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  “I want you too,” she whispered. “So much.” She untied her ass covering and discarded the makeshift garment, revealing a neatly trimmed triangle of golden curls and her pink pussy lips.

  “You’re beautiful,” he murmured, possessively covering her mons with one of his palms, pressing the heel of his hand against her clit. “And mine.” He folded his fingers into a fist and dragging his scarred knuckles over her. She shuddered, her curves undulating sensuously in the moonlight, her juices wetting his skin.

  “When I’m rested, I’ll lick you here.” He swirled a knuckle over her clit, winding her body tighter and tighter and tighter, energized by her erotic moans. “And suck your pussy dry.” He slid a finger into her hot entrance.

  “No more touching.” Gale brushed his hand away and Murad was unable to offer resistance, his strength negligible. “I want to come around you.” She raised her hips, curled her fingers around his shaft and positioned him, her sure grasp fracturing his control.

  “Yes.” She lowered, sinking down on his cock, her pussy hot, wet and almost unbearably tight.

  Murad rolled his eyes back in his head as he grabbled for restraint, wishing to make this first rutting last. “You’re made for me.” He gripped her hips, assisting with her descent. “My gerel. My everything.”

  Gale took more and more of him, the slide exquisitely slow, the strain reflecting on her face, her eyelids lowering and her lips flattening.

  “This is how I knew it’d be,” she shared, her voice husky.

  Her pussy enveloped the ridge at his base and she stilled, having taken all of him, her body snug, so incredibly snug around his hard cock. Murad breathed in, breathed out, breathed in, breathed out, the urge to thrust upward, to spill his seed, tremendous.

  “I’ve never felt so full, so connected.” Gale gazed down at him, seated securely upon him, her back straight and her chin raised proudly. She radiated strength and confidence, all snippets of fear and caution banished from her expression.

  She trusts me. A warmth spread across Murad’s chest. “Only I can give this to you.” He caressed her hips, his desire for her building, his pounding head forgotten. All he knew in this heart-stopping moment was the glorious female astride him, his gerel, his light in the darkness, the being he was meant to spend his lifetime with.

  “You’re not giving.” Her lips lifted in a mischievous smile. “I’m taking, hon.” She squeezed him with her pussy muscles and he groaned, unable to tolerate her teasing, his body ready, his control fractured.

  “Need to move.” Murad pushed his ass off the seat. A wave of exhaustion swept over him and he collapsed, disgusted by his weakness. “Can’t.”

  “And you shouldn’t.” Gale leaned forward and bit his bottom lip, punishing him for his attempt, the pain sharp and sexy.

  “Gale,” Murad growled, shaking with desire. “Stop tormenting me.”

  “Or what?” She raised one fine blonde eyebrow. “You can’t do anything, Warlord.”

  “Don’t be so certain, bounty hunter.” Murad released her hips and cupped her mons. She gasped. He grinned, rubbing her clit in small circles, watching her eyes darken and her mouth open, her passion rising faster than the winds on Chamele 1.

  “Stars.” Gale rocked, the shallow slide of cock in pussy exquisite, appeasing his need for movement. “That feels good.” She rested her hands on his shoulders, pinning him to the seat, her breasts breaking their flimsy bonds, her taut pink nipples dangling above his chest, her curves fuller than ripened tapbac.

  “Too good.” Murad gritted his teeth, darkness framing his vision, efforts to impede his release scorching already drained energy levels. He escalated his assault on Gale’s clit, wishing to please her first.

  “Murad.” She panted, rutting on him faster and faster, her thighs quivering and her nipples brushing against his chest, sending ripples of pleasure over his torso.

  “Can’t…last,” he confessed, his chest heaving as though he had raced across the plains, chasing her, chasing fulfillment. Her features blurred and his fingers twitched, bumping against her clit.

  “Yes,” she cried, flinging herself backward, her pussy clenching down on his shaft. Murad’s base swelled, prying her open, providing physical confirmation of what he’d already known. She was his gerel, his only.

