“Piper,” I say slowly, gingerly testing the side of my face with my fingertips. “Do you just… are you okay with this? I mean, their species fucked up our entire world. And now we’re… dressing like them, and we’re with them, and we’re helping these three.”

Her smile disappears, and her blue eyes turn serious. “I have to believe that Nydo and his brothers are the solution they’re trying to be. I have to believe that we’re doing the right thing, and that by overthrowing the Overlord, we will stop any more humans from being murdered by them. Or enslaved, or bred, or whatever else.”

“But do you really believe Nydo and his brothers are a better option? You saw what he’s capable of.” I shiver, the memory of the vid making me queasy.

“I saw him protect you. That’s what I saw, Leigh. I saw a Roth who killed his own kind to keep you safe. I don’t think anyone has seen that before.” With that, she motions for me to get up. “Now go shower.”

The door hisses open, and my heart thuds faster against my chest as Nydo walks in. He still seems somewhat disheveled, and his gaze fastens on me and doesn’t let go.

“You look… well,” he says, his tone formal.

“I’ll be back to do your hair and makeup,” Piper promises me.

“She will do it herself,” Nydo tells her.

I scowl at him, then stop, blushing furiously as my brain slips in the memory of how good his mouth felt on mine, his fingers inside me.

“Fine,” Piper says, clearly annoyed with him. “I’ll see you when we’re ready to go planetside, then.”

“Lyko is in the gym,” Nydo tells her.

I blink at Piper. Why would she care where he is?

Then she leaves, and I’m left alone with Nydo.

And I have no freaking clue what to do.

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

OceanofPDF.com

NYDO

My heart beats louder when Leigh is around. Every cell in my body seems to work faster, better, with her by my side. I scour her face for signs of her wound, but other than a purple-green bruise yellowing across her temple, she seems well.

“How did you sleep?” I ask her, worry still choking me every time I see the evidence of my idiocy marked across her face.

Her face flames crimson, and I catch the faintest hint of her arousal in the air.

I raise an eyebrow, skating my gaze across her body. Her nipples prick beneath the thin sleepshirt she wears, and her delectable perfume grows stronger.

Interesting.

I wet my lips, struggling to remain on topic.

“Why did you tell Piper she couldn’t help me? You know, it’s dangerous for a person with a head injury to shower alone. I think.” She frowns, as if even she doesn’t quite know if she’s telling the truth.

A smirk lifts one corner of my mouth. “You are afraid to shower alone?”

Her mouth twists to one side. “I mean, no, but—”

I cut her off there. “No but. If you are afraid to shower alone, then I will assist you. That’s why I sent your friend away, because as your mate,” I draw out the word, eliciting a scowl from my little flame, “as your mate, it is my honor to prepare you for your first official outing as my queen.”

“Um, no,” she snorts, but her eyes dart around nervously, resting anywhere but on my face. Her arousal scent heightens.

“As you wish…” I shrug one shoulder, but I don’t turn to go.

“It’s…” She pauses, licking her lips. Leigh’s gaze finally meets mine, and there’s a desperate, heart-stopping quality to it.

“I will stay here in case you need assistance,” I tell her, even though acting honorably is the last thing I want to do around this female. But I will try.

I do not want to.

Her face turns a deeper pink, her green eyes wide and somewhat glassy. I peer at her, trying to suss out whatever it is she’s trying to work herself up to admitting.

“I do… need assistance,” she says, and one red eyebrow raises. White teeth bite at her bottom lip, and a low growl begins deep in my chest. My cock surges to full attention, and I grit my teeth, attempting to ignore the renewed lust raging through me.

“Then I will give it to you, however you require.”

“You can’t… make fun of me. Or… like, I don’t know, be an asshole.”

“That’s what you need?” My brow crinkles as I stare at her, utterly confused. “For me to be nice?”

“Fuck!” she shouts, then winces, rubbing her forehead. “No. I mean, yes. Be nice to me too, for crying out loud. But what I need, Nydo, is for you to get me off and not be an asshole about it.” Her chin juts out, and I blink at her, not quite believing what I’ve just heard.

“Get you off the bed?” I manage, trying my best to understand.

“You said you weren’t going to make fun of me,” she mutters.

“I am not making fun of you. I am, however, trying to understand what you’re asking me to do. Get you off the ship?”

She throws her hands up in the air, and I’m momentarily distracted from getting to the bottom of this mystery by the way her breasts move under her sleepshirt.

“You know, help me out.” She widens her eyes and tilts her head at me, as though this gesture will help me deduce the nature of her request. “Ugh! You know, play me like DJ Tom Diddleston. Find the pearl in the oyster. Pet the moist folds. Hell, what would Bex say? Probe the love channel. Make me see stars, fireworks in the sheets, get freaky-deaky with it.”

She speaks faster than usual, her face getting redder and redder, and I blink, trying to process her words. When she stops, she briefly squeezes her eyes shut and carefully pinches the bridge of her nose.

I stare at her.

She stares at me.

Seconds tick by.

Only when her arousal scent intensifies do I realize what she’s saying.

“Are you asking me to fuck you?” I finally manage.

Leigh’s beautiful face scrunches up slightly, and then she winces and her expression goes blank again.

“Have I misunderstood? What is a DJ Tom Diddleston?”

“I am…” She pauses, taking an enormous breath. “I am asking you to get me off. Yes. If you can use your powers, cool. If you want to use your hands, that’s cool too. But I am… wound up. I need release, and badly.”

My cock strains against my pants, and I continue to stare at her, desire erupting through me, a raging inferno that threatens all my good sense.

As though I’ve had any sense around this female to begin with.

“You would let me… help you with that?”

“If you don’t want to—”

I reach her in record time, putting my hands around her waist, soaking in the feeling of the muscles under her skin, the fluttering of her heart.

Her eyes dilate, and her perfume sweetens the air once more.

“I want to,” I growl. I slant my head, prepared to taste the sweetness of her mouth, the sweetness that has too long been denied to me.

“Wait,” she holds up a finger.

I suck in a breath, baring my teeth with impatience.

“We need ground rules.”

I twitch with the need to taste her, but I hold still, refusing to give in to my basest needs. Refusing to ruin this small, hard-won trust.

What for her will only be release will be the greatest pleasure of my miserable life. Finally, finally, claiming my mate.

“What kind of rules?” I make myself ask when it’s clear she won’t continue until I’ve acknowledged her.

“I don’t want you bragging about it, or talking about it, or anything like that.”

I stare at her. “You think I would need to share the most intimate details of our pleasure with others?”

“I—”

“Done,” I interrupt, tracing the palm of my hand up from her waist to the curve of her breast.

She audibly swallows.

“And,” she whispers, as I bring my mouth close to her warm skin again.

“And what?”

“No kissing,” she murmurs, her brow furrowed, like she expects me to blow up.