Page 2 of Rogue Enforcer

“Send me back.” I rolled my head from side to side, testing the hardness of the strange indentation my skull rested between. And then I remembered all of it. The Interstellar Brides testing center. The chair that looked like my worst nightmare from too many visits to the dentist’s office—I had a rather terrible sweet tooth when I was young and too many cavities to count. I remembered, too, that my two best friends in the world were gone, really gone. No longer on Earth, gone. Which was just one more layer to the reasoning behind my decision to volunteer as a bride.

That, and I wanted an Atlan warlord like Tane for my very own. Or Bahre. Hell, I wasn’t picky. Any warlord would do as long as he looked at me the way Tane looked at my friend Elena. Lucky, lucky Elena. But…Atlans didn’t bite. Did they?

I opened my eyes to see a kind but not smiling Warden Egara looking at me with her lips tight and her head tilted at an angle as she studied me. “Are you all right?”

Was I? Well, my body was still pulsing with the aftershocks from an orgasm that hadn’t really been mine. I’d been bitten by some kind of freak alien with fangs and loved it. Wanted more. My wrists were in restraints so I wouldn’t fall off the chair as I writhed and begged some unknown alien to pump his cock into me, bite me, and make me scream. And I had no idea what the hell I’d just seen. I’d signed up to get matched to an Atlan. Not…that. Whatever that alien creature had been.

“I don’t like vampires. You know that, right?” The thought of sucking blood had always made me nauseous. Gross. Just gross.

Warden Egara raised her perfectly arched brow. “There are no vampires in the Coalition Fleet.”

“Then what’s with the fangs?”

She glanced down at the tablet screen she held in her hands. “You have been matched to the moon base Rogue 5. The people there are hybrid descendants of a native race of fanged creatures who lived on the planet Hyperion.”

“All of them? They all have fangs?”

“Yes.” She studied me for long, silent seconds. “Did you find the bite uncomfortable?”

I couldn’t lie. I wanted to, but I couldn’t make myself do it. “No.”

“Excellent.” She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she ran through a series of rapid-fire questions. Was I married? Did I have children? Was I legally responsible for any children here on Earth? I would have thirty days to reject the match. Blah. Blah. Blah. I’d already read everything, checked every box, and answered all these questions more than once. I barely listened. I couldn’t stop thinking about those fangs. That orgasm. That feeling of being blissed out.

That kind of pleasure would be addictive. I’d be eager. Desperate. Needy. I hated that. What if he said no? What if he got her—me—all hot and bothered and needy and then refused to bite me? I wouldnotbe like that woman in my dream. I would not beg. Would. Not.

“Why do they bite? What’s in that venom?”

“It’s not venom, my dear. It’s a special enzyme complex that promotes healing and helps the males bond with their mates.” She grinned at me. “To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how it works. I haven’t studied it in detail as you are the first bride I am sending to them.”

“What?”

“Well, technically, they are not part of the Coalition Fleet. However, some members of their legions have helped us, so those males qualify for a bride on a case-by-case basis. And this is a very good match. Very good.”

“What does that mean?”

“Ninety-eight percent compatible. Nearly perfect.”

Perfect? Except I did not like vampires. I’d watched a Dracula movie when I was seven and never moved past it. Even the sparkling vampires that were so popular for a while couldn’t erase that dark terror from my memories. “Helped how?”

She shrugged. “Spying, probably. Smuggling. The legions are, technically, criminal organizations. They are run somewhat like our motorcycle gangs, or maybe like the Mafia here on Earth. I’m not exactly sure. But whatever they do for us, I know the I.C. doesn’t want their activities in the official records.”

“The I.C.?”

“The Intelligence Core. Kind of like your CIA”

God. What had I gotten myself into? “And you’re telling me I’m matched to one of these smuggler spy criminals?” Instead of an Atlan? I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t quite get over the bliss of that bite. I was losing my mind and all good sense. Officially. Gone.

“Yes. You will be sent to Transport Station Zenith, where your mate will meet you and create a cover story for you.”

“Cover story?”

“Outsiders are not allowed on Rogue 5. But don’t worry. I know there are at least two other human women mated to members of the legions.”

“But not brides.”

“Correct. One met her mate at a bar, of all places.” Warden Egara laughed. “A space bar called a canteen. She was a medical officer in the Fleet, and from what I hear, they didn’t even make it to their room.”

Sex in a bar? In space? God. “And the other woman?”

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