Page 13 of Treasured By the Alien Rogue

He leaped.

I gasped.

We landed on the forest floor.

“Like that,” he drawled.

“Next time, give a girl some warning, would you?” I jerked away from him, then nearly fell when I tripped over a root.

He snagged my arm and kept me from landing hard on the ground. Here I was, continuously insisting I could protect myself, but I appeared as defenseless as a newborn kitten compared to him.

He untied the pouch and tugged out more roots, handing me one. Since the first hadn’t disagreed with me, I happily took it and started munching.

“Come along, mate,” he said cheerfully. He lifted his very limp purple plant and tucked the stem into the waistband of his loincloth. The big blossom bobbed in the air as he moved.

“I’m not a morning person,” I said, trotting along beside him. “I need at least two cups of tea to rev me up.”

“What’s tea?”

We rounded our tree and continued down a path weaving through the dense forest. Small, fluffy purple creatures hopped around on the forest floor. Spying us, they chittered and leaped into the trees, staring down at us as we passed.

“Leaves steeped in water,” I said.

He frowned. “Do you wash yourself in it?”

“No, I drink it.”

“Ah, I see.” His frown didn’t fade. “We can talk about tea when we reach our home.”

“Our home?”

“You plan to live by yourself?”

Not out here, but not with him either.

Before I could challenge him further about this, something made a peep sound on our right. I paused on the trail, wondering if something was about to attack.

Xax’s head tilted. When the thing peeped again, he lifted his finger. “Wait here.”

On the trail by myself with enormous birds and blue triceratops possibly lurking in the area? No thanks.

Maintain vigilance and position yourself in secure, open spaces. The words from one of my self-defense classes echoed in my mind. This space was too wide open. Keep your eyes open. Know who’s around and where you are.

Where I was? Lost if I didn’t keep sight of Xax.

I tiptoed after him.

“Do you have to pee?” I whispered. Actually, I might, and soon.

“No, I—”

Another peep came from our right.

He glanced over his shoulder at me before weaving around the bushes covered in spikes and pale blue flowers. Curious, I followed.

In a small clearing, he stopped and stooped down. At first, I didn’t see anything.

He scooped up a purple creature smaller than his palm and straightened, holding out his hands for me to see what he’d found. “A drettire pup.”

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