Choosing Theo: The Clecanian Series Book 1 Victoria Aveline (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📖

getting lost in thought as to how much of his body these markings covered, he started moving. Jade’s gaze followed him as he walked a few feet to the left and then stopped to once again stand motionless at the mirror.

When she turned back, there was another handsome man standing in front of her. This new man had decided to not bother with a shirt. Jade had no trouble understanding why. His upper body looked like it had been carved from marble. Like veins of glimmering quartz, his markings stood out beautifully against his darker complexion.

As she’d previously suspected, these strange markings ran all over his exposed chest. The design was slightly different from the first man’s but close enough to make Jade believe they were a species trait rather than just personal preference.

Before long, the shirtless man walked away and was replaced by yet another beautiful specimen. Jade studied each man who came and went appreciatively but couldn’t help getting bored after a while. She managed to find a chair tucked away in a corner and plopped herself down.

How many more men can there be? They all start to look the same after a while, she thought while surveying the guy in front of her.

As he stepped away, a new man came into view who made Jade sit up and take notice. Although he wasn’t as traditionally handsome as the others, he was definitely attractive.

Jade assumed he realized there were tons of attractive men to compete with, because he seemed to be trying to stand out in other ways. His outfit, for one, was ridiculously opulent. Thick gold rings topped with gemstones adorned every finger. An emerald-green vest, embroidered with golden thread, beads and buttons, was crossed and belted at his narrow waist. Various precious stones and gold bands were scattered throughout his disheveled, shoulder-length black hair. On his lower half he wore tight black leather pants and tall black boots. His simple black button-down shirt would’ve been mundane compared to the rest of his extravagant outfit except he had unbuttoned it just enough to show off both his tanned chest and his many gold necklaces.

As she watched him grin roguishly into the glass, displaying perfect white teeth, Jade couldn’t help but smile. Altogether, his ensemble made him resemble a wealthy, rowdy, womanizing, sexy pirate. Without even speaking to him, she could tell he was the kind of guy who could charm almost any woman out of her panties.

“I need to stay away from you. You look like too much fun,” Jade muttered under her breath as he sauntered away.

When another beautiful but bland man stood in front of her, she almost wished for the sexy pirate to come back. Giggling from her left told her that his outfit and cheeky bravado had elicited the desired effect.

Another twenty minutes passed at an unimaginably slow pace. Jade almost considered trying to take a nap when she heard a fearful gasp from one of the women nearest to her. She looked up to see the most powerful man she’d ever laid eyes on.

Slowly, she walked up to the glass to gaze at him. With the exception of the pirate, all the other men could be described as beautiful or handsome. Jade highly doubted if anyone had ever called this man beautiful, though.

Where most of the other men had been pale-skinned with light, shining markings, this man had deeply tanned skin, and his markings were a dark, inky black. The black designs covered his skin in a much more severe way than the others, as well. These weren’t delicate vine-like tattoos. These were more like tribal designs you’d see in the South Pacific. The dark black of his markings matched the color of his hair.

He stood with his head down so his face was shadowed. Jade found herself wishing he’d lift his head so she could see his eyes.

As if he’d read her mind, he raised his head. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought he was looking at her. Dark eyelashes framed the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen. They were an unnaturally light shade of green flecked with warm gold, a stark contrast to the rest of his rough appearance.

His lips looked like they’d be full and soft even though they were, at present, thinned in a hard, tense line.

Jade wasn’t short by any means, but this man towered over her. He had to be over six and a half feet, at least. His massive biceps were tensed, and the silky fabric of his simple black shirt strained over his broad chest. She was right. “Beautiful” didn’t fit. “Devastatingly sexy god of war” seemed more accurate.

Jade continued to watch him as he stalked toward the other women. For a moment, she couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. Her attention had shifted away from tall, dark, and sexy to the women watching him. Half of the women appeared terrified; the other half looked…disgusted?

What am I missing here? He must be some kind of asshole. That’s unfortunate.

Jade was so busy contemplating what she’d seen that she didn’t notice the last man leave the hallway until Zikas appeared in front of her.

“Did you see any male you liked?” he asked with gray eyebrows raised.

Did. I. Ever. “I didn’t see any human men so…no,” Jade lied. “Can you take me home now, please?”

The hopeful expression Zikas had been wearing a second ago vanished. He looked at her sadly and said, “I’m sorry, but no, you cannot go home. You must choose at least one of those males.”

“What happens if I don’t?”

“I’ll be forced to choose for you.”

Her anger rising, Jade spun and glared at Zikas. “And what happens then? Huh? What happens if you choose but I refuse? Will he drag me to his house? Force himself on me? Lock me up? What kind of fucked-up planet forces abducted women to marry strange alien men?”

Yelling at Zikas didn’t have the effect Jade was hoping for. He smiled at her. “Please sit