“What’s their purpose?”
“The cuffs are a form of commitment, an outward sign of mating. They ensure we remain in close proximity until the mating fever is gone and we are well and truly bonded. Atlan mating cuffs are recognized throughout the coalition. No one will doubt who you belong to, ever again. Just as all who see me will know I am yours.”
“You can’t take them off?”
I shook my head, willing her to understand. “They mark me as yours, mate, until the fever is over. Then, then they can be removed, but we will still be mated. That will never change. With these on, it indicates I am claimed. Mated. Taken. I have chosen a female. You.” I rattled the smaller pair of cuffs dangling from my grip. “These are yours. Become my mate and together we can still save your brother.”
Her mouth fell open and I could practically see her brain working.
She crossed her arms over her chest, not from defiance, but for personal protection. She was upset and unsure and was practically hugging herself. Had she ever had someone hold her? Protect her? Shield her from the evils of life? Was she so strong because she wanted to be, or because the men in her life had left her vulnerable and exposed?
“The commander won’t allow us to go.”
“That is true, so long as we both remain officers of the coalition fleet. It is also true, mate, that a rescue mission for one soldier isn’t wise. But if you put on my cuffs, then it indicates you are a bride and I am a mated Atlan. We will both be released from all military service.”
“Just by putting on the cuffs?”
“If you put them on, you are committing to soothing my fever. Ending it. Remember, it’s mating fever and so you would be committing to being my mate.”
“The cuffs would end our military contract?”
I nodded. “We will no longer belong to the fleet, Sarah, but to each other. The rules and orders of the coalition commanders would no longer be ours to follow.”
She looked at the cuffs but refused to touch them. But she was listening, and that’s all I needed right now.
“I vowed to help you retrieve your brother. On my honor, I will assist you whether you choose to take my cuffs or not. However, if you do not declare yourself my bride and choose to go with me, you will be breaking a direct order from Commander Karter. If we are successful, you may retrieve your brother, but could very well serve several years in a coalition prison cell.”
“Why are you doing this?” Her gaze locked to mine, demanding the truth. “Why are you offering any of this to me? Why risk your life for my brother? You don’t even know us.”
“Nothing matters to me but you.” I spoke the words with vehemence, shocked to discover I spoke the truth. My desire to continue fighting the Hive had died the moment I saw her. Nothing mattered to me but winning her over, making her mine. I never would have imagined such a change of feelings in such a quick span of time. It had only been a matter of hours since I had said I didn’t want a mate. Now, now I never wanted to be free of her. I didn’t lower the cuffs, but kept them right where she could see them.
“I’m… I’m not like women from your planet, am I? How can you want me?”
“No,” I affirmed. “The women of Atlan are gentle, Sarah. They nurture and heal, they do not fight. They do not have your fire.”
“Is that what you want? A doormat?”
I frowned. “I do not know what a doormat is.”
“A woman who never argues, who does every little thing you tell her to. A meek female.”
Atlan women were meek. Meek not because they were forced to be that way, but because they were raised as such. They were happy in their roles, confident in their mates to care for them. But Sarah? She was most definitely not Atlan and I doubted she’d ever be meek.
I grinned. “You? Meek? I’ve known you all of two hours and I know for fact you are anything but.”
She pursed her lips then and I saw color stain her cheeks.
“I never said I wanted a meek Atlan woman.”
She didn’t say anything, but looked at me with obvious doubt.
“I don’t lie, Sarah. If you don’t trust me, you can trust in the matching protocol. That can’t lie. If I truly wanted an Atlan woman, I would have been matched to one. I want you. I want your fire to burn me from the inside out.”
The kiss hadn’t been enough. It had only offered a hint of what it would be like between us. Hot, volatile, passionate. I wanted to feel this woman beneath me. I wanted to feel the anger, the frustration, the intensity she carried about turn into passion. To have that passion directed at me. There was no doubt she was a fiery one and she’d be an eager, aggressive bed partner. I’d use that fierceness to bring her pleasure. There would be no gentle claiming. It would be rough and wild and I’d have to fight her every moment for control, but the battle would make her submission so much sweeter to taste. She’d fight herself, try to resist what she needed. That was a certainty. Not because I’d subdue her, but because I would test her limits, revel in making her squirm and discover her deepest desires.