Van, Becca - Her Norland Warriors (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (9 page)

“There seems to be nothing wrong with your mate physically, emotionally, or mentally. She just seems to be very tired, sirs. Let her sleep for the rest of the night, and if she hasn’t awakened by second feast, come and get us, and we will examine her again.”

“Thank you, Elder. We appreciate you taking the time to come and tend to our mate,” Hakon replied.

“That is our jobs, sirs. There is a small problem with your mate, however. I found the wall she has built up in her mind. I was able to get through it, but I daresay you and your brothers have not?”

“You are correct, Healer Elder. We have advised our mate of the consequences, but it didn’t seem to faze her in the least. Will you and your esteemed brothers please remain on standby in case our mate begins to suffer from the bond-mating fever?” asked Hakon.

“You have no need to ask, sir. Just reach out to us with your mind, like so.” Elder demonstrated to Hakon by melding their minds together for a moment. “My brothers and I will be here when you call.”

“Thank you, Elder, Healers.” Hakon bowed respectfully and watched them leave.

“I think one of us should remain in our chamber in case our mate wakes up,” Dagr suggested.

“Yes, I agree. Loki, you take first watch. Dagr will relieve you, and if by then our duties are not done, I will relieve Dagr. While either of you are in the chamber with our bond mate, I think we should try to breach her mental barrier. Do not push too hard or fast into her mind. We don’t want our mate’s mind to be damaged. Come, Dagr, let’s see if we can get our duties over and done with as fast as possible. I have a need to be near our mate,” he explained then turned toward the exit. Dagr walked toward the door on his heels.

* * * *

Loki settled down onto the bed beside Jess, his elbow on the mattress and his head resting on his hand. She was so beautiful to his eyes, her shoulder-length red hair fanning out around her head, the lights above making it look like it was highlighted with flames. She looked so peaceful, almost childlike in innocence, as she lay sleeping. Her full lips were slightly parted, emitting her breath in deep even gusts. Her skin was so white and creamy he could see her delicate blue veins beneath. As he stared down at her, he concentrated on gently breaking through her mental shield. He was slow and thorough, chipping away at the cement-like substance she had created in her mind to topple her barrier. It was a slow, tedious process, but Loki was enjoying just lounging beside his mate, his eyes wandering over her face and sheet-covered body. The material draped over her body showcased every inch of her length—her voluptuous breasts, flat, small waist, and full hips, which tapered down to long, lean legs. She was absolutely exquisite. Not like all the other women they usually managed to meet in their pirating for cargo treasures.

Loki was so glad to have a gorgeous, unique-looking woman. Who wanted their mate to look like all the others—blonde hair, blue eyes, and a waiflike body too fragile to be able to stand a real, good, hard loving from her mates? He and his brothers would not have to be so careful of their sexy woman. Of course he and his brothers would never do anything to hurt her, but because she was of a sturdier build, they would never have to worry about treating their woman like fragile glass. He only hoped Jess wouldn’t be too stubborn by keeping him, Dagr, and Hakon at arm’s length. The last thing he wanted to see was his bond mate in the throes of the bond-mating fever. He’d never seen a female in such a predicament and hoped he didn’t have to watch his own mate go through such pain. He’d heard it was not something a male wanted to see his bond mate suffer.

Loki looked up as the door to the bedchamber opened. His brothers walked through and over to the bed.

“Has Jessamine showed any signs of waking?” Hakon asked as he stared at their mate.

“No. I have been working on her mental barrier. For someone who has no previous knowledge of this skill, she has done an amazing job.”

“That is what I was afraid of. Our mate is very intelligent. I can see she will keep us on our toes,” Dagr said with a rueful grin.

“No doubt,” Loki replied with a smile.

“Why don’t you go and feast, brother? You have spent a few hours in here alone. You must be bored and hungry,” Hakon stated.

“Actually, no, I was quite content to watch over our mate and work on her mental barrier. She is such a beautiful female. I could spend years just staring at her and never be bored. But my stomach will not let me stay. I will be back as soon as I have satiated one of my hungers,” he threw over his shoulder and left the room.

* * * *

“Loki’s right, you know. She is very intelligent. We are going to have to try and stay one step ahead of our mate. Otherwise she will have us running around chasing our own asses,” Dagr said with a smile.

“Yes, I agree. I just hope she isn’t as stubborn as I think she is. She could do much harm to herself if she keeps her mind block in place and us at arm’s length,” Hakon said with a sigh. He began to strip his clothes from his body, moved Jessamine into the center of the bed, and climbed in beside her. He couldn’t contain his groan of arousal as his naked body connected with their mate’s. He watched Dagr remove his clothes and climb in on the other side of Jess. Hakon was worried. Jess hadn’t moved or made any noise as he moved her, then as he and his brother sandwiched her between their large bodies. He thought she would have stirred at least, but she seemed as if she didn’t even know he and his brother were with her.

 
“Do you think if we both tried to break through her mental barrier at the same time, we could topple it?” Hakon asked.

“It’s worth a try. We will have to be very careful we don’t harm her while we do it,” Dagr explained. “You enter her mind first, brother, and I will follow you.”

Hakon closed his eyes and sent his mind to the edge of Jess’s. He studied her mental barrier, saw where Loki had been working, and began to chip away where his brother had started. He concentrated hard and could not help but feel pride for his mate’s natural ability. He was aware when Dagr joined him, and they both worked away methodically and patiently.

Hakon became aware of a third presence in Jess’s mind, followed the path, and quickly withdrew. That bastard Drakon was somehow still joined with their mate, and he wasn’t even on their planet Norland anymore. Hakon showed Dagr where Drakon was still connected to their mate, then reluctantly pulled free of her mind.

