I would have enjoyed this whole scene playing out somewhere with a little more ambiance, though. That was for sure. And even more, I would have enjoyed it if he’d stop philosophizing at me and lend me a freakin’ hand.
“Look, if you’re not going to tell on me, and you’re not going to help, then why don’t you leave? You’re staring.”
“You seem to like it. Do you wish for me to stop?”
I glared up at him and slowly, his gaze rolled up to meet mine.
“I will take that as a no, then.” He tilted his head to the other side, and I felt a little shiver run through me. Back on Earth, Savannah and I had always joked that a shiver like that meant someone was walking over your grave. “You are a lovely thing to look upon and you know it, Atlanta. A fair dancer, too. I saw as much for myself—before you attempted to kill a queen in front of all her subjects and guards.”
“Help or leave.” I spat the words at him clearly and tried not to be too offended. Once again, he was right. It had been a dumb idea—but I wasn’t exactly an expert planner. I’d been raised to look pretty, dance well and keep my mouth shut. Figuring out how to assassinate alien royalty wasn’t something I’d ever thought I’d need to learn.
Then again, I’d never expected to be kidnapped and whisked away into outer space, either. Sometimes, fate liked to kick you in the crotch like that, I guessed.
“I am happy to assist you,” Apex told me, which was a surprise. My heart did a little cartwheel at the thought.
“Really?”
“Of course.” Then Apex smiled. It was a handsome smile, but there was something wicked about it, too. That made my heart do…other things. “For a price.”
Immediately, my heart stopped doing acrobatics and plunged into my stomach.
Of course there was a price.
There always was.
“Then go screw yourself.” I crossed my arms over my ribs and turned away. “I don’t need to be beholden to anyone right now. I don’t care how hot you are—I’m not sleeping with you just so you can—”
“I did not say I wished to mate with you.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him still smirking. “Unless that is what you are offering?”
“I’m not,” I snapped back at him, ignoring the little voice in my head that was whispering, but that’s not the worst idea…
“Atlanta, you are in desperate need of an ally right now. You are clever enough that surely you can see that. And, I hope, not too proud to be able to admit it as well.”
“What do you want, then?” I turned my body back towards him slowly. “I’m not giving you my firstborn, I’m not sleeping with you, and I don’t want to owe you one.”
“You are in no position to bargain right now, might I remind you.”
“Then I’ll stay locked up!” I threw my hands in the air—but even as I did it, I felt stupid. Like an idiot child throwing a temper tantrum. That’s how I was acting. He was offering me his help, and I was having a hissy fit about it.
What was wrong with me?
Although…actually, I knew exactly what was wrong with me.
I’d been pushed around, ordered and forced to obey my entire life. Trusting this guy was a gamble. Ending up in his debt was an even worse one.
Unfortunately, once again—he was right, he was right, he was obnoxiously, disgustingly right.
If I wanted out of here, I was going to have to compromise. Staying in here meant staying beholden to Lieja, who could order me killed, keep me in here indefinitely, or finally make good on her threats to throw me to the Rutharians. Taking Apex’s help would only leave me beholden to her hunky, mysterious, orange-skinned alien friend.
When I looked at it like that, it didn’t really feel like a choice.
“What do you want?” I asked again.
“A kiss.”
My jaw dropped. Not just a little this time, but enough that it was in danger of smacking against my cleavage.
“You can’t be serious.”
Apex shrugged. “I do not joke, and I did not stutter.”
“But…oh, come on. If you’re going to be a sleazebag about it, why not just say you want to fuck me?” Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me! the hornier of the voices in my head was cheering. Meanwhile, the more reasonable part of my conscious was snarling, shut up, shut up, shut up!
“Because you do not wish to be beholden to me, and you have very little to bargain with right now,” Apex said, his voice velvety and measured. “And because I am a gentleman—though, if you insist, I suppose we could renegotiate terms.”
“No, just…” I stared at the bars, then looked back up to him. He was impossibly tall. Like, tall enough that I barely came up to his chest. If he wanted to kiss me, he’d either have to pick me up or bend all the way over. Or get on his knees, my inner floozy suggested before I shoved her to the back of my brain. “The bars on this door aren’t very wide. We can’t exactly kiss through them, so…”
“I meant your hand, Atlanta.” Apex wasn’t smirking anymore, but there was a light dancing in his dark, gorgeous eyes that was almost worse than his grin. “Do we have a deal?”
Slowly, I stuck my hand out through the bars. “We have a deal.”
He bowed to me as he took my hand in his. My fingers looked small and delicate in his broad, callused palm. His lips hovered over my knuckles for a moment, and I could feel him inhale. Like he was breathing me in, testing my scent.
The joke was on him there. I hadn’t showered in a week—he was going to regret
