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I clenched my teeth even harder to keep myself from telling her that far from disliking her, I could not stop thinking about her. Since the moment I had met her, the human with the wavy, blonde hair and sharp tongue had occupied my thoughts and tormented my dreams.
I hated that I had fallen for another human who did not want me, and I hated that she insisted on putting herself in danger by coming to the Drexian Academy, and then by volunteering to join the rescue mission into Kronock territory. She was the reason I had joined the effort, and she was the reason I had been poring over reports. I might not be able to have her, but I could not lose her. “I will not lie to you.”
Fiona narrowed her gaze at me for a beat. “Everyone else may have forgiven you and decided to trust you, but I don’t.” She pointed a finger at me as she backed up. “I will be watching you, Commander.”
Then she stomped out, leaving me with an erratic pulse and a swelling cock. Grekking hell. When would I be rid of my fantasies about the human who despised me?
I raked a hand roughly down my short beard, my fingers scraping both cheeks. “And I will be watching you, Captain.”
Epilogue
Sasha eyed the prisoner who’d been dumped into the cell next to hers. The light was so dim she could barely make out details of his face, but she could tell that he was big and rippled with muscles covered in dark ink. His lack of shirt helped with that. And he had bumps running the length of his spine, which meant one thing.
“Are you Drexian?”
He stood to face her, dark scruff covering his cheeks as they twitched up into a half grin. His eyes flashed an inhuman shade of gold that reminded her of a wild cat. “Even better, beautiful. I’m Inferno Force.”
Sasha knew about Inferno Force. Everyone on Earth knew about the elite Drexian fighters who were rough around the edges and very lethal. What she didn’t know was why one was in a Kronock prison with her. “What’s a member of Inferno Force doing here?”
The brawny Drexian brushed his arms and ran a hand through his short hair. “Looking for you, sweetheart.”
She bristled at him calling her sweetheart, but she was too intrigued by his claim to tell him that she was no one’s sweetheart. “If this is some attempt to charm me, you can save your breath. This is not some alien cantina, and you’re not going to get lucky. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re locked up.”
He chuckled again, the sound low and warm and sending unwanted heat sliding down her spine. “I have noticed, but I’m not here to seduce you.” His gaze drifted down her body and then lazily wandered back up. “Not that I would mind that once I get you out.”
Sasha tossed her head impatiently. This guy was either the biggest con artist in the universe, or he was delusional. “What are you talking about?”
He walked slowly toward the iron bars between them, his gait loose and relaxed, as if he was on a leisurely prowl. “Is your name Sasha? Sasha Bowman?”
Her heart tripped in her chest, and for the first time since the pilot been thrown into the dank, fetid prison, hope stirred within her. She might have kept herself sane by convincing herself that she would escape and kill every Kronock in her path, but that had been more of a ruse to keep herself from falling into despair. As much as she wanted to convince herself that she could escape or that she would be rescued, that faith had dimmed as the days had passed.
Sasha stared at the Drexian who had said her name, a name she hadn’t heard once since she’d ejected from her fighter jet during the battle over Earth. “How do you know who I am?”
He curled his hands around the bars and leaned forward. “I told you, beautiful, I’m here to rescue you.”
She gave her head a brusque shake and her long, dark hair swung around her face. Was she going mad? Had she imagined this gorgeous, gruff Drexian so he could tell her exactly what she needed to hear? Had her mind finally snapped and started feeding her delusions? “I’m going crazy. No one knows I’m here. No one is coming for me. You’re the result of my desperate imagination. You aren’t really here.” Her voice cracked as she reached for the bars, the cool metal grounding her as she gripped them. “You aren’t real.”
She closed her eyes, squeezing them as she felt herself break from the inside out. She’d been holding it all together by channeling her fear into rage, but she could no longer suppress the despair she felt at the prospect of living the rest of her life in captivity. It had already driven her mad. Of course, it had. No one could be left alone in such squalor without cracking.
“At least my brain decided to give me a hot hallucination,” she murmured. “I should be grateful for that.” She opened her eyes and managed a shaky breath. “You’re just my type, too. Big, dark, and a little dangerous looking. If we met in a bar, you would definitely get lucky.”
His grin widened. “I’m glad to hear it.” He shifted his hands, so they wrapped around hers on the bars. “But I’m not a hallucination, beautiful. I’m as real as you are, and I’m here because I was looking for you.”
Sasha gazed at his hands on top of hers. They were warm and calloused, and nothing like any hallucination she’d ever experienced. Her pulse quickened. “You aren’t in my mind?”
“I hope to stay in your mind long after I break you out, but I am as real as you are.” He squeezed her hands beneath his, and she sucked in a quick breath.
If he was real, then she’d just told her Drexian rescuer that he was her type and that she thought he was hot. She snatched her hands from under his, still not quite able to believe that any of this was actually happening. “How? I’ve been here for so long. I was sure that I was presumed dead.”
He kept his hands on the bars as he leaned into them and let his arms bend so that he hung from them. “You were. It took retrieving an enemy ship and decoding some data for us to realize that the Kronock took prisoners during the battle. Until now, we did not know they possessed the technology to snatch pilots from exploding ships.”
Her stomach did an uncomfortable flip as she remembered the violent, chaotic battle, but she forced herself to push those memories aside as more important thoughts surfaced in her mind. “My family? Does my family know I’m alive?”
“They do.” He straightened. “Your sister is the one working closely with the Drexian forces to find you. She has a decent number of Drexian Academy cadets working on the mission with her.”
Sasha’s heart swelled at this, then she cocked her head to one side. “The Drexian Academy?”
“Lieutenant Bowman is one of the newest flight instructors at the academy.” He winked through the darkness. “I hear she’s a ballbuster.”
A laugh escaped Sasha’s lips, the first laugh since she’d arrived in the Kronock jail. “Then I taught her well.” She narrowed her eyes at the Drexian. “Let’s say I believe that you’re real, and you’re part of the rescue mission headed up by my sister. Why are you alone? Where’s the rest of the team?”
He blew out a breath. “I was one of the scouts sent out to narrow down the field of sites where you might be held. Being captured was not part of the initial plan.”
Her stomach dropped. If he was in a cell with her, he hadn’t been able to return to the Drexians and report about finding her. “So, you’re it, and now you’re a prisoner too?”
Instead of looking dismayed, the cocky Drexian smiled. “I’m right where I want to be, Sasha.” He reached a hand through the bars and stroked his fingers down the side of her face, making heat stir in her core and her skin buzz with desire she had no business feeling. “I promise I will get you out, beautiful. I am looking forward to getting lucky.”
