That tongue.

  I could almost orgasm thinking about it.

  Horror washes over me as I wonder if Oz can smell my arousal. His brows are furrowed in concentration so I’m hoping not. Forcing my thoughts elsewhere, I think about how my days have been spent because it’s a much safer topic than my nights.

  I’ve explored the facility with free rein. I couldn’t quite bring myself to use the armband to access the other girls in cryo, not yet. They were safe and so was I—for now. Best for me to learn as much about the facility as I could while I had the opportunity.

  So far, in addition to tagging along with Oz, I’ve spent time with Avrell in the medical bay, treating sprains and wounds of the various inhabitants. By far the most frequent patient is the dark and broody Draven, who I have yet to gather the courage to approach alone. Breccan mentioned he’s a little crazy, so I’ve kept my distance. The other morts have spoken to me in passing, but most are too bamboozled by my presence to maintain a conversation. They may be intimidating in stature and appearance, but underneath, I’m learning they’re really quite…human.

  “How long?” I ask after a few moments of companionable silence.

  “Pardon me?”

  “How long has it been just the ten of you living in this place?”

  The outside world—The Graveyard, as they call it—is a dangerous place with countless ways to suffer a painful death. The radiation and sabrevipes are just the start.

  For the first time, Oz pauses his tinkering and his eyes flick to me. His ears lie flat and his eyes turn to narrow slits, in an action I’ve come to learn means they’re on the offensive, preparing to attack or are experiencing extreme emotion. Then, a few seconds later, his muscles unclench and he relaxes. After a long, fraught pause, he says, “It’s been so many revolutions, I’ve lost count. Before you arrived, we’d lost hope. For a long time, we were preparing to greet death. Breccan—” He breaks off with a sharp look at me.

  I’d be kidding myself if I said I wasn’t interested. “Breccan what?”

  “There’s a contingency plan in place if we are ever overcome by another disease like the one that wiped out our people.”

  “Contingency plan? And what does this have to do with Breccan?” Despite myself, my pulse quickens in my throat. Knowing Breccan, it can’t be good, or rather, it’ll be something that’ll make me want to throttle him.

  “You shouldn’t worry yourself. Now that you and the other little aliens are here, we have nothing to worry about. Avrell is as good with medicine as I am with machines. They’ll have you pregnant with little mortlings in no time and all will be well.”

  I hold my tongue against explaining that any mortlings have been put on hold. I can’t steal the hopeful gleam in his eye, not when we’ve gotten along so well all morning. Aside from Hadrian and Avrell, Oz is the only other mort I’ve been able to have a conversation with.

  “What about Breccan, Oz? As the future mother of his children, I have a right to know.”

  He sets the tablet aside and scratches at his thick, long hair. It’s even longer than mine, and if I’m being completely honest, I’m a little jealous of how it falls in inky black waves down his muscular shoulders. “When The Rades struck, our numbers suffered greatly. We did everything we could to save who we could, but many lives were lost. Nearly all of them. We’re still unsure if we’re susceptible to contracting it out there beyond the facility. It’s a risk and a constant worry.”

  “That explains your obsession with germs and cleanliness.”

  “Exactly, little one.” He beams at me like a proud older brother, and his affection and pride warm my heart. “When we were able to regroup, Breccan, as our leader, thought it important to create a plan in case we were ever struck by the disease again. We argued with him for many solars, but he wouldn’t be swayed.”

  My guts churn, and I don’t think it’s from the strange grains they served me for breakfast. “What does he want to do?”

  Oz, no longer able to stay in one place, moves around the mechanical wing he shares with Jareth and Theron. “You must understand the disease…it’s terribly painful for those who contract it. Blistering wounds. Phantom pains. Delirium. It’s also highly contagious. No one caught The Rades when Draven did which is by miracle—one that Avrell and Calix were both baffled by. It is assumed though that if one of us were to fall ill, it’s all but certain we all would. We can’t hope for another pardon like with Draven. As the commander, Breccan will take it upon himself to limit our suffering, if it comes to that.”

