No matter how hard I try to focus on the mission, my thoughts keep straying to the fact that I’m being followed by a giant, dragon-like ice guardian. It would be easier to forget if he wasn’t trailing after my every step. He sticks so close that, were he a human, his reflexes likely wouldn’t save him from bumping into me every time I stop abruptly.

I straighten the medbay up as best I can while Paulson takes us off planet. I envisioned spending a bit more time on X24, actually getting to explore it properly, to learn something about it other than the fact that it was dangerous. Then again, given what I saw of it earlier today, there are likely better planets to explore. Despite how things ended, I spent a long few minutes in serious fear for my life. It was an unfamiliar feeling, and every time I allow my mind to stray from my task more than a little, I look down to find my hands shaking.

I head to the communal living area briefly, interrupting the rest of the men where they’ve congregated, and follow up with Darwin regarding his head injury. The other two scientists narrow their eyes at me and at the Velorian following me, but that’s old news by now. Darwin claims he’s fine, and the swelling has already gone down thanks to the medication I administered earlier. Really, we are incredibly lucky that his was the only real injury sustained during the disaster that was X24.

I manage to lose my new shadow only because Vince stops him to engage him in conversation. As I slip back into the hallway, I see him removing the military grade blaster from his hip and holding it out. It shouldn’t surprise me that two males are choosing to connect over weapons instead of something deeper, but I find myself smiling anyway. I head to my own small room at the end of the hallway that houses crew quarters. Paulson decided to take the ship straight to Veloria. Hopefully the lack of stops in between will amount to fewer chances for things to go belly-up a second time. This gives me plenty of time to rest up from the ordeal earlier in the day.

In my cabin, I head straight for the shower, hoping to wash off the smell of garbage still lingering in my hair from my dive beneath the dumpster. I strip off my clothing and leave it on my narrow bed, before walking into the bathroom, bare feet cold on the tiled floor. I give the water a moment to warm up before I step in, and when I do, my thoughts stray once again to Vohx, my mysterious guardian.

If he were human, he’d be the most gorgeous creature I’d ever seen. His face is drastically different from every man I have laid eyes on, but there is still something undeniably attractive about it. His muscular body is pleasing as well, and the fierceness of his gaze. Still, can I really be this attracted to something that has a tail? The more my thoughts linger on the idea, the more wrong it feels. I try hard to push those thoughts to the back of my mind.

Though I can’t banish him from my thoughts completely, I let my brain move on to something comparatively safer. It was both incredibly funny and incredibly satisfying to see how afraid the men were of him when he showed himself. It must have doubled the fright to be threatened by something so alien, like a wrathful guardian angel.

Whatever happens with the Velor, it will certainly be fun to have Vohx around for a while.

I find myself picturing him again, the otherworldly blue of his skin, the white-tipped spines trailing down his back. I wonder what he looks like beneath his armor and clothing, how similar to a human he appears.

I just promised myself to keep my thoughts far from such things, but I find that I can’t help it. In fact, it’s practically an involuntary response. Simple curiosity. My imagination manages to flesh out firm, toned thighs, and then my mind’s eye travels upward … slowly … to wonder what in the world he might be packing between those legs…

… When a loud crash sounds from the door of my room, followed by rushing feet and a growl that rises up into a roar. A shocked yell catches in my throat, but I do not let it out. My first impulse, should there be an intruder, is to avoid calling attention to myself. Heart pounding, climbing up my throat, I stick my head out of the shower and peer through the open door into the bedroom. It is hard to see through the mist, and for a moment, I can almost believe that I’ve imagined the sounds.

Then I see Vohx, standing in the doorway of the bathroom and staring back at me. Behind him, the supposedly impenetrable door to my cabin has been broken down. A simple kick, even from a Velorian, likely wouldn’t have done it. I can see that the hinges have been frozen, a layer of ice crusted over the entire exterior of the door. He must have frozen them and kicked them to make them shatter after realizing it couldn’t be opened from that side without a keycard, of which myself and Paulson have the only copies. My brain takes all this in within the space of seconds. My mouth moves slower, and I simply blink at him in shock for a moment before realizing that the cold he carried with him has made the protective layer of fog on the transparent shower door all but disappear. He can see all of me.

I feel heat rush to my face, making my skin flush even redder than what the warmth of the shower has accomplished on its own. I fumble for the first towel I can reach and attempt to hold like a shield in front of the more vulnerable parts of my body. It doesn’t take me long to realize that it’s only a hand towel, and is doing little good.

“What the hell?!” I exclaim, voice rising into something much closer to an indignant squeak than the strong yell I would like it to be. I give up on trying to shield myself with the towel when I realize how ridiculous I look, and settle for pretending that I don’t care about being been seen nude by an alien who is almost, but not quite, a complete stranger. Really, nudity isn’t that a big a deal. I’m a nurse—a body should be just a body—but somehow it’s different when it’s my own. And when I’m being stared at.

Vohx hasn’t answered.

“What are you doing in here?” I demand, stepping out of the shower, ignoring how much less comfortable I feel without the thin layer of see-through glass between us.

“I am here to guard you,” he explains, gesturing adamantly, as if I am the crazy one. “That is the entire purpose of me accompanying you on this mission. I could not open the door. You didn’t answer when I called you, so I thought you might be in some sort of peril.”

At the explanation, I feel a bit less angry. Perhaps if one of the scientists on the ship pulled something similar, I would class it as bullshit right away. As it was, Vohx seems genuinely concerned and perplexed as to why I didn’t answer his call.

I sigh as I step into the center of the bathroom, arms crossed in front of my breasts as I reach around him for the full size towel I left draped over the open door instead of on the rack closer to the shower.

After all, I’d been thinking, it’s not like I was sharing the cabin with anyone who might see. This is actually the first room I’ve had with its own attached bathroom in my life, and I have been taking no small amount of pleasure in not having to worry about offending anyone with my attire, or lack thereof. I wrap the fluffy towel around my body and tuck the other side into place so that it can hang without my assistance. It’s amazing how much security a relatively small swath of fabric can bring.

Even with the towel in place, Vohx is still staring, looking me up and down with unabashed curiosity. There is something else in his eyes, a small spark of hunger, that seems to transcend the boundaries between our species. I shake my head to clear away the thought. I look again. It seems more likely that the expression he wears is simply pure confusion at the unexpected sight of my small, pink body—the same curiosity that fills me when I look at him.

“I’m not in danger,” I say. “It’s just hard to hear people talking to you while you’re washing your hair.” I pause, watching him nod, filing the information away and likely wondering just how bad human hearing is in comparison with his own. “If you like,” I offer, “I can leave my door unlocked. Then if you need me for anything, you can just come in, and I’ll be able to hear you, whatever I’m doing.”

“That is agreeable,” Vohx says, nodding once, and turning to back out of the room.

I realize slowly that I have just bargained away my privacy. “Just make sure you knock first,” I add quickly. “So you don’t … scare me.”

He nods. I consider the situation salvaged.