Kragen Read online

  In that light, Andie could see something. But she could feel everything. She saw images she didn’t understand; she saw herself, she saw Kragen. She felt pain, she felt love. She saw herself, bent over, screaming in pleasure…

  She saw two divergent lines meeting to form one.

  It was too much.

  With no sense of her body, her knees weakened. Her vision fuzzed at the edges and Kragen’s whole face blurred.

  She tumbled deeper into the chasm. The parking lot rose to meet her face.

  Even as she passed out, she was distantly aware of being caught—scooped off of the ground before she could strike. She was lifted effortlessly by tree-trunk arms and nestled against a broad chest that still burned with their united, glowing hearts.

  Kragen carried her—away from Silver Creek, and into the forest.

  He was abducting her.

  It was the last thing Andie realized before everything went black.

  Andie had been here many times before.

  She was on her knees, on a strange bed. A huge bed, the black, silken sheets twisted up around her. Her wrists were bound gently together, and she was resting on her forearms, her breasts pressed into a pillow, her ass in the air. Naked.

  Exposed.

  At the mercy of…someone.

  There was a…a male behind her. That was familiar, too. So was the way he slipped his large hand between her thighs, running his hand up her leg until he came to cup her wetness, his fingers teasing her, rubbing her until a ragged moan escaped her lips.

  But then…he growled. In appreciation, in lust. A growl. She’d heard that growl before…

  And then there were huge hands on her hips, and instead of entering her from behind, he lifted her and flipped her over onto her back, all in one motion. Then those huge hands were between her legs, spreading her thighs, and she looked right at him…

  And the man between her legs wasn’t a man at all.

  He was a Leonid.

  Her Leonid.

  Kragen.

  His eyes blazed and his chest expanded, his muscles rippling in a wave down his torso as he moved into position. Another growl rumbled in his throat, his fingers dug into her hips. And then he pinned her with that gaze.

  “Mine,” he growled. “You are mine.”

  And before she could say yes…

  Andie woke up.

  Holy bleeping shit.

  That was one of her oldest fantasies, only this time it had been a dream…a dream with Kragen in it.

  Well, part of it had been a dream.

  Andie sat up. She was, in fact, lying on a strange bed. With black sheets. Her wrists were free, though. So. She had that going for her.

  Slowly, and not entirely sure she wasn’t still dreaming, Andie looked around. This bed, with its black sheets, wasn’t exactly like the dream bed. It sat directly on the floor, for one. The scarcity of pillows told her it was definitely not a woman’s bed. Not that Andie knew any woman who would have a bed in an abandoned warehouse.

  Because that’s where she was: a warehouse. In the basement, maybe, judging by the height and shape of the windows. Probably one of the warehouses that had been abandoned when the factories shut down.

  It was fancy for an abandoned warehouse, though. Someone had built shelves out of scrap wood, and there were all sorts of little blinking widgets on those shelves, connected by cables that disappeared through a tiny hole in the wall. The lighting was provided by candles set around the room, leaving Andie blanketed in flickering, silky darkness. It was dim enough that nobody passing by would have known there were people inside.

  Not that anybody passed by the abandoned warehouses anymore. Really, nobody went into the industrial district across the river. If that was where Andie had been taken, chances were great that nobody would ever find her.

  So why wasn’t she more freaked out?

  She ran her hands over the sheets and tried to think. They were soft cotton, not silk. And she wasn’t entirely sure this was all real. Could this be real? Had all of that really happened?

  Trevor had attacked her?

  A Leonid had saved her? A Leonid named Kragen?

  A Leonid who felt like…

  Mine.

  She shook her head. No, that was insane. There must be some other explanation. She’d been feeling weird all day, she’d been fantasizing about Leonids, and then she’d fainted after one of them saved her. She’d probably imagined the weirder parts. It wasn’t like there’d even been a scientific match yet, so randomly finding a mate was ridiculous, and she did not believe in fate or any nonsense like that. Besides, the Leonids were going to have their pick of most of the women on Earth. Andie wasn’t even in the running.

  And even if it weren’t for all of that…she just couldn’t be “mated,” whatever the hell that meant, to someone so dangerous. Kragen wasn’t just her type; he was her type on galactic steroids, and that was the problem. That dark, dominant energy always came with a dark side. A cruel, domineering side. Even if she couldn’t see exactly what it was yet. Besides the whole kidnapping thing, obviously.

  But had she been kidnapped? He’d carried her. She hadn’t imagined that. And he’d taken her here.

  To an abandoned warehouse.

  “No,” she whispered, and shook her head again, as if to ward off bad thoughts. Even though Kragen was intimidating as all hell, he had been honorable so far. It’s not like a random Leonid would know where to take her if she needed help, and she had literally fainted. He had been injured, himself, and he’d needed…well, he’d needed to get back to his secret underground lair, apparently.

  And somehow she knew that a male like Kragen would never leave an unconscious female alone and defenseless.

  Why didn’t she feel alone now?

  That warm feeling was pulsing deep in her core again. It was almost becoming uncomfortable, how aroused it made her feel. Andie took a deep breath, and looked down. Welp, she definitely looked like she’d just had a really hot sex dream, that was for sure. Her nipples were hard little points, visible even through her scrubs, and she was wet again.

