Taken by the Alien Warrior

by Hope Hart

  The warriors help, and we call Charlie’s name until our voices are hoarse and the warriors shake their heads, herding us back into the clearing.

  “We will take you back to our camp, where you can eat and rest,” Terex declares.

  Alexis snorts. “You know, we’ve heard that before,” she says, and Nevada nods in agreement, her eyes widening as she glances at me.

  “You think we should trust him?” Her voice is a murmur, and the warriors pretend to give us a moment to talk, but I have no doubt they can hear every word.

  “That huge alien has kind eyes,” I say, ignoring Vivian’s snort. He does have kind eyes. They’re a light blue, almost violet, and they’re clear and honest. “Plus,” I sigh. “We’re all hurt and seriously dehydrated. At this point, we have no choice.”

  “Okay,” Nevada says. “I’ll stay and look for the other women.”

  Terex immediately shakes his head. “It is not safe.”

  She gives him a look, and he stares her down.

  “As soon as we get to camp, my king will send more warriors to find them.”

  Nevada hesitates, and Terex gestures toward Alexis and me. Vivian is scratched and bruised, I’m pretty sure my elbow is broken, and Alexis is limping.

  “Your friends need you,” he says, and Nevada bites her lip as she glances at us, obviously torn.

  “Zoey has broken ribs,” she says. “God knows what those assholes will do to them.”

  She’s right. Maybe we should all try and find them now.

  Asroz strides forward. “Right now, the Voildi have a head start. If we attempt to track them with three injured women, they will simply prepare a trap with the rest of their tribe. It is faster and smarter to get back to camp and send experienced hunters who are fresh and well rested.”

  He’s got a point, and Nevada finally nods in agreement.

  Terex moves forward. “We will need to walk to where we have tethered our mishua,” he says, and I hope to God he’s talking about some kind of horse.

  We all nod, and I find myself fighting back tears at the thought of more walking.

  It’s okay, Ellie. Just get through the next bit, and you’ll either get to sleep, or you’ll be dinner. Either way, this nightmare will be over.

  Terex walks close to me as we slowly shuffle out of the clearing and back the way we came. We’re in bad shape, too exhausted and stunned to talk. I feel like someone has punched me in the gut at the thought of leaving with the other women missing, but the warriors are right—we’re all hurt, and none of us have any experience on this planet.

  I’m light-headed and feel like I could puke. I don’t know if it’s the pain from my elbow or the dehydration, but all I want to do is curl up next to one of these huge, creepy white trees and sleep. Maybe I’ll wake up to find that this was all a nightmare.

  I stumble over a tree root, and fireworks explode in front of my eyes as the movement jostles my arm. It’s weirdly numb and achy if I keep it still, but if I move it, the pain almost drives me to my knees. I can’t imagine how much Zoey’s hurting right now.

  “Female,” a deep voice intones, and I turn. Terex gestures for me to turn back around, and I comply, body tense as he unties and reties my sling. His hands are cool and assured as they brush my neck, and he soon has the sling in a tighter, more supportive position.

  “Thank you.”

  It’s a long walk, and I have a lot of time to think. Instead of brooding about the things I can’t control, I spend my time wisely checking out the giant warrior who saved us.

  Everything about him speaks of self-assured confidence—from his piercing gaze to his wide shoulders and the way he holds his head high as he scans our surroundings. The two other warriors seem to defer to him, but he still listens to what they have to say. He’s obviously tense, and all three of them are on high alert in case more Voildi appear. But he still noticed I was in pain and took the time to attempt to ease it by adjusting my sling.

  I catch Vivian running her eyes over his huge body and immediately flick my gaze away. So that’s how it’ll be.

  Finally, we enter another clearing, and all of us women stop in shock as we take in our rides.

  “What the hell are they?” Nevada murmurs.

  “Our mishua,” Deraz says, looking confused. “Have you never seen one before?”

  “We’re not exactly from around here,” I mutter, and Alexis laughs.

