"Welcome," she said extending her hand to Sevan. "I"m Nina. You spoke with my sister and she granted you permission to dock. I"m sure she explained our policy on you needing to stay armed and the importance of you leaving prior to suns set."
"She did," Sevan said, looking past her for signs of her sister. His chest tightened in antic.i.p.ation. He needed to touch her, find out if she was his Lorelei, know she was real and then pull her into his arms. No part of him cared if his advance would be welcomed or not. After being subjected to non-stop dreams of knowing her body every possible way, then declaring his love her, he needed to hold her, if only for a moment.
The very idea of Lorelei had ruined him for other women. In six months he hadn"t touched a woman carnally. His c.o.c.k ached to be caressed only by Lorelei. His entire body burned to be buried deep within her as he released his seed.
His fantasy woman was real or at least appeared to be. As good as f.u.c.king her upon first sight sounded, Sevan knew that he had to know how she managed to invade his thoughts to begin with.
Nina glanced at him and her smile faded away. "This way ... our men will see to your ship. Let us see about filling your bellies while you wait."
Sevan touched his wrist communicator. "Brig crew, stay alert and remain in docking bay. I"ll call you all soon for eating shifts."
They followed Nina as she walked out the double doors and into a large corridor. Jordan seemed to be paying special attention to her backside and he couldn"t fault his brother"s taste in women. Nina was beautiful. It was apparently genetic.
"If you stare at my a.r.s.e any harder, it may burst into flames," she said, in a low hushed tone.
Sevan hid his laugh as Nina looked over her shoulder at Jordan.
"Christian. No!" someone yelled, breaking the jovial feeling that had only just begun.
Sevan turned to see the onyx-haired temptress from the visual communicator pinned under the large hulk of a man called Christian. His entire body lit with fury as he shot forward to help her. Jordan seized hold of him and thrust him against the wall. "We are offworlders and this is not our business."
Nina gasped when she saw her sister and Sevan took that as a sign that all was not well. "Let me go!"
Jordan pressed against him hard and whispered, "I know what you"re thinking. I didn"t forget the description you gave me of the woman from your dreams. That girl isn"t her. She"s not your Lorelei."
Sevan stared at the raven-haired G.o.ddess and lunged for her again. Jordan, of equal strength, kept him in place.
The woman twisted in Christian"s arms and touched his cheek. The urge to see the man"s head on a stake grew by the second.
"Christian, we need to get up now. You have to pull yourself together," she said, putting her forehead to his.
"What?" The man shook his head, seeming to come out of a daze.
The woman shot up and headed straight towards them. Her head was turned, her attention on the hulk of man behind her. She was too fixated on Christian to notice them. Jordan stepped back, allowing Sevan freedom. Sevan put his arms out just in time to catch her. For a little thing, she packed a h.e.l.l of a punch. They tumbled backwards in a ma.s.s on the floor. He landed first, followed closely by her. She smelled of vanilla and he couldn"t help but to draw in a deep breath-savoring her scent. It was identical to his dreams.
"Ommpf," she murmured, as she attempted to roll off him. He held her to him, enjoying the feel of her body pressed against his. She was even better in the flesh and he hadn"t thought that possible. Her royal blue eyes narrowed on him as she tipped her head slightly, appearing to survey him.
"Lorelei, get off our guest," Nina said, sounding like she wanted to laugh.
Lorelei?
Sevan"s gut clenched tight as he lay beneath her. She was real.
Jordan leaned over them and arched a brow. "Not to interrupt you, Sevan, but the ship needs tended to."
Nether one of them moved from their spot.
Lorelei stared down at Captain Vasil, unable to form any sort of witty response to him. It was him! The man she"d a.s.sumed was her subconscious" answer to her need for comfort. Unable to stop herself, she touched his face, running her fingers over his stubble and tracing the hard edge of his jaw line. It was easy to relish being close to his chiseled perfection so she did. The G.o.ds were good judges of her idea of the perfect man. They had to be. They"d sent her a mate that was made to order.
A mate?
She dismissed the thought of mating quickly. It was just a dream. Having been close to being mated once before, Lorelei had no desire to repeat the horrific events that put an end to her engagement to Christian nor did she intend to give her heart to another. No. Her life was her own and she would never willingly hand control of it to another person. Not again.
As much as she wanted to believe herself, Lorelei knew that resistance to the fates" choice for her was futile. Her body was on the cusp of a reproductive high and already the effects left her in cold sweats with a burning need to be filled with seed.
