Prime Obsession (15 page)

He laughed. “That would be the Terrans’ cavemen,
lubha
. We Prime warriors are much more refined in our approach to mating.”

“That I’ll have to see.” She licked her lips.

He groaned. “Don’t tease me.”

“What?” Her eyes widened, her confusion evident.

“Licking your lips excites me.”

“Really?” She licked them again and waited.

“Really,” he muttered as he swept his tongue along the seam of her mouth, tasting her. She was sweet, spicy, succulent—and pure temptation. “Open for me.” She parted her lips on a sigh. He lowered his head and captured the remnants of the soft breath with his mouth. He swept his tongue inside, claiming her as his. No other man had ever had her like this—and no other ever would. She was his. Somewhere deep within his psyche a beast roared.

* * * *

Mel had never really been interested in kissing any man. The couple of soldiers that had tried had quickly been dissuaded. After several such instances, she’d gotten the reputation as an “ice queen,” an appellation she’d encouraged. Thus, no man had ever touched her as Wulf now did.

Instinctively, she realized the imprinting probably had something to do with her lack of romantic interest in other men—and her current, almost urgent, need for Wulf.

Without touching his mind, she still registered his overweening pride and joy in the fact of her inexperience. His teasing assurances—and who would’ve thought the big alpha-male had a sense of humor?—that he would not attack her now, in this cold, sterile cavern, relieved her. She’d only have one first time. She wanted to be free of the nagging pain that currently touched the edges of her consciousness—and be strong enough to meet her mate as an equal partner.

Wulf’s firm male lips nibbled at hers. His terse whisper to open up reached something deep inside her mind. He wanted more than her mouth, but was willing to settle for her tongue and lips—for now.

Parting her lips, Wulf’s tongue surged inside and immediately claimed every square millimeter. Never one to be acquiescent, Mel mirrored Wulf’s movements and tangled her tongue with his until he allowed her into his mouth. He tasted exotic. All spice. All male. All Wulf. Her womb clenched, sending moisture to her vaginal lips, preparing her for sex. Inhaling deeply, she took in his unique scent.

The invisible ties connecting them tightened another notch.

Moaning in the back of her throat, her body sought to get as close to his as possible.

Her hand rubbed the hot spot calling to her from just above his heart. His answering groan and a not-so-subtle hardening of his body, of his cock, told her that the markings that indicated their imprinting played an even more intimate role in their lives.

Wulf’s hand stilled hers. With another low groan, he muttered harshly, “I was going to wait to explain but …
lubha
, if you keep touching me like that … I will not be able to keep my promise about waiting to make you fully mine.” Mel lay her head back on the crook of his supporting arm. “What do you mean?” In answer, Wulf massaged the area above her right hip—her
gemate
marking. She gasped as pure aching need burned in her loins. Involuntarily, she arched toward him, her hips seeking completion.

“The markings are—” She moaned with need as his calloused fingers gently stroked over her marking with a circular motion.

“My mark. Your mark. They are erogenous zones.” Her eyes were drawn to the marking on his chest. It glowed and pulsed with varying shades of yellow, red and orange. “Just another way mates have to pleasure one another.” Mel felt her cheeks redden. “Oh—”

“Yes, oh.” He smiled as he caressed her burning cheeks. “Normally, I’d want you touching me that way … but I promised and—”

“My touching would make it more difficult, and uncomfortable, to keep that promise?”

“Yes.” He touched his forehead to hers. Taking her lips with his, he gently and thoroughly kissed her. Breaking off, his voice harsh with arousal, he muttered, “Maybe we’d better wait until later to continue this lesson, little warrior. I find that I want no barriers at all to the completion of our lovemaking.” Mel thought for a second or so. “Does this mean I can’t touch you? Kiss you?”

“No, no,” he hurriedly responded. “We both need to touch—and to touch frequently.

It just means that we have to be careful how. Right now, I’m so hard that any more kissing or touching would make it impossible for me to hold back.”

“I understand,” she whispered against his lips. “I’m wet—and aching. It’s like a part of me is missing. I can’t imagine how your, um, penis must feel.”

