I ache to do such filthy things to her, and I can’t believe the extent of my vile desires. Seeing her here, so anxious and nervous, should inflame my protective urges. Instead, it just makes me want to pull her over my lap and make her cry for mercy with spanks of my huge hand.
I have to force my eyes away from her.
I’d never felt sadistic before. My Fated Mate is so tender and vulnerable right now, and so I force myself to draw on the protective instincts of my battle brothers; which I feel through the Bond.
That’s the power of a Bonded triad. Three warriors are not just more deadly than one – but with the shared Bond, we can each draw on each other’s mental strengths, and compensate for our individual weaknesses.
So, I draw from their protective aura, and it calms my dark desires.
I don’t want to hurt Natali. I do want to absolutely and completely dominate her, until she is mine for eternity, but that is an adventure for a later time.
Otho’s eyes are narrow as he considers my expression. I can’t hide anything from my battle-brothers, and I know he can feel my dark urges through our aura. If he can, then so too can Natali. My cock surges at the thought. I ache for her – and when I feel her aura answer back, that ache just grows.
Natali wants it, too. Some part of her wants absolute surrender to my domination. She wants to be a part of what I desire so strongly; and that is how I know we were destined to be Bonded.
I shift my gaze back to her, and she slowly puts her hands down.
She aches for my gaze.
I stare at her – at her body, and every inch of her ripe fertility. There’s no other woman in the universe who can give my life meaning like Natali can. She’s the one. She has given me hope for the future. I have more to live for now than just the ideals of my Empire – ideals that once led the course of my life, yet now seem so small and meaningless compared to her.
She has made me whole. Powerful.
Now, I can do the impossible – I can contribute to the Aurelian bloodlines.
Generation after generation of me took their last breath in one of our Aurelian cryo-chambers, wishing desperately that the next in line would be the one to find their Bonded Mate and be given the gift of propagating our species.
I’m the lucky one. I have found her. Now, I bear the responsibility to bring that opportunity to fruition.
Natali is nervous, but she loves the way I look at her. She can feel my desire. She knows she’ll never have to question my need for her. She’ll never have to doubt my adoration for her. Natali looks at me with those big eyes of hers, and I feel more connected to her than I have anybody else, except Otho and Lazar.
Her voice cracks.
“I must speak to my father.”
Her words jar me out of my fantasies.
“How will that help?”
“He outmaneuvered you by calling on the Aurelian Law Enforcement,” Natali breaths. “You didn’t plan for it. I suspect he’ll know how to get you guys off the hook – he didn’t want to burn his bridges, even with you.” Her eyes burn with belief in her father. “I just need to convince him to work on your side, not against you.”
Otho growls. “Not a chance. Once Law Enforcement have the scent, they’re like bloodhounds. Your father started this – but now, it doesn’t end until we’re behind bars.”
Natali bites her lip. “Then, where does your plan end? If you don’t try, it’s always going to deliver the same result. If you don’t trust yourself to keep me safe, how can I?”
Her words sting me, because they’re true.
I suddenly imagine it – taking her to our Reaver and stealing her away.
The Bond draws me towards this plan – but the Bond doesn’t care about the long term. It just wants me to steal this woman away and ravish her again and again, until she bears my sons. After that, the Bond has no interest, and even less foresight.
This is where the wits of a man are still important. I know that when the war comes to the universe, I can’t go at it alone, even with my triad standing beside me. What is the point of fathering sons to defend an empire, if that empire no longer exists?
No, I need to be part of the Aurelian Empire if I want to build something greater than myself – if I want to leave a universe worthy for my sons to be born in.
“It is the only way, Natali. By giving ourselves up, we may gain a lighter sentence.”
She walks up to me, her eyes pleading. Her aura begs for me to consider her words.
“Please, Brennan – you have to trust me.”
I shake my head, sadness filling me. This is the only course of action I see that ends with us all together.
“Every second we wait puts you in greater danger, Natali,” I warn. “Aurelian Law Enforcement could be on their way now, and they’ll cut us all down to get to you.”
Natali puts her hand flat across my chest, right over my heart. Her touch is delicate and tender, and my body stirs instantly response.
“Brennan – I hardly know you, but I want to. Please – we can find a way, I know it. I can find us a way out of this. If…” She gulps, her face flushed. “If we’re Bonded, it changes everything…”
She looks up.
“Doesn’t it?”
I stand, immobile.
“I need to know that you believe in me, Brennan. Please – don’t turn yourselves in. Take me with you. Take me in your Reaver. Let’s leave this all behind.”
The Bond thrums to awakening inside my mind. I
