****
Tyrok lifted his lips from hers and stared into her face as if evaluating her reaction. In the shimmer of starlight, she could see his stunning, unworldly eyes and felt like she was falling into them. After a moment, he brought his mouth back to hers. Alexis relaxed into the kiss, complying with the pressure of his mouth to open her lips. He coaxed her tongue forward and stroked it with his, eliciting a small moan from her throat.
Alexis felt Tyrok press his body closer to hers, then loop an arm around her waist so he could lift her up and roll onto his back to bring her down on top of him. She slid against him and felt the roughness of the gauze on his wounds touch the sliver of skin exposed between the hem of her shirt and her waistband.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
Tyrok nodded, lifting his head to capture her mouth in another kiss. When they parted, Alexis pushed back so that she sat on her knees straddling his hips. She tucked her fingers under the end of the bandage and loosened it. Moving slowly, she pulled the layers of the gauze so that they slid out of place. As they unwound from around him the bandages revealed his chiseled body and a scar down the center of his chest from where she cut him.
Tossing the bandages aside, Alexis leaned down and touched a kiss to the scar. Tyrok sighed beneath her and she continued, trailing her lips up his chest and onto his neck. Tyrok's hands came up to cup her hips, his fingertips kneading into her. They moved up so that he could grasp the hem of her shirt and pull it up over her head, dropping it over the edge of the bed.
He rolled them over so that he hovered over her, nudging her thighs apart with his so that he could settle his hips between them. Alexis felt his hand come to the front of her bra and release the clasp. She shifted her weight to allow him to peel the garment away and toss it aside to join her shirt. His mouth dropped to one breast and Alexis gasped, arching against the feeling of his tongue slipping around her hardened nipple.
Tyrok's mouth traveled over to give the same attention to the other nipple, then moved onto her belly. The tip of his tongue touched her skin, dragging down toward her hips and dipping into her navel. He kissed down to the waistband of her pants and Alexis felt herself writhing in anticipation of a more intimate touch. She felt his hands come to the front of her pants to unfasten them and he blew a cool stream of air against the skin he had dampened with his tongue. Alexis's breath caught in her throat and she lifted her hips, allowing him to ease her pants down over her hips and off of her.
His fingers hooked around the waistband of her panties and soon the damp scrap of lace joined the rest of her clothing on the floor. Alexis felt suddenly shy as Tyrok's eyes grazed over her appreciatively. He touched his fingertips to the side of her ribs, trailing them down to trace the curve of her waist, over the swell of her hip, and then down her thigh.
Alexis drew in a breath as his touch continued up the inside of her thigh and then delved into her hot, wet core. He swirled his fingertips into the sensitive pearl of flesh at her peak and Alexis cried out, gripping the sheets on either side of her. Tyrok paused to let her relax, then continued his exploration of her body. A moment later, she grabbed onto his wrist, pulling his hand away from her body and closing her eyes.
"Wait," she panted.
"What's wrong?" Tyrok asked, bringing his body forward to kiss her.
"Not yet," she whispered.
Tyrok smiled at her and brought himself down on top of her so that she could feel the weight of his body from her legs up to her shoulders. She reveled in the pressure, bringing her hands to the small of his back to hold him closer. His mouth played across hers and his hips began to rock against hers. She felt the hardness of his erection nudging her and she bit her lip against the delicious sensation.
Alexis slipped her hands between them to release his pants and then paused. She closed her eyes, again trying to come up with the right words.
"When you say that you are a stunning facsimile of a human," she began, awkwardness building in her chest, "does that mean…" she trailed off and Tyrok laughed, leaning down to nip at her earlobe.
"Everything is exactly as you would expect it to be," he whispered into her ear.
Alexis felt a thrill go through her and she continued her efforts to remove his pants.
"I think it was a perfectly valid question," she teased. "You never know what you are going to discover when a strange ship crash lands on your planet."
With those words Tyrok went still against her. She wriggled her hips against him, trying to encourage him to keep up his dizzying movements, but he remained in place.
"Oh, no," he muttered.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
Tyrok pushed back so that he could look at her face.
"Where is my ship? What happened to it?"
Alexis shook her head in confusion.
"It is right where it crashed. What do you mean what happened to it?"
"You healed me, which means that you went back to the ship after you brought me here."
"Yes, but I haven't been back since."
"Oh, no. We need to go there now. Can you show me where it is?"
Tyrok scrambled off the bed and Alexis felt cold, empty, and humiliated still sprawled naked across it. He tossed her clothes onto her stomach, only worsening the feelings. She started to dress and he must have noticed her pained expression because he paused for a moment to touch a kiss to her lips.
"I'm so sorry, but this is something we need to do right now."
"Why?"
"You say that you love the stars so much, well if we don't get to my ship quickly, they might all go out for good."