by Alana Serra
But there was another part of him—a louder part of him—that said he did not wish to frighten his mate. If he touched her again, he wanted it to be because she wished him to. Because it brought her comfort and pleasure.
“Five years ago, I was a student at the college in Everton,” Rhin finally said. “To me, it seems like it was just yesterday, but Addison remembers me. She remembers me coming up to her, giving her this paper.”
She dipped her chin, gesturing to a sheaf of papers that was resting on the bed. Rhavos’ gaze moved over them, but his attention was caught by another piece of paper—one that featured an image of Rhin.
“What is this?” He started to reach for the paper, but thought better of it.
“I went missing five years ago,” she said, her voice numb. “Apparently some people tried to look for me.”
Rhavos’ brow furrowed. It was not possible for her to fabricate such a detail. She would have needed to anticipate this line of questioning long before now.
Rhin looked up at him, still wary. He met her gaze, and whatever she saw in his eyes seemed to calm her further. After a long moment of silence, she finally told him what she remembered.
It was… maddening. Rhavos’ emotions were torn in so many different directions. As she spoke, he felt rage, sorrow, uncertainty, and fear, to name a few. At some point, it occurred to him that he might be feeling her emotions as if they were his own, and that thought turned his stomach.
Not in disgust at her treachery, but in sympathy.
It was nearly impossible to think of her as some manipulative human any longer. His reactions to her were too strong and too genuine. He felt her pain somewhere deep inside his soul, and all he wanted to do was find some way to soothe it. He wanted so badly to take her into his arms and stroke her hair until she stopped crying, but he stayed where he was. Near enough to ease the aches and pains of his implant, but not so close that he caused her apprehension.
She seemed to appreciate the effort, and so Rhavos found himself fixating on this Dal’uhz she described. The male who’d done this to her. Rhavos typically did not take joy in brutally killing his enemies, but he would relish this male’s death.
That was something he could plan out in the very near future, though. For now, he would make certain the human could not reach her any longer.
“Come with me,” he said, once he was sure she had finished speaking.
Her gaze narrowed in question, but she did follow. Rhavos’ felt some of his own tension ease, his natural instinct to protect her momentarily calmed. He led her to Kor’ven’s workspace and addressed the engineer.
“Whatever they have done to her, you will fix it.”
And because he knew it would be fruitless to try and focus his mind on anything else, he remained in the room with her, all while plotting out exactly what he would do to the human who had hurt her.
9
After that strange, eventful morning, Ren was never put back in the quarantine room.
She'd been taken to an exam room, where Addison and her mate, Kor'ven, ran some tests on her implant, all while Rhavos hovered. His presence should have bothered her; instead, it was the only thing keeping her calm.
To his credit, he didn't try to touch her or invade her personal space. He was always nearby, always where he could reach her if she needed him, but he seemed to actually grasp the human concept of boundaries, which shocked Ren to no end.
Hours into the testing, Kor'ven concluded that there was no one component responsible for her "cognitive reprogramming," as he called it.
"Mind control," Ren said, her tone as even as she could make it. "Let's call it what it is."
"It's more complicated than that," Kor'ven began. "The neurons—" One look from Addison stopped him, and he offered an apologetic smile. "Mind control, yes."
"So you cannot fix it?" Rhavos asked, his impatience showing.
"We'll keep working on a permanent solution," Addison assured him, "but for now, her implant isn't sending or receiving any transmissions."
"It is reacting too strongly to yours, Conqueror," Kor'ven added.
Ren wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. "What does that mean?"
Addison pulled back from the terminal she was working at and offered her a gentle smile. "It means the presence of your mate is keeping the Freedom Fighters from interfering with your mind."
At the time, Ren had no idea what to make of that. She'd expected immediate denial from Rhavos, but he'd said nothing. He’d just looked at her with what she could only describe as intense determination before he'd gone back to his own tasks, leaving Ren to sort through the ramifications of this new development on her own.
That was easier said than done. Even if she was free to move about the Waystation as she pleased now, she still had two captors: Dallas, or whoever was in charge of sending the mind control signals. And Rhavos, who she still hadn't been able to make heads or tails of.
Over the next few days, Ren realized Rhavos wasn't the only enigma to be found among the Karuvar. They were all over the Waystation, but everyone she met seemed… not at all like the brutish tyrants she'd believed them to be. Some were cradling babies, others were speaking quietly with human women, and the rest just seemed to be going about their day. It was almost like a college campus, just with slightly more hormones floating around.
Ren had always operated under the “know thy enemy” philosophy, because knowledge would take away the power they held over her. But the more information Ren gained about the Karuvar of Helios, the more lost she felt.
By the fourth day, she decided to focus on something else. Grabbing a sheet of paper from the desk, she'd started sketching from memory. What came out was something resembling a blueprint, and it wasn't until she was done that she realized it was a layout of the Freedom Fighters’ security systems. Not just the cameras, but the alarms, the tripwires, and all the locked doors, too.
