Silence filled the air between them as they watched each other. His words filled her head, taking over everything else. They often did these days.
Alexa waited for him to make a move, any move, so she wouldn’t have to.
He leaned forward and she pushed back into the seat.
His eyes searched hers, and she wetted her lips.
He moved closer and there was nowhere left for her to go. All she could see was his eyes, his brow, his partial mask.He can’t kiss me with his suit up over his mouth. Can he?
Will he?
Did she even want him to kiss her?
Would she get to see his face?
More of his heat closed in, making her brow slicken. Hundreds of tiny numbers ran up and down his irises, mesmerizing her. She could get lost in his gaze…if he weren’t so evil.
“Do you know what happens when you’re wanted by one of my kind?” he asked.
She shook her head, lamely.
“You lose your choices, your freedom. It’s subtle at first, but we take them away, slowly if you’re not amenable. You lose privacy, in all things. Because we can’t stand secrets, we can’t stand not knowing every singular movement and thought of something we crave. You find yourself consumed, because we demand it. You’ll find yourself claimed, because we need complete control. And you may resist, you may fight, we might even fight it as well, but there’s no escape, not for someone like me, and certainly not for someone like you, who has offered.”
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
In her periphery, his hands tightened around the armrests.
“I’m saying, Alexa, that it’s too late for us. Protocol or not. Whether we like it or not.”
“It’s never too late.”
“We’ll fuck, you and I. It’ll be hard and merciless, but it’ll be satisfying. I’ll have you stretched and spread and screaming, and you’ll have bliss. I’ve decided to take you up on your generous offer because that’s the only way…”
She could barely breathe. His threats went past her head and straight to the pinnacle between her legs. “Only way for what?”
He swayed his finger between the two of them. “To rid ourselves of this tension. For you to keep your job, because you’re good at it and I don’t want to fire you, and for me to stay sane and not be in such misery.”
Misery. Misery?The word sent a bolt of ice straight to her heart.
“Misery?” Her anger surged, barely breaking through the haze. “You have no clue what misery is,” she hissed. She pushed against his chest and fought her way out of his trap. He leaned back. “Don’t speak to me about misery.” She spat. “You know nothing about it.”
Hardness and mischief etched themselves into his gaze. Her fury grew.
Alexa put several feet of space between them. “We won’t fuck, and we won’t so much as touch, let alone kiss each other. It’s not too late for us. It’s never too late. I came here to set boundaries, not break them, Captain. I think it’s time for me to go.”
She strode toward the exit.
“Alexa,” he called after her.
She stilled at the threshold but refused to look at him. “What?”
“Your roots are showing.”
She gritted her teeth and stormed away.
Ten
Raul lookedup at her as Alexa stalked by him. “What’s wrong? Did you find out about the bugs?”
