WarlordsPrize Page 5

  He hauled her to her feet. “You have no idea how delighted I am that you can as well.” His hug was tight as he pulled her against him.

  She leaned against him and drowsiness came over her. She reflected on his earlier statements. “Are you going to leave?”

  He chuckled. “Eventually, but if you are not pregnant, you can come with me.”

  She blinked, leaning back in his arms. “Really?”

  He laughed. “Being Warlord has its privileges. Higher-ranking officers are allowed to bring their mates provided that the situation is not directly violent. If we are coordinating a local defence, you will be welcome to come with onboard the warship.”

  “I never thought I would have the option to leave Fennar, let alone any other worlds. Are you sure that I am considered acceptable?” A flicker of doubt ran through her.

  He lifted her and sat back in his chair, placing her across his lap. “The Radiance knew that you were the one for me the moment that she saw you and in that instant, she completed a foretelling about her children.”

  “You have six brothers. What did she start?”

  He smiled and stroked her cheek. “When we were children, a soothsayer visited Asku. She foretold that none of the Velu children would find their mates until the eldest met his match in a bed with a river of blood.”

  Drion’s hand lifted a cascade of her locks in his hand. “And so the prophecy is fulfilled.”

  “So you bathed me and put me to bed?”

  He chuckled. “I cheated there. Yes, I put a slow-acting sedative in your wine. I hoped that you had had enough to keep you under once you fell asleep.”

  “What if I had not fallen asleep?”

  “I would have made love to you until you did. The sedative is designed to hold you asleep, the Asku use it on almost all virgins to lessen the trauma of the virgin’s blood in the bed. We are trained to make it easier for you to wake in a strange bed.”

  She gave him a questioning glance. “You are trained?”

  “We learn it in puberty. In preparation for our bonding night. We have courses on pleasing our women, on making the first time easier. It is the burden of our race that we need virgins, but we don’t need to make it any worse for them.” He stroked her arm and gave her a bright smile.

  “Wow, I had not considered that you would have to go through training as well.” She quirked her lips and snuggled against him.

  “Ah yes, the infamous bride training. How did you find it?”

  She blushed at the memories of those first few surprising orgasms until she learned to recognize the signals. “It was informative. Without it, I would have panicked the first time you touched me. I would never have guessed what I was feeling would end well.”

  His genuine laugh made her clutch him for support. “A very honest woman.”

  “I try to be direct. It cuts down on miscommunication. Now, why did you call me your prize?”

  “Ah, that. It is the direct translation of your name. Enari means prize. It will be the name marked into my flesh later this afternoon.”

  “You are serious? You are going to get my name marked into your skin?” She bit her lip. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  “It will be my honour to bear your name.”

  Drion slipped his hand between her thighs and slowly used his grip to part them. When her knees were open, he slid two fingers into her and began a slow thrust while meeting her blushing gaze.

  She bit her lip and he leaned next to her ear. “I want to hear you. Stop biting that delicious lip of yours.”

  He picked up the tempo of his thrusts and she gave him the gasps and moans he was after as she spiralled closer and closer to release. His thumb pressed and rotated on her clit and in mere minutes, she let out her breath on a low groan while she clenched against him.

  As the sparks behind her eyes faded, she came back to herself draped wantonly over his lap. A cold necklace was rapidly warming against her skin.

  “Where did this come from?” She stroked the heavy panels of metal that formed a draping collar that peaked between her breasts.

  “Each night until you birth our first child, you will receive a gift. Asku tradition.” He grinned and she had to wonder where he had been hiding the necklace.

  “Why do I get the feeling that I should be afraid of those words?”

  He chuckled. “You will learn. Now, off to the women’s quarters for you, your bot is waiting.”

  “When?”

  He laughed. “I will see you this evening, my dearest. There is the business of my mark to attend to and tonight, we may actually get some more conversation in.”

  She wrapped herself in the cloak he held out to her and smiled. “Conversation is overrated.”

  Chapter Seven

  Enari watched the third doctor come toward her with a palm scanner. His eyes were not the same black and starlight as Drion’s and she was impelled to ask, “Why is there a difference in your eyes?”

  He blinked and gave her a rueful smile, “You mean as opposed to the Velu?”

  “The Velu? I thought it was a last name.”

  The physician ran his scans. “It is both. Our ruling class has always held traces of those who came from the dark star. They are faster, stronger and better tacticians than the majority of our species.”

  She blinked. “I thought all the Asku were designed initially from the same species.”

  “That is what the public record must show. Warlord Drion will inform you of the particulars now that you and he have bonded.”

  The scanner chirped and he smiled as he backed away. “Excellent. You are in perfect health and now that you have been confirmed compatible, the rest of your ladies are free to find bonds of their own.”

  “Wait…they were waiting for me?” She was sitting on the medical table in the women’s quarters wearing a long tunic that was slit to the knee on either side. It wasn’t flattering, but it was warmer than the cloak she had come back with.

  “You were considered the alpha female of your species. Until you bonded with an Asku, none of your females were available.” The doctor clipped the scanner into the dock and smiled.

