by Selena Kitt
“How do you know they’re coming?”
“I heard them. Just wait. And remember, Laura...”
“I know,” I whispered. “I won’t say anything.”
“You don’t need to say anything. You understand? Simply thinking about it is enough.”
I smiled, easing myself to the floor to take the weight off my shaking legs. I needed to focus; to stop myself from going to pieces the moment their thin, long fingers wrapped around my upper arm.
I didn’t need to wait long for his statement to be proved correct—the door hissed and I waited with a sinking heart for their touch.
Chapter Thirteen
Dex
As I watched her sitting in the middle of the floor, a strange feeling washed over me. Another strange feeling—since I met Laura Diez, it felt like I’d barely experienced anything else besides unfamiliar emotions and mating frenzy.
It was reaching a peak now. I clenched my fists and focused on the frustrations I felt toward the Doon for choosing that moment to approach us. If they weren’t making their way along the corridor, I would finally have had a chance to take her glorious body.
I shook my head and released my breath in a long sigh. The mating frenzy had reached uncontrollable levels now. I wasn’t used to restraining it, so my body no doubt couldn’t understand why I wasn’t taking what I needed.
But I wouldn’t. I’d sworn not to lay a hand on her until she wanted me to. And now she did—I could see that in her eyes; in the way she looked at me and in the way her lips parted before she kissed me.
There was something else, though. Even though what I’d done had been vital, it didn’t matter. I still felt it in the pit of my stomach. It was a rare emotion, but one I’d felt enough times to be able to identify.
It was guilt.
But it couldn’t be any other way—I’d had no choice, not if I’d wanted to survive. I stared at the back of her gorgeous head, wondering how she’d react when she found out.
I wanted to wrap my arms around her and protect her from them. Even though I couldn’t see her face, I could tell from her gait the emotions that were running through her mind. It was funny—I’d never spent that much time in the company of humans, yet I could read this one instinctively. What was it?
The door hissed open, and I ordered myself to clear my mind.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t let go of the guilt.
But I needed to—I needed them to believe that I thought nothing of her. But what would normally have been an easy task was now proving impossible.
Blank. Now.
Still the miserable self-loathing persisted in the pit of my stomach.
Stop this now. It’ll ruin the entire mission.
A hand clasped around my arm and I threw my head back, eyes closed, trying to relax and empty my mind.
The human has captivated you.
My heart sank, but I knew I couldn’t dwell on my failure to hide my thoughts from them.
A weakness for humans, smuggler.
I shrugged, acting like it was nothing.
Well, usually you’d have the option to purchase her, but given your situation...
Anger welled inside me; I fought hard to keep it at bay. I barely understood the depth of my own feelings for her but I knew one thing—they couldn’t be allowed to know the pull I felt. Because you can be sure they’d use it against me.
“Stop this head-meddling would you?” I murmured.
We made eye contact, me and my captor. I fought to maintain the illusion of fear and uncertainty. It wouldn’t be long now. I’d only need to...
Something’s happening soon, smuggler?
My mind was in turmoil. While I knew that it was a good thing if they sensed some level of plotting, it would be devastating if they were able to take the entire plan from me. I focused hard, allowing them in again; riding away on a train of fantasy for their viewing pleasure. Laura, Laura, Laura.
It was a fine line to walk—too much of this and I would cede control to my own desires. As it was, I was barely able to control my mating frenzy. If I lapsed, who knew what they’d see. But I kept it up. It was easy to let my mind fill with thoughts of her—it had been that way since I met her anyway.
Pathetic, the voice droned in my mind as his grip loosened on my arm. You can fantasize all you like, smuggler. Just as long as you don’t damage our merchandise.
I exhaled with relief as soon as he let go of my arm and walked away.
Oh I plan to do a lot more than fantasize, I thought, trying not to smile too widely. I wondered what kind of hot and heavy thoughts they were reading from Laura’s mind. I glanced over at her mischievously.
Then I froze.
There were two of them, one on either side of her. Tears streamed down her beautiful cheeks; her voice jagged as she whispered something I couldn’t hear.
My core muscles tightened as I instinctively moved to leap to my feet. But I stopped myself. What would a smuggler, a scavenger with no military training do?
He wouldn’t throw them off her, that was all I knew. I clenched my teeth. It felt unnatural—my body was going crazy for her, yet here I was prioritizing my mission over her safety.
I glanced at her again, my heart contracting when I did so. She looked inconsolable now, whatever they’d said to her. And then I realized. They’d gotten to her.
