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  She still didn’t respond.

  He moved his fingers to her waistband, slipped his hand down the pants, and moved his fingers down her inner leg, right beside her pussy. He felt the heat from her cunt instantly. Pulling her leg even farther out with his free hand, he used his other hand to touch her pussy lips lightly, loving that she wore nothing to obstruct him from this. He spread his fingers through her wet, soaked even, slit, and grunted.

  “Yeah, you want this, my little female, and I want you to tell me, so I can ease both of our needs.”

  “God help me, but I do want this.”

  And that was all he needed to hear to get this started.

  Chapter Nine

  This is insane. You are insane.

  Greta couldn’t help thinking that over and over in her head, disgusted with herself and this man, but unable to deny that she did want this Rogue male. He didn’t have to help her find Jayce. Tolcan didn’t need to give Jayce a semblance of freedom in this screwed up world. But he had, and although he could be lying, she knew he wasn’t.

  She may not have the heightened senses a Rogue did, not able to tell if they were lying by scent alone, but she also knew a male like him, and Rogue for that matter, wouldn’t have cared enough to lie to a human. They didn’t care if a human was happy, didn’t care if they hoped for something. But Tolcan tried to make her happy, told her he would help her find Jayce, and that part she tried to hide had her warming to him faster. She was aroused, desired him. That was no lie. But right now she was allowing herself to feel it.

  He was such a beautiful devil, tempting her darkest desires, the ones she didn’t want to admit. She’d only been here for such a short time, but yet she felt this electricity, this darkness, wrongness she should feel, coming closer to the surface.

  She was his prisoner, his captive.

  Just give myself this, give into him. He hasn’t hurt me, touched me since I’ve been here. And he’s going to help Jayce, for starters. He was different than other Rogues I’ve seen, heard about.

  “You’re so beautiful, so soft and warm, so wet and mine.” It was as if he was talking to himself for how low he spoke. “You’re so different from any other female I’ve seen, Greta.” He removed his hand from between her legs, and she sagged in relief, or maybe it was disappointment? But he didn’t move away from her.

  He slid his hand up her arm, over her bare shoulder, and wrapped his fingers around the column of her neck. He wasn’t applying pressure, but the heavy weight of his palm let her know that he could hurt her at any second. Maybe he was doing this because even if he was gentler with her, and seemed different with her, he was still very much an alien to her. His species was brutal, large and muscular, and could easily crush humans as if nothing more than an annoying bug.

  He leaned in until she felt his lips along her jaw. She squeezed her eyes shut, the desire for him and the need to push him away, to keep her humanity intact, moving parallel with each other. She shouldn’t like the way it felt when he moved his mouth along her neck, or stroked her skin with his tongue, but God, it felt so good.

  Tolcan moved his mouth to her ear and whispered, “It is just you and me here, my female.” His breath was hot along her neck. “I want to pleasure you, to make you feel good.”

  She shivered in response, unable to help herself.

  He leaned back until he was looking at her. “I don’t care that I’m a Rogue and you’re human,” he said with conviction. “I should care how you came to be here, and I should care that the reason is because I took you.” He moved an inch closer, his erection prodding her belly. “But I’d be lying if I said having you here, smelling you, feeling your warmth, knowing you’re mine, doesn’t make me happy, Greta.” They gazed at each other for a moment, neither speaking, but their breathing loud.

  Greta felt like a traitor, like she was going against what she’d been taught, told about the Rogues. She should hate them for what they did to her kind, and she did, but it was clear Tolcan was different. He treated her as if she meant something to him, not like a piece of property.

  “I might have taken you against your will, and kept you here knowing you want to leave, but I know a part of you realizes that I am not going to hurt you, Greta. A part of you realizes being with me is better than the alternative.” He smoothed a finger along her cheek. “I want you to tell me you want this, and admit it to me out loud.”

