To read from the beginning start here.

And so you approach, eyes round, pupils wide. Your gaze casts around my body, searching the air almost as if you can sense the force screen shielding my body from your touch.

Your broad nose sniffs the air and Ranckor leans forward anticipation gleaming within his alien eyes. I've grown used to them over my captivity and sensitized to their moods. Ranckor can barely contain himself and I just know he is hoping you will reach out to touch.

I know Icknor desires this. Pain is his favorite flavor. Fear drives Ranckor, though. He cares less for pain, it's anticipation of pain that drives him wild. I've given them enough to feast upon for years, but they are insatiable, always wanting more.

Your gaze scans my body and your hands remain before you. The chains clank with a slight adjustment you make.

You make a show of taking a deep sniff of the air. Disgust fills your face. “She reeks.” You step back and turn from me.

What the hell! How dare you?

Icknor's hands twitch. He's not pleased. You've denied him his sustenance for the evening.

Ranckor glances up to the ceiling, to where the sluice gate sits. I hate that gate as much as I welcome its cleansing waters. The deluge chills me to the bone, and they leave me to air dry.

Watching you walk away, I don't know what to think. You spent the last ten days talking my ear off, interest evident in your every move. And now? I didn't understand this rebuke.

Ranckor sniffed the air, too.

He glanced at me and cocked his head, a look of confusion. A moment later, he and Icknor left the room without releasing me from the tight chains binding me to the wall.

I couldn't move. A second later, I understood why. Overhead, a crunching sound told me why as metal ground over stone.

I braced against the impact an icy wash, but it still ripped a scream from my lungs and stole my next breath, and those that followed.

Sputtering against the wall, your low throated chuckles reached me. I shivered against the cold, bound, I was unable to warm myself, and my body temperature continued to plummet.

You came to me, moving silently across the floor.

Water streamed through my hair, plastering it against my cheeks. My teeth chattered, and while I couldn't see my hands, I was certain my fingertips had turned blue with cold.

“You bastard,” I said. “Why did you do that?”

The corner of your lip turned up. “I wanted them to leave.”

“You idiot. They watch us.”

Your head shook. “No. There are no monitoring devices in here. Our captors do not know what we do.”

“How do you know?”

“I know, just as I see the field around you. Why do they do this?”

“You can see the force field?”

You give a slow nod. “Then you know what it does?”

“No. Only that it is there.”

“If you touch me, you will be shocked. They want your pain.”

Your low growl unnerves me. Reminds me you are not like me.

“You're freezing.”

Indeed, I was. If I wasn't released soon to move around and generate body heat, my core temperature would continue to fall.

“If they want my pain, then I will give them pain.”

You glanced one more time at the force screen then approached me, coming close, then closer still. The force of my tremors intensified with the nearness of your body. You towered over me, the bulk of your body suddenly overwhelming.

And then your intent became clear. You leaned into me, breaching the barrier of the energy barrier protecting me. Light flashed and you grimaced against incredible pain, but still you wrapped the heat of your body around me.

My heart slammed beneath my chest. Your heavenly scent engulfed me and I swooned with the welcoming heat radiating into me.

Yours arms wrapped around me, encasing me within steel. So much power within your body. So much pain you endured for me. I glanced up into you eyes, and saw the pinched pained there.

I saw something else as well…a promise…