The younger one, Resa, was sitting on Penny’s bed when Krayter opened the bathroom door. He was glad he’d put his clothes back on, given the way she stared at him.

She looked at him like he was a strange specimen in a museum. Or a zoo. Krayter fought the urge to flash his claws at her. She was only a child. No matter the species, kids lacked discipline. He should know—his parents had taken it upon themselves to repopulate the Detyen race and he had a dozen siblings spread out over several star systems.

No, not a dozen anymore. Eleven. The wound was too fresh. And each time he remembered it, it burned raw again. His sister, Karwan, was gone forever.

“Are you going to hurt us?” Resa asked baldly, with no sense of the pain roiling inside him. She sat cross-legged on her sister’s bed, her hands resting on her knees as she stared at him.

“What? Of course not.” The life that Penny had described was exemplified fresh by Resa’s question. He’d offered no violence and yet her first thought was of defense.

“Father says aliens eat humans,” she continued, her mind morbidly fixed on the threat of his presence. As she asked her questions, he wondered why she was in this room. Had she snuck upstairs?

“I’m sure some might.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized that he shouldn’t have said them. This was the cost of having little siblings. Teasing came too naturally.

“Do you eat people?” she asked, fascinated despite herself. She narrowed her eyes at him and Krayter realized she was trying to get a look at his teeth.

He flashed his incisors at her and she gasped. They were sharper than human teeth. Not quite fangs, but close. “Nah, too stringy.” He’d already started teasing, so what was the point in stopping? Besides, he wanted his denya’s sister to be comfortable with him.

Resa’s mouth dropped open. Perhaps he should have saved the teeth for a little later.

“I’m kidding.” He smiled and crossed the room, taking a seat on the floor where he’d slept and leaning his back against the wall. The kid wanted to talk and he was in no hurry.

“You’re weird.” She scrunched up her face, her eyebrows drawn down and her mouth pulled into a strange mix of smile and frown.

Krayter wasn’t sure of what to say to that.

“Why are you in here?” he asked. If she was making fun of him or insulting him, he didn’t need to humor her. Had his denya sent her to… guard him? Or to watch him like he was a child in case he became confused with the primitive human technology?

Resa rolled her eyes and sighed, leaning back on the bed and putting her arms behind her. “Dad is downstairs with Penny and if he sees you, he’ll kill you. Or torture you, then kill you. And maybe lock Penny up.” Most children didn’t speak about death or torture so blandly. Not even Detyen kids who lived with it every moment of their lives.

“I… see,” was the only response Krayter could muster. Strangely, he wasn’t scared. With the threat of discovery imminent, he knew he should have at least the smallest threat of panic. But with a girl sitting on the bed, explaining things with all the aplomb of a child, he couldn’t find that fear. His Penny was smart. If he’d been with the other girl, Nicole, he might not feel so confident. She seemed the type to play out all the possible bad scenarios. Out loud. Over and over again.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs, immediately giving lie to Krayter’s bravado. He half stood on the ill formed thought that he could protect Resa from any threat. She put up a hand to stop him. Of course. If it wasn’t Penny, it was her father outside. She wasn’t the one in danger.

But the quick knock at the door didn’t bear the tell-tale sign of a man who ruled his people with an iron will. Resa jumped off the bed and let her sisters into the room, Nicole following right behind Penny. All three of them settled onto the bed and faced him where he sat on the floor like a council in judgement.

Though when Penny spoke, it was to her sisters. “Dad has asked that we move back into the Residence.” From the way she said asked, it was clear it was an order.

“That’s his house,” Nicole protested, crossing her arms.

Resa nodded next to her and Penny looked ready to cry. If she knew that he was hers, Krayter would have stood that moment and wrapped his arms around her, offering her comfort. Instead, he stayed on the floor.

Penny was made of sterner stuff and soldiered on. “Even if I don’t agree, he’ll compel the two of you to do so.”

Resa and Nicole shot Krayter a look, as if they couldn’t figure out why Penny was spilling family secrets in front of an alien stranger. Krayter had to agree. He didn’t belong here. Not yet.

But when it became clear he wouldn’t be kicked out, Resa spoke. “I don’t like it there.”

“Me either,” Nicole agreed. Neither of the girls elaborated, but this seemed like a well tread topic. There was no need among the three of them to explain.

“I know. It sucks. But he’s pissed and he suspects me of something.” No one looked at him, but Krayter knew he was the something. “He gave us until tonight.”

“What are…” Krayter didn’t mean to speak, but the words popped out.

Penny leveled her gaze at him and waited.

“You seem to have a plan,” he said.

