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  “I think I have a say in that.”

  He turned and trapped her beneath his body. “And I have a say. From here on out.” When she cocked an eyebrow at him, he growled and moved down her body. “Spread your legs. I’m going to lick your pussy until you scream so loud that security will come running.”

  When she did what he told her without any further words, he was actually surprised and pleased with her compliance. It was, of course, her choice whom she fucked and who fucked her. But he couldn’t stomach the thought of her with any other man right now and that surge of emotion scared the shit out of him. He couldn’t help feeling that she belonged to him. Him alone.

  He spread the folds of her pussy with his thumbs and circled her clit with the tip of his tongue. She was already wet and eager, pushing her hips up toward him. He leaned closer and sucked her clit between his lips and drew on the bud until she mewled, then he released it and swirled his tongue around the sensitive flesh.

  She squirmed beneath him as he licked and sucked her, alternating between the two actions. While he sucked, he swore that her clit elongated just slightly, giving him easier access and her greater pleasure. Her ability to shift fascinated him and he wondered just how restricted her ability was, given that her genetics weren’t pure.

  He moistened his fingers with his saliva and her juices, then eased one finger up inside her. Slowly he pulled it almost all the way out and then he pushed two fingers inside her pussy.

  “Oh!”

  He finger-fucked her slowly as he leaned back down and tongued her. Gradually he moved faster and harder inside her. He began to nibble on her clit.

  “Ah, yes!”

  The harder his cock grew, the harder he finger-fucked her, the more he nibbled and sucked at her flesh. Then he felt her stiffen.

  “Torque!” She screamed out as the orgasm hit her.

  He didn’t let up until she finally collapsed beneath him. Then he rose onto his knees, grabbed her thighs and impaled her on his cock. He fucked her roughly, digging his fingers into her hips. “Ah, hell, yeah!” All he knew was that he needed to come inside her. He needed to feel his cock explode and shoot his semen into her body.

  The inside of her pussy shifted and the muscles reformed around him, pulling and sucking at his cock. “Yeah! Make me come hard, Jaeda.” He didn’t know if she was doing it on purpose or if it was a natural occurrence for a shifter. That was the one and only type of woman he’d never been with before and she was making him feel like this was his first fuck with any female. He drove into her with abandon.

  “Torque. Harder. I need it.”

  He loved the sound of his name on her lips. He switched his gaze from their bodies to her eyes. Then his gaze followed her hands to her breasts where she was pulling on her nipples. He grabbed her wrists and held them down as he shifted his whole body on top of hers. He took her lips in a searing kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth. His hips moved hard and fast. She craved a hard fucking. She’d get it as hard as he could give. But not the way she expected. He pulled out of her, flipped her onto her stomach and smacked her ass, over and over, until she screeched. He dug his fingers into her ass cheeks and spread them wide. “You want it?”

  “Yes!”

  He leaned over and stabbed his tongue into her asshole, licking her thoroughly. Then he pulled away and impaled her ass with his thick cock.

  “Ahh!” Her muscles expanded and he sank even deeper. When they tightened back around his cock, he groaned. “Fuck! I’m about to lose it.”

  She pushed up against him. “Show me no mercy, warrior. That’s an order!”

  That did it. He surged forward, forcing her body to take even more—his full length. Something no other woman could physically do. He grunted as he slammed into her ass hard. “No fucking mercy.” Just as she’d ordered.

  He stiffened and roared as he came in an almost animalistic fashion, knowing nothing but mind-blowing ecstasy. He reached under her and aggressively rubbed her clit.

  She screamed and her body tensed as she climaxed. And then she climaxed again, her body now trembling beneath his. Her ass muscles pulled at his cock, drawing every ounce of cum from him as he called out her name. Just when he thought his heart couldn’t take the physical pleasure for one moment longer, they both collapsed.

  He barely found the strength to shift his weight so he wasn’t crushing her. “Did I hurt you?” he asked softly as she turned toward him.

  “I’ve never felt anything like that, Torque.” She cupped his cheek. “I’ve never been so satisfied by any man. I don’t think I can even move.”

