Chapter 24
The grappling session had turned brutal.
It was supposed to be a demonstration, but with all of Mace’s pent-up frustration, it turned into something else. Keeping his gaze locked on Grey, he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, and it came away smeared with blood. Mace’s torn uniform hung from his shoulders, and he removed it entirely, throwing it to the side.
His friend had finally lost his patience with him, and the look in Grey’s eyes promised the beating of a lifetime. Mace wholly embraced it. He needed it. Maybe it would finally clear the fog hovering in his brain for the past few weeks. But he also wouldn’t take it lying down.
Cracking his bruised knuckles, then his neck, he squared off with Grey, fully aware of the tyros cloaked in tense silence, surrounding them in a loose ring. Blood trickled from near Grey’s eye and the corner of his mouth.
Equally matched, they circled each other, searching for an opening. In their emotional states, if one of them made a move, they better make sure they had an advantage.
When his movements aligned him with a clear view of the entrance, he froze. Nia gripped the railing at the top of the landing, staring at them. His eyes drank her in. Curly hair framed her face in wild disarray. She wore one of outfit styles she seemed to prefer, beige leggings and long sweater dress in burgundy. Dee stood at her side.
Mace saw the flash of movement a second too late. Grey slammed into him with the force of a Destroyer at maximum speed. They tumbled to the mat, and Mace’s instincts kicked in, not allowing Grey to get the upper hand. But the damage was already done, and within moments, Grey had Mace pinned in an unbreakable hold.
“Yield,” Mace said, slapping the mat with his free hand.
Releasing him, Grey rolled onto his feet and extended a hand. The look in his friend’s eyes said it all: distractions would get him killed. Ironic since it was something Mace spouted to the tyros almost every day.
Mace took the offered hand and jumped to his feet, wiping a frustrated hand over his face. He had no excuses.
“I hope you all learned something there,” Grey said to the spectators, but Mace had already returned his attention to the women near the door.
It had been too long since he’d seen Nia. He’d stayed away to protect her. She was too appealing, too enticing…and she shouldn’t be. Not to him. No matter what the old laws said, he had no right.
That didn’t stop the contentment pumping through him at seeing her with his eyes. Of course he knew she was fine, Elec sent him updates all the time, but his chest settled at the sight of her.
When he strode toward her, she flew down the stairs—like she couldn’t contain her excitement at seeing him. His heart leaped in his chest. But as he neared, he noticed her flushed face, clenched jaw, and fisted hands. His steps faltered.
Her shout echoed loudly across the space. “Are we married?” She stopped in front of him with her chest heaving and chin raised.
All movement, all sound, abruptly halted around them. Mace felt every eye in the matted arena.
His gaze shot to Dee trailing behind her, whose outlined eyes were widened with unease and apology. Whatever conversation she and Nia had, the damage was done.
Stepping forward to block the tyros’ inquisitive stares, he took Nia’s elbow in his hand. “Let’s go somewhere—”
She yanked her arm out of his grasp, eyes flashing. “I will not be misdirected, or handled, or managed, or whatever else you think you will do here. Answer me.”
Her body vibrated, feet firmly planted, and fists pointed at the ground. Short of throwing her over his shoulder, he doubted he would be able to make her move without answering her question.
Keeping her gaze, he said in an even voice, “Technically speaking, we are legally bound.”
A primal sound erupted from her throat. She threw herself toward him, arms outstretched, like she intended to strangle him. He moved quickly, redirecting her aim using her momentum, and clasping both her wrists in his hand. They’d rotated until he held her back to his front, and faced a room full of wide-eyed tyros, his arm banded around her ribs. Grey stood to the side with a dubious expression, his head tilted.
Nia’s chest heaved in front of him. With another cry of outrage, she tried to break free, but he held fast, waiting for her rage to burn out. When she kept struggling, he realized it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Her passion felt Tellusian and ignited his own.
“Let me go, you waste-humping bastard,” Nia gritted between clenched teeth, then threw her weight like she wanted to head butt him. All she hit was his sternum.
Without thinking too long about it, he adjusted his hold, and tossed her over his shoulder, his arm trapping her thighs so she wouldn’t kick him in the face—and identical position to the one he’d forced her in the day he’d taken her. His chest tightened painfully.
“Hope you all took note of how to subdue an unarmed civilian,” he said loudly to the tyros as he headed for the exit. “As you were.” Dee’s jaw dropped as he passed her by.
He bounded the steps two at a time. Nia spat obscenities. She wouldn’t stop struggling and dug her fingernails into the skin of his back to the point where he touched his vambrace and bound her hands.
An outraged shriek surged from her chest. While she flailed against him, he ignored the astonished stares of the warriors he passed in the corridor leading to the exit. She didn’t let up, even when they stepped out into the atrium.
“Put me down!”
He headed to the nearest lift. “Not likely when you’ll attack again.” The door opened, and he stepped inside, careful not to bang her head on the door frame. The trip to his quarters felt long with her writhing and screaming at him the entire time.
He didn’t set her on her feet until the door to his quarters closed behind them. Face red, she backed up two steps and glared at him.
“I hate you.”
“I know, izar.” He touched the control on his vambrace to separate her wrists.
Her body seemed to deflate, her shoulders caving in. “How could you do this to me? How could you marry me without my consent?”
“It was the best way to protect you.”
“Protect me? Protect me?” Her breaths left her in short gasps. “You were the one to bring me here. I was protected on Elara Five.”
“Not nearly well enough.”
