4. Chapter 4
"Tell me you got that?" I asked my cameraman, Thomas.
"Sure thing, Rach." He held his camera up, grinning.
For a moment, I leaned against the wall. Still a little pissed that Weidenhof had kicked us out, but wow, just wow.
My heart hammered at the idea that soon we would be showing the world the image of another Vandruk barbarian. I had been the one who showed the world the first and now I would be the one showing the second. This would catapult my career into the stratosphere. I could already hear the phone ringing from all the three- and four-letter stations calling me, requesting exclusives, offering positions and money. So far nobody had taken me serious. A pretty face, a good body , was what had brought me to DenverBroadcast. A big step up at the time, but I was hungry for more. Bigger. I wanted to get away from posing for the camera, looking pretty while delivering another successful cat rescue story. I wanted to be an investigative reporter if I couldn't be on the frontline of some war-torn country. And this… this would be my ticket!
I let out a long breath. Thomas held up his hand for a high five. He was in the same boat as me. He hadn't been here for the first alien sighting , but this would shoot his star up as well as mine. We grinned at each other like a pair of idiots.
The promise of a skyrocketing career wasn't all that had my heart going. That man, Ghan-Zahr? Just thinking his name made me clench my thighs because… damn, he was good-looking. No, more than that. There was this primitive aura around him, one that screamed alpha male and proclaimed that he wouldn't take shit from anybody; combined with the power that emanated from him, it was a nearly deadly mix.
On an intellectual level, I realized I should be scared of him. That man could twist my neck without breaking a sweat. Not only that, I suspected a very chauvinistic character lurking inside him, very much like Tarzan, You woman, I man. You're mine . For whatever reason, the thought appealed to me instead of pushing me away. He was nothing like the men I usually went for. Strike that. He was the type of man I had run away from all my life. The type I had written and warned any woman around me about.
Still, just the idea of his hands, his very, very large hands, on me created a deep pulse in my clit, one that made me clench my thighs. Thighs, smaller than his freaking biceps. The moment his eyes met mine, I had read the hunger in them. A primal hunger that puckered my nipples and made my stomach do somersaults. That his pupils were slitted only added to the attraction, everything about him added to the attraction. Those net-like scars? The tips of my fingers itched to explore them. I wanted to daydream about running my hands over his body to find out if his muscles were as hard as they appeared.
"You okay, boss?" Thomas gave me a quizzical glance, and I hoped my eyes hadn't rolled back or that my wicked thoughts hadn't shown on my face. At least not too much.
"Yeah, just…" I grasped for words. I was a reporter, for crying out loud; I always had words. Just not then.
"Yeah, I know"." Thomas nodded. "I'm a straight guy, but that man? Wow! Makes me want to hit the gym."
I bit back a sarcastic reply, one that would express my doubts about Ghan-Zahr using a gym to gain his muscles, but that idea sent another wave of pleasant shivers down my back when I imagined the things he did do to gain those muscles.
Fuck.
A commotion inside the room we had just left startled Thomas and me. Although, ever the professional, he leveled his camera at the opening door. I barely suppressed a small scream when Ghan-Zahr appeared, holding Weidenhof in a twisted death grip by his neck. Before I had time to process what was happening, his other hand encircled me by the arm as he pulled us down the hall.
"Hey," Thomas yelled, still holding up his camera. "Let her go."
Without a word, Ghan-Zahr pulled Weidenhof and me forward, passing men and women, who stopped whatever they were doing, staring at us like an apparition.
Weidenhof gurgled, and I tried to catch a glimpse around the Vandruk and noticed his face was turning purple.
"You're killing him," I panted.
We reached a set of doors, which I remembered led to the room housing the portal, and real fear started to settle in my stomach. This wasn't some sex fantasy with a barbarian inside my safe headspace anymore; this was real, this was dangerous.
I pressed my feet into the ground, trying to stop Ghan-Zahr, but he effortlessly kept pulling me forward, my legs dragging on the ground, making me lose one of my shoes. He didn't even falter.
"Stop, stop it," I cried, windmilling my arms to find leverage.
Thomas was still running behind us, camera up.
We passed another stunned-looking man, and my hand clasped for his shirt. Ghan-Zahr kept moving, and the momentum pulled the man off his feet; stumbling and falling forward to the ground, which caused Thomas to jump over him.
