Page 32 of Rok’s Captive (Barbarians of the Dust #1)

MY SUBCONSCIOUS: WAY AHEAD OF ME

JUSTINE

T he revelation that I can now understand Rok without our foreheads touching is still spinning in my head. His voice had been like an actual caress—rough, deep, vibrating in places no sound should reach. Even thinking about it makes my clit jump, forcing me to stifle a gasp.

Can he—? Does he know ?

My gaze shifts to him as we prepare to leave, only to find he’s gone utterly still. My gaze slides down the taut muscles in his arms, the strong line of cords in his back. A fresh wave of heat floods through me.

Fuck.

This isn’t lust. This is possession. And my traitorous body welcomes it.

I force myself to focus on preparing to leave the cave and not the humming in my veins. After two days of hiding out, the danger has apparently passed.

“ The sand serpent has moved on, ” Rok assures me, his thoughts flowing into mine with surprising clarity. “ We should continue our journey .”

“It’s still wild to me that I can hear you like this,” I say, adjusting my pack. “No touchy-touchy required. Is that always how it works for your kind? Get intimate and suddenly you’re in each other’s heads?”

He gives me that now-familiar head tilt. “ Touchy…touchy ?”

“Never mind.” I laugh, fighting the urge to press myself against him again. “Let’s go.”

As we exit the cave, I’m struck by a thought that’s been nagging at me. The timing of this newfound telepathy isn’t a coincidence. It’s like the connection became complete after we…well, connected. After I took him into my body. After I swallowed?—

Heat rushes to my cheeks at the memory, but I can’t shake the suspicion. What if having sex with Rok is what triggered this? What if the wet dreams, the fever, the constant arousal—what if all of it was pushing me toward exactly what happened in that cave?

Like the universe, or the planet itself, wanted me to get on with it already.

And the moment I did—boom. Telepathy.

If I’d known alien sex came with superpowers, I would have signed up for NASA years ago.

What’s more disturbing is how good I feel now. The fever that plagued me, gone. The headache? Gone. I feel stronger, clearer, more alert than I have since waking up on this dust ball. Like his touch has somehow changed me from the inside out, making me more adapted to this world. Making me more like him, perhaps.

But that’s preposterous. Right?

Rok leads the way through the winding canyon, his powerful body moving with effortless grace. I follow, surprised to find that I’m keeping pace without struggling. Just days ago, I could barely walk an hour without needing to rest, my lungs burning, my limbs shaking with exhaustion.

But now? I feel like I could run a marathon. Well, maybe not a marathon, but definitely more than I should be capable of after nearly dying multiple times on this planet.

“ You are quiet ,” Rok’s thought brushes against my mind. “ This is not like you. Does something trouble you? ”

“I’m just thinking about how weird all this is,” I reply, gesturing vaguely between us. “This mind-reading thing. The fact that I’m suddenly feeling better than I have since I got here.”

He glances back at me, his golden eyes assessing. “ Your body is adapting to the dust .”

“Yeah, but why now? And why so suddenly?” I push my hair back from my face, frustrated. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Rok slows, falling into step beside me. “ Some things do not need to make sense, Jus-teen. They simply are .”

“That’s a very…alien way of looking at it,” I mutter.

He tilts his head. “ Alien zen ?” The thought comes to me haltingly, like he’s turning it over in his own head.

I snort. “No, just—wait, how do you even know the word ‘zen’?”

His nostrils flare slightly. “ You thought it at me. With images .” A pause. “ Small man with fur obscuring his mouth . Strange sitting pose .” His claws flex. “ Why does he not fall over?”

“Mother of—, you’re literally inside my head watching my mental reruns of Kung Fu Panda?” My face burns. “Forget I said anything.”

His amusement ripples through me anyway, warm as the sunlight. After a few moments, he glances at me. “ Perhaps you are right, my light. Or perhaps you think too muc h.”

“Story of my life,” I sigh, but I’m biting back a grin.

