Adrik (Titans #1)

Chapter 33

(Cycles later)

Ember stepped onto the bridge of the Cressida, a smile claiming her face, her heart warming when she saw Adrik at his station.

She watched him momentarily, her gaze fixed on the wide expanse of his back, his powerful legs splayed as he relayed some information to Kaze.

She wondered how long she’d be able to watch him unnoticed.

It wasn’t long.

His head snapped up and then angled to the side as she watched him draw a sharp breath through his nose.

He knew she was there.

In a blink, he dismissed Kaze and spun, their eyes colliding across the command deck.

Just the sight of him had her heart rate kicking up as her sex grew slick.

They hadn’t spent a single cycle apart since she’d been rescued from the Renx vessel.

Days were spent in each other’s company while their rest cycles were lost to the exquisite abyss of learning each other’s bodies.

It wasn’t just sex, it went beyond that. They’d mated fully and, in doing so, had lent hope to the other Titans and females on the ship.

“My Ember,”

Adrik greeted with a possessive growl. His eyes flashed as he approached her with deliberate intent.

He crossed the space quickly, and then she was wrapped in his strong arms as he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss so deep she forgot whose air she was breathing. Pulling back, his heated gaze found hers as he growled low, “You know you’re mine.”

It wasn’t a question. It was a declaration and one she enjoyed affirming. Grinning up at him, she nodded once. “Yes, Shadow Titan, I am yours.”

His face split in a grin that exposed his wicked incisors.

She loved that she’d turned a title he’d once reviled into something that made him proud.

Lifting his chin slightly, he boasted, “As I am yours, my shadow female.”

Leaning into his chest, Ember wrapper her arms around him as he pulled her more firmly into the safety of his embrace.

“I spoke with Magus a short time ago. He’s looking forward to meeting you.”

That had Ember tensing. Pulling back, she frowned up at Adrik. “You’re positive he’s not pissed about what happened?”

Adrik smiled and cupped her cheek, carefully keeping his sharp claws from her delicate skin. “He’s mated. He knows that letting you be taken was not an option for me. It ended well, that’s all that matters. You’re mine now, which makes you a Titan, with all our same rights.”

“My sisters?”

she asked nervously. She was worried that because they weren’t mated to Titans they wouldn’t be afforded the same freedoms.

“Don’t worry,”

his smile slipped, concern claiming his features as if he’d just realized how worried she was. “Each of my Titan males has vouched for one of your sisters. This means my Titans voluntarily share their liberties with your sisters. It’s a temporary canopy, but it doesn’t have to be.”

She knew what he meant.

If any of his Titans mated with one of her sisters, that sister would be considered a Titan with a Titan’s rights, just as Ember now was.

She shot Kaze a cursory glance.

Obaida made no attempt to hide his affection for Kyan, and all of them could see that affection was mirrored by Kyan.

And Pitch was so protective of Nova that Ember was still permitted little contact with the youngest female, but when she was, Nova spoke of hopes that Pitch would become more than just her protector.

Ember didn’t worry about that because she saw how Pitch looked at Nova. It was Vashti who had Ember worried. She was battle-hardened and stronger than most men preferred. It’d take a fierce male to tame Vashti.

Ember felt Adrik’s eyes on her before his attention went to Kaze. “Titan,”

he thundered, drawing Kaze’s attention. “How is Vashti faring? Is she adjusting well to ship life?”

Kaze heaved an exasperated sound. “She challenges me on every front. Even post-shift meal is a cause for great debate. I once told you she is as mean as a Luveskian Dragon.”

He shot Adrik a grim look. “I was wrong. A Luveskian Dragon would cower in her presence. She could make a pet of one. Her demeanor more resembles the Alasades Cracken.”

Adrik barked out a laugh that had Kaze frowning hard.

“It is not a laughing matter. She is a test of not only my patience but of my Titan endurance.”

Alarmed, Ember rushed out, “She doesn’t mean to be!”

