Rynn was so angry with her Jac knew she should put some distance between them and let him calm down. But heaven help her, as soon as his big body caged hers in and his lips crashed down to claim hers, she lost the willpower to refuse him.

Instead, with a soft moan of her own, she surrendered, her body soft and welcoming. He was big, so much larger than she was, and powerful. He could easily have hurt her, and for some reason that sent a bolt of arousal through her so hot she moaned and writhed against him.

He growled again, the sound deep in the back of his throat as his hands slid through her hair. His grip tightened, holding her still, and the small sound that erupted from the back of her throat was one of pure need. She’d never found dominant men particularly attractive—one ex had wanted to spice things up by tying her up and having her call him master. She’d laughed and told him to go to hell—but with Rynn it was different.

She wanted him to pin her down, tie her up… whatever he wanted. Just as long as he took what they both wanted.

Heat flared when he nipped her lower lip, her legs all but buckling beneath her. He caught her easily, shoving a hard knee between her thighs to hold her against the wall. Her feet only just touched the floor, all her weight on his thigh. Pleasure cascaded through her as her needy clit was trapped between them. She moaned, rocking her hips against him and riding his thigh to build the fire and arousal in her blood.

“You want this,” he broke away to demand, kissing her between each word. “I can feel it. Smell it. Tell me you want it.”

She nodded, not able to frame a coherent sentence anymore, and tried to capture his lips again with her own. Yes, she wanted it… him. She wanted him. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted a man in her life before. More than she wanted to get home… even breathe air. He was everything, consuming her world until there was nothing but him and his touch. The feel of his lips on hers, and…

The need to touch him washed over her, obliterating all else. With a growl of her own, she spread her hands over his chest, stroking and exploring as she wanted to from the moment she’d first met him when he was wearing that damn stupid unicorn t-shirt.

He rumbled deep in his chest, one hand still in her hair and the other sliding up her waist. His breathing caught as she found his nipple, rubbing her fingertips lightly over it as it beaded into a hard bud. She pinched lightly. He gasped, breaking away to drop his head back, face tight with pleasure.

“Playing dangerous games, little human,” he warned, his voice deeper than she’d ever heard it. His hand closed on her breast over her shirt and it was her turn to moan. “Careful or you might get burned.”

“Don’t care,” she threw back, her gaze hard with challenge. Her heart skipped a beat and then sped up at the dark heat that flooded his blue eyes, turning them to midnight. The wicked little smile that quirked the corner of his full lips warned her that she might have bitten off more than she could chew, but it was too late now. She was already too far gone.

He held her gaze and reached for the buttons down the front of her shirt. Her breathing shortened, the tension between them rising further with each button that gave. He didn’t look away when the fabric parted, instead, sliding his hand under it to push it off her shoulders—first one side and then the other. She shivered in the sudden cool air, taking a deep breath when he finally looked down.

His expression tightened, lust flaring across his features as he drew a line across her shoulder and then between her breasts with his fingertip.

“Human females wear very odd contraptions,” he breathed, sliding his finger down further. Hooking underneath the center, he released the catch, the lace and satin garment falling away to leave her breasts unfettered.

Head leaned back against the wall, she bit her lip at the heat in his eyes. He cupped her, the callused skin on his palms abrading the sensitive flesh in an erotic dance of sensation. Her nipples beaded in reaction and he swept a thumb over one. She whimpered as he bent his head, a fresh rush of heat dampening her panties. Her hands speared into his long hair as he pulled her nipple into the warm, wet cavern of his mouth.

Her back arched as he sucked, heat and fire arrowing down to her pussy and clit. He held her braced between him and the wall, her feet off the floor as he tormented her, lapping and sucking at her nipples until she was panting and writhing against him.

Shifting, he let her down, his hands moving feverishly to her pants. He was impatient, rough as he undid them and yanked them down over her hips, her panties along with them. She heard a seam complain, but she didn’t care, letting them fall to the floor. Not when his next move was to surge up against her again, capturing her lips at the same time his hand slid between her thighs.

