“And when they realize I don’t have any special knowledge or powers? When I can’t do whatever it is they expect from a daughter of Ain?”
I stroke her cheek, marveling at its softness. “We expect nothing from the daughters. Nothing but their favor. When I bring you to my clan, they will see you as I do. As Jus-teen. Strong. Beautiful. Worthy of protection.”
She leans into my touch, her eyes closing briefly. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am right,” I assure her, pulling her close again. “Rok is never wrong, unless Jus-teen says he is.”
A chuckle goes through her, her body relaxing as I settle us both by the fire. I pull her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her to shield her from the chill of the cave.
As she drifts toward sleep, her thoughts growing fuzzy and disjointed, I allow myself to consider what she’s told me. Not a daughter of Ain, she claims. Just a human female, lost and far from home.
And yet…I’ve felt the change in myself since finding her—the way my body has transformed, my thoughts have clarified, my stem has grown. These are not coincidences.
The stories speak of the wonder of the daughters of Ain. Their power. Their glory. Perhaps these beings, these humans, carry Ain’s blessing without understanding it themselves.
I press my lips to her head fur, breathing in her unique scent. It doesn’t matter what she calls herself. Daughter of Ain. Human. She is mine to protect now. Mine to cherish. And I will bring her safely to my clan, find her people, and ensure she never has reason to fear again.
Chapter 32
MY SUBCONSCIOUS: WAY AHEAD OF ME
JUSTINE
The 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 much.”
“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.