  Her hold on him relaxed, temporarily freeing him, that reprieve being all he needed. “Gale!” He exploded, driving upward with the energy he had left, his seed jetting out of his cock with a mind-numbing force.

  His release pulled a scream from Gale’s lips and another orgasm from her lush body, her uninhibited response completing the bonding ritual, tying the two of them together for their eternity.

  “My gerel.” Murad sagged, contented, sated, weak and weary. Colors spun around him faster and faster as she milked every drop of essence from his cock, the connection between them palpable and reassuring.

  “Hold…” Words failed him. He hadn’t anything left in his body, in his mind, in his heart. He’d given it all to her.

  Gale draped her soft curves over his muscle, as though she sensed what he needed, her scent covering him. “That was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.”

  “Yes.” He tried to lift his hands, to cup her ass, but his limbs were too heavy.

  “Now rest,” she murmured, snuggling deeper into his chest.

  My female, my gerel. A sense of contentment, of rightness, settled upon Murad. My everything. He closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to take him.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning, Gale rested her head on Murad’s shoulder and waited for him to wake. She savored these last moments of happiness, of companionship, knowing they wouldn’t last.

  The sun’s rays trickled through the gap in their makeshift fortifications, lighting the small space. Murad’s leg coverings were folded neatly in a corner, having been cleaned in the stream and dried in the heat. His boots, polished as best as she could manage using blades of grass, were lined up next to hers.

  Her gaze rested on the fastening tool, the metal reflecting the light. None of my hard work will make up for what I’ve done. She sighed, history having taught her what would happen next. I’ll be punished and returned.

  Murad stirred under her, mumbling words in a language she didn’t understand, and panic swept through Gale. I could hide the tool, pretend it was lost in the explosion. He’d never know. She hesitated, unwilling to lie to him, as lies had never solved any problems in the past. The substitute parents had always found out the truth.

  “Gerel,” Murad murmured. He gently grazed her cheek with his scarred knuckles, his coarse touch sending tremors down her neck.

  Gale pulled away from him, unable to tolerate his tenderness knowing what she’d done. “I took a fastening tool out of your pack,” she blurted. “That one.” She flung one of her hands toward the device. “While you weren’t looking.” She folded her arms under her bare breasts and braced for her punishment, fixing her gaze on his square chin, not wanting to see the fury in his black eyes.

  “I see.” Murad raised his right hand and she flinched, anticipating the blow. It never came. He curled a tendril of her hair around his calloused index finger, the fine golden blonde strand contrasting vividly with his tanned skin.

  “That’s good. I’ll need it to repair my communicator.” He nodded toward the shattered device. “Or the homing device in this pod.” Her handsome Warlord frowned, his forehead furrowing with grooves. “My warriors should have located us by now.”

  “Didn’t you hear me?” Gale narrowed her eyes at him, certain that he didn’t understand the significance of what she’d done. “I took something of yours without asking first. Some might call that stealing.”

  Murad shrugged his broad shoulders. “You’re my gerel. What is mine is yours.” He pushed himself upward, the muscles in his chest rippling. “My mouth feels as though it is filled with sand.” He puckered his lips.

  Gale jumped out of the seat and strode
across the space. “You don’t understand.” She hurled the water container at his head, exasperated by the miscommunication.

  He caught it in one hand, his reflexes impressively fast. “My bounty hunter mate is also a thief. What is there to understand?” He stood, weaved unsteadily on his feet, unfastened the container and drank. Water dripped down his neck and between his pectorals.

  Gale licked her lips.She backed away from him, putting both emotional and physical distance between them. “I’m not a thief. I take…mementoes. And I don’t take them from everyone.”

  “But you took one from me.” Murad stalked forward, his dark eyes glittering and a big smile lighting his face. “Me.” He dropped the empty container, reached out, grabbed Gale’s waist and pulled her toward him, smacking their bodies together.

  “You chose me, the male every other being views as the never-serious younger brother.” He laughed, hugging her close to him, his chest rising and falling against her.

  Gale’s world spun, his reaction not making any sense to her. Nothing made sense.