She nodded and spoke simply, as if the words didn’t put everything at risk. As if she wasn’t about to change her life. “I’m taking you out of here.”

“We’re coming too!” Nicole and Resa both shouted, no hesitation in either of them.

***

She had more clothes in the cabin than she realized, Penny thought as she debated between two equally warm sweatshirts. After a moment, she settled on the darker gray and stuffed it into one of the packs on the bed. Both Resa and Nicole were in their own rooms preparing similar bags, and Penny’s heart thundered as she thought of the danger she was leading them into.

“Do you think I should have told them to stay?” she asked the alien sitting on her bed. Letting him roam around the house was out of the question. She couldn’t guarantee his safety if one of her father’s men decided to take a peek through one of the windows. He watched her move, those demon’s eyes of his trailing after her. She should have been unnerved, her stomach twisting under the constant scrutiny.

She wasn’t. Her stomach was fine. Or, as fine as it could be with her father’s threat bearing down on her.

“They seem old enough to make their own choices,” he responded, the most alien thing she’d heard come out of his mouth.

“Resa is twelve.” She still had the cloth doll that their grandmother had given her and she slept with it every night.

“My brother and I were that old when we signed on to our apprenticeships,” he countered. He sat with complete ease against the headboard, his legs crossed in front of him, mostly out of her way.

“What!” There was always work to do in Highland Settlement and children that young did have responsibilities. But an apprenticeship? Kids needed to worry about education and fun, not being shipped off to slave away the day.

Krayter shrugged. “It all makes sense because… well, in my culture…”

What hadn’t he said there? And would it be rude to ask? Penny didn’t want to tread over interspecies sore spots, so she changed her tactic, suddenly curious to know more about this stranger. “Are humans super weird to you? Are you… where are you from?” What brought an alien to Earth? There was so much out there in the universe, Highland Settlement had to seem quaint in comparison.

He sighed, probably having repeated his history a dozen times to curious humans. “I was born on a planet called Jaaxis, far from here. My people…” His voice hitched. “We used to be from Detya.”

The pang of sadness hurt her heart. Penny stopped what she was doing, placing her t-shirt down to study Krayter. He didn’t look hurt, his expression was upbeat, and yet she could almost feel the open chasm of sorrow in his chest. “Used to?” she forced herself to ask.

“It was destroyed, more than a hundred years ago.” He looked down and one of his hands played against the soft cotton of her sheets, drawing a pattern in the folds.

“How terrible.” For a moment, Penny tried to imagine what it would be like to be cast off from Earth, forever separated because of some nameless tragedy. Before counterfeit grief could swallow her whole, she pivoted. “I have some men’s clothes here that I think will fit you. There’s not…”

“What?” He looked up, interest piqued.

Penny swallowed and took the opportunity to ogle him shamelessly. Again. It was becoming a bad habit. “You’re not like hiding a tail or anything?” He looked so much like a man it was disarming. But she hadn’t seen him naked.

Not outside of her dreams.

“If I had a tail, why would I hide it?” Krayter asked, tilting his head to one side.

The alien had a point.

The matter settled, Penny dug into the bottom of her closet, pulling out an old duffel bag filled with cast-off fatigues and an old pair of boots. “Since we’re a ways out from central command, I brought some of my father’s old clothes. In case the men ever needed anything. They weren’t like my boyfriend’s or anything. Not that I have a boyfriend.” Her face turned bright red as she dumped the bag on the bed and realized what she’d said.

“You have no lover?” All of a sudden, Krayter was right in her face, having rolled forward onto his knees. He stared at her with an intensity that might have been frightening if she was the least bit scared of him. “Why?”

The bafflement was flattering. Penny glanced down at herself. In jeans and an old shirt, she wasn’t anything special, just another plain, skinny girl. “They never want me.” And that just slipped right out, the mortification piling on.

Krayter placed his hand on her chin and tilted her head up. Without conscious thought, Penny leaned into him. His fingers were calloused and a bit abrasive, but his skin was so warm that it burned, despite her blush. “They are fools,” he said with all the weight of a declaration. They were so close that all Penny had to do was lean forward an inch and her lips would find his. Just one taste, just to sate the curiosity. That was all she needed.

No. She pulled back, biting her tongue to keep him from asking him about mind powers again. If he didn’t have them, then she would just be giving away… something. Something that she couldn’t tell him yet, that she couldn’t explain.

“How much can you carry and still run?” she asked, putting her mind back to the task at hand and banishing all thoughts of distressingly sexy aliens sitting on her bed.

“More than your sisters.” He leaned back a little, but somehow the space between them didn’t shrink as he looked her up and down, assessing. “You seem quite strong.”

