Trinity, Battleship Karter, Medical Station, 18 Hours Later
I looked down at Leo’s face beneath the glass. He appeared to be sleeping, but I knew he wasn’t. I had to repeatedly remind myself that this was not a Snow White scenario. He was not in a glass coffin. He was not waiting for me to kiss him and wake him up.
He was comatose in a ReGen pod, just as he had been for more than seventeen hours. Jessica had tried to help me deal. She’d taken me on a tour of Battleship Karter—which blew my mind in a way transporting to Alera hadn’t—fed me. I’d slept in a private room in Jessica and her mates’ ship quarters.
I was the personal guest of the queen of the entire Coalition of planets. They didn’t address her as queen, they just called her Lady Deston. But the fact remained, no one argued with her. She snapped her fingers and she got what she wanted on this ship.
Even Commander Karter, a big, gruff Prillon warrior I’d met briefly at dinner the night before, deferred to her. Even when she teased him about sending him a nice Earth girl to bring him to his knees.
I’ve never seen a Prillon blush, but Commander Karter practically ran from the table when Jessica brought up the subject.
I might have been a princess, but she was queen. With Nial and the scary looking teddy bear, Ander, scowling at anyone and everyone she spoke to, I began to understand the appeal of having a strong warrior at my back.
But I didn’t want a Prillon, or even one of the hulking Atlan beasts I’d seen come in from the fighting. I wanted the stubborn male unconscious beneath the glass. Or silicone. Or whatever fucking material this shit was.
I splayed my hands wide above the glass, as if I could reach through it and touch him. I wished the strange gift I could feel blossoming in my mind was stronger. Maybe it would allow me to reach his mind telepathically. Or heal him with a touch. I didn’t know. No one did. The citadel itself bestowed the gifts on those of royal blood. I’d placed my hand on the stone, felt the stab of crystal as it bored into my palm taking what it needed to confirm my identity, to judge me, to light the spire.
My sisters would have matching scars in the center of their palms and I wished they were here so I could talk to them. Discover if the lightness in my head was normal. If the strange buzzing energy I felt building inside me was normal. If they, too, saw the flashes of light and dark I was seeing around people since I’d come out of the citadel.
If I was normal.
I rubbed the bloodied mark in my palm, my thoughts making me aware of the ache. It was nothing compared to what Leo had endured. Nothing. I refused to ask for a ReGen wand to heal the small injury when Leo lay bloodied and broken before me.
The Prillon doctor circled the room, apparently unconcerned, his presence providing a release for my tension. “How long does this healing pod take? He’s been in there forever.”
The doctor lifted his head. He was checking an adjacent pod, one that had already healed—and released—two other warriors. “Some wounds require several days of regeneration. Leoron was fortunate there was not more damage to his internal organs or nervous system. Stim torture can cause permanent brain damage.”
“What?” The doctor had officially lost his mind. He’d already told me the worst of Leo’s injuries, when I threatened him with bodily harm if he refused to detail Leo’s condition to me. Fortunately, Prime Nial and Jessica had been with me at the time. I hadn’t missed the small nod of Nial’s head that passed between the two warriors before the doctor responded.
My brave warrior had cuts and bruises everywhere, seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, bruised organs, his heart was in some kind of electrical shock and not beating correctly and his central nervous system had been nearing shutdown. That had made Prime Nial curse and storm out of the room. Something about illegal weapons, but I ignored him and stayed next to Leo’s pod until my knees were wobbly and Jessica wrapped her arm around my waist and led me from the room.
I’d been too damn tired to argue. But now? Now I was ready to hurt people if Leo didn’t wake up. And soon.
And no one had mentioned the prospect of permanent brain damage.
“He was indeed, fortunate, Princess.” Prime Nial stood across from me, staring down at his friend with almost as much intensity as I. “I do not approve of the risk you took, but Leo was very fortunate that your plan was a success. He would not have survived much longer.”
Fury poured into me. Cold. Hot. Both at once. I could barely breathe, but my mind raced with all the ways I was going to make those clerics pay. “I’m going to hunt down the man who did this and make him pay.”
