around
her. He lifted her up and threw her on his shoulder.
‚Let me go!‛ She pounded against his back. She screamed again and
again.
‚Stop screaming,‛ he said, whacking her on her ass. He wanted to
wrap his fingers around those rounded globes, but he wasn’t a total
asshole. He wouldn’t take her here on the ground. He could wait until
there was a bed.
‚Where are you taking me? Where am I?‛
‚Home. And home.‛ He whacked her on the butt again for asking
stupid questions. There was more anger than fear in her voice.
23
The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown
‚Let me go.‛ She beat her small fists against his back. ‚I’m not going
anywhere with you.‛ She screamed several more times but there was no
one here to help her.
Another whack on the ass.
‚People will look for me. I’m very important where I come from.
When they find you, you’re going to go to jail.‛
Another whack followed by a grunt this time. He wasn’t amused.
The last person to threaten him with prison died before he could follow
through on his threat.
When they reached the ship, he dropped her. He typed in a
command to close the large window opening before she could jump out of
it. He set in the coordinates for the station and turned on the autopilot.
‚What is your name?‛ He sat in the one seat in the little ship and
swiveled the chair around to face her.
‚Why?‛ she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
‚I need a name to call my mate. Some might find it offensive if I just
called you ‘mate’.‛
‚Your what?‛
‚My mate.‛
‚Okay, who are you? Is that you, Chuck? Did you slip something in
my drink this morning? Rufies, X, what?‛ she said, pointing her finger at
him.
‚I can guarantee you I am not this ‘Chuck’? Now, your name?‛
He watched as her hands went into the ‘v’ of her tan blouse.
Suddenly, invisible fingers rubbed along the outside of his nipples. ‚Stop.‛
‚What?‛ She jumped in place, both hands reaching down to steady
her.
‚You will stop that.‛ No doubt that witch told her how to torture
him.
‚Stop what?‛ she asked. ‚Not only am I being kidnapped by aliens,
but they’re crazy ones.‛
It was his heartstone. It peeked from beneath her shirt. ‚Hand me
the heartstone.‛
‚What, my necklace?‛ She looked down to the stone.
24
The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown
‚Don’t play games. That is my heartstone no matter what the
damned Peddler said.‛ He reached for the heart.
‚No.‛ She wrapped her hands around the stone. ‚She said it wasn’t
stolen. And I bought it. That makes it mine.‛
‚See that’d work if you were talking to someone who gave a fuck.
But seeing as how you’re not, hand over my stone.‛
Her hand tightened on the gem. ‚And if I don’t?‛
‚Then I will just have to take it from you.‛
‚No.‛ She raced away from him.
‚There’s nowhere to run.‛ He chuckled as he followed behind her.
‚I’ll break it on the floor before I give it to you.‛ She yanked on the
chain. It didn’t break.
Okay. The Peddler never said whether the stone could break or not.
Who knew what would happen if it broke? There was too much he didn’t
know for him to chance it.
‚Wait. At least let me look at it.‛
She narrowed her eyes and shook her head at him. ‚If it was yours,
wouldn’t you already know what it looks like? Try again.‛
‚It’s not like you have a choice.‛ He advanced on her, moving so
quickly she didn’t have a chance to move. Her fist was tightly closed
around the heart. He grabbed her hand and squeezed. Enough pressure
and she’d let it go.
Her knuckles cracked.
‚Let it go.‛ He squeezed tighter.
Her fingers loosened around the stone. He pushed it onto her the
skin of her chest to try to stop her from closing her fingers back around it.
Heat seemed to burn from within the heartstone.
‚Stop. It burns. Stop!‛
The fire seared the tips of his fingers. He