“Processing data?”
The warden flushed, her cheeks turning a bright pink as I tried to wrap my mind about what that meant, exactly.
“Yes. When she is sent off world, a bride is implanted with a Neurostim Unit right here. The same for coalition fighters.” She lifted her finger and tapped the bony protrusion of her skull just above her temple. “It will help you learn and adapt to all the languages in the Interstellar Coalition.”
“I’d be able to talk to anyone?”
“Yes. But that’s not all.” Her eyes darted away, then back to mine. “When a bride is claimed by her mate, the sensory data, what she sees, hears, and… feels,” the warden cleared her throat, “is recorded and used to mentally stimulate and process future brides to determine their suitability for that planet’s men and customs.”
Holy shit. “So, it wasn’t a dream. I was reliving someone else’s memory? That really happened?”
The warden smiled. “Oh, yes. Exactly as you experienced it.”
“To another woman?”
“Yes.”
Wow. I had no idea what to do with that knowledge. Did that mean that all men from Atlan were as dominant as the one in the dream? He’d spoken of a fever, a rage that only I—the woman in the dream—could tame. Did he mean he was hot for her? If that was what a dream felt like, I could only imagine how amazing it would have been if it had been real. God, that man, he was unlike any guy I’d ever met on Earth. That dream had been hotter than any experience I’d had actually taking a man to bed.
But it was a dream, at least for me. I shouldn’t linger on it. It was a mistake. I was going to fight for the coalition. I was going to find Seth. I didn’t have time to be distracted by lust. It was pure, mindless lust. I was thinking about killing cyborgs, and yet my nipples were still hard. Totally unacceptable. Duty first. My bottled-up libido would have to wait until after my brother was home safe. I had to find him, fight with him, and finish up our terms of service. Then we could go home.
I looked up to find the warden watching me closely. “You can still change your mind, Miss Mills. You will be matched to a warrior from Atlan. He’ll be yours completely, your psychological profiles and preferences aligned. He will be totally devoted, loyal, and perfect for you in every way.”
I remembered the hard thrust of the man’s cock, the way I’d moaned and squirmed against the wall as he took me. The powerful lure of being wanted, desired to a point of mindless fucking flooded me with longing. I could have that. I could have one of those big, rough lovers all to myself—
No. No way. I wouldn’t let my hormones turn me into an idiot. I had a plan, a purpose. I needed to find Seth. I did not need a hot man with a huge cock that could make me come just from taking me hard and deep. I sighed. Need? No. But want…
Damn. Focus! Duty first. I would not be weak. I had one brother left. One.
“I don’t want a mate, warden. I simply need to get to the front lines and fight beside my brother. I promised my father I’d watch over him and make sure he comes home.”
She sighed, clearly disappointed. “Very well.”
* * *
Dax, Battleship Brekk, Sector 592, The Front
“Get this soldier matched and mated,” my commanding officer bellowed, shoving me into the medical
station onboard the Battleship Brekk the moment the doors to the room slid open.
All workers spun around as the booming order echoed off the hard, sterile surfaces of medical exam tables and smooth, glass screens that covered nearly every square inch of the walls. Across their glossy surfaces flowed an unending stream of medical data, bioscans, and testing results of the patients on display.
A man in the gray uniform worn by the medical support staff dashed forward. “We will need you to schedule an appointment—”
“Now!” Commander Deek shouted. “Unless you want an Atlan berserker in beast form tearing apart this ship.”
The medical officer jumped a foot and nodded his head as a doctor hurried to take over. She was wearing the formal green uniform of all high-ranking doctors, but she was small and delicate, nowhere near big enough to stop me if the frenzy I felt building within were to break free. I fought back the fury in deference to the tiny female, thankful the huge Prillon doctor I spied on the opposite side of the medical station wasn’t standing before me now. My reaction to the woman was telling. Commander Deek was right. I needed a mate to calm the beast. Didn’t mean I liked the idea.
“It can wait,” I grumbled, not eager to be the center of everyone’s attention. The thick rumble of my voice was further evidence of how close I was to the edge of control. I’d been feeling the call to mate for weeks and had ignored it. There was always another battle, another Hive outpost to destroy. I had a job to do, and my body was no longer allowing me to do it. Instead, my cock and my mind had become tuned to just one need: the need to mate, to rut, to fuck until I couldn’t see straight. I needed a mate to calm the beast, or the beast would consume me until I was nothing but a mindless animal. And now, everyone on board this ship would know just how badly I needed to get laid. Mate or die. That was the way for an Atlan male. We were too powerful to be allowed to go feral. If I didn’t mate soon, the other Atlan warriors would be forced to execute me, as was their right.
I knew all of this, and yet I had truly believed I could hold off the mating fever just a few more weeks. I’d be home, then. My service to the coalition military served. I’d be free to choose any woman on the home world. I’d be a victor, sought after and fought over by the smartest, most beautiful, the most desirable females. If I could just make it home.
“I wouldn’t have to scare the staff if you had told me your mating fever was upon you,” he countered, releasing his grip on my shoulder.
“I don’t see what that has to do with my performance in the last raid. I’ve got it under control.”
“You rushed straight into our line of fire and singlehandedly took out an entire squadron of Hive scouts. The last two you did not simply shoot. No, your beast demanded their heads be ripped from their bodies.” He crossed his arms and scowled at me. “I’m not some ignorant Trion commander. I’m Atlan. I know the signs, Dax. Your beast nearly claimed you out there today. It’s time.”