Free Deep, Hard, and Rough by Jenika Snow

could think about was
making the declaration that she was their mate.
    “Brother, you’re pushing too fast. Give her time.”
    Raimi’s voice didn’t pierce the determination inside
of Erak. He shrugged off Genet’s hand and took another step forward. She still
had the wide-eyed look on her face.
    “Do you understand what I’m saying, Luna?” She
didn’t respond, just stood there with the sound of her little heart beating a
frantic tattoo and filling the small space. “You’re our mate, all three of us,
and the only thing we want to do is protect you, cherish you, and make sure you
are always protected.”
    He took yet another step, and another, until he was
only a foot from her. The wall was right behind her, so even if she wanted to
escape she couldn’t, but strangely enough there was only a deep rooted
confusion over the situation, and rightly so.
    “This is fast, and I know very hard to accept and
understand, but even being a human you know when a male of any species finds
his mate, there is nothing that will make him leave her side.” They breathed
the same air, shared the same body heat, and stared into each other’s eyes.
Genet’s and Raimi’s presences were fierce behind him, and their worry that he
pushed her too fast and hard beat at his back, but they didn’t stop him, and
smartly so. They may be physically matched in height and strength, but they
lacked the ruthlessness that consumed Erak.
    “Tell me you understand what I am saying, Fallina . Even
though it is hard to accept, tell me you understand that from this point on.
The three of us will never allow anyone to harm you, and if they do, blood will
bathe our bodies as we destroy them.”
    She stared at him, and her expression was one of
understanding even if she didn’t respond right away. “Yes, I understand what
you’re saying.”
      “Tell us who
hurt you.” Genet stepped beside Erak. His brother’s fists were clenched tight
at his sides.
    She licked her lips, and he couldn’t help but feel
his groin tighten at the sight. “I don’t understand why you care.” She looked
at all of them, and it was apparent she was honestly surprised they wanted to
know.
    “We want to know so we can make sure it never
happens again.” Genet spoke between gritted teeth.
    It took her a moment to answer, but when she did her
voice was strained. “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.” An emotion he couldn’t
place laced her voice. “I’m pretty sure I killed the male who hurt me.”

Chapter
Seven
     
    The only thing Luna could do was stare at Erak. Oh, she remembered all three of them very well, but never had she felt
such intensity come from another being. Erak’s words not only held firm, but he
made them sound like what he said was law. He was royalty, the eldest and next
in line for the throne of his people, so she had no doubts he got what he
wanted when he wanted. And what he wanted was her, all three of them did. They
also wanted to know who had harmed her, but she didn’t see the point in it now.
Maximo was dead, of that she was sure. She had told them, and all three of them
just stared at her. The silence stretched on and on, and she shifted on her
feet. The last thing she remembered seeing was his blood seeping from his
throat and making a grotesque pool around his head.
    She had run away from imprisonment, but what Erak
was saying was that she was their mate, and she did know what that meant to any
species. She couldn’t taste freedom and have these huge warriors that she was
theirs. If she knew anything it was that when a male found their female they
were possessive and territorial, and she could look into all three of their
faces and see that was how they felt toward her. No, she couldn’t be anyone’s
mate. She wanted her own life, and that meant wherever they landed she would be
off this ship, and finding her own way in the world. She didn’t need a male, and
didn’t even know these three before her. They were the biggest,