  The only thing these strange beasts have in common with horses is that they can both be ridden. At least I assume so, since all four of them have some sort of saddles on them. Oh, and just like horses, they have four legs.

  But that’s where the similarities end. The mishua are dark green, with thick scales covering their bodies and heads that remind me of a lizard or even a dinosaur. Their huge teeth gleam in the sunlight, and their heads are covered in thick horns that rise from their snouts, becoming even bigger as they make their way up to the top of their heads.

  “They’re dino-horses,” Nevada says in a low voice.

  She’s not wrong. With their red eyes and scaly skin, they look a little like something out of Jurassic Park. The thought of getting near them makes me want to turn around and take my chances with the Voildi.

  “Don’t be afraid, female,” Terex says, and I turn to find him studying me. “We will not allow them to hurt you.”

  “You know, the more comforting thing to say would be, ‘They won’t hurt you,’” Alexis mutters.

  Terex shrugs. Then the warriors all reach into the leather bags attached to their dino-horses and pull out water skins.

  They hand them to us, and I almost cry in relief. I take a gulp and then force myself to take small sips, worried that it’ll come back up. Once we’ve handed the water back, Terex gestures for us to step forward.

  “We have four mishua, as we were hoping to bring back meat for the tribe. Which of you would feel the most comfortable riding alone? We will keep it tethered to one of our mishua, and you will be perfectly safe.”

  Unsurprisingly, Nevada volunteers. We all watch as Terex leads her to the beast’s head, introducing her.

  “This is Leai,” he says. “Offer your hand, and we will see if she accepts you.”

  We all hold our breaths as Nevada gives the mishua a look that clearly says, Don’t fuck with me. She holds out her hand, and Leai snorts, bumping it with her huge nose.

  “She wants you to pet her,” Terex says, the ghost of a smile crossing his face. I attempt to ignore the spark of jealousy deep in my chest and frown, turning my attention back to the other mishua.

  I’ve never had such a strong reaction to a man in my life. Sure, I’ve had crushes, and none of them have ended particularly well. Maybe it’s just the way that my brain is processing the shock of everything that has happened to me. It’s looking for some distraction to keep me sane.

  A hand on my good arm jolts me from my thoughts, and I realize I’m staring into space. I’m so tired that I almost fell asleep with my eyes open.

  I smile at Deraz, and he grins back. He’s also incredibly handsome, although he doesn’t make me almost trip over myself with nerves the way Terex does. That’s a good thing though.

  Deraz leads me to his mishua, and I can’t help it—I freeze. Nevada’s already on her beast, calmly waiting while she strokes Leai’s neck.

  Asroz is lifting Alexis onto another mishua, and I take a tiny step forward, attempting to find some courage.

  “She will ride with me.”

  I turn and meet Terex’s eyes. “Oh, it’s okay,” I say. “This mishua is fine.”

  I take another tiny step forward and freeze again as the mishua eyes me. Deraz gives me a look that says I’m crazy for arguing with Terex and gestures for Vivian to step forward instead.

  She shoots me a killing look, and I sigh, turning back to Terex.

  He watches me out of those odd-colored eyes and points toward his mishua. “Her name is Kini.”

  I tremble at the thought of getting clo
ser to the mishua. She’s even bigger than the others, and she watches me out of one red eye as Terex moves up behind me.

  “Shh,” he says. “Your fear will startle her. Mishua are very sensitive, and if you are afraid, you will make her afraid too. A frightened mishua is a dangerous mishua.”

  “Okay.” I blow out a breath. Terex talks me through it, his huge body behind mine, his voice a rumble in my ear. He leans forward, taking my hand in his and offering it to the mishua. I’m trembling like a leaf, but I allow it, and Kini snorts at me. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the dino-horse was mocking me.

  She allows me to pet her, and her eyelids slide to half-mast as I stroke her skin. She’s scaly, not unlike a lizard, but she’s also warm, and she has the weirdest fur along the bottom of her legs—fluffy and lush. Exactly how did these strange creatures evolve?

