Proud of my control, I sat, staring at the door that separated me from what I most desired. Until she called for me.
“Deek? Are you there?”
I jumped up and stood, putting my hand on the door. The beast paced within and my voice turned deep, gravelly. “Yes. I would never leave you unprotected.” The fierce vow was more beast than man, but in that, we were in complete agreement. My cuffs were a sign to everyone on Atlan, even on the battleships across the Coalition Fleet, that she was mine. No one dared touch the mate of an Atlan. Still, as my only prized possession, I would guard her fiercely.
The houses, the lavish properties hadn’t meant a thing to me until she arrived. And now, they were still just things. Tiffani was everything.
I heard a trickle of water, a light splash. “I can practically feel you prowling around out there. Why don’t you join me? I know you want to. Are you scared?”
While I could tell from her voice she was taunting me, I took it seriously. Was I scared? Yes. No. Fuck.
My mate was calling, inviting me to claim her, to bury my hard cock in her soft body, to lick the water from her skin.
The door was not locked and I swung it open slowly so I would not startle her. My mate had wet her hair, the gorgeous mass now nearly black and slicked back to reveal the gorgeous roundness of her face. Her lips looked fuller, her eyes larger as they watched me enter the small room. Where I was wary, she was completely at ease.
White marble surrounded her, the floor and tub a creamy white filled with swirls of gray and silver. The marble had come from the finest mines on Atlan. The bathing pool was large enough to fit both of us easily, and she swam to the back edge, farthest from me and placed her arms out to her sides, floating at the top of the water. Her cuffs winked at me, wet from the bath, and I could not stop the surge of satisfaction brought about by seeing my mark of ownership on her body. Her plump breasts floated in enchanting invitation, her pink nipples a darker red due to the heat of the water.
I pulled off the armored clothing Dax had given me at the prison, eager to wash the stench of the containment cell from my body. I’d endured until now because I also smelled like her.
My mate.
Her eyes tracked my every movement as I dropped my pants and stepped out of my boots. Completely naked now, I stood before her wearing nothing but the mating cuffs, nothing but the symbol of her claim over me, and allowed her to look her fill. My cock was erect, curving up toward my belly and her gaze finally focused there.
She was silent so long, I wasn’t sure of my welcome, until she drew a shuddering breath. “God, you’re hot.”
“I am not hot, mate. The temperature in this room is adequate for our needs.”
She chuckled. “Hot, as in sexy as hell. It’s Earth slang for extremely fuckable.”
So, my mate found me desirable. “You are the fuckable one, mate. My cock is hard as a rock every time I look at you.” I took it in hand then, squeezed the base to stave off the need to lift her out of the water and take her right there, on the marble floor.
“All talk and no action.” She rolled her eyes and beckoned me forward with one twitch of her finger. “If you want to fuck me, then get in here and do something about it.”
My beast growled. Perhaps we weren’t quite so different in our thinking as I’d believed.
“You liked it when I spanked you, didn’t you?”
I thought of before, when my beast had taken over our mating and she’d been spanked for her bold actions, for taking such risks to save me. Perhaps I should have kissed her instead of spanking her, but I’d become instantly possessive and very protective of her. The beast also had wanted to be in control and it was not. It hadn’t been since the first bout of fever came upon me. Because of this, it hadn’t been gentle. He’d been demanding and expected submission. Now, with a clear head and a calm beast, I had to ensure I hadn’t scared her, that she liked our encounter, that she wanted me just as rough and wild as my beast.
Her pupils dilated and she licked her lips. “Yes,” she whispered.
“And when I restrained you?” I stepped down into the warm water. “Did your pussy get wet when I took control?”
A shudder racked her body. “Yes.”
“I already knew the truth, but I needed to hear you say it aloud. We may be strangers, but we are matched mates. Eventually, we will know everything about each other. You will know what I like and I will know what you need.” Tipping her chin up so her eyes met mine, I saw longing in her gaze, acceptance. Surrender.
“You want to be fucked, mate?”
“Yes,” she said again, as if it were the only word she knew.