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  I growled deep in my throat. To hell with the watching nurse. I reached for Maya, but she shook her head and held her hands up, palms out. “Later.” A shadow crossed her face. “And I have questions, first.”

  Though I busied myself going through the confidential files Leo had turned up on the vidcom, it felt like ‘later’ would never come.

  “Jeez, Cap, you got teromotan or something in your pants?” Jag said as I checked my timepiece again.

  “More of the ‘or something’ I’d say,” Leo snorted. “I reckon those files are pretty conclusive, Herc. Just the fact that they were buried under so many layers of lockdown makes them suspicious.” He flexed his fingers, obviously pleased with his tech skills.

  I’d be a shit commander if I simply led my men where I wanted to go. They needed autonomy. “What’s your take-away, then?”

  Leo eyed me for a long moment. “Seems Maya told the truth.”

  I swallowed the urge to boast that of course she had.

  Jag jumped in. “I’m leaning toward thinking we go rogue.”

  It was what I wanted to hear, but each of them needed to decide their own fate. “No rush. It’s a helluva decision. We’ll wait till Spike gets back in. Give him the info, then you guys take a vote.” I’d abstain, because no matter what way the votes fell, I’d be with Maya.

  Khal groaned as I checked my timepiece again. “Just go, Cap. You’re gonna be no use to us till that bond’s sealed.”

  I rubbed at my jaw, as though I could smear away my guilt. “Yeah, I kind of have to explain that whole deal to her, first.”

  Leo ripped his gaze from the screen doc he was reading. “What the hell? You’ve made the second bond, and you didn’t warn her? Whoa, wouldn’t want to be in your shoes now, Cap.”

  “He’s gonna be out of them soon enough,” Khal chuckled, leaping up to open the door into the corridor from our quarters. “Think you can squeeze that twenty-four hours you need, boss?”

  “Nope.” No way could I get twenty-four uninterrupted hours right now to seal the third bond.

  But that didn’t mean I couldn’t love Maya in every other way possible.

  Maya answered the door before I’d rapped my knuckles on the sirdar panel a second time. Her hair damp, a filmy robe billowed open at the front, showing tantalizing glimpses of her smooth flesh. Excellent. She wanted me nearly as bad as I wanted her.

  She seized my wrist, dragging me into the room. Not that she could’ve moved me if I didn’t want to be moved. Her hands wound around my neck, pulling my mouth down to hers. The electricity surged as her lips crashed into mine, her lithe body willowing against me, all soft and wanton against my hardness. My hands drove into her hair, holding her to me as I thrust my tongue urgently into her mouth, desperate to taste her. Gods, if I couldn’t fuck her the way I wanted, I’d at least have her mouth.

  Her hips pushed urgently against me as she sought a rhythm to match my plundering tongue, but suddenly she pulled back, gasping. “Questions, I said. Herc, what is this? I want to fuck you, more than I’ve ever wanted a man in my life, but somehow I feel…more.” She thumped a clenched fist against her chest. “When you kiss me it’s like we’re…we’re…” She waved a hand between our bodies, invisibly drawing us together as she searched for the words she needed.

  “Bonded?” I supplied reluctantly.

  “Yes, that’s it!” she said, then suspicion furrowed her brow. “Wait. You feel it, too? More than that tingle when we first touched? And what the heck’s up with your guys knowing about that?”

  I rubbed at my jaw. “That custom I was trying to tell you about this morning, it’s a Felidaekin thing. Well, it’s supposed to be a cat thing, but it seems it affects you, too.”

  “Affects?” she drew back. “I’m not liking the sound of that.”

  I planted my hands on her hips, hoping she’d hear me out before reacting. “Felidaekin bond for life when they meet their soul mate. The first bond is a touch, which ties our bodies, the second a kiss, which ties our hearts.”

  “For life?” she gasped, dismay filling her eyes. She wrenched free. “Gods, what have you done to me, Herc?”

  So not the reaction I’d hoped for. “It’s not that bad, Maya. There’s no reason—”

  “You don’t understand!” She whirled away from me, then turned back, her eyes spitting fury. “You had no right, Herc. Can't you see that? I've lost everything, and then you do…this. You make me care for you, and you had no right.”

