Page 9 of Rogue: Planet Athion
“Nah, I don’t think I will. You guys must be made of stone.”
Anton’s jaw clenched. “No. We just have self-control.”
“Oh, I have self-control. I just can’t help but appreciate perfection when I see it.”
“Nice,” Killion said. “You must have gotten all the ladies …” He trailed off as he realized his faux pas.
Xavier merely snorted. “I probably would have if there were any to impress.”
It was no secret that the Athions had suffered the same fate as the Trads. Their female population had been decimated by a virus too, but whereas the Trads had resorted to kidnapping human females, the Athions had taken an amiable route and forged an alliance with Earth. Human females went willingly to live on Athion and integrate into their society. Still, it would be a long time before their female population was stable.
I headed into the baths and stepped into the churning water. The guys joined me a moment later, and this time, Killion and Marlon sat either side of me, leaving Xavier no choice but to sit opposite with Anton.
I closed my eyes and tipped back my head, reveling in the heat that soaked into my bones.
“Well, I suppose this is nice,” Xavier said.
“Oh, yeah,” Anton said. “It’s nice that our captors allow us a hot soak.”
“When you put it that way …” Xavier flicked some water in Anton’s direction, and Anton shook his head.
“So, what’s your story?” Xavier asked. “A human female in the arena. Makes no sense to me, considering the Trads’ obsession with stealing your kind from your planet.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I wasn’t incubator material.”
He pressed his lips together. “So they stick you here? A human against Trads and Athions? How are you still alive?”
“You’ll see soon enough,” Anton said. “Rogue holds her own.”
Xavier didn’t look convinced, but he nodded slowly anyway. “So, you’re the only human female here?”
Marlon sighed. “Look, there were others, but they’re dead, all right.”
Xavier fell silent, absorbing this information. When he spoke next, his tone was reflective. “Other females unable to carry children?”
I met his gaze levelly. “No. Not unable. We miscarried like many of the human females do. Maybe it was the stress of the situation, change in atmosphere, or maybe it was the diet, who knows. But unlike the others, the fertility drug they pumped us with didn’t solve the problem. Instead, it made us infertile.”
He pressed his lips together. “And they abandoned you to this place.” His lip curled in derision, and his pale eyes grew icy. “Just when I think they can’t get any more despicable. On Athion, we prize our females, we take care of and protect our women. Not just our women, women in general.”
Beside me, Marlon made a sound of agreement.
“It’s obvious that the Trads don’t hold to the same values. I’m sorry for the pain and suffering you must have endured.”
His tone was saturated with sincerity, and my eyes pricked and heated. Shit. What the heck? I did not cry, not anymore. Not over stuff that was in the past, stuff I couldn’t change.
“Thank you.” My voice came out croakier than usual, and I coughed to cover my emotion.
The rest of the soak was done in silence, and when we exited, Xavier kept his eyes to himself, but mine … mine were all over his muscled form. It was impossible not to ogle the broad, hard planes of his back and powerful muscles of his shoulders, impossible not to run my gaze up his taut thighs to linger on his ass, which was just as delectable as Anton’s, and …
“Ahem,” Marlon leaned in and whispered in my ear. “Eyes up.”
My neck heated. “Shut it.”
Thank goodness Xavier was out of earshot.
Time to dress quickly and get back to my room before my burgeoning libido took over with its cycle of wantonness. Maybe the upcoming fight was a blessing in disguise. I’d get to release some tension by pummeling some Trad face.
Suddenly, the fight couldn’t come soon enough.
