Free Untamable Lover (Worlds of Lemuria: Earth Colony Book 2) by Rosalie Redd

her temper like nothing else. When she found out what he’d done she’d chastise him, but he’d get to see her again. 
    He smiled. Absolute perfection.
    “Time for the auction. Gather round!” The robust fellow he’d spotted earlier motioned with his giant paw of a hand for everyone to come to the center of the platform.
    The wood creaked and groaned as the trees swayed in the breeze. The draft caressed the back of Zedron’s neck, cooling the sweat he’d emitted despite the tree’s canopy. The perspiration would stain his collar and ruin his perfect, styled image. He clenched his jaw.
     The crowd swarmed around the merchant. Zedron pushed himself to the front, garnering a few scowls and shoves along the way. In the middle of the platform, a small dais stood ready for the first slave.
    A petite, yellow-skinned female from the Drakin colony hopped onto the raised floor. Her fingers trembled as she gripped the edges of her shirt. With her eyes downcast, long white hair covered her features. One of the bidders would become her new master, but not Zedron. He’d already selected his next servant.
    “Bidding starts at twenty livins.” The slave trader strutted back and forth in front of his merchandise, his large gut straining against the buttons of his shirt. Zedron smirked. Surely, one would pop soon.
    “Twenty-five livins.”
    “Thirty livins.”
    Zedron tuned out the bidding and focused on the Arotaar female. She studied her surroundings, as if looking for a way to escape. With her head held high, her eyes glowed with intelligence and determination. She would challenge him, and he’d punish her for it. Perfect. 
    A newb no more than seven years old approached, and he focused on Zedron’s lapel pin—the one that identified him as a Colonizer. He stopped mere inches away and gripped Zedron’s pant leg. “Sir, are you a Colonizer?”
    Zedron bent down on one knee, bringing himself eye level with the young Lemurian. “Why, yes. Would you like to touch my pin?”
    The young male’s eyes widened. “Could I?”
    Zedron nodded. The youth grazed the finely etched gold, reverence forming in his eyes.
    Zedron clasped his hand on the young male’s shoulder and stood. “Study hard, and you, too, can become a Colonizer.” 
    “Utaun! Utuan!” A female’s voice rose above the din of the crowd. The boy bowed, and then ran off toward her call.
    Zedron smiled, his chest filling with pride. The merchant’s litany brought him out of his reverie, and he refocused on his task. After the sale of a few males and another female, his prize stepped onto the platform. A visible tic formed in her clenched jaw. She pulled against the manacles binding her wrists. The chains rattled above the din of the crowd.
    “Ooh, we have an Arotaar here. She’s lean, strong, able to handle much hard work.” The trader’s sweat reeked of his addiction. He released the top button of his shirt and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. “She will command a much higher price. Bidding starts at one hundred livins.” 
    A low murmur rippled through the crowd. The minimum bid was high, but the cunning trader knew his job. He was right to request such a sum. Zedron had anticipated as much. 
    He stepped forward to have a better look at the female. Her tattered pants and ripped shirt hung on her frame. She seemed to have lost weight on her journey here, but strength showed in her taut legs and developed biceps.
    He nodded in appreciation. “One hundred fifty livins.”
    She caught him looking at her and held his gaze. Her nostrils flared. She had spirit and that brought a smile to his face.
    “Two hundred livins,” another bidder shouted above the noisy crowd.
    Zedron clenched his jaw. He wouldn’t participate in a bidding war for this female. When he spoke, his voice was low, but commanding. “One thousand livins.” 
    The female flinched at his words. Her eyes narrowed.
    The crowd quieted. 
    When no one else bid, the trader pointed