“We can leave the door open if you wish,” he adds, as if trying to put me at ease. He doesn’t know what I’m thinking, though. Weeks of Verig watching me from a distance, keeping tabs on me…It was all to protect me, exactly as Paloma said. I misjudged him. Verig doesn’t scare me. Baloq does.
“Not necessary,” I say as I ease the door shut and walk the perimeter of the room. It’s not as small as I would have guessed. In fact, there are two side chambers. I peer inside the first. “Ves,” I command. No light turns on.
“Those chambers don’t have light discs,” Verig explains as he hangs his scabbard and knife harness on pegs on the wall opposite the bed. A rather small bed, unlike Baloq’s. I shake my head, trying not to think of him or how he attacked me tonight.
“Why not?” I ask.
“We trade animals we trap for technology from the bantarans. I have no need for light discs in those chambers, as they areempty. My possessions are in here. I should surrender this chamber to a mated pair with younglings, but I prefer the quiet in this section. Though if we bring your son here, the size is warranted.”
“Hell, no. He’s staying where he is.” I run my hand over the wooden trunk while eyeing the weapons on the wall above. “You warriors don’t own much, do you? A bed, weapons, and a trunk.”
“A warrior only needs his weapons. If you visit one of the chambers with females and younglings, you will see more comforts.
“I haven’t seen many kids here at all.”
“Only a few younglings survived. There were hundreds. Many females, too. Most were…” When he stops talking, I swear I hear a strangled growl. “They were killed as we left Orcos. Their ships exploded.”
How horrific. I can’t imagine such a loss, even though I lived through the invasion of Earth. The Coalition forces killed millions and ravaged much of the planet. I guess orcs and humans have something in common after all. We came to Kovos to survive.
That’s when I notice a trail of blood on the floor…leading right to Verig. His hand is bleeding from a long cut across his palm. I was so wrapped up in my own insecurities that I didn’t notice he’s injured.
“Let me see,” I say as I take his hand in mine.
“It is merely a cut.”
“A deep one.”
“It will heal. I have salve and bandages in my trunk.”
“Unlock it and I’ll treat your hand.”
“There is no lock.”
I raise a brow at this. “Baloq locked his weapons inside his.”
“Baloq is a good warrior, but even good warriors can forget what it means to be orc.”
“And what does it mean to be orc?”
Verig’s hand runs down my cheek gently. “There is a time for force and a time for pleasure. Baloq forgot this. You, female, and the other humans we took from New Earth are not the enemy. I want you, and I will have you, Tansey, but not by force.”
Verig’s gaze warms me, even as a breeze sifts through the cracks in the walls, cooling my skin.
“Force is the only way you’ll have me because I won’t submit.” I can’t, even though something about this male tempts me.
He grips me by my chin. Not hard, but enough to ensure I focus on him. “I am not Baloq. A male may not force a female.”
“But he can hound her, watch her, pursue her.”
“Yes,” he says, drawing out the word as his breath cascades over my throat. “A male will do whatever it takes to prove himself to a female.”
“Baloq kept me prisoner. How does that prove anything? As for the rest of you, no one here even noticed.”
“We thought he merely guarded you from other males. That is why no one approached.”
After arriving here, I felt Verig’s eyes on me constantly, but I never called out to him. Never spoke up until he approached. I’m as much to blame as anyone. I have a voice and I know how to use it. It’s been years since I left Nash, and I still have to remind myself I’m in charge of me. No one else.
“You are safe with me, Tansey.”
