I found out later that Xai'an had made love for me for almost a whole day. I had to beg him to stop because...well...damn it a girl could only take so much before it just plain hurt. Well and also because I was met with some of the worst cramps of my life afterwards. It was due to the combination of lack of food and the intense rough sex. Xai'an was not small if you catch my drift.

Xai'an damn near had a heart attack at my pain because it drove me to the floor. It would have been funny to see his pretty amber eyes nearly pop out of his head had I not been convulsing in pain. He was so worried that he didn't even listen to me that the pain would eventually pass. I knew because I had this happen to me once before when my partner had been nearly as big as Xai'an and nearly as rough. I didn't mind it though because in the moment, I liked it. Xai'an wanted to hear none of it and tossed me into another healing pod for another day.

After that he damn near avoided me for another few days. Or at least, I assumed given how it felt. There was nothing for me to gage time. When I did see him it was to bring me food. I think he was scared he'd hurt me again.

Maybe I really was stupid, because I not only wasn't scared, but I was disappointed that he avoided me. Even though it pained me to even walk to the bathroom with every step for a while, my body still craved him. I wanted him again and that was so unlike me. Yeah, I enjoyed sex with my partners, but I could easily go months without feeling the need to be with someone again. Years sometimes. Never in my life had I ever reacted like this to a lover and thanks to having a lot of alone time I had tons of time to think about it.

Xai'an could have at least left me with a tv or a book. I hadn't been out of the bedroom since he showed me my wanted posters and I was getting beyond stir crazy. There was only so much a person could sleep and I had long grown tired of counting the etches in the walls. It felt like months had passed since Xai'an's last slept in here, which was just me being needy since he rarely visited me except to make sure I had something to eat.

Today felt like it had been hours since Xai'an had last come in to bring me food. Mostly things like fruits or nuts that he seemed to have yanked from a store judging by the plastic containers and sticker expiration dates. I really doubted that he would stand in line casually at a grocery store. No, I was betting he stole it.

Those visits showed me how he worked the door, but I was without clothes. The doctor's lab coat was beyond salvation unfortunately. I hadn't seen his brother, but I had no reason to assume he wasn't here. I had no doubts Xai'an's jealousy wouldn't limit to just human males and after he had helped rescue me, I couldn't risk setting him up for that bloodbath.

The door suddenly opened and I let out a sigh of relief when Xai'an came in holding a tray of fruits. I guess I had been upgraded. Watermelon, strawberries, bananas, kiwi. He seemed to pay attention to which ones were my favorites because he no longer brought me pineapple or cherries. "Xai'an, when can I leave this room? I think I'll die of boredom if I'm cooped up in here much longer."

Xai'an clicked his mandibles and sat the tray down on the leather mattress. "Z is Xai'an's mate. Leave whenever. Xai'an ship is Z ship."

That was nice and all but even if I hadn't been feeling like he had been avoiding me I still had a big issue. I motioned to my lack of clothing. "I can't strut about naked, Xai'an."

He laughed and by now I could see his mandibles draw up on his face, similar to how a person smiles. I never would have imagined in a million years that I could find a being like him handsome, but here I was. "No."

He motioned to the wall and beckoned me to follow him. I hopped off the bed after grabbing a strawberry. He reached for my hand and placed it on a faint box that lined the wall. It was so faint, in fact, that I never would have seen it otherwise.

There was a hiss of air and the wall opened up. Inside was a closet of all of my clothes. Not only my clothes, but the rugs in my apartment, my movies, TV, game console, some boxed foods...nearly everything from my apartment was in there. The closet was bigger than my walk in and still had plenty of space left. "When did you have time to go by and get all this?"

To be honest, I was a little mixed on how I felt about seeing all my stuff. It was comforting to have...but...it was also a grim reminder that I could never go home. "When Z sleep in chamber."

I arched an eyebrow at him over my shoulder and reached for the first pile of clothes. I found my sleeping shorts and an oversized shirt that hung off one shoulder. "The first or second time?" I then found my bras and underwear.

