Lorelei stepped in front of him and put her hand out towards the wolf on the ground. The men stopped instantly.

"Please inform the Chieftain that the threat has been eliminated. I'll need you both to stand watch here for any more.

I'm not sensing any, but Stegian's tricks have gotten to us before." The way her voice trailed off at the end left Sevan wondering who this Stegian was and why the h.e.l.l he had mutant wolves attacking his woman.

My woman? The thought of that made him smile. She would be his, of that he was sure.

"As you wish, Devi," they said in unison, bowing their heads slightly.

Devi?

Lorelei took him by the arm and the men gasped. He tried to jerk away, afraid that he'd somehow violated something sacred to them but Lorelei yanked him to her.

d.a.m.n, she's strong.

In an instant, she had his face cupped in her hands and was pulling his lips towards hers. Hearing the men's shocked responses, he tried to stop her, but he was too late. Her full lips met his and the world around him was lost.

The only feeling left was that of Lorelei's lush body pressed tightly to his. His c.o.c.k throbbed and his body ached to toss her to the ground and ravish her. When she raked her nails lightly down his back, he groaned in her mouth. She pulled back slowly, leaving his lips tingling. He dared a sideways glance at the men who'd arrived and found them with one knee on the ground and their heads bent. He looked at Lorelei and she smiled down at the men.

"You shall act as my witnesses."

"Yes, Devi," They answered, rising slowly to their feet. They looked at him and for a second Sevan almost checked to see if he'd sprouted markings as well.

Lorelei bit at his lower lip, leaving his c.o.c.k twitching and his body aching to find release in her. Bending down to meet her head on, Sevan gave into the urge to pick her up. Being face to face with her only made his hunger grow.

Now, the need to f.u.c.k her actually bordered on painful. "I need to be in you."

Pulling back slightly, Lorelei pushed on his chest and dropped to her feet. She glanced at the men before them and smiled. "Bear witness that this man is not my mate."

An uncontrollable urge to peel his s.h.i.+rt off hit him. It was so spontaneous that Sevan gave into it without a fight.

He pulled his black s.h.i.+rt over his head and turned his backs to the men, hoping to get Lorelei to speak with him alone. The men gasped.

Lorelei's smile faded. "What is it?"

Sevan noticed her markings fading before his eyes to the point they were almost gone and his breath hitched.

"Lorelei?"

"What?"

"Say you were to find that mate of yours and things were to happen, you know, progress further."

Lorelei cast a wary look at him. "You mean we f.u.c.k?"

"Yeah, that will do. Say you were to find him and be intimate with him. How long would it take for your markings to fade?"

"I don't know. I've seen them fade instantly on women who simply stand next to their mates. I imagine they would...." She stopped suddenly and looked down at herself. Her blue eyes widened. "No. You can't be him."

Slightly offended, Sevan raked his hot gaze over her tight body. "Why not?"

"Because you're human and ... and, well I don't know why but there is no way that you are my mate. Stegian and G.o.ds who brought us into the same dream plane are all mad."

"Hold on," Sevan said, putting his hand up. "What do you mean dream plane? Are you telling me that," he stared at her stomach and watched as the circular markings there began to regain their color quickly, "Lorelei, what does that mean?"

She followed his gaze and covered her mouth fast. Shaking her head, she tried to run past him. Not wanting to let her out of his sight, Sevan grabbed her arm and pulled her to him being careful not to harm her. "No. You will stay here and answer my questions."

"No. You don't understand. I have to get to Christian." Lorelei's blue eyes stayed glued to her stomach.

"Why?"

One of the men stood quickly and came to her. He stared at her stomach in awe. "Devi, the legends are true."

"What legends?"

The men looked at Sevan with nothing short of wonder in his eyes. "The legends that speak of the powerful ones being given great signs when the time came for them to reproduce the next line of leaders." He pointed at Lorelei's stomach. "The symbols stand for fertility. When brought out as they are now, it means that now is the time that she is most fertile. Her body thirsts for the seed of her mate."

Sevan let the man's words sink in. "Why in the h.e.l.l are you trying to get to Christian?"

She looked at him like he was insane. Since the thought that she might be had crossed his mind, he let it go.

"Captain...."

"Call me Sevan, Lorelei. I think we're way past pleasantries."

"Fine. Sevan, I need to get to him so that he can a.s.sure the coming of the next line of leaders. It's not something that should require an explanation." Instantly, it felt as though Sevan had been kicked in the chest. The idea of Lorelei running to another man to give her a child not only sickened him, it infuriated him. "You will not let any other man touch you. You are mine. I have spent six months loving you and I am not about to let you lie with another man."