She sat on the blueprints until the next morning, unsure what to do with them. This was her leverage. This was how she could barter for her full release, but…
Rhavos had been surprisingly respectful of her space over the past few days. He was still gruff, still singularly focused on his mission, but there were moments where he came across as almost… kind. Or at least deeply honorable.
She didn't owe him, but she thought a gesture of goodwill might go a long way. So that morning, she asked to speak with him.
Ren could feel him as he approached, like the slow-moving warmth of the sun as it moved through the sky. There was something comforting about it, but incredibly distracting, too, as a different kind of heat built between her thighs.
She showed him the plans, expecting a stoic silence followed by a curt nod, as if she were one of his men. But Rhavos seemed genuinely impressed.
"You drew this from memory?" he asked.
"I think I set up all of their security systems," she admitted. "Or at least optimized them."
"Then you know how to get around them. My men have been trying for days, but the locks will not give."
"They don't respond to force," she said, "only to the implants coded to open them. Unless they're disabled from the mainframe."
Rhavos considered this, and Ren couldn't help but notice how close he was. Not on purpose, she thought. He was just leaning down to see the plans she'd drawn up. But she could smell him, a mix of musk and sweat and spice that should have been a turn-off, but made her want to back up a few steps so she could feel his body against hers.
"Can you tell my men how to do this?" he asked.
"It'll be easier if I do it myself."
She didn't think before she said it; the words just came out. But once she'd made the offer, she found she didn't hate it. In fact, it was… empowering, in a way. The "Freedom" Fighters had taken her freedom from her, taken her safety. Now she would get the chance to do the same thing to them.
She was feeling pretty good about that decision, until she saw Rhavos stiffen.
; "No. Absolutely not."
Ren turned to look at him, her chin tilting up so she could meet his eyes. "Why not? I know the system. I built the system. It'll be a lot easier and a lot more successful if I just disable it myself."
"It is too much of a risk."
She scoffed at him. "Do you seriously think I'm going to turn on you? That I'm going to lure you into a false sense of security so me and the other humans can—"
"I will not risk you being harmed," he said with a growl.
That intensity returned to his eyes, and it took Ren's breath away.
"Oh," she said softly.
She would argue that she could protect herself, but the reality was that she worked best when she couldn't be seen; when no one could get to her. Any physical opposition, and she was forced to fold.
It made her wish she'd taken that self-defense class the campus offered. Back then, she hadn't wanted to answer violence with even more violence, but now Ren could see the benefit of being able to protect herself.
But… she could learn now, couldn't she?
"You can teach me to fight," she suggested, feeling bold.
Just a few days ago, she wouldn't have trusted Rhavos to just exist in a room with her, let alone armed, with her at his mercy. Now she believed him when he said he didn't want to see her harmed. Somewhere deep down, instinctively, she… trusted him.
Which was a terrifying thought.
"I cannot teach you to fight," he said with a derisive snort.
"Why? Because I'm a human?"
He looked at her, and for a second she thought maybe that was the reason. Part of it, anyway. But after a moment, he said, "I cannot teach you to fight in one afternoon. I want to move on this tomorrow."
Ren rolled her eyes. "I don't need to know how to take down a standing army, I just need to know how to protect myself if someone jumps me."
Rhavos considered this for a long time, looking down at her with a scrutiny that made every nerve ending in her body tingle. "It will not be easy," he finally said.
"I like a challenge."
That was how Ren found herself unarmed in a large room, facing off against an opponent who was three times her size.
"You are small," he pointed out, as if she wasn't very aware of that. "You cannot overpower your enemies. But you can use their size against them."
Rhavos approached her, hesitating at the last moment. His eyes sought hers, and she realized he was actually asking permission. She nodded, feeling a silly little flutter in her chest as she gave it.
That was until he stepped so close to her, she could feel the heat of his body. He was wearing the same thing he'd always worn—a leather harness that crossed over his chest—but today, it was that much harder for Ren to keep herself from wanting to touch that chiseled definition that was on display right in front of her.
"Your center of gravity is closer to the ground than mine. You can use that to throw me off balance," he said. "Here. I will approach you from the front, and I want you to grapple my waist."
Wait, she actually was going to touch him? Ren's mouth went dry. Of course she had to touch him. This was a self-defense lesson. She couldn't learn otherwise.
"Grapple your waist. Got it," she said, feeling foolish.
He stepped forward slowly, but with purpose, his arms out as if he intended to grab her.
"Bend your knees," he instructed, right as she went to grab him, "then grab me."
Her heart was pounding, but she did as he instructed. She expected to hit a wall of solid muscle and fall on her face, but when she reached for him, grabbing his harness where it met his pants, she actually was able to get him to stumble.
The momentum made her keep going, though, and her grip tightened as she tried to keep herself from falling. Rhavos must have realized what was happening, because one arm came around her, holding her up.
And against him.
She was eye-level with his abs, her hair falling in a curtain around her face, hiding the blush she knew was rising in her cheeks. Slowly she straightened, Rhavos still helping her, her hands moving up the straps of his harness like they were a lifeline.