  I squeak as Terex suddenly lifts me like I weigh nothing. Before I can come to terms with my change in height, I’m planted in the saddle, and he swings his body up behind me, wrapping one arm around my waist.

  He turns his head and must give a signal to his friends because we begin walking. I clutch at the front of the saddle with my good hand, hopelessly out of my comfort zone. I never even rode horses on Earth, and now I’m riding a dino-horse on…Agron.

  I sigh, and Terex leans forward, murmuring in my ear.

  “Relax, female. I will not let you fall.”

  Strangely, that helps. I can’t imagine this strong warrior allowing me to topple off his mishua. At the very least, his friends would mock him or something, right?

  “Tell me about yourself,” he says, and I tense.

  “Why?”

  “Why not? I have rescued you from certain death, female. Do I not deserve a reward?”

  His voice is teasing, and I wish I could see his face.

  “Um. I’m a kindergarten teacher.”

  “What is this?”

  “I teach children.”

  “Ah, a nurturing female. I can see this.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You are gentle and kind. I have only known you for a short time, but I know this.”

  Gentle and kind. What would it be like to hear him describe me as sexy or hot? A girl can dream.

  To be fair, I can’t imagine Terex describing anyone as “hot.”

  Vivian and Deraz ride up next to us, and Deraz and Terex begin talking in low voices. Vivian sends me a look, obviously displeased that I ended up on Terex’s dino-horse.

  “What are you doing?” she hisses at me, and I stare at her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, don’t play innocent. You knew I wanted to ride with him.”

  “I didn’t do anything. You’re welcome to him, Vivian. I’ve got more important things to worry about.”

  The conversation behind us ends, and I stare into the distance. What Vivian doesn’t understand is that I’m fully aware of how the universe works. I learned young that the cute, popular guys don’t go for shy, nerdy, chubby girls like me. So gorgeous Vivian is welcome to the sexy alien warrior currently clutching me to him, his chin dangerously close to resting on my shoulder.

  “What are you thinking?” he murmurs, and I shiver as his breath hits my neck.

  “Nothing.” I keep my eyes ahead, ignoring the frustrated tears that want to rise. I’m just tired. So tired.

  When I was fifteen, I had a crush on a football player named Matt. Unlike most of the other football players, he didn’t ignore me, never treated me like I was invisible. His locker was next to mine, and occasionally we’d chat about the books we were reading. He was cute, smart, popular, and nice.

  Within a month, my sister Amelia was dating him. And she made sure that the rest of my high school years were pure hell.

  Women like Amelia and Vivian? Gorgeous women who rule the world with their self-confidence? They get what they want. And the worst thing that someone like me can do is stand in their way.

  I wince as I sit deeper in the saddle and the mishua begins going uphill. God, will this day ever end?

  “You are hurt,” Terex says suddenly, his voice a rumble of displeasure.

  “We’re all hurt,” I mutter.

  The chafing is so bad on my thighs that I have tears in my eyes. The hours and hours of walking combined with straddling the dino-horse have rubbed the insides of my thighs raw.

  I’m not the only one hurting—Alexis is whining too, and I even caught Vivian shifting uncomfortably a few minutes ago. But my thighs are by far the worst. I don’t regret ripping off the legs of my pajama pants, but I wish I’d left a little more material behind.

  Terex makes a sound, and Kini stops. I turn my head and blink as Terex stares down at me sternly.

  “Show me where you are hurt, female.”

  I scowl at him, suddenly furious. “It’s none of your business.”

  Surprise flashes through his eyes, and then he laughs. My scowl deepens. Glad to know he finds me so funny.

  “We will wait here all day,” he declares.

  Vivian clears her throat imperiously from where the others are waiting a few feet ahead, and I have a sudden urge to push her off her dino-horse.

  I gesture toward my thighs, and Terex frowns and then growls impatiently. He swings his leg over the mishua, and I jolt as his boots hit the ground. Then he’s gently turning me until I’m sitting sidesaddle, gazing down at him.

  “You will tell me what is hurting you.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  He simply stares at me, and I gesture toward my thighs. Terex frowns, and then I’m grabbing at his shoulders as he pushes my thighs further apart, his hands gentle.