“Leave her alone,” I said, walking to them slowly.
I couldn’t look at Laura’s face—my words were the reason they were harassing her like this. Her face was searching the darkness for me.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, trying to console her. Now I was glad they’d discovered my infatuation—it gave me an excuse to comfort her without revealing my secret. “It’s okay.”
“No... no... it’s... not...” she gasped, her face puffy from the tears.
Chapter Fourteen
Laura
“I’m so sorry,” I cried as soon as the door had hissed shut.
Dex had already wrapped his huge arms around me. I hated the thought of what I must look like to him, but we had much more serious problems than me looking like shit.
“It’s okay.”
I shook my head vigorously. “It’s not, Dex. It’s not. They got to me. They know.”
Shhhh, he whispered, resting his chin on my forehead.
It was surprisingly soothing. I felt safe; like no one could touch me. Even though I’d just blown our chances of ever getting away from this awful place.
I had thought I could do it; thought I could lock our secret away deep inside me. But they’d gotten to it within seconds of grabbing my arm. I just caved; led them straight to it. And then once my resistance was broken, it all came tumbling out. My confusing feelings toward Dex. My shame at letting the unit down. Every damn thought I had.
“It’s not okay, Dex. You don’t understand.”
The room lit up. “What don’t I understand?”
Oh god he was the sexiest creature I’d ever seen. Heat pooled in my core just looking at him, now that I knew I’d lost him forever. How could he forgive me after what I’d done? I felt empty and hopeless at the thought of never feeling him inside me. I’d spent hours and hours daydreaming about him taking me. And now it would never happen.
He watched me curiously and an idea flickered through my mind. I shook my head, looking away. Could I really do that?
“No.”
“No?” Dex whispered, leaning over and stroking my cheek with his thumb.
I blushed and swallowed hard. Those mind-reading bastards were making me paranoid that everyone could read my thoughts.
“It’s nothing. I...” I paused. I wanted him so badly, but I wasn’t going to become the type of person who lied to get what she wanted. I just wasn’t. “Dex, they found out. They got into my thoughts. I couldn’t keep them out.”
I turned away, expecting him to push me back. Instead, he pulled me closer. I looked up into his eyes, confused. They were so bright they could have been a
light.
“Did you hear me? I told them.”
He smiled, revealing a dimple on his cheek that I’d never seen before. My stomach churned with loss and need and hunger.
“I know,” he said finally, still clinging on to me.
“Wh-what?” I gasped.
“I know.”
“And you’re not mad at me? They know everything, Dex. All about the plan to escape. I’ve ruined everything.”
He sighed. “Not exactly.”
I felt my eyes narrow. “Something’s wrong here. You should be more upset than this.”
He sighed, like it was all too much for him. He tightened his grip on me. “Laura—”
“Dex, what the hell?” I said, pushing against his chest.
“Please. Listen.” His voice held a resignation that I didn’t like.
I pushed harder and he let me go. I got to my feet slowly and marched to the other side of the cell. I reached the corner, where Dex had hung up a cloak around the waste bucket they’d given us, so that I could have some shred of privacy. My heart wrenched.
“Okay. I’m listening,” I said, with tears welling in my eyes as I wondered what he was going to say.
“I suspected that they’d get to you,” he said.
I waited for him to elaborate, but he stayed silent. He was watching me closely, probably waiting to see my reaction. I turned away and faced the cold steel wall. None of this made sense. Why would he share the plan with me if he knew I was going to give it all up to them just as soon as they touched me again?
“I don’t get it,” I said, my mind racing with possibilities. Chief among them was the notion that he was working with them. How could I have been so stupid?
He didn’t answer.
“Well? You gonna tell me why you’d do that? It makes no sense to me.”
“I had my reasons,” he said simply.
I spun around to face him, a surge of anger taking hold in me. “Oh. Right. Your reasons. I’m supposed to feel better because you had reasons?”
“Laura.”
“Well?”
“I can’t. I can’t explain right now. I just... you were insistent. You needed a plan. I gave you one.”
I my heart plummeted. “So do you have a plan or not?”
He shook his head slowly. “No,” he said finally.
“Oh.” Panicked, I walked to the door and hit my fists against it. It was pointless—even when I could see the door I had no hope of opening it. There was no lock I could pick; no hinges I could force. It was fool-proof, goddamn it. “How am I supposed to get out of here when they know every damn thing I’m thinking?”
He frowned. “Laura, did you tell them about the light? About this?” He pointed to the orb that hung in the stale air above us.
