She began to relax. This abused man, Luka, wasn’t her enemy. She needed to remember that. He was a prisoner just like her. Maybe he isn’t as dangerous as Helas made him out to be. They were probably trying to scare me. Even as she thought this, the memory of Luka snarling as his black eyes bored into her crossed her mind, and her panic resume.
A loud zap echoed in the small room, making the chains rattle. Luka’s body seized, and then he bellowed in pain, struggling to get out of his chains before abruptly stilling.
He turned his head toward her, and through his dark brown tangled hair she saw his eyes focus on her. His pupils were so dilated that she could only make out the faintest hint of icy-blue iris. As she watched, both the whites of his eyes and the iris were enveloped in black.
His nostrils flared, and he tried to turn his body more fully toward her. The deep black of his eyes and the wildness of his appearance made him look like something out of a horror film. Alice’s throat constricted. She swung her focus to the ground, unable to hold his unnatural gaze.
“That m-means you r-recognize me, right?” Her voice shook with fear even as she tried to keep calm.
Glancing up, she found he’d tilted his head at her like an animal.
She inhaled as deeply as she could, but she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.
He started to tug at his hands, rattling the chain. When she scooted farther away, tears blurring her vision, he snarled and began to struggle harder. His muscles strained with the effort, and he never took his eyes off her.
An ominous groan from the metal base the chain was attached to had her tucking her body into a ball. She threw her hands around her head and began to rock.
No, no, no. He was going to break free, and if he had the strength to break free, he’d surely rip her apart, whether he meant to or not.
Tears dripped onto her denim-clad thighs as she waited for the sound of snapping metal, but it never came. With her head still tucked protectively against her hands, she raised her eyes a few inches to see what had happened to Luka.
He was breathing heavily and straining against his chains, but he’d stopped trying to break free. When he saw her face, his brows drew together. He blinked and shook his head like he was attempting to clear it.
Through the curtain of tangled hair, he peered at her again. His eyes were still black, but they looked more aware than they had a moment ago.
“Are you still in there, Luka?” she asked quietly.
His lids narrowed, but he didn’t answer.
He could’ve broken free just then; they both knew it. He’d stopped, though, controlled himself. “Thank you for stopping.”
Luka seemed to relax incrementally when she spoke, so between her short breaths, she kept talking.
“How long have you been here? Were you captured, or is holding people hostage normal on this planet?” Unsurprisingly, he didn’t answer, but she found talking to him had a calming effect on her too. Her heartbeat slowed to a normal rate, and her breaths grew even.
Judging from the dark matted hair that hung in front of his face, he’d been here a while. She found herself longing to push his hair back and look at him more fully.
Since it appeared to calm him and definitely calmed her, she continued speaking out loud. “Are you not answering because you can’t understand me, or because the drug in your system is messing with your mind?” Alice scooted an inch toward him.
For as long as she could remember, Alice had always held a soft spot for injured and broken things. Her mother, along with her friends at work and school, had constantly chided her for being too nice. When she was a child, she remembered walking around their house, looking for bugs to catch and release into the wild. Her mother hated bugs and killed them on sight.
As she got older, and rescuing bugs had turned into rehabilitating small injured animals, Alice had decided she wanted to become a veterinarian. At present, she was putting herself through college by working at a sleazy bar.
If there was ever a creature in more need of help and tenderness than Luka, she couldn’t imagine it. She studied him, her heart breaking more as each new injury was revealed.
Even dirtied and bruised, she could tell he was handsome. His shoulders and chest were broad and chiseled. The pearlescent markings she’d seen on Mr. Yellow-Eyes, Sal, and Helas also ran over Luka, but in a different pattern. They were vine-like and curved over his body, delicate against his overall powerful physique. Her eyes followed one particularly beautiful marking as it trailed down his six pack and disappeared beneath his pant line.
Alice gasped, and her gaze darted to the ceiling, her cheeks heating, when she noticed the outline of a huge erection could be seen through his thin pants. Whatever drug they’d given him must really be working.
“Come, female,” a deep, rough voice said, startling her.
Goosebumps spread over her skin at his rumbled command, and for a moment, she had the inexplicable urge to do as he said. “Uh, no thanks. I’m good right here,” she said, with an awkward chuckle.
“Come!” he commanded, giving his chains a hard, fast tug.
When she still didn’t move, he began pulling on his chains with more force. Alice couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or bad thing that he seemed to know what he was doing. On the one hand, he was threatening her by showing he’d break his chains if she didn’t get closer. On the other, it meant he wasn’t completely lost to whatever drug coursed through his system. Luka was still making decisions, and she hoped that meant he had more control over himself than she’d been led to believe.
When the metal gave another low groan, she blurted, “Okay!”
Slowly, she scooted toward him, ready to bolt at any second. When she was within a few feet, she stopped.
He growled low in his throat. “Closer.”
Heartbeat pounding furiously, she moved until they were separated by only a foot and waited.
Why did he want her to come to him? So far, he wasn’t trying to do anything to her. He just looked her over. His gaze traveled up and down her body, lingering where all men’s gazes lingered. She chuckled to herself. I guess boobs are universally appealing.
