Mate. Heal. Claim.
“Stop talking.” My pussy clenched at the thought of taking off the rest of his clothes, taking his lips. Stroking his cock until he was hard and ready for me. Pushing him until he gave in and got a little rough. Thrust into me like a beast. “I can’t think with you rambling in my head.”
“Who—talking to?” Ethan blinked at me like he was having trouble focusing. “Danger?” He reached for the metal weaponhe’d fired at the Silver Scions. Somehow, despite being wounded and barely conscious, he’d held onto the human pistol, and it had transported with us. Civilian transport systems were programmed to remove all weapons during the trip. Depending on the destination planet, some brides transported completely naked. But military transport, and the I.C., had different rules altogether. My mobile transport system would move anything I wanted. Armor. Weapons. Multiple targets.
Ethan seemed to feel more secure with the pistol in his hand. I wasn’t sure why when he’d already learned the small bullets were completely ineffective against the Silver Scions’ armor. His weapon wouldn’t even pierce the Scions’. enhanced skin. Which he’d learned when he’d fired on them in the morgue.
He wrapped his hand around the pistol and lifted it. Tried to sit up.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned over him. “Shhh. No. You’re safe. Don’t move. I need to finish healing your shoulder.” He was stronger than he looked. The ReGen wand was working, but he shouldn’t be trying to charge into battle. Not yet. “Hold still.”
He didn’t obey until he’d looked around the entire kitchen and satisfied himself that we were alone. With a relieved sigh, he dropped his head back onto the tile—a bit too hard—and winced.
“I told you. You’re safe here. Stop moving.”
“I’m out of bullets anyway.” Ethan watched me with a strange grin on his face. “So you’re beautifulandbossy.”
My beast preened at the praise.Beautiful. He will claim us.
Shut. Up.
The compliment was nice. The other human word made no sense. I had studied the human language but was not fluent. The translation given by my NPU—the neural processing unit embedded in the bone under my ear instantly translated allknown languages—did not make any more sense to me. “I’m not your employer. I do not boss you.”
He didn’t explain, his expressive eyes fixated on my face as I moved the ReGen wand over his shoulder. “What is that thing?”
“It’s called a ReGen wand. It uses frequency and light to heal.”
“Alien tech.” He grunted and I noticed his eyes were a bit glassy. Was he still in pain? “Those guys were aliens?”
“They are not from Earth. No.”
“How were they speaking English?”
I shrugged. “They have been operating on Earth for quite some time. I’m sure they found it necessary to learn to communicate with the local population in order to conduct their business.” The same reason I’d learned.
“Which is what, exactly?” His gaze sharpened and I saw the law enforcement officer inside him listening intently. Taking notes.
“Trafficking human women for mating and breeding. Recruiting mercenaries for their army. Illegal transport. Smuggling stolen goods. Selling illegal mod procedures and Hive technology. Biosynthetic enhancements. Drugs. Weapons. Ships.”
“Ships?” He sighed. “You mean I can buy a spaceship from those guys?”
“If you’re rich enough, yes.”
“Sounds illegal.” He shifted his weight. Tried to brace himself with his injured arm so he could sit up. Groaned as I gently shoved him back down. “Doesn’t the Coalition enforce their own rules?”
I felt the corner of my mouth tip up in a grin. So honorable. So naïve. Adorable. “I don’t know. That’s not my area.”
“What is your area?” His hazel eyes held mine with an unbreakable force of will. His nonchalance was a mask. This was in interrogation. I couldn’t lie to him. Not about this.
“Reconnaissance. I track down the bad guys and send their location to my commander. He sends in a team to—”Kill them allsounded so crude and not ladylike when I desperately needed this male to think of me as feminine. As his.
“Wipe them out?” Ethan grunted and the sound felt like approval. My beast preened. Maybe he would understand, after all.
“Yes.” I tore my gaze from his to inspect the wound on his shoulder. It was healing nicely. Few more minutes and—well, I wasn’t sure what would be next, despite my beast shoving erotic suggestions into my mind faster than I could process, or escape. Most often repeated was me pulling Ethan’s pants down, climbing on his lap and claiming him right here on the kitchen tile. She truly was an animal.
Mine.She didn’t even try to argue with my assessment.
“Good. Who are you? You’re not FBI. I can’t quite place your accent. Perfect English. New England area?” He glanced down at the ReGen wand. Met my gaze. “Where did you get that? That’s Coalition tech.”
