MINE! [New World Book 8] (12 page)

Becky laughed, and he liked the sound. “And that’s why chocolate is a life saver.”

Huck jumped up and went to the replicator, sensing the hint when she winked at him. He brought her back a cold glass of chocolate milk. While she drank, he centered his thoughts on all the different moves she taught him. Warriors battled, but he believed some actions were a boon. The element of surprise was priceless. Becky went to return the glass when she was finished. Huck pulled her into his lap when she returned. The last move she taught him was from a position he’d seen other human females in, unwilling females. The idea made him thoughtful.

“Did you ever use that move on any of the men on your shuttle?”

“Jack. Once. He and the others learned a valuable lesson. I knocked Jack out, and when he came to I warned them joking was one thing, but if they ever meant what they did for real, I’d kill them. I meant it.”

“It must have been hard living with those men day after day, always on guard.”

“They were bored mostly when they teased. It wasn’t all bad.”

Huck lay them back on the thick comforter. He stroked a lock of hair from her eyes. Being gentle wasn’t something he was used to. She was gazing up at him.

“Thank you for teaching me battle moves,” Huck said. “I have to admit that is one sentence I never thought I’d say to any female.”

“I think I like you.”

Huck smiled, because he could sense she was fonder of him than she realized. It was because of the bond. In time, the feeling would grow stronger.

“Each time we join, we’ll grow closer,” Huck said.

“Is that a hint?”

“Only if you want it to be. We joined, you did as I asked. You know what to expect. I’m in must and since we bonded, my body is crazy to have you again. You’re a drug.”

She snorted. “You should talk.”

“My fangs create a substance to soothe and relax. I can immobilize an enemy in a second if I come into contact with exposed flesh.”

“One word about disembowelling and I’m out of here.”

“Not one word,” he promised. “While in the midst of an orgasm, I’d be annoyed with you bellowing ‘Oh, cupcake, you feel so good.’”

Becky laughed and so did he. “Why do I feel so close to you?”

“I think it has to do with you being human. Your emotions. Tonan females have emotion but not to your extent. My shield figures out one emotion then gets jumped on by another. I’m cruel enough to say I’m finding my shield’s perplexed frustrations funny.”

“Is your shield a separate entity?”

“Yes and no. It’s part of me and not. I stopped trying to figure out what we mean to each other long ago. My shield takes care of me, protects me. It will protect you when we mate—if we mate.”

“You said before I’d die if we mated, if you died.”

“I’m afraid that’s part of the deal. We become intertwined. If you lost half of you, you’d die. My shield can protect you if we mate. It can close around you to keep you safe, to keep me safe. We would be so close I could enter your dreams. I would know where you are at all times. Sense what you are feeling.”

“Intense.”

“I like that word so much better than cupcake.”

A hesitant finger rose and she traced his lips. Huck captured the finger between his teeth. His sense of play returned. She pulled back but he refused to release her.

“Huck, let go.”

“Un-uh.” He winked at her.

“If I agree to kiss you, will you let go?”

Huck let go. Leaned down and pressed his mouth over hers. The emotion of excitement wafting from her encouraged him. She wanted him; he sensed she did which made him excited to have her. Huck pinned her beneath him.

“Have you ever wanted a warrior?” he asked.

“I did. I do.”

“No fear.”

Her breath was expelled in a whoosh. “No fear.”

Huck gripped her shirt in a fist and watching her, he tore it slowly down. She continued to watch him. He could see her pulse in her throat. He slid one finger into her shorts and shielding a single talon he sliced up ripping the material. Her breath stopped as she stared at the razor sharp talon.

Shielded, he would crush her and he scooped her up around the waist, pulling her onto him. Her legs were on either side of his waist. Almost all of his shield went up. He lay back as she straddled him and though his desire to turn her and bury within her was strong, he wanted her to see him. Many hours a day he spent shielded. This was part of who and what he was. He knew she thought the shield was ugly but when they mated, this ugly shield would become one of her best friends.

“If we joined like this, is it you taking me or your shield?” she whispered.

