Page 49 of Alien Wants A Wife

“A game?” Her brows rise, and she finally meets my gaze. “What sort of game? Hide and Seek?”

“No.” I smirk. “Catch and Kiss.”

Chapter Eighteen

Harlee

“Catch and Kiss?” Pushing against Roan’s arms, I break his hold around my waist and take a hesitant step back. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

I swear the glint in his eyes is devilish. He looks suddenly years younger. If I hadn’t been the person to teach him how to kiss only yesterday, I’d swear he’d been catching and kissing girls his whole life. Confidence radiates off him, and a thrill of excitement sends a rush of heat to my face. I take another step backwards. “Okay,” I hear myself agree. “On the count of three? One. Two?—”

“Three!” Turning, Roan sprints away.

For a second I’m left standing there with my mouth open. For some stupid reason it never occurred to me that I’d be the one doing the chasing. Now… Well, now my heart is beating so fast I might already be running, so I charge after him. I’ve no clue where I’m going. Roan has the advantage of knowing the terrain. And a height advantage. My advantage is… Umm…My advantage is… I grit my teeth, pushing myself faster. My advantage is that I’m not going to surrender!

Roan is almost beyond my sight, and I have to concentrate on keeping a watch on him and on the ground at the same time so that I don’t trip.

The forest is remarkable. It really looks as if it’s been here for hundreds of years. Some of the tree trunks are so wide I wouldn’t be able to wrap my arms around them and touch my fingers together. Some have roots thicker than my waist, looping up and out of the ground. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were trying to trip me on purpose.

Other trees have these amazing branches that have grown in spirals instead of straight lines, as though someone has tamed their growth until they look kind of like curly french fries but with glossy green leaves.

It’s dark under the canopy, with the overhead sunlight muted by the constant wind whipping up dust and the trees conspiring to take whatever sunlight remains for themselves. In a few places someone has set up lights, attaching them to tree trunks or to artificial poles. They remind me of the lamppost in Narnia, but their light only illuminates so much of the forest, leaving the majority in shadows.

“I’m getting closer!” I yell between panting breaths, not because it’s true but because I want Roan to think I’m about to catch him and make a mistake.

It seems to work because he suddenly second-guesses himself and changes directions. I cut around a tree, taking a shortcut, cutting the distance between us in half.

He glances over his shoulder at me, and I almost swear. He’s making this race look effortless! He’s barely out of breath and he’s certainly not sweating.

And here I am, getting overheated and having trouble breathing. I should (if I was being smart and thinking about howgross a sweaty, panting Human might appear on camera) stop running and admit defeat.

Asher always used to say I was too impulsive, too quick to jump into action. He’d wrinkle his nose, sneering whenever I spoke without thinking first or was the first to volunteer for a task or opportunity.

Leave it for someone else,he’d say.Why are you always drawing so much attention to yourself?

I don’t stop running. There’s a part of me that wants to give my ex and the cameras and Mr. Smith a silentfuck you. In fact, I run faster. Even though sweat is dripping into my eyes.

Despite my resolve, I’m flagging. And the climb down the four-story ladder didn’t help.

We still haven’t reached the far wall of the cavern. Or maybe Roan is leading me in circles.

Then he grabs hold of a lamppost with both of his right arms and, using his momentum, he swings himself to the right, darting around another massive tree.

I try copying him, but my hold on the post slips, my smaller hand having trouble gripping it. I almost land on my face, catching myself on my left arm instead. Thankfully, the rock of the cavern floor is thickly covered by soil and leaf litter, so my fall doesn’t hurt.

“I’m”pant“coming”pant“to”pant“get you!” Not my most threatening, but I’m pleased I can still talk. Breathing is causing a stabbing pain in my ribs.Stupid stitch!

Pushing myself upright, I take the turn slower this time, but when I get around the tree, Roan is nowhere in sight.

I stumble to a halt. I might be determined, but I’m not stupid. There’s no way I’m picking any old random direction and running that way. Maybe, instead, I can find a clue to point me in the right direction.

Hands pressed to my stitch, as if that might alleviate some of the pain, and gasping in mouthfuls of earth-smelling air, I walk a slow circle. The massive tree is so large that its canopy has stopped other trees from growing too close, creating a mini clearing. There are a few dead stumps where trees tried to grow and failed. It’s particularly dark here. Almost no sunlight penetrates the magnificent tree’s leaves.

“You can’t…”pant“hide forever,” I try yelling so Roan will hear me wherever he is, but the words come out as more of an ungainly wheeze, and I don’t have the breath to spare to try again.

There’s a noise… Maybe?

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