  “Poor female,” he says, his voice low.

  “My name is Ellie.”

  He meets my eyes, the expression on his face as if I’ve given him a gift.

  “Poor Ellie.” He lingers over my name like it’s a dirty word, and I blush. I feel my cheeks heat even more as he returns his attention to my thighs. I’m not the first woman to have chub rub, and I won’t be the last. It’s just something that happens to plenty of women, especially in summer.

  But it’s hard being surrounded by perfection, well aware that if I could just lose a few pounds, something that my mother has been hissing at me to do for more than fifteen years, I wouldn’t have nearly as much of a problem.

  I glance at where the others are waiting. Alexis and Nevada are talking quietly while the guys watch curiously, and Vivian wrinkles her nose at me in disdain.

  I want the ground to open up beneath me.

  “You’re embarrassing me,” I hiss at Terex, and to my mortification, a tear spills down my cheek.

  Terex’s eyes widen, and then his face hardens as he turns to the others, gesturing for them to continue. He waits until they’re moving on before he turns back to me.

  “Look, I’m fine,” I say. “I’ll survive until we arrive. Let’s just keep going.”

  “I may not be able to fix your arm, but I can help you with this.”

  Terex gently runs the tip of one finger over the inside of my thigh, and I wince even as desire stirs in my stomach. I feel my eyes widen, and I glance away, startled.

  It’s been a long, long time since I’ve thought about sex, and even longer since I’ve wanted it. But right now, I’m doing more than thinking about it. I’m visualizing it, fantasizing about it…needing it.

  “I have something that will help,” Terex says, reaching into one of the leather bags hanging off his saddle.

  He pulls out a small jar and opens it. A sweet, floral scent hits me. It’s similar and yet different to anything I’ve ever smelled before.

  I reach for the jar, and Terex simply grins up at me, pulling it out of my reach.

  His smile… My breath catches, and his grin widens as I blow out a shaky breath. I could’ve done without seeing that smile. That smile just makes it even harder to ignore what’s shaping up to be one hell of a crush.

 
I’m so busy recovering from the effect his grin has on me that I’m not prepared for his hand to slip between my thighs.

  I squeak, pushing at his huge shoulders, and he glowers at me.

  “Be still, female,” he growls, and I freeze. His touch is matter-of-fact, and it’s not like he’s attempting to catch a feel, but there’s something incredibly intimate about the way his hand strokes the insides of my thighs.

  Even though it hurts when he applies the cream, the effect is instant, and I sigh in relief as the pain disappears. Terex studies my face and nods, finally putting the cream away and swinging his leg back over his dino-horse.

  “Terex?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you.”

  Chapter Four

  Terex

  I frown down at the female in my arms. A few hours ago, she lost her fight against sleep, and now, exhausted, she slumbers in my arms.

  As she should.

  These possessive feelings are strange. I do not understand what it is about this female that makes me so drawn to her. Sure, she is beautiful with her lush curves, long hair, and expressive eyes. But she does not seem to trust me at all.

  I can tell that she wants me, yet she does not seem to want to want me. This is not something I have experienced before, and I long to make her tell me all her secrets.

  This female has been hurt. It is easy to see by the wounded look in her eyes. I gently ease her closer, and she lets out a tiny, adorable snore. I do not know where these strange females came from, but they are ours now. We will find their friends, and they will join our tribe.

  Any tribe that has allowed their females to come to such danger as to be taken by Voildi does not deserve to have them. My king will be pleased at the addition of these new females to our tribe.

  Finally, I see our camp in the distance, and Asroz lets out a growl of pleasure. I frown at him as the female—Ellie—stirs against me.

  “Not a nightmare,” she mumbles. “Great.”

  “We are arriving at our camp,” I tell her. She nods, but we all remain silent until we reach the outskirts of our camp and are immediately spotted by our sentries.

  “Terex?” one of them calls, voice shocked, and I don’t blame him. We left to kill Voildi, and we’ve returned with strange, tiny females.