Page 17 of Guardians

She finally seemed relaxed and comfortable with him, so Malik decided not to reprimand her for the subtle disobedience. “I grew up in Florida, but I spent six years in the military so I went wherever they sent me.”

“Where did they send you?”

He shrugged. “All over Earth-controlled space.”

“Did you receive your medical training in the military?”

He shook his head. “I was still pre-med when my grandmother died. She’d been awarded custody of me after my mother died so Gran’s death left me with no one. The law considered me an adult, but I had no skills and no support system. I had no choice but to join the military.”

“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.” She sat up and scooted closer to him, dragging the quilt along with her. “You lost your mother and then your grandmother? That’s quite a one-two punch.”

“There were thirteen years between the two punches, so it wasn’t quite as bad as it sounded. Anyway, my primary reason for joining the military was to help pay for the rest of my education. I agreed to serve six years and then returned to college as soon as I was discharged.”

“But Nuevo snatched you before you could graduate?”

He nodded. The last thing he wanted to talk about was his years in captivity. Instead, he shifted her focus just a little. “Kane said you were some sort of consultant for Nuevo.”

She wrapped the quilt more snugly around her as she explained, “I study big cats, primarily lions. I’d just spent five years observing a large lion pride in Africa when Nuevo hired me. As you can imagine, the project leaders had all sorts of questions for me.”

“But all you ever did was answer questions,” he pushed, needing to be sure that she’d had no direct interaction with any of the hybrids. He didn’t care how desperate he was for a mate; that was a line he wasn’t willing to cross.

“I was a source of information, nothing more. The closest I ever got to those horrible labs was a videoconference. And in case you’re wondering, I was never told what the Griffin Project was about.”

“You never suspected?” he challenged, his gaze locking with hers. She was clearly intelligent and her education was rooted in science. How could she not realize what the Griffin Project was about? The question made him scoff inwardly. Shapeshifters and psychic shadows, how could anyone guess what was really taking place on Nuevo’s outpost?

“I wondered,” she admitted. “I was concerned that something was seriously wrong, but the whole thing blew up before I could decide what I needed to do about it.”

“If you’re completely blameless, why are you here?” He was being a jerk and he knew it, but he needed a better understanding of the female Kane had chosen for their mate.

She finger-combed her damp hair back from her face as her gaze filled with memories. “The legal team was ruthless and there was such a public outcry against Nuevo Biotech that the cops scooped up every person on Nuevo’s payroll and charged us with the same set of crimes. We were tried separately, but it was like an assembly line. They presented the same evidence over and over. No one cared that our level of involvement had been vastly different. Nuevo signed our paychecks. That’s all that mattered to any of them.”

He helped her scoot to the edge of the bed and then they both stood up. “Our lives on Earth are over. We can’t go back,” he concluded with a shrug. “We were both dumped here like an unwanted pet, so all we can do is make the best of what little we’ve been given.”

She nodded, but her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I had plans for my life, dreams and aspirations.”

“We all did.” Malik pulled her into his arms, but she remained tense and unresponsive, so he let her go.

Apparently, clothing would mean more at this stage than a hug, so he crossed the room and rummaged through his closet until he found one of the short-sleeved tunics he wore under his flex armor. It would envelop her body like a dress and the sturdy gray material would provide the modesty she clearly wanted. Returning to the bed, he handed her the tunic and motioned toward the bathroom. “Get dressed then join us in the outer room. The others should have something for you to eat by now.”

Lexie smoothed the gray tunic down over her thighs, hands shaking, heart thudding in her chest. Three aggressive hybrids waited in the outer room. They expected her to accommodate their sexual needs and obediently do anything they asked of her. They hadn’t thrown her on the bed and fucked her the second they arrived at this cabin. That was something, she supposed. Malik had eventually taken out the uncomfortable butt plug and eased the stinging of her welted behind with his magic ointment. Maybe the other two would follow his example and give her some time to adjust to her new circumstances. She thought of Kane and Diego and sighed. Patience seemed unlikely. Even Malik had taken full advantage of her nudity when her ass was in the air. And he seemed to be the most reasonable of the three.

After using the bathroom, she washed up and tugged a brush through her damp hair. Then she wandered around the bedroom feeling lost and vulnerable. Malik’s attention had been unexpected and confusing. If the purpose for the belting had been to hurt and humiliate her, why had he taken away the pain? And why do everything else he’d done to her? She could still feel his mouth pressed against her pussy, feel the sensual slide of his tongue in and out of her core. A violent shiver passed through her torso and lodged between her thighs. Just thinking about the orgasm he’d wrested from her body made her ache for him to do it all over again.

This wasn’t helping. She shook away the images and headed for the door. She’d been told to join them in the living room and heaven knew she was hungry. Besides, if she procrastinated much longer, one of her mates would likely come get her and spank her for ignoring the command. The strangest wave of tingling heat rolled through her body at the thought. She’d been mortified and afraid the entire time Kane punished her, yet she couldn’t ignore what it had done to her senses. Being naked andat his mercy had aroused her like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Even the pain, and it had been extremely painful, made her orgasm more intense. She didn’t understand why her body was reacting this way, but she was honest enough to admit that she’d been affected by it.

She eased open the door and peered out into the living room. The cabin was compact and rustic, built for function rather than esthetic appeal. The furniture, what little there was of it, had obviously been handcrafted, probably by Kane, Diego, and Malik themselves. A stone fireplace took up most of one wall and the flames drew her like a moth. It had been so long since she’d been warm and felt completely safe. The thought brought her up short. Why in the world would she feel safe here? The first thing these three had done was strip her naked and take a belt to her rear end. No. The first thing they’d done was agree to save Bianca’s life and declare before the village leaders that she was their mate.

“You didn’t sleep very long,” Kane commented, his silver-blue gaze slightly narrowed.

“I was too hungry to sleep.” It wasn’t a lie. She was hungry. But that wasn’t what drew her from sleep. She was anxious about the rest of the night; not afraid, just uncertain. She had never been interested in casual hookups, had never had sex with someone she just met. Now she’d agreed to make her body available to three veritable strangers.

“Have a seat.” Diego motioned toward the table. “What would you like to drink? We havesunjittea, milk, and water.”

Sunjitwas an aromatic herb that grew everywhere on this planet. Her camp had been using it for everything from teas to food seasoning to a sort of potpourri for their tents. “I’m prettysure I haven’t seen a cow since we arrived,” she said with a tentative smile. “Do I even what to know where the milk came from?”

“We’ve domesticated thedorren,” Malik explained.“They make wonderful pack animals and provide us with milk and cheese.”

Malik pulled out one of the chairs and Lexie sat down. The scientists had encountered several large herds of animals in the months they’d been here. They had tried to hunt them, but without conventional weapons they had failed miserably. She wasn’t sure which animal Malik meant. Still, it amazed her how much the hybrids had accomplished since arriving on Rydaria. “I hate to ask, but do you eat their meat as well?”

---