Chapter 2 #2
Toppling backward, he followed me down. A deep growl rumbling from his chest that just made me more determined to fight. I don’t know why my stupid brain thought that fighting this guy was a smart idea, but I was single-minded now.
When the sharp metal bit into the palm of my hand in the struggle, the sharp, metallic tang of my blood filled the air.
Instinctively, I tried to jerk the metal away from my skin and it caught on the rope.
In a fluke, that turned out to be the final straw; the rope tore and my hands were suddenly free.
I was like a tiny angry kitten at that point, all instinct and no finesse.
Twisting my still rope-covered wrists away from his grip, I clenched one fist around the metal, and struck.
I was prone on my back, the giant Naga male above me.
I shouldn’t have been able to tear my hands from his grip but I did; he was underestimating me.
The metal cut into my palm as I jabbed, but I struck him solidly in his shoulder.
The blow reverberated up my arm but the sharp metal bit into his scales, drawing blood.
“Damn it!” the male snarled, his chest lighting up with savage slash marks and curls.
Blood dribbled from the wound and I pulled back my clenched fist to strike a second time, aiming for his neck.
He caught my hand in his palm, the metal harmlessly sliding between his fingers.
I roared in response, almost matching his snarl in viciousness.
Then he had me pinned to the ground with both his fists.
I could writhe and struggle but I wasn’t moving an inch.
“Let me go! I didn’t do anything! Don’t torture me!
I don’t know anything and you can’t even understand!
” I rambled again but this time it was different, this time the male pinning me was staring at my mouth with his wine-red eyes, tracking the movements of my lips.
His mouth was pulled in a silent snarl, displaying a set of very sharp fangs, top and bottom.
Pinned beneath his body, I could feel that he was keeping most of his upper body lifted off me by leaning on his hands where they pinned my wrists.
Along my hips, I felt the sensation of his torso tapering into that tail, pressed against me.
I couldn’t tell if his tail was draped over my legs beyond the upper slopes of my thighs but I knew it was heavy, crushing me into the hard ground beneath me.
“Silence!” he hissed, blood still dripping from his shoulder onto the front of my shirt.
It was a reminder that I had done something.
I had struck him with a weapon, but in my mind that was definitely self-defense, not that he’d see it that way.
The fact that I could understand what he said filtered through much slower to my panicked mind.
Why the hell could I understand that word?
Confusion took over, freezing me in place as I stared at his face.
He had a square jaw with a single horn jutting from his chin, a stark bone-white compared to the crimson colors that covered the rest of him.
There was a more intense dusting of gold along the edges of the scales along his cheekbones, and also along the nubbed texture that made up the brows over his eyes.
So alien, and so pretty too. I especially took note of the long lashes that framed his eyes.
“Are you done?” he demanded and I responded by giving him a small nod. Yeah, no fighting, it wasn’t like I could even move an inch. “Good, don’t move.” He moved when I gave him another nod, taking the metal scrap from my bloody palm and then sliding off my body, letting me go completely.
I struggled back upright with the help of my uninjured hand, clutching the other to my chest where my own blood mingled with the bloodstains already there from his wound.
He was tucking my improvised weapon into a pouch on his belt, not even bothering to check out his own injury.
He didn’t look like that cut bothered him much.
Reaching out with a hand, he leaned in just enough to curl his fingers around my ankle.
I couldn’t feel that but at the touch, his chest and parts of his shoulders lit up again with those glowing slashes and swirls.
I froze in place, watching for his next move while he just dipped his chin down to look at his own chest.
When he did make a move, I couldn’t help but beg, “Please don’t hurt me!
” The knife he pulled from a sheath at his hip was a short, stone blade shimmering obsidian black.
His eyes flicked up to mine, his expression completely unreadable.
The knife came down toward my ankles, I flinched but all that happened was the rope falling away.
Then he dropped my feet and they thunked down on the floor, his gaze following them with a confused expression.
I remained frozen, watching what he’d do next.
