Page 30

CHAPTER 30

T he silence was louder than any scream.

She sat curled on the strange alien bed, knees hugged to her chest, trying not to imagine the worst. The walls around her were too smooth, too seamless, like being swallowed by a machine. There was no sound. No ticking clock. No hum of power.

Just stillness.

And cold.

It crept in slowly at first, like an afterthought. The ambient warmth that had once filled the room was gone. Whatever tech kept this place liveable had faltered, and the temperature had begun to drop, subtle at first, then steep.

She rubbed her arms.

Her dress—if it could be called that—was thin, designed for aesthetics, not function. For display, not protection. It clung to her skin, offered no resistance to the air that was steadily chilling with every breath she exhaled.

Her thoughts spiraled with it.

What if he doesn’t come back?

She told herself she didn’t care.

She told herself she hated him.

And yet…

Her thoughts drifted— again —to the feel of his hands. Bare. Strong. Warm. Stroking her arms like she was something precious. Something that mattered. Not a thing. Not property.

She remembered the sensation more vividly than she wanted to admit.

That gentleness.

That strange flicker of calm it had sparked in her, just for a moment.

No. No.

She couldn’t let herself go there.

Couldn’t let herself romanticize the touch of a being who had bought her. Who had watched her at auction, who had collared her, who had taken her from her planet and never spoken a word.

She was supposed to be angry. She was angry.

She clenched her fists.

“I hate him,” she whispered to the walls.

But the walls didn’t care.

And the cold was getting worse.

Her breath misted as she exhaled. Her hands trembled. Her toes burned, then went numb. Her jaw ached from the relentless chattering of her teeth. She curled tighter into herself, trying to conserve heat, but it wasn’t working.

“Goddamn you,” she hissed. “You indestructible , terrifying bastard. You don’t even know what this feels like, do you? You don’t even get cold?—”

She was starting to lose feeling in her fingers.

Vision fuzzing.

Was this what hypothermia felt like?

The room spun slightly as she sat up, blinking fast, trying to stay conscious. If he didn’t come back—if he didn’t know, if he hadn’t thought?—

The wall shimmered.

She flinched.

He was there.

Towering. Armored. And holding something in his arms.

A coat.

But not just any coat.

It was impossibly soft-looking, pale and golden, thick and luxurious. It looked warm. God , it looked warm.

She didn’t know what kind of creature had died to provide a pelt like that. Didn’t care.

Because he held it out to her, beckoning.

And she, shaking and half-numb, rose on unsteady feet and went to him.

He draped it around her shoulders without a word: carefully, gently, reverently.

For a moment, in the way he moved, in the way he fastened it at her chest and smoothed the fur down her arms, she felt like…

No. Don’t think it.

She wasn’t a queen. She wasn’t anything but a captive.

A shivering, helpless, grateful captive.

And that was the worst part.

Even wrapped in the fur, her body still shook. Her skin burned with the icy fire of returning sensation, and the tremors wouldn’t stop.

She looked up at him, wanting to curse him again, wanting to scream.

But she couldn’t even speak.

And then, without warning, he bent, scooped her into his arms.

She gasped, startled by the sudden lift.

His grip was solid. Immense. Effortless. And her weight—nothing to him.

He carried her with ease, one arm beneath her knees, the other at her back.

She blinked, dazed. What—what is he doing now?

And then, his armor began to retract.

It hissed and folded in on itself, vanishing into hidden panels, collapsing inward like living metal. The smooth black hardness dissolved from his chest, his arms, his legs.

Leaving behind dark blue skin. Bare. Muscular. Radiating warmth.

But the helm remained.

Still faceless.

Still unreadable.

She didn’t know whether to cry, scream, or melt into the heat of him.

And for now, she could do none of those things.

Because he was holding her.

And despite everything, despite all the reasons she had to despise him…

She let him.