Page 17

NATALIE

K issing Axxol was like trying to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a hungry crocodile.

Too sharp teeth. No softness, even in his lips.

Beneath my fingers, his flesh knitted and flexed in odd surges, as if his creature brushed against my palms. His tongue filled my mouth, aggressive and demanding.

No surprise. But then he kept pushing deeper until I started to gag and pulled away.

His eyes blazed with blue fire, his nostrils flaring wide with each breath. His shoulders swelled, scales popping out of his skin. The bones of his face widened, his teeth like daggers. “What?”

I kept my voice soft and easy. “A little too much tongue action.”

His eyes slitted and he flicked his tongue out, swiping his entire chin. “You handle Lohr’s tongue. Why not mine?”

“I haven’t tried kissing him yet.”

“Noted.”

“Oh,” Lohr said, startled enough said tongue slipped down to dangle over his chest. Thick saliva dripped down his midsection onto the floor but he didn’t seem to notice. A white tip protruded between the forked sections. His dick. “It didn’t occur to me that such an action would even be an option.”

“I’ll try anything at least once as long as it brings you pleasure.”

“Humans call it a blow job,” Rizan added. “I can drop vids?—”

“No!” Both Lohr and Axxol said at the same time. Lohr’s white tip swelled thicker and longer, oozing milky fluid along with the copious amounts of saliva. Axxol’s face twisted in a pained grimace.

:Not pain,: Kroktl whispered in my head, his tone echoing with an amused smirk.

I glanced down Axxol’s body and noticed his slit gaped open, his genitals also beginning to protrude. I barely suppressed a laugh—I didn’t want to hurt Axxol’s feelings again. His prickly pride wasn’t used to teasing yet. :Noted.:

Snryx hovered off to the side, his facial expression carefully blank and undemanding.

His implements hung still down his back, though they weren’t tightly braided together.

He didn’t project any emotional data, so I wasn’t sure what he was thinking or feeling—until I deliberately reached for his warm amber glow on the grid.

Cautious and guarded, he waited nearby on the off chance I was serious about marking him next.

Given our alpha’s protests, he braced for me to change my mind.

Acceptance flowed through him. No expectations.

He would wait without complaint or outwardly displaying any displeasure or disappointment, though a small, secret part of him would ache with regret.

Hidden beneath layers of scientific notations and medical applications, he shielded his true self.

His lingering doubts and fears about repulsing a human mate with delicate sensibilities.

Eager to be needed—but afraid I would never want more from him than medical assistance.

Starved for touch and easy affection and love—but resigned to always fading into the shadows behind Kroktl and our aggressive alpha.

Snryx wouldn’t ask for anything for himself, especially something that might impede another member of the squad’s desires.

He lived to serve the squad and keep us all functioning at peak performance.

His programming demanded restraint from emotional entanglements that might jeopardize his ability to make lightning-fast decisions to save one of us.

If he cared too much, he might not have been able to quickly amputate Lohr’s foreleg when Axxol mauled him and cauterize it to stop the bleeding. In the heat of battle, success of the mission was his primary concern.

Now, he didn’t have a mission.

:Incorrect.: His mental touch was a soft, hesitant brush, as reserved and careful as his outward demeanor. He didn’t want to push into my private space or make me pull away in horror. :You’re my mission. Your safety and perfect health above all.:

I didn’t move toward him physically, but I kept my thoughts and mind open in silent invitation.

Gently, he seeped into me, a quiet, slow melding.

More than our minds. I was already on the grid for the most part.

This was a deeper knowing. He already knew me at a physiological level, thanks to the medbot sending him all my biological details.

How rapidly my heart thudded as he stepped closer. The rising heat of my core, the hot flush of blood moving beneath my skin. The hardening of my nipples at the thought of biting him like I’d bitten Kroktl. Holding Snryx’s flesh inside me and taking our bond to a whole new level.

:I was afraid to look at your true thoughts for fear I would never be able to touch you again.: A soft, fragile sound escaped his throat. Another. Laughter. Pure and echoing with reverence and joy. :But you’re truly not revolted at the thought of touching me.:

:How could I be revolted when I love you?:

Snryx swept me up against his chest, his implements wrapping around me like dozens of thin arms. Binding me to him.

His scent filled my nose. Somewhat metallic, but not like coppery blood, or anything I’d recognize on Earth’s periodic table.

I rubbed my face back and forth against his chest, breathing him in, taking his scent deeper.

My mouth opened, my tongue tasting his skin, adding another layer of olfactory details.

A perfectly clean and sterile hospital or laboratory, purified with alien technology that didn’t involve strong, harsh chemical odors.

White light and pure silver. Pristine water or perfect, untouched snow, crisp and cold enough to take my breath away.

“All these mushy, confusing emotions are annoying as fuck.” Axxol blew out a harsh, loud breath of disgust. “Can’t we just go kill something?”

