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oversee the refit of the 19
    Joanna Wylde
    flagship’s new weapons systems, it was the proudest day of her life. But after months of work on those very systems, she knew all too well just how invulnerable the great cruiser was. K’rilla understood that the moment she set foot on the deck she could give up any hope of rescue. Tessa’s Glory had more firepower than any other ship in the fleet, and she had no doubt that the men commanding those ships would follow Saul Darius to the death.
    So as they flew upward through the atmosphere, the same brilliant mind that made her one of the foremost thinkers of the engineering corps forced her to face reality. She wouldn’t get out of this unless Darius decided to let her go. Neither the Council nor her family could fight him, he had more power than all of them combined. And he’d been dead right about one thing.
    They couldn’t afford a scandal on the eve of the invasion.
    Her situation was hopeless. If he wanted to take her body, he would. She shivered, and to her shame it wasn’t from fear. K’rilla thought about the sweat on his body as he’d fought his opponents, the way his muscles played and twisted beneath his skin in the sunlight. Among a race of men known for their beauty and strength, he stood out like a god. She’d have to be dead not to want him.
    What’s happening to me? Could he really be my lifemate?
    She’d long ago accepted that she didn’t have a mate, and hadn’t always been entirely unhappy about that fact. Most women spent their lives having children—
    something critical to maintaining the declining Saurellian population. Of course they were educated and many had careers, but those were hard to maintain while still raising a family. K’rilla had enjoyed her status as one of the foremost engineers on the planet, a specialist respected for her professional skills, not just her reproductive ability.
    Still…sometimes when she saw a baby she wondered what it would be like to hold her own child.
    And she’d certainly spent more than one night wishing for the comfort of a man’s arms. Not that she hadn’t tried a few out for fun, but no one had ever quickened her 20
    Gladiator’s Prize
    pulse like Saul Darius did. She’d never heard of him kidnapping a woman before, so this must be new to him too. He was a high-profile admiral, a man all the newsvids followed breathlessly. She would have heard about it if he did crazy things like this, wouldn’t she?
    K’rilla tried to still her racing thoughts, but the longer she lay strapped into the acceleration couch the more frenzied she felt. And it didn’t help to know that after a lifetime studying battle cruisers, she was about to visit one for the first time. Everything was happening so quickly—she couldn’t help but feel excited. Just yesterday she’d told her father how much she wanted to see the fruits of her efforts. He’d laughed, and warned her that an unmated woman would be a dangerous distraction on a Saurellian warship. She needed to stay planetside, where it was safe.
    Dad was wrong about me being safe. He’d never met Admiral Saul Darius, a man who moved the world around him by simple force of will. Her family couldn’t begin to protect her. Yet when he floated out of the cockpit to check on her after they lost gravity, it wasn’t fear he inspired. She felt lust. The man oozed sex and his near nudity wasn’t lost on her. Neither was the hungry smile he gave when he saw her or the erection no loincloth could hide.
    “You all right?” he asked, reaching down and touching her cheek. She nodded her head, noticing how every one of his soldiers suddenly found themselves fascinated by the walls or ceiling.
    “How much longer before we get there?”
    “About half an hour, depending on whether they try to intercept us.”
    “Do you think they will?”
    “Nope,” he replied. “You’re mine now.”
    His words sent a little thrill through her, although she’d never acknowledge it. An