Don’t touch him.

Had she really just said that?

Layla stared up at the Kordolian—this newcomer—a little shocked at how assertive she’d been just now. Mere seconds had passed since he’d released her from the escape pod, but already she was dropping to her knees in front of Enki, careful not to touch him because his eyes were giving off that unnerving green glow again.

She remembered what he’d told her back in the medical labs, the first time the freaky green-eye thing had happened, the time he’d almost killed her.

Sometimes, I just need a little time.

It was inconceivable to her that someone as strong and fierce as Enki would let a mind-parasite, or whatever it was, take over his consciousness.

“Uh…” And then she realized that the golden-eyed Kordolian who had come down to help—who was wearing the exact same magical tech-armor Enki had on—was staring at her with his eyebrows raised in disbelief. “It’s happened before,” she shrugged. “I’m just telling you what he told me.”

“He told you about it?”

“Not quite. He didn’t exactly explain what it was.”

“That makes two of us.” The man crossed his arms and openly scrutinized Layla as he pulled something out of a canister at his waist. “Still doing the green thing?”

“Yeah, but it’s fading.” Layla studied him in turn, and she couldn’t help but compare him with Enki. After all, this newcomer only the second member of Enki’s crew that she’d seen. “He’ll be with us in a moment. He’s not going to do anything dangerous.” She took in the Kordolian’s sleek obsidian battle-armor, which was exactly the same as Enki’s. She noticed the weapons holstered at various places on his body, all within easy reach. She saw the way he moved—fluid, graceful, almost catlike—just like Enki.

These two were cut from the same deadly cloth, but where Enki’s features were cold and stern and aristocratic, possessing a brutal kind of beauty, this guy appeared delicate-but-not, if that was even possible. His eyes were lighter in color compared with Enki’s amber, but his cropped hair was a couple of shades darker, and his skin was paler—more platinum than silver. Layla could almost have described his face as effeminate, but he was far too dangerous looking, and he had a similar powerful frame—lean, muscular, and obviously capable of exploding into tremendous violence at the drop of a hat.

It occurred to her that she was probably being hugely presumptuous to tell this guy she knew Enki better than he did, but she didn’t care. Her gut told her this was the right thing to do, and when it came to Enki, she would willingly put herself in all kinds of danger just to make sure he was okay.

“Layla.”

Her instincts were rewarded when he uttered her name, his voice hoarse. He reached for her, his hand capturing the side of her face, his touch firm and gentle and possessive, all at the same time.

Layla couldn’t help it; she reached for his fingers and took his hand into hers, squeezing tightly as if to confirm for herself that he was actually here.

Because only a few minutes ago, she had seen him writhing in pain on the floor, his skin raw and blistered, his face twisted into an expression of such excruciating agony that Layla became terribly afraid, but then, miraculously, his skin had smoothed over, healing right before her very eyes.

Yep, add super-healing to his list of freakish abilities. No surprises there. His skin had a little bit of pallor to it, and it didn’t appear as lustrous as before, but he was intact.

Alive.

Thank the fucking stars.

“Enki.” She edged closer as he sat up, becoming keenly aware of his… nakedness. He was a sculpture-made-flesh, the embodiment of lethal power and grace, all lean, rippling muscle and hard edges; a living weapon.

Buck naked.

Layla’s heart fluttered.

“Ahem.” Behind them, the other Kordolian cleared his throat. “Looks like you two need a moment.” A small clear cylinder appeared in his hand. Inside was some sort of liquid. “Here. You might need this.” He tossed the thing to Enki, who turned and snatched it out of the air, his hand becoming a silver blur. “I’ll be in the navigation room whenever you want to debrief. We’re out of the Rist’s blast-range now. I’ve set a course for the Fleet Station.”

“Hm.” Enki just nodded, not saying a word as the two warriors locked eyes, some sort of silent communication passing between them.

The other soldier nodded at Layla. “Holler if you need anything. I’ll hear you.”

