Wrath tensed. “It is always something that should be agreed to by both parties. What he did was try to force it upon you and it’s wrong. He wanted to claim you as his mate.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s similar to your human marriage but in Species’ terms it means for life. You only mate with the one you have strong feelings for. Species commit until one of them dies. After a time we scent imprint our mates. With some it happens very fast while in others it may take a few weeks.”

“What does scent imprint mean? I’ve never heard of that before.” She blew on the cuts she cleaned in case they burned. He didn’t flinch and his voice remained calm when he spoke.

“It is to help form a bond between mates. A male who scent imprints a female will only want her scent around him and she will only want his scent around her. It comforts each of them, smelling like their mate. Once it happens they can’t stand the way others smell.”

“They stink?”

He chuckled. “Not exactly, but others smell wrong or bad to a mated couple. I don’t know how else to explain it. They just need each other and no one else.”

“I read that a few women married a few of your guys. Did it happen to those women? You know, like me? Did they get all weird about the men’s scents?”

He glanced back and flashed her a grin. Amusement twinkled in his dark eyes. “No. They don’t have our sense of smell or memory of scents. We are strongly dependent on our sense of smell. The couple you would have heard about the most is Ellie and Fury. She loves him and he loves her. When we mate we are very caring of our females. He will make sure she never has a want or need he will not fill.”

Lauren was impressed. “That sounds kind of cool.”

“Do you want Vengeance to claim you?” Wrath turned his head toward her, the look in his dark eyes almost scary, his expression downright pissed.

“Hell no. I can tell you right now that if he’d claimed me it sure wouldn’t have been for the rest of my life. Well, maybe the death do us part would have worked because I would have killed him the first chance I got.”

Wrath relaxed. “I would have killed him if he’d forced you to mate with him. You could not kill one of us unless you got your hands on a gun. We are too big, fast, and strong for someone your size to do any damage otherwise.”

Lauren couldn’t disagree. “Yeah. I saw that. Thank you for fighting him and saving me. I was terrified.”

“I know. I smelled it on you strongly.”

Lauren finished putting on the last bandage. “Well, I shouldn’t smell like fear anymore. I feel safe with you.”

Wrath inhaled deeply and his body tensed. His gaze dropped to her lap to stare between her thighs. He inhaled again slowly and a soft growl burst from his parted lips. His eyes widened when he met her gaze.

“You’re aroused.”

She felt the color drain from her face. “What?”

He rolled to his knees, gripped the edges of the cot, and sniffed again. The color of his eyes seemed to darken as she watched. His lips parted, a deeper growl came from him, and she saw those sharp fangs of his when he bit his lower lip.

“You’re scaring me,” she admitted.

“You’re aroused. I can smell you, Lauren. Why?”

Shit. He can smell I’m turned-on? She wasn’t about to tell him she’d been watching him while he touched himself in the shower or admit what a turn-on it had been to see him masturbate.

He tilted his head and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. Another growl eased from his throat. He moved closer to lean down and Lauren gasped when Wrath dropped his face onto her sweatpants-covered thighs. He inhaled again as his face pressed tightly against her lap and a low rumble came from him.

Wrath wanted to howl. The scent of Lauren’s need drove him nearly insane. He knew she was alarmed at having his face buried in the seam of her thighs while he breathed in her feminine scent but he couldn’t draw back for anything. She smelled so good he couldn’t force his body to move.

Blood rushed to his dick, filled it, and he had to spread his legs to make room for the massive hard-on he suffered. The desire to shove her down, tear her clothes from her body and f**k her was so strong he had to grip the bed until his arms shook from the strain. She’d be terrified if he didn’t regain some control. She was human, not a Species female, and he didn’t dare try to tempt her into sharing sex with him the regular way. He’d terrify her by snarling and showing pure dominance. It wouldn’t impress her to show off his strength.

He took another deep breath, groaned, and battled for logic to take over. He hadn’t been with a female in a very long time and they’d always been Species. He no longer trusted himself after the years of being drugged. Sex had turned into a brutal battle of wills and that was why he hadn’t tried to initiate sex with anyone since he’d been freed. He doubted even a Species female would want to take him on. He couldn’t be sure it would be safe.

Memories flashed of those human women, lying on beds with their legs spread wide while they’d used their fingers and sex toys on their own bodies. The images had aroused him as the machine forced his seed from his body. He opened his mouth to breathe through it but Lauren’s scent was strong enough to taste. It just made it worse. His dick throbbed painfully, the desire to f**k her intensified, and he whimpered.

Don’t, he ordered his body. Take control. Another memory flashed, a foggy one of trying to attack a human female, a real one, and it cooled his desire. The day he’d been freed from captivity he’d been high on the Mercile drugs he’d been forced to take, enraged by what they’d done to him, and he’d gone after an innocent because he’d hated all humans.