“Yes.”
Maybe that wasn’t as horrible a thing as he thought. There were times when Adria would have given anything to simply forget William if it meant the pain of his death would ease. But that wasn’t an option, so she muddled on, shoving her grief down with another rush project or late meeting at work.
So far, that had kept her sane, but she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep up the hectic pace of outrunning her grief.
“How long do you have before you forget?” she asked.
“Days, perhaps.”
She could do anything for such a short time, no matter how uncomfortable it might be. And since she was on vacation, she had no reason to rush away and leave his fate to another. She’d always believed that things happened for a reason, and the coincidence of him showing up here and now was simply too much for her to dismiss.
Adria was here in this place at this time because he needed her, and that was not the kind of thing she could ignore—the same way she’d met and fallen in love with William just in time to see him through the hardest months of his life. As hard as that had been, she was still grateful that he hadn’t had to go through that alone.
She pulled in a fortifying breath, preparing herself for whatever was to come. “You’d better tell me what you need to get back home. I don’t know how long it will take to round up whatever it is—assuming these ingredients of yours even exist here.”
“I will show you.”
He reached for her, and as he came closer, the knife hit his skin. Before she could react and shift the blade so he wouldn’t be cut, his thick, hot fingers slid through her hair, cradling both sides of her head and stealing her will to move. She could feel the tip of each finger and the press of his wide palm outlined in heat. He didn’t hold her tight, but his grip was firm enough to tell her he had no intention of letting her go.
The urge to fight should have spiked inside her, forcing her to react, but instead, a sense of peace settled over her, slowing her pulse and evening out her breathing. She didn’t know if it was something he’d done to her, or her body’s natural reaction to being well and truly caught, but whatever it was, she seemed incapable of shoving him away.
She glanced down to find the paring knife she’d thought to use as a weapon had merely slid off of his hard skin as if it were armor. There wasn’t even so much as a red mark where she’d scored him. The blade was bent slightly, reflecting the pale bluish tint of his skin.
He tilted her head up and rested his forehead against hers. His eyes had shifted color once again, and as close as she was now, she could see that he had three concentric rings that made up his iris. As she watched, the red one narrowed as a purple one expanded.
“What does it mean when your eyes change color?” she asked, scrambling for some toehold on reality—some way to make sense of this situation.
He breathed in deeply through his nose as if drawing in some tantalizing perfume. “What color are they now?”
“Dark purple.”
A slight smile lifted one side of his mouth, and she realized just how full his lips were. His gaze caressed her face, slowly lingering as it passed. “That is appropriate.”
“What does that mean?” She had a crazy urge to reach up and touch him, but forced her hands to stay where they were—balled up in tight fists against his chest.
“Close your eyes,” he told her, ignoring her question. “It will make the showing easier.”
Adria hadn’t stopped to think that whatever he was going to do might not be easy until his words put that thought in her head. She’d been so overwhelmed by his presence—by what his mere existence meant—that she hadn’t given a single second of worry to how he was going to show her exactly what it was he needed.
She opened her mouth to tell him to stop, but it was too late. A rush of colors and lights slammed into her, making her reel back. Only his grip kept her upright.
She felt herself shift—felt a hot, heavy weight press into her, pinning her in place as the colors swept by. A low, buzzing hum filled the space behind her eyes. She sensed movement, like she was falling, and the only thing she had to grab onto was the hard wall of his bare chest.
Somewhere beyond the lights and noise she heard the paring knife clatter to the floor.
“Nearly complete,” he whispered.
Images coalesced inside her mind. She saw a giant blue sun burning in the sky for a split second before it evaporated. Bizarre, alien trees sprouted in her vision, rising as high as a skyscraper. Their yellow limbs snaked up against a green sky. Sparkling rocks stretched out for miles, and huge shards of milky white prisms jutted up from the flat, glittering sea of crystal. Clouds of diamonds no bigger than grains of sand scoured the landscape, sparkling and deadly as they passed.
The face of a beautiful woman with pale bluish skin appeared. Her black hair swirled around her hips, shining with some kind of living magic. And even though Adria had never seen her before, she knew instantly that this was his sister.
Elina.
The image shifted, blurring around the edges. Elina lay on a stone floor, purple blood pooling beneath her. Her hair lay limp and still, partially covering the damage that had been done to her body. Multiple stab wounds left her skin gaping open. Standing over her was a giant of a man, rage heaving in his chest and twisting his features into a snarl. In his fist he clutched a glossy black knife with a foot-long blade, stained with her blood.
Adria felt the horror associated with that image. She felt the grief and rage of the man who’d shown it to her. That giant man had done this to Elina, and Adria would stop at nothing to make him pay.