“I don’t know if you’re trying to slack or trying to flatter.” And the thrill that went down her back at his grin was something she was going to ignore. Completely.

Krayter’s grin blossomed into a laugh. “I’m not sure either.”

She tossed the duffel his way and piled the rest of her things into her own pack. “Why did you come to Earth?” she asked. “How long have you been here?”

Krayter sorted through the clothing in the bag, tossing some of the lighter weight items aside in favor of heavier, warmer clothes. “My brother and I got here a few weeks ago. We meant to come with my cousin and his de—his wife, but they were delayed. We’ve been waiting in New York for them, but soon we’ll need to move on.”

“And leave Earth?” Something about that didn’t sit right. She’d only known him a day, and yet she liked that they were on the same planet.

“No,” he said. “We’ve decided to stay.”

“On this dump? Even after last night?” Penny closed the flap of her bag and slid down to sit on the bed, observing Krayter while he took care of himself.

He looked at her, his expression confused. “Dump?” he asked. “I know that there are parts of this planet no longer satisfactory to human life, but I would hardly say it’s as bad as that.”

Penny’s cheeks heated as she remembered that he’d just said his planet had been destroyed. Here she was complaining because she didn’t like some people when he’d never seen his homeland. “Why Earth? Is it like where you grew up?” In the last hundred years, the galaxy had opened up as humans discovered faster than light travel and aliens discovered humans. Earth was hardly alone anymore.

Krayter grinned and Penny’s stomach did a flip, twisting itself into a small knot. God, he was cute. “Earth has a lot of things going for it. When you’re not being tied up by adolescents or hunted by men with guns.”

“Next time I tie you up, I’m using metal handcuffs. No rope for you.”

“Promise?” The grin blossomed into a full smile.

Oh, no. Those thoughts she’d barely been keeping at bay crashed back into her and Penny imagined Krayter tied up, not like he’d been in the shed, but with his hands bound above him, through the slat in her headboard, his shirt nowhere to be found and chest exposed to her searching fingers. His everything exposed.

Would he actually enjoy being bound? One of the reasons that Penny’s attempts at romance fizzled into nothing before they could start was because every man in the camp was made of rage and testosterone. They wouldn’t even let her on top in bed… or, well, they wouldn’t have done so if it ever got that far.

“I’ve seen that look before,” Krayter said, his duffel abandoned. He leaned in, placing one knee on the bed as he crossed some of the distance between them. “Are you wondering if the handcuffs would be enough? Or hoping that they won’t?”

He was right there, so close that he could pin her to the bed in a second. There wouldn’t be any question of handcuffs, not then. Heat pooled low and Penny shifted her hips, suddenly conscious of her body in a way she’d never been before. Her breasts were heavy and sensitive against the soft fabric of her bra and her nipples strained out, desperate for his touch. She wanted to kiss him so much it hurt and she didn’t know why.

She didn’t care why.

Penny licked her lips and watched those dark eyes of his dart down and flare red. “Would you keep them on if I asked?”

“There’s not much you could ask me that I wouldn’t do.” He reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear, his fingers trailing lightly along the edge and making her shiver. His hand travelled down her neck and rested on her shoulder, the touch feather light.

Penny raised her own hand and brushed it against the pointed ridge of Krayter’s ear, pausing when he drew in a harsh breath. She raised her eyebrows at him, silently asking if he wanted her to pull back, but the heat in his eyes told her to keep going, to give him more.

The distance between them dissolved and she pressed her lips against his in a chaste kiss. He cupped his hand behind her neck and held her close, not breaking the contact, but not deepening the kiss. The contact rocked Penny to her core. She surged up and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him flush against her. His body was all tight muscle, shoulders broad and strong.

His tongue probed at the seal of her lips and Penny opened under them, hungry for the taste of him. Strange ridges along his tongue gave her something new to discover as one of his hands dipped low, finding the bottom of her shirt and hiking it up until he found naked skin. Something thudded down behind them, perhaps the duffel hitting the floor, but Penny couldn’t care less. Not when she was wrapped up in Krayter and getting a bite of the unexpected.

“Oh my God, Penny’s making out with the alien!” It was a scream to her ears, but Nicole managed to not actually yell.

Penny pulled back, bumping her head against the headboard. Krayter didn’t move, his arms still wrapped around her and his expression dazed. She wanted to think she’d been the one to do that to him, but her kissing could—at best—be described as rusty. He stared at her, eyes twin blazes of red that slowly faded back to black. Only when the color died away completely did he glance over to where Nicole stood in the doorway, waggling her eyebrows at them and otherwise looking scandalized.

