Well, when he put it that way…
“I wasn’t risking my life,” I countered. “I told you that. The antidote keeps me safe, no matter what you think. No, I wasn’t doing it to mess with your friends. For that I’m sorry.” I paused, looked him in the eye so he could see I was sincere, at least about that. He might be jealous, but I wouldn’t pit him against his friends. “And yes, I want vengeance. I need it. My friends are dead. They were my family, do you understand? My family. And they all died. Every. Single. One of them.”
Gently now, he turned my face to the side and lifted my hair away from my exposed neck. Shivering at the intimate touch—how could a guy so dang big be so gentle?—I sighed when his fingertips traced the thick line of scar that began at the base of my skull and ran the back of my neck to disappear beneath my uniform. “And you were only injured?”
He had been able to connect what had happened to me and the scar he’d seen, touched. I was melting. I sucked in a breath. Was it hot in here? “Yes.” If nearly dying, making a deal with the devil and living to tell about it counted as injured.
“Why did a ReGen pod not take care of this?” His fingers continued to stroke my neck, but his gaze returned to mine. His touch was tender, but he would not release me without an answer.
“They didn’t find me for almost two months. The scars were permanent by then.”
“A surgeon could have removed them.”
I shook my head. They were part of me, a reminder of what I’d lost and what I’d survived. “No. They stay.”
“On Rogue 5 scars are badges of honor,” he said.
“That’s why you spoke of them, touched them earlier?”
He nodded, then stepped back, and the air around me went from inferno temperature to deep-space cold. I wanted him back, wanted to exist in that small space where I knew nothing could get to me, nothing could hurt me, and all because of Zenos. But that wasn’t why I was here, on this ship. I had a job to do, a debt of blood and honor and love I owed to the friends I hadn’t been able to save.
I took a deep breath and tried to get my head back on straight. “Is that all, Zenos? You wanted to tell me not to flirt with the others? I apologized.”
“No.” He crossed his arms now, and the glare was back. “I accept your apology, but I will also not allow you to risk your life like that again. To you, the act is professional, proof the antidote works. To us, biting is so much more. It means something. We’ve lived our entire lives knowing it was deadly. Forbidden. What you ask threatens to unleash something we’ve kept in check. Always.”
I didn’t mind poking Zenos’s inner bear, but it was unkind of me to mess with the others. I could see that now. I nodded. “I understand. I shall apologize to Barek if you wish.”
“Good. Now, when we arrive, you will not go anywhere on Rogue 5 without me. Is that clear?”
The biting was one thing, but these other rules? We’d see about that once we landed, but for some inexplicable reason I couldn’t make myself lie to him, so I remained silent.
“If you do not give me your word, I will tell Astra to turn this ship around and take you back the moment she has the antidote,” he vowed.
“I don’t like ultimatums,” I countered. “This can be easily solved. I just won’t give her the antidote.”
He leaned in close, his lips grazing my cheek as he spoke. “Then she’ll kill you on the spot.” He lingered, inhaling, breathing me in. “She might be female, but she’s not nice. She’s the most ruthless among us. She’d have you tortured first. She’d break you, get the transport code and then kill you.”
Shit. He was right. The moment I’d set foot on Astra’s ship, she had all the cards. And I would break. I knew I would. I wasn’t some kind of badass superhuman who could resist torture for days on end to protect an antidote I didn’t really care all that much about. I might be super strong now, but there was only so much I could fight. The serum samples were a means to an end. A path to my vengeance. Nothing more.
To me. Nothing more to me.
To these aliens, that antidote was life. Mating. Children. Family. It was everything.
“I think I hate you, Zenos of Astra.”
His eyes narrowed. “Give me your word, human. You will not go anywhere alone, and you will not disobey me when your life is in danger.”
I was not foolish enough to think I was going to win this battle. And like it or not, if I gave him my word, I would honor it. Damn him. “Fine,” I snapped. “You promise no biting, and I agree I won’t go anywhere without telling you—”
He raised his brows. “And you will not disobey me.”
