I sleep like the dead. The kind of slumber where you can’t remember your name or where you are when you first start to stir. I certainly don’t remember the last time I was this comfortable and toasty. I feel like I’m floating on a warm cloud, wrapped in a heated blanket. I want to open my eyes to get my bearings, but it feels like my lids weigh ten pounds each. As sink back into my catnap, I feel other sensations, as well.

I know it’s a dream, because when I realize there’s someone else in bed with me, I don’t feel alarmed. I can’t see his face, but he must be someone special, because I feel safe and horny with him near me. His warm mouth starts at my neck and travels lower, peppering my breasts with soft kisses as he continues his journey south. There’s an incredible tingling feeling building in my core when his tongue traces the curves of my soft belly. I can’t hold back a moan when he clamps his warm, wet mouth over my pussy.

My body tenses as I try to make sense of what’s happening right now. I know it’s a dream. It has to be. And yet it feels so real. Either way, I’m not in any rush to wake up.

My lover’s strong hands hold onto my hips while his tongue works me into a frenzy. “Relax,” he says, his voice a vibrating rumble against my most sensitive place. His voice must have hypnotizing powers because it works. I lie back down and close my eyes. Giving in to the amazing sensations oulsing through my body right now.

I grasp my knees and pull my legs toward my shoulders, opening myself as much as I can for him. My God, his tongue is amazing. Licking me from my core to my clit, flicking and rolling over my sensitive nub. His tongue feels more textured than human tongues which makes the feeling that more intense.

I’m lost in the sensations he’s sending through my body when he speaks to me, his voice sounding deep and gravely, commanding in the dark.

“I’ve found your heat,” he says, slowing his licking so he can kiss my cunt, worship it with his full lips. “I need your heat, now and forever.”

“Yes,” I say, whispering my agreement in the dark. “Yes, yes, yes.”

My hands move down my body, and I revel in my own intensely sensual touch. His hands are still holding my legs apart and I want to touch them. Reaching down I run my fingers over his, marveling at the immense size. Then he takes my hand in his. His skin is much rougher than my own, but it’s still smooth and incredibly warm.

In the next moment, he sucks my clit into his mouth, sucking and licking me into a craze. My orgasm climbs to a peak and then releases in a cascade of pleasure through my body. My chest is heaving, one fist gripping the sheets, the other squeezing his hand with all the strength in my body.

Then, I hear my name.

“Margo.” It’s Lodyn’s deep rumbling voice, only it doesn’t sound right. He’s not moaning my name in ecstasy, it’s more of a shout. “Margo!”

My eyes snap open and this time I know that I’m actually awake. It’s dark, though, and I’m disoriented. Not to mention my head hurts something fierce. Now that I’m conscious, I’m very aware of the way my stomach is rolling, threatening to spill all of its contents. I try to lie as still as possible, only taking deep breathes through my nose.

I recognize my surroundings and see a dim light across the room. It looks like some sort of lantern or portable light source that I’ve never seen before. It’s enough to reassure me that I’m on the Sparrow, though, in my very own sleeping quarters. While I’m studying the light, I finally notice that Lodyn’s standing against the far wall.

“Lodyn?” I ask. My throat is incredibly dry and scratchy, like I swallowed a glass of sand.

He walks over and hands me what looks to be some sort of canteen. I try to prop myself up on my elbow but my head immediately protests.

“Don’t sit up, you have a significant head injury. It’s best if you don’t move.” He sets the canteen on my bedside and sits down on the bunk across from mine.

Even when seated, his size is still striking in such close quarters. My eyes wander to the bulges of muscle clearly visible even under his clothing. It’s strange being drawn to an alien. From the moment we met, it has been one power struggle after another between us. And yet he intrigues me like no other man on Earth ever has.

When I really study him, though, he isn’t that different from human men. He’s taller than most human men and he has muscle definition in places that I never knew were possible.

It’s almost as if he was bred distinctly for his size and muscle. Like he was created to be the perfect warrior. All of them look this way. It makes me curious to see what the other members of their race look like.

“We’re back on the ship,” I finally say.

“Yes,” he says, simply.

“I guess we should have stayed put in the first place.” I know I’m being a little bitchy, but I can’t help it. My head aches, my body feels bruised, and I think I’m going to throw up every time I move. If I didn’t have to give in to his demands in the first place this never would have happened. And there’s always going to be a part of me that can’t let an “I told you so” go to waste.

“Or we should have left when everyone else left. Before the storm’s intensity became so great.” He’s sitting quietly on the other bed. It’s hard to see his face in the dim light, but I can tell that his eyes are on me. I just can’t tell if he’s pissed at me or accepting of our current situation.

I decide to steer the conversation in another direction. “Why are the lights off?”

I force my mind back to our current situation and begin to worry. It’s still warm in here, though, so hopefully that means that we still have back up power. Otherwise I’m going to have to get my ass up and back to work before the ship turns into an icebox.

“Backup power went down,” he says.

“Shit. What happened?” Again I try to raise myself up onto my elbows, but Lodyn moves quickly. His hand is pressing gently on my shoulder, keeping me in place.

“I don’t know. But we’ll be okay for now. We have emergency lights and a heat source.” Now that he’s convinced that I won’t try to get up again, he moves his hand back to his leg. I’m puzzled by the fact that his hand somehow seemed to calm me when it was pressing against my skin. Now that it’s gone, I crave his touch again.

