Grigg was grinning. “This is Commander Zakar. I can confirm Captain Trist’s location. Initiate transport.”
“Thank you, Commander. Transport will begin momentarily. Trion out.”
The comm went dead and I stood, stunned. Seconds ticked by, then the commander slapped me on the back. Hard. “Congratulations, Trist.”
Mate? I had a mate? I’d been matched? To a Trion female?
Captain Wyle was smiling like he’d just made a kill. “Fuck me, Trist. An Interstellar Bride.” He slapped me on the other side of my back. Harder. “Lucky fuck.”
Trist, Transport Room 3, Battleship Zakar
* * *
I stood alone before the transport pad, the transport tech the only other person in the room. The commander had been more than happy to dismiss me to see to my mate. Captain Wyle seemed almost… jealous as I left. I didn’t know what to think, didn’t understand. Why me? Why now? It had been five years since I’d been tested. Five long years of waiting, and I’d pretty much given up all hope. I’d stopped wondering ages ago if I would ever have a bride. I had assumed I was an impossible bastard and a true match would never be found.
But now? Fuck. Somehow, I had remembered to go to my quarters and retrieve two collars from
my drawer, the place I’d shoved them when Nevo had requested to be released from our agreement. When Captain Myntar’s second had been lost to the Hive, the captain, along with his mate and son, had been left behind to go on alone. His second’s death was the very reason every Prillon male chose a second. No female or her children were ever left alone and unprotected.
The tragedy meant Captain Drake Myntar’s family had needed a second protector. Drake was third on command in the battlegroup, a good friend, and I could no more deny a female and child protection than I could deny my friend a chance at happiness. Lady Mara Myntar was a beautiful Prillon female and she’d accepted Nevo with open arms. The new family had been together for more than two years, their bond strong.
I was happy for Nevo but had not bothered to find another Prillon second. As I hadn’t thought I’d ever be matched, I hadn’t considered anyone for the role.
Now I was out of time. The hum of the incoming transport vibrated through my body and my mate was appearing. Now.
In the blink of an eye, she was there. Sprawled across the metal raised floor was a naked female. Her face was delicate and beautiful. Exceptionally feminine in comparison to the sharp angles of mine. Her hair was long and darker than wine, a deep brown that I found fascinating. I couldn’t wait to see that dark silk spread out across my golden chest. Her curves tempted me to reach out and stroke her skin here. Now. Her breasts were large and full, the nipples a deep pink that matched her lips.
I longed to spread her thighs wide and find out if her pussy was pink as well. Or brown. Or golden.
Something primal in me woke, something I’d never felt before. Possessive. My cock went instantly hard and my entire body grew tense with the need to protect. Mate. Claim.
Mine.
“Turn your back!” I growled and leapt up onto the platform to shield her from the view of the transport tech. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him spin about and stare at the far wall.
I knew from other mates who’d been sent from the Brides Program that the females were transported without clothing, leaving behind all vestiges of their previous planet. It was a Prillon tradition, a way to ensure the female was fully prepared to be immersed in Prillon life.
But now, with my mate before me, unconscious, vulnerable and every inch of her soft perfection on display, I did not like it.
“Get me a blanket from the emergency response kit.”
I heard the tech move about, but I stared solely at her. I didn’t even know her name. I thought to ask the tech who would have received her file from the processing center on Trion, but I decided to wait. I wanted her to tell me. I wanted to know what color her eyes were, and what her voice would sound like when she was crying out my name.
My cock thickened, lengthened with an immediate need for her. She was not adorned as a mated Trion female normally would be, but perhaps it was because she was mated to me. I did not need piercings or chains, jewels or any other fanciful decoration on my mate. Just looking at her lush body was all I needed to be pleased, to be aroused. To be possessive in the extreme.
“Captain?”
“What?” I snarled, curling my body over her so he would not see anything precious.
“Sir, your blanket, but I can’t make it up the steps without looking.” He was Prillon and understood. I didn’t remember if he wore a collar, if he was mated or not. This was a moment I should have shared with a second, but I was thankful for his understanding since I was alone. For now. Finding the beautiful female a second worthy protector would be one of my first priorities—after I’d claimed her. Looking at her now, I knew I could not wait to find a second before making her mine.
I respected the tech’s good judgment in attempting to maintain my mate’s modesty—and keep his head upon his shoulders—but I didn’t want to look away, even for a moment. Irrationally, I worried she might transport away. She was still a dream, a figment of my imagination that I would guard jealously.
It was this wave of jealousy, of fear I might lose her, that caused me to remember the collars. I opened one, the green one of my family, and placed it about my neck. I only felt the heft of it but nothing more.
Per protocol, she must agree to the placement of my collar about her neck. Once she did, I would have thirty days to seduce her. Love her. Give her every reason in the universe to choose to stay with me.
I reached behind me blindly, grateful when I felt the press of one of the soft blankets in my palm. “Thank you.”