Free The Demon Master's Wife (Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE) by Donna McDonald

conscious.
    His whole body still throbbed in release.
    “Ania,” he called, shaking her gently.
    “Stop shaking me, Liam. I still live,” she mumbled against his chest, eliciting a weary laugh from him.
    “For a moment, I thought you might have killed us both,” Synar said.
    “You released,” Ania said tiredly.
    “Yes—I am aware,” Synar told her dryly, grinning in the semi-dark room that she had noticed. He rested inside her still but they were not locked tightly anymore.
    “I am satisfied at last. The urge is quiet in me,” Ania said, starting to slide away only to find herself stopped by Synar’s grip.
    “Stay with me tonight,” he said. “I need you near. Ania—no female has ever pleasured me as well as you just did.”
    “I accept your gratitude, but I cannot stay,” Ania said regretfully, sliding to the side of him, trapped now between his body and the wall of the room. “Sleep is torturous for me and I would just disturb you. The demon rests, but I cannot.”
    “Ania—” Synar began, only to be stopped by her slapping a tired hand over his mouth to prevent his words.
    “No more apologies. Do not dwell on what cannot be changed. Be grateful for this moment and its peace,” she said, letting her hand wearily drop. “You exhausted me as well. I will stay until you sleep.”
    He watched her face as she settled beside him, closing her eyes and pressing closer.
    “I suppose exhausting you is high praise for the mate of a Khalsa warrior,” Synar joked, but no one heard him but the walls. Ania had fallen into an exhausted sleep.
    Chanting prayers he hadn’t prayed in a couple of years, Synar tucked his now blissfully tired body around Ania’s and slept.
    Yet when the computer woke him the next morning, only the soiled bed sheets and his relaxed body bore witness to Ania having even been there. She had given him her body again, but not her loyalty.
    Sadness and regret were crushing weights on his shoulders as he dressed.

Chapter 7
     
    Taking Zade’s shift had been torturous. When the sedative she’d begged from medical hadn’t worked to knock her out, Gwen dressed in exercise clothes and headed to the training room, hoping someone there would try to beat the bad mood out of her with a fight. She thought of rousting Jurek, but dismissed it as selfish to wake the older male. It was early morning and most of the crew were either still asleep or just beginning their day.
    Yet the sweaty blonde she found hard at work on the mat was the last crew member Gwen would have expected to be in the training room so early. Ania stood in the middle, twirling a fighting stick with lethal precision. Gwen watched for long moments in awe before she could bring herself to break Ania’s concentration with a greeting.
    “I don’t suppose you’d want to kick my ass again today, would you?” Gwen asked humbly, liking the way Ania laughed at her question.
    “Feeling a bit disgruntled this morning?” Ania asked, smiling in sympathy and settling the stick at her side.
    “I ingested enough sedatives to stop a Klageldon mastiff and still all I can think about is jumping Zade for sex at first opportunity,” she said bitterly. “Are you sure killing him won’t make this stop?”
    Ania laughed again. She actually admired the commander’s determination to fight the Siren’s call. Not many females could have lasted even a few minutes with such a promise of fulfillment so steadily beckoning.
    Thinking of the agony Dorian was probably in, only increased Ania’s smile.
    “No—nothing will stop the process. What you are experiencing can only be cured temporarily by bonding with Dorian. I hate to tell you even more bad news but the exchange of fluids is needed for even that to work—unprotected sex, as the Earth vids say. For a more permanent way to resist the mating urges, you will need to ingest food and other organics from Rylen to build some immunity to his allure. In the meantime, you should just go to Dorian