  She was trapped in underground lair, and she was turned on.

  That doesn’t seem good.

  “You are safe.”

  She jolted, yanking the sheets to cover herself to the chest, even though she was fully dressed.

  Andie hadn’t seen Kragen looming in the doorway at the end of the makeshift room. He’d been watching her from the darkness of a passageway, his huge bulk leaning casually against the wall. He’d be invisible if it weren’t for the dull, silvery glow coming from his own skin.

  How long had he been there?

  Had he seen her as she’d dreamed of him?

  “Breathe, Andromeda,” his voice came from the dark. It sounded like he was smiling. “You truly are safe.”

  “You sure about that?” she said, half to herself.

  At that he pushed off the wall and came forward, into the flickering candlelight.

  Good Lord.

  He was even more physically impressive than she remembered. The light dappled the molten skin stretched tight over endless muscle, reflecting, at times, blue, red, green. At first glance she might have thought he was a warm gray, if such a thing could exist, but the light revealed the metallic sheen to his skin. It was beautiful.

  And his eyes…

  She didn’t dare look at his eyes. Somehow she knew if she did, she’d lose her mind. Instead she pulled her gaze lower, over his muscled chest, to where bandages now covered his waist, a gauze pad at his back where Trevor had stabbed him. Even so, the bandages did nothing to hide the raw power of his body. When he moved, she could see his muscles slide beneath his skin, could see the simple athletic grace of someone who exerted complete control over themselves and their surroundings.

  The thought sent another wave of heat washing over her. Kragen glowered at her from the end of his bed, studying her body with roving eyes that she could feel upon her skin like the brush of fing
ertips.

  Andie had never been so persistently, uncomfortably wet before. It felt like she was actively throbbing between her legs. She was swollen, aching, and the only relief would be the touch of fingers. Or a mouth. Or…

  Her eyes dropped to Kragen’s groin. Her cheeks caught fire. Her shoulders trembled. They really, really couldn’t be mates.

  Because there was no way she could handle that.

  “I am sure, Andromeda,” he said. “You will always be safe with me.”

  His voice commanded her attention, and he got it. She looked up.

  His eyes were glowing.

  “I am not accustomed to repeating myself,” he said, voice low and rumbling.

  He said it with such easy command, with such…

  With such dominance.

  Andie swallowed thickly. This was not good. Not good at all. In fact, this was freaking dangerous.

  He was going to kill Trevor!

  Like he read her thoughts, Kragen strode to the side of the bed, until he towered over her.

  “I did not kill them,” Kragen said, his words even. “Because you requested it. Every one of the human males survived. You are mine to protect from harm, physical or emotional. You were upset. So they survived.”

  Andie understood all of those words individually, but together they were almost too much. She could barely breathe around Kragen. And the closer he got…

  “Thank you?” she whispered.

  “When you have cause to thank me,” he growled, “you will know it.”

  Andie's breath hitched. He was so close that she was having trouble forming normal thoughts. She kept looking at the patchwork of scars that covered his skin, while the pressure between her legs grew into an uncomfortable ache.

  It took her a second to even realize that he was talking again.

  “Andromeda.”

  She looked up.

  Kragen folded his arms across his chest, eyebrows lowering over his eyes. “Are you hurt?”

  “Me?” she said, her brain coming momentarily back online. “What about you? You were literally stabbed in the back.”

  “I will be fine,” he growled. “You will tell me if you are injured, or I will check you myself.”

  Andie felt a thrill run down her body and back up again at the promise in those words.

  Control yourself, Knowles!

  There was no such thing as magical mates, or whatever she’d imagined he’d said. There was no such thing as fate. And physical attraction didn’t mean anything, even if she’d never been so attracted to anyone in her life. Even if she knew, knew, that if he told her to, she’d…

  She’d do anything at all.

  Which was why she should be scared. Because she didn’t know him. And it’s not like being alone in an abandoned warehouse entirely at his mercy wasn’t a huge red flag.

  “I’ll check myself,” Andie muttered. And almost hated herself for it.

  She looked down. She was certain that Trevor had grabbed hard enough to bruise her, and indeed, she found five imprints in the shape of fingertips. But they looked to be old injuries. They were yellowing around the edges.

  “Uh, sort of,” she said, confused. “But I’m almost healed. How long have I been unconscious?”

  “Only a few minutes,” Kragen said. “You are healing because of my presence. Just as I am healing because of yours.”

  Andie looked up sharply. He was looming over her, his size intimidating and sexy all at the same time. And he didn’t seem particularly happy about what he’d just said.

  “How is that even possible?” Andie said. “How are we healing each other?”

  Kragen took a long, deep breath, his nostrils flaring as he exhaled, his big arms still crossed over his chest.

  “Because,” he rumbled, “you are my Mate.”

  5

  “You are my Mate.”

  Kragen spoke the words and knew they were true.

  This female, Andromeda Knowles. She was his mate.

  She was his.

  It was only his complete self-control that allowed him to keep his focus on her. Because those words were impossible. Claiming her as his mate would doom this Andromeda Knowles, without her ever knowing it. And so he would not let it come to be.

