7 Kikila

I sneak through the garden and eye the time on my wristband. With only seven minutes left, I'm starting to wonder if I should turn back and look for him.

The hedges part not far from me with a view of the arena and race fields. Many males carry other women back, some in their arms. Others are carted away over their mate's shoulders.

I see the nice woman with the inky hair waving at me from where she hangs over the gray-violet shoulder of a Monrovul with haggard horns on his head that have clearly seen a lot of battle. He slaps her ass. She yelps, and he chuckles.

Five minutes ticks down on my wristband. For a moment, I just savor the sight of happy women and all the different species of males that talk like their all old friends.

A warm hand snakes around my middle with slow, deliberate, restrained lust. My pulse ratchets up as I'm drawn to my feet and crushed against the thumping body of a male with red-violet arms.

I can barely catch my breath as his nose travels down my neck toward my collar bone. He rumbles with deep notes that make my whole body shudder and the delicate flesh between my thighs slick with urgent need.

He spins me around, and I get my first view of him up close. His eyes are a soft, deep red with black limbic rings and predator's pupils, shaped like diamonds.

As his nose nears my lips, my pussy clenches in anticipation of a kiss, of what it could lead to. He is gentle as he holds me, draws in another breath of me, and then trembles through an exhale. His hands snake over my back. But then he slowly steps back.

I'm disappointed. "What is it?"

"My planet has safe cities. My sister is there. So you would not be alone. But we are on the outskirts of space, where the shadow soldiers are prominent." He won't look at me, and I remember what Rosy said.

I'm aching to feel him touch me again, the way he had just seconds before. "Welcome to the Sol Federation. We're all at war somewhere."

He drags his eyes to mine and collects me again. "So you are okay with that?"

"It is how things are. I am safer away from Earth than I am on it."

He sighs and rests his forehead to mine. "Good, because my two hearts won't stop racing."

Two?

The skin over his chest ripples slightly in subtle waves. It's a curious thing I haven't seen on other aliens. I rest a hand over his flesh, curious what it feels like.

"I am an anomaly of my kind," he said sadly. "Does it bother you?"

He's surprisingly insecure for someone who snuck up on me.

"I'd like to hear more about it."

His face takes on a lighter red hue, and I think he's blushing. "Maybe after we get to know each other. I'm just a soldier, no one important."

He's holding back, but I don't want to tell him my whole truth either. I just want to know if he likes me for me. "Why'd you pick me?"

He guides a few loose strands of hair away from my face. "You protected the other girl. I saw you act in a way that I respect, that I understand." Then he taps his chest. "And I felt it. The Rev."

"Haven't heard of it. But I'm encountering a lot of species I've only seen mentioned in briefings."

"My physiology has changed. When I saw you, I got really—" He laughs once. "Hot. Like a motor. We call it the Rev."

The bashful way he hides his eyes from mine, confirms what I'm feeling isn't just lust, but something more.

He starts to speak then shakes his head, draws me close and nuzzles my nose. His shoulders rise and fall, and I feel his cock swell against my belly. "I want—"

What? Say it. Stars, how I want him to say it so we can get the hell out of here.

"Can we talk alone, on my ship?" He braces my arms and pushes back as if it kills him to do so, but it's the only way to save me. "I just feel I need to be upfront with you before we get too involved."

I nod. I have some things he'll want to know, too, but only if I have to. "Sure."

He studies me for a long moment, then leans in as if he's about to kiss me again. When he doesn't, I can't take the suspense and meet him halfway.

His mouth melts against mine. He presses me against him as if he can't get enough. "I may not make it to the ship if you keep that up."

He growls. "I want to take you now, right here, in the field."

Delicious desire ignites in my core. "Okay," I splutter. A public display would keep Draeke away for sure. And the way this monster of a male touches me, I know he won't forcibly take from me like Draeke without a care for how I feel. My every touch makes his muscles quiver and the rumble grow in his throat.

He quietly swears a streak in his native tongue. I only know it by the tone and a few words I've overheard others say over the holo. But I feel his skin shift beneath my hands, firming up almost like a shield.

"Whoa— What's happening to you?" I slide back half a step, wondering just what I've got myself into. I sense in the way he sags that it's something he's not proud of.

He scans the area. "Someone with a cloak. I can feel them. I just don't know how to find them."

But there's no one else here with us. "If I hadn't smashed my wristband, I'd have a shield detector," I admit. "But I had people who didn't want me to come here."

"A shield detector?" He barely has time to look at me before a smoky bullet races through the air and pelts his side. Black dust curls up from his skin.

I strain for him as he falls but am abruptly snatched up by someone in rocket boots. I'm carried into the sky by a firm arm around my waist.

We arc high and land inside a small personal transport. My captor thrusts me at in the back. I stumble and slam into the wall, then crumple to the floor. The hit momentarily blots out my vision, but I make myself get up, eager to return to my mate and freedom. I only catch a glimpse of the red-violet male below before the door seals me inside the vessel.

"What the hell?" I shout up at the individual who takes the pilot's seat.

But it isn't Draeke or one of his minions that looks back at me. It's something much worse.