Norlanian Brides Volume One Read online

  “I don’t want you to have to do that.”

  “Me, either. But I would, Bella, trust me on that.”

  He kissed her once more, far too briefly, and then disappeared into the bathroom. The last thing she heard was the sound of pumping water, and she drifted swiftly to sleep.

  Chapter 6

  Bella seemed to be regaining her health quickly. They’d been in the wooing chamber for two full dins. He’d given her as much food as she could eat, using only the food bars for himself and eating only enough to keep his strength up. On the other side of the mountain, he could hunt for food. As a youth, he’d hunted with his father and grandfather in the woods and he’d been quite adept at hunting small and large game.

  The first night, Bella had slept through into the next din. He knew she was exhausted to the core, and it had been his pleasure to give her the bed so she would be comfortable. He rested on the couch, but he never really slept. He was too well trained to simply fall asleep when there could be danger. There was no electricity, so the wooing chamber couldn’t be locked. It wasn’t that he expected soldiers to suddenly find them, but he’d be a fool not to be prepared.

  She was enchanting. As concerned for him as he was for her. As he watched her bloom under his attentions he couldn’t help but wonder at what was passing between them. He’d asked her about fate when they were walking up the mountain. He hadn’t really believed in it himself, but he couldn’t deny the strong feelings that were coursing through him. He wanted to be with her in every way, but he didn’t want to push her physically when she’d been through so much. When she hadn’t been sleeping, they’d talked for hours. She told him about Earth and how different things were there. Although technologically advanced, the Norlanian people seemed barbaric in comparison to the Earth people.

  “I wish we could change things in the brothel,” she said wistfully, drawing him out of his musings about her planet.

  “How so?” he asked. They were sitting on the couch and he was feeding her a selection of dried jogi berries, which she seemed to really enjoy.

  “Well, I’d shut it down for one thing.”

  “The slaves would be homeless.”

  “So? I’d rather be homeless than be drugged and raped for the rest of my life. I know that some people chose to be in the brothel, but they couldn’t want that for their whole lives. The sex slaves have it the worst because of the physical abuse, but the people who do the cooking and cleaning because they’re mated or too old to be used for sex, according to the owners, are really no better off. The system is set up so no one can ever get free of their debt.”

  “It’s illegal to be homeless.”

  Her face flushed with anger. “Why can’t your people just help each other?”

  He caressed her cheek and she sighed deeply. “I don’t know. Because the ones in power don’t want to help, and the ones without power can’t do it on their own.”

  “I wish we could help. It seems so selfish to be running away.”

  “You could die if we went back, Bella. I would never risk your life.”

  “I know, Dex, and I’m so thankful. It just seems really selfish to escape and leave everyone to their own fate when I know there’s no hope within the walls of the brothel.”

  Maybe someday, someone would bring down the Bordelayz and destroy the soul-walk company. Dex would like to see the day when the machines were no longer in use and males would do as they did on Earth, choosing their mates based on mutual attraction and strong feelings, the way that he felt about Bella.

  He stared at her as she gazed back at him in adoration.

  “My Bella,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion, “I’d be lost without you.”

  “Dex,” she said, “I love you.”

  He’d never known love before, but he knew it now. He understood how wrong the soul-walk company was to match couples arbitrarily based on the females’ ability to breed. He didn’t care if he and Bella ever had any children, because the only thing that mattered to him in the entire universe was making her happy and taking care of her. He hoped they both lived for a thousand years, because one lifetime was not nearly enough for his beautiful mate.

  “I love you, Bella.” He linked the fingers of their right hands and spoke his own version of the mating ceremony. “I pledge myself to you forever, Bella. I vow to ever care for you and protect you, to give my heart into your keeping for all eternity. You are mine and I am yours for the remainder of our days. I take you as my mate and my bride, not because a machine said we were a match, but because my soul and heart agree that you are the only female in the whole of the universe perfect for me. I don’t deserve you, but I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be a male worthy of your love.”

  He kissed her fingertips and turned her hand to kiss her palm.

  “Dex, that was beautiful.”

  “It’s not official, but the rules of my people don’t apply to us any longer. It was my version of the mating vows.”

  “It was amazing. I promise all those things to you, too. I just want to be yours; I don’t want to ever belong to anyone else.”

  “I’m yours, too.”

  She leaned into him and he stared into her beautiful green eyes for a heartbeat before he pressed his lips against hers. She melted with a soft sound of happiness in her throat and he wrapped his arms around her. Their tongues touched and as the sweet taste of her filled him, he knew he would never get enough.

  Her hands slid under his tunic and her fingers moved up his back. His cock hardened and a sweet ache filled him. He’d never wanted anyone more. He let her lead their first time together, because he wanted her to be comfortable. She’d had so many choices taken from her that he never wanted to push her to do something she wasn’t ready for. Her tongue played against his until his mind spun with need. Her hands tugged on his tunic and he left her mouth for just long enough to pull the top over his head.

