Dropping to my knees, I grabbed her thigh, tugged at the pants she wore and ripped them. “No! Fuck, no. God, Gwen. What have you done?”
I grabbed the injector from her hand, threw it across the room where it clattered, making Gwen startle.
My hands slid over her toned flesh, the firm muscles, the silvery integrations. Being captured and tortured by the Hive was easier than this. It was as if she’d ripped my heart out, held it in the palm of her hand. Then dropped it and stomped on it. I couldn’t watch her die. Not now, not after all we’d been through. Not ever.
Her hands slid into my hair, stroked and tried to soothe me. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”
Glancing up at her, I snarled. “No! It’s not fine! Fuck, woman, you are going to die. The serum is—”
“—destroyed.”
I couldn’t catch my breath, the panic I felt real. Intense.
“Mak. Mak. MAK!” Gwen kept saying my name, but it was only when she took hold of my hand, gripped a finger and bent it backward did I respond.
“Fuck!” I shouted, and she released me immediately.
“The serum has no effect on me because of the antidote and also because, I assume, I heal quickly, thanks to the Hive. There’s no time for it to enter the bloodstream and damage me. I’m not going to die. I’m not normal, Mak. I’m not human. Not anymore.”
I took a breath, then another. She showed no signs of any damage. No difficulty breathing, no blue lips. No seizure. No blood in her eyes. No stopping heart.
Her words were finally processing. The injection had no effect on her. No change. Nothing. She was right.
I ran my hand over my face. “Holy fuck, Gwen. Your heart may not have stopped, but I swear mine just did.”
She smiled. “So you can claim me now.”
“Claim you now?” I was still on my knees before her. I stripped her and she let me. When I had her naked, I stood, putting my shoulder into her belly as I tossed her over it, carrying her out of the main room and to one of the sleeping quarters. “I’m going to spank your ass now.”
“What?” she screeched as I tossed her on the big bed.
Oh yes. My female, whole and with me alone on our own spacecraft. With nothing but time. And no reason not to fully claim her. I could sink my teeth into her shoulder as I filled her with my seed. And the mating cock… it would—
Oh. I hadn’t told her about that yet.
I grinned, remembering how surprised she’d been with my aroused cock, and that had been when it was normal sized. Yeah, a spanking first, and then I’d share the rest. Hells, I’d show her.
Then I’d fuck her with it.
She was on her back, one knee bent. She was naked, some of her hair having come loose from the tie at her nape. “Why are you going to spank me?”
I reached out, took hold of her ankle and rolled her onto her stomach. “Besides you liking it?”
She sputtered but didn’t say anything.
“Because you put yourself in danger with that injector. You will not take chances with your health.”
“But I knew it was safe!”
“You knew no such thing.” I gritted my teeth, not wanting to think the worst.
“But I’m fine and now you can fuck me and bite me. Claim me, Mak.”
I closed my eyes at the sound of those words. Claim me, Mak.
How I’d longed to hear those from her lips, especially now when I could actually do it. When I didn’t have to deny either of us what we so desperately wanted.
She tugged against my hold on her ankle, but both of us weren’t using our full strength. The metal walls in the small room would be dented and destroyed if we really wanted to fight it out. But I sensed she wanted me to know she wasn’t going to be completely compliant in this… or anything. I grinned, reaching up with my other hand and grabbed her waist, her back toward me so she was on her hands and knees.