Page 28 of Bought and Shared
Happy to get away from the previous line of questioning, Colton jumps at the chance to answer any other query. “Go on.”
My lips thin to a solid line and I force myself to look contemplative. “So many of the other women know more about the world and the Voltan than I do. I don’t want to embarrass myself when I interact with your people.”
Okay, so I am laying it on a bit thick, but a girl has to use whatever is in her arsenal. Didn’t she?
“That won’t be a problem,” Colton predicts. “Your masters went to great expense to secure your contract, Aurora. Their only desire is to know more about you.”
“And I wish to know them better, as well,” I happily agree. “That’s why it distresses me when I can’t understand what the other girls are talking about.”
Colton’s smooth brow wrinkles at this. “In regard to what?”
I pretend to be thinking the matter over. “They keep talking about being potential “mates” for their masters. While I know what the root of the word means, I’m not sure what it means to the Voltan.”
“Ahhh,” Coltan says, realization suddenly dawning. “To the Voltan, the word is very significant. It means your forever partner. The one you never stray from and to whom you are completely beholden. It isn’t particularly common to find one’s mate, though there are many stories told in Voltanese literature about such good fortune. To our people, there is no higher honor. No one more beloved and adored than a true mate.”
I swallow hard as he finishes his statement. “That does sound rather romantic,” I manage to spit out.
“Oh, it is,” Colton agrees. “Now, repeat after me. MA-TE-RI,” he says, emphasizing each syllable with care. “That’s how you pronounce mate in Voltanese.”
“Materi,” I whisper back, wondering if it’s true and if I should have waited, like Oren suggested, for him and Knox to explain this to me themselves.
Knox
The whole flight back to Fort Kent, I’m on edge. I’m about to meet my mate for the first time. The closer I get to her, the harder it is for me to relax. I’m impossibly hard and ready to burn off the stress in the only way I know how: rutting between her thighs like the animal I am. Like only a true mate can.
Once I’ve docked my craft, I head directly for Oren’s office. I don’t bother knocking, simply telling his secretary I’m here to see him and walk in unannounced.
“You’re an hour earlier than I calculated,” Oren says without looking up from his paperwork. “Obviously, I’ve underestimated how lonely those jungles can be.”
I snort my response and take a seat. “The weather was good.”
This time, it’s Oren’s turn to snort. “I’ve been checking the weather reports all day and there were several nasty storm systems in your path the entire way here.”
I shrug. “You know how weather reports are.”
Oren raises a dark brow. “Your speed couldn’t have anything to do with a beautiful redheaded draftee, could it?”
Dropping the pretense I stand. “Where is our mate at present? I wish to see her.”
Grinning from ear to ear, Oren leans back in his chair. “Aurora’s in our room, learning Voltanese from her tutor.”
That was the last thing I expected to hear. “This is your idea?”
Oren’s smile only grew. “Hers. She wishes to be able to communicate with us in our mother tongue.”
My cock, already pounding in my uniform, lengthens and thickens even more at his unexpected revelation. The knot atthe base tingles with anticipation. Our mate wishes to learn our language. A surprising finding that pleases me very much.
“Let us go back to our rooms and dismiss her tutor for the day. She has more important things to do with her tongue at the moment than practicing our language.” I can barely restrain myself at this point.
Laughing, Oren stands and stretches. “I thought you might say as much.”
We leave the office, bound for our suite. I don’t ever remember a time when I was this moody. It seemed like the closer I get to my mate, the more amped up I become.
“Take a breath,” Oren instructs as soon as we stop outside our suite.
I don’t need to breathe. I need between my mate’s legs a half a dozen times, and then I’ll be less edgy. I tell Oren this and he frowns.
“She’s a virgin, Knox. We must be careful with her in the beginning,” he pointedly reminds me.
