“Fine,” he finally said. As he walked toward Geblit, his towering frame was even more noticeable beside the lesser male.
“But that means we’re even now. You helped me after I left the mines. I help you with this.” He moved over to her side of the hovercar and placed his blaster on top of the box. “Debt paid.”
Without even a grunt of exertion, he lifted the box against his chest and proceeded to move away from the hovercar. The movement was so sudden, she almost yelped.
Fastening her hand over her mouth, she looked through the slits, her eyes focusing on Geblit.
He was watching the box with such relief in his eyes, she didn’t know how to feel.
“Tell me,” Riv’s voice boomed close to the box. “What did you buy this thing for?”
“Cargga wanted a new bedmate to make things more exciting.”
Riv’s groan of disgust mimicked her feelings. He paused just on the other side of the barrier as the particles activated once more, locking Geblit on the other side.
“You were going to phek an ooga?” His disgust seemed to grow as he said the words.
Geblit smiled at him weakly but said nothing.
Instead, he turned and hopped into his hovercar just as Riv started walking again.
Goddammit.
She knew why Geblit didn’t respond. They both knew she was nothing like an ooga.
Only, Riv didn’t know.
How the fuck was he going to respond when he found out?
The box bumped and swayed as she was carried toward the large building. As they moved in silence, she could just about hear the soft sound of the wind rustling the grass in the fields. It was such a serene existence, so far out, it was still hard to believe that the owner of the sanctuary wasn’t an old, feeble alien that looked like Geblit.
But as they passed various small enclosures, the animals barely noticing them, she could see enough of the enclosures to tell it took a lot of work taking care of the place.
She doubted an alien of Geblit’s stature could have managed it all without machines to help.
It made sense.
She just hadn’t considered it before then.
Before long, the light of the outside disappeared as she was brought into a dimmer area. Eyes darting around, she could see they’d reached inside.
The box was promptly set on the floor with a jerk and a curse.
Spinning so she could get a better idea of where she was, she looked out the other side of the box.
The area was cluttered with things upon things that she couldn’t even distinguish. A light layer of dust covered everything, so it was clear nothing had been moved in a while.
Frowning a little, she looked out the other side of the box.
There was a table, some chairs, and a rectangular slab that looked like it had bunched-up hay laying on its surface.
It looked so similar to the slab she’d been sleeping on for a year that it made a horrible taste rise in her mouth.
A loud sound caught her ear, followed by what sounded like another curse and her eyes flew to what she could see of the alien—his legs.
The blaster was now on the table and she assumed when he’d thrown it there, that was what had made the loud sound. The shades and the mouth covering landed on the table next.
“Phekking Geblit,” Riv muttered, his voice so deep it felt like it rumbled in her chest. He walked back toward the box and the top moved as he fumbled with it.
Wait.
She wasn’t ready for him to see her yet. It didn’t feel like she’d had time to acclimate with her new surroundings at all.
Suddenly, with Geblit no longer there, the fact she was completely alone with this new alien was making goosebumps appear all over her body.
It didn’t take him long to release the top of the container and soon light flooded inside as the box was opened.
Crouching, her hand shading her eyes, she blinked quickly, trying to get her eyes accustomed to the new light, all the while very, very aware that there was silence all about her.
When she finally was able to look up fully, she realized the blue alien was crouching there, unmoving, his hands still grasping the flaps of the box as he looked down at her, saying nothing.
Pointed green eyes stared at her and his brows were almost at his hairline so she assumed he was surprised?
Well, she guessed it was up to her to say hello then.
“Hello.” She smiled weakly.
First impressions, Lauren. First impressions.
But instead of saying hello, it was as if her voice snapped him out of some trance.
A sudden deep snarl left his lips as his teeth bared. Sharp fangs protruded over his lips as he hissed and Lauren scrambled backward, eyes wide.
A sharp sound like blades opening caught her ear and she became vaguely aware that black claws suddenly appeared on his four-fingered hand.
Shit.
Shit shit shit shit.
The pupils in his eyes dilated so much and so quickly, his eyes were almost completely black and Lauren swallowed hard.
Shit.
He was going to kill her, wasn’t he.
He was going to slit her throat with those claws and wet his fangs in her blood.
Fucking Geblit.
But then again, he hadn’t said Riv was nice.
He’d been bested?
Bested?
Riv growled deep in his throat, a sound that carried through the room and made the creature in front of him move farther into the box even though there was no more room for her to go.
He’d been bested?
Geblit Cakhura was a phekking liar.
He, Riv, was the one that had been bested. Bested by a weak Torian by the name of Geblit.
Phek!
He should have looked in the box before taking it. He should have known something was not right. It had been much lighter than an ooga was, much quieter. And that was because it was nothing like an ooga.
It was a female.
Undoubtedly a female!
And in his house!
Her pale, soft midsection heaved as she stared at him and her large brown
