Kragen knelt down, close to the ground, and dipped his fingers in the scrabbly dirt below. He sniffed them. Nothing but the overpowering scent of old factory waste and diesel. That scent cover was part of the reason he’d chosen this warehouse for his hideout.

And now there was an intruder.

Every muscle in his body was primed, his pulse slightly elevated, his senses on high alert, all in preparation for a fight that might never come. There had been no further sign of an intruder, let alone a Leonid patrol. It was possible that the alarm had been falsely triggered, but he had been careful, setting them up. Very careful.

The night was empty and dull. Nothing moved in the dead compound of abandoned industrial buildings. Nothing stirred. The night was clear, the moon was high. He could see everything, and what he could see was nothing.

It set him on edge.

The most primal parts of him were now in charge. Such as it had to be. He was on the edge of the compound now, the forest to his left as he patrolled the perimeter. He could hear every individual leaf rustle in the lazy night breeze, could hear every snap of a twig, every animal in the underbrush. Sweat gathered on his chest while the half-healed wound on his side beat out a dull rhythm of pain in time with his heart.

And yet he had to bring all his discipline to bear to focus through the fog of the triclosan. Kragen cursed his circumstances. Without the triclosan, he’d be at full strength. He’d be able to cast about, use his Leonid psychic senses to feel any disturbances, as a shark feels vibrations in the water. But he would also be maddened by the hunger, his senses too sharp, his energy needing somewhere to go…

He was still cursing when he felt her.

Andromeda.

It should have been impossible. He had taken the largest dose yet, determined to bury their mating bond until he could find a solution, or it would not endanger her.

But her need was so great it burned through the triclosan fog like fire. He could always sense her, if he tried, but this was different. This was a call.

It tore an answering roar from his throat.

And if he could feel it through the drug, anything else out there would feel it too.

Kragen began to run.

* * *

The farther Andie walked—because, dammit, she’d left her car in the parking lot at work—the hotter she felt, and the more she questioned whether this was really her decision. The tug on her heart had become a tidal pull. She wasn’t sure she could stop walking if she tried. And the absence she felt inside, the one that only Kragen could fill, was starting to hurt.

Whatever protection he’d given her from the hunger, it wasn’t lasting long. As soon as she’d made the decision to find him, to do this together, it had started to peel away in layers, first slowly, then faster and faster, like a flower in the wind. Now it was practically gone. Whatever triclosan was, it wasn’t stronger than this mating bond.

She could feel her need rising off of her like steam.

Which made it crazy to be walking at night, alone. It was even crazier to be walking with no real destination in mind, just a direction: closer to him.

But it didn’t matter. She’d made a decision. She’d stood up for herself once, and she wasn’t done. Besides, her body wouldn’t let her stop now.

Andie was telling herself that was all completely reasonable and not at all insane when she felt him.

It was an all-over flush, and then like she could feel him against her, the sensation sweeping over her entire body. Her internal muscles clenched, and a moan escaped her lips as she fell to her knees on the sidewalk. It was like he was inside her, everywhere.

And then just as quickly it was gone, replaced by an insistent throbbing between her legs and the knowledge that he was there.

She looked up. He stood over her, his eyes blazing with fury.

Without a word, he threw her over his shoulder and took off.

* * *

“Put me down!”

It took her almost a minute to get her wits about her enough to say that, so they were deep into the woods when Kragen stopped, suddenly, and put her down.

When they broke contact, the world became dull and gray. Andie blinked against it. It was nighttime, after all, but when he was touching her, everything had a glow…

“What have you done, lubcha?” he growled.

Goddammit, she still didn’t know what that meant.

Andie studied him for a moment. Even though it was dark and they were in the woods, his silvery skin shone slightly against the moon, and his eyes gave off their own light. His whole body looked like it was working very hard to contain something, something powerful. It was mesmerizing.

“You’re the one who left,” she said, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was only wearing three items of clothing: tank top, hoodie, sweatpants. “What did you think was going to happen?”

“Not this,” he said. “The triclosan injections were working. And then…”

“You felt it,” Andie said, and sat down on the dewy ground. She was uncomfortably hot now, and the sheer stupidity of thinking she could go to him was just now sinking in. “I don’t know why, Kragen. I don’t know why for any of this.”

“Do you know how dangerous this is, female?”

“No!” Andie said, and looked up angrily. He was standing over her like some sort of disciplinarian. With effort, she pushed herself off the ground, and brushed wet leaves off of herself. Only then did she meet his gaze. “That is exactly the point! I don’t know anything, and that is incredibly messed up.”

Kragen crossed his arms.

“You are not making any sense.”

“Don’t do that,” Andie said. “This bond didn’t just happen to you, you know. It’s mine, too. I have a right to be involved. You can’t just shut me out and expect me to be fine with having no idea what’s happening to me. Or what’s at risk. Or what you have in that freaking basement.”

Or why you won’t claim me.

Andie shook her head, the thought intruding on the moment like a big, unwanted neon sign. She was suddenly very conscious of how wet she was. Of how hard her nipples were under her dumb hoodie. Of how much she simply ached.

When she looked at Kragen again, it was through a haze.

“If it’s so dangerous, why did you come for me?”

“Because you called me,” Kragen growled, whirling around with such ferocity and power that she had trouble listening to him. “Because I would have felt your desire from miles away.”

He stood there, silently staring at her, his chest heaving with every breath, his muscles tensed.

Andie had never been so embarrassed in her life.

“You’re just like all the others,” she said.

Kragen’s head whipped around. “What others?”

“What are you trying to hide from me? What could be so bad?”

Kragen took a huge step toward her.

“What others?” he demanded.

Andie looked up at the huge, imposing Leonid who was standing over her, and licked her lips.

“You’re jealous,” she said quietly.