  Had they opened a hatch? Because it seems like all the air has been sucked from the room. “Limit your suffering?” I repeat. “What does that mean?”

  “It means, little one, that if we get sick again, Breccan will send us to The Eternals and then take his own life. No mort wants to live alone. It’s bad enough being forced to live without a mate—to a mort, that’s as close to death as one can be. But for one of us to live alone for the rest of our life, it would be a fate worse than death.”

  His revelation stuns me to silence as he continues to work on another stack of tablets.

  If I don’t stay, if I use the armband to free the other women and escape, isn’t that what I’ll be condemning these morts to—a fate worse than death? Without me and the children I can potentially provide, they’ll die off one by one in this lonely, isolated facility on a planet even more dangerous and depressing than my own.

  How can I leave them here when I have the ability to save them?

  I try, fruitlessly, to replicate Oz’s steps to repair the tablet, but after an hour or so more of his patient instruction, I’m no further along than I was when I started. My mind is too preoccupied with my dilemma to focus on the wires and circuits.

  Breccan comes to collect me after his rounds. I look up from the tablet and find him posed in the doorway, watching me with his version of a smile. It’s too fierce to be classified as such and if pressed, I’d call it more of a grimace.

  A wave of affection washes over me, for this big, strange alien I’ve come to view as my own. The kind of man who’d make the hard decisions to save his people from the task. Who’d be strong enough to see them through, and he would, I know he would.

  Those big, onyx eyes study me hungrily and I shiver. The newfound intimacy inspired by our conversation about Kevin and his endless patience since undoes me. But it’s the total realization that he is willing to die for his men that rocks me to the core. It makes me realize, truly, the life I’ve squandered in my own world. The days I’d given up to drugs and delirium. My sister, my only decent family, I’d been willing to blow off with drugs.

  Whereas Breccan, sweet Breccan, is prepared and ready to do much worse for his men. These gruff beings know more about how precious life is than I can even begin to understand. But it isn’t just about the babies, though I’m coming to learn how important family—and mates—are to them, but also about how they cherish each moment. The world here is so harsh, so unpredictable, they have to suck the marrow out of every day because they aren’t promised another.

  My heart races in anticipation. I don’t want to waste another day, another one of those precious moments. I want to live, as they do, with joy for every second I’m alive.

  I want to enjoy it all…with Breccan.

  The thought steals my breath.

  “Time for a break,” he commands, “before this one has you tinkering at all hours of the solar like he does.”

  “I’m afraid your mate has no aptitude for repair work, Commander.”

  Their conversation filters through the buzzing in my ears. I can barely catch a breath to respond. “Be nice, Oz.”

  Breccan strides forward and wraps an arm around my waist. He nips at my lips with his sharp fangs, which causes me to shiver against his warmth. As he nuzzles my neck, he whispers, “You’ve spent far too long away from me, my Aria.”

  My fingers dig into his minnasuit as my body sings in agreement. The time he’s given me to get to know each other without the pressure of sex has left me…wanting. Wanting him. To kiss, to take. I can’t help but soften against him—and toward him. The nights spent kissing are a tease that leaves me aching for more than just his tongue inside me.

  “It’s only been a couple hours,” I protest, but my body doesn’t—and I lean into him.

  “As I said, much too long. Ozias has been monopolizing your time.”

  Oz takes no offense. “I’m happy to entertain her anytime you like, Brec. I much prefer her company to yours.”

  I drag Breccan away before they butt heads—literally. It wouldn’t be the first time I came across a pair of quarreling morts settling their differences by battling it out like a couple of animals. I have no interest in seeing Breccan doing so. I’m much more interested in kissing. I can barely keep my hands off him as we trek back to his quarters.

