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  A tightness gripped Murad’s chest, squeezing his heart. She’s been crying. He approached Gale slowly, cautiously, uncertain of what to do, having never seen his strong female cry before.

  He searched for something to say, something light and meaningless to diffuse the tension between them. “Did you see the baby unee?”

  “No.”

  Murad moved the gun out of her reach and plunked his ass down next to her. The plains were devoid of life, the unee absent. “Ahhh…the ships must have scared them away.” He dangled his feet over the edge. “They’ll come back, love.” Murad rested his hand lightly on her hip, needing to touch her.

  Gale shrugged and hunched over, her face turned away from him, her arms wrapped protectively around her torso.

  Murad leaned into her. “My brother thinks I should send you away.” Gale stiffened and he rushed to explain. “He’s worried Tolui will seek you out and try to harm you. I worry about that also. Tolui will know that by killing you, he’d kill me.”

  “Is that how bonding works?” Her gaze met his, her eyes red and puffy, and a bone-deep regret filled Murad, his anger at Berke having prevented him from seeing her pain. “If I die, you die?”

  “No.” He captured her hand, stilling her trembling fingers. “That’s how my heart works.” Murad placed her palm on his bare chest. “I couldn’t live without you. I’d go mad, charge into battle, and I can’t be assured my enemy will have his gun on stun.”

  “You’re not serious.” Gale tugged on her hand. He wouldn’t release her, clasping her to him, forcing her to touch him.

  “I’ve never been more serious about anything, gerel.” Murad met Gale’s gaze and held it, allowing all his emotions to show. “I love you.” She inhaled sharply. “Sartaq has vowed to guard you with his life, and my warriors would follow you into battle. But the responsibility, the honor of protecting you is mine and that is a task I’d never joke about.”

  “You want to return me.” Pain edged her voice.

  “Never,” Murad denied, that alternative having never been a consideration. “I can’t return you. As I told my brother, we’re one, you and I, connected.

  “One,” Gale repeated, lifting her eyebrows, his cautious female openly skeptical.

  “Yes, one.” He nodded, willing to repeat it a thousand times if that would convince her. “We can’t be separated, so if you leave, I leave, and Chamele 3 will have to find a new Warlord.”

  “Oh.” Gale blinked slowly. “You’d do that?”

  Murad shrugged. “I wouldn’t have a choice. We’re one.”

  “Hmmm…” She hummed, the sexy noise making his cock twitch. “I’m not leaving.” Gale gazed at the rolling plains. The grass was cropped short where the unee had grazed, the new shoots a vivid green. “I love it here.”

  “I love you.” Murad gazed at Gale. Her profile was breathtakingly exquisite, her cheeks pink. “It’ll be challenging to govern from here. Sartaq’s water consumption alone will drive the area into a dry spell,” he joked, retreating into humor to alleviate some of the tension, his heart and soul in his gerel’s small hands.

  “We can return once a solar cycle.” Her lips lifted.

  She said we. Murad’s concerns evaporated. Everything was possible with her by his side.

  “And that will be enough.” Gale rested her head on his shoulder, an action that felt so right, so exquisitely perfect, that Murad’s world paused, time hanging, freezing for three endless heartbeats. “We’ll leave the objects from the escape pod here so we can find the exact location.”

  She’d leave all of her things behind? “Wouldn’t you feel more comfortable with your mementoes?”

  “I’ll be happy as long as I have you.” She snuggled closer, molding her body against his. “Though I might miss the feather…and the blue stone…and the unee horn.” Gale hummed again and Murad’s cock pressed against the leather of his leg coverings, his need for her increasing with each breath. “Other than that and maybe your pieced-together communicator, all I need is you.”

  Murad chuckled, suspecting that list would lengthen before they boarded their ship. “You do have me.” He lowered his gerel upon the rock and he covered her lips with his.

  Chapter Six

  He’s keeping me. Gale skipped along the wide empty corridor, Murad’s massive ship sparsely decorated, the vessel clearly needing a female’s touch. He’s actually keeping me. She curled her fingers in her Warlord’s big palm, his grip reassuringly tight.

