Page 29 of Claimed by an Alien Warrior

Despite everything, Zoey laughed. “Oh, my gosh, you cheeky bastard! What was all that about honor?”

“I was protecting you. You were so close to the edge of the bed, I didn’t want you to fall and get hurt.”

Zoey snorted and rolled her eyes, but something warm sparked in her chest. “Right. Protecting me from the big, bad, ugly floor.” Smiling, she stepped back, and Rendash released her. “While you’re battling the carpet, I’m going to get dressed. After that, I’ll run out to find you some clothes.”

He titled his head and narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean you’re going torun out?”

She swept her arm across the room. “There are no clothes for you here. To get those, I need to go to a store and buy some.”

“We do not need to delay for that. I will bring one of these cloths,” he gestured to the crumpled towel on the floor beside the bed, “and cloak myself as necessary.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to work.” She bent down over her suitcase and rummaged through her clothing. “I won’t be long.”

“I am not comfortable with this. You speak as though this is not like your trip to…to the drink machine, or whatever it was you visited last night.”

“Because it’s not.” She stood and walked past him. Plucking the remote off the nightstand, she turned on the TV and offered him the control. “You’ll be fine. No one knows you’re here, and we have until eleven to check out of this room. I’ll be back long before then. I promise.”

She grabbed his wrist, raised his arm, and placed the remote on his palm. He stared down at it dully.

“Don’t break that,” Zoey said. “It just changes the channels on the TV.”

Rendash looked up at her with a scowl. “And who will protect you, if I am not near?”

She arched a brow. “I take care of myself. I haven’t had anyone protecting me for a long time.”

His scowl shifted into an unhappy frown. “I will accept your word, human. You leave me little other choice.”

Zoey smirked. “Doesn’t feel so great, huh? And note that I didn’t even strangle you or anything.”

Chapter Eight

“This muck on my face feels disgusting,” Ren grumbled from the back seat.

Zoey pressed her lips together to hold back her laughter. He’d been complaining incessantly since she applied the foundation to his face. It didn’t look all that great, especially with it caking in the tiny gaps between his scales, but at least people in passing cars wouldn’t see a big green alien if they happened to look his way. His hood and sunglasses helped obscure his appearance.

“It’s not like I have tinted windows or anything, so it’s kind of necessary.” She glanced at him in the rearview mirror and finally lost her struggle, allowing a rogue chuckle to slip out.

“As I said, I could have just remained cloaked during the journey.”

“How long can you keep that up?” she asked. “Because something tells me if you could maintain it, you would’ve kept it going during the entire car ride last night.”

He muttered something in a strange language.

“What? What was that? I didn’t quite hear you. Did you say you want me to turn around and go back to your friends with the helicopters?”

“No,” Rendash snapped. “But nobody will be fooled by thisdisguise. It seems an unnecessary source of discomfort.”

“No one will be staring at you long enough to notice that. You look human enough at a passing glance. Just…keep those extra eyes closed, and your extra arms out of sight.”

“They are notextra.”

“By your own standards.” She grinned; she couldfeelhis eyes burning into the back of her head.

“You are enjoying this?” he asked.

“No, not at all.” She pressed her lips together tightly to keep from laughing.

“You told me yesterday that you are a terrible liar, and that was a true admission.”

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