Valan's Bondmate

Valan’s Bondmate

The Zarronians

Book One

By

Mardi Maxwell

© Copyright May 2015 Mardi Maxwell

Digital ISBN:: 978-1-943275-90-8

Print ISBN - 978-1-943276-38-7

All cover art © Copyright May 2015 by Mardi Maxwell

All rights reserved.

Artwork by Harris Channing

Table of Contents

History

Glossary of Zarronian Terms

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Epilogue

Books by Mardi Maxwell

Excerpt from :Thorn’s Bondmate by Mardi Maxwell

DEDICATION

For all of my dear friends, near and far. Some of you are authors and some are readers but each and every one of you enrich my life. A special thanks to my editor, Lynne St. James and cover artist Harris Channing. You rock!

History

For centuries the peace loving inhabitants of the Xenti Galaxy passed down the tales of the fierce and relentless Zarronian warriors. According to the elders the warriors were the guardians of the galaxy and only appeared when the Xentians were threatened. After centuries of peace, the younger Xentians dismissed the tales as myths until the bloodthirsty Wrothians attacked Xenti and the Zarronians appeared.

The war lasted for ten annuals but ended when the Wrothian leader, Selik ad-San, discovered the Zarronians most closely guarded secret—the warriors were plagued with a mating fever and could only share the fever with a Zarronian female. If they didn't find a mate by age thirty their fever burned out of control, ending the warrior's life. Selik ad-San and his first in command Gorm ad-Jai attacked Zarronia with a virus designed to kill the females but leave the warriors alive to suffer and die of the fever.

Enraged and grief stricken by the deaths of their bondmates, daughters, and sisters, the Zarronians planned a final, ruthless battle. After ten cycles the Wrothians' were defeated. The Zarronians, ever honorable, allowed the retreat of two Wrothian worldships filled with females and children.

The Zarronians returned to their home planet believing they would soon be extinct. Their warrior instincts willed them to find a way to survive and they searched the universe for compatible females. After eight annuals a genealogist found a diary in which his ancestor revealed he'd bonded with a Wrothian female. When he reported this to the High Council they swore him to secrecy and ordered three of their older starship commanders to find the Wrothians. The search took two annuals but eventually they were found on Zhang where they'd been forced to settle when their damaged worldships disintegrated.

The High Council informed the warriors compatible females had been found and revealed their identity. For two moon phases the warriors refused to take an enemy female as a bondmate. Finally the High Council declared any warrior who refused to bond with a Wrothian female would be stripped of his warrior status. Rather than lose the most important part of their lives, the warriors eventually relented and planned the raid on Zhang.

Glossary of Zarronian Terms

Zarronian Time Terms:

Nano-unit: second

Micro-unit: minute (80 nano-units in a micro-unit)

Unit: hour (80 micro-units in a unit)

Cycle: day (30 units in a cycle)

Moon phase: month

Annual: year

Sun rising: dawn

Sun zenith: noon

Darkening: midnight

Birth cycle: birthday

Zarronian Terms:

Female: a woman

Kourtisan: a mistress

Male: a warrior usually, sometimes other males

Bond: the act of a warrior sharing his mating fever with a female

Bondmate: a female who has accepted a warrior's fever

Mate: a bondmates' warrior

Saber-cat: a large ferocious cat-like creature, black fur with purple eyes

Stinkgoat: a stinky goat-like creature. It produces pungent milk and cheese

Versnake: a small colorful snake, aggressive and deadly

Wolfen: a huge wolf-like animal, bronze colored fur and bright aqua eyes

Tor: Zarronian god

Chapter One

Zarronia

Valan Eirikson kicked the blankets away and for a moment the cool air in the room brought blessed relief from the mating fever burning in his veins. Next to him, his kourtisan, Morna, shivered then moved closer and snuggled against him. He savored the coolness of her skin then grinned when she moaned and slid a silky thigh over his belly in invitation. She wasn’t the kind of female to fall in love with a warrior but prolonged exposure to his fever would make her crave him. A situation he wanted to avoid which meant he'd have to free her from their arrangement soon.

"Valan." She snuggled closer to him.

He lifted her leg over his hip as he rolled onto his side and slid his hand to the small of her back. He rocked against her and his cock slid between her legs. She was hot and wet and welcoming. He probed and found her opening, then burning with need he thrust into her a few inches then withdrew and slid in again, going deeper with each thrust. A groan of pleasure left his lips when he slid all the way in. He pressed, hard, before withdrawing and thrusting again.

She pulled him closer. "Faster, Valan." When he complied she sighed, and then tightened her arm around his shoulder. "Oh, yes, like that."

He rolled until she was beneath him, and wrapped her legs around his waist as he increased the intensity of his thrusts. She tightened around him. A small cry of pleasure burst from her lips when she came and his own orgasm began as a small explosion then grew in force. He tightened his hands on her shoulders.  At the last moment he fisted the sheets, tearing through them as intense pleasure exploded outward from his cock and every nerve in his body lit up, shaking him.