  “Is something the matter, my alien?” he asks when I push him up against a wall in the corridor and attack his throat. He bares it for me, and there’s something powerful in the knowledge that this big, strong alien is willing to be vulnerable for the sake of my pleasure. A growl reverberates in his chest as I suck and bite at his pale white skin. I can’t get enough of the satin-like texture. All I can think about is feeling it rub against my skin with no suit, no clothing between us.

  I try to reach his mouth, but he’s too tall for me. I grab his ears instead and tug to bring his lips to mine. “Kiss me,” I say instead of answering.

  I’m not sure I could put my feelings into words if I tried. His compassion when he listened to my struggles about my talent manager, his willingness to give me time to come to terms with my decision, his sacrifice for his men. I’ve never encountered a better man than him. Sometime between waking up on this lost planet and now, I’ve softened for the big guy. It doesn’t hurt that he’s grown to be a phenomenal kisser in the short time we’ve been “practicing”.

  “Would you like me to kiss you elsewhere?” he taunts playfully.

  A needy groan escapes me. “Take me to bed, Breccan,” I say against his lips. “I want to do more than kiss. I don’t want to think about anything. I don’t want to worry about either of our fates. I want you to make me forget everything. I just want it to be me and you. Like we met somewhere and hit it off and you took me home. Can it just be me and you and nothing else?”

  His clawed hands rake back my hair and then he cups my cheek. “I don’t understand your urgency, mortania, but I will do whatever you need. I’m here to ease all your fears, and I want nothing more than to lie with you.”

  He picks me up then, and sprints to the room, his long, powerful legs traveling one step for what would have been three of mine. I hang on for dear life and pray I’m not making a mistake.

  Then I decide, to hell with it.

  I deserve one night to have him without reservation.

  After that, I’ll decide what I’m going to do.

  But for now, I plan to lose myself in my mate—because it may be the only chance I get.

  11

  Breccan

  Her brown eyes gleam with hunger. More intense and fierce than the look half my morts had when we had to live forty-seven solars straight on Galen’s green-bunches alone. But I don’t think she’s hungry for sustenance.

  She’s hungry for me.

  I think about the way she bit my throat with her useless teeth. My cock stiffens. Little Aria can attempt to feed on me all she wants as long as she lets me stick my tongue in her sweet mouth. Her kissing is one of my favorite things. I don’t think she realizes she tastes so rekking good. I lose my mind on her taste alone. So much so, that I find myself craving her more than the UVs. I’m completely healed and haven’t been back since.

  I’m stronger because of her.

  The darkness that lives inside is being chased away by her light.

  With each smile and word, she changes me.

  Her eyes remain on mine as she begins undressing. Her body is pink and soft. The swells of her breasts seem to speak a language only my cock knows. I let my eyes trail down to her tuft of brown hair. I’m quite fond of the way it tickles my nose when I lick her cunt.

  “Take your clothes off,” she demands, her voice fierce. She is a fine mate for a commander.

  “At your service, Madam Commander.”

  She laughs. And, rekk, I was trying to be humorous this time. Our moments together are becoming easier and I think we are learning a lot about each other. I’m certainly learning how to make her smile more. I count them and store them away in my mind to get me through dark thoughts. Horrible memories of my past or a future without her in it. Sometimes the blackness eats at my mind. She chases it away though.

  I peel away my minnasuit and am undressed within seconds. I abandon my boots and suit to prowl her way. My cock bobs, eager to have her, but I’ve grown wise to Aria’s ways. Stopping before our chests touch, I look down at her and stroke my claws through her silky hair.

  She runs her fingertips down my chest and my cock jumps, tapping her soft body. Her eyes narrow as she slides her hand between us and grips it. “He’s happy to see me,” she purrs.

  “You speak of him as if he has his own mind,” I growl. “I’m happy to see you.”

  Her smile is my undoing. She gently strokes my shaft. “I’m happy to see you too. All of you.” She bites on her bottom lip that I want to bite too. “I missed being with you.” She turns and points at the bed. “Lie down, lover boy.”