Weidenhof still gurgled.
Security guards came out the door, four of them leveling their guns, but both Weidenhof and I were in their way, so they couldn't shoot without chancing to hit us.
"Stop!" one yelled.
Ghan-Zahr barreled into them like a train, kicking one out of the way. Another collided with my shoulder, making me wince in pain.
Ghan-Zahr yelled something at me that I didn't understand. His chin jerked toward a red button. He wanted me to open the portal.
"Hell no," I shouted as more people in white lab coats jumped out of the way.
Ghan-Zahr spun around, just as the two security guards regained their footing, aiming their guns at us.
Ghan-Zahr repeated his words, and this time I heard a low voice coming from a thing that looked like a hearing aid from Carl's ear. "Hit it now"."
"No! Help me!" I screamed at them, meeting the eyes of people who all looked away. Fuck, this couldn't be happening. I noticed Thomas, still filming. What the actual fuck?
Weidenhof gurgled again, and Ghan-Zahr increased the pressure he had on the man's throat; his eyes locked with mine, and I read the unspoken threat in them. Hit it or else . I also saw his willingness to die and to take Weidenhof with him.
With a defiant scream, one I put all my frustration and fear in, I hit the damn button he had indicated with his chin—one that was hard to miss. Activate it read in bold letters, right next to deactivate . And another white label was stuck between them for anybody who hadn't paid attention. FOG. Shit.
The red fog that indicated that the portal was shut off lifted the moment I hit the button. For a second, I was rendered speechless at the sight of the alien planet on the other side, but Ghan-Zahr was already moving backward, keeping Weidenhof and me up like a shield to stop the security guards from shooting.
He strode through the gate in reverse, not giving me a second to comprehend that we were actually going through the portal. My naked foot made contact with hard, sandy ground, and my heart hammered so hard that I heard a rushing sound in my ears. I fought for breath, on the verge of hyperventilating. Fuck me, I am on Vandruk.
Ghan-Zahr let go of Weidenhof's throat, pushing the man from him. Weidenhof landed on the hard ground on his knees. His hands moved to his throat as he gasped for air. That was all I took in of him, though, because, holy hell, I was on Vandruk!
More alien barbarians moved forward from behind a rock wall they must have erected. It looked too out of place to have been built naturally. Ghan-Zahr still held on to my arm. Otherwise, I probably would have sunk to my knees as those barbarians rushed forward, looking just like the wall of boulders they were leaving, unmovable, impenetrable.
"Khadahr Ghan-Zahr," the men shouted. One stepped forward, took Weidenhof by the shoulder. "We need to… move… will co—" His words frizzled out as the translator Weidenhof must have kept in his pocket disintegrated, which was when I remembered that all metal did just that in this alien world. The reason no scouting drones or robots had ever managed to capture more footage than the one we had seen through the portal.
Numbly, I lifted my head and stared at the alien sky. Two hazy planets were visible in the distance, so close it seemed unnatural. A bright spot stood high in the sky, much smaller and brighter than our sun. If that hadn't been enough to pound me over the head with the knowledge that I wasn't in Kansas anymore , the color of the sky would have. It was a mix of yellows and purples. Then there were the plants as my gaze lowered. Some looked like giant succulents, others like twisted asparagus.
Peripherally, I was aware that Ghan-Zahr was pulling me forward, away from the portal toward the large boulders. I didn't even resist that much, as my mind was in full-blown overload.
I had just been abducted by aliens!
Two of the other barbarians took Weidenhof and pulled him behind the boulders as well, just as several of IC's security guards burst through the portal, shouting and shooting.
Something whistled through the air, followed by a massive explosion that slammed me into Ghan-Zahr's chest. He spun us around, pinning my back against the boulder wall, trapping me between the unyielding stone and him. Another blast shook the ground beneath us, but this time I couldn't hear a thing—just the relentless ringing in my ears. My face pressed sideways against Ghan-Zahr's muscular chest, and the answer to my earlier question was clear: yes, his muscles were as solid as granite.
My arms hung uselessly at my side.
A part of me wondered if Thomas had gotten all this on camera, I would get my fame after all. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be there to enjoy it. Thomas would, though, which was when another part of me realized that he hadn't once put the camera down to help me. Yeah, he had called for Ghan-Zahr to stop, but he hadn't done anything physically to help me.
Bastard.