Bonus Content – Heartless

Commander Zarren Helion, Stealth Ship, Somewhere in Sector 438

The room was empty. Floor to ceiling, nothing remained. Not one single pink pillow or piece of gray fluff had been lost. They were gone, recycled and returned to the ship’s energy reserves.

A bit like me, perhaps.

My mate, Willow, had confessed her hatred for both colors. Seeing them gone was no loss. Nor would I miss this veritable prison where I’d locked myself away for the last seven years. My personal quarters had been anything but personal.

Before her.

“Zarren! Come over here. Look. Mersan is growing tiny creatures in here.” The love of my life, my heart, pulled on my arm as only an impatient female can. Her golden hair was pulled back into one center ring at the back of her head, the rest falling through that ring in a golden waterfall I ached to wrap around my fingers.

Or my cock.

She called it a ponytail.

I much preferred using it to hold her head in place as I fucked her. My mate liked my wilder urges. Tying her up and feasting on her pussy before filling her with seed. Holding her in place laying on top of me, my cock balls deep as Oberon filled her ass.

My second enjoyed tugging on her ponytail as well.

I adjusted my pants and ignored the heated look Willow gave me as I walked to join her. She was wearing what she called her space uniform. Which meant a Coalition Fleet uniform that hugged every curve.

Not that it mattered what she wore, uniform or dress, neither one of her mates could keep our hands off her. The fact that she knew how to use the blasters strapped to her thighs made me want to rip a hole in that uniform and fuck her while she was fully armed.

It was an odd thought, knowing my female was deadly and dangerous. A new obsession this, loving the fact that she nearly wiped out an entire Hive installation on her own.

Fucking hating myself for allowing her to be taken in the first place, forced into making that choice.

As always, when such thoughts consumed me, Willow reached for me and pulled me close.

“Enough, Zarren. You don’t live there anymore.” She pulled on my wrist so I would put my arm around her, and placed her hand over mine where it rested on the curve of her hip, holding me to her. Keeping me close. Sane. Grounded in something other than guilt, killing and war.

Fuck. Her warmth hijacked my complete attention. Her uniform’s material a task I had yet to conquer. Difficult to tear. Nearly impossible, in fact.

Challenge accepted. I would not resist temptation much longer.

I stood next to her and looked into the reinforced containers in which Doctor Mersan held the ‘tiny creatures’. They were covered with very fine, sharp quills, so small and numerous they appeared to be soft, like fur. A dense black, they were extremely difficult to see in their native habitat. Nothing humanoid lived within two star systems of their home world. Good thing, one touch would kill an Atlan beast in seconds.

When I reached her side, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. Because I could.

Because I needed to.

The more time I spent with her, the more difficult it became to leave her side. This last mission, to acquire the venomous creatures so the science teams on Prillon Prime could create an antidote? Two weeks of travel into deep space. Three days searching for the fucking things. Two weeks back. All so the next assassination attempt on one of the many tribal worlds was not successful.

I didn’t fucking care.

I knew Oberon had kept our mate safe and warm, in our bed, where she should be.

Where I should have been. Next to her. Holding her. Kissing her.

Fucking her.

Willow leaned closer to the clear enclosure. “Aren’t they cute? They’re so fuzzy.”

“They are very poisonous, my lady.” Mersan looked at me like my mate had lost her mind. I shrugged but made sure I kept her at a safe distance. Only Willow would find a deadly animal covered with poisonous needles cute. Human females were a constant source of… surprise.

And passion. Love. Willow’s love wrapped around me like a blanket inside my soul. Soft. Warm. Accepting.

I’d ripped enemies to pieces in front of her. She did not run away. She ran to me, jumped into my arms, and held tight. Why would I want to be out there, looking for poisonous creatures—or killing Hive Soldiers—when I could be with her?

I looked around the ship—my ship—one more time.

Oberon was right.

He’d already requested his transfer. I was the one resisting the change.

Willow must have sensed my unease. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her check over my heart. “Are you alright?”

What would I be if I was not…this?

Hers.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Then I held Mersan’s gaze as I raised my voice and transferred command of the ship… to him.

“What the fuck are you doing, Helion?”

I grinned at him, perhaps the first time I had ever done so. “Choosing a new life.”

Willow gasped. “Really? We’re going back to Prillon Prime?” Her excitement was contagious, flowed through me like a dancing wind, fresh air, and wildflowers. How the fuck could I ever deny her anything when her joy felt like this?

“Yes.” I looked back to Mersan, whose scowl remained in place. Poor fucking bastard. I recognized that face. I’d been staring at the exact same expression in the mirror for years. “Prime Nial offered me a position at the capital. I will be the I.C.’s liaison, in constant communication with you, and keeping the war council informed. Oberon has requested a transfer to fly with planetary defense. He’s served long enough. The transfer will be approved.”

“Or I can make a call—” Willow batted her eyelashes at me.

I laughed. That was my mate. She was closer to Queen Jessica than ever. And she still had higher level S-Gen access than I. When I’d complained to Thomar, he’d fucking laughed.

I looked down into those blue, blue eyes and didn’t resist the tidal wave of emotion that engulfed me. Love. I fucking loved this female, would do anything to make her happy.

She smiled back. “You know what I want right now?”

“Tell me.”

She showed me instead, the erotic flood of sensation coming through our mating collars wrapped around both my cock—and my heart.

Gods forbid she ever let go.