being inside me, and my mind was still reeling at how it’d happened.
We’d been forced, both of us. They’d used us to violate each other. The last thing I wanted right now was to have anyone’s hands on me, again. Not even Wyck’s.
“This was not how it was supposed to happen,” I said quietly in reply to his questioning stare, backing all the way to my sleeping pallet by the far wall.
“We’ll make it right,” he said resolutely, repeating what I’d said to him earlier.
He swept a glance around the room then winced and quickly averted his eyes.
“You’ll need a better place than this.” He made the doors open again. “I’ll be right back.”
Lesh hissed with a whimper as the doors closed behind Wyck. My legs gave in under me, and I sank onto the sleeping pallet.
The animal trotted to me. After restlessly pacing in a circle for a minute or two, he lay down on the floor next to me, his tail snaking in a circle around him. Lesh fixed all of his eyes on the door behind which Wyck had gone.
I found myself staring at it, too. I worried about how my thoughts and my heart trailed behind that man, refusing to leave him even as he was no longer with me. I didn’t want him to touch me, yet I hated when he left. I needed him to be here. No place on the Dark Anomaly felt safe unless Wyck was there with me.
The future seemed grim. I knew I had to keep faith that things would get better if I wanted to hold on to my will to survive. Yet faith was so hard to come by.
WYCK
He slowed down his pace, walking along the corridor.
His lower cock, the one that hadn’t known the bliss of being inside Nadia, remained painfully hard. Every step added to the agony. The only way to get rid of the pain was to make himself come, but his thoughts weren’t on it.
As long as everyone knew where she was, Nadia was not safe. That thought was like a thorn in his chest. He needed to find a better place for her. He wished to hide her, lock her up, chain her in somewhere she wouldn’t be able to escape from and where no one would ever find her.
The hurricane of feelings for her raged inside him—new and confusing. Ironically, the only person whom he could talk to about them was her. No one else would even begin to understand.
He’d gone against his family over her. When he thought back to the moment he’d held the gun pointed at Nocc, he felt he was ready to kill one of his own kind for her. How did she become so important to him that he would go against everything he’d been raised to believe in, against everything he’d been taught he was supposed to be?
His room was on an ancient ship behind the mess hall. He shared the space with the rest of the errocks, his bunk separated from theirs by just a curtain. There was barely enough space on the floor for Lesh’s dish and sleeping mat.
Living in the tight quarters had never bothered him before. For the first time in his life, however, he didn’t feel entirely safe spending the night here. The memory of Nocc’s betrayal burnt through his heart. His own family turning against him made him look over his shoulder everywhere he went.
Thankfully, the ship was empty right now. He grabbed all the blankets off his bed and left promptly before anyone showed up.
Passing by the mess hall, he realized why the errocks weren’t back in their sleeping quarters despite the late hour. A number of fights were taking place. The crew had decided to deal with their lingering lust by physically releasing aggression against each other.
“Hey, Wyck.” Krakhil, a dimo, sauntered from the room, a tattered rag draped over his shoulder. “Wonna fight? Place a bet?” he asked casually, as if nothing had happened just a short while ago. As if Krakhil wasn’t one of those who’d held Wyck down while the rest threatened to violate his woman.
Wyck gritted his teeth, reining in his rising anger. His muscles ached with strain and tension. He’d love to throw a punch or two or even let a few land on his body. A fight might bring a welcome distraction to the mess happening in his head.
He had other priorities, though.
“Busy.” He snatched the rag from the dimo’s shoulder and