"First."

Once I was dressed I felt complete. More me. I turned to find him leaning on the frame of the entryway. "Why have you been gone so much?"

"Leader demand Yautja tech be destroyed. Stay on Earth longer. Brothers help." He approached me, towering over me and he reached for a curl. He seemed to like touching my hair for some reason. I always hated my mane, so if he got satisfaction from it, I'd be happy.

"I assume I'm staying safe on the ship while you go out and about?" I sighed.

"Yes."

"Well that fucking blows." I reached around his waist and hugged him. "The hell am I going to do while you're gone?"

"Rest for travel."

That made me frown. "I've had plenty of rest, Xai'an. You're perfectly content to just do nothing, aren't you?"

He seemed to think about it. "Hunting require patience. Lots of waiting."

"Humans can't handle isolation well, Xai'an. We need something to stimulate us. Can't I come with you?" I tried to pout to try to add on a level of cuteness that I hoped would work.

It didn't. "No." His response was immediate.

"Because I'm human and weak?" I challenged.

"All humans hunt Zena. Not safe. Not smart. Xai'an will take Z hunting where not target."

His words surprised me. I hadn't expected him to want me in danger at all. Honestly, I expected him to keep me hidden away in a room as a little trophy wife of some sort.

"Really?"

He nodded and started to make his way toward the bedroom room. I trailed after him and he didn't stop me from following him when he left, so I reached up to his belt and held on.

"Z meet brothers. Brothers not accept oomans. Stay silent." Xai'an growled it and I noticed he was standing a little straighter.

"If they are a threat, why are you introducing me period? Shouldn't I hide?" I sure as hell did not want to see his brothers attack him over me.

"Xai'an not hide Z. Not ashamed. Z is mate. Xai'an make brothers accept Z as mate." Xai'an then reached down to grab my hand and it made me smile.

No one else I had ever been with had ever stood up for me like this. It made me fall a little bit more in love with him and I laced my fingers through his. Though most of my lovey feelings fluttered away when he brought me into the massive control room from before.

There stood five other Predators. Each one stood apart from Xai'an being as they were all warm colors to his inky black. Their dreads were all much shorter than his, falling only a couple inches passed their shoulders. Their mandibles all seemed to be unnaturally large for their faces and they also had much more black quills lining their heads and muscular torsos. They had smaller, beadier eyes than Xai'an too. I actually found them to be...ugly. Though I'd never tell them that.

One thing I did notice very quickly was that Xai'an towered over all of them by at least half a foot. Either these Predators were much younger, or Xai'an simply was that much bigger.

The smallest one, who was a hue of green and yellow growled something at the other four who visibly tensed at the sight of me. One even hissed at me which really pissed Xai'an off.

Mandibles flaring, he roared loud enough to make me jerk my hand out of his to clamp down over my ears. That was really going to get annoying if that was the usual greeting I got from others of his kind.

His hand palmed the top of my head and when he purred, I looked up at him. He was making sure I was okay. He pulled me solidly to his side. It made me smile. "I'm fine. My ears will ring for a bit, but I'm alright."

"This Baaul." He motioned to the smallest male who had growled at the group that seemed to be standing together. "Brother help rescue Z."

He inclined his head but made no movement to get any closer to me. Probably out of respect for his brother. "Thank you, Baaul for helping to get me out of there."

He nodded once more but didn't speak otherwise.

Xai'an motioned to the rest of them. "Only Yerin'an worth introduction. Rest young Unblooded."

The tallest of the four Predators stepped forward. He bowed his head and I could see he was similar to Baaul in color but he was more muted. "Nice to meet the female who tamed Xai'an."

I was amazed at how well his English was. I didn't hear a trace of accent like Xai'an's. "Nice to meet you too. I hope. I take it 'Unblooded' means 'rookie'?"

Xai'an nodded. "Equivalent."

"Do you know where they are holding your tech?" I asked, looking up at Xai'an.

