Prime Obsession(18)

“Mel, I never … he can’t keep—”

“Oh, yeah, you do—and he could. If he wants to keep me here, every man on his crew will back him. You just don’t understand what you’re dealing with here.”

“And you do?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Except Wulf doesn’t know I know.”

“Know what?”



“I’m Prime,” she hissed.

Nowicki’s jaw dropped open.

“See, I said it was complicated. Just follow my lead.” She pulled his arm and spoke loudly. “Nowicki, let’s go check with J’ar on that computer problem you had on your approach.”

Wulf stopped a few feet from them. “A problem, lubha?” Mel smiled at him and waved one hand airily. “One of the transports had a small computer glitch in its approach schematics. Ensign J’ar needs my input. I designed the system.”

“Really?” Wulf looked impressed. “Can one of my computer specialists assist in any way? I really think you should be lying down in my medical unit on a regen bed. You are very pale, gemate lubha.”

“I’m fine right now, Wulf.” What a lie. She wanted to lie down so badly she’d kiss an Erian’s slitty mouth to achieve it. “I’ll check into the medical unit for a diagnostic scan after we fix the problem.”

“Just in case, I’ll send Iolyn down. He has some experience with guidance systems.

I’d go myself, but Maren and I need to interrogate the traitors. We want to find out how extensive their rebel faction is.”

“Sounds like a good idea. You surely don’t need a civil war on your hands,” Mel agreed. “We’ll meet your brother down there.”

She turned and walked away. She didn’t have to turn around to know he watched her. She could feel his possessive gaze burn down every inch of her back. Unfortunately, her traitorous body shuddered in achy anticipation of his touch. Her mind told her this was biology—the imprinting the traitors told her about—but her body wept at leaving him.

Dammit, she needed distance—and time—to assess what was happening to her.

Nowicki moved at her side. “Now what? And what’s that about a civil war on the Prime planet? And what the fuck is a gemate lubha?” Holding onto her second-in-command’s arm for support, she turned him in the direction of the door. “Forget the civil war. Forget what he called me. We need to move.

Now.”

She would not panic. And, she sure as hell would not turn back to look at him one last time. She also built all the mental walls she could so that Wulf would not pick up on her thoughts or emotions. Prolow and Ullyn had said battle-mates could read minds during times of stress. She wasn’t sure if that was true, but she’d sensed what Wulf would do before he did it near the end of the Ullyn confrontation. She wouldn’t take the chance he could read her decision to escape now. God knew, she was stressed as hell.

“Why?” Nowicki looked over his shoulder. “What’s the hurry? It will take him a while to interrogate the prisoners.”

“Because those two traitors will be happy to inform Wulf that they revealed to me that I am a Prime female.” They made it out of the engine room. “If Wulf knows, he’ll know I’m escaping him. He won’t like it.”

No need to tell Nowicki about the mind-body connection—he would freak and go all alpha on her again. She could not—refused—to deal with any more alpha-ness today.

They took the lift to the docking bay where their transports were located. “Switch your ear-com to alternating sequence Code EEGT. I had J’ar go over to it when you liberated the engine room. He’s waiting for us on our transport. A’tem is on the Leonidas and has our squadron ready to go to jump. We’ll be the last of our teams off this ship.” Nowicki smiled wickedly. “You had this planned from the minute we opened that engine room door, didn’t you?”

“Yes. It will take the Galanti at least twelve standard hours to get back on line. Plus, Garth will run interference.”

“I like the way you think, boss.” Nowicki signaled J’ar on his ear-com. “As for you being Prime, are you sure?” At her brusque nod, he asked, “What are you planning?”

“I’m taking leave and going home to Obam IV. I owe it to the people who raised me to find out the truth from them.”

“He’ll follow, won’t he?” Nowicki frowned. “That word ‘ gemate’ is very close to our ‘mate’.”

 Yes, it was.

Mel allowed a small sigh to escape her lips. It was too late to reverse her genetic reaction to Wulf. It had been too late when she first heard his voice back at jump station Andromeda 2. Hearing it in the tunnel just reinforced it—and inhaling his scent, being in his arms, cemented the bond.