When his stare returned to her face, he attempted to shake the strands of hair out of his eyes fruitlessly.
Without thinking, she reached up and smoothed the dark brown mass back, making sure she didn’t pull at any tangles.
The bone structure she uncovered was gorgeous. Dark, heavy brows framed his black eyes. A small white tattoo wound its way from his forehead to his high cheekbone. When she started to pull her hand away, he leaned his cheek into her palm and closed his eyes.
He looked like he was deeply savoring this simple touch, and it made Alice’s heart squeeze painfully in her chest. After being locked up for so long, Luka probably needed a little gentleness. Surprise, followed by warmth, spread through her when she heard a rumbling purr emanate from his chest.
“You’re just a big, scary cat, aren’t you,” she whispered.
Eyes flashing open, he turned his mouth toward her hand and gave her lower palm a hot, wet kiss. A jolt of pleasure shot to her core. She pulled her hand away, clutching it to her chest.
He gave a weak growl and leaned toward her as far as he could.
She held up what she hoped was a stern finger. “Nope!” Her breath was shaky as she spoke, and his eyes focused on her waggling finger. “We aren’t going to be doing any of that. You’re not in the right state of mind, and I don’t even know you.”
His eyes narrowed at her words, but he did sit back.
She let out a relieved sigh. “Good boy, tiger.”
This could work, she thought hopefully.
Luka didn’t seem to be able to understand most of what she said, but he could speak a little and backed off when she told him to. Maybe coming in here every day and talking with him wouldn’t be so bad.
Oddly, out of the few aliens she’d met so far, Luka made her feel the safest. He was turned on and could
get out of his chains at any minute, but he hadn’t. Apart from the scalding kiss to her palm, which she could still feel and had liked way too much for her own good, he hadn’t done anything too bad to her.
If he thought he was her mate, would he even be protective of her? It’d make sense. On Earth, male animals protected the females. It was instinct. Maybe it was in her best interest to get those marks to show up after all.
Helas had said Luka’s mating marks would appear on his hands and wrists. She craned her neck, trying to peek behind him, but his hands were bound too tightly. She’d have to crawl around him in order to get a good look, and she didn’t trust him enough to do that yet.
“My name is Alice. Your name is Luka,” she said, motioning first to herself, then to him.
He tilted his head again but didn’t respond.
“It’s okay.” She tried to make her voice reassuring, “I can just talk for both of us. I’m good at that.”
A low grinding from the door sounded, smothering the calmness she’d been feeling. Alice dashed into the corner when the door to the cell opened, revealing a pleased Helas and Sal.
Luka snarled and began pulling on his chains, struggling toward her.
“Secure him!” Helas barked.
Sal ran forward and attempted to zap Luka with a long metallic stick, but Luka rammed his shoulder into the man’s belly. The force of the blow caused his chains to break.
Keeping his eyes on Helas and Sal, Luka backed up into the corner in front of Alice.
Is he shielding me?
Finally, back on his feet, Sal retrieved the metal stick from the floor and limped to Luka, his gaze flashing toward Alice momentarily. Had that been fear for her illuminated in his eyes? Can’t be.
Helas removed a slim silver weapon of his own and began stalking toward them. Luka crouched further, ready to pounce.
“Luka, stop! They’re gonna hurt you!” Alice cried from behind him.
When the men were within arm’s reach, Luka lunged, using his body weight and legs to land blows on each man. Alice couldn’t help but marvel at the strength and skill he was able to access even with his arms tied behind his back.
As he shot his leg out behind him, connecting solidly with Sal’s chest, Helas shoved the metal stick into Luka’s bruised ribs, making him roar in pain and convulse. Before he could get his bearings, Sal had joined Helas and was shocking him from the other side.
Excruciating seconds passed, then Luka fell to his knees, his eyes glued to Alice’s.
“You’re going to kill him! Stop!” she screamed, tears running down her cheeks.
When he was lying on the floor, unable to hold himself up, Helas took a small cylinder out of his pocket and sprayed a fine mist in Luka’s face. Almost instantly, his body went limp.
“Get her to her cell,” Helas said, letting loose a savage kick to Luka’s ribs.
As Sal passed him to retrieve her, he looked down at Luka with a sneer.
Alice ran forward, dodging Sal, and pulled at Helas’ arm, trying to put distance between him and the motionless Luka, but it was no use. Everyone here was so much stronger than her. She’d always been content with being gangly and just a little too thin, but right now, she detested her slight frame, how weak she was. They could beat him to death, and all she’d be able to do was watch.
Her measly efforts seemed to have some effect, because Helas shrugged her off and turned to exit through the open door. Sal followed, grabbing her roughly by the arm. With a grimace, he dragged her out of the room, down the hall, and to her cell, ignoring her pleas to make sure Luka was alright.
He pushed her through her open cell door, but before releasing her, hissed, “Stop!” Darting a glance over his shoulder, he continued, “You need to be worried about yourself. Follow the rules.” He held her stare, inhaling deeply. Before closing the door in her face, he whispered, “You can’t help him.”
Once alone, Alice’s gaze whizzed around unseeing, and salty tears poured down her cheeks. She was furious they’d injured Luka and miserable that she couldn’t do anything about it. She felt so helpless…was so helpless.
