Morning was breaking and sun poured into the window of her childhood bedroom. Across the thread bare quilt at their feet, she traced the brightest ray with her foot. It led a blazing path right to the muscular arms of an alien jutting out from the soft sheets. The light continued on across his face, to his head, across the pillow. It glimmered off his exposed opalescent skin in a way that she was quite sure humanity had no words to describe. It was tantalizing. Like the glint of gold or the shimmer of precious stones. Not garish, but still opulent.

As haunting as an alien in a girl’s bed might be for some, this was more than just an alien. This is the man who spent the night leaving her breathless and wanting for more. She had never been in love, but she had lusted for another man before. What she felt for Ori was past the point of lust. But was it love? Did it matter?

She took in the subtle details of her room, of him, of the moment. She erected a shrine of it in her mind and knew she would be retreating there often. The warmth of the sun and the feeling of his body naked and prone beside her would be enough to heat her on cold nights in orbit.

Ori started coming back to life before her. He stretched, almost cat like, and she watched as his yawn exposed canine teeth that were more like fangs than teeth. She wondered how he had been so deep inside her last night, and yet she managed so escape without so much as a scratch. Well, not a scratch there at least. Finally, his grey eyes opened and he smiled. She wasn’t sure she had ever seen him smile before. He breathed in deeply as he ran his hand over the curve of her hip beneath the quilts.

“This scent of yours,” he started in a gravelly morning tone, “I am never going to be able to shake it.”

“Mmm is that so?”

“If you’re not careful, I will lick you dry some day.”

“You can try,” Leonora teased him as she left the bed and sauntered naked right out of the room.

For a brief moment, he took in the sight of her as she left. The sway of her hips, the dimples of her back, the way her hair fell along her spine. He reveled in the marks he left on her ass the night before. He raised an eyebrow at the thought of what he would do to her next. Quilts flew as he pursued her. The glow of his scales matched the morning sun.