Saved and Savaged

Chapter 8 - Gric

I snatch her up and cradle her to my chest. The other humans scream and scurry away.

"Move to the other vehicle. Now."

I snarl the last word, stretched beyond my limits. They hurry to obey, struggling to jump from one cargo space to the other despite the transporters being close to each other.

Lyc's red scales seem to float over the sand as he strides from one cab to the other. Fek and Steil help the smaller females across the gap, their masks buffering enough of the pheromones to limit my teammates' reactions.

Maybe if I'd have put on my mask before engaging the enemy, this slip of an omega wouldn't have me so ensnared, but I cannot change the past.

Even if I could, I wouldn't. This dark beauty pulls me deeper under her spell, her silent strength and fierce need to help others endearing me to her.

The denial I clung to upon our first meeting no longer exists.

This human female may be too fragile and tiny for a Stexan, but I intend to make her mine.

I step from one vehicle to the next, ignoring the silent angst seeping from the body in my arms, and settle onto the bench. My horns scrape the ceiling, and the seat barely holds me, but the slim omega in my lap erases every ounce of discomfort created by the cramped space.

On the other hand, my cock suffers, pinched within my suit and yearning for her wet heat. I ignore it, letting my tail wrap around her ankle as I reorganize my priorities.

For years, I've filled my days with fighting. It was the only time I didn't have to restrain myself. After decades of practicing control over my deadly size, my will should be stronger than iron. I pull my mental strength around me and gird my defenses against my natural alpha instincts. I will not let them take control and repeat our first meeting.

Keziah will be mine.

It may take time, since she's so tiny. I don't want to break her.

I bury my hand in her hair, loving how it springs up around my fingers.

She turns wary eyes up to me before looking away. I block her view with my arm, wanting all of her attention on me and only me.

After a few tense seconds, a crease forms between her brows.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you're mine."

Her expression tightens further as she pulls her soul away from mine. She doesn't move to leave my lap, but I feel her attempt to shut me out.

"I am a person, not property. No one owns me. Not the men my father sold me to, and not you either."

Her voice washes over me, the few short sentences the most I've heard her speak, yet the fierce undertone fills me with awe. How can such a miniscule thing hold so much self-assurance?

I can't help the chuckle vibrating through my chest as her words sink in past my emotions.

"No one could buy what we have with credits, but I own you all the same."

Anger tightens her jaw and squints her eyes, but she shocks me by thinking before she reacts.

"And what do you think we have? All you have given me is pain and shame."

I draw circles on her scalp with my fingertips and slide my tail further up her leg, testing the slope of her calf and teasing the back of her knee. She jumps, her expression softening before snapping back to wariness.

"We're lifemates."

She doesn't react.

Fek does, though. His laugh gives way to coughing when Steil sends him a right hook.