Torq's Acceptance (Chaetdorian Mates Book 2) Read online

  When he continued to stare at her as if waiting for her to say more, she continued. “It just doesn’t feel right.” How could she even begin to explain how she felt?

  As he stepped completely into the room, the door once again appearing out of nowhere to seal them in, she gazed into his eyes and felt her sex tighten. She needed to be filled. Wanted to be… and that didn’t scare her? With any other male she would have been terrified at her body’s reaction, but not with him, not anymore. Why was that?

  Hell, she was alone in a room with a member of the opposite sex, be him from another species, and she wasn’t running away, wasn’t even worried. Instead of fear all she felt was arousal and need. She had a really strong urge to close the distance between them and seal her lips to his.

  What would it be like to kiss him? To feel his lips against my own, his fangs sharp against my tongue?

  The growl that released from his throat snapped her out of her wonderings and back to reality, but it also sent another wave of pleasure to her core.

  “I can scent your arousal, Alice. I’m a strong male, I have brilliant control, but even I have limits,” he warned as he took a step back as if unsure of himself.

  He wanted her, that much was obvious, even more so by the large bulge encased in his leathers.

  Oh my. From what she could see, he was as large as she had imagined in her dreams.

  “What if I don’t want you to remain in control?” she whispered, almost choking on her own tongue in shock that she had actually said that. Was she insane?

  “Alice,” he groaned, “You don’t know what you are asking for.”

  Maybe not, but she knew she would regret it if she didn’t. “Corr told Nora he thinks I’m your mate. Am I?” She held her breath, her figures crossing at her sides – a habit that she had had since childhood. She didn’t know what she would do if she wasn’t, if he turned her away.

  Okay, yes she did. She would be straight off to find that one that was in charge, the one that had made them choose and beg to be allowed to go home. If Torq didn’t want her, then she didn’t want to stay. He was the only thing right now that made any of this bearable.

  When he remained silent, she felt her eyes pool with tears. He didn’t want her.

  “Don’t do that,” Torq said, stepping forwards and cupping her cheek with his large palm. Her breath caught in her throat at his touch. “You are my mate, Alice. But that doesn’t mean that I’m right for you.”

  What?

  Chapter 9

  “Why wouldn’t you be right for me?” Alice asked, her eyes wide.

  How did he even begin to explain this? “I'm a Slayer, Alice. Do you even know what that means?”

  “Yes. Nora told me all about the different tribes. Explained what you were, what your job was.”

  “Then you see why I have kept my distance from you. You deserve so much more than me. I know you have been hurt, beaten. I could see it in your eyes the night we met.”

  “Torq, that doesn’t mean…”

  “You were scared of me, Alice. Terrified. The horror on your face that night when that male grabbed you. I knew instantly that someone had treated you badly. Do you have any idea what it would do to me if I was the one that caused that look upon your face? It would kill me.”

  “I wasn’t scared of you,” she whispered, her eyes darting away.

  She wasn’t? Torq was pretty sure he had seen fear in her eyes when she had gotten her first look at him. But he didn’t sense a lie now.

  Turning her face back to his, he waited for her to meet his eyes then asked? “So what made you scared?”

  Her face flushed with embarrassment and she tried to look away again, not that he would allow her. “Alice?”

  “I’d seen you before.”

  “What? Where?” How could she possibly have seen him before? It had been years since he’d left the hidden tunnels and entered the human world.

  “In my dreams,” she whispered so softly that even he struggled to catch her words.

  “You’ve dreamed about me?” He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth.

  “Yes, before and after meeting you.”

  “What were the dreams about?” he asked, already having a very good idea if her sent was anything to go by. Her arousal had been growing steadily since the moment he had touched her. There was no going back now, he couldn’t. Neither of them was going to leave this room until she was well and truly claimed.

  Her pulse was racing, her eyes dilated. “You were… and then I was…”

  “We were having sex?” She wouldn’t say it, but he would.

  “Not exactly. We were…”

  “Come on, tell me.”

  Taking a deep breath, pulling her shoulders back, she met his eyes. “The first time you were pleasuring me. Then just a few hours ago, I dreamed that I was pleasuring you. But I woke up just as it got to the best part.”

  They’d had the same dream? How could that have been possible?

  As he stood there, gazing into her beautiful cobalt eyes, he lowered his head and took her lips in a gentle kiss.

  “You’re not scared of me?” She shook her head. “Are you sure you want this? Because there is no going back. I will claim you. But know this; I will never hurt you, never harm you in any way, be it physically or emotionally. You are my life, Alice. My reason for being. You are mine to treasure and protect. Mine to love.” And he did love her, more than she would ever know.

  At the mention of love her eyes widened, her breath hitched in her throat. On the human scale of things he may be moving too fast, but for a Chaetdorian, he was a little behind on the claiming front.

  “I'm sure. I’ve always had a kind of six sense about things. I’ve always been able to tell when danger was just around the corner. When something bad was going to happen. I feel safe with you, Torq. I’ve never felt that way with anyone. I know deep down in my heart that I can trust you, that you will never harm me, cause me any pain.” And then she smiled. A full-blown beautiful smile that stole his breath, along with his heart. He would do anything to make her smile like that every day for the rest of their lives.