  She licked her lips as she stroked his chest, marveling at his muscles. He was glad he was strong enough to take care of her, but seeing that she clearly took pleasure in his physique made him proud of the time he’d taken to train his body.

  She lifted her own tunic over her head and dropped it to the floor. He hadn’t seen her naked before, and he could see that she was malnourished and his conscience pricked him. She was still healing, still injured from being treated poorly and he had no business doing anything physical with her.

  She placed her hands on his cheeks and stared at him intently. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like I’m a wounded bunny.”

  “Bunny?”

  “A helpless creature. I know I don’t look good, but I feel good. I want us to make love.”

  “I know you’re not helpless,” he said, circling her wrists with his fingers and kissing her palms. “You killed a karihre to save my life. I just don’t want to push you physically when you’ve been mistreated for so long.”

  She moved to her knees and straightened, bringing her breasts close to him as she gripped his shoulders. “I’m on fire, Dex. There’s a deep ache within me that only you can fill.” She chuckled. “That sounds extremely corny, but it’s true. I need you. I want you.”

  He gripped her waist gently, kneading the flesh as he stared into her beautiful green eyes. “I need you, too.”

  “And you want me?” she asked, her voice a sultry purr.

  “More than I want my next breath.”

  Her eyes darkened and he caught the subtle scent of her arousal as he drew her lips to his and kissed her. “My sweet Bella,” he whispered against her lips before delving his tongue into her mouth. She moaned and the sound slipped down his spine as he gathered her close. Hugging her to him, he stood and carried her into the bedroom. He didn’t want to make love to her anywhere but on a bed, where he could love her right and take care of her. Nothing had ever been as important as making his soulmate happy, and if this was the first day of their mated life,
then he was going to make it the best day of both their lives.

  He laid her gently on the bed and lifted from her lips slowly, kissing her chin and her throat as he straightened and reached for her trousers. Because they were so big on her, she’d tightened them with rope and his fingers trembled as he worked at the knot used to keep them up. When it came free and the fabric loosened, he slid them down her body and dropped them to the floor. She gripped her knees as she bent them and spread her legs apart, giving him the first glimpse of her pussy. Her pink center glistened with arousal and a light dusting of blonde curls covered her sex. He’d never cared much whether a female found pleasure at his hands. The lovers he’d taken over the years had taken care of their own pleasure while he’d found his, but this was his Bella and he wanted her to trust that he would always see to her first.

  She seemed to sense his hesitancy, because she slid her fingertips down the inside of her thighs and said softly, “Give me your hand.”

  He braced one hand on the bed next to her hip and put his other hand out, allowing her to grip his wrist gently and draw him to her pussy. She rubbed his fingers up the center of her body, rubbing them slowly around her clit. It tightened under his fingertips and she inhaled sharply, her eyes darkening with pleasure.

  “Can I…taste you?” he asked as he put one knee on the bed.

  Her hips tilted in invitation. “Yes.”

  She released his hand as he leaned forward. He rubbed his fingers along her pussy lips and circled her entrance with one finger. He didn’t know how long it had been since she’d had sex, but he knew she hadn’t been touched since she’d been abducted and he wanted to take his time with her. Sliding his finger slowly into her, he was amazed at how hot and tight she was, as her pussy eagerly claimed his finger, clutching him as if it would never let go. While he gently moved his finger within her depths, he kissed her clit and then stroked it with his tongue.

  She moaned his name and her fingers curled into his hair as she lifted her hips to him. He listened intently as he licked her clit and fingered her, noticing how she moaned louder when he moved his finger in a certain place inside and flicked his tongue rapidly over the top of her bud. He focused his attention on those two places, moving his tongue and finger faster until her pussy clutched him and heat spilled over his hand as she screamed in pleasure, her back bowing off the bed.

  He lifted from her pussy and watched in rapt attention as he added a second finger. Her thighs fell open and she groaned, lifting her hands to her breasts and squeezing her nipples between her fingers and thumbs. He leaned forward as he moved two fingers within her and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, sucking on the tight bud like it was a piece of candy. She writhed under him. He fit a third finger into her, stretching her slowly, laving attention on her other nipple.

  “Dex, please,” she whispered hoarsely, “I need you now.”

  He released her nipple and kissed it before moving up to kiss her. As their tongues dueled, she shoved at his trousers and he let his fingers slide from her pussy. He lifted from the consuming kiss and sucked his fingers into his mouth to taste her sweet arousal.

  “That’s so sexy,” she breathed.

  “I’ve never tasted anything better,” he said.

  He stood and shucked his trousers, straightening and gazing at her. She was laid bare before him, her pussy glistening with arousal and her eyes bright with happiness. Her skin was flushed a beautiful pink color, and pride filtered through him as he realized that his attention to her needs had done that. He’d made his soulmate climax and she’d cried out his name when she came. It was the single most amazing thing he’d ever done.

