Petr's Mate (6 page)

“There
are holes in the sensor net along the borders that if you are in a position
such as mine you can find
easily
.
They are extremely dangerous, as the majority are within meteor fields which
are
constantly
shifting and moving. I have slipped across to see her and my niece and nephew.
It’s been a while since my last visit due to
some
commitments that couldn’t be pushed
off. I had planned to make another trip soon. You could come with me if you’d
like. It would not be for long, only a few hours is all that we can risk, but I
know
Adira
would be pleased to meet you.” He made a
face
and blew out a breath. “She’ll
probably have
a few things
to say about this being the universe’s way to get back at me for how I’ve
treated her mate.”

“Why
would she say that? Because you are stuck with a woman from the way back past?”
she said with a smile. “But I’d like to meet her. I want to get to know as much
as possible about this new life that I have with you. I’m afraid of what will
come,” she admitted. “I’m terrified.”

“She’ll
say it because she’s my younger sister and she lives for moments she can
finally prove she is wiser than I could hope to be. They are normally few and
far between. I may have also made some unkind comments about her mate a time or
two. In my
defense,
he can be annoying. In his favor is the fact he treats my sister like the
priceless jewel she is.” Stroking his thumb to her
face,
Petr shook his head. “Be who you are,
Samantha. That is the person I’m drawn to. You will need to learn
some things
for when we return to
Imara
, my home world, but out here you should never feel
the need to conform to what you or anyone else believes you should be. Do you
understand?”

“Thank
you. Yes,
I understand.
”
She had learned on Earth how to schmooze with the best of them. She had to be
two different people when she had to face the boards on Earth or when she had
to try to raise money for the hospital. “I look forward to learning as much
about this new time that I’m in as possible. And
…
I’m looking forward to walking at your side. As for the whole younger sister
thing.” She was grinning now and took another bite of food. “They can be very
frustrating,
but you have to love them all
the same. And no, I don’t have siblings but I knew a lot of people who had
younger siblings or were younger siblings. I got to see it on both fronts and
got a kick out of it.”

“She is all the family I have
left, or was. It
’
s
hard to have this physical divide between us and only be able to sneak in the
occasional visit. One day I hope that our two peoples will coexist peacefully,
that trips won’t have to be done in secret.” He pressed another kiss to her
cheek before facing the table once more.

She
took another piece of the food from the tray and looked up at him. “I feel the
draw to you that you were talking about and I come from a time that didn’t
believe in such connections. We didn’t believe in it because we didn’t have
it,
but I feel it here and now with you. I
don’t understand it, I won’t lie, but I feel it. I want to know more about this
bond and your people. I want to live again.”

“So
you shall, Samantha. We both will.” Another small
smile
and he brushed back some of her hair.
Leaving a hand on her back to rub slowly in circles, he ate his own food while
they continued to speak of
inconsequential
things.

Chapter Four

Having
her strength back meant that she was able to go for runs with Petr on his
vessel. They were on a run now, and she was laughing as they ran through the corridors
of his ship. She knew it was not something that had ever been done before on
his
ship
, something she had brought to
them, but she enjoyed it. “So have they stopped giving you trouble about me
running through the halls?” She had been introduced to the running pads they
had in their ship’s athletic
room,
but she hadn’t liked them, at all, so instead she had started to run the halls.
After the second or third
day,
Petr had
started
to
run
with her.

“They’ve
come to accept it. I put out a notification of our chosen route and length of
time we will be running so no one steps out in front of us.”
Well,
that explained why she hadn’t run over
anyone since he’d joined her. “They all understand you are not of this time or
of our world. The crew
accepts
you for who you are, Samantha. Even when you confuse them as much as you do me
with some of your unique turns of phrases. I had to promise them that once I
knew what they were I would give them the same knowledge.”

Jogging
around a bend in the
corridor,
he looked her way. “
Chevon
sent me a notice that your
crewmate has been settled into one of the medical facilities
planetside
where he will be cared for. A heavily fortified
place on a barren moon. Even if he did escape he would have no way off and
limited chance of survival due to the extreme conditions of the
moon
.”

“He’s
cunning and has had
training
that your people don’t know about,” she said as they ran. “We both think
differently than your people do. Please make
sure
he is always kept under lock and key
and for the love of all that’s holy make sure he’s never put into a room with a
woman. He is one of those men that can sway a woman into helping him. Well, any
woman but me, that is.” She looked up at Petr and winked. “Seems that only one
man has ever turned my head in my nine hundred and
thirty-six
years.” She had been beyond
shocked when they’d finally been able to put a timestamp on how old she was.

