“I see you like my fireplace,” I heard the Baron rumble, sounding slightly amused at my reaction.
“You don’t understand—I haven’t been warm for a single minute—notone single minute—from the day I stepped foot on this God-forsaken rock!” I exclaimed. Then I realized what I’d said and looked quickly over to see if I’d offended him. “I mean, sorry—I know it’s your home, but it’s nothing at all like what I’m used to.”
“I spend part of my time on the Braxian home world as well,” he said neutrally. “So I don’t consider O’nagga Nine my only home—nor do I fucking consider it a very nice place to live,” he added thoughtfully.
“It’snot,”I said with feeling. “At least, not when you’re down on my level.”
“Hmm, yes—I can imagine the life of a Blood Whore is pretty hard,” he rumbled.
“It’shorrible,” I said honestly. “And it’snotwhat I’m used to. Back on my planet, I was working on my PhD—that’s an advance academic degree,” I added, seeing the confusion on his face. “I know Naggian women don’t usually go far in school, but I was going all the way. My goal was to teach in the university when I was done.”
I didn’t know why I was telling him all this—maybe I just wanted to make it really clear that I wasn’tjusta Blood Whore and that I hadn’t been back home either—hadn’t been until I wasforcedinto it.
“And you’re from Earth?” he asked, surprising me.
“Yes—how did you know?” I asked.
“My guests—Lord Bart and his little pet,” he reminded me. “The pet—little one or ‘Elli’ as you call her—was from your world as well.”
“Oh yes!” I nodded. “She came to find me because she said she knew I needed help.”
“And do you?” He raised an eyebrow at me.
I didn’t know how to answer that but just then one of the servants came in, bearing a large metal tray covered in a gold domed lid.
“My Lord, breakfast is served,” he said politely.
“Ah good.” The Baron nodded at me. “Would you like to have a seat so we can eat?”
“Thank you,” I said. I went to the far chair but he shook his head.
“Come sit in the one closest to the fire,” he told me and even held the chair for me like I was a lady and he was a gentleman.
Did my heart flutter just a tiny bit at the way he treated me? I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. Call me old-fashioned but I was raised to value a man who treats a woman like a lady. However, I clamped down on the feeling quickly and reminded myself that he might still turn out to be a monster. After all, R’xs hadn’t seemed that bad when I first met him and then he went and cut Ger’tha’s face off!
I would wait and reserve judgment about the Baron, I told myself. After all, you could never tell what might happen next…
SIX
VIK’TOR
Icouldn’t keep my eyes off the little female for some reason. There was something about her—an inner light that spoke of fierce determination shone out of her big, brown eyes. Well, she would have to be determined to survive the life she’d been living, I thought. She was looking the worse for wear—bedraggled might be a good word to use—but she was still fucking beautiful for all of that.
It was hard to tell under all the layers she was wearing, but I thought she might have a curvy figure, which is unheard of for Naggian females, but something I findveryfucking attractive. Also, there were those eyes of hers—big and intelligent with long dark fans for lashes that brushed her high cheekbones when she closed them. And her lips were so full and sensual looking—Naggian women all have extremely thin lips to go with their angular bodies.
This little female—Natalie, was her name I reminded myself—was the exact opposite of Naggian beauty standards—yet I found her extremely attractive despite that. Or maybebecauseof it.
I put her in the seat nearest the fire because I could see how desperately she craved warmth. I was half Naggian myself, but I still found the planet damn cold, though not unbearable. I got the feeling from Natalie that she had found O’nagga Nine unbearable right from the start—and no fucking wonder considering what her life was probably like.
I wondered why I had decided to buy out her contract for a day and a night. Maybe just to keep her away from that fucking pimp of hers—I could tell by looking that he was a long timeTskhead—he had the yellowed skin and fangs to prove it. Maybe I thought he’d be more inclined to be kind to her if she made him what he would consider a shit-ton of creds.
Not thatTskaddicts are generally kind to anyone—the drug burns out the part of their brain responsible for creating empathy and sympathy for others. That’s why some people call it the “heartless drug.”
Or maybe I was just curious about her and wanted to know more about her people. Meeting little one—or “Elli,” as Natalie called her—had certainly made me interested to know more about the Pure One females from Earth. I had even done a little study on different kinds of La-ti-zals. Also, I wanted to know how she had gotten here and why she’d stayed for so long if she hated O’nagga Nine so badly.
Or maybe you just want to drink from a Warm Blood,whispered a little voice in my head. I couldn’t deny that was certainly part of it. I don’t need as much blood as a full Naggian and I can go without it for long periods with no problem, but I do still crave it—it’s in my nature, after all.
Here on O’nagga Nine, I had only ever drunk the blood of the Naggian Blood Brides. I mostly just did without when I visited the Braxian home world. It was damn awkward to explain to a female who wasn’t Naggian that you wanted to bite her and take a sip of her blood. The one time I had tried it, the girl had looked at me in horror. And then, because she was Braxian, she hauled off and punched me—not that I blamed her. As I said, it’s a fucking odd request if you’re not used to it.