“I don’t mind at all. I’m proud you want to claim and be claimed. My pack mates will be happy for me and a bit envious no doubt. The humans have no need to know. Rik won’t speak of it.” Frown lines creased his forehead, and his eyes narrowed. “We’ll have to be careful of the puncture wounds on your back. They’re healing nicely, or so the doctor said, but you won’t be comfortable with me on top.”

  “We can be creative.” She ran her hand up his thigh, enjoying the feel of the rock solid muscles and the strength of the man, remembering their past lovemaking and savoring the rising heat in her core. “Can’t we? And you’ll be careful, won’t you?” She gave him a wink, enjoying the effect of her teasing on the growing bulge in his pants.

  “We’ll have to be.” He deployed his fangs. “You need to understand in order to complete the claiming, I have to use these.” Gently, he touched one finger to the skin where her neck met her shoulders, avoiding the spot where she still bore the marks from the neoChimmer. “You’ll have to reciprocate. Hopefully, the goddess will guide us. Apparently, instinct takes over for the Badari at least, but I’ve been told by others in general terms what to do. It’ll be a tiny scratch. You don’t have to break the skin at all, merely bite down hard enough to leave a mark. If we’re truly mates, the goddess does the rest, and the bond is completed.”

  Nicolle felt flutters in her gut at the prospect of the mating ritual, small doubts over what would happen if the goddess didn’t give her blessing to Nicolle’s attempt to bond with Darik the way he wanted. Needed. Then she snorted under her breath and shook her head. There’s no way he and I can get this wrong. We love each other too much. To reassure herself and Darik, she ran her hand under his shirt, stroking the taut muscles in a sensuous massage. “Oh, I think I can manage.”

  There was a knock and Rik stuck his head in. “I’ve talked to Aydarr, and the pack is going to erect a separate, smaller tent next door, so you can have all the comforts of home and privacy, and we can keep this hospital tent undisturbed for its intended purpose. I’ll let you know when the new tent is ready for you to transfer over there. No one will bother you once you’ve gone inside, and the kitchen agreed to deliver lunch, dinner, and tomorrow’s breakfast.”

  Frowning, Nicolle said, “Everyone’s being so generous about making this happen. I feel a little guilty.”

  “Don’t worry,” Darik said with a wink. “Aydarr is intensely grateful to us for bringing him a spaceship.”

  Leaving her hand on Darik’s bare skin under his shirt, she said to Rik, “Well then, in that case, tell your alpha we need a deck of cards too. I taught my future mate here how to play an old Terra game known as strip poker.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  The new tent was the size of a small cabin and outfitted with a large bed—Badari sized, Nicolle thought with a smile as she walked in—a table, two chairs, a private bathroom area, and a deck of cards, per her request. The space was warm and cozy, and she felt herself relaxing.

  The larger tent where she’d awakened was definitely like being in an efficient field hospital. This was quite an upgrade from Darik’s tent in the mountains but still private, despite the fact she’d seen Badari soldiers standing guard around the entire compound.

  She sat on the end of the bed. “Nice.”

  “I told you Aydarr was grateful for what we did.” Darik made his way to the table and broke open the card pack, shuffling them. A few cards flew from the deck onto the floor.

  “Are you nervous?” she asked, surprised to see him displaying less than his usual state of calm.

  Eyes glowing slightly, he knelt to retrieve the errant cards. “I don’t want to hurt you, and I’m afraid the claiming might be too much in your condition. We could have waited until you had my blood and were healed.”

  “No, we could not.” She rose and went to join him. Nicolle gave him a gentle push in the chest, and he obligingly sat in the chair. She placed herself on his lap, straddling him. “I want the blood transfusion tomorrow to be heart to heart, mate to mate. I need for us to be a team, to be one with each other.” Struggling to find the right words, she shrugged. “I’m not going to take a chance of anything else happening to either of us before we’re bonded. We’ve been through too much. First we were on opposite sides of the fricking force barrier. Then I nearly died alone in that damn cell. You nearly bled out alone on the table—I want us to always be together from now on. We’ve earned the privilege. The universe owes us.” Surprised by her own vehemence, she gave a small laugh and fluffed her hair, fidgeting with a strand of the curls. “I can’t explain my feeling more coherently, but it’s really important to me.”