  “I…” God, was she really going to give in … this easily? “I do feel something, Tolcan—”

  Then his mouth on hers and his tongue speared between her lips. When he pressed his tongue against hers, he groaned and tightened his hold on her neck. He tasted potent, powerful.

  “Be mine, Greta,” he groaned against her mouth. “I’ll be your servant, my female, give you everything you want, need, but I want your surrender.”

  She was surprised to hear these things from this male, but she’d be lying if she said it didn’t have this warmth filling her.

  “Obey me and I’ll be yours only, Greta. No other female will ever compare, will ever tempt me. You’ll be it for me.”

  “This isn’t happening,” she said almost to herself, thinking out loud.

  “Never deny me and I’ll give you the world.” He spoke between nips and licks. He moved his thumb along the pulse right below her ear. He gently bit her lip, and a gasp left her.

  Greta flattened her hands on his chest, not knowing if she should push him away or bring him closer. His muscles were firm beneath her palms. Tolcan was strong. God, he was so strong. He growled and reached out far too quickly for her to comprehend, wrapped his hand around both of her wrists, and yanked her off the counter. Seconds later, he had her turned around. With his hand on the center of her back, he pushed her forward until her belly was flat against the cold, hard, and unforgiving counter. She felt her heart in her throat, heard it in her ears, and felt herself grow wetter. Everything was happening so fast.

  He ground his erection, which felt huge, against her bottom. She closed her eyes, her throat dry, tight, and held in her moan of pleasure. This felt good, so good, but so, so wrong. She should fight him, not stop until she wasn’t breathing, but she couldn’t find that strength.

  He placed his hands on either side of her outer thighs, and slowly moved them up. Kneeling behind her, he gripped the edge of her pants, pulled them down, and she found herself looking over her shoulder at him. His hands were warm, big, and slightly calloused. And the humid feeling of his breath and of his forehead resting against her lower back sent sensations coursing through her.

  When the chilled air moved along her exposed bottom, her tears started falling harder, her emotions getting the better of her.

  “No tears, Greta,” he said in that deep, accented voice of his. She may speak his language because of the translator he put in her neck, but she still heard the thick accent of where he originally came from. “Just trust me,” he said. She knew she had no choice, but that if he really was this monster he would have taken her against her will that first night she was here. All he did, all he’d been trying to do was let her see he wasn’t like the others.

  She felt herself nod.

  He groaned. “I can smell you, Greta, smell your arousal, your need for me to give you this.” His words were low and deep, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Your arousal coating my fingers makes my dick throb to be buried inside of you. You are so wet, so wet for me.”

  “I’m a virgin,” she said on a breath.

  He squeezed his fingers on her outer thighs. “I know, my female. I’ll not take you tonight, not force this so quickly. But I will make you feel good.” He added a minimal amount of pressure to her lower back with his hand, and growled low in his throat like some kind of feral animal. “I’ll make this good for you, gentle.”

  She could only pant.

  “You’re a virgin, and I don’t want to cause any unnecessary pain, at least not the kind that you couldn’t climax from.”

  She held her breath.
The wickedness of his words and this situation had her on the verge of passing out.

  He moved his lips over the top of her ass and took hold of each of her cheeks in his big hands. When he spread them and the cool air moved along the crease of her bottom she let out the breath she’d been holding. She turned back around and rested her forehead on the cold, hard counter. He groaned, and she knew he was staring at the area he had exposed.

  “You’re so wet for me.” He speared a finger through her slit, and she bit her lip. Tolcan brought his hand down on her ass cheek so hard that she gasped out from the pain, but immediately made a sound in her throat as pleasure and heat encompassed her. “Your body craves this.” He rubbed her between her legs again. “See, you got even wetter from my hand on your ass, from the pain and pleasure. You hate this, but you fucking love it.”

