Page 60 of Anna's Bounty
Rovos
Iwake to the sound of someone pounding on the door.
I blink the sleep from my eyes and push myself up on an elbow to look around. Where am I? The room is unfamiliar.
A low moan drags my attention to the woman curled up against me. Her blond hair is a curtain, covering her face and bare shoulders. Her scent drifts into my nostrils, and I greedily draw more of her in. Some of the fog clears, and I remember the events of the last several hours. The way I fucked my Annah and how she took my claiming bite.
My cock lengthens against the curve of her bottom, and she hums in her sleep, pressing herself against me. A smile spreads across my lips, and I start to roll her to her back so I can wake her with my cock when the pounding comes again.
Right. The door.
Cursing under my breath, I disentangle myself from my mate, being sure to tuck a blanket around her so she doesn’t become cold from the loss of my warmth. Then I drag my pants over my hips and go to the door.
“About time! We’ve been standing out here for hours,” Sone grouses the moment I open the door. He ducks under my arm and lets himself into my room. He makes it two steps before his nose twitches, and he turns back with a grin on his smug face. “Well, that explains that.”
Igid and Treto follow, and I close and bolt the door behind them.
“What is the time?” I ask, running a hand over my face and through my hair. Dim light filters through the window, but I can’t tell if it’s early night or morning.
“It’s the very early hours of the morning,” Igid says, settling herself at the table. Her gaze locks on Annah’s sleeping form. “Did you claim her?”
She grins when I nod.
“Good. It’s about time you did something that makes you happy.”
Looking over at Annah, I can’t hold back the smile that spreads across my lips. I am happy. I’ve denied myself this feeling for so long, I didn’t even recognize it for what it was.
“What happened after we left?” I ask, dragging my eyes from my mate to focus on my crew.
Treto is standing by the Replicator while Sone paces back and forth in front of the table.
“We finished off the battalion of Zetas and then went after Volethos,” Igid tells me.
“The fucker got away before we could get to him,” Sone spits.
“What?” The last of my lingering sleep evaporates. “How?!”
“He got in a cheap shot and injured the female, Deja, which distracted her mate. In the melee, he escaped before we could get there,” Sone explained.
I sit down on the edge of the bed and drop my head into my hands.Vittu!
“If you listen carefully, you can still hear that female giving her male a piece of her mind for letting him go.” Igid chuckles, then she shrugs. “I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last from Volethos.”
Exhaling loudly, I turn to watch as my Annah sleeps peacefully. With Volethos still out there, she will never be safe. There will always be the chance he’ll try to take her from me.
“We’ll have another chance,” I whisper to my sleeping mate.
“I can hear you thinking from here,” Igid says, just before I feel her hand on my shoulder. “You worry too much, my friend.”
“I can’t help it,” I tell her. Because if something ever happens to Annah, I would never recover.
She digs her fingers into the tense muscle. “Perhaps, but you can’t worry over things that may never happen. Now, why don’t you rest with your mate? You look like you haven’t slept in rotations.”
Exhaustion is dragging at me. Igid is correct that it’s been several spans since I’ve had any kind of decent rest. So I tuck myself against Annah’s back.
“We’ll keep watch,” Igid says as my eyelids fall shut and I drift off to sleep.
* * *