Staring down at the man below her, Lorelei couldn"t stop the feelings that ran through her. So many nights she"d dreamed of his kisses, his touch, his body sweetly invading her in every way possible. To have him here, in the flesh was almost too much. Before Lorelei realized it, she was grinding her hips against his rather impressive erection. The thin layers of material between them did little to prevent her c.l.i.t from striking against his bulged member. Heat flashed through her cheeks as she thought about the countless nights she"d opened herself for him in her dreams, allowing him to do things to her body she hadn"t even thought possible. The feel of his long, wide c.o.c.k sliding in and out of her p.u.s.s.y still made her wet. Now, with Sevan under her, she wanted to tear their clothes off and f.u.c.k him until she could go no more.
The emerald green eyes that stared back at her from under a s.h.a.ggy veil of blond hair had consumed her thoughts for months. Having them focused on her now, seeming to soak her in, was nothing short of pure torture.
Sevan looked as stunned as she felt. Reaching up, he touched her lips softly, causing heat to flare through her body. Long strands of her hair fell forward, encasing them in a wall of black, giving them a moment away from the prying eyes of the others. A slow, lazy smile moved over Sevan"s face as their gazes locked.
Lorelei licked her lower lip out of habit and Sevan moaned softly. It was then she knew the attraction went both ways. Could it be he"d dreamt of her as well? If so, did that mean he truly was the one-her mate, her husband?
Are you the one?
Sevan"s brow creased. "What one?"
Shocked that he"d heard her thoughts, Lorelei drew in a sharp breath and searched his handsome face for any clue that might unravel the mystery that had plagued her for so many months. All she found was the face of the man she"d not only come to be addicted to dreaming about but the man she dared to say she loved. Thinking him only a figment of her imagination, Lorelei was ashamed of her growing need for him, for his tender caresses and his overwhelming feelings of protectiveness. Now, as his straining erection pressed firmly to her swollen c.l.i.t the shame she felt began to fade rapidly, leaving only carnal l.u.s.t in its wake. The steely contours of Sevan"s body only served to drive that feeling on, increasing to a dangerous point. Her magic began to pound as hard and fast as her heart-thumping to the point it teetered on the edge of release along with her s.e.x starved body.
Someone cleared their throat, breaking the moment.
Sevan did his best to focus on anything but the need to f.u.c.k the beauty above him. His c.o.c.k had already begun to slink towards her c.u.n.t knowing that it would bring him salvation like no other would. He would have acted on it, taking her and f.u.c.king her into submission, a.s.suring himself that she would never leave his line of sight. Too long he"d spent thinking he was going mad desiring a woman that didn"t exist. Finding out she did changed all the rules of the game. He"d fallen in love with her and there was no way he"d let her go. The only question he needed answered was whether or not she dreamed of him as well.
Not wanting to a.s.sume anything, Sevan took a laid back approach to breaking the ice. The only problem was that it came out harsher than he expected or wanted. "That"s quite a welcome you have there. Do you greet all your visitors this way?"
"Hardly," Lorelei said, rolling off him, but not before he felt her erect nipple brush past his hand.
He wanted to comment, but as she sat up, her hand ran over his now rock hard erection. Drawing in a ragged breath, he tried to steady himself to avoid coming in his pants. That not only would be messy, it would mortify him.
No. The amount of s.e.m.e.n he had built up was going to be released into Lorelei not his pants, that much he was sure of.
Sevan smiled, and c.o.c.ked an eyebrow knowing he was being an a.s.s but unable to stop himself. "I"d be more than happy to accept a greeting like that every time we cross paths."
Stop being such an a.s.s to her. You love this woman, idiot.
She cast an angry look down at him and he cleared his throat. "Considering that you are leaving our planet by suns set, I doubt we will cross paths again."
Don"t be too sure of that.
She dusted her firm backside off. Rising to his feet, Sevan purposely lost his balance just so he could use her to steady himself. The second he took hold of her upper arms his entire body lurched back into a state of mind numbing need. Lorelei gasped and he could only hope the feeling was mutual.
"Thank you," Sevan said softly as he caressed the backs of her toned arms, hoping that she would catch their private joke line. She didn"t react to it.
Instead, Lorelei"s blue gaze raked over him and he wanted to see it above him once more. He wanted to feel her in the flesh while they reenacted the dreams that had haunted him. The call of her lush lips was too much. Bending down, Sevan went to capture them and felt the heavy weight of so many stares that he halted in mid-motion.
"Dare I ask what the two of you were bickering about this time?" Nina said, appearing next to her sister and motioning to the hulk of a man. "And why in the world were you on the floor?"
Lorelei turned a bit, still staying close to him but focusing on her sister. "It was nothing. Christian and I seem to do that for sport now."
Christian crossed his large arms over his chest, doing his best to look intimidating. "That is the only sport I seem to get from my wife anymore, Nina."
Wife?
