Читать книгу Rogue Cyborg - Grace Goodwin - Страница 8

Gwendolyn Fernandez, The Colony, Ten Minutes Earlier…

The hammer I swung was at least four feet long. The heavy, blunted end was designed to pulverize rock in the caves beneath The Colony’s surface. Designed for an Atlan or a Prillon warrior, not a five-foot-five female from Earth.

Had I been normal—still fully human—I wouldn’t have been able to lift it, let alone swing it in a wide arc and bring it crashing down on the wall in my friend, Kristin’s, living room.

I’d been at it for over an hour, and barely broken a sweat, or worked the edge off my frustration. I was a hamster on a wheel on this stupid planet, and every oversized man-child here thought I not only needed a keeper, but wanted a big, bad alpha male to tell me what to do, what to eat, what to wear. Some Prillon had offered to put a collar around my neck so he could read my emotions or some shit.

The thought made me feel violated. The chaos of my mind was not a pretty place right now. I definitely didn’t need to give a Prillon warrior—or two—access to the inner sanctum. What they’d find would probably scare them. Hell, most of the time the thoughts running through my mind scared me. Thus, me beating the shit out of Kristin’s wall.

I swung the hammer again, harder, taking down a chunk twice my size with one blow. I didn’t hear the door open, but it must have, because I was no longer alone.

“What the hell, Gwen? When I said I wanted the wall torn down to make this space bigger, I wasn’t thinking right now, and I wasn’t thinking you’d do it.” Kristin’s voice broke through the noise I made while smashing the wall to bits. I looked over my shoulder at my friend, the dust swirling around me like I was Pigpen from the Charlie Brown cartoon. Kristin wore the familiar body armor, as if she’d just come back from a mission, which she had.

“Don’t worry. I closed the door to the baby’s room so no dust would get in there.” Kristin had a little one, a beautiful baby girl and two doting mates who treated her like a goddess.

But she was allowed to go on missions. To hunt for the Hive. Her mates had to be the only reasonable aliens on the whole damn planet.

And she wasn’t even a cyborg. She was one-hundred-percent human. A volunteer. An Interstellar Bride sent from Earth when she’d been matched to her primary mate, Tyran, a tough as nails Prillon who had about the same amount of cyborg tech as I did. Tyran was strong. Super strong. One of only two warriors on the planet I wasn’t sure I could best in a fight.

And he already had a mate. Kristin. My thoughts shifted away from him. Not that I’d go after a guy who was mated, but he definitely wasn’t interested. He only had eyes for Kristin. And that was how it should be.

The other male on The Colony who melted my butter? Well, he was a loner. Quiet. Massive. Everyone I’d asked said he was an Atlan, but there was something different about him. Something that made my body clench with heat and my pussy ache with emptiness. Of all the males I’d met since being denied a return to Earth and basically left out here to rot, he was the only one who interested me in the slightest.

Makarios.

So, of course, he was one of the few who’d shown absolutely no interest in me. None. Not one stolen glance. No eye contact. Nada.

Big fat zero.

The only thing that saved my shattered ego was that he didn’t seem to talk to anyone—male or female—except the two other Atlans he’d been with when the trio had escaped from the Hive. Braun, Tane and Makarios. The three Atlan Musketeers. All three of them were gorgeous, I had to admit it. But there was something about Makarios that put me on edge.

The others called him Mak, but when I looked at him, I pretty much just stopped thinking. Even his name was erotic. I wanted him. I wanted him to unleash some of that restrained control all over me. I didn’t want forever, just long enough to scratch an itch or two. My sexual dry spell extended all the way back to Earth. Too long to go without a man-induced orgasm. Or two. Hell, with Mak, it would be at least three, I was sure.

It was well known that he didn’t want a mate. The rumor-mill claimed he’d recently tried to escape The Colony—obviously, that hadn’t worked—and that he wasn’t even Coalition, but one who was cast out from Rogue 5. Maybe he was part Atlan and part whatever sexy beast roamed the Rogue 5 moon’s home planet of Hyperion. All I’d ever heard about Rogue 5 was that they were a bunch of pirates and smugglers who belonged to very strict gangs. No loyalty to anyone but each other. The talk I’d heard said that originally, Mak had only been captured by the Hive because he was sitting in the brig of a Coalition ship when the Hive attacked. That he was nothing more than a Rogue 5 criminal with really bad luck. Wrong place, wrong time and he ended up with Hive integrations and a life stuck on The Colony.

