Page 21 of Sold to the Nalgar
Because he was looking at her.
Not moving. Not speaking.
Just…watching.
The sheerforceof his presence made her want to sink into the wall and disappear.
The alarms had stopped. The ship had gone still. The chaos outside her chamber had been replaced with something worse.
Stillness.
Andhim.
His gaze raked over her like a searchlight. Down her face. Her throat. Her body. As ifhe owned her. As if she was his to catalogue. To claim.
She swallowed hard, voice hoarse. “Who are you?”
There was no response.
Not even a tilt of his head.
Can he even understand me?
Her heart thundered.
He raised a hand, black-armored fingers lifting. The metal caught the light, sharp and sleek. He touched a panel on his chest. And then he spoke.
A single word.
“Sulika.”
The sound of it sent a shiver down her spine.
Deep. Resonant. Spoken with something that was almost reverence. Or hunger.
She didn’t know what it meant.
But she felt it. In her gut. In her bones.
The word hadweight.
He stepped closer.
She flinched, instinctively trying to pull back, but there was nowhere to go.
His massive frame moved with the ease of something far too powerful to be real, grace and lethality in equal measure. Her breath caught as he reached out.
She thought he might hurt her.
His gloved hand, massive and cold, brushed her cheek.
Gently.
She froze.
The touch was feather-light, almost hesitant. Completely at odds with his armor, his size, his terrifying aura.
Why?