And she’d admit that she was attracted.

She liked the way her battle senses heightened because of him, the way he made her even stronger. She liked the way his strong arms felt around her. She loved his scent, all male musk, cinnamon, vanilla, and something spicy that was all Wulf. She wanted to lick him all over and see what he tasted like. She liked it when his jaw clenched and his carotid pulsed as he battled not to yell at her. Heck, she even liked it when he growled at her in that bossy, commanding tone. And most of all, she liked the fact he made her hot, achy and wet. She’d even wondered what the act of sex would be like with their heightened senses.

Hell, she was more than attracted; leaving now was like losing a piece of her body and mind.

But she was not a subservient Prime female, one to be hidden away and protected.

She was a warrior—the battle-mate of Prime legend—and that was how he had to see her.

Accept her.

Since the attraction went both ways, she’d made the decision in the engine room that he had to woo her. She was not a gift to be dropped in his lap. He had to earn her.

“Yes,” she sighed, finally answering Nowicki’s concerned look and question. “I expect he’ll follow, but he’ll be meeting me on my turf. He’ll have to deal with me—the me who was not raised to be some Prime’s breeding machine.”





Chapter Six

One standard week later

Galactic Alliance Military Command on Tooh 10

“Wulf, sit,” ordered his father, Cejuru Prime Premier Ilar Banan Caradoc. “You are wearing a hole in the rug.”

Wulf turned and glared at his father. “I can’t sit. Melina is gone. And these military bureaucrats are hiding her whereabouts.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I read her medical report. She required three units of blood and three standard days on a regen bed.

I need to see that she is healed. I need to touch her. I … I—” What he wanted was to tear apart the military base at Tooh 10 until he either found Melina or forced someone to tell him where she was. The not knowing how she fared threatened his much vaunted Prime control. He’d never felt this out of control in his thirty standard years.

His father stood and approached. He laid a calming hand on Wulf’s shoulder. “I understand, son. Your mother and I couldn’t be apart for even an hour after the imprinting was awakened early in our courtship. Melina has to be suffering also. We will demand that they reveal where she is. They don’t understand the dynamics of the biological coupling.”

Wulf nodded. He was glad to have his parent’s support. On his own, he hadn’t made much headway in locating Melina.

Immediately after the freeing of the Galanti from pirates, Maren had notified Wulf’s father and the Prime Council that Melina was a definite match, a battle-mate of legend—

and missing. His father had dropped everything to speed to the new Prime embassy on Tooh 2. With his arrival, the Galactic Alliance Council put pressure on its military to divulge Melina’s location.

The military finally agreed to provide the information. In a few minutes, Wulf would have his answer. His personal star cruiser was ready to depart once he had the coordinates.

The door to the meeting room opened. Maren entered, followed by Melina’s superior, Admiral Nelson, the leader of the Alliance military in the Mu Arae system, and Commander Nowicki, Melina’s first officer.

Wulf surged to his feet and crossed the room in a single bound. Taking Nowicki by the collar of his dress uniform, he lifted the man up, his feet dangling and kicking a foot or so off the floor.

“Where is she, you devil-blessed bastard?” Wulf shook him and tightened his hold until the Terran’s face turned blue. “You took her off my ship.”

“Put him down, son.”

Wulf’s father pried his fingers from Nowicki’s throat. The Terran dropped to the floor, gasping for breath.

“She doesn’t want to see you, Caradoc.” Nowicki managed to spit out between gasps for oxygen.

Wulf growled and started for the downed man. His deepest desire was to wipe the smirk off Nowicki’s face permanently.

His father held him back. “Let me handle this, son.”

Nowicki had struggled to his feet, his hand absently massaged his throat. Good, he had hurt the bastard.

“Commander,” Wulf’s father said, “By now, your Captain will be suffering, both physically and emotionally. Melina and Wulf can not be separated for any great length of time, not until after they fully consummate the gemate bond.” Nowicki glared at them. The man opened his mouth to say something when the Admiral cut him off. “Sit down, Commander Nowicki. Let Premier Caradoc explain about this bond.”