A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) (18 page)

“Princess, are you all right?” Galen asked.

Sev’s ire grew. That was
his
endearment for Areo. He ignored the puzzled glances that Serena and Uma sent his way and listened closer to the exchange.

Galen pressed his face into Areo’s hair. “I was so worried about you.” He kissed her forehead. “We were all beside ourselves when we were told you were killed in action.” He looked into her eyes.

Areo smiled and placed her palm on Galen’s cheek. “I’m all right now that you’re here.”

Sev blinked.
Now that
he’s
here!
The numbness in his soul gave way to complete outrage. He stood rigidly. His features grew dark and dangerous. His sights targeted the stranger who still held Areo in an intimate embrace.

Areo wrapped her arms around Galen’s neck and rested her head in the crook of his neck. She suddenly looked tired. “Take me home, please. I want to go home.”

Take you home? With him?
Sev’s eyes ignited in a coppery glow.

Areo lowered her legs from around Galen’s hips. Galen scooped her into his arms and hurried off.

Stunned, Sev watched them leave the cell.
Areo!
He had been left behind. Astonished, and with his eyes brightly glowing and his chest heaving, he growled menacingly.

Saturday, 29 May, Year 2021

Oceanica

Areo was happy to be around her own people. Galen had carried her to her cousin’s ship after finding her in the cell. Since he was a Mage, he had also scanned her aura and said she had a mild concussion and low blood pressure. He had escorted Areo to her assigned room and placed her on the bed with instructions to rest. Areo had happily followed his orders for the duration of their trip back to Oceanica.

When she finally left her room, she learned that Galen had left with a full load of prisoners and an odd assortment of women. He was taking them to Space Control. Afterward, the Space Guardians
would transfer the prisoners to the penal colony on Prism Four and the women back to their individual homeworlds.

Against Mike’s and Arnold’s wishes, Areo left her room to help escort the women of Oceanica back to their villages. Fern was grateful to her and Sev for the safe return of his mate, Erra. The blissful way the little couple walked away, hand in hand, placed a painful ache inside Areo’s heart. She snuck a peek at Sev, only to catch him looking back at her. It seemed he felt the same.

Areo had not gotten the chance to speak to him since the rescue. With the final female returned to her loved ones, the only thing left for Areo was to return to Sea Base Five and prepare for the inevitable confrontation with Daehog.

“Sev…” She studied the ground, searching for the right words. “I never got the chance to thank you for rescuing us.” Feeling it was best to direct his attentions to Serena, she bravely met his eyes and swallowed her grief. “Serena had no doubt that you would.”

Sev scowled. “You did?”

“Actually, no, I didn’t. There was no doubt in my mind that you would find us as soon as you were able to get a hold of a fast ship. I just wasn’t sure how long that would take, or what was going to happen to us until then.” Areo hugged herself while they walked through the woods, back toward the castle. “That was the frightening part. I’ve heard stories, and I didn’t want to live any of them, if you know what I mean.”

“I do.” Sev said, walking one-step behind her to the left.

“According to my cousin Mike, we’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.” Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the slight falter in Sev’s step and nearly lost her nerve. “Before I leave, I just wanted to say that I feel honored to have met you again after all these years.”

Sev anxiously eyed her. “Is he your mate?”

Her forehead creased. “What?”

“That male you so passionately and intimately greeted on the Aconda ship. The one you left me behind for. Is he your mate?”

Areo stopped and placed her hand against the nearest tree. She rested her right boot on one of its protruding roots and cocked her head to one side, studying his stormy expression.

Sev stood unmoving. An onlooker could have mistaken him for an extremely tall statue with long brown hair, reddish-brown eyes, and full lips. He wore a reddish-purple silk shirt trimmed with an intricate woven black and silver pattern, with no sleeves or buttons down the front, a pair of form-fitting black pants and black boots. His open shirt allowed the insignia clasped onto his belt to be seen. His sword was strapped around his waist over the shirt.

“Who?”

“You know who!” he barked.

“Oooh, you mean Galen.”

Sev snarled. “Is he your mate?”

Areo seriously considered saying yes. Perhaps it would be easier for him to say good-bye if he believed she was already mated. What she did not consider was how her delay in answering made her appear guilty.

Sev’s eyes lit up as he roared. He snatched Areo off the root and pinned her against the tree. “How dare you mate with him!” he hollered in her face. “How dare you give yourself to another male?” He shook her. “You were mine! You have always been mine!” He captured her lips in a kiss meant to punish.

Ten fingers fanned possessively around Areo’s head and kept her from escaping. “How long? How long have the two of you been lovers?” His shining eyes brimmed with unshed tears. He focused on Areo’s lips that were beginning to swell from his fervent kisses. He shut his eyes. “How long has he been placing himself inside you?” As soon as those words exited his mouth, he regretted them. Intimate scenes of Galen claiming Areo popped into his mind, causing him monumental pain. “Blast it, Areo! Blast you!”

“Galen is not my lover, Sev,” Areo protested. “He’s a close friend of my family. He’s like my cousin. I’ve never been with any man.”

Sev was unsure if he should believe her. “I want the truth,” he shakily demanded.

“I have never lied to you.”

Sev searched Areo’s soulful eyes, seeking the bare truth. His face crumbled when he found it. Tears fell as he seized her mouth on a whimper. His body pressed Areo’s against the tree. He dug his extended claws into the tree bark beside her head, for his legs had gone weak with relief.

“Don’t…please.” Areo pushed against his chest. “We can’t. You know that.”

