Page 337 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

He was rambling on, his words a threat about my future, about the money I was going to make him.

But my eyes were drawn to the second male, sitting up in his blankets, not glaring at me, but with yellow eyes fixed on his companion, as if he were ready to strangle his own buddy.

I tried to ignore them both while I wriggled my hands behind my back.

There was more slack now, and then a wire snapped, and I felt the whole tangle come free from around my wrists.

Yes… Now what? Hiding that I was free until they fell asleep again was my best bet; I hoped they wouldn’t drug me a second time.

“Hey, look at me, damn it, I’m talking to you!

” the younger of the two snapped. He leaned down, his hand grabbing me by the front of my shirt.

Hauling me up by the fabric, I groaned, scared he was about to hurt me.

I missed my knife. He wouldn’t be so mean after I stabbed him like I’d done with the previous asshole.

Up close, I could feel his breath ghost over my face and smell something that closely resembled garlic breath.

I could see the fine blue lines that crisscrossed his skin in random, wriggling patterns.

I saw the antelope horns jutting from his forehead and the three notches in his left one.

They looked carved, emphasized with red dye on the inside.

His growl was fearsome, blasted into my face from this close, and my body was jarred roughly when he shook me by the front of my shirt, a ripping sound indicating the fabric was starting to tear.

“Let go!” I pleaded with the bastard, struggling to keep my hands behind my back, even as my instincts urged me to grab the hand holding me—to fight his grip.

A shadow passed over my head, a whooshing noise followed, and then I was suddenly tumbling backward again.

This time, my hands were free, and I instinctively braced myself for the fall with them, rolling away from the frightfully close fire when I felt heat singe my left side.

Not wanting to stay prone, I scrambled to my feet, frantically trying to figure out what had just happened.

There was no sign of the older male; he simply wasn’t in his blankets or anywhere nearby.

My other guard was on the ground, and a shape was looming over him, the sound of fists hitting flesh echoing in the small clearing.

The two shapes rolled, growling and grunting like a pair of rabid dogs—until the blue-tinted male was suddenly flung away, his body thudding roughly against the nearby trunk of a giant tree.

The winner rose to his feet, red skin gleaming with golden highlights in the flickering fire.

Four arms flexed at his sides, chest heaving like bellows, and his black curls were even messier than usual.

Jakar was the most welcome sight I’d ever seen.

I had never felt as relieved in my life as I did right then.

He’d come for me; I should have known that this guy would mount a rescue, even if nobody else did.

“Jakar,” I said, my voice a breathy whisper, my limbs trembling from adrenaline.

“You came.” I was starting to realize all that praise his friends had heaped on him whenever I was willing to listen…

it might just be the truth. He was loyal, and he was an amazing fighter.

I could deduce that he’d leaped from out of a freaking tree on top of bad guy number one to free me. It was… impressive.

“Meena!” he responded, rushing toward me so quickly that he nearly tripped over his own feet.

He paused just in front of me, hesitation written all over his face.

I could see the spots that covered his cheeks and nose slowly turn from deep red—like his skin when angry—to a much brighter yellow, which I now knew meant happiness.

Gosh, this guy was more transparent with his feelings than anyone I knew.

His yellow eyes scanned over my body, darkening, spots turning back to red, when he spotted the rip in my shirt.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked, his voice turning gruff, upper hands twitching forward as if he wanted to touch me.

Then he clasped them behind his back, almost literally restraining himself from reaching out.

“I’m okay,” I said, rubbing my wrists, which were a little sore but not cut.

I was probably a little bruised on my hip and tailbone from being tossed around just now, but that was a small price to pay for freedom.

“Let’s get out of here,” I told him. Scanning the campsite, I located the backpacks of my two kidnappers and started rummaging through them to see if I could find anything useful.

“Leave it. I have supplies,” Jakar told me, a hand reaching out to gently still my frantically moving hands.

A second hand held something out in front of me: a knife in a brown leather sheath, a belt wrapped around it.

“Here, for you,” he said quietly, as I took it with a growing sense of warmth for this guy.

Okay, he was a flirt, but he was a thoughtful flirt.

He’d given me a weapon so I could feel safe, a knife to replace the one that I’d lost.

Rising to my feet, I quickly strapped the belt around my hips, testing how quickly I could grab the knife should I need it.

Then I turned back to my rescuer. “Okay, thanks. What now? Which way do we have to go to get back to Rakex City?” He was looking at me, his spots glowing pink on his face, and I shivered.

I knew that one too—arousal. He liked it when I wore that knife, did he?

Or was it my torn shirt that was drawing his attention?

The tear wasn’t too bad, though, just a little rip in the collar, so it now exposed my collarbone. Nothing outrageous.

For a long moment, our eyes locked, his golden-yellow orbs focused intently on my face.

I had a flash of worry that he might not want to take me back to the Vagabond.

He could easily lead me in circles for a while, just to spend more time with me.

No, that was crazy thinking. I needed to stop being so insanely distrustful; that was my trauma talking.

Jakar lowered his head to look down at one of his many wrists, cursing as he began to furiously tap at something strapped around it.

“My com is shattered; it must have sustained a blow when I leaped from the tree…” He smacked the tiny screen once more, then gave up on the thing.

