“Leave?”
“Yes. We must go to Velerion. They need you, Mia. As I do.”
Oh hell. He was good. His gaze locked on to mine with utmost sincerity. His face held not one hint of a smile, nor of confusion. He seemed perfectly functional and coherent. Which meant either he believed what he was saying, or he was the best liar I’d ever spoken to. Ever.
“This is crazy. What are you talking about? Who are you, really? How did you find out where I work?”
“I am your Kassius. We are a pair bond. I’ve come here to take you to the BattleshipResolution. General Jennix is awaiting our arrival. She is very excited to welcome a Starfighter MCS pair to her command.” His gaze raked over my face, and he seemed content to cup my breast. He growled. “First, though, I need to fuck you to take the edge off the need I know we’ve both had all this time.”
My naughty side loved his dirty talk. So did the rest of me. The feminist within insisted I should slap him, because a stranger coming in and saying he was going to fuck me deserved a solid slap. Or knee to the ’nads.
But I felt safe with this guy. Aroused. “This is insane,” I whispered.
“It is not. You call the Starfighter Training Academy a game, which is clearly a problem for the Velerion design team to rectify. In truth, the system is a complex and difficult training program, and you completed it. We completed it. Together.”
I shook my head, hoping to clear some of the fog his kiss had created. “No. Who sent you? What do you want?”
“You, my Mia.”
How had he known that endearment? Even if someone had planted cameras and mics in my apartment, they would not have known Kass called me that. No one knew. His voice, his verbal responses were only ever heard through my headset. I didn’t use the captioning feature. Words floating across the screen distracted me. His name had flashed on the screen for a camera to see. So had the Starfighter uniforms—every detail of him was perfect. But no one knew Kass called me that, no one but the imaginary computer avatar on my now-defunct gaming system. This couldn’t be real. Could it? “What did you just call me?”
“My Mia. I have called you this many times, love.” He grinned and kissed my forehead. “Especially during that mission to Xenon where you single-handedly crushed an entire squadron of Dark Fleet drones.”
Holy shit. That mission had been months ago, back in the early days. That was the first mission where he’d used the endearment. I remembered well because everything female in me had practically melted the first time I’d heard that sexy growl say my name like that. My Mia. So hot. So sexy. So him.
“Kass?”
“You accepted your role as a Starfighter MCS. You accepted our pair bond. As I have. The bond has been recorded in the Hall of Records on Velerion. You are mine and I am yours. I have been waiting for you.”
I have been waiting for you.God, a sexy warrior telling a woman that, one whose hand was still on her breast. It was a panty-melting sentence that I actually believed because I’d been waiting for him, too.
I had.
I was sappy. A dreamer. Crazy.
Whatever.
His. Hand. Was. On. My. Breast.
I rolled my hips into his, feeling every inch of his hard length.
He groaned. “I need you.”
“I’m crazy for saying this, but I think I have an idea of how much.”
His mouth tipped up at the corner, and his eyes darkened, turned molten.
I believed him. My instincts and logic were both in agreement. Far-fetched? Maybe. But I lived my life by the theory of Ockham’s razor: the simplest explanation was usually the right one. No one on Earth had any reason to go to all this trouble to pull a joke on me. No one. Regarding aliens, I’d had my suspicions for years. Assuming they did exist, then there were his clothes. His face. His voice. His name. And the clincher, Jamie’s disappearance…
“Jamie Miller. She won the game. Did Alex come for her, too? Is that why she disappeared?” It was so obvious now. A lost puzzle piece that had been found. It made complete sense. If Kass was here for me, then Alex, the avatar Jamie had chosen to be her fighting partner in her game, must have come for her. I had to know.
He nodded once. “Starfighter Pilot Jamie Miller is famous among the Velerions. She was the first Starfighter from Earth and has already saved many lives and faced down Queen Raya. Her pair bond, Alexius, retrieved her as I have now come for you. Starfighters Jamie and Alexius serve under General Aryk on Moon Base Arturri.”
I relaxed against the wall. I’d looked everywhere… on Earth. I wasn’t losing my touch at hacking and tracking. The best intelligence gathering systems in Europe had not failed. I had been looking in the wrong place. On the wrong planet.
“I… we, you and I, worked with her on her final training mission. I saw her accept her role with General Aryk and the pair bond with Alexius. You are telling me he came to Earth to retrieve her? And take her to outer space? To Velerion? Velerion is real?”
“Yes. Exactly. Now you understand.” He lowered his head and placed a line of soft kisses along my jaw. If I hadn’t been leaning against the wall, I would have fallen over. Body melting on the outside, mind reeling on the inside.