Page 14 of Tempted By the Alien Warrior

“Are you going to stand there, or do you want to find your cousin?” I ask. My voice comes out rougher than I intended.

Her lips press together before she finally nods and takes my hand. I hoist her up in one swift motion, and she lands behind me with a startled breath. For a heartbeat, she sits there almost frozen, before her small hands slide around my waist. At first, her grip is loose, but then Dania shifts beneath us, and her hands tighten their hold on me.

I go rigid.

The human’s front is pressed flush against my back, and the warmth of her body seeps into my bare skin like the heat of the sun. Her soft curves mold against me, and her breath, quick and uneven, puffs against my shoulder. I’ve never been this close to a female before—never felt one clinging to me like this.

It’s distracting.Toodistracting. And I can’t afford a distraction.

I clench my jaw, willing away the unwelcome heat curling low in my gut and the twitching of my cock beneath my loincloth.

Then Dania takes her first step, and the little female sucks in a sharp breath. Her fingers curl tighter into my ridged abdomen as her grip becomes almost desperate.

I grit my fangs against the jolt of awareness that shoots through me straight to my unruly cock.

“Relax. You’re safe.” My voice comes out rough and strained.

She exhales shakily, but she doesn’t loosen her hold. If anything, she presses closer, her small body molding against mine like she’s afraid to let go. I tell myself it’s only fear keeping her pressed against me like this. That the frantic thud of her heart against my back is just nerves.

I don’t dare acknowledge the way my own pulse matches hers, beat for beat in a fast rhythm I can’t seem to control.

I swallow hard.Focus.

“Hold on,” I murmur, barely recognizing my own voice. Then, with a firm nudge, I guide Dania forward, and we slip into the shadows.

The eponir moves with surprising grace for her size, her hooves barely making a sound against the packed earth. The village around us is still except for the flicker of torchlight from the main gate. But we don’t head that way. We don’t go anywhere near the guards stationed at the entrance.

Instead, I steer Dania toward the farthest edge of the village, where the eponirs’ corral presses against the rock face.

To anyone else, it would seem like there was nowhere else to go. Nothing but stone and tangled vines.

But I know better.

It’s barely more than a wide door, built seamlessly into the rock and concealed in plain sight. If I hadn’t seen my father use it during his late-night trip to meet with the Tussoll, I wouldn’t have known it existed at all.

The human shifts behind me. Her fingers twitch against my skin where they still cling tightly to me. “Where are we?—”

I don’t answer her. Instead, I lean down and twist a series of dials embedded in the wood. A faintclicksounds, then another, until finally, the lock disengages, and I push the gate open.

A gust of cool air rushes out from the tunnel beyond, carrying the scent of damp stone and soil. The passage looms before us, a dark mouth carved into the rock, just big enough for Dania to pass through. The tunnel is silent, untouched by torchlight, its shadows thick and impenetrable.

Dania hesitates, her ears flicking forward, but with a nudge of my heels against her flank, she steps forward. The darkness swallows us whole.

She stiffens against my back, her body going rigid as we enter the passage.

I don’t blame her.

Even in the all-consuming darkness of the tunnel, my eyes are able to see just enough detail to be able to safely guide Dania through the passage, but from what I’ve heard in the tribe, human senses aren’t as finely tuned as ours.

The air grows colder as we move deeper. My senses scan for any sign of pursuit, but all I can hear is the rasp of the human’s soft, uneven breathing as it wafts against my skin. It doesn’t take long before we reach the gate at the other end of the passage. With a quick flick of my wrist, the lock disengages, and we slip beyond the village walls into the jungle.

Fresh air floods my nostrils, thick with the sweet scent of rotting leaves and new vegetation. The jungle stretches before us, vast and untamed. The distant call of a lisek echoes through the trees, and the leaves above us rustle as a gliik jumps from limb to limb.

Blue and green light shimmers around us, cast by the bioluminescent vines hanging from the towering trees and thesoft glow of the undergrowth weaving through the jungle floor. The light pulses gently, like the slow breathing of the jungle itself, illuminating the twisting roots and thick foliage. As Dania steps forward, her hooves press into patches of glowing moss, sending shimmering motes drifting into the air.

She shifts behind me, sitting up taller in the saddle as her thighs press closer against the outside of my own. “Where are we headed first?” she asks.

“Deeper into the jungle,” I reply. “Then, to the anurois’ nesting grounds. That’s where the anuroi would have taken your cousin.”

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