Nina laughed. "Watch your tongue, Christian. If you keep calling her your wife before the ceremony actually takes place you"re likely to jinx it."
Lorelei was to marry Christian? No. That couldn"t be. Sevan stared at her, desperate for her to announce it wasn"t true, that it was some sort of joke. No way could she ever take another man into her, not after what they shared. Not after she"d allowed him to lay claim to her. His chest tightened as the realization that the dreams were quite possibly only one-sided hit him. What force would bring her image forth in his sleep, allowing him to experience a love like no other only to give her to another the moment they met? "Christian." Lorelei shook her head slightly, exhaling as she went. "Please refrain from discussing marriage in front of others. There is a time and place. This is not it."
"Please refrain from bringing your human terms for what occurs. You share their blood but you share ours as well. Never forget that, Lorelei. And try not to forget the sins of your ancestors. I am not in the habit of raising other...."
Lorelei pulled away from him and directed her attention to Christian. Sevan would have been jealous had he not sensed the rage within her. Nina apparently sensed it as well because she moved next to her sister quickly and offered her a small smile.
"Jacquelyn listens," she whispered to Lorelei.
Lifting her hands up, Lorelei tipped her head back and forth. He watched in awe as a slight wind began to twirl around her. Jordan gasped but Sevan just stared at her, already knowing how very special she truly was. Her hair lifted slightly and the oppressing feeling of rage dissipated instantly. She went to Christian and cupped his face. The second she pressed her lips to his, Sevan saw red.
He moved fast to s.n.a.t.c.h Lorelei away from the man but found Jordan seizing hold of him. "Captain."
The warning fell on deaf ears. The only thing that mattered was Lorelei and the fact that she was in the arms of another man. A small spark of light pa.s.sed from her lips to his, causing Sevan to stop his struggle against Jordan"s grasp.
Lorelei drew back from Christian as he shook his head slightly, seeming to come out of a daze. He looked down at Lorelei with wide eyes. "It happened again, didn"t it?"
Sevan wanted to know what the man was talking about but held his tongue.
Nina touched Christian"s arm. "How much can you remember?"
"I knew what I was saying was wrong but I couldn"t stop. Lorelei, I didn"t mean to pin you to the ground. I...."
Lorelei smiled and Sevan"s heart beat madly in his chest. He wanted that directed at him, not the psycho before her. "Christian, we will beat him. I promise you this. See how far you"ve come in seven months? You"re now able to recall what you do during the spells and even fight him. I watched you hesitate a little bit ago and when you tackled me you should have crushed me. You didn"t. See, we will beat him."
Christian snorted. "Is that before or after he uses one of us to kill you, Lorelei? I am a threat to you and shall remove myself from the premises. Change all of the access codes and give the information only to the females. It might be wise to section the males off and quarantine them again until the pa.s.sing of the moons. His power weakens after that and will take some time to recover."
Lorelei shook her head. "No, Christian. You will stay with us. Your place is here."
"It"s getting to the point that I"m over reacting to every tiny thing you do. I know that the elders arranged a marriage between us even though we both know it wasn"t to be. I cannot replace Samson. Yet I can"t stop the hate that burns when I think of you with another man. I want you to be happy, Lorelei. I do. Why am I suddenly jealous of every aspect of your life?" Christian cupped her cheek and Sevan wanted to beat him until he lost consciousness. "I will never forget waking to find you the way I did and I will never forget knowing it was I who caused it."
Nina moved forward fast and pushed him hard. "You did not cause anything. He could just as easily manipulate the men standing among us now and attack her. He picked you to prove a point. The man is a lunatic, Christian, and wants to make the biggest statement he can. Having you, the Chieftain, destroy Lorelei would be the ultimate irony.
The only thing that could top that would be for Lorelei"s true mate to arrive and slit her throat because he deemed it so."
Sevan stiffened.
Lorelei laughed. "Always a ray of light, aren"t you, Nina?"
"I"m honest."
Jordan sighed. "Brutally so."
Everyone just stared at him. Nina cast him a dirty look and Jordan winked at her. For a moment Sevan thought she might actually punch Jordan. He wouldn"t stop her. Seeing his brother get his a.s.s kicked by a girl would be hilarious. Christian nodded. "I shall take my leave of you all now."
Nina and Lorelei grabbed hold of him. Nina shook her head. "He can manipulate any man"s thoughts at will. It is a risk we both know and watch for. We know that we are only truly safe with one another, carefully removed from the male population but we also know that these men he uses are our friends, brothers, husbands or fathers. They aren"t monsters. They are people we love. Removing ourselves from them means he wins yet again."
