Chevon's Mate Read online

  A flick of his tongue, then Chevon lifted his head to kiss her inner thigh. His fingers continued to work her body, his thumb moving to rub at her sensitized clit while he began to kiss a path up her body. Reaching her breasts, he teased a nipple before sinking his teeth into the flesh enough to jolt her body. “That feels so good.” Even though it was pain, she felt nothing but pleasure.

  Turning his head, he treated her other breast to the same, adding a light scrape from his teeth before he moved to kiss her. He slipped his tongue into her mouth to tease her own, driving her need higher with each passing second. When he broke the kiss, he nipped at her lips and pulled his fingers free from her body. She might have made a complaint had he not settled his body over hers so his cock rubbed through her swollen folds.

  Laura looked up at Chevon, her whole being frozen in this moment with him. “More.”

  Wrapping a hand around her throat, he tipped her head back and took her mouth in a deep, demanding kiss. His other hand wasn’t slacking either. It slid down to cup her ass and lift her to a better angle while he rocked his hips against her, his cock sliding over her clit. He let her throat go, and she felt him reaching between them, the pressure of his cock to her opening making her squirm.

  Laura cried out when he finally entered her body.

  Chevon hooked an arm under her leg and lifted it up as he began to thrust. He gave her another kiss, then pressed his face to her throat. “Let go of the headboard.” Nipping at her throat, he rocked his hips faster, thrusting in deeper.

  “You are my everything, Laura Troxell,” he said suddenly. “I am never letting you go.” Hooking her leg around his waist, he cupped her face and pressed his other arm against the mattress. It altered the angle he pushed into her body and gave him more range of motion to tease her higher.

  She closed her eyes, biting her lower lip harder as she arched up into him. “Good, we belong. Forever.” She demanded everything from him because she was giving him every part of herself.

  “Forever. I will not accept anything less, Laura.” Resting his hand over her heart, he maintained eye contact as they rode closer to the edge of completion. She felt the first tingles deep inside, not only her approaching orgasm but the most intimate connection she’d only heard rumors about.

  The teasing brushes of his soul to hers shocked her. She had only heard stories about this bonding, this joining of the two souls. She pressed her hand over his heart. Nothing less than forever for the two of them. The tingling raced up and down her spine. The knowledge that they were coming closer to that full bond had her gasping. “Chevon…” She was lost. She felt their souls bonding, could have sworn she saw the two merging, his soul filling her now empty space with his warmth and irresistible perfection.

  Then the world truly exploded. The rush of the orgasm tried to sweep her away. Only the strong hold of his arms held her in place, giving her the anchor she needed. On one level she was aware of everything he felt and was aware of, while on another all she could do was feel his body pressing hers deeper into the bed when he collapsed, shuddering, over her. The whisper of his words against her ear helped to settle her more. “I have you, always.”

  She was breathing roughly, as hard as if she had been running at top speed. “And I have you, always,” she told him as she settled in close to him. Her eyes were damp, like she’d been crying. She had never done that. Never had so much pleasure.

  His fingers against her cheeks had her turning into the touch. “Laura, are you all right?” Concern colored his voice as he turned her face toward him, his lips brushing her other cheek through the tears wetting her skin. “Talk to me, little one.”

  “I’ve never been better.” She leaned into his touch and smiled. “I’ve never felt anything so soul-shatteringly perfect before,” she confessed. He rolled them until she was on top, his hand on her lower back.

  She closed her eyes as his thumb lightly stroked her body. She sighed happily, then pulled back to look at him. “I think that I might love you, Chevon.”

  “I am a lovable person so it is perfectly understandable you would feel that way,” he said in a deadly serious tone. Then his lips curved, and he cupped her face to pull her in for a kiss. “I love you, too, little one. You are my world, my heart, my every breath.”

  “Thank goodness I’m not the only one who feels that way,” she whispered, then let out a breath. For a moment she’d been so sure that it was too fast to say that to him. “I still feel your soul inside of mine.”

