Page 49 of Third

He kissed her again—hard, brief, desperate—then forced himself to stepback.

It was like cutting out his own heart.

He stalked to the engineering console, keying through the surviving systems, trying to formulate a plan. Fury and helplessness surged through him, tightening his chest until every breath felt like dragging molten metal through his lungs. His fingers punched commands into the cracked display with savage precision, each keystroke an act of bitter defiance against a universe determined to strip everything fromhim.

He could bypass certain flight protocols, force a manual launch sequence, but without stabilization, the ship would disintegrate under thrust. They needed an alternative.

He neededtime.

Time they did nothave.

The bond pulsed violently, warning of another storm building insidehim.

He looked over at Anya, his vision sharpening on the tense, fiercely coiled strength in her body, the way she watched him—not with fear, but with a blazing, unshakable trust. It struck him like a blade to the heart, abond forged stronger by her faith. It terrified him, this fragile, staggering gift she offered so freely, even as it strengthened the part of him that refused to break.

And heknew:

He would burn the universe to keep hersafe.

He just needed one more miracle.

TOR’VEK BRACEDboth hands on the edge of the engineering console, forcing his breath to even out. His muscles tight, his skin burning with the need clawing at him from within. He had work to do—amission to survive.

The bond linking them did notcare.

It snarled through him, dragging his attention back to Anya like a lodestone to the sun. Her scent wrapped around him, sweet and wild, making his blood thunder. Her presence battered at his self-control with every heartbeat.

He gritted his teeth, pushing through another system diagnostic, punching keys harder than necessary. The screen flashedred.

“Structural integrity at thirty-eight percent.”

Another warning siren screamed through the cabin.

Tor’Vek slammed a fist into the console’s frame, feeling the satisfying crack of metal under hishand.

Movement flickered at the edge of his vision.

Anya.

She shifted, her body arching unconsciously toward him, her small hands skimming the nearby bulkhead as if seeking something solid—seekinghim.

The bond lashed.Hard.

Tor’Vek crossed the distance in a single brutal step, grabbing her by the hips and hauling her against him. Her gasp was swallowed as he crashed his mouth to hers, savage, unyielding. His hands gripped her thighs, lifting her without thought, pinning her high against the nearestwall.

She clung to his shoulders, her legs locking around his waist instinctively. The heat of her, the scent of her, the sheer undeniablelifeof her drownedhim.

His mouth tore down her throat, branding a savage path along the delicate line of her pulse.

“Tor’Vek…” she gasped, her voice trembling but not with fear—withneed.

“Icannot…think…without you,” he growled against her skin, the words broken, desperate.

He rocked against her, the hard, desperate line of his cock grinding against the thin barrier of their clothes. She shuddered, her fingers fisting in his hair, her mouth seeking his again with frantic hunger.

He kissed her like he was dying—because in that moment, without her, he mighthave.

When he finally tore himself away, it was with a brutal, ragged snarl. He set her down—too roughly, too fast—but he caught her shoulders to steady her, drawing her scent deep into his lungs, like a man desperate for oxygen.

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