  “My lord. My lady.” Sartaq stepped forward, greeting them as they approached. Fierce-looking warriors, with daggers and guns decorating their black leather leg coverings, lined the space around a doorway.

  Threat. Gale slid partially behind Murad, feeling woefully exposed and unarmed, her holsters and sheaths empty.

  “My lady.” Sartaq shifted his great weight from his right foot to his left foot, his scarred face flushing an intriguing shade of red. “We,” He waved at the males around him and they nodded their heads, none of them meeting her gaze, “want you to have this.” Murad’s best warrior held out a small gun.

  Gale stared at it, yearning to touch the beautifully engraved barrel, but not daring to, knowing if she touched the weapon, she’d want to keep it. “You want me to take your gun?”

  A warrior snickered and the color on Sartaq’s face deepened. “It isn’t my gun,” he scoffed, straightening his shoulders. “It belonged to my mother.”

  “You’re giving me your mother’s gun?” Gale studied the big male, wondering why he’d do that. “No.” She shook her head. “I can’t take it, Sartaq. It means too much to you.”

  “You mean more,” a young gangly warrior blurted, his voice breaking. Dark heads bobbed.

  Gale blinked. “I do?”

  Murad wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into the comforting heat of his body. “I know you only take things from people you care about, gerel,” he murmured in her ear, his lips humming against her skin. “But accepting this gift would mean a lot to your people.”

  “My people,” Gale repeated. “I have people. That’s almost like a family, right?” She glanced up at Murad. He nodded, a smile on his handsome face.

  “I have a family.” She turned her head and beamed at Sartaq. The warrior stepped backward, his mouth dropping open. “I warn you. If I take your mother’s gun, I’ll carry it with me always and I’ll never return it to you. Ever,” she emphasized.

  “Spoken as a true Chamelewarrior, my lady.” Sartaq extended his right palm, the weapon resting on his scarred skin. “What we take, we keep.”

  Gale grasped the gun, the metal cool against her fingers. “Your mother’s gun is mine now.” She caressed the trigger. “I assume it has a stun function?”

  The warriors laughed, grins appearing on their faces. Murad groaned.

  “My lord.” Sartaq’s eyes glimmered. “Fifty credits says our lady will use the stun function before we reach the city.”

  “Twenty credits says twice,” the gangly warrior called out.

  “He won’t accept that wager.” Gale slid the gun into the straps on her thigh, the weapon fitting perfectly. “Our lord isn’t as foolish as to bet against a sure thing.”

  Chuckles filled the corridors and the warriors called out more wagers, each one more daring than the last.

  “Come, gerel.” Murad took Gale’s hand. “Let’s leave our warriors to their fun.” He led her through the entrance.

  Murad’s distinct scent filled Gale’s nostrils, confirming this was his private residence, and lights whirred to full brightness, illuminating the space. A huge bed dominated the first chamber, its silver-colored coverings matching the wall panels. Her collection of gifts from Murad had been placed on a floating tabletop, as though they belonged there, as though she belonged. Emotion tightened into a ball in Gale’s chest.

  “Welcome home.” Murad spread his hands. “And this is your home now, one of your homes, so change it however you wish.” He unfastened his boots
and kicked them under the bed. “I won’t mind. I likely won’t even notice.” He grinned.

  “This is one of my homes,” Gale whispered, placing the gun she’d been given beside the feather on the floating table. “I have homes, multiple homes.” She trailed her fingertips over her blue rock, its surface cool and smooth.

  “But you have only one male.” Murad stripped off his leg coverings, revealing his muscular legs and hard cock, his shaft protruding from his tanned physique. “Me.” He unfastened her pink leather suit. “And I won’t ever return you.”

  “You say that,” she teased, shrugging out of the garment. Her body was bare underneath the leather, her undergarments no longer fit to be worn.

  “I know that.” He dragged his lips down her neck, his teeth skimming her skin, and her nipples tightened, her breasts aching for his touch.

  “I should bathe first.” Gale’s face heated.

  “We should bathe.” Murad clasped one of her hands and led her into the bathing chamber, his movements boyishly eager. “I’ll assist you.” He crowded her into the shower stall, the construction large enough for both of them.

