by Anna Carven
Her breath caught in her chest. God, she was loath to admit it, but he actually looked very sexy right now.
A few days ago, he’d been surly and indifferent. What had changed between them?
“W-will it take long?” She tried to slow her racing heart and failed miserably.
“Nah.” He grinned. “I’ll get Abbey to find something for you. She’s a little crazy, but she’s efficient.”
“Th-thanks.” Impatience bubbled up inside her. Alexis was overcome with the sudden urge to move. She craved that post-workout euphoria; tired body, aching muscles, sweat drying on her skin, heart pounding…
She turned and peered into a seductive version of some place on Earth, a simulation she’d personally selected from a list of thousands.
In front of her was a series of undulating hills covered in verdant scrub. A narrow dirt track wound around the side of a steep slope, disappearing over the horizon.
The sunlight was perfect. It was early morning.
The simulation was so realistic that she almost pinched herself. It was light years ahead of what humans were able to produce right now, and on a traveling warship, no less.
It reminded her of the island.
How was this possible?
The technology these Kordolians possessed was baffling. She’d always known they were one of the most advanced races in the Nine Galaxies in terms of sheer military hardware, but to come face to face with something so sublime, so far beyond her comprehension…
Every single piece of tech on this vessel felt so organic, so seamlessly integrated, as if the machines running through its dark heart were the organs of a living beast.
Or some kind of sorcery.
She took a deep breath, tempted to let the robe fall from her shoulders and run off into the artificial distance, where diaphanous swirls of mist drifted across the hills. There was even a light breeze. If not for the impenetrable blackness behind her—and of course, Nythian—she could have been on Earth.
“Relax, human,” Nythian drawled. “I’m not going to bite. Why don’t you try out the sim while you wait?”
Heat crept up her neck and into her cheeks. “I’m not used to having an audience when I run.”
“What you wear or don’t wear is irrelevant. I’ve seen almost everything, anyway.” His voice dropped to a low growl.
“And I suppose it doesn’t matter one way or another to you?”
“You’re right. It doesn’t make any difference,” he agreed. “I’ve got a good imagination.”
“Imagination for what?” Her heart pummeled.
He didn’t respond. He just stared, undressing her with his eyes, not even trying to be the slightest bit subtle about it.
The fine hairs on her arms stood on end. A slow-burning fire spread through her belly, down into her core, between her thighs…
The idea that this alien might consider her even the slightest bit attractive… it sent a strange thrill through her.
Even with this? Alexis ran her fingers over her transformed hand. It was slightly cool to the touch, soft yet hard, like a cross between glass and smooth human skin. It looked like some weird cyborg hand.
She was an undead monster with a mutant hand and an alien consciousness inside her head. It was the farthest from attractive she’d ever felt in her life, and yet here was Nythian the mysterious Kordolian warrior, fucking flirting with her.
Alexis had been around long enough to recognize when a male was showing signs of interest. It didn’t happen very often—she was too much of a serious person to attract much attention—but she’d had her share of quick and unsatisfying relationships. The men she’d dated were nice enough; decent guys, mostly successful, well-educated, attractive, and always fascinated by her line of work… but the dates never evolved into anything deeper.
And she’d find herself having that dreaded conversation.
It’s not you, it’s me…
Like some sort of bad romantic cliche.
Always wondering if there was something fundamentally wrong with her, if her obsession with work was pathological, if the spark that always failed to materialize would ever happen.
Maybe it would take someone outrageous, like this Kordolian warrior who held held her completely at his mercy.
Her breath caught as she stared back at Nythian, trapped by his startling ruby gaze. She took in his powerful form, all broad rippling muscle encased in an obsidian second-skin.
Holy hell.
Nobody had ever made her feel like this.
“What are you doing, Nythian?”
He exhaled softly and rose to his feet, moving silently and fluidly despite his impressive size. “Good question, human. I’m trying to figure that one out myself.”
“Oh yeah?” She tried to remain calm, but the slight quirk to his lips told her that he knew.
Unfair. She couldn’t read him at all, and reading people was supposed to be part of her skill-set.
Perhaps the slight narrowing of his eyes and the almost imperceptible flare of his nostrils meant something. Perhaps the rapid pulse in his neck—the only part of him that was visible aside from his face—meant something.
She wanted to peel back his hard layers and understand what had made him this way. The bloodhound inside her was baying for answers.
He inched closer, closer, until he was standing inside her personal space. She caught a tendril of his scent.
It reminded her of a forest, hints of dark, ancient woodiness shot through with unexpected lightness.
Complicated.
You wouldn’t think it, just by looking at him.
“You’ve been to a place most of us will never come back from,” he whispered, and Alexis went very still as his fingers gently grazed her cheek.“What you’ve been through… some folks would lose their minds because of it. You didn’t.”
Because of you. She remembered how he’d held her, how he hadn’t even flinched when the Tharian started to transform her body. He simply accepted her strangeness for what it was.
