Stolen and Seduced - Christine Pope Page 0,33

clothing. Stepping back to give the ship’s scanners room to work, I tried to view her dispassionately. I couldn’t. Even the ugly red-and-purple wound at her shoulder couldn’t detract from her beauty.

Holy Carvidyin’s eye-sockets. She’s glorious.

I blinked. Only two breasts?

Somehow it worked for her, their round fullness balancing the curves of her hips, the length of her limbs. It was all I could do to keep from touching her, cupping her breasts in my palms, running my hands down her stomach to that soft core.

I swallowed and my cock grew hard.

Mine, my inner beast growled.

Yes, I agreed. Mine.

Her eyes fluttered open and she stared around bemusedly until her gaze landed on me.

And then she screamed.

Lucy

“Blafonda cala anja.” The strange words, apparently broadcast from somewhere above me, cut through my reflexive scream, then repeated several times. I fell silent, still staring at the man standing next to the metal table I lay stretched out on.

At least, I was pretty sure it was a man. I mean, he was huge and muscled, and he seemed to have all the right man-parts. I could tell because he was totally naked—and one of those parts was standing tall.

I tried not to stare at his erect penis, but it was difficult not to. Not only was it absolutely enormous, but it, like the rest of his body, had a bright, spotted, hot-pink pattern similar to the one on the leopard that had attacked me earlier.

Or had it attacked me?

I glanced down at my own body, surprised to find that I was naked, too, but unable to see any injuries. I sat up on the table, pulled my knees to my chest, and wrapped my arms around them, trying to hide myself.

“Please lie still. Your scan is almost complete.” The voice had switched to English, thank goodness.

“Where am I?” I asked, aiming my question toward the ceiling before staring at the oddly patterned man. “Who are you?”

He narrowed his eyes at me for a second before shooting me a smile that transformed his angular face from forbidding to absolutely gorgeous, despite the pink leopard pattern.

He’d be beautiful in any color.

I shoved the thought away. I would have to be insane to get mixed up with a guy who kept a giant leopard as a pet—and then dyed it in bright colors and tattooed himself to match.

Because that had to be the explanation, right?

“Do you speak English?” I asked when he didn’t reply for a long moment.

“Her translation implant should be working now, captain,” the disembodied, vaguely feminine voice said.

With a nod, he turned to me. “I am Jalek Fuldrant,” he said, “and you are aboard my ship. I brought you here for medical attention after you were injured.”

Injured? Right. One of those creeps had shot me. My hand jerked up to my shoulder, but the pain I expected didn’t appear. I ran my fingers across what felt like scar tissue—the kind that should take weeks to develop. That’s what it looked like, too—an old wound, long healed.

“Lucy Gray,” I introduced myself absently. “What happened?”

He flashed that glorious smile again. “You were attacked by two males. I rescued you and brought you aboard.”

I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. Although his English was perfectly good, looking at him when he spoke was like watching a badly dubbed movie. His words didn’t match the motions of his mouth.

“Aboard your ship?” How long had I been out? The nearest harbor was miles away from the youth center, and in LA traffic, that could mean well over an hour of driving. “Why didn’t you take me to a hospital?”

“My facilities are far superior to any of your planet’s.”

Oh, God. He’s crazy. I should have known. I watched that big-cat-guy on TV. Anyone with a pet like that would have to be nuts. And he has me naked and locked up in his ship.

I’m going to die.

And then he’s going to feed my body to his pet.

Where was the leopard, anyway?

I hoped he had it in a cage somewhere.

“Well,” I managed to get out, “thank you for your help.” Shit. I sound too nervous. But there was nothing to do but soldier on. “I’d appreciate it if you’d give me my clothes back and drop me off on shore somewhere. I can make my way home.”

The beautiful, crazy, pink leopard-spotted man’s gorgeous face clouded over in a moment of confusion, then cleared up almost instantly. “Ah! You believe we are in a vessel upon one of your oceans.”