“Maddison,” he growled her name without breaking their kiss. The word buzzed against her tongue and sent a fresh flood of cream to coat her already wet sex.
“Call me Maddi.” She managed to tear her lips from his long enough to make the request.
“Maddi,” he said her name again. “My little star. I am going to fuck you soon. Very soon. But before I do, we need to reach the river. It’s not safe here.”
Safe. Right. That was a good point. They were supposed to be fleeing into the woods to avoid being found by…someone. She had to focus for a few seconds before her brain kicked into gear again. Mercenaries. The scrawnies would send mercenaries to kill any survivors because they didn’t want anyone to know what they were doing here.
“We should go.” She withdrew her hands from his body and tried to step back, but he didn’t release her.
“We should. Yes.” It was hard to see his face, but she could just make out his rueful smile. “But it’s hard to think when I can smell how much you want me.”
Her cheeks heated. Oh stars. Could he smellthat?
“Don’t be embarrassed. I like it.” He took her hand and drew it down to where his kilt bulged. “Feel that? That’s how much I want you.”
She pressed her palm to the leather and felt the thick bar of his shaft twitch. The temptation to drop to her knees and take him into her mouth hit her so hard she was partway down before she stopped herself.
He didn’t seem to notice. Maybe he’d never donethat? Stars. Had he doneanything? He said the verexi had made them and then imprisoned them all here.
“How many females have you been with?” The question was out before she could activate any of her filters. Not that they seemed to be working right now. Whatever was happening to her, it had lowered all her inhibitions.
“The scrawnies provided us with sex-bots sometimes. That is the only experience I have.” His lips split into a cocky grin that made him look more like Vengeance. “You will be my first real female, but I promise you will have no complaints.”
Stars above and below, not only was he younger than her. He was technically a virgin. She expected to feel guilty about that.
She didn’t.
“I can’t make any promises, but I will do my best to make sure you don’t have any complaints either.”
He chuffed softly and rolled his hips so his cock bumped against her hand. “I won’t.”
They stood like that for a few more seconds, her hand on his cock, his arms still wrapped loosely around her body. Finally, he grunted and moved away. “We go.”
“You lead. I’ll follow.” She held up the hand with the cord still tied around her wrist.
“No.” Before she knew what he intended, he leaned down and scooped her into his arms, holding her body across the broad expanse of his chest. “I’ll carry you. It’s faster.”
“Then I can take this off.” She went to remove the cord that linked him, but he stopped her with a low growl. “Leave it. I like the idea of your being bound to me.”
She gave a slight nod of understanding, not trusting herself to speak without letting him hear the moan she was holding back. She liked the idea of being bound to him, too.
Was this the same thing Loris and Joy were experiencing? It had to be. If so, she imagined none of them would be getting much sleep tonight.
Havoc was right. Carrying her allowed them to travel much faster. He loped through the woods, leaping over obstacles that she would have had to climb or navigate around.
It stunned her how easily he moved despite carrying her extra weight. His breathing hardly changed at all. His endurance was all the more incredible when she considered that he and his brothers had run for most of the day before their arrival at the camp.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he spoke. It had to be at least fifteen minutes, but it could have been longer.
“Why were you out here? The others, I understand. They were seeking mates. But you said you weren’t doing that,” he said.
“I wanted to get a firsthand look at the business I received as part of my divorce package. TheHarvestwas that business. Now…” She swallowed hard. “Now I don’t have anything. All because of a damned navigation error. We were never supposed to be in this part of the galaxy.”
His next question hit her like a hammer, pounding each word into her brain.
“Do you think your former mate arranged for thaterror? You said he was cruel. Was he the kind who could sacrifice a ship and everyone on board to hurt you?”
Maddison gasped, and something tore in her chest. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she’d already considered that possibility. She just hadn’t had the strength to face it head-on. “Yes. That would be very like him.” Another idea dawned, even more terrible than the first. “Or he might have known I was on board. This might have been his way of getting rid of me for good.”
