Page 15 of Seized by the Alien Space Warrior (Alien Romance #8)

Chapter Fifteen

C hildren darted around Ava, their shaggy manes flying behind them as they raced along the makeshift streets, little lion-like faces open with joy. They seemed happy, but their clothing was worn. Their boots a little too big. Their coats a little too snug. One of the stragglers, a child that came to her hips, darted in front of her and lost his footing when his boot scuffed over a rock. Ava caught him as he fell into her.

Her fingers closed about his shoulders. There was nothing but skin and bone to the child, even though he seemed energetic. The child froze in her arms, his features stricken as he peered up at her.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she said.

The child’s eyes grew rounder, seeming to take up a lot of space on his face. His mouth fell open but no words came out. She released his shoulders, but he remained rooted to the spot.

“I guess you want to catch up to your friends. It’s okay. You can go.” Ava smiled and the child went more rigid before his gaze slid to Aekon.

She looked helplessly at Kaico.

“Off you go, Glint. These beings are friends. There’s nothing to worry about,” Kaico said.

The child hesitated, and then giving them a wide berth, darted around them.

“The first time he’s seen someone like us, huh?” she asked.

“This is the first time many have seen another species in the flesh,” Kaico said.

Ava peered about, noticing that the activity had stopped, and the beings surrounding them looked at her with open curiosity. She guessed to them, she was the other species. That was a strange thought.

Although they were Ixod, they clearly weren’t the same as the Ixod who had bought her from the Reptile aliens, or the ones that had chased them through the town. Although her skin prickled with the awareness of dozens of eyes on her, there was no hostility. She stifled a shudder, glad she was here and not back in that room aboard the Ixod ship.

If she ignored the fact they were a different alien species, the similarities to her hometown was uncanny. They were just regular families raising regular children, doing the best they could. There was just one big difference.

“Kaico, why is everyone living down here?”

Kaico turned knowing, sad eyes on her. “That is what we wish to speak to your Dhasu about.”

“Oh, he’s not my Dhasu,“ Ava said.

Aekon stiffened and she forced her gaze to remain on Kaico. Her stomach rolled to her toes. What happened between them should never have happened. She knew better than to do something like that, and especially given her precarious situation, doing anything remotely like that was just plain stupid. She’d never been a woman to be caught in a compromising position. Her squeaky clean reputation drew her sponsors. She represented good health and fitness. Nobody had caught her doing anything remotely sexual because she simply didn’t do it.

She worked hard. She kept her nose to the grindstone. Her focus was so strong, no man had ever come close to breaking it. She’d never been tempted. Not like this. Not so soul-consuming. She hadn’t been able to keep her hands—or other body parts—off him.

She never climaxed so hard or fast in her life either.

On a visceral level, he made her burn . She could almost imagine a cord of golden light joining their hearts, which was utterly ridiculous because she wasn’t prone to romantic ideas.

She was sure it wasn’t merely one sided. A man didn’t kiss as though he was losing his mind like that. Not with so much passion. She’d tasted the desire on his tongue. Seen the burn in his gaze.

It wasn’t only that he’d rejected her. She had thick skin. She was an adult. She could handle that. It was that he’d shut down so quickly and completely it was like a door slammed in her face. Hot one moment, chilled the next.

She had thought the moment was shared. Instead, he might have acted out of pity, which made it even worse. Maybe that was why she was so confused. She didn’t understand, but maybe she never would.

It wasn’t as though she was dealing with a man. Or even a human. Hell, for all she knew, this was normal for his species. But in order not to be an emotional wreck, she couldn’t let him close again.

This wasn’t the time or the place and she definitely wasn’t in the right mindset to cope with anything like this. Under normal circumstances, she might consider a male like him for a brief relationship. Even though he was so foreign, he was incredibly sexy and she knew first hand that his body was perfection. Who knew she would be into charcoal skin, glowing yellow eyes, and flashing nodes that seemed to light up like Christmas when she was close.

