Alien Warrior’s Second Chance by Sue Mercury

Chapter 15

Zorras staredat Hannah in confusion, then returned his attention to Director Yorrsan. “You brought me a mate?” Zorras had refused the director’s offer of a mate just a few rotations ago, so it struck him as odd that the director would go out of his way to bring him a female from Earth.

“I was surprised when you declined my offer while on Earth, Zorras, but after some thought, I realized you probably did not feel right jumping the line, as you know the warriors who sign up for VAMOB are matched in order of sign up. Anyway, you once spoke to me about taking a human mate and having more offspring. One of our healers confirmed that Hannah is ovulating right now. If you mate with her today, you could have a child on the way soon.” The director stepped back and grinned, gesturing from the female to Zorras, as if encouraging them to embrace in a greeting.

Before he could think of a polite way to refuse Director Yorrsan’s offer without offending the warrior, Zorras spotted a familiar figure rushing out of the bushes at the end of his walkway. It was Karla and she was running faster than he even thought a human female could move.

But she wasn’t running toward him—she was running away.

Oh fluxx. Had she heard any of his conversation with Director Yorrsan? Did she think he planned to take the woman named Hannah as a mate? His stomach roiled at the prospect that she believed he was about to betray her for another female.

The sky darkened ominously, and lightning flashed in the distance, but it was still too close for Zorras’ liking. Karla shouldn’t be out in a storm, and she shouldn’t be running down the steep hill below his property either.

Worry for her clutched him and he bolted after her, ignoring the gasps from the director and Hannah. He would deal with them later.

At present, all that mattered was catching Karla and keeping her safe. Once she was safe from the incoming storm, he could explain this misunderstanding. He only hoped she would listen.

Thunder continued rumbling above and the flashes of lightning drew close. The air sizzled with electricity and the skies suddenly opened up. Torrents of rain pelted him, and he had trouble seeing Karla through the storm. He ran faster and finally caught sight of her again.

“Karla! Karla, stop!”

She faltered in her steps and went crashing to the ground. Alarm seized him as he watched her fall. He tried in vain to catch her, but she was too far away, and she tumbled hard onto the muddy grass. She cried out and winced, clutching at one of her knees.

“Go away!” she screamed, turning a furious gaze on him. “Fucking go away!”

“I’m not leaving you.” He crouched at her side and ran his hands over her knee. She hissed in pain, and he noticed blood staining her dress. She’d likely scraped her knee bloody, but thankfully it was a minor wound that he would be able to heal rapidly. Once he got her home. “Let’s go, you’re coming with me. I’m taking you home.” He scooped her up into his arms, even as she squirmed and protested.

“I’m not going anywhere with you! You can’t make me!”

“I assure you that I can force you to come with me, sweet beauty.” He hurried back up the hill, anxious to take care of her knee and check her over for any additional injuries. The thought of her in pain filled him with rage, and he hated that he had been the cause of it. She’d been running away from him.

“I’m not your sweet beauty. I’m not your anything. You don’t need me anymore. You have her. Hannah. And she can give you children.” Karla sucked in a deep breath and met his gaze, her expression abruptly growing calmer, as if she had accepted his betrayal. “She’s very pretty and I’m sure she’ll make you a fine bride, Zorras. It’s okay, really, I understand. I get it. You don’t have to explain yourself. Just let me go while I still have a few shreds of dignity left. Please.”

“I will not let you go. I am taking you home to tend to your injuries.”

“I can go back to my home and Axall can call for a healer. It’s no big deal. Put me down!” She thrashed about in his arms, but he tightened his hold on her, refusing to comply with her demands. She was his. His. And he sure as fluxx didn’t plan to let her go.

“Please calm down, Karla.”

She snorted. “Calm down? Did you just tell me to calm down? Here’s some free advice—no intelligent man ever asks a woman to calm down. It’s a dick-ish thing to say, particularly when the woman has every fucking right to be angry.”

“You curse more than any female I have ever met,” he observed with a smirk. But his grin soon faded. “Wait… did you just call me unintelligent?”

“Ding ding ding,” she said in a strange, melodious tone, then renewed her efforts to escape him. “Just. Let. Me. Go. Honestly, Zorras, don’t make me bite you.” She peered around his neighborhood as if looking for someone to help her, but thanks to the downpour, there wasn’t a soul in sight.

“We will discuss the conversation you overheard once we get into the safety of my house,” he called out over the storm as the rain picked up.

“There’s nothing to discuss!” she yelled back.

He ignored her pleas and struggles as he carried her up his steep walkway. Director Yorrsan and Hannah were still standing on his porch, and when they spotted him approaching with a struggling woman in his arms, they exchanged a surprised look.

“You can’t just take me like this! Put me down, Zorras. Axall is expecting me home soon and he and his brothers are all going to come looking for me and they’re going to kick your ass once they realize you’re holding me against my will. You can’t do this! You promised you wouldn’t kidnap me.”

He lifted her higher in his arms and placed his lips directly at her ear. “I made that promise pertaining to a specific day that occurred well over a moon cycle ago. I believe after you asked if I planned to kidnap you, my exact response was, “Not today.”

She emitted a groan of frustration.

He chuckled. “Today is a brand-new day. Consider yourself kidnapped, Karla. Consider yourself mine.”