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  Oh, I’d felt a pale kind of desire when Gerald and I were first together, which is probably the main reason I had stayed with him. That feeling had faded quickly, however until, even when we made love, I felt almost nothing. Gerald’s hands and mouth on me—when he bothered to try and get me aroused—felt like someone touching me with thick gloves on. My body simply didn’t react to him—or to any man.

  Well, it was sure as hell reacting now. And even though I knew it was wrong, I didn’t want it to stop. Didn’t want the elusive, amazing feeling I’d been reading about, watching on TV and the movies, and hearing everyone talk about for years to disappear. I continued to kiss Grav, completely in his arms now with my hands stroking his horns which seemed to have grown somehow.

  Amazing! was all I could think. Amazing—it’s true! I thought all those stupid movies and books were lying but they weren’t. It’s all true!

  I didn’t know why my body had never reacted to the touch of a man before. At first I had considered that I might be a lesbian, but my body didn’t react with desire when I was near women either, even pretty ones. Then I thought maybe I might be asexual, as I had read some people were. That seemed the most likely explanation although I was too ashamed to admit it, even to my best friends Zoe and Charlotte. I had gone for years pretending I was normal—to myself, my friends, my husband…and now, for the first time, I didn’t have to pretend anymore.

  I finally felt it. Felt the passion.

  I felt passion when Grav touched me—when he kissed me. I felt more than passion—I felt like I was ready to explode.

  More, was all I could think. I want more…more!

  To my surprise and disappointment, the big alien was the one who ended the kiss. He pulled away from me and when he did, I thought I saw a spark of red, down deep in his bottomless white-on-black eyes.

  “Sorry,” he growled, his deep voice coming out rough and hoarse. “I, uh…I don’t know how…why I fuckin’ did that.”

  “Why did you stop?” I demanded. My body was aching—throbbing with a need I had never felt before. I knew I sounded pushy and demanding but I didn’t care. I just didn’t want that feeling to end!

  “My…” He coughed and cleared his throat. “My horns. You were, uh, pulling on them. They’re uh, sensitive.”

  I looked at his horns—I had been right earlier, they definitely seemed to have grown. Then he shifted in his seat and my eyes flicked down to his crotch. There was a long, hard ridge that ran down the inside of his tight, black leather trousers. Oh, so his horns weren’t the only thing that had gotten bigger.

  What’s wrong with you? whispered that reproving little voice in my head. Look what you did! But it wasn’t so much what I had done that upset me—it was what I had wanted to do. What I still wanted to do if I was honest with myself.

  What would it feel like, I wondered. What would it feel like to make love with someone besides Gerald? Someone you actually felt something for—who made your body react when he touched you?

  For a moment I pictured it—being with Grav, his huge muscular body poised above mine, entering me slowly as I pressed up to meet him, begging for more…

  The mental image filled me with desire and shame at the same time. Lustful, whispered that reproving voice. Disgusting and wrong and lustful! This time I thought it sounded like my strict grandmother, the one who used to smack my hand during Sunday dinner if she thought my table manners weren’t good enough.

  “I’m sorry,” I told Grav, as the shame began to win over the desire and the wonderful feeling began to melt away like a sudden snow on a hot day. “I…I don’t know what came over me.”

  “Me either.” He sounded at least as confused as I felt. “I, uh, didn’t mean to take advantage.”

  “If anything I’m the one who took advantage.” I looked down at my hands, aware that my body was still throbbing with the remains of the deep, flooding desire that had almost overwhelmed me a few moments before. “You were just trying to heal me. I sort of…went crazy. I…” I looked up at him. “You have to believe me, I’ve never done anything like that before.”

  “I believe you, darlin’.” His deep voice was surprisingly gentle. “Look, don’t worry about it. Let’s just let bygones be bygones and I’ll get you back down to Earth. At least your face is all healed now.”

  “Is it?” I put my fingertips to my cheek. It no longer throbbed and the cut place above my eyebrow didn’t sting either—both felt completely healed. As for my mouth—it was still swollen, but not from the beating Gerald had given me. No, it felt tender and bruised from the passionate kisses I’d just shared with the big alien.

  Once again I wondered what was wrong with me.

  “Yup, all healed.” Grav nodded approvingly although I noticed that the bulge between his legs still hadn’t gone down. In fact, it still looked absolutely huge. “Um…” Grav’s eyes followed mine and he saw where I was staring. “Sorry,” he muttered, shifting in his seat. “I, uh…can’t help it.”

  Oh God, this was just getting more and more awkward! I couldn’t be looking between his legs! I needed to get out of here!

  “Do…do you mind if I take a look?” I said.

  “What?” His eyes dipped down to his crotch again. “You want to—”

  “Oh, no! No-no-no!” I could feel my cheeks getting hotter and hotter with mortification. This situation was just getting worse and more embarrassing by the second! “At my face. I meant I want to go look at my face and see how you healed me,” I said, the words falling out of my mouth in a tumble.

  “Oh. Oh, sure—of course. There’s a viewer next to the com-link.” He jerked his head in the direction of the corridor we’d come from. “Help yourself.”

  “Thanks.” I got to my feet on shaky legs and stumbled ungracefully by him out into the hallway. I still felt a little weak and dizzy from the kiss we’d shared but I made myself take a deep breath and look for the viewer he’d talked about.

  I found it hanging on the wall, right outside a room which had to be the control area of the ship. It looked like a kind of cockpit with an array of controls and a windshield that showed the blackness of space.

  It made me feel sick and surreal to see it and realize that this strange adventure I was on was no dream, no matter how strange and dreamlike it felt.

  Trying to ignore my feelings, I turned to the viewer which was the same kind as the one I had seen in the bathroom earlier. Mounted on the wall beside it was a strange looking piece of equipment that looked like a smooth, black box with recessed lights winking inside it. Was that the com-link Grav had talked about? Well, whatever—I was more interested in the viewer.

  I flipped it on, using the buttons with more ease this time and saw a very different image from the last time I had looked at my reflection.

  My face was healed—not just healing but actually, completely healed.

  I gave a little gasp as my fingers explored the places my injuries had been. I’d been swollen and battered and bruised just a few minutes before and now…nothing. I looked like nothing had ever happened.

  In fact, I looked better than that—I looked good. My eyes were bright and starry and my skin seemed to be actually glowing a little bit. Was that even possible? There was a faint, pretty pink blush to my cheeks, my lips were full and red and pouty. Even my hair looked perfect—shiny and glossy and lustrous—like I was a model out of a shampoo commercial.

  “Wow,” I muttered to myself, still running my fingertips over my face. “Amazing.” Apparently lust and guilt agreed with me, although I couldn’t think how. How had Grav managed to do all this just by licking my face?

  And more importantly, how had he managed to make me feel things I’d never expected to feel?

  As I looked at myself in the mirror, my mind whirled with questions.

  How had things happened so fast between us? What was it I felt when he touched me and why had I never been able to feel it before? Would I ever feel it agai