Eden meandered to the edge of the hillside overlooking the lake and plopped down on the grass with a groan. The kayaking had turned her shoulder muscles to concrete, and after her pathetic attempt at hiking, every joint in her body ached.

“Are you going to live?” he asked, setting down his pack.

“No. I’m so sore I could cry.”

“What hurts?”

“What doesn’t? My shoulders are killing me. My hips too.”

“Here, let me help,” he said, kneeling down behind her.

When his hands began a delicious massage deep into the agony that was her shoulders, Eden’s eyes rolled back into her head. “OMG. I’m keeping you.”

His breathing changed, and she sensed rather than saw his smile.

Tingles spread like waves down her back and up into her hair as he worked the tension out of her body. She’d been hurting so badly that the relief he gave her made her want to cry. When she was younger, her mother had rubbed her temples whenever Eden had a headache, but that was the extent of her massage experience. Maybe God wasn’t a jerk after all. Perhaps he brought Darak to her because her life had sucked so much lately.

Her phone buzzed, canceling out all of Darak’s magic.

Darak sat back, an interested gleam in his eye as she pulled the phone out of her bra.

“Dang,” she said, frowning at the screen. “I have to take this. Hi, Mom.”

She arched as Darak kissed the nape of her neck. The ensuing tingles traveled throughout her body, and a trickle of warmth hit her panties.

“Where are you?” her mother asked, a rebuke in the tone of her voice.

“I texted you. A couple of us are hiking.” Talking to her mom when she was thinking about sex? Creepy!

Darak guided her forward until she rested on her elbows. A moment later he dug his fingers into her lower back.

Her mother sighed. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I’m fine. I feel great.” Darak began kneading her butt, and Eden was in serious danger of moaning.

“Don’t forget you have an appointment the day after tomorrow,” her mother went on.

Eden’s shoulders tensed as she smoothed her brow. “I know. And before you ask, yes, I’m safe, and yes, I have my pepper spray.”

“I’m just trying to—”

“I know.” Eden bit her lip. “I appreciate it. I’ll talk to you this evening.”

“Stay away from poison ivy.”

Eden rolled her eyes. “Love you too, Mom.”

Eden ended the call and tossed the cell into the grass. Darak swiped his thumbs in an upward stroke along her lower spine, and a wave of butterflies danced up her nerves. She dropped her head onto her forearms. “I’m hiring you. I swear I’m in heaven.”

He shifted his attention back to her rear. “Are you sure you don’t mean the Garden of Eden?”

Her heart fluttered. “I know that’s probably a line, but it’s working.”

“Good. I hoped it would,” he said, his tone smug.

Eden felt a tug on her shirt, and a moment later his kiss caressed the small of her back. She could get used to this.

Sighing, she sat up and stretched her arms. “Seriously, though, isn’t this perfect? I wish we never had to leave.”

“You wouldn’t get very far on your list.”

“Oh, I don’t know. We could always pop out for a couple hours every once in a while and do something wild and dangerous.”

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he trailed kisses up her neck. “Or we could drive around the country, finding places like this, jumping off waterfalls and screwing each other until you scream.”

“Nice language!”

He nipped her ear. “You scream every time.”

“Prove it.”

“If you insist,” he said, and Eden felt a tug on her bra.

“Hey, wait. Didn’t you promise me food?” She wasn’t even remotely hungry, but he’d gone to the trouble.

“Yes, ma’am.” Darak lingered a second longer before moving away. Dipping into his pack, he brought forth two paper-wrapped black bean burgers.

Eden pealed back the covering and eyed the sandwich with doubt. But what was there to lose, after all? Tentatively she took a nip.

“Good?” he asked. He tore a large chunk out of his own.

“It’s not horrible.” Actually it was fine, but she didn’t want him thinking she could be bossed around that easily.

His expression fell. “You don’t like it. I should have let you get your hamburger.”

“Don’t even look like you want my food.” She hissed like a cat.

Dark’s expression relaxed, and his smile warmed her.

“You’re so damn cute.” He sank into an easy slouch, munching lazily on his meal. His portion disappeared in record time, and Eden gave him the second half of hers.