“No…not now…not again…not after what nearly happened.” Sev fought for possession of her lips. Areo turned away. “Sev, please.”

“No.”

“It’s against the law!”

Sev ceased long enough to peer into her soul. “How can it be against the law to feel this way? How can it be against the law for me to be with the woman I have hungered for, for so long? The only woman I have ever wanted underneath me, receiving me, matching me thrust for incredible thrust?” Before she could protest, Sev took hold of Areo’s jaw. Forcing her to open wide, he roared into her mouth.

Areo’s breath snagged at the sensual vibrations that raced down her spine.

“I want you so much.” His tongue dove in to explore his treasure.

Sev got what he sought. Grabbing his shirtfront, Areo pulled him closer. Her thighs opened for him, allowing him to take position against her.

He eagerly wrapped her legs around his middle. “From this day, my hips will be the only ones you wrap your legs around.” He claimed her lips.

The images made when Areo left with Galen had been too real to Sev. He had seriously started to question whether Areo had been with another man. It dawned on him that he had taken Areo’s loyalty for granted because they had been close as kittens. With regret, he realized that he had selfishly expected Areo to remain faithful to those memories, and to him.

But Areo had not known whether he had survived Oceana’s destruction. And, unlike him, she had not been on life support for so many years. Therefore, she had been bound to meet other men. Areo was so beautiful that any male who did not find her attractive was crazy. Still, thoughts of another male possessing Areo’s body drove Sev mad. To discover that she had never been with anyone sent Sev’s passions flaring. His desire to convince Areo that she belonged to only him burned hot.

“No one else has the right to touch you.” He aggressively moved his hands over every inch of her, conveying his intent before moving forward. “No one has the authority to possess your body and soul. No one but me.”

Sev was overcome with a poignant exigency to be the first and only man to touch Areo. Ethics, respectability, and legalities were cast aside. He grabbed a firm hold of Areo between her thighs.

A blazing fire streaked along Areo’s feminine parts to her center. “Don’t!” she cried, jerking her hips back. She tried to push his hand away.

Sev would not relinquish his bold grip. “What?”

“Don’t grab me there. No one has ever touched me.” She also worried that if he continued to touch her, she too would ignore the law, for his hand felt right. Perfect. Her core’s heat intensified, causing her to grow moist and needy.

Sev’s mouth gradually curved into a smile. “No one but me.”

His lids floated closed. He purred against her cheek and delighted in being the first to touch Areo between her legs. He savored even more the idea of being her only lover and started rubbing the heel of his hand against her.

Areo’s hips pressed against his hand. “No! Stop,” she ordered both Sev and her treacherous body. “This has gone far enough.”

“You cannot be serious. Areo, I yearn for you. I hunger for you.” His palm rubbed harder. “I want to mate with you.” Sev growled, and his eyes grew brighter.

Areo stayed his hand and moistened her lips. “Even after reading the law?”

“I told you there was nothing written in that law book that would change my mind. I have never wanted you more than I do this minute.” Sev ardently kissed her. He grabbed her bottom and pulled her urgently against his arousal.

“Areo!”

Their heads whipped to one side at the thundering voice.

Areo gasped. “Mike!”

“Get your bloody hands off her!” Mike shouted, pulling his black broadsword from its sheath on his back.

“Mike, no!” Areo quickly got Sev to release her. “You can’t! It’s Sev.” She stood between Sev and her cousin.

Sev shook his head no and took several steps away from Challen’s son. He did not want to disrespect Challen’s memory or hurt Areo by fighting Mike.

“How dare you? She’s not some whore you can take and then discard like garbage once you’ve had your fill of her,
Lord of the Seacats,”
Mike snarled. “You think because you are now the mighty king that you can take any woman you like, including her, and there will be no repercussions?” He stepped forward. “You think as long as you don’t take an alien as your wife, as long as you don’t break that sacred law of Oceana, that you can fuck my cousin and get away with it? Oh, I don’t think so.” He roared while charging.

“No!” Areo’s eyes ignited. Unafraid, she rushed toward her cousin.

Each time Mike made a move for Sev, Areo was there to block him with her wristguards. It was the first time Sev had seen her fighting. His heart swelled with pride. He allowed the fight only because he figured Mike would not hurt his own cousin.

Areo delivered a double power punch to Mike’s chest. Mike stumbled backward but managed to stay upright. “Stop it, Mike! I won’t let you hurt him!”

Mike glowered at his cousin. “Hurt him?” He rubbed his chest. “I don’t want to hurt him. Whatever gave you that idea?” Mike glared at the dark-headed lion. “I’m going to kill him!” He lifted his sword and went after Sev again.

Areo thwarted him. “No, I said!”

One of Mike’s incredibly hard blows made Areo cry out in pain. Sev saw red. When Areo neared him, he reached out with his left arm. Snatching Areo around her waist, he plucked her out of the path of another blow and blocked it himself.

“That’s enough!” he shouted. He thrust Areo away from him and Mike’s sword.

“Enough?” Mike laughed. “Hardly.” He continued to advance toward Sev.

“Sev, no!”

“Stay back!” he ordered her. “I’ll take care of this foolish Seacat.”

“Foolish?” Mike roared.

“No!” Areo screamed.

Sev did not unhook his sword. He had no desire to hurt his mate’s relative. He only wanted to teach Mike a very important lesson. Besides, if he used the Sword of Power against a Seacat, it would destroy the gem’s magic. And he considered all of them Seacats, even if they were half-bloods.