  A sinking sense of dread ran through her. “And now?”

  “Now the higher-ranking males have an opportunity to seek a match. Six hundred have already made overtures and are being screened for suitability.”

  “So the women were safe and untouched until I met Drion?”

  “The delay was only due to Warlord Drion being off world. If he had been here, this medical exam would have happened months ago.” The doctor smiled brightly. “You are free to go.”

  She boosted herself off the table and walked out. The other physicians who had administered her psych and internal exam gave her a wide berth.

  Now that she was Drion’s bond mate, she was off limits to other males, to the point of challenge if they made any unauthorized contact. Oddly enough, that included her doctors. If they didn’t need to touch her, they were best off avoiding any confusion.

  Riveh was waiting for her outside the medical centre. “So how do you feel?”

  She snorted. “Like an experiment.”

  “The necklace proves that you are far more. The Velu do not choose lightly.”

  Enari sighed and ran her hands through her hair as they walked past the gardens to her quarters. “He didn’t choose me, the Radiance chose me.”

  “The moment that he returned ahead of schedule, he confirmed his choice. He just had to be taunted with what he was missing.” Nishka was inside Enari’s rooms, a breakfast and tea tray next to her on the table.

  “Nishka, how lovely to see you this morning. I thought you were with your mate.”

  “Daughter, I greet you formally in the name of the Velu. Now, come and have something to eat.”

  She blinked as Nishka bowed low.

  She racked her brain, but it was when Riveh jerked her head that Enari remembered to return the bow. “Thank you for your welcome, Mother. I
t is an honour to be welcomed into the Velu.”

  Nishka came forward and embraced her. The hug was genuine and fierce. “I am really very happy to have you here. It is my hope that this will start a new branch of the family to continue the line.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the high caste of the Asku has been Velu since the first woman from the darkest star came to them.” Nishka sat down and poured a cup of tea.

  Riveh stood statue-still and let Enari ask the questions.

  “What are the Velu?” She sat and took the cup that was offered.

  Nishka took her own cup and smiled. “It is a long story. Are you sure you want to know?”

  Enari grinned. “What else am I going to do today?”

  Nishka’s short laugh and wry smile was the beginning. “Five hundred years ago, the Asku were flailing. Several groups turned to piracy in an effort to keep a steady supply of females and others took up a monastic life. The Asku were a dying race.

  “One night, General Darkrion saw the most peculiar thing, a dark falling star. Dark light flowed from it on its way to the surface of a nearby moon and he immediately boarded a shuttle to investigate.”

  Enari couldn’t help herself. “What was it?”

  “A crater with a singular occupant. A woman lay in the impact zone with eyes that swum with stars.

  “Her name was Ehkheen and she had travelled from the darkest star, so Darkrion dubbed her Velu.”

  “High Asku for darkest star.”

  “Exactly. Darkrion and Ehkheen were partners in reorganizing the Asku long before they bonded and had offspring. The sons were the image of their father, except for their eyes. They kept the eyes of the Velu and so that became their family name.”

  “What became of the separated branches of the Asku? Did they return?”

  “Most did. One group settled and adapted to the water planet, Quidil, another group made the gas-filled world of Sheenar their home. We deal with them peacefully and the monks of Miiven offer us some of the best-trained physicians that ever existed. The few pirate groups that remained alone have either died out or settled. Either way, we have not seen them for over two centuries.”

  Enari sat back in her chair and blinked her eyes rapidly as she absorbed the information. “So the ruling family has been in control for the last five hundred years?”

  “Yes, seven generations of Warlords and Overlords. They have taken the Asku from the edge of distinction and made them a species respected and feared throughout the galaxy.”

  Enari rapidly did the math. “How old is Drion?”

  “Forty-nine. He was born a year after I mated with Doron. Why?”

  “That means that on average, none of the Asku mate before the age of fifty.”

  Nishka laughed. “That is not true. Most of the Asku are on a similar developmental cycle to the Fennar, but the Velu age more slowly. They are not even physically adult until the age thirty. Doron was seventy when I met him.”

  “So the Overlord of the Asku is one hundred and twenty?”

  “Pretty close. He doesn’t like to be reminded. He has been stuck planet-side or within the solar system since he turned one hundred. That is when Drion took over active duty as Warlord.”

  “Why did Doron attack Fennar?” She crossed her arms over her breasts and scowled.

  Nishka poured more tea. “Because your folk were preparing to attack their nearest neighbour, as they had in the past. The Khari begged the Asku for help and so the armada went to push the Fennar firmly back to their own world. Holding you there until the Khari were equipped to deal with you was part of the arrangement. The Khari offered food, supplies and any members of its population we could use.”

  “So why not their women instead of the Fennar?”

  “The Khari are not compatible. They are also unable to leave their world. Their bodies degrade rapidly when outside their protective atmosphere.”

  Enari absorbed that. She had heard of the Khari and their greed in keeping their minerals to themselves, but no mention had ever been made that the Fennar had been poised to take them over. “How did the Khari call for help?”

