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Heather tried not to feel sick as she crept along the corridors with Loka beside her. She still couldn’t believe she was doing this. They were headed straight toward the enemy.

The Banti were not known for their kindness. As well as liking to eat humans, they enjoyed a good game of torture when the mood took them. On their home planet, Drion, they had what they called torture rings. They’d throw prisoners in and watch them get torn to pieces by another prisoner or wild animal. It reminded Heather of the games played in Earth’s Roman times. The way historians describe ampitheater games made it sound so glamorous. What the Banti did, not so much.

“Quick. In here.” Loka grabbed hold of Heather, and they hurried into a room.

A moment later, two spider cyborgs scuttled past.

Heather let out a relieved sigh. “If it wasn’t for your super hearing, I’d have stumbled straight into them.”

He looked down at her, his smile soft. “I will always take care of you, Heather Roberts.” His fingers brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.

Heather’s hands rested on Loka’s chest. She could feel how fast his heart beat. She loved that he was sweet with her. The kiss they’d shared in engineering played on her mind. It had been a delightful, tender surprise, one she wanted to repeat.

“Thanks for coming after me.” Her hands reached up to his horns, and she stroked them.

Loka’s eyes fluttered closed for a second.

That was an interesting reaction. She stroked them again, this time harder.

With a groan, Loka reached up, grabbed hold of her hands and pulled them from his horns. “As incredible as that is, we need to concentrate on the mission.”

“You get off from having your horns stroked?”

“My horns are a sign of my prowess. They are connected to what makes me male.”

Heather’s eyes widened. She’d never read about this in any alien manual. “If I stroke your horns long enough, you get turned on?”

His smile was sly. “It’s a little more than that. It’s not uncommon for a Picar to climax if his horns are stimulated appropriately.”

Her mouth dropped open. “No way.” She reached for his horns again.

Loka chuckled and held her at arms’ length. “Perhaps when the station isn’t about to blow up, I can show you what I mean.”

Heather grinned at him. “You’re no fun.”

He pulled her to him and kissed her again. “I can be a lot of fun.”

Wow! Where had that hot side of Loka come from? She pulled back from their kiss, feeling warm and lightheaded.

“The way is clear.” Loka took her hand, and they returned to the corridor. The lights blinked on and off, sometimes plunging them into darkness before igniting the way with a color leaching green glow.

Heather had to focus on the mission. She couldn’t think about exploring the options with Loka’s horns and what she’d like to do to him. What would he do if she kissed those horns? Or sucked them? She tilted her head to look at his horns. They were too big to fit anywhere else.

She grinned to herself. Loka liked her. Once they’d stopped the Banti, she’d make sure he knew exactly how she felt about him.

They stopped by the open docking bay doors. Inside stood a handful of ships.

There were two silver bullet-shaped Banti ships. The docking ramps on both ships were open. Standing at the bottom were two cyborgs.

Heather’s stomach dropped. She couldn’t take on another cyborg. “We need a distraction. Get those guys out of our way, so we’ve got a clear run at the ships.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I’ll head around the back of the ships, make some noise at the other end of the docking bay. It should draw the cyborgs away. They’ll come looking for me, and you’ll get a chance to sneak inside and disable the Banti.”

Loka frowned. “We don’t know which ship they’re on.”

“You’ll have to check them both.”