Could a Detyen without a soul find his mate? And if he did, what would claiming her do to him? What would claiming Sierra do to him? He hadn’t felt the stirrings of desire for two years, hadn’t yearned to share his body and his space with another for even longer. But in a handful of hours, he’d craved things he’d long thought impossible.

A soulless Detyen could not crave. Could not lust.

And yet, here he was. If he touched her again, would he collapse? Or had that been a onetime reaction? She’d flung a hand out above her head, her pale skin almost glowing in the dim light of the cave. Moonlight streamed in through the opening and some of the moss had a bio-luminescent effect, making it possible to see, even in the dark. He could reach out and brush his fingers over hers, just a kiss of skin, just a test. If he had no reaction, she would never know he’d done it.

But she was asleep and even that minor of a touch seemed like a liberty he could not steal. It would be one thing to touch her to move her from harm’s way. To do so just because her hand was there and looked so soft that his fingers ached to find out? No, that he could not do.

He paced around the perimeter of the space, giving his body something to do, some way to burn the excess energy that seemed to have come from nowhere. He could list the exact amount of calories he’d eaten in the day and the standard effect that they had on his body. Today was far from standard.

His alert went off, signaling it was time to change the shift. Raze silenced the alarm and his eyes snapped right back to Sierra’s hand. He’d promised to wake her up. Would she think it strange if he touched her to do so? He took a deep breath and leaned forward, but before he could do it or stop himself, she turned over and her eyes snapped open.

“If you were thinking any louder you’d call the pirates down on us,” she mumbled as she rolled into a sitting position. Her eyes followed the line of his gaze down to her hand. “Was something crawling on me?”

Raze shook his head. “It is time to switch.”

“I got that.” She pulled her pack up and grabbed a bottle, taking a deep swig. “Do you need water?”

“I have my own.”

Sierra nodded and stuck the bottle back in her pack, settling it back on the ground. She looked over at him and dragged a breath in, as if to speak, but after several moments remained silent.

She wasn’t going to ask him about the staring. He could say nothing right now and they would both go on pretending to one another that there was nothing between them but this temporary partnership. He would gather Toran and Kayde tomorrow and leave her to do her own job. Space was so big that he could almost guarantee that they would never see one another again. Besides, his chances of not being put down after the mission debrief were slim. He would need to report on his instability. He doubted that anyone of influence would trust him to continue in his function. Two years as a soulless member of the legion was at the lower end of average. There would be no shame in ending once he returned.

And that realization, that his survival was once again limited to days and weeks rather than years and decades, freed him from something he hadn’t known was holding him back. It didn’t matter if touching Sierra damaged him or did strange things to his mind, he wouldn’t be around long enough for it to hurt anyone but himself.

“I found myself curious,” he said, voice barely whispering the word. The soulless should not experience curiosity at all.

If Sierra realized that, she didn’t mention it. “About?” Her tone was cautious, the word drawn out over more syllables than necessary.

“I wondered if the effect that came from our physical conduct last night was a onetime occurrence or not. And I wished to test the hypothesis.”

She pressed her lips together like she was holding back a smile. “You didn’t state a hypothesis there.”

The teasing loosened something within his chest. He wished that he could remember how it felt to smile, just so he could return the one she hadn’t given him. “My hypothesis is that physical contact a second time will not have the same effect.”

“Why?” This time the smile couldn’t be held back.

Raze didn’t know the answer to her question. “Why belongs to another experiment, I think.”

“This is about the most convoluted way a guy has ever asked to feel me up. So, congrats to that.” Sierra shook her head a little from side to side, still smiling. She held out a hand towards him. “Give it a go.” Raze raised his own hand up, but at the last moment, Sierra reared back, eyes wide. “Wait!”

“What?”

“Do you have a med kit, you know, if things are actually worse?” She flashed her hand open and closed a few times before leaving it fisted.

Raze nodded. “In my bag.”

She nodded again and loosened her hand, bringing it forward. “Okay.”

***

She was more nervous than she’d been on the night she first had sex with her first boyfriend. She hoped that this experience, whatever it was, wasn’t as disappointing as that one, even if they were just touching hands. Her body thrummed with anticipation, like she stood at the edge of a cliff, ready to jump off as soon as she got the go ahead.

The light in their little cavern wasn’t great, but a fanciful part of her mind wanted to call it romantic. Moonlight streamed in through the opening and the moss glowed. The memory of Raze screaming and convulsing on the ground made her want to scurry back and stay out of reach, but the intensity in his posture kept her rooted in place, stretching one hand out to close the distance between them.

I wish I could be what you needed. He didn’t need anything, that was his problem. He’d gone beyond need years before he met her, and there was no way to help him. Besides, he couldn’t even want help anymore.

