each other—him into my green eyes and me drowning in his deep obsidian ones. He kicks the side of Tolas’s head, the movement jolting the dead body. “I believe this has placed me in a rather unfortunate position.”
“Unfortunate?” I echo, slowly climbing off the bed. I hold what little I can of my torn dress and try to cover myself up.
“Now I have a body to deal with.” He looks around the room, searching for something. “This one would’ve suffered longer had I the time.”
I stare over at Lord Tolas’s dead body. Instead of remorse or guilt, vindication rises inside me.
“I’m assuming these bodies of yours just keep accumulating?” I ask the male.
He nods, kicking Lord Tolas under the bed like he’s maneuvering a hockey puck. Just how strong is this alien?
“You assume correctly,” he says. “I do not hesitate when it comes to protecting those I care about.”
I glance at the door, desperate to make a run for it, since this might be my only chance. But a deranged part of me desperately wants to know why this alien saved me.
“Why do you care about me? Why did you want to buy me?”
He stops to look at me. “You were a damsel in distress. If anyone in that auction room was going to save you, who could be more fitting than a knight? Unfortunately, I don’t have any shining armor or a noble steed. I do have good looks and a big cock though.”
I just stare at him as he winks unashamedly at me. So not only did he want to buy me, but he’s also totally full of himself. If I weren’t shaken over everything that’s happened to me, I’d roll my eyes.
“I’m not a damsel,” I tell him, hating the way my heart dances when he looks at me.
He is handsome, I’ll give him that. And as far as him having a large dick… Well, I keep my gaze firmly planted on his face.
“Not anymore, you’re not.” He kicks Lord Tolas again. “And I wouldn’t try running if I were you. It’d be suicide going out there yourself.”
My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. “Wouldn’t you want to escape if the door to your cage was left open?”
He shrugs and rolls Tolas under the bed with his boot. “Only if there was a path that wouldn’t see me killed. Which is why you haven’t escaped so far, right? You knew it’d be safer to flee at the right moment, not just any moment. Methodical. I admire that.”
“Methodical” isn’t how I would justify my actions. I was just scared out of my mind, especially when Lord Tolas lay on top of me. The weight of his body pushed me into the crushing reality I so badly wanted to avoid.
“There. That should do. Now I must get you out of here.”
The male steps away from the bed and offers me a hand. I stand rooted to the spot, my heart thrashing wildly against my ribs. I can’t possibly just go with him. Yes, he saved me from a horrific fate with Lord Tolas, but this alien also wanted to buy me. He’s seduction personified and could be the devil in disguise for all I know.
“I can’t,” I say while instinctively stepping back. “I don’t even know your name.”
“Castien,” he says, his tone and features unaltered. “Commander Castien. But you, pretty damsel, can call me by my given name.”
“Sure thing, Mr. James Bond.”
Laugher bubbles in my chest again. Is he freaking serious? There’s a hint of confusion on his face, probably from the 007 reference, but for the most part, he’s dead serious. He wants me to go with him. And truth be told, I have no idea how to escape here on my own. Maybe having a huge alien on my side won’t be such a bad thing, at least until I get away from this place.
Before I can answer him, the door swings open, and Madam Pim enters. Her expression is deceptively calm, but when she slides a veiled glance to the corpse hidden underneath the bed, a muscle in her jaw twitches.
“My, oh, my. Things have been rather exciting in here, haven’t they?”
“I informed you the human is mine,” Castien says, pulling me behind him, “and that I have no intention of leaving her, especially not with an incompetent fool.”
The madam stops in front of him, her hands clasped behind her back. “Yes, I thought you would say that, which is why I’m here to