  He squeezed one of her plump breasts, letting his thumb graze her nipple. “Good to know.”

  Chapter Six

  Earth’s Orbit

  Halah fell out of the command chair and hit her head on one of the lower control panels. “Ow!” She touched her temple and felt blood. “What the hell?” Someone had fired on the ship. How had they located her? She scrambled back into the seat and this time strapped herself in as she looked at the monitors. She checked the damage. Partial shield collapse. “Shit.” She worked to compensate and directed extra power to the system until she could do a repair.

  “Who hit me?” she mumbled. The Egesa ships looked quiet and stationary, waiting. The supply ships were slowly drifting in their orbits. No, wait. It only looked like they were drifting. She studied the patterns. They were slowly positioning themselves. “Who the fuck are you?”

  She checked the computer readout. “Wait. What?” Upon further investigation, she realized that she hadn’t been fired upon. Something had physically scraped the ship, damaging one of the shield deflectors. “Where are you?” No matter her expertise, she still couldn’t locate who. A cloaked ship. But her program wasn’t registering anything and this older ship’s displacement scanner kept going in and out. The fighter should have compensated and notified her when something moved within collision range.

  For safety, she navigated the ship farther out. She tried to communicate with the Ice Moon again and received nothing back but static. According to news she’d finally been able to tap into from Earth’s satellite system, the Egesa had stopped bombing the planet and sent in foot soldiers. Several countries had made agreements with Daegal in order to spare lives, property and governments. Fools. She understood their terror but Daegal couldn’t be trusted. Whatever arrangements they’d come to, the humans would be betrayed and enslaved regardless.

  She stared at the ships on the monitor as she de-cloaked. She‘d be even more vulnerable now, but her power supply was declining fast. She had to conserve resources so they could get back home. “I’m reasonably sure you’re not what you appear to be,” she said aloud as she studied the supply vessels. “You’re not Xylon. You’re not Egesa. Your design looks custom, not government issue.”

  The ship rocked violently. She clutched the panel in front of her. That had been a laser. It hadn’t taken long for someone to spot her. Alarms filled her ears as she tried to boost the power to the shields even more. Suddenly she felt a tingling in her stomach. “Oh no.” She unstrapped herself and surged to her feet. She hit the thruster on the side panel to gain some distance but nothing happened. “No, no, no.”

  In the next moment, Halah found herself aboard a strange ship. Four men she’d never seen before rushed her. She jump-kicked one of them in the jaw, sending him to the ground. The second one took an electrical charge to the eye when she punched him.

  The other two men grabbed and restrained her before she could do them any damage. “Who the hell are you?” she demanded, struggling against their hold. They weren’t Egesa.

  Not even giving a second look to their downed comrades, they searched her for weapons, then pulled her forward and out into a corridor. They entered a lift and went sideways, then up. “Where are you taking me?”

  Neither of them said anything. When the lift door opened, they jerked her along another corridor and then up to a closed entry. Someone’s private quarters fr
om the look of it. One of the men pressed a button. After a moment, the door slid open and they dragged her inside. A woman stood with her back to them.

  “Leave us.”

  The men released her and departed without a word. When the woman turned, Halah gasped. “You! What the hell is going on? How’d you get past my ship’s shields to materialize me out?”

  “You’re lucky that I did. Your ship was just destroyed.”

  “Bitch!”

  “Not by me.”

  Halah blanched. She hadn’t registered an incoming threat of that magnitude. Sure, she’d taken a couple of hits, but total destruction? Outdated, shitty power-scanner. Or… “How do I know that, Frost? Why would you care about saving me? What are you even doing out here?”

  “You doubt my words?” Frost turned a screen her way. “Here’s the playback. See.” As they both watched, the ship exploded in an instant—a bright-white light, then simply empty space where the craft had once been. “Poof. Gone. And I don’t care about you. But I do care about fucking with and ultimately destroying Daegal. Now where’s Braden? Is he on Earth?”