But when I looked into his eyes, I didn’t see a criminal. I saw a restlessness and rage I understood all too well. We were the same, me and Makarios. Trapped. Prisoners.

Freaks.

I swung the hammer. Harder.

The section of wall burst into a cloud of dust...

…and the ceiling splintered out in a web of hairline cracks above our heads.

“Holy shit, woman. That’s enough!” Kristin closed the distance and took the hammer from me. I grinned when she was forced to drop it with a loud oomph. “How the hell did you even lift that thing?”

“Superfreak, remember?” I’d broken into her quarters to take care of the wall for her while she was out. Her idea to have it torn down was one she’d shared in a late-night gab fest over a cup of Atlan wine, one of the few true pleasures to be found on this God-forsaken planet. And knowing she was off somewhere fighting while I resorted to breaking and entering to keep myself occupied somehow made the destruction less satisfying than I’d hoped. Still, it was better than going back down to the governor’s office and arguing with him again. And a hell of a lot better than going down to the cafeteria and being eye-balled like the prize broodmare at a horse show.

“Stop saying that. If you were such a freak, every male on the base wouldn’t be trying to get your attention.”

“Couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that I’m the only single female within light years of this place, could it? Last two people on a deserted island. Remember that game?”

Kristin laughed. “Oh, yeah. I always chose Detective Amaro.”

I nearly choked, but coughed instead, waving at the cloud of dust settling around me to cover my reaction. “Seriously? From that crime show?” The detective was a very popular character on an Earth crime drama on TV. At least it had been when I left Earth. He was a badass who always got the bad guy. And I knew Kristin used to be FBI. But still. “Really? Why?”

Kristin’s eyes closed and a dreamy expression came over her face. “His eyes were so intense. You know? And he had that uniform, and those handcuffs. The gun. He was just strong and sexy and—”

“Bossy and dominant and just like Tyran and Hunt.”

Kristin opened her eyes, laughing now. “I guess so.”

I tilted my head toward the bedroom. “Do I need to ask if all the bindings on the corners of that bed are for you or your mates?”

“I’ll never tell.” She looked back down at the mess on her floor but I couldn’t miss the blush on her cheeks. There was no doubt she was well-satisfied by her mates, with or without restraints. “But I think you might need a little bit of attention from a special investigator of your own, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen.” I pointed at the rubble on the floor. “You wanted this little remodeling done and I needed to work off some steam,” I replied, inspecting what used to be a wall. The whole thing was broken to bits.

The sturdy wall hadn’t stood a chance against my strength. My cyborg strength. The Hive had turned me into a certified bad-ass. The Bionic Woman. Whatever building material was used crumbled beneath the swing of the sledgehammer like a dried-up gingerbread house under the destructive glee of a toddler’s foot. Yeah, being strong, like wicked strong, was a good thing. I didn’t have to worry about some guy getting handsy—if I didn’t want it—and I could completely take care of myself. At the same time, it was the reason I was so pissed off, taking out the wall between my friend’s living room and dining room areas.

Kristin sneezed. “Steam? Let’s call a spade a spade, sister. What you need isn’t going to be found in here.”

I frowned. “Yeah, well, it got you the big room you wanted.” I pointed to the almost completely demolished wall.

“True.” She nudged a larger piece of refuse with the toe of her boot. “I’m guessing you’re not going to clean up the mess?” she asked, tapping her finger to her lips.

I laughed. “No way. I’m just the demo team. You’ve got two strong men who can haul away the debris.”

She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. “They are so not going to be happy about this.”

I didn’t care. I’d needed to break something, and she gave me the opportunity I needed to smash and destroy without getting in trouble with the governor.

Again.

“Look, I’ve been trying to mind my own business,” she said in a rush.

“You have?”