  At the first touch of his tongue on her pussy, she cried out and tried to straighten up, but he gripped her waist in a bruising hold and pushed her up the counter until the tips of her toes barely touched the floor. And that was when he feasted on her like he was starving. He licked up the center of her, dug his fingers into her flesh until she cried out from the pain before sobbing harder because pleasure followed soon after.

  You like this. You really like this, and it scares the hell out of you.

  He was making her feel good, and she didn’t want that.

  “Tolcan…” She breathed out his name.

  He groaned against her soaked flesh, and sparks of pleasure cascaded inside of her, consumed her.

  “Oh, God.” She flattened her hands on the counter, and when she tried to move away from his wickedly abusive mouth, all she ended up doing was pushing her ass in the air. It caused her pussy to grind more firmly into his mouth. Tolcan’s hold on her was painful, but what he was doing with his mouth between her legs felt so good, and the pain and pleasure coalesced into one. She hated herself at that moment for being so weak and for actually enjoying this.

  He moved his head and sucked her clit into the hot, wet depths of his mouth, and that was the end of it. The depraved side of her got off for this male, this alien that was showing her she could enjoy this, embrace it … come for him. He sucked even harder, and her breath hitched, but he wasn’t done with her it seemed.

  “Tonight is about pleasing you, my female. You already crave my touch, my mouth ... eventually you’ll want my cock.” He sucked on her harder. “You’ll look upon me as the only one that can ease your need.” He ran his teeth along her labia, and a gasp left her at the sensitivity of it. “And you do have a need, the same as I do. You are perfect for me, made for me, Greta.”

  He pushed her legs out more, stood behind her, and before she could contemplate what was happening he easily twisted her on the counter until she was now flat on her back. He had both of her wrists in one of his hands, thrust above her head, bent down between her thighs, and had his mouth back on her pussy.

  He was relentless as he rubbed her clit. “My sweet, sweet female, your reluctance only makes me want you more, and that is saying something monumental since I want you very fucking badly as it is.” He moved that thick digit around the opening of her body, not penetrating her, but promising that he could take her right then with little effort. “You have me craving more, raging for you, Greta.” He started to penetrate her with his finger. His hands kept her pinned down, and his mouth and finger made her a slave to his desires. He was relentless as he flicked his tongue back and forth over her clit, but he only pressed his finger into her partially. “I can feel you getting wetter.”

  The sound of his voice made vibrations on her clit, and she bit her lip. Why did she have to be aroused? Why did his forcefulness and demands make her body feel like a fire had been lit from the inside out?

  “This confuses me,” she whispered, moaned, her pleasure mounting. He hummed against her and sucked especially hard on the little nub until she came for a second time. Tolcan was relentless in his onslaught, and she knew he groaned not only at her surrender, but because she had tried to fight him and failed.

  He had her in his arms seconds later, and just held her. The soft, almost affectionate stroking of his hand up and down the back of her head was soothing. Greta didn’t want to feel anything but hatred for this monster, didn’t want to press her face to his chest and breathe in the dark, spicy scent of him. And she especially didn’t want to feel safe and sated in his arms because none of this was right or sane.

  However, Greta didn’t push him away. Instead, she let him carry her. His physical strength scared her, his species horrified her, and the fact he could look at her and see right into her soul petrified her. But even after all of that, thinking about what she’d just done, she knew that she could have a life where she didn’t fear. This male could help her, let her live, and save Jayce and her family. She just needed to keep her mind open, her emotions in check, and try to live this life.

  Chapter Ten

  “I did not see a slave collar on the human female when I was at your pod last,” Stellan said.

  “Because she isn’t my slave, and will never be such,” Tolcan responded.

  Stellan nodded, and the scent of his acceptance was pretty startling, especially so soon after Tolcan had made the declaration.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Stellan asked, his concern clear in his voice and his expression. Although Rogues did not fear things, especially not of the Enforcer class, there was a very distinct concern over something that shouldn’t be done, and what Tolcan was going to do was something he probably shouldn’t do.

