Ajos: The Restitution - A Sci-fi Alien Romance, Book 1, стр. 27

10

Sleep was eventful.

The nightmares that had her waking every other hour ranged from images of being taken to images of Cindy Clawford meeting an untimely demise in her apartment.

The cat was all alone and she really could only hope and pray her neighbor visited and took Cindy home.

As she opened her eyes for probably the seven hundredth time, Kerena stared up into the white ceiling.

The bed was comfortable, but despite her exhaustion, she wouldn’t be able to sleep properly.

This was probably how her mind was sorting through this life-changing experience—with nightmares. She probably just needed time for everything to settle.

Releasing a breath, she stretched underneath the blanket Ajos had provided her.

What now?

What would today bring?

She guessed she was going to head back to the hospital and offer any help she could.

Damn, if she’d known she’d have been placed in this situation, she wouldn’t have specialized in botany, she’d have become a medical doctor like her father had wanted her to.

It’s not like she even had any plants here that she could study. She wasn’t in the pharmaceutical business anymore.

But there must be some way she could help.

Easing up on her elbows, she yawned. The light had been dim, but now that she’d moved, it brightened, illuminating the room.

Her gaze fell immediately on the clothes placed at the foot of the bed.

Her dress was spread out and her bra and panties were placed to the side of it.

Kerena blinked before moving fast to grab the items.

He’d come in here while she was sleeping?

Not only that, but the clothes were clean.

Sniffing the dress, she couldn’t get any sense of sweat or dirt from the fibers. It was the same for her panties and bra.

Kerena squeezed her eyes tight, a cringe and a giggle developing within her.

Of all the things to allow her host to do, washing her intimates hadn’t ever been on the list.

Anyway, she shrugged and slipped the clothes on.

Raking her hands through her hair, she hoped she looked presentable enough.

She moved to slip on her boots when she noticed that they looked clean too.

He must have come in and done them while she was sleeping.

She wasn’t sure how to feel about that—the fact that he’d been around her while she’d been unconscious—but it seemed he really had come in just to complete her laundry.

Straightening her dress, she moved toward the door and slipped out of the room and into the corridor.

She could hear voices coming from down the hall, so she headed that way.

As she reached the room, she saw the source of the voices.

Ajos sat with V’Alen at a counter, facing away from her.

With their backs turned, they didn’t see her approach, but she was sure V’Alen was aware of her presence.

He didn’t turn to look at her, but as soon as she came to the room, his head angled a bit in her direction, as if he knew she was there.

“You are awake, Kerena,” V’Alen said.

At the sound of her name, Ajos noticeably stiffened and whatever he was eating paused halfway in his hand on the way to his lips.

“I am,” she answered. “Good morning.” She stepped into the room, her eyes on the minty-teal alien.

He was still pissed. He’d definitely heard her asking the computer about him then.

V’Alen slipped off a seat. “Sit here,” he said before brushing past her to move to the other side of the counter.

Her eyes remained on Ajos as she moved forward and took a seat.

As she sat, Ajos slipped the food he was eating into his mouth, but he still didn’t look her way. She could hardly see his face under the hood he wore.

It didn’t seem as if he was chewing either.

Maybe he was upset with her, but he also wasn’t a morning person.

Still, his whole demeanor seemed strange.

Different.

This wasn’t the same alien who had helped her yesterday. This wasn’t the same alien who had saved her life.

“Is everything all right?”

Ajos seemed to stiffen even more, and he even adjusted the hood he was wearing.

“Ajos is…ill,” V’Alen said.

Kerena’s eyes widened a little.

Was that what it was?

“You are?”

“I’m fine.” It was a growl, but Ajos was glaring in V’Alen’s direction and not at her.

“He—”

“Drop it.” Those words also came out as a growl, and Kerena felt the vibration down her spine.

V’Alen seemed to drop the argument, Ajos obviously didn’t want anyone worrying over him, and slid something toward her in a bowl.

It looked like a bowl of couscous with some kind of sauce on top.

Her stomach growled.

“What is this?”

“Your fellow humans prepared it. It is rai cooked strangely with alae sauce.”

V’Alen passed her a curved utensil that could work as a spoon, and she dipped it in the food and brought it to her lips.

The food had a strange texture but not strange enough that she wanted to spit it out and the sauce…the sauce had a sort of lemony taste.

Chewing quickly, she took another spoonful.

“This is,” she chewed, “this is good.”

As she dipped the spoon again, she paused and glanced at Ajos, only to find that he was looking at her with the same intensity with which he’d been looking at her the night before.

For a moment, she forgot what she was doing, but as she brought the spoon to her lips, his gaze followed her movement and held there.

He watched as the spoon slid into her mouth and she suddenly felt self-conscious as she chewed.

She didn’t know what to think of the way he was looking at her.

Did aliens not eat the way humans did?

Was the way she was using the spoon strange to him?

The way she chewed?

Ajos groaned—she was sure of it—and