  “Why did you choose me?” He nuzzled her neck, his lips warm and firm. “Was it my good looks? My charm? My big hands and even bigger—”

  “Murad.” Gale broke into his flippant deluge of words. “Why aren’t you angry?” She tilted her head to one side, giving him more access to her skin, confusion dulling her arousal. “You’re to punish me and then return me. That’s how it works,” she explained. “Because taking a memento from you was wrong. I know that.”

  “Someone punished you for taking a memento?” Murad stilled and Gale swallowed a whimper, knowing his rejection was coming. “Now I’m angry.” Fury edged his voice, his laughter evaporating under the force of what she’d done.

  “Who dared to touch you, Gale?” Murad released her. “Tell me.” Long sharp claws extended from his scarred knuckles.

  He has claws. Gale blinked, having never seen a humanoid with claws before. The fugitives she’d chased had been harmless petty thieves and other nonviolent criminals.

  “Give me his name and I’ll kill him.” Murad waved his natural weapons. “I’ll slice him into tiny pieces.”

  All of this anger is for me? Gale stared at her Warlord, awed by the force of his emotion. “It was a long time ago.”

  “A long time ago?” He pivoted on his bare heels, turning toward her, light reflecting off the tips of his claws. She didn’t feel any fear, trusting Murad not to physically hurt her. “You were a child when you were punished?”

  Gale gulped and nodded.

  “A child!” Murad tossed his head back and roared, the expression on his face stark and raw, his long black hair flowing over his shoulders.

  “Murad?” She twisted her hands, not knowing how to ease his rage.

  “I have to hunt, kill, do something.” He removed pieces of her crude wall, tossing the heavy objects aside as though they weighed nothing, the muscles in his back flexing. “We need food.”

  “We have some rations left,” Gale argued, hastily dressing. She donned only her undergarments, her leather outer garments ill-suited to the planet’s hot climate. “You’re not well enough to leave the camp.”

  “I’m fit.” He fixed his gaze on her, his eyes glittering with a hardness she’d never before seen. “And I have to do something.”

  Gale gathered the empty water containers. “I’m joining you.” He opened his mouth. “No arguments.” She held up one of her hands. “You’ve been ill, hon.” The endearment slipped from her lips and her face heated. “I’m not allowing you out of my sight.”

  “Is that so?” His lips twitched, his constant grin threatening to make a reappearance.

  “That’s so.” She slapped an empty water container against his chest.

  His chest disappeared. All of him disappeared. He was gone. “Murad.” A cold wave washed down her body, and her knees collapsed. Invisible hands caught her before she hit the ground.

  “I’m sorry, gerel.” Murad linked his fingers under her breasts and pressed his lips against her right earlobe, his form solid and visible and unharmed. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He placed one of his palms over her pounding heart, his claws retracted. “I’m a Chamele. We have the ability to blend into our surroundings.”

  “I thought I’d lost you.” Gale turned in his arms. “And I couldn’t handle that. I’ve already lost so much.”

  Murad’s eyes softened. “You lost your home.” He pressed his lips to her forehead.

  I’ve lost everything. Pain shot through her, a pain she couldn’t deal with, not right now. “We have more urgent issues than my home.” She wiggled free and pushed past the big naked male. “We need water.”

  “And food.” Murad caught up to her easily, his stride longer than hers. “Unee are delicious roasted over an open fire.” His arm brushed against hers, his casual touch tightening her nipples.

  “I thought you said they were dangerous.” Gale sank her toes into the soft dirt, savoring the connection to the planet, also feeling a connection to the big male prowling beside her, their bond strengthening with each passing moment.

  “Not for Chamelewarriors,” he scoffed. “I hunted my first unee when I was twelve, and at that night’s fire, my father gave me my warrior sword. It was…”

  She glanced up at him. He stared at the horizon, his jaw jutting, a tic pulsing on his cheek. “It was?”

  “It was a special celebration,” Murad said softly, his smile forced, the mirth not reaching his eyes. “He was proud of me.”

