Page 60 of Kissed By the Alien
Mine to protect. Nothing more.
Hunzu follows me, as silent as any warrior.
My female’s humming from the far side of the room echoes, reaching me, but it fails to move me. That’s how dead I am inside. When I touch her, I’ll feel alive again.
She bends over a large trunk, tossing clothing right and left searching for something. She’s already tucked her hair up into a dark dray hat, one with a rim around the base. Smart. She can pull it forward to hide her face. But with her long hair pulled up, she’s exposing her graceful neck. One that does not look masculine in the least. The coat she wears barely reaches her knees, showing off shapely,barelegs.
What are you planning, my cunning Lexi?
The first wisps of anger rise within me as I realize she has not taken proper care to disguise herself. Anyone can see she’s female, merely by looking at her legs or her neck. She’s preparing to go out and put herself in danger. Even if she stays away from my investigation, I do not want her continuing her activities, but I have no say over her.
I’m left with a dilemma of how to protect her. How to scold her without demeaning her. How to make it clear that she must find another means to help her father—if this is still her goal—without risking herself.
Hunzu puts a calming hand on my shoulder. He must see the tension in my torso, my horns. “Think of your training,” he whispers in Zyanthan.
Lexi stills, straightening her body, but doesn’t turn around. For as quiet as Hunzu was, in a building this empty, with no machinery or outside noises destroying the calm, even a whisper is hard to miss.
“I thought this place would be empty,” I say as I approach her to let her know I’m here and she does not need to fear. My footsteps are silent and slow, controlled, as I stall. I have to decide what type of male I’ll be with my sholani. The type she needs and deserves, or the drekker I’ve been so far.
Lexi responds to reason and honesty. These are the tools I should use with her, to convince her to stay away from Moses, his gang, and the Brotherhood.
No words come to me as I wrap my arms around her, the need to touch and breathe her paramount. She balances me.
But not in this moment. Something is off.
Her body tenses, as does mine. My horns shoot straight up and I’m suddenly on guard, listening for what is out of place. We’re alone, just the three of us, but something?—
“Oomph!” I stumble back, as an elbow drives into my gut so hard I’m momentarily winded. Her fist flies toward my face as she spins around. My left arm rises and blocks. A second later, my left hand wraps around her throat and tightens.
“Where is my sholani?” I demand of this female I don’t recognize. She wears Lexi’s clothing, but she is definitely not Lexi. Taller with dark hair that spills out from beneath the cap I dislodged by thrusting her against the wall.
Dark eyes widen with fear as I’m yanked away from the female. Hunzu places himself between us, his back to her and his horns pointed at me, as if I’ve threatened him.
“This is not my sholani,” I say instead of asking him why he’d point his horns at me. “My female is missing, another is rummaging through her belongings.”
I now know why I’ve been unsettled since the moment I arrived. I do not detect even a trace of Lexi’s scent here.
“I see it’s not your female,” Hunzu answers in Zyanthan. “But that does not mean she is the enemy. Get ahold of yourself, Lutan. Start thinking like a warrior, or you will create more problems than we already have.”
“But Lexi?—”
“We don’t know where she is. We know nothing, and you’ve just threatened our only lead.” Slowly, he steps aside, leaving nothing between me and this female.
Her eyes meet mine, and then she sidesteps to hide behind Hunzu, the one she trusts.
“Hiding will not help you if any harm has come to Lexi,” I say, barely containing the growl rising from the depths of my soul.
“Lexi?” a feminine voice squeaks as she leans part way from behind Hunzu, enough that I can see her face and the concern there.
“Hunzu, step aside,” I order.
He abides but watches me closely. “You will not touch her,” he warns.
The female steps to his side, a smile forming on her face as her eyes run down Hunzu before she faces me. “You mentioned Lexi. Are you the alien she’s been seeing? Lou?”
“Lutan,” I correct.
“Oh, yes, sorry. I’m not great with names. I’m Vivienne, by the way.”