She opened for him, taking his tongue deep as he slid his fingers between her pussy lips. They both groaned as his fingers slipped against her slick, heated flesh. She was wet, so wet. She couldn’t recall ever being this aroused before.

He found her clit without direction, another score for alien lovers, and stroked her. Her arms around his shoulders, he caught one of her legs with his free hand, pulling it up and over his hip and opening her to him completely. She clung to him, unable to do anything but react to the pleasure he was affording her. He rubbed and stroked her, circling and teasing as he drove her need higher and higher.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, he moved and slid two fingers deep into her pussy.

She broke away from their kiss to gasp, her head falling back against the metal at the sensual intrusion. Her pussy clenched hard, clamping down on his invading digits as she almost came there and then, and then fluttered around him. She’d never felt… anything like this before.

“Tight,” he grunted, sliding his fingers back until they were almost free of her body’s grip. Then he pushed them back in again, penetrating her in a mind-blowingly slow slide of pure pleasure. She tried to reply but couldn’t, her thought processes scattering when he turned his hand on the next thrust and curled his fingers back to stroke against her g-spot.

“Oh my god,” she muttered, panting as she tried to hold on to the pleasure that wanted to explode through her body. It was too much, felt too good. Sex had never felt this way before.

“No. Rynn,” he reminded her, stroking again and adding his thumb to the mix, pressing against her clit. She rode his hand, her movements becoming shorter and jerkier as she struggled to hold on.

Finally, she couldn’t. Pleasure hit her out of the blue and she cried out, her body shattering as she clamped down hard on his fingers. Her eyes pressed closed, and she moaned long and low. He held her close, stroking her through the climax. She shivered at the aftershocks rolling through her and pouted as he pulled his fingers from her.

“You’re tight,” he told her, tearing at the front of his pants. “But I’ll go slow.”

Her pussy clenched again, the need returning full force as he parted her thighs wider, half lifting her against the wall to press the broad, thick head of his cock against her. She bit her lip as she registered him there. He was huge. Not in the ego-stroking way most women told their men, but actually fucking huge. Her eyes widened in sudden panic.

“You’re too big,” she argued, hands flat on his shoulders as she tried to push him away. But gravity and a curvy frame conspired against her, driving her down over the thick head of his cock. Her breathing all but stopped as he breeched her, the tender flesh of her pussy parting around the thickness.

“Oh god…” she moaned, feeling another climax rising. He smiled, a quick flash of white teeth in the darkness as he rocked his hips and she slid another slippery half inch down his shaft.

“No, Rynn,” he said again, holding her easily against the wall. “But you can call me by your deity’s name if you like. I promise I’ll show you… what do you call it? Heaven?”

She didn’t care that the line was so bad it was laughable. All she cared about was breathing as she was slowly impaled on his thick cock. Her pussy fluttered and pulsed, stretched more than she’d ever been stretched before, and she was a half second from coming. It felt wonderful. Almost too much, but utterly wonderful.

Finally he bottomed out, his balls pressing against her ass. He stilled and she breathed a sigh of relief, needing the time to process his sensual invasion.

“You can try…” She threw back, opening her eyes to see him watching her avidly. “Takes a lot to show a human woman heaven, handsome. I’m not sure you’re up to it.”

He bared his teeth…she wasn’t sure if it was a grin or a threat and pulled back. Then he thrust, hard, filling her to the hilt again, and she screamed in pleasure. He did it again and again, but by the third thrust she’d lost her voice.

Each time he slid into her, hard and fast, spirals of pleasure rolled through her. Her body wasn’t her own. It was his. His to arouse and torment, to take and possess. The long slick slide of his cock in her pussy fired nerve endings she didn’t know she had, and she gave up, clinging to him as he took them higher and higher.

Her nails scored lines over his back as he moved against her, and tension tightened her pussy around him again. He growled, speeding up. His rhythm became broken, harder and less coordinated as he drove into her. She panted, soft feminine sounds forced from her throat by his thrusts and then, between one thrust and the next, she was there. Hovering on the brink again.

