Page 19 of The Alien Who Saved Christmas
Xane’s head tilted to one side. That was always a bad sign.
“Xane isn’t a slave. I let him go.Allthe slaves should be let go, because buying people is gross and wrong.”
Xane disregarded Sadie’s emancipation lecture, his attention on the cyclops. “Do you wish to challenge me for her?”
“Damn right I do.”
Uh-oh.
“No challenging!” Sadie yelped. What if Xane lost? He wasn’t well, no matter how much he wanted to pretend otherwise. In a fight, he’d be hurt, and she couldn’t stand that idea. Plus, then she’d be stuck with a cyclops boyfriend. “Hang on, let’s just take a second here and be reasonable.”
Xane set her on the floor, his eyes on the other man. “Outside.” He told the guy, and it didn’t sound very reasonable. It sounded like someone was about to die.
“Wait!” Sadie held up her palms. “Let’s talk about this.”
Cyclops-man didn’t want to talk. He wanted to seize. His hand lashed out, trying to snatch her by the sleeve and drag her closer to him.
Sadie didn’t even get a chance to evade his clumsy grab.
Xane was already there, preventing contact. He shoved the cyclops backward hard enough to break bones. The guy hit the wall, with a wince of pain and a furious growl.
Xane stepped in front of Sadie and leveled one of his twenty fingers at the man’s reddened face. “No one touches her.”
Oooohhhh… Sadie’s girl-parts gave a happy little twist, liking his protectiveness. That wasn’t fair to Xane, though. Nolusting after the hot alien until he was feeling better. Until then, she needed to defend him from all the mean people.
“Let’s be sensible here.” She tried edging around Xane’s colossal form.
He shifted, keeping her behind him. His furious eyes stayed on the cyclops.
Sadie blew out a breath and kept up her meditation. “The way you explained it, women choose in this society. Right, Xane?”
“Yes, but there are few laws here on…”
She didn’t let him finish. “Well, great then! Problem solved. I choose you.”
Xane’s head whipped around to gape at her.
She turned to the cyclops, just in case he wasn’t following the discussion. “I choose him.” She reiterated and pointed at Xane. “No offence. I’m sure you’re great. But…”
“You can’t choose a Rtaharion!” The cyclops bellowed, pushing away from the wall.
“Of course I can.” Sadie scoffed, like she knew what the hell she was talking about. “I am a very rare and important woman. I can choose whoever I want.” (Probably.)
“It’s a blasphemy! Femalesneverchoose Rtaharions.”
She made a face. “Well, I meansomewomen must have or there wouldn’t be any Rtaharions.”
“Only desperate women. Otherwise, they use reproductive technology to breed, like most other species. Noactualfemale goes near them. You’ll never have another respectable mate again, if you go with him.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
The cyclops was really pissed about her blasé attitude. He glowered over at Xane, as if he expected him to back him up. “Tell her.”
Xane didn’t respond. He seemed dazed, again. Clearly, the drugs were still affecting him. She’dknownhe wasn’t well.
Sadie frowned up at him, concerned by his stillness. “Xane?” She snapped her fingers in front of his face to bring him around.
He blinked.