Darak gave a sour look as he took it, and Eden grinned at him. Then she flopped back in the grass and closed her eyes.

Several moments later she heard him crumple the wrapper, and then he joined her.

Eden allowed the sun to sweeten her pores as the hum of tiny life lulled her into a hypnotic state. Insects buzzed, and the breeze carried the crisp scent of wildflowers and berries.

“What’s that one that says Chee-a-boo?” Darak murmured.

“Chee-a-boo.” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s a chickadee, and he’s saying cheeseburger.”

“Nope. Chee-a-boo.”

“You’ll lose this one.”

“Oh really?” Darak rolled over onto her. “I never lose.”

When he pushed up her shirt to kiss her tummy, Eden’s priorities shifted.

“That’s not fair,” she said without conviction. “You shouldn’t take advantage of me when I’m so weak.”

“Weak?”

The look on his face—so tender and…loving?

“Weak and frail. No meat, remember? You did this to me.”

Snorting, Darak sat up and ran a hand down her calf, causing her stomach to flutter.

“Are you still dreading going back home?” she asked.

“Yes and no. I mean, I have to. That’s all.”

“Maybe you could just hop in your car and keep going forever. You know, avoid the ’rents and experience everything this world has to offer.”

“It’s tempting. I have to tell you. Back…in my old neighborhood, nobody would even think of sleeping in their vehicle, much less outside. The fact that I would want to leave all that comfort behind confounds them.”

“Well, I think you’re amazing.”

He looked at her. “Why don’t you do it?”

“Ha!”

He tilted his head, a question in his gaze.

“For one thing, I don’t have a driver’s license.”

“Well, what would be the first thing you did if you got one?”

“Get a job, save some money, and then go buy a car.”

“All right. Let’s say you got your license and came home and found a car waiting for you?”

“Okay, I’ll play. I’d hike the Appalachian Trail. The whole thing, Georgia to Maine.”

“Wouldn’t you rather go on a cruise?”

“Too lame. I’d rather see a volcano—a real one.” With you.

“It could explode right when you were there.”

She shrugged. “So? You’d take out your magic phone and save me.”

“What if my phone didn’t work?”

Shrugging, she spread her palms. “You’d kiss me until it didn’t matter anymore.”

“I think you’re right about that.”

Stroking her hair, Darak kissed her—a soft, feathery kiss that sent shivers down her spine. Sighing, he buried his face against her shoulder. “You make me feel like I could do anything.”

She kissed the top of his head. “You can.”

“You know I—”

“You’re like me.” Tears pricked at the backs of her eyes. “You don’t want to hurt the people you love.”

“My family are good people,” he said, sitting up straight. “Really good people. Decent and kind. They’re just not…like me. No one is,” he finished grimly.

She palmed his face. “You’re good and kind, too.”

He cocked his head. “It’s funny. When I first came here, I just wanted…you know. You were sexy and you smelled good.”

Rolling her eyes, she blushed.

“I knew you didn’t really want to, and I pushed you into it.”

“I did want to.” How could he think that?

He cocked his head and gave her a wry look. “You said no at least five times, and I kept at it until you said yes. Admit it. ”

Eden drew back, remembering the shock of him ripping her panties away. She had said no. She hadn’t been the one in control.

“But now…I don’t know,” he said, smoothing her hair out of her eyes and brushing his lips against her brow. “I should be in Niagara Falls already, but every time I think about leaving, I picture you and I can’t. You make me happy, Adventure Girl.”

Eden’s heart melted to sugar at his words. She wanted more time too. If it was just for a little while, he couldn’t truly control her, right? Trouble was, she didn’t want just one more day. She wanted dozens of them. Eden whimpered as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. But it wasn’t enough, and she clutched the back of his neck until he stroked her tongue with his.

“You steal my breath,” he said, hands digging into her behind and pressing her against his erection. “I need you.”

A wave of emotion swept through her at his words, for she needed him too—not just physically. There were times, like now, where he felt like air and water, cool grass and burning fire, and everything else in the universe—all that was necessary to her existence. She cupped his face in her hands and stared earnestly into his eyes. “Are you going to put out or what?”

