Page 27 of The Alien Warrior's Heart

“See?” Zar picked a piece of the tumari off and popped it into his mouth. It melted against his tongue. “It will not harm you, Si-Moon.”

Her dark look speared him, but her stomach gurgled again and this time, Si-Moon hunched over from the force of it. Zar’s smile disappeared and he grabbed her arm, helping to keep her up.

“Stubbornness will not ease the pain,” he growled.

She huffed, snapped the tumari from him and stalked off to the other side of the grove.

Zar stopped her.

She wrenched her shoulders and spun, glaring at him.

“Here,” he said firmly but softly. Handing her the flask of dama, he nodded. “You will need this to replenish your strength.”

Her eyes flickered as she accepted the drink from him.

Zar moved away from her, giving Si-Moon the distance she seemed to crave. As he returned to his resting zapten, Zar thought of the Heronas’s desperation to apprehend them.

Something had seemed odd about their strategy. They had kidnapped Clavas and the Healer three sun rotations ago in a surprise attack similar to the one they had launched on him.

Even a lone Plutonian packed a punch. To subdue one required a vast army and heavy artillery. The amount of effort the Heronas had used to capture him, Clavas and the Healer had seemed excessive and organized.

It was no secret that the Heronas habitually kidnapped lone Plutonians to experiment on. But this felt different.

Those masks…

Had he ever seen the Heronas wear those masks before?

A quiet thud pulled Zar from his worries.

Si-Moon!

Spinning around, Zar unleashed his dagger, prepared for the Heronas or Rulari assault, but he saw no one. His eyes dropped low and he found Si-Moon sitting with her back to a tree, sleeping soundly. The thump had come from her hand slapping the ground.

Zar’s heras pattered gently as the adrenaline waned, leaving only a strong warmth behind. He approached the female and stooped to his knees.

It was Zar’s first time seeing Si-Moon so relaxed. Oh, he knew her face when she was frightened and thinking he would force his heat into her without her permission. He knew her when she was boldly facing their enemies. He knew her snapping eyes and angry scowls.

But this… was different.

Thick black eyelashes fluttered softly in the breeze. The light bathed her dark skin and made it glow from within. Her long, slender fingers were coated in crumbs from the tumari. And her chest lifted softly with her breaths.

His heras tugged at her beauty. Though she drove him out of his mind, he was already so devoted to her. Her safety and comfort rested heavily on his shoulders. She had helped him escape the Heronas, but it was more than gratitude that drove him.

Zar knew that.

Just as he knew he did not deserve to look at her this way. To want her this way.

He would mate her.

Later.

For now, he would let her sleep.

Eleven

Simone

In her dream,she was safe at home in her bedroom. Someone was stroking her forehead. The soothing sensation made her want to cry.