Page 10 of Xefe (Nozaroc Alien Warrior #1)

T ake a shower. In front of a killer alien. Huh.

What a conundrum. Usually, I was the first to strip down because anything worth doing was always better when my body was on display. But I was no fool. This situation placed me completely out of my element, and no matter how sexy I found him, I was at this intense warrior’s whim.

“Why do you hesitate?”

“I’m a cheap date, but even I have standards.”

“Cheap? Date? ”

I sighed, uncomfortable with revealing any feelings of any kind. But I’d have to share if I wanted my needs met. I gritted my teeth and said, “I’m uncomfortable being naked in front of you.”

“Why?”

My brows snapped up. “You might be overcome with lust when you see my incredible body.”

“No.”

Ouch. Maybe he didn’t have sexual urges at all. No cookie, no nookie-nookie.

“You think a sack, covering your body, is protection against me?” He rumbled and grabbed his onyx staff off the rickety table. “I have seen you undressed already.”

“I would be vulnerable,” I said the words between clenched teeth, absolutely hating to admit any weakness.

Xefe looked up, and his intense eyes flashed for a moment. It somehow felt like sympathy. “You are safe here with me.”

His words felt… heavy with truth. So, I decided to believe him. For now. Not willing to resist the shower a minute longer, I pulled the filthy sack over my head and tossed it on the floor. I wish I could burn it. I walked over to the waterfall and tested the liquid on my palm.

Felt like water. Smelled like water. I wasn’t quite ready to taste it, in case they treated it with chemicals, so I took a deep breath and submerged myself under the waterfall. The basin came up to mid-shin, and it was glorious.

I could move in here. Permanently.

“Press the wall next to you, and the cleaning agent will be released.”

“Give me a few seconds more.” For the first time since the abduction, I allowed myself to feel, to focus on the joy of a lukewarm shower washing away the torture of the last few days. I could remove every last drop of Freckles from my body and, eventually, my mind.

“A few seconds? I do not understand your measure of time.”

“A second is one, two, three…” I counted off for him. “Sixty of those are a minute. Sixty of those are an hour. And one day is twenty-four hours.”

“You count all of these time allotments to measure a day?”

“My watch does. Or you can go old school and watch the rotation of the sun.” I gave in and pressed the soap button. Whipped foam coated my hair, and I felt a soothing sizzle. Hopefully, it was working like a bug zapper. “It comes up in the morning, sets in the evening. Moon comes out.”

“The sun, as in a sunset ?” he barked out. “Do you think sunsets are… pretty ?” He grunted as if insulted to his core. “I think you like my eyes, little earther.”

Busted. I do. Not that I’d ever admit that to him… again. Finished with the most glorious shower of my entire life, I hesitated to step forward. No matter my bravado, this was intimidating. He said I was safe, but he’d be at arm’s length when I got out of the shower.

As if he noticed my hesitation, he scoffed and said, “Naked women have no effect on me.”

No shit. But gracias a Dios , I held back the retort. No need to anger him. Plus, I still felt a little sorry for him. He was sporting nada , zilch, zero… way down there . He didn’t even have a micro penis to diddle.

Pobrecito. To pack all that power with no punch. The disappointment stung, but it warred with relief. At least that was one less appendage he could hurt me with. With a last glance at the muscled alien, I stepped out of the alien waterfall.

His sunset eyes roamed my body for a few seconds, his nose flaring briefly, then fluttering back into place.

Xefe rose and slammed the button, and a new film coated me.

An oily chemical ran down a device above my head and slicked over every nook and cranny of me and my girly parts.

It even invaded my mouth. It had a natural taste, not chemically, and it rushed over my teeth.

All bad breath was gone. My teeth felt cleaner than when I used a toothbrush. And my scalp, for the first time, didn’t scream in pain. Just as I relaxed, a puff of air smacked me in the face. It instantly dried every stretch of skin and hair on my body.

Luckily, I still had a good few weeks before my leg and underarm hair grew back in.

All racers in New Angeles were required to use a temporary laser to remove any unnecessary hair.

I usually left a small triangle over my chocha .

All carefully trimmed. I’d planned on making it heart-shaped, but I hadn’t had time.

I remembered I’d been rushed because Valentina had disappeared again.

I eventually found her making out with some rando from the neighborhood.

Profound sadness over the loss of my sister—not my lack of heart-shaped pubes—assailed me. Mi corazón. What would Valentina do without me? Who would take care of her? She wasn’t well. She needed me.

“We will talk. Now.” Xefe held his staff and applied some sort of agent to it. Not sure if he was cleaning it or massaging it. I decided not to ask. But I really wanted to know because that staff controlled the force fields that locked us in.

