Page 8 of Shielded Heart

He arched a brow. “Why would you be sorry? I can’t blame you for looking. In fact, your staring has given me ample time to stare back at you.”

Moving slowly, he tipped his chin down and took her wrists in his hands, turning her arms so her scraped palms faced upward. “You should get these cleaned up.”

Sam glanced down. He was wearing gauntlets of some sort, made of charcoal-colored metal with segmented fingers. The undersides of his fingers were padded by a softer material, all of it strangely warm.

She trembled in his grasp; she told herself it was just the aftereffects of adrenaline overload after nearly being trampled to death—notbecause he was so close,notbecause of the way he was touching her,notbecause of the way he was staring at her.

Her awareness of her injuries returned in the wake of his words. In addition to the burning, stinging scrapes on her hands and knees, she was sure she’d have bruises in several places.

“I-I’ll get them taken care of. Thank you again for what you did.” She tugged on her arms.

He frowned, and his center eye remained on her face while he looked down at her palms. Though he seemed to make no effort to mask his reluctance, he released her after several seconds. “You’re new to Arthos, aren’t you?”

Nodding, Samantha dropped her hands to her sides and loosely curled her fingers. “I’ve only been here for two days and…” She glanced toward the ceaseless flow of people on the street. “I’m a bit out of my element.”

“Sometimes I think these crowds are connected by some animalistic hive mind.” He turned his head to follow her gaze. “That they sense when someone doesn’t belong and subconsciously seek to devour them.”

“That’s, um…”

“Not very comforting, I know.” He turned back to her and smiled, the expression as warm as it was hungry, as charming as it was devilish. “What is your name, little terran?”

Little terran. It was the same thing Rakkob called her, and yet it didn’t make her feel uncomfortable coming from this male.

“Samantha. Some people call me Sam. And yours?”

His lips parted, and he hesitated before replying, “Alkorin. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance”

It was a pleasure just tolookat him.

His grin widened; for a horrified moment, Sam wondered if he knew exactly what she’d been thinking, or if she’d said it out loud without realizing.

“I can bring you somewhere to clean up if you’d like,Samantha. I know this city can be daunting to navigate.” He eased a little closer, and his tantalizing scent filled her nose again. “It would please me to assist you.”

Tingling warmth spread through Samantha. She squeezed her fists despite the pain it caused in her battered palms. Why was she reacting this way? Why did it feel like her panties were wet just because of the way he said her name? Alkorin was gorgeous; his three eyes, horns, and tail only heightened her desire to touch him, to run her hands over his skin and feel its velvety smoothness over the hard ridges of his muscles.

And his lips… Would they be soft or firm against her own?

Samantha’s powerful attraction to him scared the hell out of her. He was an alien. She didn’t know him, and even if she did, she’d already proven herself a poor judge of character. She couldn’t let herself fall into another trap because of a charming smile. Not when she’d come here seeking independence.

“No. I…I should go,” she said. “It’s getting late, and I need to find my way back home.”

“I could walk with you, if you’d like. Just to make sure—”

“No!” She winced at the sharpness in her tone, and softened her voice when she said, “No. It’s okay. I’ll find my way back. You’ve...already troubled yourself enough. Thank you.”

“You’ve not troubled me, Samantha.” He stepped back and offered her a slight bow, the sleeves of his robe swaying as he put his arms to the sides. “Have a good evening. And try not to fall again.”

Sam smiled as she backed away. “I’ll try not to.”

She forced herself to turn around before she was tempted to linger and hurried back into the street. She kept to the outskirts of the crowd, walking close to the buildings and booths.

Don’t. Don’t look back.

Unable to help herself, she glanced over her shoulder.

He was gone.

Disappointment struck her harder than she’d expected it to.

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