She’d been around attractive men in the past. Half her brother’s friends were wannabe holovid cover model types, obsessed about their appearances. She’d never given any of them even half a glance. But this guy… Shit, it was like any deity listening had taken a look straight into every wet dream she’d ever had, taken notes and built a guy custom-made for her own personal fantasies.
Tall and broad-shouldered, he was utterly ripped, but not deadweight muscle kind of way. The kind of muscle that was built in a gym like her brother’s friends. No, this looked fast and lean, the dangerous, efficient kind of muscle that was built for a purpose rather than for show.
A rumble of amusement sounded in the center of his chest, and a deep voice said, “My eyes are up here, kelarris.”
Annoyed to be caught staring, she snapped her gaze up and her eyes collided with his. What was left of her train of thought derailed completely. If she thought his body was amazing, then the face that met her gaze was…
He had the face of a dark angel, which was a cliched phrase she’d heard in numerous holo-romance novels and always scoffed at, but it utterly fit here.
Long, dark hair was pulled back from an almost cruelly handsome face with high cheekbones and exotically slanted eyes, a strong nose, full lips, and stubble… but the sexy kind, not the scruffy kind.
He smiled as he stared down at her and his eyes flashed red.
Shit. Make that an alien dark angel.
Silence stretched out between them. He didn’t move. He just watched her, loose and relaxed as if he was waiting for her to do something, like maybe step back or apologize. Act like every woman who just found herself nose to nose with a huge guy unexpectedly. A huge, dangerous-looking guy.
Which would really be the smart move, wouldn’t it? Especially when she was nose to nose with a huge, dangerous-looking alien guy on what was essentially an alien prison planet.
She’d never been accused of having common sense, so she stayed exactly where she was.
“Yes?” she asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at him. “Can I help you?”
“You look like you’re having a hell of a morning,” he said.
He had a smooth voice, deep and sounded more educated than she’d expected for a prisoner on a penal colony. Then he smiled, showing teeth that were white, straight, and a little too sharp at the corners.
Everything within her went cold. There it was, the charm offensive.
She’d long ago realised that men that looked like this did not approach women who looked like her. Not that she was concerned about her appearance or self-conscious in any way, but she was well aware that she was more girl next door than supermodel. Added to that was the fact that her brother had been pulling versions of this shit since puberty, and she recognised every play out of the book.
The little smile, the relaxed body language. If he’d been near something that he could lean on, there would have been a lean, and possibly he’d have tucked his thumbs into his waistband for a little genital framing there to emphasize his virility. But what was the absolute clincher was the confidence that his mere presence was a gift to her.
Yeah, she’d seen this before. This was charm that was weaponized… Smile, invade personal space, and wait for the poor little woman to melt at his feet.
It was insulting. Did she look that stupid… or desperate?
“My morning is just fine,” she said with a smile, making sure that her face stayed professionally blank and neutral. “Can I help you with something?”
“Help me?” He laughed, the sound low and rough. Like an auditory caress, it tingled along her skin as if he’d actually touched her. “Was about to ask you the same thing, Red. You looked about ready to kill that access panel.”
Red. Oh, hell no. No, they were not going there.
“We’ve not known each other anywhere near long enough for nicknames, handsome,” she shot back.
He’s too close, Fred commented. And he’s too big. I’m arming the cannon.
He can’t help being as big as he is. Let’s not penalize the guy for that and blow his head off, she snapped back so quick it almost gave her a headache.
Cait, Fred warned, his tone entirely unimpressed. Which was not a surprise, he’d been unimpressed with every male who’d had the audacity to approach her since she was about fourteen. He is a large unidentified male on an alien prison planet. More than that, he is blocking your path to safety. Let me tag him. The port-side cannon has a clear shot.
I said no, Fred. Making sure to keep her expression the same, she kept her hands loose at her sides. No fidgeting. No backing off. Just run a scan. We are not shooting the locals and causing a diplomatic incident.
Of course, Handsome Alien Hottie took her comment as encouragement rather than a warning to reel his neck in. With a smile, he took half a step closer to her. Just pushing in, and taking up that little bit more space, as he eased himself into her personal bubble.
“We could know each other better quite quickly, I think,” he said, gaze drifting over her face with lazy interest.
She arched an eyebrow. “Really? You think?”