They were all strange.
It didn’t matter.
Warm fingers traced curious lines across her cheek. His fingers were bare, carving sensual trails across her cool skin.
“I saw the truth of our existence,” she whispered, remembering that feeling of pure enlightenment; a moment of absolute peace. “Not just humans, but all of us.” One second, she’d been careening wildly through the smashed hull of the Malachi, in agony and struggling to breathe, staring death in the face. The next, she was warm and safe and complete.
Then she’d woken up in a freezing stasis tank on a terrifying alien ship.
Unbidden, a tear slipped down her cheek. She’d caught a glimpse of what lay beyond, and then, in an instant, it had all been taken away from her.
Her grief was so devastating, but all she could manage was a single tear.
Alexis had never been a crier, not even when she was eight years old and her sister had disappeared while they were walking on the beach.
She’d only turned her back for a minute…
And then Tasha was gone.
An extensive search turned up nothing.
The local authorities suspected human traffickers who had been active in the area at the time. They’d closed the case after just two weeks, citing a lack of evidence.
Even as a kid, she’d found that a bit suspicious.
Where are you, Tasha?
She wanted to cry more, but the tears wouldn’t come.
“Hey,” Nythian murmured, wiping away the track of her single tear with his fingers. “We understand death and all the fucking strangeness of the Universe. We’ve been there a thousand times over. I’m not going to let anything like that happen to you ever again.”
A wave of guilt crashed down upon her, making her feel very small. “I still don’t understand. Why the hell did I survive?” A single moment, frozen in time, flashed in her mind’s eye.
Bodies floated past, people she knew, peop
le she’d been speaking with only minutes before…
The weirdest thing about it was how calm their expressions were, as if they were merely asleep.
She couldn’t shake off the silent horror of that moment.
“You can keep asking yourself that question until the end of days,” Nythian rumbled, drawing her ever closer, closer, until her body was pressed against his and she could feel his warmth radiating through the thick fabric of her robe. “But that won’t change what happened. You survived, Alexis. Don’t question it. Use it. That’s all we can do.”
His words were blunt, but they were exactly what she needed to hear right now.
All of a sudden, things became crystal clear.
She had to get Anuk back to Tharos before it was too late.
She had to find the Kordolians who were trying to kill her.
And she had to return to Earth, because leaving for distant Miridian-7 was a fantasy, a mistake, a choice forced upon her by some faceless bureaucrats at the Agency who didn’t want her blood on their hands or any sort of internal investigation to happen.
She wanted her old job back.
She wanted to see her mama, her brothers, her friends, her colleagues at the HPA.
She wanted to find Tasha.
She wanted to feel normal again.
“That’s better,” Nythian growled. His voice changed, becoming stern and commanding. “I prefer that look on your face. From now on, you aren’t going to dwell on those things anymore. It’s done. Finished. Lock it away and move on. You’re going to become strong. Work with us, Alexis. Work with me.”
“I…” Suddenly, she was breathless, speechless, her lips parted slightly, her eyes wide, her heart pummeling, her body hot and alive beneath her voluminous robes.
He leaned in.
Kissed her on the lips.
Blew her fucking mind.
His lips were surprisingly soft, and he tasted faintly of cinnamon of all things. At first, he was gentle, tasting the salty tear that had slipped down onto her lips. Alexis’s frantic thoughts floated away on a tide of impossible sensation.
This whole scenario was impossible, and yet it was really happening.
That was her last rational thought as she kissed him back, probing his lips with her tongue, momentarily finding the alien strangeness of his twin fangs, and although they were terrifyingly sharp, he never once drew blood.
He took charge, kissing her hungrily, tapping into the deep vein of need hidden inside her.
She sensed something wild inside him, something she was only scratching the surface of.
His hands were on her cheeks, then her neck, curving up the back of her head, his bare fingers sending electric thrills down her spine.
Her body was on fire. Heat spread between her thighs. Her clit throbbed.
She put her hands on his chest, and…
“A-ah,” shocked, she gently pushed him away, and to her surprise, he relented, giving her just enough space to breathe.
Had that really just happened?
She could still taste him on her lips, which tingled with the memory of his touch.
“I only wanted to come down here to run,” she gasped. “T-this wasn’t—”
“…part of my plans either,” Nythian rasped, and she loved how his voice reverberated right through her. “Not that it’s a problem.” He remained close, and she forgot to breathe as she took in his sheer size, his honed torso, his massive arms…
Everything about him spoke of tightly restrained power. Lust burned in his eyes, the sheer intensity of it terrifying her a little. It occurred to her that if he wanted to take her right here, right now, she would be completely helpless against him, even with her mutant Tharian hand.
But she wasn’t scared of him.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, he pulled away. “You are not ready for this. I will wait.” Pale eyebrows drew together. His voice dropped to a whisper. “You already understand that I’m here to guard you. It’s my job to know every single thing about you. You breathe, I’m aware. You blink, I know about it. Now I have to train you, too. It’s my duty to make sure you’re ready for whatever we find on Tharos. I can’t change what’s happened to you, Alexis. I have to be the shadow at your side, but I can also be your shield. There’s not much in the Universe that can challenge me… and I can be very patient.”
