last, an instinctive need to protect her rising with a speed and ferocity I would never have believed possible. My reaction was illogical, as our official mating ceremony would be witnessed and blessed by my chosen warriors, those Rav or I chose to honor with my trust during that sacred right. But they would be watching us fuck her, claim her, make her ours, not simply admiring her beautiful body.
Her face was delicate and softer than any female's I had ever seen. Her breasts were full and ripe, and her pussy, as Rav had promised, was an intriguing shade of dark pink I'd never seen before. I ached to lean down and run my rough tongue through the delicate folds, to discover her exotic taste. I wanted to wedge my shoulders between her perfect thighs and spread her open so I could fuck her with my tongue. My mouth watered at the thought.
"What type of female did you say she is?" I asked, not looking away from her. She stirred, but her eyes had yet to open. It was as if she were waking from a nap, not a transport across the galaxy.
"Earth. They refer to their race as human."
"I've never seen a female like her before." I hadn't. She was beautiful, lush, exotic. No female I'd ever seen compared.
"She's the very first bride from their world."
That shocked me enough to look at Rav. "The first bride?"
He nodded. "Yes. Earth was granted provisional Coalition membership weeks ago. The Hive expanded their scouting runs into the outer reaches, transport Zone 2."
Understanding dawned. "They were going after the warriors on The Colony."
Rav nodded. "Most likely, but they found Earth instead. Their attack forced the Coalition to make contact with Earth. Her people have been aware of other beings in the universe for just a few short weeks."
I remembered the reports now. Small planet. Purportedly beautiful, a stunning swirl of blue and white with a primitive- "Earth was barred from full membership for being too barbaric, if I recall. They refused to unite and elect a Prime?"
Rav pulled his medical equipment closer and nodded in agreement. "Yes. Still busy drawing lines and killing each other over territory like wild animals. But if she's a little savage, I shall enjoy spanking that round ass into order."
He sounded nothing like a doctor in that moment. He sounded like a man who was seeing his mate for the first time, reacting to her, becoming eager for her, the very idea of her.
His thoughts echoed mine. But just in case the spanking Rav would give wasn't enough, I'd fill that pink pussy with my hard cock, fuck her ass until she screamed my name, fill her mouth with cum and hold her head back with a hard fist in her hair so I could stroke her lovely throat as she swallowed me down. But if we were truly matched, she would enjoy my need to control as much as I needed to govern her pleasure. She would enjoy it a little rough. A little wild. She would enjoy being dominated by two warriors.
Lust and a primitive need to mark and claim my mate erupted within me like a volcanic blast, my growl echoing through the room before I could think to hold back.
Shit. I was ruined.
My little mate's eyes opened at the sound, locking on me with a wariness and fear I did not welcome. Her eyes were unique, a dark brown that I longed to drown in. Right now, they narrowed with suspicion or wariness and I realized I only wanted to see one expression on her face-desire, longing, trust.
Desperation, as I made her beg for release.
I guess that was four expressions.
"Fuck, Grigg. Stop scaring her so I can get her medical clearance and we can-get her settled in your quarters."
I nodded in agreement, eager to get her back to my bed where we would truly claim her for the first time and enjoy the full benefits of having sealed our mating collar around her throat.
I watched my mate's expressive gaze travel from myself to Rav and back again. She noticed everything in the room, the lights, the exam equipment, the door, yet made no move to cover herself, as if the condition of her body was irrelevant.
I found her behavior odd, and intriguing.
Moving slowly so I wouldn't scare her, I stepped forward and bowed. "Welcome. I am Grigg, your matched mate, and this is Conrav, my second."
She didn't move, but did speak, and her voice made my cock impossibly harder. "Amanda."
Her name wasn't enough. I needed to hear her voice calling out my name, rough with pleasure, breaking as she begged.
She looked down at herself at last and cleared her throat. "Holy shit, all my hair is gone."
Her skin was indeed smooth and flawless, as all females' should be. I didn't answer, not sure what she might have looked like before, but very pleased with the soft sheen of her skin, the gorgeous view of her pussy.
She caught me looking, and cleared her throat. "Oh, well, no more shaving. That's a perk, right?" Her legs shifted on the exam table and I forced back the order that rose in my mind. I did not want her legs closed, I wanted them open, wide open for my cock, my mouth … for whatever the fuck I wanted.
"May I have a blanket or something? Clothes?"
I shook my head. "Not yet. Rav is a doctor. He must complete your medical evaluation first."
A little line creased her smooth brow, her dark eyebrows a stark contrast to the cream of her skin. Her face was so unlike ours, smooth and round, with soft curves and valleys I longed to explore with fingers and lips. I wanted to know what her skin tasted like, if her exotic taste would match her scent, something sweet and feminine, an unusual flower I had yet to explore.
"I was examined at the processing center." She looked around again. "On Earth."
Rav chuckled. "No, mate. The Fleet requires each new member submit to a full medical exam prior to release into the general population." He picked up a small device and checked it for readiness. I had no fucking clue what it was for.
Her dark brows furrowed and I wanted to reach out and smooth the worry line away. She turned to me. "I thought you said you were my matched mate."
I nodded once. "I did."
She looked at Rav, who bowed in reverence, as I had. "But-?"
"I am Doctor Conrav Zakar, your second mate, Amanda Bryant of Earth."
"Second mate?" Her face turned a dark shade of pink, not as enchanting a pink as her pussy, but still, beautiful. "I don't-oh, God." Her dark eyes looked everywhere but at us, her mates, as she mumbled to herself. "That dream. Shit. That dream. Oh, God. I'm such a pervert, and now what? Two of them? Shit. Robert said this job would be the perfect fit for me. See if he likes two mates. I can't do this. I can't."