“The women.”
This made him grin for the first time, and I knew I wanted to see humor in his eyes a lot more often in the future. “Then they sound like excellent males indeed, for that is how I intend to be with you. Overly protective, bossy and definitely dominant.”
I batted my eyelashes at him, the first real smile on my face in what felt like forever. “Do you know what happened to cavemen on Earth?”
He pulled me close, pressing our bodies together in a warm embrace that was so much more than an introduction. It was a homecoming. When he bent his head and his lips lingered in the wild, tangled mess of hair just above my ear, I could feel his smile. “They kept their mates safe and protected and very, very naked so their beautiful, small Earth females did not go a single day without experiencing wild, carnal pleasure at their masters’ hands?”
“No.” Holy shit, was my pussy wet and aching? Now? In a hellhole cave with my mate injured and bleeding and days of filth and sweat coating both of us? Gross.
He groaned in my ear and pulled me closer still, until I could feel the large, hard length of his cock. “That is what will happen to you, Danielle, once we escape this place and you are healed. I will claim you in the sacred order of three, learn every single secret your body would try to keep from me. I will make you beg for release and scream with pleasure. I will kiss every inch of you, mate. Claim you. Make you mine.”
Sweet talker. “As soon as I’m healed? You’re a mess. I’m fine.”
“No. You are not. And as soon as we have a ReGen wand available, you will be seen to.”
“What about you?” I pushed back, staring up—way up—into his dark eyes.
“My wounds are nothing compared to yours. You will be tended to first.”
Was this guy for real? He could barely stand. He was cut and bleeding from so many wounds I couldn’t count them all. Freezing. Starving. And he was worried about my stupid ankle? “My ankle injury happened months ago on Earth. It’s nothing. Just sore from too much hiking.”
“You will be tended to first. This is not a negotiation, Danielle. Refuse me and I will spank you for disobedience, as I should right now for your presence, and defiance.”
“I saved your life.”
His gaze went from intense and sensual to hard in an instant. “And risked your own.”
“You could try being grateful.”
“I am grateful that through some miracle of the gods you found me and survived. You are never to do anything this reckless again.”
“Shit. I thought Von and Bryn were bad.”
“Commander Von? Of the Elite Hunters?” His tone changed once more, from annoyingly arrogant and bossy to inquisitive. Trying to keep up with his rapid mood shifts made me feel like a silly cat chasing a dot of light from a laser pointer. Jump here. No, there. No…
“Yes. Von and Bryn are both Elite Hunters. They are mated to my friends, Katie and Lexi. I told you this already. They are the people I think we should call. I trust them.” His face relaxed into a semblance of calm, even though I could feel the coiled tension in his body as he constantly scanned our surroundings, listening. Paying attention. But so was I. And I wasn’t half dead. We were well and truly alone out here. “Do you know them?”
“I have heard of Von in the council meetings. Not long ago, we sent Bryn on a very sensitive mission.”
“Yeah, to Rogue 5. That turned out to be a cluster fuck.” I frowned at him, but my disapproval was nothing to his reaction.
“That is highly secret information, Danielle. A very delicate political matter. How is it that you know these details?”
I rolled my eyes. “Katie is Bryn’s mate, remember? And she’s one of my only friends here. She almost ended up claimed by that Styx guy. And that would not have been good.”
“Our operations on Rogue 5 are highly secure. It is not good that we have had a breach of protocol. He took his mate with him? Bryn will be held accountable.”
“And I thought Von was a hard ass,” I mumbled. Was this guy for real? He was half dead and worried about protocol?
“I believe you said Von was a caveman.”
“Yeah, well, he’s a rules-following kind of guy, which makes him a hard ass…and a caveman.” I took a step away from him but my ankle buckled. I threw out my arms to steady myself, but Gage was there first. Before I could catch my breath, I was in his arms, being carried like a child. “Put me down.”
“You are injured. You will not walk until you are healed.”
“You’re ridiculous. Put me down. I walked miles and miles to get here, Your Majesty. I can manage just fine.”
“No. And I am not a majesty. I am a prince. A descendant of the original Seven.”
I sighed and gave into the inevitable, leaning my head back onto his shoulder and absorbing as much warmth as I could. “Whatever you say, caveman.”
“Soft ass.”
That one made me blink. “What did you just call me?”
“You break rules, not follow them. Therefore, you must be a soft ass.” His hand drifted down to my backside and started a massage that quickly made my eyes roll back into my head. God, if he ever got me naked, I was in trouble. Do anything he wanted, wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted kind of trouble. “Definitely soft.”
“That’s not a word.”
“It is now.” He continued his massage and I didn’t even try to hold back the contented sigh. He was safe, not dying—at least not at the moment—and my ankle did hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. But the main emotion making me limp was relief. I’d found him. We were together now. Everything else would work itself out. It had to.
“Use that comm to call Von, and get us out of here, please.”
“How far away are these Hunters?”
I managed a small shrug. “I don’t know. They’re at the Touchstone. But they’ve been pretty busy with the whole ‘three virginities’ thing since they found their mates. They’re past that part now, but they’re not stopping. They might not be…available right away.” I felt the heat climbing my cheeks as I tried to explain the obvious to Gage. He must have heard something in my voice, for his gaze was transfixed on my face and there was hunger in his eyes. Fascination.
Possession.
I’d seen that look on the other Hunters’ faces when they found their mates. And as much as it made me feel like a stupid, romantic, love-sick idiot, seeing it on Gage’s face made my heart race and my mind go blank with longing. I wanted him to look at me like that when he could actually do something about it.
He considered my words. I was patient, giving him time. I didn’t blame him. Someone wanted him dead. Based on his job, it could be many people. Too many. He didn’t want to