The leader of the Coalition and ruler of his own star system didn’t even change his expression. “Do you think that is wise? You must think like a queen now. Every action you take will have repercussions. Added meaning and weight.”
“I know.” And I did. My mother had sent me to law school for a reason. I’d been a state champion in debate, on every leadership council and in every class that had to do with civics, law, and military history. I knew, but there were some lines I would defend. Some people were untouchable. My sisters. My mother.
And him. My Leo. I didn’t know about this mate business yet, but I knew Leo had suffered for me. Because of me. And the helpless rage I’d felt when I realized where he’d been taken—and why— I never wanted to feel that again.
“He is mine to protect. I will destroy anyone who threatens him. Anyone who harms him or my sisters.” My body shook with rage, my hands trembling on top of the glass, so I removed them, hiding them at my sides.
Here I stood, spewing threats of death and destruction, and Prime Nial actually chuckled. “I suggest you be prepared, your majesty.”
“Prepared for what?” We’d been staring down at Leo inside the ReGen pod for the past ten minutes. Even though the countdown on the machine’s timer made it clear when the healing would be complete, I had insisted we return to the pod early, just in case.
Leo looked the same now as he had long hours ago when the doctor had sealed him inside. His usually pristine uniform was filthy and torn. Dried blood remained caked to his skin. He looked just as injured now as when this pod put him into some kind of hibernation and the healing mode began.
Prime Nial lifted his gaze to me at the irritated tone in my voice. I was still thinking about hunting. Bounties. Soldiers storming the clerics’ building. But then Nial smiled softly, giving me a look similar to the one I’d seen when he looked at Jessica. As if I were cute. A Chihuahua puppy barking like a grown Rottweiler. His hand came out to pat my shoulder, but he stopped just before, as if he’d remembered himself.
Oh right. Your majesty. I wasn’t just Trinity Jones, Earth girl anymore. I was Her Royal Highness, Princess Trinity Herakles of Alera. It seemed there were rules. Protocols. Even for a Prime, who ruled multiple planets and colonies, as well as acted as commander for the entire Coalition Fleet.
“He will be completely healed, I assure you. That is why I want to prepare you.”
I frowned. He made no sense. “I don’t understand.”
His gaze darted to the timer, then back to me. “In less than a minute, your mate is going to climb from this machine and be very angry with you.”
“And horny,” Jessica added, the door to the medical bay sliding closed behind her. “Really, really horny.” She came up to Prime Nial from behind and wrapped her arms about his waist. Smiled at me. “Just remember, make up sex is really hot.”
“My love, there is no making up with us. Ander and I are always right.”
Jessica rolled her eyes at me. “As if.”
“Who hasn’t been able to sit down comfortably for allowing Princess Trinity to risk her life unnecessarily?”
Jessica lifted Nial’s hand to her mouth and kissed his palm. “It was hot.” Prime Nial truly had spanked Jessica for her help? Based on the way Jessica’s cheeks flushed a bright pink, and her eyes turned glassy with interest, I had to assume it was a yes. “And the make-up sex after was really great. That was a total win-win for me.”
Prime Nial growled but held perfectly still under her attentions. Who was the puppy now? “Just great, mate? Perhaps Ander and I need to do it all again to see if you still feel that way.”
I laughed at their banter. Clearly, they were in love. I hadn’t had much interaction between Jessica and Ander, her other mate, but I had no doubt that while it seemed Prime Nial was in charge, Jessica gave this mate specifically a run for his money. The way she winked at me, I could see the guy was putty in her hands. She’d turned the entire conversation around on Prime Nial and now he felt the need to go fuck his mate to prove his prowess.
Yeah, he might rule the free universe, but she ruled him… and he liked it.
The ReGen pod beeped, turning all of our attention back to it. With a pfft sound of a seal being released, the glass lid pivoted up. Leo’s eyes popped open as if he’d been pretending to sleep, then he sat up so abruptly, Prime Nial, Jessica and I all jumped back.