“Yes, I have. But, seriously, what’s the real reason for all this?” She waved her finger back and forth, pointing to the fifteen-foot-long pile of rubble. There was no judgment or expectation in her gaze, just pure curiosity. She was a woman. FBI. She was still a soldier, the armor she wore and weapon on her hip proof of that. If anyone would understand, it would be her. Not Rachel, the freakishly brilliant scientist, or Lindsey, the writer. There was one other woman from Earth I’d heard about and she didn’t live on The Colony. A former instructor at the Coalition Academy had mated to an Atlan from The Colony, but they were now out in space working on some top-secret spy crap together. Out. In. Space. Not stuck, trapped on the exile planet.

And here I was, former-military, four-year member of a Coalition ReCon team, a demolitions expert, ungodly strong, Hive-enhanced, cyborg freak. I’d survived hell and came out the other side stronger. Faster.

Alone.

And the governor refused to let me leave the planet. Go on missions. Do anything fun. I felt like the Incredible Hulk with nothing to smash.

And these males trying to claim me? They didn’t know me. I’d never even held a conversation with most of them. I hadn’t been matched to them through the Interstellar Brides matching protocols. I was female. Available. Breedable.

Maybe. After what the Hive did to me, I didn’t even know if I could still have children, let alone want to raise them here. And I hadn’t bothered to ask the doctors at the med unit because getting a gyno exam in space after everything else I’d been through did not sound appealing.

Kristin continued to stare at me, waiting for an answer I was too proud to give her.

“I’m fine. Can’t a friend do something nice for you?” I asked.

She gave me a look that screamed, Girl, please. “Nice would be making all the mess disappear before my men get back,” she countered. “What gives, Gwen?”

“You know the answer,” I grumbled, reaching for the sledgehammer’s handle and leaning on the sturdy length.

Her eyebrows went up and waited.

“The men… they’re weird around me. Annoying. Frustrating. And I can’t go on any missions. The governor has grounded me until I’m mated. Which is ridiculous and a total double standard. I’m a prisoner. I can’t fight. I can’t fly. I can’t go home. I’m losing my mind on this planet.”

She remained quiet, letting me vent, even though I was dissing her new home, the place she’d been matched to through the Interstellar Brides Program. She’d chosen to come here, to stay here permanently. It was her life and she seemed happy. But I didn’t belong here and the fact that the governor wouldn’t allow me to go on missions, to at least get ‘out there’ was making me lose my mind. All the male attention didn’t help, it just made me feel like more of a freak. I could have all the male company I wanted, and yet I was lonelier than I’d ever been in my life. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

Kristin bit her lip and winced at my words. “Shit. I need to tell you something. Please don’t get mad. I was hoping it was a joke that would just blow over, but—"

“What?” I asked. I’d known her for a short time, but could read her easily, and I did not like the downcast eyes and pale face she was keeping averted.

“You’re so not going to like this.”

“What? Just spit it out.” Dread coiled to settle in my gut like the dust around me.

“Captain Marz, the Prillon?”

“Yes.” I knew him well enough. I’d had to turn him away from my door multiple times the last few weeks. He was all right. He tried. Brought me flowers, for heaven’s sake—I suspected Rachel or Kristin had suggested that one. But there was no spark there. I looked at him and felt… nothing. “What about him?”

“He issued a tournament challenge. They’re in the fighting pit right now deciding who gets to claim you.”

Deciding who gets to claim you.

“Is this a joke? Because it’s not funny.”

She put her hand over her face as if afraid to look at me. Shook her head. “No. Eight warriors. Whoever wins gets to claim you. All of them have agreed to the terms. The rest of the warriors started a betting pool. The whole base had to either enter the challenge or agree to leave you alone. Tane, the Atlan, is getting two-to-one odds. He’s the favorite to win.”

“WHAT?” I roared. I picked up the sledgehammer and hit the last dangling bit of stone wall with more force than necessary. It not only broke free but flew into the other room and landed on Kristin’s dining table, denting the metal surface. “The governor agreed to this?” I was going to kill that Prillon. I’d have to beg Rachel’s forgiveness after I ended him, but this was too much.

“I don’t think so—”

Good. I wouldn’t have to kill him.