Alice forced herself to ponder Sal’s parting words. Was he right?
She began pacing around her room, absently rubbing her palm on her hip. Under the circumstances, Luka had been incredibly controlled, but as soon as he’d gotten free, he’d lost that control. He’d fought without thinking, maybe out of some instinct to protect her, but it’d been stupid. There was no way he could’ve won in his drugged state. How many more impulsive things would he do? As she thought, her gaze kept slipping toward the wall in the direction of Luka’s cell.
Don’t think about him! Already she could feel herself caring more about his safety than her own, and in a place like this, that was stupid. She inwardly cursed. She’d jumped into the fray today. How idiotic had that been? There was a difference between standing up for someone and putting yourself in the line of fire. Helas had only flung her away this time, but what if he got angry with her next time and hurt her? She wouldn’t put it past him.
If she didn’t watch out for herself, both physically and mentally, she wouldn’t survive. What would happen to her sanity if she got too attached to Luka, became too invested in his well-being, just to have Helas decide he didn’t need Luka anymore?
Sal’s words from earlier replayed in her mind: “You should stop caring about things like that.”
Nothing was certain here. Not time, not Luka, and not her future. She needed to start doing what she was rarely able to do. She had to try and put herself first, even if it meant being cold and uncaring.
Her head bowed. “Luka doesn’t deserve that.” Steeling herself and clenching her fists, she attempted to lock down her emotions. “It doesn’t matter what he deserves. None of us deserve this. I need to look out for myself, like Mom said.” She began pacing and biting her nails. “He probably isn’t even a good guy. He protected me, but I’m just an object to him. He doesn’t care about what I want.”
She knew her words were lies the moment she uttered them. An unwelcome whisper snaked through her mind. He did care.
Taking a few deep breaths, she attempted to calm her warring emotions.
She looked down at the palm he’d kissed and felt the telltale flutter of butterflies in her stomach.
Crap.
Chapter 3
“We were really getting somewhere yesterday.” Helas grinned.
Alice frowned at him, then averted her gaze, staring down at her hands resting in her lap. She’d spent another restless night in her cell and was in no mood for Helas’ pretentious smiles or chipper attitude.
“If he hadn’t been close to breaking his chains, I would’ve left you alone.” Helas raised his hands in mock exasperation. “But I couldn’t have him damage you, now could I?”
Damage me? As if she were property. “He didn’t hurt me,” she said quietly.
The more Alice thought about the events of yesterday, the more conflicted she felt. It’d be better if she turned off her emotions and stopped caring about Luka, but she couldn’t seem to do it.
Helas nodded in agreement. “And as long as you do as I say, I won’t let him hurt you.” He leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands together. “Don’t worry, we have upgraded his restraints. They lock and unlock with a fingerprint. He won’t be able to break free again.”
Alice leveled her gaze on Helas. Disgust roiled within her. “Why Luka? You said you hated mixed species. Is that all there is to it?”
The way Luka had fought off the two men yesterday had been impressive. If he could do that while drugged and bound, she couldn’t imagine how difficult it would’ve been to capture him. Why would they have gone to the trouble if there were other people with mixed heritage around?
Helas’ fake smile faded. “You did what I asked yesterday, so I’ll answer one question. Is that really the one question you’d like to ask?”
Alice had a million questions. What time was it? Was
this what the whole planet was like? How long had it been since she’d been taken? Why couldn’t she remember anything after being taken from her work?
Although all of these questions and more burned within her, she couldn’t fight the urge to learn more about Luka. “I’d like to know what kind of man he is.” Hopefully, Helas would tell her about all the people Luka had killed or little old ladies he’d stolen from. It’d be a hundred times easier not to care if Luka was a terrible person.
Helas wrinkled his bulbous nose. “He used to work with me as a research scientist. We were trying to discover a cure for our species’ infertility. He was very motivated, but after finding out about our experiments down here, it seems he was not motivated enough. I had no choice but to lock him up. He was planning on betraying me.”
She inwardly groaned. Her gut feeling had been correct. Luka was a victim, and if Helas’ story was true, then she also believed Luka must be a good man.
The reason Luka had been taken and locked up was now clear to her. The beatings and forced drug use, on the other hand, told her something different about Helas. The pain that’d been inflicted was unnecessary and had been done from a vindictive, angry place. Helas hadn’t taken Luka’s betrayal well.
“Curing infertility using a race descended from Clecanians is my organization’s primary goal. You humans haven’t ventured into space or interbred with any other species. Earth is a perfectly preserved, undiluted, living record of ancestral Clecanian DNA. It’s unfortunate that someone with tainted blood happened to be the one to recognize you, but I have to put my distaste aside for the greater good.”
“Why do you have to physically beat him and electrocute him? Don’t you have a sedative or something that’d work instead?”
“Mixing different drugs with the ones already in his system may cause unwanted reactions or possibly contaminate his samples. I try to use sedatives only when absolutely necessary.” He stood and moved to the door, waiting for Alice to follow. “It’s time. I’d like you to touch him more today.”
Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2 Page 3