The two men gasped and stared at him with wide eyes.

Lorelei shook her head. "Don't give him that look. He's not my mate. He can't be my mate."

One of the men moved behind Sevan and touched his upper right shoulder blade. "Look, Devi. He carries you on him."

"Huh?" he and Lorelei said.

Turning his head, Sevan strained to see what the man was pointing at. "How is my tattoo of a woman with a black panther painted on her leg lying cuddled with a lion a symbol of Lorelei?"

Lorelei lunged at him, twisting him around fast and making a noise that was a cross between a yelp and a cry.

"Bollacks! Get the Chieftain now. Tell him that he'll need to perform a bond breaking ceremony immediately. Sevan cannot be permitted to stay on our planet any longer than necessary and I'm not about to allow him to remain bonded to me any longer than necessary."

"Bonded?" Sevan asked.

"Would you stop asking so many questions? I'm trying to fix this."

"Hey, lady, don't start yelling at me because I don't understand your lingo for soul mate haven here. I'm just trying to get by. You know, friendly alien relations."

Lorelei snorted. "b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, if I'm an alien what are you? Oh, I know. A lower life form."

"A lower life form? Is that why you keep saying human like it's a dirty word? Do you think you're better than us?"

Sevan asked, his anger with her growing but somehow channeling into the need for s.e.x. "I saw your little magick trick in the corridor Lorelei. You may be gifted but you aren't the only one with special qualities, honey."

"Are you trying to tell me something, Sevan?" Lorelei arched a brow. "I'm all ears. Are you ready to tell me why in my dreams I just knew something was different about you, that there was something more? When you bit me, it was with the teeth of a s.h.i.+fter, not a man. Yet, when you set foot on my planet I sense nothing more than human in you.

How is that?"

"Because I told you once already, Lorelei. I am not full-blooded. I carry a small bit of lion DNA in me. I don't know how the h.e.l.l I s.h.i.+fted in the dream. But I can tell you this. From the moment I entered your atmosphere the beast I carry in me has wanted out. It's wanted to destroy Christian for daring to touch you and it's wanted to f.u.c.k you as bad as I have. So you can check that holier than thou att.i.tude at the door, sweetheart."

The men exchanged knowing looks and smiled. "It's good to see that you and your mate love one another."

Sevan stared at the men, unsure if he wanted to shoot them or hug them for bringing the love word up.

Lorelei shook her head, sending black tendrils cascading over her shoulders. "We are not mates and we are not in love. We only just met and he's leaving very shortly." She pushed past him fast, nearly knocking him over.

She's really f.u.c.king strong.

Rus.h.i.+ng up behind her, Sevan turned her to face him and stared into her blue eyes. "I'm not going anywhere. Do you mean to tell me that by claming you in the dream, I've claimed you in real life? Are we husband and wife?"

She let out a soft laugh. "All evidence is proving that theory though I personally think it's ridiculous. If you were able to successfully claim me in a dream why is it that I didn't end up with child? It's not like we didn't join enough.

b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, I've lost track of the amount of times we spent the night banging away."

Walking into her, Sevan forced her against the hallway wall, pinning her in place so he could speak to her without fear of her running. He didn't have all the answers but he did know that he loved her. "I'll admit that I'm a little lost here. I don't have all that great knowledge of the dream plane things like you do. I do, however, know that you are in no way, shape or form allowing another man to touch you. I told you once already, you are mine, Lorelei.

My woman. My love. My mate. And my wife, if we believe that what happened in our dreams is real. I believe, Lorelei.

I fully believe that I took you in my arms, marked you while I offered you my seed, my essence, making you my mate.

I'll do it again right now if it will make everyone feel better but you said it yourself, your markings began to fade six months ago. That is the exact time that the dreams started. I am your mate and you are mine. I'm the one who will handle what you need, not some muscle bound guy with hair like a girl. I am the man who will plant the seed deep within...." As the words fell from his lips, Sevan's body tightened along with his stomach.

One look at Lorelei told him that she was as shocked by his declaration as he was. She shook her head. "Take it back, now!"

"It is too late, Devi. We have borne witness to the marks and the G.o.ds' sign but have also heard his vows to you. It is official."

"No, it is not. You can't count that. He's an outsider. A c.o.c.ky one at that." She tossed her hands in the air. "There is no way that can count. He didn't know what he was doing."

"What did I do?" Sevan asked, concern still gripping his stomach.

"You stated before witnesses that you claim her with a bond in place." The man was so matter-of-fact about it that Sevan actually felt a little slow not getting it.

"Huh?"