“—and Rachel and I just heard about it. She’s on her way. She had to send someone to get Maxim. He’s down in one of the mines and the comms are out. I went to your quarters first. When you weren’t there, I came here.”

“I can’t believe this. It’s barbaric.” And hurtful. And wrong. How dare they presume to decide whom I would belong to? Whom I had to have sex with? And without even asking me? What was this? The 1500s?

The flowers didn’t work, so Captain Marz decided to just challenge the whole rest of the base to a tournament with me as the prize? And who were the other idiots who’d agreed?

The whole base, apparently.

What if I decided I wanted someone else? A man from Earth? A Hunter, like Kiel. But a Prillon? No. The whole mind-meld, collar thing freaked me out. And two mates? Or three, as I’d heard the Vikens had started doing? Um, no. One man was enough for me. Especially if he was big and fierce and looked like Makarios.

Oh, shit. This was not happening. No. Fucking. Way. “They’re fighting in the pits? Right now? This very second?”

“Come on. It’s pretty hot, right, the strongest, sexiest men fighting over you?” Her hand moved up toward her neck and her fingertips stroked the green collar there—the outward indication she was matched to a Prillon—with a lustful look in her eyes. Her mates were incredible. I could not disagree. But they’d been matched. Chosen.

They hadn’t forced themselves on her after beating up the other boys at the playground.

“No, it’s not. I’m not a prize to be won. I am not property. No fucking way,” I snarled. My poor mother would’ve been appalled at my language. But I was beyond caring. Somewhere between the little girl who used to play with dolls and bake cupcakes to make my daddy happy and now, I’d had the urge to please others disappear from my being. Maybe it was the cyborg parts. Maybe it was years of fighting a hard war, watching people die, caring too much. Somewhere in there, I’d lost the ability to put up with bullshit. And this was way above my tolerance level.

Kristin lifted her chin. “Then go do something about it.” She looked around her living room, which I had definitely destroyed. “Go beat up some alien hotties before the ceiling falls on top of us. I’m begging you.”

Wiping my hands together, I smiled. I was strong. Stronger than the men who were making me their prize. “Good idea.”

I stomped past her, my stride long as I worked my way down the corridor and then outside. Distantly, I heard her on her comms unit as we went. “Rachel, get to the pits. Gwen needs another wingman.” She followed me, which was fine. Since neither one of her mates was interested in me, they wouldn’t be in the pits to suffer my wrath.

Wingman? It was a nice gesture, but it wasn’t as if either Kristin or Rachel could back me up. No one could back me up. I was indestructible now that I’d spent some time with the Hive. Stronger than almost any male on the planet. Faster than even the Everian Hunter, Kiel. They might think they were going to win me, but they were wrong. So fucking wrong. And if I had to smash some heads to prove it, I would. Once and for all.

Ten minutes later, I wasn’t feeling any better. In fact, if I had the sledgehammer, I’d have smashed the stands surrounding the pit to rubble. “Why won’t any of you fight me?” I shouted.

I was breathing hard, not because I was tired from tossing the males around the pit, but because I was pissed. So filled with fury I could barely see straight. My blood pressure was up, my heated lifeforce pumping through my body like the bass beat at a rave. But the cyborg part of me didn’t feel a thing. My sight was perfect. My body buzzing with energy. It was my mind that was in turmoil, my heart that was breaking.

And I hadn’t thought there were any pieces left big enough to break. I’d been wrong.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” one brave male said.

“We won’t fight a female.” That was Tane. The Atlan. Friend of Makarios. He seemed decent enough, but nothing was going to make up for the fact that I simply did not want him. I didn’t want any of these overeager alpha males. The fact that they thought I was a prize to be won automatically eliminated them in my eyes.

If they’d been paying attention to a damn word I’d said the last few weeks, they would have known that.

But then, this wasn’t about me. This was about them. Who’s the biggest? The strongest? Who had muscles on muscles and the audacity to tell me who I had to give my body to?

