Page 6 of Kenan's Mate
“Before our ships destroyed theStargazer, we closed the wormhole. You are stuck on Tallia, little human, for the rest of your days. Humans don’t have the ability to create a new wormhole to Tallia. They never created one in the first place. They simply discovered a way to make a small, naturally existing wormhole larger, large enough to send ships through.”
Emotion tightens my throat. As the shock of his news settles over me, tears fill my eyes and wet my cheeks. I try to draw back, but he holds my chin in a vise grip.
I’m trapped with nowhere to look but his unforgiving gaze.
“Please,” I beg, but I don’t know exactly what I’m asking for. I’m desperate and afraid, and the wordpleaseis all that comes to mind.
Please let me go. Please don’t hurt me.
Please say you’re lying about the wormhole.
“You’re rather adorable for a human. And so pretty when you cry.” He cups my face and leans down to kiss my cheeks, but he’s not simply kissing, he’s also tasting.
Tasting my tears.
I sniffle and more tears fall. He inhales quickly and a moan vibrates from his throat. It terrifies me that he’s reveling in my sorrow.
“I want to go home,” I whimper.Let this be a nightmare. Let me wake up now.
“Thisis your home now, human. The mountains of Tallia.” He rises to his feet and looms over me like a fierce Viking conqueror. “And you belong to me.”
Chapter Four
“Stand up, human.”
I huddle on the floor, reluctant to rise when I’m not wearing any clothes. I gaze at the cage longingly, wishing I was still locked inside. The door is slightly ajar. It hadn’t shut the whole way, and I contemplate making a dive for it.
Gooseflesh rises on my arms, and I sit awkwardly with my legs half crossed and my breasts pressed against my knees. I’m hugging myself and fighting back more tears.
This can’t be happening. This can’t fucking be real.
“If I must repeat the order, human, I will punish you before I claim you.” He speaks slowly, drawing out each word. “Do not test my patience.”
Punish.Claim. My stomach flips at those two words, which confirm my worst fears about my captor. Did he carry me off theStargazerand rescue me from certain death, only to keep me as some kind of sex slave? Will he keep me locked in the cage when he’s not using my body?
Beneath his stern and forbidding exterior, there are flashes of sadness in his gaze that I don’t understand, as if he regrets what he’s about to do. Or as if he pities me. This unnerves me further. I don’t want his pity. I don’t want anything from him at all.I only want to go home.Please.
I glance at the cage and then back at the darkly handsome, purple-eyed monster.
After a deep breath, I make as if to stand, only to propel myself toward the cage.
It’s stupid. I know it’s stupid. If I wanted to escape him, I should have run for the door. But I manage to open the cage and slip inside.
A disappointed sigh escapes him, and seconds later he’s dragging me out by my ankle again, this time with a force that makes my joints scream.
“Please please please,” I repeat until he jerks me upward, forcing me to stand while he holds my shoulders in a bruising grip. “Please don’t fuck me,” I whisper as my heart pounds in my ears. His promise to claim me scares me more than his promise to punish me, but perhaps if I appeal to his human side—if there’s a glimmer of humanity somewhere inside him—he’ll let me go.Please let me go.
He releases one of my shoulders to play with my hair, rubbing my long, chestnut brown locks between his fingers. His expression is intense as he meets my eyes.
“You are mine to do with as I please, little human. And I must claim you now.”
I smack his hand from my hair and hurry for the door.
“No,” I whimper when it doesn’t slide open upon my approach, as it had opened when the alien entered. No amount of banging on the door helps either. I’m absolutely fucked.
A hand delves into my hair and I’m tugged backward. He turns me around with a hand fisted in my locks and gives me a disappointed look.
Then he smacks my cheek.
