All the heat that had flooded my body drained from me instantly. The front? Warship? Battle? I knew Prillon brides were kept on battleships. I knew it before I was sent here. But the reality of being trapped on a ship during a real battle, where things blew up and people died, was suddenly terrifying. No longer abstract. Dangerous and scary and real. “I can’t go into battle. They must have made a mistake with my match. I have to go home.” I tried to shift and climb off the bed, but I realized I wasn’t going anywhere with Zane’s large body blocking my way. I also remembered I was naked under the sheet.
He scowled, and the expression turned his features into those of a predator. Scared now, I felt my eyes grow wide as I tried to back away from him. That seemed to anger him even more and his gaze darkened and his nostrils flared. “You aren’t going anywhere, nor shall you speak of leaving me again. I have tasted your desire, Hannah. We are very compatible.”
“But battle…?”
“You are afraid,” he commented, his eyes watching me carefully.
“Of course I’m afraid! We’re in a ship in the middle of space, in the middle of a war. I don’t want to die.” My heart pounded against my chest and I struggled in Zane’s hold, the bitter taste of panic flooding my mouth.
“Silence.” He raised a hand. “You are perfectly safe, Hannah. This is a Prillon battleship. My battleship. We have never lost a battle, little one. Do not question my ability to protect you.”
I shook my head, suddenly recalling every sci-fi movie battle scene in my mind. “What if the ship crashes? Or blows up? What if your ship gets boarded by aliens and they take prisoners? What if I get transported onto another ship? Or taken by your enemies? What if you get killed and some other man tries to claim me?”
“I am your mate and you will not have another. There is no place safer—no one safer to be with than me. Your mate. And you need not worry about being alone. I have named a second, as our custom demands. You will always be cared for and protected. Always.” While he stroked a finger down my cheek, he added, “I have been too soft with you. I understand now why the protocols for claiming a bride were written. I shall not break them again, nor give you an excuse to choose another.” He took my chin and tilted it up with his thumb. I couldn’t help but meet his amber gaze. “Forgive me, mate. I will see to your care now, as I should have from the beginning. I will not fail you again.”
For some reason, his mercurial mood swings, from sexually aggressive, to anger, to this tenderness, made my eyes burn. What the heck was wrong with me? Was it the possibility of imminent death? Was it the transport? Had it scrambled my brain? I had no idea what to say, so I simply nodded.
“Good girl.” He stood and I immediately missed the warmth of his leg pressed to my thigh through the sheet. When his back was turned, I licked my lips, where his exotic taste lingered around my mouth.
He strode to the door with purpose, waited for it to slide open and nodded to someone I could not see. He turned around and another male followed him back into the room. They looked similar, but the other Prillon warrior had dark gray eyes. He did not wear the mottled armor that Zane wore, but a deep green with an odd symbol on his chest that I did not recognize.
“This is Doctor Mordin. He will complete your examination now.”
I froze and held the sheet tightly to my chest. “I had a complete examination on Earth. I don’t need another one. They confirmed my health. Surely, they sent you a report.”
Zane crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Hannah, you will obey me in this and allow the doctor to complete your examination. I must care for you, and you traveled through three transport centers to reach me. I will not neglect your health.”
“You said we are headed for battle. Shouldn’t you be focusing on more important things? Like cleaning your ray guns, or something?”
He took a step closer so I had to tilt my head back. “I do n
ot know what a ray gun is, but it does not matter, mate. There is nothing more important than you.”
“But… but I’m fine. I—” Words failed me when Zane growled.
“Do you refuse to obey?” Zane’s tone was harsh but the doctor, I could see, was hiding a grin behind whatever odd devices he had carried into the room.
Obey? I could tell that the mighty Commander Deston wasn’t used to being disobeyed, but I didn’t want another stupid alien touching me right now, even if he was a doctor. “I don’t need an exam.”
“You are acting like a spoiled child.”
My mouth fell open. “No, I’m not.”
“I can see that you will need a lesson in Prillon discipline, little one. I had assumed the rules of your submission would have been included as part of your preparations for transport, just as your body was prepared according to our customs.”
Prepared? I frowned and pulled the sheet away from my body and glanced down. I… I had no hair between my legs. None at all. I rubbed my thighs together and it felt… smooth. God, what else had they done to prepare me?
“This must be corrected immediately. Instead of knowing what is expected and obeying, you will be shown what happens when you don’t. You are my mate and as commander of this ship, I must set the example for my warriors. I will not tolerate a disobedient mate.”
What the—
He crossed the room in two steps and ripped the sheet from my fingers. I screeched, but his stoic face was cold and hard as ice, and completely unmoved. Before I could even think about scrambling off the bed, he reached for me. Without any effort at all I’d been lifted, turned, and then resettled face down over his lap with both legs trapped beneath his left thigh, my stomach pressed into his right, and my bare bottom sticking up in the air like a naughty girl waiting to be—
Whoa. Where had that thought come from?
“What are you doing? Let me go right now!” I was mortified. The doctor stood behind me, with a clear view of my ass and pussy. Zane’s legs trapped mine with the force of an unmovable mountain, and his right arm was pressed to my bare back, holding me down.
“You will not disobey me, mate. I cannot allow you to disregard your own health. Nor can I have you running around the ship disrespecting me in front of my crew.”