Page 38 of Alien Prince's Claim

YALTAH

I had been so focused on getting us somewhere safe, somewhere the attackers wouldn’t find us, wouldn’t think to search, that I hadn’t considered Emily’s physical condition.

She was strong — our earlier endeavors in the Mating Suite had proven that much — but she was still a smaller, weaker species than me and I should have realized she would reach her limit sooner than I would mine.

In fact, she had likely long since passed it and was now beyond exhausted.

As she began to fall beneath her own weight, I fell down with her, and caught her in my arms.

The outline of her lips had turned a strange shade of white-blue that I didn’t think was healthy.

Her breaths came in deep wheezing gasps that wracked her whole body.

I ran a finger down her skin and felt some kind of gritty deposit on the tips of my fingers.

I pressed it to my tongue and recognized it as salt.

She had pushed her body to the limit… and then beyond it.

Now, she could hardly stay conscious.

Her weight was light in my arms and I carried her easily, but that wasn’t going to help her recover.

If she can recover.

I had seen other creatures, far stronger physically than her, having failed to return from Emily’s current appearance.

They had collapsed and died from exhaustion.

I refused to allow that to happen to Emily, especially since it was my fault she was in such a state.

I peered around the room and spotted a small, battered box.

I tugged the tiny door open and, such was my strength, tore the whole thing off.

I felt icy coolness and reached inside the refrigerator to find one and a half bottles of chilled water.

I snapped the top open and placed it at Emily’s mouth and gently eased her back.

Her eyes were shut and she was barely conscious.

“Drink,” I whispered gently in her ear. “You must drink.”

She had lost so much fluid that she needed to replace it.

She drank slowly, coughing as the water went down the wrong way.

“Good,” I said, grinning with pride that she had listened and trusted me.

Now I had to get her muscles moving, the blood pumping.

I massaged her legs and moved them, pressing against the joints to mimic the movement they would have had if she had been able to walk of her own volition.

I focused on her legs as those were the largest muscles in her body and would help pump the blood around her body easier.

Her lips were still white-blue.

She lacked oxygen, I realized.

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