  So that’s why she’d saved her. She wanted to know about Braden. She didn’t understand a lot about the past relationship between Frost and Braden. Just that she’d betrayed him and destroyed his relationship with Torque for a while. “Braden is not here.” The look on Frost’s face was priceless. “Sorry to disappoint you.” Not really, bitch.

  “But he is coming. Yes?”

  Halah wasn’t about to tell this woman anything. “Why are you asking about him, Frost? Don’t pretend to be on our side when you’re not.”

  “I want Daegal dead, so does Braden, so do all of you.” She smiled slightly. “I guess that does puts us on the same side, whether you believe it or not. For now.”

  “We’ll never be on the same side. What are you really after?”

  A wicked gleam entered Frost’s gaze. “Power, my dear.”

  Halah’s stomach clenched, recognizing that look. The realization hit her hard. Power, yes. But control was really what she’d meant. That was her ultimate goal. “You want to take over the Egesa. Don’t you?” Daegal was a ruthless commander. Frost would be worse.

  “For a start. I’ve been screwed over by too many men in my life. Certainly you can understand that. It’s time that I do the screwing. Braden and I could have ruled Xylon but he was too weak. Daegal and I could have ruled the entire Xylon system but he turned on me.”

  “I heard it was the other way around.”

  Frost’s gaze hardened. “I intend to rule! Everything. Including Earth.”

  “You’re crazy. You can’t win against Daegal. You don’t have the power. Nor can you get it on your own. And Braden’s certainly not about to help you.” She really did believe that Frost had lost her mind. The woman’s wild eyes, heavy breathing and the strange tone to her voice convinced her of that.

  “You’d be amazed at how much control and power I’ve been able to obtain. Some on my own. Some, yes, with help. By the way, how’s that hunky love of yours?”

  The question took Halah by surprise and she hesitated before answering. “No longer subject to your whims. We saw to that.” Frost had planted a device in Kam’s throat that gave her control over him. Leila had deactivated it. She hadn’t been able to remove the electronics. But that had been a small issue since its power source had been destroyed.

  Frost laughed. “Are you sure? Certainly you’ve felt his approach, my dear. But he’s on his way to me. Not you.”

  Something about the look in Frost’s eyes when she spoke sent a chill down Halah’s spine. Was it possible that Frost still did have control over Kam and was just biding her time? She’d had concerns about that. In time, they’d faded. But now… “You’re bluffing.”

  “Well, we shall see, won’t we? Now, I want you to tell me what your orders are and what Braden’s plan is?”

  “Like hell.”

  Frost chuckled. “I was actually expecting you to say that.” She pressed a comm button. “Send in my pain masters now.” Her gazed locked with Halah’s. “They’re going to have such a fun time getting the information out of you.”

  The door slid open behind her and two huge men tromped inside. Former Xylon Warriors turned to serve a darker master now…or mistress in this case. There would be no mercy.

  If she fought the pain masters, she’d be killed. If she didn’t fight the pain masters, they’d extract all the information she knew, then she’d be killed. It seemed to her that her choice was clear.

  * * * * *

  Ice Moon, Xylon System

  Braden turned slightly as Erik approached him. “Are you ready?”

  Erik nodded. “I’ve cleared a fighter in your squadron for us. We’re good to go.”

  “I already took care of that.”

  “A malfunction docked the ship. I had to clear another one. Ongoing problems. The other squadrons have already left with their orders. We won’t be far behind. More fighters will follow us as they’re able.”

  “Good. We’ll need—”

  “Sir?” An officer approached. As Braden turned toward the man, the officer asked, “Who will be in charge while you’re gone? Laszlo?”

  “Laszlo’s not going to be in any shape to assume control for quite some time.” He turned to Erik. “Your second is the next ranking commander available, right?”

  “Yeah, Perkins. I’ll brief him.”

  “Good. I’ll find Kam and let him know what’s going on.”

  “Actually, Sir,” the young officer in front of them interrupted hesitantly, “Nextor is no longer on the Ice Moon.”

  “What?” Erik barked. “Where the hell is he?”

  “Not long ago, he confiscated one of the recently repaired fighters without clearance and took off.”

