When Frik dropped Ilse off at home, she rushed inside and locked the door. Her body shook from head to toe. What had happened? One minute Drako was kissing her, making her drown in desire, and the next there was a sharp pain, stars exploding in her vision, and then she woke up on the floor. Hurrying to the mirror on the foyer wall, she studied her neck. There were two small wounds the size an injection would leave, and the flesh around them was red and puffy. Was he some kind of vampire? She pressed a shaky hand to her neck. Her skin was hot and clammy.

Not believing in overreacting or coming to hasty conclusions, she pushed the disconcerting emotions aside to first take care of her physical needs. She needed to calm down so that she could think clearly.

After a shower and one of her emergency stock TV-dinners, she made a cup of chamomile tea and sipped it on the back porch. It was close to eleven. She had to be up at three in the morning to start her shift at four, but there was no way she would be able to sleep. She needed to reflect on what had transpired tonight. Drako had said he wouldn’t hurt her. Had he? Could she still trust him? Was her instinct about him wrong? Could he be the bad man Pete had painted? No, she couldn’t believe that. Whatever had transpired had happened in the heat of the moment. It hadn’t been premeditated. There had been an instance of pain, but she’d blacked out before it had gotten intense. If Drako’s kind indeed had vampiric tendencies, the fact that the agents were starving him didn’t help. Or was she trying to justify his behavior because she needed to believe he was good? If the men hadn’t stopped him, would he have killed her? She supposed she would never know.

It only strengthened one notion. Drako didn’t belong here. They had no right to keep him, or worse, kill him. The only honorable option was helping him to get home. If she was honest, she’d admit that her motivation wasn’t purely logical or even moral. She didn’t want him to die. She couldn’t bear the thought. It was the part of her deeply connected to her emotions. Compassion. Yes, that was all it was.

Her decision made, she spent the night tossing and turning until a plan shaped in her mind. It was childish and risky, she’d go as far as to say immature, but she wasn’t a mastermind criminal, and she didn’t have time to become one. She needed her ducks in a row before her shift came to an end and an agent would be waiting to take her to Drako. At three, she got dressed, tying a scarf around her neck to hide the marks.

When she arrived at the hospital, she went straight to Caitlin’s office. Caitlin wouldn’t be in until noon. Guilt hammered in her ribs as she took the spare key from under the drawer where it was taped. They’d come up with the hiding place together after the last batch of medicine had been stolen. Her heart beat more loudly than her soles on the floor as she made her way to the depot. The depot staff worked normal hours, from eight to five. The security guard who kept watch knew her well.

He smiled when she approached. “Hey, Ilse. Whatsup?”

“Busy shift. The new nurse forgot to put in our order for insulin, again. I’m going to take some on loan. I’ll get Caitlin to sign it off when she comes in.”

He clicked his tongue. “Can’t trust the young ones. You should give her flack about it.”

“She’ll learn.” She smiled sweetly, holding her breath as he opened the door.

Once inside, she acted quickly. She grabbed a bottle of Lorazepam Intensol, emptied half of the tablets into her pocket, and snatched the insulin on her way out.

She presented it to the guard with the appropriate form. “Here you go.”

As he studied the form and the medicine to make sure the information matched, she prayed he wouldn’t search her. Searching had become standard procedure after the thefts, but she counted on their long acquaintance and his trust.

She almost exhaled audibly with relief when he waved her through. “All clear. Have a nice day.”

The rest of the day dragged by. Caitlin commented on how pale she looked, but Ilse crossed her fingers behind her back and said she was coming down with a stomach bug and should take a few days for the virus to pass so that she didn’t spread it to the staff and patients. She felt physically sick for leaving Caitlin in the lurch with a lie, going home early to put her imperfect plan in motion. If it didn’t work, she was screwed. If it worked, it was going to change her life, but she couldn’t see another way. She couldn’t sit back and play accomplice to a horrible crime.

At a nearby mall, she bought hair dye and a new mobile phone. She packed it with some snacks, bottled water, her passport, and clothes in a travel bag, which she left in her trunk. Then she drove to Newtown and parked in front of Moyo, a popular tourist restaurant. From there, she caught a taxi home.

She spent the rest of the afternoon baking. When Frik came for her after four, he sniffed appreciatively as she opened the door.