A frustrated groan left her lips, her arms flying up in exasperation as she spun around to stare at the bulkhead.
He took a step back and turned to press the control to open the door. Now she seemed calmer, he could return to training.
“No,” she said, her voice forceful.
“No, what?” He glanced over his shoulder to find her glaring at him, fire flickering in her eyes.
“I won’t allow you do this to me again.”
He faced her fully. “Do what?”
“I won’t allow you to foist your responsibility on others. You can’t take me from my home, say you’re going to protect me, then ignore me for weeks at a time!” By the time she finished, she was shouting again.
Disbelief shuddered through him. “You don’t want me to ignore you?”
Her expression changed, like she hadn’t realized what she said, then she fisted her hands. “No. I don’t want you to ignore me.”
He stepped fully into the room, and the door closed behind him. “Then what do you want?”
Her breathing turned ragged, fingers flexing at her sides. She looked around his quarters, eyes almost wild, then they settled on him.
He took a step closer. “What do you need, Nia?” If it was in his power to provide it, he would. He wanted her to find some sort of peace on Orion.
She placed a hand flat against her stomach and shook her head. “I don’t know.” Then her fingers curled into a fist and lifted her chin. “How do I end this marriage thing?”
Even though it wasn’t an unreasonable request, his heart lurched in his chest. “I revoke the old laws and place you in common holding.” His answer made her tense, a stillness hovering around her body. He closed the last two steps between them and cupped her cheek in his hand. “I’ll see it done.”
If this was what she needed to feel safe here, he’d do it. He would need to remain diligent that no harm befell her in common holding, would pay off whoever he needed to.
Her russet eyes searched his face. No denial left her lips, and he understood then, it was the right thing to do. He should have done it sooner.
With the weight of that truth settling inside him, he nodded once and took a step back.
She stopped him by covering her hand with his own. Tingles spread down his arm at the touch. The memory of the kiss they’d shared resurfaced, how she’d pulled him with non-CORE-like passion.
Her eyes flared like she was remembering too, then her other hand rose and pressed against his bare chest. Prickles pulsed through his skin. He inhaled a sharp breath when her fingernails curled into his skin.
He grasped her elbow with his free hand. “What do you need, Nia?” he whispered, his throat too tight to speak properly.
The hand on his chest moved, inched its way upward, leaving a scorched path in its wake. Her fingers wrapped around his nape, then traveled further until they delved into his hair. Russet eyes darkened; her lips parted. Her gaze flicked to his mouth then returned to his eyes.
“You,” she said, and pulled his face to hers.
Nia didn’t know what she was doing.
Earlier, she’d been so furious, so full of rage at being married without her consent she’d attacked him in front of everyone, screamed liked she’d gone completely mad. And now it felt like all those emotions had been funneled into a state of desire so potent she had no way to fight it.
His lips crashed against her, brutal, and exactly what she needed. She didn’t want gentle. Anger, directed at herself, coursed through her veins. She shouldn’t want this but couldn’t fight it. She blamed it on being separated from CORE society for so long, for all the mood modifiers she used to pump into herself being out of her system. She allowed her emotions to dictate her actions, just like every other Tellusian.
But no excuse could justify the way she felt when Mace claimed ownership of the kiss, like a man starved, and she the only ration in sight. His tongue swept in, hungry, and ate her up.
Fire crept through her body, all-consuming. Her tongue reciprocated the exploration with an urgency she didn’t know she possessed. Heat settled between her thighs.
He pulled her against his body with enough force her lungs emptied on an oomph. She grabbed his shoulders and hung on tight. Mace’s hands traveled her spine to her bottom, pressing her against him. She plunged her other hand into his hair and her legs found their way around his hips. He growled encouragement, fingers curling into her buttocks.
His grip tightened, almost painful, as he pushed her against the table. More of that. She needed the sting to take away the guilt.
But it was like he’d heard her say the opposite, and his touch and kiss gentled. She couldn’t deal with tender. Not now. She bit his bottom lip. Hard.
He gasped and tore his mouth away. A dangerous glint entered his eyes, and she shivered, then dove back in, hands roaming over his shoulders, biceps, then up again. He lifted her onto the table. His nostrils flared as he leaned closer, inhaling the scent of her throat. Her breath caught in her chest, tingles spreading low in her body.
“Izar,” he whispered against her skin, “you have taken over my mind, body, and soul, and I cannot escape.”
A wave of heat washed over her to pool in the center of her body. His frantic hands lifted her shirt, caressed her breasts through the thin material of her bra. She arched her spine on a gasp. The throbbing heat in her center turned into a stab of pain.
He bit her nipple through the fabric, and she cried out. Nia held on to his hair. Her legs spread wide at the press of his knee. He kissed her abdomen downward until he breathed hot air on her swollen clit through her leggings. She almost orgasmed right then, a low moan rolling through her body.
“Mace, please.” She wanted him to satisfy this burning need inside her.
His face pressed between her thighs, he stiffened.
Distress cut through the haze of her passion.
No.Whatever internal battle he fought, she wouldn’t allow him to leave her like this. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders.
“This isn’t what you want,” he said as he leaned over her, hands braced on either side of hips, his expression haggard.
Desperation made her voice sharp. “Of course it’s what I want. Stars above, Mace, if you can’t tell when a woman is in high need, I’ll give you some blasted lessons, but don’t you dare stop.”
He shook his head. Her nails scraped his skin as he pushed away from the table, leaving her cold.
“Mace.” His name came out ragged as she watched him leave.
A new fury swept through her. She wouldn’t allow him to run away this time.