For a few precious seconds a blue mist glowed on his skin and the heat left his body before it returned, hotter and brighter than before. His harsh breaths filled the air in rhythm with the pounding of his heart. Burying his face against the cooler skin of her shoulder, he clenched his hands until his fingers ached. Wanting to howl curses at the gods for giving him a body that betrayed him, he pulled out of her, rolled onto his back and stared at the shadows on the ceiling instead. With every passing month, his fever grew stronger and harder to control. Even the use of the medication the doctors developed, ZL3, no longer helped him maintain control when he was forced to use it.

Without a bondmate to share his fever and accept his seed his death was imminent. The knowledge salvation was at hand made the situation worse. He wanted to live. But the thought of an enemy Wrothian female living in his home as his mate sickened him.

Morna brushed her hand over his hair and leaned on one elbow looking down at him. "Sometimes you look so fierce you frighten me."

He cupped her shoulder then ran his hand down her arm. "You have nothing to fear from me. You know Zarronian warriors don't harm females."

She straddled his belly and stretched her body as she gathered her hair and let it fall down her back. The silky curls brushed over his cock, increasing his arousal.

"I’ve heard the other warriors talk about the Wrothian females. It doesn’t sound like that rule will apply to them."

"They are the enemy. They'll be treated as kourtisans and if they don't behave they'll be treated as prisoners."

"Zarronians don’t take prisoners," Morna said.

Valan's expression hardened. "We do now."

She stroked her fingers down his chest and scooted back until his shaft slid through the slick seam of her vagina. "I want to know what will happen to me when you return from Zhang with your Wrothian mate."

Her question didn't surprise him. Morna was a survivor and an adventuress. She’d traveled to Zarronia with his friend and First in Command, Cam Gunnarson, but the moment they’d met she let him know she was available. He'd accepted her offer and Cam laughed, wished him well, and went to pursue another female who caught his eye.

Morna took to the position of a starship commander’s kourtisan as easily as he handled a fire sword. Eager and willing in bed, she almost never nagged. He suspected she dallied with other warriors while he was away but wasn't concerned. In fact, he’d hoped she’d find another warrior and move on, but so far she’d been tenacious in her determination to stay with him. An issue he'd have to resolve soon.

A sharp poke in his ribs drew his focus. "Morna, watch yourself. You know better than to question me."

"She won’t like my being here."

"She’ll have no say in the matter." He grinned and nipped her finger as she traced his mouth. "Massage my head."

She placed her hands on the sides of his head where a warrior's tattoo showed through the closely cut hair.

"You Zarronians aren’t so tough. All you want to do is have sex, drink, eat, gamble and have your head rubbed. In that order."

"You left out fighting. That comes first above anything else."

Morna traced her fingertips over the tattoo, sliding her fingers through the long strands of hair growing from his forehead to his nape and down his back. He hummed his appreciation and wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling her higher on his chest.

"Why do you do this?" She tapped the sides of his head.

"It's our way."

"I've seen warriors with the same tattoo but sometimes they have more or less stripes on theirs. What do the stripes mean?"

"One for each brush with death." He moved his head until her fingertips brushed the top of his ear. "Rub there."

"I was told Zarronians didn't have scars but you have several. Is that why?"

"If the wound is severe enough it will scar." He moved his head. "Scratch."

Morna laughed and obeyed his command. "I’d always heard Zarronians were attractive but I didn’t believe the rumors until I arrived here. Even the older warriors are gorgeous and sensuous. Nearly irresistible."

Valan growled a warning then caught her sly smile and knew what she doing.

"Does it make you jealous to hear me talk of other warriors?"

"No. Just don’t play any of your games with my father. He’s not as forgiving as I am."

She rolled her eyes. "You’re not forgiving at all. I don’t think you even have a word in your language for forgiveness, do you?"

"No. Actions speak. If someone offends me they make amends or they die."

"I’m not sure it’s safe to be your kourtisan. You have too many enemies." She shrugged then slid her hand down his body, making his stomach muscles ripple beneath her fingertips. "I’m going to have to find another sponsor. Your bondmate will have rights and she won’t accept…"

Tired of her probing, he lifted her away from him, and rose from the bed. Ignoring her protests, he pulled on a pair of black leather pants. As he laced them they automatically adjusted to his body, forming a protective second skin. He shrugged into a black leather vest and fastened the chains holding the two sides together.

His thoughts weren’t on what he was doing or his companion, instead they were on the past and the war with the Wrothians. While he and the other starship commanders searched the universe for compatible females, many warriors passed the age of bonding and died. It was a galling irony that the very race that had come so close to annihilating them would be the one to save them.