Paige's Warriors (Bondmates Book 3) (10 page)

“Stay back.”

The man with him smirked then disappeared around the corner of the building. That left her with the guy in the combat gear, and he did not look happy. He snarled, and she screamed at the sight of his enlarged canine teeth. Shit, a vampire. She was going to be killed by a vampire, and not a nice one either. There was a certain gleam in his eye that let her know he meant business, that he was looking forward to hurting her. It was the same gleam she’d seen in her father’s eye before he began kicking her.

A small flash at the end of the alley distracted her for a moment and the huge man closed the distance between them with another snarl, a long black blade in his hand that surely meant bad things for her.

Taking in a deep breath to scream again as she turned to run, her noise was suddenly cut off by the unexpected sight of Cormac stepping from the shadows. He snarled, his canine teeth also long and deadly, before he fired…something at the roaring man while he shouted in a growl loud enough to vibrate her bones. Whatever Cormac had hit the man with, a glowing green orb, it quickly ate through his body until there was nothing left but slime that was hardening as she watched.

She probably would have fainted, but a nice man was there to catch her.

“Be at ease, Paige Grant. My name is Nosa. I am a friend and you are safe.”

She tilted her head back and found an unfamiliar man with the darkest skin she’d ever seen, muscles on top of muscles, and silky black hair that went down to the middle of his back in a tight braid. While he was big, Tren was bigger, and she didn’t get any type of negative vibe from him. If anything he had a very kind smile, dimple and all, but her mind was still trying to figure out what she’d seen.

“Did he melt?” she asked in an unsteady voice.

“I beg your pardon?”

He had a nice accent, like Tren’s but thicker. “Melt, like the wicked witch.”

Cormac slowly approached them. The thing he’d used to turn that guy into goo was gone. And so was the goo. Fear hit now that her shock was lessening some, a cold sweat stinging her skin as tears began to surface. Sometimes, when she was really afraid, like right now, her whole body would shake with adrenaline. She hated it, hated this visceral overreaction to fear because it made it hard for her to do anything but curl up into a ball.

“Ms. Grant,” Cormac said in a soft voice. “It is all right. You are safe. I am your friend, and I am here to protect you.”

“Protect me? What the hell was that about, Cormac? Did you just zap that guy into a puddle? Did you
kill
him?”

“Yes, I did. He was a slaver seeking a bounty on you.”

“A slaver? Like-like slavery?”

“Yes, slavery.” He exchanged a look with the big guy still supporting her. “Though he should not be in this galaxy. Somehow he made it through the wormhole.”

“Damned slavers,” Nosa snarled. “I must inform Lord Rell.”

“And I will tell the Commander once he awakes from his healing sleep.” Cormac frowned, his body tensing when a car passed the alley. “I will deal with Ms. Grant. You take his remains back to the ship.”

“As you wish, Admiral.”

“Wait, deal with?” Utterly and completely confused, Paige looked up in alarm at Cormac. “What are you going to do to me?”

“I am going to make everything better. The silver thorn of a
nyval
, a really nasty insect, erases memories without any harm. Do not worry. I will only take away this unpleasant encounter. You will have enough to deal with during your Transition already.” He took a deep inhalation, then nodded. “It has already begun. I knew the Commander had nothing to fear. You were meant to be.”

Before she could stop him, he jabbed her in the arm with a tiny silver thorn and everything went dark.

***

Fourteen hours later she lay in her bed, sweating and shivering at the same time as she bemoaned her fate.

Gourmet ice cream her ass. That fancy-dancy ten-dollar ice cream had made her sicker than a dog. At least she thought it was the ice cream. The hospital said food poisoning could have come from a variety of sources she’d run into contact with, not just a half gallon of iced hot chocolate rocky road ice cream. Maybe if she hadn’t eaten almost the whole container she wouldn’t be feeling like such poop.