As we walk, I can’t help but notice the way Rok positions himself—always slightly ahead of me, his massive body between me and any potential threat. He scans the landscape constantly, nostrils flaring as he scents the air, ears twitching at the slightest sound.

At first, I thought it was just caution—the same way he’s been since he found me. But there’s something different now. Something in the way his eyes track back to me every few seconds, as if he physically can’t go too long without confirming I’m still there. The way he shifts his body whenever I move, maintaining a perfect shield between me and the open desert.

It reminds me of documentaries I’ve watched about certain animals after they mate—wolves, eagles, some big cats. The way they change, become attuned to their partners on a level that goes beyond simple attraction.

I remember what he said in the cave: “ As real as the pain I feel whenever you are not near. As if part of me is missing. ” At the time, I thought it was just a romantic exaggeration. But what if it wasn’t?

Rok isn’t human. He’s something else entirely—wild, beautiful, deadly. An alien creature with instincts and biology I can barely comprehend.

What if he’s…what if he’s imprinted on me?

He said he’d have killed me, but something stopped him.

A shiver goes down my spine at the thought that I came so close to dying and didn’t even know.

And then there’s the fact that his dick emerged, thick and perfect, just the way I like it.

Oh my God…this can’t be real.

He turns at that moment, catching my gaze, and something in his golden eyes makes my breath stop in my throat. The intensity there…it’s devotion. Something ancient and unshakeable.

“What?” I ask, feeling strangely vulnerable under that stare.

“ You are beautiful under Ain’s glare ,” he replies simply, and the sincerity in his mental voice makes my heart flip.

Before I can respond, his entire demeanor suddenly changes. His head snaps up, nostrils flaring, muscles tensing. I freeze, recognizing the signs of danger.

“What is it?” I push through my thoughts as I scan the terrain for threats. “Rival clan again?”

Rok doesn’t answer. His eyes narrow, focusing on something in the distance that I can’t make out.

“Rok?” I reach for him, but he moves away, stepping in front of me, his posture shifting to something more aggressive.

“ Stay behind me ,” he growls in my mind.

I peer around his massive frame, trying to see what’s got him so alarmed. The landscape appears empty—just rock formations and endless sand stretching toward the horizon.

And then I see it. Movement. Just a flicker at first, then a blur of motion so fast I can barely track it—a golden shape launching from a high rock, sailing through the air with impossible speed.

Before I can even cry out, the figure slams into Rok with bone-crushing force, sending them both crashing to the sand in a tangle of limbs and snarls.

“Rok!” I scream, my heart in my throat as I stumble backward.

The two forms roll across the ground, dust flying up around them as they grapple. I catch glimpses of the attacker—golden skin like Rok’s, but darker, more burnished. Broader shoulders. Longer, sharper fangs bared in a snarl.

Another male. One of Rok’s kind, but clearly not friendly.

Panic surges through me. Is it one of the rival clan? Did they track us after all? I have to help him—but how? I have no weapons, no strength that could possibly match these beings.

My hands fumble, but all I’m carrying is my gourd of water. Not much of a weapon, but it’s all I have.

I don’t think. I just act.

Rushing forward, I raise the gourd high and bring it down with all my strength on the attacker’s head. The container splits open with a crack, water splashing over the male’s face and shoulders.

He freezes, shock evident in his suddenly wide eyes. His head swivels toward me, water dripping from his jaw, and a voice—not Rok’s, deeper, rougher—thunders in my mind.

“ WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE DUST?! ”

The sheer force of his mental shout makes me stagger back. His amber eyes lock onto mine, rage and confusion warring in their depths.

“ Another male? You bring a rival male into our territory, Rok? One who wastes precious water ? ” The voice in my head is accusing, furious.

Before I can process what’s happening, the stranger lunges for me, a growl ripping from his throat. I flinch, throwing my arms up in a pathetic attempt to shield myself—but the impact never comes.

Rok slams into the attacker mid-leap, driving him into the ground with enough force to send sand spraying in all directions.