  “At least…” she said softly, “not in a way that I wouldn’t enjoy.”

  “You’re right about that,” he growled, fisting his hand in her hand and tipping her head back to claim her lips in a blinding kiss.

  Pulling back, Alice gasped. “Claim me, Torq. Don’t make me wait any longer.”

  He tried to keep control, he really did. He’d wanted to take things slow, love her tenderly like he felt she deserved, but at Alice’s words, he snapped.

  He needed her. Needed to claim his mate… now.

  With a growl, he pounced, grabbing Alice by the waist and crushing her body to his, claiming her lips with a drugging kiss.

  Who started removing whose clothes first? he wasn’t sure. One minute he had been fully dressed in his leathers, the next his chest was bare and Alice’s delicate fingers were making quick work of his trousers. Her clothes, an overlarge jumper and a pair of jeans that she had been given after leaving the holding bay, ended up in tatters on the floor.

  “You’re beautiful,” Torq declared as he gazed upon her naked form, her nipples tight with need, teasing him. Lowering his head, he captured one in his mouth, sucking deep.

  “Torq,” she gasped, her hands cradling his head as if to keep him there. There was no need, he wasn’t going anywhere.

  Moving back and forth between her breasts, he licked, sucked and even bit her tender flesh, causing her to gasp and moan as her need and desire drove higher. “I need… need…” she gasped.

  “I know just what you need.” And what he needed also. He needed to claim his mate.

  In a blast of speed she had not expected – but as her lover was not human but Chaetdorian, she should have suspected a few surprises – she found herself pressed up against the door, legs wrapped around his waist.

  Testing her entrance with his finge
rs, Torq eased first one, then two digits into her warm heat, starting up a punishing rhythm that soon had her moaning, rocking her hips against his hand as she cried out for more.

  “Torq, please. I'm going to…” she stuttered, unable to finish the sentence when his thumb stroked over her clit, sending her over the edge. “Torq,” she screamed, her body clamping down on his fingers as he continued to stroke her higher.

  As she came back down to earth, she heard his mumbled, “You deserve better than this,” and was about to protest when he moved suddenly again.

  Laying her down on the bed, he settled between her open thighs. “I need you,” she breathed, her heavy eyes lifting to meet his. “Claim me, Torq. Claim me as your mate.”

  Capturing her lips, his tongue invading her mouth, he lined up the head of his large steel cock with her sex but failed to move when she expected him to.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I need to be gentle with you. I want to be gentle with you. But I don’t think that I can, Alice. I won’t hurt you, I promise, but…”

  “But nothing,” she said, wrapping her legs around his waist and hooking her feet behind him. “I want this, Torq. I want you, be it gentle or hard. Give it to me, Torq. Give it to me any way you want. Claim me as a Slayer Chaer would claim his mate.”

  With a growl, he plunged, filling her perfectly. She cried out at his intrusion, but only in pleasure. It was as if he was made for her. And in a way, Alice guessed he was – or she had been made him.

  Ducking his head as he began to thrust inside her, keeping up a strong, hammering pace, he sucked one nipple into his mouth, giving it a good teasing nip with his fangs while pinching and twisting the other.

  Every thrust of his hips sent him deep, giving just the right amount of friction to her clit to send her up and over the edge quickly. Again and again, he brought her to climax. How many times she lost count as they all seemed to blur into one long mind-numbing orgasm.

  “I’m going to claim you now, my love. I am going to claim you and love you forever,” she heard him whisper in her ear a moment before his already fast pace ramped up to an almost punishing rhythm.

  Another climax was building, this one much greater than all the ones before. Alice wasn’t sure that she could take it, that she could survive another earth shattering orgasm.

  With a twist of hips, Torq hit a spot deep inside her that sent her spiralling over that edge again whether she wanted it or not, this time even higher than before. She opened her mouth in a silent scream as she Torq chose that moment to bite down hard on her neck, his fangs piercing her flesh deep. As her blood flowed into his mouth and he growled against her neck, filling her with his release, she felt something snap into place, a connection she knew in her heart was meant to be.

  “You are mine,” he said, smiling down at her. “And I am yours.”

  Disentangling their bodies momentarily, Torq lifted off her, settling next to her before pulling her back into his arms once more.

  “I love you,” she sighed, her eyes closing as darkness took her. She really needed to get back into shape and start eating properly again if she didn’t want to pass out from exhaustion every time she and Torq had sex.

  Just before she lost herself completely to the slumber that was pulling her under, she felt his lips press a kiss against her temple and heard him whisper the words, “And I love you, my sweet and delicate mate.”

  Chapter 10

  Walking into the food bay – as Torq called it – the following morning was an experience. The moment Alice and Torq entered all eyes turned to them. In the past, she would have fled from the room in terror at having so many males staring at her, but with Torq by her side, she wasn’t worried. She knew he would never allow anyone to hurt her ever again.

