Page 52 of Claimed by an Alien Warrior

Humans had been so strange when he’d first encountered them. So soft and weak, seemingly incomplete for their lack of limbs and eyes. He would never have believed that a human would become the most beautiful thing in his universe.

Rendash stood up and walked out of the room, not allowing himself to look at her as he paused to turn off the light. She needed rest, and he needed distance, if only to master his desires.

Chapter Eleven

Zoey moaned. It sounded different to her ears than it had in her dreams; this wasn’t a sound of ecstasy, it was one of agony. But then, her dreams usually weren’t accompanied by an intense throbbing in her skull, either.

“Zoey?” Ren’s voice, though soft, rolled through her head like a peal of thunder.

The mattress dipped, and her body slid toward the newly opened valley to stop against Ren. His hand settled on her side. Strange, but it felt as though his palm was touching her bare skin. Her nightshirt must have ridden up in her sleep. Right now, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

She brought her hands to her head and clenched her temples. It would be less painful if her head were cracked open — at least that would stand a chance of releasing some of the pressure.

“I’m dying, Ren,” she rasped. Each word was a unique pain in her throat, scraping like sandpaper on the way out, and her mouth was so dry that she wouldn’t have been surprised to see dust billowing from her lips as she spoke.

He sat up abruptly, making the mattress bounce. Zoey’s stomach lurched.

“What can I do to help?” he asked hurriedly.

Zoey cringed. “You can lower your voice, for starters.”

“I do not see how the volume of my voice has any effect on your condition,” he whispered.

“Because my head is going to explode if you don’t.” She moaned again, rolling onto her back.

His silence told her he’d taken her words literally.

Zoey cracked open her eyes and winced, shutting them again. Part of her brain understood that the room wasn’t brightly lit by any standards, but the glow from outside pierced her brain like a shard of glass.

“I need water,” she said. “And aspirin. An entire bottle of aspirin.”

“I will get you water,” he said gently, “but I do not knowaspirin.”

The bed creaked and wobbled again as he got up.

“Hold up,” she said, opening her eyes and scrambling off the bed. She clamped a hand over her mouth to contain the bile climbing her throat and stumbled across the floor until her vision adjusted to the light enough to identify the nearby bathroom. She was vaguely aware of Ren calling her name as she raced through the doorway and dropped to her knees in front of the toilet.

This was a new kind of hell. She gripped the edges of the bowl and retched, emptying her stomach of everything she’d eaten the night before. Agony clawed through her with each gag. Stars burst across her vision, blinding her with flashes of light that were blurred by the tears in her eyes, and her head really felt as though it would explode.

She became suddenly aware of Ren’s presence. Somehow, he folded himself into the small space without crowding her, pulled back her hair, and placed a comforting hand on her back. At that moment, it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. She was utterly embarrassed to be in such a state around him.

“I want to die,” Zoey cried.

“You are not allowed to,” he said firmly.

“You can’t stop me.”

“Watch me.”

Zoey heaved. It strained every muscle in her chest, neck, and face, and burned, and suffocated, and she hated it and really did want to die.

“Don’t argue with me when I’m sick,” she muttered weakly after it passed.

“Don’t argue withmewhen you’re sick,” he replied. He turned on the sink and handed her a little paper cup of water a moment later.

She used it to rinse her mouth. She was thirsty enough that she considered swallowing, but the thought made her shudder and threatened another bout of puking. Her mouth absorbed some moisture from it, at least.

Ren took the cup back and refilled it. “You need to drink, Zoey.”

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