So far, this interrogation wasn’t going as I expected at all.
I wasn’t even sure if he’d hurt me, I didn’t think so.
We’d struggled but my wrists were sore from the rope, not his grip.
I had definitely hurt him, but he was acting like he didn’t even notice the dripping wound in his shoulder.
Now that we weren’t touching, the glow on his chest faded again until it went out; the fallen lantern to my left the only light in the room.
As if he was conducting some kind of experiment, he raised one clawed finger and poked my calf.
My leg rolled to the left a little with the motion and at the touch, the marks started to glow again. “Mate…” he hissed.
My stomach dropped. Did he just say what I thought he said?
Mate? Oh boy, did this guy think I was his mate now?
What the hell? Was that a step up or down from my previous situation?
I wasn’t sure but I still didn’t like it.
I was nobody’s mate, I was my own person.
Besides, I seriously doubted this monstrous warrior wanted to be stuck with me.
A human, a creature that the whole crowd of Naga beyond that door seemed to abhor.
“Oh no, I’m nobody’s mate. Let’s get that through your thick skull right away!
” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I shot him a glare.
I wasn’t ready to get into another physical scuffle with him, but I didn’t want him to think I was some coward he could push around.
If these were my last moments, I wanted to be proud of myself as I lived them.
His fingers closed around my calf, his too-soft-looking mouth curling into a smirk that caught me by surprise.
“I like your fire.” Then he lifted my leg off the ground and dropped it again.
I winced but he caught my foot before it could thud to the floor and get hurt this time. “You are paralyzed?” he demanded.
“Gee, what do you think?” I sassed, still glaring.
I couldn’t believe that he’d done that, that was just wrong on so many levels.
He tilted his head at an angle, glancing along my body again, his eyes lingered far too long on my chest where blood had stained my shirt.
Then they centered on the apex of my thighs and I squirmed.
Why did that damn look make my body tingle?
He was just inspecting the goods, seeing how damaged I was.
That wasn’t attraction in his eyes, I was his captive.
Everything about this was wrong. But I was suddenly flushed between my legs, my folds far more sensitive than they normally ever were.
Stockholm syndrome didn’t strike this fast, did it?
I still thought he was a total jerk, that couldn’t be it.
My body was just getting some signals crossed.
“What a curious creature, you are…” he drawled.
His deep voice was husky, a growly edge to his tones, but he wasn’t snarling at me now, he wasn’t angry.
Okay, definitely an improvement then, if he was curious he wasn’t going to kill me.
If he thought I was his mate, he might not want to hurt me either. I could work with that, right?
I tried to picture myself as this suave seductress who could convince him to do anything.
No way, I was a virgin who hadn’t had more than a few clumsy kisses before I had my accident.
After, I’d just been locked in the house.
I was pretty much confined because my family couldn’t pay for the treatment I needed to walk again and society on Earth these days was anything but accommodating.
My love life had been over before it ever began. I was not seductress material.
He moved up along my side, leaning into me.
I didn’t want to show him that frightened me a little so I froze in place.
His long tail coiled along my legs, I could see that from the corner of my eyes but my focus was entirely on his face.
He braced his arms on either side of me, pressing in even closer.
Then he sniffed his oddly human-shaped nose. The tip brushed along my cheek then slid to the side toward my hairline while he inhaled. “You smell good, female.” Goosebumps broke out all along my skin, my body trembling in response to the warm breath ghosting along my skin.
“It’s Naomi, not female. Naomi!” I said because hell no, he wasn’t going to call me that.
I refused. I had also read once that making your abductor see you as a person was a good thing.
I should be insisting on being called by my name, I should tell him things about myself.
That was supposed to make them less lightly to kill you, right?
“Nomy,” he murmured softly, and then his tongue flicked out and he dragged split tips along my cheekbone.
Holy shit. No! Except my body seemed to burst into flames on the spot at that touch.
I didn’t even know I could feel like that, like my blood was too warm, racing through my veins away from that point of contact.
I was in so much trouble. This was not good.