3. Maggie

Chapter 3

Maggie

A s the music continued pounding, I drowned myself in the rhythm, begging my body to keep moving, to forget the weight of fear crushing my chest. Each rotation around the pole became an act of desperation. Wortek stood nearby, his gaze burning a hole into me. I took a quick sip of water whenever the music slowed, anxiety bubbling in my gut. He saw me as an investment, and the thought made my insides twist.

What would happen if I could no longer perform?

Finally, the lights brightened, and the music dropped to something low and tinny. Break time. They were too few and too far between.

My tether wouldn't reach far, but it was long enough I could step off the stage and into the cool shadows.

The bartender's gaze caught mine, and he rounded the metal bar, bringing me a huge mug of water like usual. If only he'd bring enough for me to dump some over my head. Heat poured through me, and sweat coated me in an unpleasant, sticky way. I wore only a thin tunic and snug pants, clothing Wortek tossed my way when I arrived, saying they’d belonged to a youngling. I'd clipped the hole for a tail together in the back, but it often loosened, and while I welcomed the cool air drifting through the hole, I didn't like that it left my ass on display.

“Don't take long.” Wortek came up behind me, looming over me like the menace he truly was. “Dance. Then dance some more.”

From dusk until dawn. I'd collapse on the hard bed inside my small basement room after I finished and sleep for most of the day. At least I hadn’t lost much weight—yet. But Wortek was surprisingly generous with food. He must be aware of calories in and calories out, though I doubted he'd use those terms. No, he was merely practical. If he didn't maintain his investment, he'd lose it.

But the meat he sent tasted rancid, and the vegetables were always overcooked.

After guzzling half my water, I wiped sweat off my face with my arm. My heart thundered but the break wouldn't be long enough to slow the pace down. This wasn't a rest as much as a moment to catch my breath and replace some of the water I'd lost.

How long could I maintain this relentless pace? Tears stung at the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them back. Crying would do me no good.

After drinking the rest, I lowered the empty mug onto the edge of the bar .

“Back to work.” Wortek nudged my spine toward the platform and my pole.

I climbed back up, on display again as the lights in the bar dimmed and the ones over me brightened. Music rose in volume, and my body took over, dragging me back into the dance.

Like every other night, I tried to lose myself in the music, but my awareness remained split between dancing and the blue-skinned male moving around the bar with a steely gaze. His strong jawline and build were much like a human’s, except he had to be at least seven feet tall. But then, everyone I'd seen here in this lizard city was equally tall and broad. Were there no puny people like me? At five-eight, I'd always considered myself tall, yet here, I felt incredibly petite, and not in a good way.

As I dipped and swayed, my eyes met the male’s and locked. Confidence swirled around him like an invisible barrier. And I'd already seen he had no issue dispensing justice, either with his sharp glare and snarl or with his fists. This might be his first shift, though that was only a guess on my part, but he'd already established control. I doubted many would issue him a challenge.

A glimmer of something I couldn’t name flared in his eyes—a spark of kindness or even understanding, but I quickly shook off the thought, reminding myself of my reality. Other than his blue skin and lack of a snout and tail, he was no different than the lizards. He lived among them, for heaven's sake. He was as one of them as Wortek .

I had to be careful. As he'd shown during the fight earlier, he enforced the rules of the bar with harsh brutality. He was likely as ruthless as Wortek and the others.

But still, I couldn't look away. My legs pumped to the rhythm while my thoughts wrestled with the strange sense of safety he seemed to provide. As if he could somehow shield me from this nightmare. I felt foolish for letting this thought spark hope inside me. But without something to latch onto, I worried I'd soon fade away.

Wortek’s growl snapped my attention back. “Dance, female. Stop staring around.”

I stumbled, his voice cutting through my thoughts with a jolt. Panic surged inside me, and I forced my body to move again, my limbs clumsy as I fought against the despair wrapping cold fingers around my heart. I didn’t want to fail. If I did, I stood no chance of finding my sister. Talia was out there somewhere, maybe working like me in a bar or finding some other way to survive. I'd track her down, and we’d find a way home.

Another break came, and I hung my head as I drank, afraid of Wortek's watchful stare. If I could just disappear . . . I focused on the chill of the mug against my lips, the coolness seeping into my belly as I drank. And drank. And drank.

And then, I danced.

Finally, dawn scraped its way up onto the horizon, staring around with a harsh, orange glare. Light poked in through the few windows on the back wall of the bar, stabbing down on me gliding around my pole .

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.

He leaned over and lowered me onto the bed. I’d expected him to be sticky, as sweaty as me. He’d worked the bar all night and from what I could tell, his job was quite physical. He hadn’t seemed to take a break, let alone step out for a shower. Not that I’d seen a shower in this place since I arrived. He should stink like me, but he didn’t. His spicy scent reminded me of cloves. Totally disconcerting. I squirmed away from him, not enjoying having him this close for many reasons, the primary one being that I liked the feel of his hands on my body.

If he discovered that fact, he’d take advantage of me.

“Thank you.” My voice came out shriller than I liked. “You can go now . . .” I didn’t know his name.

I didn’t want to know his name.

“Davon. My name’s Davon. ”

“Thank you, then, Davon,” I said grandly, sitting up on my bunk and swinging my legs around to stand.

