“Jus-teen.”

The voice is so rough, so guttural—like stone grinding against stone—that for a moment I don’t recognize it as speech. When it registers, I freeze completely, my hands hovering above the ground.

Slowly, I look up.

The alien is standing over me, those golden eyes fixed on my face with an intensity that makes my breath catch. His mouth—that strange, alien mouth with its sharp teeth—is slightly open, as if he’s surprised himself.

“You—” I stammer, momentarily forgetting about the earring. “You can talk?”

He doesn’t respond, just continues staring at me with that same intense focus.

“Say something else,” I urge, rising to my knees. “Anything.”

He remains silent, but slowly crouches down to my level, bringing his face closer to mine.

The world seems to shrink around us, the cave walls fading away until all I can see is him—those topaz eyes flecked with gold, the strange patterns of light beneath his skin, the sharp angles of his face. He’s so close now that I can feel his breath on my lips. My heart hammers against my ribs as he just stays there, studying me with such intensity that it feels like he’s looking straight through to my soul.

I should move back. I should put some distance between us. But I don’t. I can’t. It’s like I’m paralyzed, caught in the gravity of his presence. The rest of the universe has disappeared, and there’s only this—only him—filling my entire field of vision, consuming every one of my senses.

Finally, his gaze slides from mine. Shifts to something to the side. To the crushed leaf he’d been working on, reduced to a paste, with some of it coating one long finger.

“So you can talk,” I whisper, gaze traveling over his face. “You’ve understood me this whole time? Or just my name? Why haven’t you⁠—”

“Jus-teen.”

I gulp.

That strange rasp is like he hasn’t spoken in years, maybe never. It sends a shiver down my spine. I can’t look away from him.

He leans in, even closer than before, his gaze sliding to my lips.

“What are you⁠—”

Before I can react, he raises his finger—the one coated with the crushed leaf paste—and brings it to my lips.

That’s all I manage before his finger slides between my lips. The paste is bitter and herbal, with an underlying sweetness that reminds me of molasses or licorice. I instinctively suck, trying to swallow the strange substance before I have time to think better of it.

The alien makes a sound the moment my lips enclose his finger—a low grunt that seems to come from deep in his chest—and his pupils dilate sharply, consuming the gold of his irises.

Something flutters low in my belly in response, a sensation so unexpected that I jerk back, his finger slipping from my mouth.

“What was that?” I ask, my voice embarrassingly breathless. “What did you just give me?”

He doesn’t answer, of course. Maybe “Jus-teen” is the only word he knows, or the only one he can pronounce with that alien mouth of his. But his eyes remain fixed on my lips, and there’s something in his expression that makes heat rise to my cheeks.

“I need to find my earring,” I say, trying to focus. “It’s important. It’s⁠—”

“Jus-teen,” he says again, softer this time, almost a caress.

And in that moment, with the desert sun streaming into the cave and this alien creature saying my name like it’s something precious, I realize with perfect clarity that I am in way, way over my head.

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Chapter 12

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YOUR CAT ISN’T THE ONLY ONE THAT LIKES HIGH PLACES

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JUSTINE

I don’t find my earring. One more whole day has passed stuck in this cave and I’ve spent the time checking every grain of sand, every inch of this cave. It is nowhere to be found.

What’s worse, I’m having nightmares. Or dreams, depending on how you want to look at it. Strange ones that crept into my mind in the night. Dreams where I’d seen those tiny particles again, swirling around me, inside me, changing something fundamental in my cells. Except, in this deam the alien was there, too. His hands, his touch, so gentle despite those deadly claws, had soothed the burning beneath my skin, chasing away the fear with a different kind of heat. A heat that lingers even now, a phantom ache that pulses between my legs with every beat of my racing heart.

I must be ovulating. It’s not my fault it makes me a horny fiend.

It is with great effort that I push the thoughts away, focusing on combing through the last handful of sand.

“It’s gone,” I finally admit, sitting back on my heels. A hollow feeling spreads through my chest. “It’s really gone.”

My gaze shifts to the alien. Still crouched nearby, he’d helped me look. Somehow, he’d noted my distress and without a word, he’d kneeled beside me, methodically brushing through the sand even though he had no idea what I was searching for, only that it’s obviously important to me. As if my distress alone was reason enough to help.

Now, still watching me with those unnerving golden eyes, he makes a low rumbling sound that almost feels sympathetic.

I brush angrily at the tears threatening to spill over. This is stupid. It’s just an earring. A tiny piece of glass. It shouldn’t matter so much, especially not here, where I’m stranded with much bigger problems to worry about.

But it does matter. And the loss of it feels like losing her all over again.

I take a deep breath and force myself to stand. Sitting here crying won’t find the earring, and it won’t get me back to Jacqui and the others.

“I have to go,” I say, straightening my shoulders. “They’ll be looking for me.”

I move to my small pack—which is really just my handbag—checking the meager supplies inside. One water packet left. Two more emergency biscuits. Not much, but it’ll have to do. I’d lost the emergency blanket somewhere in the desert, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.

“Okay,” I say, more to myself than to him. “That’s it. Time to hit the road.”

I sling the bag over my shoulder and turn toward the cave entrance. The alien is still watching me, his expression unreadable as I make my way past him.

I’m almost to the entrance when something large blocks my path. Him. He’s moved with that unsettling speed again, positioning himself between me and the exit.

“Excuse me,” I say, trying to step around him. “I need to go.”

He doesn’t budge.

“Look, I appreciate everything you’ve done. Really. You saved my life, and that’s…well, that’s a pretty big deal. But I have people waiting for me. People who are probably thinking I’m dead right now.”

I try again to move past him, but he shifts, still blocking my way. His eyes have narrowed, and the glow beneath his skin has intensified—pulsing like a warning signal—and for a crazy moment, I want to reach out and touch him again, feel that strange ripple under my fingers. Then I mentally slap myself. No, not helpful.

“Seriously?” I throw up my hands in frustration. “What is your problem? I need to leave!”

He makes a low, rumbling sound—not quite a growl, but definitely not approval either.

“Move,” I say, trying to make my voice firm despite the frustration and fear bubbling up inside me. “Please.”

Nothing. He might as well be a statue, an immovable wall of muscle and stubbornness.

“Fine. If you won’t move, I’ll just…” I feint left, then dart right, trying to slip past him.

No luck. He’s too fast, his reflexes too sharp. His arm shoots out, gently but firmly blocking my path.

“Okay, listen up, big guy,” I snap. All patience has—poof—gone. “You can’t keep me here! I don’t belong to you. I don’t belong here!”