Page 47 of Fighting Gravity
“Why not?”
His eyes dropped to my chest. I stiffened as his big hand lifted to and pushed my arm aside to cup my breast.
“Why do you have these?”
I immediately swatted him away with one hand and slammed my other one across his cheek. I felt the burn of that slap all through my abdomen where I was still healing and down my arm. Norm, however, seemed mildly affected by any kind of pain. Anger, however, was all over his face. His eyes went wide and he collared my throat with his hand, shoving my head back into the hard wall.
20: Rhone
Stupid human.
To strike me in such a weakened state. It was an invitation to spar but she was in no condition to do so. Every part of her body was tainted with a bruise or a healing patch and yet she challenged me. I took her slender neck in my hand and pressed her against the wall, my fighting instincts telling me to just end the nuisance. But when her eyes went big at the shock of my action, I paused. I felt her pulse thrum under my fingers and I held back, smelling the blood beneath her patches.
Quinn had been on the verge of death when I brought her on board. Healing was a grueling process for humans it appeared and yet she writhed in my presence, constantly testing me. I glared down at her, taking a deep breath, but the scent that filled my lungs made me pause. It was Quinn. It was her scent, finally revealed after the water had washed the remnants of her unfortunate adventures from her skin. I’d never noticed it quite like that before. She smelled like crushed flowers and sun moss and it infected me. I took it all in, filling my lungs with her strange essence and forcing my hand to loosen so she could breathe.
“Stop,” she gasped. “I hate it.”
I had no idea what she was talking about until I came back to myself and noticed the subtle vibration of my throat rings rippling through the space between us. A male’s Thel at the frequency mine was displaying was hardly noticed by most female gek let alone other species and somehow, Quinn was feeling it. She felt it often and it puzzled me. Not only that but why was my Thel even vibrating at all in any manner that was unthreatening when I was around her?
I dropped my hand from her neck, letting her breathe unhindered, and allowed my body to calm.
There were many words I wanted to say to Quinn then, but I held my tongue. I had skipped my sleep cycle to look after her while she was unconscious and I was convinced it was affecting my hormonal balance. Looking over her naked form, she wasn’t even appealing physically. No natural armor. No means to protect herself. She was slight and weak and frail and I refused to believe my body had identified her as a suitable mate.
The concept was sacrilegious.
Although, physicality aside, she had surprised me. As soft and weak as she was, she’d escaped Ket’s collar and even wounded herself in the process. And it was all to get to the noc’ran. For Quinn to jump on that spiny beast when she had no protection had to have taken vast amounts of bravery.
Or stupidity.
“You confuse me,” I muttered.
“Yeah, well you’re perfectly clear to me. You don’t confuse me at all.”
“I’m interested to know how you so clearly see me.”
I wanted her to answer. I wanted to know. But Quinn went silent, staring up at me with eyes like daggers. I let my gaze pass over her one last time, taking in every medical patch. The long gash on her shin. The fresh scarring around her wrists where I’d bound her. The burn on her neck where my vibro blade had kissed her tender skin.
When my eyes glimpsed the jagged flesh where she’d used an eating utensil to pry off her collar, I recalled how my chest throbbed at the sight of her jumping on the noc’ran with that rusty rod. I would have survived if the beast had succeeded in charging me. I would have killed every last beast in that damned arena. But Quinn, with her inferior muscles, her breakable frame, and her tender flesh, chose to intervene. Whether she just wanted to get off the port or not, I owed her. And contrary to what I said to Veron, I did not feel that bringing her on board when I could have left her in that pit returned that favor.
It was a shame because now I had the human in my possession again and I didn’t know what to do with her.
“Why are you just staring at me?” Quinn asked. “If you’re done tormenting me, get out of my face and let me finish bathing.”
I shouldn’t have allowed her to talk to me that way. I should have grabbed her by that strange, silky mane of hers and dragged her to a room to lock her in. She was still a prisoner.
“After getting off Tao with me, what did you plan to do next?” I asked.
“Escape,” she said, not caring to reveal her plans.
“I’m not letting you escape.”
My voice did not come out nearly as demanding as I wanted it to and Quinn noticed. She furrowed her brows at me like I suddenly wasn’t speaking her tongue.
“Won’t stop me from trying,” she shot back. “What’ll you do anyways? Because if you haven’t noticed, I’m not great at being a slave. It doesn’t suit me.”
I stepped toward her, invading her space again. I reveled in the way her pulse beat between us, becoming louder the closer I got.
“I’ll have to punish you,” I said. “Teach you that you are not in charge here.”
