Page 53 of Shielded Heart

Her dark hair hung around her shoulders and down her back in long, loose waves, and her lips were still reddened from Arcanthus’s kiss. A shiver coursed through her at the memory of his mouth coming down upon hers.

A pair of slip-on shoes, the same color as the dress, lay on the counter; they’d been hidden beneath the garment. Samantha slid them onto her feet. Just like everything else, they fit perfectly.

Exactly how much did Arcanthus know about her?

Leaving the bathroom, Sam made her way to the door through which Arc had exited the bedroom. She hesitated as her hand was on its way to the control button. Would he be upset if she left the room and wandered around?

No; he hadn’t told her to stay put, and she wasn’t his prisoner. He would’ve said something if he didn’t want her leaving the room.

Besides, she was curious. She wanted to know what was on the other side of this door, wanted to explore the place Arcanthus called home.

She pressed the button, and the door slid open.

Samantha stepped into the hallway beyond only to come to an abrupt halt when someone—a ratherlargesomeone—positioned himself in front of her. She released a startled gasp and retreated a couple steps, lifting her gaze.

The male’s face was familiar, and that familiarity curbed her instinct to flee back into the bedroom.

He was the yellow-eyed cren who’d returned the package she dropped on her way home yesterday. The cren who’d purchased food from Sarai’s booth.

“I-I know you,” she said, brows falling low.

“I know you, too,” the cren replied. “Samantha, yeah?”

Samantha nodded.

“Name’s Kiloq. Boss told me to bring you to him when you got out.”

“Boss? Ar… Er, Alkorin?”

Kiloq snickered. “It’s okay, terran. Anyone he trusts enough to work in this part of the compound knows his name is Arcanthus.”

Relief eased her tension; for a few seconds, she’d feared she had already violated Arc’s trust by revealing his name. “Oh, okay. Good. You’ve, uh…you’ve been following me, haven’t you?”

“Yeah. He told us to keep you safe.”

“Us?”

“Me and my brother, Koroq.”

She waited for the flare of anger that should’ve risen in her gut; Arcanthus had selected Sam from her identification file, stalked her, lied to her, and sent some of his men to keep an eye on her. None of that was okay, was it? None of that wasright. And yet…she wasn’t upset, wasn’t angry, wasn’t scared.

Because Arcanthus still felt right to her.Beingwith him felt right.

She wasgladfor what he’d done; this city might well have swallowed her whole were it not for his intervention. Maybe she would’ve eventually found her way, her place, but there was a good chance she might’ve ended up kidnapped or dead first.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kiloq,” she said, offering the cren a smile.

He returned the smile; despite the three-centimeter-long tusks protruding from his lower jaw, the expression had unexpected warmth to it. When she’d first encountered Kiloq, she’d been terrified of him. She realized now that he’d had a friendly, gentle air about him even then. She didn’t doubt he was capable of ferocity, but that was true of Arcanthus as well, wasn’t it?

“My brother, Koroq, is around somewhere,” Kiloq said. “He looks like me, only uglier.”

Samantha laughed.

“Boss is expecting you, terran. Come on.” Kiloq turned and walked along the hallway.

She followed him. The soft flow of air over the bare skin of her chest and right leg as she moved reminded her of what she was wearing, and her cheeks burned.

Kiloq led her through several long, high-ceilinged hallways, all of which exhibited a strange blend of the sleek luxury and wealth on display in Arcanthus’s room and a gritty, industrial aesthetic—the bare, unpolished metal and dark concrete somehow paired well with the patterned crimson carpeting and elegant but practical light fixtures. Most of the doors they passed were large and looked durable, but they were made less imposing by the intricate isometric designs etched upon their faces.

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