* * *

Eden’s phone buzzed as they reached the car. Despite Darak’s ministrations, every part of her body screamed at the unaccustomed exercise. Once in her seat, she pulled out her phone and checked her texts.

“Did your mother send you more messages?”

“You know it.” She dimmed the screen and returned the phone to its nesting place.

“How come your parents don’t bug you?”

“They don’t need to. They own me,” he said grimly.

“What are they like?”

“They’re a lot older than…most parents. I guess that makes them more conscious of their own mortality. They do travel for business or to see family, but never for anything frivolous. Food is for nutrition, not taste, and time should be spent doing something productive, not for being idle. Like I said, they’re good people, really, but they’ve lost the concept of fun. The fact that I would want to experience the world made them scratch their heads.”

“Why don’t you just tell them you want to do something different? Not work in their lab, or whatever?”

“They would see it as a betrayal. Any time I haven’t fallen in line with their plans, they’ve acted like I was rejecting them. If I walk away from the job, I’ll be dead to my family.”

“But if you’re unhappy, surely…”

“It’s not a matter of happiness. It’s my duty.”

“Darak—”

“This isn’t the first time the topic has come up.”

“Oh.” Eden didn’t understand. Not really. If she’d stayed healthy, her mom and dad wouldn’t have cared what she did with her life, just as long as they got to be part of it. But she had gotten sick, so her future now included organic cotton clothes, grass-fed beef, and four little walls over the garage.

The car hit a pothole, dislodging her thoughts. Eden lowered the window and stuck her hand out, letting the wind push it over unseen waves. Was this what geese felt? Did they glide through the endless blue, bouncing between fluffy white pillows of cloud and mindless of the chaos below?

She leaned back against the headrest. “I wish I could fly like a bird. Isn’t it beautiful out here? Three hundred years ago the whole continent was empty. Well, most of it.”

“You’ll see that again before you die.”

“Unless the whole human race disappears, I don’t see that happening, ever.”

“Those Krinar you hate so much are trying to restore the earth’s natural beauty.”

She let out a sharp breath. “You sound like you’re on their side.”

“There is no side. It’s just fact.”

She contemplated the pretty yellow flowers peppering the roadside, as well as the occasional dense clump of purple. “They’ll make it beautiful, I guess, but how much do you want to bet it will look like their world? And when they’re done doing that, they’ll probably work on us—you know, make us all pretty like they are, and tall, and all smug or whatever. I have no doubt in my mind that everything that makes us human will be erased.”

He frowned. “What do you mean make you pretty like they are?”

“Every single one of them is exotic and gorgeous. What, you haven’t noticed?”

“Maybe they think you’re exotic and gorgeous.”

“Yeah. Right.”

“Maybe they’re sick of looking at each other, and they see the people of Earth as wondrous and beautiful.”

Eden snorted. “They probably see us as monkeys.”

“Monkeys? Woman, you are crazy.”

“The road, Darak,” she reminded him. “You know, like we’re intellectually deficient. A lower species, so they had to come here and fix everything.”

“If they spend any amount of time with humans, they’ll find they’re sadly mistaken,” he said ruefully.

A vision of her father’s tired eyes flashed before her. “I’m sick of thinking about aliens. Hopefully I’ll never have to meet one.”

He closed up after that, his lips pressed on a hard line. After several minutes of quiet, she couldn’t take it anymore. “You aren’t mad at me, are you?”

His frown deepened. “No. Just thinking.”

“Oh.” His answer did nothing to dispel her fears. Who knew? Maybe Darak’s life was better because of the K. People in third-world countries were certainly happier. Eden wasn’t saying all K’s were evil, just that she didn’t like that they were perfect in comparison to the people of Earth—and were so dang arrogant about it.

Eden placed her hand on the edge of the seat. She waited anxiously, willing him to take it in his, as he had earlier. He didn’t. That was okay, she told herself, even though her heart shrank. It wasn’t like he was a real boyfriend. They were just friends. That was enough.

It was.

At least, it had to be.