PrimalHunger (7 page)

His knuckles gently caressed her cheek. Even in sleep, he
could see the strain of exhaustion on her lovely face. He doubted their race
through the slimes caused this kind of bone-weary slumber. What kind of life
did his fierce warrioress lead? What did she do as a security specialist? She
had moves that were tempered in battle. Long hours of training had honed her
body. He tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear.

She was a fascinating puzzle. He reveled in her lovely body.
Her awakening sexuality. She was the kind of woman who would hold control in
all aspects of her life. His lips lifted in a satisfied smile. A control he’d
like to test every step of the way.

Where did she hail from? Her features were arresting, and he
couldn’t quite place her accent.

He pressed a light kiss against her lips, and smiled at the
way her lips melted to his. Her fist knotted against her cheek, and he allowed
one more caress of her skin.

“Well, my lady warrior, if we’re ever to have a chance, I’ve
got a war to stop.”

A line formed between her brows and he smoothed it with his
fingers. Leaving the bed was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He
didn’t like it.

He walked away with a strange emotion burning in his chest.
One that had him worried things were getting way too dangerous. He left his
woman to rest. It was time he found out more about this Sheon terraforming lab,
and the mysterious mate his beast had chosen.

Chapter Four

Kendra woke to an empty bed. She ran her palm over the
sheets. Cold. A quick look around told her he wasn’t in the immediate vicinity.
Her internal chrono read three hours until nightfall. She dropped her face in
the pillow while flashes of her wanton behavior rolled through her mind. A
groan tore from her throat. She’d begged.
Begged.
Mortification burned
hot in her cheeks. Her body ached in areas she’d never thought possible, and it
was ready to go again. Her nipples hardened against the mattress and her pussy
slickened with moist heat.
For fate’s sake!
Wasn’t one heated day with
the Valorian enough?

And that’s exactly what it was.
Heat.
She was in heat
for the Valorian. Was it permanent? The side effects were just pissing her off.
Kendra rolled over and stared at the gray ceiling. Not that sex with the
Valorian wasn’t very enjoyable. Her body pleasantly hummed from his attentions.
She was no stranger to lust, but not this kind of raging inferno.

She shoved the pillow against her face.
Fuck!
She
didn’t have time for this kind of all-consuming fuck-fest.

Why the hell had she told him about her parents? In a moment
of weakness she’d almost told him of her Sheon heritage. “You’re a genius, St.
Thomas.” His hatred for the Sheon was almost palpable. She just couldn’t stand
the idea of seeing his eyes go cold when he looked at her. Exile was already
hard enough. Hiding from her queen’s assassins. He was dangerous to her peace
of mind. Dangerous to the terraforming mission…and her life.

She rolled out of the bed and flung the sheet away from her
body. Her life was nice, orderly and stable. She didn’t need some hard-bodied
military man flitting in and out of it. She sure as hell didn’t need any Sheon
commanders sniffing around after him. Her family’s legacy needed to live on.
The planet was in the final stages of development. An invasion would destroy
the fragile ecosystem, not to mention the uproar finding a long-lost Sheon
princess would create.

“Bob.” She found her clothes and dragged them on in record
time despite the strain of her muscles. It would be a few days before she would
be able to recover from that run.
And sex with the Valorian.

Yes, Science Officer Kendra?

She winced at the inherited formal title, but was thankful
he used it rarely. “Prep the scan room. I need a full-body scan and labs. Check
hormone levels, pathogen, and all the regular stuff. I need to see what’s
changing in my body.” The Valorian’s search would open the doors to finishing
the massacre started fifteen years before. She didn’t fight for her legacy and
the right to live, only to have it snatched from her by the greed of political
power.

They would get him safely out of reach of the Sheon Empire.
She owed him that much for saving her life.

Affirmative. Scan room will be available in five mikes.

Five minutes to get to the medlab. She could still smell the
Valorian’s incredible scent on her body. A part of her wore it with pride, and
another wanted to wipe away any imprints he had put on her, body and soul. That
same part that realized it was already too late.

