Page 50 of Third

“Stay,” he ordered roughly. “Where I can reachyou.”

She met his gaze, her breathing ragged but her spine straight, defiant. Her fingers stroked his jaw as if locking him in place, her lips swollen from his kiss but her voice steady when she rasped, “Iam not leavingyou.”

Tor’Vek spun back to the console, the taste of her still on his lips, his pulse a war drum in his ears—he had to think, had to move, had to fight past the dizzying need clawing at hismind.

Another status report blinked.

“Atmospheric control degraded.”

He cursed under his breath, scanning for a solution.

Another pulse from thebond.

He bit back a crude word, knuckles white against the console.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shift again, adjusting the torn edges of her shirt, the bare glimpse of her smooth skin flashing like a beacon to every fraying nerve insidehim.

He lost the fight again.

In two strides, he pinned her over the console itself, pressing her down across the cold, cracked surface. His hand flattened against the small of her back, keeping her in place as he bent low, drawing the heated scent of her into his lungs.

“Ineed…” His voice broke.

Anya twisted her head to look back at him, her pupils blown wide, her breathing ragged.

“Then take,” she whispered.

It shattered what little restraint he hadleft.

He dragged his hands up her sides, feeling every desperate tremble under his palms. His mouth found the exposed line of her spine, branding her with kisses and bites that spoke of reverence and raw, desperateneed.

He rocked against her, the desperate pulse of his cock aching for her. Arough growl ripped from his throat as he yanked down her leggings, his hands shaking with urgency. He shoved them over her hips, baring her to his touch, and the vibrating mounds along his cock flexed in helpless anticipation, each pulse scraping against his restraint. The sensation tormented him as much as it tormented her, abrutal echo of the bond clawing through their blood.

She cried out, her body arching back into him without hesitation.

He bit down on the soft flesh at her shoulder—not to hurt, but tomarkher, branding her ashis.

The bond flared hard, awild surge of heat and light behind hiseyes.

She whimpered, her hips pushing back into him, her voice breaking on a desperate, pleading cry. “Please, Tor’Vek. Ineedyou.”

The last of his control snapped and he tore open his trousers.

He gripped her hips in his rough hands, positioning her, his cock throbbing and ready. In a single, hard thrust, he buried himself inside her, locking them together with a groan so raw it shredded his throat.

He plunge into her, repeatedly. Desperately. And a violent surge of heat and light exploded through the bond, crashing over him as her body clutched him tight, welcoming him, completing him in a way nothing else ever could.

He took her, faster and harder, the pleasure surging with need and erupting into an intense, endless craving that drove him on and on. He wanted it to last forever, prayed for it to last forever. Not that it did. His climax ripped through him, over him and into him, his knot swelling larger than he could ever recall.

Anya gasped, her forehead pressing against the console, her body trembling as he held her there, deep and locked within her. They stayed that way for a long moment—gasping, shuddering, too wrecked tomove.

When she finally sagged in his hold, Tor’Vek gathered her into his arms, cradling her gently. He carried her to the tiny sanitation chamber, moving with gentle care, as if she might break if he jostled her too harshly.

He set her down, stripped away the remnants of their clothing, and cleaned her with steady, careful hands, murmuring low words she barely understood. Words in his native tongue—promises of protection, whispered declarations of ‘mine,’ and ragged prayers to whatever gods still listened that he might be worthy of her. His touch was tender, calming the frayed edges of her body andmind.

When he finished, he pulled her close again, wrapping her in an oversized ship blanket, shielding her from the cold air and the harsher reality waiting outside.

“Stay close,” he murmured against her hair, voice rough with emotion. “Ineed you close.”

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