I got into position in our makeshift holding pen and climbed onto the horse. We were practically riding bareback with little more than a girth and a r...ope to hold onto. I felt my shoulder twinge when I got my hand strapped in and my nerve began to waver."Come on Chuck, are you scared?" Nyx called from her perch on the corral rail.Leaning close, Darrell whispered, "Dude, you don't have to do this." There are a lot of things you don't have to do," I glared at him."What?"Just then I looked over the. My actions may have been hurtful, but without doubt Cat being angry at me somewhere else was less annoying than her constant fretting.The men outside finished their jobs by the time I’d sent Cat away. The sudden silence was a blessing. I hadn’t realized how the constant talking and shouting had been getting on my nerves. But less than ten minutes had passed before the loneliness started pressing in on me. I’d never liked being alone while caged, and I’d always been around people since escaping.. .. connect... I jumped. Despite the wonderful pleasure Peony’s delicate finger stirred on my clitoris, rubbing it in slow circles, I couldn’t surrender. The alien voice whispering through her mind, controlling her, wanted to enslave me, too. To hook me into the serial processing.Slaving your mind to the nanites so they can understand more. We have to get to my ship.I planted my hands and two of my tentacles on Peony and heaved her back. It caught her by surprise. She stumbled back, tripping on. She was soft and sexy and feminine. She was temptation incarnate. She scared the hell out of him. Every time he looked at her, he was tempted to abandon all self respect. He wanted to flee from the cabin and return to his Manhattan apartment, but there was no way he would leave Jess here to wreak possible havoc on his father’s new romance. Jess’s soft voice startled him out of his dark thoughts. ‘Would you like more coffee?’ ‘No, thanks. I’ll get the rest of these,’ he said, carrying two large.