Page 54 of Fractured Souls

The mating fever had hit Nythian like a punch in the gut.

Alexis didn’t know it, but it had come upon him in the middle of their training, a thunderclap of agony that hit him in the temples, extending right from the throbbing points of his horn-buds to the hard length of his cock.

That’s why she’d been able to lay a hand on him. For a moment, he’d been distracted. Kissing her had relieved the pressure only slightly, just enough for him to regain his senses. Now his need was a tender and painful ache, and he wondered how long he could keep it contained.

Slowly, she was opening up to him, starting to trust him, but she wasn’t ready yet.

She reminded him of the sleek sarabin that prowled at the edge of the Vaal on Kythia. The beautiful creatures sometimes came to the outskirts of the Flatedge in search of prey, but they were wily and suspicious by nature, and it was notoriously hard to earn their trust.

Alexis didn’t trust him completely, not yet.

But by the time he was done with her, she would understand that she had nothing to fear from him, ever.

Her scent was all around him. Spicy, musky, with a hint of feminine sweetness, threatening to drive him berserk.

Shit. So this is what it feels like. One by one, he’d watched his brothers fall into a state of barely-controlled insanity as they grew increasingly obsessed with their mates. He’d never really understood the madness.

Until now.

He had to be careful here. He had to play this right. Nythian had a bit of a problem with losing control. He’d always had a nasty temper, and he suspected that when it came to lust and sex, his restraint could so easily shatter.

Then she would be scared of him.

He didn’t want that to happen.

That would be the worst thing ever.

As he walked ahead of Alexis, fighting the urge to steal her away to his quarters and do what his body was telling him to—claim her most savagely—a powerful memory entered his thoughts.

The memories had been creeping up on him lately, breaking through at the most inconvenient times. Zharek had warned them this kind of thing would happen from time to time.

The programming… the memory wipe that had been forced upon all the First Division soldiers…

It was beginning to wear off.

Nythian tensed. The pain in his temples was almost unbearable now.

He wandered through the slums, his bare feet silent on the frozen black earth. The varhund loped beside him, its black tail held straight and low, a sign that it was on the hunt.

In Nythian’s left hand was a twisted bar of heavy Vancadium. It wasn’t as good as black metal, but Callidum was rare and expensive; the Imperial bastards kept it all for themselves.

No Flatedge dweller could afford anything made out of Callidum, but Nythian didn’t care. When the opportunity came, he was going to kick one of those Imperial bastards to his death and steal his Callidum blade.

He whacked his palm with the Vancadium bar, glaring at an old man who sat in a crumbling alcove. His crimson eyes were unfocused, and he had the stench of Tariss smoke all over him.

The man shrank away as Nythian passed. Everyone in Flatedge knew his reputation. He was the boss here, one of the strongest in this cursed slum. He had no choice. Here, weakness meant death.

Nobody fucked with Nythian. Not even the local cutthroats. Here, he was King.

It was good to be strong. Anger simmered in his chest. It was his drug, his power, the dark fuel that kept him alive. The Empire and the cursed Universe would not deny him. He would take what was his by force, because that was all he knew.

“Hey.” A soft, irresistible voice brought him back to the present. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” he said sharply, avoiding her gaze as they entered Tarak’s command room. A dark, empty antechamber led to the office beyond, where massive windows looked out onto the Universe. How did he explain to her that he was having some seriously carnal thoughts right now, that all of his self-discipline could unravel in an instant if she merely looked at him the wrong way?

The bad part of him wanted to take her by force.

She was no match for him physically.

---