“What about the remaining Antarean raiders?” she snuggled back against the arm holding her as they lay face-to-face on their sides. His sudden, sharp intake of air sounded like an angry snake warning prey. One of her legs had inadvertently nudged his fully aroused cock.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, blushing with embarrassment. He hadn’t been kidding. He was thoroughly aroused, so much so that she could almost feel his penis throbbing within her mind. Oh, good gods, how will that … that ever fit? Her loins pulsed in sympathy, aching for him. “Maybe you had better let me have the chaise to myself?”
“That might be a good idea,” Wulf husked. “Your lush body is far too tempting.” Damn, he noticed how round my ass is. She’d always hated her round bottom; it had attracted far too much attention from male soldiers.
Wulf carefully untwined his body from hers. Lifting her, he placed her on her back then covered her near nakedness with a blanket. No small feat since she was not really that small, even though he kept labeling her so, and she was well-muscled.
“And, lubha, don’t worry about my size. You will be able to handle my size—you were created for me by the One.” He paused. “I love your bottom.”
“There will be times you shouldn’t be in my head, Wulf,” she admonished sourly, not realizing she had dropped her mental shields.
“As I told you, mates need to be in each other’s minds so we can anticipate and meet our mate’s needs.” He stroked her arm, taking her bandaged hand gently between his.
“As a battle-mate it will be even more imperative that we are in each other’s minds so that we can coordinate our fighting.”
“Will I be fighting?” Mel asked. She was curious because from what she’d sensed from Wulf back on the Galanti and from what she knew of the current Prime culture, she’d thought she’d probably have a battle on her hands to keep her Alliance command.
“Yes.” Wulf captured her gaze with his amber one. “Maren—and my brothers—
convinced me that as you are a battle-mate and my equal in training and more than my equal in the size of the troops you command that I—and Cejuru Prime—would be foolish not to reestablish the legends of battle-mates’ fighting superiority.”
“How will this work?” She yawned, fighting the lethargy that suddenly swept over her. Damn, she was tired.
“Lie back and rest.” Sitting at her side, he stroked her face. “Admiral Nelson sent the Alliance Military Command’s decision on my request that we serve on the same star ship.
My ship will be commissioned as an Alliance ship. We will lead Gold Squadron under our joint command as battle-mates on the Galanti. Nowicki will captain the Leonidas. ” Smiling, she could barely keep her eyes open. “A promotion for Royce? He’ll like that, and he deserves one.”
Wulf traced the line of her brows, causing her to gasp. “The Prime warships previously under my command will join the Gold Squadron, almost doubling its size.
After a period of adjustment, and after we see how the merger into Gold proceeds, the rest of the Prime fleet will be divided between the Alliance and a Cejuru solar system fleet for local security.”
“Sounds good.” Frowning, she slitted her eyes open. “You don’t mind sharing the leadership of Gold?”
“Melina,” he touched her lips with his, “because of our mind-body connection, we will automatically share strategies and act as one. What the military chooses to call our reality should make no difference as to how we’ll react to situations. Together we will lead the strongest fighting machine in the galaxy. The dregs and refuse that prey on the innocent will run in fear of Captain Melina Dmitros-Caradoc and her battle-mate husband. Our legend will be the basis for song.”
From her limited experience and knowledge of Wulf, and Prime males in general, she hadn’t expected this open acceptance of sharing power. Was this his compromise?
And would it work? Only time would tell.
Yawning widely, Mel muttered, “That’s nice,” and fell asleep with her mate’s lips gently tasting hers.
* * * *
Wrapping his little warrior in a solar blanket he found among her pack contents, he lay her back against the chaise and tucked her pack under her head—after removing some leftover explosives. He appropriated the Prime-designed dart gun and extra ammo. It always helped to have the proper weapon when hunting pseudo-reptiles.
He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her soft mouth. She muttered something unintelligible and wrinkled her nose before slipping even more deeply into a healing sleep. A smile crossed his lips. To think he would wake up to that beautiful face each morning for the rest of their lives made him happy.