His
lips twitched, and he shook his head. “I must
say, Doctor Henry,
that you are looking good for
your
advanced
years. I’ve never been with an older woman before.” They swung around another
corner and he picked up the pace to push her more. “The facility he is in has
strict instructions, Samantha. We take such individuals and the potential
threat they pose seriously.”

“Good.”
She felt the relief at his words. “And shush it, you young pup you. Just
because I’m an old woman doesn’t mean that I won’t get after you, mister
man,
” she muttered. She pulled ahead of
Petr just a bit and looked back at him. “Come on,
youngun
,
I shouldn’t be able to outrun you at my advanced age.”

“Even
in my society those are fighting words. I’ve tried to be considerate, given
your
advanced
years, but now.” He drew up next to her and soon pulled ahead, making use of
his longer legs. “Are you coming, Samantha?” he called a moment before he
disappeared around a corner.

She
laughed at that and started to run just a bit faster. “No fair, you are
seriously way too tall for me to catch up.” Although she would try. She put on
another burst of speed in her run. They turned another corner and she had to
pull up fast, going down and sliding across the decking. “Whoa, sorry about
that,
” she said with a laugh to the man that
had just stepped out of a room with a tray.

Petr
appeared around the young
man
and, reaching down, he hauled her up to her feet. He shot the officer a look
that had him taking off up the corridor quickly. Shaking his head, Petr turned
his focus on her. “Are you hurt, Samantha?” She could hear the concern in his
voice as he slid his hands gently over her arms to catch her hands and lift
them to look at her palms.

“No,
I’m not hurt.” She was grinning as she spoke. She moved into his touch and
wrapped her arms around his waist. “Have I ever mentioned to you just how much
I love when you touch me?” She rubbed her cheek
to
his cheek and held on to him. It had
been two weeks and they still hadn’t been intimate, and she was ready. At first
she hadn’t been because she was trying to get her brains wrapped around
everything she was doing. Then she had gotten her period, of all things. “I
think you should run your hands over my whole body while we are in the showers
after our run. Thoughts?”

“An interesting proposition.
Should we attempt such a thing, given your age? I’d hate to have to contact
medical because you have broken a hip. How would the crew look at me then?” His
lips were twitching again, a sure sign he was teasing her. Petr slid his hands
down to cup her ass, drawing her in closer to his body. “We haven
’
t had our allotted water
showers, so I think we could have one if you’d prefer it to the sonic
showering.”

She
snorted in laughter and wrapped a leg around his thigh. She ran her hands down
his chest. “I don’t think we have to worry about me breaking a hip.” She rubbed
her body against his. “I need you. God so much. You have no idea just how much
I want you right now. It’s taking every single ounce of my willpower not to
jump you right now and start to strip you naked and to hell with what anyone
anywhere might see. I’m
horny,
but it’s more than that. I am desperate for you to be inside of me.”

His
hands flexed on her ass. Then he lifted her so Sam was able to wrap her legs
around his waist. “Behave until we’re in our quarters. I’m willing to relax
many things on this ship, but allowing my crew to see you naked is not one of
those. You are mine, Samantha Henry.” Turning, he took long strides down the
corridor. She knew he was heading for one of the lifts to get them back to the
level where their quarters were.

“And
you are mine, Petr van
Jahnsen
. No more holding
back?” she asked against his ear. “No more keeping ourselves dressed when we
sleep?” She was speaking quietly to him and him alone. “We will do this whole
bond that you were saying that we have?”
Oh,
she knew they had it. She felt it every
bit as much as he did.

“You
’
ll be mine entirely, and I
’
ll be yours. Be sure, Samantha.
This is not one of your Earth marriages that can be undone. Completing the soul
bond is permanent. Only death can break it,” he said against her ear. He
squeezed her ass harder, pulling her closer so she could feel the erection he
was sporting against her pussy.

“Petr,
I have been sure since you wrapped your jacket around me on my ship.” She had
been confused, certainly, but the pure fact of the matter was that she was in
need of him and likely always would be. “I want the bond with you. I want to be
the one that you will always reach for. I want to be the one that will walk at
your side for the rest of time.”

“There
is nowhere else you should be,” he told her. In the lift Petr put her back to
the wall, his body holding her up and allowing him to stroke a hand along her
side. He brushed his thumb
to
the curve of her breast. “I only asked to make sure you were
fully
with me, Samantha. You were so in
shock at first and then recovering these past days. I needed to be sure.
Forgive me for doubting you.”

