She dozed for a few hours and then woke up after it was dark. Feeling a little guilty about blowing off Ali, she took a shower. After dressing in pants and a shirt, she followed the smell of cooking food. Ali was in the kitchen when Shanna found her.

“Hi.”

Ali grinned. “Hyvin Berrr cares very much for you to take time out of his busy day to come see you. You worried and starved yourself for no reason.” Grinning back, Shanna gave a nod. “Can I help? Whatever you’re cooking smells wonderful.”

“It is done. You could take some plates from the shelf to set the table.” Shanna and Ali shared a pleasant dinner making polite conversation. The Zorn woman was an excellent cook and Shanna took down two bowls of the tasty meat stew.

When they finished both women went into the kitchen to do the dishes. Shanna offered to dry while Ali washed.

“So what do you guys do around here at night?”

“I finish all of my chores and if Brenda were here we would talk Argis Rever into playing a game. Brenda has been teaching us many human ones.”

“What kind of—”

A bell rang, interrupting Shanna. Excitement instantly hit her as she spun. “Berrr must be here early.” She went to run for the door but Ali grabbed her arm, halting her.

“I will answer the door since you are human and it isn’t safe. Some Zorn males get very excited to see a human woman. Stay put and I will go let him in if he is the one at the door. It might be Argis Rever and Brenda. I locked the door since you are here.” Rolling her eyes, Shanna gave a nod. “Sure.”

She paced the kitchen, excitement hit her, hoping that Berrr could stay all night with her. She hadn’t been kidding about sleeping poorly without him. It might have had some small part with her worry about what and who he was doing while he was away from her. Now that she was sure that he wasn’t going to take Alluwn back into his life she knew things would be a thousand times better. A noise drew her attention to the door, a smile on her lips as a large male form came walking through the doorway.

“You aren’t Berrr.” Shanna frowned at the uniformed Zorn male who came to a halt to frown back at her. “Where is Berrr?”

The Zorn man’s frown deepened. “I was ordered to pick you up and take you to Hyvin Berrr’s home.”

Relief hit Shanna as she grinned. “Terrific!”

Ali walked into the kitchen behind the uniformed guy to give Shanna a smile. “It was nice meeting you and you are always welcome in the home of Argis Rever. Brenda will be saddened that she missed the opportunity to speak to another human woman but I am sure you will visit often.”

Shanna moved to hug the much taller, bigger woman. “Thanks so much for having me, Ali. You’ve been great.” She stepped back, grinning. “I guess that woman got bored and took off a lot faster than Berrr thought she would.” Winking, she turned to face Berrr’s guy. “Let’s go.”

He gave a nod. “This way, human.”

Excitement hit Shanna. Alluwn hadn’t stuck around for long at all, which is a great thing.

Maybe having all those Zorn guests in Berrr’s house had made her want to leave right away.

Shanna didn’t really care what the reason was, she was going home to Berrr and that’s all that mattered. He’d sent for her, ordering four large guards to collect her in his car that she recognized right off as one of the men opened the back door.

The drive wasn’t too long to the house. The sun was going down when they reached the driveway and one of the guards let her out. He gave her a sharp nod and waved his arm to the house.

“You are awaited inside, human.”

She almost corrected him by telling him to use her name but thought better of it, not sure what Zorn customs were. It was a little irritating being called human but she’d been called a hell of a lot worse names in her life. She walked to the front door and opened it up, instantly letting her gaze drift around the room looking for Berrr. No one was in the living room at all.

Sighing, thinking he might not be home yet from his dinner, she made her way toward the back of the darkening house. She’d wait there for him, in bed, and light a fire until he arrived. She stepped into his bedroom and headed right for the fireplace with the fading sunlight dimming the bedroom considerably.

The black logs had been set neatly in the grate, waiting to be lit. As the fire roared to life, Shanna turned to glance around the bedroom she’d wondered if she’d ever see again yesterday when she’d been rushed out of his home. The bed had been made, their discarded clothes gone, and she didn’t need to be told the house helpers had come in to clean up the room. She sighed and looked at the room again, hoping Berrr wouldn’t be too long. The people of Zorn really needed television.

The bedroom door swung open behind Shanna. She spun around, a smile on her lips, her mood greatly improved knowing Berrr was home. It wasn’t her sexy alien who strode into the room though. The woman had to be about six-foot-three with black shoulder-length hair and was dressed in men’s clothing. Shanna had a sinking feeling as she stared into a pair of dark, furious eyes that Alluwn hadn’t left after all.

“So you are the human Berrr is so attached to.” The woman almost growled her words. Her hands went to the hips of her tight leather men’s pants, gripping them, as her eyes narrowed, and her mouth tightened in a grim line. “Truly pathetic.” Shanna stared at the woman and said the only thing that came to mind. “I thought you were gone.”

A viciously cold smile turned the woman’s harsh mouth upward. “Gone? I’m the one who ordered you brought here. As soon as I was told that Berrr was humiliating me by bedding a human, I was just waiting for the right opportunity for us to be alone to get to know each other.”

Chapter Twelve

Shanna knew she was in a whole world of shit. The big Zorn woman looked mean, as though she were the “kick ass and don’t bother to take names” kind of woman. Her hair had been cut short unlike any other Zorn woman Shanna had seen and she wore male clothing. Shanna tried not to panic.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Shanna lied flat out. “You must be Alluwn. I’ve heard so many nice things about you.”