Swept Away: A Krinar Story by Anna Zaires Page A

cave for a reason—but it was a smaller risk than drowning at this point. Squinting against the rain, she reached for the top outcropping, but instead of cold rock, her fingers encountered something warm—something that curled around her palm with unbelievable strength.
    A man’s hand.
    Gasping, Delia opened her eyes wider, and through the blur of stinging rain, saw the stranger from the beach looking down at her.
    The god had somehow made it up the cliff and was holding her hand.

Chapter Two
    T he human girl seemed so shocked to see Arus above her that she froze, stopping her climb for a moment. Below her, a giant wave crashed into the cliff, spraying them both with salt water. There was an even bigger wave behind it, so Arus bent lower and grabbed the girl’s other arm with his free hand.
    “The water is going to reach here,” he explained in her language, pulling her up as he rose to his feet. The wave was still cresting, so he swung the girl up into his arms and leapt back a dozen feet, holding her securely against his chest. A moment later, the wave hit the top of the cliff and spilled over, the water swirling around his ankles before receding back into the sea. Had the girl still been hanging over the cliff, it would’ve washed her away, possibly causing her to drown. Arus wasn’t certain of that last outcome, but from what he’d seen of her kind, it was entirely likely.
    For all their Krinar-like appearance, humans were weak and clumsy, unable to cope with the most basic challenges of their planet.
    The girl began to struggle, and Arus realized he was still holding her against his chest. He loosened his grip enough to make sure she could breathe but didn’t set her down. Instead, he studied her, noting her large brown eyes and smooth olive-toned complexion. She was young; he guessed her age to be somewhere in the late teens or early twenties. With her thick dark hair and slender build, she could almost pass for a Krinar female—except her features were too irregular to have been designed in a lab. Her face was shaped like a heart, with a forehead that was a shade too wide and a mouth that was too delicate for true beauty. Still, she was pretty in a unique way.
    Pretty enough that his cock stirred, oblivious to the cold water pouring from the sky.
    As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, the girl redoubled her efforts to get free. “Please, let me go.” Her voice held a note of fear, and her small hands pushed at his chest, her palms sliding on his wet skin.
    To his shock, Arus felt heat streaking down his spine at her touch, and his breathing picked up.
    He was getting turned on by a wet, scared human girl.
    Before he could decide what to do about that, he saw another wave cresting over the cliff. The worst of the storm surge had yet to come, which meant his first priority was getting the girl to safety.
    “We have to get away from this beach,” he told her, turning away from the sea. She continued to struggle, but he ignored it, holding her tightly as he walked toward the hills in the distance. He knew there was a village to the west—likely the girl’s village—so he headed east, where he would be less likely to run into more humans.
    He was supposed to observe the Earth’s residents, not interact with them.
    Still, Arus wasn’t sorry he’d saved the girl. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that she would’ve drowned on her own. And that would’ve been a shame, because she was pleasant to hold.
    So pleasant, in fact, that he couldn’t help imagining how it would feel if he held her underneath him, his cock buried in her slick, warm flesh.
    “Where are you taking me?” The girl sounded panicked now. “Please, I have to get home.”
    “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.” Arus glanced down at his captive. Her rapid pulse was visible at the base of her throat, and his arousal grew as he imagined the coppery taste of her blood on his tongue. He had tried drinking