I am still as I wait for her to explain. Not a daughter of Ain? But she fell from Ain and she is unlike any being I have ever encountered.

Soft. To be worshipped. Just like the beings in those stories of old. The daughters we Drakav cherished.

“I don’t…understand.”

She sighs, moving away to settle near the fire again. “I don’t even know who Ain is, Rok. I’m just…a human woman.” Human? I blink, still struggling to understand. I have never heard of such a tribe or clan before. “I’m from a planet called Earth. I was on a bus—I guess it was a ship—and something went wrong. We crashed here. I’m not special or magical or whatever you think I am. I’m just lost.”

Lost?

No.

She is exactly where she is supposed to be. I know this with every fiber of my being.

I watch her, studying the way the firelight plays across her features. Her strange, rounded ears. Her oddly colored eyes, the soft curve of her mouth. Everything about her is foreign, yes, but also…right. Perfect.

“Ain,” I begin, trying to explain what every youngling in my clan learns from their first conscious moments. “Ain is creator of the dust and sky. Ain is the light that gives us all life. And you…you fell from her. A daughter⁠—”

She shakes her head. “I’m not some special mythical being, Rok. I’m as confused and scared as anyone would be, waking up on a strange planet.”

“But you are,” I insist, moving closer to her. “If not, I would have made the mistake of killing you in the dust. You are mine now. And I am yours. Entangled. Forever.”

Her brow furrows. “What?”

“I cannot exist without you,” I explain, touching her arm gently. “Being away brings pain.”

She stares at me, her expression unreadable. “That’s impossible.”

I take her hand, turning it over in my claw. “This…you…are not like my people. There is something in you, Jus-teen, that is not of the dust. But if you did not come…my existence would have meant nothing.”

“Rok…” she begins, but trails off, uncertainty clear in her voice.

“It does not matter what you call yourself,” I shift, pulling her against my chest. “Daughter of Ain or human female. You are Jus-teen. My Jus-teen.” I press my forehead to hers, wanting her to feel the truth in my thoughts. “And I will protect you. Find your kin. Keep you safe.”

Her thoughts finally open to me again. A tangled web of confusion, fear, and something else—something that makes my chest warm. She’s afraid I’ll reject her now that I know she’s not what I thought. She’s afraid I’ll abandon her in this hostile world.

“Never.” I push the thought hard. “You are mine now. Nothing changes that.”

I feel the moment the tension leaves her body, the way she melts against me, her arms coming up to wrap around my neck.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” she whispers against my skin. “I don’t understand any of this. But I know I need you. And that scares me more than anything on this planet.”

I cradle her against me, my hand stroking down her back. “Fear is wise in the dust,” I tell her. “Fear keeps you alive. But fear of me?” I shake my head. “This you do not need. I would die before I let harm come to you.”

She pulls back just enough to look into my eyes, her hands framing my face. “That’s exactly what scares me,” she whispers. “How much I already care about you. How much I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

The admission sends a rush of warmth through my chest. She cares for me. This strange, beautiful creature cares for me.

“We will be careful,” I promise her. “We will reach my clan safely. Find your others. All will be well.”

She nods, but I can sense she doesn’t fully believe me. There’s something else she’s not telling me, some fear she’s holding back.

“What else troubles you?” I ask, brushing her strange, soft fur back from her face.

She hesitates, her lower lip caught between her teeth. “What if…what if your clan doesn’t believe I’m just a human? What if they think I’m this daughter of Ain? What will they expect from me?”

I consider this, knowing the reverence with which my people view the tale. “They will be curious,” I admit. “They will want to see your light, hear your knowledge. But they will not harm you.”

“And when they realize I don’t have any special knowledge or powers? When I can’t do whatever it is they expect from a daughter of Ain?”

I stroke her cheek, marveling at its softness. “We expect nothing from the daughters. Nothing but their favor. When I bring you to my clan, they will see you as I do. As Jus-teen. Strong. Beautiful. Worthy of protection.”

She leans into my touch, her eyes closing briefly. “I hope you’re right.”

“I am right,” I assure her, pulling her close again. “Rok is never wrong, unless Jus-teen says he is.”

A chuckle goes through her, her body relaxing as I settle us both by the fire. I pull her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her to shield her from the chill of the cave.

As she drifts toward sleep, her thoughts growing fuzzy and disjointed, I allow myself to consider what she’s told me. Not a daughter of Ain, she claims. Just a human female, lost and far from home.

And yet…I’ve felt the change in myself since finding her—the way my body has transformed, my thoughts have clarified, my stem has grown. These are not coincidences.

The stories speak of the wonder of the daughters of Ain. Their power. Their glory. Perhaps these beings, these humans, carry Ain’s blessing without understanding it themselves.

I press my lips to her head fur, breathing in her unique scent. It doesn’t matter what she calls herself. Daughter of Ain. Human. She is mine to protect now. Mine to cherish. And I will bring her safely to my clan, find her people, and ensure she never has reason to fear again.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 32

OceanofPDF.com

MY SUBCONSCIOUS: WAY AHEAD OF ME

OceanofPDF.com

JUSTINE

The revelation that I can now understand Rok without our foreheads touching is still spinning in my head. His voice had been like an actual caress—rough, deep, vibrating in places no sound should reach. Even thinking about it makes my clit jump, forcing me to stifle a gasp.

Can he—? Does he know?

My gaze shifts to him as we prepare to leave, only to find he’s gone utterly still. My gaze slides down the taut muscles in his arms, the strong line of cords in his back. A fresh wave of heat floods through me.

Fuck.

This isn’t lust. This is possession. And my traitorous body welcomes it.

I force myself to focus on preparing to leave the cave and not the humming in my veins. After two days of hiding out, the danger has apparently passed.

“The sand serpent has moved on,” Rok assures me, his thoughts flowing into mine with surprising clarity. “We should continue our journey.”

“It’s still wild to me that I can hear you like this,” I say, adjusting my pack. “No touchy-touchy required. Is that always how it works for your kind? Get intimate and suddenly you’re in each other’s heads?”

He gives me that now-familiar head tilt. “Touchy…touchy?”

“Never mind.” I laugh, fighting the urge to press myself against him again. “Let’s go.”

As we exit the cave, I’m struck by a thought that’s been nagging at me. The timing of this newfound telepathy isn’t a coincidence. It’s like the connection became complete after we…well, connected. After I took him into my body. After I swallowed⁠—