Page 61 of Lost in Barbarian Space

He spun and grabbed her. She found herself with her legs wrapped around his hips, and her back to the ice wall. Only the fur kept her skin from the ice.

His hand was between her legs and he thrust a finger inside her. She arched, crying out.

“You are not my friend.” He kept thrusting one thick finger inside her, while his other hand jerked at the fastenings of his trousers. Then his hand was gone, replaced by his large cock. He slid inside her in one sudden thrust.

She made a choked noise. He slammed her hands above her head.

“We are—” his voice was so deep it was hard to understand “—well beyond friends.”

“You are so confusing, warrior. One minute you say I warm your bed, but when I say we’re friends⁠—”

He thrust inside her again, his eyes turning a molten gold. “For now, you are mine.”

He kept thrusting, slamming into her in hard, jerky motions. It was quick, dirty, and fast. She felt her orgasm rising like a tsunami. When it burst, she reached down and bit Colm’s shoulder.

A second later he groaned, and spilled himself inside her. They stayed there, against the wall, both of them trying to catch their breath.

Then he moved, swinging her into his arms. He sank down onto his fur coat, and settled her on his lap. His big body surrounded hers.

“My nanami are out of control.”

She frowned, not understanding the deep edge to his voice. “That’s not normal? In a tense situation, doesn’t that often happen?”

“No. We learn to control them…always. But sometimes, a few people… We call it the nanami sickness. It causes people to lose control. It drives them crazy, makes them violent savages.”

She froze. “Your father?”

“Yes. Nanami sickness is usually inherited.”

Panic flooded in her chest. “How do you treat it?”

“There is no treatment.”

She spun, gripping his arms. “There must be something⁠—”

“Nothing.”

She tried to calm herself. “What happens?”

“You lose all control. Become an angry, violent animal. No better than those creatures that were hunting us.”

The ragged tone of his voice made her want to cry. It was everything her warrior was against. She knew for him to hurt an innocent would kill him.

“So, what happens when⁠—?”

“I will go north, to the Wastelands. No one lives there except the winter beasts.”

No one for him to hurt. No one to help him. He would die there, alone. Knowing him, probably death by beast.

She touched his arm, stroked the strong muscles.

“Colm, we have excellent doctors on the Magellan. We have advanced tech⁠—”

“There is nothing that can be done, Honor. Your doctors know nothing of our nanami.” He stroked her hair. “I will not be like my father. He did not live his life with honor. He stayed, too afraid to deal with the sickness. Instead⁠—”

“He hurt the people closest to him.” She closed her eyes, her chest tight.

“Do not worry, my little warrior. You’ll be long gone when this happens to me.”