Tamed by the Beast. Grace Goodwin
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would be forced to fuck. But the female before me now did not incite lust, but anger.
I growled, letting it rumble through my body at the futility of it all. How had this come about? I was of an age for the fever, yes, but not like this! There were no signs, no history with the males in my family line of losing control like I had.
My father died in the Hive wars when I was still a boy, but he fought for many years and died with honor. My grandfather fought for nearly a decade and come home, took a mate and still served on the other side of the planet as an advisor to top council members. None of my cousins had ever succumbed to the fever. The fact that I had, made me a blight on the family name.
And I still didn’t understand what had happened.
The nearly uncontrollable rage had come on so unexpectedly and intensely that I lost focus, my mind solely on soothing the beast. I could not think clearly, could not speak coherently or with any logic to defend myself or my death sentence after I attacked the Prillon warrior. My beast, restless and edgy my entire life, had become wild and inconsolable.
For the first time in my life, I was out of control. And I did not like the feeling.
The only avenue left to me was a mate. Somehow, the Atlan females who walked past my cell did nothing for my beast. Unmated themselves, they volunteered to soothe the beasts within the warriors who were locked up, their last chance to mate and end the fever. It worked frequently, but the beast within the warrior had to be receptive, had to want the female. Fucking for release with a female that was appealing enough was well and good for an Atlan male, but not enough during mating fever.
Only taking a mate would do. The warrior in the cell to the left of mine had found a worthy mate, for I could hear the rough sounds of fucking. Wild cries of pleasure, wet slaps of skin against skin, and the growls of the beast were loud in the cavernous corridors. This cellblock was nearly empty, just three of us locked up, and all from wealthy, highly respected families.
While my cock pulsed and throbbed, I tore open the front of my pants and stroked the thick length, trying to ease the discomfort. The sounds of fucking helped me stroke my cock to release, thinking of a mate beneath me, spread open for my cock, eager to have me take her hard and make her mine. I could see her cuffs about her wrists, the connection that was formed when my seed spilled inside her. But I could not see her face. And when my seed spurted over my hand and onto the floor, the fever did not taper. Nor did my need for the faceless mate that I knew would not—could not—save me.
Ripping my shirt over my head, I used it to wipe the seed from my fingers, dropped it onto the floor and put my foot on it to wipe up the spilled pool. Tucking my still erect cock back into my pants, I took a deep breath, then another.
The fire in my blood, the wild rage did not lessen its hold. Fuck. If I couldn’t get past this, I was going to be executed. And maybe that was a good thing. My beast was a fury in my head, a wild animal clawing at its cage, willing to die to be free.
“You look… well, Commander.”
My head whipped about at the apprehensive greeting. He was right to be afraid. Beyond the grav-wall stood Warlord Engel Steen and his daughter, the Atlan beauty I’d been expected to mate from the age of five, the stunning Tia. My beast had yet to find interest in her and I had long ago assumed it was not a match. They both looked at me as if I were an exotic animal in a zoo. Perhaps I was one, trapped behind the grav-wall and ogled by strangers, constantly under surveillance. The sound of a mating bond being formed continued from the next cell and Tia’s cheeks turned an embarrassed shade of pink, her arousal scenting the air as I watched her, inspected her yellow gown and the swell of her ample breasts, hoping my beast would calm, would show the smallest interest in a female.
In the nearby cell, the newly mated female screamed her release as the warrior in beast mode growled. When the growling ceased, I knew that warrior’s fever had been instantly soothed. He would walk out of his cell soon, soothed and mated. A free warrior once again.
I didn’t care that the Atlan had fucked a willing female, felt her lush body beneath his, enjoyed the hot, wet heat of her pussy, but I was damn jealous that the beast within him was finally appeased. It seemed nothing would please mine. He pushed at my control every moment of every day, as if he were already rabid, beyond saving. And even now, with a willing female standing before him, he prowled the cage of my mind, unsatisfied with what she offered. My logical mind knew I should take what had been offered dozens of times, throw Tia up against the wall and fuck her, allow her to cuff me and do her best to control me when the beast raged against the restraints.
But even as I thought of the possibility, my beast growled a warning. He was not interested. He would not acknowledge this woman as his mate, would not be tamed by her presence.
“That could be you,” Engel said, tilting his head toward the other cell, then looking down at Tia with an obvious question in his raised brows. A question I could not answer. The beast chose the mate, not I, and it did not want Tia. Fucking her would not change that. For years I’d laughed at the absurd claim of other warriors I knew who’d tried to explain this fact to me. I’d ignored them, at my peril. The beast was in charge now. All I could do was sit back and thank the gods he’d allowed me control long enough to get rid of our visitors.
Tia took a step closer to the grav-wall and the scent of her bathing oil, spices and nerdera flower, enveloped me as the air filtration system pumped their combined scents into the cell.
Revulsion made my beast growl. No. I had known her my entire life, and we both knew I held no desire for her. I admired and respected her, but my feelings were similar to those I held for my sister. My beast refused to become aroused by her. In fact, he became angrier each time they appeared with the same words, the same enticements. Engel wanted me to mate his daughter. My beast would not accept her. I’d told the man many, many times.
“We’ve come to offer you a second chance,” he continued. “You will be executed in three days, Commander. Surely, we would all prefer to avoid that.”
“Second chance?” I said, my voice rough and deep, so unfamiliar to me. It was more like twentieth, but I held my tongue.
“You don’t remember?” Tia asked, her gaze fixated on my bare chest. I could not miss her interest or her arousal at the sight of my body. In fact, I could smell the wet welcome of her pussy, but my beast skulked, refusing to be tempted.
She was a tall woman, statuesque. The perfect example of an Atlan bride. Her dark hair flowed long and free down her back and her floor-length yellow gown, the crisscross of gold outlining her perfect breasts showed off both her status as a wealthy Atlan elite, and her dark coloring to perfection. She was extremely beautiful, but my beast didn’t want anything to do with her. It would be so much fucking easier if he did.
Afraid to speak, worried my beast would snap or snarl, I shook my head.
“Your beast gains more control each day, Commander. We came yesterday. Tia offers herself to you as a mate. Let her save you.”
“She should speak for herself then.” I couldn’t hold the words back, for Engel wouldn’t have escorted her if he did not have his own machinations. I just didn’t know what they were. As a member of the ruling class, he had been in charge of interplanetary shipments and supplies for more than a decade. He was a very powerful man, wealthy and well connected, a ten-year veteran of the Hive wars. Engel wouldn’t come here to pawn off his daughter, to stand by as a beast fucked her, just to get her mated. She had her choice of mates.
“Why me?”
Tia’s cheeks blushed red and she bit her plump lower lip in a move practiced and well perfected. I knew. I’d watched her tempt warriors with that look many times before I’d joined the Coalition Fleet. “I’m willing, Deek. You know I’ve cared for you since I was a girl. We have known each other for years, and I wish for this union. I find you… attractive. We could be good together.”
Tia’s admittance surprised me, and my beast. While she may have been interested, my beast had never once found significance in her. I knew the beast’s desire would flare to life