Page 14 of The Rebel and the Rogue

Ivy, Traveling to Astra Legion, Stealth Ship Legacy

We’d been stuck in these cramped quarters for hours. Barek watched me like I was going to stab Astra in the back at the first possible opportunity, and Zenos looked at me like I’d already done so, but to him. It wasn’t my fault they didn’t believe me. Well, Astra might have believed me, but she saw it more as an opportunity for me to prove myself in the most lethal of ways. If I lied, I died. She couldn’t have asked for a better situation.

That was fine with me. I’d taken the antidote. I knew I was safe from the poison. I just wasn’t safe from a big hybrid Forsian who could do magic with his cock.

I’d learned that all four of the guards she’d brought with her to Transport Station Zenith were hybrid Forsians, and that these males along with a few others in the Astra Legion were the only known hybrids in existence besides Makarios. And since he was the one who’d successfully mated a human without killing her, these others were the only males in the universe who needed the antidote in order to claim a mate.

That meant finding a soul mate, a partner in life… a bride of sorts. Children. Love. A bonding. Things everyone deserved.

The fact that Astra was willing to risk taking me into her territory in order to acquire the serum for these males said a lot about how much she valued them. Rumors circled that there were more of them, but nothing I could confirm, and I didn’t care enough to investigate. Astra cared about her people, and that care and concern included Zenos.

When I’d asked Astra about the rumors of even more hybrids, Astra had dodged the question, but Barek had scoffed at the idea and Rhord had glared. Just like Zenos was doing now. I wasn’t in this for the friendships. I was in this ship for revenge. For Gerian Eozara. They didn’t have to like me.

“There’s no need to stare. I’m not going anywhere,” I snapped, addressing the male whose cock I’d had inside me, the male who acted like I belonged to him now. Zenos of Astra Legion.

As fucking if.

I stood and paced.

Oh, I’d seen that crushed look on his face when I refused his bite. And since the moment Astra had assigned him to babysit me while I was on Rogue 5, I’d done my best to ignore him. It was hard to do so since it felt like he was devouring me, consuming me with his eyes until I had no secrets left. He already knew what I looked like naked, knew my scars existed, knew how I liked to fuck, what made me scream.

I wanted to shift and squirm under his scrutiny, but I refused to let him see he affected me. The feeling persisted all through the journey to Rogue 5 and had evolved into something resembling fear—fear that he could see inside me somehow and read my mind. I wanted him. Wanted more of what we’d had, and I even started to think I might like his bite.

No. No! No biting!

Zenos moved from his spot beside Rhord to loom over me so that I could no longer pace. “No, you are not going anywhere.”

His response annoyed me. He was only confirming what I’d already said, but his tone implied I had no choice in the matter. Which was also true, but he didn’t need to know that. Then again, I didn’t need to start a fight. But I did anyway. I couldn’t help it with him. He riled me in so many ways, it seemed bickering was an outlet to all the sexual need I had for him. Better to argue than to fuck in front of the others. “You’re mad because I didn’t hand over the antidote,” I argued.

“And you’re mad because you are under my protection now. And you will obey me.”

I pursed my lips. “As long as you don’t get in my way.”

“You will obey me, female.” He pointed at me. “You are my responsibility.”

I shrugged casually. “Not a big deal. I think you are just jealous the other guy was going to bite me.”

“You are cruel to even ask it of him,” he snarled.

Astra, Barek and Rhord—I’d learned his name when we’d boarded the ship—sat before us, one big guy on either side of her. All three were watching—or glaring, depending—as if they were at a tennis match, heads swiveling back and forth.

“We wouldn’t be doing this right now if you’d just let him bite me as proof,” I tossed back, thumbing over my shoulder at Barek.

Zenos waved his hand, his finger almost touching my chest. “That’s right, because you’d be dead.”

I sighed but raised my voice hoping that maybe he’d understand the thing I’d been saying over and over if I spoke even louder. “I told you I took the antidote and you won’t hurt me. If you’d just bite me, I’d be headed to Rogue 5 to track down the Quell dealer, you’d have your antidote and we’d never see each other again. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“If I bite you, if any one of us bites you, female, and you survive, you will never leave Rogue 5. You will be fucked and claimed and kept safe.”

“Bullshit. I am

not a toy or a possession.”

“The bite is not a game. We mate for life. You ask Barek, a complete stranger, to sacrifice a future with another female for you? You told me you didn’t want a mate. Have you changed your mind?” He flashed his fangs at me and my heart skipped a beat despite my best efforts to remain angry. God he was so damn hot. I did want his bite, and that was just not right. Not part of the plan.

“I am not staying. I am here to collect a bounty and avenge my friends. That is all.”

“Rogue 5 is dangerous.”

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