Huck knew she couldn’t see him grinning. “My cock is mine. My shield can mix with my essence only if I allow. If we were mated, I could pull you into my shield while we joined.”

“Um.”

“If you call me cupcake, I swear I’ll program chocolate out of the replicator.”

“You want me to know all of you.”

“You are never to fear anything about me.”

Becky placed both hands onto his hard grey chest. She glanced at his talons resting on her hips. She leaned forward and watching his expression, she kissed his shield. Overdrive didn’t begin to describe the shield’s reaction. Acceptance was something a Tonan rarely experienced. A shield was feared. In that single kiss was both acceptance and not a trace of fear.

There was no shield between her hips and his and she gasped when he thrust up and entered her. He used no calming fluid this time. His talon hands kept her firmly in place while he gazed at her.

“What do you see, Becky?”

“I see you.”

Huck dropped his shield and flipped her over. She cried out when he thrust as deeply as he could.

“Let me be your warrior.”

She gripped his neck and pulled him lower. She lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist and began to move to meet his thrusts. Huck’s power built with each touch. Her moisture flowed through his veins and since she gave him permission last time, he sank his fangs into her throat when his size grew.

Inside his shield was buzzing to create everything strong, everything loving and perfect his son would need. His son would be given the best of Huck and the best of his shield. The child and the shield wouldn’t have the same issues as Huck did in the beginning. He wanted to love his child, and this time the shield was going to the right son, the wanted son.

Happiness washed over Huck when Becky came, her warmth and acceptance seeped into his being. She lay limp in his arms.

“What is that strange noise you’re making?”

Huck watched Becky wash in the stall. There were words coming from her mouth, but they sounded linked together. The tone wasn’t unpleasant but foreign.

“Humming and singing,” she replied. She turned to gaze at him. “Don’t Tonans sing?”

“I’ve never heard anyone sing or hum.”

“Not even your mother?”

Huck thought hard. “Nope. Nowhere in my history do I remember sounds like those. Make them again.”

Huck crossed his arms and leaned against the stall, head cocked, his ear tuned to listen. Becky began with the words, words he knew, but strung together to make a story with a tune. There were lines she repeated and soon Huck was repeating them with her. Becky was grinning at him.

“You should sing more often.” She stepped from the shower as the door opened on her command as Huck recently programmed it.

A large warm towel was draped on a chair, he handed it to her. The towel molded to her, drying her and soon she was dressing. When finished, she came to him and wrapped her arms around his middle; her chin rested on his chest, she gazed up at him. Enough of her bare flesh was against his skin, telling him she was hungry and tired. He needed no words.

Since the couple’s bonding, his shield and Huck came to an understanding. He was allowed to be a bad ass warrior and kill, or want to kill, but he was always to be gentle with Becky. He could live with that. She shifted to press her cheek against him and her tummy rumbled. With a gentle nudge, Huck set her from him and went to replicate some food. In the last three days, he had come to understand her passion for chocolate.

He set the steaming plate of food in her hands, along with a mug of hot chocolate. With hands on her shoulders, he turned her.

“Go eat and then lay down. I know you’re tired, I sense it.”

“Of course you do,” she mumbled as she walked away.

Huck knew theirs was a strong bond; with him being over a thousand years old, he thought it might be. Her innocence aided the connection by handing over the ultimate trust. Many warriors of his father’s kind felt the need to mate after turning a thousand. Most fought the urge. A mate made them vulnerable; if Becky died after he mated with her, he would die. His father’s kind of Tonan was loath to give up a piece of shield; selfishness was killing their breed.

Huck went to check the configuration on the console. He wanted to sleep with Becky on a few comforters, the bed was too confining. Her nightmares could be soothed with a touch, but he wished he could enter her dreams and see what they entailed. His bond mate had witnessed a horrific life changing experience. He knew it had to do with the death of her father.

Turning, Huck stopped short as motion caught the corner of his vision. His senses were invaded next.
Damn.
Heart pounding, he faced the console. A Tonan mother ship glided into their path. If he tried to run, he would be blown out of the sky, Becky would die. The Tonans would then decide whether or not to bring him aboard as he floundered in space. If they chose to leave him, he would float for a month before his shield depleted. He would have a month to agonize over his bond mate’s death. The idea was infuriating and for the first time in his life, he hated other Tonans besides his birth father.