Super-hearing? Again, no surprises. “I know,” she said dryly.

“Then you already know us well enough.” The warrior smirked and disappeared into the shadows, leaving her to be alone with Enki.

Who was naked.

He rolled the clear tube between his thumb and forefinger, before pressing a button that released a long needle. Without hesitating, he plunged the needle into his thigh, injecting the clear liquid.

Almost immediately, the fatigue faded from his face, and his skin darkened, becoming a deeper shade of silver.

“Plasma-protein injection,” he explained.

“Oh.” Layla didn’t really know what a plasma-protein injection was, but the substance seemed to have aided the healing process. She remembered the pain she’d seen on his face; the tortured howl that had erupted from his lips, a chilling sound. “You’re… okay?”

Enki put his hands on her waist and drew her into his lap. “I am now.”

His response quelled her concerns. A delicious ache started between her thighs, and heat spread through her body as Enki invaded all of her senses.

Oh! Layla couldn’t quite believe this was happening. The man who had saved her from a horrible fate was now wrapping his powerful arms around her, pulling her against his broad chest. He might appear cold sometimes, but he felt really, really warm.

And he smelled delicious, all warm, musky, intoxicating male.

“You are safe now,” he rumbled, dipping his head, burying his nose in the hollow of her neck. He inhaled deeply, running his fingers up the nape of her neck, threading them into her thick hair, apparently not caring that her hair was tangled and matted and hadn’t been washed in weeks.

This sudden display of affection shocked her to the core. For someone who could be so vicious, so hard, so brutal, he was also capable of surprising tenderness.

Enki’s touch triggered a cascade of emotions. First, massive, relief. Then came the horror, the realization that she’d escaped a terrible nightmare only by chance. Layla shuddered and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She drew strength from Enki’s solid presence, allowing herself to feel safe for the first time in…

When?

She couldn’t actually remember the last time she felt safe. Even on Earth, she’d been constantly looking over her shoulder, worrying about what her stalkerish ex-manager might do next. Damien Andross had turned her life on Earth into a living hell, to the point where Layla was confined to her sky-condo in Mombasa, relying on drone-deliveries and hired mercs for security.

Friends and acquaintances deserted her. The media barricaded the lower entrance with their drone-cams and filming-bots, and when management chased them out, they simply set up shop at both ends of the street, waiting for her to emerge.

She kept the blinds closed, because she’d caught one of their drone-cams hovering outside her bedroom window. She cut herself off from the few friends she had, because she didn’t want to drag them into this whole mess. She became a paranoid recluse, fearing every communication was hacked. She couldn’t even access the Networks anymore, because her name would eventually flash in front of her, leading to some sensational gossip piece about how the one of the world’s most famous VR stars had betrayed her billions of loyal fans…

And gained a new audience in the process.

Where is Layla Rose now?

Layla Rose. That was the screen name she’d chosen for herself. She was walking through the shiny lobby in Dubai for her first screen-test when she’d seen the elegant vase of long-stemmed white roses. It had a nice ring to it. Rose was her public face. Layla dela Cruz was private.

But now, Rose was no more.

There was only the real Layla, and she was with a badass Kordolian called Enki, on a ship bound for an unknown destination.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” His deep voice cut through her painful memories, pulling her away from everything that tethered her to her past.

“My savior appears to be trying to seduce me.”

“Trying?”

“Okay, maybe succeeding, a little bit.” In truth, Layla was putty in his hands. “I’m not complaining, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“I notice everything.”

“Even the fact that I really, really need to shower?” It was both hard and easy to be self-conscious when one was sitting in the lap of a very ripped, very naked Kordolian male on the floor of an airlock in some unknown ship. Layla’s body was going haywire, desire flooding every inch of her while her senses went into overdrive, but she was also bone-tired, dirty, and aching all over.

There was too much going on for her to process all at once, and she needed time.

