Page 11 of Treasured By the Alien Rogue

I was too tired to unpack all that. “Okay.”

He lowered his purple plant to the ground at the base of a tree.

Before I could make a peep, he’d grabbed my hand, tugged me into his arms, and hefted me, dropping me over his shoulder.

I yelped.

He leaped up into the branches overhead and landed squarely on one that had to be fifteen feet above the ground.

“What are you doing?” I wailed, smacking his ass with my stick.

He ignored the blows. “I’m placing you in a secure location.” He slid me down his front and held my arms until my feet were solid on the branch. With a nudge, he backed me against the trunk. “Wait here.”

He flung himself off the branch, landing squarely on the ground, then trotted around the tree and out of view.

Shit. He’d abandoned me close to the big bird who’d just flown by. Did the bird have friends? I tipped my head back and studied the shifting vegetation, but I didn’t see anything I needed to be worried about—yet.

At least I still had my stick.

Swallowing hard, I slid down the trunk and sat on the wide branch, sliding my legs out in front of me and laying my stick on my lap. Gripping it tight, I tipped my head back against the bark and sighed.

More sighs were followed by yawns. My eyes refused to remain open and . . .

I woke to a soft sound, and my eyes snapped open. I flung my stick out blindly, and it clunked into—

With a grin, Xax latched onto my stick. He removed it from my grasp and placed it on the wide branch behind him.

“You won’t need that tonight,” he said.

“Maybe I’ll need it to keep you in line.” I rose to my shaky feet and peered around. While I’d dozed, the sun had set, and the forest had not only darkened, but it had also come alive. Shrieks rang out, followed by heavy thuds, and small things kept rustling the leaves overhead.

Pressing my back against the trunk, I hugged my waist and shivered.

“You’re cold.” He tugged me against his body, turned, and sat, gently settling me on his lap. His big warm arms enfolded me. “I’ll warm you and then we can eat.”

“I’m sorry.” My voice shook with my tremors.

“Why?”

“Here I am insisting I can defend myself, and the first thing I do? Fall asleep, leaving me exposed to every predator in the area.”

“None would’ve come near. They’d scent me and head in the opposite direction.”

“You were gone.”

“I was foraging.” He untied a small pouch secured to his loincloth waistband and opened it, pulling out a long strip of something tan he held out to me. “Dinner.”

I stared down at the solid thing about the length of a pencil and the thickness of . . . well, his cock. Definitely didn’t need to be thinking about his cock that was stirring beneath my body and felt longer than a pencil. “What is it?”

“A root that grows in moist soil. I dug them for our dinner and breakfast. Once we reach our village, we’ll have other things to eat.”

Would an alien root irritate my stomach? My belly shouted it was willing to give it a try, so I took a bite. It tasted vaguely like jicama, an Earth root vegetable I’d only had once but enjoyed. Crunchy and lightly sweet.

My belly cried out with joy.

We ate in companionable silence, finishing our roots. He had a second, though I deferred. I watched his strong white teeth munch through his meal, and when he untied the flask hanging from his side and held it out to me, I didn’t hesitate even a second before loosening the top and taking a number of long swallows.

“Water,” I whispered, still not eager to let anything in the area know we were here. “It tastes good.”

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