Sevan glanced at Jordan and found him staring at Nina with possessiveness in his eyes. Was it possible that his brother was as taken by Nina as Sevan was with Lorelei? Could it be that fate had intervened and caused the rupture in the fuel tanks to get them here on purpose?
"Uhh, is there something we should know about?" Jordan asked, eyeing Nina carefully.
It was Lorelei who answered. "Nina, see to it that our men are aiding in the repair of their vessel and that they are stocked with food and any additional supplies they require. Captain, what is the ratio of females to males aboard your ship?"
Curious as to why her tone was now so cold, Sevan tipped his head and watched her carefully. "I believe it about seven to three, males being the majority. Why?"
Nina stared at him. "Alert your females that they are to watch their male crewmen carefully. It would be wise to suggest they go to a portion of your vessel that they can seal themselves in if need be. We have such locations here and they are most welcome to use them. I can a.s.sure you that the facilities are extremely comfortable and quite safe from attack."
"From attack? Watch the male crewmen? What the h.e.l.l is going on here?"
Christian stepped forth. "My apologies for my lack of manners, Captain Sevan. I am Chieftain Christian Beauden.
You have already met two of my head advisors, Lorelei and Nina Janelle. Nina is head of security and defense and Lorelei"s skills do not have a particular label but it is safe to say she is a powerful leader among our people. While it is nice to have visitors among us this is not the best time. To explain it would take longer than you are permitted to be here. It is safe to say that should you or any of your men begin to feel a tugging, the slightest of mental pulls, perhaps a driving suggestion or urge then you should hand your weapon to the nearest female and back away fast. Notify whoever is closest that it has occurred and expect to be placed in restraints until it is clear you no longer pose a threat to anyone."
Sevan"s mouth dropped open. "What? Neither I nor my men pose a threat to anyone who isn"t trying to kill us."
"Captain," Christian said, softly. "As much as I would love to debate this matter with you, it"s pointless. Do as I instructed or live with the knowledge that you may hurt or possibly murder someone against your will." Christian glanced at Lorelei. "From your responsiveness to Lorelei, my guess would be that you are a prime target for manipulation. Currently, it is Lorelei he wishes to destroy. That being said, no females are safe when he strikes so all males pose a risk."
"Who the h.e.l.l is he and what do you mean prime target for manipulation?" Sevan asked, confused and concerned for Lorelei"s safety. "I would never hurt her. I"ve thought she was a figment of my imagination for..." He stopped instantly, not wanting to reveal that he"d dreamed of her.
Lorelei locked gazes with him and his body tightened. "Captain, please do as Nina asked. I don"t want anything to happen to you or your crew. Had your ship not been in such a dire state of need I would have had it escorted to the next planet over for your own safety. You and the people who have come with you are my responsibility to keep safe.
I was the one who allowed you to dock. I never expected that Stegian and the others would attempt to strike out during the day. All I can ask is that you take every precaution necessary to a.s.sure your safety and that of your crew."
No longer did Sevan feel the need to argue for answers. The raw emotion in Lorelei"s eyes told him that the steps were needed. He pressed the communicator chip on his waist and kept his eyes on Lorelei. "This is the Captain, all female personnel are to report to level two and are to lock it down at the first sign of trouble. No males are permitted on that level. Non-lethal force is permitted to ensure they stay off it. This remains in effect until a native female from this planet notifies you otherwise. Captain out."
Jordan moved forward. "Sevan, why in the h.e.l.l are you only allowing females from here to tell them to come out?"
"Because he realizes that should any of you be compromised, himself included, that you would have access to the females and could possibly harm them," Lorelei said, as she teared up. "Thank you, Captain. Should the worst happen I can a.s.sure you that we will see them to safety and do everything within our power to break the hold on any males that have been used."
Nina glanced at Sevan and then Lorelei. "I think it best that we get them in and out as fast as possible. I can feel your energy circling them all, protecting them from Stegian. He"s powerful, Lorelei. You can"t keep that amount of energy up for an extended period and you know it. You already exude enough strength just to keep Christian semi- guarded at all times. You sleep longer than you should and eat less than needed. It"s not healthy and our concern for you grows daily. If you fail and your personal shields crumble, he will have open access to your mind. I don"t even want to imagine what he"ll do to you. He hates us, Lorelei. But mostly, it"s you he blames for not winning the last ma.s.sive strike. And I think we all know that you are the first one he wants to see dead, Lorelei. In his eyes you pose the biggest threat."
"I will never submit willingly to him, Nina. I"ll leave him no choice but to kill me."
"What?" Sevan asked, suddenly panicked.
Lorelei smiled. "Tell me, Captain, if you found yourself in hostile territory and in the enemy"s hands would you submit to them or not?"
Sevan"s brow creased. "No I wouldn"t submit to them."
"Neither will I."