Chapter 5
Gwen
“All right. One night. We get naked, you mark me or whatever to make the governor happy. But as soon as you leave, I’ll be right back to square one. The other unmated males won’t back off.”
Mak growled and anger flared in his eyes at my mention of other guys. Such a caveman.
“They will not touch you, Gwen. Ever. Unless I am dead.”
The thought of him dead sobered me instantly. “What? What are you talking about?”
His expression was grim, and I believed every word. “A mate is sacred. So long as I live, no other will touch you. You do this, you’ll be marked forever.”
“No casual sex? No hook-ups?” Well, the thought of being celibate the rest of my life really, really sucked, but so did being stuck on this damn planet forever. God, this sucked. But what choice did I have? I’d deal with the whole celibacy thing later. Much later.
“Where will you go?” That was not hurt in my voice. Absolutely not.
“I roam, Gwen. I will take a ship and go where the gods take me.”
“Alone?”
“Unless you wish to run away with me. I will steal a vessel large enough for both of us and you can join me.”
The idea made my heart leap, for all of a few seconds. Then the bitch came slamming right back down to reality. “I can’t leave. There’s too much to do, Mak.”
His grin was full of regret, but I saw a hint of admiration in his eyes. “Too many Hive to kill?”
“Yes.” He understood. At least that much. I couldn’t leave the war knowing Earth was defenseless. That my old ReCon team was out there somewhere fighting and suffering. Dying. That the bastard who’d done this to me, modified my body to be his breeding machine, was still out there. “I don’t run, Mak. I’m not a pirate or a smuggler. I fight. It’s what I do.”
His hips pressed forward, his hard cock pinning me to the wall, making me burn. “Even if you get burned, Gwen? Even if you die?”
“Even if I die.”
He kissed me, hard. So hard I forgot to breathe. I clung to him until my lungs burned and my body screamed for oxygen, until my head swam with want. Then I pulled back. Let him go. It was hard. And I knew after this night together, letting go would be even more difficult tomorrow.
“All right, Mak. One night. No bite. No official mating. Then I get to go on fighting for the Coalition, and I’ll help you get off this planet with a decent ship. Deal?”
I held out my hand between us to shake. He stared down at it, clearly not familiar with the Earth custom.
With a gasp of surprise, he lifted me into his arms again, almost jogging now as he carried me to his quarters. This time, I didn’t protest. I held on tight and wished he would hurry, relief coursing through me. He wanted me, and he was in a hurry to have me. Oh, and the thick, hard cock pressing against my hip was perfect validation.
And since it was one night, I was glad he was hurrying.
When the door opened to his rooms, I looked around with a quick glance. The entire space was steel gray with splashes of a dark, burnished gold. Like evaporated sunshine left behind to glow forever. The pillows on the couch. Stripes on the bedding. One section of wall was the same color, a large, black symbol painted into the middle in a strange language I’d never seen before. He had a table with one chair, which struck me as both odd and sad. Most warriors had two, even though they weren’t mated.
Guess Mak didn’t get many visitors. Or didn’t want any. Or have any intention of staying.
I looked at the huge bed as he carried me to it and tossed me down on my back. I bounced against the soft mattress. He loomed over me, his chest heaving, not from exertion but fighting for control. I’d imagined this moment, but I’d been limited to envisioning Mak in my quarters, his body half covered by my blood-orange sheets. That fantasy had worked to get me off all the nights I’d been alone, naked and in bed, my hand working between my thighs.
But those imaginings were nothing like the real thing. And he was fully clothed. I didn’t care where we were now, as long as it had a door, and privacy and we could get naked. Now.
And I would bet a thousand dollars that if I rolled over and buried my nose in his bed, the sheets would smell like him.
He watched me, seemingly gathering himself. But I didn’t want him in control. I wasn’t going to break. I wasn’t exactly human. At least, not anymore.
No. I wanted him wild. I wanted him to feel like I did. I wanted fast and hard and rough.
Reaching down, I pulled my uniform shirt off in one quick movement, baring myself from the waist up. My dark hair fell in waves halfway down my back and I pulled my hair forward, teasing him.