Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

21. Slade

21

SLADE

I woke up before Aurora and spent a little while just watching her sleep. Goddess , she was so fucking beautiful, it hurt! And finally having her in my arms after wanting her for all these years felt amazing .

I had known from the very first minute I met her in her father’s palace that she was my Fated Mate and I had been waiting all this time to finally claim her and Bind her to me.

Finding your Fated Mate is different for different Brutes . For a few it’s gradual…a slow realization that you’ve found the woman you want to devote your life to—to care for and protect and pleasure forever. For most, though, it’s like what happened to me. We call it “ The Lightning Strike ” because it hits you from out of the blue with devastating results.

I could still remember the day I’d gotten The Strike . It was my first day collecting the tribute from L’Crist . I wasn’t nervous— I’d been an Enforcer for some time, having grown up, as I said, in the family business. But it was my first time visiting the tiny planetoid where a stubborn group of humans had settled.

The herald played his trumpet and announced me to the Throne Room and I walked in, expecting just to get the tribute money and go. And then I saw her—standing beside her father’s throne looking fucking radiant.

She had long honey-brown hair and these big eyes that were the color of that human candy they like so much—chocolate. Her figure was full and curvy—just the way I like my women. I’m a big male myself— I don’t want to be with a skinny female I have to be afraid of breaking.

But it wasn’t just her face and her figure— I heard it in her soft, melodious voice… I smelled it in her devastatingly feminine scent. I don’t mean her perfume, either— I mean the scent of her hair and her skin…the scent of her. And though she didn’t speak much during my conversation with her father, the few points she did make were witty and sharp. When I touched her hand as her father introduced us, I felt a kind of quiver go through me and I knew for sure—she was meant to be mine and I was meant to be hers.

I can’t describe it any more clearly than that. It was all of those things combined but also just a bone-deep certainty that Aurora was my Fated Mate —the one woman She of the Four Faces had made just for me. Or it might be more accurate to say that she had made me just for Aurora —she had made me to be her protector, her provider, her lover—her husband.

I wanted to fulfill all those roles—wanted to claim her as mine on the spot. But I couldn’t—her father would never have approved. I could have tried to coerce him into just giving her to me, but I could tell that wouldn’t work. He was proud of his Untainted DNA and he loved his daughter. He would never have given her up to a “filthy Brute ” without some kind of war and I wasn’t about to start killing her people—it would make her hate me. So I waited and bided my time. But I was completely fucking obsessed with her.

Though I was only supposed to see her twice a year when I came to collect the tribute, I confess I came back to L’Crist much more often than that. I used stealth tech to mask my appearance and watched her when she had no idea she was being watched.

No , I didn’t fucking spy on her in the bath, I just hung around the palace and watched her everyday life. I saw how she interacted with the servants—how she treated them like they were people too. And how she listened and learned from her father—she would have made an excellent ruler herself if not for her tiny planet’s archaic laws about how a woman could never be allowed to rule.

I really don’t understand why humans try to act like women are intellectually inferior to males. They aren’t as physically strong as males, but they’re just as fucking smart. One of the Four Families — Clan Vicious —has a law that they must have a woman as the Chieftain of their Clan . Their current Chieftain is getting older now, but she’s still fucking ruthless. I certainly wouldn’t want to cross her.

My friend, Rath , is her Second in Command and he’s completely devoted to her. None of us think less of him for that—we respect his hard work and dedication. She proved herself worthy to be the Chieftain of Clan Vicious and he rose in the ranks and proved himself worthy to serve her—end of story.

Thinking of Clans made me realize that I still needed to contact Drake about the attack that had been made against Aurora at Chez L’ronge the night before. Whoever the attacker was, he was still fucking out there and I wanted him caught so I could kill him… slowly .

Nobody touches my wife and lives.

I dropped a soft kiss on my sleeping bride’s cheek and smiled when she moaned softly and moved towards me. She might not like it, but her body definitely recognized me as her Fated Mate —just as mine recognized hers. She was going to need my help to keep The Need under control and that would bring her even closer to me. Soon she was going to part her thighs and let me taste her— I was sure of it.

The flavor of her juices still lingered on my lips from sucking my fingers after I’d touched her the night before. For a moment, The Thirst blazed up inside me, like a fire that’s been poked by a stick. I did my best to tamp it down. I could handle it, I told myself— I was used to dealing with unruly forces inside me that wanted to come out at the wrong time—like the Darkness that lived in my soul.

But Goddess , I hoped she didn’t make me wait too much longer to give her what she truly needed—what we both needed so fucking badly. The minute she let me, I was going to be on my knees with my face between her gorgeous, thick thighs, tonguing her pussy until she pulled my horns and cried my name!

I pushed my desire aside reluctantly and got out of bed, being careful not to wake Aurora . She’d had a fucking long day yesterday— I wanted her to get as much rest as she needed. Besides , she didn’t need to hear the conversation I was about to have with Drake .

I pulled a pair of lounging trousers out of my drawer and slipped them on. It was better to get the Clan business out of the way before she woke up. I was pretty sure that until she let me go down on her and lick her soft pussy really long and thoroughly, she was going to be needing a lot of my attention to deal with the new sexual urges being with her Fated Mate had unlocked inside her.

I wanted to be free to help her in any and every way she would let me but for now, I had to take care of business.