I looked up at it, still entranced by the ghostly light.
“Laura?”
“No,” I said finally.
“You’re sure?” He took a step closer and gripped my shoulders. “It’s very important that you tell me the truth. If they know about this, then...”
“Then what?”
He turned away. “Nothing.”
I stared at his back in disbelief. “You don’t believe me? Why the hell did you show me your goddamn party trick if you didn’t want them to find out?”
He sighed as if I was being childish. Maybe I was; I just couldn’t stand to be kept in the dark about what was going on any longer. “Laura...”
“No. Don’t you say my name as if I’m the one to blame. Why’d you show me if you were so convinced I’d spill everything? You could’ve just kept it to yourself.”
I paced to the other corner and slumped down, curling up into an almost-ball with my forehead resting on my knees.
Screw him, I thought wildly. I’ll get myself out of here. I should never have relied on him in the first place.
A little voice in my mind nagged that he was my only hope.
Chapter Fifteen
Laura
I opened my eyes and blinked. Sometimes I don’t know where I am when I first wake up, but this time I had no such luck. I was in a cell on an alien ship, with an irresistible, frustrating-as-hell alien for company. He was watching me intently. I put my head back on my knees and closed my eyes. Part of me couldn’t bear the idea of having company right now, but the other part craved his presence like it was oxygen.
Expecting him to protest; to feed me more bullshit, I was surprised when he didn’t say anything at first. We just sat there in silence, listening to the buzz of the ship’s electronics.
Electronics.
I jumped to my feet and ran a lap of the room, carefully scrutinizing the ceiling and along the floor for any access to the ship’s system. All I needed was a tiny chink in its armor, then I could try and short-circuit.
“You’ve checked this already,” Dex said in a slow, calm voice.
“I’ve got to do something,” I snapped.
He didn’t respond.
I continued searching, not wanting to admit that he was right; that I’d already exhausted all possibilities. I needed it; I needed the hope. But I could only delude myself for so long. I slumped back down in the corner, avoiding Dex’s eyes.
“Laura.”
I shook my head. “I know. You were right. I don’t want to hear it.”
“No,” he said with surprising force. “About the plan.”
I looked up. “What about it?”
“I fed you a decoy, Laura. That’s why I didn’t care about you telling them.”
“I must be soooo predictable,” I bit.
He shook his head, glancing at his hands. “No, Laura. You don’t understand. They’re capable of breaking through most minds. It wasn’t a slight on your character. I was accepting a well-known fact: most can’t resist their power.”
“Most...”
He nodded enigmatically.
“Aren’t you taking a risk now? By telling me this?”
He shrugged.
“I don’t understand.”
“You kept the light a secret.”
I nodded. “You believe me?”
“Yes.”
“Why was it so important? That they not know?”
He looked away toward the door. “We can discuss that later.”
“Later?” I said, wishing my chest hadn’t swelled with hope on hearing that word.
He shook his head. “I didn’t mean to make you think...”
And just like that, the hope seeped out of me. I leaned against the wall and halfheartedly used it to shuffle myself into a standing position.
“What are you doing?” he asked from his seated position on the floor.
I shrugged. “I feel like I need to do something; to find a way out.”
He stood—I could see the powerful muscles working in his legs as he did so. I couldn’t help but sigh.
“I can think of one way to take your mind off it.”
Dex’s unnaturally orange eyes fixed me to the spot—it was like I was suspended in space under the intensity of his gaze. He’s hiding something, I thought with a jolt. My brain told me to snap out of it; that I had to focus on my escape, not on my lust for this huge, strong being.
Yeah, you try ignoring the alien equivalent of a male model.
Particularly when he’s got one thing on his mind.
I sucked in a breath as Dex stepped closer to me without saying a word. I didn’t need him to—it was like I could read exactly what was going on in his mind. My core clenched at the delicious feeling. Trust me to fall head-over-heels in lust at the exact wrong moment. So many nights spent alone on Earth with a Hawaiian pizza and a movie for company.
Now, Laura? Seriously?
“We can’t,” I whispered, my voice coming out raw and high-pitched, like some stranger was speaking for me.
His full lips twisted into an amused smile. “Why not, Laura? I can sense your desire.”
I squirmed. Was it so obvious?
He kept on coming, hi
s intent clear.
“We can’t, Dex. We need to find a way out of here.”
I glanced up at him and quickly thought better of it. His thin tunic was in tatters, revealing ripped pectorals the likes of which I’ve never seen, not even in the Delta Unit’s training gym.