I’d wanted him, yes. Very badly. Okay, I’d come at him like a bitch in heat. I freely admitted that.
Butmated? That implied a permanency that I hadn’t intended at all. I’d thought we were mutually carried away in the heat of the moment. If I were honest, it had been building since that first moment in the alley. But desire did not dictate a permanent arrangement.
At least, I hadn’t thought it had.
My panic rose as my world view tilted. Why had this happened? Was it caused by the serum? We’d hardly been in a safe place at the time, yet I’d been driven by something so powerful—I couldn’t begin to understand it. And even through my dismay, my entire being, body and soul, quivered with the need to do it all over again. As if something deep inside me believed what he was telling me…
But had I really just intended to screw him, and walk away?That seemed like kind of a bitchy thing to do. A human male would be more than agreeable to those terms. But he wasn’t human.
Hecertainlywasn’t human.
He was still inside me, but not nearly so tight, now. I supposed trying to outrun a battlecruiser on one engine might have something to do with it.
“Need a closer look at what that planet offers,” he said through gritted teeth.
Which was a polite request for navigation. I hit the harness release, and disengaged carefully. He inhaled sharply as I slid off him, every inch—and there were many—sending electric zings through me. I staggered on wobbly legs over to the navigation seat, and strapped in. Took a deep breath, and began tapping at the touch screen, calling up Ssanue’s charts.
As I did so, his words echoed through me.Do you want this? I have to know, Princess Jazmin.
The answer to that had been simple and driven by raw, primal desire. He hadn’t said anything about mating, though.
I wanted to be free. Not mated to one of the very creatures I was runningfrom.
Right?
Yes.I felt betrayed. Tricked into something I’d not agreed to. Maybe by the serum? But definitely by my own body.
And by Zyair. If he’d known this might happen, he should have told me.
I needed distance, like,now.But something inside me wailed, even as the thought passed through my mind. Did they really only do this locking thing when they mated? How did his body even know I was mate material?
No,Dammit.I hadnotagreed to mate a Drake.
Far too many questions, and this was not the time to demand answers. At least I could now formulate the questions without his damned cock vibrating me to another climax. Which had beenawesome. Spectacular. Breathtaking. Okay, I didn’t have the adequate words for what I’d just experienced.
Focus, Jaz. We were close enough to the planet to see that the clouds obscured pretty much all of its surface. And these weren’t white fluffy friendly clouds. They were dark and roiling, with lightning shooting through them.
I scanned the data popping up on the screen. “Five main continents. Only one has anything remotely approaching dry land—looks like a pretty wet place. Huge sections of the landmasses are more swamp than anything else. Unless we’re interested in an ice vacation—there are frozen areas at the poles.”
More alarms sounded. “Our remaining engine is failing,” Zyair said. “Swamps are good, so long as they do not suck us twenty feet down. Softer landing.”
I eyed him. “Are we going to be able to land?”
His mouth twisted as he scanned the gauges. “Repulsorlifts are at 30 percent.”
That wasn’t good. I grimaced and hit the ship-wide comm unit. “We are attempting a landing at Ssanue, but we will be coming in hot. So strap in and brace for impact.”
“Are you trying to get us killed?” Kurt’s shrill voice replied.
“Feel free to exit at will,” I snarled back. “The airlock is available.”
Silence. Then a click.
“I do not like this Kurt.” Zyair’s voice had dropped a full octave. “For how long have you known him?”
“Most of my life. He’s my half-brother’s friend, the company’s head of security, and the major pain-in-the-ass jerk who wanted to apply for a license to mate me.”
At first, he didn’t respond. Then he growled, “You willneverbe his mate. Or Senaik’s, either.”
