Mated to the Warriors(47)

“I just did.”

He shook his head and moved his hand from my face to trace my bottom lip. “Not your heart, Hannah. You didn’t give me your heart.”

He looked so sad, so broken, that I had to do something. I couldn’t stand to see him in so much pain. His anguish was mine. He hurt, and I hurt. “Master. You’ve showed me what’s been missing, what you need. What I need.” I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, trying to ease him, trying to take the hurt. I loved him. At least, I thought I did. But I couldn’t say the words. Not yet. Not right now.

Not when he hadn’t said them first. I wasn’t doing that again, not ever. I’d told my last serious boyfriend that I loved him, and he’d used me for my apartment and my money, cheated on me and dumped me when the next best thing came along.

Zane was, admittedly, nothing like that idiot boyfriend, but he was still a man who wanted me, who needed me, who loved to dominate me in bed—and who didn’t love me.

I kissed him again because I didn’t know what else to do. He rolled on top of me, already hard, and I welcome him like this, soft and slow and tender. I opened my legs and he nudged my entrance with his cock. With a sigh, I let him in.

As hard as he’d been before, he was gentle now. He kissed me, slow and sweet and soft on my lips as I lifted my hips to meet him. I wrapped my arms around his head and made sure he knew I wanted him with me, like this. Always. And after he spilled his seed inside me, I held him close. I ran my fingers through his hair and soothed the lines from his brow, more at peace than I’d been since leaving him. I held him with all the love I could not speak, and we slept.





Chapter Twelve





Zane

I sat in the children’s classroom and watched my beautiful mate charm the little ones. They sat in a circle on the floor, sang songs and clapped as she smiled at them with such light in her eyes that I knew she loved them all. And she loved me. I could see it in her shy smile, and the warmth behind those dark brown eyes. Her gaze would soften when she looked at me now, and I could feel her joy and acceptance through our link.

She loved me, but she would not speak the words.

I wanted her to admit her feelings. I needed to hear them. At our claiming ceremony tomorrow, I had every intention of forcing the issue.

A toddling youngster made her way toward me, her big eyes happy and soft gurgling noises coming from her sweet little body as she inspected my boots. Children were rare on the battleships. Only the high-ranking officers, those lucky enough to have mates, had families onboard. The children transported to the battleship each day for schooling, and for safety. We were the largest ship in the battle group, and the children’s rooms were housed in a specially reinforced and detachable escape vessel.

The young girl placed one chubby little hand on my knee as she tugged at my boot with the other. A few weeks ago, I would have tolerated the little one’s attention, but left feeling uneasy. The children were so small, so fragile and innocent. I never felt comfortable around them before, but something had shifted within me last night, something profound. For the first time in my life I was at peace. I had shown my matched mate my darkness, and she’d not only accepted me, she’d ridden through the storm of my passions and wrapped her small body around mine, twining our legs together as we slept.

I had her trust at last, and I’d never worked so hard for a prize, or valued it more.

The child before me shifted her attention from my boot to my face and she lifted her arms to me. “Up.”

With a frown, I leaned down and lifted the tiny creature into my lap. She patted my face with her chubby fingers and stared up at me with a very serious expression on her sweet face. “Mander.”

I had no idea what the child was saying, but Hannah rose from her seat on the floor and walked over to rescue me.

“Yes, he’s the commander, isn’t he?”

The tiny girl nodded her head as if she’d been asked the most serious question in the world. Then she leaned forward and kissed me with a big, wet, open-mouthed kiss that landed somewhere between my bottom lip and my chin. I froze, utterly at a loss, and Hannah laughed out loud, the melodic sound of her joy worth the slobber that now coated my face.

The girl patted my cheek, as if to let me know she was done with me before wiggling her bottom to let me know she wanted to be set down on the floor.

My hands covered her entire body as I placed her gently on her feet. She waddled away and I looked up to find my mate smiling down at me. Hannah stepped between my legs and lifted a hand to my chin with a smile, wiping the wetness off with her thumb. “Your people love you, mander. Every single one of them.”