Page 18 of Bound (Gladiators of the Gryn #3)

RYCH

My desire to breed my little mate has not abated in the least. I will happily plunder every inch of her, and when she is ready, I will fill her gorgeous belly.

I cannot wait.

For now, I get to lie at her side and gaze at her beautiful face. Listen to her breathing. Watch her chest rise and fall and her eyes flicker under her eyelids.

How could I have found such an incredible mate in all of this? A mate who is supposed to be off limits, and yet who I couldn’t help but claim?

It stirs something in me, the part of me which built this nest for her. The part I pretend isn’t me, the unremembered I don’t want to think about.

But now I have Chrissie, I have to think about it. I have to keep her. I have to protect her.

“You think too loud,” Chrissie says, stretching out under the soft blanket I’ve draped over her. “What are you thinking about?”

“You, little spark, always you.”

She smiles, her face squished up as she puts her arms over her head. I grasp at her wrists, pinning her down as I plunder her mouth once again. My Chrissie melts under me, her body pressed against mine and making me want to mate her.

“Again?” she asks, light twinkling in her eyes. “After the last two times?”

“I’d have you impaled on my cocks a hundred times a nova-day or more, little spark, twice as much at night.”

“Confident you could stand up to that much punishment?” She laughs, so full of life.

“For you, anything.”

Chrissie rolls onto her front, sadly denying me the view of her glorious breasts, the nipples standing proud under the covers.

“Any chance the rations in the survival canister are edible?” she asks.

Vrex! In my delight of her body, I’ve forgotten about food.

“Your word is a command, mate.” I grin, pulling on my pants.

I take one last look at her before I return to the large outer cave. Light from the dawning of Trefa’s two suns is creeping into the place from the large entrance. The scent of burning ship winds like tendrils into my nose.

It’s not enough to get the scent of her out of my head.

The canister is where we left it last night, undisturbed because this place has been empty for eons. The items I found to make my nest were stored in airtight containers. Containers I was able to find with ease, even if I didn’t know what I was doing.

I don’t know what I’m doing. Other than mating with my eregri , other than knowing that Gryn nest for their fated ones, I’m not sure about anything else, other than the fact I cannot be parted from Chrissie.

I gather up the contents of the canister and sling it over my shoulder. My feathers are itchy from the dust we flew through last night, and I could do with a bath. The thought of my eregri joining me makes my cocks hard yet again.

They enjoyed plundering her sweet, tight cunt over and over. I press at the bulge in my pants, hoping to dissuade my cocks from punching a hole through the fabric, when my attention is caught by movement out on the plains far below us.

There are craft circling Fenek’s downed ship. I race to the entrance, opening my wings, ready to spring into the air, to capture the attention of our rescuers.

Then, with a snap, I shut them again. These are not rescuers. Pulsar beams strike the wreckage, not in the way of a rescue.

But in the way of ensuring there are no survivors. I pull back from the entrance.

Whatever it is my erstwhile boss has got himself into, it bodes no good for Chrissie or me. Not if the first creatures on the scene are the clean up team.

I make my way back to my nest. It occurs to me we could stay here, nesting, mating, creating younglings. I can hunt, bring us food, while my sweet mate fills these long forgotten halls with her music, making them ring again with life.

Maybe even persuade my fellow gladiators to come here too, with their mates, if I can find them. We could build a lair here.

Be free here.

A scout-bot zips past the entrance to the cave, and I freeze. They’re not content with torching the wreckage. They’re making a sweep of the area, and the last thing I want is for them to find us.

I can fight, but I know when the odds are against me. Once I’m sure the thing is out of range, I head back to my little mate. My dreams are just dreams, and it’s been that way my entire life, what little of it I can remember.

So, there’s nothing to be broken and protecting my mate is the most important thing I will ever do.

One day we’ll find somewhere to nest, but not here and not today.