-only to find it caught in his gasp. His palm was rough, sturdy. A working man’s hands.
And he had claws on his knuckles.
Garnet hesitated, surprised. His hand covered hers, engulfing her fist completely, highlighting the darker gray of the large claws right there across his third knuckles. They weren’t like a set of knuckles he’d slipped on either. They were growing out of his skin.
And they were sharp.
Garnet pulled back, fully expecting a fight, but he let her go. She stumbled a step before rushing in again, going for a punch with the other hand.
This time, he caught her wrist and pulled up, forcing her onto her toes as he loomed over her. Red eyes glinting in the light.
Bastard wasn’t concerned at all. He wasn’t even out of breath. He was looking at her with the detached kind of disinterest of a long-suffering parent trying to keep their kid from hitting.
Garnet jerked up her knee, going for the nads.
He grabbed her around the thigh with his other hand. Pulling her leg to the side. Avoiding the hit.
And instead opening her legs to him as he turned, pressing her butt against the side of the casket. Still holding her wrist as she flailed her other arm, searching for balance.
“Get off me!” Garnet demanded, punching his chest. Aiming for the face.
He caught her with the same hand that held the other wrist. He held them both in one hand as he put them down, between their chests. But her legs were still apart, her leg held up. She wasn’t wearing a skirt like Goldie, but she still felt ridiculously vulnerable being spread open for him. The only saving grace was that she didn’t feel an erection poking her.
He leaned in close. Red eyes glimmering. He spoke in a calm, slow voice, and while she didn’t understand his words, she felt exactly like a wild animal trying to be soothed.
“I’m not falling for this!” She hissed, struggling against his grasp. “You kidnapped us! You’re going to get in so much trouble!”
He let her writhe without comment. Just looking at her face.
The guy didn’t look like a kidnapper. Which seemed wrong. Shouldn’t he be, like, ugly with some disfiguring scars and a nasty, greasy gut and a weapon in one hand?
This guy looked… normal.
He was wearing a jumpsuit. It was darker gray than his skin, covering him from neck to toe, the sleeves all the way down to his wrists. She caught sight of a black shirt at the ‘v’ of his neck, but otherwise, there was nothing on it that might be some sort of identifying marker.
His features were harsh. Those bright red eyes were set in angled, pointed eyes that were above a long, sharp nose, practically raptorial. His lips were thin as well, a slash across his face set into a stoic frown that betrayed nothing of his thoughts.
He didn’t have hair either. This close, Garnet could see that what she initially mistook as silvery hair jutting out in spikes from his head wereactuallyspikes. Sharp, stabby quills that were smoothed away from his face, pointing back in hard, unmoving lines. She didn’t know if they’d pop up if he were angry, but if they did, he was perfectly calm because they were neatly laid down together. The gray of the quills was lighter than his skin, but it was shinier. Like they were metallic.
Maybe they were. She didn’t know!
Garnet didn’t follow alien news! She knew that Earth was protected by two different species, but she didn’t think he was either of them. One was scaley and the other had three eyes. This guy’s skin was gray, but it was definitely skin, and those eyes…
Those gleaming, jewel-bright eyes were focused so intently on her face…
Garnet wasn’t sure when she had stopped struggling, but she stared right back. Almost entranced. She wouldn’t call this guy handsome. His features were too severe for that. But there was something attractive about how they all came together. Laser focused on her, without a care for how she struck him earlier.
Calm power that controlled her so easily, it was hypnotizing…
Chapter 3
Tanin
Feisty little thing.
They both were. The one in the pink checkered dress was pounding on the storage door, trying to get back to main storage – and blocked by Alred who had the doors locked. He had to give her credit for her effort though. She was hitting, kicking, and pulling at everything in reach.
But it was the one in his arms now that really held his attention. She was the distraction. She was trying to attack him, to give her sister a chance to secure their exit. Brave little female.