Kaze’s eyes slid to Ember, and his expression softened. Apologetically, he began, “She isn’t unmanageable, Commandress.”

Arms tightening around Ember, Adrik informed, “Kaze, when we arrive at Cesca Sol, our Titan Ruler would like to interrogate Vashti before considering her as a participant in a mating hunt.”

Ember gasped and tried to pull back to look up at Adrik, but he held her firm.

Across the command deck, a snarl blasted from Kaze, his armor rippling as he hunched his shoulders, looking fight-ready, before he growled low, “No one’s touching her. Not even him!”

“Agreed,”

Adrik nodded with a knowing grin. “Why don’t you check on your little Cracken, go ensure she’s not destroying your quarters again.”

Kaze’s grim features faltered, his hands unfisting as he straightened to his full height. “Yes, Commander.”

Kaze stalked from the command deck while Adrik and Ember watched.

Alone, Adrik looked down at Ember and soothed, “Before you ask, no, Magus does not wish to interrogate Vashti, and she isn’t a candidate for a mating hunt. Not with Kaze so invested in her.”

Confusion knitted Ember’s brows as she stammered, “B-but why? You said…”

“I know,”

Adrik curled a hand around the back of her neck and massaged. “I know you’re worried about Vashti, and I wanted to show you that while Kaze isn’t as vociferous about his intent as Obaida or as outwardly obvious as Pitch, he’s in it.”

Adrik glanced at the empty doorway, “I only pray it isn’t one-sided. Vashti seems so…”

He canted his head while he thought.

But he didn’t need to finish, Ember knew what he meant. She knew what he saw. Low, she whispered, “She doesn’t know how to let her guard down because she’s never been given the opportunity.”

Sliding his hand from behind her neck to her throat, Adrik forced Ember’s head up until her eyes met his. “In that, she reminds me of you.”

“She just needs someone to show her that it’s safe. That she’s safe. She needs someone strong enough not to be intimidated by her.”

If I were to go to the planet Barren and could only be accompanied by a single Titan warrior, it’d be Kaze. He is the Titan to tame Vashti. She is what he wants most.”

Ember’s eyes crinkled in the corners as she asked, “Are you sure?”

“I’d stake my life on it.”

“I just want them all to feel the happiness that I feel being with you. I want them to know what it feels like to be cherished.”

Ducking her head, she muttered, “I know they deserve it, but I’m afraid I’m asking too much.”

“You’re not.”

Adrik countered, then ordered, “Tyrate, show me the Med Bay.”

An image of the Med Bay flashed onto the command center’s view screen. The feed showed Kyan sitting up on a med bed. She was laughing, the sound warming Ember as she watched Obaida towering over her sister. Obaida’s hands were planted on either side of Kyan’s hips, and he was leaning down, a grin splitting his features as he spoke quietly. Kyan broke into another bout of laughter at whatever Obaida said. Leaning back to hold her stomach gleefully, Kyan pinched her eyes closed. When she did so, Obaida’s grin faltered, and he sobered as he watched her. Ember’s attention was on Obaida. No, he wasn’t simply watching Kyan. He was drinking her in. His eyes roved her features so tenderly that it was almost as if he were trying to memorize her.

Beside Ember, Adrik rumbled low, “He looks smitten, doesn’t he?”

Ember nodded. Obaida looked enamored, and when Kyan finally stopped laughing and opened her eyes, she sobered too. Slowly, tentatively, Kyan lifted a hand and placed her palm on Obaida’s cheek. When she touched him, he nuzzled his cheek into her hand before turning and kissing her palm. Kyan grinned in response.

“Tyrate, show me Pitch,”

Adrik ordered.

The view screen blinked, showing the empty hallway outside Pitch’s quarters on Level Dread. Another rapid blink on the view screen, and then the image was showing inside Pitch’s quarters. Pitch and Nova sat on the floor of Pitch’s main room, a branth fur spread out beneath them with several plates of various foods between them. Nova pointed at a plate, and Pitch explained, “That is sarm. It is sweet. I think you’ll like it.”

