I flinch, watching my limp body sway in the hands of a Roth mercenary who looks like he’s about to piss himself. Can’t say I’m mad he didn’t. Gross. I feel oddly detached, watching myself on the screen.

“You will die for raising your hand against your queen,” he roars, and it’s a promise.

The screen turns white, and then the feed picks up from a different angle. There’s a massive crater of melted metal, and all the Roth mercenaries who ringed Nydo and I are dead, completely burnt to a crisp.

My stomach heaves at the carnage, and I slap a hand over my mouth.

“Yeah, I know, right?” Billie says, but she seems pleased.

“That’s… horrible,” I say. I lean forward, watching my slack face bob as Nydo hauls me away from the scene. “How did I not burn up, too? Christ on a cracker, that was… awful.”

“I don’t think he’s playing,” Billie says, taking the tablet off my lap.

“Ya think?” I say. “That looked real to me.”

“That’s not what she means. Billie and I think…” Piper trails off, then retrieves a comb, brushing gently through my tangles.

“Spit it out,” I manage, my head aching.

“We think he believes you are actually his mate,” Billie says cheerily.

“No. He tried to abduct Captain Jacks to mate, too,” I tell her. “He told me about, she told me about it. Everyone knows about it.”

“Nah,” Billie shakes her head.

“Lyko said that Nydo’s energy manipulation abilities have only increased since he found you. Lyko said it’s a sign you are actually his mate,” Piper offers, the comb still working through my hair. “I think… I think that you might actually be his fated mate. Or, at the very least, he believes you are.”

“Humans don’t have mates,” I tell her.

It doesn’t come off sincere. I don’t know what to think.

Hell, it hurts to think.

“Are you upset that he killed all those men?” Piper asks gently, watching my expression with careful eyes.

“No. Those fuckers deserved it. They weren’t just there to knock me out. They would have done worse.”

“Bloodthirsty as ever, I see,” Nydo’s voice rings out, and a fresh wave of dizziness washes over me as he studies me. I didn’t even see him come in.

“Bye,” Billie says quickly, and Piper even stands up, passing the comb to Nydo.

The two cowards practically sprint to the door, which I hadn’t even realized was wide open.

I watch them flee, then force myself to glance up at Nydo.

He casually walks over to the door, and the mechanism whirrs as it closes and locks.

I gulp.

“Are you thirsty?”

“I am,” I say, watching him. Studying him. Maybe it’s time to go ahead and lay all the cards on the table. To figure out if this is some act or if he actually thinks…. Well, if he actually thinks what Piper said.

That I’m his.

That I’m his fated mate.

He pours a glass of crystal-clear water, the liquid musical as it hits the bottom of the metal cup. I try to take it from him, but he smiles down at me, then raises the side of the cup to my lips.

I’m not sure I like it. I definitely don’t like feeling weak and shitty, but I’m also not sure I dislike how he’s caring for me.

I know I don’t like him though.

Right?

I try to shake my head, but it only makes the headache worse.

“Nydo,” I say quietly, my fingers twisting through the soft fabric of the sheets. “Did you hear what they said?”

He sits down heavily, but still gently so as not to disturb me, on the side of the bed. The same bed he held me in only… two mornings ago.

I can’t believe a whole day and a half has slipped by.

“That I truly believe you are mine?”

My eyes scan his face, looking for a hint of irony, or dishonesty, or humor.

But what I see is a male who looks… exhausted. Dark grey circles are under his eyes, and his whole face seems tired. His long, blue-black hair is tied back in a top knot at the back of his head, and it only serves to accentuate his ridiculously good-looking bone structure.

“I owe you an apology,” he starts, and I let him talk, surprised that he’s admitting he did anything wrong. “I never should have taken you to the station without Lyko and Ayro as honor guards. I should have known it was too unpredictable a situation, no matter my… no matter. It’s my fault that you have been hurt, and the memory of you,” he pauses, his throat working as he swallows, his eyes glowing faint orange as he stares at me, the most serious I’ve ever seen him. “The memory of you being hurt will haunt me for the rest of my days.”

What am I supposed to say to that?

“Nydo,” I say, and my hand reaches up for him.

He catches it in his, then surprises me by pressing it against his cheek, closing his eyes as he leans into it. His skin is so soft, so warm, and for an instant, I want to… I want to hope that he is more than the villain in my story.

Maybe that’s the concussion talking, though.

“Hearing you say my name almost makes me believe that we will pull this off. That this will have a happy ending for you, for us both.” He stands so abruptly that my hand drops back to the bed, then he turns away, the door opening and unlocking as he walks towards it.

“Now sleep,” he commands, his infuriating, imperious tone firmly back in place.

The door shuts behind him and I’m left alone, in the dimness of his sleeping quarters, to ponder what the hell he meant by a happy ending for us both.

My happy ending is supposed to be returning to Earth.

Isn’t it?

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

OceanofPDF.com

LEIGH

Nydo crawls into bed with me. I roll into him, craving his heat, craving his touch. He slides a hand between my legs, murmuring my name as he slicks his fingers into my sex, his eyes gold and orange in the dark. His mouth closes over mine, his tongue delving against my lips, a wild force of need and lust, his strong, hard body tugging me even closer.

“Nydo, Nydo,” I say, close to begging him to let me come, to give me more. “Please!” I yell.

I startle awake at the sound of my own voice and, blinking, reality crashes over me.

I’m alone.

I was dreaming… and it wasn’t just any dream. I was having a sex dream about Nydo.

Probably another weird concussion side effect.

But I can’t go to back to sleep for a good, long while.

I wake up the next morning to Piper slathering cream all over my face. I blink as the lights turn brighter, annoyed to find that the dissipating headache means my libido’s roared back to life.

The memory of last night’s dream crashes over me and I groan, squeezing my eyes shut, my body aching with the need for release.

And all I can think about is how good Nydo felt against me in my damn dream.

“Oh no, are you still in pain?”

“No,” I answer Piper, forcing myself to smile. “I mean yes, but it’s not bad at all.”

“Oh good, that’s so good. You look way better this morning. Which is great, considering how horrible you looked last night. Just some makeup on you, and then you should be ready to go. Well,” she crinkles her nose, “that and maybe a shower. You smell like barbecue.”

“Yuck.”

“No kidding,” she agrees, standing up and peering down at me.

“What do you mean, makeup?” I finally latch on to something besides the phantom memory of Nydo’s fingers sliding inside me. “Who cares?”

“Considering you have to be on planet today, at the Roth settlement. We made good time. We’re docking in an hour.”

“Fuck,” I say, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. “I don’t feel like it.”

“Well, you can at least shower and look nice. I’ll do your makeup and help get you ready,” Piper says. “It will be like… I don’t know, before the Roth invasion. When we could get ready to go out and party with our friends.”