With a hiss, Kragen closed the distance between them and reached to touch her cheek. The contact hit her like an electric shock. She stood frozen in place as he threaded his hand through her hair and slowly, so slowly, tilted her head back.

Just like the dream.

Andie stared up into his limitless eyes and felt herself start to go weak and blurry at the edges, as if she wanted to melt into him completely. Her heart thudded in her chest, reminding her what was real, what was physical.

“I do not take my prerogative, my natural right to claim you,” he said, “because I will have you submit willingly or not at all.”

Andie took a deep breath. Where his hand touched her head it was like…like there was an electrical current emanating from it, like there were tiny little sparks of pleasure fizzing through out her entire body, all of them originating from the place where Kragen touched her.

Is this what he felt all the time? How did he withstand it?

Focus.

“I thought it was because you didn’t want to hurt me,” she said.

Kragen winced slightly, and she saw that she’d hurt him. She didn’t know how. She still didn’t know anything.

It was now or never. She breathed through the desire, the animal imperative, and made her brain work.

“You know why I will never submit willingly?” she asked, her voice so low it barely carried. “Because the mistake I’ve made my whole life is choosing men who only see me as submissive, who don’t have any respect for me as a person, who just want me as some sort of sexual…”

Kragen’s jaw tensed, but Andie kept going.

“Sexual plaything. Anyway, that’s not what I want. And that’s not who I am. I want…”

“Tell me,” Kragen growled. “Tell me what you want.”

If anyone else had asked her this, Andie wouldn’t have known how to answer. But coming from Kragen, it wasn’t a request. It was an order.

She didn’t have a choice. And that freed her to find the truth.

“I want a partner, outside of the sex stuff,” she said. Andie couldn’t believe she was saying this. She’d never said it out loud, even to herself. “Yeah, you’re right, physically I…my body wants yours. In that way. But I don’t want to be your doormat, except maybe in bed. I would never submit to someone who treats me the way you do.”

Kragen flinched, as though he’d been struck, and then his grip on her hair tightened. His eyes glowed a little brighter.

“You would submit if I demanded it,” he said.

Andie almost laughed. Because she knew, down to her bones, that he was right—and that he would never do that. She’d seen enough of him through their weirdo bond the times when they’d touched. Kragen had a code.

Andie didn’t, at least not in this situation. And she was the granddaughter of one tough SOB of a trial lawyer.

She knew what she had to do.

Kragen stood over her, fuming, while she could see all the things he’d tried to hide from her simmering, just near the surface. That’s what she wanted, she realized now. She wanted to see the real Kragen. She wanted to see all of him. Because then she’d know if she could trust her heart.

Which meant she had to provoke him.

“But you won’t, will you?” she said, meeting his gaze head-on. “Either because you don’t want me, or because you’re scared.”

With a growl, Kragen pushed her backwards, pinning her roughly against a tree, like he knew that was another one of her fantasies. Andie wanted to moan. She wanted to lose herself to this completely. Her eyes fluttered as he brushed her cheek with his thumb, the rest of his hand still lost in her hair. And only tiny part of her retained self-control.

“Look at me,” he commanded.

Andie opened her eyes, but it wasn’t enough. With another growl he cupped her ass with his hands and lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, pinning her back against the tree. She gasped.

She could feel him. Not just the bond. Him.

His massive cock was hard under his leathers, pressing between her legs as he pulled her onto him. Instinctively, she squirmed and let out a low moan just as another growl gathered in his chest. Some part of her, the part that still had a brain, was screaming about how he was way too big and she should just run for the hills, but the rest of her wasn’t listening.

Kragen held her up with just the pressure of his hips, his hands free to roam. He grabbed hold of her hair again, but this time he tilted her head back, exposing her neck.

In another moment, she felt cool fangs teasing her skin.

“Never say that I do not want you, lubcha,” he murmured against her, his breath hot on her neck. “And never say that I am a coward.”

He dragged his fangs lightly along her neck as he breathed in, scenting her in the cool night. When he was done, Kragen positioned her head so she could look up into his eyes. Andie was half gone. This close, for this long…

She was losing herself to the hunger.

“You are mine any time I want,” Kragen said, his eyes blazing. “As I am yours. You insult me by comparing me to other males.”

At the phrase “other males”, his lip curled up in disgust.

“Then stop acting like them,” she said.

Kragen’s nostrils flared.

“When I claim you,” he said, “you will be disciplined for that.”

Deep in her hunger haze, Andie woke up.

“When?” she asked.

Kragen’s eyes widened, and then he growled, softly, just before he kissed her.

Some little piece of Andie's mind was still functional enough to scream against this, to say she hadn’t gotten what she wanted yet, that she needed him to come clean, that this wasn’t a good idea. But it was quickly obliterated in the firestorm that erupted from that kiss.

All thought evaporated. There was nothing but sensation, the feeling of his body against hers, and of the place where they met. His kiss was hot, hungry, wet, his mouth claiming hers. Waves of liquid heat rolled through her, a pulsing frisson from her lips to her core. It was like some new kind of orgasm, commandeering her entire body in the build-up.

Andie was lost.

It was Kragen who pulled away, growling, his arms wrapping around her as he looked over his shoulder. Andie blinked. Her brain was still back in that kiss. She wanted more of that kiss. She wanted that kiss for the rest of her life.

Which is maybe why it took her a second to realize how much danger she was in.

Beyond Kragen’s shoulder, partially covered by a tree, stood another Leonid. He looked pale blue in the moonlight, his eyes an angry yellow, his hair dark, like Kragen’s. His expression was murderous. And he had a weapon—a gun of some kind—pointed directly at them.

“Unhand the female,” the other Leonid said, “and maybe I will take you in alive, you traitorous bastard.”