Anyone else speaking those words would have scared the shit out of her or earned a punch in the face, but Nythian… he wasn’t arrogant or condescending. He simply was. “So you’re saying you’re going to control every minute detail of my life, train me according to your rules, be at my side every moment of the day, and I’m expected to be okay with all that just because you’re a good kisser?”
“Yes.” He smiled, obviously pleased with himself. Embarrassed, Alexis scowled. Goddamn slip of the tongue. She hadn’t been meaning to say that.
“And this?” She pointed her finger between herself and Nythian, poking him in the chest. “So what happens now?”
“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” His smile turned into a wolfish grin, and she didn’t quite know whether to glare at him or be amused. “You still want to run?”
“Well, I’m going to have to now, aren’t I?” Her body was aching for release. If she didn’t do something to relieve this tension, it wouldn’t take much to tip her over the edge.
“Still want me to arrange those clothes for you?”
Now she glared at him. “You still planning on taking a nap?”
“I’m not really sleepy anymore.”
“Then I’ll take you up on that offer. Preferably long-sleeved, and a pair of running shoes in my size too, since you people seem to have just about anything and everything on this goddamn ship.”
He gave her a long appraising look, his eyes traveling slowly over her body. “I’ll arrange some proper fighting attire for you, too. Training begins next shift. I’m not going to go easy on you just because you’re beautiful.”
Training? A thrill of excitement coursed through her.
She shot him a determined look…
And then froze.
Had he just called her beautiful?
Nythian raised an eyebrow.
Alexis stared back, still buzzing with anticipation and the afterglow of his touch.
“Problem?”
She cleared her throat. “N-no. There’s no problem.” She turned and stared off into the artificial distance, watching as mist drifted across the verdant green hills.
What a beautiful illusion.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could almost smell the crisp morning air, the grass, the rain-soaked earth of her home village…
The voice inside her head was quiet, her painful memories buried beneath a deep layer of calm.
For the first time in longer than she could remember, she almost felt like her old self again, and it was all because of this man.
Never in a million years could she have imagined that a Kordolian of all creatures would be the one to pull her back from the brink of insanity.
THIRTEEN
“YOU NEED TO ANTICIPATE BETTER,” Nythian growled as Alexis danced back out of range of his fists. He’d only tapped her lightly, but she felt a little sting from where his fingers had cracked against her cheek.
She didn’t know how much time had passed—days, possibly a week now—but she’d already lost count of how many of these training sessions she’d been put through. During her breaks, she would spend time with Abbey and Layla or go down to Zharek’s labs for a medical checkup.
A few times, Enki had come to teach her his method for handling Anuk. Those sessions had been tense and a little chilling, as Alexis quickly realized that Enki’s technique was nothing more than complete suppression and control—that was all he knew.
How had Anuk remained sane all this time? How had she survived?
Alexis quickly came to respect the Tharian’s strength of will, and she quietly decided she didn’t w
ant to do things Enki’s way.
She just couldn’t understand the fierce, intense Kordolian, no matter how much Layla seemed to adore him.
“Why are you slowing down? Don’t tell me you’re already tired.” Nythian’s dark lips curved ever so slightly, making her heart flutter.
“Of course not.” His gentle taunt made her want to push harder, to test the limits of her endurance. Her whole body ached, she was starting to feel good again. Really good. Yesterday, Zharek had given her full medical clearance.
Nythian might be the nicest and most attractive Kordolian she’d ever met, but he was a hard taskmaster. He didn’t go easy on her because she was female or human or recently returned from the dead. He pushed Alexis to her absolute limits.
And this was only the beginning.
Until now, her training had been all about building fitness and speed. This was the first time she’d sparred with him directly, and it was… humbling.
Jeez… By Academy standards, she was a competent fighter, but this Kordolian made her look like a totally green recruit.
He wasn’t even trying hard. Hadn’t even broken a sweat… did Kordolians even sweat? Probably not.
Her chest heaved up and down. Sweat gleamed on her face. They’d been at it for what felt like hours. Nythian had forced her to chase him all around the damn room until she was short of breath and her whole body ached.
He was too fast, too wily, too damn cocky.
No, scratch that last one. He wasn’t cocky at all. This was just all so natural for him. Clearly, he was in a class of his own when it came to fighting.
Nythian was a freak, and she couldn’t land a punch on him.
It infuriated her.
“Faster.” He moved in. She could tell he was going easy on purpose, giving her time to react.
She danced backwards. “I can’t move any faster than this,” she huffed, her breaths coming in sharp, shallow rasps. Sweat trickled down the side of her face and neck. The back of her black thermoskin top was soaked. “I’m human, in case you’ve forgotten, oh mighty one.”