Anger burned hot in her gut. Tears of loss streamed down her cheeks. A low, throttled moan vibrated in her chest and tore at her throat.
“I will f**king kill him,” she vowed. Her voice was rough and strained, warbling with the grief crouching inside of her. She felt as she had in the days after William had died—consumed with rage and loss so sharp she was sure those keen edges would slice her in two. Time had muted that pain, but now it was all back, thrashing around and making her bleed all over again.
“You felt too much,” he said, a slight catch in his voice. “I am sorry for that. It was not my intent.”
Hot fingers stroked her scalp as if he were trying to soothe her. He pulled her against his bare chest, and she let him, craving any comfort he could offer.
His skin was warm and firm under her cheek. She could hear his heart pounding, slow and steady. The scent of campfires still clung to his skin, familiar and reassuring, reminding her of safe, happy times when the whole world was hers to shape to fit her dreams.
Slowly, as the visions he’d shown her faded from sight, allowing her to see her real surroundings, the strength of the emotions she had experienced eased. The knot of grief in her chest loosened, and her throat relaxed. She saw her fingers clutching his shoulder, not even making indentations in his tough skin. One of his hands cradled her head, the other wrapped around her waist, holding her in place as if he feared she might fall over. His long hair curled around her wrist, giving off a living kind of warmth as it stroked her skin. It was softer than anything on a man his size had the right to be, but right now she was grateful for a bit of softness.
Clinging to him chafed at her independence, but it wasn’t every day that a woman had her brain invaded by an alien. She felt she had a right to cling just a little.
“You should speak now and reassure me that I did no lasting damage.” He managed to sound both insecure and demanding at the same time.
She shifted muscles to move away, and his hold on her tightened—even the hair around her wrist coiled closer to her skin.
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice making it sound like a lie. “Just a little rattled. You can let me go.”
“You nearly collapsed.”
“I’m better now. Promise.”
He didn’t seem inclined to let her go, and while this whole cuddling with a hot man thing was really nice, she didn’t like it that he ignored her request. She didn’t care what planet he was from. When it came to her body, she got to decide who touched and who didn’t.
“Let me go,” she ordered, making it clear she wasn’t asking.
He released her slowly, and every one of his fingertips slid across her skin in a caress she felt all the way to her toes. Singing pleasure winged through her nerve endings, making her all too aware of the way her br**sts tightened and her belly fluttered. By the time he took a small step back, she felt like she’d been petted from top to bottom and back again.
It had been a long time since anyone had wanted to touch her like that—even longer since she’d wanted anyone to do so. He’d obeyed her order, but rather than feeling satisfied, she was left shaking, cold and alone, aching for things she refused to name.
Adria brushed her hair from her face, and saw her hands trembling. She tried to cover her weakness, but the way he was staring at her with unblinking intensity made it seem impossible that he’d miss a thing.
“So what now…” It struck her that she didn’t even know his name. “What do you call yourself?”
“Toren.”
“So what now, Toren?”
“Now you go and gather up the items I requested.”
“Uh. Sorry to break this to you after all the trouble you went to for the whole mind-meld thing, but I still don’t know what you need.”
“Yes, you do. All you have to do is access the knowledge I conveyed.”
She scoured her mind for something that wasn’t there before, but all she could find was that image of Elina lying dead with that evil man standing over her, murder weapon in hand. And while the memory still had the power to turn her stomach, the effects were not nearly as potent as they’d been before. Thank God.
“Nope. Sorry,” she said. “No magical grocery list.”
“It is there,” he said with complete certainty.
Adria slipped past his wide shoulder and went to her purse. She didn’t know why she suddenly needed her purse so badly, but the need flared inside her, forcing her actions. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to go, but maybe it doesn’t work with humans.” She emptied out the contents of her makeup bag and handed a pair of earrings to Toren.
He looked down at them, a triumphant smile stretching his full mouth. “This is one of the things I need.”
“Earrings?”
“Is that what this material is called?”
“Oh. Silver.” And as soon as she said the word, a huge gong and bright lights went off inside her mind, and she was filled with a sense of giddiness, like she’d won an intergalactic lottery.
Her knees went liquid, her head spun, and she started to topple to the floor.
Chapter Four
Toren grabbed Adreeahbenwah before she could damage herself. Just the thought of her delicate skin being marred had him instinctively using his magic to fuel his speed. More sparks of power dribbled from his dwindling reserves, but the prize was worth the cost.
She clung to him as if he were the only thing holding her to this spinning planet. Her cheek pressed against his bare chest, and he marveled again at how pliant and soft she was. He could feel fine tremors cascading through her body, and in that instant, he imagined what it would be like to make her tremble in another, more intimate way.