Alien Romance: Caged By The Alien: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) (Celestial Mates Book 4) by Marla Therron

and smiled at Penny.
    "Good morning, Penny Allyn." he said.
    "Good eighth-cycle, Aiten Tau." Penny replied, and saw a curious shiver pass through the commander in response to hearing his full name. He put his helmet on quickly and vanished through the door, leaving Penny alone.
    The first thing she set about doing was trying to find a way out of the cage. She felt for locks or catches and kicked at the bars for a good while but she couldn't even figure out where the door was supposed to be.
    The cage was as seamless as Tau's hidden doors. Eventually she gave up and, with nothing else to do, went back to sleep for a few hours, dozing in the cage.
    She woke with stomach pains, like gas but worse. Her stomach felt hard as a rock. She tried to ignore it for a while, but it only got worse. Eventually, all she could do was lie on the floor of the cage and shake, wracked with pain, pale and sweating.
    Tau returned after a few hours, by which point Penny was barely cognizant enough to notice him panicking and pulling her out of the cage, calling for help in a high, shrill alarm buzz.
    What she could only assume was a doctor or something like it was called to examine her. Something was injected and the pain stopped, as did she. The world went black.
    She woke much later that night, back in the cage, half sure she'd imagined the entire ordeal. Tau was sitting outside her cage, only his helmet off, his expression grave. She saw relief in his eyes as she sat up, shaking her head.
    "How are you feeling?" he asked, concern apparent.
    "Sore," she replied, "Kind of like I've been beaten with a stick."
    "We made a mistake with your food," he said, expression so guilty Penny almost felt bad for him, "Your system was not digesting the wax. We had to give you an enzyme to dissolve it, but you reacted badly and your respiratory system shut down. For a moment we did not think you would make it."
    "That explains it," Penny croaked, shivering at the thought of how close she'd come to dying because the aliens didn't understand her anatomy.
    "They think you will be fine now," he continued, "But we will be reformulating your nutritional supplements. In the meantime, I brought you these."
    He gestured to a stack of foil food packets and water bottles beside her cage.
    "I told your hive mates where you were, and about the medical difficulties," he stood, coming closer to kneel by the cage, "They have volunteered to test the new food supplements before they are given to you. They said all their lives rely on you, as ambassador, and so it is more important for you to remain safe."
    Penny sighed, just relieved that they were alright and knew where she was.
    "My whole job as ambassador is to protect them," she said, "I'm supposed to try things like that first so the team doesn't suffer. They're being kind, but don't let them endanger themselves for me."
    "I believe they are correct," Tau frowned, close enough to the bars for Penny to see the iridescent glitter of his eyes, "You said your species doesn't have castes, but you have a queen's voice, and they follow your decisions. It is natural for a hive to want to protect its queen."
    "I'm not their queen," Penny sighed, uncomfortable and frustrated, "I told you. Rivera is more in charge than I am."
    "I think your life is valuable," Tau said suddenly, surprising her, "And you are in my care. So the decision is mine."
    Penny was taken aback for a moment, but then she nodded in acceptance.
    "Fine," she agreed, "You're the boss."
    He nodded sharply, then stood.
    "You should rest," he said, "You came close to death today."
    "I've had enough resting to last me a life time," Penny said, though she was tired and sore from the ordeal, "I can't even stand up in this cage. Is there any chance I could get out and stretch my legs?"
    "No," he answered, leaving no room for debate. Penny sighed again.
    "We will continue the interrogation," he said instead, "You will tell me more about earth."
    It sounded like the last thing