Squaring my shoulders, I stepped over the filthy sack I’d been wearing.

It was soaked in dirt, Oro residue, and Freckle’s spunk.

I shuddered, swearing I’d never wear it again, even if I had to parade around naked.

Guess my scratchy, alien-scented blanket would have to do.

I checked it over for bugs and eggs, and when it looked clean, I wrapped it around myself and perched at the edge of his bed, unsure where else to go. “I’m ready to negotiate.”

“What?”

“Let’s share.” Bargain. Barter. Whatever the hell I needed to do. But I wouldn’t be the only one sharing information. I needed intel on this planet.

Xefe never paused his actions. “What do you want?”

He’d put me at a disadvantage by making me start first, but at this point, all I could think about was escape. Always escape. “Let’s start with clothes. I want my old ones.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You are trapped with me in my room, on a distant planet across the galaxy from your home, and you ask for clothes? Earthers truly are addled.”

I smiled, unaffected by his words because what I wanted, he would never willingly give. So, best to start small and let him think I was an idiot. “You got me. Dumbass earther here. What about the clothes? That’s all a girl like me could hope for.” I batted my lashes and winked.

He reared back. “Stop doing that.”

“Tell me why you’d even need to negotiate with a dummy such as myself. You have all the advantages. What can I offer?” A secret part of me hoped he wanted to lick my body from head to toe.

“Information.” He disappeared into an alcove in the back of the room—maybe his alien closet—and returned with another potato sack.

Hijo de la chingada. Yeah, the clothes had been a ploy before, but now he seriously had to do something about this atrocity. “You can do better than this. How about I get one of your cool uniforms? I’m sure I could make it work. Just because you abducted me, doesn’t mean I can’t look good.”

He drew out a long knife.

I jumped the hell back and reconsidered my cocky attitude.

Sunny chuckled, sat again, and threw the sack-dress on his bed—all the while sharpening his blade. Scrape. Scrape. A jarring reminder of the language Freckle’s spoke.

“I did not abduct you from anywhere. Tontoh and his people took you. They are Aavvee, the same as my supreme. But they claim to be… scientists.”

“They are more than scientists . Drug addicts, perverts…” Molesters , dick-tongue-ers . My chest pumped with each word as flashes of Freckles and his experiments bombarded me.

He nodded in his alien way, a quick hike up of the chin. “True.”

“And you’re okay with that?” I adjusted the blanket, subtly bringing it to my nose to breathe in his essence. His musk should have terrified me, but I believed him when he said I was safe. And thinking about Freckles threatened my equilibrium.

“It is life. I have accepted it.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“That is your choice, but make no mistake, this planet will not bend to your will. You adapt, or you die.”

Oh, really? I will burn this chingado down. Just you wait, Sunny. After I find my sister… and a way out. “What do you want?”

“Your truth, not the lies you tell after you bare your teeth.”

Bare my—“You mean when I smile?”

“That is what I said.”

“ What? A smile conveys friendship and openness.” I smiled reflexively.

“You are saying that is what you mean when you bare your teeth?”

“Of course. I’m trying to work with you. I’ve decided you’re right.” I poked my bottom lip out, trying to appear broken, small, and intimidated. “I do need to adapt. I’m hoping you’ll help me.”

He stopped sharpening his knife. “I don’t know what to be more disgusted with, the lies that drip from your mouth or the fact that you only ask for help for yourself and not the other earthers.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’re judging me?” All pretense gone. He had no idea that I spent every waking moment concerned about other humans. Well, one in particular.

Again, he rubbed his chest and alien-frowned, brows snapping down over his eyes. “I will not deal with someone who misleads, who manipulates.”

But that’s my specialty. Okay, I would have to pull back on the stunts in order to get what I wanted.

Time to smooth things over. “Look, we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.

We both have information the other wants; let’s not ruin it by fighting.

” I wiped the smile from my face before he could accuse me of manipulation again.

It was pretty amazing that the big guy figured something out that took “earther guys” months to know.

“I will let you remain if you tell me truths.”

So easy for him to say. Fury, so deep and dark, tore through me.

My hands fisted. My heart slammed into my chest. I had never felt so vulnerable in my life.

For once, I didn’t measure my words. I let them fly.

“You don’t deserve my truth. You’ve done nothing to earn it.

I have been kidnapped from my home, abused, and manipulated with some golden drug.

I have responsibilities.” My voice broke, but I held back the tears. “People that need me at home .”

Again, he watched me for a long time. Upward nod, and then he sharpened the knife once again. “Then let us help each other. Compromise. In here, you give me truth or nothing at all.”

“And what will you give me?”

“The same.”