them from pushing those loose strands of hair out of Hysterian’s eyes.
“Captain?”
He didn’t respond, didn’t say anything at all. He just stared at her.
Alexa waited for him to speak, but with each passing second that he didn’t, her chest constricted a little more. “Captain?” she inquired again, barely breathing the word in question.
The next thing she knew, she was lifted off the ground and being carried. She yelped, straining in fear, but then she was set down in his seat. Her hands came to the armrests and gripped them as Hysterian stepped back. She tried to rise.
“Don’t,” he shot. “Stay there.” He leaned back on the control console behind him.
Alexa pressed back into the seat, closing her legs tight. He’d picked her up like she’d weighed nothing, moved her with a speed she couldn’t defend against. Her pulse raced.
“I told you I didn’t want to break protocol again,” she breathed, pressing her feet into the ground, not sure whether to be afraid or furious. “You have no right to touch me!”
“And you have no right to question me. We’re even.”
“This does not make us even! You had a choice to not answer me. I would’ve been satisfied.” She pushed up from the chair. “It’s time for me to leave.”
He snapped forward, making her drop back down. “I ordered you to stay.”
She was trapped. He blocked her in, and if she wanted to leave now, she’d have to shove against him or climb over the chair. Both actions made her uncomfortable.
“You are taking advantage of your position,” she said, unable to meet his eyes suddenly.
Something inside her heated, danced, and begged. Begged for this, more of this, more of him, and try as she might, it only grew.
“Are you going to tell on me, Dear?” Hysterian taunted her. “It’s only right to go back on my word when you so immediately went back on yours. Protocol? Hah.”
“I didn’t?”
“You did.”
Her cheeks heated. Alexa felt his gaze on them, and she turned her face away.
“You look good when you blush,” he said.
“Don’t,” she bit out.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t do this—whatever this is.” She couldn’t handle this, this thing between them that shouldn’t be there. It was wrong. So, so wrong.
Alexa faced him, and he tilted his head to the side like she was something to be studied. She hugged herself.
“Yet you’re the one who propositioned me to kiss you, touch you even.”
“It was a mistake.”
“Oh, yes. It was a mistake.”
Silence filled the air between them as they watched each other. His words filled her head, taking over everything else. They often did these days.
Alexa waited for him to make a move, any move, so she wouldn’t have to.
He leaned forward and she pushed back into the seat.
His eyes searched hers, and she wetted her lips.
He moved closer and there was nowhere left for her to go. All she could see was his eyes, his brow, his partial mask. He can’t kiss me with his suit up over his mouth. Can he?
Will he?
Did she even want him to kiss her?
Would she get to see his face?
More of his heat closed in, making her brow slicken. Hundreds of tiny numbers ran up and down his irises, mesmerizing her. She could get lost in his gaze…if he weren’t so evil.
“Do you know what happens when you’re wanted by one of my kind?” he asked.
She shook her head, lamely.
“You lose your choices, your freedom. It’s subtle at first, but we take them away, slowly if you’re not amenable. You lose privacy, in all things. Because we can’t stand secrets, we can’t stand not knowing every singular movement and thought of something we crave. You find yourself consumed, because we demand it. You’ll find yourself claimed, because we need complete control. And you may resist, you may fight, we might even fight it as well, but there’s no escape, not for someone like me, and certainly not for someone like you, who has offered.”
“What are you saying?” she whispered.
In her periphery, his hands tightened around the armrests.
“I’m saying, Alexa, that it’s too late for us. Protocol or not. Whether we like it or not.”
“It’s never too late.”
“We’ll fuck, you and I. It’ll be hard and merciless, but it’ll be satisfying. I’ll have you stretched and spread and screaming, and you’ll have bliss. I’ve decided to take you up on your generous offer because that’s the only way…”
She could barely breathe. His threats went past her head and straight to the pinnacle between her legs. “Only way for what?”
He swayed his