down from our climax together.
“You’re mine,” he murmured into my hair. “I want all of you, Svetlana. Just for me, alone.”
“Yours,” I echoed, feeling it in the deepest places of my heart.
“Every moan of yours is mine.” He licked over the bite on my neck, then hugged me closer, kissing the side of my face. “I’m not sharing your pleasure with anyone else ever again. I’m keeping you all to myself. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I will make it happen.”
VRATEUS GAVE ME A LONG, penetrating stare.
“You’re coming with me?” He obviously struggled with the idea of me going out in the open.
Since Crux had been unwilling to negotiate, Vrateus was now going to openly challenge him to a fight.
“Well, I have gone out on my own once already, searching for you.” True to my word to share everything with him, I’d told him about my trip to the waste processing room. I’d tried not to get into the gruesome details, but Vrateus was still horrified. “Instead of sitting here alone, dying with worry, I’d rather be out there with you.”
“You almost got caught.”
“So did you.”
His expression grim, he drew in some air to argue with me.
“Listen,” I didn’t give him the chance to respond. “They caught you unawares this morning. As smart and strong as you are, you don’t have a pair of eyes in the back of your head. You could use someone to watch your back. You said you trust me, let me help you.” He hesitated, and I added hurriedly, “I can’t sit here not knowing if you’re dead or alive. I’m armed. I’ve proven I can handle myself. Let me come with you, please.”
I knew Vrateus would rather keep me in hiding while he did everything on his own. A few days ago, I would have probably preferred to wait it out, too. The mess hall was not my favorite place to visit.
As strong as Vrateus had always been, however, I’d also witnessed his vulnerabilities. In the past couple of days, he had been nearly poisoned to death then almost decapitated by his own crew. He needed me, and I needed to be with him.
I closed the distance between us, circling his waist with my arms.
“What if someone finds me hiding here while you’re gone? Can’t you see?” I rubbed his nose with mine. “Together we’re stronger than apart.”
His chest heaved with a long breath.
“Stay close.” He tightened his arms around me. “Do not let anyone come between us. And if you have to shoot, aim to kill.”
“Don’t worry about me.” I exhaled in relief, glad he was giving in and we didn’t have to part again. “Focus on what you need to do. I’ll take care of myself.”
He moved his hands over the belts and holsters strapped to my body, inspecting all my weapons.
“Don’t let anyone close.” He stuffed a spare power cell for my gun into my boot.
“I won’t.”
“There are benefits to keeping you with me, considering the circumstances.” He nodded somberly, as if trying to convince himself. “It’s best to stay together.”
He shoved aside the shelf unit in front of the gap leading to the library, then turned back to me quickly. His hand on the back of my head, he kissed me, fast and passionate.
“Be safe.” He leaned his forehead against mine.
“Good luck,” I whispered, smiling as encouragingly as I could manage.
Chapter 23
I’D PROMISED TO WATCH his back.
Now, as we walked down the corridor, I paid close attention to our surroundings. We weren’t holding hands, keeping them free for weapons. I held my gun in my right hand and a knife in my left. Vrateus had both of his guns out of their arm holsters and in his hands.
The stench of decomposing bodies hit my nostrils as we approached the doors to my room. The dead aliens that Vrateus and I had killed yesterday lay in the same positions we’d left them. No one had bothered to dispose of them, though some bodies showed clear signs of cannibalism.
Vrateus’s jaw muscles clenched as he made his way around the corpses. I followed less than a foot behind him, glancing over my shoulder once again.
As we turned around the bend in the wall, the entrance to the mess hall came into view.
It was much quieter here than I remembered. Some males lay by the wall in the corridor, impossible to tell whether they were alive or dead.
One rose to his feet at the sight of us.
“You again...” he gaped at