If Breanna were dead, execution would be a mercy.
“I need to see your eyes. I want to know what you’re thinking.”
Fuck no, she did not. Not thoughts of death and loss.
She tried to free her arms from where I had them pinned to her sides, but I wasn’t feeling particularly generous. I turned her around so her back—and that sweet, round ass—pressed to my front. My cock settled against the swell of her curved bottom and I squeezed tighter, a shudder passing through me as my hard length sank into her lush ass.
“Mikos!” Her protest was half-hearted at best. I ignored it and shifted my hips to rub against her as she continued. “Barek and Zenos said they would help. I talked to all of them. Astra said she wouldn’t stop you, if you could come up with a plan. I can help, too.” A shudder passed through her body and she gave in, leaning into me, her head resting against my chest. “I won’t let you die. This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. And Barek said the alien you killed liked to torture kids. He totally deserved it.”
Shock at her easy acceptance of the deed lifted a dark shadow from my soul, one I didn’t realize I’d been carrying. I did not regret what I’d done, but my mate’s support lightened the burden. I’d killed many to protect my Legion, would do so again. No regrets.
No love, either. I was an Enforcer, a soldier for Astra Legion, a warrior. We were neither noble nor honorable, but we protected our own, lived by our own code. For nearly fifty years, I’d been alone. Breanna was a miracle, a gift I never imagined I would receive. Now that I had her, the cold, dark pit where my soul preferred to hide was suddenly warm and full of light. I couldn’t go back into the dark.
“Why are you so quiet? Are you angry that I came?” Breanna whispered the question and I could not bear her to suffer uncertainty, not when she was in my arms. She was mine, my life, my soul, my everything.
“No, mate. I am not angry. I missed you. I worried you did not receive the antidote in time, that I had killed you.”
“No. Don’t ever say that. I’m fine. I’m perfect. You saved me.”
So forgiving, my female. So trusting. So naïve. Would she be so generous when she realized I’d lied to her? When she learned the truth?
“Mate.” I said it again, because I could, because I needed to. “Tarduk did need to die. He was a plague on our people, so I killed him. His brother, Drakdak, is just as evil. As is his son, Slomak, who took over his father’s business. Drakdak will arrive on Rogue 5 any moment. He may already be here.” I had no way of knowing, but the more I thought about my plan, the better I liked my odds. “You are not to go anywhere without escort. I will take care of things tomorrow and I will come for you. Stay in Astra territory. Do not wander. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
I waited in shocked silence for an argument from her, for defiance. Instead, she melted against me with a soft sigh that conquered my heart. Gods forgive me, I became truly hers in that moment, would give her anything, do anything to keep her safe and happy. Maim, kill, torture. Innocent or guilty, young or old, would make no difference, not if she asked it of me. Every living being in the universe should thank the gods she was not politically hungry, greedy, or vicious. For her, I would start wars. Annihilate worlds.
My mate had no idea the power she wielded.
“Drakdak is the one who put the bounty on you? And he’s the dead guy’s brother?”
“Tarduk’s brother. Yes.”
“If Tarduk was so terrible, and his brother is just as bad, why is the bounty so high? I wouldn’t think he would care about his brother at all. Not if he’s an actual psychopath.”
She smelled so fucking good. She was so soft. So gods damned perfect. I slid my hand under her armor so I could cup her breast. She gasped but didn’t bother trying to move my hand. I was easily ten times stronger, and I wasn’t moving unless it was to bury my cock deep and make her scream my name.
15
Mikos
I nuzzledthe dark curls on her head with my nose and breathed her in, my hard cock pressed into her so there was no mistaking my arousal. “I wounded his pride, made his family look weak. That is what he cares about.” Her full breast rested in my palm as if she had been made specifically to fit me. I ran my thumb over her hard nipple and took a deep breathe, pulled the heated call of her wet pussy into my lungs.
“So we should be figuring out how to get you out of here, so he doesn’t kill you.”
“You are not to worry about me. I am going to kill that fucker tomorrow. If I’d been smarter, I would have come back to Rogue 5 and lured him out into the open years ago.”
If I’d done that, I never would have been running from those Elite Everian bounty hunters, never would have risked hiding in Hive controlled space, never would have been captured. Never would have met her. Perhaps I could have figured out a way to eliminate Drakdak Trach years ago. With my mate in my arms, I could not summon the smallest regret that I had not.
“But—”
I slipped my opposite hand inside the front of her pants and rubbed her clit with my fingertip as I squeezed her hard, pebbled nipple. The dark areola was there, under my hand, pointed and sensitive. I knew what it looked like, what it tasted like. I wanted it in my mouth. “Mate, I’m going to fuck you, because you’re mine and I need you. I need to be inside your hot, wet pussy right now. I need to feel you.”
I pushed one finger deep inside her wet heat and pressed my palm hard and flat against her sensitive bundle of nerves as I massaged and fondled her breasts.
“But you said… I’m not your mate.”
“I lied.” Lowering my lips to her neck, my balls squeezed into tight sacks of pain as the shocking flavor of my essence leaked from my fangs to flood my mouth. I slipped a second finger inside her hot core and dragged the tips of my fangs up and down her neck in a gentle tease. I could bite her now, a thousand times, and she’d feel nothing but pleasure. My essence would heal her, arouse her, enhance her fertility so my seed could take root. Thank fuck for the antidote. It worked. I could smell the difference in her skin, the blending of my essence with her cells in the old way, the way it was meant to be. I was inside her blood. Inside her cells. Inside her pussy. “You’re mine. You’re fucking mine, Breanna.”