  “A Miiven priest was on his pilgrimage through your system and he contacted the Asku after one of the Fennar attacks. The Khari had been decimated by the time our armada arrived, so all good will that could have been between our two species was gone. In general, the Fennar are not held in esteem here, but your actions upon your arrival altered the perception of women of your species.”

  “So by making bloody footprints on the path to the stronghold, I gained a new respect for my species?”

  Nishka sipped at her tea. “Something like that. You are also responsible to keep them in line. Each group of females from a different race has an alpha. You are the one for yours.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you were beaten by your own people and still managed to retain your dignity. You knew when to fight, when to give in and when to simply lift your head and pretend nothing was wrong. It is a trait to be admired.”

  Enari blushed. “I…thank you, though I know you picked me for Drion because of my hair.”

  “Your hair was what got my attention, your spirit and the instant affection you inspired in the women around you was what convinced me.” Nishka reached out and squeeze her hand. “Never doubt that I knew exactly who you were destined to be the moment that I saw you.”

  The love and trust in the older woman’s eyes was as unconditional as it was unmistakable. Enari hoped that she could prove the Radiance correct.

  Drion’s hands were warm as he slid the blood red fabric from her shoulders and tipped it to the floor. “However did they manage to match your hair with your gown?”

  “I have no idea. I believe that Riveh had something to do with it.” She tilted her head to the side as he pressed heated kisses to her neck.

  As he removed her dress, her fingers were working at the closures of his tunic. The gasp of shock as she saw her name written in Asku script caused him to jerk away.

  “What is it?”

  “I…I wasn’t sure how Enari would translate into script. I can speak High Asku but not write it yet.”

  He looked down at the black cursive marks that stretched from the right side of his ribcage to the left. “Does it offend you?”

  She noted the darker skin around the markings. “No, is it painful?”

  He smiled. “Touch them.”

  Hesitantly, she traced her name on his skin and to her shock, the bulge of his cock twitched inside his trousers. “You didn’t answer me. Is there pain?”

  He smiled, his face going slightly feral. “The most pleasant of pains.”

  Drion moved away from her and stripped quickly. His cock was weeping with enthusiasm. With an intent look into her eyes, he pressed one of her hands to her name and the other to his erection. “Your touch on me is all that I need. I ache for you, Enari.”

  She kept her gaze locked to his. “Then get me out of this dress and let’s ease your distress, Drion.”

  His laughter warmed her and he moved her hands away to follow her orders. With a teasing grin, he lay flat on the bed and beckoned her to him. “Don’t keep me waiting, Enari.”

  Biting her lip, she approached and crawled toward him with only a hint of the grace she had displayed the night before. Her studies had let her know what she needed to do, but she wasn’t quite wet enough yet.

  Smiling wickedly, she straddled his abdomen and sat up straight, lifting her hands to her breasts and twisting the nipples with him watching avidly.

  “Enari, what are you doing?” His voice sounded strangled.

  “Getting ready for you, I don’t want discomfort on either side.” Her position placed her within easy reach of her name. She released her breasts and ran her hands down her torso, onto her thighs and then across his flesh. He groaned as she touched her name, the mark of her ownership of him.

  She had not thought of it until now, but with the Asku wearing the name of t
heir mate, they could only bond with one woman per lifetime. They physically didn’t have the room for more.

  He groaned and gripped her hips, lifting her and pressing the head of his cock against her opening.

  She yelped and quickly moved to spread the lips of her sex to allow him inside. The moment her flesh swallowed his tip, he groaned and his hands clenched on the creamy curve of her hips. He lifted and dropped her in short jerks and she ached at the feeling of being overfilled. Her groan was less pleasure and almost pain. Drion froze and quickly shifted one hand to caress her clit.

  He was murmuring soothing words as she gasped and shivered under the dual assault. She felt the give of her body and the slickness of her honey as she gained a state of arousal that she had looked forward to.

  She sank onto him until he was completely inside. Enari braced her hands on his abdomen and slowly rotated her hips, getting used to the feel of him. Sweat coated his torso as he fought for control.

  His fingers kept their circling on her clit and she started quivering, short jerks that moved him inside her until she screamed and her body fisted around his cock in sharp pulses.

  Drion hissed and arched into her, plunging rapidly in moves that kept her orgasm washing over her until he grunted savagely and held her to him while his cock flexed repeatedly inside her.

  She leaned forward and draped herself over his chest. “That was interesting.”

  He chuckled. “I apologise. I should have taken more care with you. You distracted me.”

  She laughed. “Sure, blame the woman who was a virgin until yesterday.”

  He winced. “Valid point. I will simply have to make it up to you.”

  “Did you drug me tonight?” She propped her chin on her fists, loving the feel of him inside her still.

  “No. That was only for the first time. Many virgins are distressed by the blood.”

  She thought about seeing him naked for the first time and was fairly sure that the blood was not the distressing part. Her laughter caused friction, the friction caused movement and before she knew what he was doing, she was on her back and he was making things up to her. It took him all night, but she was pretty sure he got it right just before dawn.