Enki stiffened, and for a moment Layla wondered if she’d put him off, but then he lifted his head and captured her lips with his.

He kissed her gently, reverently, taking his time, grazing his fangs against her lower lip. Layla closed her eyes and responded in kind, her thoughts shattering into a million fragments of pure bliss. His lips were warm and demanding against her own cracked ones. His tongue was insistent. His kiss was the best fucking thing she’d felt in longer than she could remember.

Finally, he drew away, looking down at her with eyes that were pure amber, with not a trace of eerie green to be seen. “That’s how much I notice,” he whispered, his voice raw and rough and full of hunger. Ooh, that level of intensity was toe-curling. “But I know how much you have suffered. I can wait until you are ready.”

The strain in his voice told her otherwise, and it made Layla appreciate his restraint all the more. Clearly, he was a man who was used to doing what he wanted, but for her, he was willing to hold back.

That meant everything.

Layla leaned in and kissed him, not quite believing her audacity when it came to this lethal otherworldly creature.

“We have time, Layla,” he murmured, looking fierce and intense and all kinds of sexy. He stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb, edging his fingers beneath her chin. She became lost in the depths of his gaze, which was a portal to another reality.

Suddenly, Enki was moving, lifting her into his arms so fluidly and quickly that he stole her breath away. She didn’t quite understand how he went from siting on the floor to standing in a single motion, but she went with it, simply content to let him take over and whisk her away.

“You are with me now, Layla of Earth. That means you are part of the Darkstar network, and we take care of our own.” He took her away from the airlock, striding through dark rooms and corridors that looked very similar to the ones on the warship they’d just escaped. “Nobody can touch you here.”

Layla got the feeling she’d accidentally stumbled onto something huge. “I really don’t understand what’s going on. I thought the Kordolian Empire was finished. Are you guys from the Empire, or are you…?”

“Former Empire,” he said, his voice turning dangerously soft. “We were their enforcers, until we decided we didn’t want to serve the Empire anymore.”

“So you deserted?”

“We tried. They didn’t want to let us leave. So we destroyed them.”

“You…” Were responsible for the downfall of the entire Kordolian Empire? Layla went silent as she tried to wrap her head around what Enki had just told her. Obviously, there was a lot more to the story, but the way he said it—with such brutal conviction—made her feel as if Enki and his people could do anything they wanted in the Universe and get away with it.

Who the hell are these people?

And more importantly, who was Enki, really? Rescuer. Protector. Badass. Tortured soul with a demon inside. Soon-to-be lover. “I have so many questions,” she whispered as he brought her inside a small, dark chamber. Confined spaces on Kordolian ships weren’t exactly Layla’s favorite places in the Universe, but by now she was too far gone to care. She was in his arms, and that was all that mattered.

Enki gently laid her down in a dark cocoon of softness—sheets that felt like pure silk and smelled of him. Her body sank into the bed, or pod, or whatever it was, her arms and legs suddenly feeling heavy. God, she was tired.

In that moment, everything else became inconsequential. She no longer cared about the fact that she didn’t even know where she was, or her dirty and disheveled state, or the question of where she would end up after this was all over…

None of it mattered. She was here with Enki, with desire slowly permeating through every cell and pore of her body, and she felt warm and fuzzy and safe.

Her eyelids slipped, turning her world into a blue-and-dark haze; limned with silver, shot through with amber. She fought to stay awake. Her breathing deepened. She reached out with one lazy hand and found the smooth, hard planes of Enki’s chest. Still naked.

“Aren’t you going to rest?” Her voice was hoarse, her words slightly slurred. “I’m probably taking up all the space in your bed. I don’t mind if you want to…” She didn’t really know what she was saying anymore, only that she craved his warmth.

“Later,” he whispered. “Rest.” He wrapped his fingers around hers and gently kissed her knuckles, sealing the sudden spell he’d cast over her.

Bone-weary but content, Layla drifted into dreams of stars and dark infinity, feeling at peace for the first time in ages.