  He captured her hand and kissed the palm before taking possession of her lips for a long, involved kiss.

  Nicolle felt his arousal growing underneath her, where she sat astride his thighs. Mischievously she rocked over the hard length and he groaned, holding her close, but careful of her back.

  His lips next to her ear, he whispered, “It is said the Great Mother often places the truth into our hearts without our noticing her touch. I’ve wanted to claim you as my mate since we escaped from the lab. I’ve craved the unbreakable bond for us, so you’ll get no argument from me. Other than my concern for your physical state right now.”

  Struck by a random thought, Nicolle leaned away from him but kept her grip on his shoulders to steady herself. “Do you think if we’d been bonded, I might not have been so easily captured by the neoChimmer?”

  He pondered the question for a moment and shook his head. “I doubt it would have made a difference. I have no way to be sure. My feeling something was wrong might have been stronger, more insistent, but we wouldn’t have been able to talk mind to mind, if that’s what you’re asking. As soon as the alien parasite detected me talking to Aydarr along the pack bond, we were cut off.”

  “Then quit beating yourself up.” She tapped him on the chest. “The past is the past.” Nicolle reached down and tugged at the hem of his T-shirt. “I want to see.”

  Obligingly, he let her remove his shirt, which she dropped on the floor. Snuggling close, Nicolle gave a satisfied sigh and ran one hand idly over his flat nipple. She felt his erection pushing against his pants, straining to reach her through the layers of clothing. “You’re perfect.”

  He laughed and his arms tightened, holding her safe and close. “Far from it. Just a guy.”

  “Perfect for me.” Nicolle kissed the strong column of his neck and nibbled at his earlobe. “A whole lot of sexy and smarts wrapped in strength and deadly abilities. With a tender, caring heart. Who could ask for more?”

  “The Badari were created to be attractive to human women,” he said in a low voiced, flat tone, as if reciting a lesson. “It was one of the original Chimmer design constraints that we be bred to meet the standard of what humans consider pleasing to look at. I’m not saying the physical appearance was the only imperative, but the Chimmer contemplated our use as sexual weapons in addition to our military skills. Fortunately, we were never deployed for such a purpose.”

  “Do you think I want to be your mate because you’re handsome and good in bed?” she asked, leaning back in his embrace and staring into his eyes. “Don’t you dare devalue yourself, not to me. I don’t give a damn what the fucking Chimmer and Khagrish wanted or the fact your people were genetically engineered by them. You’re more than the result of prime DNA strands being mashed together in a test tube. You’re a unique person, a man I’m proud to walk beside and to give my trust, my love.” She placed her hand over his heart. “I want to be your mate because of what you carry in here, of who you are to me.”

  “So fierce,” he said, voice full of pride, as he rested his forehead against hers. “I couldn’t ask for a better champion.”

  “Damn straight. So don’t let me hear you running yourself down again. Once the cursed scientists did the mechanical ‘insert this DNA into that DNA and shake it maneuver’, then the rest is all you and maybe a bit of help from your goddess. You’re not from a cookie cutter mold, you don’t belong to them and you’re sure as hell not what they wanted—an obedient animal to do their bidding.” She paused for breath, shaking as her heart pounded with emotion. She was upset for him, because he obviously harbored this self-doubt deep inside. “Why didn’t we ever talk about this when we were in the tent?”

  Shaking his head, a gleam in his eye, Darik laughed. “We were otherwise occupied and still giddy from escaping near death.”

  Blushing, but with an amused expression on her face, Nicolle said, “Oh, right, we were kind of busy.”

  ‘“I’m very grateful to have found you,” he said. “I owe the goddess a life debt.”

  “Well, me too obviously, to have met you.” She lowered her head and pressed her lips against his. The kiss was sweet at first then, by mutual unspoken agreement, their lips parted at the same moment so each could explore the heat of the other. As the embrace grew more and more passionate, Darik slid his hand under the hem of her hospital nightgown until he cupped her breast and caressed the soft flesh, expertly bringing the nipple to a hardened bud.

