Page 21 of Diamond

"I am so sick of hearing you speak so much. Have you ever heard of silence?" he hisses at me. "I paid far too much to come to this planet just to have a mere slave question me. This ruse was fun for a while, but I've had enough of it."

I gasp in fear, missing a step and stumbling back, barely managing not to fall. My back presses against a tree and I whip my head around to search for any escape, but I am well and truly trapped.

Under my breath, I curse whatever bad karma led me to this moment.

My brain goes back to Bibi and hearing those exact words from her. 'Have you never heard of silence?'

I swallow the lump in my throat and clamp down on my tongue because there is no other way that I am getting out of this by running my mouth and speaking up about knowing my rights.

I am on an alien planet, about to get attacked by an alien who kidnapped and changed me. There are no rights here, just barbaric males. Everything is different, yet painfully the same.

He comes up to me and bends, looking directly at my face as his hot breath fans against me. I try to look away, but his silver hands grip my chin, pressing my mouth together into a painful O. "You have been so shy all day, pretending not to know exactly what I want from you."

His grip tightens, his sneer widening to reveal his sharp teeth.

A sob leaves my mouth, and he stands up to his full height once more, laughing at me. "You know, I had a good time playing savior because you were so appreciative at first, but you quickly forgot your place."

He wanders a few steps away from me and I attempt to run, but in an instant, his hands press against my throat again and he flings me back against the tree.

I know this behavior. It reminds me of a cat toying with its prey before the kill. A tear rolls down my cheek as I realize this individual that I have trusted for help sees me as prey.

My thoughts are interrupted by his fist ramming into my stomach. The wind is knocked out of me in a wheeze of pain, followed by a cough that leaves blood staining the inside of my palm.

Tehlmar presses himself against me again, holding me captive between him and the tree. "You forgot that you are just another slave species destined to wither to nothing. And I am better than you."

One of his hands grabs aggressively at my waist, and I scream, wiggling myself in desperation.

"No, please no," I heave, begging him.

It falls on deaf ears as he uses his body to keep me pinned to the tree.

He pushes me to the ground roughly, straddling my prone form.

I can feel his arousal pressing against me, so I intensify my efforts at self-preservation. My flailing arms don't seem to bother him until I jam a thumb in his eye and he roars out in pain.

For the first time, I'm thankful to the genali that my clothes work in tandem with my mind. I force myself to think of it sticking even tighter to my body than before.

Tehlmar pulls at the suit briefly before glaring into my eyes with raging fury. "If I can't figure out how to get this off, I'll just make a hole in it. That's all you are good for, anyway."

He leers at me like one of those lecherous old men in the marketplace, and all I want is to get as far away from this alien monster as I can.

11

Kuret

She backs up, he steps up, the distance between them closing until her back is pressed against thetree. She pushes out her hand, as if telling him to stay away, but he only closes in on her.

A part of me wants to look away. This is starting to look like an intimate moment between them, But I can't tear my eyes away; it feels like something is about to happen.

Something's not right.

I hope that I am wrong—that I'm overthinking these things, as I have no experience to compare these interactions. Maybe this nagging feeling is just a false alarm. An instinct from years of keeping an eye on females, making sure they were safe from predators while staying distant.

The male moves himself up against her rather roughly. One shiny hand pushes his hair back from his face while his free hand rises to grab her chin.

I expect a tender touch—some sign that I'm mistaken, just confused about females and donors. But I catch his hands pressing her chin with considerable force and I know there is no tenderness in his actions.

The human female lets out a shriek of fear. I hop to my feet and dash in a straight line toward them.

---