“And I won’t disobey you if my life is in danger, but only while I’m under your protection. Once this is done, I owe you nothing.”
“Agreed.” He studied me closely, nodded, then walked away. I watched him until he disappeared back into the all-in-one room with the others. Unable to face him any longer, exhausted from arguing with him, I went to the cockpit and slumped down in the copilot’s chair. Nev glanced my way but said nothing. The view was breathtaking. Stars. Galaxies. Colors I’d never imagined before I’d left Earth behind.
But I saw none of it, my mind replaying the scene in the corridor over and over and over until I wasn’t sure if I wanted to rip that annoying male’s clothes off his body or beat him bloody for being such an ass. I decided, after a while, that it was a bit of both.
6
Zenos, Personal Quarters, Astra Legion, Rogue 5
* * *
The human was driving me insane. I’d never wanted to strangle someone and fuck them in equal measure before. To make it even more frustrating, I couldn’t fuck her the way I wanted. Wild. Hard. And with fangs.
“This is where you live?” she asked, looking around. The space wasn’t fancy. Nothing on Astra was. We were simple people, content with simple things.
The moment we’d arrived, Astra had demanded the transport code. Ivy had rattled off the long string of coordinates like they weren’t the most important bit of information Astra had acquired in years. The transport was initiated immediately, and the moment Barek had his hands on the vials, he handed one to Astra and took off for the lab like his flesh was on fire.
I knew what he wanted. He wanted to claim our leader. Bite her. Make her scream with pleasure. I wanted to do the same to Ivy, but taking what I wanted wasn’t an option. Not until the antidote had been proven. And not if the female in question didn’t want me in return. I’d seen how that worked out in the past, the way other foolish males had pursued mates who not only didn’t want them but actively disliked them. They’d been good for a quick fuck but nothing more. The look in those females’ eyes had been… well, not unlike the detached look Ivy had now.
She glanced around my quarters, but she saw nothing. Her mind was elsewhere. Plotting. Scheming. She’d upheld her end of the bargain, and she was preparing for the hunt. She wanted her bounty, this Gerian Eozara. I had no doubt if I didn’t keep an eye on her, she’d head to Cerberus Legion right now. She would attempt to hunt on her own—as if she’d make it more than a few steps within that ruthless legion and survive—and that I could not allow.
She wasn’t mine, but that didn’t appear to matter to the instincts raging through my body, demanding I protect her—and not simply because Astra had ordered it. Because I could do nothing less. I would not see her hurt. I knew what anyone in the legion would do if they captured her. What their leader, Cerberus, could do, would do, if he got his hands on her.
Ivy may not know it, but Astra’s ultimatum was protecting her. Keeping her safe.
Now I was stuck with her, the most complicated thing on all of Rogue 5. The other legions didn’t share their secrets, but I would bet my right fang she was the only human on the moon base. One of the very few outsiders not from Rogue 5. Every other male or female from here to Hyperion were born and raised on the moon base. Knew the customs. The rules. The laws, said and unsaid.
She might have studied up on
Rogue 5 as I would if I were venturing to one of the pleasure resorts on Viken, learning the customs and geography of that green planet.
She knew nothing of Rogue 5. Not the real way of life. And she was my responsibility. Mine.
My cock considered the word mine in a completely different way. My cock wanted to mate her, to keep her forever, complete the claiming with the mating fist. If I truly made her mine, my cock would swell and lock me deep inside her, fucking her until we were both completely sated. My fangs wanted to pierce that sweet flesh, mark her so all could see she was beyond their reach.
And if I did both at the same time? She truly would belong to me, regardless of where she was from, why she was here or where she was going next.
There would be no going anywhere next. The thought of keeping her forever equally appealed to me and repelled me because the female who was walking around my space, taking in my small seating area, the eating area and the sleeping room with avid curiosity, pushed every emotional sore spot I had. Riled me in body, mind and soul.
