God, the testing must have broken me, because I was a horny slut. The attraction was instant and insane.
My hand moved almost as if it had a mind of its own, but I pulled back at the last moment, lowering back to my side so as to resist temptation. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t want either one of you to get hurt.”
Trax stared at my hand as if I’d broken something inside him, and my lust mellowed into wanting to comfort him. I was definitely flawed somehow. The mood swings I’d had in the last five minutes were enough proof of that.
“We are not perfect males. We know this to be true,” Trax sighed. “The Hive implants make us hideous and contaminated, but they also make us strong. We are not afraid of the challenge if you wish us to prove ourselves.”
Hideous? Was he out of his damn mind? I’d seen the silver implants on Surnen’s body, and they weren’t that bad. Weird, but not a turnoff. Definitely not a turnoff. Did Trax think they were that bad? I hadn’t seen much of his yet, but it was obvious by his words that he worried about my reaction, that he found the silver bits to be hideous.
“None would take you from us, mate, even an Atlan beast,” Trax continued. “Do not fear the outcome. We will not be the ones to die in the pits.”
“Stop.” Who said anything about fighting and dying in pits? “No fighting. No one dies because of me. That’s ridiculous.”
Surnen stopped caressing my neck, and I realized he’d been touching me the entire time and I had accepted his touch as if it were familiar. Calming.
Mine.
He pulled one of those strange metal collars from a deep pocket in the robe he wore. “Will you accept my mating collar, Umiko Tanaka of Earth? Will you grant me thirty days to win your heart?”
“No one calls me Umiko except my parents, and we don’t get along all that well,” I grumbled.
“It is your name, and it is beautiful. I have made a formal request, mate. Do you accept my collar and our protection?” Surnen eyed me with a well of patience that was clearly very deep. He was pretty insistent. I had to answer him, or we weren’t leaving the transport room. It was either accept the collar or they fought other aliens in something called the pits. I didn’t need much imagination to fill in the blanks on that one.
I sighed. “Yes, if you promise to call me Mikki.”
He tipped his head. “I give you my oath.”
Surnen lifted his hands to my neck, the collar poised above my skin. This time I didn’t need to lift my hair, for Trax moved into place behind me and lifted the long, heavy mess off my neck so Surnen could place the collar.
It was black and cool to the touch. It clicked into place, some invisible locking mechanism moving against the back of my spine like a caress. Then, like magic, the collar adjusted itself, shrinking to fit perfectly about my neck. It wasn’t heavy, but it was the symbol of a binding oath. Significant, which made it weigh a lot more than it should have.
Both males stared as if hypnotized by the vision of that collar around my neck. As if it were the most amazing thing they’d ever seen.
“Is that it?” I asked, lifting my hand so I could run my fingertips along the edge.
“No. Now we will become one in mind, if not in body.” Surnen pulled out two additional collars, offering one to Trax. They both lifted the collars and put them about their necks at the same time.
“Now you will know how important you are to us, mate,” Surnen said.
Surnen had only said I had to wear a collar so everyone knew I belonged to them. But he I had assumed they would only put them on if I decided to stay with them permanently. They seemed relieved, as if wanting everyone to know they belonged to me. I wasn’t the only one giving something to this… relationship.
Their collars clicked into place, and it was my turn to stare, admiring them, knowing that the presence of those collars meant they were mine. At least for now.
Mine. These two big aliens were all mine. What a strange and thrilling—
Holy shit.
Lust. Need. Obsession. Protectiveness. Relief. Desire. Fear. Pain. Longing.
Somehow their emotions rolled over me. Through me. I cried out at the intensity of it.
“Control yourself.” Surnen barked the order to Trax, and the noise inside my mind quieted to a manageable hum. All the emotions were there but blocked somehow, muted by Surnen’s iron will. His presence was like a steel wall in my mind, blocking the wind during a hurricane. I felt the press of Trax’s emotions, but Surnen’s snapped words had somehow tamed them.
“Thank you,” I replied, struggling with the intensity of feeling. I’d instinctively reached for Surnen when the overload hit me. Embarrassed, I released the tight grip I had on his forearm. My small words felt inadequate for the level of power he had rolling off him. The level of absolute control. Not only could I see it in his stance, the fierce lines on his face, but I sensed it through the collar. His will was pure steel. Unbending. Unyielding. Unbreakable.
And the alien computer matching thing thought he was the perfect mate for me?
That was just crazy. Wasn’t it?