From the Inside Flap
Heavy breathing behind her caught her off guard. She flipped away, landing in a fighting stance facing the intruder.
Taio stood in the doorway, watching. He gave a curt nod her way, the acknowledgement doing nothing to make her feel relaxed.
"You have good skills, Eva." He hooked his thumbs in the waist of his pants and leaned on the doorway.
Her name never sounded better.
"Thank you." She relaxed and straightened, her eyes still watching him. This was his first time speaking to her since their ill-fated first encounter.
She didn't dare move closer, especially since she still didn't know his intentions. She didn't move away either, fearing he would view that as a sign of weakness. So she stood her ground, her body betraying her in the worst way as her name rolled off his tongue. Her heart sped up a little and her breathing became more labored.
I know trouble when I see it.
Eva willed her body to fight against whatever mojo he was throwing at her.
Taio sauntered into the room and took a sword off a rack on the wall. He began flexing it, testing its weight. The gesture caused his arm and chest muscles to ripple with each movement.
Jesus.
"Who taught you how to fight?"
"My sensei, he lived back home." Not a day went by that she didn't think about the elderly Japanese man who referred to her as kodomo, or "little child".
"Earth," he said as a statement, rather than a question.
"Yes, Earth. Ann Arbor, Michigan, more specifically."
She eyed the weapons on the wall. She was trained to use various fighting weapons; sais, kamas, knives, nunchakus, bo staffs and swords. She was sure that she could show him a thing or two.
She walked over to the rack and took another sword off the wall. Shit! It weighed a ton! No wonder he smirked when she'd reached for it.
Even though she strained to hold it in both hands, she made sure not to let him know. Instead, she concentrated hard on not dropping the heavy sword.
"A male taught you?" He sounded surprised.
"Yes. Thirteen Earth years of training."
Taio laughed and shook his head in disbelief. Learning about her savior's culture had been a shock. Ship was very forthcoming with his information on Sonis, and especially how the males and females had traditional duties that Eva thought were straight out of the eighteen hundreds.
"It's not unusual on my planet," she said. "A male can teach a female how to fight or even a female can teach a male."
He laughed harder. "There could never be such a thing on my world."
She turned her head away. "I earned a black belt, first Dan in Kyokushin Karate. On Earth I'm considered to be a great fighter."
"Your people did not fare well in the war against the Loconuist," he pointed out.
She raised her chin. "We didn't know how to fight them. We'd never encountered aliens before."
"Then it is good that I will take care of you from now on," he stated as if it were fact.
She glared at him. "I'm not like the women on your world. I don't need taking care of."
"You were captured by the Loconuist and the Tresdonians almost killed you." Another factual statement.
She shrugged. "But they didn't."
He smirked. "Because I saved you."
"Thanks, but I can take care of myself."
"It doesn't matter." His eyes roamed up and down her body, finally resting on her breasts. "You are my responsibility now," he said in a low tone.
She fixed her squinting and cold eyes on him. "Ship told me those assholes on that planet gave me to you. That doesn't mean that I belong to you or that I'm yours to protect. I'm not a slave. Not yours or anyone else's."
"If this arrangement doesn't suit you, I could turn the vessel around and give you back to the Tresdonians." He turned from her and put the heavy sword back on the wall rack.
Her heart pounded. He wouldn't...
"No. I'm not going back there." She held her sword tightly in her grasp.
He turned to face her. "Then it's agreed. You're mine." He stalked slowly toward her. He locked his eyes on hers.
She backed away, not because she was scared of what he might do, but because she was afraid of what she would let him do.
He took another step toward her. "You'll need to get used to the idea."
"I will never submit to you." She didn't know what surprised her more. That she'd finally found her voice or that she sounded convincing.
"We shall see, little one. We shall see." Abruptly, Taio turned and walked from the room.
About the Author
A. M. Griffin is a wife who rarely cooks, mother of three, dog owner (and sometimes dog owned), a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She's a hard worker whose two favorite outlets are reading and writing. She enjoys reading everything from mystery novels to historical romances and of course fantasy romance. She is a believer in the unbelievable, open to all possibilities from mermaids in our oceans and seas, angels in the skies and intelligent life forms in distant galaxies.
For more information please visit amgriffinbooks.com
