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It’s all over.

Garrick thinks over my words. “Very well. We will put him in the servants’ quarters next door. That doorway leads to him,” he says, cocking his head at a little doorway in the wall I didn’t notice until now. It’s painted to blend in with the wall and I assume it only opens from my side. “You may visit with him, but I will be near. If you scream, I’ll come in, and I’ll take his head off.”

It’s weird having a man telling me what I can and can’t do, but I guess I’m going to have to get used to being a prisoner, until I can find the way off this hulk.

There’s something that makes my skin crawl.

I don’t want to ask, because I’m scared of the answer.

“Garrick…Kit thought he was my Mate. Could he have been right?”

Tar’ank growls. His cracks his knuckles, enraged at the thought of the three. “Not possible. That man did not deserve you.”

I sit up, pressing my back against the wall as I look them over. “I’ve found that ‘deserve’ doesn’t mean shit in this universe.”

I regret bringing it up. I shouldn’t put seeds of doubt in these three’s minds. They have to believe it’s possible I’m their Mate, or I could lose their protection.

Garrick breathes in, deeply, and I’m glad I’m not thinking about sex. The vein in his neck throbs, and he takes a step away from me. I can see the Mating Urges building up in him. “Aurelians can smell the scent of a potential mate. The better she smells, the more likely they are to be Bonded.”

I bite my lip. Markrin’s nostrils flare as he breathes in, and there’s a new, sudden tension that fills the room. I’m turning them into animals.

“Did Kit smell right to you?” Markrin snarls it out, and I can hear in his voice he’s scared of the answer.

I shake my head. “He smelled like rot.”

“Then he was not your Fated Mate.” He steps closer to me, his muscle flexing like he’s going to burst out of his light armor. His fierce, piercing eyes undress me and he licks his lips. I can’t help but imagine that massive tongue lapping over my body.

Tar’ank grabs his shoulder, pulling him back, and Markrin snarls up at him before his eyes refocus.

I breathe in…

And even I can smell them.

Rightis the only way to describe it. A manly, earthy musk, pure masculinity distilled. I can only imagine what it would be like to breathe them in while they press me down against the bed, five-hundred-pounds of muscle and pale-marble flesh making me feel helpless and tiny as they lose themselves to the rage.

Fuck. I can’t think about it. I can’t think about them snapping and rutting me like beasts, their huge, thick cocks stretching me out and making me moan. If I do, they’re going to lose control. They’re going to smell my arousal, and they are going to snap.

Even if I wanted the Bond…even if I wanted it, it’s a thin chance.

And I don’t want it.

Screw the lengthened lifespan. It’s just thousands of years to be their toys.

I look up at the three powerful alien warriors, and I can’t get it out of my mind. All my dark, deep desires for the alien species are pulsing up. They all three fight against their urges, but I imagine themsnapping.

I could do it.

Right now.

I could pull my clothes off and show them my naked body. I could walk up to Garrick and run my hands under his shirt, feeling his taut abs, and he’d lose his honor in a second. He’d lose himself to the Mating Rage and fuck me like I’m his bitch.

Heat floods between my legs. Garrick’s nostrils flare, and the three of them step forward as one. They can taste my arousal.

8

Sawoot

Garrick clears his throat, forcing his eyes to refocus, looking ten feet above my head. “I must return to Aelon’s quarters and do my duty as escort. The two of you must have a guard at all times.”