  “I’m sure,” Tolcan said and stared at Redon, who came in the stalls with three human slaves in tow, one of them Jayce. The humans were shackled with thin Hulla wire, a special type of woven string that was thin, but stronger than even metal when tied in a braid.

  “This is about that female you took into your pod, isn’t it?” Stellan asked. There was no curiosity in his voice, but also no accusation.

  It had been a week’s time since he’d brought Greta to his home, and although she was still very much tentative around him, there were small interactions she initiated. He wouldn’t take her until she was fully willing, until she came to him, thus proving that he was here for her, not as a master, but as an equal, as a mate. Helping this human male she had friendly affection for would help her trust him further.

  But he couldn’t help the memory of what he’d done with her, what he’d done to her, just days before. Tasting, touching, and getting her off had been the single most intense experience of his life. Making her come, tasting her flavor slide down his throat made him frenzied for her. Even now he was getting hard just thinking about her, and remembering the taste of her.

  “I can smell your desire for the human. You need to rein it in before others sense it,” Stellan said.

  Tolcan waved off the advice from his second in command, even if the other male was right. He needed to calm himself, but if someone smelled the arousal he had, and figured it was because of his human female, and what he was about to do was because of that as well, things would not end well. “I need to offer a deal to Redon,” Tolcan said. He was doing this for his woman, for Greta, and this was going against everything that he was brought up to believe.

  “Look at me,” Stellan said.

  Tolcan looked at the other male. He trusted the Rogue, trusted him with his life, with the knowledge that he wanted to have Greta as his mate, even if Tolcan hadn’t told him specifically that. Stellan could sense it, Tolcan knew, because the truth was Tolcan was being sloppy with his desire, wasn’t shielding his feelings for the female like he should.

  He pushed his arousal down, his desires and needs for the woman that had changed something monumental in him and she’d never realized it, and moved toward Redon. When he was a few feet away Jayce looked up, his eyes widening slightly when he clearly recognized him, and then he narrowed them. He lunged toward Tolcan, and Tolcan lifted his brow in surprise, and also appreciation. This male was comi
ng after him because of what Tolcan had done, of who he had taken.

  “You motherfucker,” Jayce said in English, and although Tolcan knew a translator had been implanted in the human, the male was speaking his native tongue. “You took her. You took my Greta.”

  That had his amusement fading, a growl leaving Tolcan, and had him moving closer. He growled low again, but bit his tongue, knowing he would do no good by correcting the human on the fact Greta wasn’t his. Greta was Tolcan’s, would always be Tolcan’s, and not this human, or any other male, could change that.

  Redon turned, scanned Tolcan, than saluted him as was customary for any Rogue to do in front of an Enforcer. He tugged on the Hulla cord around Jayce’s neck, causing the human to jerk back. But the murderous rage was still in Jayce’s face, still burning brightly in his eyes, and there was a part of Tolcan that had to admire the fact this human was not showing any fear.

  “Enforcer, is this slave bothering you?” Redon said. “I can have him punished back at my estate.”

  “Not necessary,” Tolcan said, and turned his focus off of Jayce and to Redon. He made sure to keep everything stable so the Rogue didn’t pick up on the fact he knew Jayce, aside from capturing him. “Although I am interested in purchasing this male, if you’d be willing to sell him.” Tolcan had never even owned a slave before, let alone had a mate, but thinking about Greta, wanting her happy, happy with him, made him want to do things out of character.

  Redon stared at Tolcan then looked at Jayce. “I just recently acquired this slave and paid a handsome price for him, too. I would like to keep him around my estate as he is one of the stronger males I have.”

  Tolcan suspected Redon wouldn’t be willing to sell the human, but the first step was asking to buy. The next would be challenging a Dukka, but judging by the male’s stature, the fact he was overweight, had no military training, and Tolcan would have no trouble defeating a Rogue male such as Redon, it was clear it would be an easy fight.