  “I can feel yours, too,” he said quietly. “It’s like the missing piece finally has been slotted into place, and I realize what I’ve been missing for so long. Who I have been missing in my life.”

  Her arms were wrapped around his waist and she simply held him close. That was all she could do at this moment because of just how good it felt to be this close to him. Skin to skin. She pulled back to look into his eyes. “Is it nap time?” she asked with a grin.

  “It’s definitely time for us to sleep,” he said. He rubbed a hand over his face and let out a breath. Then he lifted the sheets up to tuck around her. “Rest well, little one. Tomorrow we get to sleep in late, and you have me for the day.”

  Chapter Nine

  Laura sat at Chevon’s side on the crawler as it moved through space to dock with Petr’s ship. She was huddled in a cape with an oversized hood. How Chevon had been able to get her to the docking bay and into the crawler without anyone seeing them, she would never know, but she wouldn’t question it either. She was clinging to his hand with hers, his thumb gently rubbing over her fingers in a soothing motion. She knew she needed to calm down, but that was easier said than done. The crawler lurched as it adjusted trajectory. She looked up at Chevon when it felt as if all movement had stopped. She wanted to say something but didn’t, not when she wasn’t certain if he trusted the people with him.

  He squeezed her hand and shook his head ever so slightly. Knowing he was telling her to remain quiet, she pressed in closer to his side. Chevon dipped his head and for a brief moment rested his cheek to her forehead before he sat up straighter.

  “We are on final approach to the fleet admiral’s cruiser. We have clearance. Should only be another couple moments, sir.”

  “Thank you,” Chevon said. He looked to her, and one corner of his mouth tipped up in a smile. “Almost there, little one,” he said under his breath.

  She nodded. She felt the slowing of the crawler, then heard the metal on metal when they landed inside of the fleet admiral’s vessel. She squeezed Chevon’s hand once more, not moving. He had said they would be last to leave the crawler.

  The security detail left the cruiser, and she heard Malek speaking with someone. Then she saw the first officer’s boots turn in their direction. A couple seconds later Chevon stood and tugged on her hand. He tucked her hand under his arm and led her from the cruiser.

  She kept her gaze down and the hood covering her features as she walked along at Chevon’s side. They made several twists and turns until they were waiting outside of someone’s quarters. The door opened and Laura heard a woman’s voice, then the deep sound of a man’s voice as well.

  They walked into the room, the door closing behind them with a snick of a sound. When Chevon told her she could pull her hood back, she did just that. She smiled at the other man and the woman whose arm was wrapped around his waist.

  “Laura, allow me to introduce Fleet Admiral Petr van Jahnsen, and his soul-bond mate, Samantha Henry. Petr, Sam, this is Laura Troxell, my soul-bond mate,” he said to the other couple. “You can speak freely with them, Laura,” he told her quietly.

  She bowed her head to both. “It’s lovely to meet you.” Laura saw the woman, Samantha, observing her closely and smiled. “I am Craegin. My eyes are much different from theirs.” Her eyes were obsidian black with a thick outline of sky blue. Even among her people, her eyes were unique. Laura thought that Samantha looked different as well. She seemed far softer than anyone from either the Craegin or I
marian sides of life. She had a sparkle in her eyes, one that spoke of mischief and something else that Laura had never seen before.

  “You have beautiful eyes,” the woman said. “I’m different, too. I’m human, not Imarian.” The love on the woman’s face when she looked up at her husband was clear for Laura to see.

  “It doesn’t matter where you were born, you are mine,” the fleet admiral said. Then he leveled bright green eyes on her, and Laura felt herself being judged. Or maybe dissected was a better term, given she was damn sure he could see straight into her. “Come in and sit, both of you. You can remove the cloak here, Laura. No one will disturb us. Although when Bryerly finds you are here, Chevon, you may regret not giving her a heads-up.”

