“Without even saying goodbye?” She looked incensed.

Kross shrugged.

“I thought you never wanted to see me again. So after I found out you weren’t pregnant, I decided to leave so you wouldn’thave to have me in the back of your head. I was going to go somewhere outside the bounds of our mental link.”

“I don’t want you to go anywhere,” she said softly. “And I wish you’d remove the barrier you put between us. Iwantyou in the back of my head, Kross.”

“All right.” Kross reached into his mind and tried to dislodge the barrier…only to find that he couldn’t. It felt like a door in his mind that was stuck closed somehow, though he couldn’t say exactly how or why.

“What’s happening? I still can’t hear you,” Sylvia complained. “I want to hear your voice in my head again, Kross—Imissit.”

Kross shrugged.

“I’m sorry, Princess—it won’t budge. I feel like I’m trying to open a door but there’s a heavy weight behind it.”

She looked stricken.

“So…that’s in then? Our Bond is broken before we even got to use it?”

“Not broken, exactly,” Kross said quickly. “Just…dysfunctional.” He frowned. “Honestly, I don’t know how we even formed it in the first place. I’ve never been able to Bond with a woman before—I thought it was impossible.”

Sylvia looked thoughtful.

“Do you think it might have something to do with the way Dr. Barbarous manipulated your DNA? I mean, you still have the red skin and blue hair.” She gestured to him. “Maybe he also inadvertently ‘fixed’ the part of you that made Bonding with a woman impossible.”

“That’s possible,” Kross said, nodding. It had been difficult getting used to his new “look” but when he considered that it was an outcome of the DNA manipulation that had allowed him to Bond with his Fated Mate, it seemed like a small price to pay.

“So if it was possible for us to Bond once, it should be possible to do it again,” Sylvia said.

“Bond again?” Kross frowned at her. “You mean you want to?—”

“Have Bonding sex. Right now.” She wiggled against him and he was suddenly aware of how her soft little pussy was pressing against his crotch and her full breasts were nearly in his face.

“Mmm, baby—are you serious?” he growled, putting his hands on her hips.

Sylvia nodded.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t remember anything from the first time?”

“It’s all a blur,” Kross admitted.

“Then we should do it all over again. Maybe it will ‘unstick’ the door that’s keeping us from communicating mentally.” She sounded so reasonable Kross couldn’t deny her. Also, the way she was looking at him, from under her long lashes and the feeling of her soft, warm body pressed against his own was making his shaft so hard he could feel it straining against his trousers.

“That sounds good to me, Princess,” he growled. “How do you want to do it?”

“I’ll tell you how—this timeIwant to be in charge.” She arched an eyebrow at him. “Last time I was pretty much helpless, so I want to call the shots this time around.”

Kross felt his cock surge even more. He fucking loved it when his Princess got bossy!

“Sure, baby,” he growled. “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

“First of all, hands at your sides,” she ordered.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Kross took his hands off her hips and put them at his sides.

Sylvia frowned.

“You know I hate when you call me that! In fact, I think it calls for a punishment.”