Page 37 of Fallen from the Stars

“You’re such an ass, you know that?” She glanced back at the headless carcass and gagged again. “Ugh!”

Looking at it as little as possible, she grabbed the bird by the leg and held it upside down to let its blood drain into the nearby grass. Once the flow seemed about done, she plucked off its feathers by the fistful, trying to ignore the brief resistance each one offered. Once she’d successfully slit open its gut, dumped out the innards, cleaned up the carcass and impaled it on a stick — all miraculously without vomiting — she picked up her water container and hurried back to camp.

She was sure to hold the bird as far away from her field of vision as possible along the way.

The sun was low over the horizon when she reached the pod, casting the ocean in orange and gold. It would be dark within the next hour or so. There was no sign of Vasil at the camp, so set the bird aside, careful not to let it touch the sand, and went to work starting a fire like he’d taught her. Fortunately, they’d collected a sizeable store of relatively dry wood and animal dung.

Once the fire was burning high enough, she positioned the impaled bird over it, using a stone to hold the stick in place.

“There,” she said, stepping back with her fists on her hips.

“So…now what?”

“Hell if I know.” Theo laughed. “I’ve been eating food out of vacuum sealed bags and machines for nearly twenty years. This cooking stuff might as well be magic to me.”

Returning to the pod, she changed into her under suit so more of her skin could be cooled by the breeze. She walked toward the ocean at a leisurely pace. Wind whipped her hair, and the sound of breaking waves filled her ears as she gazed over the blazing-gold water. She thrummed with anticipation.

“Vasil should be back soon,” she said. He always returned before dark.

“Your heart rate picked up speed there, Theo.”

“So?” With a disgruntled huff, she plopped her ass down on the ground, idly digging holes with her fingers in the wet sand.

“Just an observation,” Kane said. He went quiet for several seconds. “May I make a suggestion?”

“As though I could stop you short of putting you to sleep,” she said, tilting her head. Turning her torso to one side, she propped herself on one hand and scooped handfuls of damp sand out of the hole. A bit of water pooled at its bottom.

“I know I overstep most of the time, Theo, and I don’t want to do that in this case. This situation isn’t like anything we’ve faced before. I’m out of my element, and that is…unsettling. The last thing I want is for the only person I have in my existence to be genuinely upset with me.”

Theo paused, a slow smile curling her lips. “You should know by now that I could never be mad at you for long. AndIknow you’d never do anything to intentionally hurt me. We’ll get through this. It’s…a different way of life, but hey, I’m learning.”

She resumed digging, glancing over her shoulder toward the cooking bird. A shudder ran down her back; killing and preparing the creature hadn’t been easy — or pretty — but she was damned proud of herself.

“So, what’s your suggestion?” she asked.

“Don’t be afraid to give the alien a chance.”

Theo stilled. “Okay, I guess I thought you were going to say something about ourlivingsituation.”

“It kind ofisabout that, isn’t it? You’re clearly interested, Theo. I’m not telling you to rush into anything, but…why deny your curiosity any longer?”

Brows lowering, she frowned. “You’ve never liked any other guy I was interested in.”

“Because all they wanted from you was sex.”

“That’s all I had ever wanted, too.” Or had it been? She rarely sought men out for pleasure, and it was only when her loneliness had reached its limits. That she needed —craved— human touch.

“If that were true, I’d accept it. It’s okay foryouto have shallow wants — you’re my friend. But we both know you’re lying to yourself about it.”

She dropped her gaze to the hole and clawed out more sand, adding to the growing pile beside her. She should’ve known he’d see through her lie; she’d rarely sought out men for pleasure, and when she did, it had only been when her loneliness had reached its peak. In those moments, she’d craved human touch. She’dneededit.

“And you don’t think sex is all Vasil wants?”

“Iknowhe wants it.”

Theo flushed, feeling the warmth from the roots of her hair down to her chest.

“But I think you know that’s not all he wants,” Kane continued.“Otherwise you wouldn’t be fawning over him like you have been.”

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