Kristin’s eyes closed and a dreamy expression came over her face. “His eyes were so intense. You know? And he had that uniform, and those handcuffs. The gun. He was just strong and sexy and—”
“Bossy and dominant and just like Tyran and Hunt.”
Kristin opened her eyes, laughing now. “I guess so.”
I tilted my head toward the bedroom. “Do I need to ask if all the bindings on the corners of that bed are for you or your mates?”
“I’ll never tell.” She looked back down at the mess on her floor but I couldn’t miss the blush on her cheeks. There was no doubt she was well-satisfied by her mates, with or without restraints. “But I think you might need a little bit of attention from a special investigator of your own, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen.” I pointed at the rubble on the floor. “You wanted this little remodeling done and I needed to work off some steam,” I replied, inspecting what used to be a wall. The whole thing was broken to bits.
The sturdy wall hadn’t stood a chance against my strength. My cyborg strength. The Hive had turned me into a certified bad-ass. The Bionic Woman. Whatever building material was used crumbled beneath the swing of the sledgehammer like a dried-up gingerbread house under the destructive glee of a toddler’s foot. Yeah, being strong, like wicked strong, was a good thing. I didn’t have to worry about some guy getting handsy—if I didn’t want it—and I could completely take care of myself. At the same time, it was the reason I was so pissed off, taking out the wall between my friend’s living room and dining room areas.
Kristin sneezed. “Steam? Let’s call a spade a spade, sister. What you need isn’t going to be found in here.”
I frowned. “Yeah, well, it got you the big room you wanted.” I pointed to the almost completely demolished wall.
“True.” She nudged a larger piece of refuse with the toe of her boot. “I’m guessing you’re not going to clean up the mess?” she asked, tapping her finger to her lips.
I laughed. “No way. I’m just the demo team. You’ve got two strong men who can haul away the debris.”
She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. “They are so not going to be happy about this.”
I didn’t care. I’d needed to break something, and she gave me the opportunity I needed to smash and destroy without getting in trouble with the governor.
Again.
“Look, I’ve been trying to mind my own business,” she said in a rush.
“You have?”
“Yes, I have. But, seriously, what’s the real reason for all this?” She waved her finger back and forth, pointing to the fifteen-foot-long pile of rubble. There was no judgment or expectation in her gaze, just pure curiosity. She was a woman. FBI. She was still a soldier, the armor she wore and weapon on her hip proof of that. If anyone would understand, it would be her. Not Rachel, the freakishly brilliant scientist, or Lindsey, the writer. There was one other woman from Earth I’d heard about and she didn’t live on the Colony. A former instructor at the Coalition Academy had mated to an Atlan from the Colony, but they were now out in space working on some top-secret spy crap together. Out. In. Space. Not stuck, trapped on the exile planet.
And here I was, former-military, four-year member of a Coalition ReCon team, a demolitions expert, ungodly strong, Hive-enhanced, cyborg freak. I’d survived hell and came out the other side stronger. Faster.
Alone.
And the governor refused to let me leave the planet. Go on missions. Do anything fun. I felt like the Incredible Hulk with nothing to smash.
And these males trying to claim me? They didn’t know me. I’d never even held a conversation with most of them. I hadn’t been matched to them through the Interstellar Brides matching protocols. I was female. Available. Breedable.
Maybe. After what the Hive did to me, I didn’t even know if I could still have children, let alone want to raise them here. And I hadn’t bothered to ask the doctors at the med unit because getting a gyno exam in space after everything else I’d been through did not sound appealing.
Kristin continued to stare at me, waiting for an answer I was too proud to give her.
“I’m fine. Can’t a friend do something nice for you?” I asked.
She gave me a look that screamed, Girl, please. “Nice would be making all the mess disappear before my men get back,” she countered. “What gives, Gwen?”
“You know the answer,” I grumbled, reaching for the sledgehammer’s handle and leaning on the sturdy length.
Her eyebrows went up and waited.
“The men… they’re weird around me. Annoying. Frustrating. And I can’t go on any missions. The governor has grounded me until I’m mated. Which is ridiculous and a total double standard. I’m a prisoner. I can’t fight. I can’t fly. I can’t go home. I’m losing my mind on this planet.”
She remained quiet, letting me vent, even though I was dissing her new home, the place she’d been matched to through the Interstellar Brides Program. She’d chosen to come here, to stay here permanently. It was her life and she seemed happy. But I didn’t belong here and the fact that the governor wouldn’t allow me to go on missions, to at least get ‘out there’ was making me lose my mind. All the male attention didn’t help, it just made me feel like more of a freak. I could have all the male company I wanted, and yet I was lonelier than I’d ever been in my life. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
Kristin bit her lip and winced at my words. “Shit. I need to tell you something. Please don’t get mad. I was hoping it was a joke that would just blow over, but—"