Food poisoning, the fourth case this week according to her small local hospital. So far the origin was unknown, but case workers were trying to put together profiles of everyone suffering from food poisoning of an unknown origin. She knew all this because Mrs. Westfall, while frantically searching for Casey, still took the time to take Paige to the ER. Paige had protested at first, but after she’d barfed for what felt like six straight hours, she needed the anti-nausea meds the hospital gave her.

Casey’s mom was strung out, but hiding it well, and Paige did her best to hold it together. Thankfully Casey’s mom had gone straight into nurturer mode and seemed to have found strength in the role. She took care of Paige just like she always did and at times like this, Paige was so thankful to have Mrs. Westfall in her life. The woman had practically adopted her and was always there when Paige needed a mom. By the time she left, with the refrigerator stocked with food and the small apartment sparkling clean, Casey’s mom had a real smile on her face. Once Mrs. Westfall was gone, Paige had crashed for eight hours. She’d probably still be sleeping if her empty stomach hadn’t awoken her.

Thankfully, the nausea had eased and as she slowly turned onto her side the dizziness abated. A few deep breaths later she was shuffling across the room, her muscles unbelievably sore and her whole body aching. Especially her chest and pelvic region. With a frown, she cupped her breast and gave it a small squeeze, gasping at the pleasurable sensation.

“What the hell?” she mumbled.

After using the toilet, she jumped into the shower, needing to wash the smell of sickness off her body. She wrapped her hair into a bun on top of her head, not having the energy to deal with all the maintenance long hair required, and lifted her face to the spray. As the water washed over her body she let out a long sigh, the sensation almost like a lover’s fingertips skating over her skin. With a start, she realized she was rubbing her nipples instead of washing her breasts and shook her head briskly, trying to clear her mind and focus on getting clean, not getting off.

It worked long enough for her to get out of the shower and dry off, but as she rubbed lotion into her legs she found herself pressing her thighs together.

Maybe now that she was feeling better her body chose to remind her of the orgasm it had been promised, then denied, by Tren.

She hoped he was okay and wondered if she should try to contact him. Then again, maybe she’d wait a little bit before seeking him out. He hadn’t given her his cell phone number and the thought of going to his house, alone, and facing dozens of huge men was not something she would do.

Slipping on her lavender lounge pants, she had to grip the edge of her dresser to steady herself before she fell on her butt. Her pussy was swollen and already the gusset of the lacy cotton panties she wore was damp with her arousal. Images of Tren kept bombarding her, filling her with a wild craving for his touch. The memory of his taste, the feel of his large hands on her, his mouth seducing her, the way he’d suckled her nipples, all had her shifting restlessly. Maybe she could get Roxie to come with her to the house where Tren was staying. Then again, that might be a bad idea. Last thing she needed was Roxie going all crazy bitch on the man she intended to kiss until neither of them could breathe.

A sharp pang darted between her legs, her arousal so sharp she was a breath away from grinding on the side of her dresser.

No, seeing Tren right now wouldn’t be a good idea. No matter how much she wanted him, he was a stranger, and she had to be careful. Even as she thought this, she knew deep in her heart that he would never hurt her. In fact, she felt safer with him than she had with anyone in a long time. Her pussy tightened again, feeling incredibly empty, and she moaned.

Okay, she’d go drink a gallon of water, eat a banana, then she could go back to bed and masturbate then go back to sleep. By the time she woke up this peculiar arousal will have faded, and she could seek Tren out without jumping him and licking every inch of his massive, hard body. Yes, she’d be clear-minded and would get some explanations from him as to where the heck he was, who he was, and why he was so interested in her.

With this goal in mind, she stumbled into her living room, only to scream her head off when Tren moved out of her small kitchen.

He darted to her side, shielding her body with his. “Where is the danger?”

His unexpected response, and the heat of his hard frame against hers, shut down any fear she’d had. “What the hell are you doing here? Did you break in?”

