Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
It’s not your place to buy her presents, a scolding little voice in the back of his head informed him. Alexandra isn’t your bride—she’s your test subject!
But she felt like more than that to Brandt now—a lot more. And the urge to buy her the necklace wouldn’t let him go. He pushed the guilt aside and found the jewelry stand.
“That one,” he said to the clerk, pointing. “And wrap it as a gift, please.”
He had just finished paying and was slipping the little box with the necklace into his pocket, when a lavender blur rushed toward him.
“Dr. Brandt!”
T’linga skidded to a stop, her four eyes wide with panic. “Oh, thank goodness I found you—Lexi is gone!”
The words froze Brandt where he stood.
“Gone?” His voice came out too harsh, too loud. Heads turned, then quickly looked away again at his glare. “What do you mean gone?”
“I took her to a stall to buy a breast covering you wouldn’t object to,” T’linga babbled, wringing her hands. “I turned around for just a moment, and she must have wandered off! I’ve been looking and looking but I can’t find her anywhere.”
A cold weight settled in Brandt’s gut. He had a bad feeling about this—a very bad feeling.
Damn it! I should never have let her wear so little to cover herself. I gave her nothing but gauze. What was I thinking? She wanted to hide her breasts, and I forbid it. What if some Terian has seen her on display and decided he wanted to kidnap her?
Then an even harsher voice chimed in—the voice of his guilt.
Fool. You told yourself it was about nectar production, but you also liked seeing her that way. Admit it. You liked how the males stared at her, knowing she was yours. And now—
Now Alexandra might be in real trouble and it was all his fault.
Brandt clenched his fists.
“Where did you last see her?” he demanded, his voice low and dangerous. “Show me—I’ll track her down.”
“This way.”
T’linga hurried ahead, leading him back to the breast-covering stalls. The merchants looked up warily as Brandt bore down on them, his golden eyes flashing.
He didn’t need to speak at first. He had already caught her scent—faint but distinct. Sweet, feminine, with the faintest edge of arousal he now knew as hers. He was completely attuned to her after being so intimate in the past week and now his senses locked onto her sweet fragrance like a hound on the trail.
But he forced himself to stop and question the vendor, to be sure.
“Yes,” the Terian merchant said, nodding quickly. “I remember her—an off-worlder woman with only two breasts. She seemed like such a nice, decent, respectable girl. But then…” He hesitated, his upper set of eyes narrowing. “She asked to buy a harlot covering.”
Brandt’s frown deepened. “A what?”
But T’linga didn’t share his confusion. She gasped, her lavender skin going pale.
“He means green. Lexi must have bought a green breast covering!”
Brandt frowned in frustration.
“Green? So what if she bought a green one?”
T’linga turned to him, her voice trembling.
“Green is the color of prostitution for us. No one wears it unless they’re selling themselves.”
Brandt’s stomach turned to ice as he realized the true gravity of the situation. Alexandra was lost in the market, dressed as a sex worker!
Gods, Alexandra! How could you?
But of course, she hadn’t known. She’d probably been looking for something the same color as her eyes, which were a lovely shade of green.
He stepped closer, looming over the merchant, hoping against hope that he was wrong.
“Did she put it on?”
The Terian swallowed hard.
“Yes. I’m afraid so. Then she wandered off to…sell herself.”
“Sell herself?” Brandt snarled, barely keeping his voice in check. “You ignorant fool. Don’t you see? She never meant to—” He cut himself off with a growl, raking a hand through his hair. “Never mind.” He bent lower, his eyes burning into the merchant’s. “Which way did she go?”
His face must have given the other male a fright because the merchant pointed down a darker row of stalls without a word, his hands shaking.
Brandt straightened, his jaw tight.
“Come,” he snapped. “We have to find her before something bad happens.”
If it hadn’t already.
T’linga hurried after him, but he barely noticed. He was already following the faint thread of Alexandra’s scent into the shadows, his heart hammering.
Please, Goddess. Don’t let me be too late. She doesn’t understand what danger she’s in. She’s so fragile, so breakable—and I should have protected her. This is my fault. I wanted to see her beautiful and bare for me. I told myself it was necessary, but it wasn’t, not really. And now she’s alone in a place that would eat her alive if it could. Please help me find her!
28
LEXI
Lexi’s arms ached where the Terian officers gripped her, dragging her through echoing stone corridors that smelled faintly of incense and damp moss. Her bare feet slapped against the smooth stone floor. She tried to dig her heels in, but it was like trying to stop two freight trains with her body weight—the Terians were strong and they weren’t letting go.