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Anders regarded her, his expression tinged with sadness, and his half-raised hand dropped to the rusty box. He lifted the lid, revealing two small devices. One looked like a smoky piece of glass encased in shiny metal, similar to a smartphone but transparent. The other was a thin cylinder about the size of a thick marker. A thin line of the same smoky glass was set into the length of matte black metal.
“Navigation.” He set the smartphone-like device to the side. “And DNA modifier.”
He held the cylinder, looking at it with what she could only call longing. Wearing a human face for so many decades, he must have wanted to slide back into his original form, the one he was born in, the one his parents died in.
“I can give you some privacy.” Mere’s voice came out more softly than she intended. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to say yes or no.
“No, stay.” He tucked the device into a pocket. “I cannot use it yet. A walking lizard man will draw a bit more attention than I want at the moment.”
A slow smile spread over his lips, and she answered with a chuckle.
“May I?” She gestured to the device still on the table. He nodded. The little rectangle was cool to the touch but vibrated slightly.
“It uses the bioelectricity of your body to charge,” he said.
“I can almost hear it humming.”
“I can hear it humming. The frequency is too high for your human ears.”
She continued to hold the device. Mere didn’t want him to leave, but with the special agents in town asking inconvenient questions, he would have to go soon.
“Now that you have these, how long before you leave?”
His hand formed a fist at his side, but he made no other move.
“I will leave town as soon as possible. But it might take a week or two to integrate this tech with the ship I built.”
“Oh.” It was the only thing that came to mind, leaving her lips as a sigh.
They stood in awkward silence for a moment.
When he had no response, she placed the doohickey on the table. “I should let you get back to work. You won’t get your deposit back if you leave a bunch of holes in Mr. Baker’s walls.”
She whipped around and took a step toward the front door. His firm fingers closed around her elbow, stopping her in her tracks. He tugged gently, turning her to him. His other hand grazed her cheek.
“Meretta,” he sighed before he sealed his lips to hers.
All thought of disentangling herself from him slipped from her mind and out the door. Mere melted into him, this alien man who made her feel safe, treasured.
He devoured her, or maybe she devoured him. His warmth, his earthy scent, fueled her desire for him. She slid her hand under his shirt, and his muscles twitched under her fingers. He pulled her closer, grasping her ass.
Anders trailed more kisses down her neck, lingering at the spot where it met her shoulder, licking and nipping the sensitive skin and sending shivers along her spine. She wanted to rip his shirt off, rip her own off, touch his skin once more. Because it could only be once more. He had to leave, for his own safety as well as hers.
That splashed metaphorical cold water over her. She couldn’t do this. If she slept with him one more time, she would never want to let go. And what was she going to do—fly off into space with a lizard man she’d known a month?
“Stop,” she whispered hoarsely.
He did, immediately, and stepped away, giving her space. She rested her forehead on his chest.
“Come with me.” Anders stroked her hair with one hand and clutched her around the waist with the other. “A few weeks there and I can bring you back.”
She stared into his eyes, which reflected the moonlight like a ghostly image on a pond. From the set of his luscious lips to the open honesty in his tone, he was dead serious. He wanted her to leave with him.
A thrill of hope rushed through her at the idea of leaving her past behind. Just for a moment before reality crashed her little party.
“I can’t, Anders. My family is here, my life is here. I can’t leave them.”
His face remained neutral, as though he’d expected the answer.
