the Humanoid Alliance watching them, had stopped him. And he projected only his presence had stopped her from taking permanent and bloody action.
He wasn’t by her side at the moment. And he couldn’t process where she was.
His female was surprisingly skilled at deactivating monitoring equipment. He couldn’t follow her every move, had lost her in one of the main hallways, hadn’t detected her since then.
She could be avenging her fallen friend, the medic she claimed gave her lifespan for his and Valor’s freedom.
The prospect of a universe without Illona in it was…unsettling.
Malice lifted his right hand, opened his fingers slightly, breathed in her scent. It clung to the strip of fabric. He hadn’t released that piece of her flight suit all planet rotation.
His need for her drummed at him. His balls ached. His cock was hard.
But his concern for her overrode his wanting.
She had vowed she’d return to his chamber during the rest cycle, allow him to end her lifespan…if she was alive. That if disturbed him.
Malice paced faster. She—
He detected her on the Humanoid Alliance monitoring equipment. She was walking along a hallway, moving in his direction.
His little medic remained alive.
Some of the tension within him dissipated.
Picton and Bonin stood outside his door. The human males weren’t visible. They must have deactivated the monitoring equipment in that section of the hallway.
Malice had his own scanning capabilities. He determined the guards’ positions through those.
As Illona neared his chamber, his scans tracked her approach also. His processors hummed. His control was challenged. Seeking to supplement it, he retreated to the far side of the chamber, flattened his form against that wall and waited for her.
His medic and the head guard exchanged a tense volley of words. Picton claimed the machine was agitated. Illona told him she wasn’t seeking his input.
The door opened. She stepped into the chamber.
“You’ll get my input.” Picton sneered at her back. “And much more.” Silver flashed in his hands.
Malice rushed forward, jumping over the sleeping support.
He was too slow.
The guard slashed at Illona with a dagger, then backed away from her, retreating into the hallway like the coward he was. “The machine will end your lifespan now.”
The male smirked at him as the door closed.
Malice suppressed the urge to strike at him. His focus was, would always be, his female.
She gasped, grasped her side. The scent of freshly spilled blood teased his nostrils. Her face turned pale. Her legs buckled under her.
He caught her before she hit the floor. “The male touched you, damaged you.” A guilt-fed fury meshed with his concern. She was his and he hadn’t protected her.
“I’ve been damaged for the past solar cycle and a half.” His tiny human’s voice was alarmingly faint. “I promised to let you kill me. Picton might have forced me to break that vow.”
“No one will kill you but me.” Malice’s voice was gruff with emotion.
He stripped her white jacket off her. It dropped to the tiles. He removed her boots and flight suit next, revealing brown skin, slight curves.
And a hand-length gash on her side. Crimson flowed down her hip, along her leg.
He lifted her high against the wall. She didn’t protest that treatment. That was testament to how damaged she was.
Malice bent his head, extended his tongue, and licked over the wound. His female hissed. The metallic taste of her blood filled his mouth. It was mixed with the tingle of his nanocybotics.
They should repair her. He laved the cut again and again, transferring additional nanocybotics to her. She threaded her fingers through his short hair, curved them over his scalp, holding him to her as he tended to her, as he fixed his fragile human the only way he processed how.
Her torn flesh slowly pulled together. A thin layer of skin formed over the damage.
She would live. He released a ragged breath and rested his forehead against her form for one, two heartbeats. Relief flowed through him.
His little medic stroked the back of his head, his nape. That light massage soothed him, taming his rage, reassuring him.
She was alive, was with him. Her damage was repairing.
He could hasten that process, do more for her. “Breeding would relay a larger quantity of nanocybotics to you. That would repair you faster.”
“Yes, breed with me.” She wiggled against him, her sensuous movements teasing his already-aroused body. “As a medic, I approve of that treatment. Wholeheartedly.” His female lowered her hands to his shoulders. “Fuck me.” She hooked her legs around his waist. “Fill me with your healing cum.”
Her