pursuing our mate.”
“No. I have made arrangements to return early. We will not leave our mate unclaimed.”
“Excellent.” I nodded, not for the first time relieved that he’d thought ten steps ahead, as usual. “Tonight.” I was pleased to know I was fighting for more than just the Coalition now, that I would be protecting more than just Niklas. I was fighting for a mate. Her name was Lucy. She was ours. She didn’t know it yet, but I looked forward to seeing her face when she found out.
Preferably with my cock buried deep and her gasps of pleasure filling the room along with her surprise.
With that, the hum of the transport and the electrical zing pulled us from Prillon Prime and sent us to IC Command headquarters to tangle with an uncooperative Nexus unit. I hated this place. Hated war and killing, if I was being honest. But my father had told me when I was just a child that a warrior didn’t choose this life, it chose him. I’d never doubted his words, but today was the first I arrived on this rock with a smile on my face.
Fuck Dr. Helion, the vice admiral and her Elite Hunter mate, Quinn, who awaited us. Fuck the Hive Nexus unit buried in a holding cell somewhere deep in the rock beneath our feet. I didn’t want to worry about the Nexus unit, Dr. Helion, or what the fuck we were going to do if we couldn’t stop the Hive expansion into Coalition space. All that analysis and worry? That was Niklas’s job. I’d watch his back and I’d think of the warm, pliant female who now slept, sated and filled with our cum. Her body knew she was ours. It was time for her mind to accept that fact.
Next time we fucked our female, we would know every emotion, every desire, every want and need and fear coursing through her head. The collars would bind us three into one and make clear to every male on Prillon Prime that she was under our protection. Our care.
That we had claimed her and would kill for the right to court her.
Once our collar was around her neck, we could begin to win her heart. Her trust. I wanted to see more in her eyes than lust. I wanted… more. I wanted it so badly I didn’t dare think the word.
By the gods, the collars would be next.
5
Lucy, The Palace, Prillon Prime
“I’d tell you to spill, but it seems by the look on your face that it was good,” Gabriella said. She hadn’t transported with us, but had shown up later. She had baby Jori on her shoulder, and she was gently patting his back although he’d been asleep for the past ten minutes.
“A look isn’t enough,” Caroline countered, pointing at Lindsey, then Rachel. She stabbed an odd, three-pronged fork into a piece of reddish Prillon fruit that was piled in the center of a fancy palace plate. “She has to spill. I want details. Every. Single. Detail.”
I held my coffee cup up near my mouth, trying to hide my smile. Yes, the guys had put a smile on my face, but my Colony friends were amusing. Especially since I was the one who’d gotten lucky last night. More than one of my friends had brought along their kids. While there were sitters who’d watched all the children in a nearby nursery last night during the party, they were back to being parents after it was over. Like the coach turning back into a pumpkin at midnight, so did they become parents to babies and toddlers. While I had no doubt they had sex, and lots of it, I had to guess it was always quick, quiet and they had one ear listening for interruptions. It wasn’t the same thing as what I’d gotten the night before.
Oh, they’d had that kind of wild, unhurried, all night fuck-fest before they had wild little toddlers running around, but now it was my turn.
Mine.
My pussy practically grinned with glee.
And ached because being with Prillons meant two cocks. Two voracious lovers. Lovers who had stamina that had me rethinking my half-hearted workout routine.
I blinked, realized they were staring at me. Waiting. I set my cup down. “Sorry. Zoned out for a minute.”
“I bet. Obviously those two fucked the brains right out of you,” Rachel added, waggling her eyebrows. She took a drink of juice from a tall, fluted glass, then wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. She