“About the same. It seeks to find its place within you.” He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue before pulling his head away. Shoving her head gently to his chest, he gathered her hand in his, rubbing her fingers.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “Changing the subject.” She smiled. It was nice to have a strong man taking care of her for a change, especially when she could feel the extreme need pulsing from every pore of his body and soul. “You asked earlier if the Alliance was on its way. It is. Both your crew and my crew are headed this way. We’ll stay hidden in the catacombs until they orbit the planet. I’ll pop out to my ship while you rest and send out a coded message as to our position and give them my com unit frequency so they can signal when they land.”

“What about the remaining Antarean raiders?” she snuggled back against the arm holding her as they lay face-to-face on their sides. His sudden, sharp intake of air sounded like an angry snake warning prey. One of her legs had inadvertently nudged his fully aroused cock.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, blushing with embarrassment. He hadn’t been kidding. He was thoroughly aroused, so much so that she could almost feel his penis throbbing within her mind.
Oh, good gods, how will that … that ever fit?
Her loins pulsed in sympathy, aching for him. “Maybe you had better let me have the chaise to myself?”

“That might be a good idea,” Wulf husked. “Your lush body is far too tempting.”
Damn, he noticed how round my ass is.
She’d always hated her round bottom; it had attracted far too much attention from male soldiers.

Wulf carefully untwined his body from hers. Lifting her, he placed her on her back then covered her near nakedness with a blanket. No small feat since she was not really that small, even though he kept labeling her so, and she was well-muscled.

“And,
lubha,
don’t worry about my size. You will be able to handle my size—you were created for me by the One.” He paused. “I love your bottom.”

“There will be times you shouldn’t be in my head, Wulf,” she admonished sourly, not realizing she had dropped her mental shields.

“As I told you, mates need to be in each other’s minds so we can anticipate and meet our mate’s needs.” He stroked her arm, taking her bandaged hand gently between his.

“As a battle-mate it will be even more imperative that we are in each other’s minds so that we can coordinate our fighting.”

“Will I be fighting?” Mel asked. She was curious because from what she’d sensed from Wulf back on the
Galanti
and from what she knew of the current Prime culture, she’d thought she’d probably have a battle on her hands to keep her Alliance command.

“Yes.” Wulf captured her gaze with his amber one. “Maren—and my brothers—

convinced me that as you are a battle-mate and my equal in training and more than my equal in the size of the troops you command that I—and Cejuru Prime—would be foolish not to reestablish the legends of battle-mates’ fighting superiority.”

“How will this work?” She yawned, fighting the lethargy that suddenly swept over her. Damn, she was tired.

“Lie back and rest.” Sitting at her side, he stroked her face. “Admiral Nelson sent the Alliance Military Command’s decision on my request that we serve on the same star ship.

My ship will be commissioned as an Alliance ship. We will lead Gold Squadron under our joint command as battle-mates on the
Galanti.
Nowicki will captain the
Leonidas.
” Smiling, she could barely keep her eyes open. “A promotion for Royce? He’ll like that, and he deserves one.”

Wulf traced the line of her brows, causing her to gasp. “The Prime warships previously under my command will join the Gold Squadron, almost doubling its size.

After a period of adjustment, and after we see how the merger into Gold proceeds, the rest of the Prime fleet will be divided between the Alliance and a Cejuru solar system fleet for local security.”

“Sounds good.” Frowning, she slitted her eyes open. “You don’t mind sharing the leadership of Gold?”

“Melina,” he touched her lips with his, “because of our mind-body connection, we will automatically share strategies and act as one. What the military chooses to call our reality should make no difference as to how we’ll react to situations. Together we will lead the strongest fighting machine in the galaxy. The dregs and refuse that prey on the innocent will run in fear of Captain Melina Dmitros-Caradoc and her battle-mate husband. Our legend will be the basis for song.”

From her limited experience and knowledge of Wulf, and Prime males in general, she hadn’t expected this open acceptance of sharing power. Was this his compromise?

And would it work? Only time would tell.

Yawning widely, Mel muttered, “That’s nice,” and fell asleep with her mate’s lips gently tasting hers.

