Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“So I’m your female now?” I asked, only half joking.
“Only if you want to be,” Vik’tor told me seriously.
I sighed and ran a hand over my face—then winced because I’d happened to touch the slice on my forehead where R’xs had cut me.
“I have to tell you, Vik’tor—I’m getting really damn tired of men thinking they own me,” I told him honestly. As sweet as he was, I didn’t want to go from one owner to another—I wanted to go home.
“I don’t fucking blame you, baby,” he said earnestly. “And that’s not what I meant. It’s just…” He sighed and ran a hand over his horns. “I can’t help myself—I feel very protective of you.” He looked at me, his blue eyes blazing. “I’ve never felt this way about a female before—fucking ever.”
To be completely honest, I had never had feelings for a man before like the ones that were sweeping through me right now. The feelings that made me want to throw myself at him and climb him like a damn tree. But I cautioned myself not to go too crazy—I hadn’t even known him a whole day yet. Even though he had come and rescued me from a horrible fate, I still needed to take things slow.
“I feel for you, too,” I told him honestly. “But I want to be careful. This is all moving kind of fast for me.”
“I understand.” He nodded. “We can take things back a step or two.”
I made a sound that was half laugh/half sob.
“That’s hard to do considering you just killed a man for me and then I lost my shit and cried all over you,” I pointed out. “I mean, we’re kind of past that ‘casual acquaintances’ stage by now.”
“Yeah, well…” He sighed and ran a hand over his horns again. “Guess you’re right about that.”
It occurred to me that I hadn’t thanked him for coming to find me.
“Look, no matter where we are in this…whatever it is…” I made a vague motion with one hand—I was definitely not going to say “relationship.” “No matter where we are, I want to thank you so much for coming to save me. I should have said that earlier,” I added.
“That’s all right, little girl,” Vik’tor rumbled. “Seems to me like I’m the reason you got into this mess in the first place.” And he gestured at the three dead bodies on and around the table. “If that fucking pimp was telling the truth about Azz’lx—was he?” he demanded.
I nodded.
“He called R’xs just before you came and said I had to be ‘disposed of.’ Told him to kill me and to…to hide my body where nobody could ever find it,” I finished with some difficulty, since the words wanted to stick in my throat. But I wasn’t about to start crying again—I’d done enough of that for now, I told myself firmly.
Vik’tor’s face darkened.
“That bastard! He’s been lying to me the whole fucking time! He told me you took the new clothes and left—he even sent me to the fucking spaceport to search for you.”
“The minute you left for your business trip, he grabbed me and dragged me down to the parking area,” I told him. “He shoved me into his tunnel crawler and set it for these coordinates.” I nodded at the dark tunnel outside the small room.
Vik’tor swore.
“I knew he’d gotten rid of you somehow, but I had no idea he sent you to such a dangerous place. And then he called the pimp and told him to get rid of you permanently?”
I nodded and shivered.
“Look, can we please not talk about this here? I’d really like to get out of this room.” I motioned at the dead bodies. “It’s kind of crowded in here—you know?”
“Oh—of course. Sorry, baby.”
Vik’tor put a big hand on the small of my back and guided me out of the small room which was littered with corpses. I couldn’t help glancing at them as we went.
“Er…what’s going to happen to the…the bodies?” I asked in a half-whisper, as though anyone might hear us.
Vik’tor shrugged.
“I’ll have it taken care of—don’t worry.”
The way he said that made me look at him sharply.
“Do you get rid of bodies on a daily basis or something?”
“What? No!” He barked a laugh. “But it’s easier to get it taken care of quietly. Though we can get the authorities involved if you want,” he offered. “Have to warn you though—that’s gonna drag us both through the mud.”
I thought of all the gossip mags the other Blood Whores read and how they chattered endlessly about Naggian celebrities and royalty and shook my head. I did not want to be part of that.
“No,” I said. “I guess you’re right—it’s better to be discrete about it.”
“Glad you think so,” Vik’tor said. He jerked his head at the end of the tunnel. “Come on—my ship is still running. Let’s get home.”