Page 67 of Rok's Captive
There is only one solution.
With a gentle motion, I adjust my hold on her, lifting her against my chest as I stand. She murmurs something, nestling closer, but does not fully wake.
I move toward the cave entrance, pausing only to scan the horizon for immediate threats. The dust stretches out before me, golden and deceptively peaceful in Ain’s fading light. In the distance, a whirlwind spins lazily, picking up dust and carrying it skyward.
I step out of the cave’s protection, Jus-teen cradled securely in my arms. The pain in my chest remains blissfully absent as long as she is with me. Carrying her like this will make hunting more difficult—impossible to move with my usual speed and stealth—but there is no choice.
We will find water together or perish together in the attempt.
As I begin the long trek toward the distant hidden spring, a flicker of movement catches my eye—something on the horizon, fast-moving, kicking up dust in its wake.
Not a whirlwind. Not a natural phenomenon.
Hunters. Coming this way.
And from their trajectory, I know with grim certainty—they are not of my clan.
Chapter20
IS IT TOO LATE TO FILE A WORKER’S COMP CLAIM?
JUSTINE
The headache hits me like a sledgehammer.
One moment I’m talking to Rok, trying to convince myself (and him) that I’m strong enough to travel, and the next I’m curled against the cave wall, my skull feeling like it might split open. Light becomes my enemy, sound an assault, and all I want to do is curl into nothingness until the pain subsides. I press my forehead to the cool stone, willing the pain to recede.
Then the world tilts.
Heat pools low in my belly. Sudden and damn near impossible to ignore. Rok’s hands are everywhere, leaving trails of fire across my skin. “Mine,” he snarls against my throat, and my back arches, offering myself. His mouth seals over my nipple, sucking hard, and I cry out?—
I jolt awake, gasping. My thighs are clenched, my pulse hammering in places it shouldn’t be. The cave is silent except for Rok’s steady breathing nearby.
Fuck.
Did I just…? I squeeze my eyes shut, mortified. The dream clings like sweat, too vivid to dismiss. Rok’s hands. His teeth. The way he’d looked at me before I was jolted from the dream…
And now here I am, throbbing because of him, while he stands guard like some unshakable sentinel.
This planet is messing with me.
The headache must be doing something worse than I thought. Or maybe it’s the alien plants. Or the way Rok’s bare chest gleams in the light, muscles shifting as he?—
Nope. Not going there.
I’ve had migraines before—who hasn’t?—but this is different. More intense. More…consuming. I have no other logical choice but to attribute it to heat exhaustion, dehydration, the trauma of the crash, and the stress of being stranded, my only company a glowing alien guythat I kissed! I mean, really, what’s one more physical malfunction at this point?
I try not to fall asleep again. Having wet dreams when in dire circumstances isn’t in any survival manual I’ve ever read. All I can do is clench my teeth and fight the pain in my skull.
I’m vaguely aware of Rok giving me something to eat—one of those strange plants that taste like lettuce soaked in lemon juice and pepper—before I rest some more, promising myself it will just be for a minute or two.
The next thing I know, I’m moving.
Not under my own power, but cradled against something warm and solid. Rok. He’s carrying me again.
I crack an eye open, immediately regretting it as harsh light stabs into my retina like a needle. I snap it shut again, burying my face against his chest to escape the brightness.
“Where—?” My voice is a raspy whisper. “What’s happening?”