* * * *

Wrapping his little warrior in a solar blanket he found among her pack contents, he lay her back against the chaise and tucked her pack under her head—after removing some leftover explosives. He appropriated the Prime-designed dart gun and extra ammo. It always helped to have the proper weapon when hunting pseudo-reptiles.

He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her soft mouth. She muttered something unintelligible and wrinkled her nose before slipping even more deeply into a healing sleep. A smile crossed his lips. To think he would wake up to that beautiful face each morning for the rest of their lives made him happy.

“I’m going out to send that message to our ships and reconnoiter. Stay here and sleep, little one,” he whispered against her ear. He reinforced his message with a mental touch—her senses were wide open as she slept. She’d be aware of him—and more importantly aware of any danger that might attempt to intrude into the safe room.

With any luck, he and either his crew or hers would eliminate the rest of the Antareans and recover the bodies of her parents and their dig team before she awakened.

His mate had more than done her duty since the attack on the planet. She could let him—

and others—take care of the cleanup for a change. While what he had told her was true, they would fight side-by-side and be that of which legends were made, he still intended to protect her as much as possible. She’d have to learn to live with his protectiveness. It was all about compromise.

Mel awoke and stretched before she recalled the wound on her leg. She groaned, then bit her lip. Damn, that hurt. Rubbing lightly at the burning stiffness, she gingerly swung her legs over the edge of the sleeping couch. She had no idea how long she’d slept, nor how long it had been since Wulf had left to check in with their two ships. A fairly lengthy amount must have passed since she was more rested than she’d been since the attack.

If Wulf had left soon after she had fallen asleep, he should have been back by now.

Alarmed that he hadn’t come immediately back to her side—which was something she was fairly sure he would’ve done—she opened up the doorway she’d created in her mind to their mental connection and reached for him.

Fiery red rage blasted her mind. She filtered out Wulf’s anger then scanned for information as to his well-being and whereabouts. Dull, throbbing pain. Adrenaline-pumping, pounding pulse. Wulf was cornered, injured and fighting for his life. Through his mind’s eye, she recognized the spot. She could be by his side in less than three minutes.

Jerking to her feet, she gasped, then pushed aside the pain. Already her body drew upon her own supply of adrenaline, preparing her for the battle ahead. A battle to save her mate’s ass.

Mel grabbed her pack, stuffed the survival gear and the all-important med-kit back into it. Seeking her weapons, she noted the dart gun was gone. Only her laser pistol, her battle knife, and a few of explosives she’d used on the Antarean ship remained. She shoved the explosives and detonators into the pack and holstered the pistol. She slipped the knife into the scabbard on her uninjured thigh.

Seeking Wulf’s status once more, she touched his mind lightly so as not to distract him from his battle with the Antareans.

“I am fine,
lubha
. Stay in the safe room
.” Wulf’s order was so ridiculous it didn’t deserve a response. As if she could stay put while he was in danger.

Mel left the safe room, then dropped to her hands and knees to crawl toward the intersection of three corridors where Wulf made his stand. One of the hallways had a trap that could be triggered, thus cutting off at least one set of the enemy. The other two hallways could also be defended from above.

Over their mind link, she constantly monitored his body’s reactions. His pain was bearable; his strength enduring. He fought intelligently and fiercely, but he had no chance to defeat the Antarean forces from his current position. His back was—literally—up against a wall. He needed her help, even if it were just for a distraction to give him a strategic edge.

She worked her way around to the path with the trap; she wanted to approach it from behind the enemy. It took longer to get there, but her ability to surprise the enemy would be greater.

“Wulf. Be prepared for panic from the enemy. I’ll be triggering the death trap in the
corridor to your far left.”

A low growl sounded in her head. Wulf wasn’t pleased that she’d disobeyed his order to remain hidden, but wasn’t shocked she had.

“We’ll be discussing this habit you have of not staying put… Be careful, little
warrior. You are my life.”