“What kind of heat source?” I ask. “It better not damage my ship.”

“We have a cube that will emit heat that we use when we travel. With the combination of snow, temperatures, and storms, it’s next to impossible to start any kind of fire in this environment. The cube is quite effective but it doesn’t last endlessly. It needs to be recharged eventually. Also, Attalans have a much higher body temperature than humans. We can survive in this weather much longer than you can.”

“Is that why it’s so warm in here? You’re my own personal heater?”

“Yes. As long as I remain close to you, you’ll stay warm. And when I have to leave, I’ll turn the heat cube on for you.” He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. I can’t look away from his striking blue eyes. They draw me in and almost consume me. Thoughts of how handsome he is start to play through my mind. But being distracted by the rugged good looks of an Attalan warrior was never part of the plan. We have an important quest. Our planet’s survival hangs in the balance and when I volunteered to sign on for this mission, I knew that failure wasn’t an option.

I turn my head and close my eyes.

“You’re in pain,” he says.

“Yes.” Gently, I try to move my body slightly to alleviate some of the pain I’m feeling in my hip. “It’s mostly my head but I’m feeling some aches and pains in my body too. Your planet kicks up quite a breeze.”

Lodyn stands up and crosses the room. He’s right, it doesn’t feel as warm when he moves away from me. His body heat is definitely keeping me comfortable in this space. He starts digging around in his small leather pack and that triggers my own thoughts.

“Hey, come to think of it, I have pain killers in my bag. Would you mind getting it for me?”

He walks toward me with something in his hand. I’m distracted again by the way he moves. It’s so fluid and graceful for such a big alien.

“I have something better,” he says, smiling.

That smile transforms his entire face. It’s the first time he’s looked happy and not like an angry, brooding alien. I could get used to watching him smile.

“I didn’t want to use this on you until you woke up. This will help with your pain.”

I reach for him with an open hand, ready for any pain relief he can give. Instead, he pulls back my blanket, exposing my bare leg. I gasp from the cold but also from feeling so exposed and vulnerable.

“I need to put it in your thigh,” he says. And there’s no mistaking the deep rasp in his voice, instantly reminding me of the dream I had. His hand wraps around my thigh and my heart starts pounding through my chest. Hopefully he thinks I’m nervous and doesn’t know that there’s a wave of arousal coursing through me from having his hand so close to my center. There’s also the fact that I’m so self-conscious about the size of my thighs and now he has them exposed between us. In all of my life I’ve never been smaller than a size ten, and that was probably high school. I’m fit and curvy and right now I’m loving the way his massive hands make my thighs look so small.

He pauses for a moment, too. He breathes heavily but he doesn’t meet my eyes.

“This will only hurt for a second.” And then he pushes a really big needle into my skin. I suck in a deep breath and reach out and grasp his forearm. I lay my head back against the pillow as a cool wave of euphoria spreads through my body. I release his arm and let my hand fall peacefully to my side. Or maybe Lodyn put it back on the bed. I don’t know and I don’t care.

Whatever that is, it’s good stuff.

I Exhale slowly and my head relaxes even more into the pillow. I’m warm all over so Lodyn must have replaced my blankets around my legs and he must be close.

I’m ready to drift off to sleep when I hear him say quietly, right by my ear, “Why are you here,Earthling?”

“You don’t know?” I ask.

“No. We only knew you were coming. Not why.”

“Then maybe I’m not supposed to tell you.” I’m having a hard time following our conversation. My mind is starting to get muddy. I start to drift off and then I hear Lodyn’s voice and it pulls me back to him.

“Why is this mission so important to you, Margo?”

“Eclaydian.” I say. At least I think I said it out loud. Maybe I’m just thinking it in my head. I can picture it now. We’ve only seen pictures, but it looks like a glowing green rock. Glowing from the power it holds within its core.

“What did you say?” he asks.

My eyes are still closed and my body is floating again on huge puffy clouds in a clear blue sky. My heart rate picks up and there’s an excitement coursing through me as I think about the reason we’re here.

“Eclaydian. It’s a compound found only on your planet. We’re here to travel into the ice mountains where it lies scattered under the rock.”

“And why do you need it?”

“The planet I’m from, Earth, has a sun. Much like the sun you have but our sun is much warmer than yours. It heats the planet to a livable temperature for humans. It produces the light that makes our crops and gardens grow. Earth also has a season called summer where you can walk outside in bare feet with shorts and T-shirts and not get cold.” While I’m explaining this phenomenon to Lodyn, I can almost feel the heat of the sun on my face from summers that have passed.

“The sun used to get so warm it could burn human skin if we stayed outside too long without something called sunscreen. Crazy, right?”

“I can not even picture it.” Lodyn’s voice is barely more than a whisper. Maybe he’s trying to image what a sun that warm would feel like. Maybe it’s too much for him to actually believe.

“Now our sun is dying. Temperatures are much colder than they have ever been in the past. The ground is no longer adequate for crops to grow. Many times it freezes and never fully thaws. If we can’t save the sun, Earth will no longer be habitable. It will become a huge block of ice floating through space. It will no longer be able to support life. So why am I here? We’re here to find Eclaydian, jumpstart the sun, and save my home.”