She looked at me as if she would strangle me should her hands break free of the restraints. Through clenched teeth, she replied, “I’ll hold still.”
“Good girl,” Grigg said, moving to stroke her hair once again.
Amanda turned her head away from Grigg’s touch and I pretended not to notice the way his hand froze in midair, unsure. Grigg was never unsure, but I felt our mate’s rejection as keenly as he. The hope for an easy, uncomplicated mating shriveled in my chest into a cold, hungry thing. She was not what I had expected. She obviously did not want to be here.
I’d hoped for an eager bride, a woman to welcome us with open arms and a loving heart. I’d hoped for a bride gentle enough to calm Grigg’s rage. So far as I’d seen, Amanda was nothing but fire and resistance, denial and fear, and I wondered if the bride processing protocols had made a mistake. She was the first bride from her world. Perhaps the system needed further testing?
“Hold still, Amanda. I’m going to put my fingers on your pussy now. I need to ensure you receive the proper bio-implants.”
She remained silent, her thighs tense and quivering, with stress or fear I wasn’t sure which, and liked neither. I’d administered this exam for other warriors on board the ship dozens of times, always with a detached sense of duty and excitement for the warriors and their new mate. But this time, her pussy was mine. Her ass was mine. Her body, her fire, her surrender? Mine.
Her legs were bent, her feet in the supports, her ass and pussy on display, and suddenly I lost all pretense of clinical detachment. She was our mate, and I wanted to make her come so badly the air around me grew thick and I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to be doing. Gods, the wet scent of her musky arousal made my cock hard as iron ore.
Chapter Five
Conrav
“Rav.” Grigg’s tone was raw with need, but fully in command. I saw his nostrils flare as he, too, scented our mate’s desire.
With her head tilted away and her body tense, I would think her under duress. She’d given her permission and, as we had told her, her body did not lie. She liked her new position, being vulnerable and on display. It was her scent that betrayed her. It grew stronger with every passing second as if she could feel my heated gaze on her core, could sense the dark urges telling me to forgo the required exam, drop my pants and fuck her senseless. As Prillon, we were acutely aware of our mates in this way. We could scent arousal, the need to fuck, and used it to take care of our mates. It ensured a happy and sated bride.
“What? Is something wrong?” Amanda’s voice brought me back from the brink and I leaned to the side so she could see my face as I answered her.
“No, mate,” I cleared my throat. “My apologies. I shall begin the exam immediately.”
She settled her head back on the table, still not looking at Grigg, who stood on her right with a stone-cold, expressionless guise on his face. I knew that fucking look. He was hurt, hiding it, and about to do something stupid unless I gave him something better to do. I knew he could smell her eagerness for us. But, apparently, that wasn’t enough to calm him.
“Grigg, will you please hold our mate’s hand? This first part can be a bit unsettling.”
Both my mate and my cousin obeyed my directive, but I knew it was only because they had nothing else to occupy them. Still, Grigg’s heavy grip wrapped gently around our mate’s much smaller, more delicate hand and I sighed with relief when her fingers entwined with his, the creamy color a stark contrast to his darker gold coloring.
“All right, Amanda.” I was in full doctor mode now. “The first insertion will be the arousal stimulator. After that will be the nerve stimulus as well as the bio-implant device that will take care of your bladder and pussy.”
Amanda stared at the wall, ignoring both of us. “Sounds like fun. Go ahead and get it over with.”
Grigg growled at her fatalistic-sounding response, but I caught his gaze and shook my head. It was crucial we made our mate aroused and in need. She was scared right now, newly arrived and far away from everything she knew. She did not yet understand how much she meant to us, how greatly we valued her. But she would learn. Gods, yes, she would learn. Starting now.
I placed my hand on the inside of her thigh, on the softest skin I had ever felt, and tried not to take offense when she jumped at my touch. “Easy, Amanda. I promise there will be no needles, and no pain.”
She sighed and settled down and I shifted my hand lower, toward the glistening pink pussy I ached to taste. My balls grew so heavy they ached, hanging from my body like lead stones under my rock-hard cock, but I ignored the discomfort and lifted the wand to the entrance of her pussy.
The medical device was probably cool to the touch and I nudged her core, spreading her open bit by bit until I could begin the smooth slide, pushing it deeper and deeper into her wet heat.
One of her feet lifted from the support and she arched her back. “What the hell?” She sounded angry, and confused, but the exam was a requirement of the Bride Program’s processing protocols, and could not be skipped.
Grigg grabbed her foot and placed it back into the support. “Hold still, mate.”
With the probe fully seated in her pussy, the soft folds of her core folded around it like layers of silk, hugging it deep. I placed both of my palms on her thighs and attempted to reassure her. “The exam is protocol, Amanda. I’m sorry you’re uncomfortable. Would you prefer I summon another doctor to complete your testing?”
“No!” She gasped the word, as if shocked I would even suggest it. Thank the gods, because the idea of another male seeing her like this made me want to kill things and I doubted Grigg would even allow it. She was not yet safe, not yet ours. We hadn’t claimed her, hadn’t fucked her, hadn’t put our mating collar around her neck or our seed in her body, hadn’t made her scream her pleasure and beg us to take her. She was vulnerable, unmated, unclaimed. And so fucking beautiful I knew the moment we stepped out of the medical station, we would be challenged for her if our collar was not in place around her neck.
Grigg’s grip settled on her ankle, holding her in place. Unbreakable.
“Just—just hurry up.” Her pussy pulsed, clenching around the probe at Grigg’s dominant touch, her juices flowing around the blunt-tipped device where it remained buried inside her, the nerve stimulus and other pieces hanging from the end like dead weight, waiting to be placed on her body. Inside her body.
I got to business, attaching the implant insertion device over her and the clitoral stimulator atop her nub. Engaging the suction cup, I began with the lowest vibrational setting as I reached for the anal bio-implant want and lube.
Risking a quick glance at our mate’s face, I saw that she was biting her lip, panting. Her eyes were squeezed shut. Her free hand clenched into a fist and then loosened over and over as if she were counting, or fighting for control.