Of course, every gods damned one of these assholes wanted her for himself. They’d be fools not to.
Fuck. None of this mattered, not who she knew, who she admired, who she was friendly with. In a matter of days, she would have the antidote, and I might be dead. I should be glad these males cared for her, would protect her if I was gone.
As much as I wanted to accept that logic, everything in me rebelled at the thought of her depending on anyone else, needing any of these males to protect her, care for her, bring her pleasure.
Another low rumble filled my chest and Ruk turned to confront me. “Back off, Mikos. We all know. Your scent is all over her.”
“I’m right here. Right here, Ruk.” Breanna’s cheeks were, once more, a dark rose that made me want to strip her naked and fuck her right here.
7
Mikos
My mate was not done tormentingthe Hyperion Prince. I had zero sympathy.
“What is it with you guys and the scent thing? You’re not bloodhounds.”
Ruk turned to face her and inclined his head. “Lady Bree. Apologies. You are correct. We are not of Earth’s canine species.”
“Never mind.” My mate rolled her eyes at the prince, and I didn’t even try to hide my grin as she continued speaking. “So? Howdidyou guys find us?” Breanna had her hands on her hips now, one feminine brow arched in irritation at being kept waiting. So demanding, my mate. I longed to carry her from this room and fuck that look off her face, replace it with desperation. Need. Make her beg. Make her come. Make her say my name again.
Gods, I fucking loved when she said my name.
“Commander Zeus. After the last mission—” Sebastion, the Prillon, paused, waiting for Breanna to acknowledge that sheknew what he was talking about. She nodded that she did. I did not. That fact made me want to punch him in the face. “—you know the ship these guys stole from the Hive was destroyed. So, Zeus sent out ReCon, with us as special guests, and we helped ourselves to a new one.”
“Commander Zeus got you a ship? I thought Helion would have done that.” Breanna sounded confused. Me? I was annoyed that she knew the leader of the Coalition Fleet’s Intelligence Core by name. She must be deeply imbedded in Coalition operations. Perhaps it was good Astra might need to send her back to her people. Perhaps she could not be happy on Rogue 5 with someone like me.
Ruk interrupted as the Atlans kept their hands on Shade and his men. “Helion wanted to give us a Coalition ship. Zeus helped us get something better.”
“What?” Breanna asked.
“Hive tech. Easier to hunt them when they think we’re part of their collective.”
“That would come in handy,” my mate confirmed.
“Indeed.” Ruk tilted his head and the Atlans began hauling the contingent of Siren bounty hunters out of the room.
Shade protested. “I have a sanctioned bounty on Mikos of Astra Legion. He’s mine. Coalition regulations on this station state he is now in my custody.”
“Am I?” I moved toward the male, eager to finish what I’d started with the fucker who’d threatened my mate.
Ruk stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “Let him go. If it wasn’t for Bree, I’d turn you in for the fucking bounty myself.”
I met his dark gaze. “That high?”
“I could buy my own space station.”
The thought of the primitive, rebellious prince running a space station made me chuckle. “That, I would like to see.”
Breanna appeared at my side and wrapped her delicate fingers around my wrist to get my attention. She needn’t have bothered. I knew where she was every moment. Knew when she inhaled. Exhaled. Listened for the beating of her heart. Obsession was too weak a word. “Mikos? What is going on? Why is the bounty so high? What, exactly, did you do?”
Sebastion cleared his throat, saving me. For now. “Karter sent us to escort you to Rogue 5 and make sure Bree is taken care of. Can you two discuss this on the way to our ship? We need to get out of here before every bounty hunter in the sector finds out you are here. We won’t be able to fight all of them.”
That was an understatement. Transport Station Zenith, although under the dominion of the Coalition, was a well-known trading hub for smugglers and merchants of all kinds. The only rule the small army of Coalition fighters on the station truly enforced was no killing. Every other rule was routinely bent, if not broken.
The Coalition left the door open for all types of uncivilized activities. The fact that the station was the closest Coalition outpost to Rogue 5 ensured a steady stream of bounty hunters, Legion members, merchants and smugglers in the bars and on the docks. The Coalition controlled station was seen as neutral ground, a good place to conduct business. Few outside of the top leaders in Rogue 5’s Legions knew the true nature of the station. The Intelligence Core ran this place, every shadow, corner and crawl space was owned by their spies. Everyone paid a commission to do business here while money and information flowed back to Coalition command.
I shouldn’t have been pleased when Breanna looked up at me and waited for me to decide our course of action. Then again, she needed the antidote to survive, and none of her Coalition friends could keep her alive. She needed me.