“Or better yet, fuck each other.” Heat pressed against my back, solid and heavy. I knew without looking up that Kroktl had wrapped his arms around us both. “Don’t you want one of us inside you before you mark him?”

A raw sound escaped my throat, as alien and unfamiliar to me as the screech I’d let out to free Axxol. Only this sound was the growl of a very hungry predator. An answering rumble vibrated from Kroktl’s chest through my entire body. “Don’t tear up my favorite shirt.”

KROKTL

I loved that she knew my thoughts even before they registered in my own head.

Focusing on my raptor, I forced the claws to sheathe back into the softer flesh of my fingertips so I didn’t accidentally injure her.

Though I couldn’t resist pressing my mouth over my mark on her shoulder.

I didn’t need to see it beneath the thin cloth to know exactly where it burned in her flesh.

Her back arched, her breath whooshing out on a low, ragged cry of release.

Waves of pleasure cascaded through her body onto the grid.

I gripped her hips and lifted her up higher between us.

Snryx effortlessly adjusted his implements to keep her in place, though he made no move to touch her otherwise.

It wasn’t in his nature to take command—unless it was a medical situation. On one hand, I could appreciate his restraint. Not having to wrestle him for dominance or work to keep my own beast contained for fear of triggering his was a fucking relief. But on the other hand…

My mate loved him. I didn’t doubt that he loved her too—at least as much as we dyni could love anything. Emotions were a weakness that had been programmed out of us long ago.

Until we came to Earth and broke free of HQ’s command.

Now a wild tumult of conflicting and confusing sentiments warred inside me. Inside us all. A dangerous situation if one of us ever lost control. Though at the center of that swirling tsunami burned the brightest solar flame in the universe.

“Surely you could manage to use your implements to remove her clothing without a single tear.”

Sn’s eyes narrowed to slits of shining gold. “I have implements delicate enough to perform the most complicated surgery without leaving a single barbaric stitch.”

A rattling purr rolled from my chest. “Exactly.”

His eyes flared with the realization that I was teasing him—not slighting the formidable tools he used to keep us all alive.

Of course I could simply pull the shirt over her head.

Or better yet, tear my way into her shorts—because she hadn’t said she cared about the material on the lower half of her body.

But Sn should feel more comfortable—and confident—in touching our mate. Especially intimately.

Two implements clipped to the bottom hem of her shirt and shifted the material up slightly, but then he hesitated. “Would you be more comfortable in the bedchamber with more privacy?”

She turned her head and glanced around the dining room as if surprised. “Oh. I forgot. I don’t really care, as long as Holly or Dr. Snyder don’t walk in on us.”

“Lohr and I are taking turns for patrol duties,” Rizan said. “Both humans have retreated to their respective rooms. If that changes, we’ll prevent them from entering.”

“Akylla is sleeping,” Lohr added from the opposite doorway which led to our bedchamber and nursery. “I just checked on her.”

Natalie looked back up at Snryx. “Would you prefer privacy?”

He blinked slowly once, twice, before answering. “I have no preference.”

Her head cocked to the side, studying his facial expressions and body language.

Her human eyes didn’t have my ability to see inside his body, but she recognized and understood his signals.

Signals I wouldn’t have noticed before coming to Earth despite living on the squad together and sharing the grid constantly.

Yes, we’d all been connected, each of us a necessary part of a whole unit. But we hadn’t been individuals with feelings and preferences, hopes and fears.

She saw each of us as individuals first and squad second. She cared about Sn’s comfort and wishes. Something no one had ever even thought to ask him before.

:Thank you,: Sn said to me in a low, soft whisper.

:Thank her, not me.:

:I do, of course, but you could have killed us all to keep her for yourself. You could have simply disappeared with her and never called us in to help.:

:We would have died.:

:Very likely.: His implements slowly worked the thin shirt up her body and over her head, careful not to tangle in her hair. :But she would have been solely yours. You wouldn’t have had to share her attention with us.:

:I’d rather see her alive and share her than ever allow her to be harmed in any way.:

His implements brushed the curve of her stomach in a tentative test, checking to be sure she truly didn’t mind the alien touch of his sensitive instruments. :Which is why I love you too, as much as I’m capable.:

For a moment, I thought he’d wrapped his thickest implement around my throat. Tightness increased in my chest, my breath catching on sudden emotion. The squad had always been our top priority, our programming written specifically to perform as a cohesive unit.

Yet they’d deliberately engineered us without any emotional connections. We cared about the mission, not each other’s welfare. Certainly not words of affection.

:She would have died countless times without your assistance,: I reminded him. :So I love you nearly as much as I love her.:

:I want to love.: Axxol’s hushed, careful tone was as shocking as his words. :Teach me so I can love too.:

:We will,: I promised him. : Every single day.:

He made a low, rough sound in an attempt to sound like his formidable self, though it came out as more of a ragged grumble. :Hurry up so I can have my turn.: