Page 67 of Alien Rescue

“You have my body and my heart. If you do not live, I do not wish to live,” he said, his voice sounding more gravelly than usual. He held her closer to his body.

Rose swallowed. She’d never been important to anyone but her mother. Her father never wanted to see her again, and her brother probably feared the destruction she’d bring if he reached out to her.

She cupped his cheek. “You have my heart too, Zanr.” She didn’t know when or how it had happened, but she’d fallen for her Komodo dragon.

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning, she woke from the feel of soft butterflies landing on her cheeks. She smiled at the sun shining down on her, and the soft wings of the beautiful creatures against her cheeks. Weird, she’d thought they were extinct.

“Wake, my breeder, we will do morning sex.”

Her smile widened. Not butterflies, but Zanr kissing her cheeks. They made slow, leisurely love and afterward, she snuggled into the blankets. She might just spend the whole day in bed.

Zanr went to the bathroom, and she watched his muscled buttocks with a small smile.

“I need to report to Zacar.”

“What about Morgan? We need to find out what he was doing with the ship.”

“We will get him, but first I must check in. I have to go to the submarine and talk to my fellow warriors. I will return in a few hours. You will rest.”

“I will?”

He leaned over and pressed his forehead against hers and then kissed her. “Yes, you will rest. While you rest, you may search Morgan’s TC for answers.”

She could feel her eyes widen. “We have his TC?”

He nodded. “I took it when we went to his apartment.”

After he left, she sat down at the table and activated her TC. A terrible suspicion wouldn’t leave her alone. She took the TC Zanr had taken from Morgan and entered his password. One good thing about having a scary-looking alien at your side was that you didn’t have any problems getting passwords and answers out of people.

Rose typed in the name she found on the TC when she’d researched the superman crack case. The name of one of her father’s people. She waited for the details of the people he’d been in contact with to come up. It was amazing how good a case she’d built with only the TC. By the time she could tackle it in earnest, she’d already know most of the players. And she very much feared where the clues would leave her.

***

The next day, Zanr crouched on the edge of the cliff, looking out at the valley. He liked this mountain. Zyrgin would always be his home, but this place had taken his heart. The same way Rose had.

Rose was taking a shower and it usually took a long time. Soon, they would have a few hours in the sleeping place. She’d lost feeling in her hands and complained of dizziness, but she insisted she wanted to live a normal life as long as she could. What would he do if he lost her? If he could never spend hours with her in the sleeping place? This night, while they still could, he’d make sure to do all the things she liked him to do to her body. And he’d tell her again that she had his heart; she liked that. And he would offer to buy her whatever she wanted. She would realize she had a good warrior and would want to stay with him if they managed—no, when they managed to get the nanos out of her. A crawling sensation crept down his spine—a sensation that only one being in this world could cause.

He looked around. He’d heard that the Parenadorz could appear out of the blue, but he had never seen it. That day in the desert, he’d been focused on killing the lizard. He’d known if he didn’t manage to get his prey, he would be too weak to find another. His only chance had been to stay strong enough to get through his first change. The Zyrgin had walked up to him, but he couldn’t remember if he’d just appeared.

“I have waited a long time to have this conversation with you, warrior,” the Zyrgin said behind him.

Zanr spun around and saluted. The rumors about the Zyrgin’s abilities must be true. He’d appeared out of thin air.

“I am honored, my leader.” Why would the Paranadorz seek him out? If he tried to keep Rose from him, he’d have to find a way to disappear with her.

The Zyrgian paced up and down. His body vibrated with energy, as if standing still would cause him to overload. Zanr stood still. “I rescued you all those years ago because I knew you would make a good warrior,” the Zyrgin said from behind him.

Zanr couldn’t fathom having the ability to travel between planets and across galaxies. Zacar had inherited his incredible strength from The Zyrgin; he could easily take on all the warriors at headquarters and walk away the victor. But Zacar had inherited none of the strange powers his bloodline was known for.

“You knew even then?” He stood at attention, his heart beating as if he was in the midst of a battle.

“At ease, warrior.” The Zyrgin came to stand next to him, looking out over the picturesque valley beneath them. “The humans have one advantage over us.”

Zanr waited. He didn’t think they had any advantage over Zyrgins, but he was curious to hear why the Zyrgin would think like that. Also, he wasn’t about to contradict a being who could move between planets without a spaceship. “They have family, tight family units. That gives them a strength that is formidable.”

“It also gives them a weakness.” Rose had nearly killed herself trying to prove herself to her father.

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