“Rynn… oh my… I’m…” She couldn’t complete the sentence. He grunted and surged up into her. Filling her completely. But this time, he stopped at the end of his stroke and rolled his hips. The movement rubbed her clit between them and she shattered apart, screaming his name.

Through her pleasure she felt him pull back, speeding up. Harder and faster. Each movement added to the chaos of ecstasy rolling through her like starbursts in her veins. But then he thrust into her one last time and threw his head back, adding a deep bellow as he came too.

Jac woke in degrees like she normally did. At first, she floated in a warm and comfortable haze, her brain trying to get her attention about the upcoming day, but she ignored it and snuggled down further. If she was lucky, she could head off wakefulness for a few more minutes at least.

The duvet was scratchy. She wrinkled her nose and tried to ignore it, but it was rough against her skin. Perhaps the feathers were coming out somewhere. She’d have to replace it soon. Another expense. Sighing, she wriggled to get more comfortable. After a couple of seconds, she frowned. There was something hard under her hip. Don’t say her mattress needed replacing as well…

The smell hit next. A foul, dank smell that washed over her face, and she grimaced. What the hell was that? She’d never smelled anything like it. She cracked an eyelid and all pretense of sleep fled her brain as the sight of the metal ceiling filled her view. Both eyes snapped open as memory flooded back. She wasn’t in her bed. She’d been kidnapped, captured, and then thrown into a prison cell in the bowels of an alien ship.

Throwing the dirty blanket off, she sat up suddenly. Panic ran rampant through her veins until she spotted Rynn over on the other side of the cell. She’d nearly missed him, half hidden by the shadows in the corner.

Memories of the night before hit hard and fast, heat building in her cheeks.

They’d… He’d…

And after, he’d gathered her in his arm and carried her to the back of the cell. Made a makeshift bed from whatever he could find scattered around—the clothing and belongings of previous occupants she didn’t want to think about the fate of—and then kept her warm all night with his own body.

Slowly, she got to her feet. At her movement, he turned his head and his cold look speared her through the heart. The hope that his manner toward her would have altered after last night, that he would have forgiven her for assaulting him and getting them both into his mess, disappeared like mist on the sunrise. Gone was the lover of last night. Instead, she was looking at a warrior.

No, she realized as a shiver ran down her spine. She was looking at something far more deadly and dangerous.

She was looking at an assassin.

“You’re awake. Good.” He pushed away from his post at the corner of the cell. Dimly, she realized that from that angle, he could see partway down the corridor. Keeping watch. How long had he been there?

He walked toward her and her attention was hijacked by the way he moved—with the lethal grace of a born predator. Her body softened, remembering his, as heat rolled through her veins. Automatically she reached up to try and smooth her hair down. Her heart sank as the bird’s nest she encountered. She must look an utter sight. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, looking put together wasn’t important… but it was the only thing she could affect. Everything else had gone to shit.

“You’re going to help me put this right,” he told her and it was an order, not a request.

She nodded as he came to a stop just in front of her, the heat of his body beating against hers. He still wore the Earth-style pants, now torn and ragged, but his shirt had been left behind in the shuttle.

“I’m sorry.” She almost reached for him but stopped as his icy gaze dropped to her hand. “I didn’t know they were Lathar. He said he was Major Stephens… H-he spoke English.”

Rynn shrugged, his expression dismissive. “Translation implant. Most of us have them. I doubt Major Stephens ever existed. Or, if he did, D’Corr killed him.”

Shit. She hadn’t thought of that. The fact she might have been responsible for someone else’s death made her feel sick, her soul weary. Blinking back the tears that wanted to spill onto her cheeks, she focused on the man in front of her.

“You know him?”

The Latharian’s expression didn’t change, and she had an inkling of what their enemies must feel like when facing them. “I don’t know any humans.”

She was human. He knew her. In fact, he knew her very well. But she didn’t argue, swallowing the small hurt to shake her head.

“I meant D’Corr, not Major Stephens. You two seem to have history…”

She trailed off, her words dropping into stony silence. Perhaps trying to get him talking wasn’t the best idea. He was mad enough already. She didn’t need to remind him of other people who had pissed him off.

