Nick stole a glance at his human companion.

Her hair streamed out behind her. She moved like a dancer, her limbs supple and graceful even as the gravity shifted unpredictably.

But it was her smile that undid him. It was like starlight, beautiful and mysterious.

She’s human, the voice in his head told him furiously.

He tried to remind himself that no matter how lovely she was, inside she was just another indolent, entitled creature. Even her stated mission was human-typical.

She was one more heartless colonizer coming to steal anything that wasn’t nailed down.

And she would take his good name too, if word ever got out that he’d allowed her to pillage a ship under his protection.

Mate…

His heart simply wouldn’t let go, and his body was in a near frenzy trying not to touch her.

And so they walked, as the storm inside him raged on.

The hallways were the same as ever, but the trees in the biodome seemed taller than he remembered. He certainly didn’t recall tendrils of ivy snaking through the seams in the glass. The maintenance crew would have had a fit over something like that.

It began to occur to him that he might have been out longer than he’d thought.

He was still feeling rough around the edges, but he’d only ever traveled a month or two in stasis. He wondered how long it would take a tree to grow that much.

He opened his mouth to ask the woman what year it was.

Then he closed it again.

He didn’t want to show her that kind of vulnerability. They had just met. His body told him he had a lot to prove if he wanted her to see him as a mate and protector. And his mind told him she could be trouble and he didn’t want to hand her ammunition that might help her manipulate him.

He was sure that he loved her, but he definitely didn’t trust her.

After a few more minutes of walking together in silence, they reached the sealed-off corridor that led to the protected wing.

A simple DNA lock kept Nick out, but Raina was human - she could open it easily.

BFF20 hovered in front of it, waiting for them.

“Here you go,” Nick said to Raina, indicating the door.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

He studied her a moment. His inability to access the DNA lock was enough for her to know what he was. Was she really going to make him say it?

“Open it,” he said simply. “Please.”

“Why can’t you do it?” she asked.

There was consternation in her eyes.

Was it possible that she really didn’t know?

Surely not.

“Why do you think?” he asked.

She bit her lip.

“I don’t know what that is,” she admitted softly after a moment.

He looked at the girl, the door, back to the girl.

“You don’t?” he echoed, completely lost.

“Look, I didn’t exactly want to tell you this, but I’m on my first mission,” she admitted. “And I was in stasis for… a long time. I woke up on a privateer’s frigate six months ago. I’ve never been on a ship like this. I’ve never seen a lock like that…”

“Hey,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder and then squeezing his eyes shut as the sensation rocked him to the core. “Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t know.”

When he reopened his eyes, she was staring up at him. For a moment he was lost - he forgot where they were and what they were trying to do. There was only the haze of his lust and the bright happiness of being near his mate.

“So, what do I do?” she asked, dragging her eyes from his.

“Well, that’s a DNA lock,” he explained. “It allows certain users and blocks others. This particular lock, and all the other DNA locks on this ship, are set to allow human entry only. When you place your hand against that lever, you’ll feel a pin prick. It will analyze your blood and then open.”

“You… don’t like having your finger pricked?” she asked.

She didn’t know.

Or maybe she was just too afraid to say it herself.

“I’m not human,” he told her.

She didn’t step away, or even flinch.

He watched as the expressions crossed her face, surprise, confusion.

“I’m a barbarian,” he told her. “Surely you know what that means?”

She shook her head, golden hair spilling over her shoulder.

“It means I can take on other forms, including human ones,” he explained.

She blinked up at him.

“Like, change your shape?” she asked.

“Yes,” he told her.

“I want to see,” she said.

He took a step backward. He’d been prepared for a lot of things, not for that.

“I’m sorry, is that rude?” she asked. “I don’t know the protocol for this sort of thing.”

“It’s okay, since we’re partners on this mission,” he told her. “If you meet another barbarian, though, don’t ask.”

She nodded, a serious expression on her face.

“I’ll shift for you now, but nothing crazy. I don’t have any other clothes on hand,” he told her. “Any requests?”

“Uh…”

“Kidding,” he said. “I’m kidding. Hang on.”

He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he had transformed. His clothes hung loosely from his new frame.

She stared at him in open wonder for a long moment.

“You’re me,” she breathed at last.

“Except for the hair,” he pointed out.

He’d purposefully made purple hair. It was illegal to impersonate a real human for public or private gain. And it was bad form even in a casual setting.

But he had wanted to impress her.

“Wild,” she breathed. “I look good with purple hair.”

She reached out, smoothed a lock of hair away from his eyes.

Her gentle touch was intoxicating.

“This doesn’t frighten you?” he asked.

“I guess if you hadn’t warned me, it would have been a little strange,” she said. “But it’s a pretty spectacular super power.”

“A mere parlor trick for his kind, my dear,” BFF20 sniffed.

“Thank you,” Nick said, ignoring the little robot.

He actually agreed with Raina, his ability was spectacular. Too bad the rest of society didn’t see it that way

“What do you really look like?” she asked.

“However I want,” he said.

“Don’t you have a native form?” she asked him.

“That’s not how it works,” he told her.

“Does it hurt?” she asked. “When you change?”

He shook his head.

“Does it happen on the full moon?” she asked.

“I’m not a werewolf, Raina,” he told her, chuckling. “But it can happen then, or at any other time - whenever I choose.”

“But it’s only when you choose, right?” she asked, looking a little worried for the first time since he had shifted.

“The instinct comes on its own sometimes, but I’m in control of allowing it to happen,” he told her. “One of my brothers has a harder time with control, but he would never harm anyone. We’re trained from a young age to use our powers, not let them use us.”

Thoughts of his brothers made him anxious to move on.

“Are you ready?” he asked her, indicating the door.

“Are you, um, going to stay like that?” she asked.

He’d been so hypnotized by her nearness and the surreal conversation he’d forgotten he still wore her form.

“No, sorry,” he said, closing his eyes.

When he opened them this time, he was in the human form she’d first seen him in.

She smiled and something about the curve of her lips told him she found his appearance pleasing.

He was glad. He’d chosen the form based on a photograph of an actor in a magazine - tall, muscular, with a well-defined jaw and striking green eyes. The actor had been described as “catnip for women” in the caption.

Barbarians didn’t have to be handsome, but they were expected to wear a human form when they worked with humans. And it helped to choose a form they would find physically attractive - humans were shallow creatures.

“Here goes nothing,” Raina said, turning and placing her hand on the DNA lever.