I looked to Tane, narrowed my eyes. “Oh, you’ll fight over me like a bunch of little boys with a new toy? You’ll fuck me, mate me, but you won’t fight me?” I’d die before I’d let one of them touch me now, and I was pretty sure that opinion was blazing from my eyes when I spoke to the Atlan. He shrunk away from me, as if I’d hurt him, then nodded, bowing at the waist.

Too late for that, big jerk.

“You are a very desirable female. We honor you with this battle for the right to court you.”

It was unbelievable how different the customs were on the other planets. This wasn’t Earth. I tried to use that knowledge to cool my rage. He thought they were being courteous, chivalrous. Respectful.

“I don’t get any say then? No say in whether or not I can fight? Or whom I get to fuck? Or whom I mate? No choice at all? Because the winner of this”—I motioned with my finger pointed around the circle of four that remained standing—“is how you all treat your females? No choice. No desire. Not even dinner and a conversation? Straight to ownership of her body, and she doesn’t have any say in the matter?” My voice was quiet, cold. I let the cyborg parts keep me calm and hoped I sounded more like a machine than the heart-broken romantic that was slowly bleeding to death inside. Now I wasn’t just a freak who could never go home to Earth. Now I was just a piece of meat to be fought over.

“My lady—”

I spun about, looked to the male who’d called me that. “Don’t call me—”

“Enough!” The governor’s voice cut me off. Governor Maxim Rone walked with the air of a man used to being obeyed. Rachel was walking with him, nearly jogging to keep up with her mate’s angry stride as he moved from the edge of the arena to the center. He was dressed in the loose clothing of someone who spent more time in meetings than in the field, the copper collar around his neck an exact match to the one Rachel wore. The connection between them all the more irritating to me at the moment. Maxim might sit at a desk, but he was still a Prillon warrior with years of battle experience. He was a force to be reckoned with, well-respected and elected to his post as the ruler of Base 3. The other males deferred to his judgment.

But I was not a male. And I did not belong on this planet.

I glared at Rachel.

“I only needed ten more minutes to finish them off.”

She smiled, offered me a sheepish shrug. “I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

I rolled my eyes at that remote possibility but stayed quiet.

“The males showed you great respect in refusing to fight you.” Unfortunately, Maxim’s voice carried well because the other males seated around the arena stomped and clapped in agreement at his words. The governor crossed his arms and stared down at me. He was big, almost seven feet tall, his copper colored skin, dark hair and dark brown eyes reminded me of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Of course, I would never tell him that. Or Rachel. And he wasn’t exactly being candy-sweet at the moment either.

God, I missed chocolate.

“I’m stronger than they are. I’m a soldier, a member of the Coalition Fleet,” I countered. “I’ve seen as much or more combat than every male here.”

He gave a decisive nod. “You are all of those things, but you are still female. We do not hurt females, not even in play. If you fight, you fight your enemies. We are not your enemies. You ask these males to dishonor themselves and their families when you ask them to fight you.”

I huffed and glanced at Tane. The Atlan was beginning to look smug again, which added fuel to my fire. “That is such a double standard.”

“It is no such thing. Coming from Earth, you are not as familiar with the ways of Atlan, Prillon and even Trion males. Other planets, too. Females are sacred. Respected. To hurt a female or a child is to betray everything we fought for, everything we continue to sacrifice to protect.”

“Why am I the one in trouble here?” I waved my arm around as I spoke. “They’re the ones who got it into their Neanderthal heads that the last one standing was going to claim me.”

All of the men nodded, not the least bit contrite. Bloodied, sweaty and wearing torn clothing, they didn’t deny their actions.

“The idea isn’t a bad one.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I shouted, completely aggravated. I tugged at my hair, paced in circles. I couldn’t fight. What could I do? I was trapped on this planet. Caged like a wild animal.

“You’re running wild here, Lieutenant.”

“I’m not wild, Governor, I’m caged. Trapped.” I walked until I stood nearly toe-to-toe with him and looked up, way up into his eyes. The resignation I saw there made my heart jolt with panic. He was going to do something here that I was not going to like. I could see it in that calm regret, hear it in the deep sigh that came rumbling out of his chest. “No. Not this. Just let me go on some missions. Let me go wild on a bunch of Hive instead of on these guys,” I said, pointing at the four who had fought each other for me, but refused to fight me.