Presenting him with the tray of chocolate-fudge cupcakes dripping with icing, she gave him a big smile, trying not to vomit with her own deception. “This is to say thank you for saving me yesterday.”

He dragged his tongue over his teeth, giving her an once-over. “I didn’t save you.”

“You all did. Who knows what would’ve happened if you hadn’t rushed in when you did?”

“Dunno.” His gaze dropped to her breasts. “Looked like you enjoyed it.”

“Maybe.” She faked another smile. “Sometimes, I get carried away.”

“Do you, now?” He reached out, tracing her cleavage. “Would you like to go out for drinks later tonight?”

She swallowed her revulsion. It took all her willpower not to punch him in the face. “Sure.”

“Better get going, then. The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll be finished.” He took the tray, battling a bit with his casted wrist, and inclined his head toward the car. “Get inside, sweet tits. After you’ve done your magic on that freak, I’m going to show you how a real man fucks.”

She bit her tongue to stop herself from replying. Frik deposited the cakes on the backseat before getting in beside her. She shifted as close to the door as she could get. It didn’t stop him from putting his hand on her thigh.

“Tonight is Drako’s last chance,” he said, starting the engine.

She turned in her seat to face him. “What do you mean?”

“If he doesn’t deliver, you’ll never have to lay eyes on him again.”

The air squeezed from her lungs. “What will happen to him?”

“We’ll send him to Research.”

Dear God, was there no end to the man’s cruelty? “If he delivers?”

“Well, then you’ve got your work cut out for you.” He winked.

At the building where they kept Drako, Frik marched her down the corridor with his arm around her shoulders as if he owned her while she carried the tray of cupcakes. Pete lifted an eyebrow when they approached, his gaze flickering between her and Frik.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Cupcakes,” Frik replied.

She doubted Pete had been referring to the confectionary. More likely to their intimate stance, but she didn’t reply.

Two of the guards stepped closer, their interest piqued.

“These are for all of you,” she said, depositing it on a table in the hallway stacked with an urn, instant coffee, and Styrofoam cups. “It’s to say thank you for yesterday.”

“That was hardly necessary,” Pete said.

Her heart threatened to explode from her chest with every lie that spilled from her mouth. If they didn’t believe her, or one of them didn’t eat the cake, she was dead.

She shrugged, hoping she appeared nonchalant and not as nervous as she felt. “You don’t have to eat them if you’re on a diet.”

“I’m not on one,” one of the guards said, grabbing a cupcake and peeling off the paper. He ate half of it with one bite, humming his approval. “This is delicious.”

“Thanks,” she said, repressing the urge to bite her nails. “Glad you like it.” She’d been concerned that the copious amounts of sugar, chocolate, and caramel fudge wouldn’t mask the bitter aftertaste of the tranquilizer.

“Are you ready to try again?” Pete asked. “This time, I’m not unchaining that bastard. There’s no telling what he’ll do when his hands come free.”

“I only have one request.” She didn’t have to act apprehensive. That part came naturally. “Leave the door open. If anything happens, I want to know I can get out immediately.”

“Nothing is going to happen. If he had the strength to break the chains, he would’ve done so by now. We used reinforced titanium.”

“Still, I’d feel safer if the door was open.”

“Fair enough. I supposed yesterday was traumatic.” Pete nodded at Frik. “Take her inside.”

To her dismay, Frik didn’t let go of her while he ushered her inside. On the contrary, he seemed to make a big display of touching her.

Drako lifted his head when they entered. His eyes didn’t turn to the beautiful golden color she’d gotten used to, but to dirty copper. He first looked at the scarf tied around her neck, and then at her shoulder where Frik’s hand rested. Fury radiated from him as Frik hugged her tighter and kissed her on the mouth.

“See you later, sweet tits.” He pressed his lips to her ear and said loud enough for Drako to hear, “I’m going to fuck your pussy so sore you’ll remember me for weeks.”

Inwardly, she winced, but she had no choice but to offer Frik something that resembled an agreeable smile.

At the gesture, the chains restricting Drako’s arms pulled tight.

“Do your thing, baby.” Frik took a sample flask from the gurney and pressed it into her hand. “Tonight I want to see his cock ejaculate. This jar better be full when I come back for you. We’re not paying you a million for nothing.” Frik slapped her ass and walked from the room, leaving the door open.

Alone in the room with Drako, she lifted her gaze to receive the full blow of his scorn.