  He climbed onto the bed and moved over her, kissing her as he drew her close. He groaned as his cock touched the entrance to her body, the tight heat enveloping him in the most pleasurable way he’d ever experienced. He almost came, and it was only through sheer will that he managed to bury himself to the root inside her without climaxing immediately.

  She arched under him with a gasp, her hands tightening on his shoulders as their bodies met.

  “You feel like home,” she said, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

  “To me, too,” he said.

  Canting his hips, he slid from her pussy slowly and then drove in. She began to meet his thrusts, wrapping her legs around his waist and hooking her ankles together at the small of his back. Their gazes held while they moved together, their slow pace quickening as he felt her pussy begin to clench rhythmically. She lifted her hips further, and he slid one hand underneath her to pull her body flush against him. She let out a gasping cry as her clit rubbed against his lower stomach. Quickening his pace, he rode her as fast as he could to drive her to another climax, and when she fell apart with a keening cry of pleasure, he followed her, his cock throbbing as he came. Her name was on his lips as he buried his face in her neck while his cock twitched and pulsed. She hugged herself tightly to him.

  “I’ve never been happier, Dex,” she whispered in a rough voice.

  He kissed her throat and rolled them both until she was sprawled over top of him.. “You’re the center of my life, Bella. I have never loved anyone the way I love you.”

  She kissed him and smiled, then lay her head over his heart. “You’re the most romantic male I’ve ever known on any planet.”

  “I’m also the luckiest.”

  Chapter 7

  Bella woke in Dex’s arms. Her body ached pleasantly from their lovemaking. For a guy who said he had little experience in the romance department, he was an amazing lover. Attentive to her needs and almost desperate for her pleasure. Over the course of the night, they’d made love several times, and each time she felt the connection between them deepen. It was sweet in a way she hadn’t expected. He’d basically recited wedding vows to her before they’d made love the first time, and although it wasn’t official according to his government, it was official between them, and that meant more to her than anything.

  “I didn’t do a very good job of wearing you out if you’re already awake,” he said, his voice touched with humor.

  She rolled over and kissed him. “I was just thinking about…what’s up with your hair?”

  His brows rose. “You were thinking about my hair?”

  She ran her fingers through the short, soft hair at the side of his head. “No, I wasn’t thinking about your hair, I was thinking that we’re basically married. But your hair is brown, Dex. How did that happen?”

  He frowned. “What?” He slid from the bed and she followed as he walked into the bathroom. He shook the glow sticks to make them brighter and then gasped as he stared at his reflection. “It’s not possible.”

  “I thought you said when you had sex with your soulmate that your hair would turn brown.”

  “That’s only after the males take the serum. I was told the serum lasts for only the duration of the voyage, about two lunar cycles. It’s been almost four since I took it.”

  “So your hair shouldn’t be brown?”

  “No, it shouldn’t.”

  “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

  He braced himself heavily with one hand on the counter and stared at his reflection. “This doesn’t make sense. If the serum isn’t active in my body, then my hair shouldn’t have changed color without me getting another injection.”

  “What does it mean?”

  He stared for several silent moments. “I think it means that the government lied.”

  When she looked at him in confusion, he turned around and cupped her face. “My hair shouldn’t turn brown, but it did. I don’t understand it, but I don’t care.” He smiled and it made her feel warm from the inside out. “It feels like that last thing that made me a Norlanian – my blue hair – is gone. I feel like I’m myself and it’s because of you.” He kissed her sweetly at first, but the kiss quickly became passionate when she sank her fingers into his now brown hair. He growled in his throat and the sound shivered down her spine like electricity,
making her skin tingle. He turned her around roughly so she was staring at them in the mirror. She planted her hands on the countertop as he slid into her with a groan. Their gazes locked in the mirror and she couldn’t stop watching as they made love – the way his muscles bunched and flexed, the way he stared at her as if the sun rose and set with her, and the way he snarled when she came, a sound full of possession and pride. When he came deep inside her with a shout moments after she cartwheeled into bliss, he hugged her close and kissed her throat.

  “Mine. My sweet Bella, the beloved of my soul.”

  She’d never been happier.

  * * *

  When the sun had set, they left the relative comfort of the wooing chamber and began their trek. They were both carrying packs laden with supplies, although Dex’s was much heavier than hers. They’d searched through every nook and cranny in the chamber and managed to find some shoes that were small enough for her to wear and a set of leggings to protect her from the overnight chill. He said it would get colder as they moved higher over the mountaintop, but he promised they’d move quickly and get as far down the other side of the mountain as they could before they stopped to rest.

  They were silent on their journey because he needed to listen for animals and soldiers. He was confident that if someone had come searching for them and found instead their bloody, destroyed clothes, the assumption would be made that they’d both been killed, but there was always a chance those false clues had been missed.

  Her shoulders began to ache, but she ignored it and stayed close behind Dex. The higher they climbed, the more the temperature dropped, until she was clenching her teeth to keep them from chattering.

  Dex turned and wrapped his arms around her. With a low voice he said, “I’m so proud of you. I know you’re tired and cold, but it won’t be long until we’re on the other side.”