“What are you doing?”
Heart stopping, I placed a hand to my chest as I spun around. “Jesus! Where did you come from?”
“The kitchen,” Hunter said, swaggering into the room. He stopped at the arm of the couch, the old tee shirt stretching across his broad shoulders as he swirled a spoon along the inner edges of a bowl. “What were you doing, Serena?”
For some reason I felt like I’d been caught doing something bad and that ticked me off. “I was looking for you, actually. I thought you were in the study.”
One dark brow arched. “I was.”
I glanced at the closed door and then raised my brows questioningly.
Hunter grinned. “Doors don’t really apply to me.”
My eyes widened. “So you can just squeeze through cracks or something?”
The grin didn’t fade. “Or something.”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I watched him finish off whatever he was eating and place the bowl on the coffee table. “Can I ask you something?”
“Depends on the question,” he replied.
I really hadn’t expected a different answer. “How can you go from human form to something that’s not even solid?”
He sat on the edge of the couch, stretching his long legs out. Moments passed and, just when I figured he wasn’t going to do anything other than stare at me, he finally answered. “We’re able to break down molecules and spread them apart. We’re still in a solid form, but to the human eye it doesn’t appear that way.”
Curious, I sat on the couch. “So it’s an optical illusion then?”
Hunter nodded.
I thought about how he’d worn sunglasses outside earlier. “Does light bother your eyes?”
“If it’s bright, yes.”
“Do you like being in the dark more than you do the light?”
He rested his hands on his knees. “Actually, I prefer the light.”
“Is that strange…for your kind?”
“No. We prefer light and warmth. Both things are not inherent to us.”
I digested that the best I could. “Is that why your skin is cool most of the time?”
“Yes.”
Moments passed, and then Hunter tipped his head back and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, I blurted out my request before I lost the nerve. “Can I see you in your true form?”
One eye opened. “What?”
“Can I see how you really look?” I rushed on. “Back in my apartment, I had been so scared and—”
“What you saw then was frightening.” Both eyes were open now. “And that’s not going to change now.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. With all the adrenaline and fear pumping in my veins, my memories were blurs and God knows what my imagination had tacked on. But I also remembered that there had been a beauty to him—a terrifying beauty. Like when confronted by a predator in the wild. A panther was gorgeous, but you didn’t try to pet that type of beauty.
“I know,” I said, sitting forward. “But I want to see you as you really are.”
Hunter didn’t move for several moments, and then he laughed hoarsely. “Are you insane?”
“I feel like it.”
He looked away, a muscle popping in his jaw. I knew I shouldn’t push him, because he was like that panther. Likely to bite if pushed too far. “Please?”
Another hoarse laugh, and then he was on his feet in front of me within a second.
His eyes were narrowed; his cheekbones abnormally sharp, as if he was already preparing for the change. “Are you sure you really want to see this?”
Now I wasn’t so sure, but I nodded.
A deep breath shuddered through him. His eyes drifted shut and the first thing I realized was that he’d stopped breathing. Like completely. My hands tightened on my bent knees.
Then the edges of his body shaded out like he’d been drawn in charcoal and someone had smudged the lines of his body. Weirdest damn thing to see, but then the blurred effect spread and his entire body lost most of his descriptive features. The clothing seemed to seep into him, disappearing as his striking face also faded.
My breath caught as Hunter became more smoke and shadows than anything else, a wispy human form. A second later, he solidified.
Holy God in heaven, he was… There were no words.
Hunter had the shape of a human male, but…different.
My gaze dropped to his feet. They were such a deep black I couldn’t really see if he had toes or not. But he had legs. They were widespread, thick, and muscled. His torso and arms were the same—defined muscle, like he’d been carved out of polished black marble. Cheekbones that were broad in his human form were more angular now, as was his jaw. His eyes…
I let out the breath I was holding.
His eyes were still the same, a pale blue even more stark than before.
Hunter’s head cocked to the side. Ssscared?
Caught off guard by hearing his voice in my head, all I could do was stare. Was I scared? My heart was throwing itself against my ribs like a patient in a padded room, but it wasn’t out of fear. More likely spiking from the fact there was an alien standing before me. A completely nude alien, who was—holy hardness—definitely endowed like a really lucky human man.
“No,” I said. “How can I hear your voice in my head?”
I thought he smiled. There was a rippling motion to his face. HUMANSSS CANNOT underssstand our ssspeech. I’m projecting my thoughtsss to you.
His voice had a snakelike quality to it. Not in a creepy way, but like a whisper of an exotic, foreign language.
I shifted forward, stopping when it felt like the temperature in the room plummeted.
“When it gets cold…that’s you?”
YESSS. IN OUR TRUE FORM, WE AFFECT ENERGY AROUND USSS, DRAWING IT IN. HEAT ISSS energy.
Struck by all that Hunter could do, my gaze traveled his body. This was the first moment where I truly understood the enormity of the knowledge I held. It was confirmation of intelligent life-forms existing in the universe—life-forms that were more physically advanced than the human race. What I was seeing would not be witnessed by most of the human population.
I could have one of two reactions: freak the hell out or be awed by what I was seeing. I decided on a mix of both, but mostly awe. This…this was astonishing. “Can I touch you?”
Hunter stilled again. He didn’t move, didn’t respond. I figured that if he didn’t want me to he would’ve said it. So I scooted to the edge of the couch and slowly reached out. My fingers brushed over his arm.
His skin was cool like stone and smooth. I ran my fingers up his arm. He shuddered, and I started to pull my hand back. “I’m sorry.”
No. It’sss okay. I’m jussst not usssed to…
“Someone touching you in this form?” I guessed.
He nodded.
More confident with what I was doing, I stood and flattened my palm, moving my hand upward, over the curve of his arm and sinew muscle. The cool, seamless texture of his skin was strange, yes, but it wasn’t ugly or frightening.
I lifted my gaze. His true form didn’t bring on the warm fuzzies, but like that damn panther, he was frighteningly beautiful.
When I realized I was basically feeling him up, I should’ve stopped, but I didn’t. I trailed my hand across his shoulder and then over his chest. I could feel his heart beating, or at least an organ like a heart. I started to ask, but Hunter moved.
Not away, but closer.
My breath stalled. Thin slices of brighter blue appeared in his eyes, churning slowly.
As cold as it was in the room, I should be freezing, but I felt too warm.
He stepped away and his body blurred out and then returned to the Hunter I knew.