  Gale swallowed her envy, no one having ever been proud of her. “Now, whenever you wield your sword, you think of that day and how proud he was. Your sword.”

  She stopped, remembering how he’d disarmed before meeting her, sliding a sword along the ship’s floor. “Oh stars, Murad, your beautiful sword.”

  Murad strode forward, his back straight and his shoulders squared. The long grass waved around him, and the sun shone over his dark head, the sky an endless blue.

  Gale hurried to rejoin him, fearing if he left her field of vision, she might never see him again. “You lost your sword because of me.” She gripped the water container tightly, her knuckles whitening around the handle. “And it was a connection to your father.”

  “I lost my sword because of Tolui, the clone lover, our people’s enemy,” Murad muttered. “And I have other connections to my father. Although both my sword and my father are now gone, I won’t ever forget him or how proud he was of me.” His lips quirked upward. “My mother won’t allow my memories to fade. She tells the story of that hunt at every family gathering.”

  He has a mother, two brothers, a planet and warriors. I have no one and nothing, only him and a field filled with debris, both to be left behind when we’re rescued. “Is it a fascinating story?” she asked.

  “Mother thinks so.” Murad placed his palm on her lower back, the possessive gesture curling Gale’s toes. “I returned to the camp covered with blood, a wide grin on my face. She took one look at me and screeched louder than a dust vulture.”

  Gale laughed, collecting the story as she’d normally collect objects, holding it close to her heart. “What did your father say?”

  * * * * *

  “We have some rations left.” His gerel smiled, appearing not at all apologetic about scaring away the herd of unee. She sat in the shallow stream, her damp hair accentuating her large blue eyes.

  “I was hunting the old unee as we agreed.” Murad bent over and filled another container. The cool, clear water rushed over his feet, and the sun rays warmed his back.

  “The baby was watching. I didn’t want him to see her die.” Gale wiggled her small toes. “She could have been his grandmother.” She shivered, her pink nipples visible through the thin band of fabric.

  He trudged through the water toward her, his cock hardening. “Next time I’ll separate her from the herd.”

  “Then next time I won’t wave my hands and yell for them to run.” Gale lay back in the water.
A multicolored mosaic of flattened stones framed her face. “If there is a next time.” Her smile faltered. “Your family must know you’re missing. Will they be worried about you? Will Berke organize all of the other warriors to find you?”

  “He always has them organized.” Murad lowered himself, bracing his weight over her. “My eldest brother worries about the entire system, not trusting me to run my own planet.”

  “Because he cares about you.” She drifted her fingertips over his cheek, her eyes glowing. “And Khan? Will he leave Zeta to search for you?”

  “Zeta will join him. She’ll want you found.” He brushed his lips over Gale’s, tasting the tartness of the ground berries he’d picked for her.

  “Do you think so, hon?” She gazed up at him, an emotion resembling hope lighting her eyes. “I care for her, but I don’t know if she cares for me in the same way. She sent you instead of coming for me herself.” Hurt edged her voice.

  Murad’s heart twisted. “Zeta would have rescued you had Khan not physically restrained her. She warned me she’d shoot my invisible ass if you were harmed in any way.”

  Gale laughed, the light, joyous sound captivating him. “That sounds like her.”

  Murad rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t think she’d have the gun on the stun setting.” He chuckled, his gerel was as fierce as her friend.

  Gale touched his lips. “If Khan ever hurts Zeta, my gun won’t be set on the stun setting either.”

  “He’d never hurt her,” Murad assured her. “She’s his gerel. He’d die before harming her.” He sucked on Gale’s pouty bottom lip. “As I’d die before harming you.”

  Her gaze dropped to his chin, her long golden eyelashes fluttering. “You say that now.”

  “I’ll say that always.” He nudged against her, his cock hard. “We’re bonded. There will never be another female for me and there will never be another male for you.” His claws pricked his skin, the thought of any male touching her darkening his mood.

  “Rut on me, Gale.” Murad rolled onto his back, taking her with him. Water splashed, cooling his heated skin. A dislodged stone jabbed into his ass.