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As always, I ignore the disparaging comments about my people. I don’t want Captain Warren or his command team to realize I speak their tongue.
Eventually, they get back to worldship business and how to best manage the fallout of the rebel attack. As the meeting continues, I think about the older Darrvason males in the fleet, those who probably would never have a chance at receiving one of the young human women from the nineteen to twenty-five age group. Perhaps some of those males can receive the older females and keep the women as mates.
Yes, it might be a tad dangerous to bring known rebel females to theHaxxaland other ships in our fleet, but surely if the women form heartbonds with their mates, it will help keep them in line. It should help them better understand their mates and calm their bloodlust toward the Darrvasons. And until the formation of the heartbond, however long it may take for each mated pair, the males can simply remain extra vigilant around their rebel females.
A message from Admiral Tornn flashes on my wrist comm—the news that the entire fleet will be jumping to hyperspace soon in a shared bubble. I reply with my news about the older females, then promise to contact him via video comm once I return to my quarters for the night.
To my relief, Captain Warren soon calls the meeting to an end, and the command team exits the room. I stand and give him a pointed look of warning, then follow the males into the corridor.
I immediately head for Deck Twenty-Two.
Chapter13
JENNY
It’s nearlymidnight when the doorbell reverberates, though I’m still wide awake. Mom stirs in her sleep, turns on her stomach, then promptly conks out again on the sofa. She’s always been a sound sleeper, but I head for the door quickly, not wanting her to awaken.
Despite Brute’s announcement that no human females on theHaxxalwere harmed during the rebel attack, ever since the shelter-in-place order went into effect, Mom’s been worried sick about Ellie. The video comm system is currently down, and we have no way of speaking with my sister.
I’m a tad concerned about Ellie, but I don’t think Brute would’ve lied, and I still think he proclaimed the safety of the thirty Darrvason brides just because he knew I would be fretting about my sister. Though my feelings for the high-handed alien remain conflicted, my heart warms when I think about him.
I open the door to find Brute standing in the corridor, and I have the strangest urge to rush into his arms. I linger in the doorway, however, and don’t make a move to approach him.
He peers around me with a questioning look, then meets my eyes.
“My mother’s sleeping,” I say. “Is everything all right?”
He strides forward, grabs my hand, and pulls me into the corridor. The door automatically shuts behind me, and I cast a nervous glance around, but we’re all alone. Brute must’ve sent Chief Xorrsa away.
He releases my hand and cups my face. I try to ignore the ridiculous happiness I’m experiencing at the sight of him. I shouldn’t be so delighted to see him. He’s dangerous. He makes me feel things I don’t want to feel, and I cannot allow him to claim me.
“Everything is fine,” he eventually says.
“Why are you here?” I jerk my head from his hands and back away, but he follows and soon has me crowded against the wall. He places his hands on my upper arms, pinning me in place.
“I had to see you.” His voice is gravelly, and his nostrils flare. He leans down to drag his nose along my neck. He inhales deeply, then a low growl vibrates from his throat.
My breath catches and warmth pulses between my thighs. I flush as I remember every detail of what happened between us in the alcove. Intimacies that absolutely cannot occur again. I shouldn’t let him touch me or kiss me. If he tries anything, I need to fight back. I need to make him understand that I will not become his mate.
Heartbond. My stomach flips. Ellie shares a heartbond with Admiral Tornn. I don’t want to share such a permanent bond with any male, let alone a bossy savage like Brute. I wince as my sore bottom presses against the wall, reminding me of his barbarity. A light punishment, he’d called it. Shivers rush through me, but at the same time, my core clenches with need.
I start entertaining thoughts of breaking into the medical bay and stealing a dose of hormone suppressors. Why did my shot wear off early? I don’t understand it. It’s as though the damn thing stopped working the moment Brute entered the mess hall and stared at me the other day. Annoyance flares within me as I consider that it might be his fault. Maybe there’s something about Darrvason males that can cause human women to become aroused.
I jerk my gaze to his, and my neck aches as I peer up at him, this huge alien who thinks he has a claim on me. “Do Darrvason males give off pheromones?” I ask in an accusatory voice.
His eyes widen and he appears startled for a second, but then his face relaxes, and a grin tugs at his mouth. “No, little female, Darrvason males do not emit pheromones. You’re becoming aroused because whether you like it or not, you’re drawn to me, just as I am drawn to you, and your pussy isachingto be filled up with my shafts.”
A shuddering breath leaves me, and despite my intention to resist Brute, I can’t find the strength to push him away. He’s right. I am drawn to him, terribly so, and no matter how hard I try, I’m unable to make the achiness between my thighs cease. The warm pulses not only keep coming, but they keep getting stronger. A wave of surrender crashes over me, and I thrill at the lustful gleam in his eyes.
He delves a hand in my hair and tugs my locks, forcing my head back. I whimper at the slight pain, but he doesn’t loosen his grip. I feel completely at his mercy, just like I did in the alcove. And yet I crave more. More roughness. More illicit touching.
I take a deep breath and try to force myself to think rationally. I can’t allow him to treat me like this because what if it gives him hope? What if it makes him truly believe he has a right to claim me?
My heart breaks when I think of my mother, and I worry I’m a terrible person for allowing Brute to tempt me. How devastated she would be if I was taken away from her.
What is wrong with me? Why can’t I turn my desires off?
I remind myself that Darrvason males are intensely dominant. If I were mated to Brute, he would control my entire life. I would have to submit to his authority, and I would also be forced to endure painful, shamefully embarrassing punishments if I displeased or disobeyed him.
