Page 22 of Tortured

“I think they were afraid I would kill myself.”

“I think that you’re stronger than you think.”

“Humph!” I snort. “I think that you don’t know me at all.”

“I think that you did the best that you could in a strange time. But I think that there is a warrior inside you that would never have let you fall so badly that you gave up. No matter how hard it was.”

I study him. “Why did you kiss me?”

He flushes and stares at my mouth, his gaze heated. My belly flutters like butterfly wings. “You were so lost. I didn’t know what to do to get you back. So I kissed you.”

I nod my head like I understand but I don’t. Not really. It just seems like an odd choice. But as I sit there. I feel his body underneath me jump and thicken and I stand up quickly.

I’m not looking for a man of any species. I don’t want a mate. I just want my life back and that’s never going to happen.

So I guess I just have to try and make the best of things as they are. But that seems impossible at this point.

“Let’s go get something to eat and then we’ll talk,” he says, standing as well, towering over me, his blue skin glistening in the lights.

I see his arms and my eyes narrow. “What’s all over your arms? I don’t remember seeing that on any of you guys before.”

He looks down, realizing that his hassa is short-sleeved and frowns. “I’m not sure.”

But then he turns and walks out the door and I have the strangest feeling he’s lying. I just don’t know it it’s to him or me.

12

KOEHN

We’re in for another couple of days and then all of a sudden, it’s there right in front of us. Calon and its orbiting auction ships that carry the worst of the worst around the planet and visiting from every dark corner of the galaxy.

I put the ship back on auto and turn to my little human. “Okay. In another few hours, we’re going to be docking on Calon 5 and from that point things will change.”

“How so?” she asks.

“I had to come up with disguises for us and I did the best I could.”

“Ugh.” Her little nose crinkles and I can see the dark spots on her pale skin move. “I hate playing dress up.”

I’m sure she’s going to hate this even more.

But I pull her to her feet and we head back to the sleeping cabin. I step inside and smile at her. “Maybe you should get some more sleep before we dock. It’s going to be very hard to handle for awhile and you may need to adjust to some difficult things.”

Her head drops and she sighs. “Okay. I am tired.”

I know she is. She’s still not sleeping well and I wish that I could hold her and protect her but it’s not a living, breathing thing that fights her. It’s her own body and memories. That will surely take time to heal.

I nod at her and walk back up to the deck, staring around at all the stars around us.

Her people don’t realize that all of these stars are inhabited by strange beings, some good, some bad. Some barely thinking, just surviving. But all of them are searching for something.

I’ve spent my whole life looking for something I never thought I’d find. Something that was all mine.

I glance down at the twisting pattern on my arms. It’s no plant or thing…it’s just a pattern. But it’s a mating pattern, light and indistinct but still there. Still searching for my mate. Who is on this ship.

I still can’t believe that she’s my mate. A human female kidnapped from her home and suffering from loss.

Loss is something I understand. I lost my parents when I was barely an adult. In the fighting on our planet.

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