  Grinding her body against his, seeking the pressure of his cock against her aching folds, she broke off the kiss and slid from his arms. Grabbing his hand before he could protest her move, she drew him to his feet.

  She set her hand on the fastening of his utilities. “Do you mind if we play strip poker later maybe? I’m more interested in other kinds of foreplay tonight.” She slowly opened his pants and slid her hand inside, taking a firm grasp of his heavy arousal and stroking. “Right now I couldn’t concentrate on the rules. Could you?”

  Throwing his head back even as his hips were moving in response to her caresses, he laughed. “We need no rules. And I’m already half naked.”

  “True. And I have only this one unattractive garment to wear or to lose.” She plucked at the lightweight gown. “I could put the robe on. Briefly.”

  “Now who’s being ridiculous?”

  “Good point.” She shoved at his pants, and Darik let them slide to the floor, stepping out of them awkwardly before removing his boots.

  He stood proudly before her, his massive, ridged cock fully engorged, the tip glistening a bit.

  She stroked him root to tip and fondled his balls before she stepped aside to unfasten her med gown and let it fall to the floor. “Could we get Aydarr to send me new clothes before tomorrow? Does his gratitude extend that far? I’m not picky but no more ugly hospital garb for me.” Nicolle stepped into Darik’s waiting arms, his arousal pulsing insistently against her soft belly.

  “I’m not going to ask him right now, if it’s all the same to you.” Darik picked her up with a great deal of care and laid her on the bed, taking his place at her side. He spread her legs and lowered his head to her soft folds, kissing and teasing, his tongue doing marvelous things so that she was soon fighting not to squirm right off the bed.

  “Whatever you’re doing feels incredible, every single time you touch me,” she said in little gasps.

  Darik sat up with a wicked grin. “To me as well—the pleasure goes both ways.” Gripping her hips, he rolled her over onto her stomach. He paused, touching her skin along the spine with gentle movements so careful she was hardly aware of his caress. “My beautiful Nicolle,” he whispered so quietly she barely heard the words. Without saying anything else, he solicitously positioned her then she felt the tip of his iron hard member pushing on her slick entrance. With one thrust, Darik seated himself deep in her body. She fisted her hands on the sheets and hung on as he pulled back before plunging himself further.

  She gave in to the indescribable sensation the ridges made on her folds as he moved deeper into her, uniting the two of them into one. She intensified the gratification for both of them by working her inner muscles to contract and hold him. He set a deliciously slow pace at first, and then as he figured out how to move with her and not cause her any pain related to her healing wounds, his rhythm became more insistent.

  Delighted, stretched in all the right ways and places, her nerve endings stimulated to the maximum, Nicolle concentrated on keeping up with him. She was so aroused she found it impossible not to give in to the orgasm, climaxing around him, using the stimulus provided by the ridges on his cock and the sheer size of his arousal to enhance her pleasure.

  He held still for her while she was riding the waves of pleasure then renewed his relentless stroking. The intense experience was almost too much and she thought she was having an out of body experience. “I can’t—”

  “You can, we can do this together.” He made a powerful move, rocking her body as he reached his climax, and she realized she was going over the edge again, even as his hot seed spurted deep inside her.

  A muted growl escaped from him, followed by a quick flicker of mild pain on her shoulder and as Darik murmured one word, “Mine,” she came again, rising to a pinnacle of sheer pleasure.

  The orgasm was so overpoweringly marvelous; she was briefly robbed of the power to speak any coherent sentence. As the echoes of the climax spread through her and faded, Nicolle felt him withdraw from her body and she rolled onto her side, raising a hand to place her palm on his cheek. “The most intense experience I’ve ever had. The absolute best. Sensory overload in the good way.”

  “I claimed you.” There was such pride and happiness in his deep voice that tears of joy filled her eyes. “The goddess will ensure you carry my mark. I’m eternally grateful for your love, Nicolle, and to have you for my mate.”

