Page 5 of Adored By the Alien Warlord
Most of the customers had left and many of those remaining slept, their heads propped on their hands resting on tables. Two roused and stumbled out the side door, their tails dragging through the spilled drink and unidentified muck on the floor. The rest were hauled away by the blue-skinned man, tossed out onto the street while Wortek sneered.
The bartender finished tidying the bar and left as well, and the two young lizards who showed up each morning arrived and got to work, cleaning.
I slumped against the pole, welcoming the silence and the chance to take even a tiny break.
Wortek lumbered up onto the platform and unhooked me from the pole, keeping a firm grip on my chain. I’d tested it my first day here, but while it was thin, it was stronger than me. I couldn’t break it, and I couldn’t pull it from the stone wall where Wortek secured me inside my room. My cell might as well have sturdy locks and bars on the door because I couldn’t escape while chained.
“Take her downstairs.” Wortek handed the chain to the blue man.
He stared down at the links on his palm before his gaze followed them to the manacle secured around my wrist. Did anger burst in his eyes or was it my imagination?
“Where?” he rasped, his voice as sharp and commanding as it had been all night.
“Downstairs, I said.” Wortek strode toward the stairs near the front of the room that led to his quarters. “She’ll show you where. Make sure she’s secure before you leave. If she escapes, I’ll personally remove your head.”
“That way,” I said, pointing to the stairs.
Wortek climbed them up while I’d take them down.
On my first night dancing, one of the lizards had chucked a glass of something sour that vaguely smelled like beer my way. It splashed across my legs and man, how it reeked.
A slash of Wortek’s tail across the male’s throat, and he keeled backward, landing with a solid thud on the floor. Blood gushed from the wound, and it wasn’t clear if the male lived or not as Wortek latched onto his arm and dragged him out into the street. No one had dared toss beer or anything else my way after that.
As the blue man followed me across the room, me taking care where I placed my bare feet, my skin prickling with unease. I might daydream about his kindness and understanding, and who could blame me if I did? A woman needed something to cling to, and I wouldn’t be the first to dream of a strong hero rescuing me from a torturous situation.
The reality could be much harsher. He was big; enormous when compared to me. If he wanted to take advantage of this, he would. I’d fight, but I doubted he’d feel my puny efforts to protect myself.
Wortek climbed the stairs above us, disappearing from view. We stepped onto the landing on this level, and I carefully started down.
“Where are your shoes?” he snapped.
My daydream fled out the window fast, and I didn’t spare him a look. “I don’t have any.”
“You should. The floor . . .”
“It’s always this gross in the morning. I take care where I step.” At least the nastiness hadn’t encroached onto the platform. The room itself was bad enough. I couldn’t wait to get away from the reek, to curl into a ball and pretend I was back home.
I’d only taken one step down before the blue guy latched onto my arm, bringing me to a halt. If I had more energy, I’d wrench away, but all I could do was stare up at him blankly.
“What?” I asked.
With a grumble, he joined me on my step, his body taking up too much space, too much of my thoughts. He swept me up in his arms and when I flailed, kicking and whimpering, he stared down at me. So many emotions in his eyes; they flickered through the gorgeous teal too fast for me to read them.
“Hold still,” he said softly. “I won’t hurt you.”
Everyone wanted to hurt me. Why I hadn’t been raped or eaten already was beyond me. Or maybe that was still coming in my future.
“Put me down,” I growled.
Ignoring me, he tightened his grip on my body and started down the stairs, taking them easily to the bottom.
“Turn right,” I said, though it was self-explanatory since there was no other direction to go. “Mine’s the last room on the left.”
Did it truly matter where he chained me? One room was the same as any other. Although, mine at least had a sink with fairly clean running water and a tube leading to a hole in the ground that I hoped was a toilet because that was how I’d used it.
He stepped into my room and glared around, taking in the narrow bed with one blanket. No pillow but that might not be a lizard thing. His gaze speared the “bathroom” area, such as it was. And the empty metal box that people in the past must’ve used to store their possessions. I used it as a table.
I didn’t have much. Actually, I had nothing but the clothing on my back, the silly white nightie I was wearing when I arrived on this planet, and the last shreds of my pride.