10. Rin

10

Rin

I raise a hand in front of me and shake my head at him. "No, Tehlmar, you don't just know something like that about someone you just met. So maybe you should be telling me exactly how you know I can eat it. While you're at it, try not to leave out all the other information you know about humans so I can survive on this cursed planet," I hiss, my words coming out in a harsh whisper.

Tehlmar's back straightens and his expression changes from mild annoyance to completely stoic before rapidly deteriorating to a mask of pure rage. He strides toward me in a deliberately slow, menacing gait, like a predator stalking its prey, before stopping abruptly just out of my reach.

I can almost feel the tension rolling off his body. His fist is clenched so tight that I initially think he's about to take a swing at me.

I take a step back as my heart pumps faster. That expression, twitching eye, eerie calm just before the storm, I'd recognize anywhere. Trauma teleports me to a younger age, a million miles away, and the hateful looks I grew accustomed to—clenched fists and rocks thrown at my head by faceless mobs.

All because I wanted an education.

He is still silent as the side of his mouth stretches into a sharp-toothed sneer. He takes one step toward me.

I take another step back and he copies me. "Tehlmar," I try to call to him, stretching my hands in front of me in a useless attempt to stop him. But my gesture only makes him bare more of his sharp green teeth at me.

"Tehlmar, please." I attempt to make it a statement, but it comes out as a whimper.

"I am so sick of hearing you speak so much. Have you ever heard of silence?" he hisses at me. "I paid far too much to come to this planet just to have a mere slave question me. This ruse was fun for a while, but I've had enough of it."

I gasp in fear, missing a step and stumbling back, barely managing not to fall. My back presses against a tree and I whip my head around to search for any escape, but I am well and truly trapped.

Under my breath, I curse whatever bad karma led me to this moment.

My brain goes back to Bibi and hearing those exact words from her. 'Have you never heard of silence ? '

I swallow the lump in my throat and clamp down on my tongue because there is no other way that I am getting out of this by running my mouth and speaking up about knowing my rights.

I am on an alien planet, about to get attacked by an alien who kidnapped and changed me. There are no rights here, just barbaric males. Everything is different, yet painfully the same.

He comes up to me and bends, looking directly at my face as his hot breath fans against me. I try to look away, but his silver hands grip my chin, pressing my mouth together into a painful O. "You have been so shy all day, pretending not to know exactly what I want from you."

His grip tightens, his sneer widening to reveal his sharp teeth.

A sob leaves my mouth, and he stands up to his full height once more, laughing at me. "You know, I had a good time playing savior because you were so appreciative at first, but you quickly forgot your place."

He wanders a few steps away from me and I attempt to run, but in an instant, his hands press against my throat again and he flings me back against the tree.

I know this behavior. It reminds me of a cat toying with its prey before the kill. A tear rolls down my cheek as I realize this individual that I have trusted for help sees me as prey.

My thoughts are interrupted by his fist ramming into my stomach. The wind is knocked out of me in a wheeze of pain, followed by a cough that leaves blood staining the inside of my palm.

Tehlmar presses himself against me again, holding me captive between him and the tree. "You forgot that you are just another slave species destined to wither to nothing. And I am better than you."

One of his hands grabs aggressively at my waist, and I scream, wiggling myself in desperation.

"No, please no," I heave, begging him.

It falls on deaf ears as he uses his body to keep me pinned to the tree.

He pushes me to the ground roughly, straddling my prone form.

I can feel his arousal pressing against me, so I intensify my efforts at self-preservation. My flailing arms don't seem to bother him until I jam a thumb in his eye and he roars out in pain.

For the first time, I'm thankful to the genali that my clothes work in tandem with my mind. I force myself to think of it sticking even tighter to my body than before.

Tehlmar pulls at the suit briefly before glaring into my eyes with raging fury. "If I can't figure out how to get this off, I'll just make a hole in it. That's all you are good for, anyway."

He leers at me like one of those lecherous old men in the marketplace, and all I want is to get as far away from this alien monster as I can.