Stolen: Warriors of Hir, Book 3 Read Online Free PDF Page B

directive?”
    “If clan directive includes making a run for it instead of breeding a bunch of half-humans for them against my will, then hell yeah, I broke their damn directive. Anything else?” she asked. “Or are we good?”
    His face tightened. “I find the Betari clanbrothers’ deception, their attempt to conceal the presence of a human female on their enclosure, very suspect—and disturbing. It is important that I discover their reasons.”
    “Absolutely. You ponder that good.” Summer shifted her weight again. “Are we done?”
    His nostrils flared. “To assure your safety—as well as mine—we need to have these questions answered now.”
    “Actually, what I really need right now,” she grumbled, pushing past him, “is to pee.”

Three

     
    “Have you finished relieving yourself?”
    “You know—” Summer began, still squatting behind the tree. The moons were waxing, their cool light bright enough to allow her to see pretty well. His g’hir vision was better, of course, but his back was turned and he was determinedly looking the other way. “The fact that you followed me over here and listened to me pee and even asked me that question is freaking weird. Even for an alien.”
    “I meant—” he growled, “do you require a cleansing cloth?”
    Funny how a couple short years ago a conversation like this would have left her mortified.
    How things change . . .
    “Toilet paper? Sure, if you’ve got it, I’ll take it.”
    She put her hand out and without looking at her he offered her a soft biodegradable cloth.
    “Hey, this is even nicer than what the Betari stock,” she commented, feeling it between her fingers. “Really, this stuff should be in the bathroom at the Ritz hotel.”
    “I am glad it meets your approval,” he muttered, his face still turned toward the river.
    When she’d finished she stood and fastened her pants, then joined him on the other side of the tree.
    His glowing eyes finally turned her way. “My impression of human females was that they tended to be more fastidious than this.”
    “Hey, I climbed across a building, ran—covered with mud!—from an alien posse, shot a spitting centipede from hell, and wrecked my manicure. Sorry, warrior, but I’m not sure I can be called a lady by any stretch now.”
    “I knew that you fell.” His gaze swept her. “What I do not understand is how you could have fallen in such a way so that you are so completely covered in muck.”
    Summer put her hands on her hips. “Oh, I liked it so much I rolled in it. Like a hog.”
    His brow creased.
    “I used the mud to cover my scent so they couldn’t track me,” she said impatiently. “You know—because I was escaping ?”
    “It is very effective,” he agreed. “You do not smell human at all. I detect only organic decay and fish remains.”
    “You know”—Summer shut her eyes briefly—“believe it or not, I was happier not knowing just how much I stink.”
    “You may wash in the river. In fact,” he grumbled, heading that way, “if you are to spend any more time with me, I insist.”
    As much as she wanted to get off the planet, needed to get back home, she knew she had to sleep. Had to eat. And if the Betari couldn’t cross over into Erah territory, she certainly wouldn’t mind washing the muck off either.
    “Why are you out in the middle of nowhere anyway, warrior?” Summer asked, following him. “Did your clanbrothers banish you to the wilderness for having too much charm or something?”
    He stopped, his mouth pursed to retort, then his brow creased. “Why are you walking like that?”
    “We human types call it ‘limping.’” Those boots had done a number on her; she was wincing with every step. “And gee, O great alien overlord, I don’t know—maybe because my feet hurt?”
    With a g’hir’s shocking speed he swung her into his arms.
    “What the hell are you doing?” she cried, struggling at finding herself cradled in his arms—not that it did any