Between Two Tiron (5 page)

factor. He‟d probably fought more as a
tiron
than she had.
Gods, how had they even known I’d
be coming after Nerisa?

She pulled apart the lapels of her brown flight suit, pausing to unbuckle her belt and let it

fall to the ground. Slipping the fabric off her shoulders and arms, she pushed it down over her

hips. With a glance up at him, she saw that he was already naked. His body was gorgeous. His

skin gleamed, a rich deep brown. For a moment, she allowed herself to watch the rippling

movement of his muscles beneath the skin. A dart of heated arousal shot through her as she took

in his well-developed thighs and the long, thick shaft between them.

She knelt, loosening the fastenings on her shoes and then stepped out of them and the

one-piece suit. For a moment, she stood in her underwear. Her hands went to the front clasp of

her bra. She tossed the filmy article on the flight suit. With a grimace, she raged at the tricks of

fate. This was one situation she would have liked to have avoided. She pushed her panties down

and stepped out of them.

Her only other choice, bellying down, would mean losing the freedom that she had

known for so long. The Gods knew that she had no real chance of defeating this big man in any

form. Even if she did manage the feat, she suspected she would immediately be challenged by

the dark-haired man she had seen with him on that vid. He was probably lurking somewhere

close. Kneeling, she folded her garments, placing the belt and shoes on top and then put them out

of the way in a corner. Turning to face the large, dark-skinned man, she transformed into a
tiron
.

The man with spiral curls transformed into a large, black, heavily muscled
tiron
. Huge

with a broad head, pointed ears and visible canines, he was every bit as intimidating in his feline

form as he was in human form. His gaze locked with hers as he paced forward. Once she saw his

size, it took every scrap of control over her instincts not to surrender and plaster her belly onto

the floor. He would almost be chest high on her if she were still in human form. His paws were

almost twice as large as hers. Her mouth dried. She‟d never even seen a
tiron
as big as him.

“Submit,” he ordered with a rolling cough-grunt as he paced forward.

“Go away and leave me alone, big man. I‟m not your concern.” Lina‟s lips pulled back

into a snarl. The second language was instinctual, encoded into the subconscious of every Santir

at birth or transformation and in spite of geographic differences needed no translation. She

vowed he would never know how difficult it was to defy him.

“You entered our domain. We found you. Submit,” the big black cat growled, beginning

to circle.

Lina‟s determination to show no fear wavered for a moment as she backed away from

him.
This is insane. I can’t beat him
, she thought and then shook her head. She took a deep

breath and gathered her courage. He was bigger and this was probably a losing battle, but she

would try everything before she admitted defeat.

Lina pranced sideways, her body language one of unmistakable challenge. Her head high,

her tail swishing, she growled at him. “Not going to happen. I‟ve survived quite well without

your protection. Go offer it to a cringing cub.”

“You aren‟t escaping me. You will submit.”

The low, threatening rumble of his growl still echoed in the room when he pounced at

her. The large head rammed into her hind leg instead of her torso as he intended when she tried

to bound out of his reach. His grappling paws failed to find purchase as her sleek, twisting body

slid away from him.

A low, angry hiss escaped Lina‟s muzzle, her ears laid back as she whirled and leaped to

a safe distance. She watched through narrowed, angry eyes as his muscled body rose with fluid

grace. Something that large and brawny shouldn‟t be that fast or agile.

It wasn‟t only the fact that he had nearly grabbed her so easily that infuriated her. She

could feel her body coming alive, responding to the situation with unmistakable arousal.
By the

Gods, something must be twisted within me
, she thought. She wanted the man whose only

purpose was to make her acknowledge him as ruler.

Lina fought her instincts which made her knees wobbly. She didn‟t want to submit to the

dominant male. She was more than her instincts, but she couldn‟t entirely break their hold. In the

past when someone had attacked her like that, she had come back swinging, claws ready to shred

their flesh. This time her body seemed to have only two choices—submit or flee. The fleeing

option seemed to have been taken away from her. There was a wall of male bodies in front of the

door leading out of the ruin.

The large male stalked her. Lina‟s movements mirrored his, keeping him at a distance.

There was no way that she could beat him, even if she could overcome the instinct that seemed

to be ruling her. He was too big, too strong. All she could do was make sure that he respected

her. She bared her teeth at him.

Lina saw his muscles bunching beneath his fur again and lunged to get away from him.

She had known that he was fast, but this time he demonstrated his agility. He landed and in the

same motion turned and sprang. He crashed into her, knocking her to the ground. He rolled and

was on top of her before she could draw in the breath which had been knocked from her, much

less move.

His teeth sank into the fur at her neck. She was pinned on her stomach beneath his much

greater weight. Some perverse part of her found that immensely arousing. Her body heated,

softened. His larger size made her feel small, delicate and feminine. Her intellect rebelled. She‟d

been on her own too long to give up her freedom this easily.

She wiggled beneath him, her body twisting and heaving, trying to slip away from him.

Those sharp teeth tightened and she felt them slightly break the surface of her skin. It was

warning enough. One shake from those strong jaws and she wouldn‟t reach the normal life

expectancy for a Santir. She would die at a mere one hundred thirty.

A growl rumbled into her fur. She needed no further prompting. It was time to listen to

her instincts. She laid her muzzle on the ground, pressing her body to the cold stone. Closing her

eyes momentarily in defeat, she submitted, relaxing her body beneath the heavy male
tiron
.

She took a deep breath. This one assignment had changed her entire life. She‟d never

really lived in a
thent
. The group she‟d lived in when she was younger had been ruled by a

council of elders, but she hadn‟t been with them for years. Adapting to following someone else‟s

rules wasn‟t going to be easy.