He lifted his finger. “Wait.”

I blinked up at him, grateful not to see lust or meanness on his face. “For what?”

“Would you remain there for a moment?”

If he hadn’t given me a crooked smile that made his face crack as if he didn’t deploy smiles very often, I would’ve ignored his request. There was no harm yet in seeing what he was talking about.

He ripped his shirt up over his head.

“Fuck,” I snarled, leaping to my feet and backing into the stone slab wall on my right. Where was a weapon when I needed one? “We’re not humping.”

“Humping?” A frown filled his too-handsome face. He was an alien. Utterly foreign. And strangely attractive in a way I couldn’t define.

We were all people inside, right? I got that. I didn’t judge him for his alienness. He must have his own hopes and dreams, the same as me. Things he feared, like I did what might happen to me next.

“We’re not doing the sideways tango,” I said.

He shook his head, his silver hair brushing across the tops of his shoulders. When he first arrived at the bar, it had been secured at his nape, but it must’ve come undone during his first tussle. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re not making me have sex with you.”

His face cleared, and one corner of his mouth crooked upward again. He should stop doing that. It messed with my equilibrium. “I don’t . . .” His face darkened to a richer blue. “I would never steal something like that from you. From anyone.” He pressed his big fist against his chest. “You’re safe with me.”

Sure, that’s what they all said. I hadn’t yet found anyone in this wretched place who made me feel secure.

“Never,” I said. “Practice that word. Never.” I wasn’t sure where my spunk came from. I should be dropping onto the bed. Curling into a ball and sleeping except for when the upstairs cleaners brought me my meals.

“You . . . You’re safe with me,” was all he said. He started ripping his shirt.

I stared at the play of muscles across his chest and shoulders. Did he work out? I realized that was a foolish thought. Survival seemed to be the game here, not leisure time filled with going for a run or to the gym, assuming anyone here ran a gym, something I doubted.

He truly was gorgeous, from his silver hair swaying around his shoulders to his rich, blue skin. A few old scars dissected his perfection here and there, but they didn’t detract from his appearance. It was too easy to picture myself running my hands across his chest, stroking his shoulders and arms. Gliding my fingertip along his scars and asking him to explain how he got them.

Stop gaping at the god-like alien, I chided myself. He’s not performing for your view. He’s busy doing . . . I wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing.

I watched the odd ritual as he tore the shirt into palm-sized squares, stacking them neatly on the foot of my bed. After he’d created a sizable pile, he took some to the sink and wet them, wringing them out before returning to stand beside the bed.

“Lay down,” he said.

A pang of disappointment shot through me. I’d begun to think he was different. “Never, Davon. Never .”

“I’m going to wash your feet.”

Totally not what I expected. I sputtered a moment. “Why?”

“Because they’re dirty.”

“All of me is dirty. I danced all night. My sweat coats my sweat and when it dries, more sweat joins the party. I haven’t had a shower or a bath since . . .” My voice choked off, but I found the strength to speak. “Since I left Earth. Sink baths don’t do much when you don’t have clean clothing to put on after, when you can’t cover your entire body with water.” I shot a glance to the hall. “When you don’t know if someone will creep up on you and watch. Or do something worse.”

A low growl rumbled in his chest. “No one is going to watch you. No one is going to do something worse.”

“You’re not here all the time. For all I know, you’ll walk out the door and never come back. Wouldn’t blame you if you did, because this place sucks. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“Sit. Please?”

There was no harm in it, though I wasn’t sure why he bothered.

I perched on the edge of my bed.

“Humping. Tang-oo,” he said. “You say such strange things, female.” He dropped to his knees in front of me. Normally, I’d find this a swoon-worthy position for a male to take but in his case, it only placed him at eye level.

He was so much bigger than me. Enormous and much too handsome.

He gently lifted first one of my feet, then the other, carefully washing them with a wet cloth before he took the rest of his shirt and dried them.

When he’d finished, he laid one of my feet on top of his palm. My feet were average sized except when compared to his hand. With his fingers outstretched, his hand was so much larger. His feet too. Everything about this male who I couldn’t look away from was enormous. There was something in his eyes . . . Something lost and sweet and much too innocent for this world around us.

A tic in his temple thumped much too fast, and his jaw solidified into stone. “I am here for as long as you need me,” he finally said, not looking up to meet my eyes.

“What if I need you forever, Davon?” My voice came out ragged.

“My forever is yours, Maggie.” Only now did his gaze meet mine.

Tears stung in the corners of my eyes, and for just this moment, I wanted to relax. Sink into the belief that someone—anyone—cared. What would it be like to have a protector, a person who didn’t make demands on my body, someone who watched out for me. Someone like Davon ?

“You just met me,” I said. “You shouldn’t say things like that.” Things he couldn’t truly mean.

How could I trust him? If I’d learned nothing since arriving on this planet, it was that everyone looked out for themselves. I’d met no one who cared about others.

He placed a big palm on my shoulder and lightly squeezed. “I came to this city to find you, Maggie. You.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t know I was here. No one knows I’m here.” And that was the worst of it. I was lost. Forgotten. And so wretchedly alone.

I did nothing to hold back the tears trickling down my cheeks. Such a useless waste of water.

“ I knew you were here—somewhere,” he said.

“How?”

“Talia sent me to find you.”