Retribution (Kall Alien Warriors #3) - Sue Lyndon Page 0,26

she blinked fast, obviously trying to keep her emotions in check.

“I promise. I’ll never use a strap or any other implement on you again.”

“But Kall Masters usually beat their slaves,” she said. “Isn’t that what I’ll become on your homeworld? Your slave? As far as I know, the only humans currently permitted on planet Kall are enslaved ones.”

Gently, he grasped her chin between his fingers, lifting her face to meet his eyes directly. “Are you planning on being a disobedient slave, human?”

Her eyes dilated further, and the scent of her arousal increased. The smallest whimper escaped her throat, so quiet he almost didn’t hear it. Fluxx, his cock was swelling even larger. Heated desire coursed through him. If he didn’t leave now, he might do something to scare her.

“I’m usually very well behaved.” A spark of mischief glinted in her pretty dark eyes.

“Usually?” he asked in a mocking tone. “But not always?”

She gulped hard and once more tried to back away. This time, he released her, allowing her to put space between them.

“I’ll return soon.” He departed her cell, his cock aching painfully the entire way out of the brig.

Chapter 9

Zamek couldn’t seem to stay away from Layla. He found excuses to visit her multiple times a day. In addition to bringing her the electronic library, which she’d accepted with a sweet smile and a murmured thank you, he’d also brought her a physical book of ancient Kall war songs, and sometimes he brought her a warm cup of coffee, knowing that most humans liked coffee.

And if he arrived at the brig to find her sleeping? He would enter her cell quietly and watch her slumber, entranced by the peaceful look on her face and the endearing sound of her steady breathing and occasional small feminine snores. If he were being honest, he was starting to feel as though he were obsessed with the human.

He’d been fixated on killing her or hurting her, but now he was intent on providing her with comfort and a safe place to live. Not that the brig was her permanent home…

Today he stood near her bed, watching her sleep, even as he realized how odd his behavior was becoming. She’d never awoken to find him watching her, as he was always careful to leave before her eyes flickered open, but there was always a chance she might.

What would she think if she opened her eyes and found him staring down at her? Would she be frightened? Or would his attention flatter her? A Kall female would feel flattered yet nervous by such attention, but he knew humans were different in so many ways.

He quietly set the coffee he’d brought her on the bedside table, knowing it would remain warm in the insulated mug for the entire day. He crouched next to the bed and stared directly at her closed eyelids, wondering if she was dreaming. He’d heard humans dreamt in the same way Kall did. Usually, when he awoke, he never remembered his dreams. Did she ever remember hers?

A whimper escaped her throat and her look of peace vanished, to be replaced by one of agony. Alarm filled him as he watched her thrash slightly in her sleep. She must be dreaming, though it pained him to know she might be having a nightmare.

“Please, please don’t kill me,” she whispered. “Please. No no no.”

He reared back, guilt and worry surging through him. There was a very good chance he was the cause of her nightmare and it was no wonder. He’d threatened her life. He’d hurt her. He’d frightened her.

He reached for her shoulder and shook her slightly. “Layla? It’s time to wake up. Layla?”

Her eyes shot open, and she took one look at him and screamed.

Still crouched beside her bed, he held his hands up in a show of peace. But she still moved away from him, practically tumbling off the bed as she sought to escape his presence. She cowered in the corner, in the same place she’d tried to hide from him on the day he’d whipped her. His guilt deepened and he wished he could go back and undo that day. Not to mention the time he’d swung his sword at her neck just to threaten and scare her.

“Human,” he said, using a gentle tone. “You were dreaming. You appeared as though you were in distress, so I woke you up.”

The remnants of sleep began to fade from her eyes, as well as her initial fear. She looked about the