Page 63 of The Alien in the Archive

THORNE

These human romance guides are—if salacious—completely gripping.

I devour three of them over the course of the day, tossing them beside my chair when I’m done. Ashlan pesters me for scraps of food, which I scrounge up from my stores of stolen jerky from the kitchens. Every time I’m distracted, I come right back, sit down, and keep reading.

I’m just beginning my fourth book when Page’s thoughts brush against my mind, her consciousness seeking mine out. I put the paperback down to let her show me what she’s doing, closing my eyes…and I see her, wandering down a path in Mythara Village, back home.

She’s sparkling—no, she’s drunk. She wants me to see, her body warm and tingling, resonating with desire. She unlocks her door at the keypad then steps inside, leaning against the wall and taking off her shoes. I catch glimpses of her room…a bed in the corner, partially shielded by a screen; a desk in the other; a few potted plants, and countless books.

We don’t form sentences in our thoughts; it’s not like that, but more abstract. I can sense that she knows I’m here,that there was an invitation. When she feels me in her mind, images flash—my alcove, Page straddling me, kissing me.

I let out a harsh breath.

“Page…” I murmur.

I take in more details as she shrugs out of her jacket: a photograph of herself and her brother visiting New York City, smiling. A fluffy stuffed bear that was the only remaining item from her parents’ home, scorch marks on its ears. I learn the context as I process it all through her eyes, her perception.

“I know you’re there, Thorne,” she says.

I chuckle. “You invited me.”

“I feel like a crazy person, talking to myself in my room,” she says, her words slurred slightly. “But…is it weird that I don’t mind having you here? It’s kind of nice not to be alone.”

I try to guard my thoughts from her, but she sees right through me, because my first thought, unfiltered, was that I can’t imagine being without her again. I spent so long alone, and I…

“Me too, Thorne,” she murmurs.

Everything is soft around the edges, blurry as if it’s glowing from her alcohol consumption. I think I’m getting a bit of a contact high, drunk with her as her mind influences mine. I lean back in my chair when she stumbles to the bed in nothing but her t-shirt and underwear, smiling to herself.

“You had a good night,” I observe.

“I made friends,” she says, grinning.

I see more glimpses of her night—toasting with Thalara and Lyn, drinking and surrounded by music. I’m sure I did similar things at one point…but I can’t remember them. Memories get shuffled around and disorganized when you’re cataloguing millennia. I’m surprised when Page remembers talking about her personal life…telling them about a mad scientist.

“I’m not a mad scientist,” I murmur.

She huffs out a laugh. “But you’re more of a mad scientist than a poet.”

“Presumptuous of you,” I scoff. “You have no idea if I’ve written poetry.”

She goes quiet for a moment. I feel her prod at my mind. “Yeah…you haven’t.”

“That’s not fair,” I laugh.

“You get to see what I think about all the time,” she drawls. “Turnabout’s fair play, Thorne.”

Another moment of silence. I sift through her memories of the night…take pleasure in the fact that she described me as “amazing.” It strikes me as odd, given that she’s the one who surprises me even more each day I know her.

“Do you want to know whatI’mthinking about right now?” she asks.

My brow furrows as the sensations shift; an ache between her legs, every nerve raw and wanting. My cock notices the change, blood rushing toward it.

“I think I already do,” I growl.

I grip the arm of the chair as Page moves her hands from where she was drawing small circles on the sheets. She reaches under her shirt, drags her fingers too slowly up her ribs. When she finds her breasts, I let out a harsh breath, and another when she closes her thumb and forefinger over each nipple.

“This is what I wanted last night,” she says in a breathy voice into the silence of her room, into my head. “And…well, the night I kissed you. And the night you sucked on my finger. And…and I think the first time I met you.”

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