Page 31 of The Alien Warrior's Mate

Denizi.

She was trying to use him as a scratcher, but his body would try to mate. It was too dangerous. He shook his head. Pointed at Enthara. “Sah-ah, get on.”

“Mm-mm.” She folded her arms over her chest and mumbled another bunch of words. Stabbing her finger at the ground, she stared at him. Was she asking him to kneel again?

Heat—from a mixture of desire and annoyance—simmered in his chest. Through it all, his Sah-ah was determined to be stubborn, wasn’t she? They did not have time to argue. He needed to contact Rune, the only Plutonian who could fix his zapten.

His eyes fixed on his interface. He had sent a message to Rune asking for assistance, but the technician had responded with an automated message and given him a number in a cue.

Korben was a hundred zaptens away from getting Rune’s assistance. He shook his head in frustration. The Plutonian lived secluded away from the rest of the tribas. He had heard rumors that Rune had gone crazy and turned on his own brother before being banished from their clan.

Under usual circumstances, Korben would never seek out a Plutonian traitor, but he had no other choice. Not with Enthara running on fumes. Not with his female’s life at stake.

Sah-ah moaned his name. “Korben.”

She was reaching for him.

Ready for him.

Desperate for him.

Denizi.

Forget waiting in line. He would find Rune and demand an audience himself.

But first, the lake.

Fourteen

Sara

She tuggedher wrists against the vines Korben had used to bind her hands and keep her from scratching. He cut her a dark look, but she only glared right back at him and kept using the friction of the vines to ease herself a bit.

He’d denied being her relief. Sara pouted as Enthara sailed lazily through the air. The fact that her alien kidnapper had rejected her hurt all the more. She’d given up making sense of these feelings. All she knew was that Korben consistently protected her and cared for her. That was all she needed to know right now.

He clicked his tongue once and swiped at her hands when he saw her scratching. Sara forced herself to go still. The itching drove her crazy, but she’d try to be patient. Korben looked like he had everything under control. He also looked even more serious than he had before. His jaw kept clenching and locking up. He kept glancing at her with his eyes narrowed.

She’d started something back there in that alien poison ivy bush and he was clearly struggling to keep himself in check. She appreciated that effort. Even if a part of her wished he wouldn’t be so much of a gentleman.

Again, she had no idea where these intense feelings were coming from, but Sara was far too tired and irritated to police herself right now.

Hoping to take her mind off Korben and the itching, Sara observed her surroundings. So far, she’d seen many different sides of this alien planet—the trafficking ring, the crazy lion guards, the many ways nature itself was trying to kill them via acid rain and lethal wasps.

But the beauty of it was taking her breath away. The shrubbery was a deep and multi-hued blue—no oranges, Thank God. She would now and forever steer clear of all orange bushes. Thin trees pointed almost like inverted triangles to the sky. A gentle wind caused the blue leaves to shimmy, much like they would on earth.

If she closed her eyes, she could pretend she was wearing blue-tinted sunshades back home.

The thought made her smirk. Sara absently tried to scratch but snapped against the restraints. Once again, she cursed Korben for tying her up. Just because she trusted him didn’t mean he could test her like this.

He glanced over as if to check on her.

She snarled.

His eyes flashed right back.

Were they fighting? And where the hell were they going? She wanted to ask, but he hadn’t been chatty when they first met and she got the sense that, even if she was able to understand him, he wouldn’t be the type to talk her ear off. He was a totally masculine, few-words, lots-of-action type.

Korben gripped Enthara by the handles and steered them through the forest in long, measured strides. His eyes were always alert, always jumping between her and their surroundings.

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