“Bob, where is our guest?”

He is currently in the viewing room. Per your standard
inquiry, I have noted that he has accessed historical files on the terraform
project, and all references to Kendra St. Thomas.

Her bare feet tread lightly on the cold tile floor. An ache
in the sole of one of her feet increased until she had a slight limp. Kendra
St. Thomas’ information would be limited to the last decade or so, and had no
ties to her previous life, so she wasn’t worried. She didn’t know if she was
irritated or amused that the Valorian was keeping his distance. Her calf
cramped and she leaned against the wall to rub it. She was obviously getting
soft if her muscles were being this ridiculous. Maybe the single-minded
lovemaking had broken whatever his mating frenzy consisted of.

She pushed away from the wall and a different kind of
sensation drew a groan from her lips. Her pussy tingled and a slow burn of lust
uncoiled from deep within. Too bad it seemed to have stimulated hers.

She unlatched the door to the clinic and let it swing open.
The Valorian had cleaned up after his scan. She didn’t know if she was more
pleased or surprised. Just the thought of the tiger-striped man uncoiled a
heavy thrum of lust within her core. She huffed out a breath. Maybe another
round of hot sex would burn him out of her system.

Please undress.

She stripped without hesitation and folded the clothes
neatly. With a hefty sigh, she climbed onto the exam table.

Scanning commencing.

The scan began and she couldn’t help but remember a time,
forever ago, when this same program had saved her life. Bob’s voice droned on,
announcing comparison findings as it went. Most of the information hadn’t
changed since her last exam.
So far, so good.

The lab console rose and she placed her palm against it. A
red light’s scan followed by rapid pinpricks and she was done. Her fingers
burned where blood still seeped.

Scan confirms muscular atrophy.

“Shit.” Kendra leaned back against the table and shook her
still-stinging hand. Too hard of a run, and none of her stretches. She should
have seen this coming. A light scan along her left foot was followed by rapid
pinpricks of pain. She clenched her jaw and a soft moan came from her throat.
The injections stung and burned, but relief of her muscles began almost
instantly. It wasn’t until the pain began to ease that she realized how much it
had actually hurt.

“Did you have a good rest?” His voice jerked her out of her
fugue. She cursed that he was able to sneak up on her, and fought off an
instinctive need to cover her naked body.

“Yes, thank you. Delightful.” She said the words through
clenched teeth. The last injection still burned. She gripped the side of the
table and tried to relax.

He stalked toward her, and Kendra wondered how anyone could
ever look away from such a prime specimen. The stripes continued down his body,
curving over rock-hard muscles. His pants left nothing to the imagination. Her
nipples hardened under his heated gaze, and she knew he could smell the rich
scent of her lust.

His knuckles caressed her cheek before walking to the end of
the table. A warm glow of pleasure burned in her chest. He ran his fingers
along her ankle, and Kendra’s traitorous pussy clenched. Those same fingertips
ran along the scars criss-crossing the bottom of her feet. In some areas the
scarring was so bad as to make the nerves dead. In others, light touches could
be agony. Long nights on her feet were hell. His gaze examined both feet, and
Kendra held up her chin, determined not to let him see her weakness, how much
she was ashamed of her scars.

“How did this happen?” He began gently rubbing where the
muscle still burned from the injection.

“Upon my parents’ deaths, I’d foolishly challenged my aunt
to a blood feud, single-armed combat. She accepted. And I lost.” She ran her
fingers along the rigid scar beneath her rib cage. Only superstition had stayed
her aunt’s hand from delivering a mortal wound. “My shoes were removed so that
my soul would wander in shame forever after my death. After they left me to
die, I cut the ropes and ran for my life. I tried wrapping cloth around my
feet, but the slimes made the trek treacherous. My feet were shredded by the
time I got back to the lab.”

“You were seven when this happened.” It wasn’t a question.
She nodded. Something burned deep in his gaze. A fierce light she’d never seen
before. His thumb pushed and rolled against the knots in her foot and she
groaned at the pleasure-pain. His fingers were working magic unlike anything
she’d ever felt.

