Page 30 of Charmed By the Alien Warrior

The silence between us is heavy, and I don’t know if he’ll ever answer my question or even acknowledge it.

But then, he makes a low, almost growling sound in his throat. “I didn’t want him to think he could take you away from me...” His words end in a strangled sound and his eyes widen as if he’s just realized what he said. He clears his throat and finishes, “Away from us. Away from your friends.”

He glances at me from the corner of his eyes, and for a moment, I want to probe deeper, to ask if he truly meant the first thing he said. But I hold back and simply nod at him.

Sorrin releases a deep sigh, and we continue on, the jungle closing in around us as if nothing has happened. But something has changed between us. I can feel it like it’s a living, breathing thing.

My thoughts are in a tumult as we travel, but before long, I notice something is off. Even though I wasn’t able to see much from my vantage point tossed over Bigfoot’s shoulder, I don’t remember seeing anything like the large rock formation that appears.

Just off the side of the path we’re on, there’s a tumble of stones with one big boulder rising out of the middle of the pile that’s shaped eerily like a human skull, complete with hollowed out eye sockets. That seems like something I’d remember.

I come to a halt, and Sorrin immediately stops, looking back at me. “This isn’t the way back to the others, is it? Maybe I’m wrong, ‘cause it is a jungle, but I don’t remember those rocks,” I say, pointing at the macabre rock formation.

Sorrin sighs. “No. We’re going back to the village. It’s safer for you there.”

Oh, hell no. Uh-uh.

“You can go back if you want,” I snap, turning on my heel. “I’mcatching up with the others.”

Even though I’m walking as fast as I can manage, it only takes two long strides for his powerful legs to catch up with me and for him to pull me to a stop with a firm grip on my arm.

“I do not think you wish to travel in that direction, little human.” A teasing grin tilts up the corners of his mouth, and I drop my eyes to them.

For the first time since I met him, I don’t have the urge to slap it off. Instead, I welcome it, like something I didn’t realize I had missed while tied up in that hut.

I shake off the warmth that blooms in my chest. “Yes, I do. I’m not going back to the village without finishing what I started.”

His eyes narrow at my words, and for a split second, I wonder if I’ve said too much. If he’s going to question me about why I’m so adamant about continuing with the mission, about my distrust of his tribe—the very people who have been so welcoming to us.

But Sorrin doesn’t do any of that.

Instead, his head tilts to the side, his hair falling over one broad shoulder as he says, “Unless you have become enamored of their hospitality, that direction will take you back to the Tussoll village.” He gestures to another path that I only just now notice. “That way goes to the Ancestors’ Ship. It’s where the others will go next.”

My eyebrows rise with interest. “The Ancestors’ Ship?” At his nod, I continue, “Then, that’s where I’m going. You can come along if you want, but I’m not going back to the village, yet.”

He exhales a heavy sigh, but I ignore him and turn to march in the direction of the ship. The ship that his people claim will no longer fly. While it’s important to me to finish the task we were given, to search for the other humans, this is just as important.

Maybe it makes me stubborn, but I have to see with my own eyes that their ship won’t work. That it can’t get us back to Earth. I have to try.

And if it really doesn’t work, well, then, I’ll deal with that when I get there.

Chapter 11

Sorrin

Sard!Mara is the most vexing, stubborn, bewildering human I have met.

Not that I have met that many, but still. She makes my chest feel like a storm is brewing within it. Ever since she entered my world, she has woven herself into my thoughts, leaving my head a tangled web of confusion that would make any other warrior crumble beneath its weight.

A fact I should find vexing all on its own, but I don’t. I like it, and the more time I spend with her, I realize with a start, that I likeMara. I like her prickly nature and her fierce tongue.

My cock, meanwhile, has seemed to develop a mind of its own, stirring to attention whenever she draws near. Even now, it is hard and throbbing, the blood rushing through my veins and straight to my member as soon as my hand touched her soft skin.

Moonslight slices through the canopy, bathing her skin in a celestial hue and making her resemble the statues ourancestors raised in honor of the Goddesses. So luscious and beautiful yet encased in armor that somehow still remains delicate.

Which is why I must keep my hands—and my unruly cock—away from her. Despite her strength, Mara watches the warriors in my tribe with a wariness that makes it clear the males of her species have not treated her kindly. Her caution pierces me my chest like a knife, and I have no desire to be another source of pain for her. No matter how attracted I am to her. Or how often she enters my thoughts.

I clench my jaw, struggling to think of any way to convince her to return to the safety of the tribe and village. But as I eye the stubborn set of her shoulders, I know it would be futile. If there is one thing I have learned about the humans, it is that they are more determined than even a tiniio on the track of its prey. Once they have set their minds to something, they will not stop.

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