Sohut's Protection: A Sci-fi Alien Romance (Riv's Sanctuary Book 2), A.G. Wilde [13 ebook reader TXT] 📗

series of raised bumps, the same of which ran from his bottom lip down his chin like a midline down his face.

His hands flexed absently at his side and she counted not five but four fingers on each hand. Behind him, his tail swished in the air slowly.

Frowning in his direction, she watched him look around the clearing, his gaze scanning everything.

Maybe the orc aliens had thought sending a model to get into her panties was the best way to recapture her?

Well, the joke was on them.

She wasn’t wearing any panties.

As the alien dipped his face into the rock pool before lifting his head again, Cleo lay mesmerized by the rivulets of water sliding down his skin.

The alien turned his head slightly in her direction and sniffed again.

That movement sent a barrage of thoughts and feelings through her that tugged in two separate directions.

Yea…about what she’d said earlier…she was going to die of thirst.

Creeping as silently as she could away from the water hole, Cleo backtracked to her cave.

8

Three more days passed.

The alien was still by the water hole.

She was out of water and food now, plus Wawa was still missing.

To add, for the past two nights, she’d heard more distant roars echoing through the jungle and she could only hope it didn’t mean the animals making the terrible sounds weren’t migrating to the mountain.

If that was the case, this was surely like the apocalypse.

She didn’t know what to do.

She couldn’t even focus. Her mind was constantly on the intruder who seemed to be making a home in the most inconvenient of places: right by her water source!

He was like a lion walking into meerkat territory only to take a nap. And who was she but not the confused meerkat poking her head up from her hidey-hole wondering just what the fuck is wrong with this lion?

The last time she ventured to spy on him, he’d been resting in a spot where the sun hit the bushes, his eyes closed as if he was sunning himself.

As she’d come close, she’d heard him sniff, and that one reaction had her retreating.

Withdrawing to her cave for the third night in a row, Cleo paced the floor of her cave in the darkness.

She was tired, hungry, thirsty…she was slowly dying.

Fuck.

And what’s worse, she felt alone.

For the entire time she’d been a fugitive, she hadn’t felt more on her own.

With a sigh, she stared up into the darkness above her. Somewhere out there, she hoped Wawa was okay.

She didn’t imagine it would be this way when she finally went.

There was an enemy on her doorstep, she was slowly starving, and dangerous animals were roaming the woods.

Even as she thought about it, she was sure she heard a roar in the distance.

Pausing, Cleo stared out through the cave entrance at the night sky.

It was coming to an end, wasn’t it?

A deep feeling of sadness overcame her.

She didn’t want to leave the cave.

This was home.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she exited the cave and slid down the vine hanging over the edge of the cliff. Swinging onto the landing on the side of the mountain below the cave, she stopped to take a breath.

With light footsteps, she padded through the undergrowth in the direction of the water hole.

She knew where to go, even in the darkness, having walked the way many, many times before.

As she approached, the dim glow of light caught her eyes and made her spine stiffen.

He was still there.

Creeping closer, Cleo peeked through the bushes, careful to be silent.

That light source that lit up the small clearing seemed to be coming from a gadget set in the center of the clearing on the ground.

It almost felt strange looking at artificial light again. The glow reminded her of the fluorescent bulbs that used to hang in her apartment back in California.

Back then, life had been simpler in her regular bartender job.

Those days, living hand-to-mouth hadn’t quite taken the same meaning as it did now in this new life.

With the light source illuminating the area, it wasn’t hard to spot the blue intruder and her eyes fell on his broad back.

He was there.

Awake.

And as she stared at him, she realized she’d been holding her breath the entire time since she’d reached the edge of the clearing.

He was still frickin’ there.

And drinking her water.

The alien was crouched near the rock pool, droplets of water running down his face and dampening his shirt.

A few feet behind him, against the wall, rested his bag with things. She could see a few items, gadgets she didn’t know the purpose of, brimming from the top.

It probably had tools too and other useful items.

Things like a firelighter, maybe a knife…a gun possibly?

Even his little light gadget was enviable.

She bet he had things in that bag that she could use. Things that would make living in the wilderness so much easier—that is, if she somehow managed to survive this.

Over the past few months, she’d used all the knowledge her father had passed down to her to craft as many items as she had the skill to craft.

She still had the piece of metal, which served as her trusty blade now. She could make a fire using a board, some kindling, and a swindle. She’d used vines and some of the large leaves to fashion things she needed to live like her mattress and pillow. There were even some husks from some huge nuts that fell within the jungle that she used for bowls too, whenever she managed to find them.

If he had a knife though, a real one, it would make life so much easier for her. And a lighter? What she wouldn’t do for something that could make a fire easily and on the go.

Cleo bit her bottom lip, her gaze shifting back to the alien. He hadn’t moved.

Looking right at his back, it took her a few moments to realize that something was off.

He…he wasn’t moving.

He was frozen in a sort of non-movement