“It looks good on you,” she said, a small smile playing around her lips. My gaze was drawn to them. Her small pink tongue darted out nervously. “If a little small.” She huffed a small laugh, then grimaced as she put her weight on her damaged foot.
“Your ankle.” I dropped to my knees in front of her, and she stumbled back, her hands reaching to grip my shoulders. “Let me see it.” I leaned forward and eased the small shoe gently from her foot. She gasped, and I paused, looking up at her. “Did I hurt you?”
“No,” she replied. She swallowed, her fingers clenching and unclenching on my shoulders. Her short nails biting into my flesh, sending a spark of fire down my spine. I stiffened as the scent of her arousal hit me.
Both of my cocks jerked, stiffening inside the thick fabric of the pants I wore. I longed to free them, to lick her, to rut with her. To bite her.
But I forced myself to turn back to her foot. It didn’t look too swollen, which reassured me she wasn’t too badly injured, but there was a nasty-looking bruise developing on her pale skin. I needed to take care of my female. My mate.
My mate?
I didn’t even know her name!
CHAPTER FIVE
Kitty
Ihad never been so turned on in all my life. It was too much. And all from him holding my foot? I stumbled as I jerked my foot out of his hand and turned, hobbling toward the kitchen.
Don’t think about him naked.
Great. So now I was thinking about a sexy alien. Naked.
Who said anything about sexy?
It was getting quite noisy in my head, so I smiled what I hoped was a friendly smile as he followed me into the room, ducking his head to fit through the doorway. He had to be close to seven feet tall, his shoulders so broad that he was straining the seams of the old plaid shirt that was the biggest I could find. It was huge on me, falling to my knees, but on him? The front wouldn’t even meet in the middle of his chest.
His very muscular chest.
I cleared my suddenly parched throat and gestured for him to take a seat at the table, but he shook his head. “I can’tsit, my tail…” He spread his hands as if in apology, and I could have smacked myself in the forehead.
Of course those pants are uncomfortable. He has a damned tail!
A long, expressive tail with a tuft of lilac fur on the end.
I opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors, which I offered to him. “Can you cut a hole in them with these?”
He smiled, and something loosened in my chest for the first time in months. I had a feeling that everything would be all right. He reached and took the scissors, placing them on the table before undoing the button on his jeans and sliding the zipper down.
I spun away, turning my back to give him some privacy, my face heating. What was with this guy and nudity? It was freezing, for one thing, and I was a stranger.
Huh. I didn't know what his name was.
“What's your name?” The sounds of him undressing paused, but I didn’t want to check over my shoulder to see what he was up to. I strained, listening for his reply, but all I could hear was my heart pounding and the crackling of the fire. “You have a name, don't you?”
“Of course,” he said, his voice a deep rumble in the quiet room.
“Well, what is it?” I waited, the silence stretching almost to the point of discomfort, before he answered.
“My formal name is Luk 456th.”
I blinked in surprise. What a strange name. “Do you have a… less formal name? It’s a little odd to call someone a number.” For some reason, calling him that felt wrong.
“Yes.” The snip of scissors punctuated his reply.
“Are you going to tell me?” I said with a small smile, halfturning my head before remembering he was still undressed and whipping back around.
“My people only share their less formal names—their chosen names—with their immediate family or their mates,” he said, and something in his tone made me think this was a sore topic for him. “I’ve never shared mine with anyone.”
