Page 36 of Secretly Abducted
"Show me," he says suddenly. "Show me how humans express connection without it being... too much."
My heart is pounding so hard I'm sure he can hear it. "Are you sure?"
Instead of answering, he turns his hand palm up on the dock. An invitation.
I carefully lace our fingers together. His skin is cool and slightly textured, and when I stroke my thumb across his knuckles, his bioluminescence flares bright.
"Just this?" he asks, his voice wondering.
"This is something," I say. "May I?" I lift our joined hands.
He nods, watching with those impossible eyes as I bring his hand to my lips, pressing the gentlest kiss to his knuckles. His sharp intake of breath makes me look up.
His entire body is glowing now, patterns of gold and purple and blue cascading across his skin like aurora. "Alex..."
"Too much?"
"No." He shifts closer, our sides pressed together now. "Not enough."
I turn to face him fully, our joined hands between us. "Tell me what you want."
"I want..." He pauses, free hand coming up to hover near my face. "I want to understand this feeling. This pull toward you that defies everything I thought I knew about myself."
"It's okay to want things," I tell him softly. "It's okay to feel."
His fingers touch my cheek, feather-light, tracing the line of my jaw. I stay perfectly still, letting him explore at his own pace even though every nerve ending is screaming for more.
"Your skin is so warm," he murmurs. "And these..." His thumb brushes over my freckles. "They're everywhere."
"Summers in California," I manage, my voice rough. "Lots of sun."
His exploration continues—fingers threading into my hair, still damp from swimming. Down the side of my neck, making me shiver. Across my collar bone, exposed by the lack of a shirt.
"Vel'aan," I breathe, and his gaze snaps to mine.
"I'm going to kiss you now," he says, and it's not a question.
"Thank god," I whisper.
He leans in slowly, giving me time to pull back, to say no. As if I could. As if I haven't been thinking about this since the moment I saw him again.
Our lips meet, and it's gentle, almost hesitant. His mouth is cool against mine, careful and exploring. I let him lead, keeping my hands still even though I want to pull him closer, want to devour him.
Then he makes a small sound—surprise or pleasure or both—and I can't help myself. I deepen the kiss, showing him without words what he does to me, how much I want this, want him.
His response is immediate and overwhelming. He kisses back with sudden hunger, his body pressing against mine, and I can taste the sweetness of soda on his tongue, feel the way his breath catches when I nip gently at his lower lip.
But then I feel how his whole body is trembling, how his bioluminescence is pulsing erratically, and I know if I don't stop now, we'll end up doing exactly what he said was too fast.
I pull back with a groan, resting my forehead against his. We're both breathing hard, and in the space between us, I swear I can feel something—like electricity, like recognition, like coming home.
"Fuck," I gasp. "I'm going to need to wash Tevra's nice sheets again tonight."
He pulls back slightly, confused. "What? Why would you—"
Then his gaze drops to my lap, where my arousal is extremely obvious in the thin shorts, and his skin flushes with that pale green of embarrassment mixed with deep purple of interest.
"Oh," he says. "That's... from kissing?"
