Page 28 of Claimed by an Alien Warrior

She sniffled and looked away from him.

Gently clasping her chin, he guided her face back toward him. “You could have betrayed me. Could have left. But you did not. This is not easy for either of us, it is not convenient, but to keep both of us safe, we cannot leave such things to chance.”

“I know, and you’re right,” she said, meeting his eyes. She wasn’t sure which to focus on, so she picked the center pair.

At heart, she knew the phone wasn’t the real reason for how she felt — a big part of it, absolutely, but not the primary motivation. It had been Joshua’s voice that pushed her over. His lack of shame and guilt. The way he’d spoken like nothing had happened and then had the nerve to get mad at her for being with another guy. In his mind, Zoey was supposed to be grateful that he’d dated herdespiteher size. She was supposed to be the easily replaced one in their relationship, not him.

Zoey didn’t doubt he was upset about her potentially spending money on another man, too. Even though she’d been the sole source of income for the last several months, Josh had a knack for viewing it ashismoney. He only called ittheirswhen she pressed him on the matter.

“You are also right,” Ren said. “Even if the human method of toiling endlessly to meet basic life needs is foolish and cruel, I should respect your investment in that barbaric system.”

The corners of Zoey’s lips twitched. “It is pretty barbaric, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he replied, and whatever smile he might’ve offered her faded with his next question. “Who was that male you were speaking to?”

“My boyfriend. Well…ex-boyfriend.”

“You will have to explain. I was taught a great many words in your language, but that teaching did not extend to what many things are named.”

“Um, a boyfriend — or girlfriend — is someone you’re dating. A male friend, but someone you want to get closer to and have a relationship with. If you find the right one, you might end up marrying that person.”

“You are speaking of mating?” he asked. “Of sex?”

Zoey’s cheeks burned. “Well, yeah. That’s usually part of being in a relationship.”

“And your relationship with him ended?” His frown deepened. “Was it because he cheated in a game?”

Zoey’s brows furrowed. “Cheated in a game? What are you talking about?”

“When you were stopped and questioned, you said your boyfriend was cheating on you.”

Realization dawned on her; he’d heard her tell off Officer Asswipe. “Oh… No, it wasn’t a game. He cheated on me. He slept… He had sex with other women.”

Rendash’s eyes darkened, and his muscles tensed. She was suddenly reminded of how close he was, of his hands on her, of his heat and scent.

“But you were mated,” he said, as though that made the whole situation too ridiculous to have been real.

Zoey’s eyes burned, but she shrugged nonchalantly. “It didn’t mean anything to him.”

“So he is a human without honor,” Ren said, baring his fangs. “Is our current course going to bring us near him?”

Strangely, she wasn’t frightened by his show of teeth. His anger wasn’t directed at her — at least this time. “No. I left him. I’m driving away from him.”

Rendash made a sound that was part grunt, part growl. “Unfortunate. I would have gladly spared some time to teach him the meaning of honor.”

Zoey was somewhat grateful Rendash wouldn’t be meeting Joshua. As hurt and angry as she felt, she didn’t want to have Josh’s blood on her hands, even if Rendash only meant to rough him up a little. “I don’t think he has an honorable bone in his body. I would rather just forget about him.”

“So…” He trailed his palm down her arm and covered her hand with his. Her skin tingled under his touch. “Being beyond his communication is a good thing then, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but don’t think you’re off the hook for destroying my phone,” Zoey said, shooting him a glare. “That was stillmine. I could’ve just turned it off.”

“We cannot risk it,” he said, “just as we should not risk remaining here much longer. I sense we’ve a long way to travel, and we are far too close to where they must be searching.”

Zoey looked down at his hand. It was so large compared to hers, the green of his scales accentuated against her pale skin. She dropped her gaze farther, and her eyes widened. She cleared her throat but couldn’t look away from the massive erection between his legs.

“Yeah, well, it’s probably best not go anywhere until we get you some clothes. Wait…” Her brow furrowed as she tilted her head back to look up into his eyes. “Were your arms around me this morning? Did you pull me closer last night?”

He grinned knowingly. “I cannot say for certain. I was asleep.”

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