Page 16 of Rule

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Evelyn

I poked at the blue rice and the weirdlooking meat on the plate before setting my fork down and standing to pace theroom. Ten minutes after the Draax brought me to the bedroom, he’d returnedwith a plate of food and a glass of water. He’d set it on the top of thedresser and made a ‘stay’ motion repeatedly with his hand until I nodded inunderstanding.

That was three hours ago. I wasn’t normallya picky eater and I was fairly certain that no one in the palace was activelytrying to poison me, but I couldn’t eat a single bite of food. The pain in myside and lower back had made my appetite disappear.

That’s not the only reason.

No, it wasn’t. Much like the Draax who hadpicked me up at the ship, the king seemed to actively dislike me on sight. Ihad no idea why or how I’d offended him, but I didn’t need to understand whatthey were saying to know that I had.

Evie, are you even sure he’s the king?

I stared at my pale face in the mirror.No, I wasn’t certain. Although the palace was much bigger than the tinyapartment that I’d called home, it certainly wasn’t very…palatial-like. I hadseen pictures on the holograms at the libraries of the castles on Earth andcompared to those, this one was very modest. Humble, even.

I’d assumed a palace would have manyservants in it, but I’d only seen the two Draax. Plus, the way the kingdressed was very similar to his servant. Or employee? What did they even callthem here?

I wished I’d had more time to do researchon the king of the western province, but I wasn’t able to sneak away to the librarybefore I left, and my PAR phone had no access to the InfoNet. I knew next tonothing about Draax royalty. Hell, for all I knew, both the Draax I mettonight were just servants. Maybe I would meet the king in the morning.

I sat down on the bed. The palace mightnot be fancy, but their beds were amazing. Of course, after sleeping on alumpy mattress on the floor for years, maybe any bed would feel incredible. Ibounced a little, hissing out a breath when it made pain rocket across my backand into my side. I pressed a hand against my side and tried to take shallowbreaths until the pain subsided. When I’d used the bathroom earlier, there wasstill blood in my urine.

Fear tingled through me. I’d never peedblood for so long after a beating before. What if Alex had really hurt me thistime? What if my kidneys were permanently damaged? What if it affected myability to carry the king’s child?

Panic was worming through my gut and tearswere sliding down my face. Stupidly, I was homesick for my tiny room and awfulmattress. I despised living under my stepbrother’s cruel thumb, but I wasstill homesick for Earth. I hated that my only way to escape him was by whoringmyself out as a baby-maker to some big, green angry king on an entirelydifferent planet.

Still crying, I opened my backpack andpulled out a long t-shirt and shorts to wear to bed. It was late, and I wastired, and the palace was dead quiet. With my translator not working, I waspretty certain I wasn’t going to be having sex with the king tonight.

With any luck, my kidneys would be muchbetter by tomorrow. The bruises would be horrible and very noticeable, but Iwould tell the king that I was in a vehicle accident before I left Earth andthat I was fine. Hopefully, he would believe me.

I slowly undressed before turning andstudying my back in the mirror in the corner. Shit. The bruising on my backwas so bad, and the one on my shoulder had spread until it was across my upperback as well. I tried lifting my left arm above my head and moaned in pain ashot tears leaked down my face.

I wished I could ask for an ice pack, but Iwasn’t sure if I should leave my room, nor did I even know how to begin topantomime for ice. For all I knew, the Draax didn’t even use ice.

Another wave of homesickness washed over me,and I eased into my t-shirt and shorts. I gingerly sat down on the side of thebed, pressing my hand against my side. The pain, the lack of sleep, and therealization that I would never see Earth again hit me like an airtrain and Ibegan to cry in earnest. I covered my face with my hands to muffle the sobs.

When the door to my room opened fiveminutes later and the king walked into my room, I was still crying like anovertired toddler. I hurriedly stood, wiping at my face with the palms of myhands as I stared wide-eyed at the Draax. His short, dark hair was wet likehe’d just showered, and he was only wearing a pair of sleep pants that hung lowon his hips. His upper chest was hairless, but I could see a trail of dark hairbelow his navel.

His body was incredible. All sinewy muscleand smooth green skin. His tail reminded me of a lion’s tail with a tuft ofblack hair at the end of it. It waved back and forth in the air behind him.Unlike the other Draax, his hair was cut short and he had dark brown eyes. Whenhis gaze dipped to my braless chest, a flush of heat and nerves went throughme.

I cleared my throat. I guess my questionabout whether he really was king or not was answered. “So, uh, you’re lookingfor sex, right?”

He scowled and closed my door beforeholding his finger to his lips.

“Sorry.” I hadn’t spoken very loudly, butobviously the king didn’t even like the sound of my voice. I had forgotten tocurtsey when he entered, and I wondered if I was supposed to do it now. I decidednot to. It made my back hurt too much.

You can’t even curtsey, but you’re goingto have sex with him? Do you have any idea how much it’s going to hurt?

My inner voice wasn’t wrong, but I didn’thave a choice. I needed to play down my injuries. If the king thought I couldn’thave sex with him, he’d send me back to Earth.

Evie, you’re not thinking clearly.Candy said they were kind, remember? He’ll give you time to heal. Just showhim your damn bruises so he’ll leave you alone tonight.

I couldn’t take that risk. If they sent meback to Earth, Alex would kill me or worse… force me to marry Troy.

He was still standing across the room fromme and staring at my legs. I was beginning to feel self-conscious. Why wasn’the undressing or undressing me? Was I supposed to make the first move? Maybehe found me so hideous that he had to work up the nerve to fuck me.

My cheeks flushed, and a wave of shame wentthrough me. The guy I’d given my virginity to had been nice enough. He’dcomplimented me a lot when he got me naked, told me I was beautiful and sexy,but it was obvious that the Draax king didn’t like me.

Despair uncurled in my belly. We needed tohave sex so he could have an heir, but could he even get it up if he found meugly?

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