Page 19 of The Alien Warrior's Mate

He simply stared at her, his strong hands bracing her back and his tail lying flat over her thighs. The pulse at her throat skittered out of time. She’d gotten used to being near him last night, but that was only to keep from freezing.

This…

This felt different.

Electricity trickled up her skin, rising with the motion of his chest lifting on a breath. Her fingers tightened into fists to keep from reaching out and swatting his hair away from his cheek.

Blue dipped his chin. “Korben.”

“What?”

He tapped his chest once. “Korben.”

“Is that your name?”

“Korben.” He pointed at her next. “Sah-ah.”

Her heart jumped to her throat. For some reason, hearing his name made her emotional. He hadn’t wanted to tell her yesterday. He’d shied away from it, from getting close to her.

It hadn’t hurt her feelings. Hell, she’d understood. She was so used to people inching away from her and keeping her at arms’ length that it had become second nature. Wherever she went, she carried a big black cloud with her. She was just coasting through life because the alternative was following the route of her sister and there was no way she’d make that choice.

“Korben.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “Hi.”

His eyes fixed on the tear and he tilted his head. Reaching out slowly, he swiped his thumb over her skin, cradling her tears for the second time. The way he inspected it intently almost made her smile.

“Sah-ah?” The inflection of his voice revealed his confusion.

“Tears.” She sniffed loudly. “They’re tears.”

He tasted it again and made a face.

She laughed.

He stopped and looked at her. A pleased rumble fell from his lips at the sound of her chuckles. Her heart banged against her chest when she realized that he liked it when she laughed. As ornery as this blue alien was, he liked seeing her happy.

The truth struck her in a place that was so broken, she never thought it would see light again. But it did. At that moment, Sara wanted to touch him and kiss him. She wanted to celebrate the awakening of something precious, a sunrise of the soul.

That was so freaking dangerous. Right now, Korben was still in rescue mode, but who could tell if that would change later today? Or tomorrow? She couldn’t forget that he had all the power here. Those big, blue muscles could pop her head clean off her body with the ease of a human snapping a toothpick.

Sara’s breath caught in her throat as she noticed the indentation in the back of his neck. It hid a small hole where his spine would shoot up so he could break his bone off and stab his enemies in the chest.

Korben wasn’t a human.

He was an alien.

What was her heart fluttering so hard for?

The warnings flowed through her head and she sat up, putting distance between them. Korben rose as well, his eyes still on her.

She clasped her hands together. “Thank you for healing me, by the way. I know you can’t understand…” She paused and pointed to her face that had been throbbing with pain last night. “Thank you.”

“Iz eenucka, Sah-ah.” He got up, leaving her to sit alone on his mat.

All the warmth in her body left with him and she felt a pang in her chest at the loss of his nearness.

Get yourself together, girl.

Sara inhaled deeply and peered outside. Through the narrow mouth of the cave, she saw the world opening up before her. After the rain last night, she’d assumed that everything would be desolate, but it was the opposite. The storm had exposed glittering sand beneath the hard tufts of desert rock. Bird-like creatures flittered around, picking out the food that lay scattered on their planet.