The male rose and stood astride her. He shifted to human form. Lina stayed as she was,

unmoving. He moved around to stand a few paces in front of her, not bothering to pull on his

clothing. The man she had seen with him on the monitor came to stand beside him.

“I am Ardin Shard Valdan. This is Ardin Kaleb Markan. Welcome to Karach Thent,

mate
.” The man with the spiral curls smiled with feral menace.

Lina‟s head snapped up as his deep voice rumbled the word “mate”. Her eyes went from

one man to the other.
No.
It couldn‟t be true. Aghast, her mouth agape, she stared at them. They didn‟t look like they were joking. She shook her head minutely. She couldn‟t have stumbled

across her mate…mates. Santir Ardin—two men who ruled over a
thent
, which could easily top

ten thousand people—took one mate.

“Transform now.” Ardin Kaleb swept his gaze over her as she lay on the floor.

Lina obeyed. She allowed the transformation to sweep over her. Inside she felt as if she

was caught in a whirling wind and couldn‟t find her feet. She didn‟t want mates, ties of any kind.

She wasn‟t staying here.

Shard watched as the feline body became a female body. The tangled mass of her golden

hair trailed halfway down her back. Her sun-kissed golden skin seemed to glow in the bright

light from the lamps. His eyes traveled down the line of her back and rested on the taut curve of

her buttocks. He watched the play of muscles in her long toned legs. For years, he‟d searched.

Now he would finally know the true joy of completion.

She seemed more horrified than overjoyed, but considering the fact that she was

wandering around on her own that was to be expected. Lina was obviously a woman used to

doing what she wanted, when she wanted.

“Stand and approach us,
rah’ki
.” Shard growled the order, impatient to have her stand

before him, to have his kitten acknowledge him. Blood throbbed in his cock. One whiff of her

scent was all it had taken to send a raging lust pounding through him. This woman was mate to

Kaleb and to him.

He eyed the golden-skinned woman standing across from him. In either form, she was

beautiful. Golden-haired with golden eyes, she was a tall woman, but very curvy. Her breasts

were large with long nipples that begged for a man‟s fingers and mouth. Rolling his shoulders to

loosen his muscles, he tried to ease the tension brought by the fight.

With any other challenger, Shard would have been quick to deal a reprimand for

insolence such as she had shown and perhaps even left a wound as a reminder, but this wasn‟t a

typical challenger. He hadn‟t wanted to hurt her, had found it almost impossible to take the

offensive. He‟d wanted only to take her in his arms, hold her and make love to her.

After he‟d inhaled her scent, fighting had been the last thing on his mind. The only blood

he‟d wanted to draw was with a mating bite. Giving her a choice other than complete submission

hadn‟t been an option. She would have continued looking for a way to escape, probably still

would. He wasn‟t willing to take the chance that she‟d succeed.

Shard‟s eyes narrowed as he ran them over the beautiful body before him. Those wide

expressive amber eyes stared and an interesting pink swept over her cheeks as the silence

lengthened. The
trika
, the spots at her jawline, highlighted the rounded contours of her face. As she waited, she worried her full lower lip with her teeth. His eyes skimmed over her trim waist to

the mound between her thighs. The lips of her labia were bare, but a diamond of hair remained

atop her mons.

Raising his brows, Kaleb took off his shirt and began to work on his belt and pants. Shard

could see the bulge of Kaleb‟s cock tenting the material and he hadn‟t yet inhaled a whiff of her

sweet scent. If she was their mate, he didn‟t want anything between them, least of all their

clothes. He wanted every man gone, but he knew they needed to begin the search for her ship

and any other packs she‟d stashed.

Are you certain, Shard?
Kaleb leaned back against the wall as she walked toward them.

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking. You know we have searched for a long time.

I got a face full of her fur. Yes, I am certain.
Shard growled in annoyance. He could feel

Kaleb‟s uncertainty, his hunger for the mating to be real, through their connection. His

bond-brother would only truly believe when he caught her scent and felt the connection. Shard

knew that it was real and still felt a little awed by this turn of fate. His reaction to her left no

doubt. That intoxicating scent hadn‟t made concentrating easy.
Wait a few moments and you’ll

smell it.

Lina took a deep breath and stood slowly. She paced forward and stood before them, her

head bowed. The fact that one of them was naked and the other wore only black pants did

nothing to hide the air of power, of authority which clung to them.

“Yes, Ardin,” she whispered.

Her voice sounded a little breathy because of the nervous energy running through her.

She was honest enough to admit desire also played a part—a big part. By the Gods, fire pulsed

through her veins. She felt torn apart by the conflicting desires at war within her. Part of her

hoped that he was wrong and she wasn‟t his mate, but a larger part wanted him to be right. Her

mind was confused, but every bit of experience told her that she wouldn‟t be happy living in a

pack. Especially if it was like her mother‟s pack, her old pack.

She saw
Ardin
Kaleb‟s eyes flicker over her face and then stop at a point under her eyes.

His mouth kicked up in an amused smile, but his green eyes darkened with hunger. Frowning,

she wondered just what he found so funny. With a groan, she realized that she was biting at her

lip and closed her eyes as she faced just how much that tell had betrayed. Without a doubt, they

knew how nervous and scared she was.

“I want to nibble on those luscious lips soon, little
nari
. You have many questions to

answer, Lina. That is your real name?” Kaleb‟s green eyes seemed to glow with heat.

“Yes,
Ardin
,” Lina gulped, a little startled at the endearment. Literally,
nari
meant mate.

As for the questions, she had expected it. Now that she was part of their
thent
she would

have to account for her actions as well as reveal every detail of her personal life if they asked

about it.

“Only one question for now,” Shard advised as he stepped forward and tilted her head up