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way, our people can strive to give each other what
they need to remain happy. They ll also tie our life
forces together. When one dies, the other will
follow. Their souls are forever joined as one.
After a few minutes of tension-filled silence,
Liana looked up and met Ryan s heated stare. She
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swallowed when she saw the desperate need
there. He wasn t trying to hide it from her, and
that in itself made her pulse beat faster, her blood
thicken and pool. Her nipples grew even harder,
rasping against her shirt sending shards of
pleasure-pain straight to her aching clit.
She hadn t even realized they d stopped, as lost
as she was in just feeling, until Ryan spoke. Here
we are!
And where exactly are we?
His chest vibrated beneath her ear and she
knew he was trying not to laugh at her
impatience. Even she could hear how desperate
she d become. You re so impatient, Liana.
Before she could come up with a suitable reply,
he pressed his security code into the keypad and
allowed the facial recognition program to scan the
iris of his eyes. The door whooshed open almost
immediately. She gasped, shocked surprise
bringing a spontaneous smile to her face.
Do you like it?
It s stunning. But what is this place?
It s the conservatory. Others call it the Mating
Garden or Mating Chamber. When the Chantrean
Space Exploration and Defense Agency deploys ships
for any length of time, homesickness sets in, and
with it, morale lowers. Having low morale while
in deep space is not a good idea. The scientists
discovered quite by accident a chemical
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Bonnie Rose Leigh
compound excreted by the native Chantrean plants
into the soil that created a sense of well-being
amongst our people. By putting an indoor garden
on all our battleships and deep space explorers,
our soldiers and scientists don t forget the
paradise they left behind. Instead, they get to take
a bit of home with them wherever they are sent.
And just as he explained, a calmness and
warmth swept over her as she stared at the
beautiful garden. No. It was more than that. It was
a feeling of coming home, of belonging to
something greater. Whether again her Empathic
abilities were growing or perhaps even evolving
into what they should have been all along, she felt
almost complete. She could feel the mate bond in
the back of her mind, not yet forging the
permanent link that would join her soul to Ryan s.
Soon. Soon.
As her gaze skittered across the amazing
chamber, a small part of her wondered what
exactly Ryan was doing. She could see him doing
something to the statuary out of the corner of her
eye and it made her lips quirk up in amusement.
Did she even want to know what he was doing to
the marble statue?
Flowers, more gorgeous and exotic than she
ever could have imagined, hung from every
available surface. The ceiling had what looked like
buttresses built beneath it. Vines and flowers were
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Ryan s Hope
wrapped around the framework, spreading down
the walls in a blanket of vibrant blooms. Having
lived on Chantrea for over five years now, she
knew quite a bit about the native flora on her
adopted planet. Out of the corner of one eye, she
caught a flash deep purple, a Tupa one of her
favorite colors for that particular plant. Her eyes
widened yet again when she spotted a gorgeous
bright pink Aseda, the Chantrean bloom for fertility.
She let out a surprised squeal. The flowers were
similar to Earth s daisies, except the color was all
wrong. Yet the Aseda was the one flower that
always brought a smile to her lips and made her
heart feel lighter, at peace. She could honestly
believe the Chantrean flora excreted a mood-
enhancing chemical because she always felt better
when messing around with her window garden in
her suite.
Allowing the sense of calm to wash through
her, Liana s gaze settled on her mate. His slow
amble caught her attention, kept her focused on
the one part of him she was dying to feel
stretching her. And of course, as she stared, his
cock grew thick and long in front of her eyes. She
was so focused on the one part of him, she didn t
even notice what was in his hands until he
threaded his fingers with hers just before one end
of the silken material wrapped around her wrist
seemingly of its own accord. How did it do that?
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Bonnie Rose Leigh
Heart pounding, her eyes widened even further
when she watched the other end of the material
slide over their clasped fingers and wrap itself
around Ryan s wrist. If that hadn t been bizarre
enough, the material tightened then began to
shimmer, before it started to sink into her skin. It
didn t hurt, in fact it she only felt a warm, tingling
hum, like mild electric current, as the material
bonded with her own flesh, becoming one with
her. Then, a roaring wave of emotion rolled over
and through her, overwhelming the barriers she d
built to protect herself, as lifelong Empath from
other s emotions overwriting her own.
She felt so inadequate in comparison to what she
could feel coming from his soul. What she wouldn t
give for something sexy to wear right now, something
to make her feel beautiful enough to deserve to be with
him.
Baby, you re perfect just the way you are.
What? How are you doing that?
That s the Manruvian Mate Bond at work. Not
only can we communicate with each other. Just
think what you want to say and I ll hear you
unless I m unconscious, then you might have to
keep trying. The material is sentient and blends
with our DNA, building a bridge between our
souls and our minds, joining us on a much deeper
level than humans develop even after decades of
living together. What one knows and feels, so does
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the other. I ve been told that those who share a
true mate bond the sentient material wouldn t
have reacted at all had we not already been soul
mates find it impossible to cheat on their spouses
or to do anything purposely to cause harm to their
mate.
Liana nodded, then reached forward and
cupped his cheek in her palm. His stubble scraped
the inside of her palm sending shivers of
awareness surging through her body again.
Goddess, if she didn t fuck him soon, she might
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