His help was efficient. "We are almost there, Sasha. The doctor can give you medicine to help you feel better."
Feeling snappish, Sasha glared at the warlord alpha. "Can he give me a decent night's sleep?"
His cheeks reddened at that. Was he blushing? Could she use last night against this embarrassed alpha?
"That was a mistake, Sasha. Terasa will apologize to you and be punished for it." He said it with cool relish, as if he were savoring the taste of blood.
Being sick made Sasha lose all sense of self-preservation. It was the only thing that could explain her current boldness. "It's not her fault you came into the big room and used every female there but me, is it?"
"Did you want me to use you, little Beauty?" He drawled in an almost growl that reminded her of his sex voice.
She huffed at him, gripping the seat hard to keep herself from an irrational need to claw at his skin. "Fearing for my life, I had asked you to marry me a few hours earlier. Don't you think your answer was insulting?"
"I gave you no answer."
She felt her hackles rise like a ruffled chicken. What was wrong with her? The sight of him, the smell, overwhelmed Sasha. She had to look away from the massive, beautiful, primal male that he was.
"You are worse than Merrick. Five women. Hours and hours. I live with strippers and prostitutes because of Merrick, and he uses them. All. Day. Long. But never like that. Whatwasthat?"
There was a voice in the back of her head begging her to stop talking. Her mouth had taken over. It wasn’t the first time. Bad things had happened then too.
His eyes went cold. "Merrick is a posturing little boy. Did he touch you?"
That was what he was worried about? She got mouthy, and he got a sudden need to be alpha-possessive because of Merrick? The dense male had missed the point.
Sasha pulled her hair, combing fingers through it and separating it into three sections for a braid.
Yes, Merrick had touched her. He was the alpha in charge. Pinches on her bottom, the insides of her arms, wrapping her braid in his hands and using it to pull and drag her. The whipping. He was king in her home.
He'd not raped her, or even seen her fully naked since the day her mother brought him home and forced Sasha out of her clothes as an introduction to him, displaying Sasha's mark and worth. But he touched her every chance he got. Sometimes she had nightmares about him lurking in dark corners, waiting to claim her.
She felt Kane's stare and pretended to ignore it, rubbing her hands over her sweaty face. She needed out of this vehicle.
"I have never been sick like this before," she moaned, her arms and legs twitching restlessly. "I never get sick. I must be allergic to something. I bet it's you, Warlord Kane. I'm allergic to giant, head-popping, bossy alphas. Don't pop Terasa's head on my account. You should have explained clearly what you wanted. A few extra words make everything work more smoothly. You should try it sometime."
Would she feel better if she just took everything off? She was so hot. She didn't want these clothes on her skin. They were nice, but they were wrong. Everything was wrong. She was going to regret coming to Constantine Kane for help for the rest of her life, she knew it.
She felt the man's eyes. Felt them. Felt his breath, his pheromones. Did he have something to say to her? He’d better not.
A big hand invaded her space. Tanned. Scarred knuckles. Marked up and slightly hairy with nicely manicured fingernails, trimmed and clean, but thicker, and darker than a human. His hands and his teeth gave away his altered DNA and breed nature.
The hand grabbed her fussing ones, pulling them apart. She saw the dark tattooed mark of his registration number. "Come, Beauty." He pulled her to him gently, and she found herself willingly going along.
He brought her into his lap just like yesterday, caging her, cradling her. He surrounded her small body with his large one, and because it was what she’d wanted from the moment she saw him this morning, her whole body relaxed into him with a sigh.
After a moment his voice rumbled over her head, vibrating through her body. "Sasha, why do you smell like a fruit basket?"
Chapter 9
The doctor's clinic was in a sector admin office. Check-ups for registered breeders were official Administration business, tracked by the King's Council. Everything was logged into the universal data system, where the serial number of every non-drone born under the king's rule was recorded.
The big, flat faced building wasn’t just a hospital. It also held government offices on the main floor. Compared to the Administration offices at home that Sasha always believed were state of the art, this place was a striking upgrade. Like Kane's home, it reeked of wealth and privilege.
There were as many Administration employees in the halls as there were medical personnel and patients. Too many people all together, as far as Sasha was concerned.
Kane carried her into the building, and people watched them with expressions ranging from cautious and awestruck to curious and questioning. More than one person began to approach Kane, but his glowering face or pheromones must have halted them in their tracks. They'd get close, stiffen, look to the floor with a subtle baring of their necks, and scurry away.
Everyone recognized him.