  She might not be Felidaekin, but she certainly was a wildcat. “Maya, I didn’t plan this, there was no way I could know we were bondmates until we touched. But once that happened, I couldn’t resist you. Damn, I tried to, though. I want you willing, Maya, not because the bond forces you. What's so bad about allowing the way you feel?”

  She shook her head, tears glistening. “Can’t you see? Everything I loved is gone. I don't want to risk loving you, because I don't want to risk being hurt again. But you give me no choice.”

  “Maya.” I shook my head as my voice broke. I hated to see her in pain. Hated that I’d not saved her sister. Hated that she thought I’d cause her more anguish.

  Yet I knew what she meant.

  Loving her made me vulnerable, too.

  “You do have a choice.” My words came slow and heavy. “We haven’t made the third bond, and that one is entirely your decision. You have to want me to have sex with you. You have to demand it of me. Until then, our bond can be broken.”

  She frowned at me, chewing on her lip. “The bonds—that’s why you wouldn’t kiss me in the alley yesterday? You were trying to avoid the second bond?”

  “I was avoiding forcing it on you.” Not the whole truth. I’d been trying not to commit myself, either. But hells, bond or no bond, I was all in for this woman.

  She closed the space between us. “But there’s no final bond unless I beg you for sex?”

  “Well, demand. Though begging works for me.” My cock leapt at the idea. I needed to come clean, though. “There’s one other thing.”

  She scowled ferociously. “You’re not going to say you have to shift, first? Because I don’t know that I…that we…could. Y’know?”

  All I was getting from that was, knowing the choice was hers, she hadn’t entirely discounted the idea of us having sex. I shook my head, hands encircling her waist. “No. I only do that when—” Damn, not the right phrasing. I backtracked hastily. “If I wanted to take a she-cat. Not for you."

  Her nipples pressed against my abs. I should’ve taken my shirt off. She stood on tiptoes, her lips teasing my throat, breath hot as she spoke. “But we can do anything we want, short of, y’know, going the whole way? And we won’t be bonded? So, I’m in control of this?”

  “Technically, not fully bonded.” I had to be honest with her. “Thing is, Maya, I’m already there. You’re my soul mate. But to cement the third bond, we have to spend twenty-four hours together.”

  “In bed?” she purred, her hand finding the front of my pants.

  I swallowed hard as she gripped my cock. “Uh huh.” Yeah, no more words, there was no blood making it to my brain.

  “Maybe you’d better start persuading me to beg.” She glanced at her com.

  “What, do you have a date or something? Somewhere you need to be?”

  She laughed a little guiltily, and I swept her from her feet, crossing the room in two paces to lower her to the bed. Her robe fell open.

  Gods, I wanted her to demand everything I had to offer.

  Instead, I straddled her thighs, the mattress sagging under my weight. I kissed from her throat, down between the twin mountains of her breasts. My hand found a nipple, as my lips traveled lower, across her flat belly. The musk of her sex drew me in, coating the back of my throat with the rich cream.

  I shifted further down the bed, nudging her thighs apart with my knees, so I could kneel between them. A clipped triangle of blonde hair pointed down, like an arrow guiding me to the lips of her sex. Not tha
t I required any guidance.

  Her pink slit, already puffed with desire, glistened wetly in the overhead light. Sliding off the bed onto my knees on the hard floor, I grasped her hips and tugged her down the bed, closer to me. I licked my lips hungrily. “I’m going to eat you, Maya,” I growled.

  Her body trembled, part chuckle, part desire. She slit her eyes at me. “Big man, big talk. Hope you plan to prove—oh!”

  I didn’t wait for the rest of her teasing but took a greedy swipe of my tongue along the smooth lips of her pussy. She arched toward me, her hand winding into my hair to force me closer.

  My dick pulsed with urgency, but I kept my touch gentle, carefully parting the folds of her sex, so she was splayed open to my view. To my touch. To my tongue.

  Her juices trickled along the pink crevasse, and I used the tip of my tongue to lap at the nectar, teasing the folds of her labia, then flicking her engorged clitoris.