Leo’s gaze took in the room, as if remembering where he was, then moved directly to me. Didn’t shift away from me, even though Prime Nial was also in the room.
His big hands went to the edges of the pod and he hopped out.
“Mate,” he growled. “You are in big trouble.”
“Told you,” Jessica whispered.
Prime Nial had been right, although he didn’t gloat like his mate. Leo wasn’t injured. Other than being filthy and covered in dried blood, his eyes held the clarity of someone in perfect health. His spryness indicated his injuries were gone. But Jessica won the prize. Leo’s cock tented the front of his uniform pants. He was horny.
So was I. We’d fucked for two days, but my Ardor hadn’t been eliminated entirely. I’d felt it creeping back upon me, the hum of arousal building in my blood as time passed. It wasn’t as bad as before Leo had taken me the first time up against the bedroom wall, but if I didn’t get his cock inside me soon, I’d be right back there.
I also recognized my interest in him wasn’t solely driven by the Ardor. I just wanted Leo. As a woman wanting a man. It had been so good, he’d made me crave it. Crave him. I’d somehow forgotten how big he was, but the room was crowded with the long row of pods and he just looked… huge. His shoulders were so broad, his hands like big dinner plates, but I remembered how gentle they could be. The rippling muscles, the way his ragged breathing—and it wasn’t because he was in pain—made his chest seem even more expansive.
And now… with all that intensity focused right on me, I licked my lips and said, “Leo.”
He held up a hand stopping me from saying anything more.
I swallowed.
“I do not care that you are an Aleran princess. You are my mate. You are not to risk your life for me. You are more important. More valuable. I forbid you from pulling such a dangerous stunt ever again.”
“I’m royal, Leo. One day I will rule Alera”
“Yes, but you are mine. And I will rule you.”
I arched one brow and began tapping my foot on the smooth floor. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” he countered, his voice getting quieter, not louder.
“Perhaps it would be best if you took your… discussion to private quarters?” Prime Nial suggested.
Leo grunted his agreement.
“We didn’t have a discussion after I helped Trinity,” Jessica added with a grumble.
“Mate, would you rather I announce to every doctor and medical technician what they will really be doing?”
“Excellent idea, Nial. Thank you.” While Leo was speaking to the leader of Prillon Prime, his eyes were solely on me. Those dark depths held heat and frustration and a primitive… something that needed to be assuaged.
“Upper level, quarters six-four-three,” Prime Nial shared. “We will debrief. Later.”
“Tomorrow,” Leo replied. Before I could even move, he had me tossed over his shoulder and was carrying me out of the room.
“Leo, put me down,” I said, pounding at his back. “This is ridiculous. I can walk just fine.”
He harrumphed, but didn’t stop. “Yes, it is ridiculous that I have to remind my mate that her life is much more valuable than mine.”
“I can’t help that I’m a flipping princess.”
“It has nothing to do with you being an Aleran royal. It has to do with you being my mate. It seems I haven’t fucked you well or hard enough for you to realize that. I will be fixing that right now, and I assure you, you will not be walking just fine after.”
The threat made me shiver, eager to get on with things. It didn’t take long for Leo to reach the quarters Prime Nial had allocated for us. I didn’t see much of the main room except what I could around Leo’s ass, but the bathroom was large. I doubted most rooms were of this size, but then again not everyone on the ship was a princess. Or Prime Nial’s close friend.
Leo pressed buttons on the wall, which turned on the shower. Steam immediately began to swirl in the glass enclosure. He finally settled me on my feet and I stood, staring, as he tugged off his torn and dirty clothes, dropping them to the floor, most likely to be burned, or whatever one did on a battleship. Mother had told us about life on Alera, not outer space. As far as I knew, she’d never seen the inside of a battleship.
I couldn’t help but stare as every inch of him was revealed, but the dried blood was a visible and gruesome reminder of what he’d gone through. He stepped into the tube, began washing it all away. I hadn’t been in the cell where they’d held him—tortured him—for long, but I remembered.
“Mate, you have five seconds to strip and join me or I will be tugging you in as you are.”
