Ambushing Ariel (15 page)

Ariel looked at the one in her arms. It had a small wound on its leg from the fight in Mandra's living quarters so Ariel kept it along with four other Maratts who were also recovering. She rocked it gently against her as it burrowed closer and closed its eyes.

.
.*

Ariel’s eyes followed Mandra as he moved around the newly formed structure. She studied his strong, proud features as he talked to Asim who was pointing to something on the shelter they were building. Today he had his hair tied back at the nape and without his shirt on she could see the light glow of sweat across his wide, bare shoulders. Her eyes followed the path down his back to wear his pants hung low on his hips. Ariel couldn’t resist licking her lips at the way they hugged his ass and thighs. A pair of dark brown boots finished off what he was wearing. All Ariel could think about was how much she wanted to take each piece off of him one at a time.

She was puzzled about why he was so distant to her. He held her tightly each night but during the day it was almost like it pained him to be near her or touch her. It wasn’t like he wanted anyone else near her either. She had spent some time with Abby and Trisha before she attended the dinner. At the dinner, though, Mandra had thrown dark warning looks at any male who tried to come near her. She had spent most of the night people-watching.

What really confused her was he never touched her except at night when he thought she was asleep. At first, Ariel thought he regretted being stuck with her. That was until she caught the look of hunger and longing in his eyes on several occasions before he covered it with a blank mask. If she didn’t know better, she would think the big lug was afraid of her breaking
his
heart.

A nudge on her elbow shook Ariel out of her deep thoughts. She grinned when she saw the huge golden symbiot was in the shape of a bear-like creature today. She loved it when it changed shapes. She never knew what to expect.

“So, you like me too, huh?” Ariel asked letting her fingers brush over the thick, golden head. “Well, I like you even more. You know what? We need to give you a name. How about Precious?” Ariel asked with a small laugh. “You can be my Precious.” The creature sent a wave of warmth through her before sending additional small threads of gold up her arms.

Ariel laughed and shook her head. “It’s a good thing all the gold you put on me doesn’t weigh that much because I wouldn’t be able to stand much less walk with all the necklaces, bracelets, and armbands you’ve covered me in.”

Ariel talked nonsense to the golden symbiot for another half hour before she moved into the house to make lunch. She knew the men would be hungry from all the work they were doing. She liked the fact that she could still see them even from the kitchen area. She didn’t know why Mandra didn’t just live here all the time. She would never tire of the view, especially if Mandra was a part of it.

Ariel finally gave up kidding herself that she what she felt wasn’t love. Over the past week he had shown her how sensitive and caring he could be. He was also protective and attentive and sexy and… Oh, hell. He was just sexy and he turned her on in a way Eric never did. The fact was Mandra was nothing like Eric in any way, shape or form. There was nothing to compare between the two so she didn’t even attempt to try. Mandra had her heart in the palm of his hands. Maybe it was time she showed him.

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.*

“Why do you not tell her how you feel?” Asim asked holding the board in place for Mandra to attach.

Mandra glanced at Asim before shooting a glance at where Ariel was sitting on the terrace. “She does not want me,” Mandra replied gruffly nailing the board into place.

Asim chuckled. “That is not what I see. She never takes her eyes off you. She reminds me of the creatures you sent here. At first they stared at me in fear waiting for me to pounce on them and gobble them up. But, within a few days I had to practically beat them off of me. Once they knew I would not hurt them, they wanted to be with me.”

Mandra looked at the man who was like a second father to him. Asim had been his father’s personal guard when he was young. When his father was killed, Asim approached Mandra to see if he would accept his services. Mandra knew Asim looked on him as the son he never had. Mandra suggested Asim could help him here. Together, they built the main house that Mandra used and a smaller one for Asim. Asim guarded this area, protecting those living in the small village not far away and reporting any suspicious activities to Mandra.

“You are mistaken,” Mandra said looking back at Ariel again.

She was sitting with her eyes closed and a small Maratt against her bosom. A swell of desire and need rushed through him so fast his breath caught. He wanted to see her sitting there with their child against her breast instead of a rodent. The desire to claim her fully was eating away at him and his dragon. He would have to claim her soon or it would become too dangerous for both of them. He hoped she would come to him on her own free will but it did not look like that was going to happen. He looked away as a shaft of pain lanced through him at the thought of hurting his mate even more than he already had.