  “I don’t need much assistance.” Gale gasped as sonar waves spread over her body, her limbs and breasts tingling with awareness.

  “I disagree.” Murad pushed against her, his cock prodding her ass cheeks before sliding between them, and his chest pressing against her back.

  “You need me,” he rumbled into her ear. Murad cupped her large breasts with his rough hands, lifting her curves, rolling her nipples between his fingers, and she moaned, tilting her head back, leaning against his warm muscle, trusting him to hold her upright, trusting him, the male she loved.

  “Admit it, Gale.” Murad flicked her right earlobe with his tongue as he gently pinched and tugged at her nipples.

  “I need you.” She undulated her hips, sliding his cock up and down the crevice of her ass, the friction heating her body, moistening her pussy. “I want you.” The sonar waves moved over her, a thousand fingertips brushing against her skin, the mechanical touch stimulating Gale.

  “You love me.” Murad mouthed down her neck, his lips firm and hot.

  “Yes,” Gale recklessly agreed, unable to hold back the truth. He sucked on the base of her neck as though rewarding her confession, the tug and pull of his lips coursing down to her pussy.

  “I love you.” She reached back and gripped his thick thighs with her fingers, reveling in his strength. It was a physical reminder that he was with her, he would always be with her.

  “My gerel.” Murad slid one of his palms down her stomach and over her mons, finding her wetness. “My female.” He strummed his fingers over her folds. “My love.” He circled her clit with his thumb, winding her passion tightly around her.

  “Your love.” Gale breathed heavily, holding onto Murad. He worked her pussy with his fingers as he rocked his hips against her, rubbing his cock head between her ass cheeks. The sonar shower cleansed the juices running down her thighs and the beads of perspiration forming on her forehead.

  “See how we fit together,” Murad murmured against her skin, his voice a sexy deep rumble, the sound reverberating in her womb. “How we move as one.” He stroked into her deeper, stretching her with his fingers, the need inside Gale growing, building. “We are one.” His big body caged her, his cock pressing against her ass, and his hands cupping her mons. “You’re my past, my present, my future, my everything.”

  “Murad.” Gale arched her back, her thighs shaking, his words pushing her closer to the edge, his passion feeding hers.

  “I need you inside me,” she demanded. She was empty, so very empty.

  “Soon,” he promised. “Come for me first, my curvaceous little bounty hunter.”

  Murad thrust his fingers into her pussy harder and harder, ravishing her without mercy, without stopping. “Scream my name.”

  The Warlord swirled his thumb over her clit, nudging her toward satisfaction. “Tell the worlds whom you belong to, whom you will always belong to.”

  “I belong to you,” Gale moaned, dangling over a precipice of pleasure, his decadent touch straining her grip, her control. “And I need…I want…”

  “Me.” He tapped her clit and that light touch broke her.

  “Murad,” she screamed, diving, with no hesitation and no fear, into the swirling vortex, a black hole without beginning and without end, her sole safety harness consisting of him, his muscles molding to her curves, his cock between her ass cheeks, and his fingers deep inside her pussy.

  Murad rumbled words she didn’t understand, his deep tones soothing her, and Gale stilled, sagging lifelessly against him, trusting him to hold her, to protect her, to keep her forever. “I belong to you,” she repeated.

  “And I won’t ever return you.” Murad swept his lips down her neck and she trembled, his touch and the sonar waves extending her release.

  “Your bathing is complete, gerel.” Murad scooped his female into his arms, relishing her weight, her warmth and the musky scent of her satisfaction.

  “You shouldn’t carry me,” she murmured. He smiled as Gale’s arms encircled his neck, her fingers linking at his nape, her actions belying her drowsy protest.

  “I am carrying you.” He moved with her into his sleeping chamber, their sleeping chamber. The space was no longer empty and sterile, her collection set on the table and her clothes scattered on the tiled floor.

  “You have to save your energy.” Murad laid her carefully on the bed. Her golden skin glowed under the overhead lights, her curves lush and welcoming.

