Even if he did want her now, it didn’t mean he’d want her a week from now, or a year. What then? She’d be lost, working for a man who didn’t want her, who’d also hurt her worse than anyone. She knew her love for Hysterian was never going to end, but she couldn’t take the chance that he would ever feel the same way about her.
Even if he was telling her the truth, that she could rely on him. Even if he forgave her. Just because she’d forgiven him meant nothing.
Her heart fell. It was safer to leave and finish what she started.
Even if the ending is not what she imagined.
Hysterian brushed his fingers through her hair, soothing her to sleep.
Alexa awoke far too soon, with him shifting out from under her. She fought the sudden need to grab him, pull him back into bed, and keep him with her.
“Sleep, Dear. I’ll be back soon,” he said.
“Atrexia?” she asked, digging her knuckles into her eyes.
“The locusts will be out of our lives today,” he grumbled. She watched him saunter to the bathroom, turning on the shower. A dark fiend, rippling with muscle, dressed in black. He walked into it fully dressed when a cloud of steam poured out from the sides.
Her eyes slanted to the door.
A moment later, the shower turned off and the vents sucked up the steam. A very naked, built Cyborg appeared, hair dripping and plastered to his skin. He caught her eyes and held them as one of theQuestor’sbots came into the room and delivered a fresh set of clothes. He dressed into his uniform as the bot left.
He was everything she wanted and more.
Alexa brought the bedding to her chest, almost unable to believe she’d just spent the night in his arms.
When he came back into the room, he wasn’t Hysterian, the Cyborg who ruined her, but her captain, the one she longed to please. Her eyes drank him in, putting every detail to memory. Sorrow threatened to erupt inside, and she clenched the bedding tightly.
He walked toward her, slipping his uniform up his face.
“Please be careful,” she implored.
“I like the way you look in my bed,dear.”
“You do?”
His eyes glinted. “Once I’m cured, I won’t be leaving it. Not while you’re in it.”
“Hysterian…”
He leaned down. “I’ll be safe. I always am, little half-breed.”
She nodded.
He reached out and curled a tendril of her hair around his finger. “When this is over, we’ll figure out what this is between us. If you’re scared because of what I am—”
“I’m not. Not anymore,” she burst out.
He rose up, letting her hair go. “Good.” His eyes lost all their softness, going hard and steely. Numbers flickered across them, and he looked at the door.
She’d seen him this way before right before a mission.
“We just received access to land,” he muttered. “I need to get to the bridge. Need to get the locusts prepped.”
“I can help?” She sat upright. It would get her out of this room. “Let me help.”
He turned his face back to her, and his eyes regained focus. “No. I want you just like this when I return.”
“I can do the job, my job.” She frowned. “I’m not a spy.”
