He froze, his head lifted, and those incredible eyes of his stared into her wide ones.

“Easy. I will not harm you, little human woman. I vow you are safe with me.” He had a really deep voice but his tone was soft, almost soothing. Giving a nod, she didn’t move as he proceeded to snap open the other restraint. He dropped the broken metal and then slowly rose to his feet. Shanna stared up at him when he took a step back from her.

The alien guy had to be six and a half feet tall. Shanna was five-foot-five and the guy towered above her by just over a foot. She didn’t even come to his shoulder.

Swallowing hard, she stared up at him in shock and a little fear. He was huge, muscular, and probably the biggest male she’d ever been in the presence of. They stared at each other.

“Hyvin Berrr?” A male interrupted. “We have them all.” A frown twisted the male’s lips. Hyvin Berrr reached for the shirt draped over his shoulder and slowly held it toward Shanna. He turned away and released his hold when her fingers wrapped around the still-warm material. Staring at a broad tan back, she yanked his shirt around her body.

She knew she looked dwarfed in it as she shoved her hands in the armholes and wrapped the material around her torso to cover up her bra and panties. Her hands were lost in the long arms and the shirt fell almost to her knees, covering her the way a really baggy dress would. She inhaled his masculine scent coming from the shirt, a wonderful combination of something musky and woodsy. It was a great smell, she admitted while she stood perfectly still to stare at the broad back of the shirt owner.

“Hyvin Berrr,” the male repeated. “I am not bound and would request to offer for her. I would be a good provider and protector. I know what needs to be done to keep a human female and I am willing to do what it takes to have her.”

“No,” another alien growled suddenly as he moved forward. “I have been in service longer. If the woman is free I want to bound her.” Another one of the uniformed aliens stalked from the left. “I have been in service the longest. I want her if she isn’t claimed.”

Growls sounded in the room. In shock Shanna glanced around her, noticing that every male in uniform stared at her, some of them moving closer, their bright or dark gazes—depending on the alien—raked over her body, their sexual interest in her very apparent.

“Hyvin.” An alien in the far corner of the room moved forward as he shoved a few other males out of his way. “I wish to claim the human as well to bound with.”

“Enough,” Hyvin Berrr growled.

“She’s unclaimed and needs to be bound,” one of the men growled back. “It will be fair if we fight for her. We are all worthy of the responsibility of a bound. I urge a challenge, winner takes her.”

“Agreed,” more than one male voice growled.

Fear hit Shanna. They are going to fight for me? Is this a joke? Her gaze darted around the room at the alien males again. None of them were smiling so it sank in that they were totally ready to come to blows for real to win her.

“Please, no,” she said softly.

The guy in front of her had said she was safe with him. Without thinking, she moved closer to his big backside, almost bumping into him when more of the alien males crowded closer. She lifted her arm and pressed her palm to his lower back.

Immediately his hotter body temperature surprised her as they touched skin to skin.

Hyvin Berrr’s head whipped around to stare down at her over his shoulder. He inhaled, his nostrils flared and a soft growl came from his throat. He looked forward to glare at the men around him.

“Back away from the human. Inhale her fear. She is from another planet and was not willingly brought to Zorn to find a bound. I will sort this out and then make my decision over what her future holds.”

Shanna realized quickly that statement wasn’t going over well with all the males in uniform. Unhappy growls and snarls sounded around the room and while some backed off, not all of them did. At least twelve males started to remove their shirts. Heart pounding, Shanna moved even closer to the man in front of her. He was the biggest alien in the room and as she inched forward until she was almost pressed against him, she hoped he’d be able to keep control of his guys. He was obviously in charge since he had the power to issue instant laws just as he’d done with Gohl over human slavery.

“I said,” Hyvin Berrr snarled, “there will be no challenging. She is not a willing female ready to bound to one of you. Disperse immediately.” Peeking around the broad back she hid behind, Shanna saw the ones in shirts take a stand against the ones without them. There was a split among the aliens on who was listening to the big guy in front of her. Some pushing started between the shirtless and the fully uniformed men that escalated quickly into a brawl.

“Mine,” a shirtless alien with black eyes snarled as he tried to step around Hyvin Berrr.

Hyvin Berrr moved fast and threw a punch that sent the male flying backward into other fighting men. Shanna could only gasp as her protector spun around in the blink of an eye to wrap a large arm around her waist, hoisting her off her feet in an instant, and slammed her smaller body against his chest when he started to run with her. Snarls, growls and loud sounds of flesh hitting flesh filled her ears.

Shanna didn’t fight when she was smashed against a broad, bare, hot chest as the man who held her moved fast, charging toward the back of the building. He paused, coming to a jerking halt. He shifted his hold on her to lift one of his legs and smashed his heel into a closed door. It crashed open loudly. Cool, fresh air hit her as the alien carried her outside.

He walked quickly down an alleyway with two large buildings on either side of them. A look upward revealed the alien sky to be a pale red with darker red clouds, similar to a beautiful Earth sunset. She tore her gaze from the sight to stare at the face inches from her own. He watched where he walked, not looking at her, leaving her able to study his features closely.

He was a handsome guy for an alien. He had a lot of human-like features except his cheek bones were more pronounced and his nose wider and flatter than a human man’s would be. Full lips hid sharp teeth, she knew, even though his lips were pressed firmly together in a grimace. He turned a corner and came to a stop, twisting his head to look behind them. He took a deep breath, his chest crushed against her own where he held her tightly against him, and his arm around her waist locked her in place still. Slowly his head turned back and his amazingly bright blue gaze met hers.