“Are you and Resa about ready?” Penny asked. Somehow it came out clear, her breath even, though her heart beat loud enough for blood to pound in her ears.

“You—you—” Apparently describing the scene had robbed Nicole of her vocabulary and she just stood there, mouth trying to form words.

Penny looked back at Krayter. “Finish packing, I’m going to take care of some stuff with them.” She slid off the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”

It hadn’t seemed possible, but Nicole’s eyes bulged even wider. Penny rolled her own. It was one kiss. And she was twenty-four! She shooed her sister ahead of her and took her to Resa’s room, where she’d hastily picked up a bag from where she’d dropped. Resa’s own face had gone pale and she looked at Penny like they’d never met.

So Nicole had been loud enough for Resa to hear. Wonderful.

Penny closed the door behind her and leaned against it, arms crossed. “Yes, Krayter and I kissed. You each get one question and then you have to shut up about it.” Telling them not to ask anything wouldn’t work; they were little sisters, and it was their job to annoy her. She only hoped that this stopped the worst of it.

“Why?” they both demanded at the same time.

Penny opened her mouth to answer and then closed it. She couldn’t tell her twelve year old sister that she’d wanted to jump Krayter’s bones almost since the moment she’d seen him, and it wouldn’t be good to tell the teenager either.

It was on the tip of her tongue to call it a mistake and be done with it. Sure, her sisters would tease her, but that was all. And she gave as good as she got. But Krayter was sitting only twenty feet away in her room. He couldn’t hear her, but her lips still burned, the press of his an imprint she wouldn’t soon forget. And given the chance, she’d do it all over again. Who knew where they would have ended up if Nicole hadn’t barged in.

So, no, it wasn’t a mistake. And she was going to do it again.

A litany of ‘big sister excuses’ flashed through her mind and Penny finally settled on one sure to raise their hackles, but possibly divert the attention. “It’s a bit complicated, and when you’re in your twenties, you’ll be able to understand. It’s just… we’re both adults. Okay?”

“He’s an alien!” Nicole hissed. Both she and Resa were looking through the wall as if they could see into the hallway and Penny’s room beyond that.

“You used up your question. Now, we’ve got shit to talk about.” Penny waited to see if either girl was about to object, but the rest of the day lay heavy on all of them. They knew what was coming, and a tiny distraction like an alien’s kiss wouldn’t stay on top for long.

“You’re not making us go back to Dad, are you?” Resa asked as she stuffed clothes into her bag. Her backpack was dark blue and covered with glittery stars she’d applied at school a few years ago, a harrowing reminder of just how young she was and how much she had to lose.

“I won’t,” Penny promised. “But you should consider it. This trip is going to be hard, and you can’t ever come back from it. If we get out, he’ll never trust you here.”

“I don’t care.” Nicole was all fire, eyes bright and ready for a fight. “He sucks and I don’t want to stay here.”

Resa opened her mouth, most likely to join in agreement with Nicole’s view. Penny nodded. “I get it, I really do. I’ve lived here longer than either of you.”

Resa didn’t give up. “But they said it wasn’t so bad before─”

Penny cut that off before it could get going. “You’ve got food here, shelter. Education, and some kind of future. Maybe not the best, but it could be a lot worse. You want to go live in one of those hollowed out cities out west? The ones where people don’t live past my age without becoming killers or victims of horrible violence?” Those stories had always been worse than the horrors aliens could inflict on people. A hundred miles west of them they’d find cities all along the lakes and rivers of the interior of the country that were little more than rubble and despair. No one there could walk among the trees or spend a quiet night at home.

“And what if the governor decides he doesn’t like what Dad’s doing? Or the army?” Nicole countered. She and Resa must have expected this last talk. “We only get to stay here until they cause too much trouble. All the kids at school know it. And then what?”

She was right. Life out here was just as fragile as anywhere else, even if it felt sturdy as an oak. “Once we leave, I’m not letting either of you change your minds. We need to get Krayter out of here and on to safety. If I let you back out, the men could track us down. Do you understand?” They both looked so young. Nicole had her hair down and it took a handful of years off her age, making her seem closer to Resa.

An inkling of understanding flared to life in the back of Penny’s mind, even though she tried to quash it. Outside of Highland Settlement was danger in all its forms. If she left the girls here, at least they’d be fed and warm. But she’d promised herself eight years ago that she would never abandon her sisters in this place.

“So you’re both in then?” she asked for the final time, even as it ripped a hole in her to take them into danger.

Both girls nodded. It was Resa who asked, “Where are we taking him?”

Penny’s head sank and her shoulders slumped as the words she didn’t want to speak tumbled out. “We’re going the one place Dad can’t take you back from. Mom’s.”