Page 25 of Claimed by an Alien Warrior

Rendash’s gaze slowly trekked along her body as he looked up. She had set down thehairdryerand clamped one hand on the cloth over her chest, pinning it in place, while her other hand tugged down on the bottom as though to cover more of her legs.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Oh, for the love of— Get out!”

Still confused — which was slightly better than acknowledging his embarrassment — Rendash backed out of the bathroom. Zoey slammed the door shut the instant he was clear of it. The noise of the hairdryer resumed immediately.

Lowering his hands to his sides, he walked back toward the bed. He was unused to these feelings — confusion, indecision, helplessness. And foolishness; how could he not feel foolish? He’d walked on so many alien worlds, but he’d never felt so out of place as he did now.

Rendash had no Nes’rak here, no objectives to accomplish save to make his escape. And he had to accomplish that with no Umen’rak, no weapons but those provided by his unreliable nyros, and no understanding of where he was or where he needed to go. To further complicate the situation, everything on this planet — especially the humans — was so strange and contradictory.

Despite the far more advanced technology of his people, he was clueless about the devices and machines these humans possessed, had no idea what their true capabilities were as a species.

Just to add another complication, he was now attracted to a soft little human female.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he stared blankly at the closed bathroom door. Perhaps it was a subconscious reaction. The notion that this was his final Nes’rak had been subtly laced through all his thoughts. He’d expected to complete the mission, return home, and retire. To take a mate and live in peace for the remainder of his days. When he’d first become an aekhora, retirement had seemed a silly notion. Why would he abandon the rush of battle, why forsake the pride of endangering himself for the protection of his people? But the notion had grown more appealing as time passed and the horrors of war mounted in his memory.

Still, a large part of him had considered the possibility of remaining an aekhora, as was also his right, of renewing his pledge and battling on with honor and courage until he met his inevitable end.

But then he’d crashed on Earth, and even with his nyros disrupted, he’d felt his surviving Umen’rak. They had been bound by the same ritual, by the same nyros, and had thus shared a bond that few beings — including most aligarii — could ever understand. He’d felt as, one-by-one, their essences faded. As one-by-one they’d died, tearing his heart to pieces and leaving a growing void in its place.

He couldn’t fool himself now. Perhaps it was against the teachings of selflessness, but he could not endure being bound to another Umen’rak, could not again bear the pain of feeling those connections breaking. He just wanted to live quietly.

His thoughts were disrupted by the opening bathroom door. He sat up straighter.

Zoey turned the light off and stepped out. She wore a blue top with sleeves that covered her arms and baggy leggings that matched, except for the white dots splattered all over them. Her long, dark hair was loose, flowing down her back and over her shoulders, so different from the coarse, thick crests of male aligarii. Though bathing seemed to have revitalized her — her skin had a more pronounced, if still faint, pink undertone now — her eyes displayed her weariness.

Rendash clenched his teeth. The fingers of his lower hands, which rested upon his knees, flexed involuntarily. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to touch her skin, her hair, her lips, to lose himself in her softness and warmth. To forget about the troubles weighing upon him, if only for a short while.

It didn’t matter that she was of another species; his body had gone so long without companionship, without release. He simplywanted.

A brighter flush spread across her cheeks as she met his gaze. She tucked loose strands of hair behind her little, rounded ear.

“Okay, so, um… I’m sorry, but there weren’t any rooms with two beds,” she said.

He tilted his head, focused more on the subtle change in her skin color than on her words; of what importance was the number of beds?

“Ren? Did you hear me?”

“Yes.”

Amongst his people, it would be considered disrespectful to shorten an individual’s name, but he took no insult in it. The familiarity with which she saidRenwas a small comfort — and comfort had been a rare thing in his life.

“So…you’re okay with sleeping on the floor, then?” she asked.

“Why would I need to sleep on the floor? This bed seems large enough.”

“Okay then. If you want the bed, I’ll take the floor.” She moved past him and reached for the pillows.

Rendash placed a hand atop the pillows, preventing her from lifting them. “There is room enough on the bed, human. Causing yourself unnecessary discomfort will not benefit our journey.”

Zoey frowned and tugged on the pillow. “I’m not sleeping in bed with you!”

“What is your objection?” he asked calmly. “I will be close enough to protect you, should an emergency arise, and it will allow us both the comfort of a decent place to sleep.”

Not that the bed seemed particularly comfortable, but it was a massive improvement over the accommodations during his captivity.

She gave the pillow a final, fruitless tug and growled. Something about the sound sent it straight to his cock. He barely suppressed a groan. After seeing her reaction to his nudity, he had no doubt she would refuse to be anywhere near him if she knew how his body was responding to her.

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