Page 17 of Chosen By the Alien
“I’m thinking.”
“About?”
I hesitate. I don’t know how to say any of it out loud. That I feel like a different person. That I don’t know who I am right now. That I’m scared. That I liked it so much it makes me want to scream.
I roll onto my back slowly, and his hand slips off me. I meet his gaze. His eyes are heavy-lidded, silvery in the light, still glowing faintly like coals under ash.
“I don’t know what this means,” I admit. “I don’t even know whatIam anymore. I mean, I was straight. I thought I was straight.”
His expression doesn’t change. He’s listening. Patient.
I exhale. “And then you showed up. And then last night…” I trail off. “Jesus. I let you… fuck, Iwantedyou. And I don’t regret it. That’s what’s messing me up.”
Tahl lifts himself onto one elbow, the blanket slipping down his bare chest. “You do not need to name it. Not now.”
“But what is this? Is this just sex for you? Is this some alien ritual thing, or…”
“You are my chosen,” he says simply.
I blink. “That’s… not helping.”
He smiles faintly. “In my world, to choose someone is not casual. It is not mating or claiming. It is deeper. Older. We choose with instinct, and we wait with patience.”
I stare at him, my heart thudding.
“You do not need to decide now,” he says. “But I will wait. For you.”
It knocks the breath out of me. Not just the words, but the way he says them. Like they’re solid, real, like a promise carved in stone. No pressure. No pleading. Just fact.
My throat tightens. “You’re serious.”
“Always.”
I let out a shaky laugh. It comes out more like a cough. I glance away, rubbing a hand over my face. “Fuck.”
He brushes a strand of hair off my forehead. “If it frightens you, I will keep my distance. If you wish to pretend last night never happened, I will not speak of it again.”
“No,” I say quickly, and I don’t even know where thatnocomes from, but it’s out before I can stop it. “Don’t… disappear.”
His hand stills. “I will not. Unless you ask me to.”
I look up at him again. His face is close to mine, close enough that I can see the shifting colors in his irises, like molten metal.
My lips part. And without fully thinking, I lean in.
I kiss him.
It’s slower than last night, gentler, lips brushing together like we’re testing the feel of it. His hand cradles my jaw, thumb stroking my cheekbone. The kiss deepens, tongues slide, breath mixes. I open for him easily, like my body remembers everything he did to me, everything I craved.
I break the kiss first, pulling back just a little. “Maybe we take this slow. One day at a time.”
Tahl nods. “That is enough.”
I lay back against the pillow, his fingers still ghosting over my skin. I exhale and let the silence settle. And then, quietly: “Tell me more. About your world. About… you.”
He tilts his head, pleased. “It is far from here. Dry. Harsh. Our cities are built into cliffs, cooled by the rock. We were hunters, once. Now we travel. Adapt.”
“Like you’re doing now?”
