Page 33 of Riv's Sanctuary

The female’s throat moved again as she rubbed her hands against her trousers, her gaze fastened on him.

She was terrified of him. He wouldn’t be surprised if she was stuck in that corner all night.

Riv stiffened because as soon as he thought it, the female took one tentative step forward.

The corner of his lips curled in irritation almost immediately.

But that didn’t stop her.

She took another step forward, closing the gap between them, her eyes focused solely on him.

She was being cautious, watching him for any changes in his stance, but she was still walking forward.

That made him outright growl in her direction.

She paused at that, her eyes widening a little and he waited to see what she would do.

Instead of running back to the corner, the female took another step forward till she was by the chair on the other side of the table.

Her throat moved once more as she took a seat in front of him.

Now she sat looking at him and he realized that she was studying him as much as he was studying her.

She was either brave, or foolish.

Pity she wouldn’t be around long enough for him to find out.

“Uhm…” she said, and his ears, normally flat against the sides of his head, pricked.

She was going to start yammering again, wasn’t she.

“Ai dohnt noh waht to sey.”

Riv’s brows dived a little as the female continued speaking. The more she spoke, the braver she got. He could see it.

Her eyes weren’t so wide anymore and her face was becoming expressive. She was even using her hands now, to gesture as she spoke.

He let her natter on, his gaze on her face the entire time.

He had no idea what she was talking about and he didn’t really care. He could admit though that she came from a strange species.

Every time she opened her mouth, her flat teeth showed. She had no fangs and all of her teeth looked incredibly blunt. How did she defend herself?

He had to assume her species survived mostly on fluids and did not rely on their teeth for tearing into food.

It didn’t look as if she had claws either. Her nails were short and looked uneven, as if she’d used those blunt teeth of hers to grind them off.

No horns, no pattern of ridges along her nose or brow.

The more he looked at her, the stranger she became.

“Waht do yoo thingk abowt dat?”

She was looking at him with an expectant expression, as if she wanted something, and another growl rumbled in his throat.

Blinking at him, her eyes widened just a little but then her mouth spread, her lips twisting upward to show her teeth.

White flat teeth were bared at him in a display of obvious aggression and Riv stood from the hover chair so fast, the thing almost lost buoyancy.