insides get weirdly mushy. My nipples felt tight and swollen and I had the strangest urge to step forward and rub my tits against him, just to see what effect it would have on him.
He'd run for the goddamn Draax hills, Ellis, and you know it. Galan is a nice guy, but he’s not attracted to you. He keeps two feet of space between you at all times and if you get any closer…
I sighed inwardly. If I got any closer, he did exactly what I just accused him of doing. He got flinchy and weird and an almost panicked look would cross his face. I was used to the Draax finding me ugly, but Galan’s reaction seemed over the top.
“I do not get weird,” Galan said.
“Uh, yeah, you do.” I touched his chest, my palm resting against his heart.
He immediately stepped away, his tail lashing back and forth and the flush in his face deepening until the colour of his skin was a rich forest green.
I swallowed down the ridiculous hurt that made my throat tight and said, “See?”
His nostrils flaring, Galan stalked out of my apartment. I hurried after him, stopping near the doorway. “Galan, will you ask Adrix to escort me to the garden?”
“No,” he snapped before slamming the door and locking it.
“Jackass!” I stormed across my small apartment and hurled myself onto the bed. “What a jerk. It’s like the happiest day of my life and he’s ruining it.”
I screamed into my pillow before flipping onto my back and staring up at the ceiling. I had no idea what the hell Galan’s problem was with me today, but I needed to forget about him and concentrate on my plan.
I’d been laying low for the last week, being a good little human and doing exactly what I was told, but that was about to change. Now that the cancer was healed and I didn’t have to worry about them withholding the gallberry juice as punishment, I was breaking out of my admittedly comfortable prison and exploring the castle. I had no idea when the war would end, but I needed to come up with a strategy for escaping the castle the second it ended.
I slid off the bed and grabbed my backpack out of the closet, digging through it until my fingers touched the small leather case. I carried it over to the door and knelt in front of the lock. It was a simple pin and tumbler lock and I grinned to myself. Jesus, this was almost too easy.
I opened the leather case and took out my tension wrench and one of my hook picks. I slid the tension wrench into the lock and carefully used the hook pick to lift the pins one by one. The last pin lifted, and I used the wrench to turn the lock, my grin widening when it clicked open.
“I still got it,” I said before opening the door and peeking out into the hallway. It was empty and I shut the door and studied the kitchenette before hurrying over and opening the cupboard under the sink. I grabbed the bottle of cleaner and a rag.
The odds of me not running into a Draax in the hallway were pretty much zero, but if they saw the cleaning supplies in my hands, they would probably think I was one of the women working in the castle.
Wearing nothing but Galan’s shirt?
Shit. I’d forgotten about that. I set the cleaner and rag on the table and grabbed a large bath towel from the closet. Using a knife, I started a small rip in the towel and then yanked hard, tearing a strip of fabric from the towel.
I tied the strip around my waist and tugged on the shirt until the fabric overlapped the strip of towel tied around my waist. I checked in the mirror on the back of the bathroom door.
“Not bad, Ellis. Not bad,” I said.
With the fabric overlapping the towel tie, it looked like I was wearing a shirt and skirt combo… if the shirt and skirt were the exact same colour.
I shrugged and grabbed my cleaning supplies. It would have to do. Besides, I doubted many of the Draax were fashionistas on human clothing. Not to mention that most of them wouldn’t give my skinny ass a second look.
I took two deep breaths, opened the door, and stepped into the hallway. It was still empty, and I closed my door and walked briskly down the corridor and turned left.