  “How long ago is not long?” Braden asked. What the hell was going on with Kam now?

  “Maybe an hour at most.”

  “Was he alone or did he take a crew?” Braden didn’t like the sound of this. Why would Kam take off without a word to anyone?

  “He was alone. A report was sent to your terminal.”

  “I must have missed it. I’ve been otherwise engaged lately.”

  Erik paced behind Braden. “He’s going to get himself killed.”

  Braden shook his head. “I don’t have time to deal with this,” he said to the young man. “When the comm grid comes back up, find his exact coordinates and relay the information to me. Also keep me posted on Laszlo’s condition when you’re able.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  As the warrior made a hasty retreat, Braden turned to Erik. “Make sure our fighter is outfitted with as much firepower as possible. Get us extra hand weapons and supplies too though, in case we need to abandon the ship.”

  “Do you want a healer on board?”

  “No. Just us, Erik. Actually, I think we better take two separate fighters. Clear another one. Pull a pilot if you have to.” As Erik looked into his eyes, Braden tried to keep his expression neutral.

  “No way, Braden. Whatever happens, happens to the both of us.”

  “You have Leila to think of.”

  He nodded. “I intend to make it back for her. And I’m bringing you back with me. So don’t go getting any ideas.”

  Braden hesitated then nodded. He wasn’t making any promises. Whether he made it back or not wasn’t a priority for him. Destroying Daegal, making him pay for what he’d done, was all that Braden cared about. If he had to sacrifice himself to make sure Daegal didn’t hurt anyone else, he’d do it in a heartbeat. His siblings would be fine without him. His friends would be fine without him. And he’d be with Alexa and his children in the afterlife. “Let’s get things finalized so we can be on our way.”

  * * * * *

  Planet Earth, State of Colorado, U.S.A.

  Underground Tracking Facility

  Torque watched Jaeda as she secured her hair away from her face. After briefly checking it in the mirror, sh
e grabbed her boots and slid them on. Even those innocent movements fascinated him. He felt very comfortable in her presence as if they’d known each other forever.

  Jaeda reached for her comm unit when it buzzed. “Yes. All right.” She clicked it off. “He’s here. Are you ready?”

  Torque slid on his jacket. “Ready.” He followed her out the door and up to the same holding room where their group had been gathered earlier. The facility hummed with activity, though at a quieter level than earlier. Wait mode—that’s what it felt like.

  When Jaeda opened the door and they entered, a brawny man on the other side of the room turned. As he focused on them, a wide smile split his face. His blue eyes flashed, standing out against the dark, ancient warrior insignia tattooed atop his bald head. “Fuckin’ hey.”

  Jaeda chuckled. “Good to see you, Grady.”

  “It’s the beauty and one butt-ugly Xylon beast.”

  “Shit,” Torque muttered.

  Jaeda looked from man to man. “You two know each other?”

  “Yeah.” That was all Torque said. Grady was the warrior in his vision, except he’d had hair. The other man had been Kirk Logan. It all clicked in his head at the same time. And he wasn’t happy. It hadn’t been quite prophetic because of various differences he’d noted in Jaeda and now Grady. So what had it been? Were breeder visions accurate down to the details? He’d never thought to ask.

  Grady stepped forward. “So what the hell is going on? We haven’t been able to contact Xylon and now the Egesa show up in force. We’ve heard some nasty rumors that nobody wants to believe. And Jaeda’s been reluctant to share details.”

  “I thought it best,” she replied.

  “You always do.” His gaze zeroed in on Torque’s jacket. “You’re wearing Laszlo’s insignia. That gives me the fucking chills, man. Is he dead?”

  Torque glanced up at the cameras. He figured they’d been turned back on by now, so he didn’t want to say too much. “Is there someplace more private we can go, Jaeda? I need to fill him in so we can get organized.”

  As Jaeda opened her mouth to respond, an alarm went off. She grabbed her comm unit at the same time that it beeped. Her brow furrowed as she read the message. “The facility’s been breached. We need to get to a secure area.” She looked up at Grady. “You were followed.”