Page 23 of Claimed by an Alien Warrior

Her disgust was strong enough to make her nauseous. What made it worse was that she knew he cared, in his own, immature way. He’d never been cruel to her in their time together — well, apart from going behind her back with other women — but he’d never been attracted to her either, not in any way meaningful enough to count.

zo where r u? u at a friends? i know ur mad but b careful.

zo where r ur things? plz answer me!

The last message he’d sent had been two hours ago. He was likely sleeping by now.

If he’s not banging some other chick.

Zoey switched back to Melissa’s message and sent a reply.

Made it to Vegas. Call me in the morning. XOXO

Unmuting her phone, she dropped it back into her purse and took out her wallet.

She returned to the room a few minutes later with an armful of bottled water, slipping in and closing the door quietly behind her. The shower was running, which meant Rendash was still in there. Zoey tried not to imagine water streaming over his scales and between the ridges of his muscles.

She failed.

“Something is seriously wrong with me,” she muttered. She dropped her purse on the table near the door, placed the bottles on the nightstand, and sat on the edge of the bed.

Grabbing the fast food bag, she laid the value-menu hamburgers — ten in total — atop the blanket. After a moment’s consideration, she dug the candy bars out of her purse and added them to the food pile. She picked up a burger, unwrapped it, and ate, sipping water. When she’d finished, she reached for another one.

Her hand froze before she touched the wrapper as Josh’s words echoed in her head.

I’m just…not attracted to you.

Maybe if you’d have put in some effort to lose a little weight.

She withdrew her extended hand, dropping it onto her lap. Her chest felt tight. It wasn’t fair that he could just brush this all off like it was no big deal. It wasn’t fair thathewas the one who’d done wrong, butshewas the one who got to feel shitty over it.

The shower turned off. Shortly after, the bathroom door opened, and Rendash stepped out amidst a cloud of steam.

She opened her mouth to tell him to cover up again, but she was distracted by the glistening droplets on his scales, which created little reflections as they rolled down his body. It was a welcome distraction, considering the place her mind had gone a few moments before.

“You have returned,” he said. He stretched a towel between his lower hands and wrapped it around his waist as he walked toward her in long, slow strides. His muscles rippled with his movements, and once again, Zoey imagined running her tongue over them, catching each and every drop of water.

She cleared her throat — which was suddenly very dry— and forced her eyes away, pushing the food toward him. “Not the best food in the world, but it’s food.”

Stopping to lean over the bed, he plucked up a burger. He peeled back the wrapper and sniffed at the food within. Tentatively, he took the burger between two of his long fingers, brought it to his lips, and bit off a small piece.

Rendash chewed thoughtfully, took another nibble, and chewed more. Then he devoured the rest of the burger in two large bites.

“There’s plenty more,” Zoey said, grabbing one of the water bottles from the nightstand and handing it to him. “And water.”

He accepted the bottle in his upper right hand and picked up another burger in his upper left. In an impressive show of dexterity, he unwrapped the burger and opened the bottle simultaneously with his lower hands. He gestured at her vaguely as he sat on the bed. It dipped wildly under his weight.

“You must eat also, human.”

“I ate already.” Zoey pushed herself to her feet, walked to her suitcase, and kneeled to open it.

“Did you eat enough?” he asked around a mouthful that must’ve consisted of nearly an entire burger.

She glanced down at her body. “Yeah. Plenty.” Frowning, she dug through her clothes and pulled out her pajamas and a pair of panties, folding the former over the latter. She closed the suitcase.

“I’m going to take a shower now.” Zoey stepped past Rendash, careful not to touch him, and felt his eyes on her as she crossed the room.

Rendash watched Zoey, admiring the sensual swaying of her hips and backside as she walked until she slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

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