“Loki, I need you to come back to our bedchamber. I am calling for the healers. That bastard Drakon is still within our mate’s mind. He seems to be siphoning information from our mate’s brain.

“Elder, healers, I have found that Drakon is still within our mate’s mind. He is still taking information from her brain. Please, come and see if our mate is being harmed and help us to find a way to get him out of her head,”
Hakon projected to the healers.

“We are on our way, sir.”

Hakon had risen and pulled his black pants back on, as had Dagr. They were both pacing anxiously, awaiting the arrival of their brother and the healers. The door opened moments later, Loki leading the way to the bed.

“Sirs, please join your mind with your mate again so we can see where and how this stranger is attached to your mate’s brain. We don’t want to harm your mate’s mind by pulling this man from her mind too quickly. I don’t want to get your hopes up that we will be able to help her, but we will do our best.”

Hakon slid to the edge of Jess’s mind and felt Dagr follow him. Once they had followed the path to where Drakon was embedded in her mind, Loki joined them. Hakon concentrated on following the small tentacle-like pathways where Drakon had already been. Hakon opened a pathway from his mind to the healers and led them into Jess’s brain. The healers were beside him and his brothers as they studied the electrical pulses firing along the nerve endings. How long he, his brothers, and the healers were in his female’s mind, he had no idea, but when the healers withdrew, he and his brothers followed.

“I don’t think there is anything we can do to get the Gorian out of you mate’s mind. He is not harming her at all. He just seems to be downloading, for want of a better word, your bond mate’s memories. I think he will be done by tomorrow, but we will be back in the morning to check on your mate, sirs,” Elder said with a bow, then he and his brothers left the bedchamber.

“Fuck. I hate the thought of that bastard being in her head. If I ever see him again I will tear him limb from limb,” Hakon said, snarling as he removed his pants again and climbed into bed beside Jessamine.

“Well, let us all hope he has gone from her mind by sunup. If not, then maybe we should prepare a ship and send a team of warriors to Gore. We can bring him back here by force if necessary,” Dagr ground out through clenched teeth.

“I don’t think that will be possible, brother. You saw how the Gorian just seemed to shimmer out of here without any trouble. I doubt he even needs spaceships to get around the galaxy,” Loki reminded his brothers.

“Maybe I can go and reason with Drakon? He didn’t seem to be a violent person, and he treated our mate with respect,” Dagr stated.

“I think we should wait and see what the new day brings. Maybe we are worried for no reason at all. We have to learn to trust our mate knows what she is doing. She obviously had no qualms in letting Drakon into her mind. She probably knows more than we do,” Loki clarified wisely. “Let’s get some rest. We will need all our strength to deal with our mate if she awakens on the morrow.”

Hakon didn’t so much reply as grunt. He pulled Jessamine into his arms, her back tucked into his front, his arm wrapped securely around her waist. He opened his eyes to see Dagr slide into bed on Jess’s other side, backing up to her until she was safely ensconced between them. Then he saw Loki slide in at the bottom of the bed and knew his brother was touching their mate in some way. He closed his eyes, weary to the bone, and let his mind drift. He didn’t think he would be able to sleep, but was so tired he didn’t even realize when slumber claimed him.

Chapter Nine

Jess opened her eyes and felt as if her body was on fire. She was surrounded by large, hot male bodies. She yawned hugely, but didn’t bother to cover her mouth. She didn’t remember even getting into bed and wondered who had carried her to their room and removed her clothes. She began to shift her legs into a more comfortable position and hesitated when she felt a large hand wrapped around her ankle. She lifted her head from her muscular pillow and looked down the length of her body to find Loki lying sideways across the bottom of the bed. He had his head propped up on his elbow and hand, and he was smiling at her. The hand around her ankle released, slid up her calf, and began to caress her flesh. She flopped her head back down then groaned as she thunked against firm muscle. She’d forgotten she had been using Hakon’s shoulder as a pillow. The man was rock hard, the back of her head testament to that fact.

“How are you feeling, little Jess?” Loki asked, stroking the skin of her leg.

“I’m fine, why?” Jess asked, puzzled over his concern.

“You don’t remember?”

“Remember what? Oh shit. Yeah, it’s coming back to me. Where did Drakon go? He was there one moment and gone the next.”

“He has powers we cannot even conceive of. He seems to be able to move his body at will. He did not hurt you?” asked Loki.

“No. He said he’d heard of you and your men helping us from our faltering ship, and since their female population is in jeopardy of becoming extinct, he wanted to find out all about the females of Earth. He let me read his mind. Oh my God. The knowledge he handed over to me without any hesitation is unbelievable. He wanted me to be sure it was safe to give him information regarding planet Earth and let me read his mind first. He wants to be able to find females for the males on their planet to mate with. His race has to drink blood to survive. The powers they have, I could not fathom even half of them. He asked to read my mind, as it would be a much faster way for him to gather the information he needed, so I let him. I’m sorry. I must have fallen asleep. I don’t remember much after that.”

“You took a great risk letting a stranger into your mind, Jessamine. You had no idea whether you were putting yourself in danger. I should put you over my knee and tan your ass for such behavior,” Hakon said from her side.

Jess bolted upright and turned her head to glare at Hakon. “Excuse me. What did you just say? No, don’t repeat it. That was a rhetorical question. Who the hell do you think you are? You have the audacity to tell me what I can and can’t do? Well, screw you, buddy.”

Jess got to her feet and was about to step over the ass beside her and off the bed. She didn’t get to move. Four large hands clamped around her ankles and wrists, and she found herself flat on her back with Hakon and Dagr looming over her. They were both shooting daggers at her. Oh boy, she was in deep shit.