herself, and whirled around to run.
Up ahead,
she saw several other tall, strong men carrying women from the harem down the
tunnel. The shadows she’d seen spinning around the tunnel were from small
lanterns they carried in their free hands to guide their way.
The sight
confused her, making her unsure of which way to go to escape. Before Ebony
could take more than a few steps, however, she was snatched by the waist, spun
around, and crushed hard against the same masculine chest that had held her
before. Long fingers wrapped around her waist beneath her ribs.
Ebony
snatched the gag off her mouth and was about to scream bloody murder--when the
man lifted her off her feet and brought her face up to his.
She
arched her back, gasping as he compressed her waist to hold her high in the air.
Her feet dangled off the floor by a foot as she was brought face to face with
her abductor. And even in the dimness of the shadowy tunnel, she could see that
his face was eerily similar to the one man on this planet that she despised
more than any other--King Kore Anadaru.
Ebony saw
thick black eyebrows slanted in anger above cold, crystal blue eyes. The
crystalline color was apparent even in the dark and it pierced her gaze like
the rays of a prism. Angular cheeks looked carved from marble, jutting down to
a broad chin marked by a cleft.
Dark
silvery, almost black hair, chopped off straight at the chin, curled up around
his ears and forehead. The effect should have softened his face, but he was
made of too many hard angles to ever look soft. Except for the color of his
hair and the broadness of his chin and straight nose, she’d swear she was
looking at a mirror image of the king. The similarities made the hair rise on
the back of her neck.
But this
man’s lips were full, not thin, and curved into an angry grimace, matching the
stubborn set of his jaw and the angry look in his eyes. If the tension infusing
his face and musculature was any indication, he resented the fact that his
captive had found the nerve to try to escape.
Slowly,
Ebony closed her gaping mouth, and swallowed convulsively before trying to
summon up the words. “I know you,” she said at last, feeling certain that she
did even though she knew she’d never set eyes on him before. He wasn’t the
kind of man she’d ever forget. “I know you.”
“I’m
afraid you do not. Are you going to fight me? Must I knock you out, as Damon
knocked you out before?” the man growled, giving her a hard shake for emphasis.
Her head
snapped back, unprepared for the sudden change in direction. “If you manhandle
me, you’re going to wake up without your balls!” she said through gritted teeth.
Then she stopped, and froze in place for a moment.
He
smirked, hitching up one corner of his mouth, though the amusement failed to
reach his eyes. He gave Ebony an appreciative once-over. “I’m just surprised
you have any fight left in you at all. None of the others did.”
But
suddenly she didn’t want him to know just how much fight she had in her. She
realized that her best chance lay in lulling him into a false sense of security
until she could steal away at a better time, and so she decided that she would
cooperate in any way necessary until she could escape. Her captor’s brute
strength was far greater than her own, but she trusted that he would think like
a typical man: with his dick. In her experience, men underestimated those who
were smaller than themselves. And she was tiny in comparison with this big
brooding lug.
Slowly,
she shook her head, continuing to stare at the man who held her dangling above
the floor. “Who are you?” she gasped, though her chest felt tight and
it was becoming hard to breathe.
He
chuckled, but it was a rough sound that was devoid of mirth. “I find myself
disappointed in you. I thought, by the look in your eyes that you