STELLA DIDN’T KNOW whether to rejoice at his improving speech or tear up at the bleak tone. He’d told her, hadn’t he? That he was bad, that he’d been made into a beast, made by someone on a faraway planet. Taken from his home and the life he knew. Erased until nothing was left but a monster.

If she got free and if this planet didn’t turn out to be hostile, she could go back to the civilian fleet and the life she’d been living. If he got free, he only had a life in chains, and that was no life at all.

“When we get out, you can come with me,” she said, the offer springing out without conscious thought. But the rightness of it lay easily in her bones. “I’m not anyone special back home, but I know people. I’ll get you out.”

Behind her, Arest stiffened and his hand flattened against her stomach. Ooooh, it felt good to be touched by him, even as they contemplated that these might be their last days. When the food ran out, so would their time. And if monsters lurked by all the sources of water, every drink would be a risk.

“Not safe. Trainers would find me.” He bit out the words, fighting something in himself to speak. The longer they were together, the more clearly he talked. Stella wondered why. Perhaps he’d been treated like an animal for so long that he’d forgotten how to be a person.

She scowled. If someone put her in a room with the people who’d done this to Arest, she’d be the only one to make it out alive.

Violence didn’t live in her thoughts like that, not normally. And the intensity terrified her. The fleet appointed therapist that she had to see every six months would tell her that this was a bond formed through trauma, that her emotions were all keyed up because of disaster and none of it would last beyond the danger.

But Stella knew what a relation born of trauma felt like, and this wasn’t it. Arest had sunk deep into her skin and grabbed hold of her soul, and the thought of letting him suffer, of letting him go, caused that soul to rebel. She turned in his arms, letting her shirt drop back to the ground. She’d deal with it later.

She placed her hands on his cheeks, cupping his head and looking deep into those intense blue eyes of his. “We’re in this together,” she said. “Got it? And I’ll fight anyone who tries to take you back to that hell you were trapped in. No more.”

His pupils dilated and his nostrils flared. Her breath caught as he narrowed his intensity on her, one hand cupping her elbow, the other hidden. “Not safe,” he insisted, but he didn’t push her away.

Stella moved even further into his space, coming up on her knees until only centimeters separated them, her forehead hot with the heat coming off his. “You’ll be safe with me.”

Confusion dimmed the intensity for a moment until something hot and human and easily recognizable flared. She’d seen that look, the narrowed gaze, intent on conquering. The lips, open just the tiniest bit as if he could taste her on the air. Desire, hot and hard and all for her. Yes, Stella had seen it before, but no one had ever looked at her quite like Arest did. The mantle of want fit him like a glove, and he moved so smoothly that she didn’t see it until his lips covered hers.

Her hands slid up and around until she hugged his neck, pressing herself close. His lip were warm and soft from the water they’d drunk and Stella felt a little lightheaded, drunk on Arest, and she never wanted to sober up.

When his fingers curled in her own knotted hair, she groaned and lit up, an endless well of want showing her just how empty she was inside. On her knees next to him, maneuvering closer was a bit difficult, especially since she refused to stop kissing him even for a second. But Stella managed, finding an angle that let her throw one leg over his hip, and feel the hot press of flesh between her legs.

Arest took her bottom lip into his mouth and nipped at it, the mix of pleasure and the smallest hint of pain a wild aphrodisiac.

His tongue met hers again and Stella squeezed her eyes tight, her fingers curling even more. She needed him, wanted him, couldn’t do without him for another minute. And if she could just get her damn pants off she’d take all of him.

But undoing the buckle meant letting go of him, and there was no way she was taking her hands away from his hot skin and hard muscle, not now when she could have her fill.

She let her fingers trail down his back, bumping over ridges she wasn’t sure were human. His shoulder blades were harsh points of bone and muscle, each a tight reminder of his strength. Stella felt no softness in him, only heat and muscle.

His claws scraped lightly down one of her sides and if she’d been sane, she might have been afraid. But her shiver had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with desire. All the danger in him lit her up even more, making her hot and wet and aching.

That claw found the strap of her bra and only when he dug under one strap, tantalizingly careful not to nick her skin, did the barest hint of sanity intervene. “Don’t cut it,” she whispered against his lips. “It unsnaps in the back.”

Arest stilled. Even his lips froze, and Stella feared that he’d pull back, call an end to the flame that rose between them. Instead, she carefully slid his claw back and reached around, the pads of his fingers light against her spine. She held her breath as her skin pebbled under his careful fingers. And then her bra sagged and slid down, constraining her arms a bit but freeing her breasts to Arest’s hungry gaze.

Stella swallowed. Hard. The beast was back, and this time his entire focus centered on her. With deliberate, tantalizing slowness, he leaned forward and took one nipple into his mouth, lapping at the stiff peak and swirling his tongue around until Stella’s mind turned to goo and she let out an inhuman moan.

She clutched him close, afraid that if she let him go, he’d dissolve into nothing more than a dream. Because now he was all fantasy, his strong body and skilled tongue dedicated to bringing her to heights of pleasure she hadn’t known she was missing.

His fingers delved lower, pressing against her abdomen, the points of his claws a pricking reminder of the danger he carried within. But Stella arched into him, spreading her legs, wanting, needing, more. Given the choice between rescue and another five minutes with Arest, she couldn’t be certain that she’d make the right choice.

She wasn’t certain which choice was the right one.

He kissed around the swell of her breast and traced a pathway with his tongue down the center of her stomach, all the way to where he met the clasp of her pants. Stella’s head lolled back as his fingers reached up to brush her breast again, and she didn’t even think to warn him not to rip her clothing. But he was gentle, taking his time to undo the button and expose her to the cool air of the cavern, sliding her pants down until she was laid out before him, a wet collection of curls and want.

