* * *
Von
It was very difficult to remain calm with Lexi after the fight. My focus and anger had been solely on Cosmo, ending our long-term feud once and for all. But then I’d heard her. My Lexi. Just one word and I knew she was in trouble. Cosmo was a fighter, not as good as me, but still skilled and powerful. I shouldn’t have looked away, but nothing would deter me from my mate. Not when she was in trouble. I knew something was wrong when I heard the tone of her voice. Cosmo had taken advantage of my distraction and landed a solid punch. I’d seen spots from it, but there was no way I would be taken down when Lexi needed me.
And that Hunter’s hand on her body? His lips caressing her skin? The asshole was lucky to still have his face attached to his skull.
My need to claim her…finally claim her, was greater than the need to track him down and beat him into a pulp. That fool would sleep alone tonight.
But Lexi was mine.
Sliding my hand down, I tangled our fingers together as I led her to my room. I slowed when I realized she was practically running, but did not stop until we were behind the closed and locked door.
My cock was hard, a result of the fight, but also knowing the last impediment in the way of making Lexi mine was gone.
She stood before me, her breathing ragged, her eyes wide and a tad tentative, but not fearful. The dress she wore was short, falling to her knees, the color a soft pink. It was a perfect match color of the blush on her cheeks, of her innocence. The dress covered her breasts and had short sleeves, but I could see every curve. I remembered every decadent inch of her. She licked her lips when she saw the outline of my cock where it pressed against my uniform pants.
“Do you want to be mine? Forever, Lexi. This is forever.”
Her eyes met mine and she nodded, but that wasn’t enough. Not this time.
“Say it.” I wanted to hear the words, to know she wanted to be mine. After this there would be no going back. I wanted to be absolutely certain she wanted me as much as I wanted her. Forever.
“I…I want you to be mine forever.”
“There’s no going back, Lexi.” I needed to say it, give her one final chance to back out, because once I touched her, I wouldn’t want to stop.
“I don’t want to go back. I want to be yours.”
“I may not have claimed all of you—yet—but you’re already mine.” I took a step toward her. Heat flared in her eyes and I watched as her nipples tightened.
“Yes.”
“Then the only thing standing between us now is your punishment.”
She frowned and took a step back, bumped into the door. “Punishment?”
I growled, thinking of that Hunter’s hand on her, of her walking to the challenge field unprotected.
“Punishment,” I repeated, stalking toward her. “For your deliberate disobedience and disregard for your safety.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I didn’t understand.”
“I know, mate.” I walked to her and cupped her cheek in my hand, my body still vibrating with the need to fight, or fuck. Maybe both. I itched to get her over my lap, to see her pale ass quiver beneath the strike of my palm, to see my handprint bloom a bright pink on her soft skin. “But you should have listened to me. You are on a strange world. You do not know our culture or customs. I told you to remain in your suite because I needed to know you were safe.”
She leaned into my touch, which soothed my wildness, helped calm my racing heart. She was here. She was safe. And she was mine forever.
“I wanted to see you fight, to know that you weren’t hurt. I was so afraid you were hurt. I just…I needed to see you.”
Her gaze darted away and I knew there was something she hid from me. “Lexi?”
“I… I saw you in a dream. I saw everything that happened. How you rescued those women and children. I saw the Hive creatures and how you…disappeared and sliced open their spines. I saw how brave you are and I felt you get shot when you transported. My shoulder was on fire.” Her gaze drifted to my chest and shoulder, clearly looking for an injury that was no longer there. That blaster wound had been healed quickly with a ReGen wand after we returned from the mission.
She’d been sharing my mind as I fought the Hive on that ship? She felt my pain when their weapons struck me?
By the Divine, I wanted to protect her, not drag her into battle with me. “No.” I leaned forward until our foreheads touched. “I don’t want that for you.”
She lifted her gaze and the tenderness I saw there, the love, made my knees weak. I’d expected to win her heart by conquering her body, by giving her so much pleasure that she’d never want the touch of another.