I knew from dealing with the Atlan Warlords and from my own research that the Neural Processing Unit was some kind of universal translator. I wouldn’t be able to understand my new mate or anyone else in space without it. Holding perfectly still, I waited as a slender robotic arm moved toward my head. The sharp tip settled just below and behind my ear. I winced as it pierced my skin. This bite hurt a hell of a lot more than the vampire man’s had in my dream. Vision? Memory?

“Wait! What does he look like?” I squirmed in the stupid hospital-style gown I was wearing, my bare backside sticking to the seat, my thighs and bottom coated with my arousal. I was very ready for some hot sex. Really hot sex. With a vampire criminal.

What the hell was going on here? Was there something wrong with me? Why didn’t I get matched to an Atlan? I really, really wanted an Atlan warlord. Damn it.

I tried to use my arms to shift my weight on the seat but didn’t get far. My wrists were restrained, supposedly so I wouldn’t fall off and injure myself while I was out of my mind having sex on another planet—in someone else’s body. The thought made me squirm even more. I had to stop moving before I got a rug burn. Seat burn. Whatever.

Warden Egara was watching me, and she hadn’t answered my question.

“Well?“ I insisted. “How am I supposed to know who he is?”

“Normally, I’m not allowed to show you. But this is a bit of an unusual match, so I will. As I said, his name is Cormac. He is a member of Styx legion.” She moved her hands even faster over the tablet. Seconds later, the wall before me turned into a large screen.

And there he was. Holy crap. I didn’t know when they’d taken the picture, but he didn’t look happy. His eyes were dark and narrowed as if he were annoyed. His hair was so short it looked like a buzz cut the army gave new military recruits. I thought maybe it was black as well, but it was nearly impossible to tell the color with it being so short. His face was older. Somber. He looked like he had been to hell and back and could teach a class on cruelty.

But his lips were full. His jaw was cut. He was handsome in a brutal way that made my pussy clench and my nipples grow hard. He wouldn’t treat me like a porcelain doll that might break at any moment. No. He looked like the kind of man—alien—who would shove me up against a wall, bite me, and fuck my brains out.