He ignored them whenever it happened, but the gold colour was the most beautiful colour she’d ever seen. Bright and burnished, it was pure and when it happened, she couldn’t peel her eyes from its beauty. In that moment, she was hypnotised by it.

Her body was a different thing to her mind though. Her body desired him with a deep, urgent, confusing passion. Her heart? She didn’t even understand why that was entering into the equation. She hadn’t known Aekon long enough to feel anything more than ‘interest’.

She was just a job to him. He’d told her several times and made no more promises other than getting her to this Sanctuary where he would go on his merry way again. But the thing was, she didn’t want him to leave her. She wanted him to stay. With her.

God, she was going insane if she wasn’t there already.

Maybe, when she got to the Sanctuary, she could find a way home. Although Aekon had told her it was unknown how long she’d been in the cryo-sleeper, or even that he had no idea where Earth was, she had to hold out some hope. Right?

If she had no hope, then that meant she accepted her life as she knew it was – over. Ripped away from her. Her friends and family – gone. They might even have accepted that she was dead and had moved on with their lives. It depended on how long she’d been asleep for. Weeks. Months. Years... Longer? Were they even still alive?

Her stomach clenched as her thoughts spiralled. She might really have nothing to go back to. If ever the day came that she might have a chance – would she take it knowing her developing feeling about Aekon? Even if they weren’t reciprocated, she’d felt more than she’d felt towards any man on Earth. Stronger. Keener. As though she’d touched his soul and it had been – beautiful.

And he’d shut her down.

She rubbed her forehead as a headache began to throb behind her eyes.

Kaico’s brows squished together and his gaze slid from her to Aekon. “My apologies, it’s just that…”

“Yes?” Ava asked when Kaico’s words drifted away.

He shook his head, his shaggy mane tossing this way and that. “It is nothing. I don’t mean to over step. Please, if you follow me, Brenur will answer your questions.”

She followed Kaico through the rough streets and past worn tents to the large circus tent in the middle of the settlement. She ignored Aekon’s large body trailing each step she took, and the way he sometimes moved his shoulder to protect her from a large male Ixod that stepped too close, the way he prowled, each step measured and confident and filled with possession.

She needed to consider him to be a bodyguard. A frightening, warrior bodyguard that held her tender heart in the cusp of his clawed palm.

She was a complete and utter mess.

She needed to stop overthinking.

Ava forced her attention to the things around her. Her bare feet on the cool ground. The throb of her shoulder. They headed towards the tent she considered to be the circus tent, but it was neither white nor red nor yellow but the colour of the dirt beneath her feet.

Kaico drew the tent flaps aside so she could step through. The scent of cooked food made her mouth instantly water. Kaico was right. The protein bar only did so much. She was ravenous.

“Welcome. How are you feeling, human female?” Brenur sat at a low circular table in the middle of the tent. The table was piled high with dishes of meat, vegetables, and grains, steam lazily spiralling into the air.

Several Ixod sat about the table and Ava halted dead in her tracks as all of them stopped speaking to look at her. A growl rumbled from behind before Aekon moved his massive body in front of her. The sound travelled right through her to pool in liquid heat between her thighs.

“She is still recovering, no thanks to your tonic,” Aekon said.

She locked her knees, took a deep breath, and then stepped out from behind him. She didn’t miss his narrowed eyes as he peered down at her.

Well, too bad.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to speak for me, Aekon. I’m well rested, thank you, Brenur.”

If there was one thing she had learned it was that manners always soothed heightened emotions. She hoped it worked on other sentient species as well.

“She’s different,” Ser said, sitting next to York at the table.

“Give her some more tonic. She’s entertaining,” York said with a smirk and a wink.

Ava felt her face flush with heat, but refused to look away. “I think we all could do with some more entertainment. This time it’s your turn and it looks as though we all have front row seats.”

