Page 13 of Captured By The Alien Barbarian
My poor battered body finally splashes into a puddle, the water’s icy shock sucking my breath away. Clawing my way to the edge, I manage to emerge onto dry land. Yet now I tremble uncontrollably. My teeth clatter, even when I clench my jaw shut.
My solitary, stolen blanket—barely a protection against the elements—now lies in tattered shreds, cold and soggy. Utterly useless, like so much else today.
Surely my luck cannot get any worse...
But I am wrong, of course. Drifting through the air, as oppressive as an icy hand clenched around my heart, comes a bloodcurdling howl. This is no beastly cry; it is a guttural shriek from a tormented being. This is the primal scream of a being wounded. It is the battle cry of someone prepared to seek revenge. It only bolsters my resolve: I will not—no, I cannot—be owned by such a monstrous creature. Begrudgingly abandoning the sad remnants of my blanket, I stumble onward, frantically searching for a way to crest the hill. If I can just reach the colony...
I hate how I just want to go home, like a small child seeking comfort in their mother’s arms. A sob escapes my parched lips as distant voices carry through the wind. I recognize the language. English! Fellow humans are somewhere beyond this blasted hill.
Gritting my teeth, I press onward. I just need to find my way home. I inch forward, scrabbling at the ground in front of me, like I am searching for buried treasure, desperately trying to climb the improbably steep, stubborn land. My fingernails dig into the soft soil, shredding it as I drag my body forward. Plants yield to my determined grip, yanked free of their roots as I struggle to keep myself from sliding back down the slope like a human landslide.
So close to success! So close to safety.
Suddenly, arms wrap around my waist, my body is airborne as I am lifted up and away from the ground. I squeal in a most unflattering manner.
“Ariana!” growls the beast from my nightmares. His hands grip my waist in a seemingly unbreakable hold. Taccit scoops me up and carries me further from the other human beings.
“No! Help!” A pathetic cry stumbles out of my lips, followed by weak attempts to bat him away, which are about as effective as swatting at a rabid grizzly bear with one of those limp foam pool noodles. “Please, don’t hurt me.”
It is then that I realize, for the first time in my life, I am utterly vulnerable to a male. Will he beat me for daring to disobey his command?
However, he doesn’t toss me to the ground like unwanted garbage. Instead, with surprising gentleness, he swings my body around as if I weigh no more than a feathery pillow and guides me into a sitting position. My hands cling to the log beneath me, helpless as small bits of bark crumble under my fingertips, the remnants lodging beneath what is left of my nails.
Sobs wrack my body as I cower before him.
“Just do it!” I say, nerves stretched thin. “Stop torturing me. Just end it. Please.”
Yet nothing happens.
As seconds tick by, I am forced to peer up at him through blurry vision, tears streaming down my face. I shrink back from the ominous arch of his dark eyebrows. He looks furious.
“It’s me, my little Nika,” he says. “You are safe. I am here now. I won’t let you get hurt again.”
I hesitantly wrap my arms around my midriff, trying to shield my scratched and bruised body from his intense gaze. There is so much bare skin revealed, and it has been ages since anyone has seen me in such a state. I feel utterly exposed, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
Slowly, carefully, he kneels before me like a knight paying reverence to his queen. By now, I’m shaking uncontrollably. I don’t know whether I’m quaking in fear or simply reacting to the chill in the air. Apparently, neither does he.
“You’re cold,” he says, his arms gathering me close in a heated embrace. Beneath his touch, I tense, my heart somehow jumping into my throat. But, in no time at all, Taccit’s warmth starts to permeate my frozen body, and I turn to him, clinging to the blessed relief he provides.
His hand tenderly brushes my hair aside, and goosebumps erupt on my skin. His smoldering touch on my bare flesh feels like a brand searing into me, yet simultaneously comforting.
At that moment, I’ve never been more confused in my life. Why isn’t he tearing me apart like a wild animal? These aren’t the actions of a crazed monster. Instead, he behaves as if he genuinely cares about me and my well-being.
His hand continues its languid journey along my back, and it seems I’ve misplaced my ability to tell him to stop. Worse (or perhaps not), his heated caress sends fiery tingles racing through my body, culminating in a burning desire deep within. It feels like an eternity since anyone has touched me so tenderly.
“Why won’t you let me go?” I say, weakly pulling back just far enough to catch a glimpse of his face.
In that moment, Taccit looks into my eyes, and it seems as if he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He stares back at me, a sad, defeated gaze locked into my own.
“Because I need you.”
* * *
Taccit’s words haunt me,playing on repeat in my head like a broken record. He needs me? My mind whirls with questions, yet none of them manage to make their way to my lips.
The frosty air doesn’t help, seeping into my skin, freezing me from the outside in and making it hard to think. My brain just wants to focus on my need for heat.
With all the strength I can muster, I open my mouth to ask him something — anything, really. Alas, my brain betrays me, tangled up in a web of thoughts. I snap my mouth shut and take a good, long look at him.
