Alien Conquest (Fated Mates of Xaensskar #2) - Jude Gray Page 0,45

than having her put to death. Will you listen?”

He sighed, then gave me a sharp nod. “For you, I will do anything.”

Surprised but relieved, I melted against the warmth of his big body and smiled. “There’s something people hate even more than death,” I told him.

“Oh yes? What is that?”

“Prison planets,” I said. “I want to send Avanya to a prison planet.”

Bo caught up with us and after a relieved glance at me, he looked at Dexx. “What happened?”

Dexx told him everything.

And then he didn’t speak again until we were nearly back at the camp. “Don’t let her run,” he said, and Bo hurried away to make sure the slippery, deceitful, wily Hgrir didn’t somehow manage to escape the punishment she had coming to her. She was going to pay for every terrible thing she’d ever done.

And it was about fucking time.

Chapter Twenty-Five

DEXX

“Because of Kreia,” I told Avanya, “you won’t die for your attempt to murder her. She has asked that you be sent to a prison planet.”

Avanya, her eyes red and swollen from crying—despite everything, Graez had been her fated mate, and she would likely grieve for the rest of her life—clenched her fists and glared at me before snarling, “I would rather die.”

I nodded. “I know.”

She wouldn’t look at Kreia, refusing even to acknowledge her presence. Kreia remained grimly silent. She took no pleasure in the other woman’s pain, though most would have. Something was troubling her, but she had yet to tell me what it was.

Perhaps she was still upset that I was taking her back to the city. Bo had told me about the XCRU ploy, but I couldn’t be angry about it. If I’d let her go that day, I might never have found her again.

“The doctor is here,” Bo said.

“Again?” Kreia wailed. “I just saw him. I’m sick of being poked and prodded. I’m fine, Dexx. Send him away.”

“Into the cabin,” I told her gently.

She sighed but did as I asked. As I followed her, I strode past the officers who were preparing to escort Avanya to the city. She would be transported to Slidh, her new home, within the week.

I didn’t look back at her, because I didn’t want to see if she would still remind me of my mother and cause me a pang of guilt or pain. I hoped I wasn’t that weak and irrational, but I wasn’t willing to test it out.

I would slam the door on Avanya the Hgrir, and I would never think of her again.

It’d been a week since Kreia’s attack, and though she insisted she was fine, I had the doctor in to see her three times a day. When Kreia grumbled about it, I reminded her about the first two days, when I would not let the doctor leave the cabin or her side.

I hadn’t slept in the same bed with her after the first night. She needed to heal, and I couldn’t resist her. I’d lain in bed with her the night of her return. She’d wiggled her bare bottom against my groin and it was nearly my undoing. I groaned just thinking about it.

The doctor stepped back from examining her. “She’s fine,” he told me.

“I told you,” Kreia exclaimed. “I feel great.” She beamed, then threw her arms around my waist and grinned up at me. “Excuse the doctor so we can be alone to…celebrate.”

My cock roared to life immediately, not just at her words but at her nearness. Still, I restrained myself and looked at the doctor.

“She’s fine,” he said, then shook his head, muttering as he walked across the cabin floor and out the door.

And then we were alone.

She backed up and kicked her boots off, then yanked her shirt over her head. As I gaped like a youth about to be laid for the first time, she shoved her pants over her hips and ran her hands down her body. “I need you, Dexx. I’ve been waiting for this moment since you rescued me from that bonetrap. Touch me.” She took my hand and placed it on her breast. “I didn’t need the doctor or the alone time or the…” She laughed, then gasped when I slid my thumb across her stiff nipple. “Or the green leafy shit you made me eat,” she finished. “All I needed was you.”

“You’ve got me,” I assured her.

She grasped my hand and urged me to slide my fingers between her legs. “I need you here.”

The effort I made to remain unmoving and calm was