Ser nudged York. “Yeah. I’ve seen York on that stuff and we’re still talking about it! Hey York, did you know you have the same physiology as a human female?”

He snickered and a few of the other Ixod sitting around the table nodded with smirks on their faces.

“Give York some more tonic, healer. I need a good laugh,” one of the Ixod said.

“Just make sure he can’t get out of his clothing this time. I still have nightmares,” someone else said.

The table erupted in guffaws.

“You don’t have to make it so personal,” York grumbled.

Ser knocked him on the shoulder. “Seeing your equipment right up in my face was personal. Let’s just say I like you, but not that much.”

“I was aiming for a more dignified welcome, but please, come sit and eat. You both must be hungry,” Brenur said.

She had to admit, the undignified welcome relaxed her. She could deal with these Ixod. Ava made her way to a clear section of the table. The table was low to the ground and there was no chair, but she did what everyone else did and sat cross legged on a flat pillow on the ground.

She had some trouble balancing as she favoured her sore arm, but then strong hands were on her waist guiding her down before Aekon took the space next to her. She ignored the lingering heat his touch left and the way his presence comforted her. She couldn’t get used to that though. Aekon had made his position quite clear. She took a steeling breath and smiled as Kaico began to fill a bowl with aromatic steaming stew.

“I will do that,” Aekon said, taking the bowl and the ladle from Kaico.

“As you wish.” Kaico gave her a flat bread. “You eat the stew with the bread. It will give your body the sustenance it needs.”

She smiled at Kaico, aware that Aekon stiffened beside her. He couldn’t reject her and then become all caveman on her. That wasn’t fair. She glared at him and then turned her attention on her meal.

The bread was a round, flat disk, not dissimilar to the middle-eastern style of flat bread that was eaten with meals. And the aroma of the stew made her mouth water, despite its brown, gluggy consistency. She didn’t care what it looked like. Or what creature it was made from. She was ravenous. The last meal she’d eaten was a breakfast of two eggs on the morning before she was abducted and maybe that was months ago. She’d certainly done enough cardio to warrant a hefty meal.

The hand of her sore arm was clumsy. She tried tearing off a section of the bread but it proved to be more elastic than she anticipated and she couldn’t quite separate the bread.

Elegant clawed fingers flashed in front of her, tore off a piece of bread, scooped the stew, and held it in front of her lips. Ava’s gaze found Aekon’s. She wanted to be angry at him for hurting her, but it was hard. She settled for cool.

“I can feed myself.”

He moved the food so that it touched her lips. The tip of her tongue darted out and savoury flavour burst into her mouth. She almost moaned with the flavour, realising just how hungry she was.

“Eat, Ava.”

She shuddered at his deep growly voice and opened her mouth as though she had no control over her movements, dammit.

Aekon slipped the food between her teeth so gently and carefully that she didn’t feel his dangerous claws at all. The food fell on her tongue. She chewed and tumbled into the satisfied look on Aekon’s face when he watched her swallow.

“I will feed you, female.”

If he did that for every bite she took, she was going to embarrass herself at the table, and she wouldn’t even need the tonic for that. No, she had every natural cell in her body to thank for her heightened awareness around Aekon.

She firmed her shoulders, forcing herself to say words she didn’t want to say. “It’s okay, Aekon. You need to eat too. If you could just tear up the bread for me, I will feed myself.”

His hand stilled. She sensed a war going on in his mind until he broke the bread into pieces for her with deft flicks of his claws.

“As you wish, fe…Ava.”

She watched him slice through the bread like it was butter, silently marvelling that he’d fed her without so much as a nick. She knew how gentle he could be with his lethal claws, but watching him slice the bread into neat little squares small enough for her to eat sent a rush of unwanted need for those claws to be on her body. Her naked body. Scratching, caressing, teasing. Her mouth was dry as the desert they’d crashed landed on.

Brenur cleared his throat and she blinked back to the moment. All eyes were on her and she had the feeling they knew exactly what was on her mind.