  They had spent the night talking – between bouts of lovemaking, that is – about their pasts and their dreams for their future together. She’d told him all about Frank and how he had left her for dead, dumping her battered body out in the cold winter streets. The rage that had burned in his eyes had been strangely comforting.

  His hand gently guiding her over to a table, she was relieved to see some familiar faces.

  “So I was right,” Corr stated with a smirk on his face as he took in the fresh claim marks upon her neck that Torq had insisted she leave uncovered for all to see.

  “Yes,” Torq spat. “No need to be smug.”

  His words were harsh, but the loving way he pulled out her chair and then dragged his own up against hers so he could keep physical contact at all times told her he was far from upset about it.

  Leaning forward, a warm smile on her face, Nora said, “Oh Alice, I’m so happy for you. It’s great to have some good news for once.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Take off has been delayed, again,” she explained.

  “Why?” Nora’s quick glimpse at Torq led her to ask, “What don’t I know?”

  Sighing heavily, Torq urged her to look at him. “One of the humans that had volunteered to join us went missing the night we picked you up.”

  “You mean the night you kidnapped us?” Nora teased.

  “And aren’t you glad he did,” Corr growled softly, the sexual tension between them mounting.

  Before the two could start necking like teenagers, Torq dropped a bomb. “She turned up last moon… dead.”

  “Oh no.”

  “All visual evidence hinted at her being attacked by one of our males suffering from madness,” Corr explained. “But, after further examination, we’ve found no evidence of rape.”

  Which was what a male suffering from madness would do. Both Nora and Torq had explained about what happened to the males if they failed to find their mates… madness. They would attempt to claim any woman, be she willing or not. That was what the male that had grabbed Nora, the one that had tried to grab her, had been suffering from.

  “Teks has decided to postpone our departure until the killer is found, be they Chaetdorian or human.”

  Was the ship safe? Were her friends safe? Hell, was she safe?

  Panic began to rise, her throat tightening. For a moment, Alice believed she was on the verge of a panic attack. But as Torq’s hand rhythmically ran up and down her back and his lips pressed against her temple, she calmed.

  “It may take a while,” Corr continued, “but we will discover the truth of what happened and punish those responsible.” At the anger in her friend’s mates voice, the panic began to rise again, but only a little.

  Torq growled, his focus on his friend across the table. Turning back to her, he explained “Mandy was a child when we first met her. We watched her grow, treated her as one of our own. When the one responsible for her death is found, they will suffer a hell of a lot worse than she ever did. But you? You have no need to worry.” Leaning down, whispering softly in her ear. “I plan to keep you locked up in our cabin with me for the foreseeable future. No one is getting anywhere near you anytime soon.”

  Loving the sound of that, her fear completely disappearing, she realised that she would be fine, safe. Torq would make sure of that.

  Turning her head, looking up into his star-like eyes, she whispered, “Thank you.”

  Thank you for loving me.

  Epilogue

  Nora had promised to look after Alice while he was away, but Torq still felt uneasy about leaving her behind on the ship, especially after he’d promised not to leave her side. But there was something he had to do, something he needed to do.

  When Alice had opened up about her past and told him about Frank, rage had almost overtaken him. It had only been because he’d had her in his arms that he’d been able to control himself. But now that she was safe with her friends back on board, Torq was on a mission of his own. He was going to kill Frank. Or at least, he was going to batter him to near death and then dump his body like he had Alice’s.

  She’d been extremely lucky that a car had passed by and spotted her. He could have lost her before
he had ever had a chance at finding her.

  It hadn’t taken very long once he given the information to Hex for the young Techno to find the bastard’s address and place of work. Unfortunately, he’d insisted on tagging along. “There’s something I need to pick up is all,” he’d said, before adding, “and I want to see you kick the fucker’s ass.”

  So here they were, hiding in the shadows outside a large glass structure, waiting for Alice’s bastard of an ex to exit the building.

  “So what is it you just had to pick up?” he asked Hex.

  “Salt, pepper, rosemary, among other things.”

  “What? Why the hell do you need any of that stuff?” Whatever it was.

  “You don’t know what it is, do you?” Hex laughed.

  “No. I don’t know much about the human world.” And he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. He knew what he needed to know. He made sure to keep informed on all the human weapon advancements, fighting techniques, anything that could affect his ability to keep what was left of his kind safe.

  “They’re seasonings. Things you can add to food to improve taste. Apparently the food our consoles produce is inedible, according to our new human guests at least. I'm hoping a few seasonings will quieten their moaning until I can reprogram the consoles to dispense some human dishes for them.”

  Alice had said as much, but he doubted any form of seasoning would improve her view of the food consoles. Apparently she preferred fresh produce, which was why he was planning to give her a tour of the food stores the Warriors had filled with human crops from their farms.

  It was another hour before the bastard strolled out of the building as if he had no care in the world. The second Hex whispered, “That’s him,” the guy definitely had something to care about, as five seconds later he was out for the count and on his way to a long and painful death.

  Returning to the ship a few hours later, Torq wasted no time in finding his mate, Hex tagging along, again. They found her, Nora and the rest of the human females stood by the large viewing window, giggling.