  “Do I?” Gale opened one of her eyes, and her lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Why?” She rolled onto her back, her nipples tight and pink and her breasts full. “Are you having issues with your power converter?” Her gaze lowered and Murad’s cock bobbed, her open perusal exciting him.

  “Without you, there’s no power conversion,” he rumbled as he crawled onto the bed, positioning himself between her spread legs. “You complete my circuit.”

  “I complete your circuit?” Gale groaned, the husky sound tormenting him, his need for her growing more urgent. “Tell me you didn’t say that.”

  “If I told you I didn’t say that, I’d be lying.” Murad placed his hands on her thighs, her skin soft and smooth. “And then you’d stun me.”

  He rubbed small circles into her muscles with his thumbs and she quivered, her blue eyes darkening with desire, her responsiveness warming Murad’s heart and bolstering his ego. When he was with Gale, he felt strong and powerful, a Chamele male in his prime, a Warlord without equal.

  “And you’d laugh after I stunned you.” She tilted her hips enticingly, her private curls darkened with pussy juices, her pinkness glistening. “Laugh in the face of pain.” She reached for him.

  “I always laugh.” Murad lowered onto Gale’s generous form, flattening her breasts with his chest and pressing his shaft against her pussy lips. His gerel cradled him between her soft thighs, her hands resting on his shoulders, her fingers splayed as though she wished to touch as much of his body as possible.

  “You do, hon.” She sighed, a smile on her beautiful face. “That’s one of the reasons I love you.”

  She loves me. Murad brushed his lips over hers, tasting her joy, her love. “I need to be inside you.” He nudged his cock head against her entrance. She lifted her ass and he pushed into her, her pussy hot and wet and tight, made for him, for this.

  “Stars.” He groaned the phrase he’d always associate with Gale as he sank deeper and deeper and deeper into her, her pussy constricting around him, her inner walls hugging his shaft.

  “I’d face a thousand stun guns for this.” His ridged base finally bumped against flesh, all of his shaft buried in his delectable mate.

  My gerel. Murad breathed in and breathed out, holding his body still, grasping at the fragile threads of his control, Gale feeling too right, too perfect.

  “I’m home, aren’t I?” She met his gaze, her unguarded
passion snapping his restraints, propelling his body into motion.

  “You are home.” As Murad rocked into Gale, he watched her. He couldn’t look away. She was so beautiful, her lips parted and her cheeks flushed with arousal and she was his, her pleasure becoming his goal.

  “Never…leaving.” She panted, rising up to meet him, his strong female, her fingernails pressing into his skin, the bite of pain heightening his desire.

  “Never,” Murad grunted, laboring over her, moving faster, thrusting deeper, striving to give her what she wanted, what she needed. He’d fill their chamber with mementoes, surrounding her with physical representations of his love, of his devotion. She’d never want for anything ever again.

  “Yes.” Gale pushed upward as he drove into her, their bodies smacking together, her curves rounded and soft, made for rutting. Her face glistened, her blonde curls sticking to her cheeks, and he captured her lips, tasting salt and delicious female.

  Murad stroked into her mouth, synchronizing the rhythm of his tongue with the thrust of his hips, surging forward and withdrawing, surging forward and withdrawing. Perspiration trickled down his spine, his muscles straining and burning.

  Gale sucked on his tongue, her suction exquisite. She rubbed her nipples against his chest, driving him into a sexual frenzy.

  He slammed into her harder and harder, her pussy juices oozing between his balls, her musky scent teasing his nostrils. Perfect. Too perfect. Murad angled his thrusts to rub against her clit and she writhed underneath him, raking his back with her fingernails, leaving a stinging trail, marking him as hers.

  He was hers and she was his, the two of them belonging to each other. Murad’s balls knotted tight, aching for release, and Gale shook, clenching and releasing his shaft with her pussy muscles in a series of mind-melting intimate embraces.

  “Love.” Murad’s voice thinned. “I have to…”

  The base of his cock swelled and her eyes widened. “No.” She shook her head. “Too much. Too—”

  “Gale!” Murad thrust hard, pushing even deeper, and he exploded, giving her everything he had, hot cum shooting out of his cock, the impact jarring his body and rattling his bones.