Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 43296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 216(@200wpm)___ 173(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Twisting slightly on the bed had pain lancing up one whole side of her body. Looking down, she saw a small, square patch in the crook of her arm with a thin tube attached to it. Following the tube, she saw it attached to a small bag filled with some type of clear substance.
That was going into her body? A wave of dizziness assaulted her. After a moment, the feeling passed, and she sighed.
Why would the owner of the ship be mending a stowaway? At least, she thought she was still on the ship. She certainly wasn’t at one of the rundown shacks back on the red dust planet, and she knew enough about technology that even if she was on a spacecraft she wouldn’t have been able to tell.
The ride would have been as smooth and flawless as if she were standing on solid ground back home. No, she shouldn’t even think of that planet. Her heart beating double time, the image of her on the slave auction block rose violently.
What if that was where they were taking her to? It would certainly explain why they were nursing her back to health so they could sell her to a wealthy buyer, but then logic crept in. She wasn’t restrained, as she would assume a piece of property would have been.
There were just too many things rushing through her mind for her to make any kind of sense. She was a viable female, and inhabitants on many planets used slaves for other things than manual labor.
Oh God.
Sickness washed over her. She had to free herself. No way did she escape being Maximo’s sexual plaything just to be captured and sold as another perverted male’s toy. She braced herself and set her legs over the side of the bed. Letting the dizziness pass, Luna stood.
Her vision was still blurry, so she took the edge of the blanket and tried to clean off as much of the gel as she could. She wrapped the blanket around her, the bulkiness making her movements slow.
Grabbing the fluid-filled bag, she was tempted to rip it from her arm, but common sense told her to just take one step at a time. She walked over to the basin and mirror. Placing the bag in the stainless steel sink, she gripped the edge of the cold metal tightly with one hand.
Horror stunned her when she got a look at her face.
Running a finger across the thick, jelly-like substance that still partially covered her face, she could see fading bruises marring her flesh. There was still a bit of swelling, but not enough to obstruct her vision further. How long had she been out so that her wounds were all but healed?
Luna supposed it could have been a brief time if the owner of the ship had access to state-of-the-art equipment and medical supplies. Looking down at her arms, she saw all the cuts were nearly healed, and the same gel type substance covered them.
A thick, white bandage was wrapped around her forearm. Pulling at the edges of it, the material unraveled and fell to the ground. What was revealed was a nearly healed wound.
The sound of deep, male voices sounded just outside her door. The language was foreign to her, and adrenaline pumped through her body.
The flight or fight response kicked in and urged her to move into action, but as she looked around, she realized there was nowhere for her to go aside from hiding in the bathing chamber.
But before she could take one step, the door slowly dematerialized and revealed the males who held her life in their hands.
Chapter Thirteen
ERAK
The door to Luna’s room dematerialized, and the first thing Erak noticed was an empty bed. Her fear thickened the air, and every protective instinct inside of him roared out.
He sensed the same change within his brothers, who stood right behind him, but he held his hand up, urging them to rein it in. It didn’t take him more than a second to see that she was over by the bathing chamber.
Her whole body shook, and beads of perspiration dotted her forehead. She was scared and in pain, and he felt his muscles tense reacting to the myriad of sensations coming from her. All he wanted to do was go to her and wrap his arms around her, tell her everything would be okay, and they were the last ones she needed to shy away from.
She tightened her small hands on the blanket wrapped around her body. He was thankful to see her face was nearly clear of all evidence of her abuse, as were her limbs. She had removed the bandage from the more serious of cuts on her forearm, and although it was closing, it would need several more hours of care before it was completely mended again.