The governor slowly shook his head. “I cannot allow someone so close to losing control go on a mission. While I admit, these men taking it upon themselves to decide your fate was not the ideal solution, they aren’t wrong. You need a mate.”

“I’ll fight to the death before I agree to this.”

“And I’ll put you in the brig until you calm down.” He held up his fingers and nearly touched them to my lips when I drew another deep breath to argue. The shock of that almost touch made me pause as he continued. “It’s not just you, but the males as well. They’re practically feral over their desire to claim you. This base is starting to unravel, years of work and discipline are coming apart at the seams, and all because of one unmated female. The first and only mission I allowed you to take ended in disaster. Do you forget so easily?”

“No.” I hadn’t forgotten a single moment of that fiasco. Two Prillon warriors decided they were going to claim me while we were gone. The Atlan and two other Prillon warriors on the mission refused to allow them to approach me. A massive fight had broken out, the Atlan going into beast mode and destroying two small cruisers in the hangar before enough males arrived to break up the fight. And that had nothing to do with the actual fighting we’d been sent off to do. “Just order them to leave me alone.”

“They are not human, Gwendolyn. You cannot expect them to behave as human men would on Earth. They are Coalition warriors, and they are losing control at the idea of you wandering the base unclaimed and unprotected. It goes against our very natures. I won’t have it any longer. I can’t.” He added the last with some finality.

“So you’re just going to let them fight over me? Winner take all?” I asked, stunned.

My stomach turned at the thought. While all four of the males before me were handsome, impressive male specimens, none were the one I would even consider. And he was in the stands. I’d locked eyes with Mak, the hot, brooding Atlan, when I caught a glimpse of him in the crowd. And one glimpse was enough to make my nipples go hard, my pussy clench with eager anticipation of being fucked. By him. Oh yes, he was all intense, alien. Hell, every one of them on The Colony was, but there was something about Mak that set him apart, that made me hot.

“Absolutely not,” the governor said. “I have learned much from my mate.” He turned to look at Rachel, who smiled and walked over to his side. He lifted his arm so she could slide in close to his side, then lowered it to rest across her shoulders, his fingers idly caressing her. “You will choose a mate. There is not a male here who would deny you.”

The crowd roared in approval of that one, and I felt like an insect under a magnifying glass. Every male eye in the crowd was now focused exclusively on me. Shouting at me. Enticing me with flexed muscles or intense gazes. Good god. The governor had just unleashed the Kraken.

“Fine. I’ll choose my own mate.” I nodded once, relieved. “Good. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”

As I took a step toward the door I’d flung open, he called out, “You will choose a mate now. Right now. Before you leave the pit.”

I froze then spun on my heel. “Now?”

“Now,” he repeated. “You need a mate, to be claimed and marked so that the rest of the males know whom you belong to—”

“Whom I belong to?” I said, but he continued as if not hearing.

“—and will no longer find the need to fight in the mess hall, the outer courtyard or here in the pits.”

“Are you serious?”

He gave one decisive nod. “Very. Choose a mate or one will be chosen for you.”

“That’s right. You will do as the governor says. Maybe then you’ll be too busy to completely destroy our personal quarters,” Tyran cut in, now standing beside Kristin. She rolled her eyes at her mate and then winked at me.

“Now,” the governor said again, exerting his authority and using the example of my destruction of someone’s living space as another reason for his haste. He raised his hand to silence the crowd and the volume went from melee to library in a matter of seconds, every male there watching me with hope in his eyes.

I glanced quickly into the stands. Found Makarios. Looked away.

Every male but one.

Damn. Makarios was scowling, his arms crossed over his chest, his face an unreadable slab of stone. He could have been watching paint dry. “But—”

“If you are mated, then you will no longer be a source of such disruption. You will be put back on active duty and allowed to go on missions,” he added.

I bit my lip at that statement. At the fucking dangling carrot.

I angled my head down, stared at him through my lashes. Okay, I’d bite. “Let me repeat that just so we’re clear. I find myself a mate and I can go on missions again, even to fight the Hive.”

“That’s correct.”