From the depth of his tone and the way his eyes were still on me, I knew he was serious. That, and the fact I’d been carried like a sack of potatoes across a battleship.
I made quick work of the outfit and stepped into the warm tube when he opened the door. Without thinking, I took the soap from him, began to wash him. His cock was hard, just as I’d always seen it, the vein up the length pulsing with his life blood. The crown was broad and I remembered how it would stretch my pussy nice and wide for the rest of him.
“I’m sorry,” I replied, staring at his chest, his cock bobbing and bumping against my belly.
“For what specifically, mate?”
“For you being hurt.”
“That, Trinity, I could endure. What I couldn’t survive would be if you had been hurt. Captured. You have no idea what the enemy is like.” He stilled my hands with his, and I lifted my chin to look at him. The water beat down on both of us. Here, in this warm cocoon with him, I felt safe, like nothing could ever harm us. But that wasn’t the truth, the evidence of that swirling down the drain.
“I couldn’t just leave you to them,” I countered. “I was able to help and I did.”
“Unacceptable.”
The shower tube was snug, meant for just one person, or perhaps two normal sized people. But Leo was so big there was nowhere to go, nowhere to look but at him.
“Unacceptable?”
“I will not have you in harm’s way.”
“Even if you might die?” I asked, completely exasperated.
“Yes.”
“Well, that is unacceptable to me,” I said.
He took the soap from me, washed us both efficiently and thoroughly. While his touch wasn’t meant to be sexual, it was impossible not to be aroused. His hands were on me. Everywhere. My Ardor was making it hard for me not to lick drops of water off his chest. The water shut off and a hot wind turned on.
I let out a strange eep of surprise, but Leo put a steady hand on my shoulder. “You do not wash like this on Earth?”
“With a big, sexy man I can’t wait to—”
His jaw clenched and I stopped mid-sentence. I’d never showered with a man before. Never wanted to. With him? I was about to melt into a puddle at his feet. “I do not want to hear about other males. You are mine now.”
“No, Leo. I have never taken a shower with a man. And not with a full body dryer. We use cloth towels to dry off.”
He gave a slight shrug as the unit shut off. I wasn’t completely dry—my hair took fifteen minutes with a hair dryer—but Leo seemed satisfied enough to pull me from the tube and into the other room. He grabbed the corner of the blanket that seemed to have been spread across the bed with military precision and yanked it down. “While I do not expect you to have limited yourself sexually before we met, I am the only male you will shower with now.”
He sat, faced me and was still taller. With his knees parted, his balls were big and heavy, hanging down between his thighs, his cock jutting up and out. I could even see a bead of pre-cum slipping from the slit. “I am the only male you will touch. Kiss. Fuck. Do you understand?”
“Of course. I’m not a cheater, Leo. Do you think so little of me?”
He slashed his hand through the air. “The complete opposite. But it appears we need to put some rules in place, for Earth females seem to have notions that their mates are not in charge of their safety and well-being.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. Felt slightly ridiculous that we were arguing naked. “You think you’re in charge of… me? Of us?” I, too, waved my hand, indicating whatever the hell we were.
“Of course,” he repeated. “I am the male, the stronger one. Look at our size difference, our skill differences. I protect you. I cherish you.”
“What do I do then, lay in bed all day with my legs spread to service your big cock?”
His eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched and I knew I’d gone a touch too far.
With lightning fast reflexes, he gripped my wrist and tugged me forward so I all but stumbled until I stood right between his knees. “You are itching for a spanking, aren’t you?”
“You’re a Neanderthal,” I growled.
He sighed. “You are mistaken, mate.”
“Oh? About what exactly?” I asked, my tone snarky.
“I will make the decisions when it comes to your safety, to your well-being. That is non-negotiable.”
“And I can’t do that for you? Knowing I had the ability to save you from… from torture? That’s your safety and well-being!”
“It is not the same.”
“Because I’m a woman? A princess? This was one of the reasons I didn’t tell you. I might be a princess, but I’m still me.” I placed my hand between my breasts.