His hand moved in slow motion, each second stretching out into five until, almost suddenly, warm fingers brushed against her palm. The pads were work roughened, a warrior’s hands, used to holding a weapon and firing with ease. For a moment he flinched and Sierra leaned forward, ready to jump into action. But he didn’t back down, his fingers tracing over the lines of her hand until he bumped up against the juncture of her fingers. He crawled up, his digits easing their way into the gaps between her own.

She shivered, the skin there more sensitive than she’d ever realized. He sucked in a deep breath and she jerked her eyes from their interlocking hands up to the shadows that ringed his face. And there she saw twin glowing orbs of red where his eyes had been. They glowed in the darkness, demonic but not terrifying. No, she saw them as a challenge and a confirmation of something she couldn’t define. Something she was scared to approach.

But they only had tonight, and she couldn’t let go of this thing until she knew more. Need roiled within her, not just need for his body, but to know him as completely as one person could know another.

“What’s happening to your eyes?” she whispered. The distance between them had shrunk to a few hand spans. All she had to do was lean forward a little and she could capture his lips and take this experiment to another level.

“My eyes?” His fingers curled around hers, gripping tight, almost painfully so.

Sierra didn’t let go, even as shivers raced up her forearm. It was almost like the tingling sensation she got before a limb fell asleep, but not painful. No, it woke her body up in a way she didn’t know she could feel. She was more alive than she’d ever been before. “They’re red.”

His hand squeezed harder. “Impossible.” They were both whispering now, the words faint kisses in the air.

Sierra held up her other hand, offering it to him. “More?”

Raze reached out, this time skimming one finger across her palm until she shivered. He sucked in a harsh breath and his finger stilled. Sierra wanted to ask, but she was afraid to break the spell between them. He seemed to be teetering on a tightrope of decision. One wrong word or move and he’d pull away. And why that felt like the biggest tragedy of all, she couldn’t say and didn’t want to examine. Not tonight. Doubt and regret could belong to tomorrow.

He took another deep breath and scraped a second finger against her palm. Sierra’s skin tightened and she practically moaned. The last time she’d checked, her hands were not an erogenous zone, but the sensual assault he was waging against her was almost enough to make her reconsider. His fingers trailed the same path he’d crossed on her other hand until all of their fingers were laced together, connecting them palm to palm on each hand.

They fit.

They’d been born hundreds, maybe thousands, of light years apart. They belonged to different species. They had only met hours ago and would soon never see one another again. And yet, it had never been more right with anyone as it was in that moment. It was the single most sensual experience that Sierra had ever undergone, and all her clothes were still on. They hadn’t even kissed.

She couldn’t fix it all, but that one thing she could. “More?” she asked again.

Raze nodded, those glowing red eyes moving up and down with the shadow of his face.

She leaned in, giving him more than enough time to realize her intent. He pulled on her hands, helping her close the distance until her lips ghosted over his, barely a breath of a kiss. She wanted to seal their mouths together and taste him until sunrise, but she held herself back, reading his body. They’d somehow managed to sit side by side without her realizing, and as much as she wanted to drape herself over him, she kept to their three points of contact: right hand, left hand, and lips.

He leaned in close, returning the innocent pecks with something unpracticed and carnal, even though their tongues weren’t involved. Yet. He closed his lips around her bottom lip until she could feel his teeth, not a bite, but something more forceful than she’d expected from him. Her fingers squeezed against his, silently urging him to take control of the kiss, control of this encounter. Right now, she’d give him anything, as long as he wanted it.

With a gasp he pulled back, tearing his hands away and falling backwards, hitting the wall with a hollow thunk. Heavy breaths echoed around them as he tried to regain his equilibrium. And though Sierra wasn’t suffering from exactly the same confusion as him, her entire world still felt off-kilter, changed with a single kiss.

She wished the light was better so that she could see if he was okay. He didn’t seem to be convulsing this time and either his eyes had stopped glowing, or he had them closed. How long had they embraced? She glanced at the cavern opening and hoped they hadn’t left it unattended for long. A rookie mistake if they got caught because they were too busy making out to look out for their own personal safety.

That thought alone sent a cold shiver down her spine, dousing the desire that had been coursing through her. Had he felt it too? Or was he putting off some weird sex pheromones that made her forget herself and her duties? She scooted back, putting a little more distance between them. What was wrong with her? Even back on Earth she couldn’t remember ever getting hung up on a guy so quick. She didn’t do the love thing, and relationships were a thing of the past. So why was she all caught up on the fact that this guy would be gone tomorrow? That was a good thing. She could get her mind back in the game and get the damn job done. Her team was waiting for her, the women held prisoner were waiting for her. And she was wasting her time making out with some alien who said he couldn’t even feel emotion?

She stood up. “I’ll take the watch. Get your sleep.” If it came out gruffer than intended, she wasn’t going to care. The experiment was over, it was time to get back to real life.