Page 5 of Guardian's Soul

Renewed panic set in when we reached the end of the narrow alley and entered a large open area filled with mingling aliens of all kinds of species. Each one stopped and stared at us.

"Help me," I screeched, hoping somebody would. Surely, these aliens had to have something similar to a police force around here. I mean, they were sophisticated enough to have tall, high-rise buildings, taverns, and fucking space flight. "Somebody help me!"

I wiggled harder. The man grunted. His hand on my butt lifted and… came slapping down on my ass. Stinging it like hell.

"Quiet down," he advised.

Those words renewed my ire. How dare he? My legs began to kick out, and when my right foot connected with a hard muscle, and his body jerked, satisfaction rushed through me, so I kicked again—earning me another hard slap against my ass. How dare he?

"Put me down!" I yelled, moving my legs up and down, hoping for another lucky kick.

"Quiet down, female," he snarled, followed by another sting. WTF?

"Putmedown, putmedown, putmedown," I screamed so fast I didn't even understand what I was saying.

Nobody was more surprised than me when he actually did. I turned to run, but he grabbed my wrist.

"Look around. There is nowhere for you to run," he stated calmly.

For the first time, I saw his face. His right eye was swollen shut, and blood crusted his nose. I didn't get a clear view of him in the dark corner, but I recognized him as the man I'd noticed before. Not that it mattered.

Getting used to his silvery skin would take some time, yeteven with the swelling and cuts on his face, he was still a very handsome man. His tight, auburn uniform only accentuated a muscle-ripped chest and abdomen. I had already felt the bulge of his biceps when he had carried me, but seeing them now? Good God, they were as thick as my thighs, probably thicker.

Black, short, cropped hair framed a strikingly angular face. Black eyes stared at me unnervingly without any discernable sclera, pupils, or irises. His sensual mouth was twisted in something resembling an ugly sneer as he took me in.

"You humans are the most querulous people I have ever encountered. I'm trying to save you, and you're kicking me."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say you're trying tosaveme?" I had no idea where my sarcasm or the energy to verbally spar with him came from, but there it was. "Why didn't you justsayso?" I yelled. Who was this person using these words? My normal happy-go-lucky attitude seemed to have completely vanished—or had been abducted by aliens. I had never done anything like this in my life. Normal me would have thanked him. But instead, this bold, furious version of me took charge—and I liked her. It felt incredibly freeing.

He crossed his arms over his massive chest, looked down at me with that same awful sneer, and let out a soft grunt as if it was asking too much of him totalkto me and use words like other civilized beings.

Had I not been bathed in alien blood and at the end of my emotional rope, with my heart beating in my throat and nausea creeping up in my stomach, I would have… would have… I didn't know. Because what did you do to an over six-foot, silver alien hulk? Kicking him in the balls would have probably only served to infuriate him even more. At five-two and weighing a hundred and twenty pounds, I didn't think there was much I could have physically done to him.

Running appeared just as useless.

Because I hated to admit it, but he was right. Where would I go?

Dejected, I stared at my surroundings. Alien buildings, alien people, and alien spaceships were all around me.

All I could do was stand there and glare at him.

His features relaxed slightly. "Come," he said and began walking.

I sent a disbelieving stare at his retreating back. Just like that?

Tears gathered in my eyes, giving everything around me a blurry shape. Still, it wasn't hard to see the other aliens whispering to one another and staring at me. With a sigh and more tears rolling, I hurried after the hulking, insensitive bastard who hadsavedme, cursing him with every step. Otherwise, I would have simply broken down and lost it in the middle of the street.

THARAAX

Somethingabout this human female tugged at my heart, and I didn't like it. I would have rather taken a vacation on the volcano-covered planet B'Rtrx than spend another tick with this female who brought out emotions in me I had never experienced—at least not like this. My emotions were usually simple. I felt pride after finishing an especially hard assignment, anger when a mission took longer than expected, happy when I took out the scum of the universe. But words for my emotions around her didn't seem to want to come to me. Especially when I took a look at the state she was in, covered in another male's blood.

Actual prideforherarose inside my chest. She had looked so beaten when she walked up the stairs, only to come out fighting. A trait I deeply admired. Even when she fought me, I felt a small glimmer of pride and admiration for her. As useless as her efforts had been, she didn't give up, and I could appreciate that.

I would have never turned around and walked away from her had there been any indication of danger. But I sensed that she needed a choice. A choice I was ostensibly giving her. She didn't need to know that I had no intention of followingthrough with it. As long as she decided to follow me, I would allow her to think she had one.

I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would take her back to Astrionis. Well aware that Lord Protector Garth would not be happy with me bringing just one human.

The Ohrurs were getting handsomely paid to have several of us search the universe to free as many humans as possible. Honor demanded I bring full cargo loads of their requested goods to Astrionis, but honor and patience were warring an evil battle inside me—that and something else.

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