I laid completely still for long minutes, eyes closed, head down and focused on my breathing. Just air. In. Out. Until I could feel my toes again and my ears stopped ringing. The crowd had settled, their sport for the day over. I looked down and the warriors were milling about, talking, laughing, hitting each other, doing their male bonding stuff. I had to assume the giant, Rezzer, had won.
Whatever. I needed to get the hell out of here before I lost my shit.
Moving slowly, I scooted back the way I’d come, counting on the dim lights around the edges of the arena to help keep me hidden. I had just dropped to my feet and taken two steps back toward the air vent when an alien appeared out of nowhere, bumped into me and looked my way. I still had on my helmet, but he did a double take and then stilled.
Predator still. And like the proverbial deer in the headlights, I froze as he leaned toward me, took a deep breath in and filled his lungs with my scent.
“Female.” His voice was deep and full of awe, as if I was some kind of mythical creature, a unicorn. Based on the lack of females in the area, perhaps I was.
He looked like the bigger fighter, the one called Rezzer, and I assumed they were from the same planet. Similar size, coloring and those dinner plate hands. The last, I felt, for he gripped my upper arm. While his hold was gentle, it was a vise locked about me. I tried to wiggle out, but he wasn’t letting go. His strength was indisputable and I knew, without even blinking, he could snap me in half like a twig. Holy shit, these guys were big. I barely came to his shoulder.
“Female,” he repeated and before my eyes, he grew, like the Incredible Hulk until my head barely reached his chest. He’d been big before, but now he was monster sized, too, and a roar left his throat. “Mine!”
“Oh my god,” I murmured, my heart practically stuttering in my chest. I would have fainted, but I couldn’t even do that. I was literally frozen in place, but my hand burned like fire and I suddenly wished I was back in the air shaft. No, back sleeping with my strange dream man, rather than facing down a mob of horny aliens. Insanely, I wasn’t worried about being raped. I had the distinct feeling Mr. Dinner Plate wouldn’t let anyone else touch me.
No. Right now, he was the one I needed to worry about.
The man’s—no alien’s—voice was loud, loud enough where those around us turned and came closer.
I was surrounded by looming, hot, aliens. Heard the murmurs of their voices at finding a female among them.
I felt the helmet come off my head and once it was gone, I twisted to look over my shoulder. Another caramel skinned male tucked it beneath his arm as he stared at me, then lifted a hand to touch my hair. Not with malice, but awe.
“Hey!” I said, trying to step back, but it was no use. I was held in place by Mr. Dinner Plate whose gaze followed the movements of the stranger’s hand through my long blond hair as he combed his fingers through the strands.
If this was a petting zoo, apparently, I was the main attraction. I heard someone shout, “Get the Governor down here now!” But I had no idea who the Governor was, nor did I care. Not at the moment. Right now, I just wanted to get out of this mess and make a run for it.
News of my arrival spread faster than gossip at a church supper. The arena had gone quiet and everything seemed to have stopped.
“Mine! I claimed her,” Mr. Dinner Plate repeated. He lifted me in his arms and carried me down the stairs to the center of the arena where the warrior, Rezzer, stood, flexing his hands into fists. His chest was heaving and his green gaze met mine with cold calculation.
Behind him, his former opponent rose from the ground spinning his arms around, feeling the shoulder as if testing it out. Completely healed.
Holy shit. Was that what the little blue wand thing was for? To heal? Maybe I didn’t need to spy and write some stupid conspiracy laden exposé. Maybe I just needed to steal one of those blue magic wands and take it home to Wyatt.
Even as I had the thought, I realized the futility of that hope. Right this moment, the people who’d offered me this job were waiting and watching my mother and my son. If I didn’t come back, they would hurt him, torture my baby, perhaps even kill him. The consequences of failure had been explained in great detail. It wasn’t just about the money or the story, not anymore. I either gave them what they wanted, or they were going to hurt the only two people in the universe I cared about.
Failure was not an option. I’d do whatever I had to do to survive, to get back to them. Wyatt needed me. I had to be strong.
Twisting my head around to keep my sight on the green uniformed warriors who moved away from the arena, I ignored the hulk carrying me until he set me down gently on the edge of the fighting pit. He placed me there like delicate china and I had to admit, he might be big, but he was a gentleman. He leaned down and looked into my eyes, his gaze a dark, golden brown and sincere. “I am Warlord Braun. You are mine, now. I will protect you.”