  Her hips jerked, and she moaned, thrusting toward me. “Fuck, Herc, just do it!”

  I grinned. My Maya wasn’t one to hold back. She’d have no problem demanding what she wanted. But I needed the moment to last.

  Slowly, I drew one finger along her slit, then probed her opening. So tight. Gods, I’d be lucky to get a couple of fingers in there, never mind my cock.

  Maya had other ideas, though. She reached down, grabbed my hand and forced my finger into her slick channel. “Fuck me with it, Herc.”

  I wasn’t a guy who needed to be asked twice. My finger buried inside her, I bent forward and sucked on her hard clit. Her thighs trembled and shook.

  “Stop!” she gasped.

  I drew back instantly. That second finger had been too much.

  Maya pushed up onto her elbows, her pupils blown out with lust. “Get your clothes off.”

  She was definitely into this demanding stuff, and that was cool, if it meant I was going to get more skin-on-skin with her. I stripped quickly, wincing as I had to bend my cock to free it from the suddenly too-tight camos. Then I dropped to my knees on the floor again, eager to bury myself in her intoxicating juices.

  “No, Herc. Come here.” She reached behind her, toward the top of the bed, and tugged a pillow free, ramming it under her head. “I want to taste you.”

  Fuck. Did she seriously mean…?

  Her dancing eyes and the wicked smile curving her full lips promised that she meant exactly what I thought. Gods, the idea of ramming my obscenely huge cock in her pretty little mouth was about enough to make me come on the spot.

  But I had to be careful not to hurt her. “No, Maya. I won’t last if you do that.”

  She lifted one shoulder, her naked breast jiggling. “So, don’t last. I want to come together, Herc.” She rotated a finger in the air, directing me to turn around, and grinned.

  Gods, I wanted to make her orgasm with my tongue.

  I knelt astride her head, facing her feet, and bent to lap at her slick quim again. Her tiny size fit perfectly beneath me. I slid my fingers into her, hooking them forward to maximize the friction against just the right spot.

  Her hand gripped my shaft. My chuckle bounced off her thighs as I realized she was using two hands to grasp my hard-on, but my laughter died as I felt the tip of her tongue, wet and hot against the head of my cock.

  “Fuck, Maya,” I groaned into her slit.

  “Yes, fuck Maya,” she agreed with a lilt in her tone, a mixture of breathlessness and desire. “Fuck me with your mouth and your fingers, Herc. Make me come. I want you to come on me.”

  As though I needed any encouragement, she swirled her tongue around my dick, then sucked the head into her mouth. I fought the urge to shove it deeper, concentrated instead on the sensation of her hands, furiously pumping my shaft.

  As I slid a second finger inside her, matching the rhythm set by her hands and bucking hips, I sucked greedily at her clit.

  Her feet dug into the mattress, and she arched her hips higher, nails clawing my backside, urging me into her mouth. Still I held back, afraid I’d choke her. She couldn’t speak, but she moaned, her thick juice lubricating my fingers faster than I could lap it up. Her legs shuddered and quivered as she spasmed and thrust up to me, flooding my mouth with an orgasm sweeter than feyran molasses. My balls tightened and I tried to pull away from her, but she clamped her lips tight around the head of my cock, her hands pumping furiously, and I couldn’t hold back, spurting stream after stream of come down her throat, then across her face as she gasped.

  “Gods, Maya,” I groaned. I almost didn’t want to turn toward her, didn’t want to witness my desecration of something so beautiful. But when I did look, I was instantly hard again. Licking her lips, Maya traced the strands of white cum from her chin with a delicate fingertip. She was both the hottest, wildest woman I’d ever known, yet the most beautiful, fragile prize I’d ever held.

  I’d never have enough of her.

  “Maya, I—” Hammering on the door interrupted me and Maya tensed, her gaze darting to the door. “Go away,” I bellowed, not taking my eyes off her. My hand moved to caress her breast. There was so much more I planned to explore.

  “Boss? It’s important.” Leo. Damn it, cock-blocking was getting to be a habit with these guys.

