He was no longer thinking rationally. He needed to make sure she was okay.
For those terrifying minutes below, she’d been lost. Gone from his life. With her still in his arms, he sank to the ground. He swiveled her to straddle his hips and held her as tight as he could.
He was shaking.
Mal held onto Xander as the tremors wracked his big body. She smoothed her hands over his back.
“I’m here, tough guy,” she whispered.
She’d been frightened as hell when that damned monster had swallowed her. She scored her arm on one of its sharp teeth, but managed to slip straight through its mouth and avoid any worse injury. She’d tumbled down inside its long body and amongst the wires, gears and grease, she’d found the heart of its engine.
It had been so intriguing, but at the time, all she’d cared about was getting out and back to Xander.
He was still shaking, then he shifted, and laid her down on her back. Then his hands were all over her. Smoothing her hair back, shaping her skull, running over her shoulders. He gently probed the ragged cut on her arm. It looked bad, but she knew it wasn’t deep.
His hands skimmed down her sides. Then he checked each leg, brushing gently over her bruised, cut feet.
“Nothing a medscope won’t sort out.” She was entranced by the intent look on his face.
His hands came back up her legs, skimming over her thighs and under the shredded remains of her once-beautiful dress.
When his hands shoved her dress up around her waist, she realized his intent. The burning intensity in his eyes wasn’t just about checking her for injuries. He needed proof she was alive.
Need flooded her in an instant.
He yanked at the fastening on his trousers, and she started panting, her legs shifting restlessly. “Xander.”
Seconds later, he leaned over her, and with no foreplay, no warning, he shoved inside her.
She arched her back, a scream caught in her throat.
His possession was brutal, raw and full of primal need. She held on as he thrust into her. A hard, rocking ride.
It didn’t take long for her pleasure to spiral, for her orgasm to threaten. She came hard, clamping down on him.
Another hard thrust, and he planted himself to the root and orgasmed as well. Hot fluid spilled inside her.
Alive. Life affirmed.
He scooped her up again, careful not to disconnect them. He stayed inside her as he cradled her, his face buried in her hair.
“I thought you were dead. I thought I’d lost you.”
Her poor CenSec. “I’m right here. Not planning to let you go any time soon.”
He pressed his lips to ear. “Never do that again.”
“If I see any more giant metal monsters, I promise to avoid them. Completely.”
A tiny, rough laugh coughed out of him.
A laugh. Mal held that small, rusty sound to her heart.
“Malin, I love you.”
Her mind went blank. “What?”
“I love you.”
