Page 43 of Matched and Mated

Even now, as I paused on the threshold of my own quarters, I could feel them both. His complete attention was on caring for her and making sure she was safe. Calm. And my mate? My female? The greatest gift the gods had ever blessed me with?

She was worried, the emotion an underlying simmer. But she was content. Not panicking. She felt… safe.

Brax was, indeed, a worthy second. Not only had he saved my life during the Hive attack, but he watched over our mate now, while I was unable, and made sure she was cared for. Loved. Protected.

I had chosen well. And despite the fact that Brax’s foolish choices had driven Miranda from his arms, I could not help but be grateful for the strange twist of fate that had led them both to me.

The door to my private quarters slid open silently and I stepped inside to find Brax sitting on the sofa with Miranda curled up in his lap, asleep. Her face was pressed to his neck and she clung to him, even in sleep. She wore a soft gown in a style I’d never seen before, and assumed was from Trion. It was lovely, every shimmering inch of the material clung to her curves. She looked more dream than reality and my cock grew hard. I didn’t want to wait to claim her officially. Make her mine. I didn’t want any uncertainty, and now that I had decided upon Brax as a second, I only needed Miranda’s consent to claim her forever. I had no doubts. I knew Brax—who had already followed her halfway across the galaxy—had none as well.

He lifted his head and indicated that I should be quiet. “She’s only been asleep a few hours. She was worried about you,” he whispered.

“I know. I could feel her.” And I could, even while unconscious in the ReGen pod, I had dreamed of her and known she was near.

Making my way to the cleansing room, I removed the medical garments they’d placed me in when I woke and stepped into the shower tube. The uniform I’d worn had been removed and disposed of and I did not miss the smell of burned flesh. Of battle.

Of Miranda’s fear.

I did not linger, but washed away the last of the attack even as I wondered if Miranda would want both my collar and Trion adornments. The memory of her wearing the green gems had me wrapping my hand around my hard cock with a groan. Gods, she was beautiful. I didn’t care what she wore. In fact, I preferred her naked. But it would be her choice, and I would honor Brax’s traditions if that was what my female desired.

Anything for her. Anything to make sure she knew exactly how much I loved her. Needed her. I’d never needed another living creature. Not man nor beast. But now, I needed her. Not simply her presence, her joy in life. Her light. Her laughter and happiness. I needed to feel the contentment making her warm and sleepy and satisfied.

I was weary of this war, of killing. Of watching my friends and fellow warriors die. I needed a reason to keep fighting. And that reason was curled up in my second’s lap, trusting him to protect her while I healed. Trusting me to return to her.

That trust was humbling, and I would not take it for granted.

I turned off the cleansing jets and dried quickly, returning to the main room where Brax and Miranda remained exactly as I had left them. I stood naked, eager to feel her in both body and mind.

But I was hungry now. Not for food, for her. It was time to claim her.

Brax looked me over and the grin on his face nearly made me chuckle. “Eager, are we?”

“And you are not?” I asked. “You are my second, Brax. If you accept the honor, and vow to protect both Miranda and any children we may have with your life.”

His look turned from amused to serious. “Are you sure? I will not allow you to change your mind, Trist, simply because you were half dead when you gave me this collar. She’s mine. Any child, yours or mine, I will love and protect. They will be part of her and I will fight to the death to keep her.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Our gazes locked and the bond we shared through the collars amplified what we were both feeling. Possessive. Protective. Aroused.

Miranda must have sensed something was going on, for she stirred. Her eyes opened and she looked up at Brax before she realized I was in the room. “Hi.” Her smile was soft and accepting, full of trust. She loved him, the force of her emotion a shock to my system now that I could also feel Brax’s love for her.

“Greetings, mate. Are you rested?” he asked, stroking a piece of hair away from her face with gentle hands.

“How is Trist?”

Brax burst out laughing and looked up at me. There was no resentment in his gaze, for he could feel her love as well as her worry for me.

Miranda turned her head, took one look at my naked body and cried out, scrambling from Brax’s lap to leap into my arms. Her love for me hit me hard as I caught her. It was not the same as what she felt for Brax. For Brax, I felt her trust and desire, the feeling that she was pampered. He made her feel beautiful and desired.

Her feelings for me were a tangle of need and as she held me with all the strength in her small, human arms, squeezing as tightly as she could, clinging to me as if she could not breathe without me, I was content.

“Do you accept my claim, mate? Do you accept me as your primary male or do you wish to choose another.”

“Shut-up, Trist. You’re mine.” She was crying and laughing at the same time, a skill I did not comprehend.

“Then you accept my claim?” Normally, this would be done in a room of Prillon warriors, chosen to honor the female and vow to protect her should anything happen to her mates, to come when called upon by her mates. But Brax was Trion, and I knew from the possessive way he watched us both now that he would not desire to share her in the traditional Prillon custom.

“Yes, Trist. I accept your claim.”

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