He nodded but Yerin'an answered. "Your ooman city called New York is the one we are after. We suspect there are more though."

"New York? Man, I visited there once and I hated it. It's always cold, smells terrible, and the people are assholes." I shuddered as I remembered the high school field trip from hell. We had gone to watch a musical and the art museum during the middle of winter. The snow had been a disgusting gray slushie and dealing with people had been awful. Maybe it was just the city, but I'd never wanted to settle there for those reasons.

Xai'an went to his control center and ran his claws over the keypad. He brought up another hologram that twirled a building in 3D form in the center of the room. The building in question made me raise my eyebrows. "Uh...are you sure it's there?"

"Why?" This from Yerin'an.

I motioned to the front of the building because I'd never forget it. It was the Broadway Theatre. "That's a theatre. Meant to entertain with music and shows. Why would they store your tech in an area that gathers hundreds of people a day if they wanted to keep it secret?"

"Yes, I thought so. Oomans don't have any blueprints of any facility underground either. Seems this is either a decoy location or it's possible they have it so covert, any details of it's construction was destroyed." Yerin'an nodded and reached to with his hands to pull the image to expand until we were suddenly standing inside it.

"Damn...I forgot how pretty this place is. Over here is where people go to make their way to their seats." All of them followed my motions. "And over here is where people get their drinks befoee the show, though they do have waiters occasionally come serve you if you paid enough money for good tickets."

"What's over here?" Xai'an appeared behind me and I followed his hand to a door that clearly was labeled EMPLOYEE ONLY.

"I don't know. I never worked there. Only employees can enter, but...can you go back to the outside for a moment?" I asked and Yerin'an did as I requested. What I saw made no sense. That door should have led to a bathroom if my memory served me right. Easing the hologram back and forth a few times only solidified my instincts. "That wasn't there last time I was there Xai'an. That should be a bathroom. I mean it has been a few years and maybe they converted it into a closet or something, but that definitely used to be a women's bathroom."

He motioned to me and said something I didn't understand. The four behind Yerin'an shifted uncomfortably, I think. Whatever Xai'an said looks to have embarrassed them.

"It's worth checking out." Baaul spoke up for the first time. The only reason I understood him was because Xai'an's accent was actually heavier.

"Agreed. Gear up. We will head out shortly." Yerin'an bowed his head toward me once more before he lead the group of smaller Predators out. All of them were very careful to avoid my gaze as they bowed their heads in my direction. Or maybe it was actually Xai'an. I don't know.

Baaul watched them carefully as they exited and I couldn't help but wonder if he didn't trust them. Funny...Neither did I.

Xai'an cupped my face and he leaned down to nuzzle me, purring unabashedly. I actually giggled because it was the cutest thing ever to have this massive male who was way more masculine than any other man I had ever been with, yet he was only one who was so secure with himself that public displays of affection didn't bother him at all. In fact, he almost seemed to flourish in it. I placed a small kiss on each mandible and was surprised by how...right it felt.

"Must go. Be back."

"Am I to be here by myself?" I ran my fingers over the roughness of his knuckles.

He shook his head. "Baaul will stay. Protect you."

The smaller Predator turned to look at me. I wonder if he was waiting for me to challenge him due to his clear height difference. Compared to the others, he was downright small. Maybe just over 7 feet. I just smiled. "Okay. I trust him since you did. Not to mention he seemed to defend me to the others. Can you do me a favor before you leave though?"

"Name it."

"Can you set up my TV and console so I can at least watch movies while you're gone? Surely you've got some sort of outlets around here." When he looked confused I smiled. "The big thin black box you put in the closet with my clothes?"

Xai'an laughed. "Yes. Okay."

***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

Xai'an has proven very difficult when it comes to color layering. So it'll be awhile before he's finished.

Ladies and gents...I give you...

Xai'an (very early in the process)

We are officially caught up to where I'm at in writing so updates will become less frequent. Feel free to read my other works while you wait. I'll try to post as regularly as I can. Don't forget to vote!

***END AUTHOR'S NOTE***