  “I’m going to assume you took great pleasure in sending a crew member off to let her know I’m here?”

  “Of course.” Giving a sniff, the admiral suddenly smiled. “Serves you right for the grief you gave Tarek. Now come and sit down.”

  That’s right, Laura thought to herself, his cousin was on this vessel. She couldn’t believe she had forgotten that. Then again she had been so stressed out she didn’t blame herself too much. “Thank you for allowing me on the vessel as well. I know this is a risk for you.”

  “We do not discriminate on my cruiser,” the admiral said. “Chevon is an old friend, too, and I will do what I can to help.” Laura followed the admiral and his mate to a lounge area, then took the seat offered to her and settled in close to Chevon when he took the seat at her side. “Thank you for any and all help that you can give to us, Fleet Admiral,” Laura told Petr with a bow of her head.

  “Call me Petr.” He sat down across from her, then pulled Samantha into his lap. It was clear that the couple loved each other greatly. It warmed her heart to see just how much they seemed to care for each other. “Chevon tells me that you will be able to hopefully get information to my home world? Able to help me make sure that my brother and his lover pay for trying to kill me.”

  “Yes, I will be speaking to my brother-in-law about everything you tell me. Given his position, he’ll be able to determine what has been happening and dig up information, too. Once he has everything in place, he’ll get word to me, and I’ll get it to you. Then you can decide where we go from there.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “My brother is currently holding a position that he shouldn’t among our people’s council. He’s holding an advisory position that was created for two people, one of them being me. He’s a very bad man,” she said simply. “If it’s possible I would like all of the monies that I have to be disbursed to several very needy foundations.” She was giving her trust to these men and hoped that it wasn’t misplaced. But Chevon trusted them, so she would, too.

  “Fintan will make sure that your brother is appropriately stripped from the position and knows who took him down. The monies may take a little longer, but I will mention it to Fintan to see what he needs from us, and then we can work that out while we wait to hear back from him. Then when your brother is taken care of we will pass along those details. He’ll see it done for you, Laura. You have my word on that.”

  “Thank you,” Laura said with a nod. She leaned back once more against Chevon and crossed her legs.

  She glanced at Chevon. “Now if only we could figure out how to get your people to accept me.” She just prayed he didn’t have to go through anything like what General Daykin had to go through to have his Imarian mate accepted by Craegin society.

  “You will be fine,” Petr said. At her look, he lifted an eyebrow. “I have excellent hearing. The Imarians will accept you for whoever you are. They may not appear warm to begin with but will slowly get there. The fact you will make the acquaintance of several high-ranking military officers in the next little while will also assist with the transition. While some in the general public see us as nothing more than a frivolous expense, they do trust our judgment when it comes to dealing with the Craegins.”

  “I hope you’re right,” she said with a sigh. “And I don’t mind them not being warm with me. They aren’t who matter, only Chevon. They won’t make him hurt to keep me, will they? Won’t make him bleed like they did General Daykin?”

  “No, that barbaric practice is strictly a Craegin tactic. They will interrogate you both, several hours of questions, at a guess, and then put a watch on you while you are planetside. That will likely continue for roughly half a solar cycle, but it could be less if they determine you to be no threat to security or our way of life. With the ruling body one never knows exactly what will flip one of their many switches of suspicion,” Petr told her.

  “I hope you’re right. I’m just hopeful that one day I will be able to walk around his ship without being worried that someone will see me or whatnot.”

  “You can do that once we return,” Chevon told her. She whipped around to look at him and saw him nodding. “I sent the notification to the command structure of the military the morning after we soul bonded. They have signed off and wish to welcome you to the family. I waited to say anything only because they had to notify the ruling body, and they are a little trickier. As of this morning, they have acknowledged the bond, and our tie to one another, with an oddly worded note to see them upon return for a discussion. Don’t worry, it will be fine,” he assured her.