“ SHE IS FEMALE! ” Rok’s mental shout is even louder than the stranger’s, filled with fury and…fear? “ STAND DOWN, THARN! ”

The name registers dimly in my panicked brain. Tharn. Not an enemy, then—at least, not from the rival clan. Someone Rok knows.

The two males separate, both crouched low, tense and ready to spring. I stay frozen, heart hammering against my ribs.

“ Fe - male ?” Tharn’s mental voice is incredulous, his amber eyes narrowing as they sweep over me. “ That is not female .”

“ She is ,” Rok insists, moving to stand between me and Tharn. “ From beyond the dust. A being from beyond .”

Tharn’s eyes widen slightly, his attention fully on me now. I shift uncomfortably under his scrutiny, wishing I could somehow look more obviously female to avoid another battle.

But then Tharn’s gaze suddenly shifts to Rok.

“ What in the dust is on your being ?” He asks suddenly, his gaze dropping to Rok’s waist. “ You wear hides as trophies now ?”

I follow his gaze and have to stifle an inappropriate laugh. He’s staring at Rok’s loincloth—the one I fashioned for him after his…anatomical changes.

“ It is not a trophy ,” Rok replies, his mental tone defensive. “ My female made it to cover my stem .”

“ Your female ?” Tharn snarls, his fangs looking decisively wicked. But then his face contorts in disbelief. “ Lies . Why would you need to do that? Your stem is always in your pouch .”

To my absolute horror—and secret fascination—Rok reaches down and grips himself through the loincloth, the shape of his impressive erection clearly outlined by the gesture.

“ No ,” he says calmly. “ Not anymore .”

Tharn physically recoils, shock evident in every line of his body. His gaze darts between Rok’s loincloth and my face, his expression a mix of disbelief and growing curiosity.

“ Let me see the male ,” he demands, trying to circle around Rok to get a better look at me.

Rok moves with him, keeping me firmly behind his bulk. “ Fe - male ,” he corrects. A growl rumbles low in his throat.

“ Impossible ,” Tharn scoffs.

“ Possible ,” Rok counters.

There’s a long pause, the tension between them almost palpable. Then Tharn’s mental voice comes again, quieter but no less intense.

“ A daughter of Ain ?”

Rok doesn’t answer, but I feel a ripple of unease from him. The silence stretches. I could cut the tension with a steak knife.

I can’t take it anymore. Ducking under Rok’s arm, I step out from behind him, ignoring his growl of warning.

Tharn stares at me, his amber eyes widening a fraction. Up close, I can see the differences between him and Rok more clearly. He’s bulkier, his features more angular, his skin a deeper golden bronze with patterns of darker markings across his shoulders.

Remembering how Rok had initially reacted to my voice, I decide to try this telepathy thing first. I focus on projecting my thoughts directly to Tharn, hoping he can hear me as clearly as Rok now can.

“I am female,” I think firmly. “We…landed here. Rok helped me. He is no liar. I owe him my life.”

Tharn’s eyes narrow, his head tilting in a gesture so similar to Rok’s that it makes my chest tighten with an unexpected wave of fondness.

“You claim to be female, yet look as a male does,” he thinks back, his mental voice laced with skepticism. “Only smaller…softer…” His brow furrows, and I can almost see the confusion and disbelief warring with his stubbornness to not believe. “Why would Rok risk himself for an outsider? This does not make sense.”

“Trust me,” I respond dryly, “where I’m from, I’m definitely female. Though this is the first planet where my lack of curves has been mistaken for a different species rather than just bad genetics.”

Tharn’s gaze flicks to Rok, who stands tense beside me, ready to intervene at the slightest provocation.

“You claim this one is female?” Tharn asks Rok directly. “This small, pale thing?”

“I do not claim,” Rok growls. “She is.”

Tharn circles me slowly, his movements predatory. I stand my ground, refusing to show fear even as my heart races.

“She barely reaches my chest ,” Tharn observes. “The daughters of Ain were said to be like gods—females bigger than the males of our clan, bigger than any Drakav. While you…” He gestures at my slender form with something like disappointment. “You are small. Fragile.”

