“Can you hear me?” I asked, gently squeezing the woman's shoulder. She moaned and her head rolled as she slowly lifted those dark lashes, looking up at me with bright green eyes.
CHAPTER THREE
Kitty
Imust have hit my head very hard. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but the unbelievable sight before me didn't change.
The man—if he could be called a man—who was leaning over me with a concerned look on his face was not human. His skin was a pale lilac color with an iridescent sheen in places that reminded me of insect wings.
He’s beautiful.
I gave myself a mental shake, knowing it was rude to stare but unable to stop myself. Across one side of his face and down his neck, a smattering of slightly darker purple spots trailed, continuing over his shoulders. I lifted a hand to trace one of the spots on his neck with my finger, his skin warm under my touch. The spots were irregular, like those I’d seen on a leopard in the Dublin Zoo I’d visited as a child. I wondered how far down the spots went.
He’s a beautiful leopard alien man
I giggled uncontrollably, but stopped when he blinked, and snatched my hand back as if burned. My own eyes widened as I realized his pupils were vertical, like those of a cat. The colored part of his eye—a small part of my brain conveniently reminded me it was called the iris—was the palest green that I had ever seen. So pale they were almost white, and probably would’ve been mistaken for white if it wasn’t for the contrast to his skin.
His purple skin.
Nobody has purple skin and eyes that color. Nobody human.
“I have to be dreaming,” I said, my words breathy. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them, blinking rapidly. He was still there. “I’m not dreaming, am I?” A strangled noise; half choked laugh, half I don’t know what escaped me as I pulled away from him. My heart raced as I desperately tried to make sense of this bizarre situation.
He rubbed a hand over his forehead, shaking his head, and stood to his feet. His very naked feet.
That wasn’t the only part of him that was naked.
I felt my cheeks heat as I tried not to look—and failed. My eyes trailed up his legs from those enormous feet—my brain helpfully suggesting that something else might be huge if his feet were huge—and I screwed my eyes shut, tearing my gaze away.
Oh boy. Oh boy. This can’t be happening.
“You’re not dreaming,” he said, his voice so deep and smooth it reminded me of hot chocolate. If hot chocolate could be a sound.
I shot a glance up at his face—it was a long way up—and met his green gaze once more. His cheekbones were sharp,giving him a severe look that was only enhanced by those cat-like pupils. His eyebrows were the same pale color as his hair, and his cheeks were dusted with a light stubble. His hair was long, falling over one shoulder and as he lifted a heavily muscled arm to push it back, the muscles in his arms and chest bunched in a way that had my belly clenching.
I should feel afraid—my heart was pounding—but when his expression softened and he gave me a small smile, I felt myself relax.
Until something moved from the corner of my eye and his tail—he had a freaking tail—swished into view.
I scrambled to a sitting position, intent on getting away from the stone circle and back to Gran’s cottage. Back to safety.
He was definitely an alien.
A very naked, attractive alien.
Attractive? Are you insane? Where had that thought come from?
He took a step toward me, offering me a hand as if to help me to my feet. I swallowed, staring at the strong, wide palm. He wiggled his fingers at me, and I looked up to see his grin stretching into an amused smile.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said, and I decided that his voice was more like velvet than chocolate.
I felt the cold of the stone underneath me seep through my clothes and I shivered. He wiggled his fingers again, and I stretched my hand up to place it in his.
Oh god, I’m really doing this.
His grip was firm, but not tight, on my fingers, and so warm that I felt a tingle through my hand. My mitten had come off at some stage, I realized, and my bare skin touchinghis made me gasp. His fingers tightened on mine, and he froze.
His smile dropped and an intense expression, like he had seen right through me, had me pulling my hand back.
