Looking up, her gaze snagged on his long-boned face and silver eyes that gleamed in the darkness.
“Don’t you have women to charm?” She’d seen him surrounded by a gaggle of women—arena flutterers the others called them—at the party.
He gave her a slow smile, his teeth white in the darkness. “Yes, I do.” His gaze was heavy on her.
Silence hung between them, and Madeline hunched her shoulders. “It’s wasted on me.”
He rested his elbows on the railing, looking down toward the tiers of empty seats in the arena. “Beautiful woman. Beautiful night. That’s not wasted to me.”
As he leaned farther forward, she watched the flex of muscles in his strong arms. She couldn’t deny that the man had a gorgeous body and was very easy to look at.
Madeline forced herself to glance away. “Look, I’m not the weak, malleable woman you rescued. I’m sorry if you’re confused, because I clung to you—”
“Because you needed to be held and comforted after a bad situation.”
She huffed out a breath and looked at him again. “I’m not your type, Lore, and you’re certainly not mine.”
Lore arched a brow. “You looked like you needed a friend. That’s why I followed you out here.”
He reached out, and Madeline forced herself to stay still. His fingers brushed the shell of her ear, and with a flourish, he held out his hand. He was holding a beautiful, white flower that he’d conjured out of thin air.
The blossom was stunning, giving off a fragrant perfume. She itched to touch it.
Instead, she clenched her fingers in the folds of her dress. “I don’t have friends. I have work.” Or at least, she used to have work. That was all gone now. Her gut cramped. God, she hoped those who hadn’t made it off the space station hadn’t suffered.
She’d been the station commander, and in charge of their well-being. And she’d failed them.
Her thoughts snapped back to her son. Please be okay, Jack.
A sharp pain stabbed through her stomach, and she gasped, pressing her hand to the railing to steady herself.
Lore frowned, his silver gaze like a laser on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m not your concern. Or your friend.”
She put on her best bitch voice. She’d honed it to perfection during her career in a male-dominated company.
Lore shook his head. “Such sadness in your eyes, Madeline. I know the situation isn’t what you wanted, but real strength is how you cope with the things you didn’t want or plan for.”
His words made the hot press of tears sting her eyes again. No, strength was standing on your own two feet and not breaking. She’d never let herself lean on somebody else.
When you depended on another person, they always let you down.
No, she wouldn’t let herself weaken, even for this tempting man.
***
So prickly. Lore had been raised by women, among women. He’d been brought up to love them, respect them, and protect them. It didn’t matter their shapes or sizes—or temperament—he found them all fascinating.
He smiled a little to himself. As one of the few males born into a matriarchal family, he’d been spoiled and indulged. He remembered when he’d wanted a pet dragmata lizard. He’d pleaded with his mother over and over until she’d finally relented. He’d petted that thorny-skinned, bad-tempered creature until his fingers bled and his arms were covered in bites.
Until it had loved him back.
He’d always loved a challenge. Now, he looked into sad blue eyes. Those eyes tempted him, too. He knew what it was like to be ripped from your life and lose those you loved. He knew what it was to lose everything.
He wanted to tell Madeline that the hole in her heart would never go away, but that time would fill around it with other things…if she let it.
But he knew she wasn’t ready yet. She’d only been here two weeks, and before that had suffered for months at the hands of the Thraxians.
Lore had watched her inside at the party. She hadn’t eaten much, and was edgy and tense. He knew that wouldn’t help with her recovery.
“Any word on Blaine?” she asked. “Or the underground fight rings?”
He saw her desperate need to change the subject, although he wished she’d picked a better one. The thoughts of the underground fight rings run by the Srinar left a bad taste in his mouth. He had tried his best to forget everything about that rotten place, where he and the other gladiators of the House of Galen had rescued Madeline.
Unfortunately, on the same mission, they’d spotted another human from Earth, Blaine Strong, but hadn’t been able to rescue him. He was still down there, somewhere, fighting for his life in the vicious fight rings. If he was still alive, that was…