Free Taken (Warriors of Karal Book 3) by Harmony Raines Page B

stare and understood its meaning, looking down self-consciously at herself, and saying, “Do you like it?”
    “Yes, it brings out the green in your eyes, you look beautiful,” he said, coming towards her, feeling the strength of his arousal stretching his pants.
    “Thank you,” she said, and her eyes met his, not letting him go. And as he drew closer, his mouth wanted to taste hers, so badly.
    “You had visitors,” he said, talking when there was no need for words. This was the moment he should take her by the hand, lead her to the bed and remove that damn dress that made her body look ripe and round in all the right places.
    “Yes, Tikki and Reja. They gave me some clothes. Although I wasn’t sure where to put them,” she said, looking at the clothes on the bed.
    “We can find somewhere in the closet. When we go to my real home, there will be plenty of room,” he said, the walls of his rooms closing in on them, pushing the two of them together until it felt as if they lived in the same space and breathed the same air.
    When she turned back to him, her eyes lit up in wonder, and he knew his colours were flowing freely once more. She opened him up to parts of himself that had been hidden away for so long. But was this right time? With the mission tomorrow, would it be better to put off their joining or was he simply making excuses?
    “Chrissi,” he said, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her to him. She didn’t resist.
    “Malik, I’m not sure… I mean… I’m scared,” she said.
    “I won’t hurt you, Chrissi.” And he kissed the place where the bruise stood out as violet as the evening sky at sunset. “I hate that someone hurt you.”
    She pulled back and he let her go, not wanting to force her to do anything. “There was a man, my boss…”
    “Your boss?” he asked.
    “He was in charge of the people who worked for him in this factory. He wanted me to… He wanted to have sex with me,” she said quickly.
    “And you didn’t want that?” he asked quietly.
    She shook her head. “No.”
    “And he hit you?” Malik asked, feeling his fists clench up, ready to strike, but it was too late, the man who had hurt her was on Earth, and they would never return there. So he released the tension in his body.
    “He pushed me down hard onto his desk, then he ripped my clothes and he tried to…” she couldn’t finish the sentence.
    “Force himself on you?” he asked and saw her face crumple, the passion he felt making his hands flame red, and he could feel the current of electricity across his skin.
    “He tried, but I hit him and stopped him. I’m still a virgin,” she said quickly. “He didn’t do anything.”
    “It’s OK, Chrissi,” Malik said. He went to her and held her close. If she’d wanted to pull back he would have let her, but she didn’t and slowly she relaxed into his body, laying her head on his shoulder and crying softly. “While I am here, Chrissi, no one will hurt you again.”
    And then he knew they would not consummate their relationship tonight. He would give her time, and when she was ready, when she trusted him, only then would he attempt to breed with her. The days of the Karal forcing themselves onto females were gone. For Malik this was a certainty, because he would have a daughter soon enough, and he would hate her to grow up in a world where the males did not see females as equals.
     
     

Chapter Fifteen – Chrissi
     
    “Oh my goodness,” she said as the cruiser lifted off, taking them out of the atmosphere and away from Karal. “I can’t believe I am in space again.”
    “You should get used to it,” he said, “Because this is going to be our home for the next few weeks, or months.”
    “Oh, I’ll get used to it, it’s looking outside at all the stars that is going to be the part that’s hard to get used to. So many planets, so much … space.”
    Malik steered the ship away from the space station, taking them towards the two suns, before