  Laura looked at Chevon and grinned. “Really?” She moved so that she could hug him tightly. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he squeezed her close, then adjusted her so she sat on his lap. “I had a meeting with the command staff to let them know to pass the word through the ranks. By the time we return, everyone will know about you and your status. Don’t be surprised if they aren’t sure what to say. I have a feeling this will be a first for many of them in meeting someone from the other side of the border.”

  “I hope they won’t be angry with me for anything that my people have done. I just want to get along with your people and not have them thinking that I’m going to harm you.” That was the last thing she would ever do. She would take pain and punishment before she ever did anything to hurt Chevon. “And I’m happy to answer any questions they might have.”

  “I’m sure they’ll have many questions for you,” Petr said. “Hopefully, they know not to cross any lines during their questioning.”

  “If they do then they will soon discover why everyone hates doing the visual checks in the engine pods.” Chevon shook his head at her while Petr chuckled. Laura shared a confused look with Samantha at what was obviously an insider joke. “It will be fine. They all fear me on some level or other.”

  Laura smiled, then shook her head. She looked to Samantha once more and leaned in. “Will you tell me about your world? From what I understand, you came from a completely different system and even time.”

  “Yes,” the woman told her. “My world was…” There was hesitation on her face. “While there was great hatred and war there was also great humanity and care. I know that doesn’t make any sense at all but it’s true. We warred and were terrible to people but there was so much good that some did. If there was a major disaster, we would all pull together. I’m just praying that one day the Imarian and Craegin will also realize that they can be blended without giving up on their individual beliefs.”

  Laura had never heard it put that way but now that the woman had said it, well, it made sense. “I like that. Blended without giving up on individual beliefs.”

  “It would be more a coming home,” Petr muttered. “If the records that my sister, Adira, has uncovered are to be believed we were the same race at one time. Why we split and ended up where we did, we don’t know. But it makes sense, given our similarities. We each developed our own language and religions but it is similar to what occurred on Samantha’s world many times over during their history. I don’t know if we will ever be able to blend once more, but my hope is that we can, at least, end the hostilities for good and get on with enjoying our lives.”

  “We are working on it,” Chevon said. “We will end this, and we
will make sure that every generation that follows knows what happened, why it happened, and that they are to never allow our people to splinter again. If they do, I’m pretty sure that Petr will come back from whatever follows this life to kick their asses. So will Fintan. They have been fighting for this the hardest and will be the ones to take down those who think that war is profitable.”

  Laura nodded slowly. “You’ve all had to take so many chances.”

  “We give it all willingly, Laura. We knew going into this that there could very well be a chance neither of us would survive it. If the wrong people caught wind of what we were doing we would disappear. And the resistance against the money hungry individuals trying to force us into a war would have been set back. I doubt it would have been stopped, but it would have lost ground and that would not be good. This is a war that has to be fought continuously, carefully, and with only one intent. Remove the corrupt to ensure peace for those who have no idea what might erupt at any moment.”

  “You never have to worry about me saying anything,” she said. “I’m pro ending the war, not anything else.” And she would fight tooth and nail for Chevon.

  “We have several plans in place, and unfolding. Depending on what happens has us tossing one out and shifting our focus. It is a necessity to be able to adjust quickly when dealing with skilled liars who have no compunctions about throwing us all into the fire to save themselves and their cohorts. We tread carefully but steadily. One day soon it will all come to a head and this will end.” Petr hugged Samantha to himself while looking into the other woman’s eyes. “I only pray we all are here to see the end and whatever might come next.”

  Laura nodded in silent agreement.

  “I do, too. I want to spend more time with my niece and nephew,” Samantha muttered. “I miss those cutie pies.”

  “Soon,” Petr told her.

  “Come on, we should go get some food, and I want to take you on a tour. Petr’s crew won’t bother us, so you don’t need to have that worried look on your face,” Chevon said, turning toward Laura.