He sighed, running a big hand through his hair. Her heart gave a pang at the memory of doing that herself, and what the silken strands felt like running through her fingers.

“I infiltrated the D’Corr years ago. There was a rumor that they had females still and were hoarding them.”

“Females? I thought they all died in the plague?” she asked, eager for any tidbit about his past. Anything that would give her an insight into how his mind worked. She told herself it was intel to help her escape but really, she knew she was in trouble. She just wanted to find out about him. Pathetic when he would never trust her again, but she couldn’t help herself.

“They did, but it took a few years,” he explained. “When the plague was at its height, there was a panic. Some clans acted less than honorably, culling affected females as soon as they displayed symptoms in the vain hope the infection wouldn’t spread… we didn’t know at that point the problem was genetic.”

She nodded, but kept quiet, hoping he’d continue. She didn’t know much about Latharian history, just what she’d heard on the news… and a whole load of other bullshit the press had pretty much made up.

“Some clans rounded up all the healthy females they could find, ripping them from their families and colonies and secluding them. The D’Corr were the worst of them. They refused to use the gestational carriers or the oonat and bred the last of their females to death birthing Araal’s generation. They were forced to breed child after child until their bodies gave out.”

Jac winced. “We were told your species revered females?”

“We do. The D’Corr—” He spat on the floor. “Are not Lathar. They are dishonored. We do not recognize them as part of us. But there was a rumor they had a hidden colony of females that were immune to the plague, and I was sent in undercover.”

“Did you find them?” she asked, breathlessly. If this had been a movie, she’d have been on the edge of her seat.

He shook his head, his hair dancing over broad shoulders. “No. I was discovered… sold out before I could gain any actionable intelligence, and it all went to draanth. I killed D’Corr’s father and, I thought, Araal, leaving their colony in flames. But someone must have found him. I didn’t recognize him because of the reconstructive surgery. Can’t have been a Lathar healer. None of them would have touched him, so they must have allies in other races,” he added with a frown.

“So, that was why you were on Earth?” Jac asked. “You were infiltrating us?”

She’d wondered what had brought him to Stanton when all the news reports said the government had allied to talk to the aliens, refusing to allow them to set foot on any Terran-held planet until a treaty had been signed. They’d all felt so smug and protected by that, but she realized now that had been a false sense of security. They could obviously arrive any time they wanted, undetected, and there was nothing humanity could do about it.

“No.” He shook his head, leaning one shoulder against the wall next to them. “My cover would have been a lot better if I was planning to spend any time on Earth. The mission was strictly a snatch and grab.”

“You were after Lizzie. Not me.” The words were out before Jac could stop them, and hearing the lost note in her voice, she’d have given anything to take them back.

“Why would I have been after you?” He frowned, folding his arms over his broad chest. “I had no idea who you were.”

She was unimportant. Not part of his mission. And, from the looks of his expression, he regretted bringing her along. Her mood took a nosedive but he didn’t seem to notice, carrying on speaking.

“My mission was to recover Lady Jessica’s sister and take her back to the Healer’s Hall for the lord healer to study.”

Anger surged as she gasped. “Fuck you. You’re not taking her back to use as a lab rat. She’s a person! This lord healer can take a damn hike!”

He sighed, holding his hand up to shut her up. “There you go again, jumping to conclusions. Lord Healer Laarn is Lady Jessica’s mate. And there is no way he’ll allow any harm to come to his mate’s litaan… her twin, I believe the phrase is?”

“Yeah,” Jac huffed, color on her cheeks again at being chastised. “They’re twins. But what about this emperor. He could make the doctors treat her as a test subject… couldn’t he?” She’d heard a lot about the Latharian emperor, and none of it inspired confidence.

At that Rynn chuckled, amusement wreathing his features. “Laarn is the emperor’s sister son… what’s the word humans use? His nephew. He’s one of the few males Daaynal will not cross. Not under any circumstances. More than that. Lizzie Kallson might well be the only chance my species has of survival.” All amusement fled from his features. “If she dies, you might just have killed the Lathar as a race. And… if the genetic plague transfers to humans, then your own as well.”