Ren found herself more out of breath than she should have been for such a simple maneuver. Rhavos was practically panting, too, his chest rising and falling beneath her hands. She made the mistake of meeting his eyes then, and polished steel stared back at her with a fiery intensity.
Her fingers curled tighter around the straps, and she felt Rhavos' arm curl tighter around her, too. She was caught, but panic was the last thing she felt. Instead, she was overwhelmed by the desire to be closer to him. She wanted him to kiss her like he had the other day, yet he made no move to do so. She wanted to tear these straps off him, get them out of her way so she could run her hands and her mouth over the planes of his body.
But she couldn't seem to make herself do it, no matter how much she wanted to. No matter how much Rhavos wanted it in return.
Hands shaking, Ren let go of him, an apology on her lips. Rhavos released his hold on her immediately, and the moment was broken.
Even as they continued the lesson in complete innocence, Ren knew she was playing with fire. It seemed like only a matter of time until her inhibitions came crashing down, and what would she do then?
She might be able to protect her body. Rhavos had been respectful of her choices so far. But it was that respect, that care she’d seen from him that made her wonder if she should be more worried about protecting her heart.
10
Rhavos was already changing his plans to accommodate Rhin.
He'd promised the Freedom Fighters would be taken out quickly and efficiently, and the raid he had planned for this evening was neither quick or efficient. Despite the fact that they had everything they needed to break through the previously inaccessible parts of the facility, this was just going to be a scouting mission. As Rhin insisted on going with him, he could not risk her safety.
That change in plans—and the fact that he was finding it difficult to focus on anything other than her—put Rhavos on edge.
He paced in the chambers he'd been given at Helios, unable to rest his mind or his body. He'd gone over Rhin's map a hundred times, at least, but there was still so much that remained uncertain—too many opportunities for things to go terribly wrong.
Kor'ven and Adi'sun had not removed whatever allowed the humans to control Rhin. It was still there, and despite what they said, Rhavos feared the Freedom Fighters could reach her. Put her in danger. Kill her outright.
He let out a frustrated growl, his arm lashing out and sending a small table flying. He should not have to worry about the safety of a human. And yet he did. He felt her presence, felt her well-being with everything he had. This was not what he wanted. Not what he needed.
Mate, something inside him insisted. She is your mate.
Rhavos' palms pressed against the wall and he dropped his head down, trying to block out the world around him as he normally did before a campaign. A useless effort this time. He could still see her in his mind; could still hear her, smell her, feel her. Her body, soft and curved, pressed to his as he'd trained her…
Rhavos could feel the blood rush southward, his cock growing rock hard at just the thought of her. It was such a strange thing. He’d been a hot-blooded youngling once, but he’d made adequate use of his hand and had grown out of that phase of his development. Karuvar females were pleasing to the eye, but they hadn’t distracted him in a very long time. And human females? When he looked at them, he felt nothing. They were just an alien species, too soft and too pale and too small to arouse him.
But the moment he looked at Rhin, he was almost overwhelmed by his lust. Even now, just thinking of her, it consumed him to the point where he found himself loosening the ties of his pants, forced to rely on the one thing that had calmed his raging hormones in the past.
Rhavos spit into his palm and gripped his cock, hissing at the pleasure he'd denied himself since coming to Earth. His finger
s curled around the shaft and he pumped his demanding flesh with an almost angered vigor. He tried to treat it like a chore—something he had to do so he could focus on more important tasks—but his mind would not let him.
Instead, he thought of Rhin. Of her sharp tongue tracing the seam of his sac as her hand mimicked the movements he was making now. No, two hands. She was small. She would need both. Rhavos closed his eyes, imagining his own fingers were hers.
Once he gave himself permission to fantasize, he was beyond redemption.
He thought of her tight cunt, wet and ready for him. In his most vivid dreams, he mounted her and fucked her harder than any human male could. He made himself last until she'd taken her pleasure from his flesh, and then he spilled his seed inside of her with one final thrust.
Rhavos grunted as he conjured those images again. He stroked himself with relentless, single-minded attention, his hand moving up and down his shaft in a blur. When he felt himself getting close, his body nearly vibrating with need, he pumped even harder, his fingers clenching around the base of his cock as it twitched and jerked with his release.
Only when the over-stimulation became absolutely unbearable did he pull his hand away, returning it to the wall as he panted. He did feel some relief, but not nearly enough to make his mind as clear as a Conqueror's should be. And with the raid less than an hour away, Rhavos did not have high hopes for his ability to act the way his men expected him to.
"Why did you have to choose her?" he growled, glaring down at the inky black tattoo that spiraled outward from his implant.
Rhavos did not expect a response, but the implant pulsed, causing a shock of pain to radiate up and down his arm.
He knew what it wanted. He knew why it was doing this. Slaking his uncontrollable lust for this female with his own hand was not going to stop it.
But he could not mate her. He would not. Even if she welcomed him inside of her—something he doubted would ever happen—he had much bigger things to worry about.