Page 1 of Forced to Mate By the Mad Scientist

1

SYLVIE

“I hate him! I mean it—I can’t stand that big asshole!” Doctor Sylvia Cooper snarled, throwing her hairbrush across the room.

“Take it easy there, doll,” Kat said dryly as the hairbrush landed against the metal wall of Sylvia’s suite hard enough to make a dullclangsound. “If you throw that any harder we’re going to have a hull breach on our hands.”

Of course, it would take more than a hairbrush to breach the hull of the Kindred Mother Ship but Sylvie took her friend’s point. Taking a deep breath, she went to pick up the brush and continued brushing her long, wavy hair. It was what you might call strawberry blonde or rose-gold and she had both the freckles and the temper to match her coloring.

“I know I shouldn’t let him get to me,” she said to Kat, who was watching with her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. “It’s just that I have to spend so much time with him! Why couldn’t Commander Sylvan have assigned me to some other Protector?”

Kat shrugged.

“Dunno. I’m sure he didn’t have any idea that you and Kross would clash like this.”

Kross was Sylvie’s Protector—a seven-foot-tall Hybrid Kindred warrior who was half Beast Kindred and half Blood Kindred. He also had some Skellax blood in him—a very rare alien race that had very few people.

Being part Skellax meant that Kross had dark gray skin, silver hair, and eyes that changed colors depending on his mood. Whenever he was around Sylvia they were almost always red, which she was fairly certain meant he was angry or irritated with her.

If so, the feeling was mutual. Kross was constantly complaining that she wanted to go to unsafe planets for her research and bitching about the fact that she was “reckless” and “putting herself in danger.”

Which was ridiculous, of course, Sylvie thought, as she pulled the brush through her hair in short, irritated jerks. She had a double PhD in Xeno-Botany and Xeno-Zoology with a minor in pharmacology, which meant she went to different alien words to find plants and animals that might have medicinal benefits. Sure, sometimes the plants grew in dangerous areas and the animals were difficult to handle, but that was just part of her job. And it was Kross’s job to protect her—withoutcomplaining.

It might have been different if he’d been the silent, growly type but it was worse—he was sarcastic and his remarks always bit her to the bone. He got under her skin like no other man ever had. They’d only been working together for a few months and already Sylvie was ready to ditch him for some other Kindred—anyother Kindred. And their last mission together had only cemented that sentiment in her mind.

Closing her eyes as she brushed her hair, Sylvie remembered the humiliating episode…

2

SYLVIE

It had been on Minerva Twelve—a swampy planet that was barely habitable in the C’rex’or System. Sylvie had heard tales of a certain leech native to the bogs and swamps of the planet that secreted a numbing solution that rivaled any other topical painkiller. She had been determined to collect some for her research, even though Kross pointed out that the swamps of Minerva Twelve were home to dangerousXaimons—or “water dragons” as the natives called them.

“They get up to ten meters long!” he’d growled, when he was trying to talk her out of the mission. “They have teeth as long as my fucking forearm. Any one of them could eat your curvy little body in a single bite, Princess!”

That was another thing Sylvie hated—his sarcastic nicknames for her. He was always calling her “Princess” or “Your Majesty” and being elaborately and sarcastically deferential when she insisted on doing her job correctly. And yes, that might mean going to some places that weren’t strictly safe, but Sylvie refused to let herself be intimidated. She followed the science and collected her specimens wherever they were, and so far she’d always been fine. Well, except for a few minor mishaps, she admitted to herself.

“Don’t call me Princess,” she’d snapped at Kross. “And the fact that theXaimonsare so big, means they won’t be able to go in shallow water. As long as I stay in the shallows, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry—you won’t have to get your precious boots dirty—you can just stand on the bank and watch.”

That was another thing about Kross—he was very particular about his appearance. His clothes were always the latest fashion. Even his Kindred uniform which consisted of a long-sleeved maroon shirt with gold buttons and tight-fitting black trousers tucked into high black boots, always seemed to be perfectly tailored to his tall, muscular frame.

Kross had scowled at her, allowing his irritation to break through the cool, sarcastic demeanor for once.

“Ifyougo in the water,Igo in the water—that’s the way it is, Princess. You know that.” His eyes flashed red with irritation as he spoke.

“Fine—then I guess you’ll just have to get wet because I’mgoingto get those leeches,” Sylvie told him. “Even Commander Sylvan admits they might have some real medical benefits he could use in the Med Center.”

Kross’s eyes were still red as he performed an elaborate bow and murmured,

“Yes, Your Majesty—your wish is my command. I live only to fulfill youreverydesire.”

Despite herself, Sylvie had felt her cheeks getting hot. She hated it when he acted like that! She’d seen him bow before when greeting others—apparently, it was a Skellax thing—a mannerism he’d been raised with. But when he bowed to her there was always a sardonic gleam in his changeable eyes that made her feel foolish—as though she was a headstrong child demanding her own way instead of a highly respected scientist trying to do her job!

Despite Kross’s objections, Commander Sylvan had given his approval and they had gone to Minerva Twelve. Sylvie had been wearing a protective cover-all, of course, but the day was so hot and muggy that by mid-afternoon she’d been forced to strip the top part of it down and tie it around her waist. Under it, she had on a thin white T-shirt and underthatshe wasn’t wearing any bra. Because, like most of the women aboard the Mother Ship, she had adopted the use of float dots instead.

Float dots were tiny, tear-drop-shaped devices that adhered to the bottom of each breast and acted like tiny anti-gravity engines. They caused even the largest and heaviest breasts to “float” and look perky. Which was a good thing for Sylvie, since she’d always had extra-large breasts to go with her extra-large curves—no one was ever going to accuse her of being skinny.

She hadn’t thought much about her outfit at the time—she was hot and sweaty and standing thigh-deep in the swirling, murky blue-green waters of the swamp. So what if she had mostly sweated through her t-shirt? She was too busy to notice and shestillhadn’t found any of the elusive leeches!

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