“Please don’t make me leave with him.”

His arms tightened. “I smell blood on you. Where did they hurt you?”

“I don’t know. My back hurts. They slammed me pretty hard on the table.” Rever walked them into the bathroom where he gently shifted her in his arms and placed her on the edge of the counter. She looked up at him, meeting his concerned look. He reached for the blanket to tug it away from her body.

Her thighs were exposed and the shirt she had on barely covered her lap. Rever pushed the blanket completely away from her, letting it fall to the floor. He turned his attention from Brenda’s face as he reached for her waist, his hands gently gripping her hips.

“I would never hurt you. You scent so strongly of fear.”

“I’m not afraid of you.” She meant it.

As their gazes locked together his mouth parted as his tongue slid out, running over his lower lip, and the urge to kiss him hit Brenda hard. She wanted desperately to experience those lips against hers and longed to know if his mouth was as inviting as it appeared. A soft growl came from Rever.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

She stared into his beautiful eyes. “I can’t help it. When I look at you, I want to touch you and I want you to touch me back.”

He broke eye contact. “I am bound to her and I’m trapped, Brenda. I wish it were not so but I can’t be unbound to a human. It is for their protection and it was part of the agreement I made when I took one from Earth.”

Pain lanced through Brenda. “I really don’t give a damn about her protection after what she did to all of us. If you hadn’t arrived when you did, Volder would have taken me out of here and I have a real good idea what kind of future I would have had if he thought all those lies had been true. She put Ali in danger because she tried to protect me and one of those jerks had Ali by her throat. Tina lied and I know it made you feel really bad to have her behave that way in front of those men.”

“I know.” His fingers gripped her shirt, his hands brushing her waist through the thin material. “Let me take this off you to find where you are injured.” She lifted her arms as Rever tugged her shirt up her body, leaving her naked, sitting on the counter. She couldn’t look away from Rever’s eyes as the man slowly caressed her body with his gaze. She saw longing in his face, desire, and she had no doubt what he was thinking because she was thinking the same thing. He wanted her as much as she wanted him and he couldn’t hide that from her, not that he tried to mask it. Another soft growl rumbled from his throat as their eyes met.

“I don’t want to leave you. Please let me stay here with you. Don’t let that man take me away.”

His eyes closed, his massive chest expanded as he took a deep breath but then his beautiful blue eyes opened. “I wish you were, Brenda, but you are not mine to keep.

You have no idea how much I wish I could claim you. When I saw those males touching you and scented your terror I wanted to kill every one of them.” His hand lifted to gently cup her cheek in his large, warm hand. “If I did not have a bound I would challenge Volder to the death for you.”

Shock tore through her. “To the death?”

“You belong to him according to the laws. You were bound to his brother so when Valho died it became Volder’s right to claim you and he did so by agreeing to come get you. The only way to take a female from a male who has claimed her is to challenge him to the death with her permission. Upon challenge a male will either release his claim or he will fight to keep her but I have no lawful right to challenge him since I’m bound already.” Rever looked tortured. “I have to let him take you but I don’t want to. The law is on his side in this matter and I have no way to fight his claim. The only reason you are still here is because I knew my brother would force Volder to state his accusations and I wanted Ral to witness the abuse so he’d have reason to prevent Volder from taking you. I know Ral is angry at your treatment but Volder has promised to not abuse you so Ral has to follow the law. Neither one of us can stop Volder now.” Hot tears filled Brenda’s eyes, blinding her. She looked away from him to stare at his broad chest that looked tempting to snuggle into. She knew how it felt to be held by him and she wanted to always know that feeling. His hand left her face when he moved.

“Turn for me and let me see where you are hurt.” She shifted on the counter, sitting sideways to give him access to her back. She blinked away her tears before looking at him again to see that he was staring at her lower back with a furious look on his face. He moved, his chest brushing against her shoulder and arm as he turned on the faucet. Water sounded in the bathroom.

His bare hand used the cool water to wipe at her hip. She twisted her head to try to see where he was touching her but couldn’t see it so she watched his face instead. His concentration was fixed on washing her with his hand.

“You were scratched but it is not deep.” His mouth pressed into a tight line for a second as he swallowed. “Volder got you with his fingernail when he attacked you.”

“He tore my pants off.”

Rever took a deep breath while his hand paused on her skin before resuming his light cleansing. The cool water felt good and took away the slight burning sensation the injury had caused her. Rever’s hand left her skin so he could shut off the water. He studied her back for a long minute before lifting his head until they stared at each other.

If Brenda could guess, she saw anguish in Rever’s eyes reflecting what she was feeling. He definitely looked sad and she could relate, knowing Volder was going to take her away and there wasn’t a damn thing either of them could do about it. Brenda knew Rever would keep her if he could but Rever was trapped with that bitch Tina as his bound, his hands tied by Zorn laws.

“Ral won’t be able to stall Volder for long and Volder’s job will make him return to his ship right away.” Rever looked away from her but pain was definitely in his eyes.

He took a shaky breath. “I have to let you go.”

Without thinking, without caring if it was right or wrong, Brenda reached for the large man. Her hands opened on his shirt over his chest. Rever turned his head to stare down at her. She only hesitated for a second before running her hands up to cup his face, turning her body to face him, aware that she was naked but she didn’t care.