Page 8 of Forced to Mate By the Mad Scientist

“Maybe Kross is just worried for your safety,” Kat suggested.

“No, he’s worried about getting his shirt wrinkled or his hair messed up when he has to come to a field assignment with me,” Sylvie snapped. “I don’t know why he took the job as my Protector in the first place if he’s so afraid to get his hands dirty!”

“Hey, sorry, doll.” Kat held up both hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “I didn’t mean to make you angry.”

“You didn’t! Oh, Kat—I’m sorry.” Sylvie put down her brush and gave her friend a hug.

Kat had been one of the first people to welcome her aboard the Kindred Mother ship and she was also the one who always helped Sylvie get ready for her field assignments—especially if she had to deal with an alien culture. Kat was the one who researched the natives of any given planet and made sure that Sylvie was prepared for anything.

“I’m so sorry I snapped at you,” she said to Kat, giving her a remorseful look. “It’s just that Kross makes mecrazy.I just wish Commander Sylvan would assign me someone else as my Protector, since he clearly doesn’t really want the job.”

“You might be surprised about what Kross really wants.” Kat sounded thoughtful.

“I doubt it,” Sylvie said dryly. She sighed. “Anyway, I should get ready. We’re meeting in the Docking Bay for the mission to Gim’bab Orious in a few hours and I want to be sure I have all my protective gear packed.”

“Good luck, doll.” Kat gave her a kiss on the cheek and smiled. “Just be safe out there. Remember, Kross might not like being your Protector for some reason, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want you to be safe. Listen to him if he tells you to be careful—the Kindred have excellent survival instincts. Way better than what we humans have.”

“Hmmph, I’ll believe it when I see it,” Sylvie said, frowning. But she kissed Kat’s cheek and smiled. “Just wait until I bring back thattangelinevine! I can’t wait to study its medicinal properties. Think of all the lives we can save and patients we can heal if even half of what I’ve heard about it is true!”

Kat grinned at her.

“You love your work—I’ll give you that. Good luck and be safe.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sylvie said airily. “It’s going to be a piece of cake.”

She had no idea how horribly wrong she was or how badly her next mission was going to go. And by the time she found out, it was too late…

5

KROSS

Kross watched from the corner of his eye as his charge fastened her five-point harness in the seat beside his. His hands clenched on the steering yoke of the long-range shuttle as he considered where they were about to go and how potentially dangerous it was going to be.

Not for him—he was a Kindred warrior, he could handle himself in almost any situation. But Sylvia was a curvy little human—soft and defenseless and oh-so-vulnerable. It drove him fuckingcrazyto see her put herself in danger all the time and yet there was nothing he could do but follow along and pray to the Goddess that he could keep her safe.

Goddess damn her!

His hands tightened even more on the yoke. She didn’t know it but she was his Fated Mate—Kross knew it as surely as he knew his own name and blood type. He’d known it from the moment he’d first met her…and yet he also knew he could never Claim her properly as a Kindred warrior should.

The problem was, he was a Hybrid—his mother had been a Blood Kindred and his Father had been a Beast Kindred with just a little Skellax mixed in. This particular genetic combinationmeant it would be impossible for him to Bond with a woman, even if he found the right one for him.

Kross knew this from painful personal experience. When he’d been younger, he had formed an attachment to a girl he’d grown up with. His parents had tried to warn him to leave her alone, but the two of them had run off together and attempted to Bond.

The pain of a Failed Bonding is something you don’t ever forget. It’s a soul-deep ache—an agony that never truly fades. The girl Kross had tried to Bond to him had been driven nearly mad by the pain. And even after it had lessened, she’d wanted nothing more to do with him—not that he fucking blamed her. He should have listened to his parents and never tried to Bond her in the first place.

Well, lesson learned. He was determined never to try and Bond a woman to him again. And for years—decades actually—he’d kept that promise to himself with no problem. Other than a few flings—mostly with sex bots to avoid any kind of commitment issues—he’d had no interest in females at all. He’d moved to the Mother Ship and made a place for himself, working in the Kindred’s Elite Espionage Corps.

And then Sylvia had walked into his life.

It started innocently enough with Commander Sylvan asking if he would leave the Corps for a while to become a Protector. The specially trained bodyguards were each assigned a single female scientist or diplomat to ward and protect with their life. Thinking nothing of it, Kross had accepted.

Which was when he had been introduced to Sylvia.

From the very moment he’d taken her hand when they were introduced, he knew—knew she was meant to be his. And yet, the cruel fate of his own genetics would forever keep them apart.

At first, Kross tried to tell himself he didn’t care. He told himself it was better to be close to her and keep her safe than to live without her in his life.

But he hadn’t counted on Sylvia being so fucking reckless! Why couldn’t she be a diplomat or a Good Will Ambassador, he often wondered. Why did she have to be a scientist whose research seemingly took her to only the most dangerous planets in the known galaxy?

---