“I’m going out to send that message to our ships and reconnoiter. Stay here and sleep, little one,” he whispered against her ear. He reinforced his message with a mental touch—her senses were wide open as she slept. She’d be aware of him—and more importantly aware of any danger that might attempt to intrude into the safe room.
With any luck, he and either his crew or hers would eliminate the rest of the Antareans and recover the bodies of her parents and their dig team before she awakened.
His mate had more than done her duty since the attack on the planet. She could let him—
and others—take care of the cleanup for a change. While what he had told her was true, they would fight side-by-side and be that of which legends were made, he still intended to protect her as much as possible. She’d have to learn to live with his protectiveness. It was all about compromise.
Chapter Nine
Mel awoke and stretched before she recalled the wound on her leg. She groaned, then bit her lip. Damn, that hurt. Rubbing lightly at the burning stiffness, she gingerly swung her legs over the edge of the sleeping couch. She had no idea how long she’d slept, nor how long it had been since Wulf had left to check in with their two ships. A fairly lengthy amount must have passed since she was more rested than she’d been since the attack.
If Wulf had left soon after she had fallen asleep, he should have been back by now.
Alarmed that he hadn’t come immediately back to her side—which was something she was fairly sure he would’ve done—she opened up the doorway she’d created in her mind to their mental connection and reached for him.
Fiery red rage blasted her mind. She filtered out Wulf’s anger then scanned for information as to his well-being and whereabouts. Dull, throbbing pain. Adrenaline-pumping, pounding pulse. Wulf was cornered, injured and fighting for his life. Through his mind’s eye, she recognized the spot. She could be by his side in less than three minutes.
Jerking to her feet, she gasped, then pushed aside the pain. Already her body drew upon her own supply of adrenaline, preparing her for the battle ahead. A battle to save her mate’s ass.
Mel grabbed her pack, stuffed the survival gear and the all-important med-kit back into it. Seeking her weapons, she noted the dart gun was gone. Only her laser pistol, her battle knife, and a few of explosives she’d used on the Antarean ship remained. She shoved the explosives and detonators into the pack and holstered the pistol. She slipped the knife into the scabbard on her uninjured thigh.
Seeking Wulf’s status once more, she touched his mind lightly so as not to distract him from his battle with the Antareans.
“I am fine, lubha . Stay in the safe room.” Wulf’s order was so ridiculous it didn’t deserve a response. As if she could stay put while he was in danger.
Mel left the safe room, then dropped to her hands and knees to crawl toward the intersection of three corridors where Wulf made his stand. One of the hallways had a trap that could be triggered, thus cutting off at least one set of the enemy. The other two hallways could also be defended from above.
Over their mind link, she constantly monitored his body’s reactions. His pain was bearable; his strength enduring. He fought intelligently and fiercely, but he had no chance to defeat the Antarean forces from his current position. His back was—literally—up against a wall. He needed her help, even if it were just for a distraction to give him a strategic edge.
She worked her way around to the path with the trap; she wanted to approach it from behind the enemy. It took longer to get there, but her ability to surprise the enemy would be greater.
“Wulf. Be prepared for panic from the enemy. I’ll be triggering the death trap in the corridor to your far left.”
A low growl sounded in her head. Wulf wasn’t pleased that she’d disobeyed his order to remain hidden, but wasn’t shocked she had.
“We’ll be discussing this habit you have of not staying put… Be careful, little warrior. You are my life.”
“As you are mine—isn’t that what you’ve told me?” she replied pushing her own anger through their connection. “I have just as much right to protect you as you do me.” An amused chuckle ticked her conscious. “Yes. Thank you for reminding me.” Satisfied that she’d gotten her point across—although she was sure Wulf would still lecture her on staying put later—she grabbed a handy, loose rock, a nice solid chunk of granite from the looks of it, then crawled to the slit in the waist-high curtain wall. Time to take out some Antareans and remove some of the pressure from her Prime warrior.