  I took my time, kissing Maya deeply before shoving to my feet and dragging on my camos. I covered her with a sheet. My woman. No one else got to share, not even so much as a look.

  Then I stalked across the room, wiping the traces of Maya from my face with my forearm. “This had better be damn good,” I ground out as I yanked the door open.

  Leo was paler than should be possible for a Lionkin. “Drone got Spike.”

  “Fuck. How bad is he?” I’d started to whirl back into the room to grab my boots, when I caught the shake of Leo’s head.

  “Herc. He’s gone.”

  Chapter Ten

  Maya

  W hile Herc strode to the door, I slipped from my bed and quickly donned my robe. I stepped inside the bathroom but left the door open a crack—so I could listen.

  “He’s gone,” Leo said.

  “Fuck,” Herc said again. I heard a bang, as if he’d slammed his fist into the wall. “Body?”

  “Left it, they said. For the vipers.”

  The Regime was notorious for “leaving” someone for the vipers.

  Staked out, most of the time.

  I shivered, remembering the time I’d found two of our missing fighters still alive, tied to stakes, laid out for a viper feast. We’d barely rescued them before they were eaten.

  “What do you want us to do?” Leo asked.

  “Go to our quarters. Tell the guys I’ll be there shortly.”

  The outer door banged shut, and footsteps stomped in my direction. Herc’s growl preceded him.

  I stepped out into the bedroom before he could break down the door.

  “You…” he ground out. “Your people did this.” Pacing in the tiny space between my bed and the wall, he raked his hands through his thick hair, making it stand on end. “Your fucking drones shot one of my men. Killed him.” Stalling in front of me, he grabbed my forearms, and I knew he barely resisted shaking me. “When’s this going to stop? You wanna tell me that? When I’m dead? You’re dead? The entire planet’s dead?”

  “It stops when the Regime leaves Glia.”

  Emotions flickered across his face, as if he was disgusted and maybe even shamed for giving way to his anger.

  He released my arms and slammed his hands down to his sides. Claws grew then retracted on the tips of his fingers.

  Was he changing before my eyes?

  I understood how he must feel. I’d lost friends, family. They’d haunt me for the rest of my life.

  But he was wrong about the Resistance.

  How dare he assume I was to blame for Spike’s death? Yet, even as my anger flared, I still found him fascinating. Was my absorption in him the bond speaking? Or my heart?

  There was danger in loving this shifter.

  I ease
d around him and moved to my kitchen, putting space between us. Not that I feared him in man or liger form. I feared myself. It was all I could do not to give into my overwhelming urge to drag him to my bed and cement the final stage of our bond.

  But I couldn’t.

  Herc stormed up to me, his eyes still flashing.

  With some difficulty, I tamped down my own anger. “There’s one tiny detail I’m confident the C.O. neglected to mention,” I said, slamming my fist on the counter.

  “What?”

  “Our drones are unarmed.”

  Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back and bellowed out a roar. I held myself steady, but glasses I’d washed and left in the drainer rattled. I watched as awareness of Smithton’s latest deception solidified on Herc’s face.

  “Then how in the hells did my puma die in the desert?” he asked in a lower tone.

  “Good question.” I had a feeling neither of us would like the answer. “Maybe the drone hitting Spike is somehow related to the Regime’s overwhelming interest in your blood and DNA.” Was there some sort of connection?

  He shook his head. “I’ve got to go. I need to figure out what’s going on here.” He dropped his hands onto my shoulders and stared into my eyes. “I want you to stay here, where you’ll be safe. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Gnawing on my lower lip, I said nothing.

  Clearly, it was going to take some time for him to learn he couldn’t order me around, no matter how fine his intent.

  Once the door had shut behind him and I’d locked it, I leaned against the back. Shoved my hair off my face.

  Again, things between me and Herc hadn’t gone exactly as I’d planned. I’d meant to talk, then be with him, if only for this moment.

  Did a person truly have a soulmate?

  It couldn’t be true.

  I didn’t want it to be true.

  Because that would mean this was all beyond my control. I couldn’t let that happen.

  But if I had a choice, would I pick Herc?

  Yes.

  Something inside me told me I would’ve loved him no matter how we met.