He wouldn’t have tossed it out there if it weren’t true. He was the governor, for Pete’s sake. And, he’d said it in front of lots of people. Witnesses. He couldn’t back out now.

I couldn’t stay here on The Colony, grounded, for another day. The opportunity was too great. I just needed a mate. What did it matter? We could fuck and have fun and then I could go off on missions. Do my own thing. No connection except a good time. Any one of these males would be good in bed. But there was one who made me eager to get there. And now.

Even better, it was well known that he didn’t want a mate at all. I did not need an overly protective, possessive alpha male bossing me around, thinking I belonged to him. I needed freedom, and a smoking hot tumble in the sheets.

Refusing to glance up into the stands, I focused my thoughts on the one who made me hot, who could make my time between missions filled with orgasms. The idea… and the thought of Mak’s hands on me, his cock in me, was making me burn up with lust.

His eyes, light and piercing, would hold mine as he thrust into me. His skin was tanned, his jaw strong. With hair a little too long to be considered military cut, he stood out from the others. Even in the standard Coalition uniform, he stood out in a crowd. Taller than the other Atlans, he was a silent, sulking giant and I wanted to get under his skin and find out what made him tick. What made him hot. What made him burn.

There was nothing about him that overtly confirmed the rumor that he wasn’t Coalition military, that he wasn’t a fighter at all. But I believed the gossip. And those in the know said he was a rebel and smuggler from Rogue 5. That he broke laws as easily as he could crack skulls. That his code of honor and loyalty belonged to his Legion, one that ruled part of the rebel moon above the planet Hyperion. That he was different. Unique. Alone in the galaxy. One of a kind.

Exactly like me.

I put my hands on my hips. Hot sex. No strings. We’d both get what we wanted. “Fine.”

The governor arched a brow. “That easily? I should have given you an ultimatum days ago. This base wouldn’t be in such turmoil.”

I pursed my lips, not pleased he’d put all the blame for things being a little crazy on me. It wasn’t my fault the males were acting like a bunch of cavemen.

“Fighters, you willingly fought in the pit for this female. Will you now agree to allow her to select a mate?”

The four males puffed up their chests, lifted their chins. They nodded and agreed readily, no doubt confident, each of them, that I would choose him.

“Who do you choose, Gwendolyn Fernandez of Earth? Your decision will not be questioned, your answer final. Please state the warrior’s name and planet of origin, so there will be no confusion. Whom do you declare as your mate?”

This wasn’t the way I wanted to find a guy, but the perks were too good to pass up. A big cock attached to a hot guy and my freedom? I’d be able to go on missions, get off this planet for a while. The governor was being generous. If I didn’t agree, I had to assume he would take the choice away from me. I would be mated to someone within the hour, someone he would probably select. It was all down to whether I would choose my own destiny or allow the decision to be made for me.

The whole situation was unfair, but then, that was life on The Colony. Suckage and more suckage after that. The males here were even worse off than I was, if I was being perfectly honest. I had my pick of hundreds of sexy, virile, eager males. And they only had the hope that they’d be matched to an Interstellar Bride, and that was only if the system, the testing made a match. Hope for a bride… and me.

I looked at the four males before me, then up into the stands. At him. I lifted my hand and pointed, taking a deep breath to steady my nerves. I had no idea how this was going to go down, if he’d be pleased or appalled. If he was interested or would hate me for trapping him. But I knew two things. One, I wanted his body pounding into mine. I wanted to touch him. Smell him. I wanted skin to skin contact in a big way.

And two? If the rumors were true, and I believed they were, Mak didn’t want a mate. He didn’t want to be on this planet any more than I did. We were both trapped. Prisoners. We could have fun and use each other for our own ends.

Of all the males here, he was the only one who would give me what I really wanted… hot sex with no strings. Besides, if I had to choose, I was going to go for what my traitorous body craved. “I choose Makarios Kronos of Rogue 5.”

No one spoke. All was silent in the pit and the stands around it. Slowly, he stood.

Our gazes met.

Held.

I forgot to breathe.

Around us, no one moved. No one made a sound as a single beat of my pulse pounded through my ears like a bass drum. One beat.

Two.

Then all hell broke loose.