“As you are mine—isn’t that what you’ve told me?”
she replied pushing her own anger through their connection.
“I have just as much right to protect you as you do me.”
An amused chuckle ticked her conscious.
“Yes. Thank you for reminding me.”
Satisfied that she’d gotten her point across—although she was sure Wulf would still lecture her on staying put later—she grabbed a handy, loose rock, a nice solid chunk of granite from the looks of it, then crawled to the slit in the waist-high curtain wall. Time to take out some Antareans and remove some of the pressure from her Prime warrior.

The filthy lizards had him cornered at the three-way intersection. He was behind a blind of rocks and had all he could do to keep the Antareans from rushing him. So far, he’d managed, but the pseudo-reptiles would soon either get reinforcements or make a suicide run to kill him.

Rising to sit back on her calves, she peered over the wall. The Antareans were fully engaged in their attack on Wulf. Their rears were not covered. She grinned. Major mistake on their parts.

Standing, she dropped the rock on the pressure plate the enemy had somehow managed not to trip. A noise must have given her position away since the enemy laser fire hit just about head level, missing her left ear by mere millimeters and hitting the cave wall. Shards of rock from the near miss struck her cheek as she dropped behind the rock wall before their aim could become more accurate. She swiped at the blood on her face, then smiled. Her rock had done the trick. A groaning, grinding of rock over metal plates indicated that the ancient trap had been engaged. The subsequent cries of horror from the two Antareans in the endangered hallway were music to her ears. Two of the enemy were now lizard-shish-kebobs.

Silence fell over the battle zone. The other four Antareans must have stopped firing in shock—or horror—at what had happened to their comrades.

“Wulf! Go!”

“I’m on it, lubha.”

The dart pistol twanged loudly in the preternatural silence after the trap’s triggering.

The sounds of return laser fire told Mel that Wulf had not gotten all of them.

“
Dammit
.” Mel peered through the slit. Wulf had killed only one of the remaining four.

“Language,
lubha
. I can handle them. You stay hidden.”

“Just shut up, Wulf. Be ready for my move.”
An answering angry growl rumbled through her mind. “
Stop growling—and wait for my signal. Be mad at me later.”
An exasperated male snort had her smiling. Shuffling back the way she’d come, she took another side hallway that would bring her in behind two of the remaining enemy.

If she had another dart gun, it would be easy to take them out from above, but she didn’t. Timing would be everything. It would have to be explosives—or her jumping them and slitting their throats.

“No jumping from six meters and slitting throats. Try the explosives.
”

“You could be hurt from the resulting explosion.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

As if that would happen. She’d assess Wulf’s chances of surviving an explosion versus her taking out the enemy with a knife when she got into position.

The echoing sounds of laser fire pinged off the solid rock ceiling of the catacombs.

Dust rained down, making the air hazy and hard to breathe. She coughed. Damn, she wished she’d thought to grab a rebreather. Too late now.

She coughed again, then choked as she tried to keep from coughing. The sound would give her away, spoiling her surprise. She halted and took a sip from the water bottle in her pack, then rinsed and spit the grittiness from her mouth. That helped enough to stop the cough reflex—temporarily. She needed to get in position and get this over with, so she could cough all she wanted.

Monitoring Wulf’s physical welfare constantly, she reviewed the layout and the relative positions of the enemy and her man. While he had a great defensive position, any move he made to escape the results of an explosion in the close quarters would either kill or wound him seriously.

Neither was an acceptable option.

Jump and knife, it was.

She’d only have one chance at each of the two Antareans in the one tunnel. Surprise only went so far with Antareans. After their initial shock at having a woman drop on them, they would follow their instinct to kill. And they had it all over on her as to size and strength. She could not beat them two-on-one.

Wulf would have to take out the third guy. She would have her hands full.

“Wulf?”

A low angry growl was her answer. She laughed silently. He’d read her mind and did not like the plan. At least he was predictable. She must be perverse that his angry, grouchy, mad-at-her-risking-her-life growls made her hot.

“Hot, eh? I’ll remember that.”

“You do that.”

Even though he didn’t like her plan since it involved a high degree of risk for her, he was experienced enough in close-quarters battle to know that she had the better chance of taking out the two as he handled the other—with the least risk to both of them.

“Let me know when you’re ready, battle-mate. I’ll back you up with the two as soon
as I dispatch mine.”