  Amused by her bossy behavior, I obey my mate and stretch out on the bed, my cock pointing straight up. She walks over to me, her breasts bouncing with her movement. When she’s filled with my child, her breasts will swell with sustenance for our mortling. That’s something I do remember from my past.

  “We are to mate like this?” I ask with a raised brow.

  She tosses her hair over her shoulder as she straddles me. “We are. Do you have a problem with that, Commander?”

  “And when my toxica hits your system? What will happen then?” I tease.

  Her hand wraps around my cock again and she eases herself over my tip. “You’ll catch me if I fall.”

  We both groan when she sinks all the way down, my cock filling her to capacity.

  “I’ll always catch you,” I vow, my teeth gritting in pleasure.

  She rests her palms on my chest and begins rocking her hips in a way that makes me want to flip her and thrust into her hard. But the satisfied smirk on her face has me fisting the bedsheets instead, allowing her this control she so adamantly craves.

  “You feel so good,” she murmurs.

  “You do too, my mate.”

  Her nog falls back and she rubs at her breasts as she does all the work.

  “Allow me to assist,” I growl as I pluck one of her palms from her breast and replace it with mine. I mimic the way she was rubbing her thumb over her nipple and gently scrape my claw over the peaked flesh. She cries out and her cunt clenches around my cock.

  “Breccan,” she moans, her body shaking with impending pleasure. “Touch me here, too.” Her free hand grabs my wrist and guides me between her lower lips. Careful to retract my claw, I massage her there as well.

  “You like mating with me,” I observe, my voice hoarse.

  “I do,” she agrees. “So much.”

  “You like being the commander in bed.” I pinch her nipple between two of my claws, pulling her closer to me. “Will you allow me to taste your sweet tongue, Madam Commander?”

  She moans and nods, her movements becoming frantic as she seeks my mouth with hers. Pleasure is zinging through my every nerve ending. I could do this with my little alien every second of every solar. I should promote Hadrian and spend the rest of my existence doing exactly this. I’d die a happy mort.

  Her weak teeth bite my bottom lip before she spears her tongue back inside my mouth. I’m impressed at the way she moves her hips. As though she knows exactly what will feel good to me. Wise and clever, this one.

  “I’m going to fill you up with my seed,” I warn. “Soon. Are you ready to let me take care of you?”

  “Not yet,” she whimpers. “So close.”

  I rub her quickly between her thighs. “Lose yourself, mortania. I will catch you.”

  She stiffens and cries out, her cunt squeezing me. I can tell she’s found her release and it allows me to do the same. A loud, claiming growl rips from me as my cock pumps into her. My seed will take one solar, I’m sure of it. Our bodies worked together this time. I realize now that the times before were incomplete in comparison.

  Right now, we may as well be one.

  Her body relaxes, the toxica taking effect, and I am ready to collect her just as I promised. I slide her off my emptied cock and pull her against my chest. Stroking her hair, I whisper how beautiful and strong and clever she is. Tears—tears I’d love to lick—soak my chest, but this time they don’t feel sad.

  And just as promised, the toxica isn’t as paralyzing as the time before. She’s able to move her hand and lifts it just barely. Knowing what she seeks, I slide my own beneath hers. Her fingers curl in between mine, linking us together.

  “Rest, my little alien. I have you now.”

  I have you forever.

  “There’s no knobs or levers,” she whines as she slaps at the wall of the cleansing tube. “Worst shower ever.”

  I chuckle and reach past her to push in one of the panels. Warmed water blasts from the ceiling earning a high-pitched screech from my alien. She attempts to burrow her nog against my naked chest to hide from the powerful spray.

  “You guys take cleaning so freaking seriously!” She tilts her head up to look at me, pouting. It makes her plump lips more tempting than usual. “I wish I had a bath tub,” she muses aloud. Her body keeps rubbing against mine and I’m having trouble staying focused on cleansing us.

 

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