His eyes narrowed, watching her with a predator’s intensity as she neared. “You said you weren’t taken.”

“I said I wasn’t married,” she said for the benefit of the microphone and the agents who were watching.

He uttered a wry laugh. “You also said you weren’t associated with them. No wonder I couldn’t smell your lie.” His lips thinned. “I should’ve asked if you worked for them. Are you even a real nurse?”

Frik appeared in the door, a stun gun in his good hand. “If he’s giving you trouble, I can teach him some manners, show him how we behave on this planet.”

“It’s okay,” she said, glancing nervously over her shoulder at Frik. “I just need some privacy without you hovering in the door.”

The agent touched his crotch, adjusting a hard-on. “Get on with it, then. I’ll enjoy the show. I may even jack off while watching.”

She cringed. When Frik disappeared, she stared at up Drako with what she hoped looked like an apology. Not moving her eyes from his, she ran her fingers gently up his thigh.

He bunched his jaw and ground his teeth, but his cock was already stirring.

“You’re a good person,” he said. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I’m not good,” she said, thinking about the tranquilizer she’d stolen from the hospital, the pills in her bag she’d bought from the black market, and the lies she’d spun to Caitlin.

“You are,” he insisted, his gaze already changing from that clouded coppery tone to gold.

She dragged her fingers closer to his crotch, regretting it but unable to prevent the sparks that tingled in her fingers at the feel of his skin. “Why would you say that?”

“They,” he spat the word out, his tone bitter, “asked what I was. You were the only one who asked who I was.”

Her fingers reached his scrotum. She caressed the soft skin until his balls contracted and pulled up into his body. His cock grew so hard it pressed flat against his abdomen, reaching way past his navel.

“Don’t do it,” he said, staring down at her with a mixture of anger and lust.

Had the agents eaten the cakes? How long would it take before the drug took effect? How long could she hold this off?

Frik’s voice boomed through the microphone. “The bastard is as hard as he’s going to get. Get on with it, already, unless you want a hand. I’m more than willing to help.”

There was no turning back, now. If she didn’t go through with it, the agents would see right through her. This was their only chance.

She wrapped her hand around his girth and squeezed. He made a hissing sound. Leaving the flask on the floor, she caressed his length. She had to use both hands to encircle him completely. A deeper groan escaped his chest.

“If you do this,” he said through clenched teeth, “I’m dead. I don’t believe that’s what you really want.”

She dropped to her knees. Sliding her palm over the crest and down, she lubricated his shaft with his pre-cum.

“Zut.” Closing his eyes, he leaned his head against the wall and exhaled heavily.

At the next stroke, his thighs bunched, his knees bending as far as the chains allowed. He fought his arousal, cursing and gnashing his teeth, but it was no use. He breathed harder with every stroke. When she dragged her tongue over the slit in the smooth head, he jerked his head down to watch her with a molten look. She folded her lips around him, taking as much as she could, stroking the underside with her tongue. The groan he uttered almost sounded painful. He was keeping perfectly still, flattening his ass against the wall, his gaze glued to the wicked work of her lips. His grunts turned louder. He grew thicker in her mouth, more than what she could handle, but she relaxed her jaw and moved her hands faster.

Perspiration glimmered on his golden skin. She ached to rub against him, naked. Her body reacted to his, her underwear growing damp. Her pussy was swollen, and her clit throbbed with aching need. His nostrils flared as he took in every move, every second of her forced seduction.

“Ilse.” He forced out her name, his face distorted in something that seemed closer to pain than pleasure.

Hearing her name on his lips sounded so exotic, so darkly sensual and needy she couldn’t help the moan that sprouted from deep in her throat. The minute the sound escaped, he snapped. His hips went from motionless to rocking into her mouth, taking her lips with shallow strokes. Suddenly, despite the constraints, the roles were reversed. It was no longer she who was in control, but him. His pace quickened, his hips pivoting with harder thrusts.

“Zuuuut,” he gritted out, the word laced with need.

It was agonizing. She knew, because that same need reflected in her core. Forgetting they had an audience, she barely resisted the urge to touch herself. She couldn’t think straight while he was pumping into her mouth with distorted pleasure etched on his face and certainly not while his taste evoked a deep satisfaction and a warped desire to swallow him.

