Moaning, she pressed her hips against my waist leaves, her nails digging into my face. I accepted the minor discomfort, knowing she was experiencing the same joy I was. If this was how she wanted to claim me as her mate, I would put up with any claw marks if it meant becoming hers.
Pulling away, I pressed my forehead against hers and gazed into her wondrous dark brown eyes. Darkened cheeks framed them, almost the same color as our sandy beaches.
“Wow…” Her warm breath hit my face as she sighed. “That was a good kiss.”
“Truly?” I whispered as I combed her hair back, pushing the rainbow strands behind her shoulders with a vine. “If that’s the case, I’d like to practice some more so I can perfect it for you.”
“No, they aren't always like this, especially with someone who claims to be inexperienced.” She gave me a dazed smile and a small giggle. “But if it was your first kiss, I can’t wait to see how you kiss when you’ve had more practice.”
“I can’t practice by myself,” I joked, my gaze searching hers. “Why don’t you teach me more about kissing and other ways to please you?”
“Perhaps,” she muttered, biting her lower lip as she side-eyed the rest of the bed. “But right now, I’m hungry, and I’d like to go find my phone before it gets dark.”
“Then we’ll leave right away.” I cupped her chin. “We can stop for food along the way so I know what you like and what your body can handle. If we’re lucky, the scavengers will leave us something useful to make clothing for you.”
“Let’s go!” she exclaimed, grabbing my hands. “I promise I’ll make it worthwhile when we return.”
CHAPTERTEN
VIOLA - VIOLENTVIOLET
Zyre was an alien from another planet.
And I had just kissed him.
And Ilovedit.
How could a kiss change everything?
What was happening to me? This couldn’t be real—and yet—there wasn’t any other explanation for what I just felt.
Tracing my lips with my tongue, I could still feel his phantom taste, as a reminder of the instant passion that coursed between us. Never before had I been kissed like that, nor had I had a partner that made me feel this way—and we’d just met!
Was this what others in love had always described as an instant connection? The spark that ignited from the first strike—a kiss between two strangers—and in a short time, it became a raging inferno, ready to engulf those who dared to embrace it and fell deeply in love.
How could I continue to believe that this was a simulation? The way he had made my chest bubble with excitement in that very moment couldn’t be emulated.
There was no way the developers had discovered a way to process such a natural—almost instinctual—pure blissful feeling. It was impossible to translate and decipher complex emotions, especially sudden ones, through the system and into AltU.
I was starting to believe that this was real, and somehow, by some miracle, I had been transported to this alien planet.
Even if I hadn’t come to a definite conclusion, it didn’t matter if this was a simulation or real life, I had to learn how to live in my new reality if I wanted to survive. I couldn’t rely on Zyre for everything, especially if we ever parted ways.
If there were other creatures more dangerous than pafeldae beyond these wooden walls, it would be prudent to learn about the wilderness and how to protect myself. It would be foolish of me to let it happen again without taking precautions now that I’d already been caught without any preparation.
I was better than this.
It was always detrimental when a team failed to conduct pre-game research on its opponent. If they hadn’t lost due to a lack of proportion, their victory would have been hard-fought and narrow.
As my team’s captain, I’d experienced both sides of the same coin and could attest to the consequences of being unprepared.
For me, the best course of action was to retrace my steps along the shore near the waterfall and search the area for my phone. Even if it meant that I needed to attempt to locate where I had first awoken on this planet, no matter how difficult it might be.
Hopefully, we would be able to find it—and if we were lucky, we would come across something else that would help us figure out how I got here. Learning what had happened to make me get here would be the key for me to return, if it were possible.
“What’s your plan?”
Looking down at my bare shoulder, I plucked the draping sleeve of my robe and slowly pulled it up, fully aware that the belt had come undone and revealed the valley between my breasts. Surprisingly, he hadn’t noticed, or if he had, he was fixated on something else—my hair. His teal eyes traced its strands, as if enthralled by the color and the way it changed every color of the rainbow. He was very interested in something that most human men had never paid attention to, despite living in a glowing biotech tree in the middle of a vividly colored jungle.