His eye flicked up as she looked down at him, her own lids drooping in pleasure, and their stares met, electric blue slamming into brown and snapping a connection into place she could feel deep in her heart, anchored in muscle and sinew. The moment grew, stretching beyond anything normal, and it should have been awkward, but as she watched him, Stella saw hints of the man he might have once been. His skin would have been a deep tan, not the muted purple he now wore, but those eyes had always been blue, even if they now held a magical glint. He’d made the claws his own, but once upon a time she was certain that he’d been a gentle man, a protector rather than a brawler.

Even now he protected her body, even as her heart slipped into more danger than she’d ever known.

He turned his gaze down to her exposed sex and Stella sucked in a breath as he studied her. She’d always liked a little dirty talk before, but his silent worship brought her close to the edge with a ferocious intensity that made this moment special, different, something she couldn’t qualify and would never forget.

His lips descended and her mind melted again, whatever sanity she’d managed to recapture shattering under the assault of his tongue. Her moans dissolved into gasps and she helplessly grinded her hips against him while he held her in place with a single hand on her hip and carefully used his fingers, ever mindful of his claws, and tongue to bring her to the heights of pleasure.

She came with a cry, his name hot on her lips and no thought of danger or the future or anything but him firmly in her mind.

He kissed her inner thigh and traced his fingers over her skin. With someone else, Stella might have felt shy, but something about Arest calmed her, bared her. With him it was too right for shame. His kisses trailed back up her stomach and her chest, climbing her neck until he captured her lips, tasting herself on him.

His hot cock pressed against her and Stella arched into him, reaching down for his own pants, to take him into her. To make her his. And when her hand stroked his hard length, he growled.

***

MINE.

The word drove him to claim her with his lips, to taste the heat of her until she was rippling and writhing around him, her moans echoing in the cavern behind them. His cock was a rod in his pants and when her fingers curled around it, all of Arest’s instincts screamed at him to press her down into the ground and take her in that most primal way.

But he forced himself to place a hand on top of hers and pull away, even as the taste of her pleasure still coated his tongue.

“Not safe,” he said. His back still stung from his fight with the creature and an awareness of them lurked at the edge of his consciousness. They still sat in the heart of enemy territory and he could not spend the night fucking his woman until she couldn’t walk.

Not yet.

No one had ever tried to protect him, not since this new life of his. In the one before, he didn’t know. But even if someone had tried, clearly they’d failed. And here was his Stella, offering to fight the men who’d made him into a beast, offering to take on all the worlds, just to keep him safe.

He hadn’t known that he still had a heart, and now it belonged completely to her.

Awareness flickered back into Stella’s liquid brown eyes, her face losing some of that boneless pleasure that he’d brought to her. Male satisfaction settled into him and he almost grinned. She’d been beautiful, squirming on top of him, mindless and helpless to the pleasure he gave her. And he vowed that he would bring that look to her face again, that he would be the only one to ever bring that look to her face.

Mine.

He didn’t bother to tell himself that he had no right to make a claim, that he was nothing but a lab-created beast sent out to do his master’s bidding. Not anymore. He’d fight every heaven and every hell to sit beside his Stella. He’d be her beast and keep her safe until he drew his last breath.

The sound she made as he pushed her hand back almost had him jerking her forward so that he could plunge into her hot, wet depth. But he found a well of discipline he didn’t know he possessed and forced himself to back up.

Stella gave a little shake of her head and looked back towards the opening behind them. Even though it was dark, he saw a splash of color warm her cheeks as she realized where they were.

When she slid her bra back into place, he wanted to protest. His eyes were starved for the sight of this beautiful woman’s flesh and if he had his way, she’d never wear clothing again, at least not when they were alone. But danger persisted.

She reached around and her face scrunched up as she tried to reclasp the piece. Arest pulled her close, turning her in his lap and biting his lip at the delicious torture as her ass brushed against his cock. He forced himself to put her to rights, clasping the bra in place and letting her go with only one gentle kiss on the side of her neck.

Stella studied him, a question he couldn’t decipher in her eyes. After a moment, she turned and picked her shirt up rather than asking. She gave it a good shake, but that didn’t stop it from being covered in dirt and blood. Arest checked his bandage and pressed against the wound, but it had already started to heal. In a few hours, it would be nothing more than a scar.

Stella’s head disappeared behind her shirt and she pulled it on, mussing her hair even more. She grimaced as it settled into place and heaved a sigh that had nothing to do with pleasure. She looked at him once more. “Should we... talk about,” she waved her hand back and forth between them, “that?”

Arest grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, placing a gentle kiss on her wrist. Her pulse beat fast and strong under his mouth.

“Is that a yes or a no?” She didn’t pull away.

Arest grinned and laced his fingers through her own, ever wary of his claws. They kept her safe, but every time he got too close, he put her at risk. He’d have gladly torn them off, if only they weren’t at risk of attack by more of the tunnel and cave dwelling creatures.

When she stood, he cupped her head with his other hand and captured her mouth in a searing kiss, branding her with his lips, claiming her without words. He’d learned that words were liars. Action was the only real truth.

That dazed look returned when he pulled back, Stella’s pupils big and unfocused, her lips open and swollen. She blinked and glanced down at their hands and then back up to him. He couldn’t stop grinning. “Oh yeah, we definitely need to talk about this.”

A guttural growl echoed around them, harsh enough to set Arest’s teeth on edge and wipe the grin off his face, but far enough away that Stella wasn’t in immediate danger.

“Later,” she added. “I’m not done with you.”

And if he was smart and luckier than any man had a right to be, she never would be. He didn’t know how to protect her from the men that tried to own and destroy him. He didn’t know how to get out of these tunnels and find a way to safety. But he’d find his way for her.

He didn’t have another choice.