Mastered by the Zandians (Zandian Brides 3)
She sighs. “I need to rest.”
It guts me when she curls away from me, pulling her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
Chapter 8
Lanz
* * *
“I think that went well.” I glance over at her sleeping form.
Domm is busy getting on his gear—boots, flight pants. He pauses. “I suppose.”
“What does that mean?”
“She’s barely accepting of being here. I’m half positive she’ll kill us in our sleep.”
“We can cuff her for nights, to start.” My cock stirs, thinking about keeping Mirelle under lock and key. It’s depraved possibly, but it excited me in a way I’ve never felt.
Domm grabs his bag and gives me a grin. “I like that idea.” He glances toward the storage area. “You’ll show her where everything is? Send over Kristine to help her acclimate?”
I nod. “Then I’ll join you as soon as I can.”
He frowns. “This isn’t ideal. We need to be with her full-time for the first few…to start.”
I agree. I also can’t shake the feeling that we should bring her with us. She’s a warrior, too, after all. She’s not going to acclimate to sitting in a domicile doing veck knows what when she’s spent a lifetime on missions. If we want to show her there’s a life for her here with us, we should show her how her skills will be put to good use.
But of course, King Zander would never agree to it. And we have orders to go on a short mission. Dammit. “Master Seke wouldn’t ask us to do this if it weren’t critical for Zandia.”
He nods. “Agreed, but it won’t make this any easier.”
We both stand and stare at her. I know he’s as entranced as I am with our new mate, utterly vecking captivated.
“Do you think this will work?” I lower my voice, even though she’s clearly still fast asleep.
“I don’t know.” It’s a rare moment for the both of us. Neither of us like to be uncertain or vulnerable, and certainly not at the same time—that’s a recipe for death out in the battlefield.
“We’ll make sure it does.” My voice is more confident than I feel. “I wasn’t vecking messing around when I accepted her as our mate.”
“Nor was I.” He frowns at me. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing.” I narrow my eyes. “Just saying that this is important. To me.” I look across the room and mumble the next part. “And you are too.”
“What was that?”
“I said—” I look at him evenly. “You’re important to me, too. Living with you, as a brother, a partner to our mate—it’s…well, it’s…a good thing.” I stamp down the sensation that I’ve cut off my horns and become a human. Or lost my balls.
“Well, I suppose I feel the same way.” He shoves his dagger in its scabbard. “I mean, we’ve been tight ever since we were young. It makes sense that we’d do this together, too. A family sort of thing.”
“Yeah. We’re tight. You’re like a brother.”
“What’s that?” He smiles. “Can you say that again?”
“Veck off. Get out of here before you’re late. Last thing we need is anyone questioning our ability to do our jobs with…her.” I wave my hand. “Everything needs to proceed with perfection.”
“Worry about yourself.” He gives me a look. “I personally deliver nothing less than unblemished perfection. You, on the other hand…” He laughs.
“Vecking animal. Leave.”