“When the medscan results told me what to do, I slapped
esskin on the soles of my feet without extending the muscles.”

He winced in sympathy.

It had taken years to recover from that one costly mistake.

“So they healed in atrophy.” His fingertips caressed her
feet.

“Yeah.” Remembered pain ghosted across her feet and up her
calves. The bloody mess had cost nearly all the clinic supplies, while
stretching the limits of Bob’s capabilities. Not to mention the knife wound to
the side. Kendra cleared her throat. “Thanks.” She gently pulled her foot from
his warmth. This constant craving for his touch was disturbing.

“It is normal to need touch during a mating,
Desh’ra
.
Part of the natural cycle.” He ran his fingers up her leg, and she locked down
the urge to reach for him.

“Does it allow you to read minds too?”

He rubbed the muscles of her calf, easing the tension from
the injections almost instantly. “No, but you and I feel a lot of the same
things.” His smile turned wicked. “I wonder what thoughts burn behind those
soulful eyes,
Desh’ra
. Would they make you blush if I could read them?”

Her cheeks grew warm and she cursed him for triggering a reaction.
“Maybe you should tell me more about this mating thing.” She caught his wrist
when he would have moved up to her thighs. His gaze was knowing, and a blush
crept up her neck.

“There is nothing to tell.”

This was getting ridiculous. She wanted him. Again. Her body
already burned. Azros could easily become an addiction. “You don’t have to do
this.”

He helped her down from the table. She turned her head from
his kiss, but he brushed his lips against her cheek. A smile touched those sexy
lips. “Do what?”

“Pretend to…you know.” Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

He ran a hand down her hair. “It’s a little late to be shy,
don’t you think?”

“I just don’t think we need to pretend this is anything
other than what it is.” Hard nipples brushed against his chest.

His fingers dug gently into her hair. She shivered in
delicate reaction. “Which is what, exactly?” His lips burned a path across her
jawline.

“Two people caught in a nearly impossible situation.” His
teeth nipped at her throat, and she gasped.

“Ahh. I see.” His tongue soothed where teeth continued to
torment. “So we should only do what is necessary to make it through this
terrible ordeal.” An edge of anger threaded through his amusement. His
fingertips dragged down her back.

“Yes. Of course. I’m glad you understand.”

“Oh I understand, all right.” She had a moment to see his
intention before his mouth descended to hers. This wasn’t the gentle,
passionate kiss from before. This was a fierce possession. His tongue plundered
and stroked. Somehow her hands found their way to link behind his neck. His
mouth slanted over hers, deepening the kiss and sending her senses reeling.
Someone moaned, and he eased the kiss. Her hands slid down to his chest. They
were both breathing hard. His arms held her steady against him, and she could
feel the fierce pounding of his heart against her palm.

“Losing control terrifies you.”

She jerked away from his touch. “Don’t do this. I don’t need
to be analyzed.” She stalked over to her clothes and dragged them on with jerky
motions. “This is about sex!”

He crossed his arms and gave her a playful grin. “What if
it’s more?”

“No. It can’t be. We don’t know anything about each other.”
She glared at him with her hands on her hips. “Forgive me for not turning into
a brainless twit. I have a life. A mission I need to get back to. I don’t have
time for anything permanent.”

He stepped closer and she stood her ground. “Who said I was
looking for something permanent?” She couldn’t read his expression, but didn’t
trust the innocent smile he displayed.

“Aren’t you?” Self-doubt churned.

“Mating isn’t always permanent. This is my second one, did
you know that?”

It wasn’t jealousy that eroded more of her confidence. You
had to be invested in someone to be jealous of their past. She wasn’t. “What
happened to the other mate?” This would be the point where he would tell her
the Sheon had killed her.

“The urges left, and we went our separate ways. Of course, I
was in the middle of the border wars at the time. So I had fighting to get back
to. See.” He held out his hands. “No trap.”

Kendra breathed a small sigh of relief. No death marred his
mating history. No ghost to compete with. “The border wars were pretty
vicious.”