She
let her hands move over his body and start to undo his shirt. She leaned in and
nipped at his throat with her teeth. “No holding back. I need to have all of
you,
please. I might not be from this time
but I will always love you, and I will always need you. Never doubt that, Petr.
Everything we do together will be right.” She was a slightly different color
than
he was, her skin
paler,
but they were compatible and
they both knew it. She tugged his shirt off and smiled. “We’ll come back for it
later,” she said and dropped it in the lift. Her hands moved, nails gliding
down his back. “More.” She loved the way he was pushing against her. “How long
until we’re in our quarters?” she asked when the lift doors opened.

“Only
several slightly painful steps away,” he told her. He rolled his hips to press
his cock
to
her again, then stepped back with her firmly in his arms. Striding out of the
lift, he made
good time
up the hall to their rooms. He paused only long enough for her to place her eye
to the
scanner
and let them into their quarters. Quickly he strode through to the
bedroom
and lowered her to her feet.
“Remove your clothing
quickly
or I will tear it from
you
piece by piece.”

She
quickly removed her clothing. The idea of him tearing it from her body was
tempting,
but she would wait for another
time for that. “Come on, clothes,” she said and pushed her pants off. “God I
love the way you
look.
”
He was stunning and made her ache. “I need you. Now.”

Kicking
his shorts
aside,
Petr toed off his running
shoes
and came for her. He scooped her up, and in a tumble they hit the bed, rolling
until he was pressing her down into the mattress. A hand slid over her thigh,
hip, and up her rib cage until his thumb could once more stroke the curve of
her breast. “You are mine,” he said. Then he kissed her. Really kissed her.

She
kissed him back, her hands wrapped around his head and holding him tightly.
When they
parted,
she licked her lips. “What do I have to do?” she breathlessly asked, arching up
against him. “We’ve talked about just about everything except for how to bond.
How do we do it?” She shuddered.

“We
make love,” he told her. “Our souls will reach for one another if we are open
to it. If this is truly what you want deep
inside,
then all you need to do is be
open to what comes. Don’t stifle it. Let it grow and become what it’s always
meant to be.”

“I
will always be reaching for you,” she told him, and when his hands moved over
her breasts she shuddered. “Oh God yes.” Her nipples tightened, and she
whimpered when he ran a nail over one of the hard pebbles. “Make love,
God
it’s been a very long nine hundred
plus years. Please,” she begged.

His soft chuckle, a sound no one
but Sam ever got to hear, sent chills through her. “You were asleep for all
those nine hundred years, Samantha.” Lowering his head, he pressed an
open-mouthed kiss to her neck. Then she felt the scrape of his teeth before his
mouth began to move south over her collarbone and toward her breasts.

“True.”
She moaned. “It’s hard to believe I traveled millions of miles and hundreds of
years just to find you. Always you. Only you. I love you.” She did. More than
anything else in the world, she loved this man. She was lost in time and
space,
but she was found now. She had
been found by the one and only man she could and would ever love.

Petr seemed to freeze, lifting
his head slowly to meet her gaze. “Samantha,” he whispered. Her name was a
benediction, a prayer, something she couldn’t define. He moved quickly to kiss
her hard, thrusting his tongue deep to twine with hers. His hands cupped,
squeezed, and molded her breasts until the ache between her legs reached new
levels.

“More.”
She wrapped her legs around his hips.
“Harder,
”
she begged as they moved together. Her pussy was so wet that she could feel her
juices on his cock when he brushed over the folds to tease her. “Petr.” His
name was a talisman for her. His name was the only thing she could cling to in
this new time and place. He was the only thing that was familiar, him and his
unwavering love.

His
teeth scraped down the tendon of her neck. A little nibble along her shoulder,
then he moved to put his mouth around a nipple. With hard
tugs,
he pushed her closer to the edge. Sam
couldn’t stop from rocking her hips in desperate need. Petr moved his mouth
lower to press open-mouth kisses over her belly until she could feel his breath
on her pussy.

Petr
knew just what to do with her body, to her body. She arched up into him again
and shivered over the intense feelings that swamped her. Then she felt
something else. She had the oddest need to submit to him. She had never known
that in her life, the need to let go and fully submit to another
person,
but she did with him. His
breath on her pussy, his hands plucking at her breasts and squeezing her
nipples. It was
confusing,
but she loved it, so much.