Protected by the Alien Warrior Hope Hart (books that read to you .txt) 📖

leans over, languidly trailing his hand across the water and raising one eyebrow as if in a dare.

I’m immediately bombarded by memories of the two of us as young children, when my mother was still alive. We battled to outdo each other, constantly attempting to win our continual war of one-upmanship.

Before we stepped onto these boats, Dexar leaned close.

“Now that you have ceased hiding in the woods like a child beneath his furs, perhaps we can talk about why you left my tribe,” he murmured silkily before stalking away.

I pull my attention back to the present as Rakiz notices Dexar’s taunting and sends him a lewd gesture, making Nevada laugh.

She sits down next to Ivy. “I saw your clues, by the way.”

Ivy goes still. “Really?”

Nevada snorts. “Bright-pink material? Those pajamas were hard to miss. I snuck away from Rakiz and went looking for you. Once he caught up with me—and after he finished beating his chest—he helped me search. We found Zoey, but you’d already been moved by that point.”

“Is she…okay?”

“She’s alive. The healers say she’s getting stronger every day. If you hadn’t left us those clues, we never would’ve found her.”

Ivy leans her head back against my chest, her shoulders slumping. “And Beth?”

“She’s doing well too. She’s at Dexar’s tribe with Alexis. When she escaped, she got caught in a Voildi’s trap. It messed up her leg.”

“Oh God. Beth was a dancer. A good one, from the few comments she made.”

“Yeah. She’s doing good though. The warrior who found her, he dotes on her. He reminds me of your guy,” Nevada says, flicking me a glance. “The silent type.”

Ivy tenses, opening her mouth. Is she about to refute that I’m her “guy”? She strokes my arm, and I realize I’ve tightened my hold on her. Nevada tilts her head, grinning at me.

“Let’s see,” Nevada says. “That just leaves Ellie, Vivian, and Charlie. Ellie’s mated to Terex and completely knocked up.” She laughs at whatever she sees on Ivy’s face. “And Vivian’s still praying that the Arcav will land here any day and take her back to the land of makeup and hairdressers.”

“And Charlie?”

“That’s what I was going to talk to you about.” Nevada glances at me again. “How do you feel about going up against a dragon, big guy?”

Ivy

I’m still attempting to process everything Nevada has told me as we finally get close to land. Apparently, Charlie was taken by an actual fire-breathing dragon. I asked Vrex about the gorgeous mermaid-like scales across his chest, and he shrugged, simply saying that he was descended from the Great One.

Turns out, the Great One is a dragon, and he took Charlie. Apparently, the other women had kind of assumed that Charlie had been the dragon’s lunch, since she was bleeding so heavily when she was taken. But Alexis saw her not long ago and said she looked fine, only she was obviously being held against her will by a huge, very angry dragon.

Did I mention that the dragon apparently breathes fire?

Vrex seemed unconcerned by this, simply nodding along as Nevada described how the dragon had stretched its huge wings, eyeing Alexis and Dexar like they’d taste great with barbecue sauce.

I fall asleep against Vrex. When I wake up, I have to blink a few times before I realize I’m not dreaming.

I’m on a mishua, still held in Vrex’s arms. It’s dark, and in the distance, I see lanterns burning ahead of us.

“This is Rakiz’s camp.” Vrex’s voice is tight, and my chest aches at the reminder of how bad his life was when he lived in a camp just like this.

“Why are we here?”

“It’s much closer than my tashiv. You need to rest. And you can see your friends.”

My stomach twists. Does he not want me to go home with him?

Be cool, Ivy. You guys haven’t talked about any of this stuff yet.

I nod. My head’s spinning. I must’ve been in a deep sleep ’cause I’m insanely groggy. I glance to my right, where Rakiz has Nevada curled into his arms like a baby, her head buried in his neck as she sleeps.

Aw.

Vrex helps me off the mishua, and I give Nari’s nose a stroke. A short, curvy woman steps forward, a huge smile on her face.

“You helped me make a sling out of my pajamas when we were following the Voildi,” she murmurs.

I can’t help but grin back at her. “I did. How are you, Ellie?”

A huge warrior joins her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“I’m great. I’m glad you’re okay. This is Terex, by the way.”

The warrior nods at me, but it’s clear that he only has eyes for Ellie. I drop my eyes to her stomach, and she laughs as she sees the direction of my gaze.

“Yup, it didn’t take long before Nevada and I ended up barefoot and pregnant,” she jokes, but it’s clear that she’s deliriously happy.

I attempt to ignore the stab of envy that slides through my gut like a knife. Vrex finishes handing Nari over to one of Rakiz’s warriors, and Nevada snorts as she walks past, rubbing at her eyes.

“Speak for yourself,” she says, dropping her gaze to Ellie’s feet, which are, indeed, bare.

Terex frowns at this. “You should be wearing shoes, tiny female.”

She smiles up at him. “I was excited to see these guys. It’s okay, I’ll go back to bed as soon as Ivy and Vrex are settled.”

Vrex goes still next to me, and I have a feeling it’s because Ellie called him by his name and not the Goddamned Assassin of Agron.

Nevada calls over her shoulder to Ellie, “There’s an empty kradi for these guys near yours.”

Ellie nods, turning back to me. “We can figure out everything else tomorrow, but I’m sure you’re tired right now.”

“Exhausted,” I say.

Vrex is quiet beside me as we trail after Ellie and Terex. They lead us to a large tent-like structure, and I almost kiss Ellie’s bare feet when I poke my head into the attached bathing room. A woman is filling