Instead of answering her, he merely looked down at her and smiled wide, then took an audible sniff as she tried to push him away. “You smell like
mine
.”

“Are you on drugs?”

Her skin buzzed pleasantly as he abruptly leaned down and rubbed his satiny lips against her throat. “Being in your presence is intoxicating, bride, but I am not on drugs.”

“Bride?” She took a step back, her butt hitting the small divider between her living room and kitchen. “I think you need to leave.”

His smile grew. “I like your breasts much better without those constraints Earth women like to wear.”

She cupped her breasts, trying to ignore how sensitive they were, how Tren’s silver gaze focused on her fingers as she gave them a small squeeze to ease the ache. “That’s it, get out.”

Instead of moving away, he stalked closer, the clean white T-shirt he wore clinging lovingly to his impossibly hard body. “I can taste your need in the air, bride.”

“Why do you keep calling me a ‘bride’?” He ignored her again and swept her up into his arms. “Hey, what are you doing?”

“I will ease you.”

“Ease me?” She smacked his chest, trying to pretend she was hitting him instead of molesting him. “I said put me down. I mean it.”

He stopped moving and frowned down at her. “You do not wish for me to feed your arousal?”

“Feed my arousal? What the hell?”

Her phone chose that moment to ring, and Tren tightened his grip on her. “It’s Casey’s mother calling to tell you Casey stopped by the house to let her family know she is alive and well.”

“What?” She went slack in his arms. “What—how could you possibly know that? Tren, put me down, that’s an order.”

“As you wish.”

She tried to avoid his body as she slid over him, but her awareness of his every move was off the charts. Snatching her phone from the old green tile counter that had seen better days, she turned her back on Tren and tried to pretend he wasn’t there, that some kind of crazy heat wasn’t radiating from his body, that she couldn’t feel how turned on he was.

Sure enough, Casey’s mom had called and as she listened to the woman in disbelief, she turned to stare at Tren.

Once the message finished, her phone slid from her numb fingertips. “That was Casey’s mom. Casey’s…okay. And married. To two men. I think they’re friends of yours…odd names.”

“Lorn and Nast,” he confirmed in a low voice, his features carefully blank.

“Yeah.” She swayed a little bit on her feet. “Casey’s okay.”

“She is.”

“And married.”

“We call it being bondmates.”

“What?” Her voice came out breathy, and she shook her head quickly, trying to clear her head. “What are you talking about?”

“What you call husbands, we call bondmates.”

Leaning against the counter, Casey put her hand to her forehead, checking to see if her fever had come back. “She can’t be married to two guys. That’s not her. She’s not a hoochie like that.”

Tren frowned, the look so dangerous she should have been quaking in her socks, but it only annoyed her. “What is a hoochie? It does not sound complimentary. I thought you were close friends.”

Flushing, she tugged at the edge of her shirt. “Yeah, sorry, that was very judgmental of me. It’s just that…I can’t picture Casey with two men. It’s weir—err, odd to me.”

“Would it help you to accept their union if you could see her together with her men?”

She sucked in a deep breath of air. “You know where they are?”

“Yes, they are near the base where I am staying. At Casey’s former home.”

“I need to see her, now. Take me to her.”

He hesitated, taking a step closer to her as she grabbed her purse and a deep brown leather jacket from the closet. Normally she’d take the time to get properly dressed, but after thinking that Casey was
dead
she had to see her friend. The whole two husband thing was just weird, and as she thundered down her steps with Tren in tow she had a hard time catching her breath. Not just because of the adrenaline racing through her, but because she was a curvy girl, her thighs brushed her sex with each step and it felt really nice.

Too nice.

The late afternoon sky was cloudy and gray, with the scent of a summer storm on the horizon. She normally loved weather like this, the promise of rain in the air and the crackle of thunder in the distance, but as her thin sandals smacked the asphalt of the rear parking lot she threw a look over her shoulder at Tren. Her whole body shuddered, and she found herself staggering a step.