Lorelei glared at him. "Tell them you didn't understand what you were doing and we can get this taken care of. I want to keep you for a husband like I want a gabaetion rash."

Sevan balked. "You would rather have a flesh eating rash devouring you than be my wife?"

The realization of what he'd just said hit him hard. Joy tore through him. "I'm your...? You're my...? We're...? "

"Married, yeah, now that you're up to speed can you take it back? I need to find Christian and...."

Sevan dropped his lips down on hers, rendering her silent as his tongue did what it wanted to do, memorize her mouth. He heard the sound of the exterior door closing and planted his palms on the wall along the sides of Lorelei's head. She tasted so sweet that it was intoxicating. The more she wiggled against him the stiffer his d.i.c.k became.

"Sevan, please," she whispered, sliding her tongue over his lower lip. The small action told him how much she wanted what he wanted. If that was true they'd both be very happy very soon. The idea of waiting another moment to touch her, to take her was ludicrous.

Chuckling into her mouth, Sevan continued his invasion of her mouth, not caring who watched him do it. He inched his fingers down her arms and over her smooth stomach. Aching to be in her, he went for the top of her pants, no longer able to wait or take it slow. The tops of his fingers grazed the tiny thatch of black hair he knew she possessed and need slammed throughout him. His pulse sped while his body tightened. "I need to be in you, Lorelei."

Instantly, her body began to heat up, so much so that Sevan had to take a step back. As soon as he opened his mouth to question her, some sort of power shot forth from her, hitting the wolf on the ground and lifting it high into the air. Sevan watched in awe as it burst into a ball of red fire before vanis.h.i.+ng. He would have questioned her on it but he already knew she was beyond special. She was magnificent.

"There," she said, lowering her blue gaze and smiling with wanton wonderment. "Now we're alone."

"Mmm, have anything special in mind?"

Lorelei's tongue slid out and over her lower lip, teasing him to the point the beast within threatened to rise. Doing his best to hold it down, not liking the surge of power it seemed to now carry with it, Sevan took a step closer to her.

He couldn't fight the desire. He didn't want to.

She smiled. "You should let me go, Sevan. Christian has understood that when the time was right he'd be the one to fill me with his seed and that we would have a child together. It doesn't matter what my feelings or his are. All that matters is that our kind be able to once again conceive children. We are a dying race, Sevan. Please."

He clenched his fists, doing his best to squelch the beast within. It had never been this strong or this close to the surface in his waking hours. "Lorelei, you are mine. And I don't share my things with anyone."

"I'm a thing?"

"You're my wife."

Shaking her head, she moved in even closer, running her hands over his bare chest. "Sevan, you can renounce it in front of witnesses and be free of me-of this place."

The idea of taking his claim back was absurd. "No. You are mine forever, Lorelei." She bit her lower lip as tears welled in her eyes. "If I don't get to Christian soon the window of my fertility may close, Sevan. I can't let that happen and I sure in the h.e.l.l cannot allow you to father a child with me only to leave. In the end it will be Christian who raises the child so it should be he who fathers it," she said, whispering the last part so softly that Sevan knew that she didn't believe her own words. She wanted him but had been conditioned to believe that if the time came she should run to another.

Growling out, Sevan pulled at Lorelei's vest, freeing her ample b.r.e.a.s.t.s to him. He cupped one harder than he should but he didn't care. She needed to hear him. "Lorelei, I am not going anywhere. I've spent six months thinking I was going mad. Thinking I was in love with a dream. Now that I've found you, I'm never letting you go. If you decide that here is where you want to be then here is where I'll stay. No man but me will raise my child and trust me when I say it will be my child that grows in you."

"Sevan," she whispered, raking her fingernails over his skin, sending his c.o.c.k into duress. It needed in her soon.

"It's too deadly here for you."

"Do you want me to go? Do you want to push me out of your life?"

"No."

Exhaling, Sevan rolled her nipple between his thumb and first finger. "I'm not going anywhere, baby. When the s.h.i.+p is fixed Jordan can take it over."

"You'd say goodbye to your brother so easily?"

He shook his head. "It won't be easy but I can't leave my mate behind. I can't. Especially not since she'll be carrying my child in her very soon." Dipping his head down, he captured her nipple with his mouth and moaned.

Stegian raked his nails over his desk, channeling the fury that burned inside him. The Janelle girl had managed to elude him yet again, this time finding her true mate. The moment he'd sensed the vessel enter the atmosphere he knew it had begun. Endless dreams of the Janelles mating, growing stronger in both strength and number as they mated one by one. Seven in all, he had never a.s.sumed he'd have so much grief over the only three who remained on the planet.