He stops in front of me, nostrils flaring as he leans in slightly. “Though there is…something.” Those golden pits fasten on me. “Something on you smells of Rok.”

I feel heat rush to my cheeks and see the moment he rears back at the sight. Of course—I’m probably covered in Rok’s scent after our activities in the cave. The thought is both embarrassing and oddly thrilling.

“She is my female,” Rok states, the possessiveness in his thoughts unmistakable. “We are returning to clan grounds. She has others like her. Those we must find.”

Tharn’s head snaps up at this. “Others? More…females from the stars? More females like her?”

“Yes,” I interject. “My sister and…many many others. They need our—your help.”

Tharn stares at me for a long moment, then turns to Rok. “Kol sent search parties when you did not return many sols ago. I was tracking your scent when I found you.” His gaze shifts back to me. “If there are indeed daughters of Ain fallen from the sky, he will want to know immediately.”

“Aye,” Rok nods and Tharn looks at him like he’s suddenly a strange thing he’s never seen before. I realize a little later it’s because of the nod itself. That’s something Rok learned from me.

“We will continue to clan grounds,” he projects to Tharn. “Lead the way.”

Tharn doesn’t respond. Casting one more suspicious glance at me, he turns to head across the sand.

* * *

Thank the gods for this new stamina. I manage to keep the pace as we walk, though I know both males are going considerably slower than they are capable of. As we go, I notice how Tharn keeps pace not too far ahead, frequently glancing back at me with unconcealed interest. There’s something in his gaze that makes me uneasy—not quite hostility, but a calculating intensity that has me instinctively moving closer to Rok.

“He doesn’t believe I’m female,” I whisper to Rok.

“ He will ,” Rok replies, his mental voice tinged with grim determination. “ The clan has never seen beings like you. Their disbelief is natural. ”

“What if they all react like Tharn? What if they attack before asking questions?”

Rok’s hand finds mine, his fingers intertwining with mine in a gesture so human it makes my throat tight. “ I will not let them harm you .”

The promise is simple, but loaded with meaning. I glance up at him, finding his golden eyes already on me, filled with that same fierce protectiveness I’m coming to recognize.

After about an hour of trekking through increasingly rocky terrain, Rok stops abruptly.

“ We must move faster ,” he says, turning to me. “ The clan grounds are still distant, and the dark will come soon .”

Before I can respond, he sweeps me into his arms, cradling me against his chest.

“ I will carry you ,” he states, not a question but a declaration. “ It will be faster. ”

Tharn watches this exchange with narrowed eyes. “ The female cannot keep pace? ”

“ She is not of the dust, ” Rok snaps. “ Her strength is different .”

Something flickers in Tharn’s eyes—confusion, disbelief, and something else I can’t quite identify. His gaze lingers on me for a moment too long, trailing over the way I’m nestled against Rok’s chest, the way Rok’s arms tighten around me possessively.

There’s yearning there. Deep and unmistakable.

It sends a chill down my spine. Not fear, exactly, but a sudden awareness that Rok might not be the only one of his kind who could form this strange bond with a human woman.

“ We go ,” Rok’s voice in my head is a growl, clearly noticing Tharn’s stare. Without waiting for a response, he launches into a run, his powerful legs eating up the distance with astonishing speed.

Tharn follows, matching Rok’s pace. His gaze keeps flicking to me, and each time it does, Rok’s arms tighten fractionally around me.

As we race across the desert, the wind picking up around us, I find myself wondering what awaits us at the clan grounds. Will they all look at me the way Tharn does? With suspicion, disbelief, and that unsettling hint of desire?

And what happens when they discover I’m not what they expect—not a daughter of their sun god, but just a lost human woman trying to find her sister and a way home?

I press my face against Rok’s chest, drawing comfort from his cool skin and the steady beat of his heart. Whatever comes next, I’m not facing it alone. I have Rok.

And as the landscape blurs around us, the wind growing stronger at our backs, I can only hope that’s enough.