Page 34 of Tempting Her Grumpy Protector
“Yes,” she said flatly. “Absolutely, without a doubt, one hundred percent.”
He studied her for a long moment, his third eye narrowing, then snapped his fingers. A scribe scurried forward with a flat square of pale blue leather stretched tight in a frame and a stylus tipped with red pigment.
“Yes, your Chiefliness?” he said breathlessly.
Chief Lowhung held out a hand silently and the scribe handed him the square of leather and the stylus at once.
“If you truly believe that,” the Chief said, “Sign this statement. It says you would rather be with your Protector than me. Do this, and I will never bother you again—no matter how long you stay on our planet.”
Sunny didn’t hesitate. She scanned the words rapidly—it did indeed say she preferred to be with Greer instead of the Chief—and signed her name with a swooping flourish, then shoved the square of leather back at him.
“There. Happy?”
“Most assuredly.” The Chief’s smile returned, looking decidedly sharklike, she thought uneasily.
He turned to the crowd of Thropp’ians milling around the communal eating area and raised his voice.
“Listen, my people! We have our first match of the festival!”
The Thropp’ians gathered around eagerly.
“Who? Who has agreed to the match?” several voices asked.
“Why, your very own Chief Lowhung, versus the off-world Protector, Greer,” the Chief announced, smiling widely. “And the prize—” he gestured toward Sunny “—is this off-worlder woman with the lovely, huge milk-makers. She has just signed a contract agreeing to belong to the victor.”
Sunny’s stomach dropped and she stared at him in disbelief.
“Wait—what are you talking about? That’s crazy—I never agreed to that!”
The Chief’s grin widened.
“Yes, you did, little flower. See here?”
He shoved the leather square back at her and peeled back the first piece of leather. Under it, was more writing. Sunny saw—too late—that it was some kind of contract. The Translation Bacteria that she’d been given aboard the Mother Ship allowed her to read it the same way it allowed her to understand the Thropp’ians’ spoken language.
She scanned the contract rapidly, her stomach twisting itself into a knot as she read. Oh, no—the Chief was right!
“There—you see?” The Chief snatched the contract back from her and gave her another nasty, sharklike grin. “You, my lovely flower, have just signed yourself up to be the property of whoever wins our wrestling match. Let’s hope your Protector is as mighty as you believe him to be. Otherwise tonight, you’ll be warming my bed.”
25
GREER
“You did… what?”
Greer stared at Sunny as if she’d just sprouted a second head.
It was the Sunny Effect all over again, he thought dismally. She was always getting herself into trouble. But this time, she’d really outdone herself. Fuck! Signing a contract agreeing to be the property of the winner of a wrestling match really was the craziest thing his Ward had ever done!
He was about to get really angry…until he took another look at her.
Sunny stood there, her soft mouth trembling, her big eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered. “I thought I was signing a statement to make him leave me alone—that was what the first page said. Then, after I already sighed, he showed me the second page that I didn’t even know was there. I know I should have been more careful, but he just made me so mad.”
“Sunny…” He raked a hand through his hair. “Fuck, little one. Do you ever stop getting yourself into trouble?”
Her chin wobbled, and he saw the sheen of tears on her cheeks. She looked small suddenly—small and sorry and scared—and whatever anger had flared in him fizzled out like a snuffed flame.