“This is where I live,” I said calmly. At least as calmly as possible with her.
“It’s nice. I had even smaller quarters with the Coalition. Just enough space for a bed, and if I stuck my arms out, I could touch walls on both sides.”
“This isn’t the Coalition.”
She turned to look at me. “I’m well aware we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.”
I frowned because she spoke in Earth slang… again. Stared. “I have no idea what that means.”
She sighed. “It means… it means this place is different than what I’m used to.”
I laughed, crossed my arms over my chest. “Everything about Rogue 5 is different than what you’re used to. Different than whatever a comm vid could share.”
She faced me head-on, looked me over, just as she had in the canteen on Zenith. Her gaze stalled on the front of my pants, at the thick outline of my cock beneath the uniform. I had no idea why she made me so damn hard. Arguing with her should have made me soft, but sparring with her aroused me. Heated my blood. Filled my balls.
“Not everything is different.”
I shook my head. “Do you claim that you’re used to the fucking I gave you? I do not believe you have been taken by a male like me before.”
“True. You’re the only one who’s had fangs.”
“I’m the only one who’s made you come screaming. Made you lose control.”
Her hands went to her hips, and her cheeks turned pink. “You’re so full of yourself.”
I took a step toward her. She didn’t retreat. Didn’t even blink. She was so fucking fierce and defiant. So willful. I wanted to take her over my knee and spank that sass right out of her, but then again, my cock liked her wild and untamed. She might not be from Rogue 5, but she had the passion of one of us.
“No, you’ll be full of me in just a minute.”
She sputtered, rolled her eyes.
She fucking rolled her eyes.
“I don’t think so.”
I didn’t reply right away, just looked her over. Highlighted by the tight outlines of her modified Coalition uniform, I couldn’t miss the way her breathing had sped up or that her nipples jutted out through the thick fabric. I couldn’t scent her arousal as an Everian or hybrid Everian might, but I didn’t need to scent her body to know she was wet.
She got off on this. She liked it when I pushed her. Challenged her. Made her bend.
“Tell me, Lieutenant, what happened when you contradicted your superior officers like you are doing with me.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. Yeah, she hated being called by her former rank.
“I was punished. KP or shuttle cleaning.” The words were laced with distaste, and I had no doubt she’d suffered such punishments often.
“I spank.”
“What?” she sputtered.
“You’re my responsibility here on Rogue 5. That means if you disobey me, you get your tight ass spanked. And you know why you’ll submit to it?”
Her gaze narrowed, but I saw the pink flush to her cheeks, the gleam of interest and heat in her gaze.
“Why?” she gritted out.
“Because unlike shuttle cleaning, you’re going to enjoy the burning sting of my hand on your ass.”
“I’m not going to like anything that has to do with you.”
I grinned then. “See? You’re intentionally being contrary because you want to know what I’ll do. You want to feel my heated palm on your ass. You want a little bite of pain with your pleasure.”
Her mouth opened and closed then. I’d stunned her silent. I took the moment to end this and take it where we both wanted to go.
To bed.
I stalked over to her, leaned forward and into her belly so I could toss her over my shoulder. While she wasn’t small for a female, especially a human one, she was much smaller than me. She was light, and I didn’t break step as I carried her into the sleeping room. Dropped her onto the bed.
She bounced once and popped back up. With a hand to her chest, I pressed her down.
“Here’s how this is going to go,” I said.
She fumed, her eyes shooting fire at me. I loved it, at least here in my quarters. She was contained, all her energy aimed at me. Angry because I was right. Angry because she wanted to follow my orders. Oh, it bucked against every bit of her rebellious nature. She wouldn’t admit it, but she wanted me to prove myself more powerful. Strong enough to protect her. Rule her. Sate her.
Needed that reassurance from me.
She wouldn’t respond with words. Indeed I had no doubt she would argue with me if I told her there was no oxygen in deep space.
