Page 74 of The Alien Warrior's Heart

“Remember, Plutonian, my bombs will be waiting.”

Zar started walking.

“You have until sunrise,” Dizid yelled. “Bring the expeh back to this point before the moon’s fall or the only thing you and your mate will be waking up to is the afterlife.”

Zar dug his fingers into fists, corralling his rage with all his strength even as he longed to tear Dizid limb-from-limb.

When he returned to the dwelling, he headed straight to the room where Si-Moon was sleeping. Kneeling beside her, he draped his fingers along her cheek.

Zar heard a shuffling sound and spun to find Chozo standing in the doorway. The brood stared at him with dark eyes.

His heras burned as he stared back.

To protect his female, he had to save the Heronas.

Zar had no other choice but to give Chozo over to Dizid.

Twenty-Eight

Simone

A pulsingfog slipped through her mind, redder and thicker than a storm. Simone opened her eyes, wary of the nightmare that lingered still.

Hoping to calm down, she sucked in a breath and thought of what had happened in the bathroom. Sharing her past with Zar had felt like she was peeling her skin off. Painful as it sounded, she had never felt freer.

Zar had taken the ugly parts of her, cradled it in his hands and made it beautiful. That an alien had been the one to make her feel more human was something Simone couldn’t really figure out.

“Zar…” Simone reached around in the darkness.

He was gone.

Strange.

She’d expected him to be lying next to her.

Maybe he was with the other Plutonians?

Simone shuffled her legs, moving carefully. Zar had not been gentle when he filled her. It was as if he’d been trying to get all the frustration out of his system. He’d bitten and stroked and nuzzled her until her body almost split in half.

Simone knew that walking properly would not be an option for at least several days. Not after the way Zar had manhandled her.

She’d accepted it. The pleasure. The pain.

The way they’d both cried out as they unraveled made her think they were on the same page.

Zar had emptied his rage out in her.

It was time for them both to heal and move on.

“Zar…” Simone stood. Discomfort eased between her thighs and she winced, wondering if her body would ever get used to the size of him. During mating, the pleasure made it easier to bear but afterwards was still uncomfortable for her.

Simone felt thin, flat fingers bounce on her shoulder. She whirled around. In the shadows of the empty room, she saw Chozo sitting beside her. His mask fogged up with every heavy breath. Through the white mist, she could make out his eyes, downcast and sad.

He swallowed and the movement rippled down his long neck. “Are you alright?”

How did she explain that her emotions were rubbed as raw as her thighs? That awful memories had been brought to the surface by talking about her childhood? That being devoured in an alien bathroom stall was as rowdy and risqué as it sounded?

Simone shook her head. “I’m okay.”