Page 33 of Fifth
“I will. But not here. The feeds still run. Too many ears. Too many wagers. You cannot afford pride, Fifth. Not when her life is the stake.”
Hannah bristled. “Stop talking like I’m not here. What are you saying? Who are you?”
Locus shot her a glance. The defiance in her eyes burned. It unsettled him. It also reinforced him. He looked back to Sixth. “You bring soldiers into this preserve. If they stand with you, then let them help end this before she is placed in further danger. That is all I care about.”
“Trust me, my friend,” Sixth said. “Without me, without my unit, you will not leave this place alive. They have seen to it.”
Hannah’s fingers brushed his arm, her voice a whisper hot against his skin. “Can we trust him?”
His chest tightened. The nearness of her mouth, the tremor in her tone, it pierced deeper than any blade. He wanted to answer, but Sixth’s eyes heldhis.
The air shifted. Athunderclap tore across the preserve. Explosions followed, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Fire blossomed in the distance, rolling across the treetops. Gunfire cracked sharp and relentless. The crowd shrieked in panic andrage.
The headman’s voice roared through the drones: “Kill them! Kill them all!”
Hannah flinched violently, clutching at Locus. He snatched her into his arms and turned, bracing his frame to cover her completely. She stiffened, breath coming fast and hot against his chest, the tremor of it shaking through him. His blood surged when she pressed so close, her heartbeat pounding into his ribs. She tilted her face up, eyes wide, lips parted as though words might come but failed. For an instant the world narrowed to that look—the clash of trust, fear, and rising heat—before he forced his gaze back to Sixth.
Sixth’s expression might have been carved from stone. He lifted his arm, voice carrying over the roar. “Transport.”
The warriors raised gauntlets in unison. Energy shimmered around them, humming softly at first, then rising, filling the air with the growl of a storm contained. Light licked across the dirt, coiling up around their circle.
Hannah gasped, clinging to Locus as the glow rose around them. Her arms locked tight around his neck, nails biting into his skin. His grip tightened, steadying her, anchoring her against the pull of the storm. She lifted her face to his, eyes luminous in the light, fear warring with something sharper. Her body pressed full against his chest, heat and tremor flooding through him. For a heartbeat he wanted only to hold her closer, to claim her mouth before the world broke apart.
“Locus—” she whispered, breathless.
His grip tightened. “Hold.”
The hum built to a roar. Explosions raged beyond, but inside the circle there was only her heartbeat pounding against his ribs, only her warmth pressed into him. Light swallowed shadow. His last sight was Hannah’s blue-gray eyes, trusting and alight with something he couldn’tname.
And then they weregone.
Chapter 10
THE TRANSPORTERplatform released its grip on Hannah’s body and the world reformed in a shimmer of light. She stumbled as solid ground caught her again, her bare feet pressing against a surface so smooth it reflected the glow of overhead panels.
The transporter bay was vast and alive with a hum that pulsated through her bones. Before she could orient, Locus’s hand closed firmly around her arm and guided her forward. The doors at the far end sealed behind them before she had any chance to study the transporter mechanism that had brought her aboard.
Sixth’s ship gleamed with alien precision, walls that shimmered faintly, floors so clean they seemed to reflect starlight, silence thick with restrained power. And she stood barefoot, in a barely-there halter and scraps of a skirt that didn’t quite cover all it should, like some half-wild creature dragged into a palace. Heat licked up her neck, shame mixing withdefiance. Locus’s palm pressed against her spine, steady and sure, as though he could trace every shiver.
A pair of armored soldiers intercepted them as they moved deeper into the ship. “Commander Sixth requires your presence in the conference room immediately,” one said, clipped and formal.
Locus shook his head at once, amethyst eyes hard. “First, she will be cleaned. Then clothed. Then fed.” The guard began to protest, but a single look from Locus silenced him mid-breath.
They were shown instead to elegant guest quarters, achamber appointed with a broad bed, gleaming panels, and quiet opulence. Only once the door sealed did Locus stride further inside, toward a bathing chamber. “You’ll feel more yourself once you’re clean,” he said, his tone almost gentle.
Hannah fought back a laugh. Or maybe it was a scream. She let him lead her into a chamber so sleek it looked more like a dream than a bathroom. Surfaces glowed softly, steam rising from invisible seams. It smelled faintly of something metallic, but under it was a crisp scent, like rain on glass. Alien. Otherworldly. And here she stood, trembling, nearly naked in front of a man who made her body clench with desire.
Locus touched a panel and water materialized, cascading down in a perfect, silent sheet. He stripped his clothing without hesitation, as though nudity meant nothing to him. Hannah’s mouth went dry. His body was all strength and scars, ginormous broad shoulders tapering to narrow hips, every line of muscle defined with ruthless meticulousness.
Her gaze slipped lower despite herself. His cock hung heavy, thick, alien in every detail. Raised mounds ridged the shaft in a pattern meant to heighten sensation, the blunt crown marked by a crosshatch of sensitive flesh that flushed darker with arousal.At the base, apronounced knot swelled, an unmistakable sign of his breed’s power and intent. The sheer scale of him made her shiver, proof that his desire could split her apart and still leave her begging formore.
He saw her gaze lingering where it shouldn’t, and a rough sound rumbled in his chest, equal parts warning and hunger. His eyes—violet, burning—locked on hers, his arousal unmistakable.
“Come,” he ordered.
In response, her feet moved before her mind caught up, carrying her straight into him, into the heat of his chest and the command of his hands. He caught the band of her halter and tore it aside in one swift motion, the fabric dropping uselessly to the floor. With the same sure hands he stripped away the thin skirt, leaving her bare before him. She flinched, but his hand cupped her jaw and tilted her face up until her gaze locked withhis.
“You are not less,” he said. His eyes burned as he looked over every inch of her, claiming her even before his words did. “You are mine.”
