“Give it to me!” He wrestled her back to the ground.
Stradling her thighs, he pressed her arm to the floor then forced her fingers open to release the knife handle.
“No!” She slammed her free fist into the side of his head.
The blow was more infuriating than painful. The wriggling of her lithe body under him rushed blood to his groin, all over again.
“Will you stop!” He leaped off her, shoving the laser handle into a pocket on his vest.
“Give me back my knife.” Propped on her elbows, she glowered at him from the floor.
Her suit was primly closed all the way up to her throat now. But there was something about her position—her bent legs open, her breasts thrust upward—that made him momentarily lose focus.
She jumped up to her feet, going for the pocket where he’d put her knife. “I need it back!”
“And I need you to listen to me!” He caught her arms and gave her a shake.
This was not going well. His ability to concentrate around her was severely impaired, and he needed all his mental power to keep her safe. It didn’t help that she seemed to be dead set on getting herself in trouble.
Immobilized in his grip, she glared at him, her eyes wide open, wild and...green, like the plants in Malahki’s garden. Fear shone vividly through her expression. He sensed her body vibrating with it. Fear often made people make irrational decisions and act rashly, didn’t it?
Maybe he should try to calm her down first before attempting to talk any sense into her.
“You need to listen to me,” he said again, softer this time. Closing his eyes for a moment, he inhaled deeply. Her scent rushed in, filling his lungs, but he ignored it the best he could and loosened his grip on her arms somewhat. “What’s your name?” He asked again, keeping his voice low and calm.
She blinked, releasing a shuddered breath.
“Nadia.” Her voice trembled.
“My job is to keep you safe, Nadia. Don’t make me fail at it.”
Chapter 3
“MY JOB IS TO KEEP YOU safe.”
It took a moment for his words to register. “Safe” should mean I was in no immediate danger, shouldn’t it? Of course, it largely depended on Wyck’s definition of danger. It didn’t escape me that he hadn’t been in a rush to help me fight off my assailants.
It felt like from the moment I landed in this place, someone had been trying to assault me. Wyck ended up helping me, every time. Unhurriedly, almost reluctantly, but he had stopped them. Other than manhandling me and taking my weapon away, he hadn’t tried to harm or assault me himself.
“What do you mean by ‘safe?’” I had to clarify.
“I need to keep you alive.” He shrugged. “Not eaten.”
“Eaten?” Surely, I didn’t hear him right. Sentient beings—humans or aliens—didn’t eat each other.
“A few of us here might eat you if you’re not careful.”
His casual tone must mean he was joking. Wasn’t he?
The individuals in this place appeared crude and rough, less civilized than any species I’d ever encountered. I got the impression, though, they were after my body to satisfy their carnal needs, not their hunger. Their actions had been despicable. However, cannibalism would be a whole new level of savagery.
“Would you...be one of those few?” I watched him closely.
He made a face, giving me a once-over, as if accessing a supermarket package of meat.
“No. I don’t eat humans,” he finally said to my relief. Though the fact that he’d taken some time for deliberation before giving me his answer unnerved me.
“Would you do anything else to me?” I asked carefully.
“Right now,” he wrapped his huge paw around my upper arm once again, “I will deliver you to your room and keep you there.”
“What for?”
He tugged me along the corridor once again. The movement made him wince. He pressed his other hand to his side, over the wound I’d inflicted.
“Come,” he bit out sharply.
I moved promptly alongside him. Dark blood welled between his fingers. The knife’s blade would have cauterized the edges of the wound. However, I must have made the gash long enough or deep enough or both for the blood to seep through.
“You’ll need to get someone to look at that.” I gestured at his side.
“Who?” He gave me an incredulous glance, as if I’d suggested something utterly ridiculous, like he’d hop on one foot around me.
“Don’t you have a doctor here? Or something like a medical capsule?”
I could tell him about the one we had on our ship. It was meant for humans, but it might have a program to assess and treat other species as well.
Thinking about the medical capsule brought the memory of Lee and Val who never got to use it. The thought of my entire crew left lying dead on the floor stabbed through my heart with pain. Over the year of training, I’d gotten to know those people well. We hadn’t been close friends, but we’d gotten along well. I knew they all had dreams they’d hoped to fulfill after completing this mission. Now, most of them were dead. Their dreams gone.
“No. There’re no doctors here.” Wyck let go of his side, wiping the blood from his hand on his pants. “I’ll be fine.”
Fine.
Why should I care about his wounds if he didn’t? I had other things to worry about. Things that concerned me, personally. Scary things.
“What’s going to happen to me, now?”
“You’ll stay here.” He stopped in front of a set of dark-gray double doors and shoved one side open.
“For how long?” I didn’t go through the doors, didn’t even so much as glance inside. I had the feeling that walking in would signal my acceptance of my fate before I even knew what it was.
Letting go of me, Wyck crossed his arms over his massive chest, staring at me expectantly with the most bizarre yellow eyes.
“For as long as you shall live,” he replied.
For the rest of my life? It didn’t even matter how long or short it was going to be. If I were to spend it all here, in this place, it meant my life might as well be over already. I stared at him in a stupor as the seconds ticked by.
“I...I can’t,” I muttered finally. “I need to get back.”
“Back where?” He sounded confused.
“Back to Earth, where I came from.”
“That’s impossible. So, the sooner you stop thinking about it, the better it’ll be.”
“There has to be a way.” I shook my head.
“There isn’t,” he bit out. “Now, get in and stay there.” He gave me a shove, pushing me through the door backwards.
“How did all of you get here?” I rushed out, holding onto the door frame. “How long have you been here?”
“All of my life.” He closed the door in my face, leaving me alone.
Trapped.
“Wait!” I tried to slide the door open, pushing at it with my hands. It wouldn’t budge.
I leaned my forehead against the cool material of the door. The horror of my situation descending on me.
“That’s impossible.”