I buried my hand in her hair at the base of her neck, tugged it back so she could do nothing but look at me. Through the collars, I felt her arousal at the slight nip of pain at the rough hold. I didn’t say a word, didn’t need to remind her of my dominance. Only then did she practically melt in my hold, submitting so beautifully that every protective instinct I possessed came roaring to the fore. I pulled her close for one more, hard kiss. “I love you, Chloe. I know it's probably too soon to tell you, but I wanted you to know in case—”
She lifted her fingertip to my lips and stopped me. “Don't even say it. And I love you, too.” I knew the truth of it even before she spoke the words. Felt it from my collar, to my heart, to every cell of my body. Hearing her say them settled something in my chest, something hard and resolute, something unforgiving, something absolutely determined I return to her. This wasn’t over. Far from it. The Hive weren’t going to rob me of her.
Our fingers entwined as I walked her to the command deck. The door slid open and Commander Karter was there, his arms crossed, a scowl on his face. I could tell by the look in his eyes he was relieved to see her…and that worried me.
“Welcome to the command deck, Commander Phan.” Commander Karter raised his arms and ordered everyone to be silent. “Officers, this is Commander Phan, formerly of the Intelligence Core. She's ours now, and although she's no longer technically a military commander, she has years of experience in the battlefield. She’s come to us as an Interstellar Bride and I have given her the rank of Civilian Commander. You will follow her orders and give her all due respect.” He turned back to us and held out his hand, indicating a chair in front of a complex communications array. “Commander, your station.”
She squeezed my fingers tightly and I pulled her into my arms once more, uncaring who watched, and whispered in her ear, “I love you, Commander. Stay out of trouble.”
“I love you, too. Now get the hell out of here so I can do my job, Captain.” Her smile made me grin and I nodded with respect to Commander Karter before stepping back.
Chloe was fire and sass and I loved everything about her.
The door slid closed, locking her away from me and I turned back toward our private quarters. I needed to shower and prep for the day, be ready if I got pinged. I’d rather stay and wait for Chloe, but I’d be nothing more than a parent dropping a child off for the first day of kindergarten. I was whipped. Completely. I admitted it. At least to myself. Dorian was, too, but he wasn’t here for us to commiserate. We were probably the only two male fighters in love with a commander.
I grinned even as I picked up the pace. Chloe wasn't the only one with a job to do.
Dorian
* * *
I was awakened by Seth stirring in the room. I heard a boot hit the floor, then the other. He stuck his head in the door to the bedroom.
“Where’s Chloe?” I asked, finally awake enough to realize I was alone in bed.
“I just walked her to the control deck. You sleep like the dead,” he replied.
“Chloe wore me out.” I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face or the way my cock swelled. “Why don’t you get some more sleep?”
He raised a brow, shook his head slowly. “I’ll share a bed with you, but only if Chloe’s between us.”
“I can’t believe she’s our bride and she’s off on her first day of work as Commander Phan,” Seth replied. “Not Lady Mills.” The words were tinged with bitterness.
I climbed from the bed, grabbed my clothes off the floor, worked them on. “We can’t be angry with her for being smart and successful in her career.”
I was quite proud of her, actually. But that didn’t mean I wanted her going out into battle any more than Seth did. Good thing she couldn’t. For once, I was thrilled with the rules and order of the Coalition.
“I hate that we can’t know her past. It’s like there’s this fucking gap of four years about her we’ll never know.” He unstrapped his thigh holster, set his ion pistol on the table.
Someone was a cranky bastard this morning. Considering we’d fucked our mate into exhaustion last night, Seth should have been a whole hell of a lot happier than he was. He didn’t look or act well fucked. He was behaving like a child whose favorite toy was taken from him.
“Fuck, this hard-on isn’t going down. I kissed her in the hallway and, shit, I’m ready to have her again.” He sighed. “I can’t go to a briefing like this. My superior would have my hide. I’d never hear the end of it.”
I could relate. My cock was wide awake this morning and ready for another round with our mate. We’d worked her hard, but she’d loved every minute of it. We’d dominated her all night long. I said as much to Seth. “I bet she’s squirming in her desk chair.”
“I took the plug out before we left.”
The thought of her with an ATB plug in her ass, stretching and preparing her for our claiming, had pre-cum drip down my cock head. “Still, I’d be surprised if she’s walking right.”
That got a grin out of Seth. “She said she’s achy.”
I groaned. She wasn’t the only one. My balls were going to ache all damned day until I could sink into her again.
“I have to go shower and take care of my dick before I can go anywhere.” He tugged his shirt over his head, let it fall to the floor as he strode out of the room. I heard the bathing tube kick on. He was out of sorts. I couldn’t blame him. We had a mate, a mate who wasn’t between us in bed, all meek and tame. No, Seth had to be matched to a feisty, submissive commander of the fucking Coalition.
She was perfect for him, for us. The fact that she was strong-willed, independent and full of sass just made us both want her more, made her surrender in the bedroom that much sweeter.
So we’d check on her, but let her do her job. Then when she finished, we’d strip her bare at the door, leave her role as commander there, too, and clear her head of everything but us.