Another tear. Damn it. “Just stating the facts. I’m here. He’s not. And you have already told me he has no intention of claiming me. So, yes. Their promises were all lies.”
Varin growled and stepped closer, his large hand cupping the side of my face with a strength and gentleness that made even more tears fall. What the hell was wrong with me? Well, other than transporting to another planet, naked, and being rejected by the sexiest alien I’d ever seen? Sure, mental toughness was important, but I was still human. Lonely. Tired of surviving on my own.
“I would give my life to protect you. I want you, more than you can comprehend.”
“I don’t understand. Then why?”
His thumb traced my bottom lip, and I leaned into his touch despite every intention not to. He was so big. So strong. And the way he was looking at me made me want to believe him. So badly.
“My lady, you are more beautiful than I imagined. Perfect.”
“I don’t understand any of this.” He’d called me perfect? Beautiful? I was average looking, not ugly but nothing special. My nose was too big, my lips too thin. My eyes were plain. Brown. There was nothing spectacular or special about me. Maybe that’s why he was doing this. Maybe aliens were typical men who wanted huge breasts, a tiny waist, and a woman who’d had lip injections and butt implants.
“Please, the doctor will explain Thomar’s condition. Then you will understand why we cannot claim you.” He removed his hand from my face, and I felt bereft.
“What condition?” I did not like the sound of this. Varin was sexy. Respectful. Strong. No one would mess with me with someone his size around.
Or…that’s what I thought until a door slid open and a true giant walked into the room. I recognized his race from watching the Bachelor Beast television show back on Earth. He was an Atlan. And he was in full beast mode. “Maxim sent me. Varin?”
“I’m fine. I was just about to escort the lady to medical.”
“Lady Arcas?” His voice was like the rumble of a rusted engine being forced to grind its gears after a long winter.
“She’s not—” Varin began.
“I’m fine,” I interrupted. That wasn’t my name, but since I was the only woman in the room with three aliens, I assumed the Atlan beast was speaking to me. And I did feel well. Nothing hurt. I wasn’t hungry or freezing cold, like I’d spent nearly every day of the last seven plus years. Physically I was tip-top, but mentally? This we-can’t-claim-you routine was making me very nervous. I could not go back to that rank prison cell and rot for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t. And the bride center had said I would have thirty days to decide what I wanted to do.
Didn’t that mean I had thirty days? Even if I knew my mate, Thomar, didn’t intend to claim me? I could at least relax for a bit, right? Get my own room? Soak in a hot bath and sleep without being worried about who or what might come at me in the dead of night.
Did it matter if they claimed me or not? I’d rather be dead than go back to prison.
Resolved stiffened my spine, and I stepped back to put a bit of distance between me and temptation. If I had thirty days, I fully intended to use every single one of them.
The Atlan grunted and turned back to face the door. “Come.”
“My lady,” Varin held out his hand, not to touch me but to point toward the exit. “Please follow Warlord Rezzer. I will stay close to make sure no one thinks to challenge for you.”
“Challenge for me?”
“No mating collar,” Rezzer grumbled. “Dangerous.”
“We didn’t ask for your help or your opinion, Warlord,” Varin’s voice made me jump as I realized he was literally on my heels, his hot breath moving the hair on the side of my neck when he spoke. A shiver of desire ran down my spine. I ignored it.
“Prillon. Fools.” The beast did not mince words.
Varin didn’t bother to respond to the insult.
I followed the Atlan through a series of corridors of various colors until we reached an area where the walls were striped with green. Rezzer stopped in front of a door, waved his hand over a panel to open it, and stepped to the side like a palace guard stationed outside a throne room.
Obviously he expected me to walk inside. So I did, stepping into a large area with softer lighting and four people wearing green moving here and there, from bedside monitor to microscope to touch screen and back. A large male with features similar to Varin’s looked up when I entered and immediately walked to intercept me. His uniform was a darker green color than the others. Like Varin, he was huge, his face angular. Alien.
“Welcome, my lady. I am Dr. Surnen. My mate, Mikki, is also from Earth.”
I looked closer and noticed the steel-gray collar partially hidden by his green tunic. So he had a mate from Earth? That was interesting. So there were other Earth girls here? How many? That might be fun. Hopefully they weren’t mean. I was tired of mean people.
“Nice to meet you, Doctor. I’m Danika Gray.” I held out my right hand, and he took it, proving he had some familiarity with human customs. I noticed that his left hand, which held some kind of tablet, was streaked with silver.
“Of course.” He smiled as he gently squeezed my hand. The stretching of his golden facial features somehow made him look more alien rather than less. He was like a lion, golden from head to toe. His eyes, however, were totally alien and reminded me of the frozen lemonade popsicles I used to share with my dad on our front porch on hot summer days.