Almost too late, she remembered the reason for doing this. His cock jerked and his ass bunched. She pulled back, letting him slip from her mouth, eliciting a deep growl that tore from his chest. Reaching for the flask, she aimed it at his slit. His protest was only verbal, because he was still pumping himself into her hand, going faster than before. It didn’t take long to finish him off or rather for him to use her hand to finish himself off. There was no confusion about who had taken charge. Powerful streams of semen squirted into the flask. He groaned as jet after jet erupted from his body until the flask was almost full. His climax lasted a long time. It seemed to hold his body in a vice, his abdomen scrunched into a slab of rock-hard muscle and his face contorted with ecstasy. With a last jerk of his cock, the vice gave way. He tilted back his head and sagged against the wall, his chest rising and falling with hard breaths.

Unwilling to let go just yet, she stroked him softly, drying him with her palms before planting a soft kiss on the crest. At the contact of her lips, he lifted his head wearily to look at her. His expression was too murky to read. There was that fuzzy light that came with the afterglow of a powerful release, but also something disturbing, a lot darker.

Vengeance.

She got to her feet, the flask with his semen in her hand. She capped it, nervously waiting for someone to charge through the door and call her bluff. She counted to five, and then to ten, but nothing happened.

Her body was going haywire, her nervous system scrambled with painful arousal, fear, guilt, regret, and the worst of all, the knowledge that she’d leave Drako with this impression of her. Swallowing hard, she moved to the door, her mask in place, just in case. Looking around it, her heart thumped heavily as she saw the agents lying on the floor, passed out. The drug had done its job.

“Ilse.”

Drako’s voice stilled her. She looked back over her shoulder at him and then wished she hadn’t. There was enough hate in his gaze to burn her to ashes on the spot.

“This isn’t over,” he said.

She jerked back into motion, running into the hallway. Dropping the flask, she searched the guards’ pockets for the key to the shackles, but it was nowhere to be found.

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath, turning in a frantic circle.

Her gaze fell on the door that had to give access to the room with the mirror. She yanked on the handle, exhaling in relief when it opened. Inside, two guards were slumped over a desk. The mirror was a horrible real-life portrait in which Drako was displayed, hanging limply in his chains. The image of his shoulders slumping dejectedly would forever haunt her memory, but there was no time to linger on it. She looked around the room. There were screens and recording equipment, but she didn’t stop to evaluate any of it. She jerked open the only drawer and went through it with distraught haste. Not there.

“Double shit.”

Holding her breath, she grabbed hold of the first guard’s hair and lifted his head. She managed to wiggle her hand into his shirt pocket, but felt nothing. She was about to go through his pants when a shadow fell through the door. Panic seized her. She froze. The guard from the parking lot stood in the frame, his automatic rifle pointed at her. This was it. She was going to die.

His gaze ran over the men lying face-down on the desk. “What the hell is going on here?” He waved the weapon at her. “What have you done? I saw them on the monitor, passing out like flies.”

She backed up to the wall. “Please. They were going to kill him.” She motioned at the mirror with her head. “They’re going to cut him up for research.”

He glanced at the prisoner.

“You don’t want to be responsible for his death. This is much bigger than national security. This is huge. I don’t know which planet he’s from, but he’s much stronger than any human being. We don’t want a whole planet of men like him to take revenge on us for torturing one of their kind to death.”

“He killed an agent.”

“He defended himself when they captured him. You know Pete’s intentions aren’t pure. You’ve seen what I did to Drako on the monitor. They want to sell his sperm to create an army of invincible soldiers. You know it’s unethical. Please, you have to help me.”

“What are you looking for?”

“The keys,” she said with renewed hope. “We have to uncuff him.”

An alarm sounded, followed by a flashing red light.

“Quickly,” she begged. “The other guards must’ve seen the ones passed out in the corridor on the monitors. They’ll be here soon.”

He hesitated a moment, his gaze flying to the screen that showed several guards rushing up the stairs.

“Please,” she said. “They’re going to kill me.”

“I don’t know where the key is, but there’s a lever that will release the cuffs in case the key’s lost.” He scurried toward the desk and pushed the guard lying over the computer keyboard aside. His finger hovered above a button on a control panel. “You better go. If they catch you, you’re dead. I’ll release him.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll say you did it and destroy the recording.”

She backtracked to the door. “Thank you.”

“Go!”

His finger came down on the button as she cleared the room.