She’d believe my actions though. And she would learn to trust me. Perhaps not the first time, but I was willing to teach this particular lesson again and again.
My cock agreed with this. She wanted to challenge me? To play? To push me so I would dominate her? She’d get what she wanted. She would surrender. Eventually.
We’d both find pleasure in every bit of her resistance and in her final submission.
“Fuck you,” she snarled.
“I think you mean I’ll fuck you. In about two minutes my cock will be inside you. We just need to set a few ground rules first.”
She pushed up onto her elbows, but my hand wasn’t allowing her to rise any higher. I loomed over her, but the sight of her on my bed, panting, fuming and fucking gorgeous was something I’d never forget.
“Rules? I left the Coalition to avoid rules.”
“Astra said we will search out those responsible for the Quell problem tomorrow. The specific Cerberus member, Gerian Eozara. Tomorrow,” I repeated. “Until then we will stay in my quarters. Word is being spread that you belong to me, at least here on Rogue 5. If that is the case, then we may as well reap the rewards, don’t you think?”
“What rewards do I get being stuck with you?”
“My mouth. My fingers. My cock. Orgasms.”
“So cocky.”
“You know it’s true. You received firsthand proof when you got all those things from me. This time we have a bed and much longer.”
“We can’t stand each other,” she snapped.
I didn’t hate her. She was everything I had ever wanted in a mate but couldn’t have. She was the tastiest treat that I couldn’t truly savor. My fangs dropped, and I wanted to sink them into her just as I had done with my cock, as I would again.
But the bite? No. It was impossible. I thought of the Earth term she’d mentioned. I was like a broken record. I wouldn’t risk her life.
I stood at the edge of the bed, tugged off my shirt. “We only dislike each other when we have clothes on. Strip.”
She remained propped up on her elbows and watched me take off my clothes. I didn’t mind if she did so. Earlier on Zenith we hadn’t taken time to explore, to savor each other’s bodies. I wanted her to know what I offered, what she’d get from me. My body belonged to her. My cock, now free of p
ants, aimed right at her.
She would receive everything but the fangs.
“Take off your clothes, or I’ll take them off for you,” I ordered.
Her eyes narrowed again, but she must have realized arguing wasn’t going to get her body what it craved. Hot, sweaty fucking. Orgasms. Pleasure.
Shifting around, she moved up onto her knees, removed her shirt and bra. She fell backward onto the bed and worked off her pants. I helped her by leaning forward and tugging off her boots.
“That wasn’t too bad, was it?”
Her gaze was affixed on my cock. “What are you talking about?”
“Obeying. If you behave yourself, you’ll get what you want.”
“And you know what I want?”
“You know I do.”
She said nothing in response, only moved her foot across the bed, spreading her legs wider so I could see all of her. All.
Her knees fell open in silent invitation. She wouldn’t say what she wanted, couldn’t give in to that. But she showed me. Fuck, did she.
I grinned.
Reaching out, I gripped one ankle, twisted my wrist so she flipped over onto her belly. I knelt on the bed, dropped my palm onto her ass, watched the lush flesh bounce. Watched my handprint bloom pink.
She gasped at the action, looked over her shoulder at me.
If looks could kill…
I slid my hand over her pussy, felt how wet she was. Everything that had happened since we fucked in the empty game room had been foreplay for this.
She was hot. She was wet. She was ready. Oh, I wanted to play with those perfect breasts, suck on the pink tips. I wanted to finger her pussy until she came. Lick her clit until she screamed. Work a finger into her ass and see how much she begged for more.
I wanted all of that, fuck, did I.
But she’d have my cock first. I crawled up between her thighs, spread them wide before circling my arm about her waist and pulling her back so she was up on her knees. I didn’t wait, only gripped the base of my cock and aligned it with her entrance, the wet, tight core that I couldn’t forget.
The Rebel and the Rogue Page 6