Page 51 of Alien's Challenge
“You seem to spend a lot of time carrying me. Sorry if I’m too heavy,” she said, her voice right in his ear.
“It is a pleasure.”
She huffed, swallowing a laugh. “I doubt that. Am I too heavy?”
He would rip the talons from the male who made her doubt herself. Her ex-mate. Humans did not have talons, he reminded himself, so it would have to be fingernails.
“You are not. Now, hold tight and allow your mate to flaunt his strength.”
Faris climbed the rope, careful not to dislodge Alice.
“Finally. A daring daylight prison escape is not the time to flirt,” Perrigaul chided.
“You are incorrect,” Faris said. He could think of no better time to flirt.
“The landing field is three buildings over. Hurry.” Perrigaul pointed to the landing field.
They raced across the rooftops. Gaps between the buildings were narrow enough to jump, even for Alice. In no time, they were wiggling through a hole in the wire fencing and then at the transport ship.
“I appreciate the lack of security in these small trading posts,” Faris said. The engine rumbled, and the ship groaned as it left the ground. The comm unit crackled with demands for clearance and orders to land.
Alice turned the unit off. Perrigaul clucked with disapproval. “What? Were we going to comply?” she asked.
“Absolutely not, but it is good to know what the enemy is saying,” Perrigaul said.
“Sounded like they were all bark and no bite.”
Perrigaul’s quills went up and down. His tail twitched. “How dare you be amusing.”
Alice rolled her eyes, causing Perrigaul to visibly flinch. “Do we have anything to drink?”
Faris produced a dusty bottle of water from an old ration packet. He felt ashamed that they failed to restock on provisions, but Alice did not complain. They would be landing at the Hub soon enough, and he would restock their ship with whatever Alice craved.
He did not relax until they were out of communication range. Alice stretched out on a bench and fell asleep.
“Do humans sleep this much? Is this excessive? This seems excessive,” Perrigaul said.
Faris glanced at the navigation. Thirty minutes until they reached the Hub.
“She was in a stasis pod for two years, plus transit from Earth. Her fatigue is not excessive,” he said. Perrigaul knew that, but still, he eyed Alice, trying to find fault with her.
“You do not like my mate,” he said.
Perrigaul snorted. “My dislike is irrelevant. You are determined to keep the human, but I do not trust her.”
Now Faris snorted. “Do you believe that she is an agent of Rand? That he planted a vulnerable human female in my path, knowing that I would be unable to resist rescuing her?”
As he said the words, he realized that was exactly what Perrigaul thought. Had Rand planned to set a trap for Faris, such a target would be irresistible.
“Alice is not helpless.” The opposite, in fact.
“She is capable,” Perrigaul admitted, his voice strained, like paying Alice a compliment was agony.
“Should I have left her there? For Rand to grow bored of his pet and sell her to another master?” His scales crawled, imagining another male having designs on his mate. Rand wanted a trophy to impress. His intentions were innocuous at best, neglectful at worst. Whoever he sold Alice to would not have harmless intentions.
Faris growled at the unknown, hypothetical male.
Perrigaul’s tail thumped against the floor. “Stop growling at me. You trust too easily.”