Patting his hip, he cursed again and began looking around, his eyes frantically scanning the forest ground where the fight had taken place.

I did the same, unsure what we were looking for, but still wanting to help.

There was a tablet—no, I should say datapad—lying on a log near the fire that belonged to that younger kidnapper.

There were scars and furrows dug into the moss where Jakar and the guy had fought, and the male still lay like a crumpled mess on the ground near the base of a tree.

“Can’t we take his com?” I asked, pointing at the prone form and restraining the urge to go over and kick that asshole while he was down.

He’d torn the only freaking shirt I currently owned.

I was so angry that everyone was just treating me like I had no say in anything.

Well, everyone except the people on the Vagabond.

He nodded, striding over to grab the male roughly by the back of his shirt.

He yanked out one arm, then the other, and cursed, “No com. They might not have any to avoid being tracked that way.” He turned around to scan the campground, rushing to the backpacks and shaking them unceremoniously out onto the ground.

I didn’t need to look long to know there was no technology of any kind in the pile of belongings.

Just a few changes of clothing, food, and a set of blankets.

There was also a small hatchet attached to the outside of one of the bags, probably the blade I’d used to cut my bonds.

“My biosignature scanner is broken too,” Jakar said mournfully, pointing at a small box with a few wires dangling from it. “I’m sorry, Meena. This was supposed to be a rescue, but I failed you… Now we’re lost in the woods.”

I felt a little daunted at the idea of being lost out here, especially since there were big predators purported to live in the area.

Still, my situation had much improved in the past hour.

I was now free, and my kidnappers had been taken care of; I was afraid to ask what had happened to the other one.

He wasn’t anywhere in the clearing. I also wasn’t alone, and though he wasn’t my first choice of companion, I felt sort of…

comfortable around him. I might not like him much, but I knew that I could trust him.

“It’s okay. Can we backtrack the way you came?

” I asked, eyeing the deep darkness beneath the trees that surrounded the clearing.

I felt like I could see all kinds of shapes moving in the shadows, but I was certain that was just my imagination talking.

If we didn’t know the way back, how were we ever going to get out of here?

Jakar shook his head, dipping his chin to his chest as if he were unable to meet my eyes.

“I am sorry, Meena. I have failed you.” His voice gave me shivers; it was pleasantly deep but smooth like a fine whiskey.

I really liked his voice. I didn’t like what he was saying, though, which was both really self-accusatory and the last thing I wanted to hear.

“No, you got here just in time. That’s not a failure!

” I pointed out, stepping a little closer to his giant body and feeling my heartbeat begin to race.

He was so big and so incredibly alien-looking with his four arms, and yet…

Yeah, I guess I found him sort of sexy. Maybe that’s why I’d been trying so hard to make him look bad in my mind.

I didn’t want or need any kind of attraction right now.

I needed to focus on rebuilding some kind of semblance of a life.

Even if it was going to be a weird, alien one where I’d have to mourn and miss my family.

Reaching out, I gently placed my hand on his chest, right where I suspected his heart was supposed to be.

I could feel the slight dip between his pectoral muscles, but when I looked closer, I could see a second set stacked on top.

Yeah, this freaky alien had four arms, which meant two sets of pectorals. So strange…

He looked down at my fingers, my slightly brown skin against his gray clothing, the now-dying firelight flickering across us.

“You believe so?” he asked huskily, and then one of his hands pressed over mine, holding my hand trapped against his body.

He was warm, his palm a little rough, but I liked the sensations.

You’d think I’d feel trapped, but I didn’t feel that way.

I felt like I could suddenly feel the earth again beneath my feet, like I’d found myself tethered back to reality at last.

“Yeah, I think so,” I said, emotion choking me up.

Where was that little safe haven, my tiny space onboard the Vagabond, to retreat to?

I wanted to curl up and lick my wounds, analyze this strange reaction to being close to him.

I didn’t understand it, and I felt like I was still too tired—too focused on survival—to really process all my feelings. I needed more time to figure this out.

“Okay,” he said, his thumb feathering over my wrist, making my pulse jump in response.

My stomach ached with a sensation I currently didn’t want to label.

“We’ll hide for the night, get some rest. Tomorrow, I’ll get us a vantage point so we can locate the city.

” He sounded confident as he spoke, and I actually lifted my chin to stare up at him.

Seriously? We could just get to high ground and see the city?

Why hadn’t he started with that information?

That was good. That meant we weren’t all that lost after all.

When I agreed with the plan, he turned toward the remains of the fire, and with a few well-aimed kicks, dirt covered the flames, dousing them.

I had just enough time to realize that he wasn’t wearing any shoes.

He moved closer again when the fire was out, his arms lifted, and I suddenly did feel a little trapped.

Then he had me in his hold, pulling my body up against his chest. “Hold on tight,” he urged, but I’d already clamped on instinctively.

He was moving fast now, holding me pinned against his chest, and then his free hand had hold of the tree, and up we went.

I clamped my arms around his neck, my legs around his hips, and squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could.

“The fuck, Jakar, warn a girl first!” I yelped, and my words were met with a chuckle that vibrated against my chest. Why did he have to feel this freaking good to be pressed up against?

So many muscles, so much man. It was unreal.

At least he was a jerk for laughing; that helped cool my libido a little.