Abducted Read online

  “Get that thing away from me,” I said irritably. “So you’ve got a huge wang. So what?”

  “So you were looking.” He grinned, apparently in a good mood this morning. “And actually, I’m about average for my species.”

  “Which one? An Eloim or a Vorn?” I asked, interested despite myself.

  He frowned, some of his good mood evaporating.

  “A Vorn. As I told you, Eloim are a much smaller people. But we don’t have time to talk.” He rubbed his hands together. “I’ll make you first meal, as I promised.”

  “So I’m just supposed to sit here and wait? Can’t you at least take off the cuffs so I can take a shower?” I pleaded.

  Sarden shook his head. “You should be fine with the Force Locks on—the cleansing liquid won’t affect them.”

  “What?” I looked at the awful vertical bathtub. “No, I didn’t mean that thing—there’s no way I’m getting in there! I just wanted to take a shower in the mister.”

  He frowned. “The mister won’t truly get you clean—it’s only for momentary refreshment.”

  “I don’t care,” I said stubbornly. “I’m not getting into that huge purple drowning-tank thing. You’re really tall but that purple cleanser stuff would go clear over my head.”

  “Only until you kicked your way to the top,” he pointed out. “Or can’t you swim?”

  A convulsive shudder went through me—I couldn’t help it.

  “No,” I said in a low voice. “No, I…I can’t swim.”

  “And the idea of getting in over your head scares you?” he persisted.

  “What do you think?” I snapped. “Look, I’d rather not talk about it, okay?”

  Sarden leaned closer, studying me closely.

  “It does scare you,” he murmured. “The idea of water closing over your head scares you nearly to death, doesn’t it?”

  I refused to answer this and only looked away.

  “Poor little Pure One. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. Maybe I can help you bathe when I get back from this deal.” He cupped my cheek in an irritatingly condescending way as though I was a frightened child or a puppy that needed to be comforted.

  “Asshole.” Since my hands were cuffed with the heavy manacles, I couldn’t really bat him away. So I snapped at him instead.

  He withdrew his long fingers just in time to get them out of reach of my teeth, his eyes widening.

  “Feeling feisty this morning, are we?” he remarked mildly.

  “All kinds of feisty, which you’ll find out if you try petting me like a scared puppy again,” I told him.

  “I don’t know what a puppy is but I’ll keep it in mind,” he said dryly. “Well, I don’t have time to bathe you now but I can give you a change of shirts—I’m afraid all of my trousers will be too big for you, though.”

  “All right,” I said at once, thinking he would certainly have to uncuff me in order to get the shirt over my head and arms and put a new one on me. And once I had the cuffs off, maybe I could convince him to leave them off.

  “Get off the bed,” he directed. He had done something to the wall that made a kind of closet appear and he was rummaging through his shirts. Finally he pulled out another sleeveless shirt identical to the one he had on.

  “Wait,” I said. “Don’t you have something with a little more, uh, coverage?”

  “Why? Are you cold?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “The temp-shirt should keep you warm all over.”

  “It does,” I said. “But it’s kind of, um revealing.”

  “So it is.” His golden eyes roved over me again, as though I was some luscious dessert he was dying to take a bite of.

  I tried to ignore the lascivious way he was eyeing me.

  “Look, do you have something else or not?”

  “As a matter of fact, I do.” Reaching in the closet again, he pulled out a long-sleeved shirt in black. Were black and white the only colors he owned? Then again, with his deep red skin, I was betting his color choices were probably pretty limited. You don’t want to clash with your own clothes. I have kind of the same problem with my red hair—I’ve never been able to wear pink although I’ve always wanted to.

  “That looks good,” I said and held out my hands. “Take these things off so I can put it on. Please,” I added, hoping that being polite would help.

  But Sarden shook his head.

  “Not necessary. Look.”

  He touched the light between the manacles and it glowed green for a moment, just as it had for me the night before. Then he did something else to it and it glowed purple.

  “What does that mean?” I asked, frowning.

  “You’ll see.”

  Before I could ask anything else, he knelt in front of me, grasped the bottom hem of the black t-shirt I was wearing and pulled it right off my head and over my arms. Somehow the fabric passed right through the chains of the manacles though he hadn’t unlocked them at all, leaving me completely naked.

  “Hey!” I tried to cover myself with my arms but with my hands cuffed in front of me, there were limits to what I could hide.

  “What’s wrong?” Sarden asked.

  “What do you mean, what’s wrong? I’m naked.” I could feel myself blushing furiously as I scrambled to shield myself.

  “So you are.” He was giving me that look again—that big, bad wolf look that made my pulse race for some reason. “Is nudity really such a problem for your people?” he murmured.

  “Yes, it freaking well is,” I snapped.

  “But it shouldn’t be. And besides, I’ve seen you without clothing several times before,” he pointed out.

  “Yes, and I was embarrassed every time.”

  “Embarrassed? Hmm…” He came closer and traced one long finger over my collar bone. “Is that what this red flush means? Your skin is almost as red as mine.”

  “Yes, that’s what it means,” I admitted. He was still giving me that intense look and I felt like my heart was trying to pound its way out of my chest. “Stop that,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t sound so breathless.

  “Stop what?”

  “Looking at me like that. Like…like you want to eat me up.”

  “As a matter of fact I would love to eat you,” he rumbled, his golden eyes half-lidded now. “Vorn and Eloim both are very partial to pleasing their lovers with their tongues. There is no finer flavor than a wet and willing female.”

  “I didn’t mean like that.” My cheeks were getting hotter and hotter and I couldn’t help crossing my legs.

  “What’s wrong?” He looked surprised. “Don’t you enjoy letting a male taste you?”

  As a matter of fact, I didn’t. It always made me intensely uncomfortable whenever I let a guy try it—not that many had offered. Scott couldn’t be bothered and the boyfriend I’d had in college had done nothing but a few perfunctory licks before deciding he’d done his duty and it was time to get down to actual sex, which was always the main event, of course.

  But there was no way I was telling Sarden all that.

  “Don’t talk like that to me,” I said, lifting my chin and frowning at him. “If my hands weren’t cuffed, I’d slap your face.” If I could reach it, that was.

  “Really?” He frowned. “Don’t you give open and honest sexual compliments on Earth?”

  “Not unless you’re a freaking construction worker,” I snapped. “It’s considered rude and invasive.”

  He shook his head. “On Vorn 6 it’s considered extremely polite to tell a female how sexually arousing you find her and how you would enjoy pleasuring her.”

  Well, that certainly explained why he felt so free to constantly talk about how sexy he thought I was. Which really didn’t make any sense, as far as I was concerned. I mean, I’ve got a pretty face and a lot of guys like my hair, but I’m still rocking a plus-sized booty which has kept more than one man from looking my way.

  “I don’t understand you,” I said, fro