“And you are?”She pointed at him, her meaning clear.
Who am I?His memories were fragmented and inconsistent. Things that had come to him in the darkness. Things he wasn’t sure were true. He slowly shook his head.
“You don’t remember?”Her voice softened.“If you don’t remember who you are, you probably don’t know why you’re here either.”
That nagging sense of familiarity returned, the feeling that he was on the verge of understanding her.
She started to take a step back and suddenly seemed to notice that his hand was still wrapped around hers. He followed her gaze down to the fragile softness of her hand beneath his.
“Can I have my hand back now?”
She tugged lightly, and he knew she wanted him to release her, but he didn’t want to let go. Not yet. Not when she was the only real thing in a world that still felt like a dream.
He was awake, but he was still lost. The only thing he knew was that this female belonged to him, and he had no intention of letting her go.
CHAPTER FIVE
Alina tugged on her hand again, but the male in the pod still wouldn’t release her. He wasn’t hurting her, not in the slightest, but he was far stronger than her, even in his newly awakened state. However long he’d been… encapsulated, it clearly hadn’t diminished his strength. Those muscular arms were every bit as strong as they looked.
“I can’t just stand here forever,” she muttered. “And you just woke up. Aren’t you hungry? Or thirsty? Hungry? Thirsty?” she repeated, mimicking eating and drinking.
Recognition flashed in those blue, blue eyes. He sat up, moving with a speed that startled her. Damn, he was big. He was at least a foot taller than her and twice as wide. She instinctively tried to take a step back but he still hadn’t released her hand. Her breath caught.
This close to him, she could feel the heat radiating from his body and catch a subtle, spicy scent that was unexpectedly appealing. It wrapped around her and she started to lean closer, to take in more of it, then realized what she was doing and pulled back, heat rushing to her cheeks.
Her blush must have been obvious, despite the breathing mask, because he gave her a fascinated look, running his finger across her cheekbone above the top of the mask. His finger was warm and slightly rough, sending an unexpected rush of excitement through her veins. But then he started to tug at the mask and she panicked, tugging at his free hand.
“No! If you take that off I can’t breathe. Please don’t.”
If he decided to take it off, she had no way of stopping him. But he seemed to understand her panic, if not her words, and he smoothed it back in place. Relief escaped her lungs in a shaky breath.
But he didn’t release her completely. His finger traveled down across her jaw, then brushed slowly back and forth across her lower lip, leaving a trail of heat behind.
“Soft.”
The pronunciation wasn’t quite right, but the word was recognizable. He tilted his head, looking as confused as she felt. The fact that he had originally spoken in a language she didn’t recognize made a lot more sense than hearing an English word emerging from his lips.
“Soft,” he repeated. “Alina soft.”
She could hear the question in his voice, and she nodded.
“Yes,” she said quietly. “That’s the right word.”
He returned the nod, looking pleased with her response.
“Alina soft.”
He finally took his finger away from her mouth, but instead of removing it completely, he ran it gently down the sensitive skinof her neck. He started to dip it beneath her coverall before she came to her senses and grabbed his hand.
“That’s another no,” she said firmly, refusing to admit that she wondered what that warm rough finger would feel like traveling lower over her bare skin.
“No?”
He looked disappointed, but didn’t try again. She started to raise her hand, then realized he’d taken advantage of the opportunity to wrap his fingers around her other hand as well. He didn’t release her when she tugged on it and she gave him an exasperated look.
“How do you expect to eat or drink if you’re holding both my hands?”
Since he was still holding her, she couldn’t mime the actions, but he clearly understood. After a brief hesitation, he released one hand. She sighed, but decided to take what she could get.