  “Likewise. Give me a bit of time to recover, and I’ll be putting my mark on you.” She understood now why the claiming had to occur in the throes of wild, hot, sweaty sex. Placing the mark became a heightened sensory stimulus, a final intimacy elevating both partners into ecstasy and sealing the bond.

  Nicolle was impatient now to have him wearing her own mark. He was already visibly aroused again, and an answering pulse throbbed between her thighs, an ache that only he could satisfy. Going on instinct, she shifted position, pushing him onto his back so she could straddle him before lowering herself onto his erect, hard-as-stone cock.

  From her excellent vantage point, she rode him hard, using a circular motion enabling her to rub every inch of her sensitive inner folds against his unyielding strength. She indulged in the hedonistic moment with delight, pleasuring herself and her lover at the same time. Darik seemed to be enjoying the view of her in the dominant position, enthusiastically maintaining the rhythm she set. He put his huge hands on her hips and used his gentle grip to enhance her movements and increase the pressure.

  She took one of his hands and guided him to the sensitive bud of flesh hiding under the hood of her folds. Darik worked her with his fingers, and Nicolle thought she might explode from pleasure. Close to climax, she leaned forward, placing her hands above his head and sought a kiss.

  Locked together, they spiraled higher and higher until she could feel him trembling beneath her as he fought to hold off his climax, to wait for her. “Let go,” she whispered.

  Darik grabbed her hips more tightly, and his rhythm became more rapid, harder and deeper. Nicolle matched his intensity with ease, herself on a cloud of sensation, and as she felt him clench to release, she leaned over, clamped her teeth carefully on the designated spot on his shoulder and gave in to her own mind-blowing orgasm.

  Afterward they lay together, utterly spent for the time being.

  “Mine,” she said, unsure if uttering the word was the final part of the required ritual but proud of herself and quite possessive. Biting someone wasn’t in her normal set of adult behaviors, but was absolutely right in the moment. She’d also instinctively known that was what Darik craved, to be claimed in the way his Badari heritage told him was needed. She was content she’d taken care of her mate.

  He stroked one hand along her belly in a soft, lazy caress. “When I joined the pack formally and swore my loyalty to the alpha, I felt such a fierce pride, a sense of belonging. I never expected to encounter another such instance of pure happiness in my life but you, my mate, have given me two such experiences this night, with our mutual claiming. I’m glad you insisted we claim each other with no more delay.”

  “I can’t even explain how I feel right now,” she said. “Proud, happy, content.” She turned to gaze into his face. “Totally in love.”

  “As to that I agree. There’s nothing more I could want.” He tugged her to use his shoulder as a pillow and they lay entwined.

  In the morning, she and Darik strolled hand in hand from their smaller tent into the medical enclosure, Nicolle wearing new clothes the alpha had had delivered along with dinner. Inside the hospital tent, two beds sat side by side, with complicated medical equipment between them. Rik was waiting, Megan was there via trideo, and Nicolle did a double take when she realized a larger version of MARL12 was floating in the air next to an imposing Badari warrior.

  “Aydarr,” Darik whispered.

  The Alpha extended his hand to Nicolle. “It’s an honor to meet you. You and Darik may have saved all of us with your capture of the Chimmer ship.”

  She gave him a firm handshake. “The honor’s all mine. I’ve heard so much about you. And most of the credit goes to Darik, not me. I just managed to make one of the bastards sick enough to die. Darik did all the hard work.”

  “We’re a team.” Darik squeezed her elbow. He stood even straighter, and he puffed out his chest a bit as he made the next announcement. “A mated team.”

  “Congratulations on the bonding as well.” Aydarr clapped him on the shoulder affectionately. “Since my mate can’t be near you until we know if this transfusion worked, I’m here to escort MARL for her. Not that he needs to be protected, of course.”

  Nicolle examined the AI, which was flashing pink and orange with hints of lavender. “Pleased to meet you. MARL12 saved my life several times. I was sad to lose him.”

  “Yeah, he was a good teammate,” Darik said. “We had to work through a few issues early on, but then he was essential.”

 

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