“Don’t let me rub off on you too much,” he teased but his eyes darkened as if he didn’t agree with his words. Her mouth dried up and her throat closed. Gunner was intimidating even when he wasn’t covered in blood and decked out in weapons. Weapons he threatened to penetrate her with. Her core tugged and her belly tightened and he grasped the back of her neck again and held her hard against him.
“I can help repair it,” she whispered, squeezing the words out. “I have steady hands and years of experience.”
His eyes narrowed and his teeth gleamed. “You’ll work for me. Not the EPED.”
Elodie nodded. “I have one condition.”
“Which is?”
“You can’t mark anything with your urine anymore. Even if it isn’t urine, but some super Cyborg serum I’m not aware of. It’s disgusting.”
Gunner’s lips slowly, devilishly curled up into a smile. “Deal. And...”
“And?” she asked.
“No more pretending that you’re a boy. Not that it wasn’t fun, but you’ll realize the act won’t fly once you see your new uniform,” he said.
“Ha. I’m not going to wear a uniform. Especially one chosen by you. Otherwise, deal,” she laughed and rubbed her pussy over his thigh. “Easy enough.”
He caught her chin and forced her to face him. “So you’ll stay.”
“I’ll stay.”
He searched her eyes. “I would kill for you. Have killed for you. And would do so again. You understand?”
“I would die for you,” she told him back. “I understand.”
Gunner dropped his hand and she rested her head against his shoulder. His heady warmth enveloped her while his ship descended into quiet, comforting silence. She closed her eyes against the broken metal paneling and the exposed wires—blocked out the vivid green plants. The grey didn’t meet her this time. But the red did. And for the first time since she could remember, Elodie looked forward to the future.
A burning, red-hot, wildfire future.
Epilogue Chapter One
***
SEVERAL MONTHS LATER.
