Page 42 of Claimed by an Alien Warrior

“Are you all right, Zoey?”

“I’m fine.” Leaning over the small table between the beds, she picked up a device attached to a spiral cord and held it to her ear.

“Remember, you are a poor liar,” he said.

“I just really don’t want to talk about catching you jerking off to porn, okay?”

He turned his head to glance at the plastic bin in which she’d deposited the disc. “I…don’t understand what you mean.”

Zoey looked at him with her eyebrows low. “Porn! The people having sex on the TV!” She pressed her lips together and turned her face away, glaring at the device in her hand. “A lot of men like to get off on it.”

The displeasure in her voice was underscored by traces of anger, but he got the sense that there was more she wasn’t saying. “I was not…getting off on it.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” she said quickly. “I shouldn’t have acted that way, much less make you feel…ashamed about it.”

“I do not feel shame over it. Only confusion.” He moved to sit on the bed opposite her. “You seem to have taken personal issue over the matter.”

Anger flashed in her eyes when she looked at him, but it quickly died. She sighed. “I used to catch Joshua watching it. A lot.”

Rendash leaned forward, resting his lower elbows on his thighs. “Help me understand why that is a problem. I have encountered nothing like this in my time.”

Zoey lowered the device to its cradle and ran a hand through her hair. The action sent a burst of fragrance toward him, which he greedily inhaled.

“Humans…really enjoy sex. The gratification of it. That’s what porn thrives on, giving people something to get excited about to help them to that point of climax. It’s meant to arouse. And human men are very visual. Let’s just say…I discovered just how important that was.”

He frowned. “You seem hesitant to continue, but you’ve left me only with more questions.”

“It’s because I’m fat!” she snapped. “I’m not appealing. Josh watched porn because he was dissatisfied by my appearance.Thosewere the women he wanted. Not me. He turned it on every time we were…intimate. He said it was toset the mood. I was just too dumb, or too desperate, to acknowledge what he really meant.” Her bottom lip trembled.

Rendash reached forward, and, before she could react, gathered her in his arms and pulled her into his lap.

“W-what are you doing?” she asked, body stiffening.

He brushed some of her still-damp hair out of her face. “This Josh must be a blind fool to want other females over you.”

She tilted her head back and looked up at him. “What?”

“Josh is a blind fool.” He turned his hand and trailed his knuckles over the soft skin of her cheek. She shivered. “If he could not see your appeal, he does not deserve to have you as a mate.”

Zoey’s breath hitched as she stared up at him. There was another scent coming from her. He’d smelled it before on a couple other occasions, but holding her in his arms now, so close to him, it was strengthened, heightening his awareness of her. It engaged those instincts — the deep, primal ones — over which he had little control.

He was hyperaware of every spot where their bodies were touching — her shoulder pressed against his chest, his hands on her ribcage just beneath her full breast, on her waist, and on her upper thigh. Most of all, her rounded backside upon his hardened cock.

“I…should call the pizza place before it gets too late,” Zoey said. “A lot of, uh… A lot of places close early. In small towns…like this one.”

Despite her words, she was subtly leaning closer to him, her pink lips parted. Rendash’s heart pounded.

Control. Detachment.

He clenched his jaw and drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs until it hurt. He released the air slowly, closing his eyes. He’d never felt the need to possess anything like he longed to possess Zoey now.

“Warm food would be welcome,” he finally said, gently sliding her off his lap and depositing her on her feet. It took an extra surge of willpower to remove his hands from her. “The sooner we eat and rest, the sooner we can continue on our way.”

“Right.” Zoey remained in place, staring at him; he didn’t know if it was a trick of his mind, but she seemed to sway toward him infinitesimally before stepping back.

She picked up the corded handset again and pressed a series of buttons on its cradle. He distantly heard another voice coming through the device before Zoey responded.

Rendash tensed, barely stopping himself from snatching the device out of her hand.

---