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Watching her, the way her hair moves in the slow rhythm she’s set, how her skin glistens, her shoulders raised... The tension between us pulls at me.
“I want this to never end.” Her palms cup at my chest, her fingertips digging into my flesh, and I fucking love it.
“Veto or not, you’re mine.”
Her eyes flash, and she comes hard around my cock. The flutter of her pussy has me off, and I want to sink my teeth into her, claim her—make it real. But I’ve seen what happens when not all the pod mates approve of the mate. It’s not good. I won’t do that to her.
But this isn’t the last time. I will have a lifetime.
25
NICO
I’m trying not to kill Castor while his dick is inside my mate. It’s not good form. My stomach clenches, and I can feel both Eros and Holter watching each movement I make. Killing him isn’t going to happen, no fuck.
She loves him.
It’s obvious on her face. I can’t kill him now. I should have done it sooner. There were plenty of opportunities during secondary education to take him out, but I’ve never been one to dwell on hindsight. I’m not even fooling myself. I couldn’t hurt Castor, just like I couldn’t hurt Holter. And I suppose even the asinine Zaffiro now too. Instead, I roll off the bed and get supplies to clean her up.
Little Krill slumps on Castor’s chest. She’s done. I know we’ve all helped her, but damn, I like being the one who takes her over the final edge.
I blink away the squint I’m giving Castor. I’ve come four times since we started, but I’m ready to snap out of my hole like a giant eel. Tension sits in my neck. I’m not a fool. I didn’t rise through the ranks by being ignorant of my surroundings. I’m outnumbered here. And worse, the one who matters the most—the one who is my Moon and Tide—wants something, and I want to give it to her. I do.
Being a strategic thinker is hard. Others don’t see the path that they are building in front of them when I can see the entire town miles down the road. If he joins us—fuck, when he joins us—it’s going to divide our dome. There will be those who want nothing to do with us because we broke the master plan of Ophelia, the Grand Dame Duchess of Glyden. That will be only the beginning. There is a faction out there that doesn’t want Annabelle here. Old Nico would run into battle and slaughter them in their beds with no thought of recourse. In the past, I could have done that. Now? Now I have someone who matters. Someone they could retaliate against. Keeping Annabelle safe is the only thing that matters.
I’m not going to let anything hurt her. Well, nothing but me.
I’m off the bed and into the bathroom when I hear the faint buzz of the computer down in the other wing of the apartment. I toss Eros the supplies and raise my chin at Holter.
“Fuck off.” He turns back to Annabelle but lifts his head. “The communicator.”
Out the door, I hear him following behind me. I get it. I don’t like leaving Annabelle either, not even for a second, when the city is falling apart around us. Even if we are only going to the other side of the apartment, to the office on the other corridor. But Eros is with her. He’s much more than I thought he was. I suspected he’d had a deal, but I never would have thought it was as an agent of the security council.
I grab a towel from the wall near the airlock and race to the other side of the apartment. I slide into the seat, pressing the connection at the same time.
Kappler’s face fills the screen as I pull the robe closed. He gives me a weird grimace. “Commander.”
“Nico,” I correct him.
“Portsmouth,” he counters, and I give him a nod of acceptance.
“What do you have for us?” It’s dark in the room behind me. But it’s equally dark behind Kappler. The lights are out for a night rotation.
“We surfaced so the crew could contact family.”
“That’s very admirable of Broderick.” I would never have guessed my former first officer had such a soft heart.
“I understand that it wasn’t his idea. Orders from the king.”
Interesting. I’ve known Atlas for a long time, and so far, there isn’t a decision he’s made that’s made sense to me. Granted, I don’t mind handing the Vikings their ass on a platter and sending them to Valhalla.
I nod, hoping he gets to the point. If it’s bad news, I might need to go the way of Atlas and go soft on him, letting him have one set of bad news at a time. The door eases open. It’s Eros. He stays out of the view of the camera. My stomach tightens.
“Right, it’s no secret we’re on the way back. The news of the packages is out there too. I contacted my cousin. Marina Herod is there.”
Eros steps into Kappler’s sight, and the half-Kraken adds, “She’s okay. For now.”
“What do you mean by ‘for now?’”