He grabbed a small piece of cubed food and held it up.

Instead of taking the food from him, Nova leaned forward and opened her mouth.

Adrik and Ember watched as the grim set of Pitch’s mouth slackened, his lips parting as his gaze zeroed in on Nova’s mouth, his expression transitioning to one of awe.

Gently, he placed the food in Nova’s mouth, his hand stalling to carefully run one claw-tipped finger across Nova’s bottom lip.

Nova accepted the food, and before Pitch could pull his hand back, Nova’s tongue darted out to lick her lips, her tongue swiping against Pitch’s finger. The action had Pitch inhaling sharply, his hand jerking back as he stared down at it a moment before he lifted it to his mouth and licked the wetness from his finger.

Chewing slowly, Nova grinned at Pitch shyly.

“What…”

Pitch’s voice broke on the word. Quickly, he cleared his throat, his brows spearing down as he tried again, “What do you think of the sarm.”

Nova swallowed, then made a show of licking her lips. “Delicious. I want more.”

“Me too,”

Pitch muttered then shook himself and ripped his gaze from Nova to look down at the food. “I mean… Yes. There’s plenty.”

Watching the display had hope fluttering to life in Ember’s chest.

“Tyrate, show me Kaze’s quarters.”

The view screen blinked, and as Kaze’s quarters came into view, an object hit the wall near the camera orb and rocked it slightly. In the main room, Vashti was pacing furiously, her face twisted into a mask of delicate fury, her eyes glittering with emotion.

With his back to the orb, Kaze was pacing too, hands fisting and unfisting. “You are impossible,”

he roared. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what you want!”

Vashti stopped pacing, chest heaving as she glared at Kaze.

Kaze stopped pacing too, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly as he faced Vashti fully, a long snarl blasting from him before he raged, “What do you want, Vashti?”

Ember’s heart hammered hard, fear flooding her veins at the stand-off. “Adrik?”

She was worried; maybe they should intervene.

“Just wait,”

Adrik breathed at her ear. “He won’t hurt her.”

Ember wasn’t so sure. She knew how difficult Vashti could be.

The scene was tense a moment longer, but then Vashti’s scowl slipped, and she was moving.

She was across the space separating her from Kaze in a few strides, and Ember tensed.

She’d expected Vashti to attack Kaze.

Instead, Vashti reached up and gripped the back of Kaze’s head before roughly pulling him down until his mouth was on hers.

Their lips met in a crash, and then their hands were everywhere.

Vashti’s lips stayed on Kaze’s, her eyes closed as she tore at the clothing separating them.

Kaze lifted Vashti and turned, setting her on the island in the eating area before he was over her, her legs bracketing his big body.

“Tyrate, end feed.”

The screen went black, reflecting Ember’s tiny body standing in front of Adrik’s lethal frame. Turning, she looked up at him with tears flooding her eyes. “It’s happening, isn’t it?”

Adrik shook his head once, brows knitting in confusion. One of his hands rested at the small of Ember’s back while the other lifted to cradle the back of her head. “What’s happening?”

Tilting her chin up, her dark eyes caught the neon lights from the command console. “It’s all working out,”

she beamed tremulously.

Adrik’s gaze sharpened, dropping to her mouth, then lifting and locking with hers. “You’re home now. All of you.”

“Thank you for that.”

Adrik smiled proudly.

“I love seeing you smile,”

Ember admitted. “It seems to only happen or me.”

“It happens because of you. You’re the reason for my happiness.”

Reaching up, she pulled his face to hers and breathed against his lips, “You’re my happiness too.”

Adrik brushed a kiss against Ember’s lips before pulling back. “Tyrate,”

he boomed. “You have the helm.”

Bending, he lifted Ember into his arms, his eyes not leaving hers as he stalked from command, tagging on a quick, “I’ll be in my quarters with my mate.”