“Whoever they were, they tortured the girls first. Made an example of them. Tore them into pieces. A warning to the local police not to interfere in their business.”
Horrifying, and something I’d seen on multiple worlds while chasing the Silver Scions. They were truly merciless, lived by one law, and one law only… profit. “I’m sorry.”
“Some asshole from the FBI sat us down and told us it wasn’t the Atlan Warlord’s fault. That he had mating fever and couldn’t control himself. That Cerberus enforcers kidnapped and drugged him. That he was integrated with cyborg shit, and they agitated him until he turned into a savage beast. That tearing a little girl in half was sad, but not unusual for a beast in that condition.” He pulled away to stare into my eyes. “Then they made the whole incident disappear. No news. No evidence. No reports. Like none of it ever happened. Like Eddie, Charlene and Maddy never existed at all.”
I tried to make sense of that. Could not. Why would the human authorities tell such lies? Keep something like that a secret from their own people?
“I don’t like to talk about it. I don’t like aliens. I really fucking hate Atlans, and all the motherfuckers from Rogue 5.”
He hated my people. Not just aliens in general, but Atlans in particular. “I don’t know what to say. I’m—that’s sad. Horrible and sad.”
“Enough living in the past.” Ethan kissed me again, an obvious attempt at distraction. “What about you? How did you end up in this line of work?”
I considered lying but felt like I would be betraying my brothers if I did so. Instead, I told Ethan the shortest, cleanest version of the truth. “The Silver Scions killed both my brothers. I don’t have anyone left.”
“That’s why you hunt them.”
“Why I’ll never stop hunting them.” Not until I was cold and dead.
He kissed me softly. Gently. Swung me around in my bare feet as if we were truly dancing. “We are the same, you and I.”
“I guess we are.” The same loss. Heartbreak. Loneliness. But I wasn’t from his world, and he hated everyone from mine.
He raised his eyebrows and grabbed my ass, pulled my hips against his. “So, you have a magical healing wand, a gadget that will remove part of a man’s spine, and you can transport around with little silver buttons. What else did the aliens share with you? Do you have one of their silver pistols?”
His playful enthusiasm was contagious. I laughed and jumped into his arms, wrapped my legs around his waist and smiled. “I have two.”
“Oooh, one for each of us.” He kissed me. Thoroughly.
I was still smiling when he finally let me up for air. “No, Detective, you can’t have one.”
“We’ll see.”
He kissed me again and I realized I would deny him nothing. Not my body. My possessions. Not even my life. The beast had chosen, and there was no going back.
8
Ethan
I couldn’t get enough.
I kissed her. Again. Held her round ass in my hands and marched her into the living room. Dropped her back onto the couch so I could unbutton that fucking shirt, kiss my way down her body to the hot, wet pussy I knew would be waiting for me. Fuck her with my tongue before I pushed my hard length inside her. Again.
My dick was sore. Old boy hadn’t seen this much action in…ever. But he rose to the occasion. One taste of Lyra and he was hard and heavy.
She was a craving. Obsession. If she was within a few feet of me, I had to touch her. Hold her. Feel her soft skin. Smell her hair.
I lowered my head and kissed, licked and tasted my way from her lips to her core. Breathed in deep. Wanted her inside me. In my lungs. On my tongue. I was losing my fucking mind over a woman. That’s what was happening. I’d laughed at fools who became so obsessed—so pussy-whipped—over a woman thatthey couldn’t think about anything else. I’d always believed they were idiots with little to no self-control.
I flipped her over, bent her over the couch and pushed the head of my dick inside her swollen folds from behind. We both moaned.
Who was the idiot now? The mindless fool with no self-control? The man in his mid-thirties, being led around by his dick, acting like he’d never had sex before? The detective who should be working, solving a case, tracking down the three alien thugs who’d murdered an old friend?
She shifted, pushed her round ass into me so her hot sheath closed over me like a fist. Tighter. Deeper.
I leaned over and buried my nose in her long hair. Dragged her scent into my lungs as I held myself still so I wouldn’t blow my wad early. If I moved, I was finished. Even after hours of sex, no sleep and being shot. I should be starving, but the only thing I wanted in my mouth was her slick, wet heat. Her nipples. Her skin. Her lips and tongue. I was only hungry for her.
How the hell was I going to work when all I could think about was… this. Her. Fucking her. Filling her up. Making her shiver and whimper and beg for more.
