Page 50 of Owned By the Hvrok

She had to be calm when he returned.

And if that meant showing her more, teaching her,touching herto soothe instead of command… he would do it.

CHAPTER 28

He touched her.

Not with a shove or a grip, but with a hand. His bare hand.

Warm. Heavy. Pressed gently between her shoulder blades as he guided her down the corridor, back toward the place he’d locked her in before.

The contact sent a jolt straight through her spine.

Not pain.

Not fear.

But something stranger.

She shivered. Goosebumps rippled along her arms despite the ambient warmth of the ship. Her breath caught in her throat. Because there was something in the way he touched her:firm, but not cruel.Gentle, but not quite tender.

It wasn’t affection.

It was control.

He wanted her to walk.

And she did.

Because the pressure of his hand said she should, and it told her—quietly, unmistakably—that if she didn’t, there would be consequences.

She wasn’t ready to test what those might be.

Besides, she wasn’t fighting him anymore.

Not right now.

How could she? After what she’d seen? A world of jagged snowcaps, firelight bleeding through mist, and the realization that they were stranded. There were no roads, no ships in sight. No help.

No hope.

Just her. Andhim.

She couldn’t even speak the language, didn’t even know what planet they were on until he’d shown her. She was completely, helplessly cut off from everything she knew. Every flicker of resistance inside her had nothing to hold on to.

And so she walked.

She could feel him behind her. Hear his footfalls. Sense the weight of his presence—tall, armored, silent. But his hands… his hands were bare.

Why?

She hadn’t seen his fingers without gloves since he’d first collared her. Six-fingered. Deep blue. Hard but strangely beautiful. Alien and terrifying—and yet, somehow, reassuring. They’d held her earlier when she broke down. Held herlike she was something he didn’t want to break.

How did he know?

That she neededthat?

Not commands. Not glares. Not cold silence.

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