Page 6 of Hunter's Valentine

She hadn’t tried to flag down or contact the human vehicle when it had driven near. She must not know them, or perhaps she did and knew they were dangerous. I must’ve been mistaken. The vehicle couldn’t have been from the bunker.

She blew out her breath, her frustration at the map transcending the language barrier between us.

“What are you looking for?”

She jumped at the sound of my voice, which was eerily loud in the silence. “Nothing,” she said.

“One does not look for nothing,” I said, stating the obvious. “What are you looking for?”

“None of your business,” she quipped. “It’s already bad enough that I got caught in that bug stampede you created. You say I ruined your hunt? Well, I sayyouruinedmytravels.”

“Where are you traveling to?”

Was she returning to her shelter rather than leaving it? That would explain why she was so far from her shelter so early in the day. She did mention having supplies. Yes, that must be it. She must be heading back to her shelter with supplies she’d found, and not the other way around.

Were her people expecting her? Would they send a team out looking for her if she didn’t return on time?

Krux! That would disrupt my hunting even more!

Perhaps waiting until tomorrow to try my hunt again was a bad idea. Instead, I could initiate the hunt today in the late afternoon, when most of the scourge would be returning to their nest. As long as they were between here and the nest, it would work. I wouldn’t catch as many scuttlers, and I’d have to deal with a lot more flyers, but it would still be a successful hunt.

Sara still hadn’t replied to my question, so I decided on a peace offering. We’d had a rocky start, but I understood now that she hadn’t meant to mess up the hunt on purpose. “When are you expected back at your underground shelter? I have slowed you down. I will help you return on time.”

Judging by the look on her face, that had been the wrong thing to say.

“I don’t need your help, alien.”She poked me in the chest again.

This time, she’d removed her thin gloves, and the skin where we touched sizzled with awareness. Her fingertips werealso ice-cold—humans were notoriously bad at regulating their temperatures—and I had the sudden thought to warm her up.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you enjoy touching me.”

“I do not!” She shoved me away, but I trapped her hand on my chest, bringing her with me as I leaned back against the wall.

She stumbled because of our height difference and fell against my chest.

“There,” I said. “You no longer need to pretend to be angry to touch me.”

She was much colder than I’d thought she’d be. Maybe that was why she didn’t immediately move away. But that didn’t explain my own actions. I did not need a human female reliant on me. She’d be better off with a hunter who actually wanted a mate or, better yet, a male of her own species.But just the thought of another male holding her suddenly had me wanting to fight an enemy that wasn’t there.

Her intoxicating scent invaded my senses. My arms moved on their own, one of them tightening around her ass and lifting her up higher. The fingers of my other hand tangled in her hair. I wanted to bury my face in her clothes and find the source of her essence. Instead, I just pressed my nose to her neck and inhaled.

She gasped and froze.

The scent was heavenly, if such a place existed. According to hunter lore, it did, but it was a place full of all the scourge a warrior could fight, endless battles, and endless victories. This was a promise of something else. Something better.

My chest, which had been silent until now, exploded in an insistent rumble so loud that it threatened to shake apart theentire building. I lifted my head, shocked at my inability to control the sound.

Her eyes went wide. “Oh my god! You’re purring!”

Hunters did not purr. But our chests did rumble when we were in the presence of a mating-compatible female—although that did not necessarily mean that she was my mate. Just compatible.

I should release her and put some distance between us before the mate bond reared its ugly head. I didn’t want a mate!

Instead, I bent my head to bury my face in her neck again. But she moved, and instead of her neck, my lips landed on the corner of her mouth. Instinct took over, perhaps aided by the fact that I’d seen human-Xarc’n couples do the human mouth-mating dance at New Franklin. It had never intrigued me, but right now, it was all I wanted to do.

Against my better judgment, I covered her mouth with mine. Just one taste to sate my curiosity, I told myself. I’d let her go after; no harm done.

Sara pounded on my chest twice, hard, before she melted in my arms, her body molding to mine. And then she was kissing me back.

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