Asim shook his head. “No, I am not. Look for yourself. Even now she gazes at you,” Asim said under his breath.

Mandra lifted his eyes back to Ariel and locked gazes with her. He looked deeply into her eyes and saw… hunger. He watched her for several moments before Asim clearing his throat dragged him back to the present. He looked down at the board in his hands and realized he was gripping it so tight there were actual grooves formed into it.

“Now do you believe me?” Asim chuckled as he tugged the board out of Mandra’s hands.

Mandra let a slow smile curve his lips. “I am going to claim my mate,” Mandra said with a gleam in his eye and a thread of steel in his tone. “She is ready.”

Asim chuckled as he nodded. “I will clean up here. You go to her. May the Gods and Goddesses be with you, my friend.”

Ariel nervously moved about the kitchen pulling out the fresh bread, cheeses, and fruit one of the ladies from the village brought her that morning. It was strange seeing another female this morning when she was used to seeing nothing but big, hunky men. Karina had laughed when Ariel asked about it and told her there were females, just not many so the males had a tendency to be very protective. Ariel grinned when she saw Karina’s mate talking with Mandra but never taking his eyes off her for long.

“What is it like?” Ariel had asked Karina hesitantly. “To be a true mate?” She added at Karina’s puzzled look.

Karina’s eyes went to her mate and she smiled. “Wonderful. He protects me and cares for me. He is my best friend. I can share anything with him. I never feel alone for either he or his symbiot are with me at all times,” she had replied.

Ariel had looked at Mandra and wondered what it would be like to be his true mate. Would he be protective of her? From the looks he gave the men who tried to approach her at the dinner she suspected he would. Even during the times he returned for a few hours to the palace this past week he made sure she had both his symbiot and Asim near her at all times.

She frowned wondering if they had discovered who poisoned Cara at the dinner. She had forgotten to ask Mandra about it. The only reason Ariel found out about it in the first place was because she overheard Asim asking how Trelon’s little mate was. She had pressured Mandra into telling her what happened. He explained he wanted her somewhere safe until whoever tried to harm Cara was captured.

“Why do you frown,
mi elila?
” Mandra asked coming up behind where Ariel was standing at the table in the kitchen and wrapping his arms around her waist.

Ariel jumped. “Oh, you scared me,” she said startled. “I mean, not really scared just startled,” she added when she saw his frown. “You know… like I wasn’t expecting you and I was lost in thought and …” Ariel’s voice faded as Mandra turned her around and pressed his lips lightly against hers.

“I know what you meant,” Mandra whispered against her lips.

Ariel groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling his lips back down to hers. She kissed him… really kissed him, like in an I-want-you-and-I’m-not-letting-you-go-without-some-really-good-hot-sex type of kiss. She felt the moment he realized she wasn’t going to back down. A groan escaped him and he wrapped his thick arms around her tighter. He lifted her up against his body as if she didn’t weigh more than one of the little Maratts running around the house.

“You are mine, Ariel Hamm. I claim you as my true mate. No other may have you. I will live to protect you. You are mine,
mi elila
… forever,” Mandra said looking deeply into Ariel’s eyes. “There will be no going back, no stopping this time.”

Ariel looked into the flaming gold eyes of the alien who had captured her heart with his tenderness, patience, and understanding and grinned. “You bet your ass you won’t be stopping,” Ariel declared with a grin.

Mandra's dragon growled in answer to his mate's statement. Inside, Mandra felt the rush of dragon’s fire as it exploded inside him wanting to claim its mate. Mandra tilted Ariel’s head to the side and pushed one side of the shirt covering her aside, baring her neck and shoulder. He brushed his lips along the curve where her neck met her pale shoulder. His mark was there. He pressed his lips against it briefly before letting his teeth elongate enough to pierce her skin. He felt the shiver that ran through Ariel right before he latched onto her. Her startled cry increased his desire and the dragon’s fire burst from him in waves crashing over into Ariel in an intensity that both frightened and excited him.

“Mandra,” Ariel moaned as she gripped him tighter, holding him to her.

