Page 2 of Legend

“You came in here uninvited and challenged a Drexian twice your size who could snap you in half.” His voice dropped to a deadly hum. “Aren’t you afraid?”

My heart skipped a beat as a trickle of fear slid down my spine. Now that he put it like that, maybe he hadn’t been the best Drexian to insult. But I refused to let anyone frighten me. I hadn’t gotten to where I was in the military by lettingbigger guys scare me. Almost every guy was bigger than me, but not many were as smart or as clever. Not that storming into Vyk’s office had been my smartest move.

I slowly curled my hands until they were two fists on his desk. “Do I look like I’m afraid?”

“You do not.” His gaze wandered to my lips, and he drew in a quick breath before his eyes returned to mine, and he stiffened. “But maybe you should fear me.”

Something in his expression made me want to push his limits, even though my instincts told me I shouldn’t. I leaned my face forward so that I could feel the warmth of his breath. “Would you like that?”

In the electric space between us, neither one of us moved. Neither breathed. Then Vyk growled and jerked back, putting distance between us. “I will have the beast removed, Captain.”

I was so shocked by his reversal that I could only gape at him.

“Is there anything else?” He dropped back into his chair, his gaze locking onto his tablet as he made a point of not looking at me.

I shook my head as I backed away, too startled by what had transpired to utter another word as I left his office. I should have felt victorious that I’d won. He’d agreed to remove the monster just like I’d demanded.

Then why did I feel like I’d merely awoken the real beast?

Chapter

Two

Vyk

Ishould not have been thinking about it. I should not have been thinking abouther.

The corridor was deserted with only the rhythmic slapping of my boot leather against the floor as I stalked through the academy. But it was the pounding of my heart that was distracting me. Fiona had left my office long ago, yet I could think of nothing else.

Infuriating female.

As much as I wanted to sneer at the human for daring to tell me what to do, I could not help but admire her courage. She had risked my wrath by giving me an order that was not hers to give, and she had shown no fear. Then she had challenged me when I’d told her she should fear me.

“Would you like that?”

Her breathy question echoed in my head and sent heat rushing to my cock. I groaned and shifted my gait so I would not injure myself or arrive at the Academy Master’s office with a noticeable lump tenting my dark, uniform pants.

I was used to being despised by others—the enemy combatants I interrogated, the Inferno Force recruits I initiated through toughness, the cadets at the academy who feared my punishments. It did not bother me because I was generous with my disdain. You did not become notorious and feared by being kind or having legions of friends, and it had taken me most of my career to engender the level of fearful respect that I now commanded. Fearful respect that Fiona clearly did not feel.

How was it possible that a human—a female human—was willing to stand up to me when most Drexians would not dare?

She had courage. I would give her that. I had already learned that humans were stronger and braver than I’d ever imagined, as much as I hated to admit it. They had proven that in the trials, but there was a part of me that still rejected the idea of the smaller species training alongside Drexians. We were allies with the Earthlings, but it was as much because our people needed mates as anything. Until recently, human females were mates for Drexians. Pretty, biddable mates.

The thought of Fiona being anyone’s mate made a growl tease the back of my throat and my cock twitch. Then a gruff laugh escaped my lips and echoed off the vaulted ceiling. Fiona might be beautiful, but she could never be called biddable. Any male who tried to tame her would as soon lose an arm as win a kiss.

I thought back to the first time I had seen her across the crowded main hall when cadets were bustling between classes. Her golden wavy hair had caught my gaze because it was so different from the dark hair of Drexians. She was so different from Drexians in so many ways, which was probably why she’d provoked such strong feelings of resistance in me.

She meant change. A change in the way things had been done for millennia. A change in ancient traditions. A change that would alter the future of my people.

She had been right about me. I had despised the idea of humans at the Academy—my Academy. When I had attended as a cadet, the buildings had already been weathered and the stone well-worn, but there had been only Drexians and only males. It had been a rigorous and often dangerous training ground for those of us willing to venture into the universe as warriors. Like I had told Fiona, it was not for the weak.

“Not that she is weak,” I muttered to myself, my words vanishing into the ominous silence clinging to the stone walls and lurking behind the flickering light from the sconces.

No, Fiona had proven that she was strong enough to stand up to me. Not even many cadets could claim that. My mind wandered traitorously to thoughts of what else she might be strong enough to withstand, of what challenge I would like to issue.

“Commander?”

I jerked to a standstill, blinking at the admiral’s adjunct as he stepped from Zoran’s office. Had I reached the Academy Master’s domain soquickly?

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