She continued on, past the door to the greenhouse and through the short hallway that led to the living room. Her bare feet screeched to a halt. Her chest seized. She gripped the door frame to remain standing.
The man stood at the window naked, looking out into the storm.
He stood.Upright. Alive.
She flexed her fingers against the door frame. His back was to her, and he lifted his arms slightly away from his body, his palms facing forward. His spine was straight, tall, his buttocks taut, and his shoulders wide—unlike the hunched, stumbling posture of when he’d arrived.
And his skin… it no longer appeared bright red and blistered.
Smooth,healedflesh covered sleek muscles.
Not possible.
Her skin prickled in warning. He shouldn’t look that way. Severe radiation burns didn’t reverse themselves with one dose of medicine. She hadn’t been trying to cure him because that would’ve been impossible without a whole lab and crew dedicated to the task. Given the circumstances, she’d been trying to make him as comfortable as possible for the last few hours of his life.
None of this was right. It defied logic. It defied science. That prickle turned into an itch, and she took a step back.
He twisted his head, dropping his hands against his thighs. Wynn froze in place. He still wore those glasses. They wrapped around enough that she couldn’t see his eyes at all.
She retreated another step, her hand dropping away from the door frame, then stopped again when he faced her fully.
His front was as perfect, asundamaged, as the back of him. Pectorals, biceps, abdomen—defined muscles swathed his body like the sculptures of old. His cock hung between corded thighs, a light dusting of hair thickening as it traveled downward. The storm behind him highlighted their size difference.
A dying man held little threat, but this large, naked man?
Her mind raced to figure out how he could be well and whole. He’d walked from the direction of the research station with nothing with him. No case, or luggage, or… anything. He couldn’t have some ground-breaking drug that cured radiation sickness overnight, and she certainly didn’t have one.
And again, familiarity struck her. Something she couldn’t place, but urged her to step forward as much as retreat.
“Who are you?” The question snapped out of her, combative. “Why are you here?” She clenched and relaxed her hands, trying to grab hold of anything that would make her understand.
Was he Tellusian? That didn’t make sense either. Where were his tattoos, then? He wasn’t wearing a warrior’s uniform, or even what she’d seen of Tellusian styles on media reports. His clothes and boots weren’t like anything she’d seen before.
In answer to her question, he tilted his head, the jerky movement sending more fear down her spine.
Retreat. Get to safety. Run.
She took another step back. He tilted his head the other way, almost animalistic.
Another shiver raced through her body, over her scalp and down her arms. Her thoughts disconnected, like someone yelled at her through the decontamination room’s door. She could see the shouting, but didn’t understand the words, her mind and gut telling her two different things at the same time.
Frozen in indecision, Wynn jumped when he stepped toward her. A sensation of otherness washed over her at the motion. Despite his appearance, something told her he wasn’t human.
Icy realization cascaded over her body, shortening her breaths.No.It wasn’t possible.No no no no no.There had to be another explanation, something that made sense and didn’t threaten her very existence.
She kept telling herself that, even as all the pieces fell into place, everything from his unusual healing ability to the clothes he wore.
“Take off your glasses.” The words passed her lips in a tortured whisper.
She didn’t want to find out if she was right—what her whole body had been telling her since she saw him standing at the window.
He didn’t move except to tip his head oddly.
“Take off your glasses!” she yelled, panic gripping her throat.
A moment in time stretched between them, punctuated by her shallow breaths.
He reached upward slowly with one hand and grabbed hold of the side of his glasses. A swipe, and they were off. He lowered his arm until they dangled from his fingertips at his side.
