“Always.”
He stood, immobile, as Astra and what had to be the rest of the Forsians in his Legion filed into the room. Astra looked around, shaking her head. “Cerberus is going to be angry.”
What? “Why?” I asked.
“These goods were hers.” She shrugged, clearly not too concerned, and looked down at the two dead, half-cooked Scion guards’ corpses. She kicked them in apparent frustration. She lifted her hand to the side of her head, where I assumed her comm was imbedded in her skull. “Barek? Answer me. You better be dead, or I’m going to kill you for making me worry. Barek?!”
Mikos looked at the others and nodded his head, as if thanking them. “Go. Find Barek. There is no danger here.”
Astra followed the others as all but two of the Forsians left.
They watched as Mikos moved to stand over Slomak’s dead body. My mate held out his hand. “Blaster.”
One of them handed Mikos his blaster. Mikos stood over Slomak and fired several shots into the dead alien’s head. “Always double tap, right mate?”
God, I loved him. So much. “Always.”
Mikos handed the blaster back to its owner and reached down to the pile of garments that had spilled out of one of the containers. He lifted a large brown tunic from the pile and draped it over me, covered the translucent excuse for clothing Slomak had forced me to wear. “Now you may speak to my mate.”
The Forsian who’d loaned his weapon to Mikos lowered his head and smiled at me, all fangs. He looked young, much younger than Mikos. Handsome, but lacking the wisdom I saw on my mate’s face, the lines of experience around his eyes. He was a child, nowhere near as sexy as Mikos. Not. Even. Close. “Welcome to Astra Legion, Breanna. I am your brother, Nevuh. I am the youngest and most handsome Forsian on Rogue 5. You may call me Nev.”
“Hi. You can call me Bree.” My vocal cords had swelled, my words came out hoarse as a frog’s croak.
Mikos closed his eyes, covered the flash of rage I saw there. “You will go directly into a ReGen pod the moment we are back in Astra territory.” He opened his eyes, his gaze sliding down to inspect my bruised throat. “I want to kill him again. Slowly, this time.”
“I’m fine. I promise.”
“No.” He growled in frustration. “I cannot give you my essence mate, not with his filth on my fangs. I will not allow his blood to touch you.”
“I’ll wait for the ReGen pod. While I’m in there, you can take a shower. Bite me when you get out.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him as the expression behind his gray eyes shifted from rage to something even more powerful, desire. Soon, I’d have hiscock filling me up, his hands all over me, erasing the memory of Slomak’s evil touch. He’d sink his fangs deep, fill me with his essence as my body had one orgasm after another. I had yet to ask, but I was sure there had to be something in his bite designed to make a woman lose her damn mind. Every time.
Nev interrupted my naughty thoughts, slapping Mikos on the shoulder. “Do not worry about this mess, ancient one. You take care of your mate. Once we are home, I will alert Cerberus, so their people can clean up.”
Mikos’s blood-stained grin was downright savage. “No. Leave the bodies to rot. Those fuckers voted to execute me. Would serve them right if they did not discover the bodies for weeks.”
Gross.
“Excellent idea.” Nev grinned and closed the door behind us. He led the way down the corridor, Mikos following. The other Forsian—I didn’t know his name yet—fell into step behind us, covered Mikos’s back as my mate carried me away from Slomak, away from the past, toward my new life. With him.
I clung to mymate—god, I loved that word—and willed him to feel how much I loved him, how he consumed my every thought, fulfilled my every desire. I needed him to know he was everything I wanted. Everything. My only thing. “I love you, Mikos. I want to stay with you. I’ll figure out a way to get out of my contract with the Coalition. I don’t want to go back to ReCon. I don’t want to leave you. Ever. Please. Don’t make me leave you.”
A shudder passed through him as he carried me. “I love you, Breanna Parks. There is no power in this universe that can keep me from you. I will always come for you. If your commander is foolish enough to try to keep you from me, I will kill him, as I promised. No one will ever take you from me again. No one will ever hurt you. You are mine.”
I’d heard him say the words before, but this time they sank into my bones. My heart. My dreams. “How did you find me so quickly? Slomak didn’t go to his ship. He received a message from one of his guards that the ship was being watched. So, how did you know where I was?”
“I put a tracker in your rib, female. When you were in the ReGen pod.” He looked down, his eyes locked on mine with an intensity that made it nearly impossible to breathe. “The signal is unique, programmed to activate my NPU. There is nowhere you can go that I won’t find you.”
That was why I’d felt so sore on that side. Jeez. My mate had no boundaries, no shame. He stated the fact as if placing a tracking device in my bones was totally normal. Stalkerish, but after what I just went through, I couldn’t work up even a hint of outrage at the idea. Instead, all I felt was relieved. Protected. Cherished.
Maybe that was crazy. I didn’t give a damn. I wanted him to be able to find me. Anywhere. Everywhere. No matter what. “Thank you. I’m glad you did.”
“As am I.” His arms tightened and he took a deep breath, as if nervous. “I owe you an apology, mate. I should have been more careful, should have known Slomak had arrived and was a threat to you. I was distracted, too focused on pleasure when I should have been most vigilant. I should have trusted you with my plans.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that I was your mate?” The rest I didn’t care about. Well, not that much. But why didn’t he admit he wanted me? Did he not want a mate, after all? Did he regret biting me? I didn’t think so, but that stupid voice inside my head wouldn’t shut up. Wouldn’t stop worrying. Wondering if the only reason he bit me was because he was forced to do so to save my life. I waited for the other shoe to drop. Waited to be rejected. Again.
“I hoped to spare you from worry, from suffering. If all had gone according to my plan, I would have eliminated Drakdak and returned to you unharmed. I didn’t admit you were mine because I was not certain I would survive. Drakdak could have come to the hearing with two guards or a hundred. If I failed, I did not want you to mourn me.”
“You’re an idiot. It wouldn’t have mattered if you told me I was your mate or not. I was already in love with you. It was too late.” I nuzzled his neck and melted against him. He wanted me. In his weird, illogical way, he’d been trying to protect me. “Don’t ever lie to me again. Promise me.”