Mandra continued to breathe the dragon's fire into Ariel's bloodstream. It would have been impossible to stop. He had reached the point of no return. His claim on Ariel would be completed and it the Gods and Goddesses deemed them worthy, a new dragon would be born this day. Fire ripped through Mandra as he and his dragon answered the call of the fire ripping through Ariel. Mandra fought for enough control not to take Ariel right there on the table, or worse, the floor. He wanted their first time to be perfect but at the rate his cock was swelling it looked like the table or floor was going to be the best he could do.

Ariel’s moan filled the kitchen as the heat washed through her in fierce waves. The fire was so fierce her skin actually ached with a need to feel his skin against hers. Ariel’s hands began clawing at Mandra’s hair pulling the leather tie from it until it hung freely down his back. She ran one hand through his hair letting her nails scrape along his scalp while her other hand ran down over his shoulder and down his flat stomach to pull frantically at the front of his pants.

“I want you,” Ariel whispered as another wave of heat started to build deep inside her. “I don’t know what in the hell you are doing but it is turning me on.”

Mandra groaned as Ariel’s words washed over him. He continued breathing the dragon’s fire, feeling the burning wave building inside Ariel until he had trouble holding her withering body. Her hands were kneading him and roaming as far as she could reach in a desperate attempt to get closer. Only when he felt the last of the dragon’s fire cresting did he pull away far enough to gently lap at the dark mark he left. His eyes flared with possessiveness to see his mark so clearly etched against the delicate pale column of his mate’s neck.

“Mine!” Mandra growled out in a low, deep voice that was a mixture of animal and man. “My mate.”

Ariel didn’t care what in the hell he was saying. She wanted to stop the burning that was scorching her from the inside out. She could feel the liquid of her desire running down the inside of her leg. She could actually feel her pussy pulsing with need. This had never happened before. In fact, she didn’t even think it was possible! Ariel fought to get her hands on the front of Mandra’s pants. Those bad boys were coming off.

“I need to get us to a bed,” Mandra muttered desperately trying to hold onto what little control he had.

“To hell with a bed… the table or the floor are good for me,” Ariel growled out as she ripped at the ties on the front of Mandra’s pants.

The moment it came free Ariel melted down toward the floor taking them with her. She quickly pulled the straps free on his boots and pulled on one of them trying to get it off. She looked up in frustration when Mandra didn’t lift his foot. Ariel’s eyes grew huge when she found she was level with Mandra’s swollen cock. It was thick and long and throbbing. The head was almost as dark a sapphire as Mandra’s dragon. Ariel breathed out a soft moan as she saw pre-cum beading at the tip and beginning to run down it. She didn’t even pause to think but leaned into his cock and ran her tongue up and over the tip with a loud groan.

He was better than chocolate any day of the week,
Ariel thought as she swiped her tongue over him again and again, each time more urgent than the last.

She was just about to try to slide the thick tip into her mouth when a deep snarl filled the air and she found herself lifted up and laid over the edge of the table face down. Ariel gasped as she felt the pants she was wearing torn free from her. The back of the shirt she was wearing suffered the same fate as it was ripped down the center of the back so that each half slid down her arms to pool around her. She didn’t put a bra on that morning just a light undershirt. It was sliced off her until her bare breasts pushed against the wood of the table. Ariel looked over her shoulder at Mandra to protest but the words died on her lips as she stared into the dark, flaming eyes of a very aroused Valdier warrior and his dragon. His eyes had changed to a darker gold with thin elongated slits where his pupils were. The hunger in them cried out only for her. Ariel felt the heat building inside her as it answered the call of need in Mandra’s eyes.

“Take me,” Ariel said softly looking at Mandra who was fighting to get hold of his emotions. “Take me now.”

Mandra’s muttered curse was followed by his fingers searching to make sure Ariel was ready for him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her but he was close to losing his mind, forget about his self-control. Mandra moaned with pleasure as his fingers sank into the slick moisture of her swollen vagina. She was ready for him and he could hold back no longer. He aligned his cock with her hot vaginal channel and pushed forward not stopping until he could feel the tip of his cock hitting her womb. Mandra gripped Ariel’s hips tightly as he pulled almost all the way out then slammed back into her trying to get a little deeper. He knew he was being too rough with her. He wanted to take her slowly, gently, tenderly but he had waited too long. His dragon was determined to claim his mate. He wanted to see her born. Mandra fought for control but it seemed the more he fought the faster and harder he took Ariel until he couldn’t tell where she ended and he began. Their moans and cries echoed and twisted into one.