No whimpering, no hiding, no playing the victim, no dramatics…
Not what he’d expected.
It’d felt a bit strange having someone who wasn’t Sohut or Grot in a standoff beside him, but she’d held her ground when he’d initially thought she’d have run away.
He didn’t know how to feel about that.
As he studied her, Grot moved forward and bumped his head against her side. The female reached down to pat the tevsi on the head immediately.
And he hesitated.
For a second he hesitated.
For phek’s sake. Was one incident going to make him forget his reason for bringing her to the exchange in the first place?
No.
Steeling himself, he pushed all wayward thoughts from his mind and refocused.
“Come,” he said to her, slipping his blade in his trousers once more and ignoring the onlookers as he led her to the other side of the job exchange.
Maybe they’d have better luck on that side, where pesky idiots with fur for brains probably wouldn’t be.
That side wasn’t better, though. The human seemed to be gathering the attention of more males, and not in a good way.
Riv frowned, scanning the area.
Off to one side, he caught sight of the merkannian who’d been trailing them on the street. The male was standing there still watching them and now his interest didn’t only irk Riv, it made him uneasy.
This idea of finding the female a new home wasn’t going according to plan. Her species was new, too new, and it seemed most males wanted to try her.
It made him want to wring all of their necks.
Grot made a sound low in his throat and it was obvious the tevsi was picking up the negative atmosphere as well.
Riv scanned the males who were looking their way and his jaw tightened.
The majority had a look in their eyes that he’d seen so many times before while in the mines, it was burned into his memory.
It was clear.
Sending the female away with anyone at the exchange, despite the protection of the Interplanetary Union, would probably put her in danger.
She’d be used for sex. No doubt about it.
He didn’t want her to stay at the Sanctuary but it would be cruel to thrust her into such a life without a choice.
And he wasn’t cruel.
Closing his eyes, he held back a sigh.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to do it, even if he forced himself.
Phek.
He’d have to find another way to get her out of his life.
He was just about to walk away when a large male about his size approached. As the male advanced, the imprint of his cock in his trousers almost made Riv rebrandish his blade.
Was this what females went through daily or just this human?
Constant visuals of hard cocks wanting to find solace within their bodies?
The human’s eyes widened as the male approached. No doubt she spotted the same protruding body part.
“I can give you three hundred credits for this…female.” The male’s eyes fell on the human and Riv followed his gaze.
The female glanced up at him, her glare filled with anger, shock, disbelief, and anxiety.
He knew that look and, for a moment, time stood still for him.
He’d had the same look when his mor had brought him to the exchange.
That. Same. Look. When he couldn’t believe what was happening to him.
When he couldn’t believe his life was being ripped from underneath his feet and there was hardly anything he could do about it.
“Two thousand.”
The voice and offer snatched him from his memories.
Riv’s eyes snapped up in time to see the large male in front of him turn to look behind him.
Standing behind the male was the merkannian that had been following them.
It was obvious he’d been the one to make such a ludicrous offer.
Two thousand credits could buy his Sanctuary three times.
It was a lot of money that would have made his pockets really comfortable but Riv knew for certain one thing…and it was a thought that came so forcefully, he wasn’t going to be able to deny it… He wasn’t letting the female leave with any of these fools.
“Two thousand,” the merkannian repeated. “More if you have additional females of this kind in your possession.”
Riv’s eyes narrowed behind his shades. The shades were good cover, hiding his thoughts while he kept his voice unaffected.
“No.”
He pulled the female closer to his side, his gaze locked on the merkannian as the male followed the movement with his gold-ringed eyes.
“She’s not for sale,” Riv said.
The words came from his mouth and he heard them but he wasn’t sure what the phek he was saying.
In that moment, though, it felt like the right thing to do.
He’d find another way to get rid of his chatterbox guest.
The Grumpster pulled her closer to his side as he left the group of males who were obviously wanting to buy her for inappropriate reasons and a sigh shuddered through her shoulders.
She’d known his intent was to hand her off to someone but—and maybe a year having no real interaction with aliens was to blame—when it had come down to it, she’d been terrified.
She’d seen aliens all the time while in her terrarium, but interacting with them without a protective glass in between was another thing.
And it’d been clear what these males wanted from her. Very clear.
Like more than ten inches clear.
The most acceptable male she’d seen had been the gold-skinned one with the gold hair and eyes. He’d looked like an angel walking on land and she couldn’t imagine he’d be one of the bad ones.
So when the Grumpster had declared that she wasn’t going to be sold, the shock had been real.
But now what?
He was leading her back down the market street and instead of looking where he was taking her, all she could do was look up at him, trying to read his mood or what he was thinking.
It was difficult to do so when almost all of his face was covered but it was clear when he realized she was staring at him
