“I’ll leave the innards to you,” she warned him.Already her hands were covered in bits of furs, clinging to fluids she didn’t want to identify.She peeked at what he brought back.“Did you find any water?”
He tapped the beige gourds.“Water is inside.We will need fire first though.”
Taylor nodded, quickly finishing the secondmirizaxbefore laying it back down into its fur, careful not to get any dirt on them.
Vikan made fire in an instant.He’d placed the dark, smelly green rocks down first in a circular pattern, before covering and stuffing them with the white moss.He drew two of his blades out from their sheath and with brute force, clashed them together to create magnificent white sparks that caught on the moss, sizzling down to the green, flaky rocks, which burst into flame.
The whole process had taken less than a minute.Taylor had watched Vikan’s expression in between her curiosity for what he was doing.He’d been intent, focused.Taylor found it devastatingly attractive, in a primal way, something she’d thought herself immune to.But this alien male had caught them dinner, found them water, and started a fire in less than an hour.
It also helped that the fire made his bare chest gleam, making his skin take on a golden hue.
Taylor swallowed, blowing out a steady breath.It amazed her that she could be sexually aroused when her hands were covered in blood and fur and she was dirty and exhausted after a long day of traveling.
Yet, she was.
Vikan figured that out too because a low growl rumbled in his chest, his nostrils flaring.
“Female,” he warned.
Taylor handed him the blade, hoping that if they both just ignored the obvious, she wouldn’t die of embarrassment.
But the way he was looking at her told her she wouldn’t be so lucky.
Finally, she murmured, “Look, if this thing between us goes both ways, then you shouldn’t be surprised that I find you physically attractive.It doesn’t help that I’ve dreamed about…about…you know.”She huffed out a shaky breath.“Besides, we talked about this this morning.Just ignore it.”
“Does this mean you are finally accepting this?” he questioned, laying the water gourds next to the blazing fire, making a ring around it.
Carefully, she said, “I don’t know what it means yet.”She looked at the fire.“How are you…how are you so certain about it?”
“Because my Instinct awakened.That is as certain as a male can be,” he replied.
“It doesn’t matter,” she finally said.“I still intend to go back to Earth.Three or four days in the Luxirian wilderness with you isn’t going to change that.I hope you realize that.”
Vikan went quiet.“Three or four spans is a long time.We shall see.”
Taylor gaped.“You can’t seriouslywantme to stay?We hardly know each other.And besides, even if we managed to stop arguing for like two seconds, you told me yourself that you weren’t happy that the whole Instinct thing happened anyway!”
“My words came out wrong,” he murmured, his eyes glowing from the fire as they regarded her over it.“I did not mean the way they sounded.”
“Then what did you mean?” she questioned, her heart pounding in her throat.Whether she wanted to admit it or not, his words hurt, like he’d found her lacking in some way.And she’d tried to deny that theyhadhurt her, but it wasn’t working.
Vikan growled in his throat, but didn’t answer.Taylor waited for a long time before she finally gave up.
“Let’s just cook dinner, okay?” she mumbled, disappointed.
Taylor thought thatshewas reserved when it came to sharing private details about her life and her past.But even she had nothing on Vikan.She got the sense that he was holding her at arm’s length even though every time she caught him looking at her, she saw desire and need there.He told her that he was certain of their connection, but then acted like he didn’twantthat connection.
He was confusing.Everything about this situation was confusing and Taylor was tired thinking about it.She almost wished they could just go to sleep so that she could visit her dream Vikan.
She worried that she was growing addicted to her dreams.Tohim.
But her dreams were a nice reprieve from her current reality and she’d take the escape over anything else.
Vikan’s jaw ticked like he was angry as he dragged the skinned carcasses over to his side of the fire and made quick work of butchering them and cleaning out the innards.Then, he sliced thin strips of meat off before lying them over the flatstone he’d placed next to the fire.
Immediately, the meat sizzled and cooked and the scent wafted up to Taylor’s nostrils.Her mouth watered and her stomach grumbled.She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until that moment.
Once it was completely cooked through, Vikan removed one slice, spearing it with a clean blade before handing the handle over to her across the fire.