  But what he saw was not acceptable. She was afraid.

  She blinked into the words, her soft face begging to be cradled, her soft hair begging to be pulled. There was a flash of arousal over her body, one he sensed more than saw, and brought forth an even greater response in his.

  But then…then she was afraid.

  She looked away, her brow furrowing.

  “Ok, well, that’s ridiculous,” she said. “This is all ridiculous. I mean, where am I?”

  “My sanctuary,” Kragen said. “I have laid claim to an abandoned warehouse in the industrial region of the region known as Blackthorn. It is concealed by the finest Leonid cloaking technology. We are safe from everyone here. Even my own people. I promise you, no harm will come to you.”

  That did not seem to have the desired effect.

  She turned her head around suddenly, and Kragen saw that her expression was more frightened than ever.

  “Your own people?” she said.

  Gods damn it all.

  Of course she was frightened; he’d just revealed he was hiding from the Leonids and the Alliance. If he revealed any more than this, she would only be more frightened. And with good reason: knowing the truth of why he was here, hiding like a coward in this forgotten ruin, would only endanger her further. This godsdamned mating bond was clouding his mind. The need to touch her—to have her—to feel her soft flesh yield to him, to claim her, to finish marking her…

  It was deafening.

  He would rise above it. But it would be damn hard.

  “Do not change the subject, Andromeda,” he said. “It is not ridiculous. It is true. We are Mates.”

  “Don’t call me Andromeda,” she shot back, her beautiful brown eyes flashing as anger flared inside her. No, they were not entirely brown, he saw again. There were flecks of gold and green.

  They were beautiful.

  Kragen felt desire rise in him again. She was too tempting. She still sat on his bed, the sheet bunched up around her where she’d covered herself with it. Even so her skin called for his touch. The mark on his chest burned. And he knew she must feel the same.

  “Call me Andie,” she said finally. “And what does that even mean? How can I be your ‘mate’?”

  He wanted to show her. He wanted to tear those clothes off, feel her bare skin beneath his, and show her how her body would respond to his. Only then would she know.

  No.

  “It means we are sexually compatible,” he said, the desire vibrating in his voice. “It means you are meant to submit to me. It means your body will yield to mine. It means my command of your body is as natural as my command of kuma. It means we are bound together for a time, Andromeda, whether you like it or not.”

  She looked up at him, her lips slightly parted, a mix of shock, arousal, and alarm flitting across her face. How he wished to see what faces she would make…

  “Andie,” she corrected him quietly. “And it’s not possible. I never submitted a sample. I was never tested.”

  “You have been tested,” he said. “Here. Now. You are not just a genetic match. You are my Mate.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she said.

  He growled in frustration. If she were claimed, he would discipline her for that, until they both screamed in pleasure.

  “Then I will prove it.”

  Moving suddenly and quickly, with the pent-up frustration of a Leonid warrior who has not yet claimed his mate, Kragen reached down and grabbed the sheet that covered her. With one motion, he stripped it from her.

  They stared at each other. She was still clothed. But she was also still his mate.

  “Remove that green shirt,” he ordered.

  She obeyed immediately, and without hesitation. Just a
s his mate would. Because she was already in thrall to the mating bond growing between them, just as he was. The bond that demanded that he claim her.

  The kravok. The hunger.

  He could see it aroused her, but that alarmed her. She looked down at herself, now only wearing a thin white tank top and the green pants he recognized as part of her medical uniform. The glow from her mating mark was dully visible through the thin white material, but it was not enough.

  “Lean back,” he said, and prowled onto the bed.

  When he touched her, it was as gently as he could.

  It still ignited them both.

  Her breath hitched as he pulled at the thin white material, revealing the top of her breast—where her mating mark glowed its heat.

  Kragen looked down. The mark on his own chest glowed in time with hers. With every beat of energy that flowed between them, he could feel the pain and weakness of the wound in his back leaving his body. The sensation built upon itself, demanding more. Always more. That was how the hunger worked.

  He saw it working on her.

  “Do not move,” he ordered.

  If she moved to touch him, he might lose control. And then she would be lost.

  Instead he straddled her motionless body while her eyes followed his. Carefully, so carefully, he extended his hand until it hovered just above her mating mark.

  Just above her breast.

  Focus.

  He ran his hand over her body, careful not to touch her. If he touched her, it would be over. She shuddered beneath him, as a soft glow traced the path he made over her skin, where the bond healed her. She hadn’t many injuries, but any injury at all was unacceptable. So he concentrated while images of Andromeda naked, spread for him, ran through his mind. While he imagined ripping off her flimsy clothing, lifting her legs onto his shoulders, plunging into her as she screamed with pleasure…

  Kragen let out a long, slow breath. She was healed, completely. His work was done.

  He allowed himself one last look into her eyes. And it almost undid him.

  The mating bond between them was stronger than anything he’d ever experienced in his long life. And he knew, as he knew that this Earth revolved around its yellow sun, that she would submit. Simply lying below him had aroused her. Her sexual pleasure was like a beacon to him, making him strong and weak at the same time. He needed more.