Riv's Sanctuary: A Sci-fi Alien Romance, A.G. Wilde [phonics reading books TXT] 📗

the worst thing he could do and he was already having a helluva time trying to stick to his own rules.

25

Her entire body ached and when she opened her eyes, it felt like she’d had a steamroller doing laps over her muscles.

At first, it wasn’t clear where she was, but as soon as her eyes opened fully, Lauren bolted upright.

What the heck was she doing in his room?

Had she walked in there by accident?

She knew she’d been tired, but…

Tensing, she looked around her.

Riv wasn’t anywhere to be seen. As a matter of fact, the door was closed and, judging from the placement of the covers on the bed, she’d been alone all night.

Releasing a breath, Lauren fell back against the mattress, trying to get her thoughts together.

The mattress was firm.

Hard, like its owner.

And it smelled like him—a heady musk that smelled like dried hay and spices.

It made her feel strange and reminded her she was definitely in the wrong place. For the life of her, though, she couldn’t remember how she’d ended up in his room.

She’d walked back to the main dwelling, sat with her back against the wall for just a few minutes as she’d watched the moons…and then she’d woken up there.

Bracing upright, she took in the room.

It was mostly sparse apart from different gadgets against the walls and gadgets thrown on a table in the corner. He had a trunk with clothes against one wall, too…and that was it.

As she eased herself off the bed, she grit her teeth.

Her muscles must have seized up in the night. That only happened when she exerted too much energy and her body couldn’t handle the pressure.

Creeping as quietly as she could toward the door, she perked her ears for any sound.

When she heard nothing, she crept from the bedroom and headed to the main room.

Grot was nowhere to be seen, but the smell of something cooking caught her attention. Her stomach growled immediately.

She was about to follow the smell when Riv suddenly appeared with a bowl in his hands.

He looked surprised to see her and she only knew this because he wasn’t wearing his shades and face covering.

Green, piercing eyes hit her and widened a bit.

He did a quick scan from her feet right back to her eyes before he turned and set the bowl on the table.

“How did you…” He cleared his throat, pretending to set the bowl properly. “—how did you sleep?”

“I slept well…” Her voice was cautious as she observed him.

It had to have been him who’d placed her in his room. Only, she couldn’t imagine him doing that.

“Good,” he said, his gaze finally moving her way again. “You should wash and then eat.”

That made her glance down at herself and she was momentarily taken aback.

She was filthy.

She was smeared with mud and whatever other particles from her last day of work.

She hadn’t gotten a chance to take a bath the night before. But her stomach growled again, demanding attention.

“Maybe you should eat first,” he said, pulling out a chair for her.

“That’s mine?” Her gaze moved from the bowl to him and back, one eyebrow raised.

“It’s ogna soup. It should help you recover your energy.”

Lauren blinked.

Was this some kind of trick?

“Sit,” he repeated, motioning to the chair. “Eat. It is best when it is warm.”

Eyebrows still raised, Lauren moved forward, her eyes on him the entire time.

When he wasn’t scowling, he looked so…handsome.

Those piercing green eyes of his followed her as she walked to the chair and were now staring down at her with great intensity.

Settling into the chair, she tried not to wince as her tired muscles protested.

“And maybe don’t work so hard next time,” he snapped, before his tone softened. “It isn’t good to overwork.”

There was a scoop beside the bowl and, as she reached for it, Riv’s hand shot out and closed around her wrist.

A protest was on her lips when he lifted her hand, palm upward, something flaring in his eyes.

Eyes falling to her palm, she realized the blisters she’d been developing had gotten angry.

Her palm looked red and bruised.

When she looked up at Riv, she couldn’t read his expression, and when his piercing green eyes hit her and bored into her soul, she felt she had to say something.

“It’s nothing. It’ll heal.” She tried to pull her hand away but his fingers only tightened around her wrist, enough to hold her hand still but not enough to bruise her flesh.

“Your idea of what is nothing differs greatly from mine.” His gaze fell back to her hand. “You are losing the top layer of your hand.”

There was something notably different about his voice and Lauren looked up at him, disbelieving.

He wasn’t scowling…he wasn’t growling…he sounded normal—caring, even.

Considering that he’d stayed away from her for over a week, this was a surprising development.

Maybe something happened last night when she was asleep. Maybe they were in some kind of weird moon-cycle she wasn’t aware of. Because this Riv wasn’t the same Riv she knew.

“Both your hands are damaged.” There was something akin to gruffness there this time but when his gaze fell on hers, there was no annoyance or anger there.

Instead, he looked at her as if he was only just seeing her, as if something about her was being revealed to him at that very moment.

It felt as if she was looking in his eyes for ages before he rested her hands gently on the table.

“How is it that you are losing your hands?”

She smiled at that, unexpectedly, and Riv’s gaze followed the movement of her lips.

Suddenly, he was too close and this situation too strange. It reminded her she was female. He was male.

And it reminded her of that bathroom incident. The one they hadn’t discussed. The one she thought about every night. The one that made her wet when it shouldn’t because, well, it shouldn’t!

He’d completely and utterly rejected her.

How low was her self-esteem to still get turned on by his proximity?

“I’m not losing my hands,” she answered, keeping her voice