“Becky, stay put. Do not come out, we have company, bad company,” Huck bellowed.

The Tonan ship sent a small blast letting Huck know he better open communications. Taking a deep breath he flicked the button. He wasn’t shielded,
when they see no tail
...

His commander stood arms crossed feet apart glaring at him. “You appear to be lost.”

“I’ve been all over the galaxy, not once have I been lost,” Huck replied.

“You’re approaching Castian territory.”

“No kidding.”

“Been looking for a mate?”

“I’ve been looking for a lot of things.” His shield twitched then decided a half truth was fine, his shield stayed down.

“Bring your vessel aboard.”

The
or else
was unmistakable. “I’m done with you. Your kind, my father’s kind, killed us. I want nothing to do with a damned race. You’ve killed your kind.”

His commander scowled.

“Then die like your mother’s kind. Unless you’re your father’s son. Your real father. No play on words. Explain your actions. Evil wouldn’t search out Cobra without a reason.”

Huck didn’t know what to do. His captain was wondering if Huck had a plan, he did but not the kind the captain was thinking. Of course Huck was thought of as evil. If he lied and played their game of lies it would affect his mate. But if she was dead, it wouldn’t matter. Becky’s life was in his hands.

“Damn it, wait,” Huck yelled.

Before he could do anything else the Tonan ship was blasted with a rapid series of red explosions. Becky cried out from the other room loud enough to be heard. His commander slammed his fist on his console.

“A female is with you. You traitor.”

The idea made Huck blink. These Tonans had no loyalty, it was impossible to be a traitor when the trait never existed. Another ship appeared in his line of vision. Huck didn’t know if he was relieved or anxious. A blip on his console and Huck knew it was the time of reckoning. Huck flipped the switch opening a new line of communication.

“This is Cobra, leader of the Castians. Identify yourself shuttle craft.”

“Cobra, my name is Huck. I’m a Tonan warrior and I ask for asylum. Whatever you choose I hope you think fast, because we’re about to be annihilated. I have a human female on board. She’s not my prisoner, but if my ship is destroyed I have no way to save her life.”

As he spoke, he groaned when a massive flash of white headed in their direction from the Tonan vessel. The blast would terminate the shuttle. Becky was as good as dead. At the last moment, Becky bellowed and raced from the room being trailed by a Gorgano.

“Huck, what the fuck is this ugly thing?”

The Gorgano would blow her up first, Huck felt his panic rise; he should have known there would be Gorgano on the Tonan vessel.

“Becky don’t let it into your thoughts.”

She stood there staring at the creature while the Gorgano clenched its fists. The gangly naked, bald creature cocked its head.

“Butt fuck ugly, dude you look like you’re trying to pinch a loaf,” Becky said.

Huck didn’t know what to do first, his shield slammed over him and he watched as the Gorgano was picked up and flung into a wall. Huck moved without thought.
Kill it
. His shield’s thoughts slammed into his mind. Talons raised, he sliced the Gorgano in half, then quartered it, his shield was that pissed. Huck reigned in his surprise; he never knew his shield could be so predatory.
Protecting my mate—my, babe, holy hell.
Becky threw up. She glared at him.

“Ew, stop doing that. There’s overkill and then there’s you.”

For a second Huck paused. The shuttle hadn’t been blown to bits. Cobra had extended his shield. Huck dropped his shield and gathered Becky to his chest. He walked her to the console. Cobra stood eyeing them from the monitor. The Tonan ship fled.

“You handled the Gorgano well, female,” Cobra said.

“I have no clue what you mean,” Becky said.

“She’s telling the truth, Cobra,” Huck said and grinned. In that single instant he felt it, the flicker of life. “My son kicked the Gorgano’s ass.”

“You have mated the female?” Cobra asked, his confusion was apparent, Huck had claimed he couldn’t protect her.

“We bonded. She didn’t want to mate, and a mate has a certain scent when forced. I want to join you. I’ve never forced a female in my twelve thousand years.”