“Never mind. So, Lieutenant, why did you sneak in here?”
“Because your mate refused my more polite request for an audience.”
“So you took out nine guards and ambushed him at home?”
“Yes, I did.”
That made her smile widen with understanding. “Let me guess, this is about your mate.”
When I nodded, she leaned into Nial’s touch. “All you alpha males are so predictable. So, who is the lucky lady?”
I wasn’t sure she was lucky in her fate to be stuck with me, but she would be loved. Protected. “Vice Admiral Niobe.”
She froze. “Oh my god. Yes! Finally. I have to call her.” She leaped up from her perch and moved to me, leaned down, kissed me on the cheek. Before Ander could protest too much, she moved into his side, cradled there like a treasure… which she was. “I am so excited. I love her. We’ll have to come visit. Right, Nial? We can go to the Academy and visit them soon, right?”
“Of course, love. Anything to keep you happy.”
Ander led her away, and I grinned as I watched them go. When I turned to Prime Nial, it was to find him watching me. Understanding passed between us.
“The vice admiral was raised on Earth,” he said, but I knew what went unsaid. His mate was from Earth. Passionate. Intelligent. Strong-willed.
“Yes, and her father was an Elite Hunter. She is fast. Strong. Wild.”
He chuckled. “Go. Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.” He shifted in his seat, his hand going to his cock to adjust it in his pants. “Leave, Hunter. Ander is busy reminding our mate who she belongs to, and I would join them.”
It was my turn to laugh as I placed the transport beacon back onto my chest and pressed the button that would take me home. Home. To her.
Niobe.
14
Niobe, Coalition Academy, Ziorian Forest
Hunt for me.
The three word challenge I’d left for my mate should have been delivered to him by now. The transport system had notified me the moment he left Prillon Prime. The moment he’d left the Prime to return to me.
I knew what he’d done. The Coalition’s core computer system had alerted me to Quinn’s new status as a lieutenant in the Coalition Fleet, to his incredibly high level I.C. clearance, and his status as my personal bodyguard.
He would answer to me now. Me and Prime Nial. No one else. Which meant he would escort me from now on. Every mission. Every meeting. He’d be by my side, protecting me, keeping me safe. And when the meetings were done?
Then I’d take off this uniform and submit to him. He would be in command.
The thought made me shiver with anticipation. Need. Somehow, he’d figured out a way to make this work between us without asking me to sacrifice who I was.
It made me love him more.
I was several miles from the Academy. Several miles from anyone. I knew I was alone in the forest. I would hear others if they approached. I would smell them. Being with Quinn had encouraged me to embrace the wild side of my nature, the Everian side. And it felt normal. Good.
That, and I knew no one would dare enter these woods because I’d given strict orders that this section of the forest grounds was forbidden until I gave the all clear.
Which meant it was off limits until tomorrow, after Quinn and I were finished with the night air, the fresh scent of dirt and leaves and sex.
Sitting upon a fallen log, I waited. I knew the transport tech would
give Quinn my note. Those three words would set off the Hunter in him. Knowing he would come for me set something off in me as well. Arousal.
I ached for Quinn. Longed for him. But to say our mating had been easy so far was laughable. Did Kira and Angh have this much trouble? Had there been the Hive and intense battles and possessiveness to deal with?