He called my name, the sound an agony of arousal. Need.
Hunger.
He’d already hunted me down, found me in the forest. Now I challenged him yet again, roused his mating instincts, urged the Elite Hunter within him to track and capture and claim his mate.
I raced with everything in me, not wanting to be caught too soon, needing to run, to enjoy the thrill of being chased. This was fun. Play, even naked. And as much as I needed Quinn’s strong arms around me, his cock filling me, stretching me wide, I needed this, too. So much.
As hard and fast as I moved, I sensed him closing in on me, his nearness like a buzz of electricity over my skin. He was toying with me now, letting me stay just out of reach, playing. Teasing. Making me burn.
His scent filled the forest and I circled around in a wide arc back to my original trail so I could track his scent, breathe him in with the night and the forest and the singing insects. This was who I was now, with him. Only with him. I was as wild as the animals, as free as the wind that blew my hair from my head in long streaks of darkness behind me.
I felt him seconds before he tackled me, rolling us to the ground, using his body to break my fall.
He was naked as well, and I realized he must have taken the time to remove his clothes, that sexy lieutenant’s uniform, to give me a head start.
I flung myself at him, wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.
After a second of being stunned by my enthusiastic welcome, his hands settled on my ass, held me to him and rolled me beneath him in the soft leaves, his cock thrusting inside my wet core as we moved.
His cock thrust inside me, making me his, making him mine, and he gave over to the kiss, to the need.
He tasted like… Quinn. Hot, spicy, dangerous. Mine. We were both ravenous. Wild. I didn’t remember lifting my legs and wrapping them around his waist. His cock was pressed deep inside my pussy. I wanted to whimper and buck beneath him, touch my clit, get myself off. It wouldn’t be hard to do, but I resisted. I would let Quinn decide the when and how of
my pleasure. That idea alone had me craving him even more.
Our movements slowed to something gentle, tender, and when he lifted his head, our gazes locked. Held.
“Why?” I whispered, studying his face. “Why did you go to Prime Nial?”
“Because I might be part Atlan.” He jerked his hips forward, hitting something dark and needy inside my pussy and I gasped. Groaned. Clung to him.
I frowned. Atlan? That didn’t make any sense and I was having a hard time thinking straight with his cock stretching me open. Wide. Full. “What?”
Shifting again, he rubbed his rock-hard abs against my abdomen, shifting his body so that he rubbed my clit as he rode me, plunged deep. “I swear I have an inner beast where you are concerned. I never doubted your abilities. Never. I am proud of who you are, mate. Proud that you are mine.”
He couldn’t stop, his groan of pleasure matching mine as my pussy clenched down on his cock like a fist. I raised my hands over my head and kept them there, arched my back, surrendered.
“By the gods, Niobe.” He buried his face in the hollow of my neck, used his hands to lift my hips off the ground, angle me for deeper thrusts. I cried out, lost. I didn’t care if he was Everian or Atlan or a monster; he was mine and I needed him.
“Quinn.” My voice was barely more than a whisper, but he heard me, the sharp nip on my neck proof of that as I begged to come. “Please, Quinn. I need you. I…”
He stopped moving and I sobbed, but I listened, which was what he demanded of me. “I am proud of you, but I am an Elite Hunter beneath the lieutenant uniform. I am not tame, mate. You brought out instincts in me I didn’t know I possessed. I could not control my need to protect you. Going to Prime Nial, demanding to serve as your personal security asset, was the only way I knew to protect you and keep you close to me.”
“But your freedom? What about your family on Everis? Your job?” He was an Elite Hunter, even I knew they were in high demand, and not just for use by military commanders. Private rulers on many worlds hired them for various jobs. They were rare. Valuable. Their services cost a fortune and they chose whom to serve, and whom not to.
By accepting a commission as an officer in the Coalition Fleet, he was now under Prime Nial’s command. The Prime could send him on missions, order him to obey, and if Quinn refused? He’d be sent to the brig. Imprisoned.
He slowly shook his head. “I spoke to Prime Nial. His mate is human, like you. He understands what I am dealing with.”
I gasped, ready to defend all women of Earth, but he nuzzled my neck and pulled out, thrust forward. My protest turned into a shudder of pleasure as ripples moved through my pussy. He was huge. Stretching me. Filling me up until I couldn’t breathe, let alone think. “Can we finish this conversation later?”
“No. Listen to me, Niobe, and understand. From now on, my job is protecting you. Caring for you. Being with you. I don’t give a shit about rank. Prime Nial and I came to an understanding. I answer to you, mate. I take orders from you when we are in public. You and no one else.”
“Me?”
“You.” He nibbled his way to my lips, each kiss melting my heart a little more. “Prime Nial has given me top level clearance, including within the I.C. I go where you go. No questions, no arguments.”
I lowered my hands and buried my fingers in his long, golden hair. Silk. So soft on something so hard. And strong. And mine. “Okay.”