Page 48

When I’m hanging with Tasha, things are bearable.

Now I’m a ball of stress and tension.

And I want Garrick to bounce me around.

“AI. Time. Standard. Old-Earth.” It feels strange that despite the tens of thousands of years and the distance, time’s always been constant on Old-Earth, our sacred birthplace and the center of the Human Alliance. It’s antiquated, down to the silly leap years, but it makes me yearn for a time I will never experience, before we took to the stars and learned the horrifying truth…

That we’re not alone, and that every species out here wants something from us.

19h:30, Old-Earth time,” comes the emotionless voice. I sometimes wonder if AI can feel anything. At least with this old model, the voice has no emotion. Some of the newer AI, it feels like you’re having a conversation with a real person.

I’m distracting myself from what’s going to happen in thirty minutes.

If I think about Garrick, I’ll snap.

“AI, display time,” I say, and the numbers project above the mirror. 20h00 hours exactly is the window where Garrick, Markrin and Tar’ank have to be inside to give Tasha room to run.

It’s not going to be easy. The window of opportunity is small. And then I’ll be in bed with three sweaty, powerful aliens, and I’ll have to figure out a way to wrench myself free, run to the hallway, and get out before they can follow me.

And then we have to run.

Because triads of Aurelians with Orb-Blades are going to be slicing through reinforced blast doors, all over the ship.

I have to time it perfectly. We’ve done heists that were down to the second before, and we’ve always made it out alive. Theme and Tasha will only need a minute to get to the control room, where they can access the fatal flaw inThe Instigator’sprogramming.

I stand up, smoothing the dress, looking at myself in the long mirror.

I look good enough to eat. The blue dress clings to me. My nipples are rock hard, pointed buds clear through the sheer fabric. I’m aching for the three Aurelians.

I wish, so desperately, that they were Bonded to me, but I know the awful truth.

The triad that had the best chance to be my Fated Mates are dead.

This will be bodies moving together, skin against skin, desire inflaming desire. This is just something I have to do to get off this ship and find my freedom in the emptiness of space.

I’ve never been with an Aurelian. At the very least, I can cross it off my bucket list.

But I know that when I feel Garrick inside me, he’s going to ruin me for every other man.

I watch the clock ticking, hoping Tasha made it back to her room in time. Hoping that everything goes smoothly.

19h55.

It’s time.

“AI, open the door,” I say, and my heart pounds like a drum.

10

Sawoot

The bolt clunks. The door opens. Garrick, Tar’ank and Markrin stare inside, their muscles tense and taut. Garrick’s neck vein throbs, his eyes narrowing as he stares me down, unable to tear his gaze from my nearly exposed body. The sheer dress makes me look more seductive than if I was naked.

They hesitate for a split second. I’m their prisoner. The laws of their species tell them I’m untouchable…

They breathe in as one, nostrils flaring, and taste my scent. I realize it’s all true. Aurelians can taste how badly you want them. There’s no way to hide how much I crave the huge alien warriors. I’ve been fantasizing about the three of them losing control and ripping my dress apart, and my nipples harden as their eyes roll back.

They step in, their metal boots clunking against the